Sometimes I think the highlight of the New Year celebration is the knowledge that the days are, ever so slowly, getting longer and we’ll soon see more sun, and eventually more warmth. It doesn’t take long for me to tire of cold weather! That aside, it’…

My Christmas “stay-cation” had been so far, pew-free. Finally, on Wednesday we took a family drive down to the Winding Brook Indoor Range in Ashland, VA. This is the same facility Colleen and I visited last February. Unfortunately just a few months aft…

On this night, December 25, 1776, neither the dark of night nor a freezing river deterred General Washington and his men from taking the fight against tyranny right to the enemy.
[ This content originated at Musings Over a Pint ]

As we celebrate the Nativity of Our Lord, I wish all the readers of these Musings, a most joyful and blessed Christmas season. May the blessings of God be upon you throughout the season and the whole year.The Church at Shepherd’s Field, BethlehemPhoto …

Earlier this week, Capital Ale House in Fredericksburg hosted a Strangeways Brewing “Steal the Glass” event. As reported recently, Strangeways recently entered into an agreement to begin local distribution of their beers. Tuesday’s event marked the first Fredericksburg appearance of the beers outside of the brewery. Colleen and I decided to stop in and enjoy a few good beers and some tasty food.

Four Strangeways beers were being poured this evening; Überlin Berliner Weisse, Helles Frozen Over, Tirami’Zu Brew Rum Barrel Aged Porter and Home for the Holidays Spiced Cranberry Sour.

I’ve been enjoying some sour beer styles of late, so I chose the Home for the Holidays Spiced Cranberry Sour. The attractive red beer has a refreshing tart fruit flavor with a hint of spice. The low 4.2% ABV was welcome as I emptied my glass quite quickly.

Colleen started with Tirami’Zu Brew Barrel Aged Porter. I stole only a brief sip, not wanting to disturb my soured tastebuds, but I think I’ll check that one out at the brewery soon. It was full of creamy dark chocolate aroma and flavor.

We’ve enjoyed several visits to the nearby Strangeways Fredericksburg location, where they keep around 40 unique beers on tap, so having just four options from which to choose made for an easier than usual decision process. For our next round, to accompany our meal, we simply ordered “the other two.”

This time I sipped the Helles Frozen Lager and Colleen claimed the Überlin Berliner Weisse. The Helles had a nice crisp, grassy bitterness. A lighter bodied beer than I typically drink, it went well with my French Dip Steak and Havarti sandwich.

While we were enjoying our dinner I noticed that Capital Ale House owner Chris Holder and Neil Burton, the Strangeways Brewery owner, were also in attendance to help celebrate the new distribution status. I hadn’t seen either of them for some time so took the chance say hello and enjoy a quick chat about beer in Fredericksburg.

Besides two more glasses to add to our glassware collection, we obtained a bunch of Strangeways swag as well. We enjoyed a pleasant event talking, eating, and drinking. I’m can now look forward to seeing even more Strangeways beer variety at my favorite local establishments.

It’s that joyous time of the year when we start hearing Christmas music played everywhere. When the music is being played on steel, with guns, it adds to the fun.It looks like the folks at Black Rifle Coffee Company had a blast putting together th…

Last week, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled that a long-standing ban on guns in Delaware State Parks violated the state’s constitution. A lower court had previously ruled that the much sought after nirvana of “public safety” trumped the rights of gun owners. In acknowledging the Constitutional right to bear arms, the justices noted poignantly,

But that conclusion is based on the questionable notion — unsupported by reference to any evidence – that outlawing possession of firearms in an area makes law-abiding citizens safer because criminals will, for some reason, obey the regulations.

In other words, criminals don’t care about your “gun free zone,” be it a school, a movie theatre, a church, or even a state park.

See also  “Why legal guns can’t be banned from state parks” and “Bridgeville Rifle & Pistol Club v. Small.”

The monthly match at Sanner’s Lake Sportsman’s Club was held on a very cold Saturday morning. It was to be my last match of the season and I wasn’t going to miss it. However, I was having serious doubts about my sanity as I drove to the rendezvous point to meet top with travel companion Stuart. At least it was a shared insanity and sure to be a good time.

A smaller than usual crowd of hearty souls turned out for the match, but the staff at Sanner’s Lake stood up their usual high quality match. I was shooting the Compact P320 in the CCP division on this cold morning in preparation for the Chesapeake Cup in February.

The first stage we shot had us facing four paper targets and two steel poppers which were backed by non-threats. Hitting the steel targets activated four more paper targets which replaced the first four. Target shooting order was important here. My knees were knocking from the cold and I had some trouble steadying the gun over the shivering. I hit one non-threat and my shots were scattered, but it was a fun stage nonetheless. Our squad ended up breaking down this stage at the end of the match and I was tempted to ask the SO if I could shoot it again for no score.

The next stage started out with the loaded gun on a table and we began 7 or so yards back from the table. Running to the gun we stepped on a pad that activated a swinger. The swinging target and five other targets were arranged in a line with some non-threats interspersed. Again, my shots were scattered and I earned more than a few points down. But at least the sun was starting to peak out from behind the clouds.

The third stage began with two close targets engaged while backing up. Moving to the left there were two targets shot around cover. We then moved right across the stage to shoot two more targets through a port. A quick sprint to two arms length low targets over some barrels finished the stage. I felt good about my run but was still 4 points down, though it was my best stage finish at 9th overall.

Moving on to the next shooting challenge, the sun was out, and the temperature had crept above freezing. The run began with three targets engaged around cover. There was one non-threat in the array and all the targets offered head shots as the largest part of the target. Moving to the next point of cover we faced three steel poppers and a paper target. One of the poppers and the paper had non-threats placed to add to the challenge. All paper required three hits each.

The SO and I laughed when as soon as I moved to the starting position a strong breeze blew up — and just when I was getting warm. I headed to the first shooting position and promptly shot a perfectly aimed head shot right on the non-threat! Arrgh! Moving to the next position I hit the first steel when I heard “Stop!” yelled. Fortuitously, the wind had blown over the paper target; I was getting a reshoot. (Maybe God is an IDPA shooter.) Quickly grabbing fresh mags I ran the stage again, this time just 2 points down.

With two stages left to go, the sun again went behind the clouds and we returned to the shady side of the range. The snow on the berms giving visible evidence of the cold. This next stage was shot from behind both ends of a wall of barrels, with the target arrangement mirrored on either side; an open target on the outside, a falling steel plate, and a swinger that was released by hitting the steel. The four paper targets all required three hits each. The left side swinger was much faster than the one on the right. It may have been one of the fastest swinging targets I’ve encountered of late. After I hit the steel, and the swinging target made its first appearance, I momentarily stopped to look over the gun to see where it went! I managed 5 of the six hits required on the moving targets.

The final stage was a standards stage requiring us to shoot weak hand, strong hand and freestyle. In a twist from the usual, it was all done in one string, six shots for each of three targets. All three targets were partially obscured by non-threats. We loaded three magazines with six rounds each for the stage, and the gun was holstered and loaded. Drawing, we transferred the gun to the weak hand and fired six rounds to a 7 yard target on the left. Moving the gun to the other hand and reloading, we then shot a 10 yard target to the right. After a final reload, the 15 yard center target was engaged with six rounds freestyle. Many of my shots on the last two targets were out of the -0 zone, but avoiding the non-threat. However, despite being 14 points down, I hit no “good guys,” in what I felt was satisfying finish to the match.

I was not as accurate with the compact gun as I would have liked, though I was generally pleased with my shooting. There were too many -1 hits throughout my match. I did feel that I ran the stages smoothly and according to plan. Despite some sloppy shooting I finished 17th of 41 shooters overall, and 3rd of 10 in the Compact Carry Pistol division. My take away from the match is that I need to focus on getting a slightly better sight picture before breaking the shot with the smaller weapon. (I also learned I really do not shoot well in the cold!)

As is usual for the Sanner’s Lake match, all six stages were finished in under three hours. The match was a lot of fun despite the frigid temperature and provided a satisfying finish to a great season of shooting. Now it’s time to look forward to next year, and of course lots of dry fire practice to prepare.

I posted a few more pictures of the stages here.

Did I mention it was cold?

A little seasonal humor before church.A man in Scotland calls his son in London the day before Christmas Eve and says, (In a thik Sko-ish axcent)”I hate to ruin your day but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of m…

I’ve been taking part in action pistol competitions for a little over seven years. In that time, the contents of my range bag have gone through many phases. My first range bag was a medium size bag from Elite Survival Systems. I found it worked well fo…