Category Archives: Gun Fun

Private fireballs

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One of the new things we are planning to offer for Boomershoot 2013 is an opportunity to shoot your own fireball from as “entertainingly close” as I feel comfortable with. Hint, this year Ry was pushing the envelope for my comfort zone.

There will be a very limited number of them, perhaps three to five, they will take place Friday evening, perhaps near dusk, and the price will be $500 each. And to a certain extent you will control the audience. There will always be range safety officers present but if you only want to allow your immediate family or have it be “all yours” you can do that. We will keep all other spectators at least a couple hundred yards away.

The question are: 1) Are there people interested in such an experience? 2) Is there some modification to the scenario such that it would be more attractive to you?

Overheard at the furniture store

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Guy1 (in a suit at a high end furniture store in Bellevue Washington): “So when is Bumbershoot this year?”


Guy2 (wearing a coat that says, “Boomershoot Event Director” on the back): “I don’t know. This is Boomershoot, not Bumbershoot. It’s something different.”


Guy1: “Oh! I’m sorry. What is Boomershoot?”


Guy2 (quickly finishing his transaction): “Boomershoot is a long range precision rifle event with high explosives as the targets.”


Guy1 (eyes get big during a long pause): “That is different.”


Guy2: “Yeah. We don’t hold the event in the city.”

I love my spud gun

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I’ve posted quite a bit about my spud gun.

I ended up with an old target from 2004 in my truck load of stuff I brought back from Idaho last night:

WP_000574

That is a 0.5 inch five-shot group from 100 yards which I shot with factory ammo (300 Win Mag, Black Hills Match which is loaded with a moly coated 190 grain Sierra Match King bullet). That is a typical group at that range. I’ve had smaller groups at 200 yards but not with as many shots and those aren’t typical.

I am very, very pleased with this gun and ammo. I just wish I had more occasions to shoot it. My clock tower just isn’t the right place for it at this time.

Equipping my clock tower

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Friday night son James and I packed all of Barbara’s stuff into a U-Haul truck and I left for Idaho with it. Saturday with help from Jacob and Nancy I unloaded the truck and loaded up a bunch of my stuff in Idaho. Tonight son James, and daughter-in-law Kelsey helped me unload the truck and pack the stuff up the stairs to my clock tower.

The water bed is still nothing but a bunch of pieces of wood:

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The reloading bench is inaccessible behind a sea of boxes:

WP_000573

But everything did fit and after I put things on shelves and in closets then go through things and throw away stuff that I haven’t touched in 20 years I think I’ll have enough room.

I will need some help putting the bed together but other than that it will just take a couple weekends on my own to sort through the stuff.

The toughest part was getting the gun safe up the stairs. It fell once but didn’t get scratched because it landed on James’ leg. The leg will heal on it’s own. Scratched paint requires assistance.

Thanks to everyone that helped.

Guess

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How many rounds in the jar?

ba-ammo-jar-200

Guess closer than anyone else and win 400 rounds of .223.

“Impressive” gun collection?

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The Willamette Week is easily impressed (emphasis in the original):

In addition to the relatively small quantity of weed, the feds found an impressive gun collection in Barnes’ house.

…

Within the defendant’s bedroom agents found a loaded 9mm handgun on the floor, a loaded .410 Taurus revolver on the floor, a loaded double-barrel coach shotgun behind the bedroom door, and loaded .357 caliber pistol in his dresser. In total, agents found 14 various firearms within the residence and garage.

I know a guy who occasionally attends Boomershoot has 59 guns in just one safe.

Swimming pools versus guns

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Sarah takes Brady Campaign President to task about his irrational fear of guns:

Dan Gross, President of the nation’s largest gun control group, is afraid of guns. Will he ever overcome his irrational fears?

I’m optimistic. If Dan can conquer his fear of water, then he can conquer his fear of guns.

Then invites him to the gun range:

Dan Gross, Brady Campaign President: Consider this an open invitation to join me at the gun range. Afterwards, maybe we can hit the pool for a few laps.

I think I see a Boomershoot invite in Mr. Gross’s future.

Bowling ball mortar

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We have a couple people that have been bringing a bowling ball mortar to Boomershoot the last couple years. Here is a picture of one of them in action (thanks to Dion for the picture):

Boomershoot 2012 067

The fireball is the result of adding gasoline.

Very cool.

Burning hair

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Ry says he smelled burning hair after taking this shot:

As I have commented elsewhere I’m glad I had Ry move the opening fireball back about 20 feet further from where he wanted it. There is a fine line between thrilling and calling for an ambulance. Ry was right on the ragged edge of that line.

Quote of the day—Dave B.

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ThankYou ThankYou ThankYou ThankYou ThankYou ThankYou ThankYou ThankYou ThankYou ThankYou!

Awesome event, as always.  Please accept my thanks and pass them on to all your volunteers and family.

This was my tenth year and I’m already planning for the 11th…

Dave B.
April 30, 2012
Via email regarding Boomershoot 2012.
[In my opinion Boomershoot 2012 was very nearly perfect. I’ll say more later when I have more time but from my view point things went very well this year.—Joe]

This Would be Cool

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…but the manufacturer defaced it horribly by putting lettering and numbering all over it.  I wouldn’t mind owning one, but then I’d be forced to advertize for Colt’s without compensation, flashing that company name and address around everywhere I went.  They should pay me to own it.  And those serial numbers?  Those weren’t required by law in the 1840s and ’50s, and the gun would look SO much tidier without them.

(This in response to people who complain that my products have to be defaced with my company’s name and the model number, or the patent number in some cases.  It turns out that there’s also a significant culture in the muzzleloader world that hates the idea of signed or numbered guns.  That fact that maker’s marks, serial numbers, inspectors marks and proof marks have been a necessary and worthwhile part of manufacturing since Grok made his first stone club seems to get lost on some people.  Maybe the famous works of art would be worth more if they’d never been signed, too [they were such shameless self promoters they turned every work of art into an advertizing billboard for themselves].  We do refrain from using flashing lights in our logo if that’s any consolation.  Our engraved logos are matte black on matte black, but they’re still too obnoxious for some people)

Quote of the day—Charles

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I had no idea.

Next year we are coming back with all our friends.

Charles
Spouse of 30 Cal Gal
April 29, 2012
[This was in regards to the awesomeness of Boomershoot where his wife and Shelley were shooting.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Matthew Jensen

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This is boring. I just keep hitting the same spot.

Matthew Jensen
April 27, 2012
[He was shooting my “Spud Gun” at a 700 yard steel target. He was hitting the same spot on the target…

I love my Spud Gun. He did have an excellent coach in one of Gene Econ’s staff, but still the gun, ammo and shooter had to be doing their job too.—Joe]

Anti Gun Americans Will Flip

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In an e-mail from Oleg Volk;

“Fetishizing the gun…

“American antis will flip at this animation series…”

Yup.

Eye Safety Systems at Boomershoot

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Last February I was contacted by Eye Safety Systems (ESS) out of Sun Valley Idaho. They make high end eye protection glasses. They wanted to participate in Boomershoot and to make a long story short that is how Boomershoot ended up with 30 Cal Gal and Shelley Rae signed up for Boomershoot this year.

ESS also sent me three pair of their glasses. They are very nice glasses. One thing that I despise about nearly all safety glasses is something that isn’t that hard to do right and ESS did it right. When most glasses are folded up the tip of the ear piece touches the inside of the lens. This scuffs the plastic and you end up with a partially blind spot in one or both eyes. The ESS glasses I have been using don’t do that. The ear piece will not touch the inside of the lens. I have been carrying a pair around in my coat pocket (inside the cloth pouch provided) for almost two months now and the glasses are still scuff free. They are comfortable to wear and give me a great field of view and wrap around protection.

Here is more of what ESS has to say about their glasses and their attendance at Boomershoot:

Idaho-based company ESS (Eye Safety Systems) will be present at this weekend’s Boomershoot events.  ESS manufactures the sole issued eyewear of the United States Marine Corps and is a leading supplier to the U.S. Army & all branches of the U.S. Department of Defense.  Their military-grade eye protection is gaining in popularity and is highly-regarded amongst those in the know in the commercial shooting market. 

ESS will be offering free demos of select shooting-specific models of its MIL-SPEC, ANSI Z87.1+ protective eyewear, including the Crossbow Suppressor which is the only eyewear completely engineered for optimal function under ear cup style hearing protection.  Inquire at the ESS tent on site and/or with ESS employees regarding their demos and event specials.  Visit www.esseyepro.com to learn more.

Crossbow_Suppressor_2X_Clear_Copper_Kit

Amazon also has them.

Pampered Cowards

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Here’s a quote I got today from a customer.  We were going back and fourth regarding the configuration of his rifle and which of the vastly superior UltiMAK optic mounts would fit it.  I paraphrase for clarity;

“…mine is a sporterized one… No scary features– to keep our state politicians’ diapers dry.” (he’s in the PRC)

I’ve eschewed potty jokes of late, as they’re usually not productive.  This one brings up a key point though.  My first thought after reading it was; Who cares, or should ever care, about politicians who would soil themselves at the thought of a well and properly armed citizenry, i.e. who cares what a coward thinks?

This is an open message to all politicians and law enforcement.  If you’re afraid of a citizenry that has its rights fully respected, exercised and protected, you’re either a coward, a criminal or a fool, and in any of those cases you don’t belong in your position.  Your position is for those who respect and love liberty, and have both the courage and the personal wherewithal to protect it.

(Disclaimer; my wife is a public school teacher, so although I preach liberty, and the responsibility of self reliance that comes with it, some of my household income derives from a coercive redistribution racket)

I passed

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A couple weeks ago I took the USPSA range officer class with Ry and Barron. I got my grade back today. I passed with a 92 on my first try. Ry got a 88 and Barron got a 94. 85 is passing.

This means we will have officially certified (assuming the certification comes through in time) range officers at Boomershoot 2012.

What’s Going On With Gun Sales?

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Via an e-mail from the NRA (Yes; I am part of the “triangle of death” and as a card-carrying member, I get the sooper secret decoder ring and classified e-mails)

What’s up with gun sales?  Americans are rediscovering the fun and utility of gun ownership, that’s what.  People are starting to shrug off the effects of political and social bullying, saying “to heck with all that nonsense – guns are good, I want one and I’m buying one (or three)”.

Winning

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This is how we win:

The Brady Campaign has no response to this sort of thing.

The 30 Cal Gal will be at Boomershoot 2012 in position 38.

Baghdad Bob

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Ry relates the short version of a conversation we overheard at class on Saturday. It did shutdown the direction of that conversation really fast.

If it weren’t a derogatory phrase I would start calling “Guy two”, whose name is Bob, “Baghdad Bob“.