Rabbit Report

Bun, our rabbit, whom we raised from a tiny, severely injured ball of bunny fur, has been growing like a weed. Since Bun seems to like chewing wires in half with his (her? still aren't sure) side-cutter like teeth, Bun doesn't get to roam the house, and is watched carefully when out of the Bunny Hilton.

"You wouldn't mind if I go chew off the telephone cords, would you?"

Bun will sleep on my lap, but never for very long. When you are on the top of the dinner menu of just about every carnivore in North America, sleeping soundly is probably not a good idea survival-wise!

"The cell phone charger doesn't work? Would I do a thing like that?

Bun also loves to chew on stuff, and shredding newspaper is a particular delight. Bun's diet is primarily alfalfa, mixed rabbit pellet food with assorted seeds and grains, and fresh kale as a special treat every day. Rolled oats are also a favorite treat.

I had no idea a rabbit could have so much personality, though.................

Valour-IT Fund Raising Competition

I've been trying to get the Valour-IT "Thermometer" to show up in the right side bar, but when I get it there, it wipes out the whole template layout if you are using (bleh) Internet Exploder to view the blog. Firefox , though, works fine.

Anyhow, there is a fund raising event underway for Project Valour-IT. Click on the "Donate to Valour-IT" link below

Donate To PROJECT VALOUR-IT

and select the team you'd like to get the credit for your donation. You can choose the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines team.

There is no finer or more deserving charity than Project Valour-IT. All the money we raise at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous goes to Project Valour-IT, and they could use your help, too.

Rimfire Ammunition for Reliability - Part Two

As I mentioned before, if a rimfire round fails to fire when you are out plinking, it’s annoying. If it fails to fire in a match where speed is a major factor, it can be a disaster.

There are a number of things that can contribute to rimfire ammunition not wanting to go bang when encouraged to do so by the firing pin. Not all manufacturers use exactly the same formula for their primer compound, I’m sure. The primer compound may not be equally distributed around inside the rim. The thickness and hardness of the brass at the rim can make a difference. Brass hardens with age, so older brass, or ammunition that’s been sitting around for years may or may not work the same as when it was new.

Moisture can have a huge effect on reliability. I had half a brick of Federal bulk get rained on and it got pretty wet. Not enough to make the box fall apart, but wet, nonetheless. There was no water actually in the box to pour out, so I put the box inside the house to dry. A few days later I checked it, and everything was completely dry. I tried shooting the ammo, and every fifth or sixth round would not fire, even with multiple firing pin strikes. Would a high humidity environment affect reliability? I can’t say for sure, but if I lived in a high humidity area I might consider keeping my ammo in zip lock bags!

Some brands of ammunition seem to have a much higher rate of failure to fire (FTF) than others. Some brands also seem to work OK in one gun, but not in another. As I also mentioned earlier, what may be excellent ammunition today may change for the worse, and the folks making today’s less reliable ammunition may clean up their act and become the best. With any ammunition recommendations, you should bear that in mind.

From my experience, and from watching other shooters in matches, Remington bulk pack seems to be the most unreliable of those brands readily available. From my limited experience with Remington bulk, I would see perhaps ten or twelve FTF’s per brick. Remington’s higher priced ammo, built by Eley, is probably quite good, but I’ve not shot enough of it to say either way.

Federal bulk pack, my favorite practice ammunition, seems to FTF three to five times per brick. I’ve also tried Winchester Dynapoints and found them to be similar to Federal reliability-wise. Dynapoints also seem to be quite accurate, particularly if you weigh them and match them into lots by weight. When Dynapoints were available in Walmart for around fifteen dollars a brick they were a good choice as practice ammunition, but when Walmart dropped Dynapoints and K-Mart started carrying them, but at over thirty dollars a brick, I stopped shooting them completely. I still have a brick or so, and I am gradually using them up in e-Postal matches.

There are also a number of other brands of rimfire ammunition I’ve tried over the last few years. For several years I used Sellier & Belliot Club. It was extremely reliable, moderately priced, and quite accurate. It also had a heavy wax/grease lubricant on the bullets that could interfere with feeding, particularly if the weather was below seventy degrees, which is pretty normal for Western Washington. After some experimenting I discovered that if I dumped the rounds out of their box onto a paper towel, sprayed them with Brake-Kleen, let it soak for a couple of minutes, them rolled them between several layers of clean paper towels most if not all of the lubricant would be removed. After letting them air dry for a few minutes I’d give them a light spray of CRC Heavy Duty Silicone spray, roll them around a bit more to distribute it, then put them back into their individual holes in the ammo box. Unfortunately S & B Club is no longer available, at least if it is, I can’t find it.

I have only limited experience with American Eagle, a Federal manufactured product, and it seemed to be similar to Federal Bulk, no worse, and possibly a little better. CCI Blazer seems to be quite good for reliability, but not quite as accurate as some other choices. If I could find it in bulk at a reasonable price I’d probably switch to it for practice. I bought a case of Eley Sport, which appears to be the same as Aguila Super Extra Standard Velocity, or at least very similar. The Eley Sport is built in Mexico by Aguila. I’ve only shot the better part of one brick of it so far, and not a FTF at all. I need to shoot a lot more of it, though, as this is a rather small sample to go by.

Match ammo? For the last few years I’ve been using CCI Standard Velocity, and it’s been very good. It almost always fires, and it’s also very good for accuracy. There’s a rumor that CCI Green Tag is nothing more than CCI Standard Velocity that’s been sorted by weight. I have no idea if that’s true or not, but it shoots well enough that it could be possible.

So far everything I’ve mentioned has been relatively low velocity ammunition. For some guns there just isn’t enough energy to reliably cycle the action. Personally, I think just about any rimfire semi-auto pistol, properly tuned, will run on standard velocity ammunition without problems. In Steel Challenge, where I regularly compete, delivering a lot of energy to the steel plate has no advantage, and the hotter the ammunition the more muzzle rise you have to contend with. No point making it any harder that it already is! If your gun will only run on CCI Mini-Mags, I suspect either the gun’s action is still a bit rough, the slide spring is too heavy, or the slide itself is too heavy, or possibly a combination of all three.

If you are having higher FTF rates than these, you very well may have something, or multiple things, not quite right in your pistol, not far enough wrong that it doesn’t run at all, but just enough wrong that the gun is adding some FTF’s of it’s own.

Last e-Postal of the Year Now Underway

Danno, proprietor of Sand Castle Scrolls and regular e-Postal match shooter is now getting his chance to wreak his revenge on all of the other e-Postal match designers of the year by designing and hosting this last e-Postal match of the season.

The theme is James Bond movies, and there is even a tiebreaker based on identifying the graphics and the Bond movies they are from. Danno has set this one up with lots of classes, too, so rifle, pistol, or whatever you've got, there's a class for you!

Let's get lots of entries in for Danno's efforts to put together the last e-Postal match of the year.

Here's the link for all the match info.

In case you missed it, the October match deadline has been extended to November 9th., so there's still time to get out to the match and shoot the October match, too.

Here's the link for the October Match.

Have fun!

Chiappa 1911-22 Rimfire Pistol

It looks like there's a new rimfire pistol coming on the market, and I can't wait to get one to review. It's made in Italy by Armi Chiappa, and it's closely based on the 1911. So far it sounds pretty good, and there's a few early reports that it's definitely a nice shooter.

Here's a link to more information

It's being distributed by MKS Supply, which is also Hi-Point Firearms and Charter Arms.

Stay tuned on this one!

Technorati Replacement?

A few months ago Technorati stopped working. It was a pretty handy deal when it DID work, showing me who links back to posts here on Mr. C. I left a message on their support page a few weeks ago, but no reply or function resumption. Reading through their site it's clear that they made a lot of major changes, and after the changes, a LOT of blogs didn't show properly anymore.

Is anyone aware of a similar service that will let you know who has linked to your blog posts?

On The Shuttle Bus

A short conversation on the shuttle bus from Whidbey Island to the airport:

Guy From Ireland: "So, where are you headed to?"

Me: "I'm flying to Prescott, Arizona for a pistol match."

GFI: (With superior tone) "We've gotten rid of all the handguns in Ireland!"

Me: "You'll probably have better luck if you get rid of the criminals instead."

.......... Silence ..............

(End of conversation)

Happy Halloween

Rimfire Ammunition For Reliability

Getting a rimfire semi-auto pistol to function for several hundred rounds in a row without a single stovepipe, mis-feed, failure to fire, or other malfunction is truly a challenge under any conditions. You can be sure, though, that if it’s going to malfunction, it’s most likely to happen in a match where time lost clearing the problem will cost you dearly. Rimfire pistols, just like computers, KNOW the worst possible time to act up, and they seem to take fiendish pleasure in your misfortune!

For maximum rimfire reliability, you just can’t beat a revolver since the revolvers are a much simpler mechanism. A lot of the problems with a semi-auto, like feeding and extracting for example, aren’t even part of the process with revolvers.. Rimfire cartridges were never designed to be loaded into a magazine and automatically fed into the chamber for each shot. Rimfire .22 cartridges in a semi-automatic pistol are something of a round peg in a square hole, but even so, rimfire semi-autos can be made to run reliably all day long, it just takes a lot of attention to a whole bunch of little details.

Ammunition is first on the list of details. If every single round doesn’t fire when it gets a good hit from the striker or firing pin, all of the gun tuning in the world won’t help.

When you get a failure to fire, (FTF) take a good look at the impression caused by the firing pin. Is it a really good dent, or is it a light strike? If it’s a good solid dent and it didn’t fire, try putting the round back into the chamber, rotated so the firing pin will hit it in a different spot, and see if it fires with a second hit. Some pistols hit the rim a lot harder than others, so if you are getting a fair number of FTF’s, try some of the cartridges on a different pistol, or even better, in a bolt action .22 rifle. If the particular brand of ammunition works in one gun and doesn’t fire reliably in another, the suspect gun may need some attention.

From my experience, most rimfire ammunition properly struck, will fire just about every time. I use approximately 20,00 rounds of one brand of bulk pack .22 ammunition every year in practice. In a rapid-fire rimfire pistol environment I average three or four FTF’s per 550 round brick. That’s not too bad, and in practice an occasional FTF is not a bad thing as it makes you practice clearing the problem quickly. I have tried another well-known brand of bulk packaged rimfire ammunition and have found it would average perhaps ten FTF’s per brick, sometimes even more. It was annoying enough that I only buy that brand if nothing else is available.

For match use, I use more expensive ammunition that comes in individual plastic boxes of one hundred rounds. This particular brand and type of ammo produced almost an entire season of match shooting with only one or two FTF’s, if I remember correctly, and even those may not have been the fault of the ammunition. Although I do shoot a small amount of the match ammunition in non-match conditions for testing, most of it gets used in competition, and I went through well over six thousand rounds of match ammunition this year. That gives you some sort of idea of the kind of reliability you can get from a properly tuned and maintained rimfire semi-auto pistol.

What ammo do I recommend, you ask? Since what I am writing here may be read some time in the future, and since manufacturer’s specifications, tolerances, and quality control, or lack thereof, may change, I hesitate to either recommend or condemn any particular brand. Ammo that really sucks right now may be the best out there in a couple of years. I will go so far as to say that one state famous for their spuds also produces some very fine rimfire ammunition! If you see me at a match I’ll be glad to tell you what I’m using, but for now, I can only suggest trying different brands and see what works for you.

Low Blood Pressure Cure

Blood pressure running a bit low, Bunky? Here's a guaranteed cure:

http://www.nwsocialistconference.org/

I'd be there for sure except I have to pedicure the rabbit, or something.........

Prescott, AZ Steel Challenge Report

As I mentioned in a previous post, it was going to take a lot of traveling and connections to be able to shoot the Yavapai Recreation League's Steel Challenge Money shoot in Prescott, Arizona last Saturday.

I had planned to fly from Seattle to Phoenix, rent a car, and drive to Prescott on Friday, shoot the match on Saturday, and drive back to Phoenix on Saturday night and Sunday morning ,then catch a red-eye flight back to Seattle, and a shuttle bus back to Whidbey Island. Somewhere in there was also some sleep, and some food, too! I had everything planned out and reserved in advance, and it all went together just as planned. Amazing!

A Nissan Rogue SUV rental car.

(For a bigger picture, either sit closer, buy a new monitor, or click on the picture you want bigger.)

In Phoenix I rented a Nissan Rogue SUV. Not a bad little car, but visibility to either rear quarter or directly behind is almost non-existent. It was fairly peppy and reasonably comfortable, but hard cornering (don't ask how I know) on winding twisty roads left a bit to be desired.

Prescott, Arizona is only a few hours drive North of Phoenix, but the change is spectacular. Where Phoenix seems big, hot, flat, and sprawling, Prescott has a nice home town feel, nestled in a valley at an altitude of 5,300 feet and on the edge of Prescott National Forest. The altitude and location also make for much cooler days, compared to much hotter areas to the South.

On Friday evening I met up with Dean Dudden, the match director, and we went for Mexican dinner at a place called Garcia's in Prescott Valley. The food and conversation were both excellent! After dinner I headed to the motel for some sleep. Saturday was going to be a busy day.

Saturday morning I met up with Dean and followed him out to the range. Less than a half hour’s drive outside of Prescott, well isolated in the National Forest area is the twenty acre range of the Yavapai Recreation League range.

The topography lends itself well to a pistol and rifle range, with no close neighbors and lots of gullies and ravines, perfect for turning into shooting bays. The layout of the bays was good, but it was a bit of a climb up the hill from the lowest bay, bay eight, up to the first bay at the top of the hill. The thin air didn’t help a bit, either! Scattered around the range area are a few cactus, along with other smaller shrubs and bushes. Trees are fairly few and far between, but a number of pines dot the range, along with the man-made shelters, providing welcome shelter from the sun, particularly for those of us from parts of the country where that “Bright Thing in the Sky” isn’t seen quite so often!

Before the match got underway I was examining one of the cactus, and I half expected a weathered old cowboy to wander up and remark “You ain’t from around here, are you……”.

The Yavapai Recreation League SCSA Cash Bash, a level one Steel Challenge sanctioned match, was set up as a full eight stage match, so shooters would be able to get in a full day’s shooting. The weather on match day was absolutely beautiful, blue skies, no clouds, and a forecast for temperatures in the low to mid seventies, and the climate gods delivered exactly as promised.

Dean Dudden, the Match Director, going over the match and safety rules at the shooter's meeting.

Dean Dudden, the match director, called the shooter’s meeting to order at 9am, explained the match and reviewed the safety rules.

Bob Reister in the Toy Hauler/Scoring Shack/IT Department!

Bob Reister was all set up in the toy hauler trailer with his computer, printer, and everything else he needed to take care of the scoring tasks. It was clear that the YRL club had a good and enthusiastic group of core members who all pitched in to help Dean put on a first rate match.

After the shooter’s meeting the score sheets were handed out, and the squads gathered and headed off to their first stage to start launching some lead down range. Although the turnout was a bit lower than expected, there were some world class shooters entered, including Nick Saiti and Angus Hobdell, and it was clear that this was a match that was going to take some really good shooting to prevail. I was fortunate to be on the same squad with Nick and Angus, and it was fun watching the two of them pushing each other for their maximum speed.

Rob scoring, Angus timing, and Nick, the Open Class and overall winner, smoking the plates!

Rob Bagnato shoots his way to seventh place finish in Open.

Vince Pesuti hoses the steel on his way to fifth in Open. The Steeler’s hat seems appropriate!

It seemed like the match was over way too soon, so everyone gathered back at the trailer to find out the results. It wasn’t a very long wait until the results were posted. In Open, Nick Saiti had turned in a world class time of 88.50 seconds, with Angus Hobdell trailing by over eight seconds at 96.76. Vic Pickett rounded out the top three in Open with a very respectable 109.40. Limited was dominated by Angus Hobdell, with 102.39, followed by Chad Reilly and Ron Younger. Rimfire Optic only had one entry, but I managed to turned in the third fastest time of the day overall at 99.22 seconds. Rimfire Iron Sight was another story with plenty of shooters and with Mike McDannell, Stewart Wilson, and Arlan Averyt taking first, second, and third.

Although the total number of entries was fewer than hoped for, Dean and the rest of the guys from the Yavapai Pistol League put on a first rate match. I’m sure word of this match will spread through the ranks of the Steel Challenge shooters around the country, and next year this is going to be a match you won’t want to miss.

If it is scheduled the same next year as it was this year, Sunday, the day after the Steel Challenge, they shoot an ICORE Revolver match, so you can get in two matches on the same weekend, too. I’m hoping to be there next year, and this time I think I’ll even set aside an extra day or so to spend a little time wandering around Prescott. It seems like a place worth exploring!

Aiming or Point Shooting?

There has been some discussion over the last month about point shooting or using the sights when shooting a handgun. The discussion has been mostly along the lines of should you use one, or the other, or one method sometimes, and something different at other times. I should mention up front that I am not a highly trained and paid firearms instructor, and I have never been mistaken for Todd Jarrett, Max Michel, or Dave Sevigny at a match, nor is that likely ever to happen. I do shoot a lot though, and I've spent a lot of time over the last few years watching the pros shoot, trying to figure out what they do and how they manage to do it so quickly.

One of the first things I noticed is that most of the top shooters have excellent eye sight. There's not too much you can do about that if your eye sight sucks though, except correct things as best you can.

Another thing I've noticed is that the pros don't miss very often in matches, and when they do, their pickup shot is almost instantaneous. That tells me they are using their sights, since they can tell their misses, "Call their shots", at the time they pull the trigger, rather than waiting to hear or see the result of their shot. It's just about impossible to do that without some sort of a sight picture to go by.

But if they are using their sights, how do they manage to shoot so quickly? I don't know for sure, and I suspect some of them may not know for sure either, but here's what I think they are doing. It's actually fairly simple to describe, but actually doing it is another story entirely. To make it work, it takes tens of thousands of rounds of practice every season. First, they are ignoring the sights completely leading up to the shot, as they can get on, or very close to on target by point shooting, or more accurately, "Point Aiming".

Here's the part that separates the pros from the rest of us. Just before taking the shot, they verify their aim with an instantaneous sight picture to ascertain that they are where they think they are, and if they are not, adjust until the sight picture is proper, then fire the shot. Since tempo is a significant part of speed shooting, holding the shot for that fraction of a second is really hard. Your body says "Shoot Now!" and your instantaneous sight picture says "Don't Shoot Yet!". For most of us the "Shoot Now" usually wins, and we miss the shot! That's where practice comes in, and learning to look for that instantaneous "Sight Picture Verification", and more importantly, learning not to ignore it and shoot anyway.

One of the things I like about true Steel Challenge competition is that each stage, or target layout, has something in it that challenges one specific aspect of fast and accurate shooting. Smoke & Hope, specifically challenges you to not forget to use your sights for that sight picture verification. There are four large plates close in, two on the left and two on the right. The stop plate is much smaller, and much farther away. A good point shooter can hit the first four quickly, but will often miss the stop plate since he will fail to switch back to using the sights for the last shot. Shooting that way also requires two sighting techniques, and changing from one to the other after the fourth plate.

On the other hand, using the point aim/quick verify/shoot method allows you to use the same technique for all five shots. With practice, LOTS of practice, the instantaneous verification can be as fast as straight point shooting on a stage like Smoke & Hope, as all you are looking for is to see that there's some "White" on the other side of your sights!

As I've said in previous posts, though, 95% or more of successful handgun shooting boils down to trigger control. A While back I was watching a shooter shooting with a Crimson Trace laser sight. I could see the laser dot on the plate just before the shot was fired, but his shots would often miss the plate. In pulling the trigger he was pulling the gun off the target. Without good trigger control it doesn't matter what other techniques you use. The top shooters all have incredible trigger control, and winning or losing boils down to the remaining elements.

The next time you see one of the pros running Smoke & Hope in sub two seconds and making it look easy, remember you are watching someone who has practiced that specific stage thousands and thousands of times. Not just shot it thousands of times, but "Practiced" it thousands of times. There IS a difference between just shooting and practicing, and that's a good topic for some other time!

Upcoming Prescott Match Details

I've finally got all the connections lined up for the Prescott Steel Challenge match this coming Saturday. I'll catch the Whidbey-SeaTac shuttle at 7am on Friday morning to get to the airport. My flight leaves for Phoenix around 10am. and arrives around 1pm. I'll pick up a rental car in Phoenix, then drive to Prescott, a bit over a two hour drive. I'll spend the night at a motel, then shoot the match on Saturday.

After the match I'll get some dinner and get a little sleep before leaving at 1 am. to drive back to the Phoenix airport, drop off the car, and catch a 6 am. flight back to Seattle. From the Seattle airport I grab the shuttle for the hour and a half ride back to Whidbey Island. Should be back home Sunday evening. WHEW........

I talked to the Match Director yesterday and he said that they need more shooters to fill out the match. Apparently rumor got around that the maximum capacity of 80 shooters had been met, so a lot of folks didn't sign up. There is definitely room for more shooters, so if you are anywhere in the general area, try to be there and join in for the fun!

For more information, here's the linky

.....and I don't want to hear any whining about it being too far to drive, either!

Got in a little shooting

Since I got back from the Gun Blogger Rendezvous in Reno I've been pretty much swamped with one thing and another sucking up most of my time. Combining that with the arrival of rainy season, I haven't been out shooting, or even practicing for that matter, as much as I'd like. I know I can shoot better than I am shooting now, but it's just a matter of putting in the work to get there.

That being said, I did manage to drive down to Puyallup and the Paul Bunyan Club's fun steel match yesterday (Sunday). Considering how little I've practiced in the last month or so, I didn't do as badly as I expected. There were a couple of stages that gave me some trouble, however, as they involved one handed shooting with speed, not a strong point for a heavy pistol with a 12" barrel! I muddled through, though, and a good time was had by all. Some of the regulars weren't there, though, as it was opening weekend of deer season. We even managed to shoot the whole match without getting rained on!

I still have a few last minute details left to sort out before I leave for Prescott, AZ for a big Steel Match. I leave for Prescott on Friday, shoot the match on Saturday, and fly home on the "Oh-Dark-Thirty" red-eye Sunday morning. I'm looking forward to the match, but not the traveling.....

Some Days it Seems Like This.........

Some days it seems like you spend the whole day trying to herd mice through a busy intersection. On some of THOSE days, the mice turn on you........

Pic stolen from Dave Smock

Still Here, Sorta........

I haven't really dropped off the face of the earth, really! Since I got back from the Gun Blogger Rendezvous I have been pretty much swamped with work and stuff that needed to be done. Trying to get back caught up on all of that has left me mostly worn out by the end of the day, and in that state I don't have much to say, or the energy to say it. I've still got a lot of pictures from the Rendezvous to post, and other blog stuff in the works that I haven't gotten to yet.

Mixed in with all of that, I've been trying to get in some shooting and a few matches. My practice sessions have been, sadly, far too few and far between. Next Sunday I'm heading to Puyallup for one of their most excellent steel matches. The following Friday I'm flying to Prescott, Arizona for their big annual steel match. Shortly after I return from there, if all goes according to plans, I will be flying to Boulder, Colorado to be on Michael Bane's Shooting Gallery for a program he's putting together on rimfire shooting. Plans are to film the program indoors, so maybe it will be a bit like the European Steel Challenge Championships. That would be a lot of fun if it was. I hope it works out, as Michael is quite a character and a lot of fun to visit with!

e-Postal News

The September e-Postal match is now over, and the results are posted over at True Blue Sam's place. If you missed out on the chance to shoot the squirrels in the September match, no problem, as the October match will give you the chance to shoot some, well, I'm not quite sure what it is exactly, but it sure is ugly, and it looks kinda like a second grade teacher I had. The October match is hosted by US Citizen at Traction Control. For the full match rules and to download the targets, go to the October e-Postal match site. This is the next to the last e-Postal match of the year, so go have fun!

e-Postal Match Deadline Extended

We need more entries for this month's e-Postal match, so we've extended the match to allow you to still get your entries shot and submitted. Click Here to get all the information on the match and to get the targets.


The new deadline is Sunday night, October 4th. Get out there and shoot the match. If you don't and we get over-run with rabid squirrels, you are who we're all going to blame......

Elder/Palin For President

I was cruisin' through Random Nuclear Strikes this morning and came across this post. Apparently Larry Elder, the popular and conservative California talk show host was considering running for the Senate against Barbara Boxer. The Republicans told him not to, and that they would not support him. You should go read the whole story.

On March 4th, 2007 I ran a post picking Larry Elder as my preferred choice for President. Nothing in the intervening years has changed my mind as to my choice. For vice president, I'd go with Sarah Palin, although Sarah as President and Larry as VP would work for me too. Either way you've got conservative Libertarian/Republicans in charge, and that would be a great step in the right (pun intended) direction.

Here's the post from 2007. Go re-read Larry's "Ten Points Plan" linked in the post, if you're not sure of where Larry stands.

---

Larry Elder -- My Pick for President

Looking over the front runners for the Republican and Democratic nomination for president, there doesn't seem to be ANYONE who's solidly pro second amendment. Heck, there doesn't even seem to be a conservative in the lot!

As I looked for someone who is a good communicator, well educated, street-smart, and not afraid to stand up and state his position without a lot of "weasel-words" (no offence intended towards Cowboy Blob's ferrets), one person comes to mind, the talk radio host Larry Elder. Now before you laugh this off, go to Larry's website and have a look around. Spend a few minutes seeing what he has to say. In particular, have a look at his Ten Point Plan. Then write down the ten main points expressed by any of the other candidates. (Can you find ten? Didn't think so! )

Now go down the lists one item at a time and see how many match up with your personal politics. I'm not exactly "eye-to-eye" with him on everything, but he's way closer than anyone else.

To have any chance at all, he would have to run as a Republican, but we have "Conservative" Republicans, "Moderate" Republicans, and even "RINO's", so I have no problem at all with a Libertarian Republican. Actually, I kinda like the sound of it!

In today's politics, Thomas Jefferson would be a Libertarian Republican, and that's what we need.......

Note: The picture above is Larry with his mother, otherwise known as The Chief Justice!"

Gun Blogger Rendezvous Report - Part 1

KeeWee and I arrived in Reno on Wednesday, the day before the Rendezvous. The shuttle ride from Whidbey Island to Seattle, the Horizon flight to Reno, and the shuttle ride to the Silver Legacy were all uneventful, in other words, just as I like it. We checked in at the hotel, and dropped our bags in the room. We stopped by the hotel offices and checked in with our account representatives to make sure everything was in order for the Gun Bloggers for the next four days. The tables, chairs, and layout were just as we had requested.

KeeWee had to try out the huge ornate chair in the lobby of the Silver Legacy.

After making sure we were all set for the Rendezvous, we headed back to the room to relax a bit before heading out to dinner. The view from the 28th. floor was spectacular.

Looking in the general direction of Virginia City.

28 floors up means it's a L-O-N-G ways down!

We arranged to meet for dinner in the El Dorado buffet with Monty from the Western Nevada Pistol League club to sort out the final details and logistics for Saturday’s Steel Challenge shooting. Monty had recommended the El Dorado’s buffet as being exceptionally good, and it was as he had described, good food, lots of variety, and lots of choices for deserts. I think I gained ten pounds in one meal!

After dinner we stopped by the hospitality room to see if any gun bloggers had shown up yet, and a few were starting to arrive. We visited a bit, then it was off to bed early, as Thursday the Rendezvous started up in earnest.

Thursday morning we had breakfast in the Americana Café in Circus Circus. After breakfast we wandered around a bit to get our bearings. By now more of the gang were starting to arrive. At 2PM. We stopped by the Hospitality Room to get car-pooled up for our field trip to Scheel’s, the largest “All Sports” store in the world. Is it? Don’t know, but at approximately 300,000 square feet, it truly is huge. We had arranged for an employee of Scheel’s to show us around and tell us a bit about the store. If you are in Reno, it’s definitely worth a look, and be sure to try some of their fudge. There must have been thirty or forty different flavors, and they’d give you samples to taste for free! Scheel’s also has quite a large gun department, and most of us spent some time there eye-balling their inventory.

After browsing through Scheel’s, we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up for dinner. On the way back from Scheel’s Phil and David, the editorial staff from Random Nuclear Strikes, stopped and picked up soft drinks, mixers, and munchies for the Hospitality Room. By now even more of the gang had arrived, and we all headed back to the El Dorado Buffet for dinner. After another big dinner, we staggered back to the Hospitality Room for an evening of enlightened conversation, a spirited and enlightened discussion, OK, a BS session that went well into the night.

Not too late for me, however, as tomorrow was the first range day. Don’t want to be too groggy for that!

— To Be Continued —

Prescott, AZ Steel Challenge

I've barely got rested up from the Gun Blogger Rendezvous in Reno, haven't got any of the pictures posted yet from Reno, and I'm already planning my next shooting expedition.

On October 24th, a Saturday, there will be an eight stage Steel Challenge Match in Prescott, AZ. I've never been there, but the weather should be pleasant, and I've got a few frequent flier miles to use, so why not?

Plans are to fly into Phoenix mid-day on the Friday 23rd, rent a car at the airport, then drive to a motel in Prescott. Saturday night after the match I plan to kill some time in Prescott, then drive to Phoenix and catch a red-eye home early Sunday morning.

If any of you are within a reasonable driving distance of Prescott, why not come and shoot a Steel Match with us? I'll get more info on the match in a later post, but for now I'm curious if there is anyone in the Prescott area I can correspond with about arranging a motel and finding a place to eat. If you can help, drop me an email at blog(at)whidbey(dot)com.

Thanks!

GBR-IV Raises $8243.80 For Valour-IT

The Gun Blogger Rendezvous is over, and everyone has returned home safely. The work to finish it all up, however, still remains.

Yesterday Jenny at Barrett Escrow, an angel in her own right, and I sat down and went over all of the receipts and finances for the Rendezvous. As you know, Barrett Escrow has received all of the registration and donation money for the Rendezvous, maintaining a good paper trail of the receipts. Jenny, and the rest of the folks at Barrett Escrow have done this at no charge as a donation to Soldier's Angels and Project Valour-IT. It's a lot of work, but they did a fantastic job. (They also don't mind when I eat the candy in the big basket on their counter.....)

Anyhow, after sorting it all out, and adding in all money received from

• On line raffle ticket sales
• GBR-IV Registrations
• Donations
• Raffle Tickets sold at GBR-IV

We cleared a grand total of

$8243.80

and we had a ball doing so!

I should also mention that National Shooting Sports Foundation (AKA NSSF) at the last minute donated an additional $1,000 to Project Valour-IT. This is in addition to their buying us pizza on Saturday night! If you would like to thank them for their generosity, an email to

info@nssf.org

should do the job!

For all of you who attended the Rendezvous, it was great so see you all, and if you weren't able to make it this year, it's never too soon to start planning for next year.

I'm still wiped out, but a few more naps and I should be back up to speed.

Finally got back from Reno.....

Our plans to return from Reno and the Gun Blogger rendezvous didn't go exactly as planned, but it worked out anyway. We had reservations (but chose to fly anyway?) on Horizon Air from Reno to Seattle, then catch the Whidbey/SeaTac shuttle bus back to Whidbey Island. We were scheduled to leave Reno around 5:45pm and arrive in Seattle a couple of hours later. I checked the monitor at the airport before we went through security and our flight showed as on time.

Once we got through security (it seems that TSA has trouble differentiating between fudge from Scheel's and C4) I checked the a monitor and our flight was delayed 3 hours. That would get us to Seattle too late to catch the last shuttle of the day, and we'd have to spend the night at the airport, then catch the shuttle home in the morning. The guy from Horizon was great when I explained the problem, and he gave us vouchers for a night's stay at the Holiday Inn in Sparks (nearby) and also vouchers for our dinner and breakfast. He also gave me 4,000 frequent flier miles.

We grabbed the Holiday Inn shuttle and headed for the Holiday Inn. I was a bit apprehensive, fearing that the airline was putting us up in whatever was their cheapest option, but boy was I wrong. The Holiday Inn in Sparks was beautiful, nice people, great room, and a decent restaurant. Not having a gambling casino was nice, too ,as we were more interested in a quiet place to stay after the previous week's excitement in downtown Reno.

We took the free shuttle over to visit the Nugget casino to have a look, and I even managed to win about fifteen bucks! We only stayed at the Nugget for a short time, though, as we were both dead tired and needed to get some sleep.

We shuttled back to the Holiday Inn, got some sleep, and resumed our travel plans the next day.

This time, everything went as planned, and we arrived home weary, but glad to be home. The Rendezvous had been by far the best yet. We are already looking forward to next year!!

GBR Report - One

So far everything has gone smoothly here at the Rendezvous, although Mr. Murphy is surely not far away at all times. A lot of the attendees were arriving Thursday night late, so last night's hospitality room only some of the folks in attendance. Tonight just about everyone should be here, although some folks are arriving late Friday night.

Some of the gang after dinner at Thursday night's hospitality room.

Yesterday we went as a group over to Sheel's Sports store, which they advertise as the world's largest all sports store. At 300,000 square feet, it was really impressive.

KeeWee and I are off to breakfast with the gang, then we' head out to the range for some target shooting. Today is the long distance shooter's day, with targets out to 700 yards or so.

More later......

Good Morning, Reno!

It just so happens that this weekend is not only the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, but also the Reno Balloon Races. When we opened the curtains this morning we could see a few balloons starting to inflate in the park a short distance away. In minutes the sky way full of balloons, and more are rising by the minute.


As I sit here the balloons are increasing in number and in closeness. It's quite spectacular!

We've Arrived In Reno @ GBR-IV

The view from the hotel window.

Starting your morning at 4am. is bordering on criminal abuse, but at least we've arrived in Reno without mishap. I brought a full sized keyboard to use on the netbook, and it really makes typing a lot easier. I'm sitting at a table in our room for the next four days in the Silver Legacy. We're on the 28th. floor, and the view is quite nice through the rather large picture window.

That's it for now, so I think I might just take a nap.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz............

On the Way to GBR-IV

It's four twenty (expletive) eight in the middle of the night, and I'm not even close to conscious. Yesterday was a long day trying to get work caught up and all the last minute details taken care of for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous that starts tomorrow in Reno. I'm sure I've forgotten something, but I'll just have to sort it out when I get to Reno later today.

Safe trip to all of you traveling to the Rendezvous, and we'll see you in Reno!

GBR-IV Driving Directions to Pyramid Range

Driving Directions from Hotel to Washoe County Regional Shooting Facility – Pyramid Range Friday for long Range Rifle and Pistol, Saturday for Steel Challenge Pistol shooting.

• Start at (Silver Legacy) 407 N VIRGINIA ST, RENO going toward E 5TH ST - go 0.3 mi
• 0.3 Turn RIGHT (East) onto E Maple St 131 yds
• 0.4 Take Ramp onto I-80 1.1 mi I-80
• 1.5 At exit 15, turn RIGHT onto Ramp 0.2 mi US-395 / Susanville / Carson City
• 1.7 Take Ramp (LEFT) onto US-395 1.3 mi US-395 / Susanville
• 3.1 At exit 70, keep RIGHT onto Ramp 153 yds N. McCarran Blvd / Clear Acre Lane
• 3.2 Keep RIGHT to stay on Ramp 0.1 mi North McCarran Boulevard
• 3.3 Keep RIGHT to stay on Ramp 87 yds N McCarran Blvd / Sparks
• 3.3 Bear RIGHT (East) onto N McCarran Blvd 1.8 mi
• 5.1 Turn LEFT (North) onto SR-445 [Pyramid Way] 0.3 mi
• 5.5 Bear RIGHT (North-East) onto SR-445 [Pyramid Lake Hwy] 11.5 mi
• 17.0 Keep STRAIGHT onto SR-445 [Pyramid Lake Rd] 9.8 mi
• 26.8 Turn LEFT (West) onto Local road(s) 0.7 mi
• 27.5 Turn RIGHT (North-East) onto Local road(s) 43 yds
• 27.6 Arrive Range

SUMMARY

Driving distance: 27.6 miles Trip duration: 31 minutes Driving time: 31 minutes

GBR-IV Thursday Breakfast Added

For those of you arriving in Reno on Wednesday, we have added a Thursday morning breakfast to the agenda. If you are at the hotel, The Silver Legacy, in Reno on Thursday morning, we will be leaving the Hospitality Room (Silver Baron "B") at 8:30am to go to breakfast.

The Silver Baron "B" room is on the mezzanine level, which is the same level as the lobby, and if I remember correctly, it's only a short distance from all of the restaurants. There are 23 restaurants in the multi-hotel complex from which to choose!

Here's the latest version of the Gun Blogger Rendezvous Agenda:

Tentative Schedule For
The 4th Annual
Gun Blogger Rendezvous

Thursday, September 10th

8:30 am. Leave the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron B" Hospitality room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.

2:30 pm. Leave the Hospitality Room to car pool to Scheel’s Sports Store in nearby Sparks.

3:00 pm – 5:00 pm. Guided tour at Scheel’s Sports and browsing/shopping. Pick up munchies and soft drinks on way back to hotel.

6:00pm. Leave the Hospitality Room to go to dinner. Location to be determined later.

Thursday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Friday, September 10th.

8:00am. Leave the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron B" Hospitality room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.

8:45am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, the Pyramid range for rifle and pistol target shooting out to 900 yards.

9:30am – 2:00pm. At the range.

3:00 pm. – 5:45pm. Show-N-Tell at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room.

6:00pm. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to go to the ground floor to Gecko’s BBQ Restaurant for dinner.

Friday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Saturday, September 11th.

8:00am. Leave the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron B" Hospitality room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.

8:45am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, the Pyramid range for an introduction to Steel Challenge Action Pistol shooting.

9:30am – 2:00pm. At the range.

4:30 – 5:15pm. Rachel Parsons of the NRA

5:15 – 6pm. Bill Brassard of the National Shooting Sports Foundation

6:00 pm. NSSF all you can eat pizza feed at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. After dinner will be the fund raiser raffle for Project Valour-IT and the drawings for the door prizes.

Saturday Evening until Midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies. .

Sunday, September 12th.

7:30am. Leave the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron B" Hospitality room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.

8:15am. Leave for the Virginia City Camel Races Festival and Cowboy Fast Draw Blogger Match.

9:00am – 10:00am. Cowboy Fast Draw Shooting.

The Cowboy Fast Draw shooting is the last scheduled event for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, but many attendees will be staying Sunday night and returning home on Monday. The Camel Races Festival, The Reno Car Museum, the Downtown River Walk, the new Reno Museum, and a number of other things should be considered for the rest of the day on Sunday.

Note that many of the times shown are departure times. Plan on being there a little earlier than the departure time.

GBR-IV On Line Raffle Ticket Sales Ends Saturday Night

The Gun Blogger is now only days away, and the on line raffle ticket sales are about to end. In fact, tomorrow night (9/5/09) the on line sales will be shut down for the year.

Go get your raffle tickets and maybe YOU will be the lucky winner of the Para GI 1911 or the 4 Days of Training at Front Sight Academy. Here's the link:

Gun Blogger Rendezvous / Project Valour-IT Raffle Tickets

Remember, if you can't legally own the Para GI 1911, either because of the state you live in, or other reasons, and your name is drawn to win the Para, your entry will be disqualified. If your ticket is drawn for the Front Sight Training, however, you will get to enjoy four days of excellent training in Las Vegas. You DO have to get to Front sight on your own, but for a course like that, I think you'll be able to figure out something!

We all owe a big thanks to Brian and the gang at Lucky Gunner Ammo for hosting our ticket sales and processing the bankcard transactions for us.