2005 November | The Bull Speaks!

Since Lady Beth was working open-to-close at B&B Pet Stop yesterday I decided to keep the van and drive over to the rifle range for a bit and burn some powder. My eldest, Clancy wanted to shoot a bit too, so she tagged along.

Right away we knew we had problems. Not bugs this time, but rather the wind. It was dead out of the East and speeding along at 10 to 15 knots at times. We posted a cardboard backed target, set up the chronograph and got busy.

Clancy took up the old .22 caliber Marlin 39A her grandpa bought in 1952 and proceeded to shoot some fine shots. Her tally at long range was pretty fine as well – despite the wind. I sincerely hope she takes up shooting as a sport. The girl has real promise as a competative shootist. Very shortly the cardboard backing failed in the face of such a strong wind. The particular stand I used only holds the target backing at the bottom. Plans are in the works for a full-framed PVC target stand with a weighted base.

NOTE: Loads listed below are safe in my guns with the listed components, but may not be in yours! Use common sense when reloading and reduce all loads by 10% and work up slowly! Use your reloading manual and an accurate scale. I’m not responsible for damage or injury if you blow your gun or yourself to the moon.

I decided that I’d work on accuracy later and would simply chronogragh a few .45 Colt loads using both the Winchester Trapper and the Ruger New Vaquero. One of the loads was a Hornady .454 soft swaged RNFP over 5.8 grains of the new Trail Boss powder. I have to say that I was impressed. The powder seemed to burn cleanly and completely. The average velocity of the 255 grain bullet was 825 ft/sec out of the 16 inch carbine barrel and 679 ft/sec from the Ruger’s 4.6 inch barrel.
For those that might care, I only use CCI primers, (These were the standard large pistol, not magnum.), and Starline brass, (nickel plated for the “carry” ammo.). Recoil was soft even for the .45 Colt and while not fired at an “offical” target, the gongs 50 yards down range were ringing with amazing regularity. This should be a fine low-energy smokeless Cowboy action load. Oh yeah, no leading problems in either gun! Seems Hornady’s lube works as advertised.

Next I opened the top on a box of 250 grain Speer Gold Dot hollowpoints in Starline nickel-plated cases and my usual CCI Lg. Pistol primers. The charge was 7.8 grains of Unique per Speer’s recommendation. From the carbine this load ran along at an average of 1079 ft/sec, generating about 647 ft/lbs of energy. Out of the revolver I got a rather nice 943 ft/sec and calculated 494 ft/lbs of energy. This is plenty of velocity to open up the big “flying ashtray” hollowpoint slug. Again, no formal target – yet. Nevertheless, the handy gongs rang out loud at 50 yards. This will be my carry ammo for the Ruger. Up to this point I’ve carried the factory-loaded 225 grain Winchester Silver-Tip. While very accurate in group size, it shoots low. My Ruger seems to like heavier bullets.

I also ran a few rounds loaded with Beartooth’s 280 grain WFN-GC bullets over various amounts of Accurate #5 powder through the Trapper. The loads ranged from 9.4 to 10.2 grains in .2 grain increments. I’ve not yet completed the calculations, but it appears that this bullet/powder combo is capable of moving that big slug out of the 16 inch carbine barrel at around 1050 ft/sec. That ain’t bad in anyone’s book! Should push that massive flat point end-to-end through a heavy tusker hog. I’ve not fired these loads in the Ruger yet either. I’m saving that for when my shooting gloves arrive as I expect there will be much recoil from that 4.6 inch barreled revolver!

Until the next Range Day,
Omar, out!  End of Article

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Only the flaming idiots over at PETA could come up with this horse shit…

First, all you Dads out there are blood-thirsty monsters who get off on hooking and gutting fish. PETA is telling your kids this in comic books and then adding that the kid’s dog or cat is next on your hit-list.

I shit you not. This is for real!

Moms of America, you are not left out either. You are murderers. After all, you serve meat to your kids and are forcing them to be cannibals by serving them meat. Now, my nickname may be “Bull”, but last I checked the ol’ family tree there wasn’t a Holstein or Angus in the herd.

‘Nary a trout, crab, nor bird either!

But wait! There is more!

The mindless morons are also using the “Bird Flu” to convince people to go vegitarian. No kidding. PETA staged a small demonstration on Nov. 9th outside Agriculture Department headquarters with banners telling people, “Bird Flu Kills: Go Vegetarian.”

[sarcasm on]
Oh! I’m scared!
I need comfort food. Quick! Fry me up some bacon, Lady Beth! I’ll have some cheese, too. And a glass of cold fresh milk to wash it down with…
[sarcasm off]

Gods above! Save us from bleeding-heart, left-wing Liberals and their mindless tree-hugger flunkies!

Omar, out.  End of Article

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Finally got to take my new Winchester Trapper .45 Colt carbine to the range yesterday. Since I bought the thing I’ve installed a full set of Marble’s sights, (1/16″ ivory bead front, a folding rear, and a tang mounted peep.), bore-scoped the barrel, slugged it, and got to working up loads.

Along comes Hurricane Katrina and puts 9 feet of water onto the range, pretty well wrecking the facilities.

Finally, weather, family duties, and health come together to allow me a chance to shoot. So with Lady Beth riding along, I headed to the range. First thing to do was to work on the folding rear sight. I double checked my measurements with a micrometer to assure I had everyting centered in the slots on both front and rear dovetails, loaded up with factory-equiv. 255gr. Beartooth RNFP, and took a shot at 25 yards to see where we were…

The first ever shot hit one half an inch to the left off dead center. Now that is lucky! Fired two more to check. These two tore the bullseye out of the paper. No adjustments needed here! I figure the folding blade will be used in the brush and in close on hog hunts, (if I ever get back into the woods…). Dead on at 25 yds is just dandy. Five more rounds didn’t do much but make the hole in the middle a tad bigger, so I thought it was time to fold down the rear blade and flip up the tang sight.

This needed a bit of adjustment – and a new target. Took seven rounds to get the 25 yd point of impact to be 3 full inches above dead center. Once it was there, I didn’t bother to move the target out further. The bloody “no-see-ums” moved in off Bayou Heron and made life miserable on the bench. So, I moved into the open and started getting a feel for the carbine at various ranges and on “targets of opportunity”. Geez!! I love this carbine – and those Marble’s sights!! I began popping the semi-permanent long range gongs right and left. Even at 200 meters a 12 inch gong was in serious danger. Remember, this carbine is chambered for the .45 Colt pistol cartridge. That’s pretty impressive performance in my book.

For such a maligned action (among the Cowboy crowd) and a 100+ yr old cartridge, I’d say they perform pretty dog-gone well. Can’t wait until I can get back out there, (with bug spray this time), and do some measured bench work with that tang mounted peep sight. Then, it will be time to try those 280gr Beartooth WFNGC slug loads!

Omar, out!  End of Article

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Dan Roy.

Happy Birthday, my Brother. More than that, my older brother.

You taught me much in our too limited time together. How to shoot and actually hit a target. The best places to fish, even if it did cost a broken bone – or two – or more! The small things you taught me are endless and if not ‘life changing’ those things are at the very least the best of memories.

I should write much more, but the tears make it too hard to see the screen. Remember this, Dear Brother:

I love you and I miss you more every day I live. One day we will tramp together again.

  End of Article

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Today Lady Beth and Yours Truely finally drove over into Mississippi and joined the local DCM Shooting Club. This one being the Pascagoula DCM. This is something I always said I’d do someday. Then my life fell apart and it has taken me years to get back to being able to do what I should have done long ago.

Talk about your nice ranges! While I didn’t walk the berms, (some shooting was going on…), said berms appeared to be on the order of12 to 15 feet in height. Covered benches, range office, warehouse, restroom, shower, electicity, picnic tables, a rimfire silhouette area, long range gongs, and ranges from 100 to 1000 meters. What else could you ask for?

Oh, the place did get smacked pretty hard by Hurricane “Katrina“. The high water mark on the poles was nine(9) feet off the ground. Mind you, this is 1.5 miles from the bayou. A bit more to the open Gulf. More, this range is practically on the Alabama border. Gives you an idea of the fury of that storm, doesn’t it? Work continues to put everything back to normal, but soon the place will be back to its full glory.

The application process was short & sweet, $70 for annual dues, and I have a key to the gate! Now I can shoot when I have a mind to do so and not have to just sit and wish. No restrictions on ammo or caliber either. I can fire anything from my .50 & .62 caliber flintlock muzzleloaders to .45 Colt carbines to a future 6.5×55mm Swede. Some of the members are holders of Federal licenses to own machine guns. Should make for a few interesting afternoons when the M1919’s, “grease guns”, and Glock Mod. 18’s come out to play.

The club also host monthly long range black powder cartridge rifle (BPCR) matches, Service rifle matches, rimfire silhouette matches, and pistol matches. Gods, I’m happy!!

The Civilian Marksmanship Program. I bet a bunch of folks don’t have a clue what that is, or if they do, they didn’t know it was still around. If it were left to the Left-wing Liberal nuts like the “Nazi Cow” Hillary Clinton, it wouldn’t. The CMP is, well, here’s how they describe themselves…

The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) promotes firearms safety training and rifle practice for all qualified U.S. citizens with special emphasis on youth. The CMP operates through a network of affiliated shooting clubs and associations that covers every state in the U.S. The clubs and associations offer firearms safety training and marksmanship courses as well as the opportunity for continued practice and competition.

The CMP was created by the U.S. Congress. The original purpose was to provide civilians an opportunity to learn and practice marksmanship skills so they would be skilled marksmen if later called on to serve the U.S. military. Over the years the emphasis of the program shifted to focus on youth development through marksmanship. From 1916 until 1996 the CMP was administered by the U.S. Army. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 (TITLE XVI) created the Corporation for the Promotion of Rifle Practice & Firearms Safety, Inc. (CPRPFS) to take over administration and promotion of the CMP. The CPRPFS is a tax exempt not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization that derives its mission from public law.

And, yes, they do still sell some surplus military bolt action and semi-auto rifles to members along with surplus ammo. (No machine guns or M16’s. So you anti-gun boobs can forget that angle. These are old, old guns.) They also hold National as well as Regional matches. The best known of these are the Creedmore Cup and Camp Perry. Let us not forget the Juniopr Divisions! Some of those kids are amazing shootist. Safety is #1 – always.

Frankly, I can’t see why any parent would not want their kids involved with the CMP where they can learn firearms safety from professionals and carry on a great American Tradition of marksmanship excellence. Our children will be very active in the shooting sports. Clancy, my eldest, is already hammering me aboout when she can get back on the benches. If her skills are better now than they were when she was 11 years old, I’m in big trouble! That girl can shoot!

If you are a gun owner, a hunter, or are interested at all in the shooting sports, there is NO reason why you shold not affiliate yourself with your local range and get involved with the CMP. Do it today! You never know when, like me, the unexpected may delay those things you ‘plan’ on doing ‘one day’. The day is TODAY!

Join the NRA, too.

Omar, out!  End of Article

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Want to read a strange retail story? Read on. The following was found in the “Out There” section of Fox News. Then read my comments below…

Wednesday, November 09, 2005
No, your holiday binge drinking hasn’t gotten that out of control so early â€??? that Christmas tree really is upside down.

Retailers are rolling out inverted trees as a hot new novelty item this holiday season.

Claiming the new model “Leaves more room on the floor for gifts,” Target offers three upside-down trees for $299.99-$499.99 on its Web site, according to USA Today.

The paper reports that ChristmasTreeForMe.com is selling bizarro trees in the 5-to-7½-foot range for $280-$504 and Hammacher Schlemmer has rolled out a $599.95 pre-lit model â€??? which it can’t keep in stock.

“We increased the amount we ordered from last year, but ended up selling all of them already,” Joe Jamrosz of Hammacher Schlemmer told USA Today.

“The Solstice Evergreen” author Sheryl Karas told the paper she isn’t sure what’s behind the new upside-down tree trend, a Central European tradition from the 12th century.

“There’s something sinister, almost bad, about it,” the Santa Cruz, Calif., author, told USA Today.

“It’s a pagan thing,” she said. “If they thought about it, they wouldn’t turn it upside down.”

But the retailers defend the fake flipside trees, hung from the ceiling or a wall, sometimes with a weighted base, as just so much holiday fun.

“Many of the people have been using them as their second tree. A novelty,” Jamrosz told USA Today. “They also find the bigger gifts don’t fit under a traditional tree.”

First, the entire idea of bringing trees indoors during the longest nights of the year is, indeed, a Pagan thing. We bring in living trees for the fey to live in where it is warm and dry. It is, like the idea of the Easter Egg, a Pagan tradition kidnapped by the Christians.

So, why would Pagans want to turn OUR OWN SYMBOLS upside-down?

You idiots! This is a marketing ploy, pure and simple. The idea is to make more room under the tree so those of you out there that equate “Love” with “dollars spent” will have to spend even more. Don’t for one bloody moment even dare to blame Pagans for this stupidity. For that matter, don’t blame the Christians either.

Blame the Wall Street marketing directors and the concept of, or ‘God’ to some, Greed.

Omar, out.  End of Article

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November 9th… Now there is a special day! Why? Simple. It is my oldest childs birthday.

Clancy Breeann turns nineteen today. That’s right, nineteen. The big 1, 9! It’s a weird age as I recall. In the eyes of most of society you are no longer a kid, but still not quite an adult. Heck, I missed my nineteenth birthday. I simply forgot it. Clancy seems to be totally non-concerned. She even had the audacicity to tell me she’s “getting old“.

Getting old“?? My Gods! Youth is completely wasted upon the young!! :-/

I suppose that this birthday means more to me than it does to her. As I’ve written before, she recently moved in with us and began her Nursing studies at the University of South Alabama, (and currently a straight ‘A’ student. Yep, I’m proud!). Due to what became an ugly post-divorce, I’ve had very limited contact with my kids for years. It is the first time in those years that I will be able to give my daughter a hug and a kiss on her birthday rather than just a phone call. No matter what she gets for her birthday, there is no doubt that the biggest ‘present’ is mine – having her here with me.

Happy Birthday, Clancy! Daddy loves you.

“Proud Papa” Omar, out.  End of Article

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er… Give or take a couple of days depending on your Tradition, that is.

Yep. It’s New Years day for me. No resolutions, no wild parties. Just lots of wholesome family fun that we enjoyed to the fullest. Oh, we did have a party on Friday night, but it was mellow and lots of fun. The scene was completed with the first large-scale use of our fire pit. Everyone enjoyed themselves and everyone was very well behaved.

Next time I’m considering a pig over that fire…

Omar, out.  End of Article

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