Unfortunate, no rain in the forecast today

Being out in the county, juusst outside the city limits, the skies light up on July 4 and New Years eve in a big way.
We've been blessed with a statistics defying number of rain days on those two dates in the time we've occupied the BAR Corp. HQ.
The day after I find dud mortars around the yard and occasionally on the roof of the house.
The closest call was when my own brother knocked over the tube while lighting one up.
The projectile impacted the tactical bullet proof 1/8" thick glass in one of the front windows.
Fortunately, the angle of impact imparted less vector force normal to the glass than parallel and the mortar bounced off into the neighbor's front yard.
I have never seen fat old people run that fast in my life.*

I happened to be inside the house and heard a thump on the front window and a massive BOOM at rather low horizon.
"WTF are you people doing out here!", said I as I exited the front door.

My brother's wife has never allowed him to come back up this way for farworks.
The danger close mortar strike was bad, but I suspect it was lighting up the mortar cake he spent $150 on that was the final straw.
See, there was no visible fuse. So, he started picking at the paper till he found one.
Remember kids, stop, drop and roll!
Bro lit the "fuse".
BOOM!  BOOM! BOOM! etc, etc, etc,
Bro hit the ground within his body length from the munitions like a seasoned WWII soldier and rolled away.
"Are you okay?!"
"What?"
"Are you okay?!"
"What?"
His hearing recovered, but he's not allowed to come out and play anymore.**

Oh yeah, almost forgot, HAPPY NEW YEAR YA'LL!
I'll be asleep most likely.

* I totally made that part up.
** most of his eyebrow grew back, in case you were wondering.

Electricity + Water =

I've enjoyed a certain amount of shadenfreude over Chevy Volt and Fisker spontaneous combustion, but hadn't given much thought as to what would happen should you find yourself in high water.

Hurricane Sandy provides an empirical test

.

The Fisker battery pack sits pretty low in the car. It doesn't look like it would require anywhere near full submersion to cause problems.

Even before the fire, the battery discharge into the water might put some serious hurt on you.

I'm sure the Fisker engineers thought of this and have some safety feature built in, right?  right? 

Go out There??!!

In the Boat? No, nonononono.
It's dangerous.
I'm staying riiiiight here.

BAR Blogshoot Dos

What a grand day!  There really is something to the recoil therapy meme. I find I unwind right around the time I just begin to feel it in my right shoulder.   The lovely Belle and I met Borepatch and Josh at Lonestar Gun Range in Lockhart, TX this morning. Ye Old Furt couldn't make this one, squinted at me, and told my I better take lots of pics.  So, I did.
We brought our entire, but meager arsenal. Borepatch  was already punching holes in paper with that awesome Enfield of his when we rolled up. What a fine piece of shooty history that is.  We finally got a new memory card for the better camera, so on to the pics.
On initial deployment, Belle looks on, Josh spots ,  Borepatch sights in the Enfield and let's one rip!
Wait..that didn't sound right at all.

Borepatch tweaks the new sling he got for the Enfield.
Belle looks on. She had that "want one" gleam in her eye all day.

Belle loads up for her first shot with BP's Enfield

Borepatch was comparing the .303 SKS ** round from his Enfield to Belle's 7.62x54R from her Tokarev, so I asked him to hand model them for a pic. Two very serious little cans of whoop-ass right there.
A bit of moisturizer, and BP could have himself a whole nuther side line income stream.

That's some sloppy shootin rat thar!  50 yards.  I claim 4 of those. Ok, five. Alright, at least half are mine. Little bitty holes: Rocky, the .22LR saddle gun. Middlin sized holes via Natasha, Belle's Tokarev. Daddy Bear sized holes courtesy of the 20 ga. slugs. Man those are fun to shoot. (Boris came later)

We moved on to a bigger target, the blueman silhouette.
Today's weather was a far sight better than BAR Blogshoot Uno. Partly cloudy and way cooler. (by a good 30 degrees).  Belle lines up on blue man 50 yards down range with Natasha (her Tokarev).



















If we get to a SHTF situation, I'm sticking with Boris.  Just for comparison, smaller holes from the Tokarev.  The nice big bright white holes from Boris, the 12 ga. 3 inch mag with slugs. It's a pump, rather light, and kicks like a mule, but it fires for effect. The other thing I like is, I can see the holes with my nekid eye at 50 yards. Josh manned up and took a crack at Boris. I should have taken a pic, but I was just watching him out of the corner of my eye. Brutal wasn't it Josh?

On to the the Target Of The Day!   Courtesy of Borepatch. I cannot tell you how much more fun it is to shoot Bart than blueman silhouette target.
Bart looks a bit pensive. (he's got a few .22LR holes in him at this point)

Belle was the first to hit Bart with the Enfield, last shot in the mag. (At 100 yards and iron sights, mind you)  The two guys to our left spamming rounds down range with their ARs even cheered. I took a crack at Bart with the Tokarev. High on the first shot. Bart hopped with a major ouchy on the second.
I didn't know I could hit anything that far away!
The dramatic Bart shot of the day goes to Borepatch. Right out of a John Wayne WWII movie. BP pegged Bart with his Enfield. Bart hopped about two feet up the berm and did the quintessential dead man arm flop roll back down laying face down in the dirt.
I wish I had video to post.
The Postmortem Morgue pics.
Notice the shot in the eye socket. Looks like a .22 to me. (I'm Pc challenged, I apologize, I can't help it.)
The shot that makes me cross my legs is further South, right in the winky. Josh is a mean, mean man.

Of course, after Bart had been "hopped" and knocked over he was given no quarter. Somebody got a glancing head shot.  The styrofoam peanut bleedout in the wind was horrific. (K, already told you I can't help it.) Borepatch attempted to administer first aid by re-stuffing Bart's peanut brains with his thumbs, but it was a lost cause.

)

Exit wounds.

Left side:

Bart is not feeling well at all.
The Pistol Range was a bit crowded, so we all shared the back up blueman target.

Rumor has it that Borepatch's sweet, sweet 1911 whispered sweet nothings to Josh.
End of the shooty goodness and off to Black's Barbecue in Lockhart.
The day wasn't completely consumed with adolescent joy in poking holes through Bart. We strolled down the street and took in some of the local architecture.  The Caldwell County Courthouse.

As we strolled, the conversation never abated. We found ourselves Occupying street corners as I made my ham fisted attempts at photography, and discussing the world. Reflection upon the events in which you have particpated are equally as good as the event, in my opinion. I will continue to think about this for some days to come.

** Corrected per BP's comment

A day at the range

After having a nice lunch, Kx and I went to the range today.  We were going to go to the outdoor range close to home but it started raining!   Actual rain!

So we went to the indoor range in Spring and had a nice time, though I cut the session short because the couple in the booth next to us were breaking every rule you can think of when it comes to handling guns safely.

They had a Glock with a laser sight on it and that laser would wave all over the place, including on the wall next to me.  After switching off several times with Kx, I happened to get a look at them and oh my goodness.  Not only were they waving that Glock around all willy-nilly but their fingers were on the boom-switch.  After seeing that, I told hubby that we were leaving.

I suspect one of these days one of those two are going to end up with a bad case of Glock-leg.

More on Top Shot A Suggestion for History Channel

In the comments section of my previous post, Maura makes a comment about being disappointed that the women shooters didn't do well.

I realize that shooting, in general, and shows about shooting is geared toward the male audience; however, more and more women are taking up arms and learning to shoot.   When I go to the gun range, I notice that there is always at least one lady shooting, other than myself.  I think this is fantastic!

It seems to me that each season of Top Shot, the guys try and get rid of the girl right off the bat.  Season two, a girl lasted close to half way in the season; however, her team kept winning the challenges.  As soon as they lost their first match, they voted her to go to the elimination round, and unfortunately for her, it was an Archery match.

I realize that these matches take a certain amount of speed, agility and strength and by and large, women are not as fast, strong and are more prone to panic than our male counterparts.  (yes, I know that this is not always the case, however, biologically speaking, it's safe to say that it's the norm)

I think that The History Channel should do one of two things:  perhaps they should have 8 men and 8 women on the show, then do a blind draw between each sex, determining which team they are on.  You would have 4 men and 4 women on each team.  Another option would be, as a trial run to see how the viewership would be, do a 'Lady Top Shot' edition.

All of that said, it really is a great show and so far, I have decided that I am hoping that self taught Justin takes it all.  We will see.

Obammunition

I posted an uninspiring blurb about this the other day, having run across it on Snarkybytes.
My hope was to drive some traffic toward Blackfork, and drain a few cents from the obumanoid's political war chest while refilling Robert's ammo can.
Borepatch has picked up the flag and laid down a post containing fifteen dollar words concerning the subject.
So, I'm bumping this one more time. Go. Click. Feel the Joy.

Just for the heck of it...

Make Obama buy Robert some ammo
So, I went and I clicked.
I'm curious as to how many rounds might be procured if a few like minded folks were to link to Alan's or Robert's post...
If you could see me, you'd notice my cheezy grin right now. 

Thank you for stopping in......

The live blogging was so much fun, thanks to the participants, we had 114 comments (including our own of course).

It was great fun and will most likely do it again the first show of the next season.

What a blast and I am so glad that Chris won.

Improving.

Back from the range.  I started with the Springfield XDM and decided to just stick with that one today.  I really do like the way that gun feels in my hands and the results are good as well.

A vast improvement over my last time though my higher shots weren't so good.  Either way I am quite pleased.

On another note, I held one of the 4th generation Glocks and that had a nice feel to it.  They didn't have any to rent at that place, so I might have to try somewhere else but I'm interested in that as well.  Glock has such a great reputation for reliability and they're very easy to fire.

Decisions, decisions wonder if the hubby would be too upset if I just got one of each?  Ha!  I think that would be a given. 

I think I found my soul mate.........

Well, other than KX59.  He's the true deal.

Seriously though, I went to the range today and fired a Smith & Wesson M&P and a Springfield XDM.  

I really liked both guns, but the Springfield felt really good in my hands, a very comfortable gun to shoot.

I need all you gunnies out there to let me know your opinion on the reliability of those two guns.  Both were nice to shoot and I did enjoy the Glock 19 from Monday night.

What I didn't like about the Glock was the way the grip felt in my hands.  It was boxy and bulky and more difficult to control, though not uncontrollable.  I have heard a lot of good things about the Glock as far as reliability is concerned though.

The Smith & Wesson M&P felt really nice and was easy to control.  I shot well with it which is important and I was totally comfortable at the range today.

The Springfield, however, was love at first shot.  I know you all can relate to what I mean.  Sometimes you pick up a weapon (this goes for darts as well) and you shoot it and it just feels right.  This is how I felt with the Springfield.  I'll be doing a little research on the gun but I really would like some opinions on the reliability of it.

Meanwhile, I'm still trying to convince the hubster to come with me tomorrow to take Natasha out for a run at the range.  I really don't want to fire her alone for the first time.  Maybe y'all can help me out and tell him that a good husband takes a couple hours out of his day to take his wife to the range.  (Maybe he'll buy that, yeah that's the ticket).

Welcome Home...........

I went to pick up my baby today.  Kx59 thinks I'm going to try and commandeer his Barretta 20 guage.  Why would I want to do that when I have one of these?

I think I'll name her Natasha.

I can't wait to take her out to the range.  Will let y'all know how it goes.  The gunsmith said that she fires beautifully.  He also informed me that she's a rare gun because there aren't many SVT-40s left that are all original.  Yeah I'm a little proud.

Hubby can have his little old Baretta.  Of course that is a lovely gun, too.

Not Bad for My First Outing...........

Well, I have to say that I'm rather pleased with the way I shot today.

I fired a Glock 19 and I did like it but am anxious to get back to the range and fire some different guns before making a final decision on the gun that's right for me.

I was impressed with the instructor.  He was nice, patient and knowledgeable.  He made everyone feel comfortable and didn't talk down to us at all (I like that).

While my shooting is rough around the edges considering I haven't fired a gun in 15 years, I have to say that my target speaks for itself.

If he were an intruder, he'd be dead.

I do need a lot of work on the precision shots to the side, but I plan on going back often to work on that and shooting with the instructor again.

I had a great time and I encourage all ladies to learn to shoot!

Back in the Saddle Again

Well, as I've posted in the past, I do enjoy shooting targets, whether it's throwing a dart or aiming a gun.  The fact of the matter is, it has been about 15 years since I've fired a gun.

For whatever reason, I have decided that now that the kids are grown and out of the house that I would like to start shooting.  As previously posted, I took a couple of our guns to the gunsmith for a good cleaning and some repairs.  While I was at the gun store, I looked at some pistols, fell in love with a Smith & Wesson 1911, but there were several others that I liked as well.

So, without further ado, I have chosen a safe route.  I have signed up for a beginners class at a shooting range that will provide a rental included in the price of the class.  The class is March 28th and I can't wait.

I'll keep you all posted on how it goes.  I do know that I will continue taking classes, even after I decide which gun I want to buy.

Confirmed!

Okay, so I just got back from the gunsmith and he has confirmed that my rifle is definitely a Tokorev SVT-40.  The interesting thing about it is that it's all original, including the magazine, in very good condition and there aren't even any import stamps or markings on the gun that he can find, so I have a call in to my Uncle who purchased the gun long ago about where he bought it, etc.

I'm so excited that I can hardly stand it!

On a side note, I was looking at pistols while I was at the gun shop and the 1911s are really nice but one that felt really good to hold was the Glock 19.  In  a couple of weeks and going to the range and will rent several guns to see what I like.

Will keep you all posted on the rifle AND what I end up deciding on.