Gun Thread: Content Lite Edition!

Howdy, Y'all! Welcome to the wondrously fabulous Gun Thread! As always, I want to thank all of our regulars for being here week in and week out, and also offer a bigly Gun Thread welcome to any newcomers who may be joining us tonight. Howdy and thank you for stopping by! I hope you find our wacky conversation on the subject of guns 'n shooting both enjoyable and informative. You are always welcome to lurk in the shadows of shame, but I'd like to invite you to jump into the conversation, say howdy, and tell us what kind of shooting you like to do!

Holy Jumping Atomic Shitballs! Are all y'all ever getting screwed content-wise tonight!

Q: Weasel, is that really a question?
A: No, just an observation.

I have been wrestling with a big project at work since about June and it wraps up this coming week. After that, my schedule should hopefully return to something approaching normal, and I will be able to spend more time on the Gun Thread and maybe even see if I remember where WeaselAcres is located to do some shooting. I promise I will go through the neglected email inbox and get caught up soon. As always, thanks for your patience!

With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?

Who has been to the range? Why, our pal Blake has not only been to the range, but he was shooting in a match too!

After a 2 month layoff from shooting (I hate it when real life gets in the way of what's important: shooting) I managed make my second 1,000 match.

After working the pit, I set up, and, slowed everyone down because I'm not quite as organized as I should have been. Next time I'll be better prepared, I swear!

Anyway, I checked my log book and dialed in the elevation value I had noted from my first match. "Groovy" thought I. First shot...nowhere to be found. Say what?

Finally, after my 4th sighter shot, I was on paper and ready to roll. (I noted this value too. My first match required 35.5 MOA elevation. This match, because weather conditions were so different from the first time, required 38.25 MOA of elevation.)

I started shooting for score, and the wind absolutely ate me alive. However, this was not completely unexpected as the wind around here can be vicious. I also had trouble with my shots being a bit "all over the place" high, and low, etc. I finally realized I was letting the rifle run me rather than me run the rifle. Once I settled in and took firm control, things got a lot better with shot placement.

The most unnerving part of the shoot, though was compensating for the wind. I was lining up my cross hairs on the slot between the targets in order put shots in the 9 and 10 ring. These targets are 72" x 72" which means I was holding a solid 38" to the left to hit center. And, because the wind is so variable here, dialing windage really isn't recommended. (Yeah, my last few shots saved my score, relatively speaking.)

I had expected to regress a bit due to beginners luck the first time I shot. Surprisingly, I shot a 75, which was only 4 points behind my first time out and under conditions which were quite adverse compared to the first time.

From a score standpoint, I regressed but, on the other hand, I think I made progress in that I got a little better handle on dealing with wind.

Congratulations, Blake! I am sure by now you have decided that competition will quickly make you a more better shooter! A couple of thoughts ; recording atmospheric conditions in the form of density altitude each time you shoot can help you develop solid range data for a particular rifle/ammo combination, and wind reading is an art and converting what you read to a firing solution is a science. When everything goes to shit, stop shooting and go back to the fundamentals.!

Nice job!

Our pal RI Red needs help!

Sunday AM following a rainy Saturday outing. Dialing in various ammo brands at distance. Yes, I am a geek.

On The Range
I thought this was interesting.

Hell, you don't even need sights!

Cigar of the Week

Returns next Sunday.

Here are some different online cigar vendors. You will find they not only carry different brands and different lines from those brands, but also varying selections of vitolas (sizes/shapes) of given lines. It's good to have options, especially if you're looking for a specific cigar.

Cigarsinternational.com
Cigarpage.com
Famous-smoke.com
Cigarsdaily.com
Neptunecigar.com
Smallbatchcigar.com
Bobalu Cigar Company
Cigarbid.com
Nicks Cigar World New!

A note about sources. The brick & mortar/online divide exists with cigars, as with guns, and most consumer products, with respect to price. As with guns - since both are "persecuted industries", basically - I make a conscious effort to source at least some of my cigars from my local store(s). It's a small thing, but the brick & mortar segment for both guns and tobacco are precious, and worth supporting where you can. And if you're lucky enough to have a good cigar store/lounge available, they're often a good social event with many dangerous people of the sort who own scary gunz, or read smart military blogs like this one. -rhomboid

Anyone have others to include? Perhaps a small local roller who makes a cigar you like? Send me your recommendation and a link to the site!

Ammo Link-O-Rama
I'm really very seriously not kidding around anymore. Buy Ammo
AmmoSeek - online ammo search tool
GunBot - online ammo search tool
SG Ammo
Palmetto State Armory
Georgia Arms
AmmoMan
Target Sports USA
Bud's Gun Shop
American Elite Ammo NEW!

This week's mailbag entry is from our pal That SOB Van Owen. Great one!

Please note the new and improved protonmail account gunthread at protonmail dot com. An informal Gun Thread archive can be found HERE. Future expansion plans are in the works for the site Weasel Gun Thread. If you have a question you would like to ask Gun Thread Staff offline, just send us a note and we'll do our best to answer. If you care to share the story of your favorite firearm, send a picture with your nic and tell us what you sadly lost in the tragic canoe accident. If you would like to remain completely anonymous, just say so. Lurkers are always welcome!

That's it for this week - have you been to the range?

posted by Weasel at 07:00 PM

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