Uncategorized

Speaking of the undead

Posted on by Caleb

While we’re sitting around talking about fighting off zombies, some people are training for the eventual apocalypse.  I present “Outbreak: Omega II“, the sequel to the very popular shoot that DPMS put on last year, where you are fighting a simulated zombie horde.  This year it’s going to be 5 courses of fire, 3 rifle, 1 pistol, and 1 shotgun, as well as a side match for axe throwing.  That’s right, the side match will be axe throwing.

I heard from people who went to the one last year that it was a 1.5 hoots to shoot this match, so if you can get up the MN area around April 25th and have about 300 rounds of rifle ammo handy, head over to DPMS’s website and pre-reg for the match.  If my match schedule didn’t look like some mad IDPA nut went through and blocked off all my weekends, I’d try to make it up there for the shoot, because zombies and rifles is a recipe for a great time.

IDPA

IDPA Canada

Posted on by Caleb

I did not know until yesterday that IDPA had a Canadian website, complete with local match schedules. I imagine that the restrictions on ownership of pistols in Canada make competition a somewhat smaller affair than it is here in the States, however just the fact that there are Canadians shooting IDPA (and IPSC) makes me happy.

Plus, I now have a new and entertaining (to me) shooting goal.  Go to Windsor, Ontario, which is right across the border from Detroit (eeeewwww) in August and shoot the Ontario Provincial IDPA Championship.  There’s a certain amount of appeal in going to a foreign country and competing in their IDPA matches.  I’d be interested to see what the differences are, as at least here anyway, IDPA is mostly grounded in the theory of concealed carry, but in Canada there is no concealed carry culture.  I’m curious to see if that difference has an effect on the Courses of Fire that are set up for the shooters. Of course, a cursory glance at Canadian firearms laws tells me that just getting a 1911 in and out of the country along with ammo for the match would be a headache, to say the least. Still…it might be worth it.

news/NRA

NYC Lawsuit Denied by Supreme Court

Posted on by Caleb

From NRA:

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court denied consideration of New York City and Washington, D.C. lawsuits, New York v. Beretta and Lawson v. Beretta, respectively, that tried to hold American gun manufacturers responsible for the acts of criminals. The Court ‘s order leaves standing a pair of decisions by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and District of Columbia Court of Appeals, both of which found that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), enacted in 2005, prevents these types of lawsuits against lawful firearms manufacturers and dealers.

In a shocking moment, the government agrees that the law means what it says, and that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act does in fact protect the firearms industry from reckless and damaging lawsuits.  Remember, these cities were not suing Beretta because Beretta intentionally sold guns to criminals, they were trying to bankrupt lawful firearms manufacturers in retribution for actions over which Beretta had no control.  Essentially, the entire lawsuit was a scam to try and drive a company out of business.

Uncategorized

Gun Nuts Tonight: More Open Carry

Posted on by Caleb

Tonight on Gun Nuts Radio
 we’re going to continue the discussion we started on Open Carry a few weeks back. Joining us for tonight’s show will be Bryan Ledford, a resident of Ohio who was actually harassed by Ohio law enforcement officers for open carrying. Bryan had the presence of mind to record the entire encounter, so we’re going to be listening to the audio of that, and then talking to Bryan about his experience.

As always, questions, comments, and callers are encouraged – you can join the show live at (347) 539-5436 with your question! As always, the show airs live tonight at 9pm Eastern time at www.blogtalkradio.com/gunnuts. Be there tonight for a great discussion on the future of our right to keep and bear arms!

IDPA

Fire Mission – Zombies in the open

Posted on by Caleb

I have massed foot mobiles, closing at a slow rate of speed, the coordinates are 39° 44′ N 86° 17′ W – fire for effect.

Every time I see one of those “zombie” targets, I get the crazy idea in my head to try and put together a “zombie action shooting” match – using standard IDPA targets, you’d take head shots for the entire match, except for the very first stage.  The “scenarios” would play like this:

  1. You get confronted by some badguys, which you engage with two shots to the chest in tactical priority – but then you have to go back and re-engage each one with a head shot, because the two COM shots failed to produce a stop.
  2. All stages after that require a head shot for the target to be considered “neutralized”, failure to engage every target to the head will result in a failure to neutralize penalty.

It would be silly, challenging, and a lot of fun.  Costuming would be encouraged.

Uncategorized

I never thought

Posted on by Caleb

That I would long for the days when President Bush was giving inappropriate back rubs to the Chancellor of Germany…until I heard (and not from the media, mind you) about President Obama giving the Prime Minister of England a bunch of DVDs.

The Prime Minister gave him an ornamental desk pen-holder hewn from the timbers of one of the Royal Navy’s anti-slaving ships of the 19th century, HMS Gannet. Even more appropriate, in 1909 the Gannet was renamed HMS President. The president’s guest also presented him with the framed commission for HMS Resolute, the lost British ship retrieved from the Arctic and returned by America to London, and whose timbers were used for a thank-you gift Queen Victoria sent to Rutherford Hayes: the handsome desk that now sits in the Oval Office. And, just to round things out, as a little stocking stuffer, Brown gave President Obama a first edition of Sir Martin Gilbert’s seven-volume biography of Winston Churchill. In return, America’s head of state gave the Prime Minister 25 DVDs of classic American movies. Evidently, the White House gift shop was all out of “my government delegation went to Washington and all I got was this lousy T-shirt” T-shirts. Still, the classic American movies set is a pretty good substitute, and it can set you back as much as $38.99 at Wal-Mart.

Remember all those people who said that President Bush was an international embarrassment because he was so uncultured and boorish?  At least President Bush said to our greatest ally “hey, that bust you gave us of Winston Churchill as a sign of solidarity after 9/11?  You can have it back”.  That’s right – after his inauguration, President Obama returned the bust of Churchill, which according to some Brits was part of the impetus in PM Brown giving Obama the complete Churchill biography.

Ultimately though, the funny part about all of this is that this is the kind of stuff that all the lefties told me would NEVER happen with Obama.  “He’s so cultured, so worldly, he’ll never make gaffes like that monkey-redneck Bush”.  Well, I guess in their defense that they were right – he made all new gaffes, and insulted our greatest international ally in the process.

You’re off to a rocking good start, Barack!  What’s next, invade Canada?

IDPA/shooting/sports

Atlanta CC IDPA Match Results

Posted on by Caleb

Can be found at this link for the .pdf file of the complete results. I shot the Para 7.45 LDA, which ran like I’ve come to expect Para’s guns to run, without a hitch. I ended up finishing third in CDP Division, which is probably my cue to shoot a classifier in CDP so I can officially compete in that, and 6th overall in the match.

As usually, our friends at Atlanta Conservation Club put on a good match – despite being only 60 rounds over 6 courses of fire, the match was fun and challenging, with a couple COFs that force you to slow down and actually think about what you’re doing. Next weekend on the Indiana IDPA circuit there are a couple of shoots, including the Hamilton County Fish & Game IDPA Match, and Friday Night Steel at Marion County Fish and Game. Should be a pretty good week for shooting in the Indy Metro Area, and if you’re interested in finding more local matches, check out www.indygunracers.com.

Uncategorized

How to not win

Posted on by Caleb

Alienating hunters, veterans, and Obama voters in one fell swoop.

But when father and son arrived at the lesson, the volunteer instructor, Kell Wolf, asked if any of the students voted for President Barack Obama.

Reddy, a transplanted Californian — and former Marine — raised his hand.

According to Reddy and others in the room, Wolf called Obama “the next thing to the Antichrist” and ordered Reddy and Dunkley from the room. When Reddy refused, Wolf said he would not teach “liberals” and would cancel the course if Reddy didn’t leave.

Nice job – thanks to your shenanigans, that kid whose grandfather you kicked out of your course will now have a bad taste in his mouth every time he thinks about conservative gun owners.  I’m not saying that he should have run up to them and embraced them, then slaughtered a fattened calf; but kicking them out of your hunter’s ed course and belittling them was probably not the smartest action either.

shooting

Shooting Science: Moving with speed

Posted on by Caleb

In past entries in the shooting science series, we’ve looked at lower body, upper body, and core conditioning exercises, all of which have had a very general focus on targeting generalized areas in which the shooter can use conditioning to improve their scores.  Today, we’re going to look at moving with speed and power.  First, I recommend that you watch the “Shooting on the Move”  segment in the ParaUSA Gunblogger Weekend videos to cover the basics on shooting on the move.  Our main focus however isn’t going to be on shooting on the move, but rather on explosive movement.

IDPA generally requires less movement than USPSA, however in IDPA you’ll often see short, 1-3 yard dashes from one piece of cover to the next, where you then have to abrubtly stop and fire from behind cover at various targets.  A great way to shave seconds off your time is develop an explosive first step out of the shooting box and develop short term speed.  The first thing that I recommend if you’re thinking about starting such a workout is stretching.  Lots and lots of stretching.  At this past weekend’s IDPA match, I nearly pulled a large muscle in my lower body, which is still sore as I’m typing this to you right now – and I hurt that muscle because I have not been following my own advice on proper stretching.

A great way to develop that explosive first step is the use of “plyometric” exercises, which I should say are generally not beginner level exercises, as they require a certain level of fitness before being attempted.  However, a plyometric squat is a great way to develop that quick power you need to launch yourself out of the shooting box.  Another good way to develop that power is to run the classic gym class exercise…wind sprints.  That’s right, your old nemesis from 8th grade is back with a vengance.  Adding wind sprints and plyometrics to your existing exercise regimen are great ways to build that speed and power so you can move out of the shooting box to your next location as fast as possible.

For our next installment (coming on Wednesday) we’ll look at specific exercises and how to have the proper form throughout your exercise.