Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts

Christmas weekend at the range

I went to the range this weekend with my son. It was incredibly crowded. We had about a 45 minute wait. Lots of people with new guns!

He was enjoying his gift. I gave him a Ruger Mini-14 that has an upgraded stock, a dot scope and a LASER sight.

I was amused by his comments:
  •  "This thing has no recoil at all."
  • "The adjustable stock is great!"
  • "I need new glasses."
  • "With this scope I need some Zombie targets."

It took us no time at all to pump 300 rounds through that rig. His smiles were big.

--I am very jealous of his new Pelican case!

Fuck You Cancer

I had a shitty day yesterday.

My brothers widow has cancer. It had been in remission for several years. Every six months I take her in for review of her scans just in case. Usually she is in and out and we are high fiving and going out to lunch.

Not this time.

Her cancer is back and aggressive, in three places. I got her sorted out with appointments for a PET scan and a surgeon, drove her home and settled with her daughter to care for her.

Be advised: I have little tolerance today for whiners, trigger warnings, offended pussies, or stupid hippies that don't realize how fucking stupid they are.

--If I could, I'd stay home today. I would be safer for the world...

Photography

He wants something like this.
Over the holiday weekend I was hanging out with my brother and he  decided we were going to make a fake action movie poster.

Basically we are going to photoshop him onto some exploding car image we can find from somewhere.

He is so funny. He wanted to look like a bad ass. He bought a leather trench coat at Salvation Army along with some shades.

It was hilarious. I felt like kids. I will post it when its finished.

--He is 62.

Mothers Day

Happy Friday!

Well people, it's Mothers Day this weekend.

Also known as, Take a Mom to the Range weekend.

You know the restaurants are going to be packed for brunch. Take her to the range!

Make the trip about her. Let her do most of the shooting. Guide her is she needs guidance. Encourage her. Don't make her shoot what you think she should shoot. If she likes the .22LR rifle, let her shoot it a lot. If she likes the .44mag, let her.

--My mom died in 1994. I never got to take her to the range. Don't wait.

RIP Bert Miller

Herbert S. Miller (Age 89)
Of Reston, VA, on Saturday, May 2, 2015. Beloved husband of the late Anne Broy Miller; loving father of Rachel Peck (Michael), Jonathan Miller (Carolyn), Rebecca Miller, and Roo Costello. Cherished grandfather of Anil, Angelica, Cadence, Nick,  Gray, and Dana. Born in Brooklyn, NY. Longtime resident of Reston, VA. Worked at Justice Department, Georgetown University Law Center, and DC Superior Court. Active in politics, the peace movement, and other causes. Friends may inquire with Bull Run Unitarian Universalists in Manassas, VA, 703-361-6269, about the memorial service to be held there.

--Normal Blogging will resume soon.

Running Late on Friday

Time has been thin this week.

My children's Grandfather is under hospice care and we have been sitting with him on an end of life vigil.

His name is Bert Miller and his 90th birthday is on Monday.

Why do I mention him on my gun blog? Bert has been a life long liberal democrat. But he was always respected my opinions. He believed in the Constitution and the strength of the foundation it created.

He was the first person to explain the depth of the bigotry associated with gun control to me.

My thoughts will be with him during this time.

--I can hear his laugh, even now.

Going Sailing

Today, I am going sailing with my brother. It will likely be an adventure. I hope we don't end up on the national news.

We have no idea what the hell we are doing. It amazes me that following all the laws of the land that today we will be taking the maiden voyage into Chesapeake Bay.

My brother had a catamaran 30 years ago the we could sail. But this boat has a 4 foot long keel. Will me ram that into something?

We did make sure the motor is in good running order. So at least we can putter out to open water, run up the sail and try not to fall over board or topple it over.

--No guns. Just in case we need rescuing! Because, Maryland!


Random Thought Thursday

My 18 year old son got into his first fender bender yesterday.

It was not a big deal except for my insurance rate.. Very little damage to the car he rear ended. Cops came and didn't even give him a ticket.

The front of the 1999 Subaru  was all plastic and its all busted up now.

The worse thing that happened was that the hood latch was damaged and gave way on the way home after. The hood flew up and cracked the wind shield.

Lots of lessons learned.

I had plans for a post about the joys of bayonets and upgraded AR15 grips but I am just not feeling it. So here is the pic I was going to use. Note the nice grip, 40 round mag and bayonet.

Zombies, blah blah blah...

--I need some more coffee. Need coffee bad...

Taking the Wife to the Range

Ruger GP-100
I took my wife to the new range yesterday to do another function test on my jamming AR15.

She took her Ruger GP-100 .357mag. She dialed it in and was rocking those targets in no time.

She doesn't want to shoot any other guns for now. She want to get really good with her Ruger with double action. She wants it simple: No jams, no mags, no safeties, if it doesn't go bang pull it again.

For now.

She is also planning on taking the formal woman's concealed carry class that is taught by women.

She told me that she also prefers a shoulder holster for comfort. "And that is what Kate has on Castle."

--We will be going there a lot. It's only 4 miles.

Guns of Christmas

My wife loves me.

Every year she puts up nine Christmas trees in the house. This year I think she will be sneaking in a tenth!

Every year she buys me a new Christmas ornament that relates to shooting!  This year she found these three early!

One day I might even rate and entire gun related Christmas tree!!

--Maybe I will get a Red Rider BB Gun this year!!

Graduation

My son had his graduation last night.

He did really great. Has a 3.85 GPA and graduated Magna Cun Laude.

I am very proud of the boy.

I always had a rule with him: As long as your grades are good you can wear what ever clothes you want and have any haircut you want.

It worked.

I don't usually go to Gun Free Zones. Last night I made an exception.

--It was worth it.

Recovering

I really miss going to the range.

It's been over 2 months at this point. This is the longest gap I can remember in recent years.

The main reason is that while my recovery from back surgery is going very well, I cannot stand for anywhere near an hour.

If I go to Clark Brothers, on a weekday, by myself, right when they open, I will be able to shoot my new AR15 while sitting on a bench. I can get some decent shooting in and have it only take 30 minutes.

The short video below is my son shooting the AR15 SBR at Clark Brothers.

--Maybe next week.



Range Day

I went to the range this weekend with my son and actually captured an odd function failure on video. My son was shooting my suppressed Glock 21. I was recording to see if I could find a sense on ho quiet it is.

Then the failure happened. Well, kind of.

It functioned normally except on the last shot the slide didn't lock back. It ejected the casing normally, it reset the hammer but it did not lock back.



--It's also pretty damn quiet.

Range Day

My boy and I are headed to the range today. We are going to try to get some pics, vid and look for some .22LR. 

We are going to Clark Brothers in Warrenton VA. One of the things I really like about their shop is the consignment rack. I have gotten lucky there on multiple occasions.


--And the weather is beautiful.

Fathers Day at the Range

My son took me to the range for Fathers Day!

We started off with handguns. We took a lot of guns this time never knowing what kind of ammo they might have at Clark Brothers. If you buy ammo there you can use their range for free.

We shot my Glock 21, Glock 17, Beretta Px4 .40 and my Ruger SP101 .357mag.

What is "Low Brass" Ammo?
The second hour we did some Skeet Shooting. I hear it's a popular sport and that the President does it all the time.

I bought a case of clays and 100 rounds of 12 gauge. I had my Benelli and my 870. My son was really bad at skeet the last time we went about a year ago. He hit 1 clay out of 25 last time. This time he hit over 30 out of 50. I shot 47 of 50!

The ammo I bought was the budget 12ga number 7 that was "low brass" $8 a box of 25. The very first round I shot through the Remington 870 jammed it solid. The slide would not move. I was really pissed. I installed the recoil reduction stock on that baby and it is a joy to shoot now.

They have a gunsmith on staff and he cleared it for me. It jammed again on the very next round. He told me that Remington 870s have a problem with the "Low Brass" type of round. The Benelli ate that ammo just fine.

--I confess I have never shot low brass ammo. Not buying that again.

Life is NOT Fair

My Daughter is off to her first semester at college. She needs to know a few things.


I recently received this old email forward that is still floating around the Internet. I don't care who wrote it. It's the message it contains.:
  • Life is not fair -- get used to it! 
  • The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself. 
  • You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both. 
  • If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. 
  • Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping -- they called it opportunity. 
  • If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them. 
  • Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room. 
  • Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life. 
  • Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time. 
  • Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs. 
  • Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Thank you for your service...


--My father was in the Airforce already when WWII broke out. He served in Panama. I miss him, still.

Gun Free College Zones

This is from the rules at Virginia Commonwealth University where my daughter will attend this fall.

The Right to Academic Freedom and to Equal Educational and Occupational Access
The University is committed to providing an environment conducive to academic freedom, free inquiry, and equal access to educational and occupational opportunities. The principle of academic freedom requires all persons to respect another’s dignity, to acknowledge another’s right to express differing opinions, to cultivate and to cherish intellectual honesty, and to promote freedom of inquiry and expression. It is therefore the policy of the University that no act of any member of the University community shall serve to restrain or inhibit access to opportunities or the exercise of these freedoms.

To that end, no person, either singly or in concert with others, shall willfully:

1. Discriminate against another person on a basis not reasonably related to the educational or job functions involved on the basis of race, ethnicity, sex, religion, color, creed, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, and age.
2. Harass or intimidate any person.
3. Cause physical injury or threaten any person with force or violence.

4. Have in his or her possession any firearm, other weapon, or explosive, regardless of whether a license to possess the same has been issued, without the written authorization of the president of the University. This restriction does not apply to persons whose duties lawfully require the possession of firearms or other weapons.

5. Disrupt or prevent the peaceful or orderly conduct of classes, lectures, meetings, or other University functions, or interfere with the lawful freedom of other persons, including invited speakers, to express their views.
6. Falsify or forge an official University record or document; or file documents with the University with the intent to mislead.
7. Lie, cheat, steal, or plagiarize. Violations of lying, cheating, plagiarism, and stealing will be adjudicated through this or other applicable documents. Student academic violations of lying, cheating, plagiarism, and stealing will be referred to the VCU Honor System for adjudication.
8. Violate any duly authorized University rule or regulation issued pursuant to a specific University function, for example, regulations applicable to social events, the library, or University hospitals.
9. Incite others to commit any act which has been herein prohibited.
10. Bring charges against a member of the University community that are spurious, or that are intended primarily to harass or maliciously defame, or that are designed to intentionally overburden the adjudicatory system.

--Yeah, this will keep her safe.

The Kid Shoot

That's Kids Shooting, not shooting kids.

Nancy over at Excel at Nothing hosted a kid focus shooting event this weekend.

Her arcane powers were in full effect by creating the best weather for a cookout I have ever seen in my whole long life.

There were ten kids and ten adults. The kids were very well behaved. (and none were mine!)

The food was awesome. I am still full at this writing. The big winners, that will be made at the The Millers real soon, were the Seven Layer Jello, Bacon Wrapped Onions and the Pumpkin Crunch. I am so full!


We had some great BB and Pellet guns for the kids. Lots of very safe One-on-One instruction for the very well behaved kids.

My wife really enjoyed the clay pidgin targets too!

Nancy has a great yard with a swing set. Nice social time in the shade while the kids ate hot dogs and cup cakes. Andy even brought a moon bounce! The whole thing make me want to get a classic Red Rider for myself!

--And nobody got an eye shot out!

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!