Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is upon us and with it a crashing reminder of our own mortality and the need to repent of past and present wickedness. So, in a penitent attempt to atone for the frivolity and shallowness of this small donut shop on the side of the mighty information super-highway, I'll leave us with some wisdom from the Imitation of Christ:

Dear soul, from what peril and fear you could free yourself, if you lived in holy fear, mindful of your death. Apply yourself so to live now, that at the hour of death, you may be glad and unafraid. Learn now to die to the world, that you may begin to live with Christ. (Romans 6:8) Learn now to despise ail earthly things, that you may go freely to Christ. Discipline your body now by penance, that you may enjoy a sure hope of salvation.

Foolish man, how can you promise yourself a long life, when you are not certain of a single day? (Luke 12:20) How many have deceived themselves in this way, and been snatched unexpectedly from life! You have often heard how this man was slain by the sword; another drowned; how another fell from a high place and broke his neck; how another died at table how another met his end in play. One perishes by fire, another by the sword, another from disease, another at the hands of robbers. Death is the end of all men (Ecclesiasticus 7:2) and the life of man passes away suddenly as a shadow.(Psalm 38:7; 143:4)

Who will remember you when you are dead? Who will pray for you? Act now, dear soul; do all you can; for you know neither the hour of your death, nor your state after death. While you have time, gather the riches of everlasting life. (Luke 12:33; Galatians 6:8) Think only of your salvation, and care only for the things of God. Make friends now, by honouring the Saints of God and by following their example, that when this life is over, they may welcome you to your eternal home.(Luke 16:9)

Keep yourself a stranger and pilgrim upon earth, (I Peter 2:11), to whom the affairs of this world are of no concern. Keep your heart free and lifted up to God, for here you have no abiding city.(Hebrews13:14) Daily direct your prayers and longings to Heaven, that at your death your soul may merit to pass joyfully into the presence of God.

I wish you all a holy and blessed Lent,

LSP

Putin Does it Again!

That is all.

LSP

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, GREY DALEK?

Milling About Aimlessly Like An Out Of Control Dalek

Is Justin Welby,  Archbishop of Canterbury, privileged Etonian, former "finance shark" and top decision-maker of the Anglican Communion, a GREY DALEK?

Typical Grey Dalek

He used to look different. A lot different, back in the '80s. That changed. Replaced by something else. Something grey.

Human Welby

Is Justin Welby, the ruler of the world's third largest Christian denomination, Anglicanism, a human? Or is he a space alien? Maybe a GREY DALEK?

Grey Daleks Milling Around Aimlessly

You, the reader, must decide. 

Grey Dalek?

Is the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, a space alien? Or is he a GREY DALEK?

Send your views to lonestarparson@gmail.com. 

LSP

Shoot the 700!

1970s Remington 700 ADL, 30-06

The question everyone's asking is, "How does your Remington 700 shoot, LSP?" I went down to my friend's range to find out. Would this '70s gun, complete with its old Redfield Lo-Pro scope, work, I asked myself. To be honest, I wasn't expecting the scope to be up to much after 30+ years of use, but I needn't have worried. Both scope and rifle performed flawlessly, with the former dialing in easily enough.

Nice One

I shot around 50 rounds, with the best shots falling nicely in the X Ring at 100 yards. So what's the verdict?

The Remington 700 ADL, at least in its early '70s incarnation, seems to be a handy, good looking rifle. I especially liked the action, which was fast and smooth, and I liked the feel of the gun, it felt right at the shoulder and came quickly to target. The Lo-Pro isn't bad either, and I'd be interested to see how well its Accu-Trac rangefinder/BDC functions on shots out past 200 yards. But that's for the future. 

X Ring Tomfoolery at 100 yards

In the meanwhile: Is it accurate? Accurate as you like and then some. Does it have power? Yes. Mighty 30-06 power. Would you recommend it to a friend? I most definitely would. Does your shoulder hurt? Yes it does. Maybe I will get a decelerator pad. Has the Remington 700 inspired you to take up distance shooting and hunt more? For sure. I see a lot of game stocking the freezer of the compound in the near future.

So well done, Remington, for producing a fine rifle. The old 700 ADL is a proper little blaster; get one if you can find a decent deal.

Cheers,

LSP

New Gun, Remington 700

Remington 700 ADL with Redfield Lo-Pro Scope

I was after a new rifle, something chambered in .308 or .30-06, that wasn't black plastic. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that the new budget Rugers, Savages, and everything else, are great value for money. I'm sure they shoot much better than I do, but I wanted wood and steel. I think it looks better.

With that in mind, I'd nearly settled on getting a Ruger 77 Hawkeye standard, despite the $800+ price tag, when all of a sudden I see a promising firearm out of the corner my eye as I was browsing the pawn shops. It was a '70s vintage Remington 700 ADL, .30-06, all for the price of a plastic gun. The bore was good, the bluing fine, it had iron sights, and the stock was in decent order. As a bonus, the rifle came with an old Redfield Lo-Pro Accu-Trac scope. Apparently these scopes, with their built-in rangefinder/ballistic compensator, were USMC issue in Vietnam.

Next step? Take the rifle out and shoot it; I'm hoping the scope still works but if not I might mount a Leupold Rifleman, or something similar.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Behold Your Masters!

I'll just let this picture speak for itself.

X Ring

Maybe Putin will sort it out.

Shoot straight,

LSP

You're Fired.

Fired

Tanking TV host, Piers Morgan, has been fired. Not before time. Team LSP thanks all its supporters for their part in our successful campaign to remove this New World Order, Illuminati shill, willing Bilderberger dupe from his hugely unpopular, ratings-dismal CNN soapbox.

Criminal

But the fight is not over. He must be sent back to England. To answer for his many crimes.

Jackass

We will not rest. Neither, hopefully, will the CPS.

Justice must and will be done.

LSP

Ranching

Children of the Sun

This small "kebob stand on the information superhighway" (thx. MCP) is supposed to be about country life in Texas, among other things. Part of that means ranching, or in my case visiting them. I had an invite to one the other day -- just a whole lot of fun driving around on an area about a third of the size of the Isle of Wight. Perhaps because of the red soil and the light it reminded me of Africa. Beautiful. The illusion was made all the better by various "Boks" and assorted exotics.

Where's Karen Blixen?

But did you shoot any hogs, LSP? I hear you ask. Well, I tried. The ranch foreman kindly drove our small shooting party around in a sturdy 4x4 and put us on top of a small herd of swine moving through the brush. Embarrassingly, no one scored. I'll spare you the details. That catastrophe occurred after an evening's walkabout for small game. We went out with shotguns and a 22 in search of rabbits and squirrels, but there weren't any. 

Shoot the Pig

There were, however, around twelve hogs crossing our trail at around 30 yards. There they ambled, just taking it easy on their way to destroy something. And there we were, pathetically undergunned. The porcine menace passed calmly towards whatever mayhem they had planned, unscathed. To cap it off, I went for a stroll with a friend's dog on our last day. Just moving down a fence line with a river and bluffs on my left, dog going ahead; I wasn't expecting anything but took an AR along just in case there was some action. Sure enough, there was!

Ford

About 20 minutes into my armed incursion into hogspace there was some squealing, down by the river, as it were. And there, about 150 yards off, was a big pig. Maybe it caught wind of the dog, or me. Whatever, up went the AR, squeeze went the finger and... nothing! The safety was on. Off it went and my next shot echoed out, but no good. The hog was in full gallop and I missed by a couple of feet. Grrrr. That annoyed me; I know better than that. Safety off, shoot, safety on. 2nd nature, or at least it was... Next time.

Typical LSP Hunt

Then all too soon it was back to the compound, which seemed strangely industrial (which it isn't) after the wilderness.

Remember, kids, release the safety catch on your weapon when you try to shoot something.

Cheers,

LSP

BUG-A-SALT

The BAS

Listen up, hunters. Some people scorn small game hunting, preferring to go after Elk, Bear, Cape Buffalo and the mighty Elephant. Some settle for less, the noble Buck, or the the vicious, marauding Hog. But look, don't look down at the option of going after something smaller; you can have all the thrill of the hunt without having to get a lease, or fly to Africa. Enter the BUG-A-SALT. (BAS)

The Original Salt Gun

The BAS is a compact pump-action salt gun and it comes attractively styled in industrial yellow and black; remember, your firearm is a tool and the BAS looks like one. A tool for shooting small game, flies.

Clear Instructions

It's simple to operate. Put salt into the BAS' top mounted magazine, cock the action and you're good to go, off on your fly hunt. This reviewer didn't waste any time and before long there was my quarry, lined up in the BUG-A-SALT's pop-up sights. SALT BLAST. One fly down.

This Thing Works

What's this weapon's effective range? As advertised, about 3' but I'd recommend getting a bit closer to the quarry, shooting from around 1'. Is it accurate? Accurate enough to hit minute of fly. Does it work? Yes. Is it safe? It is, provided you don't succumb to the heady temptation of deploying the BAS at dinner parties where industrial quantities of cheap red wine have been consumed.

Predator Down

So I recommend the BUG-A-SALT, America's original salt gun. It's made by Skell Inc and you can order yours here.

Good hunting,

LSP

I Like West

Czechoslovakians Settled This Town

The other day I drove to Waco and those of you who know I35 will agree that that's no small thing. On the way back I stopped at West, which was settled by Czechs and badly hurt by its industry, a fertilizer plant, blowing up last year. I heard the explosion from a good 20 miles away; bad business and a miracle that more people weren't killed.

Downtown West

So I pulled off the highway and into West to have a look around. There's the obligatory failing "antique" shops, a couple of Czech bakeries, a feed store, a barber, some bars (well done) and a railway line that still goes through the middle of the town. Freight only.

Better Days, My Friend

West has had better days, no doubt about it. The sidewalks are cracked, you'll see the odd broken window here and there but you know what, I like West, it had a good atmosphere and the people were friendly. I understand they sell ammo at their hardware shop and I'll be back to check that out, maybe the barber too.

God bless West,

LSP

Whassup?

Retreat!

So what's been going on in LSPland? A well-needed diocesan clergy retreat, for a start, led by the new Bishop of San Joaquin, Eric Menees. Menees gave a series of meditations on the duties of clerical life; all good practical stuff, emphasizing the priesthood as a way of life, as opposed to a job that you turn up for and then clock-off from at the end of the day. Sound advice, perhaps especially to those U.S. Anglican clergy who commute from a suburb to their office, stay there till late afternoon and then commute back to their little slice of subdivision heaven. But plastic siding aside, helpful for all of us. Thanks, bishop Menees.

St. Ignatius Loyola

The retreat house, which is run by Jesuits, had a fair amount of Ignatian literature to hand and I read some. Not only was Ignatius a soldier who laid down his arms for the religious life but he also, apparently, believed that everyone has one primary, or foundational "grace", and one correlative sin. Knowing the one can lead to enlightenment and progress in the other. For Loyola, the sin was "vainglory" and triumph at arms, which translated into Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam, For the Greater Glory of God.

I like that. Respect to St. Ignatius Loyola.

God bless,

LSP

March of the Lees

Just Some Lees

One of the first things I did when I moved to the countryside was go to the local pawn shop, the Gold Nugget. Why? Well, there wasn't much else to do here and it seemed like most of the town were there, so I figured it was a pastoral duty to visit. Fly the flag, kind of thing. Also they had guns and that was a big draw. Especially the Lee Enfield No. 4 Mk. I that stood on the rack, beckoning. Matching serials, bright bore, good rifling and a whole lot of nostalgia. So I bought it and before long the Lees were multiplying, partly because SBW was saying, "Go on! Sort out a Lee Sporter!"

That's How It's Really Done (not by me)

$100 later I was into an SMLE Mk.III porch project, stripping paint, sanding (and sanding and sanding and sanding and...) and generally fixing up an old 1917 battle rifle. I wanted to get something like a Lee Speed, which I didn't because I don't have the skills but still, I was pleased with the result. I've put an ATI rail on it and mounted a used Burris Fullfield. The scope's died, so I figure I'll get something cost-effective, maybe a Nikon.

Willie Nelson Loves Lee Enfields

That leaves a spare No. 4. Speak to a smith and get a Scout Rifle, that's what I'm thinking.

If you don't like Stardust by Mr. Nelson you're a fool.

LSP