Shoot Dove

I like September because you can get out in the field to shoot dove, which is what I did on Sunday evening with GWB.

GWB, all about Wittgenstein...

We started off by walking a tree-line or two and a large field; one dove was flushed out and went down before we set up on the edge of some tree cover and waited for the birds to fly. 

learning

They did that soon enough and after some brisk action we had a modest amount of dove for the grill. I always enjoy the excitement of the snap shot and the satisfaction of seeing the bird drop, for that matter, it's good in itself to be out at dusk in the Texan countryside. It's still, when the guns aren't firing, and gives well needed space to recollect.

get out in the field!

Thanks, GH, for letting us shoot on your land. A good time was had by all.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Sporterizing the Lee Enfield -- Part Something or Other: Metal & Wood

"Chop, chop," said the Suburban Bushwacker, "Get on with the first one." By which he meant, "get a move on, LSP, and sort out a Lee Enfield sporter." All too soon I was the proud owner of a No. 4 Mk. 1 and a No. 1 Mk. III, both sporterized at some point in their past. The Lees were multiplying like rabbits and my task was to re-sporter them as a porch project; custom rifles on a budget, as it were. Here's an update on the project with a little background.

fill that grain!

I started on the III, because it was more of a mess and I wanted the practice before tackling the No. 4, I also wanted one of the rifles to approximate to a Speed and the III's the right platform for that. After an awful lot of patient sanding, the metal was polished to 1000+ grit and the original butt stripped of gunk then refinished with Minwax Antique Oil (boiled linseed oil based -- I think). A new walnut forend arrived in July from Boyd's and was rasped down to size and sanded to 1000 grit. I was pleased to find that the inletting fitted the metal pretty well but dismayed to see so much open grain, which potentially means hours and hours of frustrating applications of sandpaper and finish. But I needn't have worried, the grain filled fairly quickly; the method I used was simple enough:

stamping like fury

Apply finish per instructions on the can, when cured apply finish to small area of the wood, sand along the grain until a slurry of finish and sawdust appears, then gently wipe the mix, I used paper towel for this, diagonally across the grain. When the wood's covered, let the stock cure for 24 hours, then sand along the grain, being careful not to go too deeply. Reapply finish and repeat the process using higher grades of grit, I started with 600 and moved up to 1000, until the grain's filled and the wood's as polished as you want.

super blue on -- what a nasty mess

So there we have it, butt, forend and barreled receiver, all polished and gleaming like a Guardsman's boot by the end of August. What next? Refinsh the metal of course, and I was going to teach myself to rust blue, which produces a great looking, durable finish, but ran out of patience and bought a bottle of Birchwood Casey Super Blue while browsing in an Academy Sports after a hospital visit in Waco.

nice

Birchwood Casey's instructions tell you to: degrease the metal, rinse with cold water and dry, then apply the bluing solution with a cotton ball or a sponge. Let dry for 30 seconds, rinse with cold water, dry, then polish lightly with fine steel wool. Repeat the process until you get the finish you want, then saturate the metal with gun oil and let it cure overnight. 

old warhorse

I did that and was pleased at the result, which wasn't that difficult to achieve but word to the wise; degrease the metal really thoroughly and don't touch it with bare skin during the process. Also, the metal darkens with every application of solution and during the time it cures. Worth bearing in mind if you want a lighter blue.

bolt back

Next step? Get a magazine, a drop-in mount for optics and possibly glass bed the Knox Form and forend tip, but first I'll see how it shoots. Iron sights, checkering, and forend cap can come when budget permits.

forestock needs a buff...

Shoot the Lee,

LSP

Putin, the New Francis?

Crane Rescue!

 Animal loving Russian Leader, Vladimir Putin, has successfully led several endangered Cranes to safety in a powered hang-glider, showing the world that he's not only Russia's preeminent "strong man" but also someone who cares deeply about the environment and God's creatures. 

However, some feel that this attraction to animals reveals Putin's disillusionment with the people he governs; like St. Francis, he would rather be with the furred, finned and feathered creatures of the wild than humans who misunderstood him.

St. Francis of Assisi

According to art gallery owner Marat Guelman, the Russian Premier "has lost faith in us. He sees our treachery, greed, cowardice and cruelty. There's nothing to love in us anymore. Dolphins, cranes, horses - that's a different thing."

Others disagree, believing that the former head of the dreaded KGB cynically uses animals for publicity purposes, unlike St. Francis, who loved them.

Obama runs from dog

President Obama runs from dogs.

Unlike Putin and St. Francis.

LSP

Michelle Obama - Now I Can Be Proud Of America

Michelle just told the nation that her husband, Barack Hussein Obama:

Keeps getting up with courage and wisdom, with patience and grace.

Really? And what's with all the spindoctor appeal at the DNC to religious values, from the, er, abortion party that's launched the most aggressive campaign against the catholic church, ever. In the U.S.

Is anyone fooled? For that matter, why has H.E. Dolan agreed to bless this atheistical hoedown? 

Beats me, 

LSP

The Debt

Our debt's now over 16 Trillion Dollars and who knows, maybe if we keep on spending more money we'll owe less money, in the same way that more taxes will make everybody richer.

burning man nonsense

Good luck with that.

Learn to ride and shoot, if you haven't already. 

That's my advice.

LSP

Labor Day

It being Labor Day, I got all Soviet and went to the pool, then took a well deserved nap. Burgers later but first, speaking of Soviets, why is it that so many local Dallas leftists think they'll be better off if they have to pay more taxes?

I hear this a lot when I drive North to DFW where all the leftist hipsters live. 

"We should pay more taxes, LSP."

"Why?"

"Because we'll all, like, benefit."

"So you'll be richer?

"Yeah."

"But you'll have less money to spend on 'artisanal' cheese and wine, stupid."

good call

Less tax, less government, more guns. That's what I say.

Happy Labor Day,

LSP

Opening Day

For the last two years I've sadly missed the action on Opening Day and had to console myself with the sound of the guns going off, echoing around the town. But this year was different and I was able to take the LSP youth brigade on their first dove hunt.

We got out in the field early evening and rambled about the treelines scouting for birds; sure enough, one flew straight at us, an easy shot, which I missed! Disaster, LSP. Next time was better, a bird went down and I showed the kids how to clean it. They liked that, but not before we spotted multiple birds flying by down-field; too late! They were gone and we were in the wrong place.

So I retired to the tailgate and let the eldest go off into a large, empty, adjacent field. He fired our last 3 rounds against three high flyers. Ten out of ten for keenness but they were out of range, unlike the two enormous dove that floated over the truck... 

Well, they lived to fly again another day and we headed for home and a small taste of dove breast wrapped in bacon. Delicious, and hugely exciting for the kids. Their first hunt and something to show for it.

I love getting out in the field, even if it is 105 in the shade.

Keep pulling the trigger,

LSP

Ride On

truckers

To my mind, and I'm not alone, horse goes well with gun. It's just the way the algo works, and I was pleased to see the juniors take to both.

Miltown

They were a little nervous at first, which is no bad thing, but took to the business naturally. Our first excursion was cut short by big rain, but the kids were able to get in the saddle and be lead about. I loved the smile on the youngest's face as BeBop went into a gentle trot.

all about the hat

Next time out we visited Miltown Arabians and the weather managed, by some miracle, to stay the right side of hot. Both graduated from the round pen into the pasture and the eldest managed a few strides of canter. Well done.

Canter

A day later some friends kindly followed up a shoot, after delicious ribs, with a ride in the arena. Beautiful, well trained horses and some expert supervision. It didn't take long for the boys to move out of the round pen; the youngest was happy walking around the perimeter and the eldest wanted to go fast, so he cantered off in good style. Not bad at all for his second time out.

Faster!

I was proud of them both, though less so of myself; being over excited I charged around foolishly, which didn't earn any points. But great fun, which is what it's all about.

catch up, LSP

Must sort the kids out with horses in Calgary, but in the meanwhile -- huge thanks to VS, BE, the Munroes et al. 

walk on

Stay in the saddle and 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

Driving from Calgary to Dallas

You may wonder why an LSP should break with protocol and head North to Canada every once and a while. The answer's simple, to see two junior LSPs and this time to take them to Texas for a summer of swimming, shooting and riding. So, after the deerstruck car was fixed, which took three weeks, I loaded up the mileage vehicle and got on the road for the Lonestar State.

on the way to Helena

It's a long journey, though easy enough. We drove from Calgary to Lethbridge and entered Montana on Hwy 2, which turns into 15. Normally you head cross country to Billings from Great Falls, but the route was under construction so I stayed on 15 and went through the mountains to Helena/Butte before going East on 90 to Billings. A longer way to go, but worth it, I think, for the views.

awesome Ranchester

From Billings you pick up 90/87 and drive South through Wyoming and Colorado. I'd hoped to make it to Casper but had to stop in Ranchester because I was paranoid about hitting another deer on the pitch black roads. We stayed at old style motel.

Wyoming

Then it was time to get back on the road and take 25 through Denver, ending up at Raton, the City of 21 Motels. I liked Raton, in a 'small town in the mountains with endless motels,' kind of way and after breakfast we pushed on to Texas via 87 to Amarillo then taking 287 to Dallas/Fort Worth, where we were met with a rain storm and oddly nuclear blast-like clouds.

Texas

It's a good journey and not hard if you do it in three days; it certainly gives an impression of the sheer size of the country and a little of its variety. America isn't just an endless suburban subdivision bisected by strip malls, though it can give that impression, but a huge continent with vast areas of wilderness and open country. Much of this has been settled recently and the newness of the enterprise is striking; altogether different from much of Europe and the East Coast, for example.

I like it, but here's a question. Why is it that the country towns you drive through in Southern Alberta seem prosperous and well put together and then, in the space of miles, you cross the border and things get pretty ramshackle? For that matter, why should so many small Texan towns, in the Panhandle for example, seem like rural versions of Detroit when their Alberta equivalents don't? 

A mystery to me, no shortage of oil and gas in either place.

Drive safe,

LSP

Syria

There is no truth whatsoever in any of the malicious rumours that British, French and American special forces are supporting Al-Qaeda Jihadists in Syria. Neither is Mossad, or Blackwater, and even if they were, which they probably aren't, it's humanitarian, right?

Some people speculate, foolishly, that the West, along with "terrorist paymasters" Saudi Arabia and Qatar, has an interest in securing territory on the border of Iran. But nothing could be further than the truth; all we want to do is take down the brutal Assadian police state and replace it with peace loving Islamists.

Alpha Dog

Forgive the sarcasm, but there's something badly unsettling about the thought of our soldiers training their Islamic enemies, to say nothing of innocent men, women and children being killed and tortured in a civil war in which neither side appears to have anything like ethical ascendance. The solution?

Toy Dog

Alpha Dog moves ships, arms and men into Russia's naval base at Tartus, not-so-covert ops  continue under the aegis of Barry and David "Toy Dog" Cameron, Mossad conjures with the all too real threat of an Iranian 12th Imam, and the world moves ever closer to yet another war in the Middle East.

Barry

Don't get me wrong, I support our troops, I support Israel, and like the fearsome Chesterbelloc I support the West and the Faith, but none of this looks good to me.

Both Alpha Dog and Barry have peace prizes, Toy Dog is an old Etonian. 

Make of that what you will.

LSP

Putin is Alpha Dog?

Black belt

Vladimir Putin cheers on judo stars in London's Olympic games and has a black belt in the sport himself. Putin, who was chief spymaster in Russia's dreaded KGB, is also a horseman, a shooter, a diver and a concert pianist. Some fear that Putin is leading Russia into a new dark age of tyranny and despotism, others think that he is "Lord of Awesomeness" and the reincarnation of St. Paul.

Kind

Following a letter to the Times, signed by pop luminaries such as Jarvis "Menswear" Cocker, Putin has urged  leniency today for Pussy Riot, an all girl punk band who face up to seven years in jail for inciting "religious hatred."

Menswear

Putin is known in diplomatic circles as "Alpha Dog." Jarvis Cocker is known as "Menswear."

Barry with Alpha Dog

Then there's our leader, he used to go by "Barry." 

"Menswear" is a fan of "Barry," apparently.

God bless,

LSP