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.

Batteries

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Boomershoot Mecca has solar power to keep the Wi-Fi going year around. Some of the batteries were over five years old and weren’t holding a charge. Some were three years old and I wasn’t too sure about them. I purchased four new sealed batteries and replaced all the old ones over Thanksgiving.

The batteries don’t handle really cold temperatures well and there is no heat at Mecca. At times it gets well below zero so I put some scrap insulating foam board underneath and on top to retain a little bit more heat until I can make something a little more permanent for the winter.

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I brought the two year old batteries home, charged them, and did some tests. They have about 70% of their claimed storage capacity. I took them back to Idaho earlier this month for use at a different site.

Brother Gary, his dog Roscoe, and I took them the last 0.3 miles across the field on plastic toboggans over a few inches of snow:

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The other site is underneath the power tower you see at the top center of the picture. It is a Wi-Fi relay station to get Internet service from Mecca to brother Gary’s house. The batteries there have been working for a couple years but were a little marginal in terms of recommended capacity. As they aged I was concerned that one dark and extremely cold January the batteries would fail. Putting in additional batteries now will ensure it makes it through this year and I won’t have to make the trip across the field on snowshoes over four feet of snow pulling 100+ pound batteries. I will test their capacity each August or September when access is easy by driving across the field and replace them as needed.

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Early Boomershoot shirts

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My niece, Amy, helped with several early Boomershoots and I gave her t-shirts as part of her compensation. Recently she decided she didn’t want them and gave them to her parents, brother Doug and SIL Julie. The didn’t want them so I picked them up and brought them home this weekend. The shirts are still in good shape and I took pictures of the image on them before putting them away:

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Sign up for Boomershoot 2019 (May 3rd-5th) here.

Quote of the day—Kaitlin Bennett

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Repeal all gun laws. We can prevent gun violence if we stop prohibiting non-violent people from getting guns. Gun control only hurts law abiding citizens.

Kaitlin Bennett
August 15, 2018
‘Repeal all gun laws,’ says Kent State’s rifle-carrying graduate behind viral photo
[This was in response to the question:

How can tragedy resulting from gun violence be prevented in the future?

Also, in response to the question:

Parkland survivors and other March for Our Lives organizers have been registering young people to vote and advocating gun-control in a nationwide tour, what would you want to say to them?

She replies:

…

If I had to say something to them, it would be come and take it.

It appears she has her act together. I wish I could afford to pay her way to Idaho for Boomershoot 2019 to be our dinner speaker.—Joe]

Idaho visit

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Last weekend Barb and I went to Idaho. We delivered more chemicals for Boomershoot 2019, trimmed some trees along the road to Boomershoot Taj Mahal, and attended my high school reunion. The weather was a little on the warm side but not bad. We took a few pictures during the trip:

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I believe this was west of Colfax on Highway 26. We found the clouds quite pretty.

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This is the lentil field just south of Boomershoot Mecca.

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I”m planning to repair these steel targets at the tree line before Boomershoot 2019.

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I was trying to do the equivalent of this one from almost exactly 10 years ago:

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Another view of the hay bales with the shooting line in the background.

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For many years Barb had digestive issues with wheat. Those issues mysteriously went away a few months ago (Barb is skeptical of my suggestion it was Dr. Joe’s cure for everything, and I’m skeptical of her hypothesis of a spiritual/energy something or other healing). Here we have her next to a field of Huffman Wheat.

Quote of the day—Devin

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My son told me that last weekend was more fun than Disneyland.

If I were to ask my daughter I’d bet she would say the same thing.

Devin
July 10, 2018
In regards to attending Boomershoot 101.
[Extrapolate however you think is appropriate.—Joe]

Boomershoot 101

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This last weekend I put on a trial class I called Boomershoot 101: Target Production, High Intensity, and Intro to Long Range.

The students made the reactive targets from basic chemicals (photos by Brian, Chris, and Kim):

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They learned safe gun handling and how to shoot an AR-15:

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They distributed targets:

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They had their own High Intensity event:

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They learned the basics of long range shooting (and several claimed they could never hit anything that far away):

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They all connected with 7” targets (and some with 4” targets) at 373 yards. And we have the smiles to prove it:

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We all learned a lot. I will modify the class with what I learned for the next set of students. And before long I will subject this set of students to Boomershoot 102: Long Range Math.

Scariest things I have seen

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I was getting some chemicals for Boomershoot today. I was standing at the loading dock waiting from my stuff to arrive and I saw several plastic drums.

This is some of the scariest stuff I have actually seen in real life:

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These drums have hundreds of pounds of extremely strong acid in them. They were on the loading dock which was about chest high. Then, while I was standing there a guy driving a fork lift bumped into them. I didn’t run, but I certainly was moving out of there in a purposeful manner preparing my option to engage warp drive.

Boomershoot 2019 entry opens soon!

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After some discussion and a few behind the scenes changes Gene Econ and his crew will again be adding to your Boomershoot experience. As far as participants are concerned there will be no visible changes from what you have enjoyed in previous years.

Learn about Boomershoot. Then sign up for our next event!

Registration opens for staff 5/19/2018 9:00:00 AM Pacific Time.
Registration opens for previous year participants 5/23/2018 6:00:00 PM Pacific Time.
Registration opens for everyone 5/27/2018 9:00:00 AM Pacific Time.

Sign up soon!

Boomershoot 2018 smile

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Here is one of the Boomershoot 2018 Personal Fireballs and the resultant smile:

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Also of interest is this is an immigrant from Venezuela and told me in email:

I hope some day to I can contribute to this great country,  my city and community  and  defending the second amendment, as much as you do.

Radio silence

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I usually have QOTDs up for the time before and slightly after Boomershoot so I have time to concentrate on Boomershoot then just veg out and recover afterward. This time I did not get ahead on the QOTD stuff for this blog. I’m going “radio silent” for a few days.

Nothing to worry about. I’ll be back online when I feel like it.

Boomershoot 2018 report

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Boomershoot 2018 was a big success!

There were a few minor glitches like the guy that got his trailer and pickup stuck and I had to get a tractor to pull him out. Somehow the number of stakes at the tree line was miscounted and we had a few too many stakes for the number of Sunday targets (879). I changed the way we put the explosives in the boxes which resulted in more explosives per box. No big deal but I forgot to update my spreadsheet with the new weight of the explosives per box. This meant we used up all of the secret ingredient and Barb had to run into town to buy some more. We used up all but about two pounds of the Potassium Chlorate and all but 150 pounds of the Ammonium Nitrate when I thought I would have enough left over for my summer recreational use. I expect there were a few sunburns. I got a small burn on my thumb from lighting a road flare with my lighter. The U-Haul trailer door broke on Saturday and we had to strap things in to make sure they didn’t slide out. The box of flares for the Sunday fireball was misplaced and we scrounged up flares from other other sources. The Wi-Fi was extremely flakey and essentially unusable.

All glitches cause some stress but we found workarounds for most things and there was no significant ill consequences.

But the targets had a very high detonation rate and several people told me they had more boom than normal. This wasn’t just because of the slight increase in the amount of explosives. I think it was the new chemical supplier and/or the new packing method. One longtime boomershooter told me, “Those were the best boomers I have ever shot.” That was my impression too.

The two personal fireballs and the Sunday event fireball all worked on the first try. This was the view from the shooting line 10 minutes into the Sunday event:

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Watch Boomershoot live today

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It’s only still pictures updated once a minute but you can see what’s happening at Boomershoot today on this web page: http://www.boomershoot.org/Live.htm.

Boomershoot 2018 prep is going well

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Today was the official first day of onsite prep for Boomershoot 2018. But we left home yesterday with a full load in my vehicle:

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We arrived on site late yesterday afternoon and quickly established that the fields are muddy:

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That was just the first field. It got much worse after that.

All the shooting positions were dry after we removed a few positions which were unoccupied. So that isn’t going to be a concern. The weather forecast is looking really good and everything is going according to schedule.

All the Boomershoot direction signs are up now:

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We put a new canopy outside our target production facility which is awesome:

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Tomorrow we begin target production.

It’s going to be a blast!

Trail of Tears

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Boomershoot. There is still time (entry closes TONIGHT at midnight). Sign up here: https://entry.boomershoot.org/

Brian Keith provides motivation:

We like to pretend that genocide is something other people do- the Nazis, or the Tutsis, or the Soviets, or the Chinese Communists.
We Americans practice genocide too.
And just like those other people, we make sure our victims are disarmed before we butcher them.
The Cherokee, Muscogee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole did not have the means to fight back against the genocidal United States.
So they died by the thousands.
Genocide isn’t something only “they” do. It’s something we do too.
Be ready.

TrailOfTears

This far

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Boomershoot. There is still time (entry closes at midnight Wednesday April 18th). Sign up here: https://entry.boomershoot.org/

Brian Keith provides motivation:

Governments love to commit genocide.
Here’s over 25 genocides with enough dead to be recorded. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_genocides_by_death_toll)
Genocide is NORMAL.
What’s not normal is fighting back with adequate weapons.
Anyone will fight back with a chair or a garden hoe when they come for your family.
But as Americans we have the rare birthright of fighting back with a level of firepower never before possessed in civilian hands.
Don’t wait for things to get bad before you get serious about demonstrating your skill.
Instead let your would-be rulers know that you can hit a pizza box at half a mile with a first round shot.
Attend Boomershoot.

ThisFar

Take responsibility

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Boomershoot. There is still time (entry closes at midnight Wednesday April 18th). Sign up here: https://entry.boomershoot.org/

Brian Keith provides motivation:

Let’s stop pretending we are better than the Brits.
We laugh at their knife crime epidemic and their fear of guns.
We laugh at how we had to ship guns to them so they could fight back against the Nazis.
Instead of viewing them as an aberration, view Britain as normal.
When no one stands up for freedom, when no one is willing to take risks to pass on knowledge of resistance to tyranny, that fighting spirit withers.
The spirit of freedom shrinks.
And one day you wake up to find yourself watching a march go by your window of people who support the cops killing you because you carry a knife.
Stop assuming it can’t happen here.
Take your friends to Boomershoot to keep the spirit of freedom kicking.

TakeResponsibility

Stop kneeling

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Boomershoot. There is still time (entry closes at midnight Wednesday April 18th). Sign up here: https://entry.boomershoot.org/

Brian Keith provides motivation:

Doing what the authorities tell you to do is always easier in the short run.
But in the long term it can be devastating.
You could ask these people how following the rules worked for them, but they chose to kneel and do as they were told.
And now they are dead.
These are the stakes.
Attend Boomershoot. It’s not illegal (yet!), and you know your would-be masters would rather you not.
Stop kneeling.

StopKneeling

No one is coming to save you

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Boomershoot. There is still time (entry closes at midnight Wednesday April 18th). Sign up here: https://entry.boomershoot.org/

Brian Keith provides motivation:

We have this myth of the Militia, of the Patriot, of the 3% who will fight back against an evil government.
But the reality is that many states already outlaw normal handguns and rifles, and we’ve not seen any organized resistance.
And when the government gets really violent and goes beyond passing laws into burning children, still the ‘militia’ is nowhere to be seen.
Don’t count on other people to save you. Count on your closest friends and family.
Bring them to Boomershoot so they can experience the sheer joy of hitting a 7″ target at almost half a mile away.
Don’t practice wishful thinking. Practice fighting back instead.

NoOneIsComingToSaveYou

Invite your friends

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Boomershoot. There is still time (entry closes at midnight Wednesday April 18th). Sign up here: https://entry.boomershoot.org/

Brian Keith provides motivation:

Universal laws:
1. After a genocide, everyone says “Never again!”
2. Governments keep on committing genocide.
3. Armed populations NEVER suffer genocide.
4. Governments always disarm populations before genocide.

Talk is cheap.
Thankfully so is ammunition and gas.
Talk less about how bad genocide is and invite your friends and family to Boomershoot instead.
You can’t stop genocide. But you can stop it happening to you.

NeverAgain

Boomershoot 2018 shirts/caps/mugs/etc.

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Boomershoot 2018 is three weeks away. I just finished the design for the shirts, caps, mugs, maternity clothes, thongs, baby bibs, etc. for this event:

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You can get your own items from the Boomershoot 2018 CafePress store.

If can also get generic Boomershoot logo items.

There are still positions open for all the events. Don’t miss this amazing event. Sign up here.

Don’t forget that this is the last call for the Boomershoot Precision Rifle Clinic. And the last day to sign up for the PRC is March 31st. So to get into the clinic you must sign up today or tomorrow. Do it now!