A couple weeks ago, the Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 11 trailer pulled into Eugene, Ore., winding up a 56-day nationwide tour. After showing me the game, the crew took me into the country to shoot some antique firearms. As in muzzle-loaders.
This video has some jocular NSFW language and lots of bang-bang, so headphones are best if you're at work.
The weapons belong to Al Stromme, a master gunsmith in Cheshire, Ore. (west of Eugene). He fashions heritage rifles, such as muzzle-loading flintlock rifles like the ones used by both sides in the Revolutionary War. We also shot three percussion-cap rifles (where a cap, rather than a pan full of powder, provides the charge) of .32, .45 and .50 caliber. Two weapons were bona fide antiques - a single-shot Hopkins & Allen 12 gauge shotgun from 1910, and a Baltimore Arms 12 gauge double-barrel shotgun from 1903.
The shooting party, in addition to "Uncle Al" and me, included Brandon Wildvank, the project manager who built the Cabela's trailer; Bill Linn from Sandbox Strategies, the firm handling Activision's Cabela's account (Stromme is his in-law); and Eric Fanali, a Sandbox rep who served as the Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 11 tour guide during its cross-country trek.
As humorous as these clips are (filmed by me and Bill), I really did develop an understanding of, and a respect for, the history of American firearms. For about 10 years the only ones I'd wielded were either lightguns or virtual rifles in a first-person shooter. I'm grateful to Mr. Stromme and to Bill for the hands-on opportunity with some of the essential tools of our country's birth and settlement.