Saturday, April 23, 2011

More rain

Weatherman is saying rain will run up to next Friday. Yard is saturated already. Didn't bother trying the range. The storms have been pretty violent and the range is probably a mud pit by now. Good reading weather. Just kinda lounged around today. Hope everyone has a happy Easter with family and friends.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Stormy weather

Looks like we are going to get the years worth of rain in a matter of a couple weeks from the looks of it. Tornado sirens are going off again. power keeps coming and going. Had some homemade sauce left over from earlier in the week, so I made some manicotti for dinner complete with garlic bread. So day wasn't total wash. Got a new magazine in the mail today. It shows the Coonan 1911 in .357magnum  is back in production again. It is a sweet looking gun. The magazine looks a little strange loaded as the rimmed ammo curves quite a bit in the magazine. I wouldn't mind one just for the uniqueness of it. Try again tomorrow to hit the range. Maybe the weather will be better. I did get an invite to dinner for Sunday from a friend at work. Home cooking is always good, especially when I don't have to do it. Hope everyone has a nice Easter.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

One more day

We are off Friday, so tomorrow is it. Be nice to have an extended weekend. Go to the club Friday and help set up for the kid's Easter party. Want to get some target practice in any way, so I may as well help set up for the Easter egg hunt and party they have for the little ones on Saturday. I didn't have much luck with the savage when I had it out. It was suppose to be sighted in at the factory. I couldn't even see where it was hitting on the paper so I could adjust scope. The short ranges were busy when I was there, so this weekend, I will try to get it sighted in. My laser bore sighter is too big for the .17 . Did better with the garand. Went over to cowboy town and did some plinking over there as well. I picked up a cheap .22 revolver single action to plink with over there. I have the .38's which I use alot, but the .22s will be a nice addition and cheap to shoot for practicing. Want to get a .22 henry lever action for plinking as well. My brother has one, and it's a blast to shoot, and cheap to shoot all day. I have been working on the .357 Rossi lever action and it is starting to feed better. I was doing pretty good with it at the long range part of the cowboy area. They have rain predicted for the weekend, but I am hoping it misses us. Yard work is caught up, so I am hoping to play all weekend.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Last of the spring spotshoots

It was a great day. Mid 70's and sunny. Today, the club finished it's springtime spot shoots. Quite a few people turned out. It was very busy. Usually breaks up about four o'clock, but it lasted until almost five. Only a four day work week this week as we get Friday off for a holiday. Hope to get ambitious and start working in the garage again. Having a hard time getting started.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Cowboy town

Went to the club after work for some fun. Bumped into one of the guys that runs the cowboy shoots. He was kind enough to give me some pointers. It was fun and informative. I watched topshots a couple weeks back, and thought it was clever using left thumb for cocking hammer so as to keep gun on target. It works great. The guy was giving me pointers on quick target acquisition, and it worked really well.  I was even doing well with my schofield. The opentop is a blast to shoot. He had me doing what they refer to as point and shoot. You shoot from the hip, both eyes open ( which is hard to do when you are use to closing one) gun low. I was actually hitting the heart on all the active targets. I was actually hitting the rifle targets with the pistol pretty well too. The guy is a really good teacher and is quite knowledgeable. He said he would bring some of his muzzleloaders out next time to play with. I ran out of daylight, so I still haven't been able to try the savage out. Maybe tomorrow. It looks like nice weather most of the week. Range is only a few minutes from work. I will try to make it out after work all week. It is nice having the range minutes away. I want to get the garand out some more too.The scope makes it even more enjoyable.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Some people shouldn't breed

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/apr/09/gun-accidently-goes-during-tri-state-gun-and-knife/?partner=popular


Went to the gun show today to talk to a couple of buddies and get some ammo for the krag. I get talking with one of the guys I know and he tells me of the excitement at yesterdays show. The place follows the standard procedure for firearms at show. Someone comes in and hands gun over. They remove mag and put zip tie through so mag cannot be reinstalled and they allow him in to show. Moron goes in, cuts tie, reinstalls mag, and apparently chambers a round. He was trying gun in a holster and the gun goes off. As god looks out for idiots, he is unscathed. The round hits the concrete floor (unfortunately missing the idiots foot or genitalia) and sends shrapnel (mix of concrete fragments and bullet fragments) up into crowd. Clerk got grazed  in the face by some, a young teenage accompanying his parents caught some in his leg and had to go to hospital. The police came and escorted him out in cuffs. Guess alcohol was involved as well. I don't understand why, when someone is this stupid, it is never them who get hurt by the blatant stupidity. It is always the innocent people around said moron.

I did see a few nice guns there. My one buddy has a nice krag for sale, but I held off for now. They usually don't sell that quick down here, and I am trying to back the price off some. He still has the danish krag with bayonet I want as well. He also has a couple of the leather ammo pouches for the krag ammo. It is marked US on the outside and dated early 1900's. They were in excellent condition and would be nice to have, but not at $200 apiece. He also had a couple of really old 20 round boxes of ammo for it in the army cardboard. I wouldn't shoot it, but it would be cool for the curio cabinet. I did manage to pick up my ammo and caught up with a collector there, unfortunately, he doesn't have any krag parts.
When I finished at the show, I headed to the club and helped out at the spot shoot. Next week will be the last one for the spring. They will draw tickets for the henry .22 lever action and a progressive meat raffle I have tickets on. It was a beautiful day. Mid 80's with a nice breeze. I was going to try the savage out, but the wind was really strong and they claim the .17 doesn't fair well in high wind. Figure I will try to get out after work one night during the week.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Machine gun shoot/mud pit





Day started out dark and stormy. I got up early to find thunder lightening and heavy rain. No surprise. They were predicting it all week. I went to mickey D's for a couple breakfast sandwiches and a coffee. I came home and waited to see what the weather would do. The rain subsided and the sun came out. I took a chance and headed out for the shoot. Upon arriving, there was a long line waiting to get into the parking lot. Not a good sign. Two hour drive to get there, I ain't leavin. It took half an hour to get to the parking area. The attendant in the lot (not the one directing traffic into lot, because that would have made sense) asked if I had four wheel drive. I am looking in horror at a parking lot that looks like the county fair four wheeling mud event. He says four wheelers are getting stuck and the tractors (farm tractors) can not keep up with the ones getting stuck.He then recommends going through the lot and exiting. I ask if it wouldn't make more sense using the turn around that he is standing next to and leaving area that way. He is dumb founded at the idea. Turn around and exit as opposed to sliding through the muddy pit to the exit on the other side. Who would of thought of that. After getting out of the pit, I headed back to the highway and after several laps, found a space on the highway to park and walked in. They were still directing cars down to the lower lot when I was walking in. I got to the top where you enter, and the upper lot that I was told was closed, was almost empty. It wasn't great, but better than the lower lot, as you could still see grass and there was no pooling water. Once inside, my day improved tremendously. The smell of gunpowder and the sound of machine guns in the air. It is really a great time. I always make the spring ones, usually don't make the fall one. Didn't find my hand guards for the krags. I will check tomorrow with a guy I know at the armory. This is the first show that I couldn't find my ammo for the garrand. I have a couple thousand rounds in enclips, so I won't run out for some time. But  I always pick up a couple ammo cans when I go to keep the supply up.I run low, I can always order from the CMP site. They have it back in stock, it is just more convenient to pick it up in person when you find it. They also have a supply of bayonets. Their guns aren't worth ordering anymore. You can usually do better at the gunshows than the scraps they get in nowadays. I was hoping on finding some of the match grade ammo for the 03 and the garand, but that was also missing this shoot. Usually they have skids of the stuff.

Tomorrow will be a great day as well. I can shoot the savage I picked up yesterday before working the spot shoot in the afternoon. They only have a couple left. Take the garrand back out as well. I always love shooting it, but now that I have the scope on it, I reallllly love shooting it. Suppose to be a nice day weather wise. Just need to hit the armory on the way there and check with my buddy. He may have access to a handguard for my krag, and he always has something I want. I bought my garrand and two krags off him. He has a danish krag and a beautiful enfield that I keep ogling.Since I just bought the savage, tomorrow will just be checking on parts and drooling over guns on table. That show usually has a guy that sells springfield items and ammo. So I will have to see what he has. The reloader there usually has krag ammo, so I will have to pick some up so I have some brass for loading.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Friday





Finally the end of the week. I got home and found out my rifle was in. I went to the new gun store to pick it up. It is a really cool store. They have a huge wrap around deck with chairs set up for customers to enjoy the weather. They have an outdoor area set up for shooting bows. They are working on setting up an indoor shooting range, although I prefer the outdoor ones. I would like to try my hand at archery, but I think I will use the club equipment to see how I like it. This place has a good selection of new and used bows.

Tomorrow, if the weather holds, I will head for the machine gun shoot. Never have too much ammo for the garand. Hope to find a handguard for the krag as well. Usually find good deals on the ammo in enclips and bandoleers for the garand. There is a surplus store around the corner I can sell the extra enclips, bandoleers and cans to recoup some of the purchase price as well.

The armory has their show going on too. Probably hit it Sunday. Couple of vendors I like to talk to there as well. It is where I picked up my Garand as well as a couple of my krags. He may have the danish krag there. Only a couple spring spot shoots left, so I will probably work the club Sunday. Should be a good weekend.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Finally on the way

The savage plinker is finally on it's way. I called to check on shipping date and was told it was on their dock awaiting pickup. Should be here by weeksend. I used the new gunstore down the road for their ffl service. It is only $15 for long guns. Most of the ones I called wanted $35 or didn't want to deal with it because it wasn't bought through them. It's a little store, but gaining popularity with the locals. Guy has really good prices and you can't beat his ffl rate. Talked to a guy at the club and found out where to take my C&R paperwork to. I live just outside the Town limits, so I get to go to the county sheriff department. He says they don't hassle you like they the police do in town. I guess in town, it takes multiple visits and you usually get the runaround. Once I get my license, I can order old military guns and have them delivered to my door. If I want newer firearms, I will deal with the new gunstore down the road. See good deals all the time, but the license will make it easier to move on them.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Great day at the club

Went out to the club to help out at the spot shoots. Got to work the .22 shoots. They have them mainly for the kids, but today alot of adults were shooting them as well. The club has some cricket .22's the little ones can shoot. they shoot bird shot, so anyone can win. It's all luck. It's cool to watch the real little ones shoot. One little kid just got his first .22 cricket, and he was grinning ear to ear shooting at the match with dad. Dad was shooting at the shotgun part, but the kid was having a blast. The weather couldn't have been better. I bought a ticket to the Friends of the NRA gunapalooza they are having at the club early in May. There are many great prizes to be had. Should be a good time. I am hoping the weather report gets better for next weekend. It is the machine gun shoot and they have rain forecast for the whole weekend. The majority of the gunshow is under a roof, but the parking out there is in a field. If they get a lot of rain, it gets almost impossible to get out. Have to see how the weather holds.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Back in the 60;s again

Weather is back in the 60's and suppose to be in the 70's tomorrow. Took care of some yard work today. Felt good to get outside and do some work in the yard for a change. Probably go to the club tomorrow and help out with the spot shoot. They only have a few left in the spring season. Get the welder out tomorrow and play in garage in the afternoon. I did get the reloading gear out of storage. Try and get it set up for .38's tomorrow.