Good Day Against the Clay

Skeet

Urged on by belligerent open carry posts and a break in the icy blast that is climate change, I span out to the fields for some head-to-head action with our ancient enemy, White Flyer skeet. I shot reasonably well, partly because I remembered to aim, which helps when you're shooting things. Just a lot of shotgun fun, blasting the clays out of the sky.

Tailgating

After that I turned on the next opponent, a circular steel plate, swinging threateningly from a metal trestle. I shot that any number of times with a Beretta PX4 Storm .45, mostly from around 18 or 20 yards. Pure explosive enjoyment and something I need to do more of, especially now that .45 ACP has gone down in price.

Beretta PX 4

For me, shooting is for sport, and it's a good one too. For others it's also a matter of self-defense; I guess they'd be "Chaplain's Assistants."

gunman

Shoot safe and God bless,

LSP

Ice Storm Mayhem. Day 2

There you go, shoot the ice off the Weber

This town is in the grip of Day Two of Winter Storm 2013, as ice-blind, directionless gangs of migrant farm workers run through the streets, looting, burning, cock fighting and gambling. Just to keep warm.

Just in case

Others are inside, cleaning guns, loading magazines, inventorying food supplies, and throwing last year's broken furniture on the fire.

It's all fun and games till the grid goes down, my friend.

I stand ready to bury the dead.

Forewarned is Forearmed.

That is all.

Fireforce LSP 1: Terrs 0

for goodness sake

We've had a bit of God, a bit of Church and, in a way, Country Life, because most things that take place in LSPland are in, well, the country. But what about Guns? What's happened to them?

rod & gun

I'll confess that they've taken a bit of a back seat to the rod lately, as fishing's become so much more affordable than shooting. Back in the old days of pre-stealthban America, you could buy box loads of cheap ammo and fire it off at targets, to improve your marksmanship skills and, of course, for fun.

I love fishing

But that was in the old days, back before we thought gay marriage was normal and Al Qaeda were our friends. Which they are, because we'd never help them out with poison gas, or anything.

win the firefight

With that in mind I bit the proverbial bullet and drove off to my friend's range after Mass, mostly to shoot some of the .45 rounds I've been stockpiling against the Eschaton. Now here's the weird thing. I shot in the 9/10 ring (mostly) at 20 yards. Well done me. I shot in the 8/9 ring at 35 yards, more consistently than in the previous evolution and at 50 yards got in the x ring once, with the rest of the fliers coming in slightly high center mass in the 8/9 ring.

kind old Fr. LSP

What does this mean? 

Don't discount your pistol at range and remember, the .45 is flatter than you might think.

Sayin'.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Filthy Beasts!

Lent, for me, involves a certain amount of fasting, self-denial, almsgiving and extra worship. It also means weapons cleaning.

The deadly assault rifle was pretty filthy. It got a good cleaning.

So did the .45.

A clean gun is a happy gun, I always think.

God bless,

LSP

Range Warriors

Just because it's hot doesn't mean that you can't shoot, so I've been taking the young 'uns, 12 and 9,  to my friend's range for target practice, but not before a decent work out on a Daisy BB gun. The Daisy's useful because you can shoot it in the back yard and teach basic marksmanship skills, not least safety, while having fun. 

sizing up the opposition

The boys did well on that and well on the range, shooting .22 bolt action, .22 semi (Ruger 10/22), an AR 15, my philisophical friend GWB's Mini 14, and some .45 (Beretta PX4).

the old contender

We fired from the bench, kneeling, prone and off-hand at 100, 50 and 25 yards. It was good to see the kids getting on target at the longer ranges, especially off-hand; just a lot of fun for them and a fairly full-on introduction to firearms.

the Dallas compound

Important skill, shooting. Start 'em off young.

on at 100

Skeet tomorrow, have to warm up for Dove season.

Shoot straight,

LSP

I Love Guns - Pistol Long Shot

PX4 Storm .45

I love guns and I love shooting. I like the look and feel of the firearms themselves and the challenge of the shot, I like the satisfaction of getting well on the target as well as the concentration and calm in the midst of explosion. There's a strange mixture of stillness and adrenaline to it that appeals, at least to me. Then there's the benefit of getting out in the countryside; it's a fine thing to be out there in the fields and brush with the guns, at a distance from the rush of the world. Still, with all that and more in mind, I won't pretend that I'm some sort of great shot. More like a decent priestly average.

filthy little beast

So after an hour or so of banging away at my old enemy, the steel plate ram and its lesser ally, the steel plate turkey, offhand iron sights at 50 and 100 yards with an AR (CMMG), I didn't expect to hit the ram with my .45 at 100 yards. After all, I'd never shot out to that range with a pistol before and the adversary was little more than a grayish blur of rust against the brush backstop of the berm.

somewhere, to the right of the 'silhouette' is a steel ram...

A round in the chamber later I lined up the sights slightly high on the metallic beast and squeezed off a shot, by instinct more than anything else. Lo and Behold! A satisfying plink of bullet on metal. Somewhat amazed, I fired off two magazines and was rewarded with 4 hits, the last shots being wasted due to lack of concentration and shooting high. 

make safe and for goodness sake, LSP, don't shoot the fridge

People mostly shoot their pistols, I think, at anywhere from 5 - 25 yards, something like 18 being the average. Fair enough, they're probably practicing at the range they think they'll use the weapon  at and it makes sense to get good at those distances. Still, I discovered there's a whole lot of enjoyment in going for the ridiculously unfeasible long shot and, unless I'm mistaken, the .45 shoots oddly flat.

At the nearest opportunity I plan to load up on Walmart's cheapest (TulAmmo... look, I apologise) and do it all over again.

Shoot straight,

LSP