The Zombies Return

On July 27, 2011 By Tom LindsayIn Zombies1 Comment

AMC rolled out the trailer for the second season of The Walking Dead at ComicCon in San Diego last week. Enjoy.

I have to admit I enjoy watching the show, despite some gun handling gaffes and the needless (to me) romantic back story. Living here in the Atlanta area where the show is filmed, the scenery is familiar, and I suppose that helps. In fact, for about a year I drove right by the CDC headquarters very frequently. I only wish I could have gotten off work on the days they were filming, so I might have been an extra.

For those who like the genre, I would also recommend a couple of books by Max Brooks, the Zombie Survival Guide, and World War Z. The first one is just what it says, a how-to of survival in the post zombie world. The second is a fictional account of the first five years following the zombie apocalypse, and I found it to be innovative. It is the first book I’ve read to consider how we might apply modern conventional war tactics to fighting the walking undead. When you think about how much of our tactics is invested in breaking the will of the enemy to fight, then think about how that would work against an swarm of enemies who feel no fear. No to worry, though, Brooks suggests some new tactics.

Why my fascination with the undead hordes? I suppose on one level, I’m drawn to suspense and action as much as anyone. But consider, too, the motto of the Zombie Squad. No, not “we make dead things deader,” although I like that one. I mean If you’re ready for zombies, you’re ready for anything. Anything I do to fortify my house against zombies also makes it tougher for home invaders. And, learning to make 50 yard head shots with my Ruger 10/22 makes me a better shooter, which improves my competition score, as well as the number of squirrels I could take in season.

As I alluded to before, I might have to half-squint my eyes occasionally at the gun handling, like when a deputy tells another that he needs to remember to take off the safety on his Glock, but I have to do that half the time when I watch movies and TV any way. For me, the show is worth it.

Match Report – River Bend USPSA

On July 26, 2011July 26, 2012 By Tom LindsayIn Training, USPSA

This past weekend I returned to River Bend Gun Club in Dawsonville, Georgia, and shot in their monthly USPSA match. I had shot there before, and once again the match was well run and very enjoyable.

The match consisted of 7 stages, with 3 field courses and 4 more stationary stages. As usual, the shorter stages gave me some fits, since they usually involve things like off hand shooting.

I’ve also had some time to think about the match, and here are my take-aways.

Note: I’m going to use a lot of USPSA terminology, some of which I am not going to take the time to explain. Feel free to do an interwebz search for what you don’t understand, and if you still don’t have an answer, leave me a comment or send me an email and I will try my best to explain.

How Division affects my stage strategy

I normally shoot in the Production Division. All Production shooters are scored as minor, and must limit magazine capacity to ten rounds. You are also allowed to start with one round in the chamber.

This means that a lot of what I worry about when I devise my strategy of how I am going to shoot a stage revolves around magazine changes. Rather than waste time on a mag change in the middle of a string of fire, I would much rather change mags when I’m on the move from one string to another.

As an example, one stage ran like this: in the first door, there was a IPSC target and a popper. The popper fell and activated a swinging target, that was accessible from both the first door and through a window where the second string of fire was. If I shot like a lot of people, I would have shot the IPSC target, shot the popper, then moved to the second window for a shot at the swinger, along with the whole second string.

If I were shooting Limited or Open, where I could have more shots available, then this made sense. But for me, it made more sense to shoot the popper first, then the IPSC target. By that time, the swinger was going, and I could lean left and shoot the swinger from the first door. This gave me 8 shots if I needed them, then change mags and move to the second window.

On this stage, there was a second swinger, that was engaged by a popper from the second window. This swinger was different, as I couldn’t shoot it from the second window, only from the third.

What I need to work on

I need to work on one-handed shooting, and transition from my right hand to my left hand for one hand shooting. The problem is, practicing one-handed shooting is boring to me. I would much rather practice double taps, or transitions. I am just going to have to suck it up and do it, if I’m going to get better.

I also need to work on shooting small targets at 25 yards.

Both of these are going to take some individual time at an outdoor range, where I’m not entertaining teenagers, or paying for range time by the hour.

But it will be worth it, I know.

Gun Culture 1.99

On July 25, 2011July 26, 2012 By Tom LindsayIn Uncategorized

Recently, I’ve come to think of myself as part of what is coming to be know as Gun Culture 2.0 – people who came to shooting in a way other than the traditional path of being handed down from father to child, usually in the form of hunting. I was never exposed to shooting as a child. In fact, I didn’t take up shooting until I was over 30 years old.

I was thinking about this recently, and I realized that there actually is some history in my family with firearms, it’s just that I was never a part of it.

My youngest brother went in the Army 19 years ago, to get money for college. It turns out he’s good at it. He’s currently a Staff Sergeant with the 82nd Airborne division staff, and he’s been all over the world, seen all kinds of places, and blown up all kinds of things. It’s fun for me to just hear him tell a few stories about things that never made it to the newspapers – it makes me feel a little better about America.

When he graduated from Basic Training, back when, we were all gathered at the family home, and he was showing us all the medals and badges he had won, especially the one for qualifying as Marksman with the M16. My father looked at the badge, and then quietly went back to his bedroom. In a minute or so he came out with a cigar box.

I knew my father had served in the National Guard back in the 60’s, as a way to avoid the draft after he ran out of college money. He did his Active Duty time as a company clerk, and I earned enough there to get back in college. But he never spoke of his time in the Service, and I never asked.

This cigar box had all his mementos from his time in the Service, and he pulled out a certificate I had never seen. It turns out that my father had been the top marksman in his Basic Training class! That’s when he told us about how is father and uncles had taught him to shoot. It was a whole part of him that I never knew, and I asked him why he never taught us. He didn’t have an answer, other than he really never had any interest in shooting after leaving the service.

I once joked with him that I could probably bring him and M-14 and he could field strip it and inspect it, even now, 50 years later. I really don’t doubt it.

Alas, my father’s health wouldn’t allow him to go shoot with me now, although he is aware of my shooting, and asks me about it. I just wish I had been able to share that with him.

As for my brother, he’s shot all kinds of guns, as you would imagine, from the M-4 to the Barrett .50BMG sniper rifle, to just about every NATO issued rifle, and most of the third world’s choices as well. I’ve enjoyed his reviews. Coincidentally, his last tour in Afghanistan he shot an M-14 with a scope, since so many of the shots in the areas he was in were in excess of 400 meters. I once asked him if it was harder to carry an M-14 than an M-4, since it is heavier, and he laughed. He doesn’t carry the M-14, he explained, he just shoots it. Rank hath its privileges.

But, whenever we get together and I invite him to the range, he declines. He says he shoots enough for a living, and it’s not fun for him. I can understand. And I hope I never get to that point.

Maybe some day I’ll go shooting with my brother, who knows. Until then, I’ll just think about how it might have been different if my father had kept shooting.

Have I Got a Deal For You

On July 22, 2011 By Tom LindsayIn Uncategorized

By now, you’ve probably heard of Groupon, the website where discount coupons are available for sale. The business model here is volume – the more they sell, the better deal they can give.

This is apparently the idea behind a new gun-related website, GearHog. This site went live on July 19, and sold a couple of thousand $50 coupons for Brownell’s for $25 each.

Today and yesterday they’ve been selling $100 gift certificates to USA Ammo for $50. You may remember I reviewed this ammo some time back and found it to be very good for my needs.

Well, I decided if I could buy this ammo at half price, it would be even better, so I bit, and bought a certificate. Then I went to the USA Ammo site and bought 500 rounds of 115 grain FMJ 9mm. When I combined that with a 50% discount on shipping (enter MOREAMMO as the code at checkout), I used the certificate, and added $4 and change.

I’ll report back on my experience once the ammo shows up, but so far, so good.

I’ll also report on any other good deals I hear of from GearHog.

FTC Disclaimer: clicking the link in the banner to the right will get you to GearHog and will earn me a commission on what you buy. GearHog offers this to anyone who wants to post it on their blog or web site. I was not approached by anyone from GearHog or USA Ammo about this post nor was I offered any incentives.