Chris Cox seems happy!

$7 Million in donations. It’s like the base is energized or something.

And QOTD from Tam via email:

I’m surprised you didn’t go for the more obvious one: “Maverick & Cougar: Vote Top Gun ‘08″

Ya know the really cool thing about not being a liberal nor a Democrat? It’s the fact that joke is funny and we’re not offended.

Six years ago, I started this blog. I almost forgot it was the anniversary. I usually number crunch the anniversaries but just ain’t feeling it this year.

One year ago, I joined NRA. You’d think they’d send me a notice to renew. You’d have been wrong. I still outsmarted them and re-upped for a few years.

Update: ok, some numbers:

16,663 posts

60,723 comments

2,424,771 visits

4,326,722 page views

662,290 spam comments

Hacked twice

$1,084 spent on software and hosting

$7,669 income from the blog.

A whopping $1,278 per year. but I only started selling ads like three years ago so it’s more like $2,556!

Looks like it’s a hurricane and headed toward the coast. Good luck and Godspeed to you folks down there.

Indeed.

PDB: Obama may talk change, but Palin delivered it. Palin succeeded in politics by fighting corruption, Obama is a product of it.

See? I told ya so:

It is pretty audacious for the Obama campaign to say that Governor Palin is not qualified to be Vice President. She has a record of accomplishment that Senator Obama simply cannot match. Governor Palin has spent her time in office shaking up government in Alaska and actually achieving results — whether it’s taking on corruption, passing ethics reform or stopping wasteful spending and the ‘bridge to nowhere.’ Senator Obama has spent his time in office running for President.

So, a few thoughts.

The Obama camp is already dumb enough to point out her inexperience. Heh. That’ll play well.

Oh Noes! She’s under investigation for, err, what exactly? No one seems to really point out anything egregious.

How long before we hear comments to the effect of how she should be at home taking care of that new baby (while barefoot!) that she shouldn’t have had because she was too old anyway from the left?

And, well, I’ll just Dr. Strangegun say it:

Sooo… Hillary sleeps with the president for 8 years and has a term as senator, and she’s a groundbreaking woman candidate.

Palin works here way up into the governorship of Alaska (oh, hey, an executive position, a little closer to what’s actually required), and has the previously listed life experience…. but she’s just a walking set of ovaries.

Yeah, I don’t expect much fawning over the accomplishments of girl power from the left or the press. It also helps that, unlike Hillary, she doesn’t sound like she’s talking into a fan when she gives a speech.

Aunt B.:

The interesting thing to me, though, is that she doesn’t seem to be a political insider. And she seems to be kind of a bad-ass. And while it’s true that it’s probably what McCain’s candidacy needs, I do wonder if it’s what McCain’s administration wants. She doesn’t seem like the type to play Washington games (though I could be wrong). She very well may be the maverick McCain wishes he were.

Ouch.

Update: And she smoked dope! Admitted to it. And did where she could do so by law. Oh noes!!!

Braisted: Women are emotionally driven, illogical beings who are incapable of making rational decisions. That is the underlying subtext of the Palin pick for McCain’s VP.

Your misogyny is showing.

Looks like an AR-15 with an Aimpoint to me:

Via Bruce.

Update: Video of Palin handling that thing (at 0:25)

Seems that, though she opposes gay marriage, she signed on for allowing same-sex couples to get state benefits.

Seems the feminists approve. I dunno.

Can she get the jilted Hillary vote? Beats me.

Update: More feminist approval.

Still more feminist approval.

Th Wrath Of Kwan!

David Hardy:

District Court ruling, in pdf, here. Defendant, a reservist, has two handguns (one a semiauto, one a registered full auto) and two shoulder stocks that would fit either. The shoulder stocks double as holsters, and he has one handgun in each when ATF raids him (on other grounds, which turn out to be a legal mistake). Government argument is that the semiauto plus the stock in which it was holstered equal an unregistered short-barreled rifle. The District Court says no — using the Thompson Arms test, the two stocks had a purpose other than an illicit one, namely being fitted legally to the full auto.

Washington District court. Won’t matter much to you, given ATF tends to ignore court rulings, such as with Any Other Weapons.

Seems to be recurring theme that McCain did something right.

Might have to get the bumper sticker. As a commenter notes: torn bewtween laughter and kickin’ your ass. heh.

First google result: I am a lifetime member of the NRA, I support our Constitutional right to bear arms and am a proponent of gun safety programs for Alaska’s youth.

So says Yahoo! news.

So, seriously, is America ready for a VP who’s kinda hot?

Rumors floating that his pick for VP is Sarah Palin. Well, McCain might do one thing right. Also, will the feminists (who are so cute) swing for McCain?

Update: And is America ready for a VP who’s kinda hot?

Armed School Teacher on laser grips.

Speaking of birthdays, Breda took up shooting roughly two years ago.

I didn’t watch the speech. I was afraid my little heart just couldn’t take all the HopeChange^tm. So, I read it on the internets. Barack Smurfette Obama supports the ban on weapons that look like assault weapons:

The — the reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than they are for those plagued by gang violence in Cleveland, but don’t tell me we can’t uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals.

I’m no criminal. Can I have one? I mean, since AK-47s are already banned for everyone and you just want to keep them out of the hands of criminals and I’m not one, I figure you’d be cool with me having one.

A bit back, I noted ATF futzing with the definition and it looked pretty, err, loose to interpret.

Well, Sean Galt asked for clarification. We’ll see if he gets one. And that won’t matter much because they’ll change their mind and arrest you anyway.

Via tam.

Sebastian thinks that the hunter who was arrested in Denver for not breaking the law as far as I can tell, be made a political issue this election:

Hunters need to understand that gun control is absolutely a threat to them, as this incident pretty clearly demonstrates.

Yup.

Since they’re informed.

The American Hunters and Shooters Association is running ads that pop up at pro-gun sites. You know, real pro-gun sites.

They think you’re just like them:

Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley, (C-rated) is due in town court Sept. 9 to face a second-degree harassment charge after he allegedly swatted an NRA representative on the head at the Rosendale Street Fair in July.

Good thing that gun he was handling didn’t turn him into a killer.

Me neither. Now, no one ever will.

Wyoming has none:

A federal appeals court in Denver has ruled against Wyoming in a lawsuit over a state law that seeks to allow people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence to regain their gun rights.

A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled that the procedure spelled out in Wyoming law fails to expunge the criminal record of people convicted of domestic violence.

The ruling is a victory for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The agency had informed Wyoming that if it persisted in using the state law, the federal government would no longer accept Wyoming concealed weapons permits as a substitute for instant background checks for gun purchases.

Wyoming Attorney General Bruce Salzburg said Wednesday that he’s unlikely to suggest that the state ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.

“We now have two federal courts that have rejected Wyoming’s position,” Salzburg said, adding that the Supreme Court reviews only a small number of cases.

Good dog.

for military use? About the only thing I can think of is speed of reloads. And magazines are easier to carry than speed loaders.

Mr. C. has part three of his report.

Todd Jarrett was there. He’s everywhere.

In Illinois, 85 counties have passed pro second amendment resolutions.

Heh.

Two = notable increase.

Joe has a post up discussing the frangible ammo we used. It was provided by International Cartridge Corporation.

Smorgasbord o’ pistolas.

Saiga bullpup shotty.

Sportsmen for McCain launches.

John Lott looks at Barack Three Dog Night Obama on gun control: for it before he was against it then for it again.

More on colleges offering survival training.

taught in our schools. Complete with scary photos of fake guns.

Heh.

Turns out, previous reports not holding up.

Don has his review of the Para Gun Blog 45.

The bill for Heller: $3,500,000

I always kinda made fun of people at the range who used laser sights on handguns. I’m a traditionalist and figure that open sights are the way to. Then one day, I shot a S&W revolver decked out in Crimson Trace Laser Grips that was owned by Les Jones. I realized how much the laser moved as I pulled the trigger, probably about 8 inches in a circular pattern. I thought that was probably normal. What I should have realized is that it showed me how bad my form was. Let me explain.

At the Para Blogger event, our LDA 45s were decked out in a set of them. We never really used them until we got to the shoot-house, since it was indoor. Using the grips is a good way to steady your grip. You see all the movement of the barrel by watching your laser dance around on a target. The lasers provide instant feed back to your movement and you probably don’t realize how much you move if you’ve never shot with a laser. Using the laser allows you to focus on keeping the gun steady.

The other interesting thing that the laser does is it allows you to practice having your gun on target the second it clears the holster. With enough repetition, this process could become automatic. For instance, the second Todd Jarrett cleared his holster and before he was even close to having a sight picture, that laser was on his target. Also, the laser quickly draws your eyes to the target.

It was one of the better training experiences I’ve had.

As an added bonus, the Laser Grips happen to shave seconds off response time if you ever need to use a weapon. They also work phenomenally in low-light situations. And they also Help Bad-Guys Make Informed Decisions.

Highly recommended.

What others are saying:

Tam:

Is it a cure-all? Heck, no. You still need to know how to use your sights. The laser is an adjunct, not a substitute for basic marksmanship skills. But when even Jim Cirillo, who killed more bad guys than Cecil B. DeMille, said that a laser is a worthwhile addition to a fighting gun, I tend to sit up and take notice.

Kevin:

As a training aid, the laser allows you to see just how much movement you have while aiming. Todd demonstrated this in the classroom by putting the dot from his pistol on the wall about 10 yards from where he was standing.

I didn’t think a human being could be that still. I know I can’t.

But with appropriate practice, you could.

Sebastian:

The training use of laser sights is one thing that Todd Jarrett impressed on us at Blackwater.. This is not an angle I had ever considered before, and after seeing his technique demoed, I’m sold. What the laser helps to do is to amplify movement, so you can immediately get useful feedback on grip, stance, trigger control, and follow through.

Todd Jarrett: I’ve shot over 2 million rounds in my life and the first one million were wasted.

You’re a feminist? That’s so cute!

Q: Don’t drink, don’t smoke, what do you do? A: Well, I’m extraordinarily affectionate to my wife.

I got one! (then it was pointed out that I did not hit the target and Todd Jarret was being a smart ass and hitting them for me – from 50 yards)

Robb, put your pants back on.

Don’t shoot the white targets? This shoot-house is racist!

You had to take him down. A clear case of Stockholm Syndrome – after a blogger shot a hostage.

When you can shoot like that, you can make fun of Todd Jarrett for using the term bullets.

I saw Jesus – cameraman after following Joe Huffman through the shoot house. (ETA: I should note that it was not because he was almost shot but because Joe almost ran him over while running backwards)

Me: She has issues. Tam: No, she has subscriptions.

Me: So, he just stayed there waiting for someone to come help him. Don: So, he’s a Democrat. Me: I’ve failed as a parent.

We have lists!

Guav:

First of all, the fact that the Bush administration supported the legislation should set off warning bells immediately at Think Progress. Second, characterizing Scheunemann and the NRA as being “in favor of gun rights for suspected terrorists” is fucking despicable.

Indeed. Continuing, he notes:

That’s 1 million “suspected terrorists”—including former Assistant Attorney Generals with a top-secret security clearance, nuns, members of Congress, people with names like Robert Johnson and Gary Smith, peace activists, Nelson Mandela, and other people—who will be harassed, denied the right to travel and punished for having a name similar to one used by someone who may or may not be a terrorist.

Reminds me of David’s bit on people Democrats think are terrorists

Caleb has more on the frangible ammo we used at the Para Event. The ammo was provided by International Cartridge Corporation.

I did not get to shoot it as my plane left early. But Robb did and he posts a review with pics.

Quite a bit, apparently. Newspaper stops using the term progressive. Probably because there’s been no progress under Pelosi.

Here. That dude can shoot.

I see where the paper in The City (My The City) now has comments.

Seems to be that after the Para Blogger Event, Para has balls.

With a hurricane approaching New Orleans, people are buying black rifles.

Steyr Aug.

Ravenwood: As an aside, I personally don’t think Pelosi should have been evacuated. She should have been “locked down” and forced to stay in her room until the coast was clear. I mean, if those rules are good enough for our school children (who don’t have the luxury of armed guards), they should be good enough for her.

Freedom Of Expression: So Precious, It’s Rationed

Over at JR’s, with some pics:

This is an excellent choice for an open carry pistol. Being able to carry a 1911 style pistol hammer down and basically “cocked and locked” at the same time is an asset for anyone who open carries.

And let me just add that JR can shoot!

Morton Grove drops handgun ban.

Survival training with improvised weapons to confront shootings on college campuses.

Looks like Virginia and Tennessee are friends again. Or are at least recognizing each other’s carry permits.

Via readers Clint and Steve.

I got home late Sunday from the trip and my kids were asleep. I went to work Monday morning and only saw them briefly that morning. I got home Monday night and, after some play time and stuff, set about catching up on the ever-increasing honey-do list. I noticed Junior was hiding behind the big comfy chair, not uncommon for her and The Second to disappear behind the chair for a bit.

A bit later, she was out and running around. I look at the Mrs. and say Did Junior get a haircut? She tells me no. I said Hmm, looks like she did. I’m assured she did not. A few minutes later, the Mrs. says Oh my god, what did you do to your hair?

Apparently, while behind the comfy chair, she had a pair of scissors and was cutting the front of her hair. Boy, was the Mrs. pissed. She could have chewed some aluminum and crapped nails. I thought fireballs were going to come out of her eyes. I briefly felt sorry for Junior.

Lesson learned: let me know when the kids have scissors, which will now be in approximately never.

Once again, I did not watch. But others did. On the Clinton speech: Hillary Clinton basically told her supporters tonight that they should vote for Barack Obama in November because he’s not John McCain.

Of course. Party fealty is required for the week-long infomercial that promotes the agenda that they will immediately abandon once in offce.

Speaking of, I asked Where’d free federally funded health care go? It came back. It was apparently Hillary Clinton’s Ugly Baby. And has been since 1992. So, you’d think she’d have made some progress, right? I heard a bit by her on this morning’s talk radio. Not very pro-Obama as much as anti-McCain. Because McCain understands concepts such as there is no equal pay for equal work being a function of markets. And, you know, those little bits of reality that often collide with the fairy dust that comprises the Democrat platform.

Oopsie:

We should be led by Osama bin Laden,” he said, then quickly corrected himself. “I mean Obama and Biden.

Was there not a single political consultant type who sat back and said ya know, if you run these two names together real fast, the result is not flattering?

Ya know, every time Tennessee makes the news or a blog buzz, it involves either something stupid or porn related. The latest is that a dirty movie was filmed on a Bartlett, TN playground.

Coincidentally, you can find the website that the TeeVee station doesn’t think you can handle by Googling Foxy Jacky, but I don’t recommend it. Especially at work or if you’re a Baptist minister. And especially if you’re a Baptist minister who is at work.

Meanwhile, from the article:

“I don’t have the words,” he said. “I’m a Baptist minister, and I have no words.”

They left off the part where he added: as long as that camera is on me. Brehd remarks: This, we should have noted, may be the first time a Baptist minister had no words.

Over at Mad Duck Training.

Greg, in a post entitled Para Has Balls, says:

There is clearly a need to make your company stand out in a field of glitzy advertising. Innovation isn’t enough to sell a product, and traditional PR thinking does not include embracing the “New Media”. Early adopters of a new medium are the real risk-takers, especially when it can mean the success or failure of a business. However the risk can pay off huge if it succeeds. Many companies are starting to “dip their toes in the water”, but Para is the first to do it big. The question now: was Para’s money well spent?

Seems to be the question of the day. Continuing:

In sponsoring this event, they are receiving positive press, and some un-paid endorsements. Sure, they paid for the some gun bloggers to attend this training, but if the ‘typical’ gun blogger is anything it is honest. When Joe Huffman found a potential bug in the hardware, he didn’t ignore it. He was and is critical of Para. It is that honesty that lends credibility to all of the claims made over the last week.

That, I think, is key. Show of hands: have you ever seen a negative review of a product in a gun magazine? I never have. Not once. Every thing in a gun mag is obviously the greatest thing ever.

Continuing to look at blog outreach effectiveness, Robb says:

I’d love nothing more than to be called on by a company such as Para USA to let me know of new product lines, even if it was just an email. I’d love to be able to blog about certain events like the ‘insiders’ can. But to do so is a dangerous proposition for any company. Bloggers might get a little ad revenue from Google Ads or whatever, but we don’t lose business from being negative about a product.

Para is taking a big risk here.

They are indeed. Thus far, I’ve seen blogger reviews that are generally positive of the products we tested. The few negatives seem to be about the LDA’s interaction with the safety and whether the safety is even needed. Otherwise, most reviews seem positive. Even if the LDA is not your cup of tea, the folks shooting the 9mm single action seemed to like it.

And Para has Balls. After all, Tam said Para Does Not Want Me. Now, Kerby could have said that was fine and not brought her along. He did not. He instead put his money where his mouth was and told her to come on down and give the product a fair shake. She did and she liked it. That’s some powerful advertisement, right there. Now the question gets to how much reach that advertisement has. Judging by comments, it seems her testimonial may result in some sales.

Another rave review from Tam:

To my gun snob mindset, 9mm Para Commander + Frangible Ammo = One Long Weekend of Suck.

Boy, was I wrong.

You’ll recall that Tam did not want to go but has since converted.

Seems to be a trend. I stated before I did not expect to like the LDA. But I liked it very much.

Seems she’s made a few converts in her comments section too.

Politics.

Via Kim, who does not agree.

Caleb looks at the Blackhawk SERPA holsters.

Kevin talks about Crimson Trace laser grips.

Robb on Todd Jarrett:

Todd likes to conserve things, he’s green like that. He says he wants to make sure he leaves plenty on the Earth for his grandchildren to shoot at.

Nancy has her say over at The Gun Blogs.

At the event, we went from riding around in this super cool bus to riding around in these beaters. Ford tough, my ass. Those are Chevys. If I were Chevy, I’d make a commercial for my Suburbans out of the fact that:

These vehicles had been rammed by other vehicles.
Been near IEDs.
We found spent grenades in them.
Shot up with simunition
Shot up with real ammo
Some of them even looked to have been flipped.

And they still ran. Though one did have the Check Engine light on. You know, right next to the gun holes in the dash.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Ownership says:

New York Concealed Carry Permit-Holder In Custody After “Bizarre” Workplace Shooting

Nowhere in the article does it say he is a Carry Permit-Holder. He has a pistol permit, which is required to own a pistol there. After all, it’s NY which requires permits for those and requires police approval for a concealed carry permit. These two positions are supported by the Brady Bunch, yet didn’t stop the shooting.

Update: Not so cut and dry. See comments from Jacob. I’m still leaning toward it not being a concealed carry permit.

On the power of positive thinking:

Those who believe in and hope for success often find themselves getting their asses kicked by people that actually work hard.

Don Gwinn (paraphrased) at the ParaUSA event.

For the same reason I won’t watch the Republican one: Same shit, different four years*.

But Dr. Helen has:

I have been watching the Democratic convention and laughing my ass off, frankly at some of the hilarity.

Sounds painful.

Meanwhile, R. Neal from Knoxviews is live at the scene covering all the HopeCange^tm!

Reports of riots. I hear that’s a side effect when exposed to too much HopeCange^tm.

* say, one thing is different. No one is promising Free Healthcare For Everybody^tm. What’s up with that?

Tonight, over at Blog Talk Radio, Caleb will be covering the Para event. You can listen here.

Day 3 pics.

Caleb has a look at the single action 9mm shot at the event. With pics.

At the event, I shot ParaUSA’s TAC S LDA in 45ACP. It’s a single stack 45 1911 style pistol with Para’s Light Double Action Trigger:

(pic stolen from Joe because I forgot my camera)

It was also decked out with a set of laser grips from Crimson Trace (more on those later). Now, let me say upfront that I did not go into this thing a fan of the LDA. I had some preconceptions about the trigger and went there expecting to not like it. But that changed.

On the gun, short version is that I liked it. The gun felt good, as most 1911s do. And I was a fan of the trigger. Essentially, the trigger seems to be a slightly longer and smoother version of triggers found on striker fired guns. It was clean, crisp and had a well-defined break. It was distinctively a two stage trigger with a longer first stage (not too long, just longer than the take up on, say, a GLOCK trigger). This was good for accuracy as you can take up the slack prior to firing a round.

I’m going to guess that I probably put about 800 – 1,000 or so rounds of ammo (maybe more, I tried to count but didn’t keep it up) through it this weekend. I never experienced a failure to fire nor a failure to feed. After the first two days of shooting, the slide stop didn’t hold the slide back on the last round for about the last hour of shooting. I cleaned it, and never had it happen after.

The general trend, as discussed by some other bloggers, is that those of us accustomed to shooting GLOCKs liked the trigger. Though I carry a GLOCK, I’m the first to admit that the trigger on a GLOCK is not my favorite. And, as one who carries a GLOCK, I was not a fan of the safety. In fact, I never once engaged the safety on it. I prefer the keep your booger-hook off the bang-switch safety that all guns come with.

Joe reported what he called a bug in the weapon. He and I tried a few times to duplicate that on my weapon and we could not. Also, for those of us used to shooting GLOCKs, it was never an issue as we’re not accustomed to manual safeties and, in my case, didn’t use them. The fix, IMO, for 1911 shooters is not to use the safety. Or Para could just stop putting the safety on them. You don’t need them with a double action trigger, generally.

The gun was plenty accurate and, as evidenced by Todd Jarrett, shot better than I could shoot it. It was reliable and fun to shoot. I plan on using the Para as an alternative carry piece and as the wife’s house gun. I think the all steel pistol had substantially less muzzle flip than my GLOCK 30, which (along with the smoother trigger) would probably make it more pleasant for my wife to shoot.

The pistol we shot came with a fiber optic front sight. I was amazed at how quickly I could acquire the front sight and how quickly I could get back on target using the fiber optic as opposed to the standard white dot I am accustomed to. The fiber optic really draws your eye to it. Also, the rear sight was adjustable. The rear sight was square shaped and I actually scraped myself on it a couple times due to the sharp edges. I asked Kerby from Para what can be done about that and he said that, in the past, they rounded them but people complained that they weren’t traditional sights. Now, they square them and people complain about the sharp edges.

Disassembly was easy (I’ve never disassembled a 1911 before) even though Kevin, while showing me how to do it, launched something about 3 yards through the air. And it was cool having Todd Jarrett clean my gun.

What others are saying about the TAC S LDA:

Robb:

The pistol was definitely more accurate than I was. By far. I watched Jarrett put the bullet in the same hole over and over. The wide groupings I made were my fault and my fault alone.

I don’t know how I’m going to swing it, but I’m buying the pistol. I was comfortable with it, it shot well, and I feel I could use it nicely in IDPA

Armed School Teacher summed it up: I’m selling one my guns and buying that one.

Kevin:

To be honest with you, I was not all that enamored with the idea of the Light Double Action trigger. I normally shoot a Kimber Classic Stainless full-sized Government model 1911, and it has, IMHO, the finest factory trigger I have ever pulled. The idea of a long trigger pull before a 1911 went “BANG!” just didn’t do it for me.

Now that I’ve shot it, I’ve got to say I like it. A lot. I might not use it as a competition pistol, but it has definite attraction as a carry piece.

Sebastian:

The platform itself is reliable, however. A few people had issues with it, mostly people who were used to shooting standard single action 1911s, but I had only one FTF, and it was my fault for fumbling my grip. I also deliberately eschewed oil and cleaning throughout the day to see if it could take it without failing. It did.

Video from Sebastian.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Ownership is happy that Obama has picked Biden.

Pics and reports from Joe and Kevin.

In hindsight, I think of the shoot house as a definite confidence builder. I learned in the shoot house that at 12 yards, I can take head shots under stressful conditions when the hostile target is surrounded by (and in some cases directly behind) a friendly.

Assemble an AR-15 lower receiver.

I mentioned International Cartridge Corps. frangible green ammo here (short version was I liked it).

Others agree:

David Hardy: It was some astonishing stuff. Made by International Cartridge Corp., of Reynoldsville PA. It’s made of sintered copper and tin. The 9mms weighed in at 100 grains, the ,45s at 155. We shot steel plates at 3 yards and no splash back, no jacket fragments, a couple of times I felt something touch my leg, that was it. But it shot like the devil.

Kevin: I shot several hundred rounds of International Cartridge Corporation’s 155 grain .45ACP Green Elite TR non-toxic frangible flatpoint (loaded to 1,150fps) through my Para Tac-S this weekend without a single failure of any kind. I popped 8″ steel plates with it from 35 yards, and I did full magazine dumps on a steel plate from a distance of about three feet without anything splashing back on me but some dust. I didn’t have to worry about pieces of jacket coming back and sticking me (which has happened at distances considerably farther than three feet), nor did I need to worry about lead exposure.

Good stuff and comparably priced to ball ammo.

Mr. C. has part 2 of his report up.

Maxim suppressor advertisements from decades ago.

A plot to kill Barack Diddly Obama? Never mind, just the secret service once again getting too antsy. Seems to be a trend.

Can be bought here:

Nifty.

This isn’t gonna help Democrats appeal to the gun owner demographic.

* perfectly lawful gun too.

At the chow hall, they had a jukebox. It apparently only had one song on it because the three times it was playing, the song was Duality by Slipknot.

Don after he finished up the shoot house said (to the top of his lungs):

That scared the shit out of me but I’ve never had so much fun in my life.

Never really done it before but one of the things I noticed (as can be seen in this video of me here) is that I had a tendency to shoot the tops of the steel plates. This, according to Todd Jarrett, can have the effect of causing the target to bounce back up. Also, Todd Jarrett was an advocate of aiming 3/4 high on the target since 95% of your misses are low and left. So, I did that. The tendency to bounce the targets was not generally an issue if you’re shooting the targets in order from left to right. However, shooting three and four first and then the rest (as in the video) can create problems if the targets bounce up. As you’re going back through you have to spend a half second remembering if that is a target you already hit or not.

My dad on the phone just now after watching the various videos of me shooting:

I told your mom I should have taken you to the range before you went on this trip.

Ouch. And this after I took third in the shoot house!

I’ll have more later but here’s a good central point to see what everyone is saying.

When not talking about guns, we gun bloggers were talking about gun rights strategy. One of the more interesting bits was brought up by Joe Huffman who noted that, though the anti-gunners try to get info on our side through nefarious means, they’re mostly unsuccessful because they’re easy to spot. See, we use a whole vocabulary and they probably can’t keep the subterfuge up (what kind of gun do you own? where do you shoot? Isosceles or Weaver? etc. – they’ll be inconsistent).

We have an advantage because it’s easy to act like a pants-shitting, hysterical ninny.

We got to shoot a ton of International Cartridge Corporation’s frangible and lead free ammo. Gun bloggers are green, ya know. Highly recommended. There’s no lead, which is a bonus for both environmental and health reasons. Additionally, the fact the ammo is frangible makes it nice for shooting steel plates. We were doing magazine dumps into steal at three yards without worrying about ricochets or jacket fragments.

Sebastian has a much more detailed report on the ammo.

Caleb and Joe had a bet on who could get the fastest time. The bet was for some ammo. Caleb had the best raw time. However, due to shooting a no shoot target, Joe bested him.

I should have taken the bet because I beat their times. Not bad for a guy who’s never done any practical shooting. I had the third best time overall, being bested by Robb and Armed Citizen. It was the day for newbies as I don’t think any of us had ever done any shoot houses before. And I know I’d never done any practical drills before.

On the second go through, I did not do nearly as well because I did not get a second on one target. I shot the target, missed, and shot two more times and was certain I scored two hits. However, I only scored one hit. Bummer.

The Gun Blog 45. And a report. I will note that I never could duplicate Joe’s problem. That’s likely because I’m accustomed to GLOCKs and don’t really utilize safeties. For instance, I never once engaged the safety on the Para.

Tam has a pic of the 9mm version.

The Para TTR AR-15. Sadly, my plane left early and I was unable to shoot their AR. Bummed.

A bad day at the range.

Todd Jarrett’s special ed pupil?

Over at Gun Nuts, Day 2 in pictures.

Todd Jarrett at work. I dunno, he looked a lot like he was at play too.

More pics from Day 2.

I’ll have more on the event in a bit, but here’s what others are saying:

JR has pics and a report.

David Hardy has a report. He, like me, is aching all over.

Practicing the fundamentals – over, and over, and over.

Kevin recaps the event.

Zombie simulators? Guess they’re getting for the next Chicago election.

No surprises: here and here. And Bane reminds us of this blast from the very recent past.