Random Gun Ramble

 

Get A Better Bipod

Waved the young, ahem, gentlemen off to the range via Chevy Trailblazer this afternoon and off they went with various weapons. A ChiCom SKS, a CZ SxS 20, a no-name Italian O/U 12, a Ruger American .22 and an Aero Precision AR 10, all very 7.62.

Boom, and what could possibly go wrong with this scenario? Good question, and I asked one of the young men if he was a shooter. "Not really," came the reply, "Just some time with 9s and .22," so I fixed him with a steely eye, "Just make sure you don't shoot your buddy, alright? That's a no-no." He then rattled off the rules of marksmanship and I felt marginally reassured.

Random Hallway Weapons

Well, all you parents out there, perhaps you get the concern and in case you think me somehow "micro," "helicopter" or "nanny state," consider this.

The man who owns the range, it's part of his farming empire, loves to shoot and he took his only son out to the place for some plinking enjoyment. All good, until the kid shot himself in the groin with a .22 and bled out on the way to the nearest hospital. It's a larf, right, until it isn't.

Clean the dam pistol, LSP

That in mind, the boys did well, didn't shoot each other and returned back to HQ in good style following an unreformed diner burger at Campbell's(?). Looks like a shack, is pretty much a shack, but serves great diner burgers, rock on.

Message to market. Enjoy firearms, blast away and be free, but respect the weapon for what it is. Does that sound sententious or preachy? No, just solid common sense.

Shoot straight,

LSP

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

Wash Out!

My youngest son, who's visiting from Canada, wanted to go for a shoot today and who can blame him. It sounded good to me too and the plan was to load up on clays, shotgun ammo, some .45 and head out into the wilderness for fun and adventure. Then it started to rain and didn't stop, it was like Wales, maybe Aberystwyth.

But the living room was dry, fortunately, and we looked out of its windows at the watery apocalypse. "Son, this isn't shooting weather." He agreed and I nodded grimly as the varied detritus of modern life flowed past the Compound, "That's an excellent point. Let's go to Karen's and get some food."

So we hydroplaned to Karen's Authentic Mexican Food in Itasca and bought a bag of bean and brisket burritos. Then we hydroplaned back and ate those bad boys like they were going out of fashion, which they're not because they're so tasty. Good work, Karen, you did it again.

The guns got a look-in too. Sure, maybe you don't want to shoot in the deluge but you can always clean the little blasters, which is what I did. Meanwhile, boy and dog amused themselves while the rain poured down.

They say, interestingly, that enough rain falls in Texas to keep the average house in water for a year. Of course this figure might be skewed by the population boom in the Lone Star Sate as people flee Illinois, California and associated workers' paradises for our sunny southern weather.

Gun rights,

LSP