Smoke That Skeet

 

Someone once said, famously, Speed is fine. Accuracy is final, and skeet shooting's a bit of both, not that I'm any kind of expert. The orange bird zips out fast and you have to be on to get it. A typically quick, accurate, snap shot.

And how good when you connect and smoke the clay challenger. There's something especially satisfying about hitting that small moving target and watching it dust off. Big fun, but here's the thing, readers.

You may think, because shotgun, that pointing in the general direction and letting loose is going to work, street sweeper style. Think again. It helps to aim. Seriously. Don't forget, in the shotgunnery excitement of all, to aim.  Put that bead on the bottom edge of the clay, "popsicle" it, and squeeze the trigger. A fast movement for sure, but an accurate one.

But what am I saying. All you competition shooters out there have forgotten more about the sport than I will ever know. Regardless, the misnomered White Flyers took a right beating today, not least from the kid. Great result.

Then, after a headshot plinkathon against small steel at 150 yards, .22 WMR, we headed back to base. And what a good day out in the country with guns, just sheer enjoyment. Thanks, CR, for the invite. And now?

Pork chops, Yorkshire Pudding(!), roast potatoes and all the rest. A delicious end to a great day's shoot. It's raining too, another plus. Thank you, Climate Change.

Your Pal,

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

Happy Juneteenth!

 

I don't know how you celebrated Juneteenth or even Kwanza, but here at the Compound it just seemed right to clean a couple of shotguns which had cleverly swum back from their watery grave in the mighty Brazos.

And what filthy beasts they were! You see, it's all very well to have guns but if you don't clean them they don't work, they jam, seize up and fail. Just the other day I watched a friend unleash his Remington 870 on a clay. Boom, smoked it, and then what? 

A Gun

Nothing, the gun failed to extract, and all because the chamber hadn't been cleaned in a years worth of Sundays. Net result? Shell stuck in chamber, gun useless except as Zulu style club. And we all know spear chuckers can be deadly but properly functioning firearms deadlier still, so set about those guns with Juneteenth fervor. Let's see 'em shine, inside and out.

A Juneteenth Angel

And shine they did. Excited, I texted a friend in England who had been in the Army (TA) and he asked if it brought back memories. It did, of course. Weapons cleaning, running, endless shaving and ironing, a Sergeant directing our parade attention to a "Colour" ambling largely along the edge of the Square, "Look at that, boys. Too fat to F***ing fight. Get OFF MY SQUARE. YOU'RE F***ING TILTING IT." 

Another Gun!

"That story," remarked my pal, "has stuck with me, indelibly." And same here, but of course I was there, back in the mists of time. Text convo over, Eduardo tipped up on the porch, he runs a chicken operation behind the Compound and has bad English, "Mi Padre, favor?" he asked, eyeing gleaming shotguns. "Car no good, drive to liquor store?"

Yet Moar Gun

Off we went, and he bought a case of beer for Fathers Day. Well done that man. And with that, all three of you gentle readers, all was well with the world on this great, awesome, holy and wonderful holiday that is... Juneteenth. Gun rights.

Your Pal,

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

April Fools Shoot

CC swung by from the metrosprawl with a truckload of guns, he especially wanted to see if an old Winchester 1200 pump worked after visiting an armorer. We drove out into the Texan countryside to find out. 

Fail!

The 1200 was up first against the clays, which call themselves White Flyers even though they're orange. Anyway, hopes were high that the Winchester was going to work, it usually doesn't, and CC lined up to shoot, "Pull!" and off flew the orange adversaries into a big sky. Boom, down went a few clays, it looked like the gun was working.

A Glock & A Ruger

Until it didn't. After the first few rounds the troubled beast didn't want to feed, had trouble ejecting and then stopped firing altogether. You'd chamber a round, squeeze the trigger and... nothing. I advised CC to sell the April Fools gun to a pawn shop or part ex it for something useful.

Winchester Model 90?

We changed over to a CZ Bobwhite 20 and merrily smoked skeet till all the ammo was gone. What a lot of fun and what a great little gun. Thanks, TC. After a short bout with a Ruger Redhawk (sorry, Security 6) .357 Magnum and a Glock 21 .45, it was time to plink.

The Range

Shotgun shells, cans, milk jugs, bits of broken skeet, steel plates and more all fell under a deadly hail of .22 LR sent via Ruger and Remington. Hours of enjoyment and then it was time to head back to the Compound, a good time had by all.

Big Sky

In related news, New Zealand's banned pump action shotguns so that only criminals can have them. Now they're much safer.

Gun rights,

LSP

Climate Change Shoot

One of the weird things about the climate is that it changes, no matter how much tax you pay or don't pay our elite rulers. Take Texas. 

Texas famously doesn't pay the weather tax and it's been raining for the last two days, it's been cold too. Go figure, thwart the Illuminati at your peril, but what happened? It stopped raining. That meant shoot.

We loaded up the rig with shotguns and pistols and headed out to the range. Wrap up warm? No, don't bother, the climate's changed and now it's hot and sunny. Wear your Wellington boots though because the range isn't far off a swamp. 

Right out of the gate Junior LSP was smoking clays with a Mossberg 835 Ultimag 12. Good work, kid. I followed on and shot pathetically. Dismal fail. 

But congrats young 'un and congrats 12. I thought the Mossberg was broken and needed a new set of extractors but no, the old beast was right on the money. Word to the wise, clean your weapons.

Next up, CZ's handy Bobwhite SxS 20. Great little gun and we knocked the orange clay adversary out of the sky like screaming Focke Wulfs going down over the Oder. 45s followed, a Glock 21 and a Beretta PX4 Storm.

Here's the the thing. I bought the Beretta years ago when I was pretty much a novice at pistols, apart from a brief exeat with Her Majesty's finest Brownings, which were as rubbish as I was. We made a team, the pistols couldn't hit anything and neither could I.

Whatever and fast forward, I shot thousands of rounds through the jolly PX$ Storm and there it was. Then, thanks to White Wolf Mine Consultancy Plc. I invested in a Glock 21. Same caliber, better gun.

Don't get me wrong, the Beretta's fine, it works, and I like the ergonomics of the grip, but the Glock's better. 

It's simpler, with less parts. It sits lower in the hand. It's sights are better. It's more substantial. Its magazines carry 13 rounds compared to the Storm's lacklustre 9 or 10. The Storm seems lightweight and toylike in comparison, imo.

Whatever, both guns were right on and the kid shot like a champ, plates swinging away like fury. I was impressed.

Then it was time to head for home in the light of a setting Texan sun, mission accomplished. Had we paid our Illuminati rulers some kind of tax for the privilege? 

No, we had not. Had the climate changed? Yes it had. 

Love,

LSP

Double Up!

OK, fishing's great but you have to shoot too and part of that involves shotguns, yes, double barreled shotguns or "doubles." Thanks to a friend who's moving overseas, I was able to pick one up today, a CZ Bobwhite.

It's a handy side by side 20 gauge, Jeff Quinn calls it "svelte," with double triggers, 3" chambers, extractor-only action, straight English stock, case hardened receiver,  and 28" barrels.

For a budget SxS, I'd say it's attractive and it certainly seems to handle well, coming quickly to shoulder and putting your eye straight down the rib. But does it work?

If my friend's testimony is anything to go by, yes, he's had all kinds of success in the field with this gun. 

Now it's my turn, right in time for predove season warm ups against the clays and then the avian acrobats themselves.

Thanks, TC. God bless your trip to the Emerald Isle.

Gun rights,

LSP