Striking Gold In Holland

It's been a long and tiring trip to Holland for the European Steel Challenge Championships, but the results turned out well. I wasn't expecting any great results in the Centerfire Open division, as I'm still very new to the gun and the class, but I still finished solidly in the middle of the pack. No complaints there, but I still have a lot of work to do to get it to the level I want it to be. the Tanfoglio is working better and better, and I am showing improvement with it.

 Gold Medal for Senior Rimfire, and Bronze Medal for Team Rimfire.

Rimfire Open division turned out even better than I had hoped. In the US there is a Super Senior  division for shooters over 65, but in Europe there is only a Senior Division, and anyone over 50 qualifies. Needless to say, the competition is a lot tougher in the Senior Division over here than the Super Division in the US. Fortunately I had a good day in Winterswijk in Rimfire, besting last year's time by almost two seconds.

Hans Wigger, Me, and Peter Schouwink, 3rd, 1st., and 2nd., in Senior Rimfire. Also the three members of Team Dragonball.

Our rimfire team, "Team Dragonballs" also did well. All three of our team members are also Seniors, so to finish in third place was not easy against the younger shooters.

All in all, we had a great match. I have a lot more pictures to post, but typing on this tiny netbook is very frustrating, with almost every word having typos.

More later once I get home and back to my regular computer!

In Winterswijk

Sorry about the lack of blogging, but I've been on the road a bit lately. It is about 7am right now, Holland time, and I and in my hotel room in Winterswijk, Holland. I'm over here for the European Steel Challenge Championships, which start today (Friday) at 8:45 am and I'm in the first flight, so at 8:45 I will be shooting my Tanfoglio 9mm. Gold Custom in Open division. My score today will be recorded both in the individual category, but it will also be combined with the scores of two other shooters and entered in the team category. It was quite an honor to be invited to join a team with two other Dutch shooters, both very good, for the match. They pick a name of the team when they enter, and our Open Division is Team Mr. Completely! Another honor, for sure! I will be shooting Rimfire Optic class tomorrow morning, and again I will be on a team, this time on Team Dragonball, the rimfire team I have been on the last two years. Last year Team Dragonball was fourth, and the year before we were third.

Getting here to Winterswijk was an adventure in itself. It took a bus and ferry ride from Whidbey Island to SeaTac airport followed by a ten hour flight in a very cramped seat in an Airbus. The video controller was broken on my seat, so I wasn't able to listen to music or watch any movies. I was met by friends from Rotterdam at the airport, and I rode with them to their home where mostly I slept, but we got in a little sight-seeing in Rotterdam, and I visited a gun shop there. It was a small but well stocked place. The guys in the store and I had a good conversation, and I might be able to help them out a bit contact-wise for getting some harder to get parts from the USA.

I've gotta wrap this up for now, go get some breakfast, and get over to the range. There's some steel over there waiting for me!

May e-Postal Match is "On The Road"

Danno at Sand Castle Scrolls is our e-Postal Match Host for May, and once again we have a really interesting match.

I particularly like the combination of  high risk and high value vs low risk and low value spots on the target. Do you go for the big score and risk getting zero for the shot, or should you go for a bigger target you can easily hit but only get a small number of points? There's classes for just about anything you might have to shoot, so head on over to Sand Castle Scrolls, download the target, check out the rules, and head out to the range!

Have Fun!

Keepin' Costs Down.........

Cowboy Fast Draw Match Report

The last time we tried to put on a Cowboy Fast Draw match at the Holmes Harbor Rod & Gun Club all of the publicity for the match got fouled up and the wrong date was sent out. So, just about no one showed up. We still had fun, but it was a small crowd, for sure! This time, things went much better publicity-wise, and I would call it our first true match, with the previous one being sort of a "Testing Out" match to get the scoring and so forth all figured out.Even though there was a steel match not too far away that attracted some of our shooters, we still had ten hardy folks show up to give the new sport a try.

Two Point and Taliban Dan in an early round.

We've got the full setup, with targets with the "Start" light in the center, sound sensors on the targets to record the hits, and an electronic fast draw timer to record the times to the 1,000th of a second.

The Other Half beats Taliban out of the Holster.

We ran the match as a 3X format match. Each round you would shoot five draws against another shooter, with the best of five winning the round, and the loser getting an "X". Once you get 3 X's, you are out of the match. If it's a tie, then we would shoot one more draw as Sudden Death, to determine the winner of that round.

Taliban Dan gets the shot off first.

We had a number of Sudden Death tie breakers, and the competition was amazingly close. Not only was it a fun match to shoot, it was also a lot of fun to watch, with the closeness of the times. Everyone assumed an "Alias" name for the match, which also added to the fun!

After a bunch of really close matches, we finally narrowed it down to "Dozer" and "Taliban Dan". The final couldn't have been any closer. Taliban Dan won the first round, Dozer won the second, Taliban Dan won the third, and Dozer won the fourth.  It all came down to the final round, with each shooter having won two rounds. "Shooters on the line -- Shooters set...", a few seconds of random delay, and the start lights came on. Both shooters drew and fired, but it sounded like only one shot had been fired. Yet, the timer showed that both shooters had fired and hit their targets. The time separating Dozer and Taliban Dan was only three hundredths of a second ! WOW, what a final!! Dozer was the winner, but only by a blink of an eye.

We have scheduled another Cowboy Fast Draw Match in late June, and I suspect Taliban Dan is going to be back for a little revenge! I hope so, as it sure was a fun final to watch!

Cowboy Style Fast Draw Match This Sunday

Along with all my other projects currently underway, one of my favorites is coming to the top of the pile this Sunday at the Holmes Harbor Rod & Gun Club here on the South end of Whidbey Island. The match starts at 9am., but getting there a little early for signup is a good idea. Everything is provided for your use, including guns, and ammo. We do suggest that you bring your own eye protection. It's not required, but definitely recommended.


The entry fee is only $5.00, and you will definitely get a number of chances to see how you match up against other shooters in the head to head competition.

Don't worry if you have never tried Cowboy Fast Draw before, as just about everyone there will be also new at it. There will be instruction before the match, and a chance to practice a bit too. To quote the Cowboy Fast Draw Association's slogan, it's "Safety first, fun second, and competition third." This match is not a CFDA sanctioned match, but we will be basically following the CFDA rules and using CFDA approved targets and timer.

So how does the match work? It's what's called a Three X Elimination, which means you will shoot against another shooter, side by side, in a best of five shots format. If you win, you move to the next round. If you lose, you get one "X" on your score card. If you get three X's, you are through for the day, and you become a spectator, so to speak! It will finally boil down to two shooters, man-on-man, for the final match of the day to decide the match winner. If we have at least three ladies, we they will also get to have their own "Ladies Only" match to decide who's the fastest lady. Of course, the ladies will get to shoot the main match too, so when it gets down to the Ladies Only match, the ladies are going to be dialed in, so it should be really close competition.

How about the equipment? The guns are Colt single action replicas, normally called the Colt Peacemaker, also called the 1873 Single Action Army. They are in 45 Colt caliber, and we use a special wax bullet, propelled by a shotgun primer, in specially modified 45 Colt brass. The guns are basically stock, although you are allowed to smooth up the action a bit. Although it's a wax bullet and a very light load, at close range it will go through 1/4" plywood, so all gun handling and safety rules will be followed. The holsters are all leather, and very similar to what a cowboy in the old West might have used. The only difference is that there is a small steel deflector at the bottom of the holster to deflect a bullet, should a round be fired while the gun is still in the holster.

How should I dress? As "Cowboy" and "Cowgirl" as possible, of course! Hats, boots, Western shirts, whatever you've got along those lines! Cowboy dress is not required, but it kinda adds to the fun!

After the match you can join us in the Holmes Harbor Rod & Gun club's restaurant and bar for a little nourishment, refreshment, and re-hashing all the "Woulda-Shoulda-Coulda's" from the match.

Just like in Cowboy Action Shooting, shooters will not be using their own names. Instead,  at signup you will choose your "alias" for the day. Me? "Mr. Completely", of course! You can pick whatever alias you like, maybe something from a favorite Western movie or TV show, then maybe change it a little to make it your own. KeeWee becomes "KeeWee Belle". Watch the video and you'll get a pretty good idea about aliases.

At the match on Sunday we  will be using targets and a timer that times the shots to the 1/1000 of a second, just like in the video above.


For more information about Cowboy Fast Draw, check out the Cowboy Fast Draw Association's website.

Come on out and give Cowboy Fast Draw a try. It's a whole lot of fun!!

Gun Blogger Rendezvous Registration Now Open

I now have the registration form available for this September's Gun Blogger Rendezvous. It's a PDF file, so download it, print it out, and send it in. All the instructions are on the form. I think this year's Rendezvous will be the biggest yet, and Reno's weather in September is usually quite nice for spending some time out at the different ranges.

If you've been wanting to get to the Rendezvous, then make this year you finally come to Reno and join in on all the fun!

It's a blast!

Busy Weekend on a tight budget!

I've been putting in a lot of hours lately, and now it's time for a short break before getting back to work on Monday. I've got a lot of matches on the horizon, including the European Steel Challenge Championships, The Man of Steel, The West Coast Steel Championships, and the Washington State Steel Championships. With all of the hours I've been putting in working, I haven't been getting in anywhere near the amount of range time I really need, and my shooting shows it.

This afternoon, after Keewee gets back from work, we're taking the Land Yacht across the State to Ephrata, WA. for a steel match. There is a Walmart conveniently located about a mile or so from the range, so that's where we're staying tonight. After the match, (and some of Grant's hot dogs and chili) we're back on the road, re-crossing the state to Puyallup, WA. Again, there's a Walmart just up the road from the Paul Bunyan range, so that's where we'll be staying on Saturday night. On Sunday we'll shoot the match, then back home on Sunday
 night.

It's going to be a lot of road miles, but the matches should be fun, and I sure do need the practice!

See you at the range, or back here on Monday!

Vroom - Vroom..................

e-Postal Match Results

I have to admit I am a bit disappointed with the e-Postal match just concluded. Only three people sent in entries. Part of the reason, I suspect, is the almost total lack of publicity from the other gun bloggers. I don't think too many folks even knew there was a match underway. I really appreciate the publicity we did get, however, from the few that chose to help promote the matches. Perhaps since the first match was kinda early in the season, that may have contributed too.

Anyhow, thanks to Danno, True Blue Sam and Mrs. TBS, and also Engineering Johnson for helping both to promote the match, and to send in entries. Everyone shot well, and I hope they had some fun with the match, as a lot of thought and creativity usually goes into the match design.

Everyone who entered will get a bottle of Mr. C's Super Sekrit Gun Oil.

This month's match is already underway over at Jimmyb's. Danno is hosting the May match,  and if the number of entries is still very low, I think it's time to consider discontinuing the series. If no one wants to enter, then why put them on...............

This Month's e-Postal Match is Underway at JimmyB's

Head on over to JimmyB's place, The Conservative UAW Guy, read the rules, download the target, and head out to the range for some fun brass-emptying! JimmyB has kinda retired from blogging for a while, which is sad, as he's an extremely entertaining writer, but he comes out of retirement once a year to host an e-Postal match for us all.

There were a total of only four entries for the e-Postal match just ended, so we need to see a lot more of you get out to the range and perforate some e-Postal targets. As usual there are classes for just about anything you want to shoot, and even if there isn't a class, go ahead and shoot the match with what you have and send it in anyway!

Here's the link to the match, so go show JimmyB we appreciate his efforts, and have some fun at the range too!

More on the Dutch Shooting Sports Proposed Ban

This proposed ban will not only ban action rifle, IPSC, and IDPA type shooting, it will also ban Steel Challenge.

When you sign the petition, you enter your email, and then you will be sent a confirmation email explaining how to confirm your signature. This way they know you are who you say you are, and that your signature is valid. You MUST confirm your signature, or it does not go on the petition.

Here's the email they will send you:

Dear (Your Name),
The website is petities.nl the petition "Dynamic disciplines must remain" signed from e-mail address magaero@whidbey.com on Sat 31 Mar 2012 9:03:03 p.m. named (Your name). Do you disagree, please ignore this email.
You can confirm your signature by clicking on this sentence. Then you arrive on a web page where you press the [confirm] can click. If you do, you can then see your signature under the petition back to the present day, provided you confirm chose a publicly visible signature. You can also decide later your name visible or invisible by again from this e-mail to that page and make your choice.
To confirm your signature you may also copy this link to a window with an internet address line:http://petities.nl/ondertekening/c097eda8339fdaf5b874b4c2xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxThis email is confidential because only (your name) with address (your email) can confirm the signing. Please send this message through and make it public with a unique link only for you. Do you share this email with others, than only the last data entered.
Tip: if you want to invite people to also sign? Then you can refer to them http://beschermschietsport.petities.nl/ or standard mail request after you have confirmed through the above link. If you send yourself an invitation, then you can e-mail forwarding to others.
Note: many people find themselves months or years later as a signatory of a petition petities.nl as they search with their names do. If you do not want future employers, clients or other acquaintances you can see that a certain petition supports, please check that you want to sign invisible. If you do this after your name has been visible a few weeks then it takes again a few weeks before the search engines notice this and your name to a petition does not show up in search.
Sincerely,
Foundation Petities.nl

Here's a Google translation of the below petition. It's a rough translation, but you can get a pretty good idea of what it says.  

"We believe that the Minister is not sufficiently accurate knowledge to such a decision to make." 

Even in translation, that's certainly tactful, but the meaning is loud and clear!


Although this looks like a working version of the petition, please go to the original petition website listed in the post below this one to actually sign the petition.

---

PETITION

We, marksmen, members of the 714 rifle and 40000 + members KNSA note

Minister Opstelten that tomorrow or the day will send a message to the House in which he indicates that he intends the dynamic disciplines such as practiced by NPSA and APS ban.
This despite the position of the KNSA that they have no objection dynamic disciplines, if properly regulated as to the NPSA.

Lists over 1000 athletes wrongly punished!

and requests all marksmen to be united to sign so that our grievances can be heard.

We urge the Minister to reconsider his decisions Be it dialogue with us to find. We believe that the Minister is not sufficiently accurate knowledge to such a decision to make.

I,

residing at

sign the petition Dynamic disciplines should continue.
my name and address may be visible under the public petition.
e-mail address

We'll email you a link to your signature can confirm. Your information will not be disclosed to third parties and remain with the Foundation Petities.nl. Read more about this in our privacy policy .

Help Save Action Shooting in Holland

I got this in an email from one of my shooting friends in Holland. The original email was written by Saul Kirsch. Some of you probably already know Saul. He's also the head of Double Alpha Academy, and he manufactures a lot of competition items, including some really nice holsters.

The petition mentioned in Saul's email is in Dutch, and I have already requested that an English translation be posted along with the petition, if possible. Although we are not necessarily Dutch constituents, if there is a big world wide response to the petition, that can't but help the cause to keep IPSC, and other action pistol disciplines from being outlawed.Give or friends in Holland a hand!

Saul's email:

Urgent - Your Action is Needed Now!

Dear fellow IPSC shooters and friends,

As many of you have heard already, IPSC shooting (in fact all Dynamic shooting disciplines) are about to be prohibited in the Netherlands!

This new law will be voted on in a matter of weeks, and if it passes – will mean the end of our sport in Holland, and who knows – this decision may well spread quickly across the EU.

As you can imagine, the NPSA (the Dutch IPSC organization) is mobilizing every possible resource to fight this unjust proposed law, but it is  a desperate battle. The odds are stacked against us.

We need your help!

There is a petition being signed (online) which will be submitted along with other material as we  try to make our case for our sport.

You can help by going online and signing this petition. The more signatures we have, the better.

Please also take a moment to forward this email to anyone you can think of who could generate more signatures, your shooting range, your club,  your federation, your local gunsmiths who may be able to send it on to their mailing list. Post it online on any website you have access to.

We want to show that IPSC is a serious sport, with thousands of participants worldwide.

Please take a minute to log onto this site:

http://petities.nl/petitie/dynamische-disciplines-moeten-blijven

Scroll down, where it says “Ik” –  you fill in  your name

- Where it says ”wonede te” you fill in your city and country.

- Tick the checkbox if  you want to allow your name to be shown on the list.

- Enter your email address

- And click the yellow box “ondertekenen” to sign the petition.

Many thanks for your participation in our fight.

Best Regards,

Saul Kirsch
General Manager
Double-Alpha Academy B.V.

FFL License Update

A while back I posted about sending in my application for my Federal Firearms License (FFL). I Rounded up all the forms and filled them out, got my fingerprints recorded on the special form, got some passport photos, and sent it all in.

A few weeks later I got a call from the ATF, wanting to set up an appointment and an interview. A couple of days ago the ATF Rep. came to visit, and we spent about five hours thoroughly  going over all the laws and procedures for running my firearms business.

In the course of the conversation we were discussing manufacturing of firearms, and I have always wanted to make my own rimfire race gun frame, incorporating all the things I've learned over the years. Making one for myself is a fairly simple process, but if I decided to sell it and make a better one, it's a bit more complicated. However, it turns out that to apply for a FFL license that allows you all of the regular dealer things, and allows manufacturing too, is the same form. It took a little bit of paperwork, but we were able to withdraw my application for a type 01 FFL license and resubmit it as a type 07 license, and still use the original application.

I got a phone call today that the application is being sent for final approval with a recommendation to approve by the ATF Rep. It seems that the State Department has added in some additional fee or tax on firearms manufacturers of $2500, so I'm not likely to be manufacturing anything for a long time, but at least the paperwork is in place for the future.

The good news is that the ATF was great to deal with, everything was explained carefully and in detail, and although it was a long session, I think I picked up all the relevant info, and I now know how to find any info that I otherwise can't remember.

For next year's SHOT show I think I can sign up in every one of the attendee categories; Media, Dealer, wholesaler, retailer, manufacturer, and probably more. They don't have a category for "Ammo Waster" but I'd be a natural for that one too........

e-Postal Match Is Underway

The first e-Postal match of the season is well underway, and the first e-Postal match of the year usually has a very low number of entries. I hope this year's first match is not the same. The end of the first match is drawing near, only 8 days off. Only a few gun bloggers have mentioned the match, and I suspect most folks don't even know it's underway. All entries must be received by Midnight on Sunday, April 1st, and results will be posted within seven days, or less. 

If you are a blogger or run a Forum, we sure would appreciate it if you would mention the match and help spread the word.  These matches are a lot of fun, with each month's match being something creatively different, not the same old boring bullseye targets! For example, this month's target is to see how many shots you can put on target WITHOUT hitting any of the flies! I suspect it's harder than it looks.

Here's the link to the match rules, and here's the link to download the target.

Although these matches are just for fun, with no prizes based on how well you do, there will be some bottles of Mr. C's Super Sekrit Gun Oil given away by random drawing to the shooters entering the match.

So, read up on the rules, print out a stack of targets, and grab everything you've got that shoots and head to the range. It's not a bad time to invite other shooters, or even a new shooter, to join in on the fun.

After all, how can you not have fun shooting a target where the more you miss, the better you do?

Milling Machine Video

For those of you interested in this sort of thing, here's a short video of my EXCELLO CNC milling machine machining a mount for the OKO Red Dot sight to fit onto a Ruger 10-22 rifle.

This machine was considered state of the art in the early 80's. It's fun to watch as it moves back and forth and up and down making the parts!

Silver Legacy Financial Agreement Reached

The Silver Legacy hotel and casino in Reno, the site of this September's Gun Blogger Rendezvous,  has been struggling financially,  like most of the casinos out there. Part of this is due to the economy, and part of it is due to additional competition from tribal casinos.

On the first of March a note from their creditors for 142 million dollars was due, and the Silver Legacy's owners were not able to come up with the money to pay off the note. The casino owners and the creditors have been in negotiations trying to work out an agreement to restructure the debt and to allow the Silver Legacy to continue in business and avoid bankruptcy.

I just received an email from the Silver Legacy that an agreement has been reached, and the Silver Legacy will continue on, business as usual. This is great news for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, as the Silver Legacy folks have always been great to work with, and I really didn't want to have to re-locate the Rendezvous to another facility.

Here's the Reno Gazette Journal article

See you all in Reno in September!

Buried..................

Blogging will be a bit on the light side (yeah, I know, it already is!) as I'm totally buried in a major project with an absolute deadline only ten weeks away. I've totally lost the concept of day and night, and I work until I'm unable to continue, then get a few hours sleep, then back at it again. If all goes well I will have everything where it appears complete in the next week or so, so I will have some time for a lot of testing before the deadline.

I haven't been out shooting except for the match last Saturday in Ephrata. I don't even have any ammo loaded for this Sunday in Puyallup yet. Work sure does cut into range time. Sadly, this big project involves a ton of man hours, but very little compensation for the time. bleh................

Ephrata Sportsman's First Monthly Steel Match

Every year for the last few years the Washington State Steel Challenge Championships has been held at the Ephrata Sportsmen's range in Ephrata, Washington. It has always been a "Once a year" event, run primarily by Patrick Kelley, the 3 Gun Speed Demon! There has not been any regularly scheduled steel matches the rest of the year.

That's now all changed. Cowboy Action Shooter Grant Galbreath has stepped up to the plate, and is now running once a month Steel Challenge matches in Ephrata. The ranges are big, and the steel is outstanding, being as it's from Mike Gibson and MGM targets. They use genuine AR500 armor plate steel, and they ring like a gong when you hit them. Being armor plate, they also won't end up all shot up, pock-marked, dangerous, and have to be replaced in a few years.

I had an all day long and extremely boring at times meeting on Friday that I absolutely had to attend, and I wasn't looking forward to it at all. However, when I found out that the Ephrata club was going to run their first monthly steel match the next day, and since Ephrata is only another hour or so's drive East, my outlook brightened up considerably! KeeWee had to work, so she couldn't go, which is just as well, as the meeting would have meant she would have to kill a full day in Ellensburg, with nothing to drive but our "Mini-Land-yacht.

I drove across Snoqualmie Pass to Ellensburg on Thursday afternoon, about a four hour drive. Getting to Ellensburg Thursday evening, I grabbed a quick dinner in a small local restaurant, then parked the RV behind the restaurant for the night. The battery ran down for the furnace, and it was a cold night, but I had two sleeping bags, so I didn't totally freeze.

The next morning I breakfasted at the same place, then drove a short distance to Central Washington University, where the meeting was being held. The meeting was about as I expected, and my presentation went fairly well, without any major "Fox Passes".

After the meeting, I drove on East, crossing the Columbia River at Vantage, and then onward to Ephrata. I met up with Grant and his wife Carlin in Ephrata, and we headed off to a nearby Mexican restaurant for an excellent meal and conversation. After dinner they dropped me off at the RV, parked in the Walmart Parking lot, where I spent Friday night. I kept the furnace either off, or set on low, so the battery lasted through the night, and Saturday morning was much more pleasant!

The club range is only a few minutes drive from the Walmart, so after some cold coffee from the Thermos, I headed over there for the day. In the club house they had both hot coffee and doughnuts! Perfect! I signed in and had a while to sit around and visit with some of the other shooters. Some I had met before, but there were also a lot of new faces. After a little more coffee and another doughnut (yum) we had a brief shooters meeting, and then got down to the shooting part of the match. We squadded up into groups, and headed to our first stage. Our squad was a great bunch, with a mix of experienced and new steel shooters, but everyone in the squad was a decent shooter. Everyone helped out with scoring, running the timer, and so forth, and we had a great time.

The match consisted of five regulation Steel Challenge stages, and even though two stages had to share one bay, everything moved smoothly. In no time, it seemed, the match was over! DANG! The weather even cooperated a bit, and we didn't see any rain, and the wind only came up for a short while. It still wasn't all that warm, but for the time of year, the weather was certainly decent.

After the match we headed back to the clubhouse, where Chili dogs were waiting for us. To me, perhaps the biggest and best part of shooting is not the shooting, but the shooters themselves. Getting the chance to hang out, visit, tell stories, and socialize with the other shooters is what makes it all fun. Unfortunately, I had a long drive, a questionable mountain pass, and a ferry boat ride between me and Castle Completely, so after farewells all around, I fired up the Mini-Land-Yacht and headed West. Fortunately the pass wasn't too congested and it wasn't snowing, so the trip, though tiring, went smoothly. It was good to be home and to sleep in a regular bed, for sure!

Congratulations to Grant and the gang at the Ephrata Sportsmen's Club for running a first class match! It's a long haul for me to get to their matches, and the fuel cost alone makes it rather expensive. Even so, it's well worth the trip. If  you live anywhere in Central or Eastern Washington and have wanted to give steel shooting a try, then this is a match worth attending. Their steel matches are on the 2nd. Saturday of every month, with sign-up at 8am, shooter's meeting at 9am, and shooting right after the meeting.

Eastern Washington is lucky that on the 1st. Saturday of the month the Yakima Rifle & Pistol Association also puts on a Steel Challenge match at Moxee, which is just a few miles East of Yakima. Both of these clubs are running true Steel Challenge" stages, so these matches are both highly recommended.

Maybe we'll see you there!

Delta Air Miles Needed - HELP!

I thought I had everything under control for being able to pay for the upcoming trip in May to Holland to shoot in the European Steel Challenge Championships. Having recently run  up a lot of medical and hospital bills, financially things are really tight, but according to Delta, the round trip flight from Seattle to Amsterdam can be paid using my frequent flier miles. The chart shows 30,000 flier miles each way, for a total of 60,000 miles needed. I've got just about 65,000 miles, so I should be good to go, right? Nope, they have higher requirements depending on when you want to fly, and there are no flights even close to the right dates at that rate. In fact, it will take 125,000 flyer miles and $61.00 to get the ticket. That leaves me short by about 60,00 flyer miles to get the ticket. They do give you the option of using your flyer miles as far as they go, and paying cash for the balance, but if I figured that right, that's still another $600 bucks.

If any of you have any Delta Flyer miles you don't need, I sure could use the help coming up with enough to cover the ticket. Last year GunUp.com was sponsoring a shooting team, and they helped with the expenses so I could attend this match. This year they are not sponsoring a team.Very few Americans are willing to spend the time and money going to Europe for the European Championships, which is a shame, as I'm sure there are plenty of shooters in this country for which this is barely pocket change.

Thanks again, and I promise to do the best I can do!

Steel Shooting - An Introduction

Since I’m involved with some sort of steel shooting or another on a daily basis, it’s easy to forget that not everyone has any idea exactly what I’m talking about.

So, what is this shooting sport called “Fun Steel”,  “Speed Steel”, “Steel Challenge” or whatever it’s called? It’s going to take a bit of explaining, as it gets a little foggy in places!

To start out, there are many different “Flavors” of steel competition, but they all have a few things in common. Although most pistol competitions stress accuracy, and only limit your time in which to take your shots enough to keep it from taking all day to finish the match, steel shooting is all about speed. Some refer to steel shooting as drag racing with guns, and that’s a pretty good analogy.

With traditional target shooting you are scored by how close your shots are to the center of a bullseye printed on a paper target. In steel shooting competition your score is based entirely on how long it takes for you to hit all of the targets. Sure, accuracy IS a part of it, as you do have to hit the targets or else have penalty seconds added to your score for the misses, but still, it’s all about speed.

With paper or cardboard targets, each shooter must have their own targets, or, as with cardboard targets, after each shooter has perforated the target, pieces of tape will be placed over the bullet holes so the next shooter has a fresh target.

The targets used in steel shooting are made from heavy-duty steel plate, preferably armor plate, and with good quality steel the bullets don’t even leave a mark. The targets are usually painted white between shooters, so the “hits” can easily be seen in the paint.  The targets are repainted, either with a spray can, or sometimes with a paint roller. It doesn’t matter where on the target the bullet hits, as long as it leaves a mark in the paint, even if it’s on the very edge (called an “Edger”) it counts as a hit.  Since most of the targets are usually round and painted white, they look a lot like dinner plates, and for that reason they are usually called “Plates” rather than targets. The targets hang on some sort of a hook arrangement on a stand that holds the plate up off the ground.

Each steel match typically consists of from five to eight “Stages” or sets of targets. Each stage will have five plates spread set out at various distances from seven to thirty-five yards from the shooter. Often one of the plates will be designated as the “Stop Plate”. The first four plates can be shot in any order, but the stop plate must be shot last. Some local or club matches don’t designate a stop plate, so you can shoot the plates in any order you like.

The shooter starts either with the gun holstered and hands up, or with the gun at a “Low Ready” position, depending on the caliber and class. The range officer will tell the shooter to “Make Ready” and the shooter will get into the starting position, ready to start shooting. The range officer will ask “Shooter Ready?” and if so, after a few seconds delay a buzzer will sound. The shooter then tries to hit each one of the plates once and then the stop plate.  If the shooter misses a plate, they are allowed to shoot it again, until it is hit. Once the stop plate has been hit, though, the run is over. The shooter’s time is recorded by a hand held timer that produces the starting buzzer and then records the total time acoustically by “hearing” the shots with its built in microphone. The shooter will shoot each stage fives times, and the slowest run of the five runs is discarded. The remaining four times are added together for the shooter’s total time for that stage. After shooting all of the stages, the stage times are added together, and that total is the shooter’s score for the match.

Steel shooting is a great type of competition for relatively new shooters, as any shooter with basic shooting skills can make the shots. There are no difficult shots that require master marksmanship. The difficulty of steel shooting is self-imposed by trying to shoot as fast as you can.

The rules used at any particular club can vary widely. That’s where the Steel Challenge Shooting Association comes in. SCSA is an International association that guarantees that wherever you may be in the world, if you shoot a SCSA sanctioned Steel Challenge match, you can expect the rules to be the same. Steel Challenge is a particular type of steel match, and to truly be a Steel Challenge match, it must be sanctioned by SCSA, and SCSA rules must be used. Fun Steel, Speed Steel, and the other match names I’ve mentioned are local, and the rules can vary widely from club to club, and will be whatever the local club decides they will be.

That briefly sums up what steel shooting is all about. I’ve left out a lot of details for now, but that should give you enough info that when you hear someone mention steel shooting you’ll have a pretty good idea what they are talking about.

Ruger 10-22 OKO Sight Mount

As I've been relating recently, I've been putting in a lot of time with the new CNC milling machine designing and manufacturing a line of Red Dot sight mounts. The first mounts are for the OKO Red Dot sights, but some other mounts are in the works too, just down the road a bit.

Here's the third sight mount in the new OKO mount series. This mount is designed to mount to the receiver of the Ruger 10-22 rimfire semi-auto rifle using the factory drilled holes, provided your receiver has been factory drilled.

Top View - Enlarge the picture and take a close look at the finish!

Bottom view.

If your 10-22 has a hole pattern like this, then this mount will bolt right on.

The new mount bolted to by beat up old Ruger 10-22.

Here's the right side, with the OKO Red Dot sight installed in the mount.

A lot of the sights out there clamp on to a Weaver or Picatinny rail, but the necessity of the rail raises the sight up farther away from the center line of the barrel. The lower you can mount the sight the better. This mount eliminates the Weaver or Picatinny rail completely. It makes for a very solid mounting of the sight.

If you think an OKO sight and one of these mounts is what your 10-22 needs, they are available at Magnum Shooter's Supply on line. The sight sells for 244.95, and the mount is 79.95.

I should add that I am the importer and distributor for the full line of OKO Red Dot sights from the Czech Republic. I also own Magnum Shooters Supply. I also use the OKO sights on just about everything I own, and wouldn't want to switch, either!

"Wouldn't Harm a Fly!" e-Postal Match

One of the most common comments I hear about the e-Postal matches is that the targets are WAY too hard to hit. With that in mind, this month's e-Postal match is designed in such a way that the fewer targets you hit, the better you do. HUH? Yup, this is the notorious "Fly Swatter" target from e-Postal matches past, but this time, the idea is to NOT hit the flies! In fact, your score is the number of shots you can fire until you accidentally hit one of the flies, hit the border, or shoot outside of the border.\. You can keep shooting as many times as you like running up your score until you hit a fly, and your score is the total number of misses you fired. You do have to keep all of your missed shots within the shooting area border, though, and if you touch the border, or hit outside of the border, that counts as hitting a fly and you are done.

RULZE:

This month we have seven classes, so there's a place for just about everything.

TARGET: Here's the link to the target.  The same target is used in all classes. Download it and print out a bunch of them! It's a PDF file. With some PDF software you might need to select "No Scaling" and other software you may need to select "Fit To Paper" to get the size right. If you get it the right size, the rectangle around the flies measures just over 7 1/2 inches across. 

Click here to Download the PDF file "Wouldn't Harm a fly!" It is an Adobe Acrobat PDF file.

CLASS ONE: Any rimfire handgun with no more than a 12" barrel, iron sights.

CLASS TWO: Any rimfire handgun with no more than a 12" barrel, optic sights, no magnification.

CLASS THREE: Any centerfire (non-revolver) handgun with no more than a 12" barrel, iron sights.


CLASS FOUR: Any centerfire (non-revolver) handgun with no more than a 12" barrel, optic sights, no magnification.

CLASS FIVE: Any revolver with no more than a 12" barrel, iron sights.C

CLASS SIX: Any revolver with no more than a 12" barrel, optic sights, no magnification.

CLASS SEVEN: Any handgun with no more than a 14" barrel, any sights, scopes, laser, whatever. This class is primarily for target pistols.

If you have something interesting to shoot that doesn't quite fit in the above classes, go ahead and enter anyway.

DISTANCE : 25 feet, or Ten yards, which ever is available at your range.


SHOOTING POSITION: Standing, un-supported, off-hand, one or two hands on gun permitted.

SCORING: Your score is the total number of shots fired until you hit a fly, hit the border, or shoot outside of the border. The shot hitting the fly, the border, or outside of the border is not counted in your score. The maximum number of shots you can fire at one target is 25.

TIES: If you are able to shoot 25 shots inside the border and not hit any flies, move the target farther out a bit and shoot it again.Ties will be broken by the farthest distance with the same score.

Mark your score on each target with a legible pen, along with the class and type of gun used. Don't write your name on the target, only the name you want to appear in the results, as your target may get posted on Mr. Completely or other blogs.

I suspect that this match, like most of the e-Postal matches, is a lot harder that it looks. Don't throw away your targets in disgust when you think you did poorly. Send them in! You will probably be surprised to find out that you did a lot better than you thought.

STRATEGY: Beats me.........


MULTIPLE ENTRIES: You can enter more than once, in fact, it is encouraged. Shoot everything you own, and everything you can borrow! Take a buddy to the range, get him entered, then borrow his gun and enter that! The only restriction is that you can only enter once for any given gun, in any individual Class. You can shoot the target as many times as you like, and send in the best one.

Different calibers in the same gun count as one gun. For example, .38SPL and .357MAG are considered as one, as would be .44SPL and .44MAG. Different guns of the same caliber and barrel length can be entered.

PRIZES: Nope, it's just for the fun of it and the bragging rights, although I just might give away some Mr. C's Super Sekrit Gun Oil by random drawing to the entries.............

SUBMITTING YOUR ENTRY: Take a digital photo of, (or scan) your targets, and email the picture, along with:

1. Your score.

2. The name you want used when we post the results.

3. Gun description - Brand, model, semi-auto, revolver, black powder, caliber, barrel length, and type of sights

4. Class: Class One, Two, Three, four, five, six, or seven.

5. Anything interesting or unique about your entry that other shooters might enjoy hearing about.

Email it all to b l o g (at) w h i d b e y (dot) c o m

If you can't scan or send target pictures, send everything else to me in an email, and we'll arrange for either fax or snail mail for the targets.

The rules are subject to revision as needed, should the need arise.

All entries must be received by Midnight on Sunday, April 1st, and results will be posted within seven days, or less. (April Fool's Day - Seems appropriate....)

If you have any questions, leave the question in the comments to this post, or send me an email, or both.

Have fun!!

Note to Gun Bloggers: Please post about this match and help to get the word around about it. I'd really like to see a good turnout, and your help will be really appreciated.

THANKS!

OKO Mounts - Two More New Ones

As I've mentioned before, I've been really busy getting the new CNC milling machine set up and learning how to program and run it. I now have two production runs complete, and I am almost done with the first prototype of a third mount.

The new mount I am currently working on will be a really good seller, at least I hope so! This new mount will allow you to mount an OKO Red Dot sight directly to the factory drilled and tapped holes on the top of a Ruger 10/22. I should be able to finish the prototype and finish fine tuning the programming today, and then get the first batch machined in the next few days. I'll get some photos posted as soon as I can. They really look nice!

FFL Application Info

A commenter asked about which forms are required to apply for a Federal Firearms Dealer license. Rather than re-capping what is on the ATF's website, here's a quick summary and the link to the ATF page with the full information.

 I wouldn't say the paperwork was tough, because it wasn't, but it did take a while to fill it out. I also read and re-read the instructions to be sure I got it right the first time. I had picked up an envelope from the ATF guys at the SHOT Show with the forms and fingerprint cards and instructions all included, but you can fill out the forms on line and then print them out and send them in. The main form is a lot like the 4473 form you fill out when you buy a gun. The fingerprints have to be done by someone qualified, and the county Sheriff's office was able to do that for me at a reasonable charge.

I looked on the Internet, and I see there are some operations offering to assist you in applying for your FFL, and at least one of them was trying to scare you into using their help. I'm sure there was something about sending them money in there, too, but I could tell they were bogus when they started out by saying that if you are denied you lose your two hundred bucks. The ATF instructions are very clear that if you are denied, you get your money back. The application isn't that hard to fill out, so I don't think you need these guys to help!

Here's the basic list:

• ATF F 5310.12 (Form 7) — Application for Federal Firearm License (FFL)
• ATF F 5330.20 — Certification of Compliance
• Two Completed FD–258 (Fingerprint Identification Card) for each Responsible Person (RP) obtained through a local law enforcement agency.
• Two 2″ x 2″ Photographs for each Responsible Person (RP)
• Application Fee

If you are interested in getting your Federal Firearms License, go to the ATF (am I dating myself by not calling them BATFE?) website and you will find out everything you want to know, and you can get what you need to fill out there too.

http://www.atf.gov/firearms/how-to/become-an-ffl.html

Keep in mind that the FFL is only for businesses, and if you are planning to use the FFL to buy guns for your self, rather than running a (hopefully for profit) business, you will be denied. In fact, there is a question that asks "Do you plan to use the FFL to buy firearms only for yourself?" or something like that, and next to the YES box it says do not submit the application.

The ATF info says that I will be contacted by a field agent and interviewed, and actually I'm looking forward to that, as I'm sure he can be really helpful as to making sure I get all of the record keeping set up in an efficient manner right from the start.

I'll keep you all informed as it progresses.

Joe Cocker - Old Guys Can Rock Too!

This video is from 2002, but even so, it's cool to see old grey haired guys who can still rock, maybe even better than when he appeared at the very first (and really the only true) Woodstock.



Hope you enjoy this as much as I do...............

On Becoming a FFL Dealer

When I was at the SHOT show there was a booth set up by the ATF. The agents were very helpful, and courteous, like most ATF folks I've ever dealt with. I was asking about the laws concerning making my own frame for a Steel Challenge race pistol, and he said if I wasn't going to sell it, and it was for my own use, I didn't need any special licenses or permits, although they recommend I put some sort of a serial number on it. If I was planning on making then to sell, though, there was indeed a license needed. I asked about getting the basic FFL license, so I could send and receive firearms for reviews, and also for gunsmithing, and he explained that the process was fairly simple, and he gave me a packet containing the forms, instructions, and special cards for fingerprints.

Once back home, I went over to the Sheriff's office and got the fingerprinting done, and made another stop to get some 2x2 passport photos taken. This afternoon I filled out the forms, reading and re-reading all the instructions so I would be sure to get it right the first time!

I figure the FFL license might just prove to be a handy piece of ID, too, particularly when traveling, as it means that the Feds have checked me over pretty well, before issuing the license.

I'll keep you posted as to how it all proceeds................

Gary Shank on Top Shot

I don't usually spend much time watching the TeeVee, but I do make an exception to watch Top Shot. When I watched this season's first episode, one face looked familiar. Two years ago, Gary Shank was working as the head of the Gun Library at Cabela's in Reno, and he spent some time with the Gun Blogger rendezvous folks, showing us a bunch of cool old guns. I even bought a used High Standard pistol from him at the time. Gary also came to our Gun Blogger Rendezvous Pizza Feed and brought a bunch of neat stuff from Cabela's for the raffle and door prizes. Gary also bought a number of tickets for the raffle, and managed to take home an absolutely gorgeous Leupold rifle scope!

Now it's true that this year's series was filmed last Fall and that the winner has already been determined, I'm still going to root for Gary to win it all!

GOOD LUCK GARY ! ! !

Paul Bunyan Steel Match Report

It seems like I haven't been shooting much since last October, and that's pretty accurate. I shot one match in October, one in early January, and only had the race guns out of their case once in that period, except for the matches. That's not a very good way to keep up your skills! At the steel match in January I was definitely rusty, but as the day progressed I started to get back on track. It went about the same way yesterday at Paul Bunyan Gun Club's steel match in Puyallup. Will, the match director, sets up his steel stages differently every match, and the theme for this match was "Up Close and Personal". A good point shooter could probably have shot the match without using sights at all. Every stage featured fairly close in targets and pure speed was the game of the day. A great way to develop bad habits, though, since fast and sloppy shooting would still get you a good score. To give you an idea of just how fast the watch was, my average five shot string starting with the muzzle on a barrel was 1.575 seconds! That's the average for the whole day!

Keewee went along, and although she hasn't been shooting much either, she did very well. The weather wasn't all that bad for this time of year, and it only rained a little bit, and they it was very light rain. Even with the less than ideal weather, we had 81 guns entered, so the turnout was really excellent. We all had a lot of fun, and several of us had dinner together after the match. Still, it was a long drive home, and I went out like a light as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I DO need to get out and practice every day now though, as I can't count on having big close targets for the rest of the season...........

Rob Leatham at SHOT Show

There was so much going on at the SHOT Show that I missed a lot that was going on. I did spend some time at the Safariland booth, but Rob wasn't there at that time. Fortunately, someone else was there with a video camera and got this video of Rob demonstrating competition draws, and also some reloading.

I've watched Rob shoot a number of times, and it's amazing just how fast he goes.

Check it out!