The Kid Shoot

Here is the deal in Nancy's own words:

"Yeah, yeah. As in letting the kids shoot, not shooting the kids. Now that I’ve got the disclaimer out of the way …


We’re still planning on June 2, rain date June 3. Michael W., retired L.E.O., firearms instructor and Cutler to the Stars® will be here, and I’ve had at least one other adult offer to come by and lend a hand. There’s pellet gun fun to be had, a swing set, a sprinkler to run through, and a grill for a post-shoot cookout.

Sweet Daughter’s BFF will be here along with the rest of her family. Our neighbor and his son hope to show up, and Broken Andy plans on coming with his kids. I tentatively mentioned the event to a couple of other local moms and I was surprised at the enthusiastic response. That weekend is already booked for them, but the asked if they could attend the next one, and two moms have stated that *they* want to learn to shoot as well.

So, if you’re interested (with, or without kids), let me know and I’ll get you directions and details.

Oh, and rumor has it there may be a cake. Or something with candles. Lots and lots of candles."
 
--I will be there with two of my pellet guns!

Sweat and Holsters

My wonderful wife took me out for a relaxing date today.

We have been talking about going to play miniaturize golf and this course, that is very near our home, for like ten years.

It is a beautiful little 18 hole course. (Today veterans and activity duty military could play for free there.) I am glad to support it.

What does this have to do with guns? This is a gun blog after all.

It was a hot sunny day with temps in the mid 90's. I was keeping as cool as I could in cargo shorts, Hawaiian shirt and sandals. I was still carrying my compact 1911 in its Crossbreed holster.

By the time we were done playing our 18 holes, I was happily soaked in sweat and ready for a mango smoothy after my glorious victory by 6 strokes (winning a foot rub and movie of my choosing tonight).

The leather of the holster was directly against my skin and the leather absorbed  a lot of sweat. I mean a LOT of sweat. I will need to hang it to dry tonight when when get home from a cookout at my sisters, where there will be more sweating during a round of full contact croquet!

The question is:  How do you keep a sweaty holster clean?

--I do not want the thing to end up smelling like an old shoe!

Please Remember


--Enjoy the day. All these men died so that we could enjoy this and every day...

Quotes of the Week

A man with a briefcase can steal millions more than any man with a gun.
--Don Henley

A manager uses a relief pitcher like a six shooter, he fires until it's empty then takes the gun and throws it at the villain.
--Dan Quisenberry

A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks.
--Thomas Jefferson

A woman who demands further gun control legislation is like a chicken who roots for Colonel Sanders.
--Larry Elder

Dominant Eyes

I was looking at this photo of my brother from our last range run and realized something.

Yes, he is left handed.

But he is apparently right  eye dominant.

In this case he is shooting my suppressed Ruger 10/22 and it has no recoil to speak of. If he shoots something with a kick, like my AR-10. His nose may not be happy.

--Is this common?


Nice

Another light posting travel day.

My skin and sinus's are so dried out I can hardly stand it. At least it's not 110 degrees today.

My brother sent me this image and I share it with you so that you might enjoy it's quality gun content.

--It must be difficult to be left handed...

Machine Gun Experience

So when I arrived in Vegas I was heading for the car rentals and I saw a huge bill board for opportunities to shoot machine guns.

I called the number and got the run down on the packages. The went from $99 to $1600.

The most popular "Value" Package was $399 witch included 11 machine guns (25 rounds each). $399 for like 30 seconds of fun.

The more expensive packages have private "Helpers".

"If you prefer, sir. You can watch as the helper fires the machine guns."

They do a big business in bachelor and bacheloret parties!  They have a "Private VIP Range". What stays in Vegas...


--Gotta love free enterprise.


On Travel

I am currently in Vegas on a business trip. Posting will be light but here are a few random thoughts.


A friend emailed me this cartoon. TSA is laughable. I was sitting in a dull session at this conference and I was rooting around in my backpack looking for headphones. I didn't find my ear buds but I did find a Swiss Army knife that I missed when I travel sanitized my carry on backpack. It had a corkscrew! Nothing says pocket knife like a corkscrew on an xray.

I went through security at 4am and it was empty. No grope either. I was looking forward to a little action. Fastest walk through Dulles airport ever. TSA was waving me through the whole way. I think I was profiled!

--I like profiling.

Kids and Guns Again

I read an news report this week regarding a child finding a loaded handgun on a playground.

The difference in this story if that this child had been taught how to react in this situation.

There was a time when swimming pools a main killer of children. How did we solve that? We taught our kids to swim. We taught them how to behave around pools, even if they encounter on unsupervised.

If you want our children to be safe. Teach them to be safe. Teach them to use firearms safely. Start early.

Demand that our schools teach them correctly. Stop teaching them fear.

My elementary school had a rifle range in the basement and we took safety and target shooting classes in phys ed! It made us ALL safer.

--We need more of these stories.




Quotes of the Week

"If you spend your whole time thinking about the universe, you tend to forget the less important bits of it. Like your pants." 

--Terry Pratchet

A good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar.

--H. L. Mencken

An idealist is one who, on noticing that roses smell better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup.

--H. L. Mencken


Zimmermans Handgun

Kel-Tec PF9 9mm
This week a lot of information was released regarding the Martin/Zimmerman case.

The media is focusing on the fact that Travon was positive for drugs in his postmortem and Zimmermans injuries.

I noticed that the data included the make and model of the concealed carry piece he used.

It was the Kel-Tec PF9.

It's a good concealed carry choice. It's a single stack 9mm and it's very compact, thin and light. Modest price but I have to say it's not the best gun.

But as he discovered, the best gun is the one you have with you...

--I have a Kel-Tec P3AT in .380 and I wish I had the 9mm.

Ammo

A friend emailed me the pic below. It is a nice comparative study or ammo!



Click on the image for a larger view.


--I wish I had a gun for each!

Open carry on national TV

Winning.




Hat tip to Mad Saint Jack!

SciFi Guns

I really love some of the designs that the art departments of movie production companies.

Some are super real like the M-41a pulse rifle used by the Marines in Aliens.

The pic on the right is a Steampunk design that I really like.

Rapid prototyping like this can lead to airsoft before real arms.

--What are your favorite Scifi guns?

How to Survive a Robot Uprising

Good advice. But the bigger the guns the better.



--It's good to see people starting to wake up!!

Making Cash in VA

Some enterprising entrepreneur in VA came up with the Politically Incorrect target based on the Trevon Martin case. They sold out super fast and made the news all over.

I am completely ok with this. In fact I am sick of Political Correctness.

I love Zombie Targets of Children. Remember the little girl targets we could buy that carried Physics books from MIB?

I love Arab looking terrorist targets.

I love the new bleeding reactive targets with jars in the heads for Tannerite!

I think it's dumb to have to change silhouettes from black to blue because people might think a black silhouette is a representation of a black person.

--I will draw the line at Presidential Likenesses. Not cool.

Range Day with the Wife

Mothers Day is the perfect day to take my wonderful wife out to the range for some practice.

There were lots of woman at the range on Sunday. Alone and in couples and groups. Everyone was having a safe fun time.

My wife had not been in a while but was doing excellent anyway. Single action and double action.

She does not flinch at all when she shoots. No anticipation flinch or any when she tries to squeeze seven shots out of a six shooter!

She even ran a six shot rapid fire this session and landed every shot on the target at 60 feet.

--She is nicely confident in it's use...

Quotes of the Week

"If you want to live a memorable life, you have to be the kind of person who remembers to remember."

 ~Joshua Foer

Kid Shoot

Nancy over at Excels at Nothing had the idea of a Kid Shoot! 

As in kids shooting, not shooting kids.

I am simply stealing most of this post right from Nancy!

Getting kids started with a pellet gun means you don’t have to wear hearing protection, and so instruction is easier.

An adult can grab the barrel of a pellet gun (or pellet pistol) to maintain muzzle control without worrying about injury.

Targets can be hung at a more appropriate height and distance, and they can be reactive.

Pellet guns, with a proper backstop can be shot in the backyard.

There was more, but you get the idea ...

So, is anybody interested in a Kid Shoot? The date that was kicked around was the first weekend in June (plan on Saturday, rain date for Sunday). Michael W. (retired LEO and firearms instructor) said he’d come up and lend a hand, and JB Miller (that's me!)  has a couple of pellet guns and found a really cool target. Sweet Daugter even volunteered to share her purple pistol.

--This is going to be fun!

Emily Got Her Gun, and an AWARD!!

See the internal memo…

Everyone please join me in congratulating Emily Miller for winning the Clark Mollenhoff Award for Investigative Reporting from the Institute on Political Journalism.

This is a well-deserved honor for the hard work and creativity Emily has shown in her hard-hitting “Emily Gets Her Gun” series. The work is a great illustration of our department creed that good opinion writing is based on solid reporting.

It also represents acknowledgement of the first-class journalism all of you do for the TWT opinion pages every day. As evidence of this, Emily’s work beat out competition from The Wall Street Journal and the Seattle Times, two institutions that have received this award before. This is the first time The Washington Times has won this award.

Here is more about the award: http://www.tfas.org/page.aspx?pid=273
Here is a list of the impressive reporters who have won this award in the past: http://www.tfas.org/page.aspx?pid=278

Congratulations Emily! We are all proud of your achievement.

Blogmeet September 29th

Here is the idea for this Blogmeet.

On Saturday September 29th there will be another edition of the Nations Gun Show.

Dulles Expo Center
4320 Chantilly Shopping Center
Chantilly, VA 20153


It's 22 Miles from Washington, DC - Directions:  I-66, Exit 53B, go 3 miles Rt. 28 N, turn right onto Willard Rd., take 2nd left into the Chantilly Shopping Center,  Follow signs to Expo Center.

I love this Gun Show. It is huge. I have purchased several firearms there at good prices. They usually have everything. New items, Class III, optics, old and new firearms, gadgets, gear, knives, books, accessories, ammo (esoteric and bulk), pretty much everything.

Anyway, I go to this gun show often. I have gone with TBolt several times. I have heard that many other bloggers attended the same show at the same time as me.

So the idea behind this Blogmeet is go to the gun show on the same day and the all get together for dinner and drinks and hanging out for a bit. Maybe a restaurant, maybe my house to grill burgers with bacon and pepper jack cheese, hanging at my bar or at the fire pit, having a cold beer or two.

--I'm doin it! Mark you calendars now. More Later.

Elmo Loves Tannerite!

Love it!

It's a Poor Workman

It's a poor workman that blames his tools.

I realized this week that some shooters are crippled by the fact that they can only hit a target from a specific stance with a specific gun.
Hi-Point 9mm, Crapfest trigger

I first started thinking this watching Top Shot this week. The most well rounded shooter, the guy that won this season, had the least training.

He never complained, "I hate Glocks! The grip angle is all wrong. I can't hit a thing with it. They suck!"

"I can't hit a thing because of..." grip style, sights, trigger pull, single action, double action, pounds per pull, size weight or color...

I believe in being able to shoot anything well. EVERYTHING.

I believe in being able to shoot two handed or one. Various grips in fact. Even one handed, off hand.

I believe if you can only hit the target with one gun, in one way, you need to change up your range time.

I believe mostly that it's a poor workman that blames his tools. If you say a 1911 or a Glock or a revolver is crap because you can't hit anything with it, it must suck to be you.

--I can do a 9mm head shot, with either hand, at 7 yards, with a Glock, S&W, Hi-Point or SIG.

Cool Target

I love Killin Zombies. I love good targets. Here we have a bit of both!

These Zombie brain pans are represented by clay pigeons.  Great for speed drills and damn fun for the whole family!

Teach the kids early about head shots!

$29.95 – Face Off Outbreak Target
60×72″ Holds Standard Sized Skeet
Includes Aluminum Stand
  
Another fine product from Zombie Industries!

--Might have to get one for the kids shoot Nancy is planning. (taking kids shooting, not shooting kids...)

Quotes of the Week

...“A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government.”

- George Washington

"The Spartans do not inquire how many the enemy are, but where they are."

- AGIS II 427 B.C. 

"No, no, I've got 'em right where I want 'em - surrounded from the inside." --

- Mad Dog Shriver when told to break up his recon team and evade, that he was about to be overrun by North Vietnamese Regulars.

“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.”

- Thomas Paine

"The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits."

- Thomas Jefferson

"The world don't owe you a living, Boy."

- Pops (unknown)

Ruger Takedown

Of all the reports I have seen from the NRA convention this year, the gun that I find most interesting is the Ruger 10/22 Takedown. I finally got to handle one last weekend.


Ruger 10/22 Takedown Edition
I would like one of these and not add a thing. I'd find the perfect small case for it and it would become my truck gun. Great for casual plinking or a level 4 Zombie outbreak. Add a few 25 round mags and a 1000 rounds of ammo in the right case!

MSRP is $389, $319 street. Here is a link to the spec sheet from Ruger.

--Love it!

Family Fun

I believe that one of the reasons the tide has turned on attitudes toward guns is that shooters are including their kids in shooting sports.

Safety training, fun shoots, hunting and other shooting sports are all coming back.

It's like swimming. Pools are dangerous. They use to be a leading killer of children. What did we do? We taught our kids how to be safe around pools and taught them to swim. It turned out it's fun too.

I am the Great Uncle of the kids in this pic.

--I need to visit them soon!!


Railgun Tests

Check out this vid released by the US Navy Research Lab:




Here is an excerpt for the article in Popular Mechanics: 

A futuristic weapon that uses electricity rather than traditional propellant to shoot high-speed projectiles took a step closer to the battlefield last week. The U.S. Navy fired the first live demonstration of its prototype electromagnetic railgun at a test range, program manager Roger Ellis says. Now some military officials at the Office of Naval Research say that it might even be possible to have the weapon—which had been plagued by delays and technical problems—ready sooner than previously planned.In this test at a range in Dahlgren, Va., the Navy fired a 32-megajoule half-power prototype of the electromagnetic railgun, developed by BAE Systems. (The Navy compares one megajoule of energy to a 1-ton vehicle moving at about 100 miles per hour.) The full-scale system is expected to be 64 megajoules. General Atomics is scheduled to deliver its own 32-megajoule prototype to the Navy in April to compete with the BAE design.The BAE Systems prototype has yet to fire at full power. Tom Boucher, the Navy’s test director for the railgun, says that after the Navy commissioned it last week, it fired the gun six times at 20 megajoules. "As we evaluate the data, we’ll take it up to 32 megajoules," Boucher says.

The K-31 Refit

My nephew just finished installing a Boyd's stock on his K-31 Swiss rifle. Lots of fitting, sanding and painting on lacquer . Well worth it. The rifle looks great.

The K-31 is a very interesting design.


The Karabiner Model 1931 (K31) is a magazine-fed, straight-pull bolt-action rifle. It was the standard issue rifle of the Swiss armed forces from 1933 until 1958, though examples remained in service into the 1970s. It has a 6-round removable magazine, and is chambered for the 7.5x55mm Swiss (also known as Gewehrpatrone 1911, GP11, or unofficially 7.5x55mm Schmidt Rubin), a cartridge with ballistic qualities similar to the .308 Winchester cartridge. Each rifle included a 6 round detachable box magazine with matching engraved serial number. A stripper clip loads the magazine from the top of the receiver.

Many collectors of the K31 have removed the butt plate and recovered a small tag of plasticized paper from beneath it. This slip contains the name and address of the Swiss citizen to whom the rifle was issued. In some cases, collectors have used the information to contact the previous owners, and have recounted the details of those encounters on a variety of collector's web forums.

My nephew actually found the Swiss citizen name slip. He has been trying to figure out how to find the guy or his heirs. Cool stuff.


--It's the straight pull back bolt that I find interesting.