A Monday Shoot

 

It's a beautiful balmy morning in Texas, so what do you do? Retrieve a couple of rimfires from the bottom of the lake and go to the range. Would they work, for that matter would I still know how to shoot?

Two excellent questions, but first up, stop at McDonald's for two cheeseburgers, it's a range tradition, and I was astonished to see they'd gone down in price by 50 cents per psuedo-burger. Jubilate, perhaps this was an omen.

A short drive through the North Central Texas Exclusion Zone (NCTEZ) and there it was, the range, pretty much unchanged after all these years and full of memories of kids, friends, guns and big fun under Texan skies. Reverie over, I set up at the shooting house bench and tested a Ruger American .22 LR.

Mirabile dictu (enough Latin, Ed.), it worked, snapping shotgun shells off a swinging plate frame, knocking back mini steel plates and punching holes in paper like a veritable, ahem, blunderbuss. So that was all good and a vindication of very minor smithery on my part.

You see, my ancient Ruger magazines had reached the point where they no longer fed consistently, so I took the wretched beasts apart, tightened their springs and hoped for the best. Lo and behold, they worked, as did the rifle and its cheap 4 power scope. Result.

Next up, a Marlin .22 WMR with an annoyingly stiff, heavy, branchlike trigger. How did that perform? Not well at all, in fact hardly on paper, which was annoying because the miserable offender had been right in the X Ring last time I shot it, an aeon ago.

Maybe this rubbish ChiCom scope's busted, I thought grimly to myself as I calculated inches off target and 1/4 MOA clicks. You see, a bad workman blames his tools, but the tools ended up proving their worth and within a few clicks the Marlin was on and slamming mighty .22 Mag rounds into mini steels and all was well with the world.

I tell you, what a fun round, go .22 WMR. Is it better than .17 HMR? I don't know, but I'd hazard a dam sight less blowy. And Marlin, please sort out the ridiculously heavy trigger your otherwise excellent weapon comes equipped with. And perhaps they have, my rifle's a bit old.

Guns on, mission accomplished, it was time to head back to the Compound and cook up a rack of ribs in celebration. They're in the oven now.

Shoot straight,

LSP 

Shoot The Guns

 

A new day, a new opportunity to shoot, so off we went to the range with a few guns, a 20 SxS, a 12 OU and a Marlin .22 WMR. Idea being to get some remedial shotgunnery in, and then a little plinking with the Marlin.

The range was overgrown and semi-flooded but we made it through, get a 4x4, LSP, and set up on dry ground next to a field, baking under a big Texan sky. The erstwhile Cadet went first, on the 12, and started smoking clays like a good 'un.

I followed up on the 20 and was more or less on, unlike the Specialist who specially smoked the clays with the same gun. Hmmm, improve your game, so-called "LSP." I did, and got in the zone, shooting far better to the right than left, curiously. Perhaps there's a moral in that.

A box of  orange "White Flyer" over, we moved on to the little magnum, shooting off the bed of the truck. Take that, fifty yard adversary, and the kid's offhand was impressive, right in the zone. Nice work. Then it was time to head back to the Compound, a good morning well spent.

I love shooting and file this tale under guns and country life in Texas.

Shoot straight,

LSP

The West is Best

 

I like the town of West, population 2,860. It's the Czech capital of Texas and justifiably famous for its kolaches. Pull off I35 on the way to or from Waco and get some, worth the stop. But that's not all, there's plenty of bars, see LL's franchise, and restaurants, which gives the place a happy, small town country vibe.

Plenty of Hardware, no Bullets

But I wasn't there for that, I was after ammo at True Value, which is a hardware store that sells guns and ammunition. At least it did, and even in the days of the infamous Obama bullet shortage this store was always stocked with ammo at normal prices. Maybe history would repeat itself, I walked through the door to find out.

Looking West

No. A few rifles, mostly Henry levers, nice, but hardly any bullets and what there was wasn't affordable. A solitary 500 round "value pack" of .22 LR for $80? Sorry, guys, not gonna do it. The pleasant young Czechoslovakian woman behind the counter apologized, "I'm sorry, nothing is normal now." I agreed, and we looked each other in the eye, "Ain't that the truth." A meeting of minds, for sure, but no bullets.

West is Catholic And Has More Fun Than Other Towns

So I headed back down the speedway deathtrap that is I35, and in a few short minutes was back in the rural haven of the County Seat itself. At its Walmart, in fact. Maybe this evil Chinese incursion onto US sovereign land would have bullets.

A Typical West Street Scene

Sure enough, there they were! Boxes of 12 and 20 gauge, .22 LR, .22 Mini Mag, .22 WMR and .17 HMR, and all at normal price. Shocked and astounded, I bought three 50 round boxes of CCI .22 WMR to go through the Marlin I don't have, and looked at a Savage bull barrel .17. Nice looking gun for 212 bucks, then again, so were the levers at True Value. Hmmm.

Look at Those Bad Boys!

And that was that, a short excursion into ammoland in North Central Texas. Now it's time for Hamburgers, to celebrate the victory of it all.

Shoot straight,

LSP

A Miracle

 

Found at Walmart this morning, normal price. I'm celebrating this miracle with a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich. No fooling.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Sunday Sermon - Guns

After Mass #1 VCC (Veteran Crew Chief) asked, "D'you have a minute, LSP?" I did and we strolled over to his rig. "I'd like you to have these, if you want them. They're yours." I thanked VCC, who's famous for fighting in the EMUs, running motorcycle hippies out of his stock tank and being an all 'round good man. 

A Bolt

The weapons belonged to his brother, who I'd buried a short while ago and once had the opportunity to hunt dove with. He was a good man in the meeting, and I'll look after his A Bolt 300 Win Mag, O/U 12 and .22 WMR varminter, to say nothing of praying for his soul. Rest in peace.

Some kind of Italian 12

But is there a point to this short homily, beyond gunnish show and tell? A wider meaning, a helpful Gospel message? Yes, there is, and it's twofold.

 

Marlin .22 WMR

Sacrifice, along with generosity of heart and spirit covers a multitude of sin, and the second advisement is like unto it. A free citizen is able to defend themselves against tyranny. 

I'd say that's all pretty relevant, right about now.

Gun Rights,

LSP