Holy Monday Shoot

The sun shone, rising incandescent over the chicken operation, and you could hear Maria singing to her ravenous birds while peacocks shrieked. A good day to be alive in Texas, a good day to shoot. 

Compound Sun

CC swung by from the metrosprawl, he wanted to test out his Winchester 1200 pump and I wanted to see if the new extractors I'd pinned into a Mossberg 835 lived up to their name. So off we went to the range with a truckload of guns. Holy Monday style.

Guns

Long story short, the 1200 didn't really work. Sure, it started off well enough, then decided it didn't want to feed or shoot when you squeezed the trigger. CC, word to the wise, lose that weapon or hang it on the wall as a keepsake. 

The Mossberg worked well enough, though three shells out of 60(?) failed to extract, the last being shooter error. So maybe a bit more attention's needed in the armory department.

CC, Lose The 1200

Then it was time for 20s. CC knocked a few clays outta the sky with a single shot something from Brazil. I call it "Old Bolsanero," for some reason, and we moved thankfully onto a CZ. Just a lot of fun to shoot, quick, dead on, light and easy on the shoulder. Stylish too, if you like a SxS.

A Couple of 20s

And go figure, we both smoked a lot of clays, hurled into the air redneck style with a plastic thrower. I'd like a machine, to be honest, but saving for a new rig and lever guns takes priority. All in good time.

Check it Out, Tejas

I tell you, this last few months have been all about shotguns. Remedial for me and a reminder of the sheer enjoyment that's to be had from blasting away at flying targets. And I have to say, again, that I'm a total convert to the 20 and, for that matter, doubles. OK, late in the game, LSP, but whatever.

Your Old Pal. Don't be a Narcissist, LSP

Shotgunnery over it was .22 plinkerthon time and what's wrong with that? Nothing at all, and it keeps your aim in on a Holy Week budget. Great fun, courtesy of Ruger and Remington, but news started to filter through to the range. Notre Dame was on fire.

Rig

Serious business, it was time to head back to the Compound.

Gun rights,

LSP

Brandon Texas

I'll be driving off to Windsor/Detroit next week so I thought I should get some practice time at the range. That takes me through Brandon.

Brandon's Post Office

There's not a lot there, some dirt roads, a few houses, an abandoned Presbyterian church, a small Post Office and a Co-Op.

Brandon's Co-Op

Some people are afraid of places like Brandon. Perhaps they should be.

T Posts

I find the Brandonites I know friendly, unlike the Austin leftists who'll rip you off in the maze of a labyrinth and at the drop of a dreadlock.

Shoot, Ride, Fish

Shoot straight,

LSP

Scouting

moving in the shadows

Set out after a relaxing ride, geared towards foundational work (walk, trot, control around obstacles), to scout out coyotes. Earlier that day I'd asked Bonnie if it was alright to setup and hunt them. She said, "Have at it!" So off I went to see where they were coming into the farm. Nothing like planning ahead, you see.

Coyote Crossing

I figured they were moving into the fields by way of a creek and sure enough they were; crossing the creek, then padding along a trail before heading left towards some cow fields. Probably after calves, or anything else they can sink their teeth into. There'd been a good rain the night before so it was easy to find fresh tracks in the mud.

Tracks

Took a rifle with me in case there were any 'targets of opportunity', which there weren't, so I contented myself with planning a couple of setups and generally enjoying an armed stroll in the countryside. That, in itself, is an excellent thing. I believe it's banned, for the most part, in England.

Will call the beasts in next week, and shoot them.

LSP

Texas is Great

Why is Texas great? Well, simply because it is. I like the guns, dogs, horses, BBQ, farms and general sense of freedom, the religion's not bad too - at least from a trad Anglican perspective; lets hope all that increases instead of the opposite. Speaking of farms, here's a picture of Bonnie shifting bales out of her pickup. I offered to help but she just grinned and fired away till they were all sorted in no time flat - Bonnie's 70 - I probably would have slowed her down...

Apologies for not visiting the blogs - life's been strangely busy...

God bless,

LSP

Ride & Shoot

Downtown Brandon

I've made a new resolution to ride and shoot more, which means going out on Tuesday morning, through the bustling little town that probably never was Brandon, and saddling up at a farm just outside it - less fancy than the last place, but a lot more room to ride.

A place to ride

And to shoot, so I unleashed the AR on some targets from around 50 yards and successfully killed a tuna can and some of its Arizona Ice Tea brethren. The latter give a satisfying explosion when full...

Arab

There's plenty of room to hunt too, but I've yet to scout it out. All in good time.

Two flyers, two on

Now back in the day I would've scoffed at the AR, because of plastic components and the 5.56 of the thing. For me it had to be solid wood and steel or it wasn't real. That changed with the L1A1 and I'm perfectly happy blasting away with the carbine - still, when budget permits I think 7.62 in the same platform would make sense, you know, because of all the walls you have to shoot through...

Cheers,

LSP