9/11

Rest in Peace.

LSP

Worker's Paradise

My philisophically inclined Ivy League friend and sportsman, GWB, sent in this self-portrait with the legend:

let's hunt some dove, LSP!

"Objects in the mirror are even further to the right than they appear."

Quite.

LSP

Eat Dove

peppers

After a decent Sunday shoot with my philisophical friend GWB, it was time to put the dove on the grill. First you remove the small breasts from the bone and soak them in brine.

note the Benchmade

Next you chop some Jalapeno peppers in half, scoop out the insides and fill them with cream cheese. Place the dove meat on the peppers and wrap them in bacon; skewer with a toothpick and place the poppers on the grill for 20 minutes of indirect heat.

bacon makes everything good

Tasty as you like.

result

It's good to eat what you shoot, provided it's edible.

Cheers,

LSP

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