we really get to shooting again. Over the winter, we shoot. Our IDPA matches don’t go away and most winters, we get some practice time in, especially since Christmas usually means new guns to play with. However, usually starting in mid-February, we really get cranked up again and this one is no exception. Starting on Saturday, we have our monthly IDPA match (and the weather report thus far is favorable). Then we have a steel challenge match. Then we have a practice weekend. That is followed by a work weekend and IDPA classifier. Then our monthly IDPA match followed the next weekend by a steel challenge match. The first weekend in April is a USPSA match. We finally take a weekend off to get ready for the state IDPA match followed by a quarterly CMP match. Maybe that’s why I like spring so much better than winter, more recoil therapy.
Cricket will be shooting her first classifier in March. She is ready to shoot the state IDPA match. She is excited. Bugaboo wants to start shooting the matches with a .22. I’m not sure we can work that out. Unfortunately, despite her incredible strength, the M&P 9 is still a little much for her. She loves shooting it but I’m not sure she’s ready for all the movement involved in a match. She still needs a lot of work but she’s feeling left out. Thankfully, she will be able to shoot the steel challenge matches with a .22. Also, I’m hoping they’ll be doing the Sporter match with the CMP match in April. She loves that match.
Sunshine, guns and friends. What better way to spend a season!
This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 and is filed under Children, Global Warming, Guns, Weather.
Author: EmmaPeel / Comments: (0)
The snow is still here. The roads are not iced over and the sun is shining full and bright. The SUN is shining. The weatherman said cold, breezy and cloudy. It is cold and there is a slight breeze but the Sun is shining. Did I mention the sun is shining.
I’d like to go to the range but the snow melting is making things really slushy. Slushy muck doesn’t make for good practice. It’s hard to run stages in the muck. Rain doesn’t leave it this mucky.
I need to go to town and do something for DH for Valentine’s Day. I can’t package up what I plan to give him but the girls want to give him something. He said no candy but then he’ll eat ours. He loves 5.11 socks but for Valentine’s Day from his daughters?
Did I mention the sun is shining? Can you picnic in the snow? Mr. and Mrs. Snowman are in the front yard.
This entry was posted on Saturday, February 13th, 2010 and is filed under Guns, Weather.
Author: EmmaPeel / Comments: (1)
Thanks to a bit of recoil therapy yesterday, I am feeling a bit better. DH had done a little more work on the trigger of my M&P 9 and I gave it a run through yesterday. It’s nice. Unfortunately, it was 42*F with a stiff wind out of the north. I was hoping today would be some Very needed respite for the cold and gloom but unfortunately, the sun has not appeared and the mercury hasn’t made it out of the 30s, much less into the 50s they were predicting. I’m beginning to wonder about the weather people. Are they idiots or do they keep “improving” the forecast so we’ll get up each day. Too much more of this gloom and I won’t want to get out of bed. At least there are ribs on the barby. Tomorrow’s forecast is as cheery as today’s was. I wonder if it will be right. Even if it is, my ass will be stuck in a windowless office. I wonder if I can manage a two-hour lunch at the park.
This entry was posted on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 and is filed under Guns, Weather.
Author: EmmaPeel / Comments: (0)
Our montly IDPA was yesterday but due to the rain, Cricket and I stayed home. We got all the laundry washed and put away. Later today, we will finish up with what was used over the weekend and start the week fresh. DH did go to the match. Only 17 people showed up. I guess considering the rain, that was a good number. It rained the whole time. I’ve done that before and might do it again in the warm weather but not the cold.
Last night, we played with the electronics kit we got for Christmas. We attempted and succeeded at the second project, a transistor radio. We picked up some station in Spanish. It sounded like it might be from Cuba. We are all learning a lot about electricity and electronics.
We also grilled pork tenderloin. I tried a new rub recipe. It included fresh ground nutmeg, cumin, cinnamon, garlic powder and salt. That’s one of the best pork loins we have done. The cinnamon needs to be cut down a little bit but the meat was so moist and tasty. It hit the spot nicely. Tonight it will be burgers and fries.
This entry was posted on Sunday, January 17th, 2010 and is filed under Children, Cooking, Guns, Weather.
Author: EmmaPeel / Comments: (2)
The weather is finally warm enough to want to go shoot. Our monthly IDPA match is Saturday and there’s a 70% chance of rain.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 and is filed under Guns, Weather.
Author: EmmaPeel / Comments: (0)
It’s still very cold here. Our water was frozen this morning. I guess these days of highs just above freezing have not allowed the crawlspace under the house to warm up. Last night’s 15*F low was more than the water could handle. DH is home making repairs.
The forecast is for warmer weather toward the end of the week. Highs in the 50s and lows in the upper 20s. I hope they up those a little since our monthly IDPA match is Saturday. The trigger on my M&P9 has been lightened a little more and I am anxious to try it out in a match.
This entry was posted on Monday, January 11th, 2010 and is filed under Global Warming, Guns.
Author: EmmaPeel / Comments: (0)
Cold weather sucks. I’m a southern girl. I like the warm summer sun. The diesel engine in my truck takes forever to get warm. I’m just getting warm when I get to the office, 40 minutes from home. I also have a new “gun” to shoot and it’s really hard to have fun at the range when it is 29*F with winds over 15 mph. DH shot my new .22 conversion kit a bit a day or two after Christmas to make sure it worked well but we have not had a chance to put 100 or 200 rounds through it. It’s too cold.
One good thing I discovered about kittens though is they make good foot warmers or belly warmers or ear warmers. They get shots tomorrow.
This entry was posted on Friday, January 8th, 2010 and is filed under Global Warming, Guns.
Author: EmmaPeel / Comments: (0)
We shot our montly IDPA match on Saturday. The day was forecast to be cold, windy and miserable — but no rain. The morning was beautiful. Sunny, light clouds and very little breeze. Despite that, my shooting was awful. I shot DH’s Springfield. I used to like that gun but the last two matches have not been good for me. And I thought it was me, that my shooting for the day was off. I know it was last month. But, as the clouds moved in and the wind picked up, we moved to a tactical rifle match. Now, I have never shot my Bushmaster in a match. I’ve done little more than sight it in. But, I had a fairly good match. I missed a couple of required headshots as the light got bad. I loved shooting the bowling pins once I realized that I was shooting over the top of them. Once I put my sight right even with where they were sitting on the table, they fell — boom, boom, boom. Unfortunately, my scores are probably not going to reflect how well I feel I did because I had a magazine issue on one stage where after about 6 shots, it wouldn’t feed. I should have just dropped it and moved on but I didn’t. 120 seconds for a 50 t0 60 second stage. Then I had those missed required head shots. I had fun though. I’d like a front grip of some sort and to practice more to get used to holding the gun to my shoulder and firing for 2 minutes straight. By then end of the longest stage (our last), my arms felt like jelly.
Cricket shot both matches with us. She used a 10/22 for the tactical rifle stage. She, too, had some magazine issues but with a 4 power scope was putting three holes in the paper you could cover with a pencil eraser. She also did great with the bowling pins, even at the distance they were from her. She had a lot of fun. It is not the most practical gun for that unless we get some higher capacity magazines. 35 rounds isn’t enough and she’s not used to reloading that gun on the clock. She’s used to using that gun for CMP Sporter matches.
We tried to get Bugaboo to shoot with us using the 10/22 but when the weather got so miserable, she decided to stay snug in the clubhouse and read. I can’t blame her there. I was miserable when we got done. I was dressed too warm for the early part of the day and my feet got sweaty. When it turned cold they felt like bricks of ice.
I noticed one thing, a lot of folks needed batteries for the rifle match. I like my peep sights.
This entry was posted on Monday, December 21st, 2009 and is filed under Children, Global Warming, Guns.
Author: EmmaPeel / Comments: (0)
At the IDPA match this weekend, we did three stages with whatever gun you usually shoot. Then we did three stages with BUG guns. DH, Cricket, my Dad and I used my Airweight. I was really pleased with how well I did. I was slower than I would have liked to have been but extremely accurate, even on the weak-hand-only stage. I did have a hard time with the trigger weak hand. Cricket did not like the recoil but she was fairly accurate with it. DH and my Dad were impressed. DH’s BUG gun is a Ruger LCP. He likes it a lot but admits that the grips is better on the Airweight. My Dad felt the same way comparing his KelTec to the Airweight. I love my Airweight. Now I know I need to do some weak hand practice with it. I need to look into some finger callistenics (that’s not spelled right, oh well.).
This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 and is filed under Guns.
Author: EmmaPeel / Comments: (0)
Last night, I talked with someone other than DH on the radio. It was with a gentleman DH chats with frequently. DH was already home and I was traveling home late after shopping. We chatted about family and upcoming radio Christmas parties. Then last night, I check into the SkyWarn net.
DH and I both have roof mount antennas on our main vehicles now. DH’s is taller than his car. We’ve been joking that if he goes around a corner too fast it will turn him over. Mine is the other extreme. I have a small basic antenna on my big old truck.
There is a Foxhunt tomorrow at a local fort. It is going to be done all on foot. I’d really like to go but our monthly IDPA match is tomorrow. Also, the forecast is rain. We may hole up like hermits. Anyway, the foxhunt sounds fun and they have it planned as a family affair with food and demonstrations. I hate to miss it. We couldn’t hunt as we do not have the appropriate equipment yet but I’m sure we’d meet a lot of great people and learn alot about what we need to hunt.
Why is it that the hobbies that are the most fun are so expensive? Well, guns used to be cheap to shoot but they’re not now and HAM is getting expensive. At least from what I know right now, HAM does not have to continue to be expensive after the initial outlay. It doesn’t have the consumables shooting does. Knitting is a lot like shooting. Yarn you really want to knit with is expensive and you keep needing more of it.
This entry was posted on Friday, November 20th, 2009 and is filed under Guns, HAM, Knitting.
Author: EmmaPeel / Comments: (1)