It Was a Struggle, But

Older Daughter and I took the morning off, and went to the range. I'd say "bright and early", but the sun hadn't come up when we left at 08:00.

The range had sent an e-mail to all its members, warning that ice cleats on footwear is mandatory. When we arrived, we could see why: all the precip had melted and refrozen several times, so that the entire grounds - roads, walkways, and ranges - was covered under two inches of nearly-transparent ice.

The view from the target line, back to the firing line shelter.

It was 10° F. when we arrived at 08:40, and didn't get much warmer over the next two hours. Daughter had her new .357 Ruger revolver to try out, but I went old-school.

There's no school like the old school. :)

She had her Garand, too, and I brought along my 1911 to complete the "old school" theme, but that's getting ahead of myself.

The range has floodlights, since we have more hours of darkness than daylight for several months during winter.  We set up our targets, laid our gear on the frost-covered benches, and turned on the other creature comfort.

Infrared heaters are quite welcome.

She started out prone, and since sitting on a hoarfrost-covered wooden stool didn't seem like much fun, I began off-hand, with a "hasty" sling. (You Appleseed shooters will know what I mean.)

My first group of eight is shown above. That's a 3.5" spread at 35 yards, which didn't seem too bad after not shooting since last summer. I know, I know: that's too long, but sometimes life gets in the way.

The pistol shooting didn't go nearly as well, and every month of my non-practice was right there on the target for all to see. Much work is needed.

By 10:30, the temperature had only warmed to 15°, and we noticed that cold-and-stiff feeling settling in, so we called it a good session and headed home.

But before wrapping this up, I'll share the scenery which surrounds the range.

Thanks for stopping by, friends. I'm going to get something warm to drink.

Rifle Range Responds to Giffords' Anti-Gun Visit

I recently wrote about how former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her husband visited Alaska to campaign for further depredations against the Constitutional rights of gun-owners.

When they went shooting (to prove how they're just like us - a blatant lie), they used the rifle range of which I'm a member.

Now the Board of Directors of the Birchwood Recreation & Shooting Park (BRSP) has issued a statement:

"July 9, 2013

Attn BRSP Membership

On July 2nd, an organization dedicated to Congressional approval of significant additional restrictions on gun ownership, entered and used our Park. They were escorted in by a [full 24-hour access] member, apparently for the purpose of creating stock footage in support of their cause. This use of the BRSP facilities without the knowledge or consent of the BRSP Board. The BRSP Board did not and would not have consented to such a use of our facilities. We have taken steps to insure that such a use does not happen in the future. Shoot Safe.

Gary Peters
Board President"

To be "escorted in" by a full-access member means they visited outside of normal hours of operation, when the Park was closed to the average members and the public.

Can you say "slimy"?  Good, I knew that you could.

On The Road Again

After a trip to the gym this morning, both daughters & I will be heading north to Chugiak, to visit a new (to me) range. It's the facility where Mel participated in the Appleseed shoots, and where she won her Rifleman patch.

She took her Sam along, last week, and the two of them begged me to go along, next time ... so off we go.

I'll have a report & hopefully some pics when we get back. We're taking an assortment of firearms along: rimfire and centerfire pistols and rifles. Should be fun, and it's been too long since I had any recoil therapy.

Should be interesting, however it goes. We got two inches of snow yesterday afternoon, and Chugiak is colder & snowier than Anchorage. Incidentally, for any fans of AccuHunch Weather out there, there was no precip in the forecast for yesterday. Literally zero percent chance, during the hours that it was snowing sideways.

Welcome to Alaska, pilgrim. It snows whenever it wants, and no weatherman's gonna stand in its way.  :^)