A Modest Proposal for Voting (A Satire)

Yosemite Sam and I were talking while getting ready for work this morning. You know how those conversations go—one can solve the problems of the world in five minutes. Well, from this one, we came up with this modest proposal on how we vote. So, I present to you, with tongue firmly in cheek, a Modest Proposal for Voting.
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My dear sirs and madams, I put before you today a proposal that will improve how Americans vote. It will increase a sense of civic responsibility; test the capabilities of every adult American; ensure only serious voters come to the polls; and, increase the number of marksmen this country can rely upon in case of foreign invasion or domestic unrest.

This latter point is as important as any of them. America is a “Nation of Riflemen” founded upon the concept of the Minute Man; ready to defend our nation instantly. We, as a nation, have secured and protected our liberty, our freedom, our rights with guns.

Our nation has fallen from our high ideals. We have rightfully enfranchised many more citizens than the Founding Fathers did. However, we have not instilled a sense of citizenship and civic pride among too many voters.

There is one way to correct this; one way to ensure that only responsible and civic-minded Americans can vote. This way, you ask, each voter must come armed to the polls with an accurate .22 handgun that they have taken the time to use accurately. A gun that proves they have accepted their civic duty to be a gun owner.

That handgun, be it a humble revolver, a semi-auto, or a dedicated target pistol will be used to mark ballots. Yes my friends. We will vote in those who would lead us with a bullet. To make it a challenge, ballots will be placed at twenty-five yards.

I grant you that there will be problems, but all are surmountable. Ballots will need to be larger and polling places will need adequate backstops and ventilation. The aged among us will be at a disadvantage. However, this can be corrected—with each ten years of age, past that of 30, the ballots will be moved three feet closer to the voter to correct for aging eyes (although no closer than one yard).

What about the sincerely handicapped; the palsied, the blind, those without hands you ask? They will not be disenfranchised. A poll worker/range officer will shoot according to their instructions with a poll judge certifying results. All others must mark, or rather hole, their ballots.

I conclude with a sample ballot and a reminder that we are a nation of gunowners. Let us accept this and celebrate our rights at each election.
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Like I said, this is all tongue in cheek and the result of early morning conversation.

Whittington Center

One of our "must sees" on our vacation was NRA's Whittington Center nestled in the mountains outside of Raton, New Mexico. If you look for it on a map, you'll find it in New Mexico's northeast corner not far from Colorado. We stayed in one of the smaller and rustic cabins on the grounds.

We arrived a little late, but shooting hours are from sun up to sun down. We had plenty of time to burn powder. More about that later.

The Whittington Center is one of America's premier shooting facilities. It boasts 17 ranges for a number of disciplines--rifle, shotgun, and handgun. Some of the ranges close depending on weather or other reasons, but enough were open for us to enjoy an afternoon of shooting. There is also a gift shop, museum, and offices. A few people are lucky enough to live on the grounds. There are no restaurants, so you either bring food or drive four miles to Raton.

The museum is new and worth a stroll. It features many guns and puts them into context with shooting sports. The center also sponsors guided hunts and other activities. By the way, they sell ammo there--no 9mm or .380 to be found.

We must be rain magnets or something, because it rained there and the gate keeper couldn't remember the last time it had rained. And here is the gate:
We checked in and put a few things in the cabin. They don't allow dogs in any of the buildings, so Cooper stayed in the pickup which we drove to the ranges. Most of the pistol ranges were closed, but the Hunter's Pistol Silhouette range was open.

We had never shot silhouette of any kind before and we had a blast. Another couple were shooting at the steel chickens, so we elected to shoot at steel pigs. We didn't attempt to follow any of the rules (shoot from left to right, or keep score, etc.), we just tried to knock the piggies off their steel pedestals.

We used handguns--a 9mm Smith & Wesson for me and for Yosemite his Colt .45 acp. It was a challenge. Yosemite Sam is trying for bacon:

If you're curious, the pigs are 50 yards away. I wish to say that we knocked them down in short order. Nope, we used much hard to find ammo, but we did send a goodly number of the nefarious steel piggies into the dirt. Challenging, but we had a ball. Now, we want to find a nearby silhouette range (any input is welcome, as always).

We packed up and drove to the "sight in" range, which is the paper on racks-type rifle range. We had brought a couple of rifles, my M1 Garand, and Yosemite Sam's 7mm Rem Mag. When we got out of the pickup, we scared a herd of antelope that were grazing on the end berm. They knew it was no longer a good place for them. For me, the antelope is the mascot of the Whittington Center. They're all over the place.

We shot for awhile, but it was cold there. A damp wind had come up and we broke out our jackets. The brisk wind carried rain and it was in the low 40s. Weather like this, in New Mexico in late May! A founder's cabin under glowering skies.

We didn't shoot the next day, but moved on to new places. If you ever have a chance to get to the center, go. Plan an entire day of shooting. Plan a family get-together, a vacation, a "business" trip, or invent any other reason. Just get there and have fun. If you need any more reasons, here's a picture of their 1,000 yard range as seen from our cabin.

Manly Guns II

As Josh indicated in comments to my last post, "Crazy Einar" posted a new list of manly guns (at least they're new to me). This one includes the famous M1 Garand as the second most manly gun. The manliest is the Browning M1919A4 belt-fed machine gun. No argument from me on that score.

This new list includes several esoteric guns. I've never heard of the .600 Overkill cartridge. I'd like to shoot one but only if someone's available to re-socket my shoulder joint.

Yosemite Sam and I own five of the guns on the list and, no, we don't own a Browning M1919A4. More's the pity. Once again Crazy Einar has created a very interesting and enjoyable list.

Crazy Einar identified himself this time as Michael Z. Williamson. Knock me over with a feather. I've read his Freehold series of books and enjoyed them immensely. They're good gunnie reads. There are several other books listed in his site's bibliography that I haven't read. I sense an Amazon order in my future.

Manly Guns

Via Say Uncle, we get a list of the manliest firearms written by “Crazy Einar.” It’s an excellent list as these things go. I do have some quibbles about it though.

The M1 Garand must be included. One of the manliest men ever, George Patton, called it the greatest battle implement man has ever made. Our soldiers used it to defeat the Germans, Italians, and Japanese. It shoots a 30.06 round, which is loud, hard-hitting, hard-recoiling and, well, manly. I would replace the Swiss K31 with the Garand. Now, I like the Swiss rifle. We own one and have shot it often. It’s a great gun, but something has to give.

I‘m tempted to suggest replacing the S & W Model 29 with that company’s .500 Magnum. After all, the .500 is now the most powerful handgun in the world. It fires a truly manly handgun round. I’ve shot one a few times in an indoor range and everyone stops to see what the big noise is all about. And its recoil is not for the faint of heart. However, Dirty Harry used the Model 29 and for that reason alone must stay on the list.

I’m not a fan of Glocks, but that’s just me and would leave it on the list. Now if 1911s were not on the list (number 2 no less), I’d be spilling many more pixels.

Oh, and just a word about this manly thing. As a member of the estrogen persuasion, I accept and understand the description “manly” in regards to these guns. These are no-nonsense weapons designed to kick enemy/bad guy ass. Ass-kicking is usually associated with manliness. But let’s never forget that women can kick ass should the need arise. Boadicea (now spelled Boudica for some reason) comes to mind as does any woman protecting her children.

Finally, Yosemite Sam and I own eight of the listed guns. We don’t own the Model 29 or the Barrett M82 .50 cal. If the government should ban this rifle, we’ll dip way down into our various bank accounts and buy one before it’s illegal to do so (possibly not that particular model, but one almost as manly). As far as the Model 29, I’m not in the market, but I’ve drooled over S & W .500 Magnums many times. Who knows, maybe one might follow me home.

Hearing while Shooting, Part II

Yosemite Sam and I are back at work after taking almost two weeks off for Christmas and New Year's. It was damn hard to get up this morning and make my commute to work. I'd forgotten what 5:30am looked like.

While vacationing, we ended up at a Cabela's and I bought a pair of electronic earmuffs. I blogged that I'm hard of hearing and missed a crucial range command. Many of you gave me some good advice about products. Joel mentioned the Sonic II earplugs. Yosemite Sam and I already own the plugs, but they don't help me at all. They work great for Yosemite though.

I bought a middle of the road pair in terms of cost. They're a pair of Howard Leight Sport Impact muffs, which Jed recommended in the comments to the post above. I haven't tried them out at the range, but I put them on for a few minutes while watching TV. They amplify sound very well. They take two AAA batteries (thanks to Joe who pointed out that batteries are a cost factor).

Thanks to everyone who shared their advice. I'll let you know how they do at the range particularly how well they block loud sounds.

Hearing while Shooting

Yosemite Sam and I are getting ready for our holidays. We're taking a mini-vacation and plan on getting a little shooting done.

Speaking of shooting, we went to the range last Sunday. While there, I learned that I have to do something about my hearing loss. I was eight-years old when I started shooting. I shot outdoors, but without hearing protection. It just wasn't done back in those caveman days. Since then, I'm religious about making sure I wear plugs or muffs in or around my ears. Still, I'm hard of hearing (ask Yosemite Sam about my preferred TV volume setting).

What happened at the range you ask? Well, I was practicing bullseye shooting and in my defense I was deep in the zone. I had blocked out the rifle shooter on one side of me, the rapid-fire pistol shooter on the other side, and even my dear Yosemite Sam. The range officer called a cease fire and guess what, I was still potting away at my target. Yosemite had to get right up to the back of my head and yell "cease fire."

With that, my gun went to the table and my hands went up. I wondered what had gone wrong and to my relief found out it was no worse than a target carrier that had fallen and the range staff needed to repair it. No harm done, but I still feel bad. I know that when anyone calls a cease fire, it must be immediate and unquestioned.

I'm going to need muffs that block loud noises, but allows one to hear normal speech. I've seen ads for these electronic things, but have never tried them (they're a little spendy). Can anyone recommend a specific brand or model and mention how well they work? Thanks in advance.

Good Day Shooting and Buying

It’s been awhile since I posted about shooting and gun collecting. It’s been a hectic eight months. Our new jobs came with a lot of new responsibilities as well as new rewards. Shooting and collecting got shoved off to the side.

I managed to get in some quality range and gun show time on September 13 (I know it’s been ten days, sigh). Yosemite was out of town and I was at loose ends. I got up early that day and headed to the NRA Headquarters Range in Virginia. I shot my bullseye pistol and a 1911. Even with a break in practice, the skills are still there. Good times.

Later, I headed to the gun show at the Dulles Convention Center. Coincidently, Sebastian and Bitter were there sometime during the day, but I didn’t see them.

This show was the largest I’ve attended and had an excellent selection. Here are a few highlights: a table with about ten transferable Thompson sub-machine guns; another with a full-auto and transferable AK-47, the first I’ve seen; an authentic matchlock; many flintlocks and other antiques; and lots more.

Of course, full-auto offerings are beyond my bank account. Still, I managed to add a “holy grail” gun to my little collection. Ironically, the vendor selling the gun is from New Hampshire.

Here’s a picture:

Yes, it’s another broomhandle Mauser. I love these old guns. This one is a “red nine.” The German Army needed more handguns during World War I and commissioned Mauser to build broomhandles that chambered their military round, 9mm. To differentiate them from existing 7.63mm guns, they carved 9s on the grips and painted the number red.

Mine has finish wear and the grips are worn, but the rifling is sharp, the bore is perfect, and it’s mechanically sound. All serial numbered parts match—including both grips. I took it home, dismantled it, and cleaned off years of accumulated gunk and grease.

To be political for a minute, I am basically a handgun shooter and collector. I can and do shoot rifles and shotguns, but my true love is handgun shooting, particularly bullseye. It challenges me and satisfies me more than any other shooting sport (or any other sport for that matter).

Pistol shooting and handgun ownership is suspect to people like Obama and Biden. I believe Biden when he said that Obama wouldn’t take away his over/under shotguns, but what about my handguns?

Sticker Shocks

Yosemite Sam and I were in New Hampshire last weekend. We go up there periodically to check on our place there and renew old acquaintances. We had several sticker shocks. First, I had to get gas in Connecticut. I know they have high gas taxes, but when you’re running on fumes, you gotta do what you gotta do.

We paid $3.91 per gallon. It made Maryland’s price of about $3.70 look cheap. It seems like just yesterday I was dismayed when gas hit $3.45 per gallon. Now I long for that price. We may have to cut down on the number of local and interstate trips we make.

We also went to our still favorite gun store, State Line Gun Shop in Mason, New Hampshire. We talked to the owner and poked around for a bit.

State Line has a Reising sub-machine gun for sale. Reisings are World War II era guns used mainly by Marines in the Pacific Theater. They are surprisingly cheap, at least for full-auto guns. State Line is selling their gun for $4,500.00. I was tempted, the gun’s still for sale. I don’t have that much money sitting around (not to mention the difficulty of filing government paperwork when you live in two places), That was actually a good sticker shock—a weapon with history, in good condition, for under $4,500.00.

We had another sticker shock and this one was not good. We bought some ammo. We haven’t been shooting much here in Maryland and most of that was with .22 pistols. Even before moving here, we were using our ammo stockpile, but that’s getting thin in certain calibers particularly because I haven’t moved my reloading equipment down here.

To make a long story short, we picked up enough ammo to use in an afternoon’s shooting session and paid $104.00. The most expensive ammo was for my .45 Colt revolvers and carbine. The only .45 Colt in stock was Hornaday’s Cowboy Action load. The box cost $18.95. That doesn’t sound too mad, until I mention that there are only 20 rounds in the box. I don’t know whether to shoot it or lock it up as an investment in precious metals.

The store’s owner also mentioned that lead shot for reloading has gone up so high that he no longer stocks it. You can’t even save money “rolling your own” anymore.

These prices could hurt gun rights. If someone who’s thinking about buying a gun realizes that prices are fifty cents to a dollar a round they might think again. It could really hurt sports that require a lot of ammo for practice (any action shooting, bowling pins, etc.).

Just like gas, I don’t have an answer, but I can cry about the problem. Too bad, I don’t have a magic wand.

Greetings From Maryland

I’ve been working and semi-living in Maryland for about a month now. By semi-living, I still own a house in New Hampshire and Yosemite Sam, Cooper (the basset hound), and my cat are there. I’m missing them all very much, but I’m no longer living in a motel. That’s an improvement.

During my month of semi-living here, I’ve done only one gunnie activity. I went down to the NRA Range in Virginia last Saturday. It’s a very nice range, although I wish it had more than fifteen lanes. I had to wait an hour and a half for an open lane and that got kinda old.

When you go there, you have to register. There’s a one-time $10.00 processing fee and you get a bar-coded, laminated card that marks you as a certified range user. The range-meisters make you complete a written range-safety test after you read a handout on range safety.

Sitting near the range counter, I was able to see many new people come to the range. Range-meisters ended up with quite a stack of tests. It warmed my heart to see that many more people join the range—although I’ll have to compete with them for range time (grrr).

When I finally got to shoot, the experience was great. A range safety officer makes sure that guns are always pointed down range. He had to dress down a college-aged dude who wasn’t practicing good muzzle control. I stayed until the range safety officer gave me a five minute warning. By the time I got my gun box closed, two new people were moving into my lane. That’s a quick turnaround.

I haven’t experienced any other gunnie goodness here. There was a gun show in Virginia my first weekend here, but that coincided with a bout of flu that left me lying in a camp cot (all I had to sleep on for over a week) hoping I would die and thus end the misery.

The next weekend there was another gun show in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. I couldn’t visit it because I flew back up to New Hampshire to see my husband, dog, and cat. Also, we brought a small truck load of furniture down to Maryland including a real bed. Yosemite Sam flew back.

Do I have an opinion about gun laws in Maryland? The laws are better than in Massachusetts, but a lot worse than they are in New Hampshire and Virginia. I plan on visiting a Maryland range this weekend and maybe a gun store. What I see there could be interesting. I’ll let you know how that goes.

"Circles" E-Postal Match

I haven't written much here recently about getting out and shooting. Truth is Yosemite Sam and I just haven't been out much due to work and other demands. Still, we did get to the range last weekend and shot a number of guns and truly burned some powder.

I decided to shoot the "Circle" e-postal match that The Conservative UAW Guy is sponsoring. Until last year, I shoot a lot of bullseye pistol matches. I had to take a hiatus because my gun club is refurbishing the indoor range. That doesn't mean that I don't practice though. The "Circles" match's rules include one target shot offhand (one hand--just like in formal bullseye shooting). The other target can be shot either offhand or with both hands. I was enthusiastic about this match.

I shot my first target with a .45 Long Colt cowboy-type pistol. I was disappointed in the results. I discovered the gun that I thought was fairly accurate shoots to the left. Hmmm...nothing like having a different target to force one to discover certain unpleasant truths. No one will ever see that target (shudder).

I got out my bullseye pistol, that I featured here. I resighted it in for the 25 feet the rules required and shot a target. I did great on that one. But, I found out it was beginner's luck, at least for the Circles target. Let's roll that footage:



As you can see, I had a couple of throwers, but most hit home. I hit the edge of the smallest circle (13 points), but I have a little secret: I wasn't aiming at it. I was aiming at the bottom of the #4 ring and accidentally hit the 13 ring. I stared at it through my spotting scope and couldn't believe it. Knock me over with a feather. I got a total score of 88 out of a possible 91. I used a strategy of shooting the #8 ring first and then slightly raising my aim to hit the #7, then the #9 then #6 and so forth.

I then got humbled. I shot the next target with both hands and found the gun's grips don't really lend themselves to that practice. I managed to eke out a 56 on that target and here it is:


For the life of me, I couldn't even hit the #4 ring and sent a cluster of bullets next to it. Of course, I thought I could do better and took the last circle target I brought and tried in offhand. No improvement over 56. Thus I got a total of 144 for the match.

Shooting these e-postal matches is a useful practice. The targets take you out of your comfort zone and force you to try something new. If you haven't tried one, give it a whirl.

Happy B'day to the AK-47 and Shooting a Clone

The New York Times "Week in Review" section has an article on the AK-47. Knock me over with a feather, but it has little anti-gun snark. The article centers on the weapon’s 60th anniversary of the weapon attended by its maker Mikhail Kalashnikov, now 87 years old.

The article states that Russia celebrated the gun’s “birthday” with pomp, circumstance, and a little chagrin. They praised the gun's world-wide acceptance, but they’re not happy that so many other countries are making and selling the iconic weapon. In many cases, the former Soviet Union established the very factories in those countries that are competing with them now.

The Russians are also unhappy that America has been buying a large number of AK-47s for Iraqi and Afghani police forces but not buying them from Russia. In other words, Russia wants to become the premier seller for AK-47s.

I think that horse has already left the barn, but who knows. Of course, they can’t sell a true AK-47 in America—at least not one made after 1986 (thanks to the execrable Hughes Amendment to the Firearms Owner Protection Act). Semi-auto versions are still legal here.

Yosemite Sam has a semi-auto Romanian AK clone, a SAR-1. He enjoys shooting it, but I’ve never developed much liking for the rifle. The gun is all black stamped metal and a particularly unlovely wood with little finish. Not exactly the esthetic I look for in a gun. Still, that’s not the most important reason for my dislike of this one (and so far only) gun.

It beats me up when I shoot it. There must be a strange confluence of the gun’s shape and my body structure. No matter how I hold the gun when I shoot it, the rear of the stock flips up and bashes me in the cheekbone. I guess I could shoot from the hip like the Brady Campaign suggests is so deadly, but there’s no fun in that.

I guess I’ll have to settle watching Yosemite Sam shoot his AK clone while I shoot my AR-15 clone. Thinking of it that way, I’m not settling for anything.

A Day at the Range (Sort of)

As mentioned earlier, I went out shooting this weekend. But, it didn’t go quite as planned.

First, Yosemite Sam couldn’t make it. That means we couldn’t compare targets or just feel that warm glow of companionship. Sigh. I prepared the range bag and went through my careful mental checklist: at least one box of ammo for every gun; zip my guns into gun rugs, place them in my range bag, make sure my ear protector is in the bag, get an appropriate number of targets. You know the drill.

I’d decided to shoot a self-defense pistol I’ve been known to carry, a carbine, and my bullseye pistol. The gun is equipped with a red-dot sight and I brought a little box of tools and a spare battery just in case I needed to fiddle with anything. Like I said, I was ready.

I packed three boxes of ammo for my bullseye gun, because I need the practice. I’m a little rusty. The bullseye league isn’t meeting this winter (the club’s indoor range is being upgraded).

I got to the commercial range, checked in, and set up. I shot a box of ammo out of the carbine, then practiced drills with the self-defense pistol. I was ready to do some intense bullseye shooting now. I placed the appropriate target on the carrier and operated a switch to move it out to 25 yards.

I placed a box of cartridges on the shelf in front of me out and started to load my pistol. No magazine in the grip. No magazine in the range bag. They were both home in my gun box. And, can you believe it; the range didn’t have a loaner.

I bought another box of ammo and practiced more with my other pistol. Next time I’ll remember the $(%*$ magazines. It was still good to get some range time in.

National Ammo Day/Week

We are now in the middle of National Ammo Week with Ammo Day falling on a Sunday, November 19. The day just happens to be blogger Kim duToit's birthday. He started National Ammo Day a few years back. It's an effort to call attention to ammo sales as a way of telling would-be gun banners that we are out here.

Last year, Bill and I celebrated it in fine style. A number of bloggers and an online forum (and I can't find the site thanks to net nannies) suggested buying ammo at Wal-Mart and tried to coordinate it to fall on the same day and near the same time. I don't know if it registered enough on Wal-Mart's books to make a difference, but still people bought ammo and that's the important thing.

A few people argued with me about supporting ammo sales at Wal-Mart. I still think it's a good idea to have as many ammo outlets as possible and in many types of stores. We rarely buy ammo there though. We prefer to roll our own 12 gauge shells and several pistol calibers. For other needs, we take good care of our usual ammo dealer.

So, this year, buy early, buy often, but buy ammo wherever you can this week. If you can, but some ammo this coming Sunday even if it's a box or two of .22 rounds at Wal-Mart or any other dealer open on Sundays. More importantly, have fun while shooting it.

Shopping List

Michael Bane has put together a list of firearms and accessories to buy before the probable new rounds of Democratic Party inspired gun control laws.

His list includes:

1.) AR-15 platform rifle.--We have one already, but I will probably get at least one more.

2.) Magazines--I think this is the easiest thing to purchase. Buy as many as you can afford because any new Assault Weapon ban will surely include a capacity limit on magazines.

3.) .50 BMG rifles--Tougher, but we will try to find room on the old VISA card.

He has others and they are all good suggestions. Be sure to participate in National Ammo Day on November 19th and the week preceding. I wouldn't put it past them to try to pass some kind of ammo ban.

Teaching My Nephew to Shoot

My visit with my Marine nephew is over and I can give up my week-long stint as tour director, chauffeur, and pistol trainer (well maybe I won’t give up that role). I can also cease to be amazed about how much a young Marine can eat.

I appreciate comments that others left on this post. I do honor my nephew’s service even though I still think he has some funny ideas. For instance, he is wrestling with pacifism. I bought him a few books of his choosing as gifts and one was Gandhi’s autobiography (and I am familiar with the pro-gun quote about Britain forbidding a people the use of arms).

Other than philosophical discussions and trips to Boston (not my favorite place), we did a few fun things. He wanted to learn how to shoot a handgun. He hadn’t fired a handgun before thanks to his mom and it hasn’t been part of his Marine training, so I taught him.

He did the typical male thing that I’ve seen whenever I’ve taught men how to shoot a handgun. He thought he knew it all until he got to the range and then wondered why his shots were going underneath the target when he hit the paper at all.

You might remember that his sister visited me some months ago. She listened very attentively to my safety lecture and then how I explained the interplay of sight alignment and trigger squeeze. My nephew, however, already knew the safety rules and recited them while standing almost at parade rest.

His range safety was impeccable, but his accuracy was less than good. He thought his rifle skills would more readily transfer to a handgun and didn’t understand how much a handgun wobbles even with a two-handed grip. The wobbling caused him to snatch at the trigger when he saw a good sight alignment. He had to pause and listen to me explain trigger control which led to better accuracy.

I’ve introduced a respectable number of men and women to handgun shooting and fewer to rifle and shotgun shooting. It’s always easier with women and I think it’s a societal thing. After all, too many movies show a cowboy, cop, or gangster making impossible shots with guns held in any position except backwards and with no aiming. Maybe young women pay less attention to that aspect of those movies.

I don’t know, but I’ve always found it interesting and I’m not the only one who’s noticed it. Any other theories?

Weekend Shotgun Fun

Bill (Yosemite Sam) and I finally got out to a trap field last Saturday. It’s taken us a while to do so. You see, we’re both cold-wussies and it’s been cold up here in New Hampshire. Yes, we’ve had a few nice weekends between the last snow fall and now, but other things have interceded including visiting handgun ranges, gun shows and stores, and doing other gunnie (sometimes not) stuff.

Despite our bad weather phobia (and this weekend was no prize with temperatures in the forties, cloudy on Saturday, and rainy on Sunday), we do love our shooting weekends. We took two new shotguns this time; Bill’s Benelli Montefeltro semi-auto shotgun and my coach gun. Of course, my Winchester 101 came along for the ride. We also packed a lot of shotgun shells and clays.

So off we went to our favorite trap field and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Despite our too long hiatus, busting clays was like riding a bike. After one or two wobbles, it all comes back. Bill’s Benelli worked flawlessly as we expected. He bought it in February and this is the first time he’s shot it and after a few misses, he got used to it and powdered clays.

I shot a round of 25 clays with my little coach gun. The gun is much lighter than I’m used to and I feared its lightness would cause me to check my swing too soon and thus miss birds. Instead, it proved as accurate as my Winchester 101.

I did miss one target with the coach gun when I forgot to take off the safety (unlike my Winchester, the coach gun’s safety resets to safe when you reload). It’s a strange feeling to pull the trigger and not have it go boom when it worked so well just a few seconds before. Proof once again that perfect practice equals perfect performance and perhaps a lesson that one shouldn’t switch guns on the same day.

Now here's something to ponder. I spent about about $700.00 less for the coach gun than I did for the Winchester. I shot both with about the same accuracy rate. Now is this something that "makes you go hmmmm" or what?

We ran out of clays long before we ran out of shells even after gleaning a handful of intact clays from the unused skeet field. Our shoulders are still a little sore and we have many hulls to reload. That’s cool, I like reloading (most of the time). We’re planning another visit to the trap field soon. Hope your weekends were just as fun.

Great Way to Reach New Shooters

Thanks to a little "other duties as required" work that landed on my desk, I don't have an essay or other hearty fare today. Besides it's Friday (TGIF!!!!!). I did see something though that made me stop and go "way to go, dudes."

The US Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) is full of great shooters in several disciplines. They are leaving their ranges to teach shooting to young people enrolled in a Trailblazer Adventure Program.

USAMU members will put on shooting demonstrations and provide hands on instruction. I can't think of a better way to introduce new shooters to the sport and do it in a way they'll never forget. Now I feel better about the taxes I'm paying.

Enjoy your weekends and I'll be putting up a new "One From the Vault" soon (possibly this weekend, but no promises).

Trash Shooters on Public Lands

Jed at Freedom Sight discusses a free shooting range that may be shut down soon. Is it because anti-gunnies rallying against it? No, in this case, “We have met the enemy and he is us” (Walt Kelly in his comic strip Pogo). Trash shooters are causing the potential shut-down.

The United States Forest Service runs a range in Pike National Forest. The Forest Service receives monies under the Pittman-Robertson Act. Part of act mandated the provision of “free” target shooting ranges. Every gunnie pays for this range thanks to an 11% tax on ammunition, sporting arms, and archery equipment. There is also a 10% tax on handguns.

Trash shooters come to the range and leaving everything from used targets to kitchen appliances. Volunteers have tried to keep the range looking halfway decent, but haven’t been able to keep up. Forest Service officials are looking at closing it unless a private operator can take it over.

Jed points to other public lands that he’s seen trashed. He counsels us to clean up after ourselves or better yet, take out more trash than we take in. Good advice.

I have some experience shooting at a Forest Service range; one set up in Florida in the Apalachicola National Forest near Tallahassee, Florida. I shot there in the mid-1980s, so my memory may play a trick or two.

The Forest Service had done a good job with it. There was a covered shooting area with about ten stations with a long shooting counter. Target frames, made of 2x4s, were set in notches cast in concrete lanes that ran parallel to the shooting area and were spaced about 10, 25, 50, and 100 yards. There was a picnic table and an enclosed latrine with a fiberglass “toilet.”

The range was clean and in decent repair and I believe it’s still there because it is shown on on this map (warning pdf).

What bugged me though is some people couldn’t resist shooting stuff other than the targets. There were holes in the shooting areas roof, in the picnic table. People even shot up the toilet. What skill is there involved with hitting a toilet?

I remember seeing a sign at the range that warned that the Forest Service might close the range if people didn’t keep their bullets down range. They pointed out there were several forest roads and hiking trails near by. The bullet holes in the sign were testimony to its effectiveness.

I love to plink, but I always clean up after myself. There may be some gun owners who’ll think I’m a nag if I suggest that they do the same thing. A small minority of trash shooters could well close public lands to all shooters.

So, I’m going to be a nag. If you’re a trash shooter, STOP it. If you don’t know you’re a trash shooter, take this simple quiz:
*Do you shoot everything that doesn’t move in a 360 circle around you regardless of common sense?
*Do you shoot at junk that you bring with you, but don’t clean up before you leave?
*Do you shoot up road, safety, information, other signs or public property?
*Do you shoot toilets that don’t belong to you?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, reform or hang up your guns before you ruin shooting for the rest of us.

Bullseye Shooting and "Shooting Gallery"

Bill and I were kinda out of it this weekend. We ended up with a miserable head cold. I started getting ill on Friday and Bill followed on Saturday. Normally we're the picture or rosy-cheeked health, but lately viruses are having their way with us. I blame it on the lingering winter that must kick us one more time before it leaves these granite hills. It ruined our planned day of shooting, it did.

But, nature has a way of granting boons as well as exacting tribute. Bill and I went to our Thursday night bullseye league and maybe because of the incipient work of a maliginant virus, we both shot excellently. I posted my personal best aggregate score. When I saw my score, I could of turned a cartwheel. Bill posted his second-best score. I don't know if catching a cold really helped or not, but I do know that strange things affect one's shooting for good or bad.

I think what happens is that shooting is a body, mind, practice thing. If you try to force your mind over your body, your body doesn't follow the right path and youl end up with a poor shot. Conversely if you don't have the proper concentration, you won't make the shot.

I like to describe precision shooting as zen. That is, that you do something without conscious thought, but in such a way that you become the shot.

I know it sounds like mystical claptrap, but I don't know how to put it into other words. But I'll try to desribe it. It's living in the moment of easing that trigger back perfectly while maintaining perfect sight alignment. You forget the guy next to you, you ignore the aggregate score, you don't think of work, fun, food, the weekend, anything. You become that shot.

I'm far from the only person who's described precision shooting as zen. Here's a series of articles in the Encyclopedia of Bullseye Shooting on zen and shooting. The Encyclopedia has other great articles on the practice of bullseye shooting.

Finally, through referrals I found that Ten Ring is listed on "Shooting Gallery's" webpage of blogs and articles. If you're not familiar with "Shooting Gallery," it's a television show devoted to shooting sports. Bill and I watch it every Friday night on cable on the Outdoor Channel. The show has featured professionals shooting Steel Challenge matchs, interviews with Jeff Cooper, tours of the annual SHOT show, cowboy action shooting, and just about everything else.

Michael Bane hosts "Shooting Gallery" and produces or writes for several other shooting shows. Bill and I met him briefly at the NRA Convention in Houston last year. He's a class act.

Ten Ring is not the only blog listed on "Shooting Gallery's" blog page. Also here are Alphecca, AnarchAngel, Cogito Ergo Geek, and Resistance is Futile. Plenty of gunnie goodness to read.

Getting Well and a Shooting Weekend

I looked out of the window this morning and saw blue sky. I wondered if the weatherman was right for a change. The thermometer mounted outside our living room window read 50 degrees. Woohoo, it is a nice day.

I'm still a little bit sick from whatever crud I picked up, but I got to work yesterday where my boss kept saying, "take it easy today, you look terrible, and oh can you get this done and that and then follow up on another thing." So, work was not fun, but sometime about 2:00 pm yesterday, I suddenly felt a hundred times better.

When I woke up this morning, I actually felt like a human being again instead of a virus's incubator. Couple that feeling with a nice day and what's a gun nut to do? I went shooting.

The operative word in that last sentence is "I." As nature ordains these things, Bill (Yosemite Sam) is now sick. He's moaning in the bed even as I write saying things like, "I feel terrible." and "I'm sick, leave me alone."

So I went to our gun club and shot by myself. Because I'm still slightly ill, I got more tired than I usually would, but I had fun. It felt so good to get out and burn some powder even if I shot only handguns.

I finally took my Model 1912 Steyr-Hahn out. I shot ten shots from it (the ammo's expensive and I really own it as a collector's item). My first shot strayed to somewhere near the Shoot-n-See. I adjusted my sight picture somewhat and hit the center of the Shoot-n-See. After that, I kept the rest of the rounds near the center. It's a very accurate pistol for having minimalist early Twentieth Century military sights. The recoil was very light. I was impressed with it's accuracy and the way it handled. However, loading it with a stripper clip was awkward.

Thanks for all the get well wishes you sent. They worked for me. Keep 'em coming for Bill. Have fun with your own shooting.