Jewish Marksmanship

Jewish Marksmen of 1965 - Ronald Krelstein, Lester Baer, Charles Denis, Norman Ricker and Edwin Markowitz

2012-01-31T20:03:00.000-08:00

I stumbled across this old news clipping from the Pittsburgh Press dated July 25, 1965, which identifies the 1965 Maccabiah Games Pistol Squad:

I will try to research Ronald Krelstein, Lester Baer, Charles Denis, Norman Ricker and Edwin Markowitz, but as usual, I appreciate any tips the readers can give!

Dave Markowitz - Jewish Marksman and Blogger

2012-01-26T18:17:00.000-08:00

Dave Markowitz is the publisher of a blog titled "Blog O' Stuff", which he describes as "about computing, shooting, RKBA, and whatever else I feel like ranting about." He recently blogged about his recommendations for a first gun for a new Jewish gun owner. As I've previously written, I advocate a revolver, but if you do decide on a semi-auto, he makes some good suggestions. He also has good commentary on Jews and firearms in another post:

Regardless of training requirements, Jews should get a license to carry a concealed firearm, as long as doing so is possible. Antisemetic crime is not confined to the home, indeed as Silverman described at the beginning of his article, Jews should be prepared to confront it at synagogue, and elsewhere.

In some of my prior posts to this blog I have stated that "Never Again" requires more than harsh language. If we as Jews are serious about preventing another Shoah (Holocaust), we have no one to depend on but ourselves.

Head over to his blog for more interesting posts on all kinds of "stuff!"

Lawrence Melvin Cohen - Jewish Marksman and SASS Founder

2012-01-25T19:03:00.000-08:00

A reader tipped me off today's Jewish Marksman, Lawrence "Larry" Cohen, September 17, 1943 - August 2, 2010. A veterinarian in Colorado, "Dr. Larry" as he was known was very active in the firearms community, as discussed in his memorial tribute page:

While in Southern California he was instrumental in founding the Single Action Shooting Society that popularized old-west cowboy competitive shooting scenarios. SASS is now an international organization with nearly 100, 000 members. He served on the organizations' "Wild Bunch" from 1987-1992 and placed as World Champion Shootist in both 1991 and 2001. An article about the "Durango Kid" appeared on the front page of the Wall Street Journal in 1994. He won numerous shooting awards through the years including Colorado Mounted (on horse-back) Champion in 1998. Cohen was featured on the Starz Western Channel for an entire month in 2003 for his participation with the "Happy Rails" shootout held in Durango. He had a passion for the outdoors and loved the Rocky Mountains and living in Southwest Colorado. He and his quarter horse "Rebel" were regulars in the Cowboy Parades, mock train robberies with the D&SNGRR and he even rode Rebel inside and right up to the bar at Handlebars Saloon in Silverton. (At the owner's request, of course.) In recent years, Cohen also competed in 3-gun sniper style shooting events and pistol shooting competitions all around the region. He had also helped organize and coordinate the regional police departments' annual SASSO shoot.

Thanks again to reader Brad_in_MA, and I encourage everyone to send me leads on Jewish Marksmen!

Jews in the Firearms Industry

2012-01-16T16:41:00.000-08:00

I recently heard that several major US firearms manufacturers have significant Jewish leadership. I have only been able to verify Colt. If the readers can verify Sig Sauer and Kimber, that would be great! Also please share any others you know of!

1. Colt's Manufacturing Company - according to an article on Maine Antique Digest:

In 1994 Colt's Manufacturing Company was purchased by Zilkha & Company of New York City for $12 million. Donald Zilkha, then 42, was and remains company president. Three years after buying Colt, he unsuccessfully tried to buy FN Herstal, as mentioned above, for $82 million. It would have given him control of Winchester, Browning, and Colt.
Where did this young guy get that kind of money? He was born right. He is the son of Azouri "Ezra" Zilkha, "a scion of a Babylonian Jewish banking family," according to a 2001 article in Traders Magazine. The New York Times in 1999 described the Zilkha family as "one of Iraq's richest banking dynasties." The family left Iraq after the Second World War and successfully reestablished itself in the U.S.
The family patriarch, Khedouri (or Khadouri) Zilkha (1884-1956), launched banks throughout the Middle East. His son Ezra, now 82, self-published his memoir in the 1999 book From Baghdad to Boardrooms: My Family's Odyssey. It's available in some used bookstores.

I found some other articles on Zilkha:

http://www.nysun.com/new-york/living-legend-with-an-eye-focused-on-history/30769/
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2000/04/16/unmaking-a-gunmaker.html

2. Sig Sauer - The President and CEO is named Ron Cohen, and my "sources" tell me he is Jewish, but I have not been able to verify this. If you can do so, please drop me a line.

3. Kimber - Again, my "sources" and various Internet web sites (some anti-Semitic) claim the owners/operators are Jewish, but again I have not been able to verify and need help from the readers.

Of these three, I can only comment on Sig Sauer, having owned one of their semi-auto pistols, a 9mm P228. I sold it to finance other guns, and sometimes regret it. It was a great semi-auto that was my first gun, and for many years my only gun, until I discovered revolvers. I only put a few hundred rounds through it, but it actually never malfunctioned. If I was forced to rely on a semi-auto, I would go with a Sig without reservation. Kimber has a decent reputation, Colt not so much, but that is all I know about them.

Great Israeli Sniper Article and Photos

2012-01-10T18:55:00.000-08:00

The IDF Blog has a great post up on IDF snipers (click here). It links to an article in Hebrew with more great photos (click here or for google translate in English click here).

Remember you can help support the IDF by donating to Friends of the IDF.

Archery Instructors Sought for Jewish Summer Camp

2012-01-08T07:44:00.000-08:00

Jewish summer camp in New York is looking for a few college-aged individuals who want to spend their summer teaching archery to children ages 7-13. Camp will pay for archery certification course. Dates are June 15th-August 20th. Salary depends on experience. Contact thblock@youngjudaea.org or call 212-451-6233 if you are interested.

Lawrence N. Freedman (a.k.a. "Super Jew") - Jewish Marksman and Green Beret

2011-12-22T00:01:00.000-08:00

Today, December 22, marks the death of Lawrence N. Freedman in 1992, a US Special Forces Green Beret who was killed in the line of duty at age 51. Among the many skills he possessed, Freedman was considered on of the top snipers in the US Army:

But as a sniper he was nearly without peer. Once, remembers Gale McMillan, a maker of specialty weapons, the two of them were testing night scopes at Camp Perry. It was a night so dark it swallowed up the faces of their watches. Freedman lay down, steadied his arm on a sandbag, and fixed his scope at a target no larger than a quarter at a distance of 250 yards. He squeezed off five shots. When they examined the target they found a single ragged hole through which all five bullets had passed, McMillan says.

Freedman was proud of his Jewish heritage, and took the nick-name "Super Jew" among his comrades. Please take a moment today to visit some web sites that discuss more of the life of this great American Jew:

Jewish Marksman Resolves to Conquer the Wind

2011-12-13T18:22:00.000-08:00

"And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord led the sea with the strong east wind all night, and He made the sea into dry land and the waters split." Exodus Ch.1, v.21

Hashem parted the red sea with wind so that the Jewish people could escape their oppressors in Egypt. Nowadays, that same wind oppresses novice long range rifle shooters like me!

Last weekend I made it out for only the second time to a true High Power Match on a 600 yard range. At the 200 and 300 yard stages I shot my usual low Master scores, but 600 was a nightmare. I waited for breaks in the wind and hit a few 10s and Xs, but when forced to shoot in the wind I had no clue. My target saw 8s and even a 6!

I think I did the right thing by spending a couple years on reduced 100 yard courses, mastering basic technique. Having shot a few High Master scores, I know I can physically shoot a 10 on demand most of the time. My 2012 New Years resolution is to get out to more 600 yard matches and master the wind. For me, this means leaving the house at 4am to drive to a weekend 7am match two hours away! But if the Jews could spend years wandering the desert, I guess a couple hours drive isn't so bad...

Richard Bogath - Jewish Marksman and Blogger

2011-11-28T19:23:00.000-08:00

Blogger Richard Bogath runs the blog "Jews Don't Shoot Guns" which describes itself as:

The realities of a Jewish shooting enthusiast having been told by other Jews that "We (Jews) don't shoot guns". Sharing experiences as well as reviewing and testing equipment related to shooting sports.

His recent posts describe his latest pursuit, NRA Bullseye competition. Check it out! (http://www.jewsdontshootguns.com/)

Norton Schwartz - Air Force General and Jewish Marksman

2011-11-22T19:57:00.000-08:00

Wikipedia tell us that:

Norton Allan Schwartz (born December 14, 1951) is a United States Air Force general who is serving as the 19th Chief of Staff of the Air Force. He previously served as Commander, United States Transportation Command from September 2005 to August 2008. As Chief of Staff, he serves as the senior uniformed Air Force officer responsible for the organization, training and equipping of nearly 700,000 active-duty, Guard, Reserve and civilian forces serving in the United States and overseas. As a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the general and other service chiefs function as military advisers to the Secretary of Defense, National Security Council and the President. He assumed his current assignment on August 12, 2008.
...
Schwartz grew up in Toms River, New Jersey, the son of a typewriter salesman. The first Jewish Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Schwartz was a member of the U.S. Air Force Academy Jewish choir before his 1973 graduation. In 2004 General Schwartz was awarded the Jewish Community Center's Military Leadership Award. In accepting the award, General Schwartz said he was "proud to be identified as Jewish as well as an American military leader."

That's all well and good, but most important to this blog's readers is the fact he earned the Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon. The ribbon is awarded for proficiency with either a service rifle or handgun, but we don't know which one in General Schwartz's case. I do not see a bronze service star on his ribbon in the photo, which would indicate he earned the ribbon with both weapons. I suppose for now it will be a mystery that perhaps one our readers can shed some light on!

Thanks to reader Brad_in_MA for suggesting a profile of General Schwartz!

Great Post on Israel as Symbol of Inner Strength at Women of Caliber Blog

2011-11-19T10:01:00.000-08:00

The Women of Caliber Blog describes itself as follows:

Women of Caliber is committed to empowering women physical and firearm self-defense, for women – by women. This education is in part through a proprietary shooting method which teaches accurate and competent execution, even in climatic scenarios. Women of Caliber also teaches the UT Concealed Firearm Permit Classes. Additionally, Women of Caliber is actively involved in Second Amendment rights and defending the Constitution of the United States.
The Women of Caliber Director of Training holds the most extensive NRA discipline certifications than any other female in the Western States.

Its administrator, Kellene Bishop, recently posted at length about the parallels she sees between women and Jews as historically oppressed, and the liberating effect that having the ability and will to defend yourself provides. She gives an extensive and educated description of the role firearms and other weapons played in the Jews' ability to declare Israel's independence. She also talks about her site's logo and its symbolism. Her post is worth a read by clicking here.

Her post reminded me of an old post of I pic I made here...

Jewish Marksman's Links on Semi-Auto Failures

2011-11-17T16:50:00.000-08:00

I've blogged before about my views on revolvers vs. semi-autos for civilian self-defense. I continue to be very much in the revolver camp, primarily because they are vastly more reliable than semi-autos. For typical self defense purposes, the greater capacity of semi-autos is a moot point.

Note, I'm not a semi-auto "hater." I use them for sport. In fact, the sports I compete in allow for one do-over when a semi-auto jams. But I don't rely on semi-autos for defense and I advise others to strongly consider revolvers.

It amazes me the amount of denial out there about semi-auto reliability. I can't tell you how many conversations I've had where someone insists their semi-auto has run perfectly for them. However, when I start a serious cross examination, the answer always changes to "oh yeah, well it did have a few failures to feed with a certain type of ammo, but that wasn't the gun's fault," or "oh yeah, well I did have a few stove pipe jams but that was my fault not holding the gun properly," or "oh yea, well I did have jams with older magazines but that was fixed when I put in new springs," and so on.

Are revolvers perfectly reliable? No, but both by inherent design and the fact they've been around much longer, they are far more reliable. Whereas most of the time I suspect a semi-auto owner is not being truthful when telling me his gun has run through thousands of rounds without a hiccup, I will always give the revolver owner the benefit of the doubt.

I thought I might maintain an ongoing list of links to blog posts describing various reliability difficulties with semi-autos, which I will try to update occasionally:

11/17/11 Blogger "Shelly Rae" of Gun Nuts Media describes magazine feeding problems causing malfunctions with her S&W M&P semi-auto pistol.
11/17/11 Blogger Kelleen Bishop of Women of Caliber describes malfunctions with her semi-auto caused by underpowered ammunition.
11/16/11 Blogger Aaron Spuler of the The Weapon Blog reports that while field testing a semi-auto Diamondback DB380, he experienced a high misfeed rate.
12/03/11 Jewish Marksman's Ar-15 rifle suffers a dud primer in the middle of an NRA High Power match. I suppose a bolt rifle is no better off, but the point is that occasional dud primers happen. With handguns, the revolver just needs its trigger pulled again, but the semi-auto needs its slide reset.

Justice Elena Kagan - Jewish Markswoman?

2011-11-08T18:52:00.000-08:00

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, simply by virtue of being an Obama appointee, is generally presumed to be hostile towards Second Amendment gun rights. There may be some debate as to whether this is a fair portrayal. But in any case, we do know she has joined the ranks of Jewish shooters:

She recalled paying a courtesy call on Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho) shortly after her nomination to the court by President Obama in May 2010. Risch asked her about gun rights, and remarked she may not realize how important the issue was to some Americans, especially in his home state.
She admitted never having owned or fired a gun before. “But I told the senator if I was fortunate enough to be confirmed, I would go hunting with Justice Scalia.”
And she has, joining her conservative colleague on an excursion to a Washington-area shooting range and on several hunting trips, until now never reported. Her host at the synagogue event was surprised.
“You’re Jewish,” deadpanned Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg.
“Yeah, but it turns out, it’s kind of fun,” said Kagan, laughing.

I think her comments suggest she has an open mind about guns serving a positive role in society, which is a good start.

Jewish Marksman's Shooting Update

2011-11-07T20:36:00.000-08:00

For those following my NRA High Power adventures, the past couple months have been boring on the surface, but big developments are hopefully brewing. My last two matches were roller coaster rides, both just barely squeaking by with Master scores. But I made a number of very significant changes (at least in my view) to my off hand and prone positions, and am starting to see the benefits of my experiments.

For standing off hand, I switched from using the magazine as a palm rest, and now hold the rifle more or less around the delta ring, with my thumb on the right side of the barrel and my fingers on the left. My left elbow rests on my rib cage instead of my hip. The position has proven much more stable. My scores don't show it, because I'm still tweaking the exact position of my elbow and my NPA (natural point of aim) is not stable yet. However, the rifle settles very well and on the scatt I am getting much longer holds in the 10 ring. The problem in matches has been that I get a little too aggressive and pull the trigger on any halfway decent stable sight picture. I definitely have the hold now where I can reject the shot, adjust my NPA and try again. In practice I am routinely getting 95-98 on the scatt. Soon things should come together in a match.

In prone, I finally figured out how to get the rifle out of my palm and more onto the fat of my thumb, which really lets me straighten my hand out more as well. This has really improved circulation in my support hand, so that now it doesn't fall asleep as quickly, sometimes going the whole 20 minutes with no circulation problems. My slow prone is good with this.

I'm dealing with a minor issue where my rapid prone zero moves down mid-string, I think I don't keep a consistent cheek weld shot-to-shot and am probably not seeing the sights right. So my first shot or two will be an X, and then the shots will form a knot at the bottom of the 9-ring. Either that, or I am not getting the same cheek weld after the reload. Either way, an easy problem to fix with a little practice and trying to be conscious of it.

So I made Master this year, but its looking like a few things need to be tweaked before I'll make High Master. I am hoping by April I'll have done it. I have 3 other rifles waiting for me to shoot (one being the Garand!), but I just can't bring myself to put down the AR-15 until I get that High Master card!

Rabbi Judah HaChassid - Scholar and Marksman

2011-11-02T19:15:00.000-07:00

He lived between 1150-1217, and wrote "Sefer Hachasidim," the Book of the Pious. According to Chabad:

"Sefer Hachasidim," the Book of the Pious, is undoubtedly a most valuable contribution to Jewish religious literature of all times. It was not only the most popular and widely read book of Mussar (Jewish Ethics) during the Middle Ages, but it is still a highly inspiring collection of thoughts and principles of the orthodox Jewish faith.

But just as important to this blog, Rabbi Judah was an expert archer!

We are told that in his youth Judah was anything but a scholar. He preferred to wander in the fields and play with bow and arrow. He is said to have captured many prizes in marksmanship in contest with the nobility of the Rhineland.

Here a some biographical links for those interested in learning more about his teachings:
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111829/jewish/Rabbi-Judah-HaChassid.htm
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9020-judah-ben-samuel-he-hasid-of-regensburg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judah_ben_Samuel_of_Regensburg

Dr. Irwin Ruderman : Veterinarian and Jewish Marksman

2011-10-04T16:45:00.000-07:00

The VCA Staten Island Animal Hospital website lists Dr. Irwin Ruderman as its Medical Director, and includes an interesting biography. Of most interest to our blog is the following excerpt:

[Dr. Ruderman] got his Veterinary Technician license in 1975 and earned his B.Sc. in Zoology in 1976. While at Ohio State he lived over an animal hospital working full time and going to school part-time. Veterinary school took Dr. Ruderman even farther from home - Milan, Italy. Not only did he move to Italy but he also had to learn to speak, read, and write the language first. Many are surprised to find a Jewish veterinarian fluent in Italian! Six years in Italy also gave him a appreciation for Italian wines.

Some of his hobbies, just like his medicine find origins in the East: Bonsai, collecting Japanese swords and sword fittings, fishing, and target shooting.

Jewish Marksman Learns His Lesson on AR-15 Barrel Cleaning

2011-10-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

And you shall have a designated place outside the camp, so that you can go out there [for use as an outhouse]. And you shall keep a shovel in addition to your weapons; and it shall be, when you sit down outside [to relieve yourself], you shall dig with it, and you shall return and cover your excrement. For the L-rd, your G‑d, goes along in the midst of your camp, to rescue you and to deliver your enemies before you. [Therefore,] your camp shall be holy, so that He should not see anything unseemly among you and would turn away from you. Deuteronomy 23:13-15

Cleanliness is an important concept in Judaism, and I recently had an eye-opening experience with barrel cleaning. Go to any Internet gun forum, and you'll find that if you ask "how should I clean my barrel?" you will get a different answer from every person. The advice that has always appealed to me most, however, is to use the least abrasive techniques so long as accuracy does not suffer.

For my small bore rifles (.22LR), this has meant to rarely clean a barrel. Although there is debate, the general consensus is not to clean a small bore barrel unless it seems to loose accuracy. And even then, a mild solvent with cotton patches should suffice. If fact, most small bore barrels are believed to shoot better a little dirty. With .22LR rounds, the bullets are unjacketed lead at relatively low velocity, so there is no need to worry about copper and lead fouling, and only mild carbon concerns.

High Power center fire barrel cleaning is another story, because copper jacketed bullets will schmear copper in the rifling, and there is heavier carbon fouling. After every few matches, my cleaning practice was to first run a few patches of carbon solvent through the barrel. Then I had the idea of inserting a foam ear plug into the muzzle, and from the chamber end, filling the entire barrel with copper solvent, and letting it soak for 15 minutes. I'd pull out the plug, and all kinds of blue (ammonia dissolves copper into a blue liquid) and black gunk would spill out. I followed this routine for 1500 rounds on my AR-15 barrel, and it kept hammering out master and high master scores! Why change?

Then, slowly but surely, my scores started dropping. Suddenly, I found I could not shoot master scores, with wild off-call 7s and 6s showing up on my targets. And my zero seemed to keep moving. Oy veh!

At first, I thought it could be (a) the recent switch I'd made in bullets, (b) that the barrel had met an early end in its life, or (c) something was off with my technique. A little experimentation disproved (a), and using my lower with a .22LR upper disproved (c). That left me very concerned that the problem was the barrel. 1500 rounds was a little early for a barrel to die.

I had a talk with some fellow club shooters, and within seconds they diagnosed the problem. Each exhibited shock when they learned I had never put a brass brush to my bore in over 1500 rounds. Apparently, it was common knowledge that an AR-15 barrel needs to be subjected to a brass brush and JB Bore Paste (a very mild abrasive cleaner) every few hundred rounds!

Sure enough, after a good scrubbing, my barrel can group again! At a recent match, despite my zeros being totally off I almost shot a Master score again, and now have my zeros back for next time. No wild sixes and sevens! Mazal tov!

Aside from the JB Bore paste tip, I also got advice on which solvents to use after each match. I purchased some and am happy that many modern solvents are much less toxic and odorous than solvents I've used in the past. I'll report back on the success of my new cleaning techniques in a few thousand rounds.

L'Shana Tova!

2011-09-28T18:42:00.000-07:00

Today marks the begin of the Jewish New Year! May you all have a sweet new year, and may all your shots be 10's and X's!

Budd Gardstein - Jewish Gunsmith

2011-09-08T20:40:00.000-07:00

A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds firearms. Good gunsmiths have encyclopedic knowledge of firearms and their components, metallurgy, woodworking, machining, and history. Today we meet Budd Gardstein, a Jewish gunsmith and learn more about him and the work he does:

1. Where did you grow up, and where do you live now?

I grew up outside of White Plains N.Y. I now live in Laurel County Kentucky, in the southeastern part of the state bordering Tennessee and West Virginia. Here, kids walk the hills and streets with .22 rifles, 20 gauge shotguns, and fishing poles and nobody thinks anything of it. It’s a different world and I love it.

2. What do you do for a living?

As a gunsmith, I repair and restore guns, whatever my customers need: repairing broken stocks, hand-fitting custom scope mounts in the machine shop, and fine woodworking. I also do blacksmith work. Lastly, I am a certified Kentucky Firefighter-- as a Gunsmith-Blacksmith I work to keep the guns firing hot all the time, but as a Firefighter I work to go to the source of the fire and fight it to put it out!

3. Who introduced you to firearms? How old were you the first time you went shooting?

As an adult, through military service. I served 4 years in the Air Force, including a year in Vietnam.

4. How did you get involved in gunsmithing?

It started by wanting to work on my own guns, and with a lot of effort I expanded out. I went to school in the days when they had shop classes. I took mechanical drawing, drafting, wood shop, metal shop, auto mechanics, and machine shop. Literally, anything I could get my hands on. I have always been working with my hands, and of course, I love good tools: Both hand and power. I learned well, adapted well, and I improvise as needed. To put it bluntly, I can fix almost anything.

5. Are you involved in any shooting clubs or sports? Have you earned any awards or classifications?

I do participate in Single Action Shooting Society (SASS “Cowboy Action Shooting”). But here in the Kentucky Hills people shoot as part of everyday life.

6. What do Jewish family members and friends think about your gunsmithing and gun ownership? How do customers and shooting buddies respond to your being Jewish?

I do not have much interaction with other Jews in the area. My customers have no clue about Judaism, I don’t think it crosses their minds one way or another.

7. What do you like most about your job?

I work on people's guns that are their dreams. Some of the projects that come here have been in the family for generations, and have stories and emotions attached. Many are being given that special attention so that they can be handed down to grandchildren. We talk with everyone. We coined the phrase “Junk or Heirloom? You Decide, We Repair. I heard years ago “The Difficult We Do Immediately, The Impossible Takes a Little Longer”. One of my Blacksmith books talks of a man’s concept of “you have to be more stubborn than the iron”.

Many of the jobs that come here wind up more complicated than thought of at first. Often customers bring or send me guns that appear Dead On Arrival. They might be rusted solid, broken, missing vital parts. Some have not worked in a generation. Some would say that these are impossible jobs, some would not even talk with the potential customers. There is a lot of satisfaction in bringing a dead gun back to life. We are problem solvers. People’s treasures come in with all sorts of problems, and we talk with them. We try very hard to make the broken dream whole again and come true. The smile on the clients face shows me that we made the dream come true. That is very satisfying.

8. Have you ever done any gunsmithing work on a firearm with any sort of Jewish connection?

I don’t remember if I worked on Jewish guns, but I have worked on UZIs and clones.

9. Is there anything else you would like to say to the readers? Interesting stories, words of wisdom?

The biggest thing we should ask ourselves is what is our attitude towards defense of ourselves and others? Do we assume that people around us are safe, or should we be prepared for the enemy and other dangers at any time, as Torah tells us? And what about the safety of others, are we people who depend on others and just rely on 911 in an emergency, or should we be the answer? As a firefighter, we run in to fire when others run out…isn’t that part of what being Jewish is all about?

Check out Budd's web site (http://www.buddsgunsmith.com/) which I've added to the links at the right. If you need a gunsmith, give him a call!

Saving Shekels with a CLE .22LR AR Upper

2011-09-06T18:45:00.000-07:00

I've written before about the cost of ammunition for high power rifle competition, coming in at $0.25-0.30 a round. Match grade smallbore (.22LR rim fire) ammunition, by comparison, can be had for $0.08-$0.10. "Practice grade" smallbore ammunition can be had for $0.03-$0.05. Shooters of various disciplines seek out rim fire ammunition to practice with because it's cheaper, quieter, and has less recoil. In the case of high power rifle practice, savings are amplified by the saved barrel life on a match rifle, which may only have a "match grade" life of a few thousand shots. In contrast, a smallbore barrel lasts practically forever--hundreds of thousands of rounds.

For those unfamiliar with the AR-15 rifle platform, it consists of two main sections: 1) an "upper" which consists of the barrel, bolt carrier, and upper receiver, and 2) the "lower" consisting of the serialized receiver, trigger group, and butt stock. The upper can be removed and replaced with one of a different configuration, or even a different caliber. So one option with the AR-15 is to have a dedicated .22LR upper. Another less expensive option is a .22LR conversion kit, which uses the existing upper and barrel. Conversion kits are fun, and perfect for some disciplines. But their accuracy is nowhere near as good as dedicated .22LR upper with a match chamber and a twist rate (1/16) intended for .22LR as opposed to .223 (1/7).

I've had a .22LR Service Rifle upper for my AR-15 from Compass Lake Engineering for roughly a year. In the past I used it to practice rapid fire sitting and prone stages with a "practice grade" rimfire ammunition, Eley Sport. It would produce good groups, but random fliers would appear, which I would just ignore. But having recently started with NRA Smallbore Prone matches, I began to wonder what kind of results I could get shooting prone with the same ammo I use in my bolt action Anschutz smallbore rifle, Wolf Match Target. So I decided to use the recent Labor Day holiday to give it a go.

All of my testing was performed from the prone position with a sling. The results were outstanding, yielding great 50 yard groups as shown above. I only had time for one 100 yard go, but again the results were outstanding. The target below is somewhere between 15 and 20 shots in a medium right-to-left wind. The lone 8 was caused by me figuring out the windage adjustments are not as fine as the Anschutz sights, but once I got it dialed in I was able to hammer out 10s. With better wind calls I'm sure the 9s will merge into 10s.

I'm so pleased with the results, I'm going to use the CLE .22LR upper with my AR-15 instead of my Anschutz at this weekend's smallbore prone match! In theory, it should be harder to shoot well for several reasons. For one, the shorter sight radius, which is the distance between the front and rear sight. In theory, the longer the sight radius the more precisely one can aim. Also the CLE has coarser sight adjustment clicks than the Anschutz, as I believe my Anschutz has the older 1/6 minute clicks whereas I know the CLE has 1/4 minute clicks (which seemed to match my need to use roughly 20 clicks on the CLE to come up from 50 to 100 yards, versus 38 clicks up on the Anschutz sights). My AR lower has a 5lb. trigger, although it's a 2-stage trigger with about a 1lb. second stage let off, wheras the Anschutz second stage is probably about half that. Lastly, the CLE uses a Service Rifle front post sight, compared to the Anschutz being outfitted with adjustable iris apertures.

But all that theory aside, because I spend so much time practicing with the AR-15 as opposed to my smallbore rifle, everything feels more comfortable and familiar.

Kehat Shorr - Jewish Marksman and Munich Massacre Victim

2011-09-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

September 5, 1972 is a day Jews must remember forever. On that day terrorists took 11 Israeli athletes hostage at the Munich Olympics, and ultimately killed them in what has been called the Munich Massacre. Today, not many Americans (and surprisingly some American Jews) have forgotten this barbarous act committed by Israel's neighbors.

One of the athletes killed was Kehat Shorr, described in a memorial site as follows:

Kehat Shorr, an expert marksman, was born Feb. 21, 1919 in Romania. At 53, he was a civil servant in Israel’s Defense Ministry, living in Neve Sharrett, a suburb of Tel Aviv, with his wife and daughter, when he attended the 20th Olympics in Munich in 1972 as a marksmanship coach.

Shorr had participated as a coach in several previous Olympics, and was himself several times a marksman national champion in Romania. When he made aliyah to Israel in 1963, he founded the marksman discipline in Israel and became the national coach.

Shorr, along with 10 of the delegation, were taken hostage by members of Black September, a Palestinian terrorist organization in the early hours of Sept. 5. Two teammates were killed in the initial assault, while the remaining nine were machine gunned during a two-hour firefight between German police and the terrorists at Fürstenfeldbruck airfield, 12 miles outside of Munich.

During the tense negotiations between the terrorists, who sought the release of more than 200 prisoners from Israeli jails, Shorr appeared once at the window of the apartment where the hostages were held. That was the last time he was seen alive.

In June of 1941, Romania, as part of the German Axis, joined the invasion of the former Soviet Union. Shorr was marked for internment, but managed to hide in the Carpathian Mountains with other Jewish partisans who made periodic raids on cities to rescue other Jews in hiding.

Another article provides this account:

He was 53 when he died. He lost a wife and a daughter in the Holocaust.

He was born in Romania. He devoted himself to shooting, and his achievements were impressive. He immigrated to Israel in 1963 and settled in Tel Aviv. He joined the "Hapoel" team and quickly became its coach.

Shorr devoted his time and skills to training young marksmen. He contributed significantly toward raising the standard of marksmen in Israel, thanks to his organizational and professional aptitudes.

He trained the national team for the Twentieth Olympics Games in Munich.

He was buried in Kiryat Shaul's cemetery.

Please take a moment today to remember Shorr and all of the victims of the Munich Massacre.

Martin Joseph Fettman - Astronaut and Jewish Marksman

2011-09-01T17:24:00.000-07:00

According to Wikipedia, at least 13 Jews have visited space, and Martin Fettman is listed as one of them. According to his bio, he's a Veterinary Pathologist, and with regards to space travel:

Fettman was selected as a NASA payload specialist candidate in December 1991, as the prime payload specialist for Spacelab Life Sciences-2 in October 1992. He then flew on STS-58 in October 1993. Since the flight, he has made over seventy public appearances representing space life sciences research before higher education, medical, veterinary, and lay organizations, and visited over twenty K-12 schools around the United States and Canada. He is presently a member of the NASA Advisory Council Life and Biomedical Sciences and Applications Advisory Subcommittee.

But most importantly, according to his NASA bio, his recreational interests include "pistol marksmanship." Mazal tov!

Black Hawk Bagel Boys - First all Jewish Team at Nationals

2011-08-30T18:19:00.000-07:00

Baruch Hashem, the Black Hawk Bagel Boys were able to assemble a squad and compete at the 2011 National Matches in Camp Perry, and are believed to be the first all Jewish team ever assembled for that match! Mazal Tov!

The team was comprised of Randy Schwartz, Steve Rocketto, Don Lerner, Hap Rocketto, Larry Hoffman, and Dennis Lindenbaum. Dennis Lindenbaum blogged about the Camp Perry experience as well, so visit pronematch.com to learn more.

If you can't make out the logos on the shirt (click on the picture for full-size), here they are:

Bring enough gun.

2011-08-20T15:19:00.001-07:00

I recently had a conversation with a former IDF sniper who has emigrated to the US and is considering a handgun purchase, and possibly (hopefully!) getting involved in target shooting. We got around to discussing rifle calibers. I'll spare readers the gory details, but he described his firsthand observations of the superior stopping power of .30 caliber rounds versus .223. Put simply, hit a man with a .308 based round and he goes down. You might need several hits with .223.

Stopping power of a given bullet in a given cartridge in a given firearm is a complex topic, but one good metric is the simple physics formula for muzzle energy, E=.5mv^2. For a modern standard-issue US military .223/5.56mm round, somewhere in the ballpark of 1,282 ft·lbf (1,738 J) is typical. Back in WWII, our boys carried .30-06 Springfield rounds with over double that energy, 2,820 ft·lbf (3,820 J). A modern .308/7.62x51 round used by snipers and some infantry semi-auto rifles packs roughly 2,619 ft·lbf (3,551 J). By comparison, Dirty Harry's .44 Magnum handgun packed around 1,200 ft·lbf (1,600 J) of energy, slightly less than a .223 rifle. The 9mm handgun your local sheriff caries has, at very best, 519 ft·lbf (704 J) of energy, less than half the power of a M16/AR-15 .223-based rifle.

I don't hunt, nor have I ever served in the military. In my mind, a bullet is nothing more than either a) the caliber required by a rule, or b) a piece of equipment you try to use to gain an aerodynamic or weight advantage in the wind. For instance, if you shoot NRA Smallbore, you shoot .22LR by rule, and all match-grade ammo pretty much uses the same weight and shape bullet. If you shoot NRA High Power Service Rifle class, you shoot .223 or .308 depending on which model rifle you use, and you can experiment with different bullet weights and styles in your rifle and how the wind plays with them. In the Match Rifle class, you can shoot whatever caliber you want, and new caliber/cartridges come along every few years with bullets that have less drop and are more slippery in the wind. Some matches, such as Palma, require competitors to use certain bullets so there is no "arms-race" among competitors to gain an advantage through bullets with better aerodynamics. There is actually more to bullet choice, but to me as a target shooter, it never really crossed my mind that different bullets are more lethal than others in war or for hunting.

In fact, up until a few weeks ago I never had handled rifle bullets larger than .223 because I had no need to. But now with the Garand (and some .308 projects on the way...) I have had to buy some .308 bullets and got to see .223 and .308 side-by-side for the first time, as in the picture above. Yeah, compared to the .223 the .308 is a beast.

I find it interesting that in WWII and Korea our soldiers used the .30-06 cartridge in the Garand with .308 bullets, with lethal effect. When full auto infantry rifles became the military's way of thinking in Viet Nam (i.e. "spray and pray" usage of rifles by soldiers as opposed to training soldiers to be precise marksmen"), the switch was made to .223 because a soldier can carry more of it, pound for pound. And surprise, surprise, .223 ammo is cheaper than .308. There is, apparently, some serious questioning of that thinking going on, and it seems many troops would rather be armed with a .308 based rifle than a .223, and the .223 has been especially disappointing in Afghanistan and Iraq. I don't know if it's true, but some web sites report that the .223 was designed to wound, not kill, the idea being that by wounding an enemy soldier you also remove two of his fellows from the battlefield who have to carry him away. That thinking, if true, assumes a certain set of values in your enemy, who if he has those values, makes you wonder why you're fighting him in the first place. Today, I don't think our enemies and Israel's enemies have those kinds of values. Much better then, in my estimation, to arm our soldiers with a rifle designed to kill with one shot. And further, to revitalize the concept of a marksman versus a full auto random lead dispenser.

Meanwhile, as a target shooter, I like the idea that that a .308 gives me an extra .08" diameter over a .223, and therefore more likely that a shot near a line (well, within .04") will break the line and give me an extra point! Also the extra velocity and weight helps keep the wind from blowing my 10 into a 9! Mazal tov!

Smallbore Prone Match Progress(?)

2011-08-16T18:11:00.000-07:00

This weekend I shot another NRA Smallbore Prone match. Going in, I was feeling confident that I had ironed out some position issues and would improve on my disastrous last outing.

The first course of fire consisted of 20 shots at 50 yards, and 20 and 100. I finished with a 394/400 (98.5%) with 16x. I even cleaned one of the 2 100 yard targets. The momentum continued into the next course of fire, 40 shots at 100 yards. On my second set of 20 shots, I almost cleaned both the top and bottom targets, but somehow an 8 (gasp!) appeared on my target out of nowhere...still not sure if it was me or a flyer. I finished the 100 yard stage with 397/400 (99.25%) with 16x. At that point I was shooting an 98.875% with the possibility to make an Expert class score! The NRA small bore outdoor prone classifications are:

Master........................................ 99.50 and above
Expert ........................................ 98.50 to 99.49
Sharpshooter ............................. 96.50 to 98.49
Marksman.................................. Below 96.50

The final stage of the match consisted of 40 shots at 50 meters. Unfortunately, the wheels sort of came off at that point. I imploded with a 386/400 (96.5%) with 18x, finishing with an aggregate of 1177/1200 (98%) 50x.

So what happened? What didn't! Primarily a failure to plan and prepare.

The prone match moves slowly, starting at 9am and finishing around 1pm, which means it goes through my normal lunch hour. I didn't bring any snacks, and really found myself hungry and tired by the time the final leg rolled around. I should have brought healthy snacks.
It was also super hot, and I probably should have drank more water.
Also, the sweatshirt I wear under my coat was soaked by the last leg, which kind of makes you feel like you are moving inside the jacket and sling (not sure if you really do or not, but it sure feels that way) and is sort of distracting. I should have brought a second dry sweatshirt.
Also, for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to re-wet my eyes with the moisture drops I like to use 15 or 20 minutes before a match. I wear glasses not contacts, but I feel the drops keep the eyes lubricated and supple throughout a match. So I did this just seconds before time started, used 2 drops per eye instead of 1, then had to wait 10 minutes for my eyes to dry to the point I could see anything but a blurry sight picture. So I felt rushed to get my 20 shots off in time. I should have remembered if it ain't broke don't fix it after I had just shot a phenomenal (for me at least) 100 yard match!
After my first bad shots, I should have recognized the signs of anticipating recoil. When I shoot high power, I visualize myself just absorbing the recoil. I remind myself before every shot at the end of the match where 60 shots and explosions inches from your face start to take their toll and bait your anticipation/flinch reflex. But shooting smallbore, I didn't think about it. But after 80 something shots of .22LR, even that whippersnapper of a cartridge will start to cause anticipation. I didn't recognize the problem until too late, and should have used visualization at the end of the match to avoid it. I discovered the problem on my last 5 shots of the match, visualized absorbing the recoil and proceeded to shoot a 50 with 3x.
Although it wasn't a huge factor, up until the last leg of the match there was a bench rest shooter on the range who had a flag set up, and I was using that flag to read the wind. I don't have much experience reading mirage, and just prefer flags. Well, that shooter left for the day and took his flag with him, so I was screwed for the last leg of the match. I need to practice reading mirage.

There are a few more things I could improve on, for example I seem to end up shooting 9's on the first shot transitioning to a new target. Unlike high power where all shots are on the same target, in a small bore prone match you move between 4 targets at 50 yards and meters, and 2 targets at 100. I don't like moving, and the position change distracts me from just taking the shot. I need to not think about that so much and just change and shoot.

Otherwise, I'm happy with the performance. I had zero practice with that rifle for a couple weeks, and still came in and improved on last month's score. Next month it would be nice to shoot an Expert score!

Jewish Marksman Gets a CMP Garand

2011-08-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

Jews were not saved from complete annihilation during the Holocaust by diplomats, negotiations, or international sanctions. When American troops liberated the Jews from concentration camps during WWII, in their hands was a rifle which General Patton described as "the greatest battle implement ever devised." It was that rifle, the M1 Garand, and the powerful .30-06 rounds it fired that saved the Jews. The rifle served American and other armies for many years, by the US as late as Viet Nam. Interestingly, supposedly there are a few M1 Garands or its little brother the M1 Carbine floating around still used by tour guides in Israel!

My local NRA/CMP High Power Rifle club has informal Garand matches, and there are other nearby clubs that hold official CMP matches. So I thought it would be fun to own a piece of history, as well as join in those matches. Getting a rifle from the CMP seemed like a no-brainer. On its website, the CMP describes itself:

The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) is a national organization dedicated to training and educating U. S. citizens in responsible uses of firearms and airguns through gun safety training, marksmanship training and competitions. The CMP is a federally chartered 501(c)(3) corporation that places its highest priority on serving youth through gun safety and marksmanship activities that encourage personal growth and build life skills. Links on this page will lead you to more detailed information about the CMP and its programs.

Statutory mission. The federal law enacted in 1996 (Title 36 U. S. Code, 0701-40733) that created the Corporation for the Promotion of Rifle Practice and Firearms Safety, Inc. (CPRPFS, the formal legal name of the CMP) mandates these key “functions for the corporation:

(1) To instruct citizens of the United States in marksmanship;

(2) To promote practice and safety in the use of firearms;

(3) To conduct competitions in the use of firearms and to award trophies, prizes, badges, and other insignia to competitors.

The law specifically states: In carrying out the Civilian Marksmanship Program, the corporation shall give priority to activities that benefit firearms safety, training, and competition for youth and that reach as many youth participants as possible.

Yes, you read that correctly, federal law empowers and requires the CMP to promote rifle marksmanship and sell off surplus rifles to the public (the actual statute is here)! By law, the rifles, including the M1, must be sold at "fair market value." Indeed, the prices are very fair, and if you buy a CMP Garand you get a great value for your money. The rifles are sold by grade, with price varying accordingly. I decided to go with a CMP "Special" grade, which should hopefully prove to be a good shooter.

Ironically, in 2009 the South Korean government announced plans to sell around 100,000 M1s to American collectors, the rifles having been originally given to the South Koreans by the US Government, but the Obama administration is blocking the South Korean sales of these M1s. As the Washington Times editorial argues:

It’s hard to see how these M1 rifles could be considered risky when they already are offered for sale by the U.S. government through the Civilian Marksmanship Program. In fact, the federally sponsored CMP puts on summer camps that teach boys and girls how to handle the Garand properly and safely. In the past seven years, there hasn’t been a single accident. Many of the participants go on to serve their country or take part in shooting sports at the collegiate and Olympic level. It’s more likely that the administration is seeking to win the admiration of gun grabbers.

I will report more as I learn to operate and shoot this rifle, as at this stage I haven't the slightest idea how to operate it yet. I am definitely looking forward to the stouter recoil of the .30-06 cartridge over the .233 I currently shoot in the AR-15.

Understanding Jewish Opposition to Gun Ownership Part 2

2011-08-01T12:24:00.000-07:00

In Part 1 (click here) I advanced the premise that Jewish opposition to private gun ownership is not so much a function of being Jewish, per se, but rather a function of general "progressive" liberalism which most American Jews identify with. This post will attempt to lay the groundwork for explaining the diversity of views within the Jewish community on gun ownership, and the natural correlation with varying political views.

Within American Jewry there are three major "streams" of belief: reform, conservative, and orthodox. For my purposes here, two will suffice, we can consider only reform and combine conservative and reform into "conservadox." The Wikipedia description of reform Judaism hints at where reform Jews will likely fall on gun control:

In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the surrounding culture. Many branches of Reform Judaism hold that Jewish law should be interpreted as a set of general guidelines rather than as a list of restrictions whose literal observance is required of all Jews.

Ergo, if the "surrounding culture" holds a certain belief, then very likely you can find a Reform Rabbi who will preach it as if it were a Jewish principle, even if the position is not well supported in light of the holy scriptures and centuries of scholarly comment. "Compatible" as used in the definition is code-speak for "politically correct." Just as a progressive judicial activist views the Constitution as a "living" document, Reform Rabbis view the Torah (Old Testament) the same way. Most Jews in the US identify themselves as belonging to the Reform movement.

Conservative and Orthodox Jews approach secular society differently than Reform Jews. From Wikipedia on the Conservative movement:

The term conservative was meant to signify that Jews should attempt to conserve Jewish tradition, rather than reform or abandon it, and does not imply the movement's adherents are politically conservative.

And Orthodox:

Orthodox Judaism's central belief is that Torah, including the Oral Law, was given directly from God to Moses and applies in all times and places.

(Now, even among Jews you will find a lot of debate about these definitions, and how we label ourselves. A Jew might belong to a Reform synagogue, but actually hold beliefs that are traditionally "orthodox" and cringe at his Rabbi's liberal sermons, yet he might also eat pork in violation of the kosher laws. And an Orthodox Jew has been known now and again to marry a non-Jew, which is perfectly acceptable by the Reform movement but a no-no by the orthodox. Frankly, I don't think an American Jew who labels himself as "politically conservative" can be, deep down, a Reform Jew because the American conservative movement is steeply rooted in traditional Judeo-Christian values...nonetheless you will meet politically conservative Jews who consider themselves Reform Jews, primarily because they don't keep kosher and sometimes work on Saturdays. To me, the observance of rituals are not the true test, rather, the foundations of one's beliefs are the more relevant standard. To me, if you're a Jew and politically conservative, then you really aren't a reform Jew despite how you label yourself. And if you're a secular progressive (e.g. abortion on demand), then you aren't a conservative or orthodox Jew no matter what you label yourself. Granted, its all semantics, but I'm trying to peel away the layers of the onion for the non-Jewish reader.)

So generally speaking, within Reform Judaism there is a tendency, if not pressure, to conform Judaism to secular society. Whereas, for conservative and orthodox Jews, the idea is that secular society would gain much by adopting traditional Jewish values, as G-d gave them to Moses. For the most part, conservative and orthodox Torah values are highly compatible with conservative Christian values, which is why conservative and orthodox Jews feel a political kinship with evangelical Christians, especially on issues surrounding Israel. Reform Jews, who have, so to speak, hitched their wagon to secular progressives, are of course bothered by conservative evangelical Christians, who as Obama voiced for all secular progressives, "cling to guns or religion." Reform Jews, like secular progressives, have a history of indifference or outright anti-Zionism when it comes to Israel issues.

Hopefully this post gives the non-Jewish reader a bit more flavor for the idea that the majority of Jews in the US belong to the Reform movement, which by definition seeks to harmonize itself with contemporary secular society and treat the Torah as a "living" document much the same way that some Supreme Court justices believe the Constitution should be interpreted to create harmony with contemporary progressive sentiment. The recent Heller decision illustrated the way the conservative majority carefully examined the intent of the framers of the Constitution through the lens of history and the philosophical views of the day, whereas the liberal judicial activists sought to interpret the plain text of the Second Amendment into something other than what it actually says. The exercise parallels the way a Reform Jew and a Conservadox Jew would read the Torah.

I hope I have not offended any one with this post, I am not the one to say which branch of Judaism is "correct," for as the Talmud asks, "how do you know that your blood is redder than his, perhaps his blood is redder than yours?"

In the next post, I'll discuss how the different branches of Judaism discussed above interpret the Torah as to private gun ownership.

Understanding Jewish Opposition to Gun Ownership Part 1

2011-07-28T16:59:00.000-07:00

Readers often arrive at this blog using search engine key words, and I have tools that show me those key words. Often, web surfers arrive here relying on terms like "Jews 2nd Amendment" or "Jews Gun Control". So perhaps I can shed some light on the issue for those that come here looking for answers.

Within the firearms community there is bewilderment as to why so many American Jews oppose 2d Amendment freedoms, and why Jewish politicians are often at the forefront of oppressive gun control legislation. The basic reasoning goes that Jews, as victims of the Holocaust, ought to be at the forefront of civilian rights to protect themselves from crime and oppressive government. The Warsaw ghetto uprisings, a source of pride to many Jews, ought to be instructive as well. Further, the history lesson is not limited to the Holocaust, as virtually every country where Jews have lived has either failed to protect them from violent hatred, or actively participated in their oppression or murder. Why then, do so many American Jews a) choose not to own firearms, and b) encourage legislation to stop others from owning them as well?

(First and foremost, there are many American Jews and politicians who support 2nd Amendment rights...click here to see the list I am compiling).

In my view, there are fairly simple answers to these questions. The first overriding principle is that the majority of American Jews identify themselves as "liberals" or "progressives." As I am neither of these, I find it extremely difficult to explain this tendency without resorting to, shall we say, politically incorrect language... However, Norman Podhoretz, a contributor to the excellent Commentary magazine, has written a book on the topic and has talked on the subject:
http://www.booktv.org/Program/10987/2009+Miami+Book+Fair+Norman+Podhoretz+quotWhy+Are+Jews+Liberalsquot.aspx

http://www.booktv.org/Program/10803/Why+Are+Jews+Liberals.aspx

So, simply put, many American Jews oppose 2nd Amendment freedoms for much the same reasons as other liberals and progressives. Such liberal and progressive Jews are primarily driven to oppose gun rights by their secular views, not their Jewish beliefs or identity.

That answer may be unsatisfactory to the extent that it fails to explain why, despite adhering to secular progressive doctrine generally, such American Jews don't make an exception for 2nd Amendment rights given their personal history. Further, I know many readers are curious as to where the Jewish religion stands on 2nd Amendment issues. In later posts I will address these topics.

Did the Jewish Marksman Find His Smallbore Prone Position?

2011-07-17T20:09:00.001-07:00

I've been "dabbling" in NRA Smallbore Prone, but despite better sights, a more accurate trigger and more accurate ammo than my Service Rifle, my groups have not been better than I can do with my AR-15 and .22LR upper!

Until this weekend, when I made some head position and sling changes which (finally!) eliminated almost all pulse and allowed for fairly quick releases. My 50 yard targets are above, the inner ring is the X and the outer the 10.

The only problem with the position is that my wrist and forearm fall asleep after about 10 minutes. That is a mixed blessing, because really there should be no muscle tension whatsoever in the left arm. However, there is no neural feedback as to whether the arm is tensed or not. That caused me to throw 2 nines at 100 yards where I work a little slower. So I think I may need a more padded glove, or to simply take a short break after the first 10 shots to let the circulation flow in my hand again:

Not great, but getting better. If I can get in just a little more practice before the next match, I think I can make a run at Expert classification in the next few months. The wind was blowing left to right on the first target, and I failed to notice the flags...need to fix that!

Josh Black: Air Rifle Champion

2011-07-14T18:45:00.000-07:00

Josh Black recently represented the tribe at the National Junior Olympic air rifle competition in Ohio, where he "won the championship in the 14-15 age group." Mazal Tov! You can read all about it in this great article (click). About shooting, Josh had this to say:

"I just love the sport," said Black, who was introduced to competitive marksmanship as a 12-year-old. "I've loved it from the first time I tried it. There's such a feeling of satisfaction when you hit the target. I enjoy the challenge, too. You're always trying to do better than you did the last time. You're always trying to beat a personal record or improve upon your last performance."

Josh's father chimed in with his view of shooting sports:

"It's actually quite a grueling thing," Scott said. "(Josh) practices five days a week for a couple of hours a day — at least. What he's doing, basically, is practicing the same thing — over and over and over again. Every other sport emphasizes movement and power, but not shooting. In shooting, the less you move, the better you perform. So you learn to concentrate and really lock in (on the target.) You learn to be calm. You learn to immediately forget a bad shot."

The article also mentions his sister Hannah who "earned a $2,500 scholarship by winning the American Legion air rifle championship last summer in Colorado Springs, Colo."

Jewish Marksman Celebrates the 4th with His .45!

2011-07-04T15:19:00.000-07:00

What better way to celebrate Independence Day than spending time at the gun range, exercising the constitutional right that guarantees all others?

Earlier this weekend I shot a High Power match, and had a bad day. Nu, at least for me a bad day is a Master score. I am really hoping my lower back gets healthy soon and I can make a serious run at High Master before year's end. Right now sitting position is a little painful...my back either needs to get better or I need to move to a more upright sitting position. I'm only 36, oy veh!

But on this 4th of July, I could have gotten in some much needed smallbore practice, but I just HAD to shoot my .45ACP revolver! Before I committed to NRA High Power Rifle, I shot Bullseye Pistol. In a nutshell, a portion of the match is shot with a .45 caliber pistol, one handed, 50 yards slow fire and 25 yards timed and rapid. I migrated from a 1911 semi-auto to a revolver, and was working my way up the classifications when my club sort of dropped the match. I was shooting Expert and flirting with Master. But the club recently started up the match again, and I've been considering attending a few matches. So last week, I loaded up 50 rounds of a 50 yard load, and 50 rounds of a 25 yard load, popped them into moonclips and figured I'd see how my pistol shooting skills are after a couple years of barely touching a pistol.

My loving wife encouraged me to hit the range this morning before our 4th festivities got underway, as she and the baby were sleeping in anyway. So I shot the .45, a S&W 625 5" revolver, and was really surprised that I still have it on a 50 yard target one-handed! The 7 and 8 were my first two shots, and after I adjusted windage, I was effortlessly hammering home 10s and 9s. Even with the 7 and 8, I scored a 93, which is an Expert score. My 25 yard shooting was pretty good, 10's and 9's shooting timed fire single-action and rapids double action. I let loose only one or two eights out of 50 shots, easily Master caliber scores (95%+). I was also happy at how my revolver performed, it always makes me chuckle how guys pay thousands for an accurized 1911, when my $600 used revolver easily holds <3" at 50 yards. If you want a challenging pistol sport, try Bullseye. One handed, 50 yards, 3.5" 10 ring!

Precision aside, as the president of the club, Chuck Wachsmuth, wisely opines about .45ACP cartridge, "Sometimes it just feels good to shoot the Big Gun!"

Indeed. Happy 4th!

Any Readers have Information about Shooting Sports at the European Maccabi Games?

2011-06-23T20:37:00.001-07:00

The 13th annual European Maccabi games are set to begin in a couple weeks. Shooting sports are scheduled for July 7 and 8: Free Rifle, Free Pistol and Air Pistol. Unfortunately, my emails are not getting through to the organizers.

If you have any information please let me know. Even better, if you are a participant please contact me so I can ask you about the experience! Email me a jewishmarksman(at)gmail.com

Good luck to all the competitors!

Calling all Jewish Archers!

2011-06-14T19:06:00.000-07:00

This week I received an email from the Israel Archery Association. Please read their message below. If you know of any Jewish archers interested in getting archery back into the Maccabiah games, please contact them! I would also be interested in adding them to the blog along with our rifle and pistol athletes. Here is the message:

Archery in 2013 Maccabiah Games in Israel?

Tel-Aviv June 2011

Shalom!

Every four years, the Maccabiah Games are held in Israel. They are the world´s largest and best Jewish athletic competition, drawing participants from every corner of the globe and in a great variety of sports, in an impressive display of Jewish unity and spirit.

Thus far, archery has not been included in the Maccabiah Games due to an insufficient number of participants. We, members of the Israeli Archery Association, have decided to remedy the situation and have our beloved sport included in the 2013 Games. In order to do so, at least four national teams of three-four archers must apply for participation no later than July 2012. To this end, we are seeking active Jewish archers throughout the world.

If you are an active Jewish archer and are interested in representing your country in this event, please contact us at archery .maccabiah @gmail .com.

We hope you will join us in helping Jewish and Israeli archery achieve the recognition it deserves.

Sincerely,

The Israel Archery Association

Black Hawk Bagel Boys Set to Storm Camp Perry

2011-06-11T14:27:00.000-07:00

The NRA and CMP National Matches are fast approaching. Last year, we saw Jessica Levine do an awesome job representing the tribe in 3-position small bore. This year, we may be in for a special treat, as announced by Hap Rocketto:

Among the Black Hawk Rifle Club team entries planned for the 2011NRA Smallbore Rifle Prone Championships Perry will be a team named The Black Hawk Bagel Boys.

Organized by “Reb” Randy Schwartz, the entire cadre of the Chosen People who inhabit the Black Hawk Rifle Club membership rolls will compete as a team. The following Black Hawk kosher kids; Dennis Lindenbaum, Randy Schwartz, Don Lerner, Eitan Baranzani, Steve Rocketto and Hap Rocketto are penciled in for this event. Larry Hoffman will be Head of the Bagel Boys Lox Box (Peanut Gallery to the Gentiles) at Perry.

We believe that this is the first time a team composed entirely of the Sons of Abraham has competed for the Black Hawks and at Camp Perry.

There is some scuttlebutt that they may need a replacement shooter. If you know a great Jewish small bore prone shooter, let me know at jewishmarksman@gmail.com and I'll pass the word.

Leo Bletnitsky: President of the Las Vegas Jewish Shooting and Cigar Club

2011-06-10T17:50:00.000-07:00

Today's interview is with Leo Bletnitsky, founder of the Las Vegas Shooting and Cigar Club. His club is the second I know of, with a very similar Jewish shooting club in Detroit. Below you can learn about Leo and his new club. We wish him good luck!

1. Where did you grow up, and where do you live now?

I grew up in San Francisco, college in San Diego and now live in Las Vegas.

2. What do you do for a living?

I’m an IT consultant for medical offices and small/medium companies. I am also a part-time Deputy Constable.

3. Who introduced you to firearms? How old were you the first time you went shooting?

My father and a friend of the family when I was 14.

4. Are you involved in any shooting sports? What shooting sports have you competed in? Have you earned any awards or classifications?

I have not competed other than with friends. Mostly with hand guns.

5. What do Jewish family members and friends think about your shooting?

Most are either curious or positive. A few have an issue, but they are not close friends so it does not matter.

6. What do you like most about shooting and the shooting sports?

It’s both challenging and useful at the same time.

7. Do you have any goals right now in shooting?

Just to continue improving marksmanship, both accuracy and speed.

8. What prompted you to start the Las Vegas Jewish Shooting and Cigar Club? How did you come up with the idea?

I am the president of the Las Vegas RJC Chapter and wanted to do something that would appeal to the whole community, and to enhance the ability of Jews to defend themselves and maybe that empowerment would counteract the strong liberal leanings in the community. I spoke to a friend who was a member in Detroit of a similar club and we decided to move forward. I spoke to some community leaders and all except one where supportive.

9. What are the goals of the club?

Create greater comfort for Jews with Guns and gun ownership.
Create a social outlet for enthusiasts.
Create new gun enthusiasts.
Increase gun safety for people in the community.
Child Safety programs.
Move people on the left a bit toward the center by turning something they fear into something they enjoy and respect.

10. Has there been a meeting yet? How did it go?

We had our 1^st meeting on May 16^th at an Orthodox Shule. We had about 50 people attend and all are eager to move forward. Many others apologized for missing it due to scheduling conflicts.

11. Have you "converted" any Jews into gun owners or shooters? Any interesting stories to tell about with that?

Not yet, but I’m actively working on it.

12. Is there anything else you would like to say to the readers?

Firearms are the great equalizer. They give a small woman the ability to resist a large attacker and just imagine what the Warsaw Ghetto would have been like if all the Jewish families had been armed either in the Ghetto, or before they were relocated. The world is often a dangerous place for Jews especially, and it is each person’s job to defend themselves and their family!In addition to the above, shooting is a lot of fun!

13. If someone is interested in your club, how can they learn more about it?

They can go to http://www.LVJCSC.com or Like us on Facebook
We are still working on improving the web site, as time permits.

Alan Ballew - Jewish Marksman

2011-06-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

Below is the obituary of Alan Ballew, who "attended Murray State University and was an award-winning marksman on the MSU rifle team:

Tuesday, 6/8/2004 - 19 Sivan 5764

Alan Ballew, 62, of Fairfield, California, passed away Monday, May 31, 2004, while at work. He was born in Malden, MA, and grew up in Paducah, Kentucky, where the family settled in his childhood. He attended Murray State University and was an award-winning marksman on the MSU rifle team. Mr. Ballew served honorably in the United States Army. He had been an active member of Congregation Shaare Emeth in St. Louis, MO, holding various offices in the brotherhood.

He was preceded in death by his father, J.E. Ballew, and a brother, Leonard Ballew.He is survived by his beloved wife, Phyllis Crider Ballew; a son, David Ballew, daughter-in-law, Mary, and granddaughter, Paulena, all of St. Louis; a daughter,Jennifer Ballew of Vacaville, CA; his mother, Elsie Ballew of Louisville and formerly of Paducah; brothers, Ervin Ballew of Dallas, TX, and Michael Ballew of St. Louis; sisters, Suzanne Ballew of Chicago, IL, and Dr. Laurie Ballew of Louisville; and many nieces and nephews. Other survivors in Kentucky include his mother-in-law, Margaret Crider, and brothers-in-law and their wives, Carroll and Fay Crider and Allen and Karen Parrent.

His funeral service was held Thursday, June 3, 2004, at Bryan-Baker Funeral Home in Fairfield, with Rabbi Steve Vale officiating. A graveside service and burial will be held at 11 a.m. today (Tuesday), June 8, 2004, at Temple Israel Cemetery in Paducah.

Dan Lederman: Jewish Pro-2nd Amendment Politician (and Marksman)

2011-06-05T08:10:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, the Jerusalem Post did a piece on Dan Lederman, a Jewish, Republican state legislator in South Dakota who strongly supports Israel. I did a little research, and it turns out Lederman is very pro-2nd Amendment, and the NRA has given him a Defender of Freedom Award. He is quoted on his website:

“I am grateful the NRA awarded me an A+ rating. It is an affirmation of my firm belief and the belief of Second Amendment supporters across the state that our constitutional right to bear arms must be protected. This rating could not be timelier as pheasant season opens on October 16th. In time honored tradition, tens of thousands of South Dakota residents and hunters from around the country will travel across the state to exercise their Second Amendment freedoms. ... There is still more work to do to protect the Second Amendment, [r]ecent Supreme Court rulings in Heller and McDonald have laid the groundwork for states to reform laws to bring them in line with these rulings. If elected to the State Senate, I intend to bring forward a bill that would allow law abiding individuals to keep a fire arm in their locked vehicle while parked in an employer’s parking lot. Gun owners and gun rights proponents continue to be supportive of these efforts. Citizens’ Second Amendment rights should not be checked at the entrance to an employers’ parking lot.”

Dan Lederman seems like my kind of politician...pro-Israel and pro-Second Amendment....what more can conservative Jews ask for? It is great to see his success in a state with a small Jewish community, and hopefully someday soon we'll see him on the national scene. (I don't know much about his background in shooting sports, although the photo above at least proves he's gone shooting at least once!)

For my growing list of prominent Jews who support the Second Amendment, click here.

Remembering Jewish Troops on Memorial Day

2011-05-29T16:57:00.000-07:00

"Men sleep peacefully in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."-George Orwell

Tomorrow is a day we remember and honor all of the troops in the US Armed Forces who have given their lives for all of our freedoms (including the right to bear arms...). If you are so inclined to pay special homage and support to our Jewish troops their are a few web sites you might want to check out:

Jewish War Veterans of the US (http://www.jwv.org/)

This organization once published a book called "Jews in American Wars," and I was lucky to find a copy recently. It covers Jewish service from the Revolution forward, a great read if you can find it! They also have a newsletter with great historical entries, and a recent edition identifies Jewish soldiers fallen in our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Kosher Troops Care packages to US Jewish Soldiers (http://www.koshertroops.com/index.html)

National Museum of American Jewish Military History (http://www.nmajmh.org/)

Jews in Green (http://www.jewsingreen.com/)

May G-d bless our troops.

Jewish Marksmen Need to Take a Stand

2011-05-17T18:40:00.000-07:00

The primary focus of this blog is Jews who participate in shooting sports. There are other organizations with web sites that focus on gun rights, notably Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JFPO), so as a rule I try to avoid duplicating their efforts.

I need to make an exception to that rule and inform my readers about a controversy that has arisen in the most gun-unfriendly state in the Union, my native state of Illinois. The controversy was caused by the graphic above which was used by a gun rights group. In case you cannot clearly read the text, on the left it says, "Armed people fly their colors," and on the right it reads, "Disarmed, victims wear them." Apparently, the anti-gun crowd finds the graphic offensive. In fact, our fellow landsman, Illinois state senator Ira Silverstein had this to say: “It offended not only me but a lot of Jewish individuals and non-Jewish individuals who know the history of the Holocaust. [This group] should think before they print these things.”

Rabbi Dovid Bendory has written a letter to Mr. Silverstein, wherein he criticizes Silverstein's viewpoint (link at http://jpfo.org/rabbi/rabbi-silverstein-letter.htm). I strongly urge you to read Rabbi Bendory's letter to Silverstein, which also gives a little more of the background, and links to the newspaper article that kicked things off.

I strongly agree with Rabbi Bendory. Like Bendory, I am disappointed and ashamed that a fellow Jew like Silverstein learned nothing from the history and events that lead to the Holocaust. Note that Silverstein's quote says it offended "individuals who know the history of the Holocaust," not that Silverstein actually confirmed that any Holocaust survivors are actually offended by it. To borrow from Reagan, "the trouble with our gun-fearing Jewish friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so."

If you would like to write to Silverstein and express your views, his email address seems to be silverstein@senatedem.state.il.us It is important that we take a stand.

Robert Farago - (Best) Gun Blogger

2011-05-08T08:01:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I discovered thetruthaboutguns.com blog, and it has quickly become my favorite destination for intelligent and honest discussion on most things gun-related. The Truth About Guns (TTAG) has a broad view of firearms, which I find refreshing. TTAG's blog posts are presented as point of view, as opposed to point of fact. So unlike most other gun blogs, TTAG does not suffer from annoying self-righteousness and self-certainty that makes other gun blogs unreadable.

After noticing a few passing references to Judaism, I began to wonder if TTAG's main editor was Jewish. As it turns out, Robert Farago, TTAG's Managing Editor and Publisher is indeed a member of the tribe. He graciously agreed to participate in a Q & A exchange about himself and his blog:

1. Where did you grow up, and where do you live now?

I grew up in Providence, RI. I live in Providence, RI. In between the two, I've lived in Boston, Atlanta and various parts of southern England.

2. What motivated you to start your blog, thetruthaboutguns.com? What motivates you to keep doing it? Are there any particular goals for the blog?

I started TTAG to combine my passion for writing and shooting (though not both at the same time). I did so after I sold my website www.thetruthaboutcars.com to a corporate conglomerate that had no more interest in nurturing artistic talent than raising ferrets (despite their ferret-like behavior). I'm motivated by OCD, low self-esteem, an inflated ego, a wicked sense of humor, a hatred for lousy editors and a love of the the truth. My goal for the blog is to A) make money for myself and my writers and B) reach 1m unique viewers per month to achieve A.

3. Who introduced you to firearms? How old were you the first time you went shooting?

I introduced myself to firearms. Hello firearms. Nice to meet you. I put the bullets where? Seriously, I just decided to take it up at the ripe old age of 50. OK, 51. I'd shot some as a kid. Plinking with a friend who had a gun. Hunted ducks with my Dad. Once. But it never really "took" until I started the website and got into the tactical and political aspects.

4. Are you involved in shooting sports? What shooting sports have you competed in? Have you earned any awards or classifications?

I've got no time for formal competition; I'm something of a Mr. Mom as well as a blogger. I take as much training as possible and shoot at least three times a week. Mostly defensive handgun (MOVE!) but also shotgun and rifle.

5. What do Jewish family members and friends think about your affinity for guns and your blog?

My Mom is a typical jewish liberal. But she's old enough now where she doesn't really care as long as I don't put on too much weight (go figure). My U.S.-based kids go to a Quaker school that preaches non-violence. Naturally, we have a semi-secret militia. Lots of parents shoot. As for my friends, they're all gun nuts too. Either that or they're not my friends, as I tend to be both reclusive and monomaniacal.

6. Have you “converted” any Jews to gun ownership? Any interesting stories about that?

I've certainly renewed some of my Jewish friends' acquaintance with firearms. They hadn't shot in years before I got them back to the range. There was one gentlemen who said he'd never fire a gun at another human being. After two targets, I put up a human silhouette. He drilled center mass and we talked about the difficulty of doing it in the heat of the moment. He now keeps a Kimber by his bed.

7. Is there anything else you would like to say to the readers?

I am the son of a Holocaust survivor. I am deeply shamed by the gun control perpetuated by Jewish politicians. They are our own worst enemies. God directs that we should defend our lives. To remove the single most effective instrument of that defense from ourselves and our people is to affront God with our ignorance and stupidity. This is the single most important issue we will ever face. Do not vote for any Jewish politician who favors gun control.

Go check out Robert and the other authors over at thetruthaboutguns.com. I have also added him to my list of prominent Jews who support the Second Amendment.

Marty Goodman - Jewish Marksman

2011-04-24T20:17:00.000-07:00

This article is hopefully the first of many where I let Jewish marksmen tell us about themselves in their own words, prompted along by a few questions I sent over. Marty Goodman contacted me after seeing this blog, and graciously agreed to be the guinea pig. Hopefully some of you that have been on the sidelines will volunteer as well! So without further ado, let's meet Marty!

1. Where did you grow up, and where do you live now?

I was born in Brooklyn, NY Moved to Long Island (Massapequa Park) in 1966, Retired in 2005 and moved to Cookeville, TN.

2. What do you do for a living?

I was a Graphic Artist, Illustrator and Photo Retoucher, I owned my own company "Retouching Graphics, Inc."

3. Who introduced you to firearms? How old were you the first time you went shooting?

I started shooting informally in 1958 at 18 years old, my first rifle was a Enfield Jungle Carbine.
In 1968 I went to the Nassau County range and met a smallbore shooter that had been on the St. John's Rifle Team in college. We stated talking, he invited me to his club meeting, and the rest is history.

4. How did you get involved in shooting sports?

I was a line coach for rifle in the Army, training basic training troops, plus See #3

5. What shooting sports have you competed in? Have you earned any awards or classifications?

I started with smallbore 3 position, air rifle and prone. Made only expert in all 3. I competed in the Maccabiah Games in 1989, (13th)and earned 3 medals. I also shot high power rifle and made master, almost hi-master. I have won numerous awards, too many to count. I have competed at Camp Perry over 30 times, I am going this year also. My highest award and best performance was in the 1000 yard match at Camp Perry, I finished 14th overall out of over 700 entries. I beat many many top shooters. My best achievement is as a coach, I ran and coached the Roslyn Junior Rifle Club over a 30 year period, my goal was to prepare juniors to compete in college. Dozens of my kids competed on top college teams with many getting a scholarship in rifle. All three of my children went to college on a shooting scholarship. My oldest son and daughter went to Tennessee Tech and my middle son went to Jacksonville State University. My oldest son Manny was on the US Rifle Team. Because of a lung problem I can no longer shoot rifle, so I compete in bullseye pistol, tactical matches and SASS cowboy matches. I have numerous NRA, CMP and SASS ratings as instructor, coach and range officer. Shooting has been a major part of my life for 50 years now.

6. What do Jewish family members and friends think about your shooting?

I am very lucky, the largest portion of my family were not liberals, and got a lot of support from them.

7. What do you like most about the shooting sports?

Everything, it builds the best people who lead exceptional lives.

8. Do you have any goals right now in the shooting sports?

My only goal is to keep shooting as long as I can. At my age (over 70 now) goals are hard to achieve. I am in reasonably good physical shape, but age catches up to you. I still work out 3 days a week at the gym. Winning is no longer a need for me, just competing is enough. I also enjoy coaching, teaching and training shooters as much as I can.

9. Is there anything else you would like to say to the readers?

I could never understand why so many Jewish people are such liberals, our enemies know that a majority of Jewish people are against gun ownership. If the Jews in Europe all owned guns, there would be a lot more of us. Long live Israel....

Jewish Marksman Officially a Master

2011-04-14T18:25:00.000-07:00

Today I received my Master classification card in NRA High Power Rifle. What's the secret to getting there? The same secret to make it to Carnegie Hall: practice, practice, and more practice.

Last weekend I attended an NRA Smallbore Prone match. The match was run by a Jewish marksman, but more on him another time... For a great summary of the sport and its history, check out fellow Jewish marksman Hap Rocketto's piece here.

Smallbore rifle is a new challenge for me in many ways. I thought my prone game was pretty good, typically 97%+ in High Power. Well, it turns out that 97% barely makes the Sharpshooter class in Smallbore Prone, and that's exactly how I shot last weekend. It is also a 160 shot match, shot in 20 minute intervals of 20 shots at 50 yards, 50 meters, and 100 yards. I find it difficult to stay focused for what amounts to a five hour match, particularly when at this club 15 to 20 minute breaks are taken between stages..next time I'll bring something to read between stages!

There is a lot for me to learn and practice to begin to do well. First and foremost, I need to build a good position. Curiously, with the AR-15 service rifle I was able to build a stable prone position very quickly, even though most people don't love its ergonomics. My 9's in prone are usually trigger problems, not hold problems. However, despite my smallbore rifle's adjustable buttstock and comb, I can't get my head in a good, comfortable position, and find myself craning my neck down to see the sights. The result is a stable position for about five or six shots before the discomfort and strain breaks down the position and the hold falls apart. I am pretty sure that sight risers (blocks that allow a shooter to bring the sights up higher above the muzzle) will fix the problem. It stands to reason that the closer I get my smallbore rifle's geometry to my proven comfort behind the AR, the better I'll be. The other issue is a handstop too large for my hand, which becomes quite painful by around the twelfth shot or so. Lastly, I have trouble with the bottom row of targets for some reason.

Anyhow, my goals for the rest of the year will be to make High Master in High Power, and I think Expert in smallbore prone might be doable.

Another High Master Score for the Jewish Marksman

2011-04-05T13:11:00.001-07:00

I had a good weekend match, shot 97% on the nose for a High Master score. I did not win the match (came in 3rd), but had a lot of fun because going into the final stage it was anybody's ball game, and the top three shooters were all one point separated from the next.

I also shot a 191 standing, which is a new personal best. If I can get over my start-of-match jitters, which last for about 10 minutes, I think I can improve on that even more....

I even had an alibi string during the match, my rifle jammed during feeding immediately after a magazine change during rapid sitting. I am not sure what happened, probably I did not slam the magazine home hard enough and the problem did not repeat. The situation distracted me a little more than it should have, and I shot a 193 whereas I usually shoot 197 and above for both seated and rapid prone. It carried over into my prone rapid with a 195. I got my act together in slow prone though.

I competed as a Master, even though the NRA still has me classified as a Sharpshooter!

Israeli Ice Hockey Players - Jewish Marksmen?

2011-03-27T18:20:00.000-07:00

What does ice hockey have to do with marksmanship? Having played ice hockey as both a youth and adult, I can assure you that shooting a puck past a goalie takes a great deal of precision. A player can make a "wrist shot" with great precision, and also a "slap shot" which can travel over a hundred miles per hour. Either way, a good goalie will only a few inches for the player to hit, so learning to shoot a puck takes the same kind of mental practice and skill as rifle and pistol shooting.

Which brings us to the remarkable recent victories of Israeli youth hockey clubs. Israel's pee wee (11-13 year old) hockey team from Bat Yam won an international tournament in Quebec. Interestingly, as the article points out, many of the kids practice exclusively on roller blades. Another Israeli team from Ma'alot just won big tournament in Oh io, at the highest AAA level.

Mazal tov!

P.S. I think the Israeli national team jersey looks awesome.

Ruth Betty Blum - Collegiate Rifle Champion

2011-03-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

Using google searches, I sometimes come across Jewish shooters who have left this earth, and their passion for shooting sports was strong enough that their families felt it worthy of mention in their obituary. As I find them, I will schedule them in advance to post on the shooter's yahrzeit. I think these obituaries are interesting, because they show that Jews from all walks of life can have an interest in shooting sports.

Below is the obituary of Ruth Betty Blum, who "was a champion on the college rifle team during her years at Oshkosh State Teachers College (now the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh)":

Ruth Betty Blum

March 18th, 2005

Former longtime Oshkosh resident Ruth Betty Blum (nee Zimmerman) died in her sleep at her Sarasota, Fla., home March 1. She was 82.

Born at her grandparents’ home in Green Bay to Morris and Sarah (Miller) Zimmerman, Blum lived in Oshkosh from the age of six months through most of her life. While growing up, she worked in her family’s store, Zimmerman Clothing, on Main Street.

According to her family, she was a champion on the college rifle team during her years at Oshkosh State Teachers College (now the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh). She graduated with a double major in English and biology, then taught English, biology and driver’s education in Seymour, Wis., for two years.

On July 4, 1947, she married Dr. Harold J. Blum, who died in 1998. During their 51 years of marriage they traveled extensively to Europe, Israel, Mexico, the Far East and through the Panama Canal, among other places. In 1980, they began spending winters on Siesta Key in Sarasota, Fla. In 2001, she moved her summer residence to Monona, Wis.

She was a lifelong member of Congregation B’nai Israel and its Sisterhood, as well as Hadassah. She was an avid reader with a special fondness for mysteries, and an ardent Green Bay Packers fan. She also enjoyed boating, baking, Broadway plays, opera, dancing and chocolate, her family said.

She is survived by sons David Blum and Dr. Marc (Kathy) Blum, both of Oshkosh; daughter Carla (Dr. Ismor Fischer) Blum of Madison; sister Fern Lois Shapiro of Encino, Calif.; and seven grandchildren.

Religious director Gary Wolfman officiated at a memorial service on March 6 at Congregation B’nai Israel in Oshkosh.

Memorials to Congregation B’nai Israel, P.O. Box 904, Oshkosh, WI 54902-0904, would be appreciated by the family.

Alexander Danilov - Pistol Champion (and Ambassador for Shooting Sports!)

2011-03-15T16:36:00.000-07:00

Alexander Danilov is an Israeli pistol shooter, and one of the best in the world. As his surname suggests, he is one of the many immigrants to Israel from Russia, and originally competed on the Russian team. His accolades are well documented Wikipedia (some highlights):

Alexander Danilov (born Nov. 10, 1969) is an Israeli pistol shooter, who was a member of the Israeli shooting team at the 2000 Sydney Games and 2004 Athens Games.
Danilov has been among the world elite in both the free pistol and air pistol shooting events.
Danilov finished in 2nd place in the 50-meter free pistol at the 1995 European Championships.
In 1997, Danilov (competing for Russia) finished 5th in the men's air pistol event at the Munich World Cup.
Danilov then won the gold medal for Israel at the 1999 European Championships in the 10-meter pistol in Germany.
Danilov won the air pistol event at the European Championship in Munich in 2000.
He captured the bronze medal at the 2001 Atlanta World Cup.
He finished fourth in the World Cup circuit 2002 tournament free pistol event in Finland, and second in the air pistol overall in the World Cup competition.
He came in 9th in the 2003 European Championships in the 50 meter pistol.
2004 saw him come in 3rd in the Bangkok World Cup circuit event.
On August 5, 2004, he won the Czech Grand-Prix meet with 668.7 points, a new Israeli record.
In the 2004 Olympics Danilove came in 15th in the 50 meter free pistol.
Danilov's wife, Olga Danilova, is a former short track speed skater who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics.

The picture above from the Sydney 2000 Olympics is the best I could find. If you look careful, you can see he is holding a free pistol.

Interestingly, via Google I found his name mentioned in an article that demonstrates one of the reasons I run this blog. The article was written in 2008 by Jane Herman for the online publication RJ.org, which describes itself as "News and Views of Reform Jews." Ms. Herman writes in her article about how discovering that Jews like Danilov and Guy Starik compete in shooting sports somehow contributed to her challenging her preconceived notions about guns. She begins her article describing how she originally harbored typical anti-gun sentiments shared by too many Americans, and too many American Jews in particular. She writes:

When I'd recovered enough to ask some questions, I learned that this particular gun owner doesn't hunt, but he does own both long guns and handguns that he uses for sport shooting. I subsequently learned that shooting is an Olympic sport requiring tremendous precision, skill and training. With a bit more help from Google, I also learned that Israelis Alexander Danilov and Guy Starek are both distinguished competitive marksman. The former, a pistol shooter, won the gold medal at the European Championships in Germany in 1999 and the latter, a free rifle competitor, placed 7th at the 1995 World Championships and 4th at the 1998 World Championships.

Even with this knowledge, I was extremely disconcerted, not so much because someone I know owns guns, but rather because I--so quickly and so wrongly--had jumped to the conclusion that the weapons are handguns and thus are "bad" in every way. I like to believe that I view the world through lenses that bring various shades of gray into focus, and I was distressed and disappointed in myself that, in this instance, I had seen it only in the starkest shades of black and white.

Now, I get the sense that Ms. Herman, aka "JanetheWriter" probably has not purchased a firearm or joined the competitive shooting sports. But her article points out the powerful example that we Jews in the shooting sports can set--we change the hearts and minds of our brothers and sisters who are simply misinformed about the nature of firearms and the shooting sports. Imagine the impact it would have had on Ms. Herman if this blog had been around in 2008 when she wrote her article; she would have discovered that not just Israelis compete at the top levels in the shooting sports, but plenty of American Jews as well.

Jewish Marksman likes SmartReloader Products

2011-03-14T08:02:00.000-07:00

So far I am satisfied with some new reloading products I've recently acquired from a company called SmartReloader. Generally, when it comes to reloading supplies, I am pretty much a "Lee" man--I think Lee Precision makes great products and offers great service at great (i.e. cheap) prices. I do have a few products from other manufacturers, such as RCBS, but only because Lee didn't offer what I needed at the time. You can spend more on presses that (arguably) offer more features, but for pistol cartridge reloading in particular, Lee is tough to beat in terms of value. I had some concerns about whether my Lee Loadmaster press and Lee .223 dies were up to the task of reloading accurate rifle cartridges for NRA High Power, but that concern is gone given how well my ammo has performed off the Lee press, dies, and powder measure. I even use the Lee Zip Trim and other case prep tools. Can't argue with my recent Master scores, and the great groups I've been shooting in prone.

However, in the past year or so a new supplier has entered the market, SmartReloader. As far as I can tell they are a European company, that seems to have a "house" brand line of products. I noticed a few of their items were available at Natchez Shooters Supplies, one of my favorite online retailers. I first purchased the SmartReloader media separator, which is $10-$20 cheaper than other brands. Since then, I've picked up their funnel, case care kit, and trickler (although mine came in black, not yellow). All the SmartReloader gear is a little cheaper than the competitors. So far, I've only had a chance to use the media separator and case care kit (actually only the small primer pocket reamer and uniformer).

The media separator works fine, a nice replacement for the plastic pasta strainers I was using before. The primer pocket tools seem to work fine. I use them only when a primer gets mangled during insertion, or refuses to seat below flush. I lightly ream and uniform the pocket a bissel, which usually solves the problem for the one out of ten cases that have a primer seating issue during reloading.

All of the tools I have so far from SmartReloader are simple tools where precision is not critical and there aren't any moving parts. I'm not sure I would dive into one of their presses, and especially not their electric powder measure and scale unless I was sure that they offer robust US support. In the case of Lee, any issues I've had have been addressed with prompt emails and great customer service. So far, SmartReloader doesn't have much of a track record (or at least one I can find online), and I am not the kind to take the risks of an early adopter.

I'm certainly not disparaging any other line of reloading equipment. It's a little funny how loyal we shooters can be about our reloading equipment, and how many on-line flame wars break out in the forums about who makes the best reloading presses and dies. All I can say is that for my Bullseye pistol and High Power rifle needs, Lee has done the job at the lowest price. But keep your eye on SmartReloader for some of the accessories that Lee doesn't offer.

3/28/11 Update: I used the trickler and funnel tonight, both work fine.

Torah Portion Vayikra and Jewish Marksmanship

2011-03-11T10:11:00.000-08:00

This week's Torah portion is parshah Vayikra, Leviticus 1:1-5:26. (Click here for the parsha in a nutshell from Chabad):

"In the Parshah of Vayikra, which opens the book of Leviticus, G-d speaks to Moses from the Tent of Meeting and begins His communication of the laws governing the bringing of the korbanot, the animal and meal offerings that are the central feature of the service performed in the Sanctuary."

Of particular note to target shooters is:

No leaven... [shall be present] in any offering of G-d (2:11)

The rabbis explain this passage as follows:

Leaven, which is dough that has fermented and risen, represents self-inflation and pride, and there is nothing more abhorrent to G-d. In the words of the Talmud, "G-d says of the prideful one, 'He and I cannot dwell together in the world.'"

I find that there is a direct correlation between my scores and humility. The more self-worth and self-importance we attach to our results on the target, the less likely we will shoot well and enjoy the sport in the long run.

Match pressure comes from caring about scores at a personal level. To care about a match score at a personal level implies your sense of self and identity is somehow tied into the results on paper. Maybe you think about how others will perceive you based on your score? Maybe how you perceive yourself is based on your score? It is very hard to do, but the key is to remember what is indisputably true: your score on the target has nothing to do with who you are as a person. If a high score is something you need to feel good about yourself, or to justify the time you've spent practicing, then your life priorities are out of balance.

That's easy to say, but tough in practice. But I do believe that at the core of match pressure, especially the kind that makes you shoot worse than you do in practice, is pride of some form or another. Match pressure still sometimes throws me off, especially when I start thinking about moving up in classification as a result of the score I hope to shoot that day. That means I still have some improvement to make as a person before I can improve as a shooter.

And with that, Shabat Shalom!

Hap Rocketto - Jewish Marksman and Marksmanship Historian

2011-03-07T19:47:00.000-08:00

I was pleasantly surprised when Hap Rocketto contacted the site, not only because he is Jewish, but also because he gave a long list of additional competitive Jewish shooters I will be telling you about this year. Even better, he had a profile already composed, saving me time (I have so little of it lately!). First, Hap himself is a great rifle shooter:

Hap Rocketto was rated a Distinguished Rifleman in 1981. He is one of few who have been a member of both Service Rifle and Smallbore Rifle All National Guard Rifle Teams, where he served as both a coach and shooter. An NRA Smallbore Distinguished Position Rifleman he has earned Presidents Hundred honors three times, has been a member of numerous open and National Guard national championship teams, the 2002 Three Position Intermediate Senior National Champion, member of the 2007 US Championship Indoor Four Position Championship team as well as a multiple National Record holder. He is a member of the 1600 Club and has served as adjutant of the US Roberts Team as well as captain and coach of the US Drew Cup Team. Rocketto was a member of the 1973 and 1985 US silver medal winning US Maccabiah Rifle Team and a member of the Connecticut Shooters Hall of Fame.

Aside from his shooting accolades, Hap is well known shooting historian, and his articles appear in numerous publications as well as online sources. I particularly enjoy how his writing style brings his subjects to life, and he knows exactly which details to mention such that by then end of one of his pieces you feel as if you have personally met the person he covers.

I have previously cited to his work when I wrote about Morris Fisher.
But here are some sources for his other works, which I am sure you will enjoy:
http://pronematch.com/tag/hap-rocketto/
Hap's Corner on the Rifleman's Blog

Larissa Zuranowa - World Skeet Champion

2011-02-27T14:05:00.000-08:00

Today we have another great Jewish shooter from the former Soviet Union, Larissa Gurvich (now Zuranova) I discovered she was Jewish through Google searches for female Jewish shooters, and found a source here and here. I then passed the name along to Ernst over at Backyard-Safari blog, who was able to tell us a little more about her. The following is his post translated with a little help from Google translate:

Larissa Semyonovna Gurwitsch, now Zuranowa, was born on May, 10 1947 in Bessporno. She studied at the Medical Institute in Rostov on Don. In 1963 she began with sporting shotgun under the guidance of her father in Yekaterinburg, now known as Sverdlovsk. She specialized in Skeet and with great success. Gurwitsch was four times world champion (1967, 1970, 1974, 1975), ten-time European champion (first published in 1965) and twelve times the USSR champion. In addition, she set several records. At that time she competed on the Army Sports Club .

Her favorite shotguns were the IZH-12 and IZH-25, which the Izhevsk factory customized for her, because at that time the Soviet-made guns were not popular among competitors. The otherwise delicate-looking woman shot more than 10,000 rounds per year through those guns.

Later she married the equally highly successful shotgunner Zuranow Yuri (1936-2008) and became Larissa Zuranowa. Both worked until the ends of their active careers in the mid-80s as coaches, first in Rostov and later in Yekaterinburg, which is one of the centers of clay target shooting in Russia. She currently lives and works in Novosibirsk . Her protégés include her son Konstantin Zuranow (b. 1972) among others, who participated in the Olympic Games in 2008 in Skeet.

Thanks again to Ernst, as Jewish shooters in the former USSR are very hard to research otherwise. Our newest shotgunning Jewish Marksman, Simms Pearl, has big shoes to fill. The other shotgunning Jewish Marksman we know of is filmmaker Steven Spielberg.

Post #101 and beyond!

2011-02-16T19:23:00.000-08:00

To all the fans of Jewish Marksmanship, turns out this post is a milestone, post #101! Our "like" group on Facebook continues to grow. So what do the next 100 posts have in store?

1. Well, as mazal would have it, last week I received a great email from fellow Jewish marksman Hap Rocketto, who provided me a list of 20 top Jewish marksmen I probably would never have discovered. Profiling those shooters will keep me busy for a while.

2. I think a new logo for the blog is in order...any volunteers?

3. I STILL NEED YOU CLUB SHOOTERS TO VOLUNTEER TO BE PROFILED. How is that for asking nicely? This blog is not just about the top shooters in the game, but about any Jew who tries his or her hand at the shooting sports. Just drop me an email and we'll go from there.

And with that, I introduce a new Jewish Marksman, Simms Pearl of Massachusetts, who sent me this great email earlier today:

Hello,

I am new to clay targets and am starting out in the sport. As a Jew, I was curious about how many Jews are into shooting. I did a search and found your site. It is very interesting.

I am often disturbed by self defeating statements by other Jews about how 'Jews don't do this or that'. I totally reject the concept of the Jew as a mechanically inept, physically weak, over urbanized coward. These statements are neither historically accurate or fair. This image of the ghetto Jew was rejected by the early Zionists who wanted Jews to be strong and brave and return to the land.

In ancient times Jews were actually highly sought after as warriors because of their fighting skills.

Several years ago, there was an Israel celebration on the town green in my community. A Jewish friend of mine who is also an auxiliary police officer, volunteered to help police the event. An ultra-orthodox Rabbi and his wife came by. They saw his name tag and asked if he was Jewish. He told them that he was. They were shocked.

"A Jewish Policeman?" they exclaimed as if he was from Mars.

My friend told them that actually the chief of police as well as the assistant chief were also Jewish.

I guess these people thought they were still in 1850 Poland.

This type of thing really bothers me. We are not guests in this country living at the largess of some religious majority. Jews have always played a very important part in America's history. The have fought bravely in all of its conflicts and made contributions to all walks of life far in excess of their numbers.

Anyway, I am sure I am 'preaching to the choir" here but I did want to thank you for your site.

Sincerely,

Simms Pearl

Lev Weinstein: Olympic Champion

2011-02-10T19:04:00.000-08:00

Gil Hebards Pistol Shooter's Treasury is a great book on pistol shooting (it must be a great book because I loaned out my copy and never got it back...), and is divided into separate chapters by different authors. One of the chapters is by Lev Weinstein, a former USSR shooting coach, and I wondered if he was Jewish based on his name. A while back, my blog was discovered by a blogger in Germany, who has some knowledge of competitive shooters in the former Soviet Union, and has already written about a few of them. The following is an excerpt on Weinstein from his blog, translated by Google, as my German is a bit rusty:

He was born on 03/12/1916 in Yekaterinburg born. Like most of his peers, he was in the war years a member of the Red Army and remained so even after the end of World War II, but then as athletes. Most recently, he wore the rank of Major aD (the accompanying picture shows him in officer's uniform). As his surname suggests, he was a Jew. Still, he seems to have somehow managed in the late Stalin onset persecution of Jews, in which many Jewish lost their positions to Soviet citizens survive time.

Weinstein at the 1952 Summer Olympic Games in Helsinki in the truest sense of the word for "Shooting Star" of the shooting scene with the fifth free pistol at 50 meters and third parties with the gun outside to 300 m. This bronze medal he won as a total outsider, he was above all an ambitious handguns shot. This shows that one in fields can provide excellent results both well. Maybe he was just an exceptional shooter. ;-) He also has several world and European titles won and held five world records, two European records and 32 Soviet records.

Later, Weinstein has a trainer in the Central Army Sports Club (P / CSKA) worked and Moscow, where many trained. Handgun shooters in 1962 he was honorary title of "Honored coach of the Soviet Union" award. the Previously he had been the shooting sports departments (Army) sports club "Dynamo "in Tbilisi (1946-1950), Leningrad (1950-1953) and Moscow (1953-1955) belongs to.

He was still active into old age, his last book came out in 1998. On 12.25.2004 is Lew Weinstein, the 89th Years standing, died. To this day remember his students appreciate him.

In 1956 , he has little textbook for handguns written a shooter, in which he sums up his experiences and tips are many. Because of Weinstein's work has won international recognition also found. Since there are two German states were at that time, this book was published twice in German. First, in East Germany, entitled "Sport shooting with pistols and revolvers" (Berlin 1960) and the other in Germany as "Sporty shooting with handguns" (edited by the German Shooting Federation).

I have not been able to find much else out about Weinstein via Google. Once again danke to Ernst!

Jewish Marksman Shoots a High Master Score

2011-02-07T19:59:00.000-08:00

It was a good weekend for the Jewish Marksman--I won my local club High Power Rifle match (100 yard reduced course) with a High Master score, 781-22. With that score, I should finally move up to Expert class.

Reloading Economics for the Frugal Jewish Marksman

2011-01-30T14:21:00.000-08:00

From all reports, the firearms community is going through a reloading "revolution." By that, I mean that more and more folks are reloading their own ammunition. I thought I would present a brief analysis of the economics behind reloading, because the Jewish Marksman celebrates frugality.

Fixed costs: In order to reload ammunition, the shooter needs to invest in equipment to get the job done. A bare bones setup consists of a press, caliber-specific dies, and a powder scale. With a little ebay persistence you can spend anywhere from $100 to $1500, depending on the bells and whistles. A press and dies will last several lifetimes if care for. Possibly a table and other hand tools might need to be purchased, but any sturdy workbench will do.

Variable costs: A round of ammunition has 4 components: bullet, shell casing (a.k.a. "brass"), primer, and powder.

For our purposes I'll take a quick look at .223 rifle reloading for my High Power competitions.

The most expensive component are the match-grade bullets, so first I'll discuss some of the options and issues. The main issue is that the heavier the bullet, the less susceptible it is to being blown by the wind. The wind is a big factor in the 600 yard stage of a High Power match, but not a big factor at the 100 yard reduced courses that make up most of the matches in my area to shoot. Heavier bullets cost more. The second major issue is quality and uniformity. I'm told this makes a difference, but I have not tested it myself. The idea is you buy from a quality bullet maker and you are assured your bullets will be closely uniform in weight, shape, etc. The overwhelming consensus among High Power competitors is that a 77 grain weight bullet is the right bullet for 600 yards. 77 grain bullets cost roughly $100 for 500. That works out to $0.20 a bullet. For 100 yard courses, many use a lighter 52 or 53 grain bullet, which cost about $80 for 500, or $0.16 a bullet. A cheap 55gr bullet can be found for about $0.08 to $0.10 in bulk, so I find this idea attractive but need to do some research if other shooters have had success with cheaper bullets at 100 yards. The only brand of rifle bullets I use currently are Sierra.
Powder is cheap, an 8lb. tub will cost $130 or so, yield about 2400 charges for roughly $0.05 a round.
Primers run $20 per 1000, or about $0.02 a round.
Brass cost is a little tricky to analyze, because brass can be reused many times before it cracks or otherwise becomes unusable. If you pay $200 for 1000 pieces of new brass, it probably costs about $0.01 or less each time you fire a given piece. Also, cheaper once-fired brass can be bought in bulk, or your buddies who do not reload might just give it to you.

Summed up, we come up with a per-round cost of $0.25-$0.30 a round using match grade bullets (click here for a handy on-line calculator). (I did not account for shipping costs, but assume the buyer is buying in bulk, as most do, so the shipping costs become negligible per round). A High Power match is an 88 shot event with sighters, so it costs me roughly $25 in ammo to shoot a match. You can see my interest in determining whether I can get just as good results from a cheaper bullet at 100 yards, because if I get my bullet cost down $0.10, I save $8 a match.

What does factory manufactured .223 ammo cost? A lot depends on quality and application. Match grade ammunition is around $0.80 to $1.00 a round. Cheap bulk steel cased ammunition is about $0.20 a round, but steel cases cannot be reloaded (from what I hear), and bulk ammo is usually only 55gr. bullets which will not perform as well in the wind at a 600 yard match. The cheapest brass-cased bulk ammo, again usually 55gr., goes for around $0.32 a round.

So for a High Power competitor, the savings are $50-$60 a match by reloading ammunition when the heavier bullets are needed. For a 100 yard match, given the options I am still probably saving by reloading. It is hard to say because I don't know whether the cheapest bullets are an option for me or not. For shooters who are only shooting at 25 and 50 yards and where 1 MOA is not necessary, then certainly they will save money with cheap bullets by reloading, even compared to manufactured steel cased ammo, I would think.

For pistol reloading, the same principles apply except the brass can be used many more times, and bullets are cheaper. For example, an un-jacketed 200gr. .45ACP bullet I use in Bullseye competition is only about $0.07. I have not looked at pistol ammo prices in a long time, but I have no doubt one saves a ton of money by reloading pistol ammo as well.

Of course, there are the immeasurables. Time for one, as ammo does not reload itself. It takes most folks about an hour or two to crank out 100 rifle rounds, maybe half that for pistol. When you are buying equipment, some of the premium you pay for is time-saving. On the plus side is the fact that you end up producing ammo that is better than what just about any factory is producing these days, and you can fine tune certain variables to your firearm for maximum accuracy.

Jewish Marksman Shoots a Chai Match

2011-01-09T18:33:00.000-08:00

18 is considered a lucky number in Judaism. The word for "life" in Hebrew is "chai." The Hebrew letters for "chai" are also numbers which add up to 18.

So given that, how could I resist a chance to shoot a real across-the-course (XTC) NRA High Power match this weekend? You see, the prone portion of the match is at 600 yards, which is 1800 feet!

I shot fairly well, all things considered. Besides being my first real XTC match (I normally shoot 100 yard reduced target matches), it was the first time I used my own hand loaded rifle ammunition, and I had no idea exactly how to zero my sights for the different yardages of the match (600, 300, 200) for that ammo, and you only get 2 sighting shots per stage. Take a look at the picture above, which are the 20 shots I made in the 300 yard prone rapid-fire stage (10 shots in 1 minute with a magazine change). The first 10 shots are marked in red, using the sight "come ups" recommended by a friend. They were centered but just a tad high and left, in what could have been a 97 scoring group if the shots had been centered. I guesstimated the elevation sight adjustment, then made the green group, which is the correct height but still off to the left, probably due to cant in my seated position which I haven't dialed in yet. Overall, I shot an 89%, which was pulled down from 90+ primarily to an abysmal offhand performance due to strong wind gusts. No, the wind wasn't really affecting my 77grain sierra bullets so much as it was blowing my barrel around and making it very hard to confidently get a shot off. I waited for breaks in the wind to hit my 10s and 9s, but impatience and a lack of experience in the wind got the best of me, and I let a few really bad shots off. All the other competitors' scores suffered offhand for the same reason, so I don't feel too bad about it.

I'm confident that next match I will shoot above 90% now that I have a much better idea of where my zeros are for the ammo I load. Every combination of powder, bullet, primer and barrel will have minor differences in velocity, which affects the bullet's travel time over distance, which gives gravity more or less time to pull the bullet down. So the only way to get consistently centered is through trial and error. Without a wicked wind I might even flirt with another master score...I do have an industrial fan in the garage, maybe I'll have it blow on me while I train with the Scatt this month!

In case anyone is wondering, I shoot in the Service Rifle division with an AR-15...everything must be (more or less) just like a standard issue military rifle. We do get to put in match barrels and triggers (4.5 lbs. but 2-stage is allowed), but everything else is standard-issue such as plain old rear aperture and front post battle sights.

Aaron Zelman, Zichrono LiVrachah

2011-01-03T20:02:00.000-08:00

Sad news for the (Jewish) firearms community. As covered by Debbie Schlussel on her blog, the founder of the pro-second amendment organization Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership passed away. As my readers have come to learn, this blog focuses primarily on Jews in the shooting sports, and part of the reason for that is organizations like JPFO have/had the political bases covered. Note, I am unfamiliar with JPFO and cannot vouch for it, but if Debbie Schlussel endorses it, then very likely it is legit. Please visit her blog (click here), which will tell you more about Zelman and his organization. The JPFO is a good source of information on the theory behind private firearms ownership. For those of us who enjoy the shooting sports, it is sometimes easy to forget about the folks in second-amendment trenches who fight for the rights that are fundamental to our ability to compete in the first place.

Here's hoping that someone will pick up the torch and continue to be a loud Jewish voice in favor the right to bear arms. For now, this blog will remain as is, but we'll see what develops!

Resolve to Help Jewish Marksmanship in 2011

2010-12-31T09:18:00.000-08:00

Although I have a few Jewish shooters on my list to write about in 2011, finding material for the blog is never easy. Please send suggestions my way in 2011. Any Jewish shooter who competes is interesting, and feel free to volunteer yourself even if you only compete at a local club!

Other than that, shana tova to everyone, and may all your shots find the X-ring in 2011!

P.S. Laura Spector's blog is active again lately for those that want to read about an American Jewish Markswoman training for the next Olympics!

Philo Jacoby - Champion Jewish Marksman

2010-12-10T19:23:00.000-08:00

I previously covered Jewish Marksman and lawman Emil Harris, who lived in California in the 1800's. Today we have another great Jewish Marksman from that locale and era, Philo Jacoby. Philo Jacoby was born in Lebork, Poland, Dec. 5, 1837. In 1859 he immigrated to San Francisco, Calif. He was the editor and publisher of the San Francisco publication "The Hebrew." Jacoby was also an expert sharpshooter and strongman and started the California Schützen Club. Jacoby died March 25, 1922.

A schützen club is basically a precision shooting club. Jacoby was active in organizing shooting events in the US and took trips to Europe to compete (and win!). There is an excellent article discussing some of his accomplishments (click here) and one story about a shooting competition in Switzerland stands out:

Jacoby next contested one day at the Cantonal shooting a Zofingen where he won goblets and other prizes, and having bought Staub’s Vetter Ii, a splendid shooting rifle in Zurich for 150 francs, he became quite at home in the Numbers. The week following, the great eight-day Cantonal shooting festival in Solothurn took place. From Zurich , Jacoby took the train to the festival place; his car was an open one and when the train entered the station in Solothurn it ran straight into another train left standing on the same rails. All occupants of the open car jumped; Jacoby was one of the first, the fall did not hurt him much but a 200 pound Swiss mountaineer marksman who jumped upon him with the spikes of his boots tore a deep cut in his right hip. Jacoby was carried to the station house where doctors soon attended him, sewed up his wound and made arrangements to send him to a hospital. The accident happened about 11 A. M. and the Cantonal shooting was to begin at 1 P. M. The Swiss marksman (his name was Streif Luchsinger,) who was the innocent cause of Jacoby’s accident, remained with him and helped to make him as comfortable as possible. He said he would leave for the shooting range at 12:30 as he had entered for the first goblet contest. Of course, the writer felt double sore; on his hip and that he should not be able to be at the opening of the festival. He asked Streif Luchsinger to help him on his legs, and when Jacoby found that he could stand fairly steady, he insisted on accompanying his new comrade to the Schuetzen Platz in spite of the advice of the doctors. Streif Luchsinger called a carriage and soon they were at the range. Jacoby’s baggage and rifle had been left at the station and he was supplied with weapon and ammunition by his friend. The contest began for the first goblet. Streif Luchsinger scored the first 100 numbers, and won the honor. Jacoby although somewhat unsteady on his legs, kept pegging away, and when he finally won his goblet (he was 7th on the list) he could scarcely keep upright. Streif Luchsinger carried him, accompanied by great many marksmen, on his shoulders to the Gaben Temple , where the gritty Californian received his hard earned trophy under resounding cheers. Then the doctors got hold of him and brought him in a carriage to a hospital where for the next three days he laid in high wound-fever.

Post-Shabbat Reloading

2010-11-20T22:01:00.000-08:00

This evening was spent doing some tedious .223 ammunition reloading (click here for a great Wikipedia summary). Why reload ammunition? From Wikipedia:

Economy, increased accuracy, and performance are common motivations for handloading cartridges. Reloading fired cases can save the shooter money, or provides the shooter with more, and higher quality, ammunition for a given budget. Reloading may not be cost effective for occasional shooters, as it takes time to recoup the cost of the required equipment, but those who shoot on a regular basis will see benefit. Besides economy, the ability to customize the performance of the ammunition is a common goal. ... Target shooters seek the best achievable accuracy, as well as the best shot-to-shot consistency. Many handloaders customize their cartridges to their specific firearms, usually in pursuit of accuracy: they can assemble precision ammunition using cartridge cases that have been fire formed in the chamber of a specific firearm.

The Jewish Marksman uses almost exclusively Lee brand reloading equipment because they are a great value! Reloading is not particularly difficult if you have the capacity to follow instructions, take your time, pay attention to detail, and observe common sense safety precautions.

If you shoot a rimfire cartridge, such as .22LR, those cases are not reloadable. However, the brass does have value...nowadays anywhere from $0.50 to $1.50 a pound depending where you go. Take it home, throw it in a bucket, but don't leave it at the range! At some clubs, it is customary to leave the rimfire brass at the the club as a 'donation', but it is perfectly acceptable to take home all of your centerfire brass! Someday you may want to reload it, sell it, or give it to a shooter who reloads. If you leave it at a commercial range, they will simply sell it as scrap metal.

Jewish Marksman Moves up in Classification!

2010-11-12T20:35:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I shot a Master level score in High Power Rifle, 95%. It was a on a 100 yard reduced course, but nonetheless a good showing. I've been shooting Expert class scores, but the club sometimes doesn't get the scores into the NRA. But this score made it in, and moved me from Marksman to Sharpshooter. If my math is right I should get my Expert card next month if I shoot an Expert score (or better). Master by the end of 2011 might be a realistic goal! My second goal for 2011 will be to get to some real "across the course" matches which the 100 yard matches simulate. I've been swimming in the shallow end, as the real show is at 200, 300 and 600 yard stages. Considering I know absolutely nothing about reading or accommodating for wind, those should be a lot of fun! To read more about my journey up the NRA classifications, click here.

Dr. Dennis Lindenbaum - Neuropsychologist and Jewish Marksman

2010-11-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

Our latest featured Jewish Marksman is Dr. Dennis Lindenbaum, who was recently chronicled in a Jewish community paper in Atlanta (click here to read it). Dr. Lindenbaum has become a highly accomplished shooter in a very short period of time, achieving a Master ranking and qualifying for the US Dewar Team. Dr. Lindenbaum is a good example of how precision shooting sports fit well with the personalities of Jewish professionals in the US, and why more Jewish doctors, lawyers and accountants ought to give it a try, from the article:

“He’s a trained professional and understands the scientific method, so he’s very analytical, and that carries over into his shooting,” said Tommy Steadman, a Club officer and good friend of Lindenbaum. “He’s very meticulous in the way he goes through this, and he’s most interested in functionality and performance, so that’s the way he went through selecting his equipment, and [he did it] very, very slowly.”

Precision shooting is all about precision, the scientific method, and self-discipline...natural talent or strength play no role (some say it's a sport that rewards mild o.c.d....). A perfect compliment to the schooling many American Jews have received in their professional careers.

Dr. Lindenbaum is also a great spokesperson for the sport:

“Not a bunch of guys in camo”

Dr. Lindenbaum would like to point out that the idea that shooting is a violent or unsafe practice is simply not true. Indeed, he calls the regulations at matches “borderline excessive” and has never seen or even heard of someone getting injured as a result of participation. Nor is the stereotype of a hunter, country bumpkin or delinquent to be tied to a shooter. The many young people he’s gotten to know courtesy of smallbore have all represented the sport with intelligence and responsibility. “It takes a certain type of discipline to be able to have this kind of focus,” he said. “These are kids who get together on weekends to either train or go to these competitions, and it’s really a wholesome, clean activity. And they’re learning certain mental skills I think will be helpful to them in their academic and work lives later on.”

Mrs. Lindenbaum also gets involved:

Reinforcing the idea that the culture here is just as family-friendly as bowling, baseball or board games is the support Lindenbaum gets from his wife, Barbara. Though she does not shoot, she has taken a keen and sincere interest, helps organize club matches and is just as much a part of the community as the man with the rifle.“It’s really great; you need to have somebody to partner with you,” he said. “I don’t know if I would even enjoy the matches…I can’t do it without her.”

Lastly, for all the Jewish parents out there who are on the fence, consider what you might be denying your child by not introducing them to the shooting sports at a young age:

“Dennis, had he gotten into this younger and pursued it like he has, I have no doubt that he would have an extremely good possibility of being an Olympian,” Steadman said.

The Appleseed Project and Jewish Marksmanship by Joshua Streiff

2010-10-27T21:17:00.000-07:00

The Appleseed Project is a non-profit organization that encourages the development of marksmanship skills. Just as important, the Appleseed Project promotes greater understanding of America's founding and the origins of the freedoms that many take for granted. One of that organization's leaders is a proud Jewish marksman, who has graciously submitted a brilliant essay on the principles of the Appleseed Project and why that organization's message ought to resonate with Jews in particular:

The Appleseed Project and Jewish Marksmanship,
by Joshua Streiff.

Hello, my name is Joshua Streiff. I am a member of the Appleseed Project, a marksmanship instructor in my own right, and a fellow Jew. I appreciate this opportunity to explain both the Appleseed Project itself as well as explain why my involvement in it is a natural outgrowth of and match to my Jewish view on life, history and meaning.

The Appleseed Project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to teaching every American our shared heritage and history as well as traditional rifle marksmanship skills. Our volunteer instructors travel across the country teaching those who attend about the difficult choices, the heroic actions, and the sacrifices that the Founders made on behalf of modern Americans, all of whom are their “progeny.”

Our heritage program vividly portrays the Battles of Lexington and Concord with the kind of care and immediacy that is absent from most formal schooling. Modern listeners are confronted with the danger, the fear, and the heartbreaking separations that arose out of the choices made on April 19th, 1775. They are also reminded of the marksmanship skills and masterful organization that ultimately helped set the colonists on the path to success. Those who attend gain a better understanding of the fundamental choices faced by our ancestors as they began to set the stage for the nation we now enjoy.

Our program seeks three goals in every attendee: individual skill in rifle safety and marksmanship, individual growth of love for history, and a personal connection with our founding history that brings meaning and civic action to each of our lives.

How do we accomplish this? We teach something that is very familiar to Jews but lost to most Americans: lived history. Jews know history in a deep personal way that is lost to most modern Americans. In Judaism the word Zachor is both the term for history, but is also a command to remember. And that memory is not one of dry facts of names and dates. It is a memory full of the tears and laughter of the Seder table. It is the tie to ancestors filled with warnings about our future. It is about the past reminding us about who we are and what guides us each as individuals into both our personal and collective futures. It is a history lived, experienced, and deeply connected with year after year passed from one generation to the next.

Appleseed Events are two days long and throughout that time we instruct marksmanship and history side by side. Just as in the Seder where we take turns between eating and history, at an Appleseed event we take turns between marksmanship instruction and the history of April 19, 1775. Just as we put ourselves into the land of Mitzrayim in one, Appleseed places it's attendees on Lexington green that cold morning. Just as we meet Moses and Pharaoh in one, attendees meet Paul Revere and General Gage in the other. These experienced histories, these lived moments that transcend time are a new experience for most Americans, but for the Jews among us, it is a familiar and comfortable experience that we know already even if the specific content is new.

Now, who is Appleseed for and why would a Jewish American want to go? I get this question all the time. Appleseed is for everyone. And by that I mean everyone of any race, creed, preference, background and political leanings. Everyone. Now, there are a few exceptions which I go over at the beginning of every event: racists, supremecists and those interested in the overthrow of our government are not welcome. We are not militia, and we have both military and law enforcement in our midst as instructors. We are normal folk and have no interest in those who would tear America apart or hurt it's people for their own vile reasons. And my experience has been that every person I have met at a seed has been as normal as you and I. Catholics, Jews, Protestants, and all sorts of folks are not only attendees but also have signed on as instructors as well. Given the need, I am pretty sure I could gather a minyan of instructors alone!

But again, what draws us? What is brings people and more importantly, what keeps them coming back to donate their spare time as volunteers?

The answer is twofold: marksmanship and civic involvement.

Jews know marksmanship. To some that is an oxymoronic statement, but the reality is that we do. It is less common in this generation, and it is less common in America, but it remains a true statement nonetheless. Jews are a practical bunch and not a warrior society. However, we are also a bunch that remembers our times of fighting and has learned the need for the skills of self preservation.

Look at the stories from ancient times and see the battles of Lachish and Jerusalem in antiquity. In our Machzor, we cover the tales of medieval Jewish fighters at Mayence as well as those in more modern times figthing in the Ghetto streets of Europe. Then move forward to the superb skills of our Israeli cousins and it takes no more to understand that Jews may be reticent to take up arms, but when faced with need will do so. In Israel the need is clear and unceasing. In America the temptation is to say there is no need and thus this generation can skip the knowledge and lose the skills. But as the Seder reminds us in every generation an enemy will arise that must be stopped. Without the skills remembered another generation of Jews will have to build skills when evil has already moved. Frankly, the skills of self preservation are the exact skills that cannot be learned in the moment of crisis. Sadly the Jews of Europe had to learn this, and the Jews of Israel will never forget. American Jews stand in the space in between and have to choose their path through the Galut. It can be with or without a rifle, but it should never be a path of intentional ignorance of it's proper use. At least, never again.

Now, Jews have never been completely without our skills for self care even when we have been without arms. One that we have learned well is that that our enemy comes in many forms and the greatest defense there can be is political involvement. Appleseed sees the same reality. We teach our students that the greatest enemies to our nation and it's people are be apathy, ignorance and laziness. We like to say that the destruction of our nation will come a the hands of the couch. It will all fall because we do nothing to save it.

And this is the message that brings me back to Appleseed as a Jew: be civically involved. We tell our students that the past teaches us three paths. The first is the path of slavery and subjugation. The second path is that of violent rebellion and bloodshed. Neither of these paths are good or desired. But from them comes the opportunity of a third path: freedom through civic involvement. That third path was won for us by our ancestors. In Appleseed terms, it was won by Paul Revere, Isaac Davis, and so many others who bled so that we do not need to. But as Jews we know the eternal tale of slavery, struggle and now lived freedom. Freedom that only exists by our continued efforts, and by our learned skills.

And that in-meshed message, that our future is ours to secure, ours to live out and ours because of those who came before should be obvious to any Jew. The message that skill is learned by hands and needed in every generation if for no other reason than to pass it onto the next who will need it also should be no stranger to any Jew. And Appleseed is more than a simple rifle school: it is a history and heritage program with a superb marksmanship clinic. It is a movement to take the couch sitters and pull them into the active body politic. It is a place where history lives and leads us into a better future for us all. It is a place for you.

I would invite each of your readers to come and join us for two days. Come and learn. Your past and present await, as does your future and some new friends. I look forward to meeting each of you.

Thank you,
Joshua Strieff

Sharon Barazani - 50m Prone Rifle Junior Champ

2010-10-16T17:39:00.000-07:00

Over the summer I reported on the Israeli shooters who competed at the ISSF World Championship in Munich. As it turns out, the USA also sent a Jewish shooter, Sharon Barazani. Sharon took first place in 50m Prone with a 596 - 45x! Mazal tov! Click below to watch the video of Sharon in action.

Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner - Rifleman and Archer

2010-10-06T18:06:00.000-07:00

I came across an article on about.com by Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner discussing a Jewish perspective on hunting. In the article, Rabbi Lerner discusses his own marksmanship background:

I am a former national champion archer with two national records while in college - and I can't wait for Maccabiah Games to institute Archery as a Masters sport! I'd love nothing more than to carry the American/US flag in the parade in Israel.

Secondly, I was a [manager] of the Arizona State ROTC Rifle Team [...] and also on the side was a member of a fast-draw pistol/side-arm group.

I emailed Rabbi Lerner a little while back to ask him more about his history with guns and bows. With his permission, I republish his response:

Dear JM

I mentioned my experience with rifle and archery only to make my point about not hunting or the taking of a life. Except for the holding of a national inter-collegiate title back in early 60's at ASU under the coaching of Margaret Klann, may she rest in peace, who went on after my college days to formalize an NCAA standing for archery. She was a wiz of a coach, a guide in personal issues, and I for one never fully realized what we were accomplishing with her - it was just great sport.

Many years later, I returned to archery instituting archery at Camps Ramah in Berkshires,NY and then Palmer,MA. I was thrilled to re-experience teaching an Olympic style albeit mixed with a "martial arts flavor" for East Coast Jewish youth, and that included everyone in camp throughout each day from camp administrators to the pre-camper staff kids, from kitchen staff to campers. We used every bow we had and every target we could afford, from right after breakfast to right before dinner. I taught my wife to shoot and then passed on lessons to her and the kids I had learned almost 40 years earlier from Mrs. Klann in re-fletching and marking arrows, shooting line etiquette and related it to Jewish laws of respect and courtesy with regard to neighbors and others, to enjoying the woods and "roving" and "field shooting."

Since then, I opened a hands-on Jewish educational Foundation in 2000 and have been using archery as a sport relating to Jewish holidays, especially the 33rd day in the interval between Passover and Shavuot/Festival of Weeks. Tradition and legends claim that students used archery as an excuse to be out in the fields shooting, while in reality they were studying Jewish text and laws in defiance of Roman occupation and oppression which forbade Jewish education and/or practice.

Good to hear from you and anyone interested in archery, check me at out www.jewishfreeware.org for free downloads or consultations on sports and Jewish education.

Rabbi Dov Lerner

Jewish Markswoman Laura Spector Back in Blog

2010-09-27T18:37:00.001-07:00

Jewish markswoman Laura Spector is blogging again. As we covered here a few months ago, Laura is a Jewish Olympian who competes in a demanding shooting sport, the Biathlon. Train hard and keep em in the X-ring!

Shana Tova to all Jewish Marksmen

2010-09-07T21:08:00.000-07:00

May the new year bring health and happiness to you and your loved ones. (And in the new year, may all your shots find the X-ring!)

Jewish Marksman: From Marksman to Expert

2010-09-06T20:42:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had a good Service Rifle match, shooting a 90% average, two levels above my classification. I am currently classed as a Marksman, and hope to be ranked as an expert before the end of the year. The NRA classifications for High Power rifle are:

Classification	percentage	minimum score in a 50 shot match	minimum score in a 80 shot match
High Master	97%	485	776
Master	94%	470	752
Expert	89%	445	712
Sharpshooter	84%	420	672
Marksman	up to 83.99%	419 or lower	671 or lower

Basically, when you compete in NRA sanctioned matches, your scores get sent in to the NRA. After three matches within a class you get moved up (never down) and the NRA sends you a classification card (and some cool stickers). I think it is a really good system, albeit imperfect. Once you get your card, you can take it with you to any NRA match in the country as proof of your classification.

The secret to my jump? No secret, just routine practice and finally getting my act together on the line. I think it has now been my 6th or 7th match, and it has taken me that long to get all the little distractions eliminated. This last match was the first time I felt I could just focus on shooting and not be bothered by things like the spotting scope, how much time I had left, how many rounds I've fired, etc. The only ongoing distraction is my glasses, which are my daily wear glasses and tend to fog under safety goggles and get annoying drops of sweat on them. Once I get that problem solved I can start shooting for Master! Well, first let's get that Expert card by shooting 90%+ consistently!

As for Air Pistol, that has fallen to the side for a while I focus on Rifle. I just don't have the time to keep getting better at both disciplines at once.

If you are a Jewish shooter with an NRA classification, please use the comments to post your classification and the discipline you earned it in!

Mountain Jews: Expert Marksmen

2010-09-02T18:02:00.000-07:00

What is a "Mountain" Jew? According to Wikipedia:

Mountain Jews, or Juhuri, are Jews of the eastern Caucasus, mainly of Azerbaijan and Dagestan. They are also known as Caucasus Jews, Caucasian Jews, or less commonly East Caucasian Jews, because the majority of these Jews settled the eastern part of Caucasus, though there were also historical settlements in Northwest Caucasus.

The name "Mountain Jews" or "Caucasian Jews" is something of a misnomer, as it does not include Georgian Jews of the Caucasus Mountains.

In terms of ethnic origin, it is assumed that the Mountain Jews and Tats have inhabited Caucasia for a long time. Their distant forefathers once lived in southwest Persia, the south-western part of present-day Iran. It was there that they adopted the Middle Persian language. The predecessors of the Mountain Jews settled in Caucasian Albania in the 5th–6th century and from that time on their history has been related to the mountains and the people of Dagestan.

After fleeing persecution in Persia, they migrated north to mountain villages on both sides of the high peaks between the Black Sea and the Caspian. They still speak a dialect of Persian and few Juhuri know more than the odd Hebrew phrase.

For centuries Qırmızı Qəsəbə (also known as Krasnaya Sloboda in Russian) in Azerbaijan - perhaps the only completely Jewish settlement outside Israel - kept its traditions intact, surrounded by Muslims. The fall of the Soviet Union, however, in 1991 prompted a mass exodus. In recent years, the population has plummeted as inhabitants emigrate to Israel, America and Europe. It is the last stronghold of the Caucasus Mountain Jews, or Juhuri.

The number of Juhuro in the Caucasus regions outside Azerbaijan is also declining rapidly. In neighbouring Russia, the threat of Islamic fundamentalism^{[verification needed]} and other violence has forced thousands of Mountain Jews to emigrate from Dagestan. In April 2003, vandals desecrated 42 Jewish graves in the region.^[1]

I encourage you to go read the Wikipedia article or this one here. There is also a neat book, with great pictures called Mountain Jews: customs and daily life in the Caucasus By Le'ah Midash-Shema'ilov, Liya Mikdash-Shamailov, Muze'on Yisra'el, much of which can be browsed through google books here.

And the connection to Jewish Marksmanship? According to one article:

"[l]ike the Khazars, the Mountain Jews were 'skilled horsemen and expert marksmen'. They loved horses and nature. Mountain Jews knew the value of self-defense and carried and owned many weapons (especially daggers)."

It seems like in all of the historic pictures of Mountain Jews online, the men are carrying long daggers and belts or outer pockets to accommodate rifle bullets. Mazal Tov!

Lilian Copeland: Olympic Athlete and Jewish Marksman

2010-09-01T18:05:00.000-07:00

Lilian Copeland was a top US track and field athlete in the 1920's and 30's. She excelled in the weight throwing events like discus and shot put, but also in javelin. She boycotted the 1936 Olympics because of Hitler and the Nazis. However, we at the Jewish Marksmanship blog are far more interested in her later police career, where she worked for the LA County Sheriff and "qualified as an expert marksman in 1938, scoring 274 points out of a possible 300 in a sheriff’s department competition."

She is the second Jewish law enforcement officer we've covered here, the other being Emil Harris.

Gil Simkovitch Article Provides Marksmanship Insights

2010-08-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

About 3 years ago this article appeared in the Jerusalem Post on Israeli rifle competitor Gil Simkovitch. It is interesting in several ways, but most of all how the author's misconceptions about target shooting were corrected. Here is a portion I like:

While some would think of a sport involving rifles and ammunition as aggressive, even violent, for Simkovitch it is an exercise in Zen-like tranquility. He enjoys the peace when he is shooting, calling it "a meditative experience." Since his rifle, a 1913 Anschutz, is ultra-sensitive to the extent that his pulse beating against the barrel shifts the aim, he must be patient and sufficiently aware of his body to time his shots between heartbeats. "It's hard at competitions, when your heart is racing from excitement," he says. "It's a conflict in shooting, because there is pressure to shoot well, which makes it harder. It's easy to shoot a 10 [a perfect score] when you're indifferent, but you can't be indifferent." He therefore engages in a constant dance to achieve equilibrium. "If you try too hard, you will eventually fail," he says. "You have to find a balance. This sport is very much about balance.

Although my #1 training excercise at the moment is simply to find time to practice...#2 is developing the mental skills to shoot as well under match conditions as I do during practice. Gil's observations are 110% b'emet (truth).

Jessica Levine: 2010 Camp Perry Rifle Competitor

2010-08-14T09:20:00.000-07:00

Every year target shooting competitors from all across the US flock to Camp Perry located in Ohio for the National Matches. Camp Perry is where we find out who the top guns really are. I know several Jews who go to compete...but until now I haven't seen many Jewish names on the leader boards. This year I saw the name Jessica Levine, and with a little internet sleuthing was able to confirm that one of the elite US collegiate shooters is indeed a member of the tribe!

Jessica's results this year:

In the NRA 3-Position Championship (201), composed of Metallic Sight Matches (231,232,233), she took 9th place with a 1172-44x. Note this ranking is mixed men and women, military and civilians.
In standing (232), she shot a 393-14x, which was 2nd place overall, and earned her the titles of High Woman and High Collegiate. By the way, standing is the toughest position and the game that separates the real shooters from the wannabes.
In the aggregate (Metallic and Any Sight), she placed 13th with a 2309-72x!

Mazal Tov!

ISSF World Cup: Womens 50m Prone

2010-08-09T18:09:00.000-07:00

Ella Sterberg took 33rd with a 592- 31x, and Adi Cohen took 68th with a 583- 26x. Polina Medviner took 67th in the Juniors competition with 572- 22x. Mazal Tov!

Sid Caesar: Jewish Marksman

2010-08-07T17:15:00.000-07:00

Sid Caesar, the famous actor, writer and comedian is another Jewish Marksman. According to this article quoting a Jewish waiter in the Catskills:

"One of my special guests in the hotel was Sid Caesar. He was a great guy, very nice; I even played pinochle with him. Sid Caesar was quite a marksman. I would go into town, buy cans of shaving cream, and he would shoot them to see how high they would go. He had a .357 magnum and a high-powered rifle. He wouldn't kill a fly, but he loved to shoot. His best friend owned the Joyva halvah ¹³ company. They'd fill the halvah tins with seltzer, shoot at them. If you have money, you can do anything."

I stumbled across a quote from Caesar's biography, where he talks about shooting with famous Jewish comedian Buddy Hackett:

ISSF World Championships: Womens 50m 3P

2010-08-07T14:57:00.000-07:00

Yael Kan-Dagan took 36th with a 575- 19x, and Junior Polina Medviner took 57th with 560- 12x. Mazal Tov!

ISSF World Championships: Guy Starik takes 4th in 300M Prone

2010-08-07T14:53:00.000-07:00

300M is a real sniper's competition, using centerfire rifles. Guy Starik took 4th with a 598- 31x, Mazal Tov!

ISSF World Championship: More Israeli Junior Excellence!

2010-08-05T18:46:00.000-07:00

Leor Madlal and Immanuel Ben-Hefer had an outstanding 50m 3P competition, scoring 1161-58x and 1137-48x for 4th and 47th place. Mazal Tov!

ISSF World Championships: Great Junior Results!

2010-08-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

Leor Madlal took second place in 50m Men's Prone Rifle with 595- 38x, just short of first place by 2x! Mazal Tov! Leor also took 58th in 10m Air Rifle with a 582- 30x. Immanuel Ben Hefer took 15th place in 50m with 593- 31x, also very impressive! Immanuel also took 77th place in 10m Air Rifle with 575- 22x.

Polina Medviner took 76th in 10m Women's Air Rifle with a 387- 23x.

ISSF World Championships: Mens 50m Rifle

2010-08-02T17:40:00.000-07:00

What are the odds that Israelis Guy Starik and Gil Simkovich would shoot the same score? 595- 39x, for 33rd place. Mazal Tov!

ISSF World Championships: Womens 10m Air

2010-08-01T06:28:00.000-07:00

Tal Chen, Ella Sternberg and Adi Cohen together put Israel into 17th place out of 30, Mazal Tov!

Their individual scores and places were, respectively 22:396-25x, 70:392-24x, and 94:390-22x.

ISSF World Championships Begin in Munich - Rickhter off to a Good Start!

2010-07-31T07:53:00.000-07:00

Israeli Sergy Rickhter took 24th (out of 128) place in Men's 10m Air Rifle with a 593- 51x. Mazal Tov!

I'll be posting results for the Israeli shooters throughout the World Championships, and also for American Dmitriy Schteyman if he did get over to Munich.

Jewish Marksman Reviews an Israeli Pistol: Jericho 941 (a.k.a. Baby Eagle)

2010-07-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

In the past two years I've had two opportunities to shoot the Israeli Weapon Industries Jericho 941 (a.k.a. Baby Eagle) chambered in .45 ACP. Actually, on both occasions, both were purchased by Jewish friends (against my advice to get a revolver...) who came to my club range with me to shoot the guns for the first time. I can't say I've put more than twenty or thirty rounds through it, but that's enough for me to form some opinions. On both occasions it was the stainless model. I just shot one today, so I figured I'd share my opinion about this Israeli pistol:

1. Ergonomically, I find it doesn't fit my hand perfectly, but not terribly. I have small hands, so the trigger on its double-action setting is a just a little further away from where I would like it.
2. The double action trigger is pretty heavy, as heavy or heavier than some of my revolvers...but it is smooth.
3. The single action trigger is nice. It has some take up, then a stop, then some creep before a clean break. I think many people will not feel the creep, and will like the single action trigger.
4. The sight picture is decent for a combat pistol.
5. The gun is light, which is an issue shooting full house .45acp and felt recoil, which is stout.
6. It never happened to me, but when my friends shot it they had failures to feed and a stove-pipe...I saw this on both new guns. It could be the gun needs to be broken in, the tolerances do feel very tight. It could be my friends limp-wristed it, not being used to .45 recoil.
7. Those tight tolerances yield a very accurate off-the-shelf gun. I could consistently hit an 8" steel plate at 50 yards with whatever cheap ball ammo the friend bought. At 15 yards I was putting up 2 handed groups within 2-3".
8. I did take one bulls eye style shot, one handed at 15 yards and just had to take the target home (click to enlarge):Would I buy one or recommend one? Probably not. I don't like guns that fail even occasionally, and I don't like the idea that a defense gun needs a "break-in" period. To me the gun is a little light for .45, I'd rather carry a heavier gun and deal with less recoil. If you're going to carry a light .45, you might as well carry a more reliable compact Glock. There are better weekend range guns in .45, like the tried and true ...any 1911.

That being said, I'd be open minded about the Jericho in 9mm, where I think the gun's weight wouldn't be such an issue. When someone refuses to get a revolver and wants a recommendation for a semi-auto, I just tell people to make their lives' simple and get a Glock or a Sig Sauer...you can't go wrong that way.

Revolver Day at the Range

2010-07-11T20:55:00.000-07:00

Air pistols and dry firing is peaceful and meditative, but as a shooting buddy likes to say, "It just feels good to shoot a big gun." And today I felt like making some noise. I had a bunch of loose .45 and 38 rounds lying about, just begging to be shot.

First up, .45ACP from a S&W 625 revolver. I have been thinking of doing a monthly Bullseye match at my local club, and using this revolver for the .45 or center fire stages. With the right loads, this gun is a tack-driver. For a few months now I've just been dry firing the gun while watching TV, figuring it was a good way to strengthen the trigger finger as it has a heavier pull than any of my other competition guns. So I brought along my shot timer to see if I could at least get off 5 rounds in 20 seconds for timed fire. I only had 18 loose rounds lying around, but here was the result (ignore the .22 holes, I recycled someone's used target):That target (click on it to enlarge) was 18 shots, one-handed at 25 yards, double action. I shot sets of 5 shots under 20 seconds. I'm pretty happy with the results (the 7 at 7 was a sighter). I'm going to work up a lighter load and see if I can bring my times down under 10 seconds for the rapid fire stage. I've thought about thumbing the hammer, but my hand is a little small for the N-frame 625, and my double action technique keeps getting better, so I'll just stick with that.

Next up was my S&W 649 .357 snub-nose revolver with a 2 inch barrel, but I shot 38 specials out of it: Don't let anyone tell you snub nose revolvers are not accurate...that target (I used a 10m AP target) was shot two handed at 50 feet, double-taps. I've shot the gun out to 25 yards at it groups well, I've also hit steel plates consistently at 50 yards single-action. The rear sights are simply a notch in the frame, so you have to use Kentucky windage to deal with distance, but otherwise the gun will shoot.

Lastly, I wanted to put a few rounds through my wife's gun, a S&W 686 .357, with 38 specials. This is our home defense gun we keep loaded with .357, and the main gun my wife practices with. I had not shot it much actually, but here's how it went at 50 feet with double-taps two handed:Sure enough, turns out that gun is a tack driver too! So I decided to put out a target at 50 yards and shoot it one-handed. After I got it sighted in, the gun was clearly 10-ring accurate...so now I may have a second center fire gun for Bullseye matches.

I'll clean these guns and put them away again, maybe after I accomplish what I want to in High Power rifle I'll take up Bullseye pistol seriously. For now, I'll just keep up with 10m air pistol. I have been practicing, just have not had time to shoot a 60 shot match but hope to soon!

Emil Harris: Marksman and First Jewish Police Chief of Los Angeles

2010-07-03T10:22:00.000-07:00

Today I bring you an interesting Jewish marksman. From Wikipedia:

Emil Harris was the only Jewish police chief in Los Angeles, California. He was appointed to serve for one year from 1877 to 1878. He was born in Prussia and immigrated to Los Angeles in 1869. He helped create the city's first volunteer fire department. He began on six-person police department where he quickly became a deputy chief. The Yiddish-speaking cop became chief after his leadership in the Chinatown massacre of 1871. He was also a detective. His conduct during the capture of the horse thief Tiburcio Vasquez in 1874 at the present-day intersection of Santa Monica Blvd. and Kings Road led to his promotion to chief.

He had a really amazing and colorful life as a law man, discussed in an article at the Western States Jewish History web site. The article is really worth reading, especially the parts about the Chinese massacre (As a side note, I have always thought that relations between Jews and Chinese have had an interesting history, both in this country and world wide. I joke with my wife that I want our daughter to someday marry a Chinese Jew...). Harris sure had some adventures...and a sense of Yiddish humor. But he was also a skilled Marksman:

The Turn Verein Germania [(sports club)] had a military section. The rifle division listed its officers in 1876: Emil Harris, captain; Conrad Jacoby, lieutenant; E. Neitzke, sergeant; W. Marxsen, first corporal; and Charles Gollmer, second corporal. When Captain Harris received his sword it was in time for the May Day parade in which he led the Turn Verein’s military company. When the rifle section planned target practice in East Los Angeles at their own shooting range, Harris assured the public, through the daily press, that every precaution was taken to prevent accidents and "that it is utterly impossible for anything of an untoward nature to happen." To accommodate the expected crowd at the rifle practice, "Trains on the East Los Angeles Street Railroad will run every half-hour." The shooting match in the fall of 1876 saw Emil Harris win the top award, the silver medal for rifle marksmanship. "He has to win once again when it will become his permanent property." In the summer of 1876, Harris had been re-elected to another six months term as rifle section captain. In 1902, J. M. Guinn recorded that Harris was one of ten to organize "the Turner Germania, which has grown to be a very important organization, with five hundred members."

The Western States Jewish History page is very interesting...I always enjoy reading about Jewish life in America outside of New York and Florida!

Outstanding Results for Womens 50m 3P Rifle: ISSF World Cup Belgrade

2010-07-03T08:29:00.000-07:00

It seems the Israeli women shoot especially well on Shabbos!
Ella Sternberg took 14th with a 577- 25x
Adi Cohen took 27th with 575- 21x
Yael Kan-Dagan 30th with 575- 18x

Mazal Tov, and good luck to all the Israeli shooters in Munich!

P.S. I had a Service Rifle match today and did very, very poorly (well, for me anyway)....blah.

Guy Starik Takes Care of Business! (ISSF World Cup Belgrade: Mens 50m Prone Rifle)

2010-07-02T12:10:00.000-07:00

What a way to get ready for the big Munich event next month! Guy Starik took 2nd place in 50m prone rifle with a 597- 41x. He was actually running in 6th place, but under the pressure of the final round got the top score so he moved up in the ranks. Mazal Tov! Note the ISSF web site has videos of the finals to see him in action.

Gil Simkovitch finished 60th with a 588- 35x, and Sergy Rikhter 65th with a 586- 29x.

ISSF World Cup Belgrade: Mens 50m Pistol Results

2010-07-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

Israeli shooter Alexei Kiriyevski took 57th with a 536- 5x. Mazal Tov!

ISSF World Cup Belgrade: Women's 25m Pistol

2010-06-30T17:08:00.000-07:00

Israeli Marina Sokolovsky took 61st place with 556-12x. Mazal Tov!

ISSF World Cup Belgrade: Mens 50m 3P

2010-06-30T07:09:00.000-07:00

Three Israelis competed:

44th Place: Leor Ovadia Madlal 1155-46x
54th Place: Sergy Rikhter 1150-40x
75th Place: Gil Simkovitch 1119-46x, however apparently at some point he had too many shots on a target, which normally means losing a higher shot. Either he didn't count his shots correctly, or someone shot on his target by accident. Oy Vey!

ISSF World Cup Belgrade: Men's 10m Air Pistol and Women's 10m Air Rifle

2010-06-29T16:06:00.000-07:00

Today's results for Israeli shooters:

Men:

Alexei Kiriyevski made 61st place with a 568-15x in 10m air pistol.

On the girl's side, 10m Air Rifle:

Adi Cohen took 35th place with a 394-27x.
Yael Kan-Dagan took 42nd place with 393-29x.
Chen Tal took 52nd place with 393-24x.

Mazal Tov! Tomorrow 3 Israelis shoot in the Men's 50m 3-position match.

ISSF World Cup Belgrade: Womens 10m Air Pistol

2010-06-28T19:18:00.000-07:00

Israeli Marina Sokolovsky took 81st place with a 351-2x. Good to see that Israel is sending some pistol shooters to ISSF events, and not just rifle shooters!

ISSF World Cup Belgrade 2010: Israeli 10m Mens Air Rifle Results

2010-06-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

Great shooting today by two Israelis today:

Sergy Rikhter took 4th place with a 596- 50x, note that first place was 597- 48x, so he actually "out-x'd" the winner! Leor Ovadia Madlal took 76th place with a 584- 34x. Mazal Tov to both!

Really a great way for Sergy Rikhter to get ready for the World Championships July in Munich...can he win the gold for 10m air rifle?!

Women's 10m air rifle tomorrow, however the lineup has not been posted, so I don't know which Israeli women are shooting yet.

You can watch the final at the ISSF web site!

Jewish Marksman Steven Spielberg

2010-06-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

Hollywood-types (that's Hollywood, California--not Hollywood, Florida) are usually thought of as being anti-gun, even as they surround themselves with armed bodyguards. But according to this article, Steven Spielberg is an avid sporting clays shooter:

It was Spielberg’s father, an electrical engineer and amateur film buff, who spurred his interest in movie-making. It was also his dad, a World War II Air Force sharpshooter, who taught Steven his gun-handling skills.

As someone who never enjoyed much of the regular sports during his childhood, Steven Spielberg introduced his son Max, in 1995, to the sport he knows best — Sporting Clays.

Screenwriter and director John Milius (Apocalypse Now and Clear and Present Danger) describes Steven Spielberg as a sharpshooter. Spielberg, he said, regularly shoots an Italian over/under Fabri shotgun, an engraved model of which costs in the neighborhood of $85,000.

Milius said he began shooting sporting clays with Spielberg in the late 1960s at the Oak Tree Gun Club in southern California. During their younger days, Milius said, they used to play at least once a week. “We call it red-neck golf,” Milius said, “just like golf, you either like it or you don’t.”

Explaining Spielberg’s passion for collecting top-of-the-line shotguns, Milius told this writer, “They are just beautiful things. How many beautiful works of art can you take out and use?”

Milius would often shoot Sporting Clays with Spielberg. He admits having lost “a few times” to Spielberg, who actually received some shooting lessons from him in the past. “I’m the teacher and he’s the student, but on a good day he’s really good.”

Art Bright, manager of the Pachmayr Range in southern California, remembers giving Spielberg and young Max a few shooting tips. “Steven Spielberg is a pretty good shot,” Bright says. “He’s probably a solid B-class shooter.”

Doron Shaziri: Champion Israeli Rifle Competitor

2010-06-19T10:45:00.000-07:00

Israeli Doron Shaziri lost his left leg to a Lebanese land mine. But that has not stopped him from becoming a champion Paralympian rifle shooter, and earning medals in numerous Paralympics and other international competitions. In 2008 he won the Silver in Men's 50m Free Rifle. Interestingly, in 2008 Shaziri provided the Jerusalem Post with some insights into the lack of support from the Israeli government for top-tier disabled athletes as compared to "able bodied" athletes:

DORON SHAZIRI has already proven that he is one of the best shooters in the world. He has been competing since shortly after losing his left leg in Lebanon in 1987 when, during the course of his military service, he stepped on a land mine. Now he is heading to his fifth Paralympics, having already collected silver and bronze medals in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 games. But the bull's-eye in his free rifle competition is only 10 millimeters across - smaller than a one shekel coin - so the margin of error is minuscule. And since his training is hampered by financial constraints, he isn't taking anything for granted. "I would prefer to train more often, and to travel to more competitions," he says. "If I did, I would be better, without a doubt. Yes, I am good, and I have won medals. But you can't rely on talent alone." Shaziri settles in for a four-hour training session in Herzliya, one of only two or three he is able to manage each week. That's half as many as the members of the able-bodied shooters, he notes, but he can't afford to do it more often. No one repays him for his time away from work, designing custom wheelchairs for handicapped athletes. "I don't even get the stipend that I'm supposed to receive as a top-tier competitive athlete, because there's no budget for it," Shaziri says. "I'm not crying and whining, that's just the situation for handicapped sport in Israel. I mean, apparently, sport just isn't very important to the State of Israel. If no money is budgeted for it, what other conclusion can you draw?" Without a major boost in funding, Israel may very well see talented handicapped athletes abandon their sports entirely. Shaziri has already seen it happen in his own sport, which requires a heavy investment in a highly specialized bolt-action rifle and other sophisticated, sport-specific equipment.
...
Shaziri, for example, exudes the kind of positive attitude that most able-bodied people would do well to adopt. "Right after my injury my first thought was, 'I wonder how my prosthesis will work,'" he says, leaning nonchalantly on the metal pole and prosthetic foot that prop him up. "Look, my leg isn't going to just grow back. So what? Why should I remain disgruntled and depressed all my life?"
...
"We are not 'handicapped' athletes, we are athletes. Why discriminate against us?" "Sport is sport, no matter whether it's handicapped, and it ought to be promoted," adds Shaziri. "The state ought to be proud of its athletes' accomplishments. After all, we're proud to represent the country. Isn't the country proud to be represented by us?"

I was not able to find any recent articles about whether or not the funding situation has changed, but I hope so. Also no word on Shaziri's plans for the 2012 London Olympics. While it is important for Israel to be represented on the world's mainstream athletic stage, disabled athletes should not be brushed aside, especially when they are IDF veterans!

As a side note, here in the US the NRA devotes considerable resources to making shooting sports accessible to the disabled, devoting an entire department to that purpose. They hold competitions for wheelchair competitors, many of whom are veterans returning from the Afghan and Iraqi wars against radical Islamic terrorists. Precision shooting is a great way for anyone with physical limitations to stay active in sports, and is even used as a form of physical therapy.

Mazal Tov to Doron, and hopefully he will be bringing home a gold in 2012!

The Red Heffer and 10m AP 540 (90%)

2010-06-19T09:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I decided to go the 10m range and get in some air pistol practice while listening to the week's Torah portion sermons on mp3. This week's portion includes instructions regarding the Red Heffer (Cow), whose ashes purify a person who has been contaminated by contact with a dead body. The portion is significant in that its logic is difficult, if not impossible to grasp. It is said that the purpose of the commandments surrounding the Red Heffer are placed in the Torah to remind us of our intellectual limits, that human connection to the Torah is deeper than logic and reason.

I was quite happy with the results, considering I hadn't touched the pistol for a week! I had been keeping up with the grip and hold exercises, which I think paid off. I shot 90%, a 540 on the dot. (Have I mentioned that 10m air pistol is shot one-handed?)

Most interestingly, I shot the target shown above. The 5 shot string got off to a bad start, I wasn't mentally focused and let loose a seven. That kind angered me and caused me to focus more. I proceeded to pop off four tens in a row. That result lit a few bulbs for me upstairs. For one, I've come to notice that unlike when I first started shooting, now I shoot very well when I put pressure on myself. I've noticed this at matches as well. Match pressure no longer manifests itself as a "fear" of not performing well, rather, now it manifests itself as a sort of motivator to do well. And it made me realize that mentally I'm not 100% focused on each and every shot. In the target above, after the seven I just decided I was going to shoot only 10s and did so.

But how to return to that mental state for every shot? As usual, something new to practice, I guess?!

SCATT, the AR-15 Rifle, and a Scene from a Typical Jewish Home

2010-06-19T08:55:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned that my main focus lately has been Service Rifle competition using the AR-15. My practice routine consists entirely of dry-firing every night with a SCATT system (you can order one from CenterShot). I put on my shooting coat and glove and right in the comfort of our bedroom take between 10 and 100 shots on my own private range! Our 6 mo. old daughter loves watching abba (dad) do this as emma (mom) watches TV. We can all still chat, or I can keep an eye on the baby, which I couldn't do with air rifle training in the garage. I think it's great that boobah will grow up thinking this is a normal and expected routine in a Jewish household! I can't wait for the call from the school when the kids draw pictures of their daily lives at home and abba is depicted laying on the floor with a big black rifle.

The SCATT system is amazing. Essentially, it records the path the muzzle of the gun takes, and estimates where the shot would hit. It is a precise system, always on call for me, and my scores closely match what I end up shooting in matches. After each shot, I can graphically see what my muzzle is doing, which allows me to make adjustments and track improvements. It also provides a variety of statistics. For example, it tells you what your score would have been had you released the trigger at given points in time, on average. For example, my scores jumped about 5 points once I realized that my shot releases needed to happen a second or so earlier in my hold, something that was not visibly obvious to me. Particularly with the seated and prone positions with a sling, the SCATT allows me to see my pulse-beat's effect on the target and tweak my position to minimize it. One of the coolest features is the audio, which emits a tone pitched to how close you are to the 10 ring, which really helps to develop recognition of the perfect sight picture. SCATT systems aren't cheap, but they pay for themselves in terms of ammo savings and range time--they drastically reduce the need for either. It turns boring dry-fire practice into a fun video game.

Jews and the Second Amendment

2010-06-18T12:20:00.001-07:00

Here is the beginnings of a list of locally or nationally prominent US Jews who support the Second Amendment:

Eric Cantor, Republican Congressman from Virginia "is opposed to Gun Control, voting to ban product misuse lawsuits on gun manufacturers in 2005, and to ban gun registration and trigger-lock laws in the District of Columbia. He has a rating of "A" from the National Rifle Association (NRA)."
Mike Weisman, 1st Vice President of the Illinois State Rifle Association.
Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation.
Debbie Schlussel, a conservative thinker and nationally recognized political commentator, describes herself as a "strong proponent of the Second Amendment" and blogged about her experience applying for a concealed carry permit.
Bill Bernstein, a Tennessee gun store owner and prominent local conservative.
Ronald Miller, a prominent Michigan real estate professional and organizer of the Detroit Jewish Cigar and Shooting Club.
Jackie Mason, world famous comedian speaks plainly about the right to self defense with a firearm.
John Stossel, prominent reporter formerly on ABC and now on Fox, has reported and written about the fallacies and myths of gun control.
Dennis Prager, conservative talk show host and author, wants "more good people to have arms," as it brings more "goodness" into the world.
Eugene Volokh, a world renowned conservative law professor, argues that "[p]eople should be free to have the weapons that are necessary to effectively defend themselves."
Mark Levin, conservative radio talk show host and renowned author.
Joshua Streiff is a leader in the Appleseed Project.
Aaron Zelman (1946-2010) was the founder of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, an organization whose name speaks for itself.
Robert Farago is the Publisher and Managing Editor of the influential gun blog, thetruthaboutguns.com.
Dan Lederman is a state legislator in South Dakota, and has been awarded a Defender of Freedom award and A+ rating from the NRA.

Please feel free to suggest additions to the list, I am sure there are many more! I will keep it updated and re-post from time to time.

Thoughts on Weekend Gun Show

2010-06-15T09:04:00.000-07:00

I went to a local gun show on the weekend, hoping there might be a Mauser specimen or two to inspect to get a feel for condition, so that when I encounter an Israeli Mauser I'll know how to evaluate it. Of course, I also went to find surprise deals.

I was quite disappointed. Not a single Mauser in the place. Nor was there much in the way of competitive target guns or rifles. I can summarize the show with three words: tacticool, tacticool, tacticool. Not my cup of tea.

What is "tacticool?" Tactical guns and gear are designed for specific military and police purposes. Usually these items are geared for "CQB" or close(d) quarter battle. Think of a SWAT team busting into a crack house, or soldiers street fighting in Afghanistan. There are weapons configurations specific for those purposes. For example, a rifle may be configured as a "carbine" with a shorter stock and barrel so the "operator" can maneuver easily in enclosed spaces. Pistols might have a slightly heavier trigger pull, due to the user's stress and possibly the fact he might be wearing gloves. Laser aiming devices, red dot scopes, high powered flash lights and other doo-dads are often mounted on the guns.

There is a place for these platforms on the public market. Some configurations are good for home defense. There are shooting sports where weapons so configured are perfect. So I'm not knocking them. But it seems to me that these configurations make up the majority of guns on display in many shops, the magazines, and certainly at the show I went to. The term tacticool comes from the impression that these guns are marketed as being "cool," as if owning one somehow unleashes your inner Navy Seal.

I guess what I'd like to see is greater emphasis in the firearms industry on marketing guns that real people can use to make shooting a regular part of their lives. I know too many guys with a closet full of tacticool guns and gear they never use. They're not collectors, but they read the Maxim ad that said buying a DPMS AR-15 earns them their "man card." If the salesman (and the industry) had steered them instead into a 10/22, they might actually get out and shoot more due to the greater ease of shooting and more affordable ammunition. The reality is that many people will not get into action shooting sports, and their shooting time will be spent picking off stationary paper. Indeed, many public ranges do not even allow rapid fire shooting! So what happens is they show up at the range with their CQB gear, stand in one spot, can barely hit the broad side of a barn, get frustrated, and the hundreds of dollars of gear stays in the closet.

Ah well, give the people what they want, I guess. It just disappoints me that we have a nation of so many gun owners but so relatively few become good shooters. The Obama election definitely boosted gun ownership and has made the public ranges a little more crowded, but when the current fad passes, who will be left?