The Long Hiatus

I've been on a break for a while. I understand that some missed new posts. I apologize for that. I hope that in the new year I will do better. I have not quit shooting and I've tried a number of different firearms.

I was also on the board of my local club. I've now been voted off. Why I wasn't elected is more troubling than the fact that I wasn't elected. It would seem that some of the membership is more interested in promoting one sport than in supporting the entire membership's interests. That is sad but there are parallels in the broader society and we are seeing that in the politics of the day.

Speaking of politics... Politics is rightly a separate issue because politicians, those who deal in politics professionally, have set themselves apart from the majority of the citizenry. Those that most concern me at the moment are those who seek to advance their various personal agendas through their efforts to disarm the public. The current Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia has apparently decided to make that which has long been legal to possess by otherwise law abiding citizens suddenly illegal to possess by anyone aside from the government's enforcers. This does not bode well for liberty. All the implications of this effort by the governor and the efforts to counter it are too complicated to address in a short blog post so I won't try to do that. Suffice to say that this will be a complicated, perhaps lengthy conflict that might go to the courts and we'll have to see how this turns out.

There have been lots of changes in the shooting industry. Several firearms distributors have gone under because of mismanagement and one has left the business due to the retirement of the founder. Nikon is ceasing production of telescopic sights after making a controversial marketing change. In our area they have already effectively left the marketplace so they might not be missed at all. SKS founded by J. D. Jones has been sold and in conjunction with Haus of Arms is going to produce OLD style Contender frames. There have been several new producers of firearms that I really don't care about for personal use and probably won't report on here but might bear research by you, dear reader.

There are many pages of old posts which I need to edit to improve the illustrations and I hope that I'll be able to do that this coming year.

However, the one thing that I've been concentrating on for the past two years is creating memorial biographies of all the soldiers of the 116th Infantry Regiment and its ancestral and descendant units who have died in service. This project is currently in its fifth year. I have completed those from World War One and estimate that I am about one-half to two-thirds of my way through World War Two. I have and will continue to do soldiers out of sequence if a request is made or an opportunity to capture information presents itself. The 116th Infantry Regiment Roll of Honor is searchable if you are looking for a particular soldier or date.

Cost of dental care...

About 50 years ago I had 2 taken at a time with only local anesthetic. Each time the gum had to be cut away to access the teeth and the teeth drilled and split with a chisel to get them out of the jaw. The dentist actually got up on the chair and leaned against me to get the right angle on the work he was doing. Then I was stitched up and sent home with a latex glove which had frozen water in it. They did give me a prescription for codeine pain pills (IIRC). Chew on the one side they said, the stitches will dissolve (its NEW) they said. 6-10 months later a piece of tooth migrated out of the gum and was discovered when I bit down on a pancake. Given the value of the dollar today I would think that the price you've been quoted is entirely reasonable

The public condition...

There are any number of politicians who will unabashedly lie to any and all to pursue their own self interest. We, the people, win only in as much as we can connect their self-interest with ours. For some of these politicians, controlling others is part and parcel of that self-interest. There is now a huge swath of citizenry who either believe they will benefit or are so pitiably ignorant of basic scientific, economic, historical, and parliamentary facts to do anything but follow them blindly. Of course, people in every "sector" of the range of opinion believe that they are THE ones who are not "those" people. Historically, that close mindedness inevitably results in some sort of violent resolution. I am not looking forward to that.

Mondays don't get me down...

My sister posted about Monday which I think was a bit sarcastic in her "praise" of the day. Maybe the years of working all days of the week with days "off" on any day of the week, sometimes seemingly at random, and duty on many holidays the identification of Monday with drudgery has been muted in my mind. While I know that Monday is generally a day of the week demeaned by most as the day one MUST return to WORK, I like it. It is always a day of new beginnings, of opportunities. Today is Monday! I get another chance to renew and make new friendships, to learn, to solve problems/puzzles. I GET to work and I like it.

Spring is sprung...

Spring apparently has sprung, although we saw signs earlier, with the beggars at the road intersections. In my youth I was a pretty soft touch but numerous experiences with those who are daily at "their" spot and whose vehicle (better than any I've had) is parked fairly close by, has hardened my heart. There are so many agencies now which will help, there isn't any need to do this. However, I have been told by various trusted sources that one can "earn" $200-300 or more each day doing this. While I'll allow that you can choose not to work, I think I've got the right to choose not to support you anymore than the government forces me to.

New website for Nuckols Gun Works

As you know I have a hobby "job" at Nuckols Gun Works in Staunton, VA. They now have a new/updated web site (you can click on the link in the first sentence). You can see in real time what guns are available and what prices we have. Also, you can get BETTER prices from the website AND participate in our gun giveaway as well as get coupons for discounts on ammunition. The whole staff is dedicated to service to all our customers. I really like working there for that reason.

Notes from the range...

This past Sunday I shot a varmint pistol course at Stonewall Rifle Pistol Club. This is some sort of pistol, no more than 9-power telescopic sight, off a rest, at 50 and 100 yards. It was interesting in that:
- I did not prepare but used some loads that I'd loaded for the 21" Contender barrel some years ago
- I was able be zeroed at 50-yards in 4-shots.
- I was hanging in there after the first card at 50-yards
- I was not adequately careful with my 10" barrel on the rest and let it come back too far and it opened up the bag on which the forearm was resting. That shot was a zero and the deconstructed bag probably cost me placing in the match.
- I have already come up with a better rest solution that will prevent a repeat of this act.

If you are open to learning every experience can offer a lesson to learn. I learned something here.

On Monday Nana said I should go to the range so I did. I am going to reiterate that one has to experiment with rimfire guns to find ammunition that is reliable AND accurate. The SIG Sauer 938-22 greatly preferred the Winchester bulk hollow-points that you find in the 333 and 555 boxes to the Federal round-nose equivalent.

Youth shoot 2016

Our club does a "youth shoot" every year to encourage young people who are interested in shooting. All sorts of kids come out for the shoot, age 11-18, male and female, with and without familial shooting backgrounds and they all have a good time. This year was physically challenging as the temperature was down in the 30s and the wind was generally 20 mph with gust far exceeding that. We instructed in crossbow, air rifle, rimfire rifle and shotgun, fed them a lunch and handed out a number of door prizes including a crossbow. Very happy to have my grandson participate this year.

The world as it is, not as we wish it to be...

Things have changed. Compared to what we have today even the Vietnam War period seems idyllic. For the first time since the submarine attacks directly off our shores in WWII we are being attacked by our enemies. They are few in numbers but great in their effect. This state of affairs will not change in the foreseeable future. Some politicians (let's face it, politicians see themselves as separate from the rest of us) are willing to allow us to defend ourselves others are not but nearly all of this class are attempting to find personal advantage in our collective disadvantage. We can not permit this nor can we permit ourselves to be disarmed at home or at work. We need to work with our friends, neighbors, co-workers, customers, service providers, and community officials. We need to be prepared for the worst.

As I began to write this we were hearing of yet another "mass shooting" this time in San Bernardino, CA. Due to the modi operandi we expected one sort of perpetrator but we got another. The norm has changed yet again. A successful man of mid-eastern descent who made $70K+ working for the government, was married and had a 6-month old child apparently also had a bombs in his home and was assisted by his wife in the attack. They were both killed. CAIR immediately trotted out his brother-in-law to say that Islam was a religion of peace and the perp would never have done this and that he just can't understand... Interestingly, the argument he supposedly had with a co-worker was about Islam being a religion of peace (or not). Doesn't anyone else see the irony in this?

The reporting has generally been abysmal with most reporters rushing to push their agenda on the subject of "mass shootings" by attributing the shooting to various groups, blaming a lack of gun control (in California of all places), and being absolutely clueless about any of the applicable terminology. If I were their professor in journalism school judging this as a class assignment they'd have all gotten an "F".

Let's look at what we do know about certain technical aspects that might contain teaching points.
- While they apparently purchased the AR-15s they used in the attack legally, they illegally removed the "bullet button" and illegally possessed magazines with a greater than 10-round capacity.
- They were illegally making improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in their home with neighbors on either side of them.
- They tried to deploy one of those devices at the attack site and it did not work.
- They booby-trapped their home but we do not know whether or not those devices were set up correctly.
- They did not try to flee (although it was supposed that they had successfully done so).
- They had body armor (or not, perhaps only tactical load bearing vests).
- They had a reported 2500 rounds of .223 ammunition and 2000 rounds of 9mm ammunition as well as some .22 Long rifle.
- They had GoPro cameras to record their attack.

Range day...

Went to the range today and learned some lessons, or not... Took the Single-Seven, .327 Federal and both Federal American Eagle factory loads, the 85 gr. and 100 gr. bulleted loads. I am pretty much decided to load the 100 gr. XTP so I was using the 100 gr. load to zero/sight-in. I was also using the opportunity to see how much the 85 gr. load POI would differ from the 100 gr. load and to just get some trigger time. A couple of interesting things...

First, this gun has a couple of screws loose, the ejector rod housing screw and the screw in front of the trigger guard both shot loose. I was having to tighten them after every cylinder full. THAT I can fix.

Second was how well it grouped, or didn't. I realize I am not the best shot in the world, my eyes are starting to fail me (cataracts) and I'm certainly not infallible! While I didn't have time to shoot groups with individual chambers it certainly seems as if certain of the individual chambers shoot very well with many cloverleafs but those groups are separated by at least two calibers from one another. Some chambers don't seem to quite stand up to that. My best group from a cylinder-full (7-shots) was about 3½ in a bit of an oval. This at 25-yards doesn't seem so good.

Third, I feel as if it is spitting a bit but it isn't, it is just a LOT of gas working there. It looks as if there is some top-strap cutting but I never bothered to look or simply can't remember if these things have a relief cut there. One thing for certain, the burn rings one often sees on the front of stainless cylinders (due to the contrast) cover the whole front of the cylinder and extend in a neat little pattern to the side of the cylinder. Since this pattern varies slightly from chamber to chamber it is clear that each chamber's relationship to the barrel is a bit different, one very much so. Discoloring due to heat extends to the base pin where it is exposed between the frame and face of the cylinder.

Had a great time, of course.

Nana takes the first step...

Nana took her Concealed Handgun Permit certification course today. I do believe that she learned a lot!

Range day...

Had a pretty good range day but...

First, I took the M1 rifle out with some Lake City M2 and she did pretty good. The weight of the rifle makes it pleasant to shoot from the bench. Then I shot the SIG Sauer 938-22 and got it zeroed with the Winchester Dynapoints. She does ok at 25 yards and practice with the trigger helps a lot. I do NOT like the 3-dot sights. I may black them out as the dots give a confusing sight picture, at least for my eyes. I might black out the dots on the rear sight first, just to see what that does.

Then I wanted to shoot up some .45 ACP somebody gave me that was loaded with a light load under some 200 gr. plated RN bullets. I took my Ruger FT .45 Colt/ACP with the ACP cylinder for just this purpose. No go. The cartridges wouldn't go the last 1/4 to 5/16ths of an inch into the chambers. Poorly resized. No, I won't give you the name of the fellow who did this. I am going to try to recover these but we will just have to see if this will be doable without pulling all the bullets and dumping the powder.

Two of the club officers were out there shooting. One shoots only cast bullets and was trying cast in the 6.5-284 Winchester! The other brought his Schultz and Larsen .22, Anschutz Exemplar pistol and XP100. Lots of fun shooting!

Range day...

Got to shoot today so took the nickeled S&W M34. Shot over 75 rounds, maybe as many as 100 rounds being a mix of 20-year old Federal HVHPs and Winchester Dynapoints and new Federal HVHP. I was surprised to find that the Federal, old or new, required a slight push to fully seat in the cylinder and would drag on the recoil shield sometimes very badly. The Dynapoints dropped right into the chamber and didn't drag at all. I guess this will ensure the Dynapoints get designated for this gun.

Also shot the Browning 1911-22. That gun is about the best one I have to shoot up that old Russian Junior ammo. It seems to love that ammo. Doesn't do badly with the Federal or Dynapoints either. For such a little gun it is pretty accurate. I think it will shoot better than I can shoot it right now. The small sights are a real challenge for me.

After having difficulties with the open sights on the 34 and 1911-22 I thought I would go back to my Tactical Solutions conversion on Combat Commander frame. This has a Burris Fastfire mounted. I think that sight is great for seeing a sight but it doesn't seem to easily give me much precision. While I could hit a head sized target at 50 yards I couldn't tell you where I would hit it. The target looked more like it had suffered several strikes from #4 buck than having been shot with a precision firearm.

When I got there a buddy (he's 75) was shooting his Rock Island .22 TCM. He has 2, one with the 5" barrel and one with a 4¼" barrel. John is a very experienced reloader. He says that he is having problems finding a bullet that is accurate in his reloads. He has tried several. The 5" barrel keyholes! If I understood correctly, I don't think it does this with factory ammo though. He was shooting at a measured 27 yards. His groups were in the 2½-3" range.

Range day...

Wasn't all that exciting today. No rain, thunder, lightning, etc., in fact it was a beautiful day, not even very windy. Checked the zero on a rifle and shot the Webley with some odd lot cartridges given to me. Had 4 duds, all OLD Remington-UMC. Had one RWS cartridge that turned out to be loaded with blackpowder! THAT was a surprise but I have to tell you, its performance was somewhat underwhelming. One wonders how those S&W lemon-squeezers did any good. There were also 3 "near"-squibs, i.e. the bullet made it out of the barrel but not very far, certainly not to the target which was 25-yards distant. However, a quantity of brass to load as .380/200 was made available.

I am now looking for some quick turn levers for Weaver type Warne scope rings.

Range day...

I had a great range day. Took the .17 HMR Contender to zero. Easy to shoot and quick to sight in, the .17 was right on out to 75 yards with both the 17 and 25 gr. bullets. I can see why some folks just love this cartridge. The factory Contender barrel was clearly accurate despite my shooting from a supported sitting position without a solid rest. This should be an outstanding pest killer. It is almost unfortunate that I have no pests I can use this to eliminate.

I also took the Browning 1911-22 out. I also had a box plus 10 of the old Russian Junior ammo (in the green box). This is not usually the best of ammo. Steel cased and subject to sometime contamination of the powder charge by the bullet lube, it is NOT known for accuracy particularly after all these years (at least 25 years since I purchased it). However, in the little Browning pistol it was surprisingly accurate and functional. There were zero failures to fire, feed, extract or eject which I sometimes have with this ammo from other pistols. I was able to hit fist sized rocks and dirt clumps very easily at 25-35 yards. I think this might be my ammo of choice with this pistol. A good thing because I have a couple of bricks of the stuff!

I also took the Tactical Solutions 1911 conversion with Burris FastFire. I was shooting both Federal and Winchester ammo in that gun but it is dirty and would not function with any reliability for the first 5 rounds in either magazine so I put it up.

Today's weather was not exactly what one would call shooter friendly. While the temperature was a relatively nice 51° at the range, the wind has been blowing 20-40 mph all day long. That really made it feel colder, particularly in shade at the bench.

Recent shooting experience...

First thing, on the 21st I took my daughter shooting. Her favorite gun is the S&W M422. It is light and always works. Well, it always works when used with good magazines. I just bought a new magazine, OEM, and it was defective and not just in exhibiting poor feeding with ammunition every other magazine used AND new (I'd bought 2 new magazines) but in construction. The darn baseplate is "sprung", that is it's bottom half is out of the magazine body. Kinda disappointing. Yes, I'll be contacting S&W.

Burris Fast Fire

We also tried the Burris Fast Fire on the Tactical Solutions .45 to .22 conversion. OH YEAH! Your aunt doesn't much like the 1911 frame because it is large and heavy but she sure could hit with that sight. I have trouble seeing red but with the sight on the brightest setting I could easily see and hit targets on out there including some bits of clay bird at 50 yards! Darn impressive.

Aunt Deanna also shot the Webley MKIV. I had a partial box of OLD .38 S&W ammunition that apparently wasn't reliable in the gun for which it was originally purchased. 3 rounds were in the box with clearly struck primers AND their bullets. No, the primers hadn't ignited in whatever that pistol was. EVERY round went bang the first time in the Webley and did so with very good accuracy, easily hitting aforementioned clay target bits at 25-30 yards. My eldest particularly liked that it was light and that the recoil was light. However the DA trigger pull was a bit much for her.

I've also been busy helping our club with the annual youth shoot. We'll have to wait until next year for Kirk as the minimum age for participants is 11. This year we will have about 39 attendees, age 11-17, male and female as well as their parents who must observe as we teach. Every instructor is NRA certified. We even provide lunch as well as prizes including a Parker Bow (courtesy of Parker Bows).

It has been a busy time.

Spring ahead...

No, it isn't the day we set the clocks forward for daylight savings time (an archaic response to old infrastructure deficiencies) but rather the time of year I change from my hunting guns to my range shooting season guns.  Out comes the varmint pistol and 50BR rigs and my summer time carry guns. The squirrel rifle, muzzleloader, etc have had their final maintenance and been safely locked away.  Another change of season has come and gone. 

Rough week...

It has been a rough week.  We are accustomed to having the day revolve around Bailey's needs to eat, take bathroom breaks outside, etc and since that ended we have moments we are sort of at loose ends.  It has also been really cold for Virginia with temperatures as low as -2, we had some snow, we were putting away the Christmas decorations, taking Bailey's stuff either to put in storage for the "next dog" or to the SPCA to donate. Nana is picking up Bailey's cremains today.  I did work but it simply was not particularly interesting, in part because I miss the dog.

Giving Thanks

My sister and I (and our children) are, like 2-2-1/2 million living Americans, Mayflower descendants. That is, we have ?X great-grandparents who came to this country on the Mayflower. Some of our other ancestors came on the next few ships to arrive in the Plymouth colony. In other words our ancestors were religious and political refugees who risked their lives, lived in great discomfort, labored for years, separated themselves from the remainder of their families on the hope that they and their grandchildren could live with a greater degree of liberty and security than they had in the "old world". They succeeded and despite the normal life struggles our families have long enjoyed greater prosperity and liberty than they would have had or could have had just about any place else in the world. For their foresight, hope and fortitude we are extremely grateful.

Busy, busy, busy...

Things are hopping around here. We've been busy. Last week we discovered via our water bill that we had a probable leak in the water line from the meter to the house. After we verified this we have been hustling to get the pipe replaced (the current pipe is 87-year old 1/2" galvanized pipe). That process started last evening with the necessary trenching. Today they will run pipe, drill into the basement for the new pipe and hook up the new line to the house. Inspection will likely (hopefully) take place Friday and then we will be able to back-fill the trench and re-pave the sidewalk at the meter. Interestingly, even though it isn't even 1/3rd a cubic yard it must come off a truck as the city will not accept anything else.

Today, I'm working to fill in for my manager (there are only the two of us who work here, it is him or me) and must also work Friday and Saturday as usual. The first thing today our old friend Van "Shorty" S______ came by from West Augusta to ask about our mutual friend/comrade John A______ who recently had a torn aorta repaired.