Tuesday

On the Road Again

Did some last-minute packing -- it's always last-minute -- when I realized I forgot to burn my new, improved road trip disks. That, and copy some Binker movies of my niece for her.

Signing off for now. See y'all on the other side.

Weekend Caption/Photoshop Contest

Sticky until Monday

Got a caption or photoshop for this picture? You could win a coveted Blog Ad on my side bar!

Leave a caption or photo link in comments, or Email a pic to me at the address in my profile. If you're sending a large animation, please provide a hot-linkable URL.

You need not own a blog to win! I'll advertise your favorite charity, web site, or even your Michael Vick rookie card!

Judging begins Monday PM.

Winner! Agent Scully (again) with:
If she didn't get this little rascal to the barn the answer was again going to be "Not today sir, no" when another customer for Venezuelan Beaver Cheese came into the shop.

Other Contests:

Right Pundits (1st Place last week!)
Rodney Dill (Honorable Mention this week)
S.Y.L. Gunfighter
Gone Rick Motel









Bagel Blogger
Willisms
RT
Wizbang
GOP & College
Bullwinkle Blog
mASSbackwards

Photoshops:

Got a Snort

Several of my Email pen pals are very talented nature photographers.

I'm not.

Got a chuckle or two, though.

Monday

Spent yesterday practicing not-blogging in anticipation of my road trip vacation. As happens every year, I'm fighting the feeling that usually delays my start by a day: a mix of ennui, anxiety, and general laziness.

Good thing I used up most of the consumables in the refrigerator -- I think it's dying again. Grrr. I'll probably have to toss out all the condiments and stuff when I get back.

Got all my road trip goodies ready: crackers, beef jerky, granola and cereal bars, six-pack of Mountain Dew, and lotsa bottled water. On the trip up, I never stop to eat except for the morning of Day Three, I'll grab a Mickey D's breakfast and a large coffee in southern Virginia for the final stretch. The trip back is usually not so focused (but is usually faster). For some reason, I almost always stop at the Ranger TX truck stop Subway...Mmmmm.

I hope the heat/humidity isn't too bad since I plan on staying in the Ranger Motel (not the one in TX), as usual. Might make some detours on the way back to visit friends. Or not. I haven't ruled out a winter trip this year...depends on whether or not this global warming thing works for me.

Freakin Monsoons

It's always a possibility that any summertime Pima 5th Sunday 3-Gun match will get monsooned out. No matter how nice it is tomorrow, today's weather determines whether the set-up crew can even reach the Pima Pistol Club range over the 1 and a half lane desert dirt trail at the end of Bowman Road in Catalina.

Oh, well, there's another Pima 3-Gun in September....




Match canceled.

Bar's Open!

Friday Fertography

You Go, Dawg!

via Orfay

Vote Freedom

Do it for the Babies.


H/t to mASSbackwards

Uncle's Babies

Trainer's Baby

Tam's Baby

Ranger Sam

Yeehaw! Oleg Volk put up another one!

(I guess she really is left handed).

Update: Oh, wait...I open jars with my left hand too!

h/t Conservative Scalawag

Local on the 8s

In Phoenix, The Weather Channel shows the current and forecast weather for every little 'burb in the Valley on their "local" coverage.

In Tucson, the second most populous city in the state...bupkis. Current temps in selected major cities (including Phoenix), but we're lucky to be on the regional radar map. We're over 100 miles away from MetPHX, at a higher elevation, with mountains and windswept plains between us.

Meanwhile, back home in PA's Mahoning Valley, their local coverage is as detailed as PHX's. I've often said that Tucson is where weather-guesser schools send their dregs; I guess TWC can't find one smart enough to interact with them.

Finger! Uh...Fingers!

How bout "shotgunning a beer?"

Darkroom Days

Back during my first tour in Korea, I spent a lot of time on the glide path to Osan Air Base with my Pentax K1000 and in the Rec Center darkroom.

Figured I'd get some enjoyment out of the way-noisy F-4 Phantoms who often disrupted my shift-worker slumber.

My downtown apartment was directly under one of the final approach turns...amazing what squeaks came out of that airframe when the flaps and gear came down.

Nork Gun Pr0n!

Pretty Lax Yearbook Staff, Huh?

Stuff from the ACTS Forum

Gots ta attract ladies to the sport!

These.

And these.

I Feel So Cheated

Browsing through the YouTube shooting-related videos, I thought this one looked pretty interesting: babelicious French broadcaster Melissa Theuriau entered in a shooting match -- that would be blog manna from Heaven!

Imagine my disappointment when I slogged through all five minutes on 26.4 dial-up only to find out it was merely a photo shoot! Okay-okay, I figured out long before the end that there weren't gonna be any guns involved. Ya think I'm dense or something?








The video does have its funny moment, though.

Them's the Brakes

What's Wrong with this Picture?

Only videoed one stage ("Phalanxes") Sunday since the match was too sparsely manned. I shot the stage first, but put my video second. You'll see why in the video.

BTW, before I even linked it, the video scored 62 views in an hour, a two-star rating, and a snarky emoticon comment. Guess some people don't appreciate my capacity to expose myself to ridicule for the amusement of my readers/viewers.

Me Too, Pal

Monday Night Ponderings

I know what he's thinking...what was she thinking?

Weekend Caption/Photoshop Contest

Sticky until Monday

Got a caption or photoshop for this picture? You could win a coveted Blog Ad on my side bar!

Leave a caption or photo link in comments, or Email a pic to me at the address in my profile. If you're sending a large animation, please provide a hot-linkable URL.

You need not own a blog to win! I'll advertise your favorite charity, web site, or even your Michael Vick rookie card!

Judging begins Monday PM.

Winner!

Agent Scully of Skywritings:
"And to think, when I kept my pants on I was only pulling in $200 a week!"

Other Contests:
SYL Gunfighter (1st Place last week!)








Bagel Blogger (1st Place last week!)
Gone Rick Motel (now at new digs!)








Rodney Dill
WILLisms
Deathlok
Bullwinkle Blog
Right Pundits
Public Pondering
Wizbang

Photoshops:

Got Wood?

At the Sunday Match, I got a little surprise during the shooters' meeting! I'd been given an invitation to the Cactus League Annual Awards Banquet held a couple weekends ago, but funds and scheduling didn't favor a trip to PHX for the event. I was expecting maybe a small 3rd Place award in one of the long gun disciplines, so I was floored when League Poobah Terry presented me the top awards* for both Rifle and Shotgun, plus a Service Award for being the 4th Sunday 3-Gun Stage Slave.

Later Terry laid the guilt trip on me for taking August off for my road trip. I guess I better start designing the August match, huh?

* Not the Best in these disciplines, just the most persistent.

Waste of Psychic Talent

Would be nice if I could pick winning lottery numbers or stuff like that. Instead, I've got radar for skanky-looking Brit chicks...I was paging through the Dish Network menu this morning looking for something to watch in the background with my morning coffee and blog-reading. With an hour remaining to VH-1's Jump Start showing, I thought "How much ya wanna bet Amy Winehouse's Rehab will be playing?" Too bad no one was here to take the bet; it was not only playing, it was starting the exact moment I flipped to it. Okay, it's not so much of a stretch since VH-1 overplays a short play list, but this phenomenon has happened before with an obscure tune playing in my head also turning up on the radio the moment I turned it on. Spooky.

The Batteries

Just in time for this weekend's "300" Cactus League 3-Gun Fun Match, Ed Cameron finished the installation of BoG2's (top) muzzle brake. Now our 3-Gun batteries are complete; we'll probably stick with these for all 3-Gun venues up to and including next year's Superstition Mountain Mystery 3-Gun Match.

Rifles:
At top is my BoG2, a Patriot Ordnance Factory gas piston upper atop a home-built DPMS lower. The EOTech Holo-sight takes AA batteries. The brake is a JP Enterprises Cooley tactical compensator. Though I had Ed Cameron cut off the top half of the POF removable front sight ring, I removed the sight altogether for today's match. The rear BUIS and vertical foregrip are by Tucson's GG&G.

Jon's carbine is POF-USA top and bottom, with a more up-scale Holo-sight (takes up-scale batteries too!) and Dillon's Miculek muzzle brake (retails for about half of JP's brake...yeah, I had to experiment). Jon also removed his front sight for the match.

Shotguns:
Jon's Benelli M1 Super 90 (third from top) taught me what every practical riotgun should be. Jon installed a Buchanan Bagworks sidesaddle shell-holder and had the innards smithed to permit an extra shell to be loaded on the lifter.

My Birthday Benelli is an M2 Tactical; I'll probably follow Jon's lead with a sidesaddle since the stock shell-holder is a bit hard for me to access (the pistol grip almost forces me to load left-handed). The jury's still out on whether I'm going to get the lifter smithing done.

Pistols:
Jon is scary-fast with his Glock 34 (upper right). I've benched my .40 S&W G-22 this year in favor of the cheaper-to-shoot 9-mm G-19; it's got a lighter-than-stock trigger. Neither the 4th Sunday Fun Match, Pima Tactical, nor ACTS matches reward power factor, so I don't miss the G-22 too much. When the weather cools off and our schedules permit, we might dig out out Major gats for the 1st Sunday USPSA matches.

The Match:
Scores and videos pending, Jon crushed me and probably everybody else. BoG2 was way off-zero (might have to resort to my other EOTech with the quick-latch base). I came within six-some-odd seconds of Jon on "Dine in Helena;" other than that, I ate dust. Turnout was light (natch...it's July in PHX!) and only a few other guys even brought long guns.

The Comparison:
We both tried each others' newly-braked rifles, and I certainly can't endorse the extra bucks I paid for my brake. Still, Jon's rifle is quite a bit more front-heavy than mine, and his has had a Cameron trigger job (boy, it needed one...POF's lowers are primarily designed for police/military Class III users; they lose something in the semi-auto translation methinx). I couldn't tell the diff myself but we made a video of Jon's comparison test. He prefers the Miculek.

From Comments: 3-Gun NZ Style

Take THAT, Liz Edwards!

Base photo hoarked from KisP.

Brush with Celebrity

Not only have I shot 3-Gun with the Pima Pistol Club's luminary author Debbie Ferns, featured in this NBC piece on "Black Rifles," one of the Oleg Volk models in the featured posters (the one with the cell phone) is a Michigan ACTS shooter!

Small world.

Road Trip!

Starting to plan for my annual road trip back East. Anybody know of any USPSA or 3-Gun events going on in eastern PA in August? Ideally, I'd like to drag Lil Bro along to one, since he seems to avoid coming down to AZ for all the great fun in the sun. This'll be a good change for him to dust off some of that primo 3-Gun hardware he's been neglecting.

Toy Room

Friday Fertography Fan

Click to visit.

Beef Tongue

3-Gun Match Preview

Here's a sneak peak at stages I submitted for Sunday's 3-Gun Fun Match.

Can you detect a motif?

This is Spartan!

Pistol - Start Position: Standing in box, shooting arm pointed level downrange.

On start signal, draw and engage P1 through P13. All steel must fall.

Shotgun - Start Position: Standing in box, shooting arm pointed level downrange. Loaded shotgun held at center of gravity in off hand.

On start signal, engage P1 through P13. All steel must fall.






Tonight, We Dine in Helena!

Pistol: Start Position: Seated at Table A, fists on table.

On start signal, draw and engage P1 through P6. From Box B, engage T1 through T5. Paper targets require two hits to neutralize, all steel must fall.

Pistol/Shotgun - Start Position: Seated at Table A, fists on table. Shotgun staged safely on Table A.

On start signal, engage P1 through P6 with birdshot and S1 and S2 with slugs. Ground riotgun safely and from Box B, draw and engage engage T1 through T5. Paper targets require two hits to neutralize, slug targets one hit, and all steel must fall.

Phalanxes

Pistol - Start position: Standing in Box A, normal ready.

On start signal, draw and engage in any order T1 through T8 from Box A. Advance to behind fault line B and engage T9 through T14. Paper targets require two hits to neutralize.

Pistol/Rifle - Start Position: Standing in Box A, normal ready. Rifle grounded on Table B.

On start signal, draw and engage in any order T1 through T8 from Box A. Advance to behind Table B, safely ground pistol and with rifle engage T9 through T14. Paper targets require two hits to neutralize.


Fight in the Shade

Pistol - Start position: On one knee in Box A, shooting hand shading eyes.

On start signal, engage T1 through T5 from behind pistol fault line. Each paper target requires two hits to neutralize.

Rifle - Start position: On one knee in Box A, shooting hand shading eyes, rifle held at port arms in off hand.
On start signal, engage T1 through T5 from behind rifle fault line. Each paper target requires two hits to neutralize.

What Baby?

Fixed the Finger

but the "ink" was beyond my talents.

Boom

What Shotgun?

Weekend Caption/Photoshop Contest

Sticky until Monday

Got a caption or photoshop for this picture what I hoarked from Ghost of a Flea? Yup, for some reason, the muzzled Prince is training with the Royal Gurkha Rifles. You could win a coveted Blog Ad on my side bar!

Leave a caption or photo link in comments, or Email a pic to me at the address in my profile. If you're sending a large animation, please provide a hot-linkable URL.

You need not own a blog to win! I'll advertise your favorite charity, web site, or even your vintage Batman lunch box on eBay! Nope, not my Lil Bro's loser! Green Hornet lunch box...I was King of Pop Culture back in the day with my sammich, cookies, and thermos of iced tea (I was lactose intolerant) in my spiffy Dark Knight lunch box! Sh1t, methinks Dad spray-painted over them both after we entered middle school and used them to hold drill bits. But I'm not bitter....

Judging begins Monday PM.

Winners!

1st Place! Kristopher of Idiot's Blog: "The Gurkha Rifles. Great Britain's most dangerous nanny service."

2nd Place! Rodney Dill of Outside the Beltway: "Third in line, third in line, third in line... I'm just sick and tired of hearing that."

Thanks for playing!

Other Contests:
Bullwinkle Blog
SYL Gunfighter [Image]
Right Pundits
WILLisms
Wizbang


Photoshops:

July ACTS -- Stupid Props!

Video here.

I asked the MD to check the scoresheets... I have no recollection of clocking Stage Four at 118 seconds. I'm pretty sure I was in double-digits for every stage. We'll see.

Stage Two was the only stage that lent itself to video. Okay, it's kinda boring, but I did supply some comedic value by leaning on the cover. The stage requires the shooter to shoot from the weak side shoulder; the description didn't say you had to shoot with your weak hand. I actually practice this hold as an alternative to the left-side-lean turn-the-rifle-sideways stance for left barricade ACTS stages.

Here's some pics taken by the Cavalry Arms guys.

Relax, it's only Parmesan