Tag: Guns and such

My favorite toy

Boomershoot 2020

The Gun Thing

Yup, it’s that time again.  (“That time” being wherein I discover, and not for the first time, that I am totally crap at long-range shooting.)

I just registered for Boomershoot 2020, so I’ll be up in central Idaho on May 1-3, driving all the way up from Texas for the three days prior, and all the way back down for the three days thereafter.  (I drive because of all the gear one needs to make Boomershoot feel less like the Somme circa  1916 only without being machine-gunned by Huns.)  I have not been to Boomershoot for fifteen years, and I very much doubt whether my skills have improved over the intermission.

So why am I going?  Well, I missed Mr. Free Market’s last trip to Scotland for the annual deer stalk in appalling weather conditions, so I need to punish myself — it’s the gunny equivalent of a hairshirt, to quell any feelings of pride and/or adequacy I may feel in my shooting skills, such as they are, and to remind me that shooting generally doesn’t take place in an air-conditioned indoor range, nor even in clement weather.

Organizer Joe Huffman, national treasure that he may be, is not responsible for the drenching rainstorms which sweep the area periodically, nor for the scorching sunshine when it’s not raining.  Nor is he responsible for the variable 20+ mph winds which sweep across the field, and which make shooting at inch-sized targets (at 400 yards) such an  ummm interesting  test of one’s ability to judge the likely fall of shot at the target.

So I’ll be acquiring at some point a new rain/sun shelter and a new shooting bench (the old ones having disappeared without trace into the mists of time during my fifteen years’ absence):

Not quite sure at this point what rifles I’ll be taking up.  The Son&Heir may be accompanying me (his work schedule permitting) in which case the Swedish Mauser will be putting in a repeat appearance*.  I hope he does make it:  he’s as good a spotter as he is a shooter — and at BS, a spotter is mandatory (unless you just want to shoot hundreds of rounds into the ground around the target).

But the rifles… previous experience at BS has shown me that hunting rifles (even ones as good as my Mauser M12) just don’t cut it.  You need a heavy rifle and a heavy barrel (the latter to handle the high rate of fire), and most hunting rifles’ barrels just overheat and the lightweight stocks don’t give you a steady shooting platform.  Here’s a pic of what I mean:

The guy on the left (in blue) wasn’t shooting but spotting for his buddy, who was an ungodly shot:  13 shots, 12 boomers at 800 yards.  The cartridge was .30-378 Weatherby, as I recall.

I don’t have anything like that, nor do I want to shoot a heavy bullet, despite the advantages that would bring in a stiff breeze.

I’ll be thinking about the problem over the next couple of weeks, but I’m leaning towards 7.62mm NATO / .308 Win in addition to the 6.5x55mm Swede I’ll be bringing already.  Here’s an idea of what I’m talking about:

All suggestions (especially from Boomershoot veterans) are most welcome.

*A brief word of explanation:  the S&H doesn’t enjoy shooting through a scope because, and I quote, “there’s no artistry  involved, Dad” and thus prefers to use iron sights at 400 yards.  Last time, he hit six boomers out of fifteen shots fired — in other words, as the 400-yard boomers are 4″ square, shooting MOA with iron sights, the bloody showoff.  Even the Fort Lewis Army snipers were impressed.  We’ll see if his 30-year-old eyes are up to what his 15-year-old eyes managed.

Cluebat Needed

Modernism, The Gun Thing

Some people just have no fucking clue.  Example #1:

I know that this may be seen as hateful / rayyciss / [insert epithet of choice]  to some — but what the complainers fail to realize is that handing out LGBTOSTFU flags to children is just as offensive to some people as waving the Confederate flag is to others.  If you allow the one, you have to allow the other.  The good news in this case is the sub-heading.

Example #2:

Nobody wants gun battles in churches.  However, if the choice is between “gun battle”  and “mass slaughter of innocent unarmed victims”, let’s just insist that “gun battle”  is the better option.  Not only that, but in even considering the slaughter as preferable, we can also say with certainty that people who are prepared to see mass slaughters of innocent unarmed victims just so that their anti-gun mantra is satisfied, are very bad people.

Glaring Omissions

Bad News, The Gun Thing

I note with displeasure the recent rise of attacks on Jews, and see that a couple experts have weighed in on why Jews should be armed.  (I would have thought that the events that led to the sentiment of “Never Again!” would have been reason enough, but anyway.)

In response, the article suggested six guns for Jews to carry:

  • Sig Sauer P365
  • Glock 17
  • Glock 19
  • Glock 43
  • Smith and Wesson M&P
  • Springfield XD

All good guns, and ones I would carry without a qualm myself (okay, maybe not the Glocks, because reasons).  However, considering that one of the above guns is German, and three others Austrian… I mean, I know  that Jews must have short memories because they appear to have forgotten all about the Holocaust (see above), but sheesh…

If I were a member of the Tribe, I would not only arm myself, I’d make a symbolic gesture by carrying one of these two excellent guns, from Israel’s own eeevil Zionist gunmaker, IWI:

The Jericho is a lovely piece (I’ve fired it many times myself) and the FS and RS variants are available in all three varieties:  9mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP (and no prizes for guessing which caliber I’d choose, especially when the .45 ACP was built for a gun designed by a man whose middle name was “Moses”).  The bigger mil-spec Masada (which I haven’t yet had a chance to fire, damn it) looks like a decent piece too, but is only available in 9mm.

I can’t think of a better outcome than for a Jew to shoot a violent anti-Semite in the face with an Israeli gun.

Virginia Flashpoint #4

Marxists, Politics, The Gun Thing

If there’s any silver lining to the dire situation that ordinary Virginians are finding themselves (being at the mercy of a Democrat-dominated legislature and executive, that is), it’s that the latter bastards are showing the rest of us Americans exactly what they would do if they held the keys to the national  levers of power.

By now, we’re all familiar with the gun banning / confiscation / criminalization intent of Virginia’s state government — even to the extent of Head Bastard Gov. Northam having a tidy little budget set aside for prosecution and incarceration of law-abiding criminalized gun owners.  How nice.

But it doesn’t end there.  These fucking Commies are going after suburbanites, too [emphasis added]:

Democrats in Virginia may override local zoning to bring high-density housing, including public housing, to every neighborhood statewide — whether residents want it or not.
The measure could quickly transform the suburban lifestyle enjoyed by millions, permitting duplexes to be built on suburban lots in neighborhoods previously consisting of quiet streets and open green spaces. Proponents of “upzoning” say the changes are necessary because suburbs are bastions of segregation and elitism, as well as bad for the environment.

Of course, the environment just has  to be dragged in to support their weak-assed argument.  Although if anyone wants to see a truly  ravaged environment, I invite them to visit a low-income neighborhood, anywhere in the world.  Middle-class suburbs, likewise anywhere in the world, are paradise by comparison — until “affordable” housing is brought in, that is.  And right on cue:

The move, which aims to provide “affordable housing,” might be fiercely opposed by local officials throughout the state, who have deliberately created and preserved neighborhoods with particular character — some dense and walkable, others semi-rural and private — to accommodate people’s various preferences.

But Democrats tout a state-level law’s ability to replace “not in my backyard” with “yes, in your backyard.”

And if you think that this blight would not be inflicted on the rest of us with a Democrat-controlled U.S. House, Senate and Presidency, I have a New York bridge to sell you.

No doubt, as time goes by the Virginia pols are going to find more and more bastardy to inflict on their hapless citizenry.

I don’t think that this was quite what the Founders intended with the “laboratory of the states”;  but then they could never have conceived  of a socio-political statist condition such as “Marxism”.  Thank goodness, however, that in their wisdom they gave us the means to resist such iniquity, if conditions were to become intolerable.

Which is why the Marxists are so set on disarming us.

And here we are.  So what are we to do?  Well, duh:

And if we’re talking rooftops, then:

 

And if you think these fuckers won’t classify your beloved hunting rifles as “sniper” rifles, there’s another bridge in the New York area going cheap.  We won’t even talk about the “serious” rooftop option:

They’re already  going after these — no doubt because so many are used in drive-by shootings, of course. [eyecross]

Virginians, take note.  Ditto the rest of us.  Because the Communists will not stop until everyone is completely disarmed.

If you want more details about this bastardy, see Don Surber’s take, which is like mine only without the guns.

Virginia Flashpoint #3

Legal Stuff, Politics, The Gun Thing

According to Virginia’s Attorney-General, Second Amendment “sanctuary” cities [and counties] have no force in law.

“Neither local governments nor local constitutional officers have the authority to declare state statutes unconstitutional or decline to follow them on that basis,” Herring wrote in the opinion. “Neither the Federal Constitution nor Virginia law recognizes any ‘anti-commandeering’ principle that allows localities or local constitutional officers to refuse to participate in the enforcement of state law.”

Really?  So you’re insisting that police department have to enforce blatantly un-Constitutional laws, despite their oaths to the contrary?  So if, say, under an overwhelmingly Republican-controlled  legislature and ditto governor a state law was passed which forbade the practice of Islam in Virginia, that would be all tickety-boo and Virginian police departments could start arresting Muslims outside mosques, while halaal  butcheries and restaurants would be declared illegal and shut down?

Asking for a friend.

Virginia Flashpoint #2

Politics, The Gun Thing

“When the vast majority of Virginia counties declare themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries and tell the government to back off, the Senate, the House of Delegates, and Democrat governor Ralph Northam need to pull their heads out of the sand and take notice. They need to listen to their fellow citizens, and then they need to burn and bury that bill. To pass it into law in the face of such resistance is not only an act of tyranny. It’s just plain old stupid.”

And its corollary:

“The Seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia features an armed Roman goddess of virtue standing with her foot on top of a fallen figure representing tyranny. Above her is the state motto  Sic Semper Tyrannis, which translates: ‘Thus always to tyrants’.”