31 August 2011

Upgrades

Most of my toys are here. The Mosin looks much better with a real rear barrel band in place of the tie strap that was holding the wood on, the Arisaka's front sight blade does not fit (it's from a T-99), and the gel pad looks like it will do admirably to tame the Mosin's recoil.

I could still use the T-99's front sight since the dimensions of the base are right, it's just too tall and so will not fit into the opening in the "ears" on each side of the sight. I was hoping it would since what I need is a taller sight, but it is not to be. I could still file it off flat and drill it for a threaded rod as I had planned, but now that I'm considering shooting it in VMR matches I can't modify the sights.

The stripes came in for the Mustang, too. It goes in on the 12th to get the dents knocked out of the hood.

30 August 2011

Blogshooting For All!

You have seen me yammering about this class that I'm going to be attending in October, and no doubt you have thought to yourself "Wow, I wish I could have that opportunity!"

Well, wish no more. Sean from An NC Gun Blog, the guy who set the class up (and the source for these cool T shirts which you can order from him if he has any left in your size have missed out on because you were too slow) has thrown the class open to bloggers and readers!

Stop on over there and sign up, and we'll see you in October!

Fireballs Are Fun!

I have a new entry on the blogroll, Arms are the Mark of a Free Man, by way of An NC Gun Blog.

He has a post about shooting in a Vintage Military Rifle Match at Crosse Creek Rifle and Pistol Club that got me thinking about how much fun it would be to shoot the Arisaka and/or the Mosin with a group of like-minded individuals.

The Mosin would be a great rifle to shoot in competition based on its performance during the last range session, but I'd have to learn how to sight the Arisaka in (how far down to aim) due to it's "battle sight" configuration. The rules are no modified sights, so I wouldn't be able to set the Arisaka up with an adjustable elevation sight as I had planned.

Once I figure the Tennessee elevation factor in I think the Arisaka would be less punishing to shoot. Also, being a carbine, it would probably be less of a handful to hold up for the standing/sitting/kneeling portion of the match. The downside is that 6.5x50mm Japanese ammo is pretty pricy.

The Mosin, on the other hand, is more accurate with its iron sights and a lot cheaper to feed since I have more ammo for it than I will probably ever use unless the zombie apocalypse strikes next week. The downside to it is that it kicks like a mule, and since it's a full length rifle it would be harder to hold up during the standing/sitting/kneeling part of the match.

Of course the Arisaka doesn't shoot fireballs out of it's muzzle and knock everyone else's targets down with the shock wave of the bullet traveling downrange either, but I guess that is the trade-off that would have to be made.

28 August 2011

Happy Blog-day

VFTP turns six today.

Happy Blog-day Tam!

Better Mousetraps

We just had another power bump at the Refuge, for reasons unknown. It is bright and sunny outside with no sign of the recently departed storm other than a yard littered with leaves.

But this is not about that, it's about the magic elf box on my desk that is taking longer and longer to complete its boot-up cycle. The operating system comes up without too much fuss but it takes five minutes or longer to bring everything else back up, including the wireless network connection.

The elf box in question has performed its duties without complaint for the better part of five years now, which means by most computing standards it is positively ancient. Still, I hesitate to part with it.

I really don't know why. I have an external hard drive that has all the information and programs backed up on it, so it isn't that I'm afraid of losing information. Part of it I guess is sheer inertia, and part of it is that I'm cheap.

I suppose it's about time for a replacement, so I'll probably start looking around. I've been wanting a spare machine to experiment with Linux on, so maybe this is the incentive I need.

Also, I need a new alarm clock. I have two, both clock radios. One has a good radio but loses time whenever the power blinks even though it supposedly has a battery back up, the other keeps time with its battery backup but the radio isn't very good. Both of them sit on my headboard, one for the clock and the other for the radio. Not the most efficient use of space I must admit.

Always something, I guess.

27 August 2011

Toys

I ordered the missing barrel band for the Mosin yesterday, as well as five stripper clips and a gel filled recoil pad. That should make the recoil less painful which should make shooting it much more pleasant.

I also ordered a front sight blade for the Arisaka. My hope is that I can drill a hole in it and tap it for a threaded rod, making a front sight that is adjustable for elevation as well as windage. I like this rifle and would really like it if it were sighted in.

Last but not least I ordered a two magazine holder for the class I am taking in October. I think I'm about as ready as I can be for that, I'm really looking forward to it.

Appropos of nothing, I suppose, I have decided that I want a Mosin M38 carbine if I can find one at a decent price.

Fun And Games

Hurricane Irene came to visit this morning at about 8 AM, the effects were starting to be felt last night. About 6:45 AM the power blinked a couple of times, then we lost it for an hour or so this afternoon, and it just blinked again about 15 minutes ago (6:45 PM).

We got a lot of rain which we needed and a bit of wind which we didn't, no damage here at the Refuge but there are some branches down and about 70K without power. They got it a lot worse to the east of us, particularly east of I-95.

I have some friends farther north that are in the middle of it now, so far they report a lot of rain and some wind but it looks like they will weather the storm OK as well. All in all we did fine, but there are 3 reported deaths in NC and at least 2 in Virginia that I have heard about so the storm is not completely without human cost to go along with the property damage.

We are all well here at the Refuge. Thanks to everyone who emailed, messaged or Facebooked to check up on us, your concern is appreciated.

The Storm Cometh

Irene is approaching.

Here at the Refuge we should be fine, we're going to get a lot of rain and some winds, gusts to 50 maybe, but nothing that high as a steady wind.

If you are the praying type say them for the people on the coast, they need it more than I do.

23 August 2011

Linkosity

The two lovely ladies from Broad Ripple, who should have been in my blogroll all along (my blogroll is here for my convenience, and it has certainly been less than convenient having to scroll through someone else's blogroll to find them), have now been added.

Sometimes it takes a while, but eventually I catch up.

Naturally Disastrous

Earthquakes today.

Hurricanes this weekend.
The locusts are on order for delivery at a future date.

21 August 2011

Range Report

Yesterday I hauled myself out to the range for some badly needed practice with the Grok. I need to do this more often, as the location of my groups can attest.

The groups were tight, but low and to the right. Experienced shooters will know right away what two things I was doing wrong.

After a while the groups came back to the left and up towards the center, but I'm still prone to recoil anticipation. I need to work on that.

The Arisaka stayed home since I haven't yet worked out it's sight adjustment issues, but I put about 20 rounds through the Mosin Nagant.
Sacred fishes, that damn thing has a kick!

It is dead accurate, though, it put the holes exactly where it was aimed. My range partner put a couple high and right and I put one low and left just so we could verify it was marking the paper, the rest of the holes were in the black part of the target and were kind of hard to see at a distance. Zombies beware!

Afterwards my shoulder was so sore I wanted to stab a Nazi with the bayonet to see if it would make me feel better, and I had a strange craving for cheap vodka and depressing poetry and wouldn't answer to any other name but Vlad.

After the range session I had an open carry luncheon across town, and then I headed home for a nap.

All in all it was a pretty good day.

Click on pic to find out where you can get a shirt of your very own

18 August 2011

Ouchies

Today I got to visit the dentist.

Last Friday I got to visit the dentist, too, for a semi-annual checkup. It was then he informed me of the exciting opportunity to get a deep clean, complete with anesthesia! How could I say no? But as if that wasn't enough I pulled a filling out as I was flossing that very night, so today's scheduled cleaning became a cleaning and refilling. Right now the right side of my mouth is one large ouch.

And to cap it off, as I was going out to the car on the way to the dentist I found a dent, right in the middle of the leading edge of the hood. I have no idea how it got there, but it's more than just a paint chip. There is a definite depression around the missing paint.

The only way to keep them pristine is to leave them in the garage, and that's not going to happen. Still, it was not a pleasant thing. I've had dings and scratches before, but this is the first dent and I'm as upset about it as you might imagine.

I think I'm going to go ease my pain by self-medicating on Sierra Nevadas now.

13 August 2011

Time Waster Of The Day

Click on the picture.

Try to touch his nose with the cursor.

See you later!

09 August 2011

Random Things

Rick Perry of Texas has unofficially thrown his hat in the ring.

Some idiot demonstrates the meaning of clue-deficiency (linky to Tam, no linky to him!).

And the SyFy Channel pledges to continue quality programming (because after all, who doesn't need another pro wrestling ghost hunter channel?)

In other news, the bulb I bought from Amazon for the rear-projection teewee has been deemed ungood by the teewee repair gnomes, but fortunately for a nominal fee they can make it all better! Looks like it's time for a bad review and a return. Don't buy these bulbs from Amazon (just saying).

Too bad there isn't anything worth watching.

I have also received an invitation to join the National Association of Professional Women. I have the strange feeling the invitation would be rescinded if I were to actually fill out the application.

What can I say, it's been a slow week.

02 August 2011

45

completed laps around the sun, as of today.

Yay me.

01 August 2011

Hanging With The Boy

I got to spend some time with the grand-baby boy while his parents were moving in. So there is a silver lining to this cloud.

I predicted that I would get to see a lot of him.