The precious snowflakes have, quite appropriately, chosen a diaper pin as their symbol of unity. I’ll rely on another sort of “safety pin.”
[ This content originated at Musings Over a Pint ]

Today, the nation pauses today to offer thanks to our veterans. Unfortunately, the past few years have seen growing disrespect and neglect of our veterans, a trend headed by the left and the outgoing administration. Despite the ramblings of this ingrat…

I’m no fan of winter, especially the shorter days. But even before winter arrives, the range days are even shorter. For reasons known only to those who make the rules, the range closes at 4:00PM once Daylight Savings Time ends. This despite the fact that, today for example, sunset is not until 5:03, with last light at 5:31 —plenty of time to shoot.

It’s been two weeks since I made it out to the range, so to help make up for that, I decided to shoot the air soft gun for a bit. Setting up a target in the back yard, I looked to see how visible I was to the neighbors. Fortunately, there are still plenty of leaves on the trees to keep me hidden, for now.

I practiced from various distances in the yard, shooting while moving for most of the time. I noticed that the holes the BBs made in the paper closed up and were near impossible to see. At least that matches my shooting with the real gun, since I can’t make out the bullet holes out past 7-10 yards anyway. Interestingly, I did note the difference in the sound made when the hits where in the center of the paper, where the cardboard backer was open, and the sound made when they hit cardboard too. That gave me some feedback on how I was doing.

Shooting the airsoft gun is enjoyable, though not nearly as fun as shooting the real thing, but it’s something to do. Given the restrictive range hours, and shorter days, I suspect it’ll make up much of my practice in the coming months. Maybe I’ll even try some low-light shooting soon.

Studies have shown that seeing the American flag improves brain function.
[ This content originated at Musings Over a Pint ]

It’s that time of the year when we screw up outdoor activities, like range trips, once again.I hate it, but will have to go along I suppose.
[ This content originated at Musings Over a Pint ]

A couple weeks ago I was contacted by Ammo To Go, asking if I’d be interested in doing an ammo review. They offered to send some Winchester USA Forged ammo, a product with which I was not familiar. Checking out the description online, I …

Rather than spend the evening getting up repeatedly to answer the door bell for the trick or treaters, this year we set up the portable fire pit at the end of the driveway. With a supply of wood, candy, and some Blue Mountain Kölsch 151, we were ready for the hordes to descend.

The long driveways and spread out houses mean the kids arrive in groups, generally hauled in decorated utility trailers pulled behind cars. The ebb and flow of visitors meant we had a lot of time to sit quietly and enjoy the fire.

Once it got dark, we had three cars in a row drive by without stopping. Perhaps they thought we were merely sentries guarding the homestead. I set a lantern on the table with the candy bowl, and that seemed to allay any questions on whether we were “open” or not.

After a couple hours, the trick or treating stopped. We doused the lantern and watched the fire die down. It was, I thought, an exceptional way to spend an evening.

What better way to cap off a pleasant Sunday, indeed the weekend, than with some good beer? After a couple range trips the past week, I spent time Sunday afternoon doing some overdue gun cleaning. Then it was time for the reward of good beer. Colleen a…

If anything can get you through the flu, it’s Twizzlers.Click to embiggenThanks Staples.
[ This content originated at Musings Over a Pint ]

As I sat at my desk yesterday finishing up some work before a planned range trip, I was pulled out of my stupor concentration by the sound of thunder and heavy rain. I thought, “That could put a damper on things.” But the thunder and lightening soon stopped, leaving only a moderate rain coming down. “That’s better.” A little rain rarely stops us. Soon, Colleen, ‘Checkered Flag’ and I were at the range for some overdue practice and fun times.

We’re fans of using different target types, just to add variety and fun to our outings. This time ‘Checkered Flag’ had brought along some new targets he had found. The “Essentials Target” from RE Factor Tactical has a range of aiming points that can be used in for a variety of challenges. There’s a drill that’s designed to go along with the target, but we opted to do our own thing.

Colleen was spot on

We did all our shooting from the 7 yard line this day. The focus was to be on accuracy, and ease of brass pickup in the rain. We started out shooting the corner circles, either singly or alternating back and forth. Then we moved through the various sized shapes, and included some single hand shooting as well.

We all avoided calling for hits on the tiny #15 square, until it was the only non-shot number left on the targets. “There’s no avoiding now” I thought. It’s odd that when you shoot a 1 inch target how awful a slightly missed shot seems, even if the whole group is still only about an inch wide.

One of the fun drills we used to challenge ourselves, was shooting the number 1 – 6 circles in a single string, moving through each circle in order and back again. At the end of our range trips, we typically save the last few magazines for “do your own thing,” rather than any formal drills. I used my last three magazines to shoot those 6 circles, in one long string, trying to speed up after each mag change. Only 2 of the 30 shots fell (barely) outside the intended circle. It was a fun way to wrap up an afternoon of shooting in the rain.