Ballistic April - May 2023

Number seven has a lucky vibe. Smarter folks than me have studied the phenomenon that “7” is the world’s favorite number—Duck Duck Go it if you don’t believe me. Why the hell is that? Well, it ain’t because seven ate nine. Mathematician and writer Alex Boros conducted an online “what’s your favorite number” poll with 44,000 respondents, and yup, numero seven took top honors by a long shot. Digging deeper, Boros concluded that lucky seven is a rebel of sorts because, “Seven is the only number among those we can count on our hands (one to 10) that cannot be divided or multiplied within the group…One, two, three, four and five can each be doubled to reach two, four, six, eight and 10. Nine is divisible by three. Seven, then,…

WOULD YOU RATHER…? We decided to go with a serious question for once. “Would you rather abolish the ATF or have 20 years of a 2A-friendly Supreme Court majority?” The latest BS from the ATF about pistol braces (“yes, we do write our own laws even though we aren’t in the legislative branch of government”) has me fuming mad. The only thing that lets me sleep nights—besides two or three Ambien with a whiskey chaser—is the fact the Supreme Court is deeply conservative and finally pushing back after years of silence. We sent this question out to you guys, and the vote was overwhelming to keep a friendly Supreme Court for 20 years. FAVORITE COMMENTS: T Boyd@puddle_pirate95 A 2A SCOTUS. The ATF would just be replaced by some other alphabet agency.…

UNDERWOOD AMMUNITION I hold a particular fondness for companies that keep their feet planted behind enemy lines. Holding onto industry jobs in places like Illinois is going to go a long way toward preserving the culture, swinging votes and taking back the homestead. It is no secret that I’ll do everything that I can to support folks like this, especially when they make ammo that shoots as well as this stuff does. Underwood maintains hand-loaded-like attention to detail with all of their products, and I have found them to be a reliable source for some of the hardest-to-find cartridges on the market, even during the pandemic and ammo shortage that came soon after. Aside from hard-to-find cartridges, Underwood also loads a catalog of projectiles that you just don’t find with…

“All is not what it seems,” says the narration by screen legend Morgan Freeman to visitors at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., during the video introduction to the world of clandestine operations. “There is a secret war for information,” Freeman adds before visitors enter the exhibit hall and begin their journey through the modern facility that opened to the public in 2019. Located in the heart of the nation’s capital, its modern glass façade stands out from the limestone and brick buildings that are home to various government buildings as well as the more traditional-looking museums on the surrounding blocks. Upon entering the Spy Museum, visitors are greeted by a replica of the Bushnell submarine (Turtle), a Revolutionary War submarine that was developed to sink British warships in…

Paramount+ has slowly become one of the most popular video streaming platforms in the United States, driven in no small P part by it being the home to the Yellowstone spinoff, 1923, which instantly became a hit with viewers when it debuted in December ’22. In fact, the 1923 sneak peek on the Paramount network (not the streaming service) brought in 7.4 million viewers, surpassing the 4.9 million watchers that turned in for the 1883 preview a year earlier, also becoming the biggest debut on a cable service since 2015. Clearly, Yellowstone series creator Taylor Sheridan has struck gold in the hills and woods of Montana, and viewers simply can’t get enough. The appeal of the franchise is due to its ability to tell a compelling story of family, loyalty, sacrifice…

NEW CARTRIDGES COME AND GO. Good cartridges stick around for a while, but great cartridges shape the shooting landscape and cause people to find a reason to use them across many different applications. As I think about the PRC (precision rifle cartridge) lineup from Hornady, I can’t help but think about the entire theme of the line. There is an ethos wrapped around the PRC family that, in retrospect, many people tried to overlook. But as more products tout the PRC moniker, it’s becoming more evident that Hornady is doing its best to modernize ballistic performance across several key calibers. Keep in mind, caliber is different from chambering. “The PRC line is built for precision, accuracy, consistency and balance…we are upfront in saying we are not trying to build the…