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UFC Fighters are a Hit at NRA Show
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As is usually the case, there were lots of celebrities at the NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits in Louisville, KY, last week. In addition to guest speakers such as Senator John McCain (R-AZ) there was also actor Tom Selleck, and UFC fighters Matt and Mark Hughes.
I caught up with nine-time UFC World Champion Matt Hughes at the Knight Rifles booth early Saturday morning and asked him about his hunting and shooting background. He and his identical twin brother, Mark, grew up hunting and shooting on their rural farm in Illinois. They continue to hunt, but prefer the time they get to spend together on the target range because it allows more trigger time together.
According to Hughes, when hunting, you may get only one shot--if that--and then it's over, but with targets you shoot until you either run out of ammo, time, or daylight--whichever comes first. It was obvious to me from the vigor in his eyes that target shooting with Mark is the height of Matt's shooting enjoyment.
In addition to paper targets, Hughes also shoots sporting clays and skeet, but finds trap shooting a little too stationary for his liking. As for hunting, it's not surprising to me that predators are his favorite. In the octagon, Hughes regularly experiences the exhilaration men hunting him for an opening to land a knockout punch or lock in a tap-out hold. According to Hughes, "With a predator, it's hunting you. It wants to and it can damage you."
The Hughes brothers gravitated toward Knight muzzleloaders in the past couple of years when they took up big game hunting. "In Illinois, you can hunt deer with slugs or a muzzleloader," Hughes told me. "With the muzzleloader, you're effective out to 200 yards."
In other news from the NRA Show, High-Power shooters will be happy to know that Hornady is coming out with a .30-'06 target round specifically made for the M1 Garand rifle.
Garands have an operating rod that's activated by gas tapped from a port, but the port pressure has to be in the 6,800 to 7,500 psi range or you can bend the operating rod. Since there's no way to adjust the gas port on a Garand, you have to use loads that operate at the correct pressure.
Hornady's new load operates a Garand pressure and utilizes their super-accurate A-Max bullet. It has a muzzle velocity of 2,710 fps, and yes, the new load will be ready in time for Camp Perry.
