I have heard both schools of thought on accuracy shooting with a clean barrel and shooting with a un-clean barrel. The folks who dont clean their barrel before sighting in their rifle believe that you dont hunt with a perfectly clean barrel every time so you might as well sight in with the same conditions during a hunt. The other camp believes that you should do a cleaning swipe through the barrel after every shot ensuring consistant accuracy.

I will share a recent experience when I put this to the test at the range a few weeks ago. I was using my Weatherby Vanguard in .300 WM with Barnes 168grain TTSX bullets. I shot 3 shots at 100 yards with an un-clean barrel from last outing. I marked those shots with blue felt pen.  I then waited a few cool down moments, gave my barrel a good cleaning, and shot 3  more rounds at 100 yards. I circled those shots out of a clean barrel with red felt pen. You can see the difference not only in the tightness of the clean barrel group that it makes a difference to clean your barrel after shooting but it also placed the bullets in a slightly different location on the target. Note that this could be shooting error as well as I was shooting off a front rest only but I do not think it is a coincidence that the clean barrel shot the 3 bullets within 1 M.O.A. Try it for your self and see what happens.

If you want to watch a video on cleaning your rifle check out:

http://www.huntingtipsandtricks.com/p/How_To_Sight_In_A_Scoped_Rifle_

I have been playing with some loads and I have had good results with the barnes 168grain TTSX bullets and IMR4831 powder out of my .300wm. I have 3026 fps at the muzzle and I am sighted in for a 250 yard zero. I went to the range again(I have been spending a fair amount of time there preparing for my grizzly hunt and just made sure I was dialed in. The picture on the left is my group at 200 yards today. Here are my numbers according to the Barnes reloading manual for the BC and muzzle velocity I am getting:

For a 250yd zero.
>
> Yrds velocity trajectory
>
> 0 3000 -1.50
>
> 100 2779 2.58
>
> 200 2568 2.14
>
> 300 2368 -3.57
>
> 400 2178 -15.50
>
> 500 1998 -34.77
>
> 600 1827 -62.77

I only shot out to 300 yards and got a 3 inch group.

It is very sad when instances like this happen, it affects all us honest sportsman. I hope Wholesale sports does not get into too much trouble and that they continue selling firearms as this incident could compromise that. I do think they should have to do a background and security clearance on peoples selling/handling firearms though. This could be the defining moment.

I just read this article from http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2009/05/01/cgy-stolen-guns-wholesale-sports.html

****************************************************

Sports store employee charged in gun thefts

An employee of a Calgary outdoor sporting equipment store, where more than 50 guns have gone missing, has been arrested after a police investigation.

The weeklong probe began when police recovered a gun in Edmonton, and a second gun from a house party in southeast Calgary where suspected shots were fired on April 18. Both incidents were linked to gangs or drugs, said District 4 commander Insp. Ray Robitaille on Friday.

The National Weapons Enforcement Support Team then traced the weapons back to Wholesale Sports at 25 Heritage Way S.E. in Calgary.

On Thursday evening, police arrested a female store employee and a male accomplice who were allegedly seen stealing three handguns. The Baretta, Smith and Wesson and Taurus guns were recovered.

In a preliminary audit of the store’s inventory over the last seven months when the woman was working there, Wholesale Sports discovered that 54 other handguns were unaccounted for. Police said they’re focusing their investigation on locating the missing firearms.

"We’re very concerned that even one firearm would make its way onto the streets unlawfully. There’s no doubt in this investigation that those firearms were destined for the black market," said Robitaille.

Police arrested a woman who had been working at Calgary’s Wholesale Sports for about seven months. (CBC)

"They could be internationally bound for all we know," added acting Staff Sgt. Gord Eiriksson.

"A man and woman in their 20s have been charged in connection with this file. We are awaiting the charges to be sworn, at which time we will release the names," said police in a statement. Robitaille said they face charges of weapons trafficking, theft and improper storage of firearms.

If the firearms turn out to be involved in homicides or shooting injuries, the pair could be in more trouble. "They certainly would be facing charges and depending on their knowledge, they could be considered an accomplice," said Robitaille.

There will likely be a probe into the safeguards at Wholesale Sports in conjunction with a federal chief firearms officer, he added.

Police also thanked Wholesale Sports for their assistance and for being "instrumental in the success" of the probe. The chain has six stores in Western Canada, with Calgary their flagship location.

"We are fully co-operating with the police investigation to find out exactly what happened. As soon as we were notified, we fully complied with their investigation, did anything they needed us to try and help figure out what happened and that collaboration …. and that co-operation lead to the arrests yesterday," said Natalie Dawes, a spokeswoman for Wholesale Sports.

*********************************************

By: Chris Selley
National Post
April 10, 2009
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/04/10/chris-selley-kill-the-long-gun-registry.aspx

Here’s a very illuminating paragraph from the Toronto Star’s editorial board this week:

It’s hard to make the argument for the gun registry any better than Steven Chabot, president of the association of chiefs of police,
who wrote in a letter to Harper last month: "All guns are potentially dangerous, all gun owners need to be licensed,
all guns need to be registered, and gun owners need to be accountable for their firearms."

It’s hard to make the argument for the gun registry any better, in other words, than by imperiously claiming it’s absolutely essential without citing any supporting evidence at all. Sadly, that’s pretty much the state of play at One Yonge, on this and several other issues.

There are few op-ed phenomena sadder or more predictable than gun registry fans trotting out the opinions of police organizations to support their case. If the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police defended the use of Tasers, I bet the Star’s editorialists wouldn’t take their word for it. Well, no need to speculate—here they are in February, most emphatically not buying the CACP’s defence of the use of Tasers. The fact is, if the CACP told them it was raining outside, they’d verify it with three independent sources before reporting it. But on gun control, that rare point of intersection between the opinions of the two entities, they give them the benefit of the doubt. It’s less an honest argument than it is a classic debate tactic for dealing with people one assumes are hidebound ideologues. When perfervid pro-gun control types mention they’re onside with the police, they’re really saying, “look here, you pistol-stroking troglodytes, your best friends the cops like the gun registry. You wouldn’t want to disagree with your best friends the cops, would you?”

The CACP indulges in a little of that too, actually, in the letter the Star quoted:

It is our assessment that Bill C-301—by softening controls on machine guns, by allowing the transport of fully automatic and semi-automatic assault weapons to civilian shooting ranges, by ending the registration of long guns such as rifles and shotguns (the weapons most often used in domestic homicides and suicides), and by relaxing the current restrictions on handguns, semi-automatic assault and tactical weapons—would seriously compromise a system that is working to the betterment of personal, community and police officer safety.

“Oh crap, domestic violence,” politicians are meant to say in response. “Everyone back away slowly. Van Loan! Quick! Cut a cheque!” But hang on: how many domestic homicides and suicides are we talking about? Does the gun registry stop them from happening? Does it help police solve the crimes? The letter doesn’t say. Over to the Coalition for Gun Control, whose research the CACP often cites on this issue. The coalition does indeed support gun control (as one would expect) as a “small but important part of addressing the problem of violence against women.” They make a logical and, I think, rather compelling argument that registration goes hand-in-hand with tough, common-sense licencing rules—for example, denying or revoking licences to those convicted of domestic violence offences—in that it’s pointless rescinding a licence if you don’t know how many guns its bearer owns. Of course there will be people who acquire and wreak havoc with unregistered long guns, but for the very little money and palaver a properly run gun registry should involve—it is, after all, nothing more than a dead-simple database—this shouldn’t necessarily be cause for outrage.

Our long gun registry, however, is cause for very justifiable outrage. It will always carry with it the shame of being a dead-simple database the government managed to cock up to the tune of billions of dollars. It will always carry the stigma of having been shamelessly, unforgivably marketed and defended as an urban anti-crime measure, when it most emphatically is not, and of having quite rightly offended great swaths of rural Canada. It’s a disaster. Kill it, I say. If an honest debate concludes a replacement is necessary, we’d be better off starting over from scratch.

*******

The myths of gun control

A presentation by

Dr. Gary Mauser
SFU Professor emeritus

6:00pm — in room B101

Abbotsford campus
University of the Fraser Valley
April 20th 2009

You are invited to listen to Professor Mauser dissect the myths about firearms and gun control.

Does the long-gun registry help police combat criminal violence, as the Chiefs of Police claim?

Is it true that every illegal gun was once legal?
Are long guns a significant factor in criminal violence?

Will the passage of Bill C-301 allow fully automatic weapons to be driven
through residential neighbourhoods for the first time in more than a decade, as Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff claims?

For published studies by Professor Mauser, see www.garymauser.net

All those in favour of scrapping the long gun registry visit this site and sign the petition:

http://www.scrapthelonggunregistry.com/

I just read this notice on banning handgunds in Canada, I would really enjoy some input from our American neighbours on this one:

By: John Bermingham
The Province
March 17, 2009
http://www.theprovince.com/news/Layton+lays+plan+combat+Vancouver+arms+race/1397167/story.html

Federal NDP Leader Jack Layton yesterday called the Lower Mainland gang killings an "arms race." Layton was in Vancouver to meet with Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu and Coun. George Chow to discuss the spate of shootings around the city.

"There’s probably no city in the country right now that is understanding the need for action more than Vancouver," said Layton, after the meeting at Vancouver police headquarters.

"We’re not seeing this elsewhere in Canada but, believe me, we’re going to if we don’t see some action taken against these gangs." Layton, flanked by Vancouver-Kingsway MP Don Davies, said there aren’t enough cops on Vancouver streets.

He also pressed for more prosecutors, especially federal prosecutors.

And he wants to ban handguns in cities such as Vancouver, and called for an international summit on the illegal cross-border gun trade.

Last month, the Conservatives introduced legislation to make gang murders carry automatic life-in-jail penalties, and boost sentences for drive-by shootings and assaults on police.

It also re-introduced legislation to give mandatory jail time to those producing and selling illegal drugs.

"We haven’t seen what we need to see yet from the federal government," said Layton. "There’s need for more legislation, prosecutions, policing and prevention." But Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said Layton should support both bills, instead of playing to the cameras.

"You’ll never make the NDP happy," said Nicholson. We [the Tories] are the ones that are consistent on this." Nicholson said he’s trying to get the crime bills through the House of Commons, but the NDP is focused instead on a free-trade agreement with Colombia.

"I just want these things to go through," said Nicholson. "But I need the help of the other political parties." - Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh will hold a townhall meeting on gang violence tomorrow night at South Vancouver Neighbourhood House, starting at 7 p.m.

jbermingham@theprovince.com

***********

I am all for banning illegal guns from gang members but the problem is that gangsters dont tend to follow the laws already in place. Banning handguns from everyone will not deter gangsters from carrying handguns, It will just take them away from law abiding citizens. Gangsters do not buy their guns from hunting stores or steal from hunters homes, they import them through their black market connections. Just like they dont buy cocaine, crack, heroine, meth, and weed at the store. They will always bring in their own weapons just like their drugs. So in closing, I feel banning handguns will just keep them out of the honest man’s hands and not the gangsters.

I have been studying maps, google earth, and practicing my shooting at the range all for my spring grizzly hunt in the B.C. interior. During this time I have also been playing with the Federal Ammunition website to find the optimal grizzly round for my .300 Winchester Magnum. I am sold on the Barnes TSX bullets because of their design and penetration so I was trying to find what  the optimal weight would be for grizzly hunting. The Federal website was very helpful as you can choose what game your hunting with what caliber you are using and it gives you recommendations in which you can compare to find the right combination. For my situation, using a .300WM on a grizzly bear, required a few 180grain and 200 grain options. I narrowed it to the Barnes TSX180 grain, Barnes MRX 180grain, and the Barnes 200 grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claw. I found that the 180 grain MRX bullet had the most velocity (fps) and energy (ft-lbs) at all different ranges. Besides, I like the Barnes MRX bullet design better than the Trophy Bonded Bear Claw, even though the latter has killed multiple brown bears I am sure.

So now I just need to pick up a few boxes of the 180grain Barnes MRX in Federal Vital Shok, and sight in with the new rounds!

I also have to buy some bullets for my backup: .458Win Mag 400 grain Federal Vital Shok Trophy Bonded Bear Claw rounds. I do not look forward to trying them out, as that gun has some kick!