Short-Range Zero

Ron Spomer tells you how to sight in your scoped rifle when you don’t have access to a long range.  (You may sometimes need a buddy to help you, I think — Ron does.)  And I have to tell you

Here’s my take on this.

A vast preponderance of shots are made at what I’d call short range:  less than 150 yards.  And if you do most of your hunting in any kind of woodland, it’s likely to be less than that — think 50 yards.  So if you’re doing this kind of shooting, then a 30- or 50-yard zero makes a lot more sense.  (Frankly, if you’re shooting at about 50 yards or less, I seriously question whether you need a scope at all.)

I think the longest shot I ever took back in South Africa was a measured (by pacing off) 325 yards, and I have to tell you, had I been more experienced a hunter back then, I probably would have backed off and not taken it.

Now?  If I were to go hunting at all (which is highly unlikely), I’d set my limit at 100 yards, and probably less than that.  I’d use a low-power scope (maximum 5x) if indeed I used a scope at all — and I’m pretty sure a red-dot scope would do the trick, instead of a crosshair or mil-dot reticle.

Remember that most of the time, you’re shooting at a side plate-sized target, and as such, a 3-MOA sighting group would be more than adequate.

Leave the sub-1″ stuff to the target professionals, and let’s not even begin to talk about the ultra-long distance 1,000 yard shooting.  That’s sniper-grade accuracy, and 99% of all riflemen aren’t snipers or even close to being snipers.  Hell, at my very best I wasn’t a sniper, mostly because of my crappy eyes.  But I was quite a competent hunter.

Know your limitations.

Enjoying What’s There

Some time back, I got an email from a newly-acquired Reader who asked me how I’d managed to blog for such a long time, and what was the best way to enjoy this website.

I don’t recall exactly what I told him, but here are a couple tips if you want to while away a few hours in pointless entertainment.

  • Go to the right hand side of the page, and under CATEGORIES pick a topic at random (or one of particular interest to you) and go back through the history.  It’s kinda fun to see all those old (mostly) rants and such.
  • In the “Search” box on the top right column, key in a random word (e.g. Mauser) and see what falls out of the tree.  (Just watch yer spelling;  this is an old-fashioned website, and there is no auto-correct.)
  • Think of a random topic  (e.g. slavery), type that into the “Search” box and see if I’ve ever written anything about it

Just a thought…

“Dear Dr. Kim”

“Dear Dr. Kim:

“I’m a man of 35, looking for a woman to settle down with and perhaps have kids with.  I’m reasonably secure financially — as much as one can be nowadays — and I have a decent job with a good company, but I do have a few quirks that may be regarded as questionable (I enjoy going to the races, but only bet modest amounts that I can afford to lose;  I also rebuild classic cars, which does take quite a bit of time and money but I enjoy the hell out of it). 

“My problem, Dr. Kim, is that as I look around, I can’t really find any women in my target age group (24-35) who seem suitable.  Apart from the obvious losers — I think you know who I’m talking about — most women in that group seem totally unconcerned with their own prospects. A large number still live with their parents, which is a huge turn-off for me because they’re sheltered from the financial consequences of their bad habits, and I have no interest in taking over that responsibility should we ever decide to couple up.

“Even worse, I see these women on social media talking about their lists of criteria that men have to measure up to.  But when I look at these women, I wonder where the hell they get off coming up with any kind of criteria at all, considering that they are, to put it bluntly, horrible prospects who bring nothing to the party except a bad attitude and sense of entitlement.  To be frank, they need to realize that in today’s world, just having boobs and a vagina don’t count as much as they think it might, especially when they themselves may also be bringing stuff like credit card debt and student loans that they will no doubt think that their future partners will have to ‘take care of’ (i.e. pay off).  It’s even worse if they bring children, sometimes from multiple partners and expect guys to be the perfect daddy to them.

“I’m also kinda saddened by hearing them complaining that there are ‘no good men around’ when I know there are plenty — I being one of them, if you’ll excuse my  bragging — but the honest truth is more simple:  there are no good women around for guys like me to couple with or marry.

“Any advice, Dr. Kim?”

— Brick Wall, Missouri

Dear Brick:

You paint a very gloomy picture, and unfortunately I can see no flaws in your summation of your prospects.

In the old days, I might have counseled you and men like you to join a church to find like-minded mates;  but my spies tell me that even churches are no longer proper matchmaking venues because the women of which you speak have figured this out and are joining congregations, using membership thereof to establish some kind of “bona fides” to attract (and entrap) worthy young men.

I could also suggest that you take a few night classes in what’s known as “continuing education” on a topic of interest to you, to see if there might be female classmates who share your interest and can at least be counted on in that regard.  Just be aware that this too might turn out to be a minefield, because college campuses are all filled with the Wrong Sort Of Women nowadays.

I’m reminded of the old joke:

What is the secret ingredient to a happy, long-lasting marriage?
Find a woman who can take care of the household, someone who is wild in bed, and one who is financially blessed. Ensure that these three women never come face-to-face with one another.

I wish I could say something that might give you some hope;  but I can’t.  Your prospects are indeed gloomy, and there’s no easy way, no magic bullet that might make your task easier.

By the way:  what cars, exactly, do you like to restore?

Back Then

This idea was “borrowed” (okay, stolen) from a post by the Feral Irishman:

You wake up one morning and it’s 1995. 
The past 30 years have just been a dream.
What’s the first thing you do?

Here are some ideas that could see you comfortably situated thirty years later, i.e. today.

Buy:

  • Amazon.com shares, as many as you can afford
  • ditto Apple
  • other companies (specify)
  • that cherry ’71 Dino 246GT for $15,000 (I remember seeing some for about that price back then, and thinking they were crazy to expect so much)
  • a $100k house in Plano TX (which would be worth +/- $490K today) — pick your market

Your ideas in Comments.

RFI: OS

As someone who is actively looking to do this, can someone please explain the last panel to me?

…because I don’t understand the iconography.  What are the products?

#StupidOldFart #OutOfTouch

“Dear Dr. Kim”

Dear Dr Kim,

“When my hands are deep in the turkey gizzard and relatives come brightly into my kitchen, without bringing me a drink, and offer to help:  what playlist can you suggest I ask the smart speaker to play to get them to fuck off?

“Suicidal Christmas Country Songs  worked well, actually a bit too well, last year, and Siri claimed not to recognise “Music to invade Poland to”. Your erudite musical knowledge is needed.

Some English Farmer

Dear Farmer:

There are so many things wrong with this request that I barely know where to begin.

Let’s start with the “hands in the turkey gizzard” thing.  Where is your wife?  Why is she not performing her uxorial duties, whilst you are outside shooting at crows, neighbors etc.?  Small wonder that relatives come into the kitchen drinkless — they’re expecting to find her in there and not some male interloper.

Secondly:  WTF is this “smart speaker” gadget?  To me this bespeaks idleness or at least inattentiveness on your part, caused no doubt by your being in the kitchen instead of doing worthwhile things like browsing through your collection of gramophone records, wherein I have every expectation that you will find all sorts of music guaranteed to drive foul, unwanted people such as relatives screaming from the room.  Just off the top of my head, I would suggest Adge Cutler and the Wurzels’ debut album, but if said relatives are from your part of the world then this may be a dangerous choice as they would start singing along and even — perish the thought — dancing on your threadbare Axminster.  A better choice might be the musical efforts of Jimmy Shand and his Orchestra:  if that horrible ur-Scottish music fails to send them screaming not just from the room but from your farm altogether, you may as well give up and reach for the budget-priced Spanish plonk that your wife rejected for cooking.

And speaking of cooking, a reminder:  a man’s place to cook is at the barbecue or spit-roast, and not in the kitchen.

Finally, I have no idea what this “Siri” creature is.  It sounds like some ghoul, or an invention of Satan’s minions.  Best stay far away from it, lest you be corrupted and start doing things like leaving the parish and encountering strangers.