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The History and Art of Shotshells, Click
here submitted by Dr. Lynn Parsons
Real Stories:
A
Different Christmas Poem
The
embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.
So that your family can sleep without fright.
It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at '
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of '
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he care fully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."
LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum,
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
Action of Second Continental Congress, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America
WHEN in the Course of human Events,
it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness -- That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the present King of Great- Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.
HE has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.
HE has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
HE has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.
HE has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.
HE has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.
HE has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of the Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and the Convulsions within.
HE has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
HE has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
HE has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.
HE has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.
HE has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislatures.
HE has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
HE has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
FOR quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us;
FOR protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
FOR cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:
FOR imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
FOR depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:
FOR transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:
FOR abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rules into these Colonies:
FOR taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
FOR suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.
HE has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
HE has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.
HE is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.
HE has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
HE has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.
IN every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.
NOR have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren. We have warned them from Time to Time of Attempts by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We have appealed to their native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these Usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our Connections and Correspondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of Consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends.
WE, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in GENERAL CONGRESS, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
Have
you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men
who signed the
Five
signers were captured by the British as traitors,
and tortured
Two lost their sons
wounds or hardships.
What
kind of men were they?
Twenty-four
were lawyers and jurists. Eleven
were merchants,
nine
well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence
knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they
were captured.
Carter
Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his
Thomas
McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move
Vandals
or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer,
At
the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr, noted that the British
Francis
Lewis had his home and properties destroyed.
The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
John
Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying.
Their 13 children fled for their lives.
His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste.
For more than a year he lived in forests and caves,
Norris
and Livingston suffered similar fates. Such
were the stories
They
gave you and me a free and independent America. The
history books
Some
of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't.
I
hope you will show your support by showing your friends this message. It's time
we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and our National Holidays have
more to them than beer, picnics, and baseball games.
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to Top
Ducks Unlimited, how it began...The idea for Ducks Unlimited
was born by the winds that created the Dust Bowl. Untold acres of wetland habitat vanished
in the 1930's, taking with them the promise of generations of waterfowl. In 1937 a small
group of conservationists who realized that the majority of North America's waterfowl
breed in the Canadian prairies, organized to raise money in the United States for
waterfowl conservation in Canada. It was the unique idea that became Ducks Unlimited. Learn
about and listen to your favorite waterfowl click here
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His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself.
Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death. The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved. "I want to repay you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son's life." "No, I can't accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer replied, waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the
door of the family hovel. "Is that your son?" the nobleman asked. "Yes," the farmer replied proudly. "I'll make you a deal. Let me take him and give him a good education. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll grow to a man you can be proud of." And that he did.
In time, Farmer Fleming's son graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.
Years afterward, the nobleman's son was stricken with pneumonia. What saved him? Penicillin. The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill.
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Finally, the law and justice submitted by Mary Kay and Earl:
A
Charlotte, NC man having purchased a box of very
rare, very expensive cigars, insured them against fire
among other things.
Within
a month having smoked his entire stockpile of
cigars and without having made even his first premium
payment on the policy, the man filed a claim against
the insurance company. In his claim, the man stated the
cigars were lost "in a series of small fires".
The
insurance company refused to pay, citing the
obvious reason: that the man had consumed the cigars
in the normal fashion. The man sued... and won!
In
delivering the ruling, the judge agreed that the claim
was frivolous. He stated nevertheless that the man
held a policy from the company in which it had
warranted that the cigars were insurable and also
guaranteed that it would insure against fire, without
defining what is considered to be "unacceptable fire,"
and was obligated to pay the claim. Rather than endure
a lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company
accepted the ruling and paid the man $15,000.00 for the rare
cigars he had lost in the "fires".
After
the man cashed the check, the insurance company
had him arrested on 24 counts of ARSON! With his own
insurance claim and testimony from the previous case
being used against him, the man was convicted of
intentionally burning his insured property and sentenced
to 24 months in jail and... a $24,000.00 fine.
This is a true story and it won 1999's Criminal Darwin Award.
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to Top
A
Columbine victim's parent defends the NRA:
submitted by Mary Kay and Earl
This
Is A Wonderful Article. Full Of hope for our future.
Guess
our national leaders didn't expect this, hmm? On Thursday,
"Since
the dawn of creation, there has been both good and evil in the hearts of men and
women. We all contain the seeds of kindness or the seeds of violence. The death
of my wonderful daughter, Rachel Joy Scott, and the deaths of that heroic
teacher, and the other eleven children who died, must not be in vain. Their
blood cries out for answers.
"The
first recorded act of violence was when Cain slew his brother Abel
"In
the days that followed the Columbine tragedy, I was amazed at how
"I
am here today to declare that Columbine was not just a tragedy-it was a
spiritual event that should be forcing us to look at where the real blame lies!
Much of the blame lies here in this room. Much of the blame lies behind the
pointing fingers of the accusers themselves.
"I
wrote a poem just four nights ago that expresses my feelings best. This was
written way before I would be speaking here today":
Your
laws ignore our deepest needs,
Your words are empty air.
You've stripped away our heritage,
You've outlawed simple prayer.
Now gunshots fill our classrooms,
And precious children die.
You seek for answers everywhere,
And ask the question "Why?
You regulate restrictive laws,
Through legislative creed.
And yet you fail to understand,
That God is what we need!
"Men
and women are three-part beings. We all consist of body, soul, and spirit. When
we refuse to acknowledge a third part of our make-up, we create a void that
allows evil, prejudice, and hatred to rush in and wreak havoc. Spiritual
presences were present within our educational
We
have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we open the doors to hatred and
violence. And when something as terrible as Columbine's
"Eric
and Dylan would not have been stopped by metal detectors. No amount of gun laws
can stop someone who spends months planning this type of massacre.
The
real villain lies within our own hearts. Political posturing and restrictive
legislation are not the answers. The young people of our
"As
my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his
"I
defy any law or politician to deny him that right! I challenge every young
person in America, and around the world, to realize that on April
Do
what the media did not - - let the nation hear this mans
speech. Please send this out to everyone you can!!!
Back to Top
Walleye, Seasoned:
3/4 pound of walleye fillets
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon water
1 cup crushed Italian seasoned croutons
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
2 tablespoons peanut oil
Place fish in small bowl with milk. Stir to coat and place in
refrigerator for 30 minutes. In another bowl, mix egg and water. Drain milk and
add egg wash to fillets. Chill for 15 minutes, then drain and dredge fillets in
crushed croutons. Fry fillets in oil/butter mixture at medium heat for 3 - 4
minutes, or until golden, turning once.
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Venison Stroganoff
1 pound venison
steak or roast
Butter
Minced garlic
Small onion, chopped
Portabella mushrooms, sliced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Whole milk
8 ounces sour cream
Eat after cooked or place on wide egg noodles, or rice
Slice venison into
strips about 1/4 inch thick. Melt butter or place olive oil in large skillet
over medium heat. Add venison, onions, garlic, and chopped mushrooms. Cook
until meat is thoroughly cooked and vegetables are tender. In a bowl, whisk
together cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, and milk (equal to or slightly less
than the mushroom soup can). Pour over ingredients in skillet and heat until
sauce is hot and bubbly. Eat plain or over noodles or rice.
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Dove Poppers
Dove breasts (4
per person)
Chunks of pineapple, green chili or jalapeno peppers, and mushrooms
Teriyaki sauce
Strips of bacon, cut in half
Place chunks of
pineapple, pepper, and mushroom between dove breast sections removed from
breastbone. Wrap in a half slice of bacon and hold together with toothpick.
Place on plate and shake teriyaki sauce over them. Put on low heat on barbecue
grill and close lid. Turn about every 5 minutes and cook about 20 minutes or
until bacon is browned.
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For what it's worth: I hunt a lot of ducks along the rivers of Northern
Tips:
Colorado. I have a little black lab named Nicki. Nicki will get my birds
and decoys and is a lot of fun to hunt with. I was out near the end of last
season and I saw a guy with a very unusual device. It was a telescopic golf
ball retriever. Seems that he uses it because he doesn't have a dog.
I went home and a buddy of mine got me a five section, long golf
ball
retriever. I took off the head and mounted a hook from a budgie cord with
Liquid Nails. I also took a strong paper clip and mounted it as well. I use
the retriever to set out and pick up decoys in places where I don't want to
wade, like across small, deep channels. I also use it to put my dove and
crow decoys higher up in the limbs.
If anyone doesn't have a dog or wants to get the decoys up high, this works pretty well.
Respectfully
Alex Ragulsky
Spirit
in America by Charles
Brennan (submitted by Bill Shafley)
An account of my trip through
customs at the
Canadian border, with two shotguns, by Peter J. Streuber
ATA yardage, by Gene Hapney
The story behind “TAPS,” that song which gives us the lump in our throat and sometimes tears in our eyes. Submitted by Jim Swansinger via Earl Erwin:
Reportedly, it all began in 1862 during the Civil War, when Union Army Captain Robert Ellicombe was with his men near Harrison's Landing in Virginia. The confederate Army was on the other side of the narrow strip of land. During the night, Captain Ellicombe heard the moans of a soldier who lay severely wounded on the field. Not knowing if it was a Union or Confederate soldier, Captain Ellicombe decided to risk his life and bring the stricken man back for medical attention. Crawling on his stomach through the gunfire, the Captain reached the stricken soldier and began pulling him toward his encampment. When the Captain finally reached his own lines, he discovered it was actually a Confederate soldier, but the soldier was dead. The Captain lit a lantern and suddenly caught his breath and went numb with shock. In the dim light, he saw the face of the soldier. It was his own son. The boy had been studying music in the South when war broke out. Without telling his father, the boy enlisted in the Confederate Army. The following morning, heartbroken, the father asked permission of his superiors to give his son a full military burial despite his enemy status. His request was only partially granted. Captain Ellicombe had asked if he could have a group of Army band members play a funeral dirge for his son at the funeral. The request was turned down since the soldier was a Confederate. But, out of respect for the father, they did say they could give him only one musician. The Captain chose a bugler. He asked the bugler to play a series of musical notes he had found on a piece of paper in the pocket of the dead youth's uniform. This wish was granted. The haunting melody, we now know as "Taps" used at military funerals, and at the end of each day on US military bases was born.
Day is done.......Gone the sun........From the lakes.......From the hills.........From the skies. All is well, Safely rest.......God is nigh........ Fading light..........Dims the sight........And a star......... Gems the sky,..........Gleaming bright From afar, Drawing nigh, Falls the night. Thanks and praise,.... For our days,.... Neath the sun,.... Neath the stars,.... Neath the sky,.... As we go,.... This we know,.... God is nigh.
I too, have felt the chills while listening to
"Taps" but I have never seen all the words until now. I didn't even
know there was more than one verse. I also never knew the story behind the song
and I didn't know if you had either so I thought I'd pass it along.
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Spirit in America:
Well, you hit the World Trade Center, but you missed America. You hit
the Pentagon, but you missed America. You used helpless American
bodies to take out other American bodies, but like a poor marksman,
you STILL missed America.
Why? Because of something you guys will never understand. America
isn't about a building or two. Not about financial centers. Not about
military centers. America isn't about a place, America isn't even
about a bunch of bodies. America is about an IDEA. An idea that you
can earn as much as you can figure out how to, live, for the most
part, like you envisioned living, and pursue happiness. (No guarantees
that you'll reach it, but you can sure try!)
Go ahead and whine your terrorist whine and chant your terrorist
litany: "If you can not see my point, then feel my pain." This concept
is alien to Americans. We live in a country where we don't have to see
your point but you're free to have one. We don't have to listen to
your speech but you're free to say one. Don't know where you got the
strange idea that everyone has to agree with you. We don't agree with
each other in this country, almost as a matter of pride. We're a
collection of guys that don't agree, called States. We united our
individual states to protect ourselves from tyranny in the world.
Another idea we made up on the spot. You CAN make it up as you go when
it's your country....... If you're free enough.
Yeah, we're fat, sloppy, easy-going goofs most of the time. That's an
unfortunate image to project to the world but it comes from feeling
free and easy about the world you live in. It's unfortunate too,
because people start to forget that when you attack Americans, they
tend to fight like a cornered badger. The first we knew of the War of
1812, was when England burned Washington D.C. to the ground. Didn't
turn out like England thought it was going to and it's not going to
turn out like you think, either. Sorry, but you're not the first bully
on our shores, just the most recent.
No Marquis of Queensbury rules for Americans either. We were the FIRST
and so far, only country in the world to use nuclear weapons in anger.
Horrific idea, nowadays? News for you bucko, it was back then too but
we used it anyway. Only had two of them in the whole world and we used
'em both. Grandpa Jones worked on the Manhattan Project. Told me once
that right up until they threw the switch, the physicists were still
arguing over whether the uranium alone would fission or whether it
would start a fissioning chain reaction that would eat everything. But
they threw the switch anyway because we had a war to win. Does that
tell you something about American resolve?
So who just declared War on us? It would be nice to point to some real
estate like the good old days. Unfortunately, we're probably at war
with random camps in far-flung places who think they're safe. Just
like the Barbary Pirates did, if I recall correctly. Better start
sleeping with one eye open.
There's a spirit that tends to take over people who come to this
country, looking for opportunity, looking for liberty, looking for
freedom. Even if they misuse it. The Marielistas that Castro emptied
out of his prisons were overjoyed to find out how much freedom there
was. First thing they did when they hit our shores was run out and buy
guns. The ones that didn't end up dead, ended up in prisons. It was a
big PITA [pain in the ass] then (especially in south Florida), but
you're only the newest PITA, not the first.
You guys seem to be incapable of understanding that we don't live in
America, America lives in US! American Spirit is what it's called. And
killing a few thousand of us or a few million of us won't change it.
Most of the time it's a pretty happy-go-lucky kind of Spirit. Until
we're crossed in a cowardly manner, then it becomes an entirely
different kind of Spirit. Wait until you see what we do with that
Spirit this time. Sleep tight, if you can. We're coming.
Charles Brennan
|
An account of my trip through customs at the
Canadian border, A letter by Peter J. Streuber It’s Friday afternoon and I am headed to Canada
to spend the long weekend being a part of the holiday scene. It’s the
birthday celebration for Queen Victoria, that was begun around 1876.
Also, it is time for the annual St. Thomas Gun Club, St. Thomas,
Ontario, “Federal Shell Shoot.” My estimated time of arrival at the
Peace Bridge from Buffalo, NY, to Canada will be 2:30P.M. Hopefully,
just in time to beat the South bound rush of after work travelers. I was
wrong, they were already four abreast where possible and with bridge
repair they reached three fourths of a mile back, forming a single line
and coming strong. This is okay with me. I have a good mind set that
says if it takes two and a half to three and an half hours to get across
North bound I will just take it in stride. Maybe I could get some of the
food from the cooler and snack and read while I go through all of the
delays that are talked about when trying to register my shotgun. Also
getting a permit to have one in Canada. It never happened. I drove to
the booth, identified that I had a shotgun and what my purpose was to
the U.S. Border Patrol. They sent me on and when asked by the Canadian
booth attendant about my purpose I answered the same question the same
way. A polite and business manner. I had to get out of line and go to a
parking spot. At this time, my watch was set for the recording of my
delay. One of the customs officers came over to the car and said I will
have to go into the building and fill out the forms. A radio contact by
the booth attendant alerted them to my need. Once inside, the counter attendants tried to help.
They were not sure of the proper forms and paged for help. With a few
instructions and the right forms that were in a drawer under the
counter, the process was over. Wow, how easy they make it for us to pay their
taxes with no representation. As for how much it cost, not the $50 U.S.
money we keep hearing about. I gave the cashier $40 U.S. and she gave me
$6 and change in Canadian money in return. Maybe $36 U.S. Out to the car
back in traffic and only 25 minutes had passed. That was less time than
it used to take me to fill out the old U.S. form on my previous trips. I will close by saying; don’t let a few dollars
and a couple of minutes keep you away from your hunting trip or the
competition of target shooting. Best of Shooting,
|
Submitted by
Anne… Dance Like No One's Watching~
We
convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married,
We
tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her
act together, when we get a nicer car, were able to go on a nice vacation, when
we retire. The truth is there's no better time
Your
life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself
and decide to be happy anyway. One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D
Souza. He said, "For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to
begin-real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be
gotten through first,
So
stop waiting until you finish school,
until you go back to school,
until you lose ten pounds,
until you gain ten pounds,
until you have kids,
until your kids leave the house,
until you retire,
until you get married,
until you get divorced,
until Friday night,
until you get a new car or home,
until your car or home is paid off,
until spring, until summer,
until fall, until winter,
until you are off welfare,
until the first or fifteenth,
until your song comes on,
until you've had a drink,
until you've sobered up,
until you die, until you are born again to decide that there is no better time
than right now to be happy...
Happiness
is a journey, not a destination. So, Work like you don't need money.
Love like you've never been hurt and… Dance Like no one's watching.
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Lessons from the Geese, submitted by Rob as written by Angeles Arrien...
This Fall, when you see geese heading south for the winter flying along in "V" formation, you might consider what science has discovered as to why they fly that way.
FACT:
As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an "uplift" for the bird
immediately following. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole
flock has at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on it's own.
LESSON: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.
FACT:
When a goose flies out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance
of trying to go it alone. It quickly gets back into formation to take
advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front of it.
LESSON: If we have as much common sense as a goose, we stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others. It is harder to do something alone than together.
FACT:
When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into the formation, and another
goose flies to the point position.
LESSON: It is sensible to take turns doing the hard and demanding tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent of each others skills, capabilities, and unique arrangements of gifts, talents, or resources.
FACT:
The geese flying in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to
keep up their speed.
LESSON: We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups where there is encouragement, the production is much greater. The power of encouragement (to stand by one's heart or core values and encourage the heart and core of others) is the quality of honking we seek. We need to make sure our honking is encouraging and not discouraging.
FACT:
When a goose gets sick, wounded, or shot down, two other geese will drop out of
formation with that goose and follow it down to lend help and protection.
They stay with the fallen goose until it dies or is able to fly again.
Then, they launch out on their own, or with another formation to catch up with
their flock.
LESSON: If we have the sense of a goose, we will stand by our colleagues and each other in difficult times as well as in good!
The
Pledge of Allegiance
A Short History
by Dr. John W. Baer
Copyright 1992 by Dr. John W. Baer
Francis Bellamy (1855 - 1931), a Baptist minister, wrote the original Pledge in August 1892. He was a Christian Socialist. In his Pledge, he is expressing the ideas of his first cousin, Edward Bellamy, author of the American socialist utopian novels, Looking Backward (1888) and Equality (1897).
Francis Bellamy in his sermons and lectures and Edward Bellamy in his novels and articles described in detail how the middle class could create a planned economy with political, social and economic equality for all. The government would run a peace time economy similar to our present military industrial complex.
The Pledge was published in the September 8th issue of The Youth's Companion, the leading family magazine and the Reader's Digest of its day. Its owner and editor, Daniel Ford, had hired Francis in 1891 as his assistant when Francis was pressured into leaving his baptist church in Boston because of his socialist sermons. As a member of his congregation, Ford had enjoyed Francis's sermons. Ford later founded the liberal and often controversial Ford Hall Forum, located in downtown Boston.
In 1892 Francis Bellamy was also a chairman of a committee of state superintendents of education in the National Education Association. As its chairman, he prepared the program for the public schools' quadricentennial celebration for Columbus Day in 1892. He structured this public school program around a flag raising ceremony and a flag salute - his 'Pledge of Allegiance.'
His original Pledge read as follows: 'I pledge allegiance to my Flag and (to*) the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.' He considered placing the word, 'equality,' in his Pledge, but knew that the state superintendents of education on his committee were against equality for women and African Americans. [ * 'to' added in October, 1892. ]
Dr. Mortimer Adler, American philosopher and last living founder of the Great Books program at Saint John's College, has analyzed these ideas in his book, The Six Great Ideas. He argues that the three great ideas of the American political tradition are 'equality, liberty and justice for all.' 'Justice' mediates between the often conflicting goals of 'liberty' and 'equality.'
In 1923 and 1924 the National Flag Conference, under the 'leadership of the American Legion and the Daughters of the American Revolution, changed the Pledge's words, 'my Flag,' to 'the Flag of the United States of America.' Bellamy disliked this change, but his protest was ignored.
In 1954, Congress after a campaign by the Knights of Columbus, added the words, 'under God,' to the Pledge. The Pledge was now both a patriotic oath and a public prayer.
Bellamy's granddaughter said he also would have resented this second change. He had been pressured into leaving his church in 1891 because of his socialist sermons. In his retirement in Florida, he stopped attending church because he disliked the racial bigotry he found there.
What follows is Bellamy's own account of some of the thoughts that went through his mind in August, 1892, as he picked the words of his Pledge:
It began as an intensive communing with salient points of our national history, from the Declaration of Independence onwards; with the makings of the Constitution...with the meaning of the Civil War; with the aspiration of the people...
The true reason for allegiance to the Flag is the 'republic for which it stands.' ...And what does that vast thing, the Republic mean? It is the concise political word for the Nation - the One Nation which the Civil War was fought to prove. To make that One Nation idea clear, we must specify that it is indivisible, as Webster and Lincoln used to repeat in their great speeches. And its future?
Just here arose the temptation of the historic slogan of the French Revolution which meant so much to Jefferson and his friends, 'Liberty, equality, fraternity.' No, that would be too fanciful, too many thousands of years off in realization. But we as a nation do stand square on the doctrine of liberty and justice for all...
If the Pledge's historical pattern repeats, its words will be modified during this decade. Below are two possible changes.
Some prolife advocates recite the following slightly revised Pledge: 'I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, born and unborn.'
A few liberals recite a slightly revised version of Bellamy's original
Pledge: 'I pledge allegiance to my Flag, and to the Republic for which it
stands, one nation, indivisible, with equality, liberty and justice for
all.' Back
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"It's unwise to pay to much...
But it's worse to pay to little.
When you pay to much, you lose a little money... that is all.
When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything,
because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to
do.
The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a
lot....
It can't be done.
If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you
run.
And if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better."
John Ruskin 1819-1900 Famous English Writer
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Thomas Sowell 
Gun control hypocrisy
ROSIE O'DONNELL is only the latest liberal to be vociferously in favor of gun control for other people -- and yet ready to use firearms for their own protection. Others have included columnist Carl Rowan and Adolph Ochs Sulzberger of the N. Y. Times, whose newspaper has been 200 percent behind gun control laws for years.
Rosie O'Donnell has hired a security guard to protect her young son and the guard has applied for a gun permit. However, children of famous people are by no means the only ones at risk. A recent study showed that a 15-year-old black youth in the inner city has about one chance in 12 of being killed before he reaches the age of 45.
Why is it more important for Rosie O'Donnell's son to have armed protection than for a black youth, or other people living in high-crime neighborhoods, to have armed protection? Here is the same "do as I say, not as I do" hypocrisy found among liberals who want to prevent other people from exercising the same school choice that they exercise for their own children.
There will be no rational discussion of gun control until both sides acknowledge that guns both cost lives and save lives, so that the issue boils down to the net effect. This is a factual question and the facts are readily available, so there is no excuse for this to continue to be discussed in terms of assumptions and theories.
The empirical data are very clear. Where ordinary, law-abiding citizens have been allowed to carry firearms, violent crimes -- including shootings -- have gone down, not up. Where local governments have begun restricting the availability of firearms, including requiring all sorts of "safety" provisions, violent crimes have gone up, even at a time when such crimes are going down nationally.
Obviously, whenever guns are widely available in a country of a quarter of a billion people, somebody somewhere is going to get killed accidentally or by someone whose anger or viciousness gets out of hand. That has to be weighed against the lives that are saved when an armed citizenry reduces violent crime. Taking both these things into account, there has still been a net reduction in violent crime and deaths from allowing law-abiding people ready access to firearms.
This is not a theory. It is what has happened, again and again, in communities all across this country. The facts simply do not fit the gun control advocates' theories.
 |
| Purchasing this
book -- linked in 2nd to last paragraph -- helps fund JWR |
More than 90 percent of all uses of guns in self-defense do not involve actually firing the weapon, despite gun control advocates' assumption that we are all such trigger-happy idiots that letting ordinary citizens have guns will lead to bullets flying hither and yon. Like virtually every other liberal crusade, gun control is based on the assumption that other people lack common sense and must be controlled by the superior wisdom and virtue of the anointed.
But both criminals and law-abiding citizens have common sense. An intruder in your home who hears you loading a shotgun in the next room is going to be out of there before you can get to where he is -- and he is very unlikely ever to come back. Muggers or rapists who are ready to attack you on the street are likely to have a sudden change of plans if you pull out a gun.
Every incident where someone opens fire at random in a public place is exploited to the hilt by the media and by gun control advocates. But have you noticed that such shootings occur in places where the potential victims are unlikely to be armed? Restaurants, schools, churches and synagogues are far more likely to be targets than gun shows or conventions of the National Rifle Association. Open fire on people who have firearms themselves and that can be the last dumb thing you do.
The facts are readily available in books like "More Guns, Less Crime" by John Lott or "Pointblank" by Gary Kleck. But gun control advocates do not want to face the facts -- not if it means giving up their vision of the world and their sense of superiority, based on that vision. Not even if it costs other people their lives.
When gun control advocates throw around figures about how many children are killed by guns, they don't tell you that most of these "children" are teenage gangsters, not little kids who find loaded guns around the home.
Joseph Schumpeter once said that the first thing a man will do for his ideals
is lie. Gun control advocates prove his
JWR contributor Thomas
Sowell, a fellow at the Hoover Institution, is author, most recently, of The
Quest for Cosmic Justice.
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WHAT IS REALLY ON AN AMERICAN ONE
DOLLAR BILL…
Take out a one-dollar bill and look at it. The one-dollar bill you're
looking at first came off the presses in 1957 in its present design.
This so-called paper money is in fact a cotton and linen blend, with red
and blue minute silk fibers running through it. It is actually material.
We've all washed it without it falling apart. A special blend of ink is used,
the contents we will never know. It is overprinted with symbols
and then it is starched to make it water resistant and pressed to give
it that nice crisp look.
If you look on the front of the bill, you will see the
United States
Treasury Seal. On the top you will see the scales for a balanced
budget. In the center you have a carpenter's T-square, a tool
used for an even cut. Underneath is the Key to the United States
Treasury. That's all pretty easy to figure out, but what is on the
back of that dollar bill is something we should all know.
If you turn the bill over, you will see two circles. Both circles,
together, comprise the Great Seal of the United States. The First
Continental Congress requested that Benjamin Franklin and a group of
men come up with a Seal. It took them four years to accomplish this task
and another two years to get it approved.
If you look at the left hand circle, you will see a Pyramid. Notice
the face is lighted and the western side is dark. This country was just
beginning. We had not begun to explore the West or decided what we
could do for Western Civilization. The Pyramid is un-capped, again
signifying that we were not even close to being finished. Inside the capstone
you have the all-seeing eye, and ancient symbol for divinity. It was
Franklin’s belief that one man couldn't do it alone, but a group of men,
with the help of God, could do anything. "IN GOD WE TRUST"
is on
this currency. The Latin above the pyramid, ANNUIT COEPTIS, means,
"God
has favored our undertaking." The Latin below the pyramid, NOVUS ORDO
SECLORUM, means "a new order has begun." At the base of the pyramid
is the Roman numeral for 1776.
If you look at the right-hand circle, and check it
carefully, you will
learn that it is on every National Cemetery in the United States. It is
also on the Parade of Flags Walkway at the Bushnell, Florida National
Cemetery and is the centerpiece of most heroes’ monuments. Slightly
modified, it is the seal of the President of the United States and it is
always visible whenever he speaks; yet no one knows what the symbols
mean.
The Bald Eagle was selected as a symbol for victory for two reasons:
first, he is not afraid of a storm; he is strong and he is smart
enough to soar
above it. Secondly, he wears no material crown. We had just broken
from
the King of England. Also, notice the shield is unsupported. This country
can now stand on itâ_™s own. At the top of that shield you have a white
bar signifying congress, a unifying factor. We were coming together as
one nation. In the Eagle's beak you will read, "E PLURIBUS UNUM",
meaning "one nation from many people."
Above the Eagle you have thirteen stars representing the thirteen original
colonies, and any clouds of misunderstanding rolling away. Again, we
were coming together as one. Notice what the Eagle holds in his talons.
He holds an olive branch and arrows. This country wants peace, but we will
never be afraid to fight to preserve peace. The Eagle always wants to
face the olive branch, but in time of war, his gaze turns toward the
arrows.
They say that the number 13 is an unlucky number. This is almost a
worldwide belief. You will usually never see a room numbered 13, or
any hotels or motels with a 13th floor. But, think about this: 13 original
colonies, 13 signers of the Declaration of Independence, 13 stripes on
our flag, 13 steps on the Pyramid, 13 letters in the Latin above, 13
letters in "E Pluribus Unum", 13 stars above the Eagle, 13 plumes of
feathers on each span of the Eagle's wing, 13 bars on that shield, 13
leaves
on the olive branch, 13 fruits, and if you look closely, 13 arrows.
And for minorities: the 13th Amendment.
I always ask people, "Why don't you know this?" Your children
don't
know this and their history teachers don't know this. Too may veterans
have given up too much to ever let the meaning fade? Many veterans
remember coming home to an America that didn't care. Too many
veterans never came home at all.
Tell everyone what is on the back of the one-dollar bill and what it
stands for, because nobody else will.
Back
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Submitted by Dr. Lynn Parsons
|
The History and Art of Shotshells
Photos and text by Jon Farrar
During the early decades of the 1900s, shotshell boxes were graced with lovely typefaces and delightful artwork of game animals and hunting scenes. The invention of gunpowder is attributed to the Chinese, probably before 1000 A.D. By 1250 A.D. it was known in Europe. Gunpowder was reported to have been made in America
Several smokeless powders, also called nitro powders because their base ingredient was a derivative of nitroglycerin, were independently developed in Europe in the mid-1800s, including one by Alfred Nobel, the father of both dynamite and the Nobel Peace Prize. California Powder Works is credited with producing the first smokeless powder in the U.S. in 1893, but its use in sporting ammunition lagged behind military applications. Smokeless powder, unlike black powder, technically does not explode when ignited, but burns rapidly, releasing expanding gases. But gunpowder development was only one step to creating cartridges. First, muzzleloading firearms needed to be replaced by breechloaders. Breechloading rifles existed in the 1830s, and Union soldiers used them during the Civil War, accelerating their development and popularity after the war. Breechloading shotguns did not lag far behind. Before the 1870s, nearly all breechloading shotguns were produced by European gunsmiths and priced beyond the reach of the average American sportsman. Parker Brothers began producing shotguns in the U.S. in 1867 to make use of overstocked rifle parts left in warehouses when the Civil War ended. E. Remington & Sons and Dan Lefever foraged their first breechloading shotguns in the 1870s. Others followed. The development of affordable, American-made breechloaders set in motion an evolution of sporting shotguns. By 1900 the basic designs for shotguns and shotshells were established. Brass Before PaperAll-brass shotshells were manufactured in America at least as early as the mid-1870s and could be ordered empty or loaded. There was much to recommend all-brass shells. Quality-grade shells could be reloaded almost indefinitely. Decades after paper shotshells had
Just as there is no definitive answer as to who made the first breechloading shotgun, the first maker of paper shotshells with brass bases has long been debated. The C.D. Leet Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, is often credited with making the first paper-hull shotshells, perhaps in the early 1860s and certainly by 1869, when it obtained a patent. Paper-hull shotshells developed almost concurrently with all-brass shotshells, but the availability and popularity of factory-loaded paper shotshells lagged behind. During the 1870s and into the 1900s, sporting publications were filled with powder company advertisements, evidence of the continued use of muzzleloading firearms and that most sportsmen were hand-loading their own brass or paper shotshells. Initially, manufacturers sold primed but unloaded paper shells in boxes of 100. Sporting goods stores and gunsmiths often loaded shotshells for general sale or as special orders. Such boxes usually bore the seller's distinct label, and because they were produced in relatively small quantities are rare finds for today's collector. Two Nebraska examples are shotshells marketed by the Paxton & Gallagher Company and the Townsend Gun Company, both of Omaha. Such outlets introduced sportsmen to "store-bought shotgun shells." The first machine-loaded shotshells are generally attributed to Frank Chamberlin of Cleveland, Ohio. In 1883 Chamberlin hosted J. Palmer O'Neil, president of the Pittsburgh Firearms Company, on a duck hunt. After dinner and over cigars, so the story was related in a 1908 Field and Stream article, Chamberlin said he had "built a machine that will load and crimp four hundred shells an hour." Chamberlin had one of his iron, brass and wood machines clamped to a table in a room where his shooting paraphernalia was housed and demonstrated its operation to O'Neil. Field and Stream reported, "As a demonstration Mr. Chamberlin loaded fifty shells so speedily that his guest was astounded." Chamberlin later speculated on the thoughts passing through the industrialist's mind: "He saw before him a complete machine for loading shotgun cartridges, capable of operation by hand or power, and embodying devices for handling powder and shot in any desired charges, seating any number of wads up to four, crimping the shells and delivering them ready for use." In 1884, Chamberlin patented his automatic loading machine and with O'Neil founded the Chamberlin Cartridge Company in Cleveland. An improved machine capable of loading 1,200 to 1,500 shotshells an hour was built at the cost of about $1,500. Chamberlin's machine was also sold to sporting goods houses that produced loads under their own name. Chamberlin's loaded shotshells swept the country, embraced by shooters who did not want the fuss of hand-loading or who saw the advantage of uniformly loaded shotshells. Sandy Griswold, the Omaha Bee's sporting editor, unabashedly endorsed them in an 1894 column, calling them "the best loaded shells in the country." As nitro powders came into common use in the late 1890s, uniformly loaded shotshells became even more desirable because improperly loaded nitro loads were dangerous in shotguns with weaker Damascus barrels. Other ammunition manufacturers could not ignore Chamberlin's popular shotshells at easy-on-the-pocketbook prices. Winchester marketed loaded shotshells perhaps as early as 1887 and Union Metallic Cartridge Company by 1890. Paper shotshells were quickly embraced by upland shooters, but waterfowlers clung to brass hulls that did not swell when wet, a problem eventually addressed with waxed and lacquered paper shells. Chamberlin's success was also his undoing. He competed directly with two large ammunition manufacturers who supplied his company with unloaded shells and wads. Both soon suspended sales to Chamberlin. The only other sources for shotshell components were in Europe and tariff fees were prohibitive. By 1900, the Chamberlin Cartridge & Target Company was essentially out of the ammunition business. The company then concentrated on manufacturing mechanical traps and clay targets for the burgeoning interest in trapshooting. Remington Arms bought the Chamberlin business in 1933. While Frank Chamberlin's time in the ammunition business was brief, he left indelible footprints on the industry. Chamberlin and O'Neil introduced packaging 25 shotshells to the box. Before that time nearly all shotshells were sold unloaded in a pasteboard box accommodating 100. Several ammunition manufacturers produced ornately designed 100-shell boxes that came to be called "Christmas boxes" and were sold as gifts for the sportsman. Loaded shotshells, though, were heavy. The 100-shell boxes were prone to rupture, and retailers
From the 1880s into the early 1900s, numerous brands of loaded and unloaded paper shotshells appeared on the American market. Some were manufactured and sold by major ammunition manufacturers, and many others by smaller companies that purchased components from suppliers and loaded their own. That period is a rich hunting ground for today's shotshell box collectors because many of the small company brands were short-lived and their cartridges were produced in small quantities. Early-day shotshell makers that bring a glimmer of recognition to serious collectors include Austin Cartridge Company, Blatchford Cartridge Works, California Powder Works, Clinton Cartridge Company, American Buckle and Cartridge Company, Selby Smelting and Lead Company, International Cartridge Company, Standard Cartridge Company and dozens of others that had their time and vanished as large ammunition manufacturers crowded them out of the market or swallowed them up. One of the largest consumers of competition was DuPont, until stymied temporarily in 1912 by antitrust action. Some small makers of shotshells fought a good fight against the conglomerates. The Robin Hood Ammunition Company of Swanton, Vermont, for example, prominently displayed the words "Not Made by a Trust" in its advertising. The company's hope that American sportsmen would side with an underdog proved in vain. The Robin Hood Powder Company incorporated in 1898 and changed its name to the Robin Hood Ammunition Company in 1906. Robin Hood was sold to Remington in 1915. Shotshells were produced under the Robin Hood name until 1919. By 1900, loaded paper shells were obviously the product of the future. Between 1887 and 1901 shotshell sales increased seven-fold. Six large American ammunition manufactures emerged from the fray in the early 1900s: Union Metallic Cartridge Company, Peters Cartridge Company, Remington Arms Company, Western Cartridge Company, Winchester Repeating Arms Company and United States Cartridge Company. There remain many unknown details in the history of shotshells, and disagreement on dates and events. The records of most early manufacturers vanished years ago, some in fires, some discarded as smaller companies were absorbed into larger companies. It is clear, though, that the history of powder and ammunition companies in the U.S. is one of corporate cannibalism, of large companies swallowing up smaller companies that produced components they needed or were in competition with them. Union Metallic Cartridge CompanyIn 1854, Jacob Schuyler, Marcellus Hartley and Malcomb Graham formed the Schuyler, Hartley & Graham Sporting Goods Company in New York City. Destined to become one of the largest sporting goods houses in the world, it provided cartridges and rifles produced by
UMC was probably the first U.S. company to produce and market all-brass shotshells in about 1868. In 1873, UMC acquired the patent rights to the C.D. Leet Company's paper shotshells and began manufacturing primed but unloaded paper shotshells in 10- and 12-gauge loads. Unloaded eight-, 14-, 16- and 20-gauge shells were added to the line in 1880, and four-gauge in 1883. UMC was probably the first American firm to manufacture paper shotshells in quantity. Some loaded shotshells might have been produced during this period but not on a commercial scale. UMC marketed its first factory-loaded Club shotshells in 1888. From 1891 through 1905, UMC added other lines of shotshells including New Club, Nitro, Smokeless, Lightning, Black-Club, Arrow, Nitro Club, Monarch, Majestic, Acme, Challenge, Expert, High Base, Magic and Primrose Club. Many lines of shotshells were sold both loaded and unloaded. In 1888, UMC and Winchester purchased the E. Remington & Son's Gun Company. Remington cartridge lines continued under Remington's name. UMC bought Winchester's interest in Remington in 1896, and the merger of UMC and Remington was completed in 1911 under the name
The Peters Cartridge Company was founded in 1887 by brothers Gershom and O.E. Peters and other investors. Gershom was the son-in-law of J.W. King, founder of the King Powder
Peters claimed to be the first company to market "automatic machine-loaded shotshells," even though the company was founded three years after Chamberlin patented his shotshell-loading machine. In fact, Peters took Chamberlin's idea and made it better, bigger and faster. Unlike Chamberlin's invention, the Peters's machine was powered by a steam engine and did not require an individual to place components in the empty shell by hand. The Peters's autoloader, maintained by three workers, could produce 60 shotshells per minute, hour after hour, day after day. Because of reduced labor costs and volume production, Peters shotshells were immediately competitive on the market. Like Chamberlin, Peters initially purchased its paper shells from UMC, Winchester or U.S. Cartridge. When Peters moved to purchase the American Buckle and Cartridge Company of New Haven, Connecticut, in 1889, a manufacturer of unloaded shotshells, Winchester intervened and purchased the company. While Winchester acquired American Buckle and Cartridge Company, its machinery to manufacture unloaded cartridges was subsequently sold to Peters. By 1891, Peters was manufacturing its own paper shells under the trade name Prize. Winchester sued, but by the time the lawsuit was settled the patent had expired. In 1895, Peters built its first shot tower to produce lead pellets, and soon was producing its own primers and wads. Because of its association with King Powder Company, a variety of gunpowders were assured. Peters had become a self-contained company independent of suppliers of shotshell components. By 1895 Peters was also manufacturing and selling loaded
By the mid-1890s, Peters was selling cartridges loaded with black powder, smokeless powder and semismokeless powder, all produced by the King Powder Company located just across the Little Miami River from the Peters's factory at Kings Mills, Ohio, north of Cincinnati. Semismokeless powder, introduced by King in 1897, was a combination of smokeless and black powders. It was claimed to have the best qualities of both powders - the high velocity of a nitro powder with the low breech pressure of a black powder. King's semismokeless powder was nearly smokeless, did not foul firearms and was less susceptible to deterioration in storage than smokeless powders of the time. Peters discontinued using King's semismokeless powder in the mid-1930s, and the DuPont's superior Lesmok smokeless powder claimed the lion's share of the smokeless powder market. Peters's shotshells were the darling of shooters in the early 1900s, and many of its loads were legendary. Peters's League line was billed as a "capital shell for all ordinary purposes, strong and a sure killer." Referee shotshells were loaded with semismokeless powder and offered "a velocity equaling the best nitro powders, with low breech pressure" and could be purchased for slightly more than black powder shotshells. Ideal shotshells, with high brass and a cherry-colored paper, could be ordered loaded with all makes of smokeless powders. Victor shotshells had a medium-height brass, brown paper and were loaded with smokeless powder. Premier shotshells with high brass and blue paper were loaded with dense smokeless powder and were premium loads. High Gun shotshells, with medium-height brass and bright blue paper, loaded with dense smokeless powder were advertised as "medium price but high in quality." Shotshells in some of Peters's lines, as well as those of other manufacturers, were often made in more than one paper color over time. During the early 1900s, Peters's shotshells swept national trapshooting competitions and they were hailed by shooting editors. "The Peters Cartridge and Shotgun Ammunition company at Cincinnati, O., is building up a world-wide reputation for the superiority of their shells, and the perfect way in which they are loaded," wrote Griswold wrote 1894. "Their Quick shot shell is matchless, especially so when loaded at their factory. They have the largest establishment in the United States and are doing the bulk of the business in the line of loaded shells." Griswold repeatedly praised Peters shotshells, perhaps because they were arguably the best on the market or perhaps because of the influence of field representatives who made regular calls on underpaid sportswriters with a complimentary case of Peters's Victor or Ideal shotshells before each hunting season. Peters excelled at promoting its products in the early 1900s. Peters's advertising art appealed to shooters, especially the early Quickshot Christmas box showing nattily clad hunters shooting birds over their pointing dogs. Peters published booklets with information for shooters including game laws, lusciously illustrated calendars and magazine advertising. Peters was prominent at national trapshoots and trade shows and over the years sponsored a number of exhibition or trick shooters who traveled the country, among them A.H. Hardy, a Hyannis, Nebraska, native. World War I was an enormous boom for all firearm and ammunition manufacturers. Even before the U.S. entered the war, Peters supplied metal cartridges to the British and Russians. Peters modernized and expanded its factories, and soldiers guarded them around-the-clock for fear of sabotage. But Peters was also one of many victims of the Depression in the late 1920s and 1930s. Military contracts dried up and sportsmen tightened their belts. Peters spent heavily in the early 1930s developing improved cartridges, but the market did not reward the investment. Peters's plant slowed to three days a week. In the spring of 1934, all assets of the Peters Cartridge Company were sold to Remington Arms owned by DuPont, one of the nation's earliest and largest powder manufacturers. The Peters's factory at Kings Mills was closed by Remington in 1944. Remington continued marketing the popular lines of Peters shotshells - High Velocity, Target Load and Victor field loads - into the 1960s. Remington Arms CompanyRemington Arms is said to have had its beginning in 1816 when 23-year-old Eliphalet Remington II built his own flintlock rifle on his father's forge in Ilion Gulch, New York. By the 1840s, E. Remington & Sons was building breechloading carbines for the U.S. government. In 1850 Remington developed machines to drill close-tolerance holes in steel blanks to manufacture barrels for rifles and shotguns, and was producing handguns. During the Civil War, Remington factories produced 40,000 rifles for the Union Army. Remington subcontracted the manufacture of metallic cartridges during the Civil War, but in 1871 began to manufacture its own and made brass shotshells as early as 1874. Because of war contracts and sales of firearms to other countries, Remington expanded its operations rapidly. Sales plummeted after the Civil War and Remington diversified into peacetime products - sewing machines, typewriters, agricultural machinery and sporting firearms. Remington began marketing double-barreled shotguns in 1873. Still, the company teetered on the verge of bankruptcy. In 1885, the cartridge works was lost in a fire. The following year Remington went into receivership managed by a board of trustees. In 1888, UMC and Winchester purchased the E. Remington & Sons Gun Company. It continued to operate independently and its name was shortened to the Remington Arms Company. The manufacture of firearms remained Remington's leading business, although its line of cartridges were sold widely. Cartridges were the principal business of the company's UMC division. The names of the two companies were merged in 1911 to become the
Remington expanded its operations in the mid-1910s, an investment that paid off in lucrative government contracts for arms and ammunition when the U.S. entered World War I. Part of Remington's expansion was the purchase of the Robin Hood Ammunition Company in 1915. In 1920, the company's name was changed to Remington Arms Company Inc., but the combined name REM-UMC headstamp was used at least into the 1950s. During the 1920s, Remington began distributing and selling decorative patches with the company logo, expanded into the clothing and accessory business (discontinued in 1995), and registered a number of patents used to identify its ammunition - Wetproof, Hi-Speed, Express, Economy, Nitro Express, Arrow Express, Keanbore, Rustproof and Shur Shot. Remington's famous Kleanbore line of shotshells was introduced in 1926. In the Depression, Remington again flirted with financial failure. In 1933 DuPont took control of Remington and its sunburst logo was dropped from cartridge boxes and advertising. Also in 1933, the new company acquired the Chamberlin Cartridge & Target Company (subsequently renamed the Chamberlin Target & Trap Works) for $66,000. In 1934 DuPont-Remington purchased the Peters Cartridge Company for about $2.5 million and the Parker Gun Company. In 1980 DuPont purchased the remaining shares of stock of Remington and the company became a wholly-owned subsidiary. Remington was the first American ammunition manufacturer to introduce shotshells with plastic hulls in 1960. For years, ammunition manufacturers had looked for a material to replace paper hulls. They experimented with aluminum and synthetic materials that were tougher, would not swell when wet, were less expensive and required fewer manufacturing steps. The production of paper shotshells was said to require more than a hundred separate operations. Dutch-made, all-plastic shotshells had been on the market, and functioned well enough except in semiautomatic shotguns. Remington's polyethylene hulls were prestressed by a "secret process to make them tougher than whang leather." The company claimed they could be soaked in water for a week or more and still fire properly. Furthermore, they could be reloaded many more times than paper-hull shotshells. In 1961, another year-marker appeared on all shotshell boxes manufactured and sold in the U.S. It was the warning "Keep Out of Reach of Children." Remington's most visually interesting and collectible line of shotshell boxes was the Nitro Club game-load series sold from 1922 through 1934. Harkening back to Chamberlin's similar series before 1900, 11 different shotshell loads were developed for specific game animals and the box of each adorned with artwork of that species, or of a species representing a group, such as Dove Load, Duck Load, Grouse Load, Rabbit Load, Squirrel Load and Snipe Load. The rarest of the series is the Brant Load, made only in 1922, a box in good condition today fetching several thousa |
