Category: General gun stuff
A few learnings from my trip to Taupo this weekend
I’ve always enjoyed shooting at the Taupo NZDA range. It’s accessible, cheap, and often on the way to a hunt or a holiday. Hey, it’s even worth just driving down there to spend the day if you’re from Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Rotorua, etc.
So, while I was enjoying some time away with my wife this weekend, I managed to take a couple guns down to the range to test out loads, etc. Here are a few things I learned…
The cost to shoot at Taupo has gone up
While you used to be able to shoot at the NZDA range for a couple bucks, you’ll now feel your wallet cry as you pull out $5 to shoot. As long as you want. On three ranges. With other casual shooters and locals. I take it back, it’s still cheap as chips!
You can see where they’ve spent the money too, with lots of new safety signage and other bits and pieces. This leads me on to the second and third things I learned…
Get there early and you can use the 200m range
While using the 100 metre and 50 metre ranges is great, having a chance to check your drops – or zero – at 200 metres is great.
With the other shooting positions forward of the 200, you’ll need to either be shooting while no one is around or with others who want to shoot a longer distance.
Pay absolute attention on ranges you are unfamiliar with
I read the signage, checked all the ranges, made sure the flag was raised and closed the gate to the 200 metre mound before I commenced firing. However, when I opened the gate up again, I noticed another flag that I should have raised but didn’t see.
Thankfully the closed gate makes it pretty clear, and the flag at the carpark shows the ranges are in use, but if shooters make mistakes, you can soon find yourself not welcome at a range – particularly if your foul ups are of a more serious nature.
Anticipate cold weather and wet ground
Heading to Taupo from Auckland for just a few days, I didn’t bother checking the weather, and to be honest it didn’t cross my mind that there may be some fairly heavy frosts (compared to north of the Bombays). First thing I did was rotate the shooting benches into the sun so I could sit somewhere dry when I moved up to the 100 metre mark later in the day.
But, on the grass mound of the 200 metre range, it’s pretty cold and wet if you don’t have a shooting mat. Well, it’s not the first time the carpet at the back of the station wagon got used as a shooting mat! So, my final lesson for the out-of-town shooter, always take a shooting mat and a towel if you can!
While you’re at it – a cap or sunnys is a good idea. I’ve never shot at Taupo when it hasn’t been bright sunshine coming straight down at you.
Why do some shooters wear yellow glasses?
Those new to shooting sports will easily become overwhelmed with all of the associated bits and pieces you need to buy before you can really get into your chosen discipline. While you can always get cracking with a gun, some ammo and basic maintenance gear, there’s always something else that you probably “need”.
One of those things that I never really understood was yellow safety glasses. Well, I understood the theory, but I didn’t really think they would make that much of a difference…
So what does the colour do?
Well, yellow isn’t the only colour available. In fact, there are many glasses that come with interchangeable lenses and packs of these in various colours/tints.
The various shades are for shooting in different lighting conditions. You can get some that are similar to sunglasses, – these are great for extreme brightness, such as sunny days in winter, over frosted or snowy ground. You also get those with purpley-blue tints, which are great for picking up orange against a green background. In other words – perfect for trap shooters who have tall trees or hills as their backdrop.
Yellow and orange glasses are great for increasing contrast. These are brilliant for a few reasons. For older shooters with weaker eyes, these really help the targets “pop” into the foreground.
It’s not just for those that have eye conditions or who have been shooting longer than you’ve been walking. They’re also great for shooters who engage fast-moving targets, such as Olympic clays, or who themselves move fairly rapidly, such as IPSC pistol shooters.
Do they really work?
As I mentioned before, I never really bought into the higher contrast for better shooting theory. I thought it was just something else to spend money on. However, having recently been bought a pair for my birthday, I am thoroughly convinced.
Since I’ve picked up pistol shooting, I’ve been using clear safety glasses to protect my eyes. Of course safety glasses of some description are mandatory on pistol ranges. So, having gone through the first few weeks of my tyro course with clear glasses from the work bench, I thought I was doing fine.
When I tried out the yellow glasses, it was a particularly rainy/overcast/cloudy day. It was varying between overly bright and overly shady, with everything looking like a different shade of grey.
Not only did the Champion brand shooting glasses I was wearing make it easy to pick up the black bullseye from 50 yards out (on a Service Pistol shoot), but they didn’t fog up or need cleaning with the changing weather and fast-paced match. I was seriously impressed.
Safety
Shotgun shooters are generally wearing glasses for their beneficial effects on their vision, while pistol shooters and 3-gunners are wearing them for those benefits, but also to protect their eyesight, as they have barrels and ejection ports much closer to their faces, and expend hundreds of rounds of ammo at some considerable pace.
I’ve personally witnessed a potentially blinding incident first hand, when a reloaded 9mm round blew up in the gun, forcing burning powder up towards the shooters face through the open ejection port. The round had weakened in the webbing, so after the head of the case separated, the gas had nowhere to go but up.
Fortunately, the shooter was wearing safety glasses and after a bit of time to recover from the fairly intense experience, she was fine.
In fact, I would even recommend bolt action rifle shooters wear glasses in some instances. I always wear a pair when I test brand new loads, fire a rifle I haven’t fired before, or after modifying anything near the bolt. I’ve heard of ruptured primers sending hot gases backwards along firing pins and straight into a shooters face. Anything can happen. In an ideal world, all shooters would wear their “eyes and ears” at all times.
What about sunglasses/reading glasses/safety glasses?
While the above are better than nothing, they are less than ideal. I would (and have) used these over nothing.
Sunglasses and normal eye glasses provide good protection from the front, but generally don’t wrap around to the sides of the face or protect from the bottom. Sunglasses can also make it harder to see the target in many situations.
Shooting glasses and safety glasses wrap around better. Cheap safety glasses will scratch easily and will also fog up when you’re running through a course. And if you’re going to spend the money buying fog-proof safety glasses, you may as well try out some yellow glasses or a set with a few options.
3 YouTube channels for shooters
Every shooter should spend time honing their craft in the field. Whether that means tagging along on a hunt or spending time at the range. However, there’s also a fair bit of research that goes into any regular shooter’s regimen.
For some it’s as easy as flipping through the pages of their favourite hunting magazine, while for others detailed research into firearms maintenance, reloading recipes, elevation dope and more becomes our usual bedtime reading.
To be honest, I much prefer reading to watching videos, I feel like you take in more info and store it better. Having said that, there are a few YouTube channels that I watch for a few different reasons. Here they are:
1 – Jerry Miculek
This has got to be my favourite channel on YouTube. Most of you would know, Jerry is a world champion shooter who has been around longer than most of us have been able to pull a trigger. He’s an excellent 3-gunner and holds several world records for speed shooting, most notably with a revolver. Most would say he’s the fastest shooter in the world.
Aside from being a professional shooter and teaching through his videos, Jerry does some ‘myth busting’ and other entertaining stuff. Imagine a blend between the pageantry of the Myth Busters TV show and the firepower of Demolition Ranch (without the redneck tendencies).
So, number 1 on my list – Jerry Miculek’s channel. The reasons to watch? Information, technique and entertainment.
2 – Iraqveteran8888
Eric from Moss Pawn and Guns hosts a channel under the tag of Iraqveteran8888. Of course a lot of stuff from the States does deal with things that are not super-relevant in New Zealand, such as home defence, concealed carry, how totalitarian and controlling the government is, etc.
However, taken outside of the gun shop environment, Eric explores firearms with the same questions the average shooter might have in mind (with a few crazy videos as well, for sure). I’ve been looking at getting into 3 gun shooting, and I’ve come across a few of the videos from this channel which look at the gear and other aspects of the game, from a novice perspective, but with expert help and equipment.
What I particularly like is that Eric brings in guests, such as Jerry whom we mentioned above, but also one of my other favourite shooters – Chris Chang. Here they are going through some of the basics of 3 gun gear.
So, number 2 on my list – Iraqveteran8888. Reasons to watch: Gear and ammo reviews, great guests and a fresh perspective on various shooting disciplines.
3 – Just about any Canadian gunner’s channel
While American’s certainly have access to more firepower and cooler toys, the Canadian market is more similar to our own. We have similar-ish restrictions on what we can reasonably own, and neither Canada nor New Zealand have a ban on Chinese weapons like the States does.
This means Canadian gun channels will feature gear and guns that are pretty similar to what’s available at your local gun store. For this reason channels such as Canadian Firearms Review can be an excellent resource if you are weighing up what the next addition to your gun safe will be.
So, number 3 on my list – any decent YouTube channel north of the States that features firearms and competent people behind them. Reasons for watching? Similar availability of firearms and fairly closely mirrored political atmospheres means you get a halfway cross between how Kiwis tend to shoot, and how our cousins in the States tend to shoot.
Hunters Tool promo
We live in a world that is increasingly made easier, yet more complicated, by the technology we introduce into various areas of our lives. For hunters in New Zealand’s wilderness some things are an absolute necessity – such as a PLB, radio, and/or GPS. But what about your phone?
Given that a lot of hunting happens outside of cell coverage, most hunters leave the mobile in the truck or the bottom of the pack. However, we see more and more mobile apps for hunters that could make our lives a lot easier. This is not to say that you’ll ever replace your essential survival and navigation tech with an iPhone, but it might just make the cut and get included in your day pack for some other reasons – one of those is the Hunters Tool.
We’ve got a special promo code for our readers – read on for more info.
Hunters Tool
The mobile app is currently only available for iPhone and iPad, with an android version on the way in the near future. You may be a bit skeptical, wondering what value an app could add to your hunting experience, but there’s a fair bit to it.
Hunters Tool allows you to create hunting areas or trails based on a map, and track your activity. You could add icons for your trail cams, or mark the spot where you last saw that elusive stag, upload photos of spottings, as well as a host of other functions.
After entering all your info, the app automatically generates a hunting journal for you and can also help you keep track of stats if you enter your shots and your hits, etc. Most shooters are competitive by nature, but throw in a trophy animal and the stakes (or steaks?) get higher.
Recording your stats means you can compare to your mates you hunt in the same area. You can also add your hunting buddies so that you can locate each other and share information on animal activity and game management.
Who is it for?
I’ve seen a few apps around, but none as comprehensive as Hunters Tool. While a lot of Kiwi hunters (that is, hunters that are Kiwi, not people that hunt our national icon!) head out for one or two hunts a year, there are those that actively hunt for sport or to put meat on the table.
For those that are constantly in the bush or peaks, keeping track of your hunting activity could mean more success as you start to notice patterns in animal appearances or areas that have been over-hunted. It also means you could share your knowledge with your farm hands or anyone else who constantly bugs you for information.
Passing on this kind of info to the next generation is another great reason for people to use an app like this. For many New Zealander’s trying to get into hunting, it can be very difficult to acquire the necessary knowledge if you haven’t had a dad/uncle/whoever to take you out into our great, wide wilderness.
For new hunters, a tool that helps them store the knowledge they are building up could be invaluable. Also, being able to quantify progress by seeing the improvement in shot placement or animal encounters over time.
And of course, lastly, there are those that nerd out over stats. The shooters and hunters who are super competitive, but more with themselves than anyone else. Being able to analyse your own performance and micro-manage your activity in the field could be exactly what you want.
Conclusion
It all depends on what you want out of it, but the app certainly caters for a wide range of users. In fact, there are several versions based on what you need.
There’s the free version, which allows you to create 2 hunting areas and use up to 10 icons. It’s enough for the casual hunter, or to get you started out. Then there are the Advanced and Professional versions which unlock more features, areas and icons, as well as higher levels of detail.
For Gun Rack readers, Hunters Tool have provided us with a promo code that will allow you to download the Professional version for the price of the Advanced version. That’s all the bells and whistles, at the lowest price point.
To get your promo code, head along to our Facebook page, hit ‘like’ and send us a message for your free code.
To download the app you can find it in the app store or at their website – make sure to use the button in the top right of the page to change the language to English, as the default is Spanish!
Auckland Pistol Club no longer closed
[Editor’s note: Auckland Pistol Club has reopened after their three month voluntary closure. Members are welcome to enjoy their old range with added improvements, and new members are being taken on. You can contact APC at this link]
Members of Auckland Pistol Club (APC) will face the unfortunate situation of having to find somewhere else to shoot as their local club has been shut down for allegedly breaching its resource consent.
A noise complaint from a nearby property led to an environmental health officer measuring noise at the property boundary, which revealed noise in excess of the constraints of the resource consent under which the club operates.
Without any prior warning of an action against them, the club has been shut down until further notice – which is to say, shut down until appropriate measures have been taken by the club to bring it back within its resource consent’s parameters.
This not only means other clubs will have a tough time accommodating an influx of pistol shooters, but also that new pistol shooters will have their training interrupted. Those members of the club that need to shoot elsewhere to complete their mandatory 12 shoots for the year should use a ‘shooter’s diary page’ to log their activity. You can get these from the PNZ website.
APC is currently doing all they can to have access to the range restored, and are working with members, acoustic engineers and the council to remedy the situation.
It’s an unfortunate situation, but a strong reminder to all shooters to obey their club rules, stick within resource consents and operate their firearms in a safe and controlled manner. Sticking to ‘the rules’ not only ensures the safety and well-being of yourself and those around you, but also ensures that you and your club can continue to enjoy shooting sports without interruption.
[Editor’s note: Auckland Pistol Club has reopened after their three month voluntary closure. Members are welcome to enjoy their old range with added improvements, and new members are being taken on. You can contact APC at this link]
