Via Miguel at Gun Free Zone:
21. If you go in a house and hear a ghostly voice saying “Get Out!”, do so and don’t come back.
Source: Amityville Horror
22. If your computer has a camera, cover it. It can read your lips.
Source: 2001 a Space Odyssey
20. Leave the gun, take the cannoli.
Thanks to Kevin Creighton, who was watching The Godfather, and posted it on the book of faces. He reminded me of a phrase I use a lot, to mean dropping what I don’t want, and keeping what I do.
See them all at my Movie Rules of Thumb.
I have not added anything to The Pledge in a long time. But it seems to me like everyone recently has been talking about carrying with an empty chamber.
Okay, I get it. You are too scared of your own gun to carry safely. So suck it up, and keep the discussion to yourself.
So, here is The Pledge, updated. You may access it at its own page.
++++
When posting on-line I will never:
1. criticize anyone for using “clip” instead of “magazine”
2. get in a discussion about which caliber is acceptable in a gunfight
3. get in a discussion about whether you should use a Glock grip plug
4. criticize anyone about how often they clean their gun
5. criticize anyone for what cleaner or lubricant they use
6. call a shotgun a shottie
7. call a revolver a wheelgun
8. call Walmart “wally world “
9. post simply “+1”, “well said,” or some similar agreement, except as part of a retweet, thereby showing my endorsement and agreement
10. accuse anyone of kool-aid drinking
11. tell you that your gun or ammo is unsafe* or junk
12. change your words and say I “fixed it for ya”
13. tell you to move to a gun friendly state
14. use profanity frivolously
15. have a contest that is announced on one or more sites but only available to members of another site. I.e. no “Facebook only” contests that are announced on Twitter.
16. get in a discussion about Israeli carry
* unless I think it is unsafe in my opinion as a Certified Glock Armorer, in which case I will tell you why I think so, and what I think you should do about it.
On Saturday January 18, 2020, I made a trip to the Talladega CMP Marksmanship Park and shot the monthly USPSA match with the Talladega Practical Shooters. This match was a little different for me, in a few ways, so I thought I would share my thoughts.
My Performance
My overall performance was not bad, considering I hadn’t been able to compete since the September GSSF match, and not in USPSA since last July. In fact, on the classifier stage, I shot well enough that I am on the cusp of moving up a level from D to C. More to come on that.
In the video I loaded, I am shooting Stage 3, called Five by Three. As with most of the stages, it was a good combination of movement, long and short shots, paper and steel. All the stages were a good combination of steel and paper, with no movers, which was nice, given the weather. There was a lot of movement involved, too, which tells me what I need to do to improve my scores.
Now, one thing I have been doing recently is keeping track of my hits in real time, as best I can. Not keeping score, mind, you, but Good or Bad (D or miss). So, you will notice I take a third shot at the last target. This is because I saw I had shot A and D, and my third shot was another A, which very well made up for the extra time it took. Note, my rule of thumb is I only take a third shot if the chance of making an A is very high, or if I have a miss.
Some may notice that I now have fewer magazine changes, and this is because in 2019 I changed from Production to Limited, although admittedly in minor power factor. The main difference for me was the change from a limit of 10 rounds in the magazine, to as many as mine can hold within the 140 cm total height. My magazines can best hold 18 rounds, so now for most stages this means only one mag change, which really changes how I manage my stages. I will post more on this soon.
Shooting in the Rain
This was my first match to shoot in a real rain shower. I had shot in misty conditions, or a day or so after rain, so being a little wet was not a problem. But shooting while being rained on is different, and I will say that my preparations for it was sufficient to make the weather not a very big deal. My preparations included:
Look for a post on this soon.
It was also interesting that we were trying some new waterproof targets and waterproof pasters. All the matches I have shot in wet weather have been on targets covered by plastic covers, but these seemed to do well. After about 5 hours in the rain, some of the A head zones were starting to show wear, but that could have been managed with some tape on the top of the targets, I think.
Talladega
I have shot GSSF at Talladega a couple of times, and my feel for the park is that it may be one of the best I have ever shot at. The park facilities and management were exemplary, and I cannot recommend them more.
The match was managed well, too. I will admit, there were some differences in the style of management at this match, compared to the ones I have shot in the Atlanta area, and these differences threw me off a little. But suffice it to say, none of them affected the overall enjoyment of the match. I will address them with the Club.
One neat thing was at the clubhouse, there were CMP rifles available to buy. I need to save up, as the Dauphin has mentioned how much he wants an M1 Garand.
