Ballistic Winter 2019

Remember the good old days when you could kick back and catch the weekly episode of your favorite action show, like Magnum P.I., The A-Team, MacGyver, The Dukes of Hazzard, Miami Vice? Back before PC BS and political agendas were shoved in your face at every turn. Which brings me to an anecdote. We called on a “big-time” Hollywood movie production company a year ago to interview one of the stars and the prop master so that we could give Ballistic readers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of said movie, which was being billed as the next Black Hawk Down. The PR wonks wanted to know what Ballistic is all about. Bluntly, I quoted from our tagline: “We’re the premier firearms and survival magazine, and we cater to shooting enthusiasts…

It’s undeniable. The AR is king in the rifle world, and every day we’re seeing new versions hit the market. It’s even making a big splash in the pistol world, too. But why stop with just the gun? Whether you want to trick out your new AR, refurbish your old favorite or make it ready for a specific mission, there are literally thousands of accessories available. Here are some of the best that you should consider bringing home. 1> BLACKHAWK MULTIPOINT SLING A sling that’s comfy to wear, versatile, quick to deploy and built like a tank—what’s not to love? Black-Hawk has really stepped up its game by introducing the MultiPoint Sling. It’s made from high-quality nylon, and the rapid-adjust slider enables the user to make lightning-fast transitions. This sling also has…

WHEN I WAS TOLD that I was going to be shipped a pair of mare’s legs, I was a little confused. Images from The Godfather flashed through my brain. If a horse head between the sheets was retaliation for disrespect against the family, what do legs in the mailbox signify? Obviously, I am joking. Kind of. I knew from context that I’d be receiving a pair of cut-down lever-action rifles, in this case modified Henry Big Boys, but where did the name come from? There is obviously some history here. HORSE TALE Created by artist and gunsmith Kenneth “Von Dutch” Howard, the “Mare’s Leg” was a cut-down Winchester Model 1892. It first made its appearance in the hands of Steve McQueen in the 1957 television show Trackdown. The following year, McQueen and his…

HOLLYWOOD HAS A gun problem. Or, rather, many Hollywood elites have a problem with guns and support stricter gun-control laws and even the repeal of the Second Amendment. This is somewhat ironic, as there seems to be no shortage of gunfights in films these days. Firearms are expected in the traditional action/adventure and crime drama genres, but the hypocrisy is notable, as guns are even showing up in romantic comedies and in many family-friendly films. The connection between guns and movies is hardly new. Firearms have been a staple in movies since the earliest days of filmmaking. It is widely believed that the first action sequences that involved firearms were in the 1903 film The Great Train Robbery. Gunfights would become a staple of filmmakers, and over the past century, firearms…

IT ISN’T JUST Hollywood that often treats firearms with a double standard. The mainstream media often paints a very one-sided picture of firearms, and in doing so, it offers de facto support for gun control. One notable example of this overt bias came about in July of 2018 in a piece for USA Today titled, “Yorktown sheds olde light on modern gun debate,” by John Bordsen. In his article, Bordsen described the complexity of loading a Revolutionary War musket, including prepping the weapon by half-cocking the lock, pouring the powder and ramming a musket ball, then adding that “there was always a chance your 10-pound musket would not fire.” Not exactly subtle! While Bordsen didn’t contrast this to the relative ease of loading an AR-15 or other modern firearms, many other…

WHEN I WAS A GRADUATE student at University College in London in the 1970s, I was not supposed to work, as I was on a student visa. However, I took some jobs that paid cash. At one club in Soho, I filled in as a doorman (Brit-speak for bouncer) occasionally. One of the full-time doormen there also did security at various venues for concerts, and I joined him occasionally. One of those occasions was the London Music Festival of 1973 at the Alexandria Palace. Among the nights I worked was August 2, when Black Sabbath performed. At the time, I was dating a girl from the states to whom I had been introduced by another American girl in my dorm. My girlfriend was a model doing some work in London—not a…