Sheriff Jim Wilson

SMITH & WESSON… The day before the 2010 SHOT Show opened in Las Vegas was a shooting day for gun writers and industry folks. One of the events that I always like to visit is put on by the good folks at Smith & Wesson. I had a good time there and, as I was about to leave, they pointed out that I hadn’t drawn for my door prize. Now I have as much luck at drawings as President Obama will in carrying Arizona the next election. But, I drew anyway.

Just to prove that a blind sow can occasionally find an acorn, I actually won an M&P auto. It was supposed to be an M&P .45 but, at my request, they swapped it for the 9mm version. Don’t get excited… I’m not switching calibers this late in the game. However, the fact was that I didn’t have a good 9mm to use in classes and ammo tests. Smith & Wesson was happy to fix me up.

JIm and Simon Kyle-Liittle With a Prized Australian Wild Ox

As you know, there are several good polymer, striker-fired pistols available today. I just happen to like the S&W M&P a little better than the others. The model that I received has the ambidextrous thumb safeties, which I like, and I really like the interchangeable backstraps for making the gun fit my hand.

This past week, this particular M&P went off to XS Sights (www.xssights.com) to have an Express rear sight and a Big Dot front sight installed. I’m looking forward to playing with this package. Don’t be surprised if you see if on AMERICAN GUARDIAN TV during the coming season.

RUGER… This past week, I spent three days with the good folks from Ruger. I was especially pleased to tour their Prescott, AZ, plant. Mark Lang and the guys are doing some really interesting new things with the way they are set up to build guns. Mark and his staff are finding ways to make the whole process faster and more dependable.

For example, just a while back, Texas governor Rick Perry used a Ruger LCP to dispatch a coyote that was after his dog (one shot, too, by the way!). The folks at Ruger heard about the episode and within a few days were turning out an LCP marked “Coyote Special” complete with the Texas star on the slide. Their new manufacturing techniques are the reason that they can get such a quick turn-around on products. You can expect more of this to occur in the future.

We also shot several Ruger guns that will be coming out later this year. Frankly, I agreed not to talk about the specifics until Ruger gives us the green light to do so. You have to understand that Ruger is a public company and, in order to avoid accusations of insider trading, they take confidentiality very seriously. Ruger is also committed to having plenty of guns on the shelves, ready to ship, before they make an announcement. This hasn’t always been the case with Ruger and they don’t want it to happen again. So, stay tuned and we’ll let you know about some very interesting new Rugers just as soon as we can.

HUNTING… In July I’ll be going to Argentina with Remington for a dove/pigeon/duck shoot. I’ve been wanting to get among the Argentine doves & pigeons for many years and this will be my first opportunity. Down there, the birds nest several times a year and there are so many that they have become a pest to local farmers. I’m told that it’s not uncommon to shoot 500-1,000 shotgun shells each day! And, not to worry, the birds are collected and provided to villagers for food.

Anyway, we’ll be testing a new Remington shotgun and new Remington shotshell. You’ll see my report later this year in the pages of American Rifleman and American Hunter magazines.

And then, in August, Il Ling New, Dr. Dean Taylor, and I will be back in Australia, hunting Asian buffalo with Simon Kyle-Little (www.australianbiggamesafaris.com). We’re heading back to the Walker River camp, in Eastern Arnhem Land, and will be doing another buffalo management hunt.

Jim and Il Ling enjoy the Outback morning.

This year, I’ll be hunting with the same Ruger #1 (.375 H&H) that I used last year. But I’ll be using the Hornady Dangerous Game 300 gr. soft-point ammo this time. As with last year, I’ll give you a blow-by-blow of the hunt and let you know how the ammo performed.

MUSIC… Jim Jones is producing a new album for me. This next week I’ll head to Albuquerque and record the last songs for it. Then we’ll be involved in mixing the completed work and getting it ready for distribution. With my hunting trips and all, I expect we’ll probably have it ready to ship some time in October. Just a guess, though. Our main goal is to get it right and have a collection of songs that you folks will enjoy.

I hope that each of you has a fun, exciting summer. Feel free to drop me a line and tell me about your latest hunt or your newest gun. I’ll get back to you in August, with a report on Argentina and Australia. In the meantime, ya’ll try to behave yourselves!!!

Jim Wilson

WELCOME FRIENDS… Since I updated my web site your response has been terrific. This site is being visited by just over 1,000 people each month and we’re having some excellent response. As you might imagine, I am somewhat challenged when it comes to just about anything having to do with computers. The success of this site is due entirely to the good work of my site manager, Mr. Carlos Vazquez. If you are wanting to create your own web site, blog, or whatever, you might visit with Carlos and discuss your plans with him. I think you’ll be very pleased to have him onboard with your project.

SHOOTING ILLUSTRATED… Speaking of Shooting Illustrated magazine, I write a personal defense column (Straight Talk) in each issue and do several feature stories each year. My colleagues on the magazine include Wiley Clapp, Dick Williams, Rick Hacker, Richard Mann, and others. Shooting Illustrated is an NRA publication that is not included in your NRA membership. You’ve got to buy it on the newsstand or, better yet, subscribe to it. Subscription is only $9.95 per year. You can subscribe online or call 877-223-3840. We’d love to have you as part of our shooting family.

STARBUCKS… As most of you know, Starbucks has come under fire from the anti-gun crowd. It seems that Starbucks won’t ban guns in their stores. They are simply saying that all pertinent state and local laws should be respected in whatever state and city the Starbucks store happens to be located. In other words, Starbucks is their to sell coffee and service their customers, not make a political statement. So, for minding their own business and not yours, Starbucks is the target of the anti-gunners. It is very important that you take the time to stop by your local Starbucks and thank the store manager for their corporate position. Failing that, visit them online and express your thanks. Businesses, like Starbucks, needs to know that we appreciate their not caving in to the bullying tactics of the anti-gun crowd.

SINGLE-ACTION DEFENSE CLASS… The Gunsite Academy will be hosting a Single-Action Defense class May 3-5, 2010. This class is designed to help the student learn to apply the Modern Technique of the Pistol to the single-action revolver. The old thumb-buster is still mighty popular with cowboy-action shooters, woodsmen, modern-day cowboys, and handgun hunters. The class will help the shooter to better defend himself should the need arise while he is carrying a single-action. For information and to reserve your spot in the class, call Mr. Ed Head at 928-636-4565. But don’t delay… time’s a-wasting!

So, thanks for visiting my Web site. If you have any questions, or comments, please let me know. I’d enjoy the visit.

Just wanted to post these for your viewing pleasure. These are from the Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering just last month where my friend Jim Jones and I performed and just plain had a grand old time. It’s a great event and I highly recommend it. See the link above for more details about next year’s Gathering.

Jim with an Australian Buffalo.

Our Australian buffalo hunt couldn’t have been more successful. Il Ling and I used the 350 gr. Barnes TSX bullets, in .375 H&H, to take eight head of buffalo and one Australian Wild Ox.

We were hunting with Simon Kyle-Little, of Australian Big Game Safaris, on the Walker River, in Eastern Arnhem Land. This area is all tribal land, some 12 million acres of it, and Simon’s concession is 2 million acres. And, on those 2 million acres, the only fence is the one around the camp garden. Our hunting companions were Dr. Dean Taylor, Vee Miller, and Doug Miller.

Asian buffalo, bantang, and wild ox, were all brought to northern Australia about 1830. At this time, there were forts being established and the idea was that these animals would feed the soldiers. However, a few years later, the forts were abandoned and the various bovine were released to fend for themselves. The animals have run wild ever since.

Il Ling and Simon Kyle-Little with one of her head of buffalo.

Our specific load for the Barnes 350 gr. TSX bullet consisted of Remington cases and enough Ramshot Big Game powder to drive the bullets to 2300fps. This proved to be a very accurate load on paper and very comfortable to shoot. As our hunt proved, there is absolutely no need to drive the 350 gr. TSX bullet any faster. The .375 H&H does not have to pound you to give good results.

During our hunt, we took buffalo at distances from 12 yards to 272 yards (a one-shot kill). The Barnes bullets that we recovered showed good expansion with all of the petals intact. However, as you can imagine, several of our shots gave full penetration and the bullets were not recovered. In these cases, however, the exit wound clearly showed that the bullets had expanded.

The biggest adventure that I had on this hunt was collecting an Australian Wild Ox. These animals are the original short-horned European cattle that have run wild in Australia since the 1830s. They are quite a bit spookier than the Asian buffalo and the big bulls prefer to stay in the really heavy timber, either in the swamps, or along the wooded ridges. Usually, when you see a wild ox, you are looking at his rump and he is leaving. In spookiness, I would compare them to whitetail deer.

In other parts of Australia ranchers will have wild cattle, inside their fenced pastures, and improperly call them wild ox. Nothing could be further from the truth. These are merely scrub cattle of all different colors. The true Australian Wild Ox is red in color and found in only the most remote areas. The SCI recognizes the Wild Ox only when it is red in color and taken in remote areas, specifically not on ranches.

At any rate, I took my Wild Ox in the heaviest brush of the coastal swamp region. When I first saw him, he looked like a red freight train moving across a small opening in the brush. I shot him on the point of the left shoulder at @ 20 yds, and broke that shoulder and leg. As he spun and thrashed, I was able to move in closer and shoot him in the right shoulder at @ 12 yards. Simon came in to about seven yards and spined him with his BRNO .375 (the spine shot was not needed, but we had no way of knowing that at the time). This big bull was every bit of 2,000 pounds and had a massive set of horns. Altogether, a great trophy!

Jim and Simon pose with the elusive Australian Wild Ox.

I can’t recommend Simon Kyle-Little enough. He has been guiding Australian hunts for 28 years. He runs a clean, efficient hunting camp and he knows his game. Based upon the client’s physical condition and desire, Simon can do a spot & stalk hunt or the more strenuous, day-long hunts into heavy brush. Naturally, the heavy brush is where the big bulls are going to be found.

Simon’s wife, Elspeth, is a past master at getting all of the client’s permits and documents in proper order. Two of our hunting companions wrote down the serial numbers of their rifles in the wrong sequence. This usually results in the rifles being confiscated. However, in both cases, Elspeth was able to get the mistake corrected and the guns returned to the hunters in time for their hunts. More importantly, Simon & Elspeth conduct their hunts in a pleasant, honest manner that makes you want to go ahead and book another hunt right away. Check out their web site at www.australianbiggamesafaris.com.au.

My story on this buffalo hunt will appear in the NRA’s American Hunter magazine. I’ll also write up the Wild Ox hunt separately, and you can expect it to appear in another magazine.

See ya down the road…..

In just a couple of days we’ll be off to the Northern Territory of Australia on a buffalo-culling operation.  We’ll be hunting with Simon & Elspeth Kyle-Little (www.australianbiggamesafaris.com) on the Gove Peninsula in the Northern Territory.

I’ll be shooting my Ruger #1, in .375 H&H, with a Leupold 1.5×5 scope.  Il Ling will be shooting her brand new CZ 550, also in .375 H&H.  Thanks to our friend Jason Morton, at CZ USA, for getting that rifle out to her so quickly (www.cz-usa.com).

We’ll both be shooting a new Barnes 350 gr. TSX bullet for the .375.  The bullets are loaded over a suitable load of Ramshot’s Big Game powder, pushing them at a bit over 2300fps.  This new bullet and load are surprisingly accurate and has produced ¾” groups in both of your rifles.  Jessica Brooks tells me that Barnes will put the new 350 TSX and a 350 gr. banded solid in their 2010 Barnes Bullets catalog (www.barnesbullets.com).

Anyway, we are really excited about this hunt.  We’ll have some good friends along to share camp with and it should be all-around great fun.  I’ll be writing the hunt up for American Hunter magazine.  And, of course, will have a full report, with photos, for my web site when I get back.

See ya down the road….