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| at the range |
Before I get to the election news, yesterday, Bill and I, to celebrate our civic-mindedness in having voted, (and to get Bill’s deer rifle sighted in) headed out to the Oakdale Gun Club in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. I went out to get my rifle closer to zeroed and work on breaking it in.
I dunno if Bill realized it, but that was the first rounds that have gone through that particular gun. Anyway, the bore-sighting they (supposedly) did when I bought the scope doesn’t seem to have been particularly close, since I was off by over 24 MOA . The set of holes in the lower-left corner were at 25 yards, holding dead center on the target. The set above them was after my first adjustment, and after getting a stool to sit on so I was a little steadier. Of course, on the first couple adjustments, I wasn’t thinking that at 25 yards, I’d have to adjust four times as much as the target indicated, since it’s a 100 yard target, and that frustrated me a bit. The four that are only a little bit to the right of center are when I’d decided I was close enough on the left-right adjustment, and walked the scope up with those four shots. I gave up before I was right on, but I think I should at least be on the paper at 100 yds next time I head out.
When I called it a day, I was tired, not from the recoil (I didn’t really notice that at all), but rather from holding up the rifle. It’s a heavy one, and those are muscles I’m not used to using. I suspect the heaviness (and extra layers of fat) protected me from the recoil. I also started noticing the trigger, rather than being surprised when it broke, and that’s something I’ll probably want to tweak in the long-term. It’s heavier than it needs to be, but I’m not going to worry about that until I’m keeping the groups smaller.
I liked the club. It’s a nice location, well maintained, and even though it was one of their few open to the public days, the folks working the range seemed to deal with the hunters not following the range master’s directions pretty well. Nobody ended up with any more holes in them than they arrived with, and nobody screwed up more than a couple times in a row. I think I might look into a membership, but I might try a couple of the other rifle ranges first.
- Stephen Green says It’s All Over But the Lawsuits, and that’s about how I see it. Four more years of the tax-cut and spend Republicans in both houses of Congress and the Presidency. At least it’ll mean more pork! [instapundit]
- In My Day at the Polls, Mitch says it wasn’t just here that MoveOn were too close to polling places, but they got moved back as the day went on. And yes, I would have griped equally about the NRA or Nut-Jobs for Badnarik just as much had they been the ones out there. I was cranky. I also got pretty cranky at the half-dozen phone calls and four different people knocking on my door telling me to get out and vote hours after I already had. [mitch]
- Here in Minnesota, the Election Reporting says that all of the third-party candidates together weren’t enough votes to turn the election. But my congressional district had the highest numbers for the Libertarians (while being such a landslide for Kerry, that taking away this area would have swung the state to Bush).
- Speaking of my neighborhood, Numerous car break-ins afflict Southeast Como last month, often with nothing actually stolen from the cars. Also, while I was outside raking up some leaves yesterday afternoon, there was a guy parked in the alley, peeing on my neighbors garage. When I busted him, he just kept saying
I’m sorry!
Yeah buddy. You’re sorry you got caught. [daily] - Contract disputes, infighting, and finally Bankruptcy closes First Avenue nightclub indefinitely. Allan Fingerhut couldn’t play nice with Steve McClellan and Jack Meyer, and the company that runs First Ave has declared Chapter 7. I’m not optimistic about the club reopening, but I’d like to be surprised and see McClellan and Meyer find a way to make it work. [strib]