I received an email from a Boomershooter saying the 1917 Browning (here, the bottom picture in this post and picture 12 here) he had at Boomershoot 2008 “is up for sale at Cabelas gun library here in Post Falls. Boy it’s a magnet to pull people in!”
Post Falls is in north Idaho near Spokane Washington in case you are interested.
Update: Due to popular request I inquired about the price and got this reply.
I took my daughter to her middle school (6th, 7th & 8th grade) science fair last night. She did an experiment to determine whether dog saliva has more or fewer germs than human saliva. You guessed it– humans’ mouths carry more germs.
There were the usual baking soda volcanoes, rotting food experiments, egg-in-the-bottle demonstrations and such. I also counted four terminal ballistics demonstrations. Kids took several calibers out to the field and tested them on bricks, cinder blocks, fir timbers, drywall, phonebooks, and one even used a pistol-rated Kevlar vest. All had the results anyone familiar with guns would expect– common centerfire rifle rounds pretty much overwhelm any of these targets, while some pistol rounds can be stopped by some of them.
One kid had assumed that a .30-30 would penetrate a hard target better than a .25-06, simply because of the bigger, heavier bullet. He of course found out otherwise.
While there were no firearms brought into the school, there were several spend bullets, targets showing depth of penetration, and several cartridges were displayed including .50 BMG tracer and a training (inert) round for a 3-inch naval (ship’s) gun.
Nice work, kids!
Sorry– no pictures (has anyone seen a rather nice, new pocket Olympus camera lying on the ground between Moscow, ID and Garfield, WA?).
This Saturday, the 14th, my son’s school trap shooting team hosted a trap meet. Hosting means we show up at 07:30 instead of 09:00. We shoveled snow while others set up the kitchen and got the coffee started, loaded the traps with targets, etc. It also means we stay after to clean and pack things up.
Below; Our next door neighbor, Laura, busts a target. She hadn’t fired a shotgun in her life until just this winter when I helped out by hand-throwing targets for her. Saturday she held her own quite well. You can tell she’s using a 20 gauge automatic, can’t you?
Below; Your average Eastern Washington high school kids in their natural setting.
Below; Alex pops one off. He hit 28 of 50 this time out.
Below; Robert Cray wrote a song about this. (I know those buildings look pretty close for being downrange of a shooting club. It’s the camera lens– I’m ~30 yards behind the shooter using a long lens. Those buildings are over 350 yards away. The 7 1/2 shot pellets are gently raining down at that distance.
Below; One of the school vehicles in the parking lot. Reach for the stars– learn to shoot well.
This was the first time I’d watched an “Annie Oakley”. It looks really fun. All the participants line up side-by-side at the farthest “handicap” line (farthest from the trap house from which the targets are launched). They worked in groups of three. The first shooter on the left calls for a target. “Pull!” If that shooter makes a hit, the next shooter to the right calls for a target. If the one who called, “Pull!” misses, the shooter to the right takes a shot. If that one is a hit, the primary shooter (the caller) is eliminated from the game. If the second shooter misses, a third shooter takes a shot. If that shot is a hit, the first two shooters are eliminated. If one shooter makes a hit, but the next shooter in that group of three fires anyway, that shooter, and anyone in that group who fired and missed, is eliminated. This goes on, in groups of three, with each shooter on the line taking a chance on being the first of three, over and over until there’s one shooter left, who of course wins the game. I understand there is big money in some of these games, but this being a school event I think the big prize was ten dollars– almost enough to cover half the day’s ammo cost for the winner.
I’d read some of her work in the past and been impressed. Brigid’s home on the range – guns and gourmet cooking from a small homestead in the Midwest. Oleg Volk posted a link to her site recently. Most of what she writes comes out like poetry. This was very good;
I am not a tree hugger. Not for me the granola fueled protests to save the spotted owl. Growing up in the mountains of the wilderness, I appreciate a tree in the form of a pile of two by fours as well as in it’s original state. I do not think the trees are the home of sentient druid spirits, nor do the trees speak to me; but I am pleased to take shelter under or in their branches, reinforced in the smallness of my form next to their trunks, smiling as the branches separate me from the chatter of the world that echoes outside the woods. There, branches are what conceal me as I wait for my prey, like any animal, participating in the cycle of the food chain. I am an omnivore and those less equipped than I, forget that at their peril. It is the bringing home of sustenance. Bringing home, not a trophy so much as a sign of provision, that those that work and strive will be rewarded with a full belly and warmth.
It’s a nice change from reading about the downfall of our Republic. She’s a prolific writer too, so you’re in good shape if you need a lot of distraction.
Kris tells me he is going to attend Boomershoot as a spectator and wondered if this would be an appropriate lead pusher for the event:
The original design intent is described as:
Designed as an equalizer for inconceivable and unpredictable lane changes, and other traffic related anomalies perpetrated by the cell phone using, motor home/SUV driving morons in Florida imposed on the rest of us. The below pictured machine was designed for that purpose.
Each mini gun fires at a rate of 3000 rounds per minute (6000 total). During initial test and evaluation it was demonstrated that a single 2 second burst would, and did blow a 40 foot RV with tow car clean off the road, leaving an open and unobstructed route ahead. It will vaporize an SUV in seconds! Tests further indicated that after two or three RV’s/SUV’s in a row were eliminated, or “friggin smoked”, others voluntarily pulled off the road and thus became a “non threat.”
I told him it would be welcome but the accuracy of the lead on target was far more important than the quantity.
But perhaps we can create a special Boomershoot event for this class of toy if there is enough interest out there. See also these variants.
I went to a steel match today and shot with both my .40 STI and the Gun Blog .45 by Para. I’d been practicing with the .45 a lot more than the .40 because I wanted to learn how to shoot it reliable. I did pretty well with only a couple times getting the grip slightly wrong and not getting the grip safety fully disengaged. What was a little disturbing however was that I did better with the .45, which has a double action trigger, and a sight radius a full inch shorter than my .40.
There is another variable however. I always shot the stage with my .40 before the .45. So I had the advantage of practice on that particular stage before shooting with the .45.
I don’t know if it means anything or not. More tests are needed. But here are the results for your examination:
Lewiston Pistol Club Steel Match | |||||||||
Steel Match – 22 February 2008 | |||||||||
Place | Shooter | Class | Showdown | Pendulum | Smoke & Hope | 5 to Go | Roundabout | Total | Time Down |
1 | Adam Mcintosh | Limited | 15.54 | 19.55 | 11.11 | 17.44 | 11.55 | 75.19 | — |
2 | Don W | Limited | 19.78 | 22.23 | 12.65 | 18.20 | 14.06 | 86.92 | 11.73 |
3 | Roger Watson | Limited | 16.78 | 21.86 | 13.97 | 22.76 | 17.69 | 93.06 | 17.87 |
4 | Todd Dow | Limited | 20.94 | 23.16 | 14.82 | 22.95 | 16.01 | 97.88 | 22.69 |
5 | Joe Huffman (.45) | Limited | 18.58 | 26.06 | 15.28 | 22.45 | 16.07 | 98.44 | 23.25 |
6 | Joe Huffman (.40) | Limited | 19.18 | 33.1 | 14 | 22.85 | 14.83 | 103.96 | 28.77 |
7 | Erik Elzea | Limited | 21.34 | 30.67 | 15.40 | 19.93 | 20.42 | 107.76 | 32.57 |
8 | KW Hipps | Limited | 31.49 | 24.59 | 13.90 | 22.51 | 17.73 | 110.22 | 35.03 |
9 | Roger Watson | Revolver | 22.71 | 35.62 | 16.17 | 22.69 | 17.60 | 114.79 | 39.6 |
10 | Jason Ewing | Limited | 23.79 | 32.13 | 17.44 | 23.72 | 20.10 | 117.18 | 41.99 |
11 | John Grimes | Limited | 29.60 | 30.64 | 21.01 | 43.11 | 27.15 | 151.51 | 76.32 |
12 | Caleb Frederick | Limited | 78.67 | 94.57 | 22.48 | 87.54 | 43.08 | 326.34 | 251.15 |
Yellow Cells denote stage winner | |||||||||
Son-in-law Caleb was handicapped by using my old Ruger P-89 which hadn’t been cleaned, lubricated or fired in several years. It jammed on nearly every string of fire and many times more than once in a single string. I showed him how to clean it when we got home, gave him a key to the range, a 1000 rounds of ammo, and told him to do some further testing.
This time of year (66 days until Boomershoot) not just me but participants start putting the finishing touches on their plans for the big event. Here we see the results of Bruce Da Squirrel Hunter Boomershoot project:
Here is part of the story from Bruce himself:
Well I finally finished my year long project of building a completely new Polished Stainless Steel Tripod. This couldn’t have happened without the wonderful help of .223 Bill Lester and Fred Forgone working with me hand and foot to get this project completed on time for April 30th and Boomershoot once again this year. I think Fred has more gray hairs this year with me bugging him non-stop for his assistance with so many miscellaneous parts and devices even on his days off.
My hat is off to .223 Bill and Fred for sticking with me and letting me drive both of them nuts for a year while we invented and built what I believe is the best shooting platform ever invented. This Stainless Tripod was .223 Bill’s first production unit since his personal prototype which was made from mild steel. A true craftsman and dedicated friend.
This years project was invented after last years highly modified hunting tripod which had a 55 pound railroad track hanging from the center of the pod which made the total tripod with rifle weigh in at approx. 130 pounds.
After great success with that unit, I was still unhappy about having to hold and adjust the rear of the rifle for every shot. My heartbeat was moving the crosshairs too much in the excitement of Boomershoot.
So back to the drawing board and the current project for this past year has been: “How do we build a better mouse trap”?
Well, you start with the best pair of talented craftsmen who can invent right along with you and build dream toys with a common goal of hitting 7 inch targets all the way out to 650 yards and 700 yards.
The attached photos show my first dress rehearsal of the unit in my living room as my garage isn’t big enough with two cars in it to allow me to set this monster up in. The rifle is a Remington 700 Long Action and a Hart Custom .25-06 fluted barrel. The rifle is the only item carried over from last year.
The new tripod has an aluminum front Anti-Cant device and the rear has a polished mild steel Micro Elevation / Traversing Device. Along with these two items is a Mono-rail Anti-lift device up front that I also invented, a modified design instead of the two rail system I employed last year.
Hopefully the recoil will be less then last year with the overall increased weight (150lbs) and the much larger footprint of this unit. I had the .25-06 recoil down to that of a .22 long rifle last year. If this unit does what I think it will, there won’t be any recoil this year.
This new tripod still needs to be field tested, but I have a feeling that this will be one sweet tripod to shoot from.
I can’t wait for Boomershoot and the chance to really put all this work to the test.
Thank you once again Fred and Bill for all you did and sacrificed for me.
We might just once again hear the call of the wild “ReAdjust”
From the comments here:
An old Italian Mafia Don is dying and he calls his grandson to his bed.
“You lissin-a me. I wanna for you to taka my chrome plated 38 revolver so you will always remember me.”
“But grandpa, I really don’t like guns. Howzabout you leava me your Rolex watch instead.”
“Shuddup an lissin. Somma day you gonna runna da business, you gonna have a beautifula wife, lotsa money, a biga home and maybe a couple a bambinos.
Somma day you gonna coma home and maybe find you wife inna bed with another man. Whadda you gonna do then……pointa to you watch and a say, Times Up?”
I love the name they gave it–Sporting Rifle. Surely that must mean it is for “sporting purposes” and it can’t possibly be an “assault weapon”.
And did you notice the logo on the side of the receiver? STI!
I shoot a STI gun in competition, I carry a STI gun and you should too.
Never mind the 1600+ yard (that is 0.91 miles) hit on a 12″ diameter plate, the guy in the video (you get to see him toward the end) is someone I know. He has been to Boomershoot several times and Barb and I went to high school with his Aunt Shirley. He also used to shoot a lot of IPSC at the same events I went to.
Oh, he is also a gunsmith. I suspect he made the video to show off some of his work as well as his talent.
Thanks to Boomershooter Michael who had the following to say about the video:
Spring is coming, and a not-so-young man’s thoughts turn to . . . Boomershoot. 🙂
Well, close enough for now.
As planned Caleb and I did some more tests with Ry’s test target. Video and commentary by Caleb.
We went to the Boomershoot site expecting to find little or no snow. We should have called ahead. There was about two feet of snow and we were unable to make it to the Taj Mahal with all our gear. We made do at the first berm. We used a paper target to zero the gun for this range (25 yards) then took a single shot with each caliber at the stack of steel plates at the base of the stump. The bullets at the steel plate went over the chronograph.
This was our setup.
In the following video you see the result of SS-109 and 30.06 blacktip ammo shot at the stack of steel plates each 0.25 inches thick. There is a gap of about 0.75 inches between each plate. Estimated velocity of the .223 bullet at the target is 2600 fps. Estimated velocity of the 30.06 bullet at the target is 2360 fps.
The .223 went through one and almost penetrated the second plate. The 30.06 went through three plates and partially into the fourth.
The .300 Win Mag pushing hand-loaded 162 grain military surplus black tip bullets was able to hit the target with a velocity of about 3315 fps. It went through all six plates:
Update: See also this paper on AP ammo. It’s just the first page (you have to pay for the rest of it) but it’s interesting reading.
I love reactive targets and I use them so much I am a little jaded. But even though these targets aren’t as reactive as the ones I make I still enjoyed the video.
And contrary to some indicators just because there is a woman pulling the trigger some of the time doesn’t mean I’m annoyed with the video. I find this is an appropriate use of women and guns in our fight to keep and bear arms.
My son Alex is part of a high school school trap shooting team. They had a match this morning near Rosalia, Washington, which was attented by several high school teams from around the region. Trap is quite popular in Eastern WA, as this is one of the best places in the country for pheasant and quail hunting, to say nothing of the excellent duck and goose hunting opportunities. From the shooting lines today, we saw several hundred geese in the air.
Above; No, it isn’t a crime scene or a network news story. It depicts a fun event in which kids use guns and sharpen their skills on aerial targets, and so, by definition, it isn’t “news”. The parking lot was packed with similar vehicles, open, loaded with guns and ammo. Most people don’t bother to lock their vehicles, me included.
Above; an appropriately named school district.
Above; Alex in full target-busting mode. That’s a decent hit– lots of small fragments. If you hit one full-on, it disappears in a cloud of dust. Scoring is the same either way. If you break a little piece off the target, it’s a hit, same as a “duster”.
A great time was had by all. Everyone was super nice. There were decent facilities for those who wanted to stay warm and there was free coffee and decent food at very reasonable prices. This locally operated club range was equipped with four trap houses, meaning 20 kids can be on the shooting line at one time.
I’d guess there were about 80 shooters attending and about 150 to 200 people there in total– Guns and ammo lying about everywhere, much like you’d find skis and poles sitting out on stands in front of a ski lodge. Now if we were to take anything the anti gun-rights loons say with a shred of seriousness, we’d assume that all these kids would end up turning on each other in a bloddy shootout, as the stresses of competition became too much for them to handle, or something. In fact, everyone was relaxed and friendly. I will point out that, unlike a typical football game, there are no paramedics on standby at these events. There would be no point in it.
Alex broke 26 of 50 targets, which isn’t bad, but a really good shooter would have hit 50 of 50. Today there was some gusting wind, so even a really good shooter might have missed one or two because the targets were jumping around a bit in the wind. If you’ve ever thrown a Frisbee in the wind you what know what I mean. These clay targets fly a lot like little Frisbees.
I believe I have an answer to Joe’s “Just one Question”.
As Joe states;
There are three possible answers to this question.
- “I don’t know.” In which case my response is, “Come back to the debate when you can answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.”
- “No.” In which case my response is, “Then you should be advocating the repeal of ALL gun control laws and I don’t want to hear a single anti-freedom word from you on this topic again.”
- “Yes and here is my demonstration.”
My answer is; “Yes and here is my demonstration.”
In response to Clinton era attacks on gun rights, I and many other Americans decided to buy our first guns, or to get back into shooting after a long hiatus. Gun dealers often credited Clinton (and his administration) for being “salesman of the year” for several years running. The atmosphere at gun shows was very energetic, and the NRA’s membership got a large bump as people got guns and got involved in pro second amendment activism. The NRA and other groups also started pushing harder for gun handling safety as it became clear that our right to keep and bear arms was seriously threatened. This all falls under what we’ll call “backlash”.
The backlash against actual gun restriction resulted in more gun owners, more participation in shooting activities, more participation in pro 2A activism, more emphasis on safety and self defense, and many more states passing “shall issue” concealed carry laws.
More armed citizens, more of them carrying concealed, and more emphasis on safety and home security, and presto– violent crime has been going down in the areas where gun ownership has increased, and gun accidents have been on the decline for years, even with the increased gun ownership.
Hence, I submit that, due to public backlash, the average person has indeed been made safer by restricting access to handheld weapons.
The twist lies in the fact that guns weren’t simply banned except in a few small pockets in the U.S.. The question pertains to “restrictions” and not to full prohibition. In those places where all guns were effectively outlawed, crime continued to rampage, but in places where we could still legally get and keep guns we became safer. Semi-auto rifles and carbines (the so-called “assault weapons”) were purchased in the largest numbers too, because those were the ones most threatened (my first gun purchase ever was a Glock 20 with a 15 round magazine, because I knew the magazine restriction was coming. I then bought several more 15 round magazines “while I still could”). I maintain that the very large increase in interest in AR-15s and AKs, et al (“Evil Black Rifles” or EBRs) is in part due to the Clinton era restrictions.
Today, the Clinton era concerns are back. The Obama groupies are wanting to pass more gun restrictions, and as a result, people are buying up guns, “while we still can”. Most pointedly, they’re buying up semi-auto rifles and carbines, semi-auto pistols, full capacity magazines and folding or collapsible stocks, as those are all in the most threatened category. We can only hope for more change in the form of backlash. Do your part to make America even safer; encourage your friends and neighbors to get their first guns, join the NRA, and become active “while they still can”.
Details of the test, with pictures, are here. Ry stopped by the house yesterday and I got to handle the test target and we talked and speculated about the details of the test results. The next time I go back to Idaho I think I will borrow his target and do the same test with 30-06 AP.
Via reader Roger I became aware we have this proposal to make a change in the archery hunting regulations:
WAC 232-12-054 Archery requirements–Archery special use
permits. (1) Rules pertaining to all archery:
(a) It is unlawful for any person to carry or have in his
possession any firearm while in the field archery hunting, during
an archery season specified for that area, except for modern handguns
carried for personal protection. Modern handguns cannot be used to
hunt big game or dispatch wounded big game during an archery, big
game hunting season.
The underlined portion is the proposed change. It sounds like a good idea to me. Why should you give up your right to defend yourself with a handgun just because you are doing some archery hunting?
Email your comments to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife here before February 20th, 2009. More details on the commenting process can be found here.
Yesterday Barb and I went on drive. This Thursday Barb has a class in Bellingham so we drove up there ahead of time to make sure she can find it without difficulty during morning traffic. It was a nice day and it was a pleasant drive and we got a chance to talk about a bunch of stuff rather than sitting at our respective desks with our hobbies.
Just prior to leaving we stopped at Joe’s Sports, Outdoor, and More (no relation). I was looking for some .45 ACP brass so I can reload for my Gun Blog 45. Midway is out of stock. The shelf with the brass was nearly empty with only a couple bags with some 7mm brass hanging from a hook. The powder and primer shelves were nearly empty as well. Hmmm…
On the way back from Bellingham we stopped at Kesselring Gun Shop in Burlington. The parking lot was FULL. And this is on the same weekend that WAC had their big show in Puyallup! I found a narrow spot to park between a building and a pickup that was parked such that it was blocking a private road. We went inside to find the store was packed. Every aisle was crowded. There was just barely enough room to move between all the people. I found the brass I was looking for at a reasonable price (considering), paid for it and we left.
One has to wonder if we had put that much money and effort into defeating Obama in November would we have succeeded? Being reactive seldom is better than proactive but that just isn’t the way human nature works. And the money gun owners are spending on firearms, ammo, and accessories could have gone into the election process and ended up in the hands of mainstream media who are one of our worst enemies and instead of into tools of freedom in our own hands.
I received an email from Para USA a few minutes ago. They are preparing for SHOT Show and will be distributing a new catalog at the show. The page 34 of the catalog looks like this:
You can download the 2009 Para USA catalog off their website at this link http://www.para-usa.com/new/product_catalog.php.
You might have noticed the video link on the image to a web page and video of the gun blogger event. Yeah, it doesn’t work for me either.
I added another feature to Modern Ballistics for the Field. It now gives you the approximate maximum range for your bullet under the given environmental conditions.
Today (Sunday) was a beautiful sunny day, and with the drifted snow glistening like it was covered with diamonds, it was far too beautiful to stay inside. I took Alex to the Peterson Range near Moscow, Idaho for some fresh air.
The driveway up to the shooting bays was blocked with a large snow berm. We could have spent some time with a shovel to clear the berm, but even then I’d need chains on all fours to have any chance of driving in. Too much bother. Much easier to don the snowshoes and walk in.
Now this is a nice exercise in itself. If you have your rig right there at the shooting bay, it means you can lay everything out– your shooting bag, all your ammo, gun cases, everything, even working right off your tailgate. When you’re hiking in, you bring what you can carry. In this case it meant leaving the range bag, most of the ammo and some of the gun cases behind. Not a problem. I had my .45 in in my pocket and a CZ-52 pistol in a flap holster with two mags, plus a three-mag AR pouch on by belt. One 20 rounder in the AR and another 30 round magazine that fit in my breast pocket. Four 15 round mags for the M1 Carbine on one belt, plus a 50 round box of Carbine ammo in another coat pocket. With water bottles (you lose a lot of water just breathing in these conditions, so always bring water) targets and a stapler, wearing our eyes and ears, we were off for a nice afternoon of leisurely hiking and shooting in the sunshine.
Strangely, we were the only ones at the range today.
The weather could not have been better. At around 20 degrees F, the snow doesn’t melt too much on your clothing and you stay nice and dry. Plus when you’re hoofing around the range with a load, on snowshoes, you don’t overheat, and it’s not so cold that your lungs are stressed. Perfect.
Here we’re testing out the steel pistol targets. No problem, except that some trespasser had gone in and shot holes in the steel with a centerfire rifle (all members know never to do anything so stupid and inconsiderate);
Since everything around us is covered in anywhere from several inches to several feet of snow, loading the mags required a little different technique. Holding the ammo box and the magazine in one hand, I’m stuffing the rounds in with the other. Everything stays out of the snow. For the rifles we brought enough pre-loaded magazines;
Here I’m sighting in the M1 Carbine. This gun had failed on the last outing, due to a gas piston nut that had worked its way completely out of the gas block. I am amazed that the thing never self-destructed. Nice going on the design, W.W. II era guys! The gas nut is supposed to be staked in place, but this more recently manufactured IAI carbine never had the nut staked. It took many thousands of rounds of UltiMAK product testing before the gas nut finally worked its way out. After that I had disassembled the rifle completely including a full takedown of the bolt, removed the optic and the optic mount, repaired the damaged gas nut threads and trued up the gas piston, then reinstalled the nut with Locktite (another accepted method) installed a new optic mount (to test a new lot) and reinstalled the Holosight. After all that, the Carbine shot to POA with no adjustments at 20 yards, and then at 100. I didn’t see any need to change the settings on this old Holosight. No malfunctions;
If you happen to own a .30 Carbine, let it be known that the exposed lead at the base of regular FMJ bullets does partially melt, it atomizes when liquefied and it finds its way into the gas block, depositing in there, slowly reducing the volume inside the gas chamber and eventually preventing the piston from traveling all the way forward. It forms a very hard dross that is a royal bitch to clean out. That’s one reason why I want to try the Speer hollowpoints– they have a full copper base. You may find similar deposits inside the AR-15 bolt carrier, back behind the bolt, which is why you need to clean it thoroughly.
Alex and I each got photos of each other with brass in the air (here’s the trick; press the shutter button part way own, into the “here’s the exact exposure I want” setting. The instant you hear the report, press the shutter button all the way– you get instantaneous shots that way. Works nearly every time);
We had a brass catcher on the AR (a good idea when shooting in the snow) but no one seems to make one for the Carbine. The brass comes out hot and melts the snow when it hits, so when you pick up the cases they’re encrusted in ice. Yes, a brass catcher would be much better out here today. I wanted to bring home every .30 Carbine case because I’m going to load up a batch of hollowpoints for function testing.
All in all it was a great time.