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The Shotwad Issue#12/16 The Official Newsletter of the Marysville Rifle Club December, 2016

The Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms Shall Not Be Infringed

Here are the before and after photos of the fence repair that was completed. Great job!

MRC Fence Before

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MRC Fence After

Bullet Points • Work Point Deadline Membership, please remember that the work points year is Jan 1 to Dec 31 so you've only got a few days left to earn points. The last scheduled work party of the year is Dec. 10th. You need a total of 16 points for the year. Each year you are a member counts as one point. If you haven’t been a member for 16 years, you will need to earn the balance. Each point missed will cost you $25 (if you are an annual member) or $15 if you are a Senior Member After the first of the year you will receive a letter outlining the total cost of your membership and renewal dates. If you choose to put in time outside of the work party, work points tally sheets are located inside the front door of both the upper and lower range houses.

• Missouri Bullet Company Discount Missouri Bullet Company extends a 5% discount to qualified shooting clubs, military and law enforcement. MRC qualifies. Go to http://www.missouribullet.com to check out their bullets. If you decide to order their bullets, enter the discount code (exactly as shown) in the promotional box during check out to receive the 5% club discount. Discount code for MRC is mrc-gc

• Calling All Discipline Chairpersons! All Discipline calendars and budgets are due in December. Also, please review the MRC website for correct information about your discipline. Please send your calendar, budget and website revisions to President Joe Ridenhour.

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Tested: Ruger LCP II

Handgun

With its 2008 introduction of the Lightweight Compact Pistol (LCP), Ruger defined the modern pocket pistol. A locked-breech, hammer-fired, semi-automatic design chambered for .380 ACP, the pistol was slim, trim and snag-free—traits much desired in today’s concealed-carry firearms, and we have the LCP to thank for blazing the trail. Of course there are other handguns, old and new, that offer performance and portability on par with the LCP, but with more than 1.5 million units sold in less than nine years, Ruger’s pocket pistol has been a runaway commercial success and a crucial stepping stone in the evolution of personal-defense firepower. In the concealed carry arena today, we talk a lot about compromise. Firearm manufacturers and armed citizens alike must balance characteristics such as power, capacity, weight and handling in order to meet specific requirements. Needless to say, despite the accolades and success garnered by the LCP, the pistol was a case study in compromise: it was snag-free to the point of being effectively sight-free; it was safe to carry thanks to its onerous double-action trigger; it was small and lightweight, but these, combined with relatively mild grip texturing, allowed even the .380 ACP cartridge to inflict noticeably snappy recoil. Ruger’s brand new LCP II aims to strike a better balance for consumers and evolve the platform that defined a class into a best-in-class proposition. The LCP II is very nearly the same size as the original, but its exterior appearance is distinct. While all the edges remain contoured to prevent hang ups during the draw, the LCP II is decidedly more angular than the earlier model. From the slide’s cocking serrations, front and rear, to the textured portions of the polymer frame, the lines of the gun are unmistakably polygonal, though softened and beveled. It’s really a good-looking gun, but the aesthetic improvements are just a happy result of utility-driven enhancements. For example, the cocking serrations are not only stylish, they feel deep and are easy to grasp when manipulating the slide. Likewise, the geometry of the molded frame, including the beefed-up backstrap and the

mapping of the textured portions—the pattern feels like relatively coarse skateboard tape—combine to enhance the user’s ability to handle the little gun, and control it under recoil. Regarding the features, the former swells the rear of the grip frame by about 0.2"—making it 0.91" wide—of hand-filling width within a crescent-shaped area that runs from beavertail to butt. Beyond its new cocking serrations, the slide has also had an upgrade to its integral sights. The front post and rear notch are still small and black, but they are decidedly larger and more usable that those of the original LCP. They have glare-reducing horizontal serrations commonly seen on the fully adjustable rear sights of target pistols, and while I don’t expect the LCP II to show up to any bullseye competitions, the sights are very usable inside of 25 yds., even considering the gun’s short 4.5" sight radius.

The LCP II has better sights and ergonomics than the original, as well as an articulated blade safety in the trigger. The LCP is not being discontinued. Also aiding accuracy is the LCP II’s new trigger system. Where the original LCP’s 10-plus-lb. double-action trigger was undoubtedly safe, in the same sense as a double-action revolver, it was also a detriment when taking aimed shots at distances longer than arm’s reach. The LCP II utilizes a new single-action mechanism where the internal hammer is fully cocked by the rearward motion of the slide, resulting in a consistent and clean trigger pull of around 6 lbs. The new trigger also makes use of the familiar blade safety, as seen on many popular semi-automatic pistols today, so compared to the original LCP, the firing system is much improved without sacrificing safety. The final change of note for the LCP II is the automatic slide hold-open function. The gun retains the manual slide lock lever from the original, but the LCP II’s slide will automatically lock open on an empty magazine. The LCP II ships with one six-round-capacity magazine featuring a textured floorplate with an extended finger shelf to accommodate a two-finger grip. A flush-fitting replacement floorplate is also included. Smartly, the LCP magazines of either generation are compatible with both firearms, however, the last-round hold-open function only works with LCP II magazines in an LCP II. Also included with a new LCP II is a black synthetic pocket holster that, while not fancy, is entirely serviceable and a nice added value. At the range, two things became quickly apparent. First, the LCP II is a big improvement over its predecessor in terms of shootability. I found the sights to be very easy to use and the trigger to be on par with production striker-fired pistols. So, while not intended for 25-yd. shooting, the LCP II’s combination of features allowed me to easily keep

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shots on a silhouette target at that range. Closer in, the gun was just plain accurate, as seen in the accompanying table. Due to its intended role, chambering and 2.75" barrel, the LCP II was formally evaluated for accuracy at 7 yds.

Still, it was equally clear that this is not a gun meant for extended range sessions. Even with the ergonomic improvements, this is a small, lightweight gun, and recoil, while manageable, is definitely noticeable. But in discussing this one apparent drawback, really the result of a compromise between size and power, we get to the crux of the matter: Like the original LCP, the LCP II is a purposefully designed pistol that compromises in terms of features and dimensions in order to best fulfill its intended role as a deep concealment, personal-protection firearm. It fulfills that role with aplomb, offers real improvements over its predecessor and leads in a class that Ruger, with its original LCP, really helped to define.

A beautifully simple but effective firearm design

Is the .30-’06 Springfield Dead?

Is the .30-’06 still viable? Shown here is a combination of premium .30-’06 ammunition with an all-weather Winchester Model 70 Classic Stainless rifle. In this day and age of short magnums, super-short magnums, long cartridges, fat cartridges and everything in between, it seems logical that some of our tried-and-true favorites may have become obsolete. I mean, we’ve had a century to improve upon some of these old designs, so certainly newer must equal better, right? There seems to be a specialized cartridge for just about every conceivable role. Brush-busting heavy projectiles for relatively close-in game? Flat-shooting and accurate rounds for long range? The list of cartridges and specific roles could go on and on. So, is there still a place for the “old” .30-’06?

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Shown is a .30-’06 bullet lineup, recovered from ballistic gelatin. Well, I like to put it this way: There are some wonderful new developments, but there are absolutely no flies on the classics, especially with the modern developments in projectiles and powders. I can’t think of a better example of a classic cartridge—that is wonderfully versatile—than the .30-’06 Springfield. There is an issue with the .30-’06 Springfield: It’s boring. Wonderfully, predictably, perfectly boring. It is, quite possibly, the best blend of muzzle velocity, manageable recoil, useful bullet choices and flat trajectory around. It’s true that I’ve long been a champion of both the .308 Winchester (for the closer range whitetails and black bears in my native New York) as well as the .300 Winchester Magnum (for long range work and/or situations that may require a bit more horsepower), but I can honestly say that any hunting shot I’ve ever made with either of those cartridges could’ve been handled by my .30-’06. Frankly stated, within sane hunting ranges, a .30-’06 Springfield will handle 95% of your hunting scenarios, save the true big game like hippo, Cape buffalo and elephant, and though there may be better choices for the Alaskan brown bears, the ’06 has taken many of them cleanly. Why would a military cartridge—bred over a century ago—serve so well in the hunting fields, and why would it stay at the forefront of ammunition and rifle sales 110 years after its inception? In fact, despite its age, the .30-’06 Springfield still represents one of the most popular selling cartridges. According to Federal Premium’s recent sales records, it ranks at No. 3 in ammunition sales, behind only the .223 Remington/5.56mm NATO and .308 Winchester/7.62x51mm NATO rounds. Many component bullet companies use the .30-’06 case as the benchmark for bullet performance testing, and as stated in the “Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading, 8th Edition”, “The .30-’06 has the largest variety of suitable powders of the cartridges listed in the Hornady handbook, which illustrates the efficiency of the cartridge.” Often times, when a new big game rifle is introduced, we gun writers will receive a model chambered in .30-’06 for testing and evaluation, so universal is the performance of the cartridge. It has been offered in virtually every type of rifle action, and I would be willing to wager that this won’t change anytime soon. So, let’s look at the history and

design of the cartridge, and perhaps that will give some insight to the usefulness of the ‘ought-six.’ BORN OF WAR The Spanish-American War, especially those battles fought on the island of Cuba, showed the superiority of the 7x57mm Mauser cartridge that the Spanish used over the .30-40 Krag that was the U.S. Army’s choice at the time. Military research began here in the United States, and while the case head of the new cartridge in development showed many attributes of the Mauser design, the Army lengthened the Mauser case to 65mm, or 2.54 inches, and retained the 220-grain round nose bullet of the Krag design, but at 2,300 feet per second (fps) instead of the Krag’s 2,000 fps muzzle velocity. This was designated Cartridge, Ball, Caliber .30, Model of 1903, shortened to .30-’03. It was this cartridge that Theodore Roosevelt took to Africa, in a Winchester Model 1895 lever-action, for his 1909-1910 safari made famous in his classic African Game Trails. While the .30-’03 was a definite advantage over the Krag cartridge, the U.S. Army soon saw the European military powers make the switch from heavy-for-caliber, round nosed bullets to lighter, spitzer bullets, increasing the effective range of the soldier’s rifles. In 1906, the Army made the switch that would hook us hunters for the next century plus; the case was shortened to 63mm (2.494”), and built the load around a 150-grain spitzer bullet, at a muzzle velocity of 2,700 fps.

The .30-’06 was born of war and served in the trenches of World War I and beyond. Image courtesy the Imperial War Museum. The military success of this cartridge—in a pair of world wars as well as the Korean dustup—is very easy to recognize, but as a hunting round this cartridge (and its flexibility) would set the benchmark for many challengers to come. It can be housed in virtually any style of rifle, from single shot to bolt-action, lever-actions and pumps, as well as a variety of autoloaders. It can make a rifle capable of handling varmints and predators (though not the optimal choice, it will still work), and it will handle the lighter-weight dangerous game like bears, mountain lions and leopards (for which it may be absolutely perfect), but it’s on the

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game that sits in between those two categories where the .30-’06 most certainly shines. The ‘aught-six’ makes a fantastic whitetail rifle—it is a staple here in the Northeast, where bears are also on the menu—as well as a great choice for elk and moose-size game. With the sleek, light-for-caliber bullets, it can cleanly take distant antelope on the prairie, yet when loaded with a heavyweight round nose, it will generate enough horsepower to handle animals the size of an eland in the bushveld of South Africa and Zimbabwe or a moose in the swamps of Quebec. It has enough case capacity to make it a flat-shooting cartridge, within sane hunting ranges, so for a shooter who may be uncomfortable the recoil of a .300 Winchester Magnum or 7mm Remington Magnum, it makes a perfectly viable choice of all-around rifle. It is the father of so many wonderful sons, like the .270 Winchester, .280 Remington, .35 Whelen and .25-’06 Remington, yet as the head of the household, the bullet choices for the .30-’06 surpass any other caliber. A WIDE RANGE OF USEFUL PROJECTILES

The wide and diverse selection of .308 caliber projectiles will help to wring the most versatility out of the .30-’06 case. Being .30 caliber is a great thing, as the bullets range between 100 and 250-grains at the extremes, with some fantastic choices in between. The lighter bullets, between 100 and 130 grains, have traditionally been used for the varmints, predators and smaller species. The lower Sectional Density figures ensure that these bullets will upset quickly, to deliver all kinds of hydraulic shock, and as these species are usually smaller to begin with, penetration isn’t an issue. The lighter bullet weights translate into a higher muzzle velocity, and a flatter trajectory. The bullets in the 140- to 165-grain range are what most deer hunters rely on to make the .30-’06 shine, as they have enough weight to reach the vitals and shoot flat enough to reach out and touch that buck across a hay lot. The 150-grain loadings usually run somewhere around the 2,900 fps mark, while the 165-grain stuff flies about 100 fps slower, but has a bit more weight to ensure penetration. Those 165-grain slugs, when properly constructed, can be used on game up to the size of moose and elk—but we’ll talk more about construction in just a bit.

The 165- to 190-grain bullets are just about perfect for the aforementioned large cervids, as well as handling black bear and African plains game very well. The 180-grain bullets, both the standard cup-and-core designs as well as the premium bullets of all sorts, have made a fantastic choice for the .30-’06 Springfield; it is this weight of bullet that many elk, moose and bear guides, as well as most African Professional Hunters, would recommend as just about the perfect combination for general hunting purposes. Running at a muzzle velocity of right around 2,700 fps, the 180-grain loads will yield just under 3,000 ft.-lbs. of energy at the muzzle, and offer a trajectory that is flat enough for a general hunting rifle.

A 200-grain Swift A-Frame bullet. Bullets weighing 200 grains and more are usually reserved for the biggest game one would hunt with the Springfield, as these longer slugs will deliver the deep penetration needed to break the larger shoulder bones and reach the vitals of the larger species. The classic .30-’06 loading of a 220-grain, round nosed bullet, at a muzzle velocity of 2,300 to 2,400 fps, made a fantastic reputation among the hunters of the early decades of the 20th century, with good cause: the recoil is mild enough to allow the shooter to accurately place his or her shots, and that muzzle velocity has shown—among many cartridges using a long, heavy-for-caliber bullet—to be just about perfect for the cup-and-core bullets of my grandfather’s day. In short, there was little chance of premature bullet breakup, due to low impact velocities and high Sectional Density figures. THE CONSTRUCTION ZONE When the .30-’06 Springfield was developed, the choices of projectile were limited at best. The military full metal jacket was obviously available, and while that style of bullet can be extremely useful to the target crowd, it doesn’t really help the hunter, as it offers no expansion, and makes a poor choice for a quick kill. The expanding bullets were of two types: A soft point, with a small amount of exposed lead core at the nose to allow for expansion to destroy tissue; or as a hollowpoint, for quicker expansion. Both styles however, had the same construction method:

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A lead core surrounded by a copper jacket. This would be the case until the late 1940s, when Mr. Nosler had a frustrating experience with a bull moose and failing soft-points, and developed the now-famous Nosler Partition. That encounter led to an entire industry of “premium” bullets; one which would shake the foundations of what we had come to expect from the hunting cartridges championed by the classic writers.

The premium hunting ammunition, from such companies as Norma and Federal, will make an already great cartridge even more potent. These bullets – performing much more reliably than their predecessors – make a cartridge like the .30-’06 more effective than it had been before. While they don’t change the muzzle velocities or energy figures, the structural integrity of these premium offerings allow a lighter-weight projectile to give the terminal performance of what was expected of much heavier cup-and-core bullets. If the .30-’06 was a solid performer with standard bullets, it became even better when mated with the premiums. The aforementioned Nosler Partition is a perfect mate for the .30-’06 case; a 180-grain Partition at 2,700 fps or so will handle the lion’s share of animals that the average hunter will have the opportunity to pursue. With a pair of lead cores separated by a wall of copper jacket metal, the Partition will give good expansion up front, while leaving the rear core intact for the deep penetration we all appreciate. Similarly, the fabulous Swift A-Frame shares the same concept, but with a thicker jacket and the front core bonded to the jacket. I find the Swift A-Frame to be among the finest bullets on the market today. Federal Premium loads the Partition for the ’06, and Remington’sSafari line includes the 180-grain A-Frame.

Federal Premium’s 180-grain Nosler Partition load makes a fantastic all-around choice. There are also plenty of good spitzer boat tails, with strong bonded cores and polymer tips, which can transform the aught-six into a rather flat shooter, with the strength to deliver the terminal ballistics any hunter would like. The Swift Scirocco II, the Hornady InterBond, and the Nosler AccuBond represent this type of bullet, and even at 150 or 165 grains, will give the deer or sheep hunter confidence in just about any shot angle, as they will usually retain 85 to 90% of their weight, yet their high Ballistic Coefficient helps to fight the effects of a crosswind and maintain the velocity produced. The monometal bullets work perfectly in the ’06; having no lead core to separate, they will definitely hold together well. You’re all more than likely familiar with the Barnes TSX and TTSX bullets, and they work just fine in the century-old case. The Federal Trophy Copper Tipped is another excellent and accurate choice, and has proved to be a great choice for those who choose factory ammunition. I like the 150-grain Cutting Edge Raptor, a hollowpoint bullet designed to have the walls of the ogive break into small blades for severe impact trauma, yet to have the base of the bullet remain at caliber dimension for nice penetration. There are few “hybrid” designs, which are best described as having a smaller lead core at the front of the bullet, and a very heavy copper base. The Federal Trophy Bonded Bear Claw—a Jack Carter design—is a great example of this idea, as is the North Fork semi-spitzer. These bullets keep their weight forward, for good, straight-line penetration, yet expand enough to cause all sorts of trauma. I like these bullets for thicker-skinned animals, and I usually like them at 180 or 200 grains. Norma’s Oryx bullet is a hybrid design, being a traditional soft-point, but with the rear portion of the jacket bonded to core, to slow expansion. I’ve had nothing but good results with this bullet in the hunting fields.

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The 150-grain Cutting Edge Raptor is fully capable of taking game up to and including elk. The bullets lying at the extremes are interesting as well. Cutting Edge Bullets offers that same Raptor as a 100-grain bullet; this can be loaded as a hollowpoint, or turned around to be fired as a solid. Rather interesting concept, considering it can be pushed over 3,300 fps from an ’06! The 250-grain Barnes Original is a true heavyweight—I’m thinking black bears over bait—and will certainly be used as a short-range bullet. There are also some traditional-style bullets that are a bit different. My good pal Kevin Hicks uses his 03-A3 sporter, loaded with 165-grain Sierra GameKing hollowpoints; this bullet features a thick jacket for integrity, but the open nose gives great expansion. Mr. Hicks has used this combination for quite a few whitetails, with good effect. ROLL YOUR OWN Handloading the .30-’06 is a rather simple procedure. It is a case that will run on nothing short of a multitude of powders; it also has enough case capacity to handle the longer, monometal bullets that are difficult to fit in the .308 Winchester. Over the decades, I’ve used powders from IMR3031—a faster burning rifle powder—to H4831SC and Reloder 22—both on the slower side of the chart—and many in between. My best results have come with IMR4350 and Reloder 19 for the 180-grain slugs, and I’ve used IMR4064, Reloder 15 and VARGET with some of the lighter bullets, giving very accurate groups. Choose a good large rifle primer—I prefer the Federal GM210M match primer—and keep your brass trimmed to proper length, and it won’t be very long before you find a load that your rifle likes. Be sure, if you choose to use a premium bullet, to find proper data for that specific bullet, as the bearing surfaces and pressure curves can change quickly. For reloading dies, I prefer the Redding Match set; it provides not only the tight tolerances for consistent dimensions when resizing cases, but includes a neck sizing die for the bolt-action rifles, and I’ve seen neck-sized cases cut a group size nearly in half. The micrometer-adjustable seating die gives uniform cartridge lengths; something that is very important with the monometal bullets that can show a sensitivity to seating

depth. The .30-’06 has a nice, long neck—0.385”—so you’ll get good neck tension to keep your bullet in place, and I don’t feel that crimping your bullets is a necessity. Be sure to full-length resize your cases if you’re loading for anything but the bolt-action rifles, as the autoloaders and pumps lack the camming power to close the bolt. THE WRAP UP

In the author’s opinion, the .30-’06 is, indeed, enough gun. The .30-’06 Springfield is a cartridge that will be right at home in just about any hunt camp, whether in the shadowed hemlock forests of the Adirondacks, the mopane thickets of Zimbabwe or the shale slides of the Alaskan peaks. If truly big game is on the menu, you can easily pair it with a .375 H&H, .404 Jeffrey or one of the .416s, for a very versatile combination. There are other choices in the ’06 power range, like the 7mm Remington Magnum and .300 Winchester Magnum that offer a bit more velocity. But, if you have an accurate rifle in .30-’06 that fits you well, I’d be willing to bet you’ll be reaching for that rifle more often than not. So, I think it is safe to say the reports of the .30-’06’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Heavy and slow, the 220-grain Speer Hot Cor will handle larger game very well.

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THOUGHTS TO PONDER This is a statement that was read over the PA system at the football game at Roane County High School, Kingston, Tennessee by school Principal Jody McLoud, on September 1, 2000. I thought it was worth sharing with the world. It clearly shows just how far this country has gone in the wrong direction: It has always been the custom at Roane County High School football games to say a prayer and play the National Anthem to honor God and Country. Due to a recent ruling by the Supreme Court, I am told that saying a prayer is a violation of Federal Case Law. As I understand the law at this time, I can use this public facility to approve of sexual perversion and call it an alternate lifestyle, and if someone is offended, that's OK. I can use it to condone sexual promiscuity by dispensing condoms and calling it safe sex. If someone is offended, that's OK. I can even use this public facility to present the merits of killing an unborn baby as a viable means of birth control. If someone is offended, it's no problem. I can designate a school day as earth day and involve students in activities to religiously worship and praise the goddess, mother earth, and call it ecology. I can use literature, videos and presentations in the classroom that depict people with strong, traditional, Christian convictions as simple minded and ignorant and call it enlightenment. However, if anyone uses this facility to honor God and ask Him to bless this event with safety and good sportsmanship, Federal Case Law is violated. This appears to be inconsistent at best, and at worst, diabolical. Apparently, we are to be tolerant of everything and anyone except God and His Commandments. Nevertheless, as a school principal, I frequently ask staff and students to abide by rules that they do not necessarily agree. For me to do otherwise would be inconsistent at best, and at worst, hypocritical. I suffer from that affliction enough unintentionally. I certainly do not need to add an intentional transgression. For this reason, I shall render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and refrain from praying at this time. However, if you feel inspired to honor, praise and thank God, and ask Him in the name of Jesus to bless this event, please feel free to do so. As far as I know, that's not against the law — yet.

AND ... one by one, the people in the stands bowed their heads, held hands with one another, and began to pray. They prayed in the stands. They prayed in the team huddles. They prayed at the concession stand. And they prayed in the announcer's box. The only place they didn't pray was in the Supreme Court of the United States of America — the seat of "justice" in the one nation under God. Somehow, Kingston, Tennessee, remembered what so many have forgotten ... we are given the Freedom OF Religion, not the Freedom FROM Religion.

LEFT THE RANGE It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Ron Kesselring at the age of 82. Ron was a life member of the Marysville Rifle Club. He was the second-generation owner of Kesselring Gun Shop, which was started in 1947 by Ron’s father, Clarence Kesselring. Clarence began as a machinist and self-taught gunsmith. Clarence became frustrated in the late 1930's that he could not find a good set of scope mounts. He began manufacturing his own design of scope mounts in the early 1940's until opening Kesselring Gun Shop in 1947. Ron had worked alongside his Dad when he was a small boy. Ron began working full time in the business at the age of 18. Ron was also world renowned for his vast knowledge of optics and competition shooting, winning the Canadian national Championship in .22 Silhouette two times, and tied for first in the U.S. Nationals once. Ron also participated in the Washington State .22 Silhouette and .22 Gallery competitions. Graveside Service will be held Thursday, December 8, 2016, 11:00 AM at Hawthorne Memorial Park followed by a Celebration of Ron's life, 12:00 PM at the Skagit Golf and Country Club.

SILENT MARINES

U.S. Marines with Fox Company, Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines (BLT 2/1), 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU. The 11th MEU is deployed with the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group as a theater reserve and crisis response force throughout U.S. Central Command and the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

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In a series of experiments this year, units from 2nd Marine Division will be silencing every element of an infantry battalion -- from M4 rifles to .50 caliber machine guns. The commanding general of 2nd Marine Division, Maj. Gen. John Love, described these plans during a speech to Marines at the Marine Corps Association Ground Dinner this month near Washington, D.C. The proof-of-concept tests, he said, included Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, which began an Integrated Training Exercise pre-deployment last month at Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms. "What we've found so far is it revolutionizes the way we fight," Love told Military.com. "It used to be a squad would be dispersed out over maybe 100 yards, so the squad leader couldn't really communicate with the members at the far end because of all the noise of the weapons. Now they can actually communicate, and be able to command and control and effectively direct those fires." Chief Warrant Officer 5 Christian Wade, the division's gunner, or infantry weapons officer, said the Lima companies in two other battalions -- 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, and 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines -- now had silencers, or suppressors, on all their rifles, including the M27 infantry automatic rifles. All units are set to deploy in coming months. The combat engineer platoons that are attached to these units and will deploy with them will also carry suppressed weapons, he said. Suppressors work by slowing the escape of propellant gases when a gun is fired, which drastically reduces the sound signature. Used by scout snipers and special operations troops to preserve their stealth, the devices are also valuable for their ability to minimize the chaos of battle, enabling not only better communication but also improved situational awareness and accuracy. "It increases their ability to command and control, to coordinate with each other," Wade told Military.com. "They shoot better, because they can focus more, and they get more discipline with their fire." The noise of gunfire can create an artificial stimulus that gives the illusion of effectiveness, he said. When it's taken away, he explained, Marines pay more attention to their shooting and its effect on target. "They've got to get up and look, see what effect they're having on the enemy because you can't hear it," he said. He added that suppressors were already in common use by near-peer militaries, including those of Russia and China. Wade said he is working on putting suppressors on the Marines' M249 light machine gun and M240G medium machine gun, using equipment from Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command. The third and final objective will be the suppression of the .50 caliber heavy machine gun, he said. As the units conduct training and exercises with suppressors, 2nd Marine Division is collaborating with the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab to collect and aggregate data. Weapons with suppressors require additional maintenance and cleaning to prevent fouling, and the cost,

nearly $700,000 to outfit an infantry battalion, might give planners pause. But Wade said he will continue to gather data for the next year-and-a-half, following the units as they deploy. And he expects the idea to have gained significant traction among Marine Corps leadership by then, he said. "When I show how much overmatch we gain … it will have sold itself," he said. For Sale

Brand new Taurus Model 85 stainless steel, .38 Special, Ultra Lite revolver. This pistol has never been fired. $310, no Tax. Please call 425-350-4372 and leave a message.

Christmas Quotes

“In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it 'Christmas' and went to church; the Jews called it 'Hanukkah' and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say 'Merry Christmas!' or 'Happy Hanukkah!' or (to the atheists) 'Look out for the wall!” ― Dave Barry “When did wishing a Merry Christmas to someone become politically incorrect?” ― Suzanne Woods Fisher, A Lancaster County Christmas “He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.” ― Roy L. Smith “Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves.” ― Eric Sevareid “There has been only one Christmas -- the rest are anniversaries.” ― W. J. Cameron

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The Marysville Rifle Club PO Box 303

Marysville, WA 98270 360-652-0784

MarysvilleRifleClub.org Club Officers President, Joe Ridenhour 206-660-4672 joeriden@centurylink.net Vice President, Curt Zuvela 360-631-1246 cherylncurt@yahoo.com Secretary, Jennie Cooney 425-231-8239 jenniecooney@yahoo.com

Treasurer, Bob Wydro 360-563-0356 rwydro@comcast.net Past President, Mike Haakensen 360-435-5579 kmhaakensen@aol.com

Rod Moore (3 year) 360-652-8321 boulderchewer@aol.com

Don Jones (2 year) 425-330-6496 ko7i@comcast.net Ron Oehlert (1 year) 360-387-3260 Planning & Work Party Chairman TBD Hunter Education Committee Rod Moore Sean Overman Bill Vincent Bill Whitley Bob Moon Keith Foote Rich Brown Kit Wennersten Dave Phipps Todd Straley www.MarysvilleRifleClub.org Shotwad Editors Chris Seung 425-610-4967 mukilteoman1@yahoo.com

Bob Burch 425-503-0252 burmae_rgb@comcast.net Bill Phillips 360-387-4867 bill@billsguns.com Webmaster Joe Ridenhour 206-660-4672 joeriden@centurylink.net

Discipline Chairpersons Blackpowder Dave Clutinger 360-435-8599 dbclute@comcast.net Cowboy Shooting Fred Byer 360-435-0258 Cell phone: 360-770-4704 fwbyer@gmail.com CMP/DCM Curt Bry 360-652-8771 joeflaps@msn.com IPSC Gary Wall 360-629-3964 wrongwaywall@hotmail.com Juniors Chuck Whipple 425-334-0211 skijor@tgi.net

Junior Shotgun Sports Todd Staley 425-923-9091 NRA Instructors William Gruner 360-348-7081 Wilhelm@nwinfo.net Indoor Pistol/PPC Tom Persell 425-348-0589 tdpersell@msn.com Membership Jennie Cooney 360-652-5256 JennieCooney@yahoo.com Recreational Shooting Ron Oehlert 360-387-3260 Shotgun Sports John Church 360-652-1161 jchurch@frontier.com

Hunter Sight-in Keith Gepner 425-422-7906

Keith.a.gepner@boe

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