Mr. Completely

SHOT Show Report Number Something or other.......

2012-01-20T13:45:00.000-08:00

Lisa Munson in action.

The size of this show is hard to believe. I've spent the last several days here, and there is still maybe a fourth of the show I haven't seen. The number of booths and the number of people I've seen and met with is amazing. I just met Larry Potterfield, owner of Midway USA. Yesterday I ran into Lisa Munson, whom I haven't had a chance to visit with in a couple of years. It looks like I may be setting up some lessons with Lisa to improve my competition shooting.

Thanks to the horrible weather in Western Washington, I have decided to change my flight home from today (Friday) to Sunday. This should allow the weather to warm up and for the rain to melt most of the snow. I was really not looking forward to driving from the airport in Bellingham to the South end of Whidbey Island in the snow, a drive of about two and a half hous on good roads. It's a bit ironic that I will have one day extra here in Las Vegas to kill, since I'm not a gambler and I'd really much rather be back home working on getting the new milling machine going and making parts. There certainly are folks who would be tickled to have an extra day here, but I'm not one of them.

The show is just a couple of hours from closing, and the press room is mostly empty. In a few minutes I'll be meeting up with Nelson Dymond of the Ruger Rimfire Series, and John Allchin of Allchin Gun Parts to go get some lunch. All things considered, the NSSF has done an outstanding job of putting on one of the largest trade shows in the world.

I hope I can be here again next year.................

Day One - SHOT Show

2012-01-17T10:05:00.000-08:00

Early Monday morning I headed out the door towards Bellingham, WA to catch my Alaska Airlines flight to Las Vegas and the SHOT Show. The weather forecast was for snow and ice most of the way, and that's pretty much how it was. Actually, the conditions weren't all that bad, but the scary part was the other drivers who didn't have a clue as to how to drive in those conditions.

When I finally got onto the airplane, our flight was delayed while they sprayed de-icer all over our airplane, as it had about an inch of snow on it. Once de-iced, off we went, and it was an uneventful flight to Las Vegas. Once in Las Vegas, I caught the shuttle to the Stratosphere hotel. I had nothing scheduled for the rest of the day so I just wandered around the hotel and casino. I had a deluxe Carl Junior's burger for dinner, then hit the sack for the night.

This morning I caught the shuttle to the Sands Convention Center. I checked in at the media center, and then wandered into the Press Room to check it out.

Signing in and getting my Press Credentials.


Partial view of the Press Room. Thanks to Budweiser for sponsoring it!

I have met a number of folks I know already, and met a few bloggers I haven't met in person. I even met some of my friends from Holland and the European Steel Challenge. I'm curre3ntly using the free WiFi here in the press room.

I think I should head out and start cdhecking out the show itself!

UPDATE: It's almost 3:30 and my feet are not at all happy! Lots of talking, and concrete floors aren't helping, but it's not a surprise as it's about what I expected.

NEWS: I met Mr. Tanfoglio in person and he told me that Tanfoglio will be importede and sold under the Tanfoglio name, sepatate from EAA! WOO HOO! You can expect to see a whole lot of Tanfoglios in the near future in this country. With new importers and distributors (and especially support) they are going to be very good gun for the money, and a very good gun overall. Yay!!

More later....................

Off I Go...............

2012-01-15T20:11:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow in the early hours I'm heading out, driving about two and a half hours North to the Bellingham, WA. airport, where I will catch an Alaska Air 737 for a two and a half hour flight to Las Vegas. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I will be wandering around the SHOT show, and Friday I fly back home, returning to Bellingham, and driving back home, getting home Friday evening.

I will be attending as Press, and I hope to bring back some interesting stories for this blog. I should mention, however, that I am not an "Equipment Junkie", and I will be focusing more on the SHOT Show experience, more than individual hardware. Of course, if anything cool and shiny does catch my eye (inevitable, I suspect) a post on that will be written, for sure.

There a a number of Gun Bloggers attending, and I'm sure I will meet a lot of them while I'm there. Dan and Caleb from GunUp.com have arranged a number of blogger meetings at some of the manufacturers booths, so that should be interesting, as well. I'm sure I'll also meet up with a number of shooters and industry folks I know, so it should be a lot of fun.

Stay tuned, I'll post when I can..........

Kitsap Steel Challenge Report

2012-01-15T19:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I got the chance to venture over to the Kitsap Rifle & Revolver Club in Bremerton, WA. for a full eight stage Steel Challenge match. I had to be out the door at 5am to be able to be there just a little bit late at 8:20am for sign up and the shooter's meeting. It was raining and snowing when I left home, and didn't look to promising for the rest of the day. After two ferry rides and some driving, I arrived at the range. It was close to freezing, a wind was blowing, and it was raining. It didn't look like it was going to be a very pleasant day weather-wise, but since I hadn't shot since late October except for a few rimfire rounds a couple of days ago, I definitely needed the practice to get back to where I was last Fall.

About midway through the match the rain stopped, and a lot of the cloud cover went away. The wind stopped blowing too, and that by itself makes it seem a lot warmer. With a bit of sunshine peeking through it was still cold, but in comparison, almost balmy!

My first few stages weren't too good, as I was clearly rusty! As the day progressed and the weather improved, so did my shooting, and by the end of the match it was going much better. Not great, but better! Usually after a match I hang around to help put away the targets and target stands, but since the weather was starting to close back in and snow was forecast, I decided to head home as quickly as possible. It was a good thing I did, as part way home it started snowing pretty good, and it was sticking. It was snowing enough that I passed a snow plow going the other way, and he was plowing. Fortunately the snow was coming from a relatively small cell, and ten or twelve miles later I was out from under it and it wasn't snowing.

By the time I got home my back was really starting to hurt, as drawing from a holster uses some muscles that apparently don't get used for too much else, and they were really getting sore. Once home I lay down on the heating pad for a while, until it started hurting less. Once the pain had subsided, went out like a light. It had been a very long day, and I was bushed..........

Going To The SHOT Show!

2012-01-10T19:55:00.000-08:00

Much earlier this year one of my sponsors said they were going to send some gun bloggers to the SHOT Show. I was told that I'd be one of the ones to go, for sure. Unfortunately, that sponsor wasn't able to afford to send any bloggers to the show after all. I just figured I wasn't going to get there at all, because of the cost.

However, after talking to some folks I know in California who are going, they made some suggestions, encouraged me to go anyway, and even helped to line up a room mate to share the hotel cost. I researched airfares, and it turns out that both Alaska Airlines and Allegiant fly direct out of Bellingham, WA. to Las Vegas. Allegiant offers some really low fares, but after you add in all of their bizarre extra fees and charges, it ends up with Alaska being basically the same price, and with Alaska you get to ride on relatively new Boeing 737's instead of DC-9's of unknown vintage, but old, for sure. There's a saying in Alaska "If it ain't Boeing, I AIN'T GOING!" and I feel that way too.

They have a media day at the SHOT show on the day before the show opens, but that's already filled to capacity, so I won't be able to go to that. I will get to see the show itself, though, and that will take several days. I think I read somewhere that the show floor itself is 600,000 square feet. My feet hurt just thinking about it!

Anyhow, next Monday is travel day to get there, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday will be spent seeing the show and covering it for the blog, and Friday will be travel home day.

It should be really interesting to finally make it to the SHOT Show.

Note: For those of you unfamiliar with the SHOT Show, it is the Shooting, Hunting, and outdoors industry trade show put on every year by the National Shooting Sports Foundation. For more info, check out shotshow.org

Updates, Misc., Etc.........

2012-01-07T22:11:00.000-08:00

Since just before Christmas when I ended up in the hospital until now there has been so much going on that I've barely had time to live it, let alone blog about it!

Shortly after Black Bunny was crippled by the (expletive) daughter of our (expletive) neighbor, I had a tooth get abscessed. It was a tooth that had been root-canal-ed, but that we hadn't got crowned yet. Unfortunately, it split into two teeth, each with one root. Doctor Bob, my dentist, suggested pulling it out and putting in a titanium stud. After about six months, he'd make a new tooth and mount it to the stud. We'd been talking about doing that for some time, but the abscess meant it was decision time. Regardless, the tooth, both parts, had to come out to resolve the infection. It was already hurting pretty badly, and two hours in the chair getting it completely removed didn't help. The pain was beyond what over the counter stuff would control, so he prescribed some stronger pain pills and sent me home to heal up. The next night another tooth started hurting, even worse than the pain from the extraction. Since I had some pain pills, I keep it to a nearly bearable level until the next day when Doctor Bob arranged to have a look at the second tooth to go nuts in two days. The second tooth had been partially root-canal-ed and crowned maybe eight or ten years ago. Dr. Bob pried off the crown and cleaned out the inside where the infection was cooking away, put in some special stuff to keep it from flaring back up, and put the crown back on as a temporary. Two places going crazy, one on the upper and one on the lower jaw, was generating quite a lot of pain, so I spent a couple of days trying to balance the effects of the pain pills with keeping the pain down to a bearable level. Finally the pain diminished enough that over the counter stuff was strong enough, and now the pain is pretty much gone, although the area where to tooth was pulled is still a little sore.At the same time as all the dental adventures I was also helping a number of liquor store clients with hardware and software tech support.

The wall and the door on the left is new, along with the new sheet rock and insulation on hte other walls and ceiling.

The new controllers are about the size of a PC, but this was state of the art in the early 80's.

Had to figure out a way to keep the heat from going up the stairwell. This seems to work well, and it's actually quite convenient.

I don't have the coolant and tank hooked up, or the shields to keep the coolant contained, but it's not far off now.

In my spare time (!) I was working to get everything up and running with the new milling machine in the expanded machine shop in the barn. The new wall is fully in, insulated, sheet rocked, taped, sanded, and painted. The other walls are now furred out, sheet rocked, taped, and painted. The same with the ceiling. Two new 220 volt circuits are now wired in, complete with the sockets in and all trimmed out with cover plates, etc. I wired in two separate circuits, one for the spindle motors, and one for the rest of the controller system, so they would be isolated from each other. Two more 110 volt outlets are also installed. Two doors are now hung, and everything is painted, caulked, and trimmed. The floor now has three coats of epoxy paint. In short, the carpentry part is just about complete.

The CNC milling machine has two main components, the milling machine, and the GE 1050 Controller, which actually runs the milling machine according to the CNC computer file you have loaded into the controller.

The controller and milling machine are connected together by four huge wire bundles that go from one to the other in an overhead steel raceway. To separate the milling machine from the controller so they could be separately moved, a huge number of wires had to be disconnected from inside the controller and the wire bundles lashed to the milling machine for transport. We documented everything so I could put it all back together once it was in it's new home. It took the better part of a day to get the wire bundles back into the controller and get them all connected. Before I powered it up I triple-checked all the connections, and it all looked perfect. Once I powered it up, though, it didn't want to fully start up. More checking found one pair of wires that, going by the documentation, could be hooked up either of two ways. One wire was black, the other green. Looking really closely with a flashlight, I saw some very faint writing of the letters "GR" behind the connector with the black wire on it. That had to be it! I swapped the wires, and tried it again. This time it started up and all of the display and controls seemed to be working. In checking it out, though, I found that the spindle would go up and down and the table would move in and out, but the table would only move to the left, but not to the right. I theorized that the X Axis (side to side) servo wasn't getting all of it's control signals, so it would only move one way. Each servo has it's own controller circuit board in the controller, so I decided to have a look at the X Axis controller board. To get to the controller board you have to remove a big cooling fan, and then a big aluminum cooling fin assembly. Sure enough, inspecting the board closely with a flashlight revealed three blown resistors on the board. When this board was manufactured they were hand assembled with a soldering iron, so replacing the resistors shouldn't be to tough of a job. I disconnected all of the servo board wiring and put in a spare board. No one locally had any resistors like I needed, so I ordered some, and swapped in the spare board. I can repair the original board when the resistors arrive next week. This time, when I powered it all up everything worked just like it should!

This particular milling machine has two spindles so you can machine two identical parts at the same time, so it has two separate 3hp. 3 phase 220 volt motors. The controller, the controller circuitry on the milling machine, and the servo motors all run on 220 volt single phase. Since I don't have 3 phase power available, I have to produce it myself. In the old days there were two ways to do it. You could use a converter that was basically a single phase electric motor driving a 3 phase alternator. This worked well ,but it was (and still is) quite expensive. The second way was to use a single phase to 3 phase converter box which "manufactured" a third phase using capacitors and so forth. It worked, but your 3hp. motor would only produce 2hp., so you either had to go to bigger motors, or live with less power. Now there is a much better way to get your 3 phase power, and it borders om magical! There is now a device called a Variable Frequency Drive" or VFD for short. The one I got is about the size of a lunch box, and through digital electronics not only converts single phase to three phase, it also lets you select the output frequency of the three phase power. Standard is 60 cycle (OK, Hertz, if you insist!!), but with a VFD you can select any frequency up to 200 cycles! Since the motor speed is determined by the frequency, the VFD then becomes a motor speed control as well. You can even hook up a potentiometer and a knob and mount it on the front of the machine so you can change motor speed simply by turning the knob. Tonight I powered up the VFD for the first time, and it does exactly what it says. In addition, it also has a built in "Soft Start" feature where it gradually, over a second or so, brings the motor up to speed. This is a lot easier on motors and equipment. All that is left now is to mount the VFD on a heavy duty bracket, and then connect the three phase wiring from the mill to the VFD. That should probably happen tomorrow sometime.

All that remains for the milling machine then will be for me to learn how to program it and start making sight rails and mounts for sale. I've got some good designs I've developed over the last few years, and getting them into production will certainly help to keep food on the table...............

Gun Blogger Rendezvous 2012 Dates Announced

2011-12-26T10:32:00.000-08:00

The contract is now signed for the 2012 Gun Blogger Rendezvous. The dates will be September 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th of September. This is the second week in September, as usual. It is also the same weekend as the Reno Balloon Races.

The Rendezvous will be at the Silver Legacy Resort and Casino in Reno, where it's been for the last few years. We will be moving a few doors over to a larger Hospitality Room, but only a few doors away from where we were last year. The new location has the possibility of opening up into a larger size, which allows us some growth area for the future. Plans are to follow the basic schedule of last year's Rendezvous, but there will also be a few changes, and possibly some new things too, but it's still; way too early in the planning stages to make any announcements about that.

Every year I get a few emails asking why the Rendezvous can't be held on a different weekend, as that weekend conflicts with (fill in the blank). Reno has some sort of major event going on almost every weekend, and hotel prices vary widely depending on the demand for rooms. The week after the Rendezvous is the Reno Air Races, for example, and it's tough to get a room at all, let alone a group of rooms at a discount. Later in the month the weather starts getting colder, and it starts getting miserable at the ranges when we go shooting. Earlier in the year it seems that just about everyone is busy just about every weekend. In short, we are on the dates we're on because it's the best compromise, taking all the different factors in to account. If the dates happen to conflict with something for you, we're sorry about that, but there isn't a single day in the year that doesn't conflict with something for somebody, so we try to pick the best possible dates we can get.

Someone always asks "Why not put the Rendezvous in (his home town)? ", or "Why not move it around to a different city every year, like the NRA Convention?" The short answer is that it's an amazing amount of work to put on an event like the Rendezvous, and where the NRA has a good sized staff on the payroll to organize the convention, the GBR has only an unpaid staff of KeeWee and I, along with the much appreciated help of a few blogger volunteers. To move to a different city means re-inventing just about every detail, and moving it every year means starting almost from scratch every year, and that's way more work than I can handle.

We all hope that the Gun Blogger Rendezvous dates will work into your schedule and that we'll see you in Reno in September. If you've never been to the GBR, perhaps this is the year to give it a try! We always have a grand time, and for spouses not so interested in the gunny side of the Rendezvous, there's also lots of other things in Reno to see and do, so come to Reno in September, and have a ball!

Black Bunny Report

2011-12-21T20:13:00.000-08:00

"Black Bunny"

Wow, where to begin! There's been so much going on lately I hardly know where to start. I guess I'll start with the Black Bunny story, at least the background and where we are now.

As those of you who have ever been to Castle Completely have found out, we have several wild but very tame and friendly rabbits living around the place. They will eat out of your hand, and even follow you around to see what you are doing. I had no idea rabbits were so curious! The rabbits around here are a mix of wild cottontail and escaped/released domestic rabbit genetics. Our house rabbit "Bun", who we have raised from a severely injured little ball of fur, is now a big healthy girl, and brings a lot of joy to our household. Bun looks like a really big cottontail with longer ears.

Anyhow, to get back to the story, a couple of years ago a nearly solid black rabbit showed up. With the exception of a few white hairs on his forehead, he's solid jet black. It didn't take long before he had become the friendliest of all the outside bunnies by far. He would come in the front door to see what you were doing, jump into your car if you left the door open, and even follow me around n the shop and barn. We would feed him oats, which he would devour as fast as he could! He also loved to have his forehead petted, and he would stand there for as long as you kept petting him. After the second year, he had worked his way up to being an Alpha Rabbit, and had established his family's own territory or turf, so to speak. We named him "Black Bunny".

Unfortunately, our neighborhood also has some very unpleasant people living nearby. A couple of their kids drive up and down our narrow one lane road at fifty miles per hour, or even faster. Along our little road there are rabbits, quail, pheasants, deer, and other small creatures. Most of us drive slowly and watch for them, but not the neighbor kids. A little over a week ago Kelly, the sheet rock guy, was just getting out of his truck when he saw the neighbor's daughter roar by. As soon as she had passed, Kelly heard an animal screaming in pain. He walked out to the road and looked, but the screaming had stopped, and he couldn't find anything. Kelly told me about it, and I went looking too, but couldn't find anything. I went back to work in the new machine shop, and about an hour later I was walking back to the house when I spotter Black Bunny in the driveway. His hind quarters were dragging behind him, and he was pulling himself towards the front porch with his fore legs. He was trying to get to me for some help.

I picked him up and took him into the house to see how badly injured he was. There was no blood or obvious wounds, but he was definitely in shock. I bundled him up in a warm towel and put him in a big box so he was at least as comfortable as possible, in spite of what must have be terrible pain. It looked like it was either a broken lower spine, hip, pelvis, or some combination of all. It didn't look like he'd make it through the night, but I figured all I could do was try to give him a chance, even if it was slim, or even if he ended up having to be put down later.

I was up just about every hour all night checking on him, and it was obvious to me that he knew he was badly hurt, he recognized me, and he appreciated my efforts to comfort him, even if the odds were not good. By the next morning he was pretty much out of shock, and he was even starting to eat and drink a bit. Every so often he would move the wrong way and the pain would be intense, and he would panic. I would calm him down and he would relax again. Over the next few days he learned what positions hurt, and he learned to avoid them. He was also getting better at getting around, and his right rear leg looked like it might be starting to function a bit. That was a good sign, as it could mean that the spinal cord was intact.

By Saturday he was eating and drinking well, and his vital signs looked good. On Monday we made an appointment to go see Dr. Bishop, the vet. Black Bunny was again a little trooper, riding on my lap wrapped in a large towel. He was alert, ears up, and looking out the windows watching everything go by, just like a dog or a cat! When we got to the vet's, the power had gone out, so they couldn't take an x-ray. We went back home again, and they said they'd give me a call when the power came back on. A few hours later they telephoned, and we headed back over to the vet's office. Again the little rabbit impressed me with just how tough he was. The x-ray showed that he was in better condition than I had feared, but still pretty badly injured. His back and spinal cord looked fine. A small spur on one side of a lower back vertebra was broken, but other than being painful, that would not be a problem and would heal by itself. The big injury turned out to be a badly dis-located hip joint. That explains why he's dragging one rear leg.

We've decided to wait another week and let some natural healing to occur, and for some of the swelling and inflammation to go down before making any further decisions. Sometimes dis-located hips can be put back together. We'll probably have a much better idea next week. We'll just have to cross the bridges as we come to them, but for now I'm keeping my fingers crossed......

Finally, Some Good News!

2011-12-07T11:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon I had an appointment with the doctor to get the results of the prostate biopsy. Everything pointed heavily to it being cancer, and even the doc was pretty well convinced that was the case. Nothing else quite fit the results of the various tests. However, the only real test for prostate cancer is a biopsy, and then you know for sure. To my amazement, and the amazement of the doctor, no cancer was found at all! All they could come up with was some prostate inflammation, but no indication of any sort of bacterial infection. With a bacterial infection your white blood cell count goes high, but my white cell count was perfectly normal. The doctor's final diagnosis was that the only thing that fit was some sort of extremely rare viral prostate infection. Viral prostate infections are so rare the doc couldn't remember the last case of it he saw! Anyhow, it now looks like this whole mess was some sort of virus, and it seems to have now run it's course, and now all I have to do is get recovered from it. The really really good news, though, is no sign of cancer, and if it had been there, the biopsy (12 samples taken) would have found it!

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for a good result, and all of those of you who have left comments and sent emails of support and encouragement. Hearing from you definitely helped to make it a bit easier to get through the worst parts of it all.

Thanks Again!

- - - - Mr. C.

Diagnosis?

2011-12-06T08:15:00.000-08:00

The doctor's have been stumped, but now they have possibly figured out the details of my recent illness! Brocolitis! Yup, Brocolitis! Brocolitis is a fairly common viral infection caused by the virus know as Broc-coli. It can be difficult to diagnose, as not all symptoms are always present, and it seems to be more common with men. Many women seem to have a natural immunity to the disease. Some of the more common symptoms in men include wearing Birkenstocks, an obsession with granola, an unusual development of their sensitive side, and driving an older Volvo station wagon, often with one front fender a different color.

It seems that a few weeks ago I was at the grocery store with KeeWee, and I spent a few minutes standing in the produce section as she was picking up some kale for our rabbit, "Bun". When leaving the store I must have forgotten to use the hand sanitizer lotion, and some of the Broc-coli must have followed me home.

Fortunately, the broc-coli virus is pretty weak, and once diagnosed, is easily defeated with common and readily available treatments. One of the best medicines of all in "Pop-Tarticillin", and it's available over the counter in most grocery stores. It comes in several tasty flavors, and regular doses will also prevent the infection in the first place. During shooting season I carry a supply of Pop-Tarticillin in my range box, but as the shooting season is pretty much over, I had been lax in taking my preventative doses on a regular basis. I'm sure this had something to do with the sudden illness.

I will make a point to be much more conscientious about it in the future.......

Actually, I will hear the results of my prostate biopsy late this afternoon to find out if it's cancer or not. The Doctor figures it's highly likely that it is, but without the biopsy it's only speculation.

Yet Another Update.....

2011-11-29T19:12:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling quite a bit better, but having lost almost 18 lbs in one week, combined with the fever, dehydration, and other fun stuff, I'm still really weak and worn out. I can work for a few hours at least, but then I've got to rest or take a nap. I went in for a prostate biopsy today to determine if I've got cancer or not, but they say everything so far points that way. I won't have any results until next Tuesday. KeeWee was able to book a last minute flight to New Zealand to go see her family. She's leaving this Saturday, and coming back Christmas day. I really felt bad that she had to delay her trip home, but now she'll get to go after all, and was able to get the same price as before.

I talked to the sheet rock guy about putting up the ceiling in the expanded machine shop, and he may be able to do that for me by the weekend. I may have to give him my main air compressor to pay for the job, but I do have a smaller compressor I can get by with for now. The local recycling center has free part cans of paint, so I can probably pick up a few gallons and mix them together to paint the walls and ceiling. Then I can finish up wiring the 220v circuits and we should be ready to power up the new mill. Then, all I have to do is figure out how to program it, and then write the code to make some parts! Hopefully, some of those parts will sell........

Condition Update - bleh......

2011-11-26T10:05:00.000-08:00

Not a whole lot to report right now. Still feeling really weak, and it looks like with my immune system weakened, I managed to pick up a head cold too. The cold seems to be slowly going away, though. The cause of the original high fever is still unknown, although some sort of virus is suspected. In trying to identify the source of the fever, they found some prostate problems that need to be dealt with, although the prostate issue is causing no symptoms at all. The urologist is strongly suspecting cancer, but until a biopsy is done, we won't know for sure. The biopsy is next Tuesday. A week later we should see some results. Other than that, not much to report.....

Back Home.....

2011-11-12T20:28:00.000-08:00

Last night I was released from Harborview Med Center to come home. I am pretty comfortable, as Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen are keeping the fever away. Full diagnosis and treatment have not been determined, as we are awaiting additional test results.

For full updates and further info check KeeWee's Corner, as she is keeping everyone up to date on my condition.

Not Feeling My Best.................

2011-11-06T16:04:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting here on the edge of the bed in my hospital room at Whidbey General Hospital. Actually I feel pretty good right now, but that's just because of the drugs that are holding my fever down. Without them I would be probably in a coma right now. It looks like a very rapid onset case of kidney and urinary tract infection and possible blood infection too. For the whole story, check out KeeWee's Corner

Things aren't too bleak, however, as the doctor here at the hospital is also not only a shooter, but a handgunner, and he shoots IDPA!Having an action pistol shooting doctor is a good sign, I think.

I got a phone call from True Blue Sam's MOM Bea an hour or so ago. Yep, the same Bea who comes every year to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous!

Fixin' Up The Shop Part 2

2011-10-31T19:49:00.000-07:00

Once we got the new milling machine into the barn, the work was just beginning. I already had a small area walled in and insulated and heated to keep my lathe, mill, and other machines from getting cold and attracting condensation, and then rusting. Now that the mew CNC mill is in place, I have to wall in the area, wire, insulate, and sheet rock in the expanded machine shop room.

First, a new wall needs to be framed up.

Fortunately, there is already an overhead beam that makes a good place to attach the top of the new wall.

A used door I had kicking around gets framed in and mounted in the door. With the new wall, I need a way to get to the rest of the barn.

The first sheet of rock in place.

Then the second sheet.

One wall sheet rocked. I added a couple of outlets on the wall while I was at it. Can't have too many outlets in a shop!

I had to frame in a second door on the stairway up to the upper storage area. This door will keep the heat from escaping up the stairs and out of the machine shop.

The walls will all need to be taped and sanded prior to painting. To get a good enough looking job it takes me several more coats that what it takes the pros, but I work a lot cheaper......

In addition to the new partition, I still have two outside walls of the pole barn constructed building that need to be furred out, insulated, sheet rocked, taped, and painted. Here's the wall behind the new mill getting furred out with 2 by 2's out of the misc. lumber pile.

To be continued............

Mr. C's Super Sekrit Gun Oil - First Impressions

2011-10-23T10:17:00.000-07:00

Mr. C's Super Sekrit Gun Oil

The excellent gun blog Empty Mags has agreed to give Mr. C's Super Sekrit Gun Oil a try, and he's got a "First Impressions" post up. This weekend he's going out to the range to give it a through workout. Here's a pull quote from his first impressions:

It is extremely slick, and has even made the sound of charging the AR somewhat more quiet. There is absolutely no felt friction between the bolt carrier and the receiver when sliding it in and out by hand. So far, I’m impressed.

You can go HERE to read the entire post. While you're at it, you might want to wander around his blog a bit and see what else interesting you might find there.........

To get your very own bottle of Mr. C's Super Sekrit Gun Oil, it's for sale at

Magnum Shooter's Supply

Which is, of course, a blatant plug for my On Line Shooter's Supply store!

Milling Machine Report

2011-10-19T10:16:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was the first part of the "Move The New Milling Machine" project, and although it took us a while, everything went smoothly. Jeff, the previous owner of the mill, rented a four wheel drive fork lift to do the heavy lifting and moving on the departure end of the move.

There are three major components of the mill, the GE 1050 controller, the many boxes of tooling, and the milling machine itself.

We had to move everything out the back door of Jeff's shop, across his back yard and down an area of sloping lawn, through a gate, out onto one street, then a few hundred feet up that street to a T intersection, then left at the intersection and a few more hundred feet to the flat bed truck.

The first part to move was the GE 1050 controller. This is the unit that accepts the CNC file from it's nearby computer, which gets the CNC file through a network connection from another computer. The computer then reads the CNC file, also called "G-Code" and actually controls the milling machine, moving the table, controlling the spindle, turning on the coolant, and so forth.

The controller weighs roughly 500 pounds. It is normally connected to the milling machine by several large wire bundles that are carried overhead through a wire raceway.

The next, and biggest, was the EX-CELL-O milling machine. This beauty weighs in at roughly 2 1/2 tons! The fork lift was up to the job, picking it up without much trouble.

Going across the back yard.

Down the hill in the back yard towards the gate.

Backing through the gate and out onto the road.

Lifting the mill onto the 4x12 wooden beams on the truck.

After we got the milling machine trucked to my barn, I arranged for a forklift and driver from the local lumberyard to unload everything from the truck and set it inside the barn doors on the floor.

The mill dwarfs my poor little Towmotor fork lift. I had hoped the Towmotor could at least slide the mill into place. We tried for several hours, but it was a case of if it lifted the mill, the rear wheels would lift off the floor, and you had no steering. I was able to drag it farther into the building though, and then we hooked several chains to it and pulled it closer to it's destination by hooking the chain to an excavator outside of another side door into the barn.

I figured if I could get it close, I could move it the final few feet and rotate it with come-alongs. Even the come-alongs wouldn't slide it! I machined four pads out of Delrin plastic and put them under the four feet on the mill, and that made it slide a lot easier. I was then able to pull it into place.

Now it's almost in place, except for turning it 45 degrees and moving it closer to the wall.


The dual spindle milling machine heads.

The mill has now been angled and pulled back into the corner. I've left myself just enough room for access to the various machine panels and electrical boxes, and also left just enough room to be able to insulate and sheet rock the walls. A new wall will be built on the left side of the machine directly under the overhead beam that you can just see in the upper left corner of the picture. The wire raceway and the controller are approximately in position.

Although the machine was built in the early 70's, it's been well maintained as is still very accurate. A number of upgrades have been done over the years. Although it's old technology, it will still make very accurate parts. I've got the first 24' of aluminum angle and bar stock on the way, and we (the mill and I) should be making chips in the next week or so, I hope!

I do still need to wire in a circuit to get 220v. 1 phase power to near the machine, where a VFD (Variable Frequency Drive) solid state converter will turn the single phase power into 3 phase to run the spindle motors. The rest of the machine runs on 220v single phase.

It's been a lot of work so far, and it's taken a lot of time to get this far, but we should be making and selling some pretty neat gun stuff not too far down the road!

Mr. C's Super Sekrit Gun Oil

2011-10-13T21:38:00.000-07:00

Mr. C's Super Sekrit Gun Oil

It's been really busy around here this year, traveling around the Western US and to Holland for matches, working on new products for Magnum Shooters Supply, and planning for future growth of the business. Within the next week or so we should have our new (to us) CNC milling machine installed and operational, so we can start manufacturing some gun specialty parts in house. Watch for announcements on this in the near future.

One new product we are introducing is "Mr. C's Super Sekrit Gun Oil". I've developed this formulation based on both synthetic and petroleum components, combined with some special lubricating molecules that make the oil extremely slippery. I refer to those special molecules as my "Special Herbs and Spices". Several people who have experimented with the new gun oil have commented on how it seems to make the slide feel like it's on ball bearings, compared to their previous lubricant. You really can feel a difference! I've been running it in the Tanfoglio for testing ,and it works very well.

If a few of you gun bloggers out there would like to give this stuff a try and then write up a review of it, email me and I'll send you some to play with. Make sure you include your mailing address and the name of your blog.

More Nuze..............

2011-10-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

We had a good time over at the Kitsap Rifle & Revolver Club's full 8 stage Steel match this weekend. It's a great club, and we always have a lot of fun there. We went over on Friday afternoon so I could help a bit with setup, both Friday afternoon, and also on Saturday morning before the match, when we put the steel targets on to the target stands. The weather held out nicely for us, and it was mild and rain free all day. I had a particularly good day, both with the Tanfoglio 9mm. Gold Custom race gun and also with my High Standard rimfire racer. Both sporting OKO Red Dot sights of course! I ended up with personal bests with both guns, good enough to win both Rimfire and Centerfire! More importantly though, shooting the Tanfoglio is starting to feel a bit more natural as the individual operations are becoming more ingrained. The most difficult parts have, at least so far, been getting the gun out of the holster and getting the first shot off quickly, and allowing a little more time for the sight to settle onto the next target.I'm getting better at it, but I still need a LOT of practice!

It's now looking like we will be able to get the milling machine loaded onto a truck and bring it home late on Saturday. We will probably get it unloaded and into the barn early on Monday morning when we can get a fork lift here. Once we get it into the barn I've got a fork lift inside we should be able to move it into it's new location and start hooking everything back up, including running a 220V circuit to it. I've got a brand new VFD (Variable Frequency Drive) box to convert the 220V single phase power to 3 phase to run the spindle motors. The rest of the machine runs on 220V single phase. Hopefully I can get everything set up and wired in a day, and then I can start experimenting with programming it and doing some test machining.

On Sunday I'm planning on taking a day off and heading down to Puyallup for some steel shooting at the Paul Bunyan club. If you are in the area, come on down and shoot some steel!

Off To KRRC / Milling Machine Update

2011-10-07T13:14:00.000-07:00

This afternoon Keewee and I are off to the Kitsap Rifle & Revolver club for their last full 8 stage Steel Challenge match of the year. They will still be shooting steel every month, but this is the last "8 Stager" until January. The season is winding down, and it's been a busy one, for sure. I'll do a recap in a later post and cover where all we went and how we did.

The milling machine is still sitting in the current owner's shop over in Mukilteo, actually between Mukilteo and Hwy 99. The big hold up is getting a fork lift to lift it on to the truck. Even though all of us involved in moving the mill are experienced fork lift drivers, none of us has a Washington State Fork Lift Driver's License, and the rental yard won't rent us a fork lift unless we have a licensed driver! Luke, who's helping with the move, has been running every sort of heavy equipment you can imagine for most of his life, and has run fork lifts capable of lifting 120 tons. That's a BIG forklift! We've got the truck lined up, and a fork lift at my shop available to lift the mill off the truck, where my smaller fork lift can move it around in the barn. We just can't get it onto the truck in it's current location. What a pain.............

Heck with it for now, I'm going to Bremerton and do some shooting!

Idaho, and Back!

2011-10-02T20:55:00.000-07:00

Since my last post, KeeWee and I have driven to Nampa, Idaho, near boise, for the Idaho State Steel Challenge Championships. We left for Idaho last Thursday morning and got as far as Huntington, Oregon, where we stopped for the night. We parked our mini-land-yacht behind a hedge on the back side of a very small park that's maintained by the local Lion's Club. Behind the park was a large area with some train cars parked on the far side, a few hundred yards from us. What I hadn't noticed was that there were two main line set of rails barely a hundred feet from us. It looked like a large parking lot, and the rails weren't raised above the surrounding ground level at all, so they were just about invisible. During the night, though, we found out that there were quite a few big freight trains traveling that set of tracks! We were so tired, though ,that we barely heard them!

The next morning, Friday, we drove the last couple of hours to the range, and I help the guys to get all of the targets and steel set up for the match. Friday night we spent the night at the range. Saturday we shot the match, and right after the awards ceremony we drove as far as I could go until exhausted, which was the rest area in Yakima, Washington. After some sleep, we drove the remaining several hours home. It was a lot of long hours on the road, but the match was excellent, we met some great folks, and (except for the driving) had a great time!

How did we do? All of the final results are not posted yet, but KeeWee shot Rimfire Optic class, and ended up Top Lady. I Won Rimfire Optic overall, and shooting my Tanfoglio 9mm. in Centerfire Open Division was Top Super Senior. Since the entire results aren't up yet, I don't know where I placed overall in Open. Our squad was a really amazing bunch, with our squad also winning Centerfire Production, Centerfire Limited, and Overall Match Winner, too!

John Shaw was the overall Match Winner and Limited winner, and he has only recently come out of retirement and started competing again, as his son has gotten interested in competition shooting. With a Dad like John, he's got a super coach, as John won the very first Steel Challenge World championships about thirty years ago, and he's still to this day an outstanding shooter!

KeeWee has a post up showing some pictures from our stay in Huntington, and has a lot of match pictures on the way in future posts.

I'll try to get more posted on the trip, when I get some time!!

Gun Blogger Rendezvous Raises over $8,000

2011-09-25T20:32:00.000-07:00

We've just about got all of the accounting finished up, thanks to the help of Barrett Escrow, and it looks like the Gun Blogger Rendezvous raised about $6,000 for Project Valour-IT. Added to that is the yet to be determined amount being raised by SIG's generous donation of a SIG 1911, custom engraved with the Soldier's Angels logo, currently being auctioned off at Gunbroker.com. At the moment the price on it is $2,075, and there's still time for it to go even higher. Although the Gunbroker auction didn't happen at the Rendezvous, it was a direct result of SIG Sauer's participation in the Rendezvous as a sponsor, so I think it's OK to count it in there. Regardless, it's more money raised for Soldier's Angels and Project Valour-IT, so it's definitely good news!

I Haven't Really Disappeared!

2011-09-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been over a week since the Gun Blogger Rendezvous already, and I still haven't got any posts up about it. Granted, KeeWee has a good one up already, as do a lot of the other attendees. Why no posts here yet? Several reasons, but all are a combination of being pretty much exhausted from the Rendezvous and being swamped when I got back home. I'm not sure how it works that way, but you can be all caught up when you leave, be gone for six days, and when you get back you're two weeks behind! Go figure....

Here's some of what I've been up to, though. First, I am still working on getting the Tanfoglio Gold custom 9mm. race gun to where I want it to be. So far I haven't been able to get the loads and power factor down as low as I'd like. I took some weight off of the slide, though, and that seems to have made quite a difference. There is still some ways to go, but it's progressing nicely. I've also been working on getting my draw to first shot times down, and although I'm still not as fast as I need to be, it's steadily improving.I shot a club match on Sunday at Puyallup, and did OK both in rimfire and centerfire classes.

Second, I am in the process of buying and moving an old CNC milling machine so I can start manufacturing some specialty mounts for the OKO Red Dot sights and also some other competition gun parts. The older CNC milling machines don't cost much compared to more modern machines, but they still can do a very good job. They one I am getting is an Excello two head Vertical mill with a GE 1050 controller, for those of you familiar with that sort of thing. Of course, that means I need to get up to speed on CAD software and G-Code programming so I can run the mill!

Third, KeeWee and I are getting semi-organized for our trek to Boise, ID. for the Idaho State Steel Challenge Championships being held on Oct. 1st. This will be the first Idaho Steel Challenge Championships hosted by this club, and we really want them to have a successful match!

Fourth, I'm still getting the final accounting from the Rendezvous wrapped up, as we want to be sure every single penny is accounted for and everything all adds up as it should. We're just about done on that, though, and we should be able to send out a nice check to Soldier's Angels and Project Valour-IT very soon.

Finally, I'm shipping out some OKO red dot sights to folks. Shooters are finding out that thr OKO sight is available again, and they are starting to sell. No big volume of sales, but a little growth at a time.

Gotta get back to blogging, though......

Gun Blogger Rendezvous

2011-09-11T22:17:00.000-07:00

T HE

B E S T

E V E R ! ! !

More later.

(I need sleep..........)

Rendezvous hospitality Room Change

2011-09-08T14:04:00.000-07:00

There has been a last minute room change for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous Hospitality room. We are now using the Silver Baron "E" room instead of the Silver Baron "C". It is just a couple of doors over, and there is a Gun Blogger Rendezvous sign outside the door.

Otis Technologies To Sponsor Rendezvous Breakfast

2011-09-05T19:41:00.000-07:00

Otis Technologies, maker of some very fine cleaning kits, will be sponsoring the Saturday breakfast at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous. In addition, they will also be contributing one of their Elite Cleaning Kits to the Project Valour-IT Fund Raising Raffle at the Rendezvous.

Otis Elite Gun Cleaning Kit.

Here's the full description of the Elite kit:

The most innovative gun cleaning system in the Otis line of products is the Otis Elite®.

Suitable for an armorer but used by thousands, the Otis Elite® is designed to maintain all rifles .17 to .50 caliber, pistols .17 to .50 caliber, shotguns .410 to 12/10 gauge, and all in-line muzzleloaders. The Otis Elite® contains the world famous item #750 Tactical Cleaning System, and the entire line of bronze bore and chamber cleaning brushes from .17 caliber through 12/10 gauge.

Also included in this extensive cleaning system are six Memory-Flex® cleaning rods, an all purpose nylon receiver brush, a T-handle bar, three slotted tips, obstruction removers, small and large Patch Savers®, a bore reflector/flag safety, small caliber and all-caliber 100% cotton patches, and two .5 oz. tubes of Otis O85® Ultra Bore® Solvent.

All of the components are neatly stored in a black nylon, rust proof case which includes a lock and keys for additional security. The Otis Elite® now includes the brass scraper tool set, optics cleaning gear and an interactive instructional DVD. With over 40 gun cleaning components, detailed gun maintenance guide, and a lifetime warranty, the Otis Elite® is the Hallmark of Excellence in firearm maintenance.

To say that this kit is pretty nice is like saying the Pope tends to be a bit religious!

Come to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, buy a raffle ticket, and this Otis Elite kit could follow you home!

See you in Reno.................

September e-Postal Match is Now Underway

2011-09-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

This month's e-Postal match is now up and running over at True Blue Sams place. Go download the target and head out to the range, shoot 'em up, take a picture, and email it to True blue Sam to get entered.

You probably aren't getting out shooting nearly as much as you should, so here's a great reason to go empty some brass!!

Appleseed Certificate to GBR Attendees

2011-09-01T15:19:00.000-07:00

More great news from GG at Girls Love Guns!I've always thought it would be great to attend one of the Appleseed rifle clinics, and maybe this will be the incentive to finally do it!

The following has been "borrowed" from GG's blog:

HawkHavn of Appleseed has agreed to send Gun Blogger Rendezvous FREE APPLESEED gift certificates. We will be passing them out to all of those who have registered to attend GBR at the Saturday night shin dig. Whoohoo!

HawkHavn will also be sending free targets (who doesn’t love free targets?) as well as Appleseed brochures and business cards. I hope every GBR blogger uses this opportunity to learn about RWVA and its Appleseed program and to attend a free Appleseed shoot. These shoots are amazing.

Still Time To Register / Attend The Rendezvous

2011-09-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

There is still time to get your registration in and to attend this year's Gun blogger Rendezvous, but it starts next Thursday, September 8th., so you need to get hopping! If you send your registration Priority Mail (or FEDEX) today or tomorrow, I should get it in time to get you in. If not, or if it only becomes possible to attend at the very last minute, you can still get in. Download and print out your registration and bring it, along with your $30 / per person to the Rendezvous and give it to me directly, and I'll get you in. The Rendezvous is not full to capacity, and one way or another, if you show up, we'll get you in.

2011 Gun Blogger Rendezvous Registration Form

Hotel accommodations group rate pricing "Officially" ended 30 days before the first day of the Rendezvous, but they have been very good about honoring the group rate at the last minute, provided they have the room available. Be sure to contact them right away and give them the group code.

To reserve your room, give them a call at the Silver Legacy at 1-800-687-8733 and give them the Gun Blogger rendezvous Group Code of GBLOG11. When you are making your reservation, you might ask them if you can get a room that faces McCarran Park, so you can watch the hot air balloons from your window.

See you in Reno!

Driving Directions to the Ranges at the Rendezvous

2011-08-30T18:06:00.000-07:00

NOTE: The directions last year weren't very good, and we have re-written them this year to make the route more direct. HOWEVER, until we have one of the Reno Residents verify these directions, they are still only tentative. If there are any changes needed, we will post the changes as soon as we know what to change. The final directions will be available at the Rendezvous.

Driving Directions from Hotel to Washoe County Regional Shooting Facility – Pyramid Range Friday for long Range Rifle and Pistol, Saturday for Steel Challenge Pistol shooting.

Start at (Silver Legacy) 407 N VIRGINIA ST, RENO going toward E 5TH ST - go 0.3 mi
0.3 Turn RIGHT (East) onto E Maple St 131 yds
0.4 Take Ramp onto I-80
Take SR-445 [Pyramid Lake Hwy] exit towards Pyramid Lake
Follow road towards Pyramid Lake. Watch for sign to range.
26.8 (Approx.) Turn LEFT (West) onto Local road(s) 0.7 mi
27.5 Turn RIGHT (North-East) onto Local road(s) 43 yds
27.6 Arrive Range

SUMMARY
Driving distance: 27.6 miles; Trip duration: 31 minutes Driving time: 31 minutes

On Friday we will be shooting at the covered Public Shooting range area. On Saturday we will be at the Western Nevada Pistol League pistol bays. These bays are part of the same facility. The pistol bays are in the same area, but to the right of the public shooting area, down a dirt road.

The Pyramid Range

Driving Directions from Hotel to the Sage Hills Gun Club for Cowboy Fast Draw on Sunday.

On Sunday we will be shooting Cowboy Fast Draw at the Sage Hills Gun Club Range in Reno. 7370 Desert Way, Reno, NV. Sage Hill Clay Sports is located on the southeastern flank of the Washoe County basin, overlooking the city of Reno and its southernmost suburbs.

The club is easy to find if you follow our directions and not those of any online mapping service or your vehicle's navigation, its driving directions will dead-end you on the wrong street.

Follow these instructions instead:

Start at (Silver Legacy) 407 N VIRGINIA ST, RENO going toward E 5TH ST - go 0.3 mi
0.3 Turn RIGHT (East) onto E Maple St 131 yds
0.4 Take Ramp onto I-80 1.1 mi I-80
1.5 At exit 15, turn RIGHT onto Ramp 0.2 mi US-395 / Susanville / Carson City
1.7 Take Ramp (LEFT) onto US-395 1.3 mi US-395 / Susanville
From the 395, exit at Damonte Ranch Parkway and drive EAST.
Turn LEFT onto Steamboat Parkway.
Turn LEFT onto Rio Wrangler.
Follow Rio Wrangler onto the access road and into the shooting facility (we're up on the hill above you).

Tentative Schedule for the 2011 Gun Blogger Rendezvous

2011-08-30T17:42:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, September 7th.

6:00 Pm. For those arriving on Wednesday, KeeWee and I and some of the other early arrivals are planning on having dinner at the El Dorado Buffet Restaurant. The El Dorado is part of the same giant casino complex as the Silver Legacy and the Circus Circus.

Thursday, September 8th

8:30 am. Leave the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron C” Hospitality Room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.
2:15 pm. Leave the Hospitality Room to car pool to Cabela’s.
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm. Guided tour Cabela’s and browsing/shopping. Pick up munchies and soft drinks on way back to hotel. Buy ammo?
6:00pm. Leave the Hospitality Room to go to dinner. Location to be determined later.
Thursday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Friday, September 9th.

8:00am. NRA Sponsored breakfast in the Silver Baron “C” hospitality room. California firearms Attorney Chuck Michel will be talking to us over breakfast.
9:00am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, the Pyramid range for rifle and pistol target shooting out to 900 yards.
9:45am – 2:00pm. At the range.
4:00pm. – 5:45pm. Show-N-Tell at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Manufacturers and show new stuff, and attendees show neat things too!
6:00pm. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to go to Gecko’s BBQ Restaurant for dinner sponsored by GunUp.com.
7:30pm. (Approx) Alan Gura informally discusses legal stuff.
Friday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Saturday, September 10th.

8:00am. Otis Technologies sponsored Breakfast in the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron C" Hospitality room.
9:00am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, the Pyramid range for an introduction to Steel Challenge Action Pistol shooting and more.
9:45am – 2:00pm. At the range.
5:00pm – 6pm. Bill Brassard of the National Shooting Sports Foundation
6:00 pm. NSSF all you can eat pizza feed at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. After dinner will be the fund raiser raffle for Project Valour-IT and the drawings for the door prizes.
Saturday Evening until Midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Sunday, September 11th.

8:00am. Leave the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron C" Hospitality room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.
9:00am. Leave for the Cowboy Fast Draw Blogger Match.
10:00am – 1pm Cowboy Fast Draw Shooting with Quick Cal Eilrich.

The Cowboy Fast Draw shooting will be the last scheduled event of the Gun Blogger Rendezvous. For those not leaving until Monday however, there are still lots of things to do. Virginia city is nearby (you are already part way there at the Fast Draw venue), the Reno Car Museum, and the river walk through downtown Reno are all recommended. There may also be shows available for Sunday night of interest.

As you can see from the schedule, there is not a lot of time extra throughout the day, so we need to try to keep as close to on schedule as we can manage, otherwise it makes it difficult to have enough time for all of the activities. Although the conversations in the evenings tend to go well into the night, I would suggest not staying up too late, as you will regret it as the Rendezvous goes on!

Pro Ears Sponsorship of Gun Blogger Rendezvous

2011-08-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

I just got an email from Pro Ears (IMHO the BEST dynamic hearing protectors money can buy) and they are really stepping up to the plate with their sponsorship of the Gun Blogger Rendezvous and our fund raising efforts for Soldier's Angels and Project Valour-IT.

First, they will be giving a set of Ultra 33 hearing protectors to the first 35 attendees to register for and attend the Gun Blogger Rendezvous.

Pro Ears Ultra 33 Hearing Protectors

Second, they will be bringing bags of “stuff”, including stickers, DVD’s with images and videos, spec sheets, and more, for all registered attendees.

Third, they will have a gift promo code worth $50 at Proears.com, for all registered attendees.

Fourth, they will be donating 1 set of Pro Ears Pro Tac Mag Gold hearing protectors (MSRP $329.95) to the raffle.

Fifth, they will be bringing sample Pro Tac Mag Golds for all to try-about 3 or 4 sets—on the range.

Sixth, Charles Ricci, co-owner of Pro Ears, will be attending the Gun Blogger Rendezvous in person, and bringing some interesting stories about pro ears and hearing protection.

Charlie did mention that he wouldn't be bringing any of his guns, though, but I think we can find a few interesting things for him to shoot, don't you think?

All At The Same Time?

2011-08-30T09:46:00.000-07:00

Someone once said that man invented time so everything wouldn't happen all at once, and some days it seems like it didn't work, at least around here! For example, I've been trying to get some posts, pictures, and videos posted from the World Steel Challenge championships, held a week or so ago in Piru, California. When we take off for a few days, like to go to Piru, the work load overflows back at home, and when I get back I've got to work like a beaver to get caught back up. On top of that, the Gun Blogger Rendezvous is only a bit over a week away, and I'm scrambling to get the last minute details wrapped up for that. Believe it or not, I'm already working on things for NEXT year's Rendezvous! I've also got to shoot this month's e-Postal match today, and get that sent in.

KeeWee has already got two posts up on the Piru trip, including a lot of pictures, so you might want to go have a look at Part 1 and Part 2.

This year Dave Sevigny was shooting a High Standard pistol in rimfire. It used to be I was always the only one, but there were at least three High Standards this year, and probably more. Now if I could only shoot like Dave does!

In the meantime, here's a short video of BJ Norris shooting "Outer Limits" at the World Championships. On this run he actually had to take an extra shot to make up for a miss, but even so, his time was in an area seldom reached by mere mortals. Pay particular attention to his draw, and how little time and motion is used getting from the holster to the shot. Simply amazing!

It's no wonder BJ won Rimfire, Open, and was second in Limited, being narrowly edged out by Dave Sevigny, I think. With two overall wins and a second place, BJ was declared the "Steel Master", the overall champion. He's also a blogger, at least, when he finds time!

Congratulations to a nice guy who's also a totally amazing shooter.

KeeWee thinks he's cute, too.......

Lucky Gunner Sponsors Gun Blogger Rendezvous

2011-08-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

The good folks at Lucky Gunner are contributing a $100 Gift Certificate to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous for our Fund Raising Raffle.

In addition, they have set up a special discount code for $15 off of any purchase of $150 or more. They would like for the GBR attendees to share this special on their blogs as an exclusive deal for event participants and their blog following to enjoy.

Here are the details:

$15 off an order of $150 or more on LuckyGunner.com
Good for 1 use per customer
Expires this September 30th, 2011
Discount code: GBR-2011

Need ammo? check it out!

It's Bush's Fault

2011-08-27T08:11:00.000-07:00

"Miss me yet?"

It turns out that the earthquake in Washington D.C. was caused by a previously unknown and unnamed geologic fault. By decree President Obama has officially named the new fault "Bush's Fault" in honor of ex-president G.W. Bush.

History Channel & Top Shot Sponsor Gun Blogger Rendezvous

2011-08-25T08:57:00.000-07:00

When I was going over the list of sponsors, I knew I'd probably forget someone, and sure enough, I missed one of our newest Gun Blogger Rendezvous sponsors, The History Channel and the Top Shot Program.

I'm sure most of you are already watching Top Shot, but if you somehow missed it, it's a really enjoyable program. I watch almost no television at all, with the exception of the Top Shot show, and I've seen every episode of Top Shot from the very first one.

If you've missed the previous episodes, you can watch them on your computer by going to the Top Shot website. That's cool, since you can watch certain segments more than once, as I do!

Gun Blogger Rendezvous Supporters & Sponsors

2011-08-24T07:46:00.000-07:00

Here's a list of all the great sponsors and supporters who make the Gun Blogger Rendezvous possible.

Brownell's
Cabela's Reno
Cowboy Fast Draw Association
Crimson Trace
Front Sight Training Institute
GLOCK
GunUp
Leupold
Lucky Gunner Ammo
Midway USA
National Rifle Association
National Shooting Sports Foundation
The Packing Rat
Palomino Valley Gun CLub
Para-USA
Pro-Ears
Sage Hill Reno Rustlers
Smallest Minority
Springfield Armory
Sturm, Ruger, and Co.
Weatherby
Western Nevada Pistol League
Woolrich Tactical
SIG SAUER
J. Dewey Mfg.
Otis
History Channel/Top Shot
Magnum Shooters Supply

I certainly hope I haven't forgotten any of the great sponsors and supporters for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, but if you see someone I've left out, please leave me a comment and I'll get it fixed right away!

Thanks to True Blue Sam for pulling most of this list together for us!

Looks legit to me.........

2011-08-19T08:10:00.000-07:00

I got this email today:

Hi Dear..
For security causes
You have to update account details
Click on link below to go

Bogus Link Removed

PayPal Security Team

Gee, I didn't think they cared....................

Piru, Here We Come!

2011-08-16T16:26:00.000-07:00

This is the big week for Steel Challenge shooting, as the Steel Challenge World championships will be held in Piru, California on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The awards ceremony will be on Sunday morning. Where is Piru? Piru is up in the hills a bit West of Valencia. Valencia is best known for the Six Flags Magic Mountain Theme Park. Valencia is roughly a thirty minute drive North of the North end of Los Angeles, or more specifically, Burbank.

Tomorrow morning KeeWee and I board the Whidbey SeaTac shuttle for an hour and a half ride to the Airport, then fly from Seattle to Burbank. In Burbank I pick up the rental car and "White-Knuckle" my way out of LA and up the freeway to Valencia, where we are staying. Thursday morning at 8:30am I will be shooting the Rimfire Open division, shooting all eight stages in one day. I don't know yet when I will be shooting the Centerfire Open division, as it could be four stages on Friday and four stages on Saturday, or it could be all eight on either Friday or Saturday. I won't know until I get there.

The new Tanfoglio Gold Custom 9mm. race gun is working pretty well, and is pretty reliable, but it's just barely ready for prime time, so to speak. Each match it's a little better, but it still has more recoil than it needs, and it still stove-pipes once in a while. It's actually quite a bit ahead of schedule, as I had originally figured on not having it really ready for competition until early Spring, so having a few problems is still to be expected.

The weather in Piru is always horribly hot and miserable, but this year I think I've got a better handle on controlling dehydration and heat exhaustion, so I'm hoping problems from that will be minimal.

The Rimfire High Standard race gun with the Volquartsen barrel and OKO red dot sight has been working really well the last few weeks, and I'm fairly confident that it will do exactly what it's supposed to do, provided I do may part!

Since I don't know exactly what the shooting schedule will be, I don't know how much time I'll have for blogging from Piru, but I am taking my netbook so if I get the chance I can post a report or so.

Stay tuned..............

Chuck Michel To Address Gun Blogger Rendezvous

2011-08-15T19:10:00.000-07:00

Chuck Michel is the California attorney who represented the high school kid who was expelled from school for having his shotgun in his pickup truck that was parked off campus when he was in school as he had been duck hunting before going to school. Chuck got the lad back into school, recovered the legal costs, and the entire incident removed from the school records.

Chuck works with the NRA on firearms and Second Amendment cases in California. Chuck is planning on attending the NRA Breakfast on Friday morning at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, and hopefully, will be able to spend some time with us in the Hospitality room socializing!

If you have considered attending the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, this is definitely the year to be there. You don't have to be a blogger to attend, either. The Rendezvous is open to not only the Gun Bloggers, but to everyone who has similar interests, including industry folks, the NRA, The National Shooting Sports Foundation, competition shooters, and more. There will be attendees from New York, New Jersey, Ohio, and all over the United States.

We need a few more folks attending, just to fill it out to a nice comfortable size, without it getting to big and impersonal.

The Rendezvous is an event like no other, and if you miss it, you are going to kick yourself, particularly once you read the write-ups after the Rendezvous is over and find out what you missed!

So,

CLICK FOR GUN BLOGGER RENDEZVOUS INFORMATION AND WEBSITE
The 2011 Rendezvous will be September 8th, 9th, 10th, & 11th, 2011
at the Silver Legacy in Reno, NV.

Don't forget, all the money we raise at the Rendezvous goes to help injured military folks through Soldier's angels and Project Valour-IT.

2011-08-08T21:28:00.000-07:00

The results are all in and tabulated for the e-Postal match "Common Problems" just completed, so here they are:

Place	Name	Pistol	Score

	Rimfire Iron Sight
1	Mr. Borland	K-22	42
2	BILLL	Ruger Mk. I	38
3	True Blue Sam	Ruger Single Six	24
Tie	Firehand	S&W K-22	15
Tie	Danno	Ruger 22/45	15


	Rimfire Optic Sight
1	Mr. Completely	High Standard/OKO	44


	CF Iron Sight
1	BILLL	CZ-82 9x18	17
2	Duane	Ruger P-85 9mm.	14
3	Duane	Rock Island 1911 .45	3


	CF Optic Sight
1	Mr. Completely	Tanfoglio Gold 9mm.	40
2	Mad Gun	Tanfoglio Gold 9mm.	24

	CF. Rev. Iron Sight
1	Mr. Borland	S&W K-38 .38	43
2	BILLL	Rossi 971 .357	23


	Air Pistol
1	Duane	KJW 1911 Airsoft	18

Thanks to everyone who entered, and don't forget that this month's e-Postal match based on Top Shot, is now underway over at Sandcastle Scrolls. The number of entries was a bit light this month, so lets get lots of entries all shot up for the next one!

Win Ruger SR9C at Gun Blogger Rendezvous

2011-08-08T19:08:00.000-07:00

CORRECTION: Ruger is donating a SR9C (Compact) rather than a SR9B. Even cooler!!

The great folks at Ruger have come through big time in helping the Gun Blogger Rendezvous in our fund raising efforts for Soldier's Angels and Project Valour-IT. Ruger is donating a Ruger SR9C for our raffle. The SR9 series are a hot item right now, and I'm sure they can sell every one they can make, just as fast as they can make them!

WIN ME AT THE RENDEZVOUS

Yes, there is a little fine print, but here's the short version.

You must be able to legally own this gun to win it.
If you can't legally own it, for any reason, you have made a contribution to Project Valour-IT, but you don't win anything.
No substitutions.
You cannot give your ticket to someone else.
The name on the ticket must be the name of someone who can legally own this gun, else no gun.
No Exceptions.
You must present at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous at the time of the drawing to win.
All decisions are final.

Leupold Donates Scope And Camera to GBR-VI

2011-08-08T08:23:00.000-07:00

At last year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous Leupold donated a beautiful scope to the fund raising raffle, and this year they are not only donating another very cool scope, they are also donating two trail cameras! Some lucky raffle ticket holder at the Rendezvous is going to take home some really nice things!

Here's the details:

Leupold VX-R Patrol Scope

VX-R Patrol

Leupold’s VX-R Patrol optic features the exclusive FireDot illuminated reticle, which gives you a bright, clear aiming point in any lighting condition. Eight intensity levels to choose from, it provides the precise illumination needed to match the conditions.

A proprietary motion sensor automatically deactivates the illumination after five minutes of inactivity to conserve battery life and reactivates it as soon as motion is detected. A common CR-2023 coin-cell battery provides a remarkably long run time. A fiber-optic light pipe eliminates the need for an eyepiece-based control module.

Leupold’s legendary Index Matched Lens System^™ is paired with with edge-blackened, lead-free lenses for astonishing clarity and light transmission. Second-generation waterproofing resists fogging more effectively than standard nitrogen.

1.25-4 x 20mm
Exclusive FireDot illuminated reticle
Eight illumination intensity levels match any conditions
Automatic reticle deactivation conserves battery life
Index Matched Lens System for astonishing clarity
Extreme fast-focus eyepiece

RCX-1 Trail Camera System Kit

In-the-field programming, viewing and downloading in real-time
Real-time video camera alignment
Super-wide 54° camera image angle
XD image quality

Swing the hunting odds in your favor with this innovative plug-and-play trail camera. Take high-resolution color images during the day and infrared images at night, as well as a video option.

The RCX-1 8.0-megapixel camera has a super-wide 54-degree lens along with 36 infrared LEDS to deliver 45 degrees of heat/motion sensing coverage to a range of 45 feet.

Featuring a silent, digital shutter, the RCK-1 fires in the blink of an eye (less than one-second trigger speed) and operates on eight AA lithium batteries or alkaline batteries (not included).

RCX-1 Trail Camera Kit includes: camera, controller/viewer, 12-volt cable, car adapter, home adapter, USB cable, AA battery pack cartridge tray (batteries not included), lithium-ion battery (for the controller/viewer), six hex standoffs for mounting and a mounting strap.
Megapixels: 8.0.
Camera lens angle: 54°.
PIR sensor angle: Single PIR 45.
Maximum trigger range: 45 ft.
Infrared LEDs: 36.
Video/Audio: Yes/No.
Barometric pressure: No.

Trigger speed: Less than one second.

RCX-2 Trail Camera System Kit

In-the-field programming, viewing and downloading in real-time
Real-time video camera alignment
Super-wide 54° camera image angle
XD image quality

Leupold’s RCX-2 trail camera takes high-resolution color images during the day and infrared images at night, as well as video and audio.

The Dual Sensor Technology^™ (DST^™) 10.0-megapixel camera has a 54-degree lens, 48 infrared LEDs with the option of 10 degrees of sensing coverage out to 90 ft. Dual Sensor Technology gives you the option to have the 45-degree sensor and the 10-degree sensor active at the same time. Includes a silent, digital shutter, blink of an eye (less than one second trigger speed), and operates on eight AA lithium batteries or alkaline batteries (not included).

RCX-2 Trail Camera Kit includes: camera, controller/viewer, 12-volt cable, car adapter, home adapter, USB cable, AA battery pack cartridge tray (batteries not included), lithium-ion battery (for the controller/viewer), six hex standoffs for mounting, a mounting strap and a lock-down security plate and screws.
Megapixels: 10.0.
Camera lens angle: 54°.
PIR sensor angle: 45/10 Dual Sensor.
Maximum trigger range: 45 feet/90 feet.
Infrared LEDs: 48 or 36.
Video/Audio: Yes/Yes.
Barometric Pressure: Yes.
Trigger Speed: Less than one second.
Lock-Down Security Plate: Included.

Tanfoglio Gold Custom Progress Report

2011-08-08T00:14:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have been following along with the progress of the new Taqnfoglio 9mm. Gold Custom race gun, I can finally say that it's just about where it needs to be. The ammo load I've worked up shoots nice and soft with very little muzzle rise, yet I'm getting a power factor over 145. I tried shooting a few bowling pins with it, and it can really send a pin flying!

This video was taken by KeeWee yesterday at the Yakima Classic Steel Challenge match. I had a couple of stove-pipes, but that was with some ammunition that I wasn't quite happy with. The latest ammunition, though, ran beautifully all day. In spite of the stove-pipes costing me a bit of time, I still managed third place in Open Division, not very far behind second place.

Yes, my draw is still dreadfully slow, but that's mostly because I haven't been practicing it much. I've been spending most of my spare time getting the gun tuned and the load perfected.

I'm really getting to like the Tanfoglio, and as I continue to tweak it, it's just going to get better and better!

Gun Blogger Rendezvous News

2011-08-07T22:32:00.000-07:00

I've got so much new and interesting things going on regarding the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, I haven't been able to keep up with it all. There are going to be some new and fun things going on at the range on Friday and Saturday, along with the regular activities like in previous years. Weatherby and SIG SAUER are combining their efforts on the new activities.

Weatherby will be donating a new shotgun to the Project Valour-IT Fund Raising raffle, and Ruger is also donating a new pistol to the raffle. Dewey, makers of fine quality gun cleaning kits and rods, will be a new sponsor this year. Leupold will be adding a beautiful new scope to the raffle too. Pro Ears will be also sponsoring this year, and also letting us play with their hearing protectors at the range. We will be able to buy them at a very special Rendezvous price, if we find one we like.

This is just some of the highlights, but I've been so busy I haven't had time to really get posts up about all of the neat things going on for this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous.

If you don't go this year, I GUARANTEE you are going to kick yourself.

It's going to be amazing.

Hope to see you there!

Top Shot e-Postal Mach is Underway!

2011-08-07T21:57:00.000-07:00

Danno over at Sand Castle Scrolls has graciously jumped in at the last minute to host this month's e-Postal match. The blogger originally scheduled to host this month's match seems to have dropped out, so we needed a emergency replacement, and Danno had come up with an idea for a match, so BINGO, a win-win!

There will be prizes awarded by random drawing, provided by the Top Shot show, which, by the way, is starting it's season on Tuesday night. I've watched every show from the very first one, and although I wish there was more shooting and less "Personal Interaction Drama", I do realize it is a reality show, not a gun show, so that's why it's the way it is. I do like the way they explain a little about the various weapons and their history, and the fact that they portray the contestants as every day folks, rather than the way the media often mis-characterizes shooters.

Anyhow, this month's e-Postal match challenges you to split a bullet on the edge of an axe, like they did in one of last year's Top Shot Shows. Paper targets, rather than axes, though, will be used!

Go get your targets and have at it!

e-Postal Match Reminders

2011-07-27T09:02:00.000-07:00

Don't forget that this weekend is your last chance to shoot this month's e-Postal match. I will be accepting entries through midnight, Monday night, so get out there to the range, shoot some entries, and maybe resolve some "Common Problems" while you're there!

July e-Postal Match

Common Problems

Download the targets and rules, shoot the targets, score them, take pictures of them, and email them in. Simple, and fun!

Tanfoglio Update

2011-07-25T18:33:00.000-07:00

I've lost track of just how many trips I've made to the range over the last week or so, but I think it's been well worth the effort. After a lot of experimenting and fine tuning of the ammunition, it now seems to run like a charm. The last few hundred rounds of test ammo have all cycled without a single failure, with the exception of some even lighter loads that were used to find out just where the lower threshold might be. The recoil is very light and muzzle rise greatly reduced too. Although open class guns with compensators are really noisy to start with, this one is now significantly less ear-splitting than it was! Last evening I chronographed the match load to see just how much velocity there was and how much variation. The variation over about fifteen rounds was about 5%. Even with all of the work to find the best and lightest loads that were still accurate, the power factor still is almost 145, but it sure doesn't feel like it's anywhere close to that. I tried it on a few bowling pins, before I had chronographed the ammo, and I was doubtful as to how well the load would work for getting pins off the table. Boy, was I surprised! The 147 gr. hollow point bullet and a power factor around 145 removed the pins from the table with any doubt about it. I was really surprised, considering how soft it felt to shoot. I think I can probably reduce the load by another 5 or 10 percent and have it still run the gun reliably, but for now, I'm sticking with what I've got.

Next Saturday will be another big test as we're off to the Eddie Brown Memorial Metal Match just East of Coeur d'Alene Idaho, at the new range in Kellogg. The weekend after that it's over to Yakima for their big match of the year, all eight stages of Steel Challenge. The week after that, it's a fun steel match at Kitsap Rifle & Revolver Club, and the week after that, it's the Steel Challenge World championships in Piru, CA.

The next several weeks are going to be busy.........

In Other News........

2011-07-20T20:26:00.000-07:00

Paul Bunyan Steel Report - July 2011

2011-07-19T09:05:00.000-07:00

Even though it rained most of the day, at least it wasn't cold, so keeping warm wasn't a problem, just keeping dry! We had seventy guns entered, so the turn out was pretty good, considering the weather. The way the classes are set up is a bit unconventional, as there is no traditional Steel Challenge style Open class. Open class at Paul Bunyan includes all rimfire pistols, and anything else with an optical sight, and it's shot from a "Muzzle on the Barrel" start position. Shooting the Tanfoglio and starting with it in the holster costs you some time since you have to draw, but it's all for fun anyway, and I really need the match draw practice. There is a draw class at Paul Bunyan, but it is limited to centerfire iron sighted guns.

The Tanfoglio is still not quite where it needs to be, and I was getting double-feeds every so often which didn't help my times much! Even with that, though, I ended up 32nd. out of 70 overall, and a lot of the shooters ahead of me were shooting a rimfire gun, not drawing from a holster, or both. I've still got a long ways to go, but progress is being made, and I was reasonably satisfied with the progress with the new gun so far.

I don't have a lot of time to get it dialed in as the World Championships are next month, but I'm getting there. I just hope I can get it perfected in time!

After the match we stopped by the restaurant at the nearby airport to eat, relax, BS, and watch airplanes come and go.

After lunch we headed home. It was a fun day!

Woolrich Sponsors Gun Blogger Rendezvous

2011-07-19T08:22:00.000-07:00

I just got an email informing me that Woolrich will not only be sponsoring this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous, but that their sponsorship will be the donation of $800 to $1,000 worth of really cool clothing!

Here's the email from Allen Forkner:

Woolrich Elite Series Tactical wants to keep you in comfortable concealed carry clothing for a year.

Woolrich Elite is donating an “Elite for a Year” package to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous prize table. The winner of this will receive one Elite Series Tactical item every month for the next 12 months. This includes new products slated to be unveiled at the 2012 SHOT Show.

A leader in military and law enforcement tactical wear, Woolrich Elite Series is taking advantage of its traditional sportswear catalog to develop concealed carry products for the responsible citizen. These products deliver all the tactical utility, without the heavy tactical look.

Items such as the Elite Concealed Carry Chino, the Elite Discreet Carry Short-Sleeve Shirt or the Elite Discreet Carry Twill Jacket are designed to meet the needs of concealed carry.

See more at www.woolricheliteseriestactical.com or visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/woolricheliteseriestactical.com

Would I look good in that, or what?

Always need shirts......

Even the pants are cool!

If you have never been to a Gun Blogger rendezvous, then this is the year to be there! Many thousands of dollars of neat things including guns, training, clothing, and lots more will be raffled off to folks attending the Rendezvous. There will also be a whole lot of swag for door prizes too.

Lots of bloggers that you probably already read will be there, and some other interesting folks too. You don't have to be a blogger to attend, either! It will be the Gun Blogger Event of the Year, so get your reservations in NOW, as it's less than eight weeks away!

Off To Another Match.......

2011-07-16T22:31:00.000-07:00

This time of year it seems like every weekend we're off to another match, but it's not quite as busy as it seems. Tomorrow, Sunday, KeeWee and I are headed to Puyallup for a fun steel match at the Paul Bunyan Club, followed by lunch with the gang at the cool restaurant at the local airport.

I think I'm almost there with the Tanfoglio, as it's running more and more reliably each match.

I've replaced the walnut grips with a Hogue wrap-around grip with finger grooves that fits my relatively small hands perfectly. I'm hoping they will make it a little bit easier to get a proper grip when drawing from the holster. So far in practice it seems easier to get the proper grip with them.

I've also replaced the temporary over-sized left side safety lever with a slightly different shape, but almost the same. This time instead of the aluminum I used for the prototype, I made this one out of solid stainless steel. It should out-last the gun!

I've also taken some time to go through the gun and do a little polishing and smoothing on some of the inner bits, and the trigger feels a bit better. I still haven't got the load dialed in, but it's not too far off, although I'm shooting an estimated power factor somewhere around 135 or 140, which is still way too high. My goal is for a power factor about 125 to 128. Minimum required for major steel matches where they use target sensors is 120.

It's barely five weeks to the World championships in Piru, CA., and there's two major matches between now and then. I'd sure like to have the gun dialed in so all I have to worry about is my shooting!

See you all on Monday!

(Don't forget to send in your registration and book your hotel room for the Gun Blogger rendezvous, it's only seven weeks away!)

Kitsap Classic Steel Match Report

2011-07-15T11:33:00.000-07:00

So we could help with setup and pre-match details, Keewee and I headed over to the Kitsap Rifle & Revolver Club range a day early. We planned to spend Friday night at the range, and then shoot the match on Saturday. A lot of the work was already done when we got there, but Friday afternoon we helped to get all of the target stands set up and located so all we would have to do on Saturday morning was to haul all of the plates out to the bays and hang them on the target stands. We don't put the target plates out until the morning of the match as we don't want someone shooting them with a high powered rifle and ruining them by putting holes through them!

Pre-match setup went smoothly, and I sure do like the 5/16" AR500 steel target plates they got from MGM Targets. Not only are they standing up well under a lot of usage, they are also a lot lighter than the 3/8" plates and they seem to ring louder when you shoot them. They seem to be well worth the cost in the long run.

Friday evening after the setup was complete a few of us headed over to the Red Apple Diner for dinner. After dinner we went back to the range and settled in for the night in our mini-RV. Saturday morning the weather looked like we were in for a very nice day, and that's exactly how it turned out!

The match went smoothly, and we all had a grand time. I shot the new 9mm. Tanfoglio race gun in Open Division, and also shot my High Standard in Rimfire Optic. In the final results our squad did very well, with James Austin winning Revolver, and also winning the Centerfire Division overall. I managed a win in Rimfire, and also the fastest time of the day for all entries. Will from the Paul Bunyan club won the Iron Sight Centerfire division, and was second overall in centerfire. The new Tanfoglio and I were third overall in Centerfire, and "Won" the Open division. The reason "Won" is in quotes is that I was the only Open division gun entered, so I was not only first, but also dead last in Open division! Maybe it sounds better to say I finished right in the middle? KeeWee was fourth in Rimfire, and top Rimfire Lady.

The new Tanfoglio is coming along, and although it's not ready for "Prime Time" yet, it's just about there. I've got a couple of other bullets to try next week, and the gun is feeding and cycling pretty well. I modified a Hogue wrap around grip to fit the Tanfoglio, and I think it helps me find a good grip while drawing. I'll give it a try this weekend at Paul Bunyan's Steel Match. There's not too many more matches before we leave for Piru, CA. and the World championships, and this year I am planning to shoot both Rimfire and Centerfire Open divisions there, so that should be interesting. The fast guys certainly have nothing to worry about, but maybe I can sneak up on some of the super Seniors? Who knows, but it should be fun! (Except for the heat, of course.)

After the match we caught the ferry from Port Townsend back to Whidbey Island, and then home. We got a chance to ride on the brand new ferry that they just put in service on that run. What a pathetic boat. They say that the platypus is what you get when an animal is designed by a committee. The new ferry is what you get when you have a ferry boat designed by a State Government Committee. It's definitely a floating platypus. However, that's a subject for another post......

Project Valour-IT

2011-07-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

All of the money we can raise at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous goes to Project Valour-IT, a division of soldier's Angels. What exactly is Project Valour-IT? Let's let Maj. Chuck Ziegenfuss, the founder and first recipient, explain it:

Chuck has attended some of the Gun Blogger Rendezvous' in the past, but now that he's stationed in Hawaii, it's a bit far to travel for him. There WILL be someone at this year's Rendezvous representing Project Valour-IT, and although specifically who it will be has not been confirmed, it's going to be someone you will enjoy meeting if you are there!

Get your registrations in ASAP. You don't want to miss out on all the fun!

A hat tip to True Blue Sam for showcasing Chuck's video!

Gun Blogger Rendezvous - 8 Weeks Away!

2011-07-12T09:33:00.000-07:00

This year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous is going to be a blast, with lots of raffle prizes, including several guns, lots of door prizes, two range days, food, conversation, lack of sleep, pizza, the NRA, special offers from sponsors, and a ton more cool things. Even with all the fun things going on, the best part is the chance to meet up and spend some time with all of the Gun Bloggers attending the Rendezvous. Although it is a fun event, a charity event, and a shooting event, more importantly, it is a social event, a feature often overlooked by other gatherings. The primary attraction is not the events and activities, it's the attendees themselves, and that makes a huge difference. You can not imagine what an interesting bunch of folks make up the Gun Bloggers gang!

The Gun Blogger Rendezvous is September 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th. A number of us show up on Wednesday, though, and don't leave town until Monday morning, the 12th.

You do not have to be a Gun Blogger to attend the Rendezvous. The Rendezvous is open to anyone who reads the Gun Blogs, is involved in shooting sports, follows and participates in 2nd. Amendment and RKBA issues, is in the industry, or is in any way interested or involved in the stuff we write about on the Gun Blogs.

To Attend the Rendezvous there are two main things you need to do, and do soon! First, you need to send in a registration along with your thirty bucks.Here's the

2011 Gun Blogger Rendezvous Registration Form

Second, you need to contact the Silver Legacy and book your room. To reserve your room, give them a call at the Silver Legacy at 1-800-687-8733 and give them the Gun Blogger rendezvous Group Code of GBLOG11. When you are making your reservation, you might ask them if you can get a room that faces McCarran Park, so you can watch the hot air balloons from your window. The earlier you book your room, the better chance of getting a room facing that way. Sure, there are cheaper places in Reno, but staying in the event hotel is a big advantage, and the rates are reasonable for the quality of the room, and free internet in your room is included.

For lots more info on the Rendezvous, and schedule of events and pictures from previous years, check out the Gun Blogger Rendezvous website.

Go for it!

Kitsap Classic Steel Match Saturday

2011-07-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

Shoot the outside four targets first, then shoot the one in the middle, as fast as you can. There will be shooters at the match shooting all five in less that three seconds total!

The big Steel Challenge match of the year is coming up this Saturday, and I'm really looking forward to it. The Kitsap Rifle & Revolver club is a great club with great members and a really nice range. Since my "home" gun club doesn't have the facilities to shoot steel matches, the KRRC club (of which I am also a member) is my "Home away from home" club for steel matches. Granted, I also joined the Yakima Rifle & Pistol club for basically the same reasons, but the mountain passes doesn't always let me get to the Yakima matches through the Winter.

Since this will be a full eight stage match, it will be a good match to use as a "benchmark" to track my progress with the new Tanfoglio Open class gun. If I can do reasonably well at Kitsap with the Tanfoglio, then I will probably take it to Piru to the World Championships and enter both Rimfire Optic and Centerfire Open classes. I have absolutely no chance of winning either class overall at the World Championships, but I would sure like to give the Super Seniors a little competition!

I'm still experimenting with loads for the Tanfoglio, and I think I'm getting pretty close to what I need. Last week in Yakima I was shooting close to maximum loads and the recoil and noise were significant. For this week I've got it turned down quite a bit, and it seems to still be running the gun without problem. The proof is in shooting the match, however, so we'll just have to see how it goes.

KeeWee and I are still nursing head colds, although mine is now on the decline. Hers, however, is a bit worse right now. I hope the weather turns nice for the weekend, as it's much less miserable with a cold when it's not wet and rainy.

Our plans are to head out on Friday afternoon and take the Whidbey to Port Townsend ferry. From Port Townsend it's just over an hour's drive to the range. We should be there early enough to help out with last minute setup and details. We plan to spend the night at the range, and shoot the match on Saturday. After the match, we hope to catch an evening ferry back to Whidbey Island, and then home.

If you have never been to a Steel Challenge match, you might want to come check this one out. Steel Challenge is very "Spectator Friendly" and there is no charge to come and watch the match. You DO want to bring some eye and ear protection, though.

Why not come have a look?

e-Postal Match "Common Problems"

2011-07-05T11:44:00.000-07:00

We had some last minute changes in the e-Postal Match hosting Schedule, and I am going to host this month's match right here.

We all have problems with our shooting from time to time, and it's common to hear "Hmmmm, I'm shooting low and left. I wonder what I'm doing wrong?" or something similar at the range.

Well, this month's e-Postal target is designed to not only give you problems, but to also help you solve your problems, too! How cool is that?

RULZE:

This month we have seven classes, so there's a place for just about everything.

TARGET: The same target is used in all classes. Don't try to print the target from the image in this post. It won't be the right size. The outside circle should measure just over 7 3/8". With some PDF software you might need to select "No Scaling" and other software you may need to select "Fit To Paper" to get the size right.

The target should be downloaded from here:

Click here to Download the PDF file "Problems"

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 no more than a 14" barrel, any sights, scopes, laser, whatever. This class is primarily for target pistols.

If you have something interesting to shoot that doesn't quite fit in 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: In each class you are allowed ten shots at the target.

The inner circles are valued as numbered.
A shot touching any of the "Problem Areas" counts as a -1, a one point penalty.
Outside of the outer circle, but still on the paper is a -2, a 2 point penalty.
Touching the outermost circle will be considered as being entirely inside the circle.
Missing the paper completely is a -5, a 5 point penalty.

Touching a line, or touching two or more areas with one shot counts as hits in all of the areas touched. For example, a hit that touches the intersection between two "Problem Areas" and the 1 ring gets 1 for the 1 ring, plus 2 penalties of -1 each, for a score of (+1 -1 -1) or -1 for that shot. However, hitting the line between any of the center scoring rings (Rings #2 through #5) counts only as the higher of the two rings, not their total. For example, a shot hitting the line between the 4 and the 5 ring scores as a 5.

Ties will be decided based on the least number of problems.

Mark your score 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.

I suspect that this target will be, like most of the e-Postal matches, a lot harder that it looks. Don't throw away your targets in disgust when you think you did poorly. Send them in! You will probably be surprised to find out that you did a lot better than you thought.

STRATEGY: Beats me.........

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.

The rules are subject to revision as needed, should the need arise.

All entries must be received by Midnight on Monday, August 1st, and results will be posted within seven days, or less.

If you have any questions, leave the question in the comments to this post, or send me an email, or both.

Have fun!!

Not A Bad Weekend, Considering......

2011-07-04T12:25:00.000-07:00

Last Friday mid-day I was still scrambling back and forth between the range and the loading bench, trying to figure out a good load and bullet combination for the Tanfoglio for Saturday's steel match in Yakima. The powders I had been experimenting with were too fast to burn, and I couldn't get a recipe that would reliabily cycle the gun without getting close to exceeding allowable pressures.

One powder I had experimented with seemed to be pretty close to what I needed, but I was just about out of it. My friend Lou, of the "Mad Gun" blog, also a Tanfoglio Gold Team 9mm. owner, suggested I try Power Pistol, a powder which had been working well for him. Fortunately on Thursday I had made a quick trip (two hours each way) and bought a couple of pounds of power pistol to try it out.

I didn't have time to work up to an ideal load, so I decided to go with one a bit on the hot end of the range, but that worked well for Lou. I loaded up ten or twelve rounds and scurried over to the range. Although they were loud and had some recoil, the accuracy was good, and the gun ran without problem. I I rushed home and loaded up forty more, and went back to the range to run them through the gun. Ten rounds was no where near enough testing to have any confidence in the load. The forty rounds ran fine, so back to the bench to load a couple of hundred rounds for the match. After getting the ammo ready, it was a rush back into the house to get packed, a shower, and put on some clean clothes.

Our plans had been to try for the 2:30pm ferry over to America, but even with all the delays and last minute stuff, we still managed to get out the door in time to catch the 3:00pm boat. We wanted to get at least past Bellevue before traffic got really ugly, being a holiday weekend, and Highway 405 through Bellevue can be one of the worst in the US when it gets ugly. It was starting to get heavy, but was still passable when we went through Bellevue, and just past Bellevue we pick up I-90 which takes us across Snoqualmie Pass and into Eastern Washington. I-90 was also starting to get loaded too, but we were just early enough that the giant Friday afternoon Seattle Exodus to Eastern Washington for the weekend was still building. Once across Snoqualmie, we passed Cle Elum, and continued East to Ellensburg, where we pick up a different freeway headed South towards Yakima. Once we hit Yakima we turn East again for a few miles, past Moxee, and then a couple of more miles to the range. For a bunch of good pictures of the scenery and stuff along the way, check out KeeWee's post at KeeWee's Corner. We arrived a couple of hours before sunset, and parked our mini-land-yacht for the night. We were treated to a really nice sunset.

The next morning we were up bright and early, and I helped to get the plates hung on the target stands in the range bays in preparation for the match. After signup and a short shooter's meeting, we broke into squads and got to the shooting part! We had a little over fifty guns entered, so not a bad turnout, considering a number of shooters were taking the weekend off as they had been to the USPSA Area 1 championships the previous weekend.

This was going to be an interesting match for me, as it was the debut of my Tanfoglio 9mm. race gun, and the Rescomp CR Speed holster. I hadn't had a lot of time to practice the draw, and I was expecting to be slow out of the holster. I had never shot the Tanfoglio at steel, and it was only approximately sighted in, so I figured I may be doing some point of aim compensating in the match. For the Tanfoglio this was going to be more of a "Shakedown Cruise" rather than a match, as I was mostly interested in just having some fun shooting it, and finding out what was working, and what wasn't. Next weekend at Kitsap Rifle & Revolver Club is the Kitsap Classic, and I really want to have things running smoothly for that.

The weather, although a bit warm for us Western Washington types, was nice, with temperatures in the mid to upper eighties. KeeWee had an umbrella to keep her out of too much sun, and I had bottled water and Gatorade powder to mix into the water to keep from getting dehydrated.

It seemed like the match was over in no time, but KeeWee and I both felt seeking a cooler place would be nice! The Tanfoglio had run well all day, in spite of the recoil and noise. My draws were nothing spectacular, but not excessively slow for just getting into it, either. My split times between plates with the Tanfoglio were better than I was expecting to do. All things considered, it had gone very well. In the Open class, we only had one other entry, so I either won Open, or came in next to last, depending on how you look at it! As a reference though, my time was about the same as the winning time in Centerfire Limited, so it's a good starting point, and hopefully with enough practice I can get some reasonable scores. I am seriously considering taking the Tanfoglio to Piru, California for the Steel Challenge World Championships in August and entering Open as well as rimfire. It will all depend on how it goes this weekend in Kitsap. That will be the first real test to see if I can shoot it well enough that I don't embarrass myself in Piru!

After the match was over, several of the guys wanted to try out the Tanfoglio and I hadn't used up all the hastily loaded ammunition, so we emptied a bit more brass just for the fun of it.

We wanted to get on the road home before it got too late in the day, so we loaded up and headed out. We made a stop at the Dairy Queen for ice cream, a gas station for some fuel and a big diet Pepsi for me, and headed home. A little over five hours later we pulled into the driveway at Castle Completely. It had been a fun weekend, and Murphy only showed up a couple of times!

Next weekend, on to Kitsap for the Kitsap Classic! It's gonna be fun!!

Head Cold, Yakima, Tanfoglio, etc.

2011-07-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

A few days ago i started coming down with a cold, and with several matches coming up soon, l that didn't cheer me up much! Fortunately it kept out of my lungs, mostly, and I'm still dealing with a stuffed up head. Bleh...

I've been making lots of trips to the range getting a good load worked up for the Tanfoglio so hopefully I can shoot it tomorrow in Yakima at their monthly steel match. A custom race gun is to some extent experimental, and is definitely modified to do well in a specific set of conditions. The ability to accurately and reliably run whatever ammo is on sale at the moment is not a consideration. The primary attributes are reliability in firing and feeding, power factor, felt recoil, muzzle rise, velocity, and amount of gas produced to run the compensator. Depending on the type of competition, different attributes are more or less important.

I think I'm getting close to a good load, and I'm going to head over to the range at least once more before we leave this afternoon to do a little more testing. If it works, then I'll load up a couple of hundred rounds for the match on Saturday.

After I get it dialed in I'll look at doing a post just on picking loads for competition.

In the meantime, though, I'm off to the range for some testing.

Have a fun and safe Independence Day!

Our Guy James Does Good!

2011-06-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

I just saw this press release come through, and thought I should get it posted. James is a fellow GunUp team member, and an amazing revolver shooter.

Austin 3-Peats With Area 1 Revolver Win

SEDRO-WOOLLEY, Wash. - For the third year in a row James Austin of Fox Island, Wash. has claimed the Revolver division title at the USPSA Area 1 Regional Handgun Championship, Presented by Springfield Armory.

Austin, who won seven of 12 stages, led the field after winning the first two stages but fell to second behind Brian Noel of Mercer Island, Wash. Austin reclaimed the lead from Noel on the fifth stage and held it through the remainder of the match. Austin finished with a final score of 1160.8658 points.

"With seven stage wins, and his third consecutive Revolver division title, James is proving hard to beat when it comes to the Area 1 wheelgun match," said Chuck Anderson, the USPSA Area 1 director.

Noel, who won two stages, finished in second place with 1101.3063 points. Third place went to Sam Keen of Gallatin, Tenn. who also won two of the 12 stages in the match and finished with a final score of 1074.7420.

Rounding out the top five were Dan Short of Elk Grove, Calif. in fourth with won one stage and a score of 953.9938, and Alan Kies of Tacoma, Wash. in fifth place with 822.9192.

Kies' fifth place finish put him atop the senior competitors to take the Senior Revolver title. Ron McGraw of Cottage Grove, Ore. finished as the top Super Senior in the match with a final score of 639.9367 points.

The 2011 USPSA Area 1 Regional Handgun Championship, Presented by Springfield Armory, was held June 22-26 at Albany Rifle and Pistol Club in Shedd, Ore. and drew 318 top pistol shooters from around the country, as well as Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, the states that make up the Area 1 region.

To learn more about practical shooting, or join the 20,000 members of the U.S. Practical Shooting Association in the most dynamic and fast-paced shooting sport around, visit USPSA.org, follow @USPSA_Shooting on Twitter, like USPSA on Facebook or read the Practical Shooting blog.

Contact:

GunUp to Host Rendezvous Dinner

2011-06-23T16:14:00.000-07:00

More great news! At this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous, coming up in mid-September in Reno, GunUp.com will be hosting our dinner on Friday night. We plan on going to the truly spectacular Buffet Dinner at the El Dorado hotel, part of the complex where the Gun Blogger Rendezvous is held. GunUp

CEO Dan Hall is planning on being there in person, and there's a good chance Caleb Giddings, who now works for GunUp, will also be there. No decision has been made yet as to if any of the GunUp Pro Staff and shooting team will be there. If you would like to meet Kelly Bachand (from the first year of Top Shot), Molly Smith, or James Austin in person, drop Dan an email at dan@gunup.com and let him know.

While you're at it, you might mention how much we appreciate the support for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous from GunUp!

This Month's e-Postal Match

2011-06-21T07:31:00.000-07:00

With all the running around I've been doing lately, I completely forgot to update the link at the top that takes you to this month's e-Postal match. This month's match "Get Schooled" is hosted by Phil at Random Nuclear Strikes.

Phil was one of the first hosts when I took over the e-Postal matches from Og, the Neanderpundit. Og wasn't getting very much participation, so he decided to let it go. Phil and I thought they were so much fun that we decided to keep the ball rolling and run them ourselves. Phil is the one who actually coined the phrase "e-Postal".

Participation has been lighter this year compared to previous years, so if you are a blogger we'd sure appreciate your help in spreading the word and getting participation back up where it ought to be. If you are a blog reader and shooter, and you haven't entered for a while, (or never?) why not print out the targets and head out to the range!

Clicking absolutely anywhere on this entire line (Ain't technology wonderful?) will take you to Phil's post where you can get the rules and targets.

See you at the range!

Tanfoglio Gold Custom 9mm. Race Gun

2011-06-17T20:09:00.000-07:00

Tanfoglio Gold Custom 9mm.

Shooting Steel Challenge in the Open Division was something I've always wanted to do, but the cost of a competitive race gun combined with the cost of all the ammunition you need to shoot to be competitive had kept me in the Rimfire Open class. Now, thanks to Hans Wigger of Dutch Firearms Trading, I will be able to give the Open Division a go! Hans made me an offer I couldn't refuse on a used Tanfoglio Gold Custom 9mm. pistol that had been shot a lot and needed some new parts, but was still in very good condition. Getting it here from Holland was a challenge, but not at all where you would expect it to be challenging and difficult. The ATF folks were friendly and helpful for applying for the import permit. Once I got the import permit, an export permit was fairly straight-forward in Holland.

Once I had all of that paperwork taken care of, I figured it would be straight-forward to actually get it shipped to my local FFL to have it transferred to me. Boy, was I ever wrong! None of the major shippers such as UPS, FEDEX, DHL and some others would ship a pistol. I checked with the airlines that flew from Amsterdam to Seattle, such as Delta and a few others, including a freight only airline, and no luck. I finally had to hire a freight forwarder to coordinate the shipment, and that brought on a whole lot of folks with their hands out for a piece of the action, fee-wise.

After many months of frustration, I got notice that the package had finally arrived in Seattle, and I had to take the papers to Customs to get it cleared into the country. The Customs folks looked over the paperwork, and stamped it OK. It didn't take ten minutes, and it would have been even quicker if there hadn't been someone in line ahead of me.

From Customs I drove to the Continental Airlines air freight office and handed them the paperwork. They charged me another $35 handling fee, and then handed me the package. Finally it was here!

After getting home, I eagerly unpacked it and started to get it set up for left-handed use. I installed the standard ambidextrous safety, but with my small hands I couldn't reach the safety lever on the right side. I made a prototype safety lever for the right side of the gun that I could reach, and mounted it instead of the Tanfoglio part. That's the new one in the picture. By making it sit farther rearward and also lower, I could now reach it.

I just got back from the range after putting forty or fifty rounds of assorted/leftover 9mm. through it, and it's obvious that when they fixed it up for me they must have figured I was going to be running some heavy loads, as the only ammo that would regularly cycle the gun were some old bowling pin loads! I will put in a bit lighter spring, and then it should work just fine.

When I finally get this Gold Custom dialed in and the right load worked up, this is clearly going to be one sweet shooter!

I can hardly wait........

A little fishin', and stuff

2011-06-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

KeeWee and I were planning to fire up our mini land yacht and head over to Banks lake in Eastern Washington on Friday morning. At the last minute the one client she had scheduled for Thursday canceled, so we decided to load up and head over a day early. Getting there a day early makes the trip a lot more relaxing, and you get in a lot more sitting around, eating, sleeping, and of course, fishing! We pull a 12' aluminum boat along on a trailer behind us, and you can barely tell it's there when you are driving. Backing it up is a challenge, though, to launch it, as you can't really see it behind you, and when it gets sideways enough that you CAN see it, it's time to start over.

This was the Fishin' Club annual Banks Lake outing ,and we always have a great time. On Saturday afternoon we even had some pan fried walleye, caught the day before. Boy, is walleye ever delicious!

KeeWee has a post up, along with some pictures over at KeeWee's Corner, so for more on our trip, have a look!

The weather even cooperated all weekend ,with no wind and no rain. I can deal with the rain, but when the wind comes up, you don't want to be on Banks Lake regardless of how big your boat might be.

It made for a nice R&R weekend, but it was over WAY too soon...

Saul Kirsch Wins European Steel Challenge

2011-06-09T11:30:00.000-07:00

The competition was stiff with shooters from all over Europe competing for the European Steel Challenge Championship title. This year's overall winner was Saul Kirsch. Saul also won the title two years ago, with Jorge Ballesteros winning all the marbles last year.

I've got some pictures, results, and lots of stories from the match, but this weekend KeeWee and I are taking a quick vacation to Banks Lake in Eastern Washington for a little sunshine, fishing, and relaxation.

In the mean time, try to stay out of trouble, and we'll be back Sunday night.......

Report From Winterswijk

2011-06-04T07:02:00.000-07:00

It seems like I've been going continuously for the last few days, or asleep, one or the other! The traveling to get here in Winterswijk was long and tiring, including a couple of hours on the shuttle bus to get to the airport, hanging around the airport for four hours, explaining to the airport ticket counter lady what her airline's firearms policies were since she didn't know them, ten hours on a Boeing 767 (way more comfortable than the Airbus) meeting friends at the Amsterdam airport, another couple of hours drive, and we were finally in Winterswijk. WHEW! As we had planned, I met up with Robin Taylor at the Amsterdam airport, and we traveled together, and are now sharing a hotel room to keep costs down. Robin puts together the Front Sight MAgazine, and is also a very good competitive pistol shooter.

The first night we had dinner with all of the range officers and families that are running the match. It was really great to again see all the wonderful folks that I have met here in Winterswijk the last two years.

Friday morning we had an outstanding breakfast at the hotel, then walked to the range, only a few minutes away. Since I hadthings fall into place at the alst minute so I could also shoot the Centerfire Open class, I had to get the paperwork sorted out for my start time and such. I had originally been scheduled to shoot Rimfire Open ay 8:45am on Saturday, but it worked out best to schedule Centerfire Open in that time slot and move rimfire to that afternoon at 3pm.I hung around te range visiting with everyone for a while, then walked back to the hotel to get my gun and equipment for shooting rimfire.

Although I struggled a bit on the first two stages, I managed to keep a handle on it and not let it get out of control and ruin my score for the day. As I moved through the stages I continued to get stronger and stronger, and the last few stages went extremely well. I tried to stick to the game plan, which was to shoot a little bit conservatively and be sure of my scores, rather than to go for broke and have the match possibly come apart completely.

After finishing shooting, I took a break in the lounge above the indoor range and waited for the days provisional results. When the day's scores were posted I was happy to see that I was in third place, significantly faster than last year. Granted, there are a whole lot of really fast shooters who have not yet shot the match, so I will most certainly move well down the list. Even so, since one of my rimfire team mates also shot well, he was right behind me in 4th., also much better score than last year. Hans, the best shooter in our team, would shoot on Saturday afternoon. Our team is called "Fast & Furious fifties" since we are all also in the Senior Division.

For me to shoot the Centerfire Open class, I needed to borrow a pistol, and Hans had offered me the loan of his, once he had finished using it on Friday afternoon. Just before leaving the range for dinner, Hans loaned me the gun to give me a chance to adjust My CR Speed holster to fit it. The pistol was a beautiful Tanfoglio 9mm. Gold Custom Team model, and it had be fully tuned and set up by Willie Van Mulekom, a Tanfoglio wizard who does all of the warranty work for Tanfoglio. Even with adjustment to the holster, the gun was almost impossible to get it fully into the holster. We fiddled with it as best we could, and I decided that after dinner I would have to do some modifications to thepart of the holster to get it to work properly. I also discovered that the safety on the right side of the gun was almost unreachable as my left thumb was too short! I decided that I would have to reach for the safety with both thumbs and hope one or the other would be able to hit the safety. This was going to be interesting!

We all had dinner at the Chinese Buffet Restaurant across the street from the hotel, and enjoyed a pleasant evening of conversation. After dinner Robin and I headed back to the hotel so I could tinker more with the holster.I scraped and carved on the holster to the way I hoped would do the job, and then we turned in for the night.

After another hearty breakfast at the hotel, we walked out to the range. Robin was also shooting with the same start time, but starting on a different stage. My plan was to shoot the match as smoothly and safely as possible, and not to worry about times at all.With an un-familiar gun, holster, and class, that was the only plan I even considered! Considering all of that, the match went fairly well, although I lost a lot of time on a couple of stages. It turns out that the gun was sighted in to shoot high at the farther plates, and to hit them you have to aim very low. I shot over the top of a number of plates until I figured that out. It also turned out that the magazine release was under recoil, trying to be at the same place as my trigger finger. The end result was that some times after a couple of shots the magazine would fall out! On my own Tanfoglio I will make sure the magazine release is short and that it has a fairly heavy spring, so that won't happen again. Even with those problems, when the day's scores were posted, I wasn't dead last, only next to last! In fact, if you take out the time lost shooting over the top of the far plates and the time lost putting the magazines back in, I was not far from the middle of the pack, and as far as I'm concerned, it was a very successful match, and I learned a lot about the gun and how it needs to be when I am setting up my own. In spite of all of the problems, I also had a whole lot of fun shooting it, and I can hardly wait ujnti lthe next time!

That's the end of my report for now, but I'll try to get more posted later.

Winterswijk, Here I come!

2011-06-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

In a little over four hours I will board the shuttle bus for the hour and a half bus ride to the Seattle-Tacoma airport. At six thirty my flight is scheduled to take off for the ten hour flight to Amsterdam, arriving at 1:30pm Amsterdam time. Robin Taylor, the editor of Front Sight Magazine will arrive at the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam thirty minutes before I arrive, and we plan to meet there, then ride with Hanneke Vermeulen out to Winterswijk, where the European Steel Challenge match is held. It's about an hour and a half by road to get there. Hanneke is the co-editor and publisher of a magazine in Europe covering IPSC and Steel Challenge shooting, unfortunately I can't remember the proper name of their magazine. (Note to self: Write down the name of Hanneke's magazine so you can remember it!)

To help keep costs down, Robin and I will be sharing a room in Winterswijk. The hotel is barely a block from the range, so we don't need to rent a car while we're there. Unfortunately KeeWee will not be making the trip this year as she is planning to travel to New Zealand this Fall to visit family instead, and we just don't have to money to pay for both trips. In fact, if it were not for my sponsor GunUp.Com, I wouldn't be able to go, either!

Robin will be shooting Centerfire Iron Sight class, and I will be shooting the Rimfire Optic and Centerfire Optic classes. Monday morning after the match I will be heading back to the airport to fly home, while Robin will be staying one more week and shooting an IPSC match in Germany before flying home.

This will be an interesting match for me, particularly my venture into Centerfire Optic Class. This will be my first major match in Centerfire Optic class (also called Centerfire Open). I haven't competed in any of the centerfire classes for years due to the cost of the ammo it takes to become competitive, and also the cost of a competitive gun for the Open class. Since by far the most important factor in shooting is trigger control, with all of the rimfire shooting I do, trigger control should be OK. The main things I will need to concentrate on are things like drawing the gun from the holster, remembering to take the safety off, and remembering to watch the red dot when I'm trying to remember other things at the same time. With practice the draw becomes almost automatic as it becomes a "Muscle Memory" action, but for now, I haven't had enough time to practice it to that level so I will have to think about it each time. Since it was only last week that I even learned that I would be shooting in Open, I haven't had much time to practice for it. Since it's all just for fun anyway, I'm not expecting any spectacular scores, but if I can manage to shoot the match smoothly and not make any big mental mistakes I should not be last, at least!

I am really looking forward to seeing all of the great folks I've met in Winterswijk the last two years, including, but not limited to Hans, Jolanda, Jeroen, (hope I spelled that right) Chris, Peter, Jeffrey, Jan, Harry, Melissa, Sascha, Karin, Lucien, Andre, all of the great German guys, and a lot more that I'm forgetting!

I'm not looking forward to the traveling part, and I wish I could afford to go over a few days earlier and get over the jet-lag a bit, but beyond that, I can hardly wait to get there. In the Steel Shooting world, the European Steel Challenge Championships is by far the best and most fun match of all!

I'll try to post updates from Winterswijk, when I can.......

Need Pepper spray?

2011-05-28T22:18:00.000-07:00

I got an email from a guy named Joe who went through all of my sidebar links and identified all of the dead ones. He asked if I would put a link to his commercial website on the blog.

I don't link to ANY business unless I am personally knowledgeable about them, and in most cases, have actually done business with them. I have had no contact, business or otherwise, with Joe and his Pepper Spray business. I can say nothing either positive or negative about his operation since I just don't have any info either way.

It WAS nice of him to check the dead links, though......

http://www.buy-pepper-spray-today.com

Shooting OPEN in Holland

2011-05-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

My beat up old Charles Daly 1911 in .45ACP, fitted with a brand new OKO red dot sight and OKO mount.

As I've mentioned before, Dutch firearms Trading in Holland is making it possible for me to own a custom tuned Tanfoglio Gold Team 9mm. race gun. Getting it from there to here, however, has been far more time consuming than I ever imagined. The original plan was to have in here a couple of months before the European Steel Challenge Championships so I could get in a lot of practice. Then, take it back to Holland and shoot it in the Championships. However, we have completely run out of time. In fact, it's entirely possible the gun and I will pass each other on our way to or from Holland!

So, on to plan "B". Hans at Dutch firearms Trading will let me shoot his own personal Tanfoglio Gold Team in the match. That means I won't have any time to practice with it at all. My friend Lou has a Gold Team, and if possible we are going to try to get together on Monday morning so I can get in at least a little bit of practice.

Since I am a bit "rusty" when it comes to drawing from a holster in a hurry, I put together a practice gun, starting with an old Charles Daly 1911 that I used years ago to shoot bowling pins. I drilled and tapped the dust cover and tapped the holes to 8-32 thread, and drilled and countersunk the brand new OKO mount to match. On top I mounted a new 6 MOA OKO red dot sight. Now I have something similar to the Tanfoglio that I can practice drawing, finding the dot, getting it on the target, and firing.

I went over to the Holmes Harbor range this morning and sighted in the OKO sight. I sure do like how quickly the OKO sights are to dial in. Much quicker than the C-Mores I used to use. After getting it adjusted, I practiced drawing and firing using the timer buzzer as a start signal. My times were nothing to brag about, but at least I was able to get it out of the holster and get a fairly accurate shot off with some consistency. In the time I was taking to draw and fire, the fast guys could probably draw, fire, re-holster, and pour a cup of coffee, but at least I think I'm on the right track. My biggest concerns are getting the first shot off smoothly and accurately with decent trigger control. Speed, as they say, will come. Not, however, in less than a week! I'll settle for smooth, slow, and accurate!

Time will tell...........

Latest Excuses for not blogging.......

2011-05-21T21:39:00.000-07:00

Wow, almost a week since the last post! Where does the time go?

I've been trying to get out to the range at least every day if I can, and try to shoot four or five hundred rounds of practice each time. Today I managed to get in two sessions, although the first session was only about three hundred rounds since the extractor broke off in the practice gun. Yes, I have two race guns set up as close as possible to each other, so the practice gun gets all the hard usage, while the main gun is used primarily in the matches. Interestingly enough, when the extractor broke off, the gun continued to run and extract without any problems. I ran about sixty rounds through it with no extractor! I didn't even notice that the extractor was gone until I partially pulled the slide back to check for a round in the chamber and the round stayed fully in the chamber rather than being partially pulled out by the extractor.

Why all of the practice? On June 1st. I fly out to Holland for the European Steel Challenge Championships. So far this year I have shot two major matches, and a bunch of club matches, and to tell the truth, I haven't been too happy with my shooting. I know I can do much better than I've been doing, but it takes tons of practice to get it to work every time. In a sport where one or two tenths of a second per five shots fired can move you ten spots or more in the final standings, you need to practice a huge amount to get the consistency.

There's a story about Jerry Miculek, the revolver master, where someone asked him how many rounds of practice did he have to shoot before he could shoot as fast and accurately as he does. His answer was that it took one hundred thousand rounds of practice to get to where he could shoot like he does, and another one hundred thousand rounds until he could do it every time. Probably a true story! Most of the top shooting competitors shoot at least fifty or sixty thousand rounds of practice a year!

Another activity that's been taking up a lot of time is working on the Gun Blogger Rendezvous. If you've never put on an event, you have no idea how many loose ends there are to take care of. Talking with sponsors, arranging shipping, coordinating with the hotel, handling registrations, making range arrangements, and more. If I was getting paid to do this, I think I'd ask the boss for a raise! There will be some big announcements coming up soon regarding the Rendezvous.

I've been doing some development work on some new sight mounts for the OKO Red Dot Sights , and not too far down the road we should have a wide range of mount choices to cover just about any of the handguns out there without needing to use a Weaver style rail.

The new on line shooting supply store Magnum Shooters Supply is growing, and the sales of the James Austin Moon Clip Server around the world has been a pleasant surprise.

I'm also looking into setting up a small plastic injection molding press for making some small parts, and if I can find the right one at a good price, or possibly even build my own, that should be a handy capability to have. I've just about got my own anodizing setup dialed in, and I've run a couple of small runs with good results.

Now, if I could just find a small NC milling machine I could afford to automate building some of those sight mounts........

e-Postal Match Reminder

2011-05-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

Don't forget there's an e-Postal match going on right now, and you've got until the end of the month to get your entries submitted. The number of entries has been down a bit lately, so for these matches to be worth the effort, you need to get out and shoot the targets, take pictures, and send in your scores.

The Gun Blogger community hasn't been promoting the e-Postal matches too much lately, either, so if you are a blogger, how about putting up a post about the matches? The matches are always very creative, and a lot of fun to shoot. However, they are just about always a whole lot harder than they look, so if you DO shoot the targets for the match. send in your entries, no matter how badly you THINK you did. Believe me, in previous matches some targets that would have scored well up the list never got sent in because the shooter had erroneously thought he had done terrible when he had actually done quite well.

This month's e-Postal match is underway over at Sand Castle Scrolls so head on over and print out some targets for the match.

Click Here to go to the match information.

Good luck, and have fun!

Mr. Completely Nominated for GUNNIE Award

2011-05-16T18:16:00.000-07:00

I got an email from the good folks at LuckyGunner.com telling me that I had been nominated for a Gunnie Award for the best gun blog in the Entertainment" category.

Voting is only open until the 28th. (Only 12 days) to determine the winners in each of the 9 categories. There are a whole lot of really good gun blogs in the running, so I need to get every single reader to go vote for Mr. Completely, and then if each reader would get 750 more people to vote, and if each of those would get 750 more to vote, and so forth, I would at least be kept from total humiliation caused by being dead last!
If you can't get 750 people to vote, any help is still appreciated!

Voting is done via the online ballot here:

http://www.luckygunner.com/2011-gunnie-awards

Each category winner gets an engraved, really nice Italian-made 30mm replica round trophy from Technoframes. Winners will be announced on Saturday night at the Lucky Gunner Memorial Day Blogger Shoot during the banquet. Also, every winner gets their choice of 100 free rounds of ammo from LuckyGunner.com, since Technoframes and Lucky Gunner are sponsoring the awards ceremony. The winners do not have to be present at the Shoot to win but whoever wins in each category will get their engraved trophy + free ammo along with some good ole fashioned bragging rights & a cool badge to show that they were the highest vote-getter.

You can only vote once per computer, as the voting thing watches to see where you voted from. If you have more than one computer, though, you can vote once from each one.

Please help Mr. C. from being totally humiliated by a crushing defeat at the ballot box, so EVERY ONE OF YOU NEEDS TO VOTE!

Anyhow, I could use the ammo.........

Not As Planned, again.........

2011-05-16T17:49:00.000-07:00

Ah yes, best laid plans, etcetera, etcetera. KeeWee and I planned on driving over to Ephrata on Friday during the day, spending the night at the Oasis Park Campground in Ephrata, shooting the Washington State Steel challenge Championships on Saturday, then right after the match driving back to the West side of the State to Puyallup, spending Saturday night at the range in Puyallup, then shooting the Paul Bunyan Club's Club championship on Sunday, then driving home Sunday night.

Well, it followed the plan as far as getting to the Oasis Park campground. We were parked next to John and Jeanette Davidson from the Kitsap club, and we shared a pleasant evening of conversation, campfire, and hotdogs and marshmallows. Not long after we got to the campground James Austin pulls in, so James joined us around the fire for a really nice evening. So far, everything according to plan.

We decided to turn in a bit early and get a good night's sleep, so we did. KeeWee had been feeling a bit crummy earlier in the week, but some antibiotics seemed to have sorted that out OK. Unfortunately, she ended up getting sick during the night, and neither of us got a whole lot of sleep.

We decided to head out to the range and see how she felt. She didn't feel well enough to shoot the match, but she figured she could stay in bed in the nice warm RV just as well as being home in bed, so we decided I'd shoot the match, and we'd head straight home after, instead of going to Puyallup.

The morning was raining steadily, so it didn't look like it was going to be a whole lot of fun, anyway, and for KeeWee to get wet and cold when she was already feeling lousy would be a really poor idea. So, we made sure the furnace was turned up and she spent the day either reading or sleeping. I went out and sleep-walked/sloshed my way through the match.

I often have trouble getting focused on the very first stage, so I really tried to ignore the lack of sleep and other distractions, and it worked, at least for the first stage, and I turned in some pretty good times. From there, though, it really looked like I was out of gas, and things didn't go well.

By lunch time I was wet, and not very happy with the way I was shooting. It had not been a good morning. At the lunch break I again checked in to see how KeeWee was doing, and the comfy bed and warm RV was keeping her as comfortable as possible. I put on dry clothes and ate a little bit, but I wasn't really very hungry. I just sat in the RV, drank some hot coffee, and tried to re-charge the batteries a bit. Just getting dry and warm made me feel a little better.

I could have taken a nice long nap very easily, but I still had four more stages to shoot, so off I went to the next stage. The rain had just about stopped and it was a little warmer, so that in itself was a nice improvement. I decided that this could be a good learning experience for me, as I was certainly not in the best condition, but I needed to work on staying focused and doing as well as I could without digging any more big holes to jump into! I think I did learn a little more about getting focused and the final four stages went fairly well. Three went very well, and I even had the fastest time of the match on one of the stages, and it was even on one of my weaker stages.

After the final stage was completed I helped to put away the targets and stands, and then headed to the RV to see how KeeWee was doing. She seemed to be holding up pretty well, considering the circumstances.

As the scores were being finished up, they had a fast draw against the clock competition for cash prizes, but I was completely worn out from the match and didn't have any interest in entering. I just wanted to find out how I had done, and then hit the road for home.


A very nice laser engraved Spyderco knife.

Finally they got to announcing the scores, and although the terrible morning had done it's damage, I still had posted the second fastest pistol time of the match, and had even won one of the stages overall! I ended up 2nd. in Rimfire and the Top Senior. If I could have shot in the morning like I did in the afternoon I would have been right there at the top. James was the fastest revolver shooter, and Debbie, also from Kitsap, was the top Rimfire Lady. The Kitsap club had done rather well, considering the conditions.

Right after the awards we fired up the RV and headed towards home. Once we got out onto the road the wind was gusting and blowing us around, so it was a wrestling match right up to where we started to climb the East side of the Cascades to get across Snoqualmie pass. When the wind stopped, it started raining heavily, and rained all the way home. The rain was coming down hard enough that the raindrops were bouncing off the pavement, and there were lots of areas of standing water to hydroplane across. To add to the fun, there was a layer of ground fog across the pass, making it nearly impossible to see where the lanes were supposed to be. Bleh....

By the time we got home I felt like I'd been in a fight and had lost badly. Even though I continued to drive in my sleep, at least I was warm, in bed, and asleep.

It had been an interesting weekend, to say the least!

Gettin' Ready For Ephrata and Puyallup

2011-05-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

It certainly is getting to be the busy time of the year! Two weekends ago we were in Oregon for the Man of Steel Championships, last weekend we were in Yakima, WA. for a steel match and last minute "Tune-up" before this weeke3nd, when we head over to Ephrata, WA. for the Washington State Steel Challenge Championships.

I just got back from the Holmes Harbor range, where I double-checked the zero on my OKO Red Dot sight, and it was right on. Just to warm up the gun a little bit, my first shot was at a 4" square swinging target at 50 yards, and I hit it on the first shot. Definitely more luck than skill, but it was kinda fun to hit it first try. I set up a sheet of paper with a spot in the middle at 25 yards, and took ten shots at it off-hand steel challenge style, to see if I was approximately centered around the spot, and it was, so I should be good to go for Ephrata. Last weekend at Yakima I had four or five stove-pipes, and re-sharpening and case-hardening the extractor seems to have resolved that problem, I hope. I've run about 200 rounds through it without a problem, so it seems OK.

We are taking the RV over to Ephrata on Friday (tomorrow) and will be staying at an RV park in Ephrata, along with some folks from the Kitsap club. Saturday is the Championships, and right after the match we are going to hit the road for Puyallup, where we will spend Saturday night at the Paul Bunyan range. Sunday is the Paul Bunyan Club Championships, and I always try to make it to that one, even if it's not a steel match. The club championship is essentially a nan-on-man falling plate match. To shoot falling plates well you need to be shooting them regularly, and most of the hot-shots there shoot a falling plate match every week. Even though it's a double-elimination format, I will end up shooting against the falling plate specialists early in the match, so I'm not expecting to last very long before I get eliminated. I hope I can stay in the match for a while, though, as the longer you can go before elimination, the more shooting you get to do!

I've still got to service the RV and give the guns a final cleaning and checking before leaving tomorrow for Ephrata, so I better get to work!

Shootin' News

2011-05-09T11:15:00.000-07:00

KeeWee and I went East to Yakima, Washington this last weekend for a Steel Challenge match, and unlike last month, the weather was nice going over, at the match, and not too bad getting home. Other than a little rain on the way back, it was a huge improvement.

This match was our last chance for a tune-up prior to next weekend's Washington State Steel Challenge Championships in Ephrata. I've been working all Winter trying to improve my shooting and making some minor changes, and this would be a good final rest to see if the changes in technique were a good idea or not. It would also be a good test to be sure the gun was running reliably.

We arrived on Friday afternoon in Moxee, WA., just a few miles East of Yakima, in time to stop by Red's Diner for burgers. If you are anywhere in the vicinity of Yakima and looking for a hamburger, making a detour to Moxee for one at Big Red's is worth the effort. I don't know beans about fancy foo-foo gore-met food, but I DO know a good burger when I eat one, and Red's are some of the best I've ever had. The 50's diner decor is kinda cool, too!

Saturday morning bright and early I helped Ty and Steve set up the target stands and hang the plates prior to signup. We also had to nail down the shooters boxes and put paint at each stage, along with clipboards and pens.

After sign-up and a shooter's meeting, we broke up into squads and got to the shooting. We had a good turn-out, with fifty guns entered. Since it was only a five stage match I entered once with my regular Steel Challenge name and number, and once under an "assumed name" (so it doesn't mess up the scoring) and shot the entire match twice.The match went smoothly, but on the fourth stage the gun started to stove pipe once in a while, and I ended up with some terrible times on two or three of the shot strings. That ended up messing up my times a bit on a couple of stages. Fortunately most of the disastrous times got thrown out, but not all.

Last week at the Man of Steel Championships I shot just a little bit to conservatively, and this time I tried to push the envelope a bit more, while still keeping it under control, and that's mostly how it went, excluding the stove-pipes of course!

The reality of it is that I put a huge amount of time on my two primary race guns, and things wear out. I try to put most of my practice time on my backup gun, and save the main gun just for the matches. Even so, the extractor on the main gun was starting to wear, and wasn't consistently holding the rim so the ejector could sent the empty flying overboard. I'm glad it started to malfunction now, though, rather than next week in Ephrata, or worse yet, in a few weeks in Holland!

As always, it was great to see and visit with all our friends in Yakima, and we look forward to seeing them again next week in Ephrata!

GLOCK Donates Gun To Gun Blogger Rendezvous

2011-05-09T10:40:00.000-07:00

Great news for our fund Raising efforts at this year's Gun blogger rendezvous! GLOCK will be donating a GLOCK pistol certificate for our fund-raising raffle. This certificate will be good for a new basic model GLOCK of your choice. For a small upgrade fee, you can also step up to the fancier models. We will have all of the raffle rules available before you buy any tickets at the Rendezvous, but the new GLOCK will be won by someone actually attending the Rendezvous, so you must be present to win!

A big thanks to GLOCK, and particularly to Randi Rogers (El Supremo Lady Shooter!) at GLOCK for arranging the details for us. Maybe someday Randi will be able to join us at the Rendezvous......

2011 Man of Steel Championships

2011-05-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

The shooting season is now upon us, and the first big match of the year for KeeWee and I is the Man of Steel Championships held just South of Portland, Oregon at the Tri-Counties Gun Club range. Nick and Ryan Leonard have been putting this match on for years, and they always do a great job. This year's match had nine stages, and a full house with ninety shooters entered.

KeeWee and I drove to the range, about four and a half hours on the road, and spent the night at the range in our mini-RV. The weather forecast was for near seventy degrees and partly cloudy, and match day morning looked like that was what was in store. It was just a little chilly first thing in the morning, but it got better and better as the day went on.

James Austin and I in our brand new GunUp jerseys.

One of the first people I met on match morning was our friend Kevin. Kevin, KeeWee and I have been on the same squad the last few years and we always have a ton of fun shooting with him, since his sense of humor fits so well with our own brand of craziness!

Those new jerseys really look good!

That's me, hard at work, spraying lead in the general direction of the plates! It's not easy to shoot when a squirrel is laughing at you. (See below)

Zach shooting his rimfire carbine.

D.W. "Death Wish" Squirrel. The little guy sat there and watched us all shoot. It didn't seem to bother him a bit.

Rian, a very accomplished revolver shooter, and James.

Dick, also shooting a rimfire carbine.


Our friend Kevin shooting in the Rimfire Carbine class.

James was amazing with the speed and smoothness of his shooting.

The stages were either out of the Steel Challenge rule book, or stages similar to steel challenge stages, for the most part, but a couple of them were definitely different. The stage "Fallers" had four plates in a row, and at ground level in front of the four plates were five six inch round plates on metal bases that had to be knocked over. The five plates on the ground were the stop plates, so you had a different stop plate on each run!

Another unusual stage was called 4T5. On this stage you shoot four plates, then run to another position, reloading on the way, then shoot the four plates again, and finally, shoot the stop plate. Not my favorite, but I muddled through it anyway!

After shooting five stages we all broke for lunch. At lunch they had the drawing for all of the prizes, including ten guns and a bunch of nice knives. James won a Ruger Mk. III, KeeWee won a Tactical Solutions 10/22 barrel, and I won a H&K pocket knife. Every entry won something, and it was all by random drawing. After lunch, we headed back out to the range to finish up the match.

Once we had shot the final stage, we packed the targets and stands from our stage to the storage area. The match results wouldn't be available until later that night. We had a long drive ahead of us, and we were already tired from a long day, so we said our farewells and hit the road for home.

The drive home was uneventful, and just how I like it. When we got home Bun the rabbit was glad to see us. You can tell she's not happy when we take trips!

After a night of driving the RV in my sleep, we got up to check to see the match results. I was fourth overall, fourth in Rimfire Open, and Top Senior. KeeWee was 19th. in Rimfire Open (out of 36) and was the top Lady. James won the Iron Sight Revolver class, and his time was fast enough that he would have been 3rd. in Open Revolver, and on top of that, there was only one Limited Centerfire entry faster!

Next week we're off to Yakima for a last "Tune-up" before the Washington State Steel Challenge championships in Ephrata the following weekend. After Ephrata I've got a couple of weeks to practice before leaving for Holland and the European Steel Challenge Championships.

It's gonna be fun!

May e-Postal Match - Underway!

2011-05-02T21:07:00.000-07:00

Danno at SandCastle Scrolls has the May e-Postal match up and running, and it features REACTIVE targets! Is that COOL or what! Sure, using the reactive targets is optional, but even so, what a great idea!

Go here to print out the rules and get some targets.
Go get everything you own that shoots.
Load up all the ammo you've got on hand into the car.
Go to the range and perforate a bunch of targets.
Take pictures, then send 'em in!

Oh yeah, stop by the candy store on the way to the range. Check out the rules to find out why.

Be safe, have fun, remember to brush after.......

My New GunUp Jersey Has Arrived

2011-04-29T11:55:00.000-07:00

My new GunUp shooting jersey has arrived, and it got here just barely in time, since we leave for Oregon and the Man of Steel Championships in the morning. G2Gemini, the company that made the jersey did a really nice job. All of the logos and writing are actually dyed into the fabric, rather than being silk-screened, and it's made of a special rip-stop material, so it should stand up and also look good for years.

Now if I could only shoot as good as the jersey looks........

Here We Go!

2011-04-28T19:25:00.000-07:00

"Drag Strip" at Last year's Man of Steel.

Well, the first big steel match of the year, the Man of Steel Championships, is this Sunday, just south of Portland, Oregon. We plan to drive our Land Yacht to Portland on Saturday and spend the night before the match at the range. The match is put on by Nick Leonard and his son Ryan. If the name Ryan Leonard kind of rings a bell, Ryan is the current Rimfire Overall World Champion in Steel Challenge. Ryan beat out none other than Dave Sevigny for the title.

The Man of Steel Championship is basically an eight stage Steel Challenge match, although most of the stages will be similar but different from the official stage layouts. Several of the stages are very very fast, with plates close together, large, close in, or all three. Some of the stages require double or even triple-taps!

One of the stages, named "4T5" , is REALLY different. You shoot four plates, then run run to another shooter's box, reloading as you go, then shoot the same four plates again, then shoot a stop plate. It's not so bad for the "Run & Gun" USPSA/IPSC shooters shooting center fire guns, but for rimfire it's a whole lot more difficult.

Most of the magazine releases on rimfire pistols is awkward, at best, and practically impossible, if you are in a hurry. Furthermore, if you drop a rimfire magazine in the dirt, you can forget about it running reliably for the rest of the day. I set up a ring on the bottom of my magazines and put a lanyard around my neck so when I drop the magazine it doesn't end up full of dirt at least. At least it keeps it out of the dirt, but I still have to shoot the plates, reload while moving as quickly as I can to the second shooting position, then shoot five more plates. I have to do this three times, with the two best runs being counted towards my score for the day. That's going to be an interesting stage, for sure!

I wish I was a bit more confident in my shooting, though. This is the first year I haven't taken a break from practice through the Winter. Since January I've gone through somewhere between ten and fifteen thousand rounds of rimfire ammunition, and I think I'm shooting a little better than I was last Fall. I made some subtle changes in my grip last Fall that allow more speed, but make accuracy more difficult, so I have been trying to work on the accuracy while still carrying the higher speed. Some of the matches so far this season have been encouraging, but it's way to early to see if it's going to work better or not.

This Sunday will be a good test........

Felice Pasqua a tutti! Happy Easter to all!

2011-04-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

I got this from Tanfoglio, and I thought it was a nice touch on their part.

Hopefully in the next week or so I will have my new (to me) Tanfoglio Gold Team 9mm. so I can start shooting in Centerfire Open class. I'm looking forward to it!

One Ringie-Dingie!

2011-04-18T17:09:00.000-07:00

Ring - ring........

Me: "Hello?"

Voice on telephone: "Hello, I'm calling on behalf of XYZ Electric Power Company and we'd like you to answer a survey about customer satisfaction. It will take about ten minutes of your time. Would this be a good time?

Me: "No."

VOT: "When would be a good time?"

Me: "How about never?"

VOT: "Why is that?"

Me: "When I use ten minutes of your electricity, you expect me to pay for it. When you want to use ten minutes of my time, why should I do that for free? You are getting paid for those ten minutes, why shouldn't I get paid for them too?"

Noise on Phone: " Click.............."

That sorta sums up their customer service, doesn't it!

Pro Ears To Co-Sponsor Gun Blogger Rendezvous

2011-04-16T12:03:00.000-07:00

I have always liked the Pro Ears hearing protectors, I've used their products for years, and the people that own and operate the company are really nice folks too. Pro Ears is an American owned company, and their products are built right here in the US of A, too!

I recently received an email from Charles Ricci, co-owner of the company, telling me that both he and his partner are planning to attend this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous. Pro Ears will be donating a $329.00 set of electronic hearing protectors to the raffle, and they will be bringing other promotional items too, for door prizes. On top of that, they will be bringing a number of the top of the line Pro Ears Hearing protectors for us to try out at the range days, and if we like them, we can buy them at the end of the Rendezvous at a HUGE discount!

This year's Rendezvous is going to be amazing!

Alan Gura - 2011 Gun Blogger Rendezvous

2011-04-14T18:31:00.000-07:00

Alan Gura and some of the "Usual suspects" at the
2009 Gun Blogger rendezvous. That's Alan in the black shirt.

In 2009 at the Gun blogger Rendezvous we were fortunate to have Alan Gura as an attendee. Alan's schedule was tight, and he wasn't able to be there for the entire Rendezvous. Alan's insights on the Heller decision, the not-yet-decided McDonald decision, and the state of Second Amendment issues was well worth the trip all by itself!

This year, Alan is going to do his best to be there again at the Rendezvous, subject to scheduling, of course.

Here's a quote from Alan's email:

"Thanks so much again for your generous invitation. I'd be happy to attend as much of the get together as I can. I'll block off that time on my calendar and avoid setting things for those days. The final details will have to wait. As you may know this is an extraordinarily busy time in the 2A litigation business.."

I have also received information that another 2A attorney who has been doing some excellent high-profile work in California is also making plans to attend. We should be able to make an announcement on this very soon.

This September's Gun Blogger Rendezvous is going to blow the doors off of previous year's Rondy's, with new faces, new sponsors, higher involvement from our previous sponsors, and of course, the usual suspects there too! It looks like there will also be several well known folks from the shooting sports world, and more announcements will be coming soon on those folks, too!

We have already contacted the Silver Legacy about getting a bigger meeting room. Before we commit to that, though, we need to get some sort of idea as to how many are planning on attending. If we wait too long, the larger room will be taken by someone else, and then we will have to set a cut-off number for attendees to be able to use the room like we used last year.

If you are planning on attending, please send in your Rendezvous Registrations right away. If you are pretty sure you are going to be there but not sure enough to register yet, send me an email and let me at least get your name on the list of those hoping to be there.

2011 Gun Blogger Rendezvous Registration Form

Thanks!

Gun Blogger Rendezvous Room Reservations

2011-04-12T13:38:00.000-07:00

It's already time to think about getting your Silver Legacy room reservations in for this September's Gun Blogger Rendezvous. We have reserved a block of rooms, and in doing so, we have also get free room WiFi for you, and the use of the Hospitality Room at no charge for the entire Rendezvous.

The Single/Double rate for Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday nights is $59.00 per night, and the weekend rate for Friday and Saturday nights is $119.00 per night. That's for single OR double occupancy, so there is no extra charge for a second person. Yes, they do tack on some extra taxes and fees, just like everywhere else.


A Room at the Silver Legacy in Reno.

To reserve your room, give them a call at the Silver Legacy at 1-800-687-8733 and give them the Gun Blogger rendezvous Group Code of GBLOG11. When you are making your reservation, you might ask them if you can get a room that faces McCarran Park, so you can watch the hot air balloons from your window. The earlier you book your room, the better chance of getting a room facing that way.

The Gun Blogger Rendezvous is September 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th. A number of us show up on Wednesday, though, and don't leave town until Monday morning, the 12th.

If you've never made it to the Rendezvous, perhaps this is the year!

See you in Reno!!!

e-Postal Match - "The Mess" Results

2011-04-08T11:12:00.000-07:00

Well, the scores are all in (I hope) and the scoring is finished. If your score isn't in here, let me know, and I'll go look to see if I missed it somewhere. This target was designed to be strange and different, and it turned out to be all of that and more. Aren't concentric circle targets boring? With this target only very small variations could make major changes in your score. Tactics definitely played a big part. Should I go for the high Value - High Risk shots, or the lower valued safer ones? On top of that, just plain luck had a lot to do with it, too!

Place	Name	Pistol	Score

	Rimfire Iron Sight
1	Billll	Ruger Mk. I	105
2	Andy G.	S&W Mod. 41	91
3	Brandt E.	S&W Mod. 41	89
4	Eric	Ruger Mk. I	50
5	Matthew W.	S&W Mod. 41	35
6	Tommy H.	S&W Mod. 41	34
7	Engineering Johnson	Ruger 22/45	25
8	True Blue Sam	Ruger Single Six	24
9/10	Russell	Ruger 22/45	19
9/10	Engineering Johnson	Ruger Mk. III	19
11	Danno	Ruger 22/45	14
12	Danno	Ruger Single Six	13

	Rimfire Optic Sight
1	Mr. Completely	High Standard/OKO	122
2	Tim	S&W 22A/Burris	68

	CF Iron Sight
1	Ol' Rich	Winson Tactical .45	89
2	Danno	Taurus PT-92	16
3	Engineering Johnson	Springfield M1911	-14

	CF. Rev. Iron Sight
1	Engineering Johnson	Ruger Blackhawk 44 Mag	35

	Air Pistol
1	Bea	Crossman .17 Cal.	0 (+21 -21)

Special commendation to Ol' Rich for shooting an excellent score of 89 with his .45. I hope everyone had fun with this month's e-Postal match! Thanks for entering.

One of you will be getting a spiffy new GunUp T-shirt, so watch for an announcement about that. The shirt will be awarded by random drawing, too, so every entry has an equal chance of winning.

JimmyB, The Conservative UAW Guy has the April e-Postal match underway right now, so go get the rules, print out some targets, and have at it!

Yakima & Back - Interesting Trip!

2011-04-04T21:47:00.000-07:00

Friday mid-morning I fired up our Toyota pickup based "Mini-LandYacht" and headed towards Yakima, WA. for their five stage Steel Challenge match to be held on Saturday. KeeWee had to work, so she stayed home.

I haven't made the trip across the mountains to Eastern Washington the last few months as the mountain pass conditions were not very good, and I really don't want to get caught in a heavy snow situation with the RV. The pass reports and weather conditions called for low temperatures around 37 degrees at night, so I figured even if it snowed a little bit it wouldn't stick and it would mostly be just wet roads across the pass. It rained steadily all the way from home across Snoqualmie Pass, but as I neared Cle Elum it cleared up a bit and was partly sunny. When I got to the range in Yakima, or more precisely in Moxee, WA. four miles East of Yakima, the weather was quite pleasant, except for some gusting winds.

I met Josh and his wife, the new range masters, and we had a nice visit. Josh mentioned that they were having some problems with what they referred to as Sage Rats digging holes around the range areas. Then badgers would dig out the holes at night, looking for dinner. The result was some pretty good sized holes that then needed to be filled back in. Josh asked me what I was shooting in the match the next day, and when I said "A .22 Pistol" he asked if I'd like to go have a look for some sage rats.

That sounded like a lot of fun, so I grabbed my race gun and a couple of magazines of hollow point practice ammo and off we went. Josh had been through the area shortly before, and had shot a few already, so when we walked into the area they were somewhat few and far between. "There's one over there!" he exclaimed, but with my eyesight I'll be darned if I could see it. I looked and looked, but no luck. Finally he directed me from bush to rock to branch to dirt pile, until I could finally just barely make out the outline of the critter. I allowed about an inch and a quarter hold over for that particular distance, and waited for a time between wind gusts to take the shot. The wind slacked for a moment, and I squeezed off the shot. A perfect head shot! (Yes, luck was involved, but I'll take it!) It never knew what hit it. Perfect! We walked around a bit more, but that was the only one we saw, so we headed back. Next trip I am going to plan to go look for some more of them.

By now dusk was approaching, so I got everything settled down and organized in the RV and then conked out for the night. It's amazing just how quiet a gun range is, once everyone goes home for the night.

The next morning I helped set up the target stands and hang the targets. After helping with setup, I headed over to the clubhouse and paid my entry fee and got signed in. KeeWee had telephoned one of the club members and asked that he relay a message to me about mountain pass conditions. Apparently the conditions had deteriorated a lot, and chains were required. Not much I could do about it until after the match, and one of the other club members had a phone with a pretty good screen on it so we could check the pass condition by looking at the pass cameras. Gotta shoot the match first, then worry about it later.

After a quick shooters meeting we broke up into squads and headed out to the individual shooting bays to get started. The wind was still gusting pretty good, and it made it a bit chilly, but as the day progressed it got quite pleasant.We all had a great time, and since it was only five stages, they allow me to enter twice so I can shoot every stage twice. It's a pretty long drive round trip for only five stages, but ten stages in a day is plenty for me!

Around 2pm. we had finished the match, and I helped to put some of the steel and stands away. We did a quick check of the pass cameras, and we discussed the options. It was now only "Traction Tires Recommended", and although they pass didn't look to good, it looked like I should be able to get through it OK. White knuckles maybe, but it should be drivable. The pass report radio was reporting that it was snowing, and temperature was in the low thirties. Clearly it was deteriorating.

The weather was still windy and gusty until near Cle Elum, and then it started snowing. By Easton it was starting to come down pretty good, and the road was turning white. Not far past that it started to turn into a white-out condition with huge snow flakes and almost no visibility. I tucked in behind a semi, figuring his tires would squeegee off the road a bit for me, and if I stayed in his tracks I should be OK. Past lake Keechulus the visibility was so bad you couldn't even see the lake, and the road is right on the shore of the lake. The long grade up to the East Summit was slippery, but the cars were still climbing it without sliding, so we got up over the summit without much problem. Traffic was moving about fifteen to twenty miles per hour, and I really didn't want to go any faster than that!

About an hour and a half later they closed the pass completely Eastbound due to all of the spun out cars, and required chains if you were going West. There was a little window of time to get through, and I had just barely got over the pass before it got really nasty! WHEW!

The rest of the drive home was uneventful, except for a Washington State Ferries Ticket taker who was a jerk, but where in years past they were all really nice, they are now about half and half. The nice ones are still nice, but since they are all union, no matter how much of a jerk they might be, we're stuck with them.

When you don't have any competition, you don't have to be nice to your customers, and you don't have to provide very good service. They aren't, and they don't.

It sure did feel good to get home and hit the sack. It had been a long day!

If anyone's interested, match results are here.

Shooting Your First Steel Match

2011-04-01T18:33:00.000-07:00

So you’ve been out shooting a bit, you’re keeping them mostly in the black, and you’re confident you can shoot safely and responsibly. Then your friend says “Hey, there’s a steel match this Saturday at the club. Why not give it a try?” Why not, indeed?

Club match shooters are some of the friendliest and most helpful folks you could ever hope to meet, and they’re always glad to help out a new competition shooter. Sure, every so often you run into a grouch, but believe me, they are few and far between! Over the last many years I’ve only met a couple of them, and that’s shooting matches all over the place, and just about every weekend! I’ve heard stories about some snobbishness in some of the shooting disciplines, but it’s just about unheard of in steel shooting. Everyone is helpful, and everyone wants you to do your best and have a good time. It’s not at all uncommon to see USPSA and IDPA Masters and Grand Masters helping brand new shooters and sharing in the fun as the new shooters improve visibly through the day.

For your first steel match, it’s not a bad idea to check with the club in advance and see if a draw from a holster is required. In true Steel Challenge it is required for centerfire guns, but at many club matches it is not, or they may have a centerfire draw class and a separate centerfire “Low Ready Start” class. Most, if not all steel matches do not require a holster for rimfire guns. Typically, the start position for rimfire will be with the muzzle pointed at a marker on the ground in front of you, or with the muzzle resting on a up-ended barrel.

If you have never shot in a steel match before, rimfire is a good place to start, even if you’d like to move to a centerfire class later on. It’s also a lot cheaper in terms of ammo, and you will definitely use some ammo, so bring plenty. If you figure a six stage match with five shot strings per stage, and five targets per stage, the absolute minimum amount of ammo would be 150 rounds. I would recommend an absolute minimum of 200 rounds, and you can easily run out when you cut it that close. Personally, I take at least 300 rounds per class, and even more if there are more than 6 stages. You can never have too much ammo! Too much to carry, maybe, but too much? Never happen!

Show up at the match a bit on the early side. This will give you some time to meet some of the other shooters, and perhaps have a look at the stages to see what’s in store for you for the day. Sign up early, don’t wait until the last minute. You can also make things easier for the signup folks by bringing the exact amount so they don’t have to make change. When you sign up, tell then that this is your first steel match, and you’d like to be squaded with some experienced shooters. Ask the signup person to point out the Match Director, and go introduce yourself to him. Tell him too that it’s your first steel match, and that you would appreciate his help to get you squaded with some experienced shooters for your first match.

After signup is completed there is usually a shooters meeting where the Match Director will explain the rules and details for the day. After the meeting everyone will break out into squads and head out to the stages to start shooting the match.

Remember, in just about every case, the matches are “Cold Range”. That means ALL guns (yes, even your concealed carry gun) MUST be unloaded unless you are in the shooters box, under the direct control of a range officer, and you have been given the instruction “Load and Make Ready”. All guns must be either holstered, in a closed and latched gun case, or in a zippered gun run with the zipper zipped closed. The only exception is if you need to work on your gun, you make take it to a designated “Safe Area” and work on it. It must be re-holstered or cased before you leave the Safe Area. You cannot carry ANY ammunition into the safe area with you, not in your pocket, not in the case, not on your belt – NO AMMO!

Make sure that you understand the 180 rule, and if you are unsure, ask one of the range officers to explain it to you. Basically, imagine standing in the shooters box looking down range. Hold your arms straight out to each side. That’s approximately the 180 degree line. You must keep the muzzle of the gun pointed down range in the direction of the targets and backstop berm at all times. If the muzzle should get pointed to where it breaks that 180 degree line you will be disqualified from the match. No refunds, either!

Where a new shooter can get into trouble with this rule is if they hold the gun to the side to rack the slide. That will get you a match DQ (disqualification) sometimes referred to as a trip to the Dairy Queen. If you have to have the gun to the side to rack the slide, turn your body 90 degrees so the muzzle remains pointed straight down range, then rack the slide.

Another way to get a DQ is from an accidental discharge, or firing a round over the top of the berm. If you keep your finger off of the trigger until the sights are on target, you should never have a problem with this.

When you get to the first stage, get your magazines loaded, if you haven’t already loaded them earlier. Hopefully you have five magazines. If you forgot and left your magazines in the case with the gun, ask the range officer if you can go to the line, under his supervision, and get the magazines out of the case. Next time remember to not put your magazines inside the gun case!

When others are shooting, be quiet. They don’t need any distractions. After each shooter has finished, the Range Officer will announce “The range is Clear”. Grab a spray can and head down range to re-paint the plates. Usually the plates get repainted after every shooter, and the shooters take turns doing the painting. DO NOT go down-range until you hear “The Range is Clear!”

When you are called to the line to shoot, bring your cased or holstered gun and your magazines up to the line. Step into the box, and wait for instructions from the Range Officer. At your first steel match it’s not a bad idea to let him know that this is your first steel match. That way he won’t assume you know what you are doing, and will usually be extra helpful. If you are unsure of the course of fire, or aren’t sure which plate is the stop plate, ask. Most of all, listen carefully to the range officer, do what he says (and ONLY) what he says. Don’t assume anything. If you are not sure, ask.

Most of all, shoot safely and have a good time! Always try to shoot only as fast as you can consistently hit the targets, regardless of how fast anyone else may be shooting.

When the match is over, ask the Match Director if they need any help putting the targets and target stands back into storage. It can be a lot of work to pack all of the steel and stands back into the storage shed. If a number of shooters all help, it only takes a few minutes. If more shooters would help after the match, it’s usually very much appreciated. It’s also a great way to say “Thank You” to the Match Director and the other volunteers that put on the match.

April ePostal Match is Underway (And time left to enter March Match)

2011-03-31T21:23:00.000-07:00

JimmyB, The Conservative UAW Guy, who's been semi-sorta-retired from blogging for a while, has come out of his secret bunker just to host this month's ePostal match. If he sees his shadow, however, he may disappear back into the secret tunnels deep beneath Detroit, and we may not see or hear from him for months, or even years. To be sure he doesn't see his shadow, download the target and get out to the range and shoot the match. In fact, shoot it with every gun you have! If we can keep him busy enough sorting out the scores he may not notice his shadow at all.

Also, since I will be out of town or busy for most of this weekend, I am keeping the March match open until Monday night at midnight, so why not shoot both matches this weekend?

Have you checked the expiration date on all of your handgun ammo lately? It could be getting ready to spoil, so you better use it up right away shooting the postal matches before it does...........

Gun Blogger Rendezvous Registration is Now Open

2011-03-31T18:06:00.000-07:00

This year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous, scheduled for September 8, 9, 10, & 11th. at the Silver Legacy Hotel & Casino, is going to be even bigger and better than last year. The plans are for most of the events to follow the way it was last year, with some new things, new sponsors, new faces, and other good things thrown in.

I will be soon making an announcement about a person planning on attending who you will definitely want to meet! (No, no word from Sarah Palin, but one never knows....)

I can tell you already that this is not the sort of thing where you will have much chance to catch up on your sleep! Also going on the same weekend as the Gun Blogger Rendezvous will be the Reno Balloon Races. Watching over 200 hot air balloons in the air at the same time, and from your hotel window, is something to see! The park where they launch the balloons is really close to the hotel, so you get quite a view.

To get your registration in, click the link to download the Registration Form, fill it out, and mail it in, along with your check. If you have a few extra bucks to donate to Project Valour-IT along with your Registration, there's a place on the Registration form for that, too.

2011 Gun Blogger Rendezvous Registration Form

Next week I will be posting all of the information on how to book your hotel room at the Silver Legacy, and how to get the group rate. The Hospitality Room that we use throughout the Rendezvous is provided at no charge to us, provided we have enough folks staying in their hotel. They also provide our group with free Internet Access in our hotel rooms, so you can get in some blogging, if you are so inclined, in your spare time!

See you in Reno in September!!

Conversion Table For Engineers

2011-03-30T22:10:00.000-07:00

*Conversions Every Engineer Should Know ...*

1.     Ratio of an igloo's circumference to its diameter = Eskimo Pi
2.     2000 pounds of Chinese Soup = Won ton
3.     1 millionth of a mouthwash = 1 microscope
4.      Time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement = 1 bananosecond
5.     Weight an evangelist carries with God = 1 billigram
6.     Time it takes to sail 220 yards at 1 nautical mile per hour = Knotfurlong
7.     365.25 days of drinking low calorie beer = 1 Lite year
8.     16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone = 1 Rod Serling
9.     Half a large intestine = 1 semicolon
10.   1,000,000 aches = 1 megahurtz
11.    Basic unit of laryngitis - 1 hoarsepower
12.     Shortest distance between two jokes = a straight line
13.     453.6 graham crackers = 1 pound cake
14.     1 million microphones = 1 megaphone
15.     1 million bicycles = 1 megacycle
16.     365 days = 1   unicycle
17.     2000 mockingbirds = two kilomockingbirds
18.     10 cards = 1 decacard
19.     52 cards = 1 deckacard
20.     1 kilogram of falling figs = 1 Fig Newton
21.     1000 grams of wet socks = 1 literhosen
22.     1 millionth of a fish = 1   microfiche
23.     1 trillion pins = 1 terrapin
24.     10 rations = 1 decaration
25.     100 rations = 1 C-Ration
26.     2 monograms = 1 diagram
27.     8 nickels = 2 paradigms
28.     5 miles of intravenous surgical tubing at Yale University Hospital = 1 I.V. League

Thanks to Akafuze for this!

e-Postal Match - HURRY!

2011-03-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

This month's e-Postal match is rapidly drawing to a close, with the "Official" end date being tomorrow night at Midnight, or thereabouts. However, I will be in Eastern Washington Friday and Saturday for a steel match, and I'll be putting on a Cowboy Fast Draw Match on Sunday, so I won't even have time to look at the entries until sometime on Monday. So, any entries that just happen to show up between now and Monday morning will be included!

If I won't have time to look at them until Monday anyway, Why not?

The e-Postal match for April will be announced shortly.

Latest Nooze......

2011-03-28T20:02:00.000-07:00

It seems like I start a lot of posts lamenting about how fast the time has gone by since the last time I got a post up, and today seems to be no exception. It's been a busy week, for sure. The new online shooting supplies store, Magnum Shooters Supply is growing, and the number of James Austin Moon Clip Servers that have sold has been a pleasant surprise. The OKO sight market will build as folks find about about them, but it will take some time to get major market penetration. The prices on our ammunition are pretty good, and it will definitely save some folks some money if they buy ammo from us and I deliver it to one of the matches for them. Freight costs on ammo can be ugly, since it's so heavy.

This last week has also been a week of working on stuff. My Honda Civic hasn't been running quite like it should, and I suspected carburetor problems. I picked up a used carburetor out of the pull-it-yourself wrecking yard along with a fuel pump for $27.00. Can't beat the price, even if you do have to take it off yourself. The carburetor new from Honda is over $700! I took off the old carb ( a pain, must a thousand vacuum lines!) and took it apart, but it all looked OK, at least nothing obvious. I went through the wrecking yard carb, and it needed a little cleaning, but otherwise it looked fine. A little bit of water had collected in the float bowl and corroded it a bit, but it didn't take much to clean it out. I installed the new (to me) carb on the Honda and fired it up. Above a certain rpm it ran OK, but it wouldn't idle at all. I took the top of the carb off and one at a time removed all of the jets and blew them out with the air hose, figuring that a little bit of the corrosion might be in one of the jets. After putting it back together, it fired up and ran like a sewing machine! I drove it about a quarter of a mile and them back home. It quit completely when I pulled into the driveway! It did re-start, but it wouldn't idle like the first time. More loose corrosion floating around, I figured, so I took the top of the carburetor off again and re-cleaned all the jets. Again, it fired up and ran really nicely. I warmed it up a bit and set the idle speed. I drove it down the road again, and this time it ran just like it should. COOL! It was now 2am., and I locked up the shop and went to bed. The next morning I fired it up, and it still ran like it should. I've now driven it for a few days and it seems to run fine. Next project is to replace a leaking front main bearing seal. Not fun! It's leaking oil pretty badly, and should be replaced.

Yesterday I replaced the front brake pads on my Plymouth Mini-van. The rotors were fine, but it sure was needing some pads! The van still needs to have the left CV Joint/axle assembly replaced as it's just starting to make a little noise. Not a bad job, but not a fun one, either. After that, it's time to do the front brakes on the Civic. They are still good for another five or ten thousand miles, so that's a lower priority.

This last week was also when I finalized the logos and messages and layout for my new GunUp competition shooting jersey. Our team jerseys should look really nice.

In my SPARE time, I've been trying to shoot every day. So far in the last week I've emptied about 1,500 rounds of rimfire. Some of them actually hit the steel! *More * Practice * Needed *

The on-going saga continues on trying to get my new (to me) Tanfoglio race gun here from Holland. The few places that will handle it charge from $500 to $600 to "The Sky's the limit" to do all of the paperwork and ship it over here. However, all of the paperwork for the import and export permits and licenses are already done! All I need is to have someone at the Amsterdam airport put the package onto an airplane, and then have someone give it to US Customs in Seattle. We've got all of the Customs forms and ATF forms and everything already handled. All we need is for someone to move the package from Amsterdam airport to Seattle airport. If we can find someone to actually ship it for us, I may have to bring it back in my checked suitcase when I return fr m the European Steel Challenge Championships in June.

On either Wednesday or Thursday I'm probably going to make an ammo run to the warehouse to re-stock on some stuff, and also pick up a few more kinds and calibers while I'm there. That's about a four hour trip, total. I hope I've got the Civic oil seal changed by then so It doesn't take quite so much oil to make the trip!

Friday I am hoping to drive over to Yakima and shoot in one of their Steel Challenge matches. It looks like the mountain passes should be OK. I'll take the mini-RV and spend Friday night at the range, then drive home Saturday evening.

On Sunday I putting on the very first Western Style Fast Draw match at my local club, Holmes Harbor Rod & Gun Club. That should be a lot of fun!

Yup, I've been kinda busy, and it looks like it's just going to get busier!

Puyallup Steel at Paul Bunyan

2011-03-21T20:10:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally got through a steel match without getting frozen, rained out, or blown away! Although it was a bit chilly at times with the ground being frozen at the start, it was overall a pretty nice day in terms of weather. It didn't start raining until we started home.

As to getting to and from the match, there's a story in itself. The Washington State run ferry system has two docks on the Whidbey Island side, but only one on the mainland side, so if they ever need to do dock repairs on the mainland side, they have to shut down the dock. However, just a few miles South on the mainland dock in Mukilteo there is another ferry dock in Edmonds. It's close enough to the Mukilteo - Clinton Route that you can easily see the Edmonds dock just down the shoreline a few miles. When the State decides to shut down the dock in Mukilteo, they run the regular ferry from Clinton, on Whidbey Island, to the Edmonds dock instead. It seems, though, that they try to make the longer run on the same amount of fuel. The normal crossing time is fifteen minutes, but to go a few miles farther South, it takes them fifty minutes! For a big part of the trip the boat wasn't running much over a fast idle! Since they were running the boats much slower, they also had to cut way back on the number of trips per day they could run, potentially causing long waits to get onto a boat. And the ferry system wonders why they are so universally hated by those of use that depend on them as part of our state highway system!

Anyhow, It took us a bit longer to get to the match than it usually does. The Paul Bunyan club only has five pistol bays, so there could only be five stages set up. There were almost 100 entries though, and this for a local club match! Steel shooting is definitely catching on. The large number of shooters meant large squads, and a long day. When the match was over, it was late in the afternoon, and we were all starving, so a few of us headed over to the nearby airport restaurant for a late lunch/early dinner. The food and conversation was great, and it was almost 8pm by the time we hit the road towards home. Not wanting to spend a bunch of time waiting for a ferry, and then an additional fifty minutes to make the crossing, we decided to drive North to Burlington, then West towards Anacortes, and finally South across the Deception Pass bridge to ge to Whidbey Island. From Deception pass it was still another hour to travel the entire length of the Island to the South end to get home. It ended up taking us somewhere almost four hours to get home.

Oh, the match? I forgot about that part! KeeWee wanted to squad with her friend Jeanette, a new shooter from the Kitsap club, and I wanted to shoot with my usual squad mates James and Scott, so we ended up on different squads, but our squads were side by side for most of the day, so we were able to watch each other shoot. She shot very well. Me, not so much.......

Click ---> for KeeWee's story about the match, including some pictures.

Holland - Here I Come!

2011-03-19T08:59:00.000-07:00

The confirmation has come through, and I will be representing the GUNUP.COM Pro Staff team at the European Steel Challenge Championships in Winterswijk, Holland June 3rd., 4th., and 5th. The cost of airfare has nearly tripled over the last two years, and without GUNUP's help, there is no way I could afford to make the trip this year. Sadly, KeeWee won't be able to go as it's just to expensive for us. It looks like I will be traveling by myself. Bummer.....

It's certainly not going to be the same without her there, but I'm thankful that I'm getting to the chance attend at all. Maybe once Magnum Shooters Supply starts making some money it will be a different story, but for this year, it's just not in the cards, or wallet, as it were.

It looks like GUNUP will be well represented at the International Revolver Championships in California, held the same weekend. Last I heard, both James Austin and Caleb Giddings, both outstanding revolver masters, will be competing. I've only shot with Caleb once, but I shoot with James at least twice a month, and I can tell you first hand that they are both excellent with a revolver. I wish I could be there just to watch! (And heckle James, of course! Some days that's the most fun of the day!)

e-Postal Match Reminder & Win a Shirt!

2011-03-19T08:34:00.000-07:00

Don't forget there's an e-Postal match underway, and it ends the end of the month, so you don't have a whole lot of time to get your targets shot and submitted. The first and last e-Postal matches of the year always have the lowest number of entries, so we need you to get those entries coming in.

As an added incentive, I will be giving away a GUNUP.COM T-Shirt, by random drawing, to one of the entries. No, it will be a NEW shirt - I'm cheap, but not THAT cheap! This will be a totally random drawing from among the entries, so the more times you enter, the better your chance to have a GUNUP T-shirt of your very own.

OKO Sights - On Sale + Free Shipping

2011-03-15T11:59:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, over the last few months I've been working like mad putting together a new on-line storefront, Magnum Shooters Supply. A bit at a time I've been adding products and product lines, including Pro Ears hearing protectors and Ammunition, but our flagship product line is the line of OKO Red Dot Reflex sights from the Czech Republic.

The store front is now fully functional, the credit card processing gateway works, and it's time to start running some introductory sales to really get the ball rolling.

How about dropping the price twenty-five bucks, and free shipping too? I've got everything shown on the website in stock, and unless an item specifically states that it's back-ordered, it's in stock and ready to ship.

Sure, there are lots of red dot sights out there, and a ton of them a whole lot cheaper, but you DO get what you pay for, and the OKO, in my opinion, is right up there with the C-More, and in some ways even better. I've got both C-Mores and OKO's for my race guns, and I prefer the OKO, but they are both very good. Grab one while they are on sale!

Check it out!

Best Rimfire Pistol For Steel Shooting?

2011-03-15T01:21:00.000-07:00

I've got an article posted over at GUNUP.COM about what are the five best rimfire pistols for steel competition. If you are considering giving steel shooting with a .22 a try, you might want to go have a look. In fact, a good steel shooter makes a wonderful plinker too, so even if you are thinking about expanding your rimfire pistol inventory (!) you might find some things of interest to consider. Here's the link to the article.

There's a lot of excellent choices out there, so trying to narrow it down to only five was pretty difficult!

Not Exactly As Planned........

2011-03-12T21:20:00.000-08:00

The plan was to head over to the Kitsap Rifle & Revolver Club today for a Fun Steel match, then grab lunch with some of the guys from the match, then head home. That's not exactly how it ended up!

I dragged my sleepy self out of bed at five - (Expletive) - thirty, and stumbled my way to the kitchen for coffee. KeeWee, far smarter than I, knowing that the forecast was for rain all day, stayed in bed where it was warm.

I sloshed down some coffee, ate a couple of nuked pancakes from yesterday, and loaded the match guns and gear into the car. I had no problem catching the 6:30 ferry from Whidbey Island to America (what we Whidbey locals refer to as "The Mainland", and shortly thereafter I was back on dry land and headed towards Edmonds, WA. to catch yet another car ferry, this time to re-cross Puget Sound to get to Kingston, WA. It's a thirty minute crossing, and after dozing a bit on the way across, I was back on the road again ("...On the road again" ? Hmm, might make a good song) and thirty or forty minutes later I pulled in to the KRRC range.

All the way it had been raining with great enthusiasm, and when I got out of the car and walked over to sign-up, it was still raining. A number of the regulars were standing around under the roof over the rifle line shooting stations, where we usually do the sign-ins. It turns out that the match had been canceled. Several of the bays were under water! John, the match director, explained that he had checked the condition last night just before dark, and everything was fine. Last night, during the night however, it had rained heavily, flooding the range.

After standing around visiting with the regulars for a while, John, James, and I headed over to the Red Apple Diner for coffee and a late breakfast, or an early lunch, depending on how you figure it. The coffee, food, and conversation were excellent, and after stuffing myself with a large plate of biscuits and gravy, I headed home. Two ferry rides and a couple of hours later, I was home.

After a day like this, there is only one really good action as a follow-up.

I took a nap..........

Gun Blogger Rendezvous Slide Show From Last Year's Rendezvous

2011-03-12T20:51:00.000-08:00

It's already time to start making plans to attend this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous! Once the weather starts getting a bit better things start moving quickly, and in no time it's September and time to head to Reno and the Silver Legacy Resort and Casino for this year's Rondy.

Over the next few months there will be lots of announcements regarding sponsors, events, and so forth at the Rendezvous. I can tell you that this year's Rendezvous is going to out-do all previous years combined!

True Blue Sam from the blog True Blue Sam - The Travelin' Man" put together a slide show from last year, using pictures taken by Derek of the blog "The Packing Rat"

For more information about this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous, check out the Gun Blogger Rendezvous website, and start making plans to be in Reno next September. You don't have to be a Gun Blogger to attend, or even a blogger at all, but if you enjoy shooting, shooting sports, guns, 2nd. Amendment and Right to Carry issues, or even if you'd just like to meet and hang out for a couple of days with the Gun Bloggers you read regularly, you are more than welcome to attend.

See YOU in Reno at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous!