Letters: Two Views On Medal Failures

Readers disagree about coverage of Olympic shooting system’s flaws.

Lones Wigger’s article, “How To Fix Olympic Shooting in the U.S.,” reminded me so much of what is also true in managing a business. What we need is exactly what Lones describes: A single person who has the shooting experience and organizational skills paired with both the authority and the responsibility to do the job. We need a gold-medal manager who knows that if you demand the best, you usually get it, and that a performance-based organization should not be a democracy. It is, at best, a benign dictatorship.

-John Jensen
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

Political Shot
With all respect to Lones Wigger’s article, “How To Fix Olympic Shooting in the U.S.,” this is a political issue, something that Wigger should have addressed to President Clinton, the NRA, and other political groups. I agree with some of Wigger’s thoughts and ideas, but this lengthy article had no business being in Performance Shooter.

-Ben Ritter
Boca Raton, Florida

Ultimately, how shooters are selected to represent the United States is a performance issue, not a political one. Certainly politics enters into the decision of who represents the U.S., as Wig’s article points out. But if only insiders know the flaws in the system, how can shooting’s supporters initiate change? Through donations, many club-class shooters support our country’s shooting efforts. Why shouldn’t we know how our money is being spent—or misspent?

2206 Disappoints
Your March 1997 issue was my first look at Performance Shooter. The cover story certainly interested me, because some time ago, I had purchased a S&W 622. It was great. I liked it enough to order a 2206 Target. Right out of the box, it misfired often. I returned it to S&W. They worked on it and sent it back to me, but it was no better. I began to wonder why the 622 misfired much less frequently than the 2206. The biggest difference I saw was that the slide on the 622 was much smoother where it fit the frame, and the 2206’s slide seemed offcenter on its frame. I returned it again, but when the gun came back, it still wouldn’t feed. I ordered a Model 41.

Just as your cover story shows, the Model 41 is a great pistol. Despite the problems I had with the 2206, Smith & Wesson treated me great. It was strange to receive my first issue from you and read about the exact experience I had with not one but two weapons I have.

-Don Jack
Colorado Springs, Colorado

More Scope Tests
How about a review of the under-$200 scopes, Weaver V series, Bausch & Lomb Buckhorn, Sportview, Sharpshooter, Trophy, Redfield Tracker, Golden Fire Star, Tasco World Class, Mag IV, High Country, Simmons Whitetail/Whitetail Classic, 8 point, Fireview, Deerfield, and so on. There are probably 50 scopes sold under $200 sold for every $2,000 scope.

-Douglas Bell
Iowa City, Iowa

X-Ring .45 ACP Loads
I bought a back issue of the May 1996 Performance Shooter to read about handloads in “Winner’s Circle: X-Ring .45 ACP Loads.” The article mentions a fellow by the name of Marty “Babe” Magnan of Leominster, Massachusetts. I’d like to contact Mr. Magnan to discuss S&W .45 ACP revolvers. The man obviously knows what he’s doing, and perhaps he would share information that would enable me to get the best performance from my 625.

By the way, I thought the scope tests and .22 LR barrel article in that issue were excellent. Good work.

-Raymond Skrika
Perth Amboy, New Jersey

We don’t give out addresses for our sources (unless they’re businesses, of course), but we’ve forwarded your letter to Mr. Magnan.

Muzzle Brake Wish List
A long-distance varmint shooter needs to be able to see where his bullets strike. Otherwise, unless you have a spotter working with you, you seldom see where most long-distance guns have struck without some form of muzzlebrake or compensator.

I have been unable to find any test results on muzzlebrakes, and I dislike altering an expensive match-grade barrel to install a muzzlebrake purely based on advertising hype.

It seems like the ideal muzzlebrake would reduce barrel jump and recoil to the extent one could maintain the sight fixture through telescopic sights. Ideally, it would not kick up dirt from below for those who are shooting prone, althought I personally shoot from a bench in the field or range, so that’s not a problem for me. Also, ideally, the noise would be supressed and/or redirected in such a way that it would still be legal, but it would not offend the shooter nor his adjacent neighbors at the range or prairie dog field.

Such a test hopefully would include a plot of those noise signatures like you see for the tests of jet engines, as well as a measure of the radial direction of the resultant counter recoil force. I certainly enjoy your magazine. Please keep up the good work.

-Harold C. Cox
Morgan Hill, California

What’s Right For Crows?
I would appreciate advice on what type of shotgun to use for hunting crows: barrel length, gauge, choke, etc. I never realized how elusive crows were until I attempted to hunt them with a .22-caliber rifle.

-John J. Minishak
Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania

Try an autoloading 20-gauge with No. 6 copper-plated shot. Crows can be tough to kill, but since you’re likely to have fast shooting action, you don’t need the added recoil a break-action or pump shotgun will deliver. The Remington 11-87 is a good shotgun choice.

How To Fix Stripped Screws
I would appreciate advice on how to remove stripped screws from scope mounts and receivers. I seem to overtax the screw metal on my guns, and I don’t want to drill out the screws.

-Don Jones
via AOL

If you apply a bit of First Try to your screwdriver blade or allen wrench before attacking a screw, you can prevent stripping many slot-head and allen-head fasteners.

Dueling On Dylan
I am unfamiliar with the status of any Dylan song, or derivative, in England, but Dylan may not be the anti-gun advocate you imply in your March 1997 editorial. At any rate, the song, to the best of my knowledge, is not a call for a ban on handguns at all. In 1973 Dylan wrote and recorded the sound track for a Sam Peckinpaw western, “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.” The line you quote is not in the song, though the following is: “Momma put my guns in the ground, I can’t shoot them anymore. That long black cloud is hangin’ down, I feel I’m knocking on heaven’s door.”

It is the lament of a gunfighter who is dying, not an argument for a job change or a refutation of a lifelong career. I would appreciate your checking into this and setting things right in Performance Shooter.

-Rob Crosby
via AOL

English press reports said Dylan had okayed a change in the song’s lyrics for the limited use of memorializing the slain children.

Buckmark Questions
Judy Woolley’s report on the .22 LR pistol comparison tests in the December 1995 issue of Performance Shooter strongly influenced my decision to purchase a new Browning.

However, the model that appeals to me is the 7.25-inch bull barrel Buck Mark Bullseye model with rubber grips. I’m presuming on faith that the Buck Mark Bullseye is an improved manufacturer’s modification of the Buck Mark Plus Ms. Woolley tested and endorsed over the other pistols. I assume that the action, feeding and mechanical aspects of the new Bullseye model are as reliable as their tried and proven counterparts on the Standard, Target, and Plus versions of the Buck Mark. I’m under the impression that the Bullseye is basically the same gun except with a longer, heavier target barrel and longer sight radius.

If you know of any of my presumptions to be incorrect—that is, if the Bullseye turned out to be the Edsel of the line—please let me know. Even if you haven’t tested the Bullseye, I’ll trust your best guess opinion, and I’ll take full responsibility for my own final buying decision.

-Michael Ian Greene
Chappaqua, New York

As you said, the mechanics of the Bullseye are basically the same as the rest of the Buck Mark line, save for the target barrel.