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With both the SHOT Show and the original date for the NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibitions canceled for 2021, the itch to get out and do something with industry people was just getting the best of me by April of 2021. I’ve spent two show seasons cooped up in the office or working from home so I reasoned to myself what could a short trip up the turnpike to T-town hurt? The answer was nothing. To be certain the Wannenmacher’s Gun Shows are tremendous events held in a huge bi-level 11-acre indoor facility. Unlike the trade shows that concentrate on the new, the novel, and the flash-in-the-pan, this gun show is like walking into the JM Davis Firearms Museum in Claremore, OK, except you can buy almost anything on display. Oh, there’s plenty of new guns, beater guns, and common accessories there, but the real draw, for me at least, are the antique firearms and curiosities that are brought out. The Wannenmacher family traditionally puts on two shows a year, both at the Tulsa Expo Center in Tulsa, OK.

I get it. Not everyone is super enthusiastic about having a light on the end of a gun of any sort. If they aren’t for you, then you don’t have to worry about them. Just blissfully go on about your business and things will be ok. I promise. For those of you who either haven’t formed an opinion on the matter and especially those who are fond of the idea of having a light that is always pointing downrange, hang out with us for a little bit.

Throughout history man has been keenly interested in lobbing a rock just a little further, a little faster, a little more accurately than the other guy. Nothing has changed with this concept. When the rock gave way to the spear, the spear was optimized and the spear thrower, likewise, honed his skills to ensure that whether in the battle for his life or the battle for his supper he was successful. In time the spear gave way to the atlatl, a form of spear that can be hurled with much greater speed than a regular old spear. If you can add speed, you can add range and accuracy, the odds of going home hungry or just going home change. In time the atlatl then gave way to the bow and arrow. The science and practice of such skills would best be described as existential, a word that is very much over used these days.

While not true for everyone, many of us get a few days off of work around this time of the year. Oh it seems all enticing on the surface, but by the time all of the family obligations and honey-do’s are taken care of, did you actually gain a minute of time for yourself? If you are like me, the answer is a resounding “NO”. Well, for the most part anyway.

Some of our gear fits really well into a stocking. Thankfully there’s only one time of the year when we consider the size of a sock as a good measuring device for a gift, but since that is the mode of the day, consider these cool pieces of kit for your loved one, or as a guilty splurge for yourself!

Every year many of us are left wondering what gift to get the man in our lives? Ammo is always a good choice, but it’s a bit hard to come by this year. You could go with the old gift card backup plan, but sometimes that seems a bit impersonal. Here’s 7 optical gift ideas for your outdoorsman that you can wrap and stick a bow to for under $100.

Not to draw too fine of a line under this, but hunt prep in some categories means your shopping dollars are in direct competition with dollars that are being spent by panic buyers looking to fill their closets with ammo and guns. But it’s not just pew-pews and pew pills that have been made scarce-- optics, cleaning supplies, mounts, and accessories are often in the “out of stock” folder at your favorite retailer. And this isn’t limited to gear that is idealized for Modern Sporting Rifles. Regular hunting style gear is in high demand, too.

While looking for a tool the other day I searched through a box that of things that were gathered from my garage when we moved to our new place. In that box was an old Weaver K4-C3 scope that I can’t remember obtaining, yet it’s been hanging around for years. Unfortunately, the exterior condition of that old steel scope is less than immaculate. It’s really downright shameful. Arkansas humidity and poor storage lead to some serious rust issues, but functionally, there is nothing wrong with the scope.

What’s wrong with iron sights? Nothing. Not a solitary thing. They don’t require batteries, or any sort of voodoo to work. Line the post with the aperture and squeeze the trigger. Hit. Oh, you may have to concentrate a bit more and adjust your hold via Kentucky windage if shooting out beyond 200 yards, but the trusty iron sights can get the job done all day, every day. But not every rifle has a set of sights on it these days. The last rifle I built was a flat-top free-floater with a 16” pencil barrel. I knew I wanted a lightweight carbine and thought this would be the best route to go.

For those of us who grew up in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s we saw some amazing gunfights on the silver screen and the cathode ray tube. Machine guns and pistols that never ran out of ammo, copious amounts of orange flame (with the ubiquitous good-guy walking away from the explosion), precision off hand shooting, and point-in-the-general-direction shotgun shooting that blew the perp through the wall into the next room. Ah, the good old days.