To my knowledge, I have never met Nick Leghorn. He writes a blog that I am not going to refer you to because it doesn’t deserve you wasting your time. Most recently, he wrote about the Remington R51 pistol or, rather, he wrote about Richard Mann’s recent article in Shooting Illustrated magazine. In short, he doesn’t like the Remington R51, therefore Richard Mann must be a liar and Remington must be bribing Shooting Illustrated to get the coverage. For the record, I have not shot the R51….haven’t even held one in my hands.

While I don’t know much about the R51, I do know a good deal about Richard Mann. He is my friend. We have hunted together from Africa to Newfoundland. He knows guns; he knows terminal ballistics; he knows hunting; and he has a fine family who are also my friends. More importantly, Richard is an honest and honorable man. If he says the R51 shot well for him and he likes it, then I believe him. But… wait…. there’s more.

According to Mr. Leghorn it would seem he thinks that all of us in the firearms print industry are on the take. But he went on to let something slip… what we in law enforcement used to call a clue. You see, Mr. Leghorn just recently applied for a job as an editor at NRA Publications and Shooting Illustrated and was turned down. My question to Mr. Leghorn would be, “If we are all lying bastards, why are you trying to go to work with us? Do you want to be a lying bastard, too?”

It would seem that Mr. Leghorn needs to put his Big Boy pants on. If he truly wants a career in this industry he needs to work on his own skills and not be bad-mouthing his betters. And Mr. Leghorn might get away with questioning Richard Mann’s honesty at long range, but I would surely suggest that he not try to do it to Mann’s face. Bad things could happen when you call a hillbilly a liar.

So, Nick Leghorn, whoever the hell you are…I’m sorry you didn’t get the job you wanted. And I’m sorry you aren’t man enough to stand on your own two feet. Come out and see me some time and we’ll have a warm, personal visit.