The Smallest Minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities. – Ayn Rand
Today is National Ammo Day (happy birthday, Kim!)
I’m not buying ammo this year, but I am loading it. Here’s the result of the last couple of evenings at the press:
That’s about 500 rounds of 200 grain hollowpoint .45ACP in a .30 cal ammo can. There’s room for about another hundred, and I’ve got the components for a total of 600 more. I need to find another empty can someplace.
Sorry about the light posting, but I really am loading ammo. Not (necessarily) for the Zombocalypse, but because I’m low on several calibers, most especially .45ACP. I’m down to maybe a hundred of my competition load, 150 defense (200 grain Gold Dot), and 200 factory hardball rounds. I loaded 250 .38 Supers on Monday, tonight I’m planning on cranking out 200 .45 target loads, and I’m going to try to do 200 a night until I’ve used up the thousand 200 grain Rainier Ballistics hollowpoints I’ve got. Next comes .223. I’m down to maybe 200 of those, but I have enough components for another thousand.
I’ll be busy for several days, but I will be posting, just not as much. Oh, and this weekend, I get to tackle reformatting the blog and migrating comments. Oh boy!
Oh, plus a trip to the range. I’ve got some load testing to do.
Today we held our seventh monthly bowling pin match at Tucson Rifle Club. Fourteen people (besides myself) came to shoot, and eight of them brought a .22 along with their centerfire pistols. We changed the match format for this month. Instead of shooting qualifying times and then a handicapped best-of-three double-elimination tournament, everybody shot against everybody else once (except where I screwed up the scoring and had some people shoot against each other twice). Oh, and there were two ties that required reshoots.
We started the match at about 8:30, and went non-stop until about 1:30. That’s a lot of shooting, ladies and gentlemen. (Hint: it shouldn’t take that long! 😉
So here are the scores, .22 Rimfire first:
Travis Higgins, Ruger MkIII: 7 wins (undefeated)
Elaine Tab, S&W Model 41: 5 wins
Cliff Reed, Kimber: 4 wins
Bill Tab, S&W Model 41: 3 wins
David Carr, Ruger MkIII: 3 wins
John Higgins, EAA Witness: 3 wins
Froilan Gutierrez, Ruger MkIII: 3 wins
Kyle Blecker, suppressed ?: 0 wins
Kyle had a lot of ammo trouble, but his gun sure was quiet!
Centerfire:
Kevin Baker, Kimber Classic, .45ACP: 14 wins (undefeated)
John Higgins, EAA Witness, 9mm: 12 wins
Clifford Reed, Norinco 1911, .45ACP: 10 wins
Jim Walters, EAA Witness, 9mm: 9 wins
Ken Cabrera, Sig 220, .45ACP: 9 wins
Jim Burnett, Clark Custom 1911, 45ACP: 8 wins
Bill Tab, Kimber Classic Target, .45ACP: 8 wins
Travis Higgins, Browning Hi-Power, 9mm: 7 wins
Rick Lavaty, 1911 (unknown), .45ACP: 6 wins
Joe Lancaster, Beretta 92, 9mm: 6 wins
Skip Blecker, Glock, 9mm: 4 wins
Larry Boykin, Rock Island 1911, 9mm: 4 wins
Elaine Tab, Kimber Classic Target, .45ACP: 3 wins
Froilan Gutierrez, Colt 1911 custom, .45ACP: 3 wins
Kyle Blecker, Glock 9mm: 2 wins
If you do the math, that’s 28 rimfire matches and 105 centerfire matches for a total of 133 matches in five hours, or about one match every 2¼ minutes. We were busy.
I’d also like to say that this is the first match out of the seven we’ve held that I’ve won. Yeaaaa me!
Rick Lavaty won the prize drawing and at least got his gas money back, all $23 worth. Bill and Elaine Tab shared one .45 and one .22, and had to borrow guns to shoot against each other. Bill said he and Elaine went through about $200 worth of ammo for this one match, but it was better than “blowing it at the casino!” I can agree with that!
My tables are all shot up again, so it’s time to rebuild them. Thanks to those who donated to the table fund! And thanks to everyone who helped set up, set pins, run the match, and especially tear down at the end! Special thanks to those of you who helped saw off pin tops for the .22 matches. That’s a lot of work to do with your strong hand during a match.
Next month we’re staying with the same format, but with one change – minor calibers will compete against minors, majors against majors, and the winners from each will compete against each other, best two-out-of-three for the title. That ought to cut down a bit on the round count and get us done a bit earlier. Plus, the match will start at 9:00AM instead of 8:00.
Sunday, December 12. Put it on your calendars!
Tucson Rifle Club action range. Registration begins at 8:00 AM. Sign in at the range office, but if all you’re going to do is shoot the match, you don’t need to pay the daily use range fee – it’s part of the match entry fee for non-members. $10 for the first gun, $5 each for additional guns. First round downrange (hopefully) by about 8:30.
This one’s going to be a little different.
Centerfire and .22 rimfire will be run as separate classes, other than that, it’s everybody against everybody.
Smallest centerfire allowed: .38 Special. Hollowpoint and flat-point bullets work better at carrying pins off the tables than round-nose or FMJ bullets do, regardless of caliber.
If you show up, you’ll be paired off against all other shooters for one (1) man-on-man competition each. Bring enough ammo. Attendance has been running in the 12-15 shooter range, If you shoot against 12 other people and only five rounds per match, that’s 60 rounds.
Most people take more than five shots.
A LOT more.
Even if you lose the match, you get to keep shooting until you’ve cleared your table. Consider it practice for the next round.
Whoever wins the most tables will be declared victor of the day. Your only prize: the accolades of your peers.
Everyone who hangs around until the end of the match will be put in for the drawing. $1 of each entry goes into a pot. A drawing from the names of those present will be taken, and the winner gets the whole pot. It’s been running about $20, so you get your entry fee back, and a little gas money.
See you next Sunday!
Man, I’m beat. I got up at 4:00AM this morning, partly because the better-half decided that this would be a good weekend to have a yard sale, and I had to move my truck out of the driveway so she could set up. I didn’t leave until about a quarter after six, since I had to help, but I got to the range about 7:15 and Exurban Kevin was right behind me. My new cart was one of the best purchases I’ve made recently. It really helped in getting all of the stuff from my truck to the shooting benches and then downrange and back again.
A total of about twelve people showed up, mostly from AR15.com, but besides us the range was PACKED. One group showed up with some full-auto fun and a single-shot .50BMG, about half of the rest of the crowd had EBRs of one flavor or another. My steel took quite a beating. I managed to break a weld on the one I hung up at 100 yards, but the other weld held so we kept shooting at it. Now my ammo stocks are low again and I need to do some serious reloading. Thankfully the component drought has ended and I have a pretty good supply on hand so that I can.
Thanks again to Exurban Kevin for the idea, and we’ll have to do this again next year. (Pictures to follow – though not many, I was busy shooting – when I get a chance to download them.)
I’m almost finished packing up the truck for the hour-long drive to the range. Hope to see you there!
OK, here’s what we have:
ExurbanKevin and I are setting up a completely informal get-together of bloggers, message board members, and readers. We did this last year and had a very good time. I want this one to be bigger. The weather should be beautiful.
Date: Saturday, November 6, 2010
Time: 7:00AM ’till ?
Location: Elsy Pearson Public Shooting Range, Casa Grande, AZ, just off of I-8, just West of the I-10/I-8 interchange.
The Elsy Pearson Public Range has three areas with shooting benches and sun shades. There is a 100 yard range, a 300 yard range, and a 25 yard range. There’s also a bigass rock outcropping on the side of the mountain about 600 yards downrange if you want something to bounce bullets off of. The city of Casa Grande has finally seen fit to equip the range with a Porta-pottie, but there still isn’t any running water. Everyone needs to bring lots of fluids, if nothing else. Oh, and sunscreen. It may be cool, but the UV count is still high.
The range is unattended. We are expected to behave ourselves and clean up afterward. The site is posted “Absolutely No Explosives,” so no Tannerite on site, and no exploding targets of any kind. Sorry. They don’t like .50BMG at the range, but I’ve seen people shooting them there and so far as I know, no one has complained.
The same cannot be said for Tannerite.
Full auto, on the other hand, is A-OK. (Just have your paperwork. The police range is about 400 yards away.)
There are concrete shooting benches, but no chairs. Bring your own. The shooting area is fenced, so no vehicles downrange. If your stuff is heavy, bring a cart that’ll fit through a 3′ man-gate. (I have to get one of those.)
I plan on bringing my tables and bowling pins and setting up for pin shooting on the 25 yard range – no charge, just come shoot. I have my steel plates (9″ x 11″ x 1″ AR500 armor – they’ll stop a .50) and I’ll be bringing a few of those for people to shoot at. (That’s why I need a cart. Those mothers weigh 35 lbs each!) I’ll bring some other things to play with, too.
The range HAS NO TARGET STANDS. Bring something to put your targets on. The ground is about as hard as concrete, so the cheap-ass wire frames you’re supposed to stick in the ground? Uh-uh. My stand is made of 2″ PVC pipe and 2×2 lumber. Other people just bring big cardboard boxes they set on the ground, or their own target stands that just sit on the surface. Whatever works for you.
Oh, NO GLASS. If you want to shoot something that breaks, I’ll be bringing some clay pigeons.
We’re planning on lunch at the range. I’m going to bring a small gas-fired grill and some burgers ‘n fixin’s, I encourage others to do the same. Sharing is fun! (Please don’t share salmonella.)
Bear in mind, this is a public range. Other people not associated with this shoot will be there, too.
Please do plan on coming. See you Saturday!
Oh, and BTW, aside from some short posts this week, I won’t be blogging much. I need to load some ammo for the shoot.
I shot my first Glock, excuse me, GLOCK today. The Tucson Rifle Club is hosting a Glock Sport Shooting Foundation match, “Duel in the Desert IV” today and tomorrow. The match is a three-stage event, four runs at a six-plate rack, and three runs each at GLOCK ‘M and 5 to GLOCK (PDF files). One of the guys who helps run the USPSA matches sent an email saying “bring your own ammo and you can shoot my pistol.” Since I don’t own a Glock, er, GLOCK, I decided to take him up on the offer. Mr. Completely endorsed it. I ended up shooting someone else’s pistol, but that was OK.
The Model 17 I shot was not stock. It had about a 2lb. trigger and the sights were definitely aftermarket, with a fiber-optic front and an triangular rear notch. However, I now understand what everyone who comments on the Glock (oh the hell with it) grip angle is talking about. It naturally points WAY high in my hand, and takes a concerted effort to keep the sights lined up.
It was quite a bit more expensive than I had anticipated to shoot the match. Apparently I’m now a member of GSSF for the next year, not that that will entice me to actually buy one. Still, I had fun, and I was not as bad at it as I expected, with a strange gun and all.
We’ll see if I win anything in the random drawings. I’m sure not winning any prizes with my shooting.
Another bump on this one. MidwayUSA is offering discounts to my readers through October 17:
To receive your Savings:
1. Place in-stock products in your shopping cart totaling:
$10 off $100 – Use Promotion Code 19310
$20 off $200 – Use Promotion Code 29310
$30 off $300 – Use Promotion Code 39310Enter the promotion code in the box entitled “Promotion Code” on the shopping cart page.
2. You will see the discount on the Confirmation page before placing your order.
3. Remember, this promotion code is valid for orders placed on MidwayUSA.com.
4. Limited to in-stock products, one per Customer and one promotion code per retail order.
5. Excludes Gift Certificates and Nightforce products, Sale priced products and Clearance products.
6. Offer valid for retail Customers only.
7. Offer cannot be combined with Birthday or Special Pricing.
8. Hurry, offer ends at 11:59 PM CT October 17, 2010.
Match Report – 10/10/10 – “Ten Pins”
Today’s bowling pin match went off quite well if I do say so myself, but I can see some changes are going to be necessary. Fourteen people showed up to shoot the match (not counting me), and this was the first month where we shot a .22 rimfire class. Five of the fourteen brought a .22 to shoot in addition to their centerfire guns, and one shooter brought two different .45’s to shoot, so there were a total of 20 entries (plus mine).
I ran out of entry sheets!
In agreement with the shooters, we had only three qualifying runs per shooter with their centerfire pistols instead of five, then we went straight to the .22 competition. Instead of running a .22 classifier, I just lined up two shooters against each other and ran one “practice” round to see what kind of differential we were looking at. From that I set a handicap, and we ran a double-elimination tournament. John Higgins with an iron-sighted S&W model 41 took the honors, competing against “Doc” O’Hanlon shooting a Browning Buckmark with a red-dot. Best match of the day, though was this one, filmed by John O’C with his cell phone:
http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf
I wish I could tell you who was shooting, but that match was a dead-even tie at just over five seconds.
After the .22 competition we started the centerfire class, running a single-elimination competition due to time constraints. I lasted two whole rounds before I was eliminated. The match eventually ended up with Jim Burnette shooting against Phil Roberts. Jim has a long history shooting bowling pin matches and has an original Clark custom compensated 1911 chambered in John Moses Browning’s (PBUH) .45ACP. Phil was shooting an uncompensated STI hi-cap 1911 in .40 S&W. Jim won the first round, but Phil pulled it out in the last two for the win.
John O’C drove down from Chandler for the match, and as I mentioned, provided the video above. He won the drawing at the end of the match and took home the $21, which might actually cover the cost of his gas for the trip.
I want to thank everyone for coming, and for helping set up, run, and tear down afterwards. It makes everything run much more smoothly.
I think for next month’s match we will stay with single-elimination, but we will go to a best 3 out of 5 competition rather than best 2 out of 3. The idea here is to come out and shoot, and if you got taken out in the first or second round, you didn’t get to shoot much. Again, we will stay with the three runs for time for the centerfire shooters, and one side-by-side “practice” run for those competing in .22. (I may have to drag out my MkII and join in on that one. Or maybe my Single-Six…)
Overall, everyone seemed to have a good time, but I’ll keep trying to improve the match and pull in more shooters. The next match will be held November 14 at 8:00AM at the Tucson Rifle Club.