Boomsticks Blogmeet AAR

OK, so it really isn't an After Action Report. Rather, a brief synopsis of the fun we had (however short it may have been).

The Background:

A couple weeks ago I was blogsurfing, when I hit Speaker Tweaker (Where sometimes things go bang). He mentioned that all the cool kids where getting together, and we should as well (I'm inserting myself in as a "we" simply because I read the blogs). He left an open invitation, and like the fat kid who finds a lost birthday part invitation, I wanted to eat cake. He and Murphy started planning.

The runup:
I told my wife, who then mentions we had a party that night in San Antonio anyway. Score! Seems to be working out, until I started on the details. She didn't want to take two cars. Makes sense to me, but she wasn't excited about shooting. It just isn't her thing (no big deal I can understand). We decided that 9AM was too early anyway and we would show up late. Still excited. I started loading mags.


The Day:
Loading the truck, I realized I didn't want to lug a ton of firearms down to San Antonio then have to explain to my in-laws what I am carrying and why I have them. They don't know I blog. It's easier for me to complain, talk about the stuff they don't know about (tattoos), and frankly I just don't want them to know.

This brings up a dilemma. What to bring. I decided to bring the Sub2k 9mm and my cursed 1911. I'm still not sure why I decided to bring this particular pistol, as it has never worked properly. Typically giving a failure to feed. Last time out it worked almost flawlessy, but I wasn't lucky this time. (As an aside, if anyone knows a smith who works on 1911s who can do the work for say $200 I would appreciate it).

We roll in with no problems (Yay GPS!), and walk in. The range is nice, although I'm glad I brought ears with me, as you park in a central area and shooting is going on all around. I walk into the pistol area and quickly realize I don't know what anyone looks like. The range is cold, and I'm able to listen in on several conversations. Through this I pick two groups that might be the people I am looking for. Only one has a CZ52. Bingo, I walk up and casually ask if Jim was part of the blogmeet. Fortunately he was. I pulled out my doomed pistol and lay it on the table.

I'm not going to force a play by play, but here are some of the highlights:

*"Is this screw supposed to look like this?" Crap, no.

*Bang. Why did my magazine just blow out the bottom of my Keltec? Hmm, something isn't right. Why does this brass have a whole in the bottom? Looks like a case head failure. Time to switch ammo.

*I might be crazy, but I didn't think the Mosin was too bad. "That's because you are a masochist." Fair enough.

*"Did anyone notice the disconcerting number of holes in the tin roof of the rifle range."

*"We only allow slow shooting from the bench. No more then 3 shots every five seconds." Possibly related to the holes in the roof?

*"Time to go." Looks like I'm done guys, my wife has been way more then patient with me.

Aftermath:
I had fun. Next time I will be more prepared. Why I decided to bring that pistol I don't know. I kinda felt like the Ahole of the world, but at least had a good time when I shot that Mosin. I think I have one of those on my list. I can only imagine the impression I left. My ADD was firing and I was a spazz. Oh well, it happens.

Here are a couple more images:

Jim & the Sig 556


Speaker and the M44


I'm not sure how I missed a picture of Murph. Probably more of me being a Spazz.

Retail therapy of a different sort.

Alternate title "Zombies beware". I bought a Kel-tec Sub 2000 9mm carbine. I was a bit skeptical, but figured it might be a good investment (along with a handful of 33 round Glock mags). This thing is a hoot! I ran it through a quick test (100 rounds or so), and was delighted at the grouping and ease of use. The one issue I had, was a fail to eject (FTE), but I think that was somewhat a fluke since the casing actually flipped around backwards and pinched between the bolt and the chamber. I don't anticipate this failure happening again, but will keep an eye out for it.

As mentioned, accuracy was good. At 25 yards I chewed a fist sized hole in the target about 4 inches right of the bullseye. I will adjust the sites eventually, but with a little adjustment to my shooting was able to move the group to the left.

In related news, I forgot how annoying indoor ranges can be once hunting season starts. Don't get me wrong, I love hunting, but setting up next to a guy shooting the latest and greatest magnum cartridge with extra porting can get fairly annoying, especially when shooting smaller calibers in the lane next to them. I realize it wasn't their fault, and talked to the RO to get my lane moved, but the fact that the RO thought it was a good idea to put them right next to me makes me wonder. There is nothing like trying to shoot small groups in paper with a .22 and feeling the concusive blast from one (or two) lanes over. Heck, I was impressed some of these guys could keep it on the paper with the flinch they were developing. Then again, at least they were getting out and shooting.

In other news, I have been keeping steady with my weight. I had a scale malfunction yesterday. When I first stepped on, it read 221. A re-weigh put me at 224. Not a huge difference I know, but when trying to get to a lower weight class 3 pounds is big. I also got my first stripe on my Blue belt, so I have that going for me. After NAGA Dallas, I think I'm going to start the tattoo on my other shoulder.