Author: Kim du Toit

Unpleasant Truths

Bad News, Boomershoot

It really pains me to write this post, but here we are.

For whatever reason, the response to this year’s BoomerShoot Rifle thing has been quite underwhelming:  so far, I have received just under $1,500 in ticket sales — money which, as any fule kno, has to cover the cost of the rifle and scope, as well as at least some of my travel expenses to get up to Idaho in May for a proper long-range field test.  (I had also hoped to raise enough to sponsor at least in part some of Joe Huffman’s expenses — notably for the BoomerShoot Dinner, always a fine event — but that seems to be impossible now [sorry, Joe].)

So, unless I get a serious influx of ticket sales over the next couple of weeks, I will have to lower my sights considerably, so to speak, and buy instead a budget setup (or just a rifle) and forego BoomerShoot altogether.

Please understand:  I am absolutely not chiding anyone about this, nor is this some kind of guilt trip exercise.  But the facts are the facts, and they are all as stated above.  So here’s where we stand.

  • Right now, I’m going to forego BoomerShoot 2023 altogether, unless circumstances change drastically.  It’s okay;  I love the shooting and the chance to hang out with a bunch of Readers, but it is a long trip from Texas — without any dawdling, it’s three days up, three days down.  The gun is more important, and I can sight it in down here in Texas at my sooper-seekrit outdoor range.
  • I had already decided to go with a rifle chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor, as last year’s rifle was in .308, I got a lot of support from ticketholders for the Creed, and the prices of a Creed rifle and a .308 rifle are about the same.
  • Nobody was interested in a plain hunting-style rifle (“because I’ve got that covered”);  everyone wanted a bench-style rifle.
  • I’m insistent on getting a quality rifle first and foremost, so I’m looking at the Ruger American Hunter, at about $875 (including shipping and processing):

I’d love to get another Howa like last year’s, but they run over a grand, so there’d be little money left over for a decent scope (more on that below).

Anyway, this leaves me with the scope.

  • I’d really prefer to get an illuminated reticle because in low light conditions, it’s a game-changer
  • at least 18x magnification, which I consider to be the minimum at ranges exceeding 400 yards
  • first focal plane (FFP) scopes have to be ruled out because of price, so it’s SFP, I’m afraid.

Here’s the best option, I think, based on my own experience:  the Meopta Optika6 3-18×50 BDC-3, which costs about $800:

Doing the simple math, the two come to $1,675 (still less than the $1,500 on hand, but I’m hopeful).

So here we are, at the Last Chance Saloon.  If you’re still interested, checks and Zelle are your choices.

I’ll hold the call open until the end of the month;  then I’ll have to get busy with whatever funds are available.

Out Of Nowhere

Entertainment, Music

So the Grammy Awards show just happened — no, I didn’t watch it either — and to the amazement of the modern music industry, the likes of Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Adele and Lizzo (all women, or very close to being one) all lost out in the Best Song category to a complete nobody, a complete unknown (to them) named Bonnie Raitt.

“Who?” they asked.  “What’s she ever done?  I’ve never even seen her on InstaGram or Tik-Tok!”

As this article points out, and as anyone over 50 would know, this “unknown” Bonnie Raitt (73) has already won fourteen (14) Grammys before, and was been inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame (a dubious honor, but nevertheless).

The fact that Bonnie’s wonderful Nick Of Time  album won just about everything back in 1989 — long before most of these Gen Z twerps were even born — will no doubt come as a shock, but there you go.

So well done, me old darling.  You’ve certainly given this self-absorbed bunch of weenies something to talk about.

News Roundup

Bad News

Sponsored by:

And in that same vein:


...in which we prove yet again the theorem:  no-class slobs + budget airline = mayhem
(bonus:  guess the race).


...why do I suddenly wish I could exile her to a place which has no Constitution to protect her worthless ass?


...all together now:  “Why, why, why… you assholes!“

Speaking of which (assholes, not the Welsh):


...and yet, you keep reelecting this little Commie prick, and meekly lick the chains he keeps adding to your society.


...”IRS goes after” is believable;  “Biden promises” isn’t.


...I would have thought that “disgrace” and “porn star” are pretty much redundant, but clearly there’s yet an additional level of disgrace available.


...their country, their rules, your stupidity.


...key word:  India.


...forget it, Jake;  it’s Chinatown Turkey.


...actually, I believe that one would have more fun in Sidney, Montana than in Sydney, Strylia — no Australians, no traffic, no crocodiles, five outdoor ranges and a casino, not to mention fewer critters that can actually kill you.  Oh, and open carry.

And from the Dept. Of Education:


...at least he wasn’t homeschooling.

And in no-link INSIGNIFICA:


And in the “Who The Fuck ARE These People?” subset of INSIGNIFICA:

And more musical people of whom we know nothing:

In weather terms:  driving slut, with occasional thunderthighs.  YMMV.

Missing The Point, Somewhat?

Eco-Crap, Watermelons

You see, I always thought that wind vanes were supposed to generate power.  Silly me:

Scotland’s green-obsessed left-separatist government has been left with egg on its face by revelations that dozens of gigantic onshore wind turbines are having to be hooked up to diesel generators, leaking thousands of litres of hydraulic oil into the countryside.

All this because — and I know this will come as a shock to many — Scotland is fucking cold during winter, and the turbines can’t function despite the fact that Scotland is also fucking windy (all the time), as attested to by Combat Controller and Doc Russia during a fall hunt in the Cairngorms.

I think that to be fair, it should have been mandated that fall-back protections for the turbines had to be powered not by diesel engines but by solar energy (something that Scotland does not have a lot of, at any time of year).

The only way we’re ever going to eliminate all this Green bullshit is if we constantly rub the Greens’ noses in the shit every single time their policies fail, and make them live with the consequences.