Did anybody do ANYTHING today?

201422 Views 3349 Replies 140 Participants Last post by barrelsquared, 6 h ago

mailman

Discussion Starter · Mar 14, 2016

4

I did!! For the first time in a couple years I went trap shooting. After about a 20 year lay-off four clubs are getting together to revive the Hangover Trap League. I shoot for the skeet team at one of them so what the heck. Today was the first shoot and happened to be at my club. There's a total of eight shoots, two at each club, and a shoot-off. $2/week/shooter goes to prizes, so I don't think many ringers are going to spoil the fun. All four of these clubs are just around the north end of Seneca Lake from me. Three are within 10 miles and one I've never been to is maybe 30 miles down some beautiful country roads. I hope spring gets here because the top-down Mustang is ready to roll!

I don't think I ever posted a pic of my home-made custom trap gun. I found this in a little Mom & Pop gun shop when I was killing time at the Waverly NY Auto Auction. Paid $200 NIB never fired. It's the Nat. Wild Turkey Foundation raffle gun from 2007 made by H&R. I put the custom pad on with a spacer for some extra LOP, not a bad do-it-yourself effort, if I must say so! I added some serious weight in the stock, those H&R's kick like mules! Got a hammer extension, an IM choke, and I load really light 7/8 oz. loads.

First station today I missed three birds, then nailed 18/20 the rest of the way. I kinda forgot how to float the birds. Ended up with a 37/50. I'll take it. I had a blast!.........................the Mailman

See less See more

Reactions: 3

1061 - 1080 of 3350 Posts

Old_Diabetic_100

· #1,061 · Jan 17, 2017

leftieD said:
I was involved with TDS rallies in the USA and got into off-road rallying just before joining the navy. Didn't have time later on to continue and just did autocross after getting out. My claim to fame was laying out the first ever Happiness is Sunrise rally course back in 1968 that later on became an closed road event out of Coudersport, PA when NY wouldn't allow closed road rallies. Now long gone along with most USA closed road rallies.

Goof stuff, that Malbec. I got a very good wine education in the Napa Valley while stationed at Mare Island Navy base in Vallejo, CA. Had cheap wines and good times checking out new small Napa vineyards on the weekends. Walk in and they'd ask what would you like to taste first. Then everybody started drinking Napa Valley wines and the prices went way up. Even made you pay and take a tour before getting a glass or two. So back in the mid-70's I "discovered" Spanish Rioja and was drinking some very old, but inexpensive, Rioja. Then everybody discovered it in the 80's-90's and the price went up. So I "discovered" Malbec plus Chile's Carménère/Merlot. Now they've gone up in price too. Now old and diabetic (guess you know this story too) and dr's tell me not to mix booze and my pills and my 250+ bottle wine cellar sits there getting dusty. I do cheat, but not enough to make a dent....

You've got it made down there, dove shooting, good wine, trout fishing and and and and....... So enjoy!

I've never taken part in any rallying or racing but admire the stamina of those that do. We've had some first class racing drivers in Argentina………Juan Manuel Fangio being the most famous.

https://www.formula1.com/en/championshi ... angio.html

When Fangio died in 1995, fellow racing drivers Jackie Stewart and Stirling Moss flew from London to Buenos Aires and then managed to get to Balcarce, Fangio's home town, with seconds to spare to act as pall bearers at his funeral. If you can get a copy of Jackie's book, "Winning Is Not Enough", you'll find it contains a moving story about Fangio.

Since Jackie was a shooting man, you might also find the parallels he draws in his book between competitive clay target shooting and F1 motor racing interesting. I knew most of the shooting people he names in his book pretty well including his mentor, Glyn Jones, and Glyn's sons Alan and Noel.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Winnin ... 0755315391

We used to get Napa Valley wines when I lived up in the Yukon nearly 40 years ago. It was all we could get apart from the local moonshine. At the time I recall it reminded me of the taste I got in my mouth the first and only time I tried siphoning gasoline out of my father's car. I hasten to add that Californian wine has moved on considerably since then and has become excellent.

There are about 90 wineries in the vicinity of the city of Mendoza alone, plus more around San Juan and San Rafael. I've only scratched the surface exploring them, but am doing my best to catch up.

I don't buy Chilean wine on principle. There's no great love lost between the Chileans and the Argentines for several reasons that I won't bore you with. We're spoilt for choice here with hundreds of different Argentine wines to suit all pallets and budgets. Only about 2% of Argentine wine is exported. I can buy first class Malbecs, Syrahs, Merlots and Cabernet Sauvignons for $60 Ar (or less) a bottle…….about $3 Usd…….and to be honest I can't tell the difference between those and others selling for ten times more. I'm an insulin dependent diabetic, so fortunately red wine requires no additional insulin compensation, although weigh management is important.

There's an endless supply of doves here to shoot but I leave those to others. Visitors are welcome.

See less See more

Old_Diabetic_100

· #1,062 · Jan 17, 2017

Riflemeister said:
Funny you guys mentioning running rallies. Back in the 70's I was attending the Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey, CA and joined the SCCA affiliated Pebble Beach Sports Car Club. They autocrossed and ran time/distance rallies all over the Monterey peninsula which doesn't have a road that has a quarter mile straight section unless it's a 4 lane. Awesome sports car country.

One of the rallies happened to fall on the Ides of March and the Rally Master named it "Brutus Drove A Henway". Of course everyone had to ask, "What's a Henway?" You guessed it, the answer was "About four pounds."

Riflemeister,

The only place I've been to that has a connection with car racing and Americans is 'Santa Pod' in England. During the Second World War the site was a bomber airfield known as RAF Podington by the British or Station 109 by the Americans. A part of the main runway is used as a drag racing strip to this day.

http://www.santapod.co.uk/dr_history.php

During the Second World War the airfield was home to the 92nd Bomb Group (Heavy), aka "Fame's Favored Few", of the 8th USAAF.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Podington

leftieD

· #1,063 · Jan 18, 2017

Riflemeister said:
Funny you guys mentioning running rallies. Back in the 70's I was attending the Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey, CA and joined the SCCA affiliated Pebble Beach Sports Car Club. They autocrossed and ran time/distance rallies all over the Monterey peninsula which doesn't have a road that has a quarter mile straight section unless it's a 4 lane. Awesome sports car country.

One of the rallies happened to fall on the Ides of March and the Rally Master named it "Brutus Drove A Henway". Of course everyone had to ask, "What's a Henway?" You guessed it, the answer was "About four pounds."

PM sent.

leftieD

· #1,064 · Jan 18, 2017

Old_Diabetic_100 said:
I've never taken part in any rallying or racing but admire the stamina of those that do. We've had some first class racing drivers in Argentina………Juan Manuel Fangio being the most famous.

https://www.formula1.com/en/championshi ... angio.html

When Fangio died in 1995, fellow racing drivers Jackie Stewart and Stirling Moss flew from London to Buenos Aires and then managed to get to Balcarce, Fangio's home town, with seconds to spare to act as pall bearers at his funeral. If you can get a copy of Jackie's book, "Winning Is Not Enough", you'll find it contains a moving story about Fangio.

Since Jackie was a shooting man, you might also find the parallels he draws in his book between competitive clay target shooting and F1 motor racing interesting. I knew most of the shooting people he names in his book pretty well including his mentor, Glyn Jones, and Glyn's sons Alan and Noel.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Winnin ... 0755315391

We used to get Napa Valley wines when I lived up in the Yukon nearly 40 years ago. It was all we could get apart from the local moonshine. At the time I recall it reminded me of the taste I got in my mouth the first and only time I tried siphoning gasoline out of my father's car. I hasten to add that Californian wine has moved on considerably since then and has become excellent.

There are about 90 wineries in the vicinity of the city of Mendoza alone, plus more around San Juan and San Rafael. I've only scratched the surface exploring them, but am doing my best to catch up.

I don't buy Chilean wine on principle. There's no great love lost between the Chileans and the Argentines for several reasons that I won't bore you with. We're spoilt for choice here with hundreds of different Argentine wines to suit all pallets and budgets. Only about 2% of Argentine wine is exported. I can buy first class Malbecs, Syrahs, Merlots and Cabernet Sauvignons for $60 Ar (or less) a bottle…….about $3 Usd…….and to be honest I can't tell the difference between those and others selling for ten times more. I'm an insulin dependent diabetic, so fortunately red wine requires no additional insulin compensation, although weigh management is important.

There's an endless supply of doves here to shoot but I leave those to others. Visitors are welcome.

Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss & Jim Clark - three of my racing heroes.

When I was stationed in Vallejo, California one could go to the winery and get a US gallon of what was called "**** red" for about $3, if you brought your own jug. Worked well as a paint stripper, red dye #1 and if consumed in quantity could give you a very bad headache. However, there were a few small enlightened wineries that produced very good wines if you knew where to look.

A couple of us went to Fort Ord, near Monterery, CA for the Laguna Seca CanAm race and found out that if you arrived early that they won't let you camp out. So we found a field and set up for the night. Next morning the only thing we had to drink was good old d... red and brushing your teeth with it was added to its uses. :shock: :lol:

Old_Diabetic_100

· #1,065 · Jan 18, 2017

leftieD said:
A couple of us went to Fort Ord, near Monterery, CA for the Laguna Seca CanAm race and found out that if you arrived early that they won't let you camp out. So we found a field and set up for the night. Next morning the only thing we had to drink was good old d... red and brushing your teeth with it was added to its uses. :shock: :lol:

That's funny!

When I shot Olympic skeet competitively, I'd always buy a large bottle of cheap French cognac at the duty free before getting on the plane on the way out. I generally had trouble sleeping in a strange bed, especially if sharing a room with a team mate who snored, so a couple of really healthy swigs of brandy before hitting the sack ensured I got a good night's sleep regardless of distractions. Also, having once had Montezuma's Revenge while trying to shoot, I learned the hard way not to brush my teeth in the local tap water ever again so instead always brushed my teeth in neat brandy.

For years I followed my regime of brushing my teeth morning and night in brandy, gargling with the stuff in the mornings and drinking it at night wherever I went.

One place we shot at a lot was near Montecatini Terme in Italy. It was eventually pointed out that people came from all over the world to drink the local water in industrial quantities believing it had special medicinal and healing properties and there was I not only avoiding it like the plague but practically bathing in cheap French brandy instead :shock:.

See less See more

Davide Todd

· #1,066 · Jan 27, 2017

6

2fewdaysafield said:
We're going to see pics of the FAIR hammer gun, right Davide?!?!? Good luck with the elk hunt.

Well, the elk hunt was scrubbed, but on a high note, my gun came yesterday!!
One of only 100!! :s
There are only three in North America that I know of, mine, my gun dealer's and my hunting pal's!!
Gonna shoot them tomorrow
I put these up over on the Rizzini forum , but I think those guys are on Italian time!!! :lol:
The locks have coil springs and hidden pin retainers, laser checkering, five chokes with the cylinder, IC and MOD chokes steel approved, well under 6 pounds with nice trigger pull and hammer tension, NO safety ( rebounding hammers

) and balances right on the hinge which makes for a super fast swinging gun!

Davide

See less See more

67galaxie

· #1,067 · Jan 28, 2017

I really love it! Great job! I can't wait to see it in action

leftieD

· #1,068 · Jan 28, 2017

6

Davide Todd said:
2fewdaysafield said:

We're going to see pics of the FAIR hammer gun, right Davide?!?!? Good luck with the elk hunt.

Click to expand...

Well, the elk hunt was scrubbed, but on a high note, my gun came yesterday!!
One of only 100!! :s
There are only three in North America that I know of, mine, my gun dealer's and my hunting pal's!!
Gonna shoot them tomorrow
I put these up over on the Rizzini forum , but I think those guys are on Italian time!!! :lol:
The locks have coil springs and hidden pin retainers, laser checkering, five chokes with the cylinder, IC and MOD chokes steel approved, well under 6 pounds with nice trigger pull and hammer tension, NO safety ( rebounding hammers ) and balances right on the hinge which makes for a super fast swinging gun!
Davide

What are those funny things sticking out of the sidelocks? :lol: :lol:

See less See more

Old_Diabetic_100

· #1,069 · Jan 28, 2017

leftieD said:
What are those funny things sticking out of the sidelocks? :lol: :lol:

leftie,

"A gun without hammers is like a spaniel without ears", according to the late Lord Ripon, King George V or.............take your pick

.

Davide Todd

· #1,070 · Jan 28, 2017

2

Old_Diabetic_100 said:
leftieD said:

What are those funny things sticking out of the sidelocks? :lol: :lol:

Click to expand...

leftie,

"A gun without hammers is like a spaniel without ears", according to the late Lord Ripon, King George V or.............take your pick .

HAHA!! I luv it!! :lol:

Weight of our guns is.5.5 pounds BTW!

Even with my Lined Watsons on the triggers were not hard to find, and they are fantasist!

Davide

See less See more

Old_Diabetic_100

· #1,071 · Jan 28, 2017

Davide Todd said:
Old_Diabetic_100 said:

leftieD said:

What are those funny things sticking out of the sidelocks? :lol: :lol:

Click to expand...

leftie,

"A gun without hammers is like a spaniel without ears", according to the late Lord Ripon, King George V or.............take your pick .

Click to expand...

HAHA!! I luv it!! :lol: Davide

Davide,

If you like hammer guns then, while I'm no royalist, perhaps you'd find a visit to the Royal Family's gun room at Sandringham in Norfolk interesting. You'll find a collection of Purdey hammer shotguns guns there......alternatively the following book might appeal.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Royal-Gunroom- ... 071488040X

I had a Charles Lancaster 20G sidelever hammer gun with Damascus barrels when I was a kid. With luck it's still in 'one piece' and hanging on a wall now somewhere in Kentucky.

double20

· #1,072 · Feb 12, 2017

Well, I finally got to shoot my Henry Big Boy .44 mag today. All I have to say is WOW! Everything about the gun was better than expected. First, the recoil was almost non-existent. I was expecting more recoil. I was wearing just a t-shirt and even with the Henry having the solid brass buttplate, my shoulder barely felt it. Second, the action is butter smooth. Third, the trigger is very good on this rifle. A good solid all around rifle. Accuracy was really good also. At 75 yards, I fired 6 shots with Federal American Eagle 240 grain jacketed soft points and there was one flier that was my fault. The other 5 shots were just slightly bigger than a half dollar which I consider really good for this type of rifle and caliber. I was also shooting some cheaper Magtech 240 grain jacketed soft points but as can be expected, they didn't group as well as the Federals. Probably a small coffee saucer sized group at 75 yards. The odd thing is, the Magtechs are rated at 1180 fps and the Federals are rated at 1270 fps. You would think the Magtechs would hit lower than the Federals being that they are slower but they actually hit about 3-4 inches higher than the Federals at 75 yards. I assume those velocities are measured using a revolver length barrel so my Henry rifle is probably pushing them out a couple of hundred fps faster. The Magtechs would still be slower though either way. Not sure why they hit higher. Anyway, Henry makes a great shooting rifle. Can't wait to shoot my first deer with it this fall.

See less See more

67galaxie

· #1,073 · Feb 16, 2017

It's my favorite caliber double20. I really like the 240 grain deer stoppers and the cowboy loads offered by GA Arms. Check them out! About 1300+ from a pistol and 1800 from your rifle. Loading straight wall cartridges is easy and fun as well

leftieD

· #1,074 · Feb 19, 2017

Hidden in the back of my ammo lock up I still have a 1/2 small box of Norma 44 mag Carbine rounds from the '70's left over from feeding through my Marlin 1894. I think they are/were the only OEM 44 mag rounds that I've found that were loaded special for long guns.

67galaxie

· #1,075 · Feb 19, 2017

Sweet Leftie!

Yornoc3

· #1,076 · Feb 19, 2017

We're in the midst of a record setting heat wave :wink:, it's been in the high 50's. For mid February up here, that's hot. It's not all warm breezes and whispering palms, though, since the snow has melted into ice and slush; you have to watch every step you take where the ground's not bare. So I dug out 3 10/22's I've accumulated, and a wood stocked bolt action Ruger American .22, to see what their ammo preferences might be. I shot them with RWS match ammo to get an idea of how they'd shoot, then tried some conventional ammo. They all grouped under an inch at 50 yards with the RWS, with the American a solid 1/2". A 10/22 sporter with a 20" barrel and the American liked Win. Power Points, while a stainless International and another stainless version with a 20" barrel (looks like a cuckoo clock, with a schnable forend, fish scale checkering and straight grip

) liked CCi Mini Mags; all grouping about an inch at 50 yards. Now I need to consider replacing those awful 10/22 triggers, then I bet they could do a little better.

See less See more

67galaxie

· #1,077 · Feb 28, 2017

Mosquitos tried to eat me. No squirrels

billwnr

· #1,078 · Mar 1, 2017

I broke down and got a part time job at the local sporting goods store. I now get paid for talking hunting and fishing.

billwnr

· #1,079 · Mar 1, 2017

I broke down and got a part time job at the local sporting goods store. I now get paid for talking hunting and fishing.

barrelsquared

· #1,080 · Mar 1, 2017

billwnr said:
I broke down and got a part time job at the local sporting goods store. I now get paid for talking hunting and fishing.

Customers will benefit from someone with knowledge working behind the counter, and should appreciate it.

1061 - 1080 of 3350 Posts