Letters - Ruger 96: Hunting, Not Cowboying

This lever action may be suited for field use, but not for single-action showdowns.

The Ruger 96 and the Marlin 94, the two Cowboy rifles profiled in the May Performance Shooter, can only be considered as hunting rifles. The Single Action Shooting Society (SASS), the main sanctioning organization for Cowboy Action Shooting, has specific rules and definitions. A lever-action (or pump) rifle must have an exposed hammer and tubular magazine. Therefore, the Ruger would not be allowed in competition.

SASS also requires plain lead bullets. It can be difficult to get accuracy with lead bullets in Marlin Microgroove barrels like your .44 Magnum. Marlin recognizes this; its new line of Cowboy models has conventional rifling.

I just thought you and your readers should know this before spending money on a gun not suited for a sport as fast growing as Cowboy Action Shooting.

-J.R. Watson
Florence, Alabama

We should have made clearer that the Ruger .44 Magnum was the beneficiary of the cowboy trend popularizing the cartridge, and was suitable as a hunting rifle only. Its “modern” cosmetic design alone is enough to eliminate it from SASS events.

Air Pistol Dangers
With utmost respect and sincerity, may I suggest you make immediate and major changes in your safety awareness. While recognizing that scuba bottles and Morini, Hammerli, and Ansch tz products have been with us for a long time, we might consider the practicality of a tiny, minimal cost, consumately safe .177 cap instead. When a scuba tank fails from age, mishandling, or recharging, its energy parallels explosive powder counterparts. When this takes place, it injures or kills people and destroys buildings. Normally, one cannot get a charged bottle unless in possession of scuba-training credentials. The criticality of components, as PS introduces, is astronomic, which totals up equally in handling risks and already high costs.

As elegant as these mega-buck air pistols are, it is difficult to conceive of anything with less product volume or overall public worth. In expectation of knee-jerk protests, I can see how legions of professional litigants can add dollar judgments when safety factors are ignored. When this bubble inevitably bursts, the aftermath could make gun ownership all the more difficult.

-Norman S. Benedict
Santa Maria, California

We regularly print safety disclaimers in handloading articles, cautioning the reader that the magazine doesn’t take responsibility for the performance of powder and primer in any gun but the gun for which a load is developed. Perhaps the same should hold true for future articles we do on compressed-air rifles and pistols. Among the warnings we may consider printing are the basics, such as don’t overpressure the cylinder, don’t expose cylinders to heat, open flame, or any temperatures above 130 degrees F. Also, each time a cylinder is filled, it should be inspected for corrosion, gouges, dings, cuts, bulges, and other disfiguration. The owner should regularly have the cylinder hydrostatically tested to confirm it can handle its psi rating. Also, never fill the cylinder with oxygen; only clean, dry air should be used. Also, keep current on manufacturer information regarding your cylinder. Our 3,000-psi tank was made by Luxfer, and we should have included contact information for the company. That address is Luxfer USA Limited, Dept. PS, 1995 Third St., Riverside, CA 92507, telephone (909) 684-5110, fax (909) 781-6598. Also, safety information is available from the Compressed Gas Association, 1725 Jefferson Davis Hwy., No. 1004, Arlington, VA 22202.

Additionally, as Don Nygord (see letter below) reiterated, there are two distinct DIN valves for air tanks used to fill air-gun cylinders. These valves are different in the depth of threads so that a 200-bar DIN fitting can’t be used in a 300-bar DIN valve. The 200-bar DIN fitting is shorter so that you cannot overcharge the gun with up to 4,410 psi instead of 2,900 psi the valve is intended to handle. The 200-bar fitting will not go to the bottom of the valve and seal. Our Luxfer tank was a 207-bar (3,000-psi) unit, fitted with a 200-bar Thermo DIN valve. To get the airguns’ adaptors to fit, we had to modify the manufacturer-supplied valves from two of three manufacturers. We should note that this process would invalidate any warranties on the guns. And we recognize that there are some 300-bar tanks fitted with 300-bar DIN valves, and adaptors rated for only 200 bar should not be used with these higher-pressure vessels because they could rupture and blow your fingers, hand, or head off. Our modifications worked for our guns and testing, but we can’t take responsibility for modifications taken on other valves and adaptors.

Wigger Is Off Base
A client sent me your April issue, thinking I might find Lones Wigger’s article of some interest. First, perhaps some justification for my comments: While not an Olympic medal winner as is Mr. Wigger, I am currently serving my 20th consecutive year on the U.S. International Shooting Team, am a former World Champion in air pistol, many times National Champion, have set 30 plus national records, won 14 Pan American Games gold medals, and have many other shooting achievements.

Several of Lones’ observations are obviously correct, and I agree with them wholeheartedly: The U.S. Team, with the exception of the shotgun shooters, are not performing anywhere close to their previous levels. The International Shooter Development Fund has looted the fund-raising program to the detriment of the shooters. However, his reasoning as to why this situation exists is flawed. Lones was a great, if not the greatest, rifle shooter for the USA. As an administrator, however, his record is not nearly so illustrious. Shooters do not necessarily make good administrators, nor should they be expected to. Mr. Wigger was “not asked to return” for the simple reason he was not good at the position. His philosophy toward inspiring the athletes was one problem. He truly believes that athletes must be goaded and whipped into performing! He believes that external motivation is the most important factor in producing champions. This is contrary to all modern sports-training pedagogy and his own personal situation. He has told me himself that what made him a champion was that, “I (Lones) just hate to lose.” This is internal motivation, and that is exactly what motivates 100 percent of the Olympic and World Champions that I have interviewed in my study of the sport!

“Do what works,” he says. Exactly so. This is internal motivation supplemented by an organization that facilitates the athletes progress, not one that throws barriers in his path with the admonition: “If you are a real champion, you will ovecome these barriers.”

Why is the shotgun team successful? Not because of the process used to select the best shooters for the team, but because of the philosophy of Lloyd Woodhouse, the U.S.A. National Shotgun Coach of many years. This philosophy is to teach his shooters how to perform the act of breaking a bird perfectly. He teaches a shooter to break every bird every time. He expects perfection and believes that the shooter wants to and can achieve it. Then he works to remove obstacles that might prevent success even as he instills the discipline needed to achieve it. Coach Woodhouse has the technical expertise, the grasp of training principles, and the understanding of athlete psychology necessary to do the job of producing champions. Mr. Wigger did not, and it was this reason, not that he “wasn’t permitted to do his job,” that kept the U.S. team from making progress during his watch.

Mr. Wigger is right in another aspect. The present system tries to do all things for all shooters with a single program and thus dilutes the resources it has and accomplishes very little in any area. There has never been a cogent plan—a business plan—that rationally sets out to accomplish the three tasks of a national shooting organization: Bring new shooters to the sport; Bring shooters to the national level; Bring national champions to “elite” or medal-winning level. Each of these areas needs a distinct program, separate and different from the others, and emphasis (funding) should shift from program to program as you progress through the quadrennial. You should spend more on the elite athlete the year before the Olympic Games and perhaps put your efforts on the grassroots the year after, for example.

But you should never lose sight of the fact that champions are people who want to shoot and win. And they will, if you give them half a chance. To believe, as Mr. Wigger does, that they are basically lazy mooches is a sure recipe for failure.

-Donald C. Nygord
Nygord Precison Products
Prescott, Arizona