Since returning from the Annual Meetings two weeks ago I have been putting myself through a crash familiarization with a newly introduced model—the Sako 85 Brown Bear. Most days after work I've stopped by my local range on the way home for 10-15 deliberate shots, and in addition have been escaping my desk for brief sessions on NRA's in-house range. Twice I have taken it out on the family farm where I can shoot at longer distances and practice rapid follow-ups from field positions. It will group about 1-1/2 moa off the bench, and from supported field positions I can hold about 5 inches rapid-fire out at 200 yards. So far I have worked out with Barnes Vor-TX, Winchester Supreme and Norma Oryx ammo, and all are plenty accurate for hunting purposes.

Trigger-cocking is a term first used in the Frontier era and almost never used today. It describes a form of trigger action where pressure on the trigger cocks a hammer from the down position all the way through to full tension and release to fire. Modern terminology for this system is double action.

After the sun went down, the Crimson Trace Lightquards came out, but not before we conducted several shooting strings without lights or lasers in fairly dark conditions. Considering my abysmal night vision—there is a reason why I always carry a flashlight—I discovered that I am a much better shot in low-light situations than I ever would have thought. Even though I couldn’t use the sights and could only see an outline of the target, I was able to keep the majority of my shots in the center-of-mass ring at 7 yards.