Top Shot 2 Challenges

I'd pay good money for someone to provide a place where I could try my hand at the Top Shot challenges. Even tonight's 100 plate team speed challenge with 1911s would be easy to setup, but it looked like a ton of fun.

I'd also like to try the high speed, low drag (as one the competitors called it) Razorcat Racing Gun from the Quick Fire Faceoff.

Updated - found the link and image to the Razorcat.

Bullets & BBQ Knoxville Blogger Event

On Saturday, I enjoyed meeting several of the Knoxville area bloggers at Coal Creek Armory for friendly fire and some eats afterwards. It was really nice for me because I've just started this hobby (both the blogging and the guns), whereas some of these folks have been doing it for years. It was an interesting experience in that I had never met them in person before, but I felt like I already knew them through their blogs.

Attendees and their reports (in bold):
Les Jones - Notes from the Blogger Gun Bash
Linoge (plus Better Half joined for lunch) - After Action Report
Lissa
Liston Matthews (dropped by at lunch)
Rich
Michael J. Mollenhour (also joined at lunch)

The gathering also let me try out a few different guns and let others shoot mine. As you see in the post above Les liked my Kel-Tec. He didn't mention it in the post, but he was not a fan of the trigger on the CZ 75 SP-01. We also thought we had a problem with my P22, but it actually was working as intended - you can pull the trigger and the hammer will fall while the safety is on, but there is a block that keeps it from actually firing.

I shot a couple of wheel guns, which was a new experience for me. Les and Linoge told me the models I'm sure, but I didn't catch them in the heat of battle. I also shot Rich's Bersa 380. We had a couple of problems with that one. I had a failure to feed while I was trying it out. A neigbor of mine also happened to be in the lane next to us, so I got to try out the S&W Bodyguard 380. I wanted to fall in love with it, but I didn't. He said it was hard for him to shoot accurately and I was way low and left with it - even with the laser (which probably needed to be adjusted since it had come back from S&W). He had another buddy shooting high right. I'd like to blame the gun, but that's some odd data.

The highlights for me were Linoge's PPS and Les' Browning Buckmark. I shot my Kel-Tec PF-9 pretty well that day, but I'm still looking for an alternative. I really liked the PPS - it is a good size and the manual of arms is very similar to the P22 that I like. This meet-up may end up costing me some money if I decide I need one of those. And thanks to the Buckmark, I now know what a really good trigger is like. Les had some work done to the .22 and it has really paid off. That thing was smooth as silk. The fiber optic sights were a nice upgrade as well.

Thanks to everyone that showed up and shared guns, ammos, and stories.

What are you afraid of?

I was on my way home when I got stopped at one of those random drunk driver checkpoints. The officer asked for my license and he noticed my carry permit when I had my wallet open.

He asked, "Are you carrying today, Mr. O'Lore?"

Deciding I didn't want to get into a debate about the appropriateness of his question, I replied, "Yes, I am."

"What are you carrying?"

Again taking the easy way out, I answered "I've got a Kel-Tec PF-9 in an IWB holster, a S&W Bodyguard 380 on my ankle, and there is a CZ-75 SPO1 in the glove box. I've got a S&W M&P15 (MOE) and a Mossberg 500 in the trunk."

"Is this what you normally have with you?"

"Yes."

The officer then asks, "What are you afraid of?"

"Not damn thing."


I'm sure most folks have seen that joke before, but it is making the rounds again, so I thought I would post it.

Discreet Carry

House was awesome tonight - rocking a combo ax and shotgun cane to take down some zombies. The ax blade was retractable and must have been spring-loaded (very Buffy-esque). I think the cane acted as the barrel as House bolted on a grip and magazine tube/pump. Talk about discreet carry, I've been watching House for a long time and I never noticed he was packing heat. Unfortunately, it did not appear to have the bitchin flames.

And then later, he and Cuddy were re-inacting the classic scene from Butch and Sundance.

A very entertaining episode.

Midway Bag Fanboi

I didn't mean to become a fanboi of the Midway bags... it just kinda happened. It started with a mini-group buy with the guys at work of the MidwayUSA Competition Range Bag ($39.99). It is the large, black bag at the bottom of the picture. It is huge. In fact, it is almost too big. It gets too heavy for the carrying strap if you load it up with hearing protection, safety glasses, a few guns, multiple magazines for each gun, several boxes of ammo, a flashlight, some basic tools, etc. The weight of the bag will cause the carrying strap to slide out to its maximum length. There are a ton of pockets and it includes a detachable bag with a mesh bottom for collecting brass along with two gun "envelopes." I like the bag, but it is better suited to an all day event where you needed to have absolutely everything with you.



Next up was the MidwayUSA Pro Series Tactical Rifle Gun Case ($38.99) that I got as a Christmas gift for my Smith & Wesson M&P15-22. I've not hauled it around, but it is well-built and fits the rifle and magazines with no problems.



Lastly, I ordered the MidwayUSA Compact Competition Range Bag ($29.99) and the
MidwayUSA Tactical Pistol Gun Case ($7.99). I used the compact bag for the Bullets and BBQ festival. It is a much better size for a typical day at the range. It doesn't have as many pockets and extras as the larger bag, but it will get the job done. I also picked up the pistol case for days when I just want to take one gun to the range.


If there is interest, I will do a quick video to give you a better look at the bags.

All prices were current as this of posting. Also, unless you must have a bag today, wait for the sales. They seem to come around quite frequently.

We're # 13! We're #13!

The results are in - for sales of collegiate merchandise.

1. The University of Texas at Austin
2. The University of Alabama
3. University of Florida
4. The University of Michigan
5. University of Georgia
6. Louisiana State University
7. University of North Carolina
8. The Pennsylvania State University
9. University of Kentucky
10. University of Notre Dame
11. University of Nebraska
12. The University of Oklahoma
13. University of Tennessee
14. Auburn University

Dot Torture

An update on my Dot Torture training... I've done the drill on four different dates and my scores have continually improved as you can see in the table below. While my accuracy is getting better, my speed is not. If I can get my score up higher, then I can start going faster and/or move the target further out.

From Brick O'Lore

I Miss London

The programme was a little different when I did it a few years ago - for one, it was called ADMIS (Analysis and Design of Management Information Systems.) And I don't recall any sexy recruiting videos.

This is why I love sports

Wes Rucker has done the analysis and the Vols can finish anywhere from 2nd to 5th in the East depending on the outcome of three games this week-end.

Here is the best scenario:

"Alabama beats Georgia, Florida beats Vanderbilt, Tennessee beats Kentucky
1. Florida 13-3
2. Tennessee 9-7
3. Kentucky 9-7
4. Vanderbilt 9-7
5. Georgia 9-7"

470 Amateur Radio Net PSK31

Paul, W4PGM, was back on the 470 Net with another recommendation - a PSK31 kit (assembled in the picture below), from Small Wonder Labs. PSK31 (Official Web Page, Wikipedia Page) is a digital modulation mode using a small transceiver (often low power/QRP), a simple antenna, and a common PC with a sound card. Paul has really enjoyed using PSK31 and points out that it is a good reason to get your General license - especially if you thought you could not afford to get into HF. The kit with enclosure is $150. Also, because it uses your computer, communication is basically a keyboard chat like any instant message program. That makes it a little more familiar for new hams that have been around the internet, but not logged lots of hours on the airwaves. It also eliminates the issue of being "mic shy." Lastly, the kit will give you some good experience soldering along with the satisfaction of building it yourself.

One more project for the list of things I want to do.