Even when they were making fun of my (lack of) shootin' skillz...
Let's start with the attendees. Heath and Amanda followed me to Harvard Sportsmen's Club, where Liz and Bill hosted our
A finer group of people you couldn't wish for...
So, onto what everyone wants to see: The guns!
Here are the many offerings:
Yeah. We easily had enough ordnance to conquer Canada. Hell, if I'd gotten on 495 going the wrong way I probably could have gotten Quebec to pre-emptively surrender when I hit northern Vermont... We had a wide gamut of firearms, from mil-surp Nagants and Enfields to top-end ARs, mini-14s, and even a Sig 556. Lots of shootie goodness to be enjoyed, that's for sure!
Here's where we were shooting:
25 & 50 Yard Ranges
And yes, those are eeeeevil orange clays on the backstop. You've got to keep a close eye on those clays, because they will charge at the slightest provocation. It's best to keep a shotgun fully charged just in case a group gets too close... The clays shown are on the 25 yard berm, but we also had clays on the 50 yard berm. Significantly more challenging...
Here's what it looked like when we were through:
Brass By The BushelThat's a big heapin' pile 'o' brass right there. I shudder to think of what the street value of the ammunition expended today would run (I was shooting 7.62X39mm that had a sticker price of $2.49 for a box of 20, so my prices weren't exactly current). Bill and Liz took the brass home, as they reload and we figured it was the least we could do to show our gratitude for hosting.
Some highlights, lowlights, and other thoughts of the day now.
Everybody loves the Colt Gold Cup National Match. AD was willing to endure the poking, prodding and otherwise humiliation of the TSA Security Theater for a shot at secreting it away upon his person to take home. I even commented, as I cleaned off some 2-300 rounds' worth of grime, that she was a "dirty, filthy whore" - a comment that garnered an odd look from Liz, until I opined that pretty much everyone had their hands on my Colt today...
Had two issues with two of my guns. I forgot to bring the allen wrench for the SpecOps stock on the Mossberg with me, so naturally it worked itself loose after about a dozen rounds of buckshot and slugs. A quick glance around the benches and bags failed to yield a proper wrench, so I had to retire the 590 prematurely. I did get to shoot 00 buckshot and slugs through it, though. The Bushmaster was emphatic in refusing reloaded .223 ammo, getting hung up on chambering and generally just plain stopped working after 1 or 2 rounds. Switched back to Rem factory ammo, no problem. Shot some of Heath's Norinco .223, no problem.
In all of the excitement, I don't want to lose sight of a new shooter - look for a separate report later today. Sunday night one of our attendees mentioned in passing that he would like to attend the shooting portion of the meet-n-greet, but that he hadn't shot in years, having fired a .22 rifle many decades prior.
One of my favorite parts of a get-together like this is getting the opportunity to try out new, different, and/or exotic firearms. I got to shoot Dwight's delicious Uberti - this is an absolute hoot, as the heft of the gun cancels all recoil, and the .45 Colt round takes its sweet time getting downrange on the 50 yard range. LOTS of fun to shoot. TOTWTYTR had several different guns that I kept trying to distract him from so I could spirit them away, not the least of which being a sweeeeeet S&W model 34 .22LR snubnose revolver. He also has a Model 18 .22LR with about the nicest double action trigger pull I've experienced outside of my Colt Official Police. And he's got both an Enfield with sword bayonet and a Schmidt-Rubin K31 which is every bit as nice as every gushes about... JD brought some really nice guns, including a Marlin lever action and a Remington Nylon 66 in chrome, but I only had time to run a 30 round magazine through his WASR-10.
Special Thanks.
I'd like to offer some words of thanks to some folks for kindness above and beyond. First, to Liz and Bill for hosting us. Second, to Dwight for the really neat scale-model Chevy panel truck that he gifted me with - having read of my penchant for diecast models, he offered me one he had received. Third, to Kelly, both for gracing us with his witty presence and for the super uber tacticool lighted reticle scope he brought me for my Bushmaster. It's very slick, exactly what I was looking for, and went on like it was born there. Me like! Lastly, a big thanks to Heath and Amanda for driving the 11 hours out to meet us, and for generously giving me sufficient stores of .223 and 7.62X39mm ammo to last quite a bit.
It was an absolute pleasure seeing all of you; some for the first time; some for the 10th time. I'm already starting to think about a summer shoot and/or summer BBQ - this time, in a private backyard, we could sit around a patio table and "show whatcha brung" like we should have done at Hilltop (except that they would have called in the SWAT team, of course...).
We will do this again.
And, lastly, a couple final pictures to set the stage for a later video:
Yes, I did bayonet a(nother) children's toy. Again. Video to follow...
That is all.
7 comments:
Video is posted. . .
http://tekmagej.blogspot.com/2009/03/bayonet-charge-at-northeast-blogger.html
While it's too late for this go round (and scheduling made it impossible), what are the laws about bringing guns into MA? I was under the impression that it was considered one step below releasing airborne ebola in Faneuil Hall...
If there's a summer gtg I'd make a mighty effort to appear and bring whatever noisemakers I can get away with.
JD,
Thanks for the vid. The one that will be posted later is lacking in quality, but it's all I got... ;)
Zercool,
You're okay as long as you:
a) Are attending an event of some sort (we can easily whip up a flyer);
b) Do not bring in any post-ban high capacity magazines; and
c) Do not bring in anything that would fall under the auspices of the Assault Weapons ban (i.e. a new AR-15 with evil features).
It's a PITA, but it's the law.
I'm thinking we'll have the shoot in NH...
I'm sorry that I missed the bayonet charge, but I'm glad we were able to be there at least for a while.
Well, since NY has the "assault weapon" ban, I'd likely be safe on that front. How about importation of handguns for an event? I'd gladly bring the whole safe for the next one :)
zercool: As long as you're not bringing any hi-cap (>10rnds) post-ban(post '94) magazines in with the pistols, you're good. MA has this nice little loophole where if you're traveling to a competition you can transport and posses your guns (but not concealed carry) w/o a MA non-resident permit, as long as you're duly licensed in your home jurisdiction and your guns aren't prohibited by the AWB.
Jay, I was eager to see the pistol lay-out, but the photo was a bit dark on my monitor. Hope you don't mind, I loaded it up in PhotoShop and lightened it a bit so I could see more of the wonderful shooty goodness. If you'd like to use the modified copy, it can be found here:
http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/7959/pistolse.jpg
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