Search term round-up

Aside from a brief Tamalanche early after installing Sitemeter, a normal day here has been ... slow. That's likely due to not updating daily. I do get a fairly regular stream of hits from google searches, though, and a la the Munchkin Wrangler, I'll post a few highlights.


small rifle primers

The little round thing in the back of a centerfire cartridge that's struck by the firing pin and ignites your gunpowder. There are at least eight different sizes - small and large rifle and pistol, and magnum/non-magnum variants of each. Small rifle primers are used, in particular, in .223Rem/5.56NATO, which is pretty rare these days. If you have primers, count yourself lucky. PowderValley claims they have backorders for 50,000,000 primers, and they're not the only ones.


kns hooded front sight match approved

I'd suggest checking the rules of the particular match you are entering, as NRA Highpower has different rules from Benchrest and Smallbore and so on.


a2 rear sight jpg 0-2

I don't have pictures of them, but try the Google image search. Or look at an AR - the flip-up rear aperture with the larger hole (0.200" diameter) is the 0-2, and is conveniently labeled as such. It's not a precision aperture, but is designed for limited visibility and moving targets. It also has a different zero from the small aperture.


wolf 223 stuck

A frequent issue, particularly with tight chambers. Older Wolf ammo, along with some of the various "Bear" ammo, is lacquer-coated. At higher rates of fire, the chamber gets hot enough to melt this lacquer and effectively glue a round in place. Clear your rifle, remove the bolt if possible, and CAREFULLY tap the round out with a brass rod from the muzzle end. Use acetone to clean your chamber and dissolve the lacquer, then a chamber brush and normal cleaning procedures... and then stop shooting crap ammo in a good rifle. Save the Wolf for the Mini14 and .223 AKs.


hooded cross hair front sight for 22 rifle

Swap your crap Ruger factory sights for a set of Tech-Sights, and the front sight tower accepts all standard AR front posts, including the KNS hooded crosshair.


walmart pistol primers

Walmart doesn't have store-branded gun anything. Not ammo, not primers, not nothing. Some Walmarts apparently do sell reloading components, but I've never seen it.


kns with rra 2 stage trigger

Well, KNS doesn't make lowers. If you mean KNS anti-rotational pins with a RRA trigger, it should work fine. The pins are standard diameter, as are the triggers. The pins just look fancy and mean you need one more tool in order to disassemble your rifle if something breaks.


5.56 a2 rifle insert notes lesson 6

I see you're in the UK. Naughty, naughty! I'm not sure where you're inserting that A2, or why you need notes, but apparently you've made it to lesson 6, and that takes some dedication. Keep practicing and you'll get there!


And that concludes the highlights of this set of search terms...

Book Bleg

I blame LawDog for this. I discovered the "Sten" series after he mentioned it in his blog, and began with book 1. Since then, most of the books have gone out of print.

I received book 2 (Wolf Worlds) for Christmas. I just ordered books 4 (Fleet of the Damned), 6 (Return of the Emperor), and 7 (Vortex) through Amazon. (Two used, one new.)

If anyone out there has books 3, 5, and 8 (Court of a Thousand Suns, Revenge of the Damned, Empire's End) and would be willing to part with them ... well, let me know. Please. :)

Great White Hunter

New York's spring turkey season runs for the month of May. The regs are pretty simple: shotgun only, birdshot only, bearded birds only, and must be out of the woods by noon (so the turkeys have some uninterrupted time to make little turkeys).

Turkey hunting, is, in fact, what brought me into the world of hunting and guns in a big way. I'll take this tangent and then get back to the original point of the post.

I grew up in a relatively gun-free household. Dad didn't own guns, but claims to be a pretty good shot. He grew up in Scouting (Eagle), was Scoutmaster for the base's troop while posted in Alaska for the Army, and shot "expert" during basic. He's certainly not anti-gun, they just weren't part of life as I grew up. I earned my "riflery" merit badge at scout camp when I was 13 or so, and finally convinced my parents to get me a BB gun. It arrived that Christmas - a Crosman Classic 2100 air rifle. I set up a "range" in the back acreage with a couple of straw bales. Tin cans, here I come... That pellet rifle and I tromped a lot of miles through our back woods and fields, plinked a lot of random targets, and may have been responsible for some minor property damage here and there.

I went to college and the air rifle stayed home, falling into disuse and neglect. After being out of school for a bit, I finally decided to buy a rifle. A .22 seemed like a good bet... so I went to my local Kmart (hush, I didn't know better) and picked up a Remington 597. A friend at work offered the use of some undeveloped land he owned as a makeshift range, and again, I was death upon tin cans and paper... but mostly in a trigger-happy sort of way. Brick after brick of Thunderbolt .22 disappeared down the bore of that rifle.

A friend invited me to a shoot at some point, and I went (of course). I can't remember everything I tried at that shoot, but my world was suddenly expanded from .22s. (Short list of highlights: M1 Garand, Glock 9mm, .44Mag revolver.) ... but I didn't buy anything new, not having a place to shoot or many friends into the shooting sports.

Fast forward a couple years. I joined the local volunteer fire department and slowly got to know folks there. One of them, at some point, mentioned turkey hunting that weekend. I nabbed him a bit later and said, "Gee ... um ... I've never hunted before, but I've always wanted to. Could I go with you sometime?" He took me turkey hunting the next morning, and while we didn't take any birds that day, I was hooked. I picked up a Remington 870 that summer, took my hunter safety class in early fall, and killed my first deer on my birthday that year.

Since then, my collection of guns has grown considerably, my interests in the shooting sports have widened and deepened, and I still cherish every moment in the woods.

(Hiatus for dinner. Story TBC.)

...Continued...

Dinner was good. Met parents at greasy spoon.

On to the hunt!

I've been out in the woods less this turkey season than ever before - my work schedule has made the 4am alarm clock a near-impossibility if I expect to be functional at all for job. Still, I've been out a half-dozen times. Talked to my hunting buddy last night and confirmed for today. He says arrive at 4:45. OK. Got up, dressed, headed out the door with a pistol on my hip and a shotgun over my shoulder. Two miles short of his place, the skies opened. Half a mile from his place, my cell rings. "Where are ya?" "Pulling in your driveway in about thirty seconds." "Oh ... ok."

We discussed after I arrived, and decided to sit tight for fifteen minutes and see if the rain would let up. It did. Picked a spot, headed out. Set up decoys, called, heard and saw nothing for an hour. Decided to walk and call - which the DEC hunter safety class says isn't safe, but we do anyway because there shouldn't be anyone else in these woods. Nothing, after picking our way through brush and the Fire Swamp. Poked our heads into a field... and there, across the way, was a flock of eight turkeys. At least two in strut, a hen or two, and several jakes.

We quick sat down and started calling. I was out front as the "shooter" and could see the birds - and they weren't moving. Just puttering around in the grass, picking bugs and worms and strutting. After fifteen minutes of this, we decided to get aggressive. We backed out into the next field and scooted down the hedgerow between. I picked a promising spot and snuck through, and found I was still sixty yards too far up the hedge. Backed out, moved a bit further down, and crawled through again. Better spot. Set up my little seat and started calling - and realized quickly that these birds were fat and happy and henned up, and weren't going to go looking for what they already had in front of them... so I got more aggressive. There was a gopher mound fifty yards into the field, directly between me and the birds. I quietly shucked off my turkey vest, keys, phone, assorted pocket junk, calls, and pistol... and started belly-crawling towards the mound.

Now, keep in mind that this hayfield had been cut and baled in the past couple days... but it had just poured an hour ago. I was damp as soon as I laid down, and soaked to the skin within ten feet. I kept crawling and peeking up occasionally. I finally made it to this mound and started making gentle purrs. Pretty quick, a hen separated from the group and made a beeline for me. I was hoping the toms would follow ... but no such luck. This damn hen walked right up to the mound, within fifteen feet of my muzzle, walked back and forth a few times, and then went back to the flock saying, "purt purt purt"...

I waited. One of the jakes stuck his head up and started walking towards me, then made a u-turn and the group started moving towards the woods. Hell, it's now or never! I raised my barrel, placed the bead on the big tom, clicked off the safety ... squeeeeeeze the trigger... BOOM ... and they all ran off. Hell, it was a hail-mary long shot anyways, probably 55-60 yards, but today was my last day for turkey season.

I stood up, walked back to the hedge, collected my things, and went in for coffee.


In other news, after dinner, I decided to take time to swing through WallyWorld and check on .22. Ammo cabinet was looking as bare as usual ... but wait... what's that? In the shadows? There was no one around, so I walked behind the counter to look closer. Not one, not two or three ... but SIX BOXES of Winchester HV bulk!

I nearly began gibbering there and then. I found someone to open the cabinet, bought all six boxes, and celebrated in my success. He mentioned they'd gotten a case or two of the Federal, but it had already sold out. So be it. I'll take what I can get right now.

So it came home with me ... oh yes, it did...


And a box of CB Shorts, just to try out.

An Appleseed Weekend

As I mentioned in Friday's post, we were doing the Appleseed thing this weekend. We made it out the door roughly on schedule and had things set up in good time when we arrived. The range was already set up and ready to go, so we simply popped up the canopy near the firing line and then set our tent up near our host's house. Other instructors were arriving at the same time along with a couple shooters, so there was chatter and some planning, and just good times.

Sleeping in a tent puts you back in touch with the world. I tend to forget how insulated we are living in a house. We fell asleep to the sound of peepers, bullfrogs, and the occasional quiet moo from the pasture across the road.

We woke up at early-dark-thirty to the distinctive screaming whine of a pack of rice rockets tearing up the highway nearby. In a valley, so the noise started early and lasted a long time. Rolled over and went back to sleep...

... and woke up around 6:30 as it really got light out. Rolled out, dressed, joined our hosts and other instructors for breakfast and coffee, then moved up the hill to the range to greet the shooters and get things rolling. A good mix of new and repeat Appleseeders, along with at least a few very new shooters. (One step past, "Wait, which end goes bang?") Nice mix of equipment as well; mostly 10/22s of various flavors, a few ARs, and one fellow (a repeat from last year) shooting a Remington 700 in .270.

Saturday, all work was at 25m, and we ground the basics into our shooters. Six steps, NPOA, getting sights and scopes zeroed, and a good dose of history from 4/19/1775. Managed to squeeze in a couple AQTs before the end of the day, and punched out two Riflemen with them. Weather was perfect all day even though storms had been forecast - and just as we closed things down, the skies darkened, the wind picked up, and it started to sprinkle on and off. A pretty good storm moved down the valley with some impressive fireworks as the instructors enjoyed dinner courtesy of our host (an instructor) and his wife. MrsZ and I moved out to the tent around 9:30 or 10:00 and listened to the rain patter gently and watched the sky flash as the valley rumbled. Something about storms in a tent...

Woke up Sunday around 5 for natural reasons. Took care of that and noted that the entire valley was in thick fog. Went back to sleep for another hour and a half, and when I woke up, it was still a soft gray world of ghostly shapes. Our tent was perhaps 200yd from the firing line and canopies - and those were invisible. An apple tree 100yd up the field from us was a mere suggestion of shape. Not ideal shooting weather... but we went in for breakfast and coffee, and ignored the weather.

It cleared as we ate, and ended up being another beautiful sunny day. Fewer shooters, but all motivated, and cranked out three more Riflemen. Following that, we went to full-distance shooting. Stretched out the .22 shooters to 100yd, and the centerfires to 200, 275, and 500yd. The .22 shooters were turning in respectable groups on the 100m target, scaled equivalent to shooting 400m. A few were making good shots on the (scaled) 800m and 1200m targets. Impressive, to say the least.

Centerfires were playing with a 6" popper at 200yd, a full-size Army "D" target at 275, and a steel copy of an IDPA silhouette at 500yd. I watched one of our IITs, an outstanding young man at 14yo, get prone behind his father's CMP Garand and start making solid hits - consistently - on the 500yd target. Prone, unsupported, iron sights, with surplus ball ammo. The M1 Garand: The finest battle implement ever devised. (Gen. George Patton) MrsZ slung up with my AR and got it dialed in for the 275yd D-target and made some good hits; a few other shooters ran a half-mag through and did OK with it.

We made the official end of the day at that point, but there was more fun to be had... two folks had brought out .50BMG single-shots, and there was a small supply of Tannerite. The Tannerite was mixed and put out at about 100yd in three .5L water bottles. The centerfire shooters were split into three fire teams and given one minute to hit their assigned bottle. I claimed privilege on this and jumped on a fire team instead of watching. Slung up sitting so I could see over the grass, loaded a mag, and the third shot connected perfectly. Yeah, that was cool... the sound effect was *crack* pause *crack* pause *craBOOM!* "BOOOYAHHHHH!" (with fist-pump for effect)

After we finished the Tannerite, the .50s came into play. The owners did a simultaneous volley on the 500yd target (with two good hits), then let those who wanted to have a go at it. I had shot one last year so declined - they're cool but I don't want to burn someone else's money and generosity for no reason. MrsZ took a turn at one though - and the look on her face after was freaking priceless.

Took down the range, packed the truck, and headed home - sore, sunburned, dehydrated, hoarse, and happy. This morning we slept in a little bit, then after showers we got around to cleaning rifles. Her 10/22 was desperate for it, and now MrsZ knows how to strip and clean her rifle. We did this outside because it was nice out. I cleaned my AR at the same time. While cleaning the barrel and chamber, I had set the BCG on a towel on the sidewalk. In the sun. After cleaning the barrel/chamber/receiver to my minimum standard, I picked up the BCG to start cleaning that... and promptly burned my finger. Not much, just enough to turn red and hurt a little. I don't know how our men and women in the sandbox deal with that - I presume they must wear gloves.

I've been spending the morning getting ready for an Appleseed shoot. Along with chasing down other errands.

Rifles are cased and ready to go. (10/22, MkII, AR15.) Range bag has been dumped and partially reconstructed. Ammo is packed (2k .22, 1k .223). Toolkit is partly ready - one rod needs to be put back in, along with the allen wrenches. Need to swap holsters on my BDUs from the .44 wheelgun to the 1911. (I prefer to camp with the 1911 over the .44; no good ballistic reason, just personal preference.)

Need to load the truck, fill the cooler, ice the cooler, and fill the water tank. A quick last shower and boogie on out. Hoping to be in VE by 7:30 so we can set up the tent while it's still light and have some time for BSing with the other instructors and whatever shooters have arrived.

Need to cram some more history, too...