If you missed out on getting a shooting position for Boomershoot 2008 here is another chance.
Last May Boomershoot donated a position to the King County Friends of NRA to be auctioned off at the 2008 Seattle Sportsmen’s Convention:
http://www.working4wildlife.com/
Show up at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, WA February 15th and 16th to get another shot at Boomershoot 2008 and know your entry fee will go to a good cause.
One of the Burning Man organizers wrote me last week saying he wanted to participate in Boomershoot 2007. We got to chatting and he sent me at link to this video of the fireworks show they put on for Burning Man 2007. He also gave some technical details:
The fireball was about 600 feet high and probably 500 in diameter or more as it expanded. I think it had somewhere around 1200 gallons of fuel shot into the air from the four tanks. Then several thousand gallons of liquid propane were shot up the middle of the 99 foot tall derrick.
Boomershoot’s biggest fireballs have used four gallons of gasoline. Of course most of our viewers were within 20 yards, but still…
This is in regard to the old blow up the dead whale on the beach video.
Phil asks some questions. My answer:
Pound for pound Boomerite is not much different from what they used. So about 1000 pounds (which is less than what we typically use at
Like this:
The DOJ (the ATF is under the DOJ so it could be them) apparently is interested in what their subjects think about new regulations on AN. My blog posting is number six on Google for their query.
I should have mentioned in my previous post that I have several thousand pounds of ammonium nitrate that I plan to make into explosives. The people at the DOJ need something to get their blood pumping on a Monday, right?
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I just deleted another unpaid Boomershoot 2008 entry when they didn’t answer his email or voice mail. I then sent out an email to the Boomershoot announcement list that a position was open.
It lasted 12 minutes again. It must the minimum time it takes the Yahoo groups email list server to deliver the open position notification, someone to enter in their data, and push the button.
I just finished some more tools for my web based management of Boomershoot. This time it was some statistics.
These number will probably change a little by the time of the actual 2008 event. But as it currently stands:
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Total |
Average per position |
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Participants |
130 |
1.71 |
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Shooters |
120 |
1.58 |
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Spotters |
10 |
0.13 |
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Cleanup participants |
42 |
0.55 |
At 15:56 PST I sent out an email that a position had opened up for Boomershoot 2008. At 16:08 PST, just 12 minutes later, the position was filled.
There are two other positions that might be opening up soon. They haven’t paid for them, they haven’t been answering their email, and I just left voice mail that had better be answered soon.
Yesterday my daughters, my son-in-law, and I went out to the Boomershoot site and built a snowman.
It’s a 43 Mbyte .WMV file. Don’t even think about it unless you have a high speed connection.
Crank the volume up. There are some subtle sounds.
Update: I just updated the video. There were some very significant changes. The slow parts were sped up, the interesting parts were slowed down and a lot more detail added.
Some technical details: Five gallons of gasoline, ten pounds of Boomerite, and one shot from an AR-15 chambered in .223.
Update2: One of the reasons to make this video was for America’s Funniest Home Videos who requested people make videos of building then destroying a snowmen in “creative” ways. Reading the fine print for the submission I discovered I must take the video off the web when I submit it. I’m giving everyone until Midnight January 2nd to view it. Then it’s coming down. Sorry about that.
Update3: I’ve removed the link to the video. Send me an email if you want to view a private copy.
Last Wednesday Bush signed into law a new restriction on our freedom which does nothing but create another bureaucracy. The Los Angles Times has a pretty good write up on it but the tone is “the Feds should have done more”:
Ammonium nitrate regulated — sort of
The fertilizer can be used in explosives. Some in law enforcement and counter-terrorism wanted much tighter controls than Congress passed.
More than 12 years after Timothy J. McVeigh used ammonium nitrate fertilizer to blow up the Oklahoma City federal building, Congress quietly passed legislation this month to regulate sales of the explosive.
But the Secure Handling of Ammonium Nitrate Act of 2007, part of an appropriations measure signed Wednesday by President Bush, falls far short of the strict law that some in the counter-terrorism community and federal law enforcement were hoping for.
[…]
Outside groups are asking for tougher action. “Congress simply didn’t understand what it was doing,” said Peter Stockton, senior investigator for one of the groups, the Project on Government Oversight, which is a watchdog on national security issues.
“Maybe they thought doing something was better than nothing.”
The text of the actual law is here. Assuming I’m reading the version of the bill that was actually signed there is an exemption for people with an explosives license (me). The biggest impact I see to most readers of this blog is that if you want to buy Target Master Exploding Targets or Tannerite maybe you should do it now. Both of those products use ammonium nitrate as their primary ingredient.
This law also affects farmers in a big way.
Under the new law you will be required to register with “Homeland Security” before you can manufacture, sell, or buy, AN. The seller will be required to maintain records. If anyone violates these new regulations they can be fined up to $50,000 per violation.
There will be regulations implemented which will provide “guidance” on storage and sales which of course will do nothing but harass the innocent. Just like the regulations on firearms do nothing the terrorists that want to do evil will steal their materials or use a strawman. Or if they are suicide bombers they will just go through the registration process and buy it just like legitimate users. It’s not that difficult to manufacture either. The chemical formula is NH4NO3. The elements to manufacture it can all be obtained from the air. Try regulating those precursor chemicals.
Like Stockton, above, I think they just wanted to “do something”. And as I pointed out in my QOTD today even “experts” (I hesitate to call anyone who works for the government an expert on anything other than government) don’t think it does anything for security. It’s nothing but more security theater for the masses.
Poor guy. Assuming it wasn’t stolen, if he had just let me store it everything would have turned out so much better:
Authorities raid barn filled with military-grade explosives
SUFFOLK, Va. – Authorities are questioning an ex-Navy SEAL this evening after a raid that officials say turned up enough military-grade explosives to damage an entire Suffolk neighborhood.
Suffolk fire and rescue spokesman Jim Judkins says police secured a warrant yesterday and raided a barn on Ferry Point Road after receiving a tip.
Police have been joined investigating the barn by FBI and ATF agents, and the Virginia State Police this evening.
The unidentified former SEAL is in custody and is cooperating with authorities.
Judkins didn’t specify just how much explosive material was in the barn.
But he says it was enough to do damage to houses about one-third of a mile in any direction.
You can be sure the barn wasn’t “filled”. Based on the information I have he probably had about 1000 pounds of high explosives. Most explosives are within a factor of two of the density of water so you could put that much explosives in a car that is capable of holding five large men. It wouldn’t have filled the barn. I wish I knew where it was on Ferry Point Road. If it was actually greater than 320 feet of the road or 800 feet of inhabited building (halve that if it was in the woods out of sight of the buildings or road) then the distances were acceptable according to ATF regulations. But it doesn’t sound like he had an appropriate storage magazine for the materials. [heavy sigh]
Uncle gives us the all the info available from the NRA-ILA on H.R. 4900 the “Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Reform and Firearms Modernization Act of 2007.” I just wish Thomas had the actual bill so I could look to see if they reformed any of the explosives stuff that bug me.
Update: Uncle pointed me at a different source which at least is aware of the bills existence. There is still no text of the bill available but it’s a start.
I’ve chosen the picture and slogan for Boomershoot 2008. This will go on the shirts, mugs, hats, magnets, thongs, etc. that are sold via Cafepress. I’ll probably get it online for sale sometime during the holiday. The photo was taken by Peter Biddle and he has other photos from Boomershoot 2007 here.
In the mean time:
The official Boomershoot logo will be on most items as well:
I ended up getting really busy and not getting this out within a day or so of when Caleb and I did this (November 11th) but most people probably don’t care that much anyway. So, for my satisfaction and some of the Boomershoot volunteers I’m documenting the latest improvements implemented to help make Boomershoot 2008 the best yet.
What I’m doing is spending my money and time on the infrastructure to enable easier and faster manufacture of the explosives and targets. For the same amount of resources I could add capacity to handle a few more shooters but I decided put the effort into delivering more targets to the existing number of participants. At first glance this may be thrilling to the shooters as I’m sure it will be when they first hear about it. But just wait–there is an evil twist to my plan and I won’t be telling them the details until the night before.
As you may recall Caleb, Kim, and I did some “well” digging and earth moving this summer and fall. We planted some grass where we destroyed the old and it seems to be coming up very nicely:
After draining all the water out of the pipe we poured some recreational vehicle antifreeze in the pump and covered it so it wouldn’t freeze and break this winter:
The 700 watt inverter I had installed shortly after building the Taj died. Because we changed our mixing procedures we didn’t need nearly as much power as before so I down graded to a 400 Watt inverter that only uses 90 mA of standby current instead of the nearly 1 A the old one consumed. This will give us an estimated battery life of over 15 hours compared to the approximately eight hours with the old inverter. And that includes running the WiFi continuously.
We also installed paper towel dispensers over both benches:
And just because I like the snow here is the Boomershoot range last Saturday:
My estimate is that we will be able to produce 2000 pounds of explosives in the two days before Boomershoot 2008. Literally, a ton of recreational explosives for your shooting pleasure. I wish Josh Sugarmann, Sarah Brady, Paul Helmke and the rest of the anti-gun bigots could be there to enjoy it with us. I’d be willing to arrange for their own toilet and eating areas if they didn’t want to associate with us but they probably don’t have enough travel budget for it. Too bad. I’d love to see the sour expressions on their faces as people from all over North America (and maybe a guy currently in England who is waiting for an opening) shooting real sniper rifles (used by real former, current, and future snipers), assault rifles (yes, full auto are welcome), and the dreaded .50 caliber rifles have a real blast.
Sometimes you can’t make this stuff up. Now maybe someone did make this up and is just playing with me but I would expect a bimodal distribution across this particular dimension if that were the case. Instead I get a more normal distribution with this guy pushing the limits of the tail.
From: XXX@aol.com
Sent: Monday, December 10, 2007 3:46 PM
To: Joe
Subject: yo joyo want a bomd well do you want tio kill some one becouse you can use a fairly resonoble flash pree bomb that will make a lot of nois ans send shrapnal for several hundred feet take any house hold cleener that has hydreclorikacid in it and add mettle shavings to detinate if you want shrapnal to maximize damage atache it to the 12oz botle you mix the chemical and medil shavings in or put glass inside the botle etyher or your bomb will be loud and there will be no flas
________________________________________
See AOL’s top rated recipes and easy ways to stay in shape for winter.
Just as one would expect it is an AOL user. The IP address places the sender in New York City.
BulletFootage-5000.wmv (3.27 MB)
I wish I had a camera that would take video like that of my boomers.
That watermelon is pretty cool though.
[Thanks to Joe D.]
If you are into the battle reenactment scene Ozark Pyrotechnics, Inc. now has wireless Cannon Hit Simulation kits for sale.
This might be the way to realize one of my Boomershoot fantasies. That is where I mock the people unable to connect with targets using their rifles by pulling my iron sighted pistol from it’s holster and while standing popping off targets at 375 yards away.
Someone in Iran is looking for information on liquid explosives:
| Domain Name | (Unknown) | |||||||||||||||||||
| IP Address | 80.191.3.# (Tarbiat Modares University) | |||||||||||||||||||
| ISP | Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI) | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Language | English (United States) en-us |
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KING 5 has their video of Boomershoot up on the web now. It’s a slightly different edit than the one I have up.
My son, a freshman in high school, occasionally sends me e-mail from school, but due to a busy study schedule and extremely slow computers (it’s a public school) they are rare. Today’s letter was notable. Our complete exchange follows:
In the last period of the day, we had a study hall, and I had no homework. So, I decided to go on the boomershoot website and look at explosives. I also had the ultimak webpage open at the same time. I actually had a teacher come and tell me to find another subject!
To which I replied:
Sorry to hear that (actually, I read it but “sorry to read that” just doesn’t have the same effect) but I’m certainly not surprised. Our popular culture has been effectively trained, like Pavlov’s Dogs, to recoil (like the metaphor?) from anything that shows guns in a favorable light.
http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/pavlov/readmore.html
Racist bigots once behaved in exactly the same way toward blacks or other minorities– back then you might have been looking at Martin Luther King Jr.’s writings while in a study hall in Alabama, and been told to read something else! We don’t hear much from the racist bigots any more, because they tend to keep their mouths shut in polite company. Now we have anti-gun bigots instead, who feel no compunction and mouth off regularly.
On a side note; many have never learned (because this story doesn’t fit the popular, leftist anti-gun action line) that during the civil rights struggle, many black leaders and religious figures joined the NRA and encouraged their black neighbors to arm themselves. As one would expect, violence against blacks tended to fall precipitously in those areas where such advice was taken.
Many would also be shocked (shocked, I tell you!) to learn that the KKK not only supported gun control (see above paragraph) but their political party of choice was the Democratic Party. No self-respecting KKK thug would ever vote for a Republican.
Give that to your social studies classes, et al, and let them chew on it for a while. They may hate it, but unlike much of what they say, they can look this up and verify it. Then you can explain that you were looking at your father’s web site and the site for an event that you attend annually.
Now, keep up on your homework, be nice, and have fun! That’s an order.
I’ve always had the policy of not “talking down” to my kids. I use the same language I’d use in a conversation with an English professor. If they don’t understand something, they’ll either ask me or they’ll look it up.
Some weeks ago, I had mentioned to Joe that I would like to get my NRA Trainer’s certification. There were classes offered over in
The first exercise of the weekend involved demonstrating that we could show another person how to safely load and unload five different long-gun actions and three handgun actions (aced that–for me it was akin to asking a chef to demonstrate his ability to prepair scrambled eggs and dry toast, but enough bragging). We then had to score at least 90% on four separate written exams and shoot at least 50% on a pistol qualification course—shooting from a distance of 25 yards at a nine-inch target, from three specific standing positions including one-handed. Apparently, most pistol shooters don’t shoot much beyond 10 or 15 yards, but I was unaware of this, having tried my hand at 100 yards. 100 yards is a bit of a “hail Mary” exercise with a common handgun. At 25 yards you have to take your time and concentrate, but it is very much doable. I’d have scored higher than my 63% if I’d either used my own guns or if I’d known in advance that their pistols were regulated for a “bull’s-eye” zero at 25 (sights held on the bottom of the round bull’s-eye to hit in the center of the bull’s-eye– ask me if you want to know why that’s a great idea, which it is) because I was holding the sights on the center of the bull. Most of my misses therefore went high. Most of us in the class were “combat” shooters (they’d make fun of that by saying we were from the “Billy-Bob School of Running and Gunning”) and so we were a little bit unprepared for the slower, more relaxed, more skeletal-supported bull’s-eye style they use in the NRA basic pistol classes.
I passed everything with flying colors, except for the second written exam—I was completely unprepared to “study for the tests”. I hadn’t been in college for almost 30 years. I was listening intently to the instructor, and was confident of knowing everything he was talking about, plus I had already scored 96% (I think it was) on the first written exam. Trouble was, I didn’t have the precise verbiage they wanted as answers on the second test—the Three Principles of this, and the Eight Steps of that, etc.. One instructor was impressed enough that he let me take the test over, which I passed with 100%. The trouble with that, however, was it took time away from my studying the material for the other classes, so in spite of taking no time for anything but studying, eating and sleeping a little bit, I was behind the curve so to speak, for the whole weekend. I was a hair trigger from bugging out on more than one occasion, but I am very glad I stuck it through. As soon as I receive my official certification I’ll be qualified to teach NRA basic courses in Pistol and Home Firearm Safety.
Aside from being impressed by the quality of both the teachers and the students at Kenmore Range, there was a lot I never knew about the NRA, in spite of having been a member for years, and I gained a new respect for the organization. It turns out they started for very much the same reasons Joe started the Boomershoot— to increase the number of competent shooters for the times they may be required to defend life and Liberty. The whole political persona we all know, came much later, and to this day is only a very small part of the NRA. They are mostly a marksmanship advancement, training, and competitive shooting facilitator, having founded Camp Perry and a number of other excellent ranges, and developed a comprehensive and effective training program.
To you NRA phone solicitors and mailing program developers out there: You really should spend more time talking to your perspective members about all the things, in addition to the political wing, the NRA does to promote American marksmanship.
The weekend was rough, but I highly recommend NRA Trainer education to anyone interested in teaching gun handling or shooting skills. Thank you, Joe, for the use of the hardened bunker. I could not have done so well without it, and the broadband pipe you provided also.
As an aside, I left my wallet and checkbook, everything, at a rest stop near Dusty, WA on my way to the West Side. I didn’t know about it until Joe informed me as I was entering the Seattle area. It turns out that someone from the West Side was driving to Moscow, ID where I work, picked it up, called my place of work, and hand delivered it. Sort of renews one’s faith in Mankind, that does. That person could have easily relieved me of many thousands of dollars, to say nothing of depriving me of 100% of my ID and other creds.
