Not Terrible

 I've had time to digest y range time yesterday, and I must admit that I have gotten rusty on my rifle work. I was shooting from the bench and getting used to a new rifle, but the target isn't half bad.

Those two flyers at 8:00 and 10:00 were two shots from an unknown lot of ammo that I had in a magazine.  The other ten shots are Federal AutoMatch. Federal AutoMatch comes in bulk boxes, and many people consider it to be "bulk ammo".  One wag at the range even made a comment to that effect.  In truth, Federal AutoMatch is pretty good ammo. My grandson, who shoots competitively, tested AutoMatch against SK Red Label and found them to be very close in accuracy in his rifle.

As for my rifle, I need a better fitted stock and a better trigger.  Those will come in time.

For the record, the target is an 11" Shoot-N-C, fired at 25 yards. The 10-ringis 2.5 inches

Range Time

 Near Woodsworth, LA on Robinson Bridge Road, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries owns and operates a public shooting range.  Archery, pistol and rifle ranges, along with a shotgun range.  Use of the range is perfectly free, except they charge a modest amount at the shotgun range to defray the cost of clay targets. The ranges are open Thursday-Sunday from 8-5.

I went out this morning and took the Ruger 10/22 that I bought last year. I had never shot it and decided to get a little trigger time The Ruger 10/22 is the Barbie-doll of rimfire rifles. It is easily customized, with aftermarket support everywhere. 

I was concerned because I have been diagnosed with macular degeneration and have lost the center focus in both eyes.  I have not fired a scoped rifle in over five years, and I didn't know how rusty I might be.  Turns out, fairly rusty.  The Burris scope I have mounted has 1/4 minute clicks and that translates into a lot of clicks to move the reticule an inch at 25 yards.  Sixteen to be exact., so I snuck up on the bull, clicking and shooting, clicking and shooting. I finally got it zeroed at 25 yards, after about 30 shots, firing 5 shot groups.  It grouped fairly well, about 1/2 inch at 25 which is probably more an indictment of my eyesight than an indictment of the barrel.

Two immediate thoughts come to mind.  First, I need a cheek riser.  I had trouble getting aligned with the scope.  Second, that rifle needs a better trigger.  Luckily, stocks and triggers are readily available for that rifle. Right now, it is minute-of-possum.  If I get a varmint in the back yard, it is in trouble.

Kimmel Kancelled

 I heard last night that Jimmy Kimmel's sow on ABC has been indefinitely suspended.  This is long overdue. Kimmel hasn't been funny in years, and comedy is the king of late-night.

Lately, his brand of humor has gone from cliche to absolutely reprehensible.  His rating were in the toilet and ABC was catching flak from station owners. With ratings down, revenue is down and he was probably costing ABC more than he was bringing in.

I can enjoy good left-wing humor. I enjoy laughing and I can laugh at myself as easily as I laugh about other things. Good humor is more than an ice cream bar. Commercial television is a business and they cannot afford to lose money.  I don't feel sorry for Jimmy.  He can start a podcast and be irrelevant on his own money.

Now, if you will excuse me, I'm off to the range.

Chicken n' Rice

 It's an ancient recipe and one that Belle's father loved to cook. So, Belle cooked it today.

In a medium Dutch oven, she put in a few chicken thighs, added salt, pepper, two chicken bouillon cubes with a goodly amount of water and started it to boil.   She reduced the heat to a simmer and let it go for an hour or so, to reduce the liquid and make the broth rich.  Then poured in four cups of rice and left it on the stove until the rice absorbed the liquid and was tender.

Chicken n' rice.  About as simple as it gets and a nice, filling lunch.  There is enough left over that I can nuke some later if I want to eat something before bedtime.  It's a one-pot meal too, which makes cleanup easy.

Joe Is Broke?

 I was watching Gutfeld! on Fox and they did a segment that Pore Ol' Joe Biden is not happy with his post-presidential income stream.  He's broke.

So, I did a quick Google and found this article.

I guess, after 50 years of government employment, his Lifeguard Certificate expired and he never renewed it.  He's too old to do roofing, or plumbing. Jeff Foxworthy once said that we are all three bad decisions from having to hang drywall for a living, and Joe can't even do that.

No, he wants speaking engagements.  He can't string three words together, and no one cares what he thinks. I guess Jill could go back to the classroom.  Or, she could hang drywall.

Joe gets a presidential pension of $250K per year.  If he can't live on that, he deserves to starve to death.

Charging Decisions

 The prosecutors in the murder of Charlie Kirk have some decisions to make, and we'll learn more about that this week.  The state charges should be pretty straightforward.  Capital murder under the Utah statute, for sure.

The federal charges will be a bit more complicated.  If I were a federal prosecutor, I'd be looking toward charges stemming from civil rights violations.  Charlie certainly had a right to be where he was, doing what he was doing.  If my memory serves, civil rights charges carry pretty stiff penalties, and they avoid the problem with double jeopardy.

Regardless, it will be interesting to see the decisions made at both the state and federal levels.  This investigation is just getting started.  They have to be careful that it doesn't take on the aspects of a witch-hunt as they delve into the online activity.  Separating the signal from the noise will be crucial.

It will be interesting to see who starts ducking for cover.

Ballast Bypass

 When our hose was built at the turn of the century, it came with a number of florescent lights.  In the kitchen, washroom and garage.

I don't know if that light in the washroom has ever been turned off.  Saturday, it started flickering and I decided to do a ballast bypass and install LED lights.  I found the breaker, turned it off, then climbed up on a ladder.  After watching this video.  If you are not afraid of basic wiring, it is easy.  A set of diagonals, a good wire stripper and a couple of wire nuts.  You are done.

One trick I learned when doing the wiring is to mark the end with the blue and red wires with a Sharpie marker.  A simple L on that end of the fixture.  Your LED tubes will be marked with an L on one end and an N on the other.  I'm told it makes a difference, so I plug the L end of the tube into the socket marked L.

Easy-Peasy, about an hour, including the trip to the electrical store.  It's a nice upgrade and I didn't have to change the fixture.

Questions

 At our club practice this morning, a member asked me a simple question, "Do you consider the .30-06 to be a high-powered rifle cartridge"?

Short answer, yes, I do.  I consider the .30-06 to be on the low end of "high-powered".  The .30-06 can do a lot of things, and if I had to list all rifle cartridges into three categories, low, medium and high, I would put the .30-06 in the high category. It can be loaded from mild to wild and your mileage might vary, but I consider the .30-06 to be a high-power cartridge.

The conspiracy theories have already started.  Example here.  I don't subscribe to those theories, but I do acknowledge them.

In Custody

 i see that they have arrested the little prick suspected of shooting Charlie Kirk.  I bet he is having a lousy day.  Lots of interrogation, and I'm sure that we'll learn more about him as the days go on.

I die hear this morning that the rifle used was an "imported bolt-action in .30 caliber".  Hell, that could bbe anything.  I know that Winchester, Browning and Wetherby all import their rifles.

I am reminded that in the aftermath of January 6th, the Democrats did everything they could to demonize all Republicans.  Fairly or unfairly, they painted everyone as in insurrectionist. Now, after two attempts on President Trump and the successful assassination of Charlie Kirk, it is time to paint all Democrats a as assassins.

The kid who shot Charlie Kirk was not a nutjob with a rifle, he was a Democrat.  The Democrats ar ethe party of assassins.  That seems like a logical conclusion.

UODATE** I just learned that the rifle in question is a Mauser 98 in .30-06. ATF is trying to run a trace.  Good luck with that. That rifle was probably imported long before traces began.

Reflecting

 I've been watching the wall-to-wall coverage of the Kirk assassination, and I'm struck by a few thoughts.

First, the shooter planned this.  He had ab objective and an escape route.  As I type this, about 1:00 CDT, I don't believe that he has been caught.  The shot doesn't appear to be particularly challenging.

If the shooter thought that he would accomplish something, he was absolutely right. The airwaves are awash with his eulogy and if anything, he is more well known than he was yesterday.

In the days to come, we will learn more about the shooter, and his motivations. It will be interesting to see how he was financed, his political leanings and who his friends are.

Chairman Mao famously said that all power flows through the barrel of a gun, and while that sentiment served Mao well, it may not apply in the way that he meant it.  That one gunshot in Utah yesterday may have unleashed a whirlwind of political activism that will resonate for many years to come.

Charlie KirkKilled

Everyone is reporting that Charlie Kirk, a staunch conservative voice was killed today at a campus event in Utah.

When I was listening to the reporting on the radio, the details were mixed and confused.   Evidently, he was shot in the neck.  The 72 hour rule is now in effect.

My thoughts and prayers to his survivors.  Charlie will be missed.

Coming Together

 Normally, scheduling a state championship is a major hassle.  Today, though I managed to schedule the venue and the dates with the sanctioning body all in the space of two hours.  The Louisiana State Chapionship of Cowboy Fast Draw  will be held at Country Inn and Suites in Pineville, LA on May 22, 23, 24, 2026.

That is a load off my mind.  Now that the date and the venue are set, it's a simple matter to start promoting and getting ready.  And, I only have 8 months to get it done

Failure

 The most basic responsibility of government is to keep the citizens safe, and the mental health professionals, along with the criminal justice system utterly failed in the recent murder of Iryna Zarutska. 

Irmya was a refugee from Ukraine who came to the US to make a better life.  She was senselessly murdered on a train by a man who was well known to both the criminal justice system and the mental health system. This all happened in Charlotte, NC recently.  The murder was captured on train surveillance video.  The video is both brutal and shocking.  Inya stood no chance of surviving the attack.

I am outraged.  This was a senseless crime.  The killer should not have been on the street.  We used to have gallows for people like this, but we are too soft and coddled to remember that we need harsh measures to protect vulnerable people who are just trying to go about their daily lives.

Google it yourself.  I will not name the murderer.  After his trial, he deserves to be forgotten like the trash that he is.

Travel EDC

 We travel to shooting competitions as competitive shoots. We don't carry ammo to these shoots because it is provided by the host club. Bit, I also carry a firearm for my protection. I do everything I can to comply with the laws of the various political subdivisions that I traverse.

That is important.  What is egal in one state may be different from another state, and we need to think about that. Another thing to think about is the firearm we carry to protect ourselves. If everything goes sideways and we have to use the firearm, the police are apt to take it as evidence. 

So, the question we need to consider is what firearm the police may take as evidence. When I left for Kentucky las week, I considered that question.  So, I did not take my preferred revolver. Instead, I took a reasonably inexpensive polymer framed semi.  If the police are going to take something as evidence, they are not going to take my nice revolver. I shoot the semi well enough at halitosis distances.

So, think about it when you travel.  Which firearm are you not adverse to having stored in an evidence locker?

When traveling, be safe, be carful, and comply with local laws.  And, don't take a gun that you cannot easily replace.

Home Safe

 Belle and I rolled into the driveway at 6:30 last evening after 11 hours on the road.  It was a nice trip, but I'm glad to sleep in my own bed.

When I was a young soldier all those years ago, I made the connection that Kentucky makes good bourbon but bad coffee.  My perception still seems to be valid.  The coffee this weekend was horrible.  Weak with no flavor, no body, and nothing to commend it.. I should have brought my own coffee.

Today, we unload the van and relax. I may not be totally worthless, but I intend to approach it.

The weather is nice this morning, with temps in the high 50s when I stepped out onto the patio.  That is unseasonably cool for these latitudes this time of year, but I'll take it.  This was our last big shoot for the year, the net one will be in February in Florida.

Kentucky State

 I went out after seven (7) rounds today, against some of the very best shooters in the nation.  Kentucky State is a who's who for the Eastern side of the nation.  I heard that we had shooters from 20 states represented today.

What amazes me about the CFDA is the camaraderie.  Shooters from all over the US having fun and enjoying each other.  No egos, no outsized personas, just folks having fun.

Motels are another story.  Initially, we had reservations at a Rodeway Inn in Owensboro, KY.  We've had good luck with Rodeway Inn in the past, but this one turned into a hell hole.  We packed up and moved to a motel just south of the shoot.  If anyone is ever in Central City, KY, I recommend the Days Inn whole heartedly.  The breakfast ain't noting to write home about, but there is a Huddle House just across the street.  And a liquor store in the parking lot.

Belle went out in the 6th round, and I went out in the 7th.  There is no reason to hang around southern Kentucky, so we're going to head home in the morning.  I'm sure that the dawg will be thrilled to see us home tomorrow night.

Thursday Morning

 The room is serviceable and clean, the TV and internet works.  The bed is comfortable, but this hotel is not one that we would consider luxurious.  When we got here last night, we noticed a distinct affinity for the Spanish language on the walkway outside the room.  This is an older motel where you drive the car up to the door, and the Mexicans were outside, drinking beer.  

The parking spaces were filled with work trucks.  These guys are worker bees, and all they wanted to do was drink a little beer before bed.  I never felt threatened, neither did Belle.  These folks are just trying to make a living.  But, when I asked about the ice machine, they had to get an interpreter.

Shortly after dawn, we awoke and looked outside.  The work trucks were gone, except for the roofing crews.  It's raining, and roofers don't work in the rain.

We will head out to the range in a bit.  We won't shoot today, the main event begins tomorrow, but Belle and I wanted a day to acclimate.  We'll go out and make sure that all the pre-registration is done.  Visit with or hosts and enjoy the morning.

This is an outdoor event and rain is predicted all weekend.  This shoot exactly illustrates why I personally don't plan outdoor events anymore.  We schedule these things sometimes a year in advance and it is impossible to predict the weather that far out.  Alas, the Kentucky state championship is always the first weekend in September, and it is always outdoors.  The specialized electrons we use cost several thousand dollars for a shoot this size, and it does not work well with rain.

We love these people and we keep coming.  And I keep recommending that the event move indoors.

Kentucky

 We are in Kentucky, for the CFDA State championships.

12 hours on the road today, and I am beat.

Going to Wal Mart

 I should have known better.  That store is virtually un-shoppable

I was looking for drawers.  You know, Men's Boxer-briefs.  Yeah, those.  I thought I knew where they should be, and I was wrong.  I wandered a bit, then found them.  Locked in a case, so I went looking for help.  I couldn't find any help, but walked back tot he locked case.  Found a button.  Pushed same.

A woman showed up with keys, so I asked her, "How long have they been locking up the drawers?"

"Since they started stealing them."

I grabbed a 6-pack of Hanes (I buy underwear like I buy beer) and headed over to the blue jean rack.  I found a pair I liked, and the first pair I picked up (regular ol' Wranglers) were my size.  "That", I thought, "Was too damned easy".

I was right.  It was too damned easy.  I spent the next 30 minutes looking for another pair.  No luck.

So, I headed to the register for the final insult.  Wal Mart had three registers open, which I thought was odd.  But I got behind a woman who could not figure out how to work a debit card.  

I hate Wal Mart.  I'm starting to understand why so many people like Amazon.