Somehow I managed to pull a 20 out of my ass on the trap line tonight. Yes, that’s a first for me. I’ve never broken into the 20s before.
It would have been even more impressive if I hadn’t shot an 11 right before that. I don’t know where that came from. I guess only shooting one line last week and nothing over the weekend left me a bit rusty.
Oh well. Got a bunch of shells loaded up at this point and I’m all set for a trip to a local club for some sporting clays Saturday morning.
Whoot!
Finally got my S&W 442 that I bought back in early April. The dealer couldn’t get them in stock until this week. Glad to have that out of the way.
Hit the trap range this evening and got rained on a bit. I switched back to my 870 Wingmaster for the night because I didn’t want to take a loaner gun out into rainy conditions. Before leaving I shouldered a few shotguns trying to figure out what was so “off” with my 870. Conclusion: The recoil pad has smoothed out over the years. There’s no grip to it and the gun slides around. I don’t have that with the guns I shoot better. So, tore the old pad off and put a nice grippy slip-on in its place.
Shot a 12.
Okay, apparently that wasn’t the problem. I just suck at trap with my 870. I’m better with a $90 NEF 20 gauge and a $150 Baikal 12 gauge. Go figure.
Hit the pistol range with the new 442 after that. Rested the gun on the bench, fired a cylinder at a paper plate 7 yards away and only hit it twice. WTF? I then repeated the feat. WTF?
Stood up, took a good isosceles stance and then put a cylinder into a palm sized group a couple inches high and to the right. Ok, so it does what it needs to. I’m not terribly sure why I can’t shoot from a rest, but there you have it. I can’t.
Got home and, using a borrowed scale, measured the powder throws on my new press and cranked out 75 shells for this weekend.
It’s nice having a hobby.
On July 10 I put in an order somewhere online for a: scale, 500 wads, and a silicone cloth.
On July 17 I get an email: Wads are on back order. Should we wait or ship separate? I respond back within hours to ship them separate.
Today, July 22 (12 days after the order was submitted) I get an email from UPS. They’ll be by shortly to pick my package up from the online vendor.
Twelve days (8 business days) before they even START to ship my order? Oh fuck that. I’m done with them.
Today I learned that you might as well just handle #8 shot like it’s freaking water.
Holy crap that stuff gets everywhere.
In related news one of the biggest problems with a Lee Load-All is that you have to empty the shot and powder hoppers before you can change bushings. I think I’ve found a way around that. Maybe some pictures and video later.
I learned a few things today.
1) Our coonhound will swim if she’s got a duck to chase in a pond.
2) Neither dog will exit the pond as long as there’s a duck to chase.
I swear they were in that pond for 15 minutes straight swimming in circles after 4 ducks. Would not get out no matter how much we called for them. Somebody that lived there (we were at a private residence, people I’ve known for about 15 years) finally donned a swimsuit and waded in to snag them. I felt like a real dick for that one, but was ready to strip down to my skivvies long before that happened.
Clearly we have some obedience issues here. They’re pretty good when there’s no distractions. I can direct ‘em around the house just by pointing, and the stubborn coonhound will gladly prance from one end house to another to crate herself with a simple “Hops in box!” command. (Her name is Hops. I thought it was funny to teach her to crate with that command.)
Of course, watching the Labradonkulus chase ducks in a pond for 15 minutes straight has got me thinking I should take up duck hunting just to give the dog a job. Fetching and swimming we’ve known were his forte for a while now. Seems he got a thing for ducks too.
Some time ago Google recommend I toss this blog onto my list. It’s a blog written by a cop. I find it interesting from time to time. Today especially.
Reference this particular post.
I’ve spent the last couple of years working dope and violent street crime in some of the crappiest parts of my city. During that time my team and I have knocked doors off hinges during entries, busted out car windows during vehicle assaults, shot dogs, and planted people on the ground hard. However we never received a single internal affairs complaint or been threatened with a lawsuit during that time. I guess if you are a robber or a drug dealer, you understand how the game works and you take your lumps as part of doing business.
I’ve been back on the bike patrol for less than a month and I’ve already been threated with IA investigations and a lawsuit twice for barely putting my hands on someone.
The story continues with him getting a drunk guy off the road as he hails down a cab. That’s good stuff, and an arrest for drunk in public or some such would have been very prudent in such a situation, but he didn’t bother with that. He continues:
As I started to bike off, he stepped back in the street and yelled, “Fuck you asshole!” Well that did it. I came back around and got in his face.
Not being an officer of the law, and having this same epitaph screamed at me a few times in my life, I’d just shrug and keep on going. Not him.
I told him that he was under arrest and to put his hands behind his back. He just stood there with a smirk on his face and said I couldn’t arrest him. One judo hip toss later, he was laying on his face while I cuffed him.
Call me crazy, many have, but this isn’t the best story to be telling when you’re complaining about lawsuits and IA investigations. This doesn’t sound like a matter of public safety, it’s just ego.
And then:
Once we got to the jail, he wouldn’t sit on the bench while we waited to have him processed. I told him that if he didn’t sit down, I was going to force him to. He said, “I think I will just keep standing. Thank you very much.”One jugular notch pressure point later and he was sitting on his butt coughing.
He’s not making a very good case for himself here.
Of course, this is the same blogger that lamented that the police don’t have enough funding or resources to properly handle murder and rape cases, actual violent crimes. Then goes on to explain that in the narcotics unit they have all the resources they need. You know, for busting people doing drugs.
Then again, given that the blogger uses a picture of Denzel Washington from the movie Training Day as his profile icon I really shouldn’t be surprised. Not sure he got the point of that movie.
I got out on Saturday last weekend and did 3 rounds of trap with my little NEF 20 gauge. Nice thing was everybody there that day was only interested in wobble trap so I had the regular trap line to myself. Ran through two lines pretty quick and then did a 3rd where I just stuck myself at station 5 the whole time. I needed that.
So, today I wander over with my little 20 gauge again today and shot a 15 for the first round. Another member of the Off A Lot Shooters team asked if I’d be interested in trying out a different gun. (Note: I shoot about as well with my little NEF as I do with a 12 gauge 870. I think this says something about what I should be using for trap.)
So, he hands me a Baikal single shot 12 gauge. Shot an 18 with that. Started at station 1 and went: 4-4-2-4-4.
Now, for those of you that have been following along I usually have problems on stations 4 and 5. Not today! I blew station 3 pretty badly, but knew they were misses as soon as I pulled the trigger. Now, it’s nothing to brag about, but 18 is the best I’ve shot all year and I was really happy to smash some birds that broke right on me at 4 and 5. That’s where I’ve been having problems all year and I’ve finally figured out just what the picture needs to look like when I pull the trigger. Awesome.
Oh, and the originator of the Off A Lot Shooters team handed me a pile of spent hulls, 500 wads, an Alliant powder manual, and a good helping of Promo powder and #8 shot. All I need is a scale and I’ll be able to start cranking out my own shot shells!
My wife has finally cleared me to release this information to my legion of followers (all 6) on the internet. We agreed early on not to make this entirely public until the 1st trimester was done, but most everybody in our personal circles is well aware of this already.
We’ve made a baby and at this point it’s 13 weeks along.
I have some notes that I jotted down during the week after I found out. One thing that sticks out at me is how I felt about the whole thing. It’s not something I remember hearing from other fathers, but I’ve never really talked with another father about what they felt when they found out they’d made a baby.
I felt like Superman. I’m not kidding. That feeling repeated itself when I saw the first ultrasound at 8 weeks and got to see the heart beating, and then the doppler reading of the heartbeat at 12 weeks.
Among many other things I now have to revamp the manner in which I store my guns. The majority are locked up good and safe but I tend to just store my carry pistols in my desk drawers. Obviously I’m going to need to invest in some kind of GunVault safe in the near future.
My Lee Load-All II arrived in the mail on Friday. I try and make it to the range on July 4th every year but given that I bailed on the wife Friday for a round of golf I wasn’t going to leave her home alone while I went plinking.
Instead I mounted up my first reloading press in the basement and deprimed and resized some shotgun hulls.
I’m really geeked about this one now. Finally, after 8 years of shooting, I’m going to start reloading!
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