Archive for April, 2017

This Is Why I Don’t Go To Gun Shows

By From http://www.musingsoverapint.com/ • Apr 8th, 2017 • Category: Blog Entries.Local

I haven’t set foot in a gun show since 2009. This is one reason. How many gun safety violations can you see here?Watch Frontier: Surveillance footage of shooting at Wanenmacher’s Tulsa Arms Show.The accompanying story reports that former Tulsa Cou…



Herd Immunity From Criticism

By From https://odonnellweb.com/pelican/ • Apr 7th, 2017 • Category: Blog Entries.Local

Cherry Blossoms

Last week I finished reading Ahead of the Curve, Inside the Baseball Revolution, which is a book about the dramatic changes in evaluating baseball talent in the last decade or so. Don’t worry, this isn’t a nerdy baseball article, although I suspect many of you would be perfectly OK with …



Five O’Clock Friday: Caffeine and Alcohol

By From http://www.musingsoverapint.com/ • Apr 7th, 2017 • Category: Blog Entries.Local

They have the right idea.Enjoy the weekend!
[ This content originated at Musings Over a Pint ]



That’s Not How Iron Sights Work

By From http://www.musingsoverapint.com/ • Apr 6th, 2017 • Category: Blog Entries.Local

This is a promotional poster for the movie American Assassin.I’m no expert but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work like that. I may go just to see what happens when he pulls the trigger.
[ This content originated at Musings Over a Pint ]



When Support is Offshore

By From http://www.musingsoverapint.com/ • Apr 5th, 2017 • Category: Blog Entries.Local

I’ve been dealing with a major software company which has apparently moved their support services offshore. I received the following email response…Hi David,Apologies for the incontinence caused, allow me a couple of hours & let me revert with an…



New Gun Range Trip

By From http://www.musingsoverapint.com/ • Apr 4th, 2017 • Category: Blog Entries.Local

Recently I picked up a new gun I’ve had my eye on for some time, a full size SIG Sauer P320. I’m an unabashed SIG Sauer fan, but I like the striker fired action of my Smith & Wesson Shield. When the new striker-fired P320 series came out, I was interested, because, well, it’s a SIG. I finally bit the bullet, so to speak.

Tired of simply fondling the gun, I made it to the range this week to actually shoot it. There really isn’t much to say, except I like it. 😊

The first thing I did was to shoot groups at some black pasters I stuck to my target, to see where the gun points. Shooting at 7, 10 and 15 yards I found there was little difference from my P226. Next I did some strong hand and weak hand only shooting. My skills in those areas of late leave much to be desired, but I did find the grip of this gun fit my hand very well and it’s easily controllable. I easily kept my one-handed shots in the -0 zone at 10 yards.

Finally, I ran the target all the way out to 25 yards. I tend to shoot low at that distance; not having a clear view of the target likely factors into that. At least this time, with some hard focus on the sights, I didn’t do any worse that usual. The group was slightly tighter at that distance and well centered on the target. I’m a firm believer in the adage, “It’s the indian not the arrow,” but I do like the stock trigger on the P230, and that may contribute to the improvement noted.

That all said, the real test comes with time — with more shooting, at a faster pace especially. I expect many more trips to the range in the coming days and weeks.

There is a downside to adding a new gun to the mix. Now I’m ordering extra magazines, and mag carriers, and holsters…

[ This content originated at Musings Over a Pint ]



Virginia Indoor Regional IDPA Match

By From http://www.musingsoverapint.com/ • Apr 3rd, 2017 • Category: Blog Entries.Local

Last Saturday I travelled with a couple friends down to the Norfolk County Rifle Range in Chesapeake, VA, to shoot the Virginia Indoor Regional IDPA match. This match consists of 10 stages, five of which are shot in the dark. I met my companions at about the halfway point in the drive, and rode along the second half. That made the three hour trip much more interesting.

Five courses of fire were set up, making full use of the club’s indoor range. The stages are shot first in the dark, then again in the light, giving 10 stages for the match. Slight changes were made in four of the courses between the dark and light portions of the match. Simple on paper, the stages were deceptive in their difficulty — target placement led to some really tight shots — which led to a few missed shots! 
The event was exceptionally well run. Conducting a match in the dark adds complexity, especially with the efforts to keep shooters safe. After a quick walkthrough of the first five dark stages, our group was divided in half. The first half took assigned seats and awaited their turn, while the rest waited at the back of the bay. I had expected low light shooting, but when they say “in the dark,” they really mean “in the dark.” The staff went to great lengths to block any light from entering the range. After the shooters were seated in their places, the lights were turned out. When it was our turn to shoot, we were instructed to place a hand on the SO’s shoulder and with a small red light he guided us to our stage. After the “load and make ready” command, the SO’s red flashlight was turned off and we prepared for the beep. After shooting, we were led back, still in the dark, to our seats and the next shooter shot his stage. After the group had shot, the lights came back on and we retrieved our dropped mags and the stages were scored and reset by the SO’s. The process was completed for the next group and we rotated stages until everyone had shot all five dark stages. 
The process ran smoothly and at no time did I ever feel unsafe. As I sat in the dark waiting to shoot my first stage, I did get a little anxious. It was the first time I had ever shot in the dark and didn’t really know what to expect. My mind was running through my stage, “Were there two or three targets there?” Was the non-threat to the left or right?” Once I had the first stage completed, I was able to relax a bit. After everyone had shot all the stages in the dark, the crew made the needed changes to the setup, and the whole process repeated for the light stages. At least now we could see the other shooters as they shot.
Occasionally I momentarily lost my way, and had to quickly scan with the light to make sure I had shot all the targets. At times, my flashlight shifted and I needed to adjust my hold to see the target. At one point, my flashlight was aimed below the port through which were were shooting and all I saw was a wall of white smoke in front of me. When I got to the point where we had to shoot strong hand only, I was briefly baffled, “Wait, what do I do with the flashlight?” My hand went to my chest where it normally would go, before I shifted to the side of my neck. 
We shot the entire match in about three hours. The whole process was extremely well-organized and the SO’s kept us moving. Our squad dwindled as we lost a few shooters to DQ’s, which made the turn around time between shooting even quicker. At times I did feel a little rushed to load mags and get prepped for my next run, but that was probably more me than reality. The staff did an amazing job keeping things flowing, and their experience at running this event was obvious.
I was quite happy with how I shot. I’m not winning any prizes, but I shot better than I had expected, finishing 9th of 21 in my division and 28th of 61 overall. Shooting with the flashlight in hand adds an unusual variable and challenge to making your shots accurately and quickly. I was also concerned about changing mags while holding the flashlight, but in retrospect I don’t recall thinking about it during the match.
It was a fun match and I’m looking forward to doing more shooting in the dark in the future. Sadly, that probably won’t be until next year’s Virginia Indoor Regional.

[ This content originated at Musings Over a Pint ]



Daytrip to Solomons Island, MD

By From https://odonnellweb.com/pelican/ • Apr 1st, 2017 • Category: Blog Entries.Local

Solomons Bridge

With a 65 degree, blue sky day and nothing pressing to do at home, I decided it was a good day to get out and explore. Perusing Google Maps and a few Day trips from DC articles that Google delivered, I decided on Solomons Island, MD as the day’s destination …



Moving a ton of blue stone three rocks at a time with style and grace.

By From http://blog.mikemorones.com • Apr 1st, 2017 • Category: Blog Entries.Local, Photography.Local


Boys and Guns

By From http://www.musingsoverapint.com/ • Apr 1st, 2017 • Category: Blog Entries.Local

“Boys who own legal firearms, however, have much lower rates of delinquency and drug use and are even slightly less delinquent than nonowners of guns.”Source: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Del…