e-Postal Match "SCATTERGUN" Now Underway!

WOO HOO!! It's time for the 2015 monthly Mr. Completely's e-Postal matches to get underway, so here we go! We're starting out the series with a brand new target, and it should be challenging, but not too challenging. Remember, every e-Postal match always turns out harder than it looks, so even if you shoot what you think is a very low score, send it in anyway, you might just be surprised at how well you actually did!

This month we have seven classes, so there's a place for just about everything. It's time to drag out all those handguns that have been unused all Winter and limber 'em up!

TARGET: The same target is used in all classes. The target can be downloaded from here:

"SCATTERGUN" Target

It is an Adobe Acrobat PDF file.

CLASS ONE: Any rimfire handgun with no more than a 12" barrel, iron sights.

CLASS TWO: Any rimfire handgun with no more than a 12" barrel, optic sights, no magnification.

CLASS THREE: Any centerfire (non-revolver) handgun with no more than a 12" barrel, iron sights.

CLASS FOUR: Any centerfire (non-revolver) handgun with no more than a 12" barrel, optic sights, no magnification.

CLASS FIVE: Any revolver with no more than a 12" barrel, iron sights.

CLASS SIX: Any revolver with no more than a 12" barrel, optic sights, no magnification.

CLASS SEVEN: Any handgun with more than a 12' barrel, or any rifle, any sights, scopes, laser, whatever.

If you have something interesting to shoot that doesn't quite fit into the above classes, go ahead and enter anyway.

DISTANCE : 25 feet, or Ten yards, which ever is available at your range.

SHOOTING POSITION: Standing, un-supported, off-hand, one or two hands on gun permitted.

SCORING: You are allowed 20 shots at the target. Each circle can only be counted once, regardless of how many times you hit it. Only clean hits count as a positive number value. If you hit the black ring, or even just graze the black, the score for that circle gets a minus sign in front of it! Only clean kills, or be penalized! If you have a clean hit fully inside the black, and you hit the black of that circle with a later shot, the score for that circle now goes negative. Once an individual circle goes negative, you cannot change it back to positive for that circle. The target has a perfect score of 140.

Ties will be decided solely on the basis of  whoever sends the largest amount of cash (in un-marked bills) to Mr. Completely.... (Rimfire ammo will also be accepted!)


Mark your score and details on each target with a legible pen, along with the class and type of gun used. Don't write your name on the target, only the name you want to appear in the results, as your target may get posted on Mr. Completely.

STRATEGY: Are you better off to risk trying for the high score smaller circles first, or should you play it safe and be sure to get the easier ones of lower value?

MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS: Sure, shoot it as many times as you like, and send in the best one!


MULTIPLE ENTRIES: You can enter more than once, in fact, it is encouraged. Shoot everything you own, and everything you can borrow! Take a buddy to the range, get him entered, then borrow his gun and enter that! The only restriction is that you can only enter once for any given gun, in any individual Class. You can shoot the target as many times as you like, and send in the best one.

Different calibers in the same gun count as one gun. For example, .38SPL and .357MAG are considered as one, as would be .44SPL and .44MAG. Different guns of the same caliber and barrel length can be entered.

PRIZES: Nope, it's just for the fun of it and the bragging rights!

SUBMITTING YOUR ENTRY: Take a digital photo of, (or scan) your targets, and email the picture, along with:

1. Your score.

2. The name you want used when we post the results.

3. Gun description - Brand, model, semi-auto, revolver, black powder, caliber, barrel length, and type of sights

4. Class: Class One, Two, Three, four, five, six, or seven.

5. Anything interesting or unique about your entry that other shooters might enjoy hearing about.

Email it all to b l o g (at) w h i d b e y (dot) c o m

If you can't scan or send target pictures, send everything else to me in an email, and we'll arrange for either fax or snail mail for the targets.

True, that......

(Don't know if Steven Wright came up with all of these, but there's a lot of "True" in here!) 

If you're not familiar with the work of Steven Wright, he's the famous Erudite (comic) scientist who once said: "I woke up one morning, and all of my stuff had been stolen and replaced by exact duplicates."

His mind sees things differently than most of us do. Here are some of his gems.

1 - I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.
2 - Borrow money from pessimists –  they don't expect it back.
3 - Half the people you know are below average.
4 - 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
5 - 82.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
6 - A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good.
7 - A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
8 - If you want the rainbow, you have got to put up with the rain.
9 - All those who believe in psycho kinesis, raise my hand.
10 - The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
11 - I almost had a psychic girlfriend ... but she left me before we met.
12 - OK, so what's the speed of dark?
13 - How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink?
14 - If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
15 - Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
16 - When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
17 - Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.
18 - Hard work pays off in the future; laziness pays off now.
19 - I intend to live forever. So far, so good.
20 - If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?
21 - Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
22 - What happens if you get scared half to death twice?
23 - My mechanic told me, "I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder."
24 - Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?
25 - If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.
26 - A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.
27 - Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
28 - The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread.
29 - To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.
30 - The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.
31 - The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.
32 - The colder the x-ray table, the more of your body is required to be on it.
33 - Everyone has a photographic memory;  some just don't have film.
34 - If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

And the all-time favorite:

35 - If your car could travel at the speed of light, would your headlights work?

Global Climate Stagnation - You Heard it Here First!

I remember when there was talk about "Global  Cooling" of the climate and the doom and gloom was plentiful. We were about to enter a new ice age, and it was going to be really bad. Automobile and factory emissions and cans of spray paint were the cause, we were told. Neither of the Bushs had been elected president yet, so it wasn't blamed on them. I don't remember exactly who it was blamed on, probably fat cat rich industrialists, or something like that.

Much to some folks dismay, the climate wasn't cooling, and instead, it might even have been warming a bit. The same folks changed their tune and got all spun  up over "Global Warming" of the climate. The ice was going to melt, it was never going to snow on the East Coast, and the oceans would rise, flooding the lower areas of the continents. Again, Automobile and factory emissions, and cans of spray paint were the cause, we were told. This time it was blamed on the Bushs.

Unfortunately for those folks, the ice didn't melt, although it melted in some places, and increased in other places. None of the lower elevation places flooded. Some parts of the world were warmer, and some were colder.

Again those folks re-grouped, and re-labeled it as "Global Climate Change", since it didn't seem to be really getting warmer everywhere or colder everywhere either. They couldn't prove it was going either way, so they just called it change, and then they were covered either way. Once again, Automobile and factory emissions, and cans of spray paint were the cause, and it was still Bush's fault somehow.

The reality seems to be that it isn't really changing much at all, although it seems to vary from year to year, one way or the other, and one location or another. Actually, that's what weather and the climate seems to do all the time anyway. Probably always have, I'll bet.

So, where are these folks going next? "Global Climate Stagnation" ! Yep, you heard it here first!

I think it's safe to assume that Automobile and factory emissions, and cans of spray paint are the cause, and somehow it's still Bush's fault.

Gun Blogger Rendezvous - GREAT NEWS - More News Coming

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was going to be meeting with some folks at the SHOT Show regarding the Gun Blogger Rendezvous. I won't go into  the details right now, pending their own press release. Here's what I can tell you so far:

1. There WILL be a Gun Blogger Rendezvous in Reno this year at the Silver Legacy.

2. The dates have been moved up by a few weeks to August 20th through the 23rd.

3. The basic layout and activities will be similar to last year. At least, that's the plan so far. Some new things are being discussed.

4. Our corporate sponsor has been a sponsor of the GBR in previous years, and they have been there in person.

5. We are working on some possible additional incentives for attendees. (No more hints!!)

SHOT Show - From Hotel to the Show - Part 3

After leaving the escalator, it was a short walk to this fancy area (a 'Rotunda') with columns and even fancier marble floor work.

You then pass through the rotunda into the start of the gaming areas. They are touchy about taking pictures in the gaming areas, so I didn't take many.

Carpets in the gaming areas, with more marble to walk on. From my experience, walking on marble and walking on concrete is equally painful if you do it enough!

All along the path to the show they had guides holding staffs with SHOT Show emblems to help those who get lost. An excellent idea.

The guides had bright orange vests with reflective panels that lit up like crazy when you hit them with a camera flash!

Finally through all of the gaming areas, and now more long hallways to get to the show. Lots of restaurants, bars, and shops along this section of the route. Perhaps another five minutes or so from here and you arrived at the show itself!

Up another escalator to the third level and you were at the Press room, Member's Lounge, and a few booths in the hallways themselves. Big thanks to Nissan for sponsoring the Press Room. We had good WiFi, sometimes a few breakfast rolls, and free coffee. *Definitely * Needed * Coffee* , especially after the morning hike!

SHOT Show - From Hotel to The Show - Part 2

Leaving the elevator, we now begin the long hike to the show.  Notice the shiny polished marble floors with all sorts of fancy inlays and stuff. I don't think these floors came from Home Depot......

Down another long hallway. Check out the floors, ceilings, fancy walls, etc. Pretty spectacular!

Once you reach the end of the last hallway you make almost a 180 degree turn and take an escalator down one floor.

Yep! Looks just like an escalator. By now you expect it to be gold plated or something!

Down we go! Again, spectacular marble floors on the next level.

(That maxes out the number of pictures for this post, so more tomorrow.)

SHOT Show - From the Hotel to the Show Part 1

Allen Forkner, whom many of you know from previous Gun Blogger Rendezvous', put on a pedometer to see haw many miles he actually walked at the SHOT show. I understand Allen was there all day, every day, but still, over sixty miles is pretty impressive.

They only list three of four hotel/casinos as being within walking distance of the Sands Convention Center, which is connected to the Palazzo and the Venetian hotels. Not too far from those two is Harrah's, and then a short walk from Harrah's is the LINQ, where I stayed, which used to be called the Imperial Palace, and then The Quad, before getting its latest name.

The easiest way to get from the LINQ to the Convention Center is to walk out the front of the LINQ to the Las Vegas Strip, then turn right and walk a fair ways to the front of the Palazzio and the Venetian. Then you have to walk the full depth of the two hotels to get to the very back where it convention center is located. Even following that longest route, it was very easy to get turned around and get lost! Those are BIG buildings!!

However, there are shortcuts, if you can figure them out and remember all the tricks. These pictures cover the first part of the short cut to the show.

(You can click the pics to see them bigger. Really? Yep! fer shure? Trust me.......)

 You can walk out one side exit of the LINQ and take this covered breezeway to a side door into Harrah's. You then take a right down a short hallway to the elevators that take you down to Harrah's parking garage level. You walk past the Harrah's bus arrival and departure depot, and then through their parking garage.

When you get to the side of Harrah's parking garage, you can then cross the street tothe Venetian/Palazzo parking garage.

Once into the parking garage, you follow the cross walk deep into the garage.

Fortunately, at least for the SHOT Show, they have some signs along the way that help quite a bit, but getting lost was still an option often exercised. Back in the parking garage you take an elevator up into the Venetian/Palazzo. (It's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins, so I refer to them together.

Once you get out of the elevator, the walk starts getting spectacular!

(That's all the pictures Blogger will allow in one post, so  that's the end of part one. More tomorrow.)