After having been on a shooting range for the past three days testing new products we'll be telling you about over the next couple of weeks, I am even more excited than normal at the new products we're seeing. As they come to market, I think it's safe to say shooters will find themselves excited at new technological advances and new approaches to several established types of firearms. It's also safe to say that people who've never owned a gun -or maybe never even fired one- will find compelling products being offered for everything from long-distance precision shooting to very, very inconspicuous concealed carry. From heavy caliber rifles to ultra-compact pistols offering a variety of larger calibers, there are plenty of choices out there and available. This week we've been shooting range tests for season four of Guns & Gear. The show will start airing on NBC Sports this summer and I'm looking forward to it already. During our shooting, I've picked up some common sense knowledge that might help you during your next range session. Especially if you live in one of the warmer climate areas where we're occasionally seeing temperatures in the high eighties. First, a few pieces of common sense advice. When you're on the range, don't forget to protect yourself from the sun. It's not summer-yet, but your skin won't know that if you spend too-much time outside without sun protection. It can be anything from a covered shooting position to a hat and generous slathers of sunscreen, but you'll be glad you took time to spare yourself a sunburn. Ditto the hydration. When shooting video, we break approximately every thirty minutes to drink a few ounces of water or sports drinks. We also start our day with "prehyrdation" - a bottle of water drunk before we hit the heat. Both have made real differences over the course of our production days. I'm not going to presume to lecture you on wearing hearing and vision protection. If your range allows you to come anywhere near the shooting line without both, you need to find another place to shoot. And you want to protect yourself from brass, lead and anything else that might be flying from adjacent shooting points. We're very careful, and we still had one hot shell casing catch a cameraman. Shell casings are hot upon ejection, so make certain you've protected yourself from burns to your head, neck and hands while on the line. You can also get burned from a variety of other sources. We took a digital thermometer to the range and made some measurements of everything from black rifles to stainless handguns. And we learned that no matter what you think, anything metal or polymer left in a boiling hot sun quickly becomes too-hot to handle without appropriate measures. If you've ever wondered why so many of our soldiers wear Nomex gloves when on patrols, just leave a modern sporting rifle -especially in black- sitting in direct sunlight for a few minutes. We did, and measured as the gun's metal and polymer parts heated up. When we put our first test rifle out in the sun, the entire gun quickly heated to 90 degrees. In ten minutes, the barrel of the rifle was at 110 degrees. That's hot, but the 123-degree polymer furniture was beyond uncomfortable. Before we decided that enough was enough (about 30 minutes) the gun had heated to nearly 130 degrees. Yes, stainless guns heated less than the black ones, but still managed to get uncomfortable to the touch. Ditto everything else from cleaning rods to ammo. The sun is unforgiving in those conditions, so don't neglect to shelter your equipment from the sun. Yes, a range bag is a good idea, but it won't hurt to put a white towel on top of that bag to help reflect the heat a "tactical black" bag will absorb. With temperatures sufficient to bake a potato, deflecting as much heat as possible is a great idea. A nighttime shooting session convinced me that a good flashlight and weapon-mounted laser (or both mounted on my gun) are no longer options. We used new flashlights for everything from walking around safely to illuminating large areas for filming. We took one of Laserlyte's new CK-MS units on a Bersa Thunder .380 and made hits on steel targets from 25 yards look routine. We also tried a variety of "secret" guns from other manufacturers, but we're sworn to secrecy- at least for the next couple of weeks. We'll have all the news for you when we're green-lighted to release the info, but you're going to like what you read. Finally, as we head into the weekend, it's time to let you know that the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) has renewed it's petitioning of the Environmental Protection Agency to have lead banned in ammunition. It's a third attempt to get lead banned, and proves the CBD and like-minded groups simply aren't going to give up on getting lead banned. They've tried twice previously, but this time they've narrowed their application and exempted law enforcement and military from the ban. The new petition erroneously claims that the use of traditional ammunition by hunters is inconsistent with the Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976. The petition goes on to suggest that the use of traditional ammunition poses a danger to human health and wildlife, in particular raptor populations, such as bald eagles, that may feed on entrails of unrecovered game left in the field. The EPA has told the groups - twice- that the ban isn't something they have the jurisdiction to enact, but that hasn't stopped them from trying. In response, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) is urging all of us to contact our national legislators and voice our support for H.R. 1558, the Sportsmen's Heritage Act of 2012. If passed, 1558 would not only protect our hunting, fishing and shooting heritage, it would exclude traditional ammunition and fishing tackle from EPA regulation. "These relentless and unfounded attacks against traditional ammunition by agenda-driven groups such as the CBD are exactly why Congress must take immediate action and pass the Sportsmen's Heritage Act of 2012," says NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane. "Needlessly restricting or banning traditional ammunition absent sound science will hurt wildlife conservation efforts as fewer hunters take to the field. Let's not forget, hunters and their ammunition have done more for wildlife than the CBD ever will." Let's not let our legislators forget, either. As always, we'll keep you posted. --Jim Shepherd