Reactive Targets

...and the random killings of Damn, Dirty Watermelons and Damn, Dirty Budweisers.

So a distant cousin (whom I love dearly) was doing her annual migration from Arizona to the wilds of Northern California. This is her first since her dear husband passed away recently. And she stopped by the ranch, so naturally I had to get up there to visit with her.

And also to do some turkey hunting, at which I was spectacularly unsuccessful.

Nonetheless, I managed to destroy some reactive targets while out and about, and videoed some of them for your edification. No need to thank me, it's what I do.

A contest

UPDATE: Alpheccalanche! Thanks for the link, Jeff!

No prize, just a bit of verbally creative fun.

Here’s the setup: I installed a new app on the computer and had to reboot. I got back into my email and there was an interesting (to me) headline on the news page. This was on the Comcast page so you probably can’t see the video there, but here’s the video on the Foxnews website. Here are a couple of screen caps:





The transcript onscreen missed the noises going on after the lady started talking, but I've inserted them below:

Jody Hoover: "He's got the chair in his hand! He's counting, oh my God, oh my God! He's getting ready to come in!"

[Bunch of noise and screaming]

911 Dispatcher: "Ma'am?"

Jody Hoover: "Yes!"

911 Dispatcher: "What happened?"

Jody Hoover: "He tried to come in and my husband shot him. And he's still moving!"

911 Dispatcher: "I want you to tell your husband to put the gun down."

Now, leaving aside the fact that the dispatcher's response to "still moving" should have been more along the lines of "then shoot him again", what should Ms. Hoover's response to the dispatcher's actual comment have been?

Get creative!

Sorry, Kate...

I'm not translating the gun-ese just yet. Perhaps soon. But in the spirit of encouraging another handloader (the Estimable JeffS), I thought I would list some calibers I have available to me. Not that I reload them all, they are just available for potential shooting.

Here are some that I do (or at least can) load for:

Pistol calibers:
.44 Magnum (though I tend to load to .44 Special velocities for regular shooting)
9mm Parabellum
(sadly not yet for my .45 ACP, but that may change soon)

Rifle calibers:
.280 Remington (several rifles of various flavors, but mostly semi-autos)
.243 Winchester
.244 Remington (which the modern world insists on calling the 6mm Remington)
.25 Remington (Grandpa's old Model 8)
and of course, the time-honored .30-'06

And now for some I don't (can't [yet]) load for, though I have probable access to them through extended family:

Pistol calibers:
.22
.45 ACP (but give me some time, I'm thinking about a Dillon progressive press, assuming enough cash becomes magically available)

Rifle calibers:
.250 Savage (AKA .250-3000)
.30-30 Winchester (not only a venerable Winchester Model 94, but a Savage bolt action)
7mm Remington Magnum (rebarrelled from what was originally a .300 Weatherby Magnum)
8mm Mauser (very cool, I may devote a post to this one sometime)
7.62x39mm
.300 Winchester Magnum (actually not completely sure about this one but I think there's one available)
.300 H&H Magnum (this one is also too cool, I may devote a post to it sometime too)
.338 Magnum (though my cousin's husband, a rather large fellow, says he doesn't like shooting it, which means that though I may have opportunity I may not take it, since he outweighs me by at least 130 lbs)

Hmm. Is that all? I guess so, at least for single-projectile firearms. But I also load for 12-gauge and 20-gauge shotguns (two different presses, shotgunning is a whole different ballgame) and have access to at least a couple of 16-gauge Winchester Model 12 shotguns, plus an odd, single-shot, lever-action .410 (and a snakecharmer in .410).

All in all, a very cool arsenal to play with. And I may have missed some... Oh, and for you thieves out there? Forget it. All are in mondo-gunsafes.

So I'm finally doing some actual gun blogging

And HH and Jeff gave me an idea for another post. I mentioned that, in addition to the .45 I'm buying, I'd like to get a Garand, among other new firearms. A number of folks mentioned that it's money slowing down their own personal gun-buying frenzy, and I sure feel that too.

So, if money were no issue at all, what would be your own personal wish list of guns to buy? Here's mine (or at least part of it) in the order I would likely buy them:

First, a flintlock replica rifle ("Pensylvania" or "Kentucky" style rifle). I already own a Hawken style caplock but I do enjoy blackpowder shooting. I'm a sucker for historical stuff like this, and not just guns. Given unlimited resources, I suppose I could become a "real" collector, but I'm a shooter more than a historian so I'd prefer shootable replicas to originals. And the colonial/revolutionary period is a special interest for me.

After the Pennsylvania rifle, I'd get a Ruger Single-Six. I know all the arguments for a double-action vs. single-action revolver, but I have to go traditional route on this one (with, of course, the bow to modernity of actual, useable sights and the option of .22LR and .22 mag). Besides, I almost always shoot double-action revolvers in single-action anyway. And it would be so handy on camping/hunting trips to take small game for the pot.

Okay, those last two are my list of "even if I don't become mega-rich" guns. They are ones I WILL own, hopefully before I die of old age.

Now, for the ones I doubt I'd be able to buy before winning the lottery:

First off, everything in the Navy Arms catalog. Oh yeah, I loves me some historical, blackpowder stuff. In particular, I want the Paterson Colt, the 1847 Walker, and the 1860 Army. I already have a .36 1851 Navy, and it is so much fun to shoot. Also, those top-break revolvers look pretty cool, as does the LeMat revolver; I'd have to check out some of them too. And what collection would be complete without an 1873 SA Army?

On the longarms front, I'd first go for the three-band Enfield, then browse through the other Civil War offerings, and back up to the 18th century for a Brown Bess. And after the war, I'd move on to the several styles of buffalo guns and single shots, in particular the 1873 Springfield, the 1874 Sharps, and the Remington Rolling Block.

And thence to the Henry and Winchester collections.

Hmm. Anything missing here? Oh yes, modern arms. I'd buy a motley collection of more modern stuff, including the 1895 Lee straight pull, a 1903 Springfield, a Lee-Enfield, and others. Oh, and some EBRs, too. But the top, number one in my list of "modern" rifles? The slickest bolt-action in the history of rifles.

That's my collection for tonight. I'll update if I think of any more particulars. Please drop you wish lists in the comments.

National Ammo Day

My bad. I didn't buy ammo on National Ammo Day. However, I did start the paperwork on a firearm, to be retrieved some 10+ days hence (piss on the CA legislature *spit*). I'm kinda bassackwards that way. I promise I will buy some ammo on National Buy a Gun Day.

Anyhoo, I've wanted a .45 Model 1911 for a long time, and I thought "there's no time like the present."

Oh, and there's the part about an anti-gun potentio-socialist in the White House with a Dembulb majority in both houses of Congress, and the potential mayhem that may ensue. So I decided to go for it.

The big decision: "What to do, what to do."

See, I'm a traditionalist in large part. I've wanted a Model 1911 for some time, seeing as how it was a mainstay of the U.S. military through two World Wars and beyond (same reason I want a Garand and a Springfield Model 1903, though I can't afford them). But the conundrum, for me, was: completely traditional route (i.e., Colt or Springfield standard military grade) or a newer model with the modern accoutrements (useable sights, no thumb-killing hammers, etc.)?

What to do, what to do?

So I compromised. Well, actually, I caved to certain realities. I wanted to buy local to home if possible (rather than local to work, where there are a few more options), I wanted a shootable weapon instead of a shootable-but-probably-should-just-hang-on-the-wall weapon, and this was just so pretty. Well, pretty and functional. Oh, and the one I settled on is a limited-edition, two-tone gun which comes just a wee bit closer to the blued metal of the traditional route, rather than the modern stainless route.

And since it's in the venerable "Colt Commander" configuration, I guess that's just barely traditional enough (the original Commander style having come out nearly 60 years ago, even before I was born) to satisfy my traditionalist leanings.

Aw hell. Who am I kidding? I caved to modernism. But I can live with that. I'm a gun whore, I admit it.