Firing For Effect . . .

Up To Tahoe . . .

2007-09-09T01:36:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . Again!! This time brought the bike for some lightweight MTB action. I was a little concerned about how secure the rooftop rack would be, but it held tight up and back, at speed, and on the mountain roads. Above picture is at Bridgeport, below are at Fallen Leaf Lake, southwest side of Lake Tahoe. Quite a place. Being after the Labor Day holiday, it was virtually deserted.

Here's Another . . .

2007-08-04T20:36:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . one of my newer acquisitions, a Benelli M2 Field. First pic is what it looks like out o' the box, the second after I had it tricked out some for 3-Gun competition . . . 8-round tube, etc. . . .

. . . Yep, about a year ago I finally started in on the 3-Gun game; what a hoot!! I would like to be able to shoot an AR, but here in Kalifornia I must use the M1A. It still works just fine and is a blast, with its Kal-legal tin can/spark arrestor-looking "muzzle brake" and it's not real likely I'll be beating anyone anyway! Unfortunately, I took a promotion at work last year which changed my days off and seriously cut into my Double-T! I've only shot one match this entire year . . .
¶ . . . Check out Mad Trigger for some pretty good video of some of us here 3-Gunnin'-it in Kalifornia. Unfortunately I'm not a movie star yet . . . !

Boom Times Again . . . ?

2007-07-10T20:39:00.001-07:00

¶ . . . Not likely, but I was somewhat surprised (and pleased to see "new life") to see a new Ramada Inn built in Virginia City! What's even more astonishing is where it's built! As I mapped it out with GPS and other data I have, it appears to be built right on top of what was known as "The Big Bonanza," the largest lode-strike on the Comstock, in 1873, on the Consolidated Virginia workings . . . !!!

. . . This shot was taken from "C" Street, Virginia City's main drag, looking east down Six Mile Canyon (State Hwy. 79), "D" and "E" Streets below (the hotel itself fronting "E" Street) . . .
. . . How this, or the rest of the town for that matter, doesn't cave in to the miles of tunnels, shafts, stopes, etc., may well be a miracle. Or is it due to then-modern engineering? Square-set timbering, pictured below, may be its salvation . . .

Gun Stuff . . .

2007-07-10T13:10:00.001-07:00

¶ . . . Here's my M14, er, M1A, with its DuraCoat finish, in the Am Stripe pattern. It came out pretty well, though I did it twice because I didn't like my original stencilling: that's what comprises most of the effort. If you don't own a compressor, you're better off going to Harbor Freight for a little cheap-0 air compressor for the air brush; forget the propellant cans. They're nine bucks a piece, so you don't have much margin for error, especially if it's your first attempt. You also need to immerse the can in lukewarm water while you're spraying as the can tends to freeze up and inhibit the flow. Note I mounted a Smith Enterprise, Inc. scope mount . . .

. . . I had to go get a cheap-o scope and set of rings, a la Wal-Mart, just to try out the mount. This was just until I can get a Trijicon TR-21. . .

One of my other "projects" was refurbishing my Limited gun, of which I have yet to compete with in its new dress. I also DuraCoated the grip panels while I was doing the rifle. Its a hard chrome finish and I must say I was extremely pleased with it. Also: I had an ambi-safety installed, new Bo-Mar rear sight, and had the front of the slide serrated . . . Now I just need more Double T . . . !!

These were all shot back in March up at the range near Piru. It's a fine place to get some trigger time . . .

On The Comstock . . .

2007-07-10T12:16:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . With a higher clearance vehicle and AWD!! One of the items I was able to acquire during a busy 2006 was a new vehicle, the one I've wanted for years. See it in the clip below, as I off-road a bit to a couple of old mines . . .
. . . I name one as the "Belmont-Uncle Tom," but in reality it's "Belmont-Uncle Sam."

Blog Reclaimed . . .

2007-07-09T21:41:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . As one may see below, I actually made a post after more than a year! I actually do have some stuff to post and things to see, so maybe I'll pick it up, as I also have a little more time, after a really busy 2006 . . . !!

To Live On The Comstock . . .

2007-07-09T21:27:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . A little vid of the Virginia Highlands, using my lightweight movie feature on my camera; a desirable place to live, indeed . . .

1873 .45 Colt Chrono Drivel . . .

2006-04-09T19:20:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . Here is the chrono account of the first outing with my '73, for you number crunchers. The one thing of particular puzzlement to me was the high velocities on "the virgin string." Error on my part or just an anomaly? Go figure! Weather was partly cloudy, cold (for here!!) about 50 degrees . . .

. . . First up: Hornady Cowboy Loads, 255 grain Lead Round Nose Flat Point.The claimed muzzle velocity, from the box, is 725 FPS:

                  S1                     S2                     S3
High:    962.7              902.8                909.4
Low :    911.1                877.0                 887.5
Avg. :    943.0              889.6                898.5
E.S. :       51.58               25.83                 21.86
S.D. :       14.49              7.0                    7.28
Total:    10 Shots          10 Shots           10 Shots

Shot#       S1                     S2                     S3
01:          934.0              898.9                903.1
02:          938.5              884.1                889.9
03:          955.2              885.8                895.7
04:          932.4              890.1                907.1
05:          948.4              887.3                909.4
06:          950.9              902.8                887.5
07:          962.7              877.0                893.5
08:          947.0              890.4                901.9
09:          911.1              890.1                900.2
10:          950.3              889.2                894.2

. . . Next, Winchester Cowboy Loads, 250 grain Lead Round Nose Flat Point. Claimed muzzle velocity for these (Winchester website) is 750 FPS:

                  S1                     S2                     S3
High:    903.0              908.5                  899.6
Low :    878.7              880.9                  880.2
Avg. :   892.1               895.8                891.6
E.S. :       24.31              27.57                 19.42
S.D. :       7.81               10.86                    5.91 (!!!!)
Total:    10 Shots          10 Shots           10 Shots

Shot#       S1                     S2                     S3
01:          888.2              901.5                887.2
02:          889.2              907.1                890.9
03:          903.0              890.1                898.0
04:          893.3              881.0                890.6
05:          889.7              908.5                893.5
06:          890.5              880.9                880.2
07:          878.7              899.6                898.8
08:          902.4              903.2                899.6
09:          886.1              902.2                887.2
10:          900.1              883.7                890.1

. . . Hope that's scientific enough!! It took me longer to write this than it did to shoot it!! For a real look at someone who doesn't know what they are doing, look at "View Source" for this entry to see the convoluted way I laid this out!!

The "Current Read" . . .

2006-04-09T11:21:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . Not American History or firepower prose, but it's caught my attention. I've always been intrigued by mysterious medieval topics, secret societies; things like the Knights Templar, the Holy Grail, the Spear of Destiny, alchemy, and such. The programs run by The History Channel on these subjects are always real entertaining. Being a Roman Catholic myself I naturally think the "carnal" suppositions about Jesus Christ are bunk, but this not being a "theo-blog", that's all I'll say about that. I guess one might say the book could be historical fiction, as there are many interesting factoids written into and mentioned in the story . . .
¶ . . . The recent appearance of a Gospel by "alleged" uber-traitor Judas Iscariot has also piqued my interest, but one kind of wonders about something "found" in the desert near the Nile after many centuries . . . National Geographic Channel to run a program on this subject tonight . . .

I'll Get One Of These . . .

2006-04-03T18:14:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . I forget where I saw this link, but after I read it I decided to go for it!! It describes the process of obtaining an 03 Federal Firearm License, Collector of Curios & Relics, and what it is good for. I just wanted to say I had one and get the dealer discounts from Brownells and Midway. Well, it was pretty simple. I requested the paper work from the ATF via the Internet and then sent the completed forms back and one copy to the Chief of Police and I received it. It took about six weeks from the time I dropped the forms in the mailbox. They send a bunch of stuff, like a big book of states regulations and the best of all, a booklet listing eligible weapons. All of the '73 Peacemaker commemoratives listed are like a history of the United States. If you think, "You never know when I'll come across a cheap Luger," or what have you, check it out. The money you might save on your first parts order will cover the $30 fee right off the bat . . .
. . . Yeah, the Nebelwerfer is in the C & R booklet!! Might make a nice lawn ornament . . . !!

GET SOME!!

Shooting Report . . .

2006-04-01T18:25:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . That is semi-Geek-style in length (Jerry The Geek for the uninitiated!!) Fellow Gunblogger Marc might well be happy I'm posting up a Range Report of the first outing with my '73. He so shames me, as do the rest of you guys, with your frequent posts . . .
. . . The week before I went out I had to get some Shooting Swag, the front rest in the foto from last post was one piece. Here's more:

. . . The new front rest and its rear bag mate . . .

. . . and some Shoot N C's . . .

. . . and of course, some ammo! I got some Hornady and Winchester Cowboy Loads . . . Man, this stuff costs! I'll be ordering-up some Dillon dies right quick!!

Some new ammo boxes were in order, also . . .

. . . Some new gun care products were also on the shopping list . . .

. . . All this before I even fired a shot out of my new rifle. I gotta say, a big part of the fun (And makes all the overtime worth it!! Not like I've been digging trenches or anything!!) of gun ownership is purchasing all the neat goodies "in support of your mission." Like we all didn't already know that . . .!!

. . . Had to reorganize a range box/chest:

¶ . . . Well, as I wrote previously, I made it to the range to try my rifle and chrono the Cowboy Loads, research if you will (Those nuts and bolts in a later post.). This in preparation to "roll my own." My first order of business was to sight in and see how well it may be sighted right out of the box. Mind now, I only had time to shoot 30 rounds of each load and my camera crapped out,preventing me from showing target fotos (How convenient!!) The Uberti '73 has a drift-adjustable front sight, locked down with a slotted set screw. Even from the rests, with my abilities all guns shoot better than I can!! However, the windage at 25 and 50 yards seemed OK, with both the Hornady and Winchester loads. At 25 yards, both loads shot 2-3" high, rear sight at lowest graduation. At 50 yards, they were about 2-3" low, but moving the sight up to the next graduation brought it up into my "aim-point." Keep in mind, my group size is about fist-sized around the "aim-point." This is all not very scientific and the most important thing I learned is I need more practice. I think Brian Enos says you should be able to shoot as good as the gun, but I ain't there yet!!
. . . The trigger on the '73 feels a little heavy, but we'll see about that later and get the opinions of some that are versed in the matter. The recoil is quite light, a pleasure to shoot, but the lever is quite rough on my right hand. I put some gloves on after I shot the first tube. I also found out I cannot just nonchalantly stroke the action to chamber a new round; the bullet will hang up on the breach unless I work it with "authority." Don't know if this is because the gun is new . . . or I didn't lube it up before I shot it!! I wonder if a short-stroke kit is one of the hot mods . . .
. . . I'm real happy with it so far. I still need to take it out to 100 yards, but my time got short before I could trek on over to the rifle range area at the club. I was planning on heading up tomorrow to do just that, but it looks like rain. I want to be able to shoot a silhouette match this month up at Angeles. I went up there as a spectator a couple of weeks ago to check it out. Here's a look at that range:

. . . You might be able to just make out the silhouettes. The top berm is 200 meters (yards?) . . .
. . . Some better fotos should be in the offing: I just bought a new camera (another "promised" posting!!). So if I'm rained-out on the range tomorrow, I'll cruise around trying it out . . .
. . . H/T's to all the frequent posters.

Finally Got To The Range . . .

2006-03-22T20:45:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . for some trigger time with my new '73, but I only got off two photos before my lame-ass can't-hold-hold-a-charge battery crapped out!! I got this one off as I set up to chrono and sight in my Para for this week's SWPL Match (Which I'll miss again!! This pesky job!!):

. . . and one of the '73 before it got off its first shot:

. . . Range Report forthcoming when I get another chance to write more, hopefully inviting some more of your comments/advice; I already have some observations to inquire about. I'll say this, it sure is nice and seems to shoot pretty straight right out of the box, but I need to take the Marine out with me to fire it, as he and the gun can shoot better than I can!! I also need him to shoot the camera for some better fotos! Sorry to keep you guys waiting. . .
. . . A new 10/22 is on its way! The Ten-Day is just about up on that one!!

¶ . . . I'm grateful for the "pesky job"; it makes trigger time possible!!

"Stick To Cowboy Loads . . . "

2006-03-10T20:07:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . Seems to be the order for reloading ammo for my Uberti '73. Cowboy Blob and Marc at Ninth Stage were on the spot with rapid replies to my requests for some advice, as I was hoping to be able to push the loads to reach out to the far silhouettes. No hot-shots for me!! Cowboy Loads it will be!!
. . . Here's a good quote from C.B. on the Uberti guns: "I've heard that some Italians who make them are really surprised that Americans shoot the guns!!"

YEEOW!!

It's Mine . . . !!

2006-03-06T20:37:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . a brand new '73!! Unfortunately, I'm so tied up at work, I can't cut loose for some trigger time!! Today would have been a good day, too, as there is hardly a soul up at the range on Mondays. When I get a chance, I'll post a photo or two of some corny pose . . . !

. . . The wife had to sleep elsewhere last night!!

Not Very Impressive . . .

2006-03-06T20:21:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . I must not be hanging out with enough of the right kind of people!!

Average Grunt
You are 75% of a gun nut!

You've been trained in the art of the rifle. When you're handed a
firearm, you can generally use it competently. The local firing range
knows you on a first-name basis.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 63% on knowledge

Link: The Gun Nut Test written by slayer1am on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

. . . A good quiz, though, as it appears to test how well-versed one might be in the craft. Recommended for all Gunbloggers!!

A Witch Hunt . . . ?

2006-03-03T19:23:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . Or so perceived. I'll work straight through my off days, a first for me here, so I don't know when I'll get the first trigger time with my new rifle. I'll be taking delivery of it up tomorrow; looks like I'll just get to fondle it for a while!! Oh well, the money's good . . .

. . . Plus-point: Vacation time coming up next week!!

Paid My Dues . . .

2006-02-28T21:15:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . For my 2006 membership in my gun club . . . gotta be sure my access card is functioning so I can get some immediate trigger time when I get my rifle!!

Five To Go . . .

2006-02-27T20:16:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . Until I take delivery of my '73!! Talk about "looking forward"!!

. . . I haven't left the job with the sun still shining in three weeks, but I should be able to get at least one more firearm out of all the overtime. No complaints, I do like my work, a lot! We've just had some major modifications on our machines and the things I've learned have been a big bonus, too. It has, however, cut into my trigger time; I did want to shoot Mr. Completely's e-Postal #5 and I've missed two matches . . .

. . . It's all bully!!

The Ten-Day Clock . . .

2006-02-21T21:17:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . Commenced ticking today! I purchased my Uberti 1873 this afternoon. However, it's coming through Walker '47 in City of Orange. They got right on the phone to check availability and set me up right on the spot. I'm a sucker for service expediency, gets me every time! What a cool store! Spent some time talking to the good folks there, as Cowboy-style weapons are new to me, and a great time it was. Lots of neat apparel there, too, for those of a Frontier bent.

Aberdeen Proving Ground . . .

2006-02-20T22:13:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . As promised! Sorry for the delay, but the demands of the job, blah, blah, blah . . .

. . . The day after my Gettysburg trip I made the run up to Aberdeen Proving Ground, long on my "To See" agenda. The APG is a rather large and quite nice base, and security measures were in effect, serpentine at the entrance and I.D. check. On the parkway near the entrance you are immediately treated to a show of armor.

The acreage surrounding the museum is home to many pieces of armor, from WW I through the Vietnam era. I'll keep the blethering to a minimum and just post a few pics.     Here's a Panzer assortment:

    A couple of PzkpfwIV's:

    I was awed by the size of the Panthers: they're enormous!! I was up at Camp Pendleton's School Of Infantry Friday and there are a couple of captured modern Russian tanks there, a T-55 and a T-62, from the '91 Gulf War and they don't appear to be as large.

    Of course, there was the dreaded 88:

    Speaking of Russians, these from WWII also appeared larger than their modern counterparts:

    And here's yours truly with Anzio Annie. I just learned that "Anzio Annie" was a battery comprised of two of these rail guns, "Leopold" and "Robert"; the one below is Leopold:

    The museum itself is rather small but houses an excellent collection of machine guns, Maxims to SAW's, several .50's, etcetera. There's a gift shop where you can get the requisite Flaming Bomb swag to commemorate your visit. If you're in the area, check it out. I don't know of any other place with examples of WWII armor like this, so this in itself lends value to a visit.

Phoned It In . . .

2006-02-14T20:57:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . to the FGR, my 1873 order; the gent was quite attentive and seemed pleased when I laid the rifle's stock number on him. He said he will check availability tomorrow (I called late in the day) . . .

¶ . . . On the same subject, what's the story on EMF (Hartford)? Are they importers or what? From the website, the guns look the same as Ubertis, but stock numbers are different.

Talk to me . . .

Fickle, Capricious, Impulsive . . .

2006-02-13T20:59:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . Call it what you will:
I went shopping today for the Mossberg 590 I mentioned previously, but as I have also mentioned previously I am enamored of lever guns; that may be somewhat strange for an IPSC shooter. Anyway, I was handling the fine Uberti 1873 Rifle and I've got to have it!

I would have just bought it today, but the two in stock had the checkered sporter/pistol grip stock and, though beautiful, I prefer the straight "saddle" type. The gun stores I ended up in, owned by the same folks, were great, indeed: Fowler Gun Room in Orange and Stockade in Westminster. Therefore, the previously unnamed store, although 35 miles closer, has been 86'ed!! Verily!!
They say they will order for me; I hope this goes well. . .

. . . I'm still gonna get that scattergun, though!!

Shotgun Shopping . . .

2006-02-13T00:13:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . Inspired by the "Disaster Gun" postings of recent months,this past Monday I went to buy a shotgun at a local gun store. The model pictured below is what I have in mind:

    It's a Mossberg Model 590 A1, Ghost Rings and the metal trigger guard. Anyway, I gave the dude all the info, was willing to buy right then, and he tells me, "The well is dry." What? Is it some kind of rare item or something? Then he just kinda wanders away. I thought that maybe he would take my number or something to see what they could do, after all, their sign says, "Don't see it here? We'll special order it for you!!" What drivel! Unfortunately, I can't cop my stock attitude of "They're 86'ed," as we suffer from a dearth of gun stores her in So Kal (and "Turner's Outdoorsman" doesn't quite get it for me!)
    I saw some websites for some rather large-appearing gun stores in Orange County, so I think I'll just cruise on down there this Monday (Tomorrow!!).
    Wish me luck!!

Gettysburg . . .

2006-02-11T21:25:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . Always one of my life-long goals, my second weekend in Maryland was a pilgrimage to the Arch-Memorial, in my opinion, to our Civil War Fallen, North and South. What a gorgeous place! For those that have already visited, you'll already understand the sentiment of reverance, too.
        My first stop was a quick visit to the Visitor Center and Museum (Quick, because I was going to try to make Antietam Battlefield the same day. The best laid plans . . . that didn't happen!). Magnificent! There is an excellent collection of weapons from the period and the Gift Shop is THE place for purchase of Civil War publications. Here I purchased the cassette for the two-hour Auto Tour (should have bought the three-hour one!). Two hours was more like five! Here I am with my little cassette player near the first day's action that July of 1863, McPherson Ridge.

        Up to the Eternal Light Peace Memorial and by the Lutheran Seminary, a beautiful drive southward along Seminary Ridge, where I stand pictured below.

        Warfield Ridge, on the southern end of Seminary Ridge, is where this observation tower stands, affording a killer panoramic view of the battlefield.

        Below are the two Round Tops as seen from the tower, Little Round left and Big Round right.

        I've arrived at Little Round Top which affords some hiking trails into some neat woods. I'm going to walk along the top to see the many monuments erected there.

        Here's the view from Little Round Top looking down upon the Devil's Den.

        From here at the Devil's Den I had to call my Pop with the basic "Check out where I'm at!!"

        I'm sure many are familiar with this famous photograph, taken after the battle:

        Well, I certainly was and one of my day's goals was to find the spot; fortunately it's clearly marked!

        Here I am seated there:

        The plaque explains the photograph (it was staged) and states that the body was found about forty yards to your rear, from your view of the above picture, and moved up to the wall. The soldier fell in reality around the area shown below.

        The Slaughter Pen, below and adjacent to the Devil's Den:

        Here, near The Peach Orchard, is a unique monument: a Minie ball!

        Another view of it:

        Notice here, near Plum Run, where the cannonball had punctured the barn; this today is still a private residence!

        It was stated in the tape I purchased that there are 1340 monuments that have been erected in the park. You have a better chance of visiting the 253 markers spread all over the rather large territory of Nevada than you have of finding the time to see all of Gettysburg's! They're everywhere, along with multitudes of cannons!! Many here are quite elaborate, but by far the most auspicious is the Pennsylvania Memorial.

        Nearing the end of my visit, here I am at Spangler's Spring, on the eastern side of the park and Cemetery Ridge, near Culp's Hill. These were some gorgeous woods, even in wintertime.

        I'm heading now to Cemetery Ridge, coming from Culp's Hill, below.

        Naturally, the tour ends on Cemetery Ridge (Not really: East of the main park you can visit the East Cavalry Battlefield Site!) Below is "The Copse of Trees" (I'm looking up the meaning of "copse" now!).

        Cemetery Ridge and "The Angle" . . .

        . . . and the site on Cemetery Ridge of "Pickett's Charge."

¶ . . . For some time previously, my son and my father had recommended The Killer Angels, which you can see on my "Current Read" sidebar. I stopped at a bookstore on my way back to the hotel and picked it up. It is a great, Pulitzer Prize-winning "historical fiction" account of the Gettysburg battle and reading it after having been to the sites described in the book is nothing less than fantastic. Don't pass up a chance to visit the park! It is one of the High Points of my travels, one I shall never forget.

¶ . . . STAY TUNED! Next up: ARMOR!! (Hopefully sooner than later; still working late!!)

VileBill Treks Eastward . . .

2006-02-05T20:29:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . And what a fantastic trek, indeed! For the better part of the past month I was out on the East Coast, Baltimore to be more precise, on a training mission. It was the first time I had been to the East and it was fantastic! So much to see, I'll be venturing back in the, hopefully, near future . . .
. . . The weekdays belong to "The Outfit," but the weekends were mine! My first trip was a 220 mile run to see my aunt up in the northernmost corner of New Jersey. A real nice rural area, across the Delaware River from the Poconos. How Currier & Ives - like, the guys out with their spaniels hunting pheasants . . . like in their own neighborhood! Here I am getting a rare chance to put on my cold weather gear:

¶ . . . I just wanted for now to get it out there that I was back in town and I've got some more (Quite a few, actually!) fotos to post (Some you'll think are pretty cool, I believe). Check out "VileBill's Current Read" for a foreshadowing of the trip to a site that is one of the High Points of my life.
They're going to go down here for maintenance, they say, at nine o'clock, so I'll sign off for now.

STAY TUNED!!

I Thought . . .

2005-12-27T23:10:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . this was pretty funny:

. . . Courtesy of Stop The ACLU.

Squad - In - A - Box . . .

2005-12-27T16:47:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . Two of them!
   Ist MarDiv, with heavy weapons . . .

    . . . and the German 716th Infantry Division . . .

. . . Along with the aircraft, a Corsair and a Stuka, Christmas presents from my sister!
   GET SOME!!

Check Out The Camp Katrina Blog . . .

2005-12-26T19:49:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . I got an e-Mail from Spc. Phil Van Treuren, Ohio National Guard, JAG Corps, giving me a thumbs up on my blog! He was mobilized in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and he and some of his chums have started an eponymous blog, Camp Katrina. It highlights many of the U.S. Military's humanitarian efforts worldwide as well as some other fine, interesting, and humorous entries. It is quite well done! Sure to be of interest to those of our ilk! I see that our friend Cowboy Blob has already blogrolled it and C.B. is on the Katrina blogroll . . . !
. . . Spc. Phil, consider yourself blogrolled here . . . !
GET SOME!!

My Seven By Seven . . .

2005-12-17T21:08:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . Seven . . .
   Things To Do Before I Die . . .
      · Summit the Sierra Crest at the Palisades
      · Get out of L.A.
      · Learn to play my Stratocaster
      · Learn to ride a horse
      · Build and live in a log home
      · Trace the route of the Corps of Discovery
      · Shoot in the National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio
   Things I Cannot Do (Presently, anyway!) . . .
      · Remember Numbers
      · Go to the head without something to read
      · Shoot with both eyes open (and I’m opposite side dominant, to          boot!)
      · Own a home in Southern Kalifornia (nor do I want to!!)
      · Visit enough ghost towns
      · Ride a horse
      · Shoot steel plates skillfully
   Things That Attract Me To . . . (The Sierra Nevada and Environs)
      · The whole Comstock Lode thing just enthralls me
      · Lake Tahoe
      · I gauge contentment with an altimeter
      · If I fish and get skunked, so what?
      · Mining!
      · It’s a spiritual thing!
      · Alpenglow
   Things I Say Most Often . . .
      · Dude . . . !
      · That’s weak . . . !
      · What a d**k!
      · There’s nothing to it!
      · Astonishing!
      · That kinda shit doesn’t happen to me!
      · What’s up with that?
   Books Or Series I Love . . .
      · Mail Call (History Channel)
      · Wild West Tech (History Channel)
      · The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury
      · Bonanza
      · Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years
      · Citizen Soldiers, Stephen E. Ambrose
      · The Dirt: Confessions Of The World’s Most Notorious Rock          Band, Motley Crue
         (Yes! Something trashy in my bibliography!)
   Movies I Watch Over and Over (More than once, anyway) . . .
      · Band Of Brothers
      · Lonesome Dove (Original series)
      · The Decline Of Western Civilization: The Metal Years
      · The Outlaw Josey Wales
      · Saving Private Ryan
      · Hang ‘Em High
      · The Wild Bunch
   Suckers I Want To Infect . . .
      · Brother-blog Journal Yellow
      · The rest of my regular Gunbloggers have been infected already!

Can't Live Without It . . .

2005-12-13T13:01:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . I broke the one that my buddy gave me, at a match, and soon found I was just too weak to fill my mags all the way! Where I normally load (.45) 17 rounds (and a couple mags I can get 18), I found I could only get 15 into the magazine. Not a whole lot better than shooting Limited 10. Fortunately at the match the week following another chum had one for me to borrow.
Making the Brownells order now . . .

Cheap Or Frugal . . . ?

2005-12-12T19:59:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . There's a razor's edge between them. As I enter my fourth year of IPSC/USPSA competition and of course "rolling my own," I have not bought one piece of brass. Until now. Normally I just police (read: scrounge!) the range during the match and just use/re-use what I find. Shooting a .45, the brass appears to hold up well for multiple loads. Recently, however, I've been lazy, so I ran out after loading for last month's outing at Prado. Noticing a few five-gallon buckets of mixed brass that had been raked up off the range that week, I asked the range master if any of it was for sale.
  "Twenty bucks and return the bucket."
  Not really knowing how much of it was .45 but being a gambling man, I went for it, one filthy bucket o' brass. Well, it paid off: their was lots of .45 and almost all of it looked to be once fired, at least 1500 pieces! It wasn't really too bad separating it out, maybe an hour and a half. Still, next time I might go to The BrassMan; it costs more but no filth to sift through and it's already cleaned. For those of you shooting .40 S&W, there really is no need for the filth; The BrassMan's .40 is really dirt cheap!
  GET SOME . . . !

The Stoopid (5 Weird Things) Meme . . .

2005-12-12T19:52:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . has been visited upon me, courtesy of Jerry the Geek, so give me some time and I'll punch it out in the next day or so. At first I thought I was getting the 7 x 7, and I started to work that one up, so I'll throw that one in, too . . . !

A Range Report . . .

2005-12-11T21:06:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . as requested by my bud Marc at Lay Lines is, alas, none too interesting; without photos, though a fine match,indeed, it's kind of a "you had to be there" type deal. With scoring, taping, magazine loading and maintenance, I'm finding it difficult to "multi-task" with camera and pistol, a la Jerry The Geek. Being my home club, I also am involved in the setup. Plus I need a better zoom . . . I do hope, however, to change this sorry tune as I figure that as I enjoy seeing pics from your guys' matches, you might enjoy some of mine . . .
¶ . . . Here's one bit of positive news: Chances are somewhat good I'll be ejecting from Kalifornia with a transfer to The Battle-Born State real soon . . . Stay tuned!!

The Busy Christmas Season . . .

2005-12-09T19:32:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . affords ample opportunity for overtime at my "outfit," so I've not had a lot of computer/weblog time; I still, however, try to read a little from those of you who have become my favorites and have been kind enough to comment on my stuff and send me e-mails . . .
. . . Most recently: I took my son out again for another fine round of IPSC shooting. He did quite a bit better, in my opinion, and I believe that we have yet another participant in our sport. We'll know for sure when he turns 21 and we start to see handgun and gear purchases!! As for now, he has expressed interest in getting a long gun, as at 18 years of age it's permitted. Get Some . . . !
. . . For the time being, he's at the USMC's School Of Infantry, located at scenic Camp Pendleton, California. OORAH!!

First - Time Shooter . . . !

2005-11-24T19:41:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . I went once again, my second visit, to shoot the match with the Prado IPSC group, and what a disgusting performance! More on that to follow . . .
. . . The outing was a success, however, as I rigged up my son to shoot his first match! His basics, stance, grip, observance of safety protocols, focus, and overall attitude were very good. Good job! In fact, I detected no real first time jitters, at least not as much as I perceived my own my first time out. He'll get one more go at it at my home club's monthly match this Sunday before he reports to Camp Pendleton on Tuesday . . .

¶ . . . Some thoughts on my rancid performance;they may or may not be reasons, but they're definitely not excuses:

I was a little preoccupied with my son being comfortable for his first match

Shooting in a small squad of four, didn't have much "prep" time between stages

Finally got classified in Limited ("C" !!) two days prior and wasn't too concerned with doing well on Tight Squeeze, which I always nertz anyway (!)

I don't practice (Weak!)

All in all, a big crock, but no excuse. This week I'll shoot my game and make a good effort. I'd like to get a "B" classification this coming year and with a little more awareness and diligence on my part, there's no reason I can't realize it. I am also going to submit the request for my 2006 vacation periods to coincide with some of the major matches, those above the club level. Area 2, Dundee Practical Shooters' (Oregon) "Croc Match," and "The Silver Buckle Challenge" (Sage Pistol League, Ridgecrest, CA) come to mind. There are challenges there and more fun and adventure to boot . . . !

I'm A Proud Father Of . . . A United States Marine!!

2005-11-11T22:15:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . Indulge me, but I'm beaming!! What more can I say? My wife, daughter, and I returned today with our son from the two-day graduating ceremonies at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego and I really can't express how exciting it all was! Thursday was "Family Day." The day started with an opportunity for one to see their Marines begin their "Moto Run," or Motivational Run, their final run together as a company. It's also the first time you have seen your Marine in 13 weeks, and I'm not ashamed to say I shed a couple tears of pride as I saw my son. This is also the day of the Emblem Ceremony, where the men are awarded the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor and are officially bestowed the title of United States Marine. Again, a couple more unubashed tears.

Five hours of Base Liberty afterward gave ample time for an unforgettable visit (Of course, this father's questions tended to drift frequently to what "trigger time" was like!!). What I thought was real neat, and by my son's account the sentiments of the Drill Insructors, also, was that they received their Emblems on the occasion of The Marine Corps Birthday . . .

. . . Today, Friday, was the Graduation Ceremony, an impressive display of pageantry, indeed. And a packed house it was! Both days we were blessed with good weather, as the rain let up in the daytime hours. A good son by any account previously, still the change is remarkable. The aura of personal responsibility and deportment , in all the men, is overwhelming. By noontime, however, it was all over, and the weeks of anticipation, the wondering, the writing and receiving of letters, all seemed to have gone by so fast. One could not help wishing that the moment could last a little longer . . .
. . . I must add, the base has a fine "Command Museum." If you get a chance, check it out. It's open to the public and is free of charge. Obviously there are weapons but one display I really was impressed by was "The California Room"; I really liked the paintings of The Marines in The Mexican War, by Colonel Charles Waterhouse. They look to me to be in the style of frontier artists Russell and Remington, artwork I hold a real passion for. Also, I haven't been yet, but my mother and father, who also attended and spent some more time in town, went to and recommend a visit to the carrier USS Midway. Apparently it is presently San Diego's number one attraction . . .
Get Some!!

Weigh In On This, Please . . .

2005-10-31T17:32:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . I like Lever Guns. I always have, but I've never owned one. Though I am first and foremost an IPSC/USPSA shooter, the game of Cowboy Lever Action Silhouette has caught my interest and I believe I'm going to give it a try. Even if I don't take to that discipline, I still get a cool rifle out of it! My question: .44-40 or .45 Colt . . . ?
. . . If it seems like I know a little of what I'm talking about here, don't be fooled: I am leaning toward the .44-40 for some probably misguided historical reasons but also from what little I have researched so far it looks like I might be able to load a faster, flatter round than the .45 Colt. Are there issues reloading the .44, as it is "necked" a little? The only reloading I've done up to this point is for .45ACP . . .
. . . How about some rifle recommendations? I went and looked at a couple today for the first time, and I kind of liked the EMF Hartford Model 1892; the two I handled seemed to have "tighter" actions than the two Winchester '94's I looked at. The Marlins looked kind of nice, though a bit pricier. Let's hear it!

Annual Pig Roast & Match, 2005 . . .

2005-10-25T20:31:00.000-07:00

(Postscript: For photos and videos the way they should be done, check out Cowboy Blob and Jerry the Geek, respectively!)

¶ . . . This past Sunday the club held its Annual Pig Roast & Match and it was quite a fun time. I liked the stages, some Run 'n' Gun, some "Speed Steel," and what has become one of my favorites, The Jungle Run!

. . . An inauspicious showing, again, by yours truly (51st of 71 shooters, Ugh!), but a great time. I wanted to take a boatload of pictures, but I only took a few of the Jungle Run; got caught up in scoring and R.O.'ing . . .

. . . Again, I do OK in the Run 'n' Gun's, "C-class" caliber, I guess, if I may be so bold (I'm "C" in L-10, not classified in Limited as yet), but steel speed shoots, especially plates, seem to be my nemesis (Shoot More!). You can see the Stage Diagrams here (PDF Format). I don't know how long they'll be available, though . . .

. . . Slowly I went through the jungle, methodically even, and I still went past a target, a costly "Failure To Engage" procedural on top of another mike up the trail. This stage is set up in a draw with fairly steep sloping sides so it is possible for one to pass a target by (though nobody else in my squad did!). I did see one guy run out of ammo, however, by reloading too many times . . . !!

. . . Like I had seen on Geek's Jungle Runs, we had some steel for the first time!! Plates!! Up ahead, through the window!

. . . Here I experienced what was to me a new phenomenon. Four plates, directly in line behind each other, only one plate visible at a time . . .

. . . I had to do a "double-take" on the first two for though I could hear them ring from the hits, they didn't look to be falling! Lack of stereo vision, I guess, as the plate behind looked to be the plate I knocked down (I'm still a "one-eyed" shooter, opposite-eye dominant to boot). Don't know how much time it cost lifting my head until I figured it out . . .

. . . My regrets I didn't take photos of the other stages; Jerry the Geek has become a hard act to follow now with his hot match videos (Well done!). For some good stills of some 3-Gun Action, check out Cowboy Blob, they're well done, too, with stage descriptions . . .

Will Trade For An SVI Limited Gun . . .

2005-10-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . Total ownership of my blog:

My blog is worth $2,258.16.
How much is your blog worth?

Fat Chance!!!

H/T to Eric the Grumbler.

Range Report: Prado IPSC . . .

2005-10-18T19:41:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . Shoot More! The one match a month I've been doing at my local club ain't gettin' it, so this week I went out to the Prado Olympic Shooting Park, expanding the horizon as it were. "All the way to Prado [65 miles] to shoot a match?" someone remarked. Simple: Shoot or don't shoot, the choice is obvious . . .
. . . Well, it was a choice well made. It's only a little more than an hour's drive, not much more than the twice monthly drives when SWPL shot out at Piru. I have known for a while about this match, but this was my first trip. I know a few guys that shoot out there, so as usual I was in good company. And a fine range it is, too. All the bays are side by side, plenty of shade for summertime shooting (and cover for when it rains, as it did a little on this occasion!), and water coolers, even! The match is a "6+1", six courses of fire and one classifier . . .
. . . This was the last classifier I needed to get my Limited classification; too bad I didn't do too well. You'd think that all the times I've done "El Prez" it would have been a gimme, but I had one mike. However, I do think I did better in planning out my courses, no changing my mind after watching someone else, so though I didn't shoot the match "clean," (meaning no mikes) I suffered no brain pharts, which madden me more than mikes . . .
. . . Shoot more often (and dry-fire and reload practice)!!

The Gunslinger Fraternity . . .

2005-10-16T23:06:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . displays true brotherhood once more, as this past Friday I hooked-up with Marc of Lay Lines fame. A fine visit with great conversation on guns,USPSA/IPSC, being an American, growing up in California, getting OUT of Kalifornia, and sundry other neat topics.

Fortunately: For Marc, he's beating a hasty advance out of here!

Unfortunately: I'm still here, dreaming of the day I punch-out for Northern Nevada!

Fortunately: I think I've made a great new acquaintance/friendship!

Unfortunately: It'll be long distance!

Fortunately: The Age Of E-mail allows expedient correspondence!

Unfortunately: Distance precludes spontaneous "trigger time"!

Fortunately: Now I've got a reason to visit Tennessee!

Unfortunately: Road trips, I never get enough of them!

Fortunately: It's all good anyway and I'm grateful!

Un . . . 'Nuff said!!

That being said, I'm the first to slap anyone on the back for bailing out of here. Today I got an added bonus with another visit to his soon-to-be ex-shop to meet one of his chums, more great gun talk, and to see a firearm that is truly a masterwork! Think, "Reach out and touch someone!"
EXCELSIOR!

Must Be The Scottish In Me . . .

2005-10-13T20:40:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . Another hat tip to Cowboy Blob and hope he doesn't mind me copying him again as I also took "The General" test:

William Wallace
You scored 61 Wisdom, 73 Tactics, 62 Guts, and 43 Ruthlessness!

Like William Wallace, chances are you have no problem charging a larger, better trained, better equipped, better armed and armored English army with a band of naked drunken Scotsmen. I'm not contesting that you have balls. It's your brain function I'm worried about.
Scottish soldier and national hero. The first historical record of Wallace's activities concerns the burning of Lanark by Wallace and 30 men in May, 1297, and the slaying of the English sheriff, one of those whom Edward I of England had installed in his attempt to make good his claim to overlordship of Scotland. After the burning of Lanark many joined Wallace's forces, and under his leadership a disciplined army was evolved. Wallace marched on Scone and met an English force of more than 50,000 before Stirling Castle in Sept., 1297. The English, trying to cross a narrow bridge over the Forth River, were killed as they crossed, and their army was routed. Wallace crossed the border and laid waste several counties in the North of England. In December he returned to Scotland and for a short time acted as guardian of the realm for the imprisoned king, John de Baliol . In July, 1298, Edward defeated Wallace and his army at Falkirk, and forced him to retreat northward. His prestige lost, Wallace went to France in 1299 to seek the aid of King Philip IV, and he possibly went on to Rome. He is heard of again fighting in Scotland in 1304, but there was a price on his head, and in 1305 he was captured by Sir John de Menteith. He was taken to London in
Aug., 1305, declared guilty of treason, and executed. The best-known source for the life of Wallace is a long romantic poem attributed to Blind Harry, written in the 15th century.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 14% on Unorthodox
You scored higher than 29% on Tactics
You scored higher than 85% on Guts
You scored higher than 10% on Ruthlessness

Link: The Which Historic General Are You Test written by dasnyds on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Remiss On Posting . . .

2005-10-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . so I guess I'll put up what I used when it all started for me:

This is my Colt Combat Commander. When I bought it, I knew nothing of IPSC shooting. This gun was bone-stock. My good friend Man Mountain did the enhancements for me:

Ed Brown Beavertail Grip Safety (Nice!)

S & A Magazine Well

Chip McCormick Low Mount Rear Sight

Wilson Combat Trigger (about a pound & three quarters; Sweet!)

An "I-Forget-What-Brand" Extended Thumb Safety (Sloppy-seconds off of a prize table, along with a Schuemann Hybri-Comp Barrel I sold for $125!!)

Wilson Combat Extended Mag Release

Wilson Combat Bulletproof Extractor

SV Firing Pin & Sear

. . . We jettisoned the Series 80 firing pin block and pinned the grip safety, but if I ever use it for a carry gun I'll probably put back the block and reactivate the grip safety. Since I've been shooting Limited of late, I don't compete with it now, but maybe I'll shoot in the new "Single Stack" class at times. I do take it with me to the matches as a back up so I can at least finish the match if the Para gets fung-hoed. . .

. . . Here's the rig:

Tac-Pro Kydex Holster

Safariland 4350 Outer Belt, 029 Inner Belt

Safariland 771 Mag Pouches

Chip McCormick 10-Round Power Mags

. . . Forgive the dearth in my bloggage!!

A Note On My "Current Read" . . .

2005-10-01T20:01:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . I thought I would share on my sidebar my current text. The last thing I do before passing out at night, every night, is to read a little. Whether I'm on vacation, away for training, on a road trip, camping, doing time in the state prison, wherever, I just have to read something or my day is not complete! This has been my M.O.going back to childhood, for as long as I can remember. . .
. . . So if a book is on the sidebar for awhile, it's not that I'm reading at a "Look Dick, see Spot run."-type pace, it's just that I'll nod-off after a couple of pages oft times!!

I Thought I Was A Member . . .

2005-09-30T20:42:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . Of the "Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy"! What a letdown!!!

You are a
Social Liberal
(70% permissive)

and an...
Economic Conservative
(70% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Libertarian

Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid
Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Match Day Yesterday . . .

2005-09-26T17:14:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . Sunday, 25 September: This was my first match in two months, due to last month's trip to Oklahoma. I'd like to believe that was the reason for another poor performance, but the truth is I don't practice enough (no real excuse for that if one "rolls their own," as I do!) and I keep commiting "brain pharts" and other assorted bits of confusion that were not what I envisioned in my “plan.” I mentioned this to one of my chums as we were breaking down the match and he posited what to me makes sense (Maybe even a life lesson here somewhere!):
   “Walk the stage and formulate your plan. Go over and program it into your mind three times or so and go with it.”
   I commented, “OK, I see what your getting at. Oft times I’ll have a plan, then I’ll watch another gent shoot the stage and I’ll think,’Maybe I oughta try it that way.’ Pretty soon it’s my turn and I’ve changed my plan so many times, I shoot the stage neither in the manner I planned it or the way anybody else did!”
   “That’s pretty much it,” he replied. Make YOUR plan; that’s what it is, YOURS. It’s quite likely it will work for your ability, for that’s probably how it was thought out, and if not, you’ll learn better from YOUR mistakes and learn to program the stage better. I would suggest this course for now and for the next year.”
. . . Makes sense to me. I know when I have in the past downshifted a bit and was more pensive in my attack, I could see some positives in my performance and see a bit more clearly the negatives. I’ve got my gun and mags working real well, so it’s all on me . . .
. . . Here it is, Para-Ordnance P14.45:

   This unit has a tungsten guide rod which I perceive to make the recoil feel "soft," a Dlask titanium trigger, a King's extended slide stop, and a King's magazine Speed Well. The magazines are Para Ordnance tubes with Dawson Precision or Grams Engineering basepads, Wolff springs, and Arredondo followers.
. . . And here's the rig:

CR Speed Hi-Torque Gunbelt

CR Speed Versa-Pouch Mag Holders

LimCat Stealth Holster

Hook for my Pro Ears Predator hearing protection from Dillon Precision.

. . . Since I'm seemingly getting carried away here, I might as well list the loads that (so far) have worked best for me. The stock disclaimer here: These worked FOR ME! Any use of this information is at your own risk!!. Follow the manufacturers' instructions/data!! (all .45 ACP):

230 gr. LRN, CCI Large Pistol Primers, 4.5 gr. Vihta Vuori N310

230 gr. LRN, Winchester Large Pistol Primers, 4.5 gr. Winchester Super Target

200 gr. JRN, Winchester Large Pistol Primers, 5.3 gr. Winchester Super Target

The 230 gr. loads got a strong 190 Power Factor while the 200 gr. just barely makes major. All had a Standard Deviation in the teens.
. . . Riddle me this: What's up with Vihta Vuori loading data? I know they're testing out of a 6" barrel, but their max load looks closer to the starting load as I've found when chronographing different "recipes."

. . . By the way, I did do OK on my classifier. It was the fourth one with this Limited rig, so I should get a Limited classification soon. Up until now, I’m only classified in Limited-10.

Fantastic . . . !

2005-09-21T19:18:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . A tense situation with a happy ending; I hope you saw the Jet Blue emergency landing, front landing strut askew at 90 degrees, today at LAX . . . Cheers to the Pilot, who exited the craft and shook the firemen's hands like it was just another day at the office!!

Don't Anybody Move . . .!

2005-09-17T20:56:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . Not wanting to give up so easily, I found another source! Try it from this link right here!!

¶ . . .I still want a digi-cam and have the wherewithal to post my own video . . .!

That Was A Failure . . .!

2005-09-17T20:35:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . Big thanks to Marc and Cowboy Blob for the heads-up on my failed attempt at video posting! Guess I'll have to find a server/host if I want to post video. The one I really wanted to share was "The 2003 Dry Creek Northern Arizona Machine-Gun Shoot." A real knee-slapper, indeed! I'm sure there are some who haven't seen it. I think I'll submit it to Gullyborg for Carnival Of Cordite consideration, if he hasn't used it already, deems it worthy of inclusion, and it's OK to post it.

Let's Try This Video . . .

2005-09-16T20:16:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . This is for/inspired by Jerry the Geek, as he is interested in seeing if he can get some of his video up on his site. I have been using SBC DSL as my ISP for the past year and a half and I'm quite satisfied with them. I've used the online storage for fotos, which they say is unlimited, but haven't used the document storage, 260 MB, which they call Briefcase.
Let's try it with a Bill Drill.(Linkage omitted!

. . . (A little later) All right, dudes, that worked, albeit a tad slow to load and in Quicktime (I'd prefer Windows Media!), so see if you can get your rocks off on these bad boys and girls!! (Linkage omitted!)

. . . (Later still!) That one worked, too! It had to download for a minute, but it played in Windows Media. Check it out! You'll be glad you did!

¶ . . . This probably ain't a big whoop to some of you (video posting), but it's new to me and I get a real hoot out of being able to share some things that rock me . . .!!

Postscript: Let me know if these don't work. I seem to be having trouble getting them with Internet Explorer or when I try to view them on my computer from the kids' log-on identities.

Postscript (Again), Saturday 17 September: This was a failure! I'm omitting the video links!

A Much More Incisive . . .

2005-09-12T20:18:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . response from the NRA-ILA regarding the govrnment-sanctioned gun-grabbing in New Orleans:

Disaster Can't Destroy Gun Rights

(Fairfax, VA) -- National Rifle Association leader Wayne LaPierre slammed New Orleans authorities Monday for seizing legal firearms from lawful residents.

"What we've seen in Louisiana - the breakdown of law and order in the aftermath of disaster - is exactly the kind of situation where the Second Amendment was intended to allow citizens to protect themselves, " LaPierre said.

"When law enforcement isn't available, Americans turn to the one right that protects all the others - the right to keep and bear arms," LaPierre said. "This attempt to repeal the Second Amendment should be condemned."

The New York Times reported last Thursday that no civilians in New Orleans will be allowed to have guns, quoting the superintendent of police that "only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons."

A Louisiana state statute allows the chief law enforcement officer to "regulate possession" of firearms during declared emergencies. "But regulate doesn't mean confiscate," said Chris W. Cox, the NRA's chief lobbyist.

"Authorities are using that statute to do what the looters and criminals could not: disarm the law-abiding citizens of New Orleans trying to protect their homes and families," Cox said.

"The NRA will not stand idly by while guns are confiscated from law-abiding people who're trying to defend themselves," he said.

"We're exploring every legal option available to protect the rights of lawful people in New Orleans," Cox said, "and we're taking steps to overturn such laws in every state where they exist."

"Local authorities in New Orleans are turning nature's assault on human life into man's assault on human rights," LaPierre said. "Four million NRA members intend to stop this unconstitutional power grab."

. . . Let's see how this unfolds . . .

“A Million Acres,” Another Kalifornia Lament ...

2005-09-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . regarding what I have always loved and regarded as an Eden. You might have seen it posted here before: The Eastern Sierra Nevada. Kalifornia, if one can look beyond (a difficult task, at best!) the out-of-control officials at the helm, is a wonderful place for the outdoors type. In fact, when I’m spending time on the East Scarp, the “state of the State” is mostly out of mind. An Eden, indeed. I encourage all to do what I call “The 395 Ride;” it’s 375 miles, Mojave, California to Reno, Nevada along U.S. 395, of wonderment that many Californians, even, have not experienced. Here’s a fairly good link to maybe start on a trip plan.
That being said, it has long been my goal to bail out of L.A. Though a great place to grow up (Venice, CA), it is now overcrowded, overpriced, balkanized, and an increasingly more hazardous place to live, and I don’t mean earthquakes. I’ll never live more than a day’s drive from the Sierras (at least never east of the 100th meridian!). Northern Nevada is my choice, so much more distinctly glorious than Clark County. High country, sagebrush desert, the Comstock Lode, it’s enamoring. However, it’s urged that you read this newspiece, from the Reno Gazette-Journal .

Here are some of the salient points:

One federal LEO (Forest Service) for nearly 1.3 million acres of National Forest, from Reno to Mono Lake, CA.

Increasingly urban problems, including drug-fueled youth parties, illegal dumping, vandalism, assaults and even murder.

A wide range of crimes are occurring in the forest, often involving “urban spillover” activities, including gangs and drive-by shootings, rapes and assaults. They expected marijuana cultivation to be an issue and weren’t disappointed. But they were surprised at the scope of methamphetamine manufacturing occurring on national forest land.

Evidence of satanic cult activity

Gang activity; One officer: “I’ve dealt with the Mexican Mafia in the forest. They want to recreate, too.”

“. . .a place near Mammoth Lakes . . . with aggressive panhandlers . . .”

   Alarming, to be sure,in all of the numerous trips I’ve taken and the multitude good times and memories I cherish, I have encountered nothing but great folks.Still, I mourn for the changing face and times of the West . . .
   I’ve often thought, “They ought to make this whole place a National Park": NOT! That totally limits, er, eliminates your “readiness” capabilities.
   Make the trip; idealistically, the more of a presence of the "good folks," I believe, discourages the negative. Let's not get in the position of "having to take it back." All too often, by then it is too late . . .

This Would Be Handy . . .

2005-09-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . but would surely be frowned upon by those "restoring order":

Read about it here !

"Restoration Of Order" and The NRA-ILA . . .

2005-09-10T19:15:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . I was horrified AND terrified when I arrived home yesterday and read this post by The AnarchAngel. It got even worse when I saw a video from ABC News, which you can find by linking here, courtesy of Geek With A .45. I really can't say what I would do if I were thrust into a confrontation with heavily-armed Guardsmen trying to confiscate (read: Violate my RKBA) my weapons (Alone, I guess I would take the advice given here from PawPaw.). I would guess I would lose. Then what? Resolve it in a court? That might be too late. Seems to me that having some kind of "assembly plan" proactively could prempt this, or would that right be abrogated, also? This whole thing sickens me! Here's the NRA-ILA's response, from one of their e-mail alerts:

NRA-ILA Grassroots Alert Vol. 12, No. 36 9/09/05

NRA-ILA COMMENTS ON SITUATION IN NEW ORLEANS

Numerous media sources are reporting on a campaign by New Orleans city authorities to confiscate lawfully-owned firearms from people in the city. Louisiana statute does grant the government, during a state of emergency, broad powers in regulating and controlling firearms.

However, we have seen not just with Hurricane Katrina, but other similar situations, that when police are unable to control the criminal element, people turn to the one freedom that protects all others--the Second Amendment.

While one can certainly understand the dire predicaments of all those affected by Hurricane Katrina, as we have learned throughout history, campaigns to disarm the lawful do nothing to disarm the criminal. And in truth, these restrictions make citizens less safe. Despite the valiant efforts of many law enforcement officers and rescue workers, too many of those left in the wake of Katrina are ultimately responsible for their own security and safety and that of their families and loved ones. This is especially true when communication is virtually non-existent and police can't be quickly summoned to respond to calls for help. At these times, lawful gun ownership is paramount to personal safety.

Of course, the entire situation in New Orleans is constantly in flux. But rest assured NRA is monitoring this situation very closely and will address any activity by the government that unduly infringes upon the rights of lawful gun owners at the appropriate time. As we learn more, we will report to our members accordingly. In the interim, however, we join with all Americans in offering our thoughts, prayers, and assistance to the victims and survivors of this terrible natural disaster.

¶ . . . Call me worried and fearful . . . Damn right!!

This Is A Good One . . .

2005-09-08T20:27:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . from BLACKFIVE: Check it out here !! And the original from Citizen Smash !!

This Peeve Of Mine . . .

2005-09-08T19:55:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . really bugs me! Having school age children, every year L.A. Unified sends home the form for the Free Lunch Program. What do I have to fill it out for? I don't want it anyway. If I did, I'm in the "too much income for this and too little for that" category. I can't afford to buy a house here in L.A., but I don't qualify for the freebie lunch. Some of the freeloaders I see are driving around in Expeditions and such! I guess they need the lunch so they can make the car note. When I tell my daughter, "I'll do it later," or, "Not that thing again!" she pleads with me as though the teachers are making her out to be a lawbreaker! But even if the kids could get the lunch, they wouldn't eat it; the lunch money I give them they either hoard it and wait 'til they get home to eat or they end up at McDonald's or something! Good thing Ma makes 'em eat their fruits and vegetables . . .!

¶ . . . To be fair and since the "Blame Game" is in vogue this month, I have no one to fault but myself for still being a renter. I should have bought property when I was in my twenties (I'm 45 now) instead of f***ing around . . . !

Mr. Completely's e-Postal Match #2 . . .

2005-09-04T17:07:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . and here are my entries! Pretty sorry, I must say! The two targets on top are shot with a Para-Ordnance P-14.45 (my USPSA Limited hardware), and the bottom two with my Combat Commander.
An interesting contest, if I learned anything it was to take my time and work more on my trigger pull (I tend to be a "pusher.").
Looking forward to the next one, it's a great motivator to go out and get some trigger time!

A Sensible Action Plan . . .

2005-09-04T11:17:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . posited in this editorial, courtesy of the Reno Gazette-Journal, though I believe a proactive readiness alert of some sort prior to landfall of these cyclones would be the logical S.O.P.

The Lesson Worth (Re-)Learning . . .

2005-09-03T17:42:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . in light of the recent thuggery in New Orleans: Other than keeping an emergency supply of water, canned goods, etc., is the fact that one must be prepared to defend their family and aid in maintaining order in their district. Here's a righteous summation on choosing "Disaster Guns," courtesy of the Confederate Yankee . . .

¶ . . . Though I've never experienced a cataclysm in the magnitude of Katrina, the Riots of '92 and the Northridge Earthquake of '94 have given me a taste of civil disorder in Los Angeles. The fine police force that it is, the LAPD's low officer to citizen ratio , coupled with a staggering amount of real estate to police, makes a swift response to an exigent threat unrealistic (As of 2002, that ratio was 2.47 officers per 1,000 citizens [LAPD Plan Of Action, Book II, 2005]. I was surprised to see San Diego, Phoenix, Dallas, Las Vegas, and San Antonio even lower, with Houston but a shade higher.).

Be Prepared!!

Postscript 10:07 PM: I see (from reading other weblogs) that proper blog etiquette calls for the "hat tip," so here it is:
Hat Tip to Cowboy Blob for the heads up on Disaster Guns!

Another Trip To Oklahoma . . .

2005-09-01T13:38:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . and I'd be remiss in not posting from the road. I really enjoy my visits to Norman that my occupation affords me for technical training. The facility here really is first cabin, with its own hotel, too, and I always enjoy the professionalism here. What I'm not fond of, however, is having to fly here: it's never a non-stop and just hassling with the airport turns me off. This time I was scheduled on an afternoon flight. Not good! Thunderstorms are basically an afternoon phenomenon and, yep, I got it upon arrival at OKC. One hellacious lightning show, absolutely stunning from altitude, but I'd rather not do it again. As soon as I got out of the terminal at Will Rogers Airport, the lights went out! So, if you've gotta fly in the summertime, leave early!

¶ . . . One distressing thing I noticed as I got airborne on the connector out of Salt Lake City: as we crossed the Wasatch Mountains and I looked north, the what appeared to be smog present was hideous! I mean, It was like a blanket of it! That was looking out toward Wyoming-way in the distance. Could it really be smog? It looked like I was flying into Los Angeles. Being late afternoon, I do hope it was just the way the setting sun was playing off of what in reality may just have been hazy skies.

Man, I Thought This Was Cool . . .

2005-08-26T22:16:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . A tip of the hat to Jerry The Geek for the 411 on putting up the USPSA Classification Check. When I saw that on his site, I knew I was in the right spot . . . ! Yeah!

Vile Bill Explained . . .

2005-08-24T20:16:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . Seems as some wonder what's up with the the "Vile" in my moniker! Six years ago after I built a computer and was making the real "move" into the Internet world, I chose this handle. I was in one of my Wild West frames of mind, apparently. Well, "Wild Bill" was taken, obviously, and "Bloody Bill (Anderson)" was a ruthless cutthroat. I don't mind saying, I think it makes for a rather interesting nom de guerre/plume, if you will. If I ever decide to take up Cowboy Action Shooting, I've got a ready-made alias! As far as I have been able to check, nobody has claimed it yet. As a matter of fact, Marc at Lay Lines suggests I oughta just register it anyway: A SASS membership costs only 45 bucks the first year ($35 thereafter), plus they have a cool Monthly Journal.

This Is An Outrage . . . !!

2005-08-21T21:04:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . Thanks to Bastion-of-Patriotism-Blog COUNTERCOLUMN, I got the heads-up on one of the most outrageous thumbs-in-the-eye to American Vets, past and present, and the United States as a whole, that I have EVER had the sickening displeasure to witness: the refusal of San Francisco, by an 8-3 City Council vote, to forbid mooring of the famed dreadnought USS Iowa in the Bay, ". . .citing local opposition to the Iraq war and the military’s stance on gays, among other things." What other things? Like the expense for the ideal of a strong national defense would be better spent on supporting freeloading, welfare sponging, "money for nothin' and your checks for free" bums? Even Arch Gun-Grabber Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) appeared to be somewhat piqued by the snub, calling it a "very petty decision." I don't believe that even down here in L.A. such a slam could ever occur!!

. . . Kudos to the City of Stockton, CA, for stepping up to the plate and offering her a home . . .

. . . Read the story here.

Gratitude . . .

2005-08-21T00:58:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . I gotta address a couple of the fine folks that have recognized my still fledgling (though I started it a year and a half ago!) blog. To Jerry at Cogito Ergo Geek and Marc at Lay Lines, big time thanks for the encouragement. More proof that IPSC/USPSA Gunslingers are some of the finest folks I’ve ever met. Correspondence over the past week has given me the prod to be more diligent in writing. For all the great stuff I get from the Gunblogs (Milblogs, too!) I owe them some reading. Thanks to the whole of the community for the blogroll feature; it really made a lot of great sites easy to discover . . .
. . . Anyway, I’ll try and give a perspective from a new guy’s point of view. Club presidents and everyone alike, check out (shameless plug here!) my previous post on how my discovery of USPSA and a lightning-fast response from a Section Coordinator hooked me up with the Southwest Pistol League and rocked my world!! Jerry the Geek’s 08/18 post has a great “sermon” on attracting new shooters.
. . . Get Some!!

Strength In Time Of Doubt . . .

2005-08-04T19:44:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . My post of 31 July was one possibly out of despair (the worst plague of mankind) and assuredly one of doubt. However,the passage "The Real Target" in this post,"Thirty-Seven Marines" has bolstered my civilian resolve. God bless the 25th Marines and all Coalition Forces. And thank you Blackfive for a small prayer answered in a large way.

H. Salt, Esq., A Rare SoKal Pleasure . . .

2005-08-01T18:39:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . One of the few pleasures I enjoy by being an unfortunate resident of Southern Kalifornia is the presence of H. Salt, Esq. Fish & Chips. It has largely remained the same as I remember as a youth. Back then there was a local franchise on Lincoln in Venice. My dear ol' Ma and Pa, recently relocated to Nevada, are unable to any longer savor the fine fare, as it is a SoKal phenomenon only. . .
. . . There was one exception, however, in the West Valley. One of the fine delights of H. Salt is their excellent Tartar sauce. Not with this curmudgeonly dude. He had packets, surely bought in bulk, and dispensed with grudging paucity. Another of his fine attributes was his penchant for serving one customer at a time, and I do mean one. The next order would not be taken until the previous one was cooked, wrapped and served. One might imagine how this might be problematic on Ash Wednesday, when there was an especially big run on fish dinners. As one would expect, this continued for the duration of the Lenten period. Good news: that cat's no longer there. Bad news: neither is the store! Fortunately, albeit a long trek to NoHo, there are some fine folks there who run a clean and efficient franchise.

A Thought On Iraq . . .

2005-07-31T21:47:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . My purpose is generally to post up my shooting activities and excursions, but I feel the need to weigh in on Iraq. Let me preface this by saying that I always feel uneasy discussing views on military actions as I have never seen combat nor, regrettably, have I even served in the Armed Forces. This may well be the cause of my great admiration for the men and women in uniform . . .
   . . . Hearing about a “delay” in the drafting of the Iraqi Constitution yesterday caused me further consternation in the ongoing actions there. I can’t say as I am well versed on all the occurrences since the March/April 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein; my information comes mainly from news radio and what I read at times on the Internet. Republican and conservative by nature, I nevertheless tend to eschew the talk radio circuit. That being said, I fully supported the Bush Administration’s giving the boot to Saddam, but now I have my concerns about any kind of democracy taking root in what appears to me to be rocky soil at best.
   . . . I'm dismayed at reports of Sunnis not wanting federalism or this or that terrain, Kurds wanting Kirkuk or whatever, Shi’ites an Iranian-style theocracy; the country is already Balkanized, and I hesitate to even call it a country yet. Indeed, rocky at best.
   . . . I fear that some would not really regard mine as an objective opinion, as I now have someone near and dear to me recently enlisted in military service. I also feel deeply for those that have paid the ultimate price: the losses of loved ones in the just defense of liberty. But should we continue to build a nation that seems unable and unwilling to live as free men? As we near the 2,000 count of KIA’s should we sacrifice more? I tend to think not. Would we be branded as "quitters” or “losers” if we come home? I think not nor do I give a rat’s ass one way or another! In the meantime, let's allow the officers to prosecute this action and let our warriors take the gloves off! Every time I hear or read the dreaded acronym "ROE," for "Rules of Engagement," I cringe!
   . . . God Bless all who have served.

Out Of The Frying Pan . . . Literally!!

2005-07-29T18:46:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . But not into the fire!! Week Two of my vacation had me heading out to Vegas to rescue my Ma from the searing heat, 120 degrees in Henderson. I walked out of a casino last Monday at 10:30 PM and it was still 102 degrees!! Next morning it was off to Tahoe!! 82 high temp, 42 low, you do the math! I felt like a hero to my dear ol' Ma. We drove up via NV 266/CA 168, cutting the White Mountains, adding a couple more Nevada Historical Markers to my list,the Palmetto site pictured here. Gave my Ma a whirlwind tour of US 395, Mammoth Lakes, Tahoe, Reno, Carson City, and Virginia City/Gold Canyon. I even turned a profit in the Horizon casino in Stateline, NV!! As always, a great time.

Advertising Apropos . . .

2005-07-27T21:21:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . I'll be back soon, but I just had to put in a mini-post about how ecstatic I am to finally see my Google Ads finally feature items that might be of interest to my fellow gunslingers and outdoor enthusiasts alike . . .

Closure With Jiffy Lube . . .

2005-07-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . Oh yeah, Jiffy Lube. As to my Yuletide dealings with these losers, I'm happy to report that they did come through with the proper recompense for the malpractice upon my vehicle, though it took a week to get my car and another two months for the reimbursement on the car rental. They did pay the full amount, not the "$20.00 a day" they told me was policy. It came out to more like $35.00. But, they did pay. Still, needless to say, I'll never take my vehicles to them or any other of their ilk. I now just drive out to Simi Valley to avail myself of the cheap Wal-Mart service there: no hard-sell, no offering to "fix" things "at a cut-rate," no other offers to use my car as an educational medium for nascent hammer mechanics.
. . . My appreciation for righting an incompetence, but you'll not see me again!!

The Eastern Sierra . . .

2005-07-17T15:04:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . I returned Friday morning from a quick yet wide-ranging excursion on the Sierran eastside, Tom's Place to Bridgeport/Twin Lakes. Prior to my arrival to Mammoth Lakes I journeyed up the well maintained Rock Creek road, a fine asphalt elevator to 10,000-plus feet elevation and the Little Lakes Valley Trailhead. This bears a return trip as a conversation with the ranger revealed it is a very easy day-hike to the backcountry, with evidence I had read about before of . . .mining activity! In fact, apparently, as i discovered later, Union Carbide still has a tungsten operation in the area.
    . . . The "Volcanic Auto Tour" served as the outline for Thursday's expedition. The tour guide, a small but informative pamphlet, is available at the Mammoth Lakes Visitor Center on State Highway 203.
    . . . The first stop, at the 203/US 395 junction, is the marker for Casa Diablo and is near the geothermal powerplant; it's said it supplies a third of the electrical requirement to the town of Mammoth Lakes. Continuing north, you encounter some interesting sites: Lookout Mountain (my favorite), Obsidian Dome, the Mono Craters, Panum Crater, and others. Some lightweight off-roading was required, the toughest being Lookout Mountain, but my '99 Saturn SL served well! I began early in the AM, so everywhere I went, excepting Panum Crater (a few hikers), I was alone.
    . . . "Good, by God, I'm going to Bodie!" (my preferred rendition of the famous quote!) I thought as I headed off east on the CA 270/ Bodie Rd. turn-off. It was actually quite pleasant for the middle of July, low 80's/ high 90's. I arrived at the perfect time to take in the tour of the Standard Stamp Mill, a twenty-stamper, and of course, I ate it all up. I even "got a job" as an electrician in the mill at $5.00 a day (miners got $4.00). VileBill highly recommends this side trip, whether you're a ghost town/mining buff or not. Bring water and a lunch and get the excellent self guided tour brochure at the ranger kiosk. The thirteen mile road to the townsite is paved but for the last three miles, but the "washboard attributes" have been smoothed-out since I was last there in '97. I seem to remember on a visit as a youngster the whole stretch was a washboard. Even people with trailers were up there this time. There had to be about two hundred people at the site on this visit.
    . . . Next, up to Twin Lakes, thirteen miles southwest out of Bridgeport. These are two quite large Sierran lakes, tarns I think, and are true jewels in the crown. At the upper lake you can even park next to the shore and fish from right next to your car. Another VileBill recommendation!
    . . . Though the Saturn has served me well and, continues to do so, it is a real dog on steep grades, again experienced on the next stop: Saddlebag Lake via CA 120/ Tioga Pass. Word was that the lake, at 10,000 feet plus, was still iced over; not so, but it sure was complete mosquito-ville here and at Lee Vining Creek, site of Bennettville, an old mining town. I should have hiked up to it; Ghost Towns.com shows structures there, but after reading the marker I got the impression it was wiped out. Next time!!
    . . . In only a two-night stay I completed a one-day, two hundred mile-plus tour of this East Sierra area, backroads, too, and came away with some good memories and only a few mosquito bites. What John Muir called the "Range of Light" is truly God-blessed and I'm grateful for it. There's nothing like it elsewhere on this Earth. Don't miss it!!

Shooting Las Vegas . . .

2005-05-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . I finally planned one of my visits to the parents in Vegas to coincide with a match out there. I brought out my Commander for this one. The previous day I went to the gun show at Cashman Field (The Costa Mesa one is bigger, but this one has more of the evil weapons and their accessories for sale.) and purchased the complement of CMC Power Mags. Boy, what a difference from the Wilson Combat issue! The gun ran absolutely perfect (the fact that it doglegs left notwithstanding!), no FTF's, jams, extraction failures, etc. I was very pleased. My poor showing was not helped by my situation with my sights. Except for the confusing "house" at Stage #1, I think I could have done much better.Sin City Shooters, the local USPSA/IPSC club there puts on a good match up at the Desert Sportsmen's club site adjacent to Red Rock Canyon. Neat range, but no shade! Don't know if I'll shoot this in the summer months, it was pretty hot this (May) go-round. All in all, a great Vegas run this time.

There's A First (Last) For Everything . . .

2005-05-02T15:52:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . and I finally did it!! I finished last place in April's club match! And with my newly acquired pistol to boot!! April Match Results are here if you want to see the sorry details!!

Match Day, April 2005

2005-04-24T18:04:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . Today I brought out my recently acquired Para Ordnance .45 to give it a real - time run at this month's club match. Man, what a difference from my tiny Commander!! This gun shoots real light with its tungsten guide rod and with some not - so - especially - light loads!! I did have some magazine issues, however, but I believe I loaded them up too much to their liking. The mags are a little old, too, so I think I'll tune them up forthwith by getting some new bases, springs, and followers. Again, the pistol itself ran great and my ammo functioned well (although it was recommended I might try shortening them a bit. I'll go to 1.235"). It's larger size sure fills out my hand well, too.
. . . The fact that I have a new pistol DID NOT, however, bring about any miraculous performances!! I'm still getting "lost" on stages ("Pay attention & plan them out!!") and I still don't have a steady hand for the "aimed" shots, i.e. plates, distance, Mozambiques. When I do get a good run it's marred by mikes or no - shoot penalties.
. . .Match Results as soon as they are posted.

V.B.'s Combat Shooting Genesis . . .

2005-04-18T15:53:00.000-07:00

(Thought I'd put in this previously unpublished piece from 19 January 2005 about my competition origins. Hopefully it will inspire some that would like to learn to actively use their weapons competitively AND how to keep them running!!)

19 January 2005

¶ - The genesis of my Competitive Shooting career came about when I realized that my ownership of a firearm was, well, pretty dull without regular usage. I wanted to shoot frequently, but the only outlets I was familiar with were the desert or National Forest lands or indoor shooting ranges. The former are fast disappearing due to rapid population influx and the latter are just plain dull! One requires an environment where it is possible to have "free form" workouts. Here is where it all began for me, the great group of men I have been privileged to associate with, and how you, too, can get involved in this great and extremely rewarding pursuit.

About three years past I took the cash I had earned as an umpire and bought a Colt M1911 (Combat Commander,Stainless) pistol. I took it once to an indoor range and another time out to the range in San Francisquito Canyon. What a dud! Standing there slowly, plink...plink...plink..." The places I had known in earlier years were no more; there had to be something better. Sure, I knew about the U.S. Olympic team and Camp Perry, but was there some kind of "combat pistol" competition (a la the combat course in the picture "Magnum Force")?

My best recollection is that an Internet search provided me with the International Defensive Pistol Association and the United States Practical Shooting Association/ International Practical Shooting Confederation.

The IDPA site, while the premise itself was attractive,and has from what I later learned some large names in the sport, appeared to be somewhat of an "upstart" league. Its disgruntled allusion to the USPSA, well, naturally, occasioned my gravitation to the USPSA. The USPSA looked to be THE major entity in the kind of gunplay I was looking for and were the U.S. governing body of the International Practical Shooting Confederation(the "practical" shooting aspect derives from a more "P.C" manner to present the game to the international community.). This looked like a happening scene.

So, after finding a local club with the "club finder," I fire off an e-mail to the director of the Southwest Pistol League and the next day . . .the next day I get a response! I was impressed. The gent instucts me to go up to Piru and check it out. What luck! As I'm standing around with my best lost-and-a-newbie look, the first guy I happen to run into happens to be a champion USPSA shooter and lets me tag along. I observe for one more match after this, this same guy outfits me with my rig, and it's on!!The rest is history in the making! I've been at it ever since! This has become the passion in my spare time, my avocation, as it were. I now am a member of a pretty good club, with "my own" place to practice and practice the way I like, as it pertains to the game.What a hoot!

Oklahoma 2005, Part II

2005-04-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

(Read the preceding entry first for chronology's sake!!)
¶ . . . Sunday was to turn out to be a much better outing. I stopped first at Stockyard City in downtown OKC. It was kind of neat for the clothing stores there. Then I went over to the Oklahoma City Memorial.
The Memorial here is very touching and very well done. What struck me most deeply was at the west side adjacent to the Catholic Church was a large statue of Jesus Christ, facing away from the building site with his face in his hands, as if to be crying in shame and despair. I failed to get a picture of this, but I will next time.

Next I visited Bricktown, also downtown; pretty much just a cental watering hole area. Didn't stay here to long.
Next was the real highlight of the whole weekend. Over to the 45th Infantry Division Museum. I spent about three hours here. It is free to go in, they ask only for a donation, but it isn't pushed. Give 'em a couple of bucks: it's definitely worth it. Lots of vehicles on the surrounding grounds, World War II to post-Viet Nam, including trucks, artillery, armor, and aircraft. The small appearance of size of the building from the outside belies the amount of treasures within!! Mostly militaria from World War I through Gulf War I. There is a great tribute to Bill Mauldin, caricaturist of the WWII Dogfaces and a display of a few hundred of his cartoons. Very well done.
The real highlight here however is the museum's weapon collection. Donated by a private citizen it is one of the best I have ever seen. Though relatively small in size, I believe it rivals that of the extremely large collections of the J.M. Davis Arms & Historical Museum, Claremore, OK, and the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY. Weapons include pieces from the Colonial Period through Gulf War I, with a good array of WWII and Korea-era battlefield weapons, mortars, recoilless rifles, etc. Any history buff traveling through Oklahoma City should make it a point to reserve time to visit this property, absolutely a true gem!!

Oklahoma 2005, Part I

2005-04-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

¶ . . . As promised, some on my trip to Indian Territory . . .
The one weekend I was there I took to the road, as usual. Dodge City, Kansas it was this time, as any real Wild West aficionado, I thought, should make a pilgrimage. This has to be one of the biggest all-time duds I have ever experienced!! What a total letdown!! So-called "Front Street," actually really a front pushed back from U.S. 50, wouldn't have made even a good movie set!! The cowboy town for the S.A.S.S. guys at 5-Dogs in Bakersfield looked more realistic!! And for an added touch of realism, there was an Applebee's restaurant on the corner of it!! Even though it was a Saturday, the Visitor Center was closed; only the kitschy gift shop was open. This didn't even warrant a purchase of the customary 'fridge magnet!! After not even an hour, I was able to call my parents and say for real:
"I'm gettin' out of Dodge!!"
Though this would eventually turn out to be a 700 mile day, I decided I would just head back to Norman (which was a good thing; Sunday's outing was superb. Next post will have that!).
¶ . . . In summary, you can pretty much scratch Kansas off of any list of places I would want to live!! Although my Pop says the run along I-70 to the north is pretty nice, I'm not buyin'!!

Back From Indian Territory . . .

2005-03-18T19:26:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . I'm a little tardy in posting, seeing as how I've been back from Indian Territory for a week now. . .
. . . I did make it out to Norco before I flew out and shot with the Running Gun guys and had a real swell time! I saw a Texas Star (though not this fancy) for the first time and boy was it tough!! Wasn't able to clean it off. Shot at my usual ability, could do better if I could work out my gun malfs. I did feel I was hitting my reloads well, however, so there's much improvement there. Six stages, including a classifier, "El Strong and Weak Pres." You can get Match Results here.
Out to Lopez Canyon the next day to complete two days of shoot-'em-up before my trip, the usual malfs/jams/screw-ups, but it's great to get in this much gunslinging. Sure need those weekends off!! Match Results here.
. . .Oklahoma, Kansas, and the 45th Infantry Division Museum in OKC in forthcoming post . . .

I'm Going To OKC . . .

2005-02-24T19:25:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . It's off to the Great State of Oklahoma (OK!!) come this Monday, but not before I head out with my blaster for some back - to - back pistolero action, IPSC - style, with the boys at Norco Running Gun and then my esteemed fellow gunslingers at Lopez Canyon.
I really like my Postal training excursions to the Sooner State. Hopefully the Owlhoot Trail will take me up to Dodge City, Kansas this go 'round. Yee-Haw!!

Area 2 3 - Gun Championships . . .

2005-02-20T10:22:00.000-08:00

¶. . . Went out last weekend to the Area 2 3-Gun Championships at the 5 Dogs Rifle & Pistol Range. It's a little northeast of Bakersfield, east of the Oildale area, and it's quite a range. To me, it seemed gigantic, a neat looking Cowboy town for the Cowboy Action shooters, plenty of action pistol bays, and expansive rifle ranges. I tagged along for five stages with Darin and Rob and got a good look at the action. I even got to talk a few minutes with Matt Burkett!(No, Darin, I'm not asking for his autograph!)
This is another shooting discipline that's definitely for me, but as long as I reside here in Kalifornia, it's gonna be tough. I cannot purchase the proper weapons here. Shooting Heavy Metal is possible, but no optics, and the outlook for tricking-out a Ruger Mini-14 is not very encouraging.
The Battle Born State continues to look more and more attractive, its siren call beckoning!!

A Note On On - Line Poker . . .

2005-02-05T22:50:00.000-08:00

¶. . . Just nickel and dime, I know, but I've gone from twelve bucks to fifty-eight dollars this past week playing Texas Hold'em a few minutes a pop a couple of nights.
. . . Would be kind of cool to say, "I bought this shotgun with my poker take!"

Target Practice Notes . . .

2005-02-02T19:19:00.000-08:00

¶. . . a brief session out at the range to try what I learned from the Matt Burkett conversation with Brian Enos: starting the fundamentals by shooting from the bench, learning to "call the shot," and learning to keep from blinking. As pertains to the bench work, I took to task the sight alignment on the target and not "waiting for the perfect alignment." As was stated, my gun is already aimed, it's the "mischievous friend" out there moving the target about. What can be done about that? Nothing! Shift more consciousness to the hands and pulling off the shot and . . . my groups moved into the center (from the left) and though not so tight yet, were considerably closer, within six inches. This at twenty five yards. Great! Can' say as I've made any progress toward not blinking or calling the shot, however. I'll keep up the practice, I can do quite a bit with a brief run up there.
Worked a few "Bill Drills," the 50-yard plate a little, too. Some slower, more patient execution seems to be the order for now, let's remember this next match!!

An Intoduction To Trap Shooting . . .

2005-01-30T18:45:00.000-08:00

¶ Well, today was kind of neat . . . I went up to the range to help on the work party scheduled for today and I'm quite glad I did! I helped a couple of the guys install a pedestrian gate at the entry (which came out looking pretty good!) and afterwards I got an intro to trap shooting from Maurice P., a fellow club member: singles and doubles. It was really quite fun! I guess I got a chance to shoot at least fifty birds, so it was a pretty good introduction and more of a workout than I had thought. I shot the singles with a . . . single barrel, and the doubles with a . . . double (over and under)! I actually hit the very first few that I attempted!! Can't say that for the doubles . . . they're pretty tough. I inquired about the club's involvement in the "Round Robin," so maybe I'll look into getting a trap gun and pursue this. Sporting Clays look rather intriguing, also. Oh, to have the time . . .

24 January 2005

2005-01-24T20:01:00.000-08:00

¶ Up to the range yesterday, Sunday, with great intentions, recently acquired knowledge, and my new Limcat Stealth holster. And another disaster it was, too!! In the box for Stage 5, I reached over to pick up a mag up off of the ground and the gun fell out of my holster! I didn't lock it, something I hadn't accustomed myself to yet (reason, not excuse!). Concept grasped: Do NOTHING other than start the stage after the gun is loaded and made ready! Other items shown to need work:

Practice my draws

Acquiring the grip

Presentation

Off the table

GOTTA NAIL THOSE RELOADS!!

Sight align/picture

Patience, and

The long shot!!

Not an auspiscious start for 2005, so let's get out to the range for those workouts and do the home drills!
MATCH RESULTS

17 January 2005

2005-01-17T18:52:00.000-08:00

¶ . . .I just started one of the free website hosting services to see if it's worth the effort to actually get my very own. The one at Tripod looked to be OK as I have a choice of using the "auto" or HTML forms of editing, so I gave it a shot. As soon as it's presentable, I'll link from here to it. What little I've done so far with this weblog and trying to learn a little of writing code from scratch has demonstrated that it all can be quite time consuming, so I'll try to stay motivated and do a little at a time.

¶ . . .Wasn't able to go up to the range for some practice today do to the damage from the weather inclement of late, so I did some reloading and readied-up my pistol for the coming weekend match. I was up there yesterday and the road was barely passable for a sedan like mine. I sure wanted to work on my draw and presentation.

12 January 2005

2005-01-12T19:43:00.000-08:00

¶ Trying this with my editor: Getting ready to start a new pistol season, so lets see if I can put together some of the things I've learned the past two years.I had been practicing some more toward the end of the last year,applying some of the principles I've learned from the videos I "won" in November. The heavy rains of the past three weeks has put a damper on that; however, I should be able to head up to the club Monday for another workout before next week's match. I should also have my new holster by then!

06 January 2005 Redux

2005-01-06T19:48:00.000-08:00

Here it is again, colors, tags and spacing edited:
¶ I've been trying to learn how HTML code works and I've had some small victories. I at first only wanted to know how to create hyperlinks without using the whole URL script, but it has now turned into a major educational endeavor!
My brother told me about this free HTML editor (I'm composing this on it now.) so I downloaded a copy and then looked for and found this tutorial. I'm not sure about the tags for the link colors (it looks like it might alter the background), but let's see if it works!!

06 January 2005

2005-01-06T19:32:00.001-08:00

¶ I've been trying to learn how HTML code works and I've had some small victories. I at first only
wanted to know how to create hyperlinks without using the whole URL script, but it has now turned into
a major educational endeavor!

My brother told me about this free HTML editor (I'm composing this on it now.) so I downloaded
a copy
and then looked for and found this tutorial.
I'm not sure about the tags for the link colors (it looks like it might alter
the background), but let's see if it works!!
(Postscript, 01/07: I had to remove the tags and do the link color from the "compose" window; the tags I used torqued the Nav Bar at the top of the page!)

05 January 2005

2005-01-05T19:24:00.000-08:00

¶ ...Ten Days After!! I finally get my car Monday, the day before yesterday. So far after two round trips to work it seems to be OK. I also had to fork out the cash up front for the rental ($352.00!!). Supposedly I'll be receiving a "letter," whatever that means. They sure didn't jump up to pay outright for the rental car, so I'm sure I'm not done with these people yet.
As alluded to in a previous entry, I guess it was about time for some "s***" to happen to me, but I'll handle it and learn from it(!).

01 January 2005

2005-01-02T01:32:00.000-08:00

¶ Well, I made it to Vegas and even up to Santa Ynez, but still using the rental car so graciously "provided" by my friends at Jiffy Lube (appears that I'll have to pay for the rental first. More trouble ahead!). As of this past Thursday they still hadn't "found the part" but they subsequently informed me it would be ready Monday the 3rd. I'll bet.
An oil change that has taken over a week. Check out Ripoff Report for more horror.

25 December 2004

2004-12-25T22:07:00.000-08:00

¶ It's an early morning, 35 mile bus ride to work this morning due to last night's event. Normally, I would have just blown off the workday, but those Christmas ducats are just too appealing (I gotta have a new pistol!). This one bus ride was all it took to remind me of why I don't use rapid transit in this crummy burg and its true raison d'etre. With the "Bus Riders' Union" and proliferation of bums and welfare-sponging slackers here, it’s clear who the MTA serves. If I was a driver, I'd get fired or quit within a week. Here's an example, just one of several, ON THE ONE RIDE:
Bum gets on board Downtown.

Driver: "What's that? That pass ain't no good."
Bum: "I got it this morning."
D: "I've been driving this line all night. Tell me another story."
B: (some slurred, unintelligible guttural)
D: "No, what you really want to tell me is, 'I want to ride for free,' right?"
B: "Uh…"
D: "Man, it’s the Lord's Day, tell the truth. Merry Christmas, take a seat."

These freeloaders are commonplace and the hold up the bus, a particular bane if you have to make connectors. Some people that watch certain TV programs, The Bob Newhart Show, for instance, think that there are public transit patrons like physicians and attorneys actually make up a large percentage of the bus-riding demographic. Not in this town! Not unless all three of their cars are broke down, they too are mentally ill, and someone is holding a gun to their head.

Give me my car back!!

24 December 2004

2004-12-25T21:16:00.000-08:00

¶ The next time you hear me say, "That kind of s*** doesn't happen to me, you can remind me of this Christmas Eve...

Hoping to get a jump on tying up any loose ends prior to another trip to the Silver State for the holidays, I decided I would get my oil changed (this is a Jiffy Lube story). Seeing as how I hadn't had my gear case oil changed since who knows when and they offered me a good price to do so, I told them to go for it. To make a long story short, they blew apart the gear case drain port! Irreparably! I should have known better than let these "mechanics" do anything other than change the oil, and even that is taking a risk. The convenience of JL and its ilk are what make them attractive, or rather an attractive peril, to me when I procrastinate and try the "easier, softer" way.
After an hour (a sure indicator of incompetence) attempting to "fix" (read: jerry rig) the situation, the manager, crestfallen, explained blah, blah, blah, it's Christmas Eve blah, blah, Monday this, Sunday that, blah . . .
In my best form, I didn't get upset (VB is not really vile). I actually felt bad for these guys. I'll make it to Nevada anyway, though somewhat belatedly. What I'll do if they don't rise to the responsibility, I don't know. Hopefully I won't have the need to gaff them for that.
Stay tuned!!

22 December 2004

2004-12-22T18:43:00.000-08:00

¶ . . . Last night I was thinking about this blog-thing and I said to myself, "Self, this is the type of vehicle your brother might use as the proverbial soap box." After all, his '90's website "The Judge" was one of the biggest hoots I had ever seen, excellent composition, exceedingly relevant, and was getting so many hits that then-GTE decided they weren't going to host it free anymore!! Utilizing my prodigious detective skills, I conducted a search and found it! (Search time: all of about 3 minutes). Link here for some more great relevance and hilarity: Journal Yellow

21 December 2004

2004-12-21T20:00:00.000-08:00

¶ What a revelation! One of the items from the loot that I scavenged off of the prize table after my dismal performance in last month's California Infinity Championship was a certificate for Practical Shooting, Vols. 1-3, by Matt Burkett (Big Time kudos to you folks for the expediency in delivery: one week! I guess my beloved Postal Service should get some credit too.). Good stuff!I took a trip out to the range yesterday and after actually applying the lessons on the proper grip and the "pinch & roll" in the draw sequence I found, much to my astonishment, that my gun, that "shoots left," wasn't; I shoot left!! Hooking, as it were. I couldn't believe it. Further experimentation with "my" grip and the demonstrated version bore this out. However, I don't suffer under the illusion that this is a panacea for all my shortcomings: practice, practice, practice!!
Again I learn the lesson: Follow directions!

30 November 2004

2004-11-30T18:52:00.000-08:00

¶ Lets try a foto upload of my rig . . .

30 November 2004

2004-11-30T18:16:00.000-08:00

. . . been awhile . . . I'll be back . . . just wanted to see if this was still intact . . . got some of my pistol match musings to write about . . . By the way, I got my "C" classification . . . Wonders never cease!! OUT!

10 March 2004

2004-03-10T19:33:00.000-08:00

...been derelict in my entries, here's another postscript: My regular shoot-out February 29th went well, except for a couple of reload fumbles and INSERTING AN EMPTY MAG on Stage #5!! Anyhow, I think I'm making the transition from being the drag rider to an Also-Ran!! If I can just get that "C" classification...thinking about shooting the Silver Buckle in Ridgecrest Memorial Day: PRACTICE!!!
...made a run up to Piru Creek last week, also (March 1st), thought I might pan (got my Gold Maps this week, by the way!), but someone was there... it was starting to rain anyway... so I drove up to the top of Pinos: lots of snow and snowing! Chain signs out, but I made it sans (I had 'em anyway)...
...vacation these next two weeks (13-29), off to Arizona and New Mexico...

16 February 2004

2004-02-16T13:36:00.000-08:00

Postscripted, one week later:09 Feb.: Thought I would try a quick hand at some rock hunting, so I went out to Acton, supposedly an agate sight. Too much private property, so I crossed over SR14 to go up Red Rover Mine Road (North), dead ends again at, yup, more private property. Up Sand Canyon Rd. (this is rather nice, attractive properties, oaks), down Little Tujunga, home. Just a leisurely afternoon drive!!

08 February 2004

2004-02-08T01:03:00.000-08:00

...we all went out to see Kevin at the "Aca Deca Super Quiz" today (Saturday). Quite a crowd and more excitement than I expected. The theme was the Lewis & Clark Expedition, this year marking the Bicentennial, and boy were those questions tough! I only answered 14 of the 30 correctly, and many of those by inference (read: guessing!!). They finished around 17th (top half) this event, they'll find out the final from all events Thursday...

...just what is "plaintive supplication?"

...another brutal UB beating tonight!! Maybe I should stick to tournaments...

05 February 2004

2004-02-05T18:42:00.000-08:00

...not a good UB night!!!