Category Archives: Boomershoot

Boomershoot is a long range precision rifle event with high explosives as the targets. This is about Boomershoot in general and sometimes just explosives.

Boomershoot Gun Blogger Day

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At the NRA convention last week I told several bloggers I was contemplating having a special Boomershoot for gun bloggers*. I have had time to think about this quite a bit more.

The following is tentative so if you have suggestions let me know before I finalize it in the next week or so.

Boomershoot 2009 is currently scheduled for Sunday April 26th with Friday and Saturday the 24th and 25th being the Precision Rifle Clinic. Nearly all of the gun bloggers who have never attended Boomershoot I have talked to expressed concern their long range rifle skills were deficient so I think participating in at least one day of the clinic is a good idea for them. Partially for this reason I have decided combining the gun blogger event with Boomershoot 2009 is a good idea.

What I think is one of the more interesting part of the event is the making of the targets prior to the event. We have repeatedly invited the mainstream media to observe and/or participate and only once had them accept. I’m guessing gun bloggers will be more inclined to take me up on this invitation. Hence I have decided to make Thursday April 23rd 2009 Boomershoot Gun Blogger Day. On this day gun bloggers will be given media credentials and a special behind the scenes tour of and participation in Boomershoot 2009. If the individuals involved want to actually mix explosives and package the targets they will need to fill out some paperwork at least a couple months in advance. This paperwork will be submitted to the ATF and if the ATF approves it these individuals will be allowed to actually make explosives and reactive targets. If individuals do not wish to submit the paperwork then they will still be allowed to observe target manufacturing and participate in all the other activities.

Other activities planned for Gun Blogger Day will include discussions of explosive chemistry, alternate materials for explosives, target detonation theory, fireball target construction, the history and future of Boomershoot, Boomershoot safety, Why Boomershoot, “entertainingly close” detonation of targets by the participants and almost any other safe and legal activity related to guns and explosives the participants can think of.

Do you want to blow something up? Toilets, laptop computers, and hard disk drives are just some of the things we have subjected to “Idaho Hardware Testing” (also sometimes called an Idaho Stress Test). If you have something you want subjected to Boomerite let me know and we’ll figure out how to make it happen safely. The only catch is that you need to clean up (or pay for) the mess afterward.

Gun bloggers who are attending Boomershoot for the first time will also get free admission to the main event on Sunday April 26th.

* For the purposes of this special offer a gun blogger is defined as someone who has an active blog with frequent posts about gun use or politics. “Active blog” means someone who has made 100 or more posts in the previous year as of April 1, 2009. This definition potentially and intentionally includes the anti gun blogs such as the Gun Guys and the Brady Blog. “Frequent posts about gun use or politics” will be defined at my whim on a case by case basis. Submit your blog to me for inclusion prior to April 1 and I’ll get back to you with my decision within a day or so.

To; John Bachman of WSBTV #2

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In response to Joe’s earlier post (a very good one, Joe, by the way) I piled on a bit more:

Mr. Bachman,

Your stance, tone and alarmist tactics remind me somewhat of the Temperance Movement of the early 20th century.  Invariably, the results of such crusades are in the long run vastly more destructive than the perceived “problems” they attempt to solve.

If you truly want to help improve general safety and quality of life, might I suggest you look into the principles of liberty upon which this country was built, and begin championing them?  You may find it a much more enjoyable (and profitable) pursuit.

Sincerely,

Lyle…

Update 05/23/08:  WSB-TV has pulled the offending video for now.  Maybe they’ll post an edited version at some point.

 

To: John Bachman of WSBTV

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I just sent the following email to the guy on the video about online explosives. 

 

From: Joe Huffman
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2008 9:47 PM
To: John Bachman (john.bachman@wsbtv.com); ‘talk2us@wsbtv.com’
Subject: Please discontinue using my video.

 

Today I was informed of your video about the availability of online explosives (http://www.wsbtv.com/video/16266872/index.html). The last video clip you used from web sources was taken by me of my daughter Kim. You did not obtain permission to use that and I am requesting that you immediately stop using it.

 

In addition to the unauthorized use of my material you strongly imply we are using Tannerite or some other explosive available via online sources. This is false. The material used is of my own manufacture. I have a license issued by the ATF to manufacture high explosives and my daughter Kim is authorized by the ATF to handle explosives. To use her likeness and my product in your biased and even bigoted attack on a legal product used in a legal manner is exceedingly offensive to me and thousands of other people.

 

I can’t imagine what you were thinking. Would you show video of people using guns to legally hunt, shoot tin cans, or put holes in paper targets and then contact your congress because you were worried someone might use their guns to commit a terrorist act? Or how about showing someone having a glass of wine with dinner or drinking a beer in their backyard? Would you demand the government do something about this because of your concerns about drunk driving?

 

When I was growing up my family was able to, and did, buy dynamite, blasting caps, at the local hardware store with no special license or transportation requirements. We paid for it, picked it up out back, put in it in the trunk of the car and drove home with it.  That the average person can still acquire explosives easily, legally, and safely is a testament to what a great country we have. It shows that not only the government is subservient to its citizens but that its citizens are responsible and can be trusted.

 

If you had demonstrated these explosives were used in thousands of crimes each year I might think you had reason to be concerned. But you did not do this. You could have used that same product and those same video to show what a great country we have. You could have shown what unique freedoms we have and how those freedoms are not being abused and I would have gladly given you permission to use my video. Seattle King 5 Evening Magazine did that with this video: http://www.boomershoot.org/2005/KING5.wmv. But you didn’t do that. You merely demonstrated you are a Puritan–afraid that someone, someplace, is having fun.

 

 

Joe Huffman
Boomershoot Event Director

Quote of the day–Ry Jones

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Some anti-fun maroon stuck together a video to demonize recreational explosives. Joe’s daughter, Kim, appears in the last quarter of the segment. Too bad the anti-fun maroon is a TV station in Atlanta.

Ry Jones
May 22, 2008
Kim is Famous
[It looks like I have some work to do after I get off work tonight.–Joe]

Todd Jarrett, guns and explosives

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Last Friday night Michael Baine hosted a social event for us bloggers. Todd Jarrett reported that 10 bloggers would get training from him at Blackwater and then take home a Paraordinance gun at the end of the training. Bitter has some details.

I spent probably 15 minutes talking with Jarrett and he got really interested in Boomershoot and told me he wanted to blow up a car. He wants to be able to shoot bullets into it and have it lift about four feet off the ground. I gave him my card and told him I thought I could do that. He seemed interested in exploring that further. Cool!

Letter to Dave Barry

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With these links the following should be self-explanatory:

May 12, 2008

Dave Barry
1 Herald Plaza
Miami, FL 33132

Dear Mr. Barry,

Please find enclosed some of the pieces from the toilet we blew up April 27th at Boomershoot 2008. We used four pounds of high explosives, five gallons of gasoline and six road flares in the process. As you can see the disassembly and disinfecting process was quite effective. Pieces were found over 100 yards away and most were seared with high temperature flames.

The next Boomershoot will be April 26th, 2009. We would be honored if you were to attend and were to fire the first shot at a low-flow toilet suitably equipped with appropriate aggressive chemical “cleaners”.

Regards,

Joe Huffman
Boomershoot Event Director
joeh@boomershoot.org
208-301-4254
http://www.boomershoot.org/

Boomershoot 2008 blog coverage

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There were several bloggers not present that made mention of Boomershoot 2008 but here is a list of blog posts and pictures from people who were there:

Boomershoot 2008 raffle proceeds

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The following should be self-explanatory.

From: Joe Huffman
Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 8:55 AM
To: ‘soldiersangels@gmail.com’
Cc: ‘Chuck Ziegenfuss‘; ‘Barb Scott’; ‘Jason Scott’
Subject: Boomershoot 2008 Raffle proceeds.

 

Boomershoot (http://www.boomershoot.org) is an annual long range precision rifle event held in North Central Idaho. Each year soldiers from Fort Lewis attend and for two days prior to the main event help teach Boomershoot participants the science and art of accurate long range shooting. Some of those soldiers later went on to Iraq and Afghanistan and were injured and some were killed.

 

Last October my wife and I met Chuck Ziengenfuss at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous in Reno. He told us of his injuries and how Soldiers’ Angels helped him. It turns out that it was the second time my wife had met Chuck. She had also met at Walter Reed when she was visiting our nephew Jason Scott who was wounded in Iraq and benefited from your help.

 

At Boomershoot this year we held a raffle with the intent that half of the proceeds would go to raffle participants and the other half going to Project Valour-IT. All winners of the raffle proceeds gave the money to me to forward on to you. Two other people quietly came up to me and each gave me three $100 bills to give to you.

 

Below is the reference number and other information from my bank who is mailing you a check of the entire proceeds. If it does not arrive as expected please let me know.

 

 

PENDING PAYMENTS

Payee

Reference #

Send On

Expected Delivery

Amount

Soliders’ Angels

EBUBC5PX 

05/06/2008

05/13/2008

$1,860.00

 

 

Regards and thank you,

 

Joe Huffman
Boomershoot Event Director

Book meme

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I was tagged by The Unforgiving Minute a week ago which was right in the middle of Boomershoot. I’m still recovering and trying to catch up on things so this is a bit late.

The rules:

  1. Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. No cheating!
  2. Find page 123.
  3. Find the first five sentences.
  4. Post the next three sentences.
  5. Tag five people.

When I read that I was tagged “the nearest book” was over a 1/4 mile away in someone else’s house so I decided to use the nearest book to my bed where I do nearly all my book reading these days.

From Explosives Engineering by Paul W. Cooper.

Page 123 is page 5 of “Table 9.1 Heats of Formation of Inorganic Compounds” and is not broken down into sentences. I’m going to page 124 which has some actual sentences on it.

Hydrochloric acid, HCl, will react with sodium hydroxide, NaOH, to form sodium chloride, NaCl, and water, H2O.

HCl + NaOH –> NaCl + H2O

Calculating the standard heat of reaction from the standard heats of formation, we have:

ΔHr0 = [ΔHf0(NaCl) + ΔHf0(H2O)]products – [ΔHf0(HCl) + ΔHf0(NaOH)]reactants

I would tag my daughter Xenia Joy and a few other friends but they always ignore me on the meme thing anyway. So if you sort of think you know me and want to participate go right ahead.

Quote of the day–Eugene Econ

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I never used my anemometer more than that day — mostly out of curiosity. We got a real bad ice pellet storm at about 1300 with full value winds from 15 – 35 mph but mostly hovering around 25. Almost a white out. The ice pellet storms let off by 1500 but we were still using four to six minutes right wind for hits at 380.

Eugene Econ
April 29, 2008
Boomershoot, or how I began to learn to REALLY shoot!
[Friday was probably the worst shooting conditions we have ever had for Boomershoot. The wind and rain at Boomershoot 2001 was bad too but not as cold as it was this year. Sunday was some of the best conditions.–Joe]

More posts from Dave Barry

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APRIL 27 IS COMING

LOW-FLOW-TOILET DETONATION UPDATE

You might want to leave some comments–especially if you were there and did that.

Quote of the day–Matthew@triggerfinger.org

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Two Savage 12F/TR rifles, .308

$2400

Two Nightforce benchrest scopes

$2600

1000 rounds .308 Match

$1300

Plane tickets to Idaho

$600

Hotel room in Orofino, Idaho

$300

Rental SUV

$400

Two days of expert instruction

$140

Boomershoot entry fees

$200

Shooting explosive targets from 600 yards away

Priceless!

Matthew@triggerfinger.org
April 28, 2008
Boomershoot

Quote of the day–Ry Jones

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I’m Johnny Boomer Seed right now.

Ry Jones
About 10:00 AM April 27, 2008 at Boomershoot.
[When asked if he wanted some rubber bands to attach the reactive targets to the stakes. Ry was improving the process by specializing in one activity.–Joe]

Dave Barry owes us.

Ry Jones
About 1:30 PM April 27, 2008 at Boomershoot.
[After we had put out a fire caused by blowing up at toilet “in Barry’s honor” and we both got hurt doing it.–Joe]

I’m an unindicted co-conspirator.

Ry Jones
About 2:30 PM April 27, 2008 at Boomershoot.
[When I introducted him to a friend as a contributor to Boomershoot.–Joe]

It Was A White Boomershoot

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It was a white Boomershoot yesterday. From inside our shelter my staff and I mostly thought it was funny. Precision Rifle Clinic instructors and participants had a different opinion from on top of the windy grassy knoll.

 

 

 

 


The sun came out at lunch time.


As we were going back to work after lunch a wall of snow came in. That isn’t fog, that is snow.

 

Quote of the day–Dave Barry

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We have never felt so honored.

Dave Barry
From his blog post on our plans to blow up a toilet in his honor at Boomershoot tomorrow.
April 25, 2008

I’m dreaming of a white Boomershoot

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Yesterday Scott, Kim, Gene, Monte and I prepped the Boomershoot site for the Precision Rifle Clinic which takes place today and tomorrow. It was nice in the morning then at lunch time it started snowing. It just barely stuck on the grass and you can see a bit of it in some of the pictures below.

As I write this at a little at 7:00 AM it’s snowing as well. The current temperature is 31F. Shooters Bob and Mike spent the night in a tent on site last night. I hope they brought winter gear.

The weather forecast is for warming weather as we go through the weekend with Sunday reaching the low 70s.


Part of the shooting line.


Kim in the sheltered work area for target construction.


Monte and Gene prepping steel for placement on the hillside.


Gene and Scott about to place steel at the 700 yard line.

Quote of the day–Scott Keszler

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Has Al Gore been in the area?

Scott Keszler
April 24, 2008
[After seeing the snow on the Boomershoot hillside.–Joe]


Taken at 9:00 AM April 24, 2008.

Boomershoot schedule and random stuff

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This is the point where I leap off into total consumption by Boomershoot for several days.

I printed the badges last night.

Today a couple staff members and I will prepare the shooting line, prepare for the Precision Rifle Clinic, and prepare the Taj Mahal to be an assembly line for making explosives and targets.

Tomorrow more staff shows up and we crank out hundreds of reactive targets as Eugene and staff conduct the rifle clinic.

Saturday is more target construction, another day of the clinic, and the Boomershoot dinner (Boomershoot spectators are welcome and get a free In Search of the Second Amendment DVD).

Sunday is the big day with my staff arriving early to place 1400 (if everything goes well) targets in the field. Another 180 targets will have been consumed during the clinic.

Interesting–I just realized that the Precision Rifle Clinic alone will consume as many targets that the first two Boomershoots in ’98 and ’99 combined.

The weather is looking great. A chance of a few showers (and maybe some snow) tonight but the days should be pretty good with it warming up on Saturday and Sunday. Some forecasts are even saying it will be in the low 70’s on Sunday. The wind forecast is for 4 MPH winds on Sunday. It’s looking very good indeed!

In other news there have been a number of people cancel at the last minute. Most notable are the guy from England and media representative Brian Doherty. There are now five positions available.

Blogging will be light until this is over.

Quote of the day–Andrew L. Schlafly

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Other commentators have likewise observed that “gun control is an essential precondition for genocide.” Jay Simkin, Aaron Zelman, and Alan M. Rice, Lethal Laws 9-12 (Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership: 1995). Children are as much the victims of genocide as adults, and a right to bear arms protects both against that horrendous evil. Armed citizens are less likely to submit to removal and murder of their children, and their dictators are less likely to try.

Andrew L. Schlafly
February 7, 2008
Brief for amicus curiae association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Inc. in support of Respondent.
[I’m consumed by Boomershoot from now until Monday. I didn’t have any unused quotes from previous Boomershoots but this is Why Boomershoot.–Joe]

I don’t have time for this crap

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Someone at a school in Pennsylvania wants to know how to make a pipe bomb.

I’ve got tons of things to do for work and I’ve got Boomershoot stuff to work on too. I talked to the Greensboro Police yesterday and the FBI this morning about the guy from yesterday.

If someone cares enough and/or thinks its serious enough to contact the school or whoever and they need my help then fine, but for the most part I don’t have time for this crap right now.

Domain Name   neumann.edu ? (Educational)
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