So yesterday I went back to the range because… well, I don’t have to explain it to y’all now, do I?
Gave the little Walther/Hammerli a good thrashing, just with .22 LR and not with the WinMag because… well, that’s a story for another time.
Anyway, all good things come to an end, and I hadn’t brought a semi-auto rifle or pistol along to finish off all the .22 ammo I had in the bag (I know, I know…).
So I decided to give the 1911 a little love and attention. so I packed the rifle away and reached into the gun bag for some practice .45 ammo, and came away empty-handed. Well, shit.
Never mind, thinks I, I ‘ll just pop off a couple mags from what C.W. calls my “EDC” pack-out, and call it a day.
Well, I came up short there, too. All I had was what was already loaded in the 1911… and instead of the two or three backup mags I typically carry, there was only one.
Well shit, Part 2. No way was I going to shoot off the only two mags I had (and go home with an empty gun? NFW, bubba).
So I blew through one mag at 50 feet (with quite a decent outcome: apparently I haven’t forgotten how to shoot the 1911 yet)… and went home with only the one mag in the 1911.
I felt naked. I mean: just one mag for my carry piece? [shudder]
(I should point that really, the 1911 is just to buy me time to get to the trunk, where all sorts of other options are available, but still.)
Anyway, instead of doing a little grocery shopping on the way back, I went straight home and took care of the (miserly) EDC pack-out situation. Then I went back out to do the extra shopping.
Lesson learned: check your EDC supplies before leaving the house.
Oh, and one more thing. It’s coming up to mid-July here in the Lone Star State, which means:
Heh – Almost the hottest I ever remember being was building a fence on my grandfather’s farm west of Waco in the middle of the summer – conversely, one of the coldest was also on that farm deer hunting in the winter.. both truly some of the best times of my life.
Happens to the best of us. I needed a small cooler during a heatwave last week. I put the cooler ice pack in a small carry size cooler and walked right out the door without it.
Drive 12 minutes up the road and realized fuck I left the cold pack at home.
No problem. I stopped at the Golden Arches for some of their world famous gourmet food and asked for a plastic bag and a cup of ice with my grub.
On the ammo. Have a check list in your range bag. Put ammo at the top.
# Guns are fun but simply paperweights without “Boo Lits”.
# this shit happens to the best of us.
Side note – I think you have mentioned too – 22 Mag is pricy. A few years ago I picked up a nice stash from Wally World.
I refuse to shop at Walmart or any ammo seller in Massachusetts now. Chapt 135 laws passed in 2024 say when you buy ammo the retailer had to record the persons license to carry number. Their address. Their sex and their occupation and the type and amount of ammo purchased. Why? So that the govt can know what people have. And so the criminals can steal this info and rob people’s houses while they are at work. – how come liberals don’t track illegals like they do law abiding citizens.
Recently at the Walmart near me – this past week – the ammo case was empty with a Sign that says no ammo sales at this time.
Walmart still accepts EBT cards though. Every bodies taxes. But fuck the 2nd amendment is their attitude.
I still shop at Walmart but this is fucking bullshit.
Anyways a few years ago I was getting 100 packs of 22 Mag (WMR) for 30 bucks. CCI brand. Mini milk carton style boxes. Also got a bunch of 50 round plastic packs for around 17 a piece. Yes pricey. But I gots to have the stuff so I can feed my Ruger Single Six. 22 lr is great but sometimes I like to launch some WMR.
…Oh boy do I, and I’ll do you one better. Sub-title: “Getting Old Sucks”. Eventually you wind up having to parcel out your time, and more importantly, your energy.
Plan was to shoot two rifles outdoors at Alpine range in the morning. The firing lines are well shaded. Over the previous few days, I had managed to clear the decks sufficiently to have the time. I had my gear pre-staged. All I had to do was slam down a light breakfast, dig the rifles out of the safe, and load up, which I did. That was all she wrote. It was already hot and humid. The humidity is what does me in. I was standing there sweating like the proverbial hog, and realized, “Nope. This ain’t gonna happen today”. Unloaded and left everything in a pile in the man cave.
Next morning when it was cooler, went out to stow everything. That is when I realized that I had packed up the WRONG RIFLE. Eff me. I have a Howa (308) and a Winchester M70 (30-06), both of which have Hogue OD green over-molded stocks. Their barrel/scope profiles are markedly different. Yeah, I’ve forgotten ammo a time or two in the distant past, but this is a first.