Finally... A Day At The Range

Ah yes, a range day on a beautiful sunny Friday that I am off and no one else is at the range. As usual, I carry a firearm that I will not shoot, but for protection of myself and my firearms. I call it my "fuck around and find out" gun. For Friday's outing, I chose my Ruger GP-161 openly carried in my "*Wyoming Deputy Sheriff rig." Ammo was Hornady Critical Defense 125 grain .357 Magnum and included a pair of HKS speedloaders. I will describe the firearms in vague descriptions so no one has access to an actual "list" of what I may or may not own, or perhaps I just borrowed for the day.

A semi-auto .22:LR

This particular rifle was the first real gun I bought over 40 years ago at age 18 from KMart (remember those days when stores like KMart had an entire gun department in Sporting Goods?) I think I paid $59.95 for it. It has consumed thousands of rounds and the only problem was a broken extractor. The manufacturer (back when they were a stand-alone manufacturer not a subsidiary) sent me a new extractor AND and new style bolt. That was at least 25 years ago and the gun has been fine ever since, just not shot as much as it used to. I had put a Fiberforce skeleton stock on it, but wanted to go back to original. The eye relief on the scope changed, so I wanted to re-zero it. I sight in all my .22's for 50 yards which IMHO is practical. Sure, I can lob rounds out to 100 yards, but I normally don't.

My best effort. Minute of squirrel, minus the 6 o'clock flyer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since this is a forty one year old rifle, it has the original magazine capacity of 18. But for my purposes on this outing I only loaded 10 each time. The trigger pull is more than I remember, and with a little work on trigger control I could really tighten up that group. Also, I need to go for an eye exam and new glasses as you'll see on the next evolution.

A bolt-action .22LR

This was a 1947 vintage single shot bolt action rifle fitted with a Williams peep sight. It has a 25" long barrel and has a split in the stock. The gun was a mess the first time I saw it but it cleaned up really well. The split is minor in the butt stock on the right side, but does not affect the way it shoots. And it shoots way better than I can make it until I get new glasses. This would be a fun gun for silhouette shooting.

 

 

Since the Williams sight is kind of a pain to adjust, I will wait until I get new glasses before fine tuning it. The stringing across once again is trigger control on my part.

 

A semi-auto U.S. mil-surp

Oh yeah! A 30 caliber WWII battle rifle that now is properly sighted for 200 yards. The basic procedure is to shoot a group at 25 yards to "get on paper at 200." Pictured below is at 25 yards.  Once zeroed at 200 I whacked the 12" steel gong consistently.

The low one was the first shot. One click up and I was in the red.

 

I have spent more time at my new club since December, shooting, pulling work details, and working events than I did in the last five years of my previous club. Of course, the main reason is the facility is only a few miles from home, not 20.

*My "Wyoming Deputy Sheriff Rig" consists of a Bianchi thumb-break holster, a Bianchi dual speedloader carrier, a carabiner for my keys, all carried on a Wilderness Tactical 1.75" belt. I think it is pretty bad-ass, is very comfortable, and works really well for such a large handgun.

This is what I normally wear hiking in the woods or out walking the dog. I use a different ammo, Federal 158 grain JFP for bear or other creatures. It will certainly fuck up the two-legged kind as well.

Longest and Best Ride In Recent Memory

Like I always say, if you aren't getting caught in the rain on your bike, you don't ride enough. And if you're not riding enough, why do you have a motorcycle?

I am not the old Glypto of 25 years ago when I had my previous bike. Back then, I would make these elaborate plans for a ride, and then feel I had to cancel them for the slightest chance of rain. I would then get so angry about it I was unbearable to be around. Not any more. While I won't venture out if it's already raining, I no longer cancel plans for a simple chance of showers. That's what rain-gear is for. And if plans do get washed out... oh well, just hafta ride another day. No sense walking around all pissed off about something I have no control over.

Several other riders were invited for a ride today before plans or a destination was decided on. They all either had other commitments or simply didn't even respond to the text messages. Since it just ended up being me and my fellow Goldwing rider, we decided our final destination would be Brattleboro, VT for lunch at a place we had been to before. But we were going to definitely take the scenic route to get there.

The plan became meeting for breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts on Windsor Avenue in Windsor near his house at 09:00, because right around the corner is I-91. We take 91 north to exit 27 just above Northampton where we can jump on RT. 5 without too many traffic controls to jam up the ride from there. South of that area are several downtown areas of too much stop-n-go for a nice motorcycle ride. We took RT. 5 to Greenfield where we picked up RT. 2 west, also known as The Mohawk Trail. Since We didn't have all the live long day, we did not go to Shelburne Falls and The Bridge of Flowers this time. We did stop and visit Mohawk Park because I knew my bud had never been there. The plan is to do a foliage ride and go back up there in the fall, stopping at the Bridge of Flowers and then on to Mt. Greylock.

The magnificent, life sized bronze statue of a Mohawk Warrior

A close-up of the arrowhead shaped plaque at the base

"Hail To The Sunrise"

 

I am so glad to see that like so many bronze statues and plaques this one has not yet been destroyed by junkies cutting it up to sell for scrap to then buy their junk. There is also a stone monument that has all the tribal names, Chiefs and Sachems from over the centuries. We got rained on a little while we were parked there. Just enough to wet the road. A mile west and the road was dry. We continued west on RT. 2 and crossed the railroad tracks as shown on the GPS in Florida, MA but there were none to be seen. That's because they were several hundred feet below us in the famous Hoosac Tunnel. There is also a sign on the side of the road that lets you know you are passing over it. Next up, the famous hairpin turn before the descent down into North Adams.

The Hairpin Turn circled in yellow

Just before you reach the turn you cross the summit of Mount Whitcomb with the large bronze elk statue and vistas on both sides of the road. The westbound side has a distillery, and the eastbound side has a brewery. It was pretty crowded so we did not stop.  We did stop at the hairpin turn.

Looking down on North Adams

There was a biplane flying up and down the valley. We were watching from the parking lot of The Golden Eagle. When the plane turned and came right at us to fly over the building, I did my best Cary Grant imitation and ran from it looking over my shoulder like in the movie "North By Northwest." The restaurant staff got a good laugh and the chef said, "Yeah, but he's not shooting at you!"

The Golden Eagle on the Hairpin Turn

We mounted up and headed down into North Adams to pick up RT. 8 north to Vermont. The plan was to hookup with RT. 9 over Hogback Mountain to get to Brattleboro. The trip was uneventful except for a few sprinkles and the traffic jam in the little tourist town of Wilmington. All kinds of little shops, cafes, bars, and pedestrian traffic. It is also where RT. 100 continues north. We sat through a couple of traffic light cycles. Those sprinkles were so brief in places, it was like someone sprayed you with water as you drove by. Finally into downtown Brattleboro where we headed north on RT. 5 to our lunch destination... the Top Of The Hill Grill.

Yup, the little piggy sculpture on top is made out of old license plates

When we were here last summer, the place was a zoo and we got in just in time before the huge crowd hit. It was about 2 PM when we got there today, so the big lunch crowd was done. First thing to do after parking was to hit the restroom. My back teeth had been floating since Wilmington. We got right to the window to order food and it came out relatively quick. I got a catfish wrap and a side of delicious coleslaw, washed down with a Pure Leaf raspberry iced tea. My bud got a combo plate with pulled pork, brisket, and burnt ends. The food is really good but a little pricey. Meh... since I didn't go away on vacation who cares. I sprung for lunch for both of us.

After lunch it was going to be a straight ride all the way down I-91 until I got off in Enfield and my bud continued to Windsor. A quick fill up with fuel was in order before getting on the highway. We got spit on a few times traversing MA, but when we hit Springfield it was raining harder. We pulled over under the I-291 overpass to get on the rain-gear. By the time we hit Longmeadow there was no rain and the road was dry. Oh well, better safe than sorry. Good thing, because I got rained on one more time on RT. 190 in Stafford and then nothing the rest of the way home. So how far did I go today? The next photo of the display from my bike tells the story.

TRIP B is my daily ride total. TRIP A is used to see how far I've gone on a tank of fuel.

 

Since I didn't go on vacation, my wife is staying the extra day we would have had to miss out on to get back since the house/animal sitter had to leave a day early. Good for me! I will be out on my bike again tomorrow, but for a much shorter duration.

"Deal's Off, Jihadi Scum!"

Photo of the broadcast of FOX News from 13:25 today

If I were all of a sudden the C.I.C., a crushing force of all branches of the U.S. Military would be immediately on the way.

But then if I were C.I.C. all along, this would have never happened, and the word "Taliban" would be stricken from all language. Anyone claiming to be a member would be summarily executed.

UPDATE: 14:10  NOW REPORTED 10 U.S. SERVICEMEN DEAD!

WHAT.THE.HOLY FUCK?

UPDATE: 14:42 THE AMERICAN DEATH TOLL CONTINUES TO CLIMB.

 

A Never Discussed Problem With The Mask of Oppression

It has to do with the deaf, or hard of hearing like myself. The problem is twofold for the hard of hearing. First, if a person wearing their obligatory face diaper is soft-spoken, it muffles the voice making it tougher for me to hear what they are saying. Second, I occasionally use lip reading to reinforce what someone is saying. I can decipher words that sound similar or letters if someone is spelling something out (like B,C,D,E,G,P,T,Z). And there are those that are totally deaf but can speak and simply use lip-reading to understand what someone says. They typically don't bother with A.S.L.

Update - Post Hurricane Henri'

For me in my specific location, it was a big nothing burger. I like to use "Murphy's Law" to my advantage. 😏 I'll make all kinds of detailed and elaborate storm preparations and end up just putting everything away. If I didn't, then I would be one of those idiots scrambling last minute at the height of a storm. Because of the long duration of the two passes the storm made I did not go on my road trip. I was not going to head down this morning for 3 days at the resort to turn around and come home Saturday. Wifey is pissed at me because I did not head down to meet them all in Virginia. Well, first off, I was not going to leave a house/animal sitter in charge of keeping my house running, my generator properly fueled, and the electrical load properly balanced. Then there is the problem I had in July with T.S. Elsa and the flooding in the lower area of my yard (that has never occurred in 16 years) that blew out the fence in the dog yard. The runoff swept all the forest floor debris against the fence, which acted as a dam creating a wall of water a few feet high that just snapped the wire fence wide open. I didn't notice it at first and thankfully did not just open the door and let the dogs out until I was able to make temporary repairs. Thankfully none of this even came close to happening this time.

The second thing was not having two vehicles in Virginia. I told my wife to suck it up and ride down with her brother. He has the largest Ford F-150 crew cab with plenty of room for 5 adults. If she did and the storm petered out, I would head down and then she and her other brother would ride back with me. Instead she chose to drive all the way down. That would make an already expensive vacation (no paid time off for me, paying the sitter, and all the gas for my truck) stupid expensive for doubling up on gas. Fuck it. Not only am I working my normal workdays, I picked up Friday too since she isn't here. She thinks I am just being a dick I guess, but I am truly disappointed in not being able to go. It is my sense of duty that makes me stay to take care of my own homestead. I'll see if we can get away for a long weekend in the near future to help her get over being pissed off.

Since the weather is supposed to be mostly sunny, cooler, and less humid Saturday and she will be not home until the evening, it will be a motorcycle day. I haven't been out for a couple of weeks. I'll throw out some feelers to other riders to see wazzup.

As a side note; now that the Pfizer jab has full FDA approval (cough-BULLSHIT-cough) and is no longer experimental, does that mean anyone getting their jab now can sue them for adverse effects? What about retroactively to December 2020 when it first came out? Are the "shall not be held liable" forms signed by compliant sheeple still valid? I am not familiar with the exact verbiage and whether it could expire upon approval. Asking all this for a friend.