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