Off Season

Steaming

Deep Green

The far reaches of an empire

2020 Vision

Clearly this blog has been fallow for a few years.  As with so many other blogs out there, life got in the way and priorities changed. 

I have, however, continued to amass photos from my work and travel.  I always intended to post these, but most of them were stashed away until I could do a decent write-up to go with them. I think the time has come to do something with this space so rather than waiting until I have time to actually write about all of this, I've gathered up several photos and I'm scheduling one to come up every week.  So far I have enough edited and ready to last a year.  I still have plenty more in my files waiting for a bit of touchup, so I can probably keep going like this for some time.  I might even get the inclination to throw in a few other posts along the way.

There's no particular order.  At most there will a brief comment on each photo.  I won't even promise that they will all be good or interesting.  They will just be things that I thought worthy of photographing for future use. 

I hope you all (3 of you?) enjoy the pictures!

Merry (?) Christmas

Is there any place more festive than Dulles International Airport during the holidays?

Like maybe a dental lab or a mortuary?

Oh well, Merry Christmas wherever you are!

Elsewhere on the internet

I ran across this.  9 hp Economy engine

I had a particularly close run-in with an engine like this as a kid, so much so that the imprint of one of the head bolts is still visible on my forehead (1/2” NC if you are wondering.)

Now you might think the price is a little bit high, but if you read the ad you’ll find the engine has “great compassion”

I think it’s a small price to pay for an engine that really cares!!

The results are in!

I'm back from my business trip and I've tallied up the scores, but first, a bit of levity.

Now, if you'll finish lacing up your bulletproof shoes, we'll continue.

Here are the June results broken down by class

Class	Shooter	Firearm	Caliber	Score
1	Billl	Ruger Mk1	22LR	60
1	DavidN	Ruger 22/45	22LR	50
1	Susan	Ruger Mk3	22LR	40
1	Merle M	Ruger Mk2	22LR	30
1	Pattie Ann	Ruger 22/45	22LR	30
1	Steve R	Ruger Std	22LR	30
1	Fred M	Ruger Mk2	22LR	20
1	Dan A	Hi standard	22LR	15
1	Steve R	Ruger mk2	22LR	10
2	Merle M	TC Contender	22LR	30
3	E Johnson	Marlin 39a	22LR	45
3	Steve R	Remington 12a	22LR	25
4	Pattie Ann	Ruger 10/22	0.22	85
4	Susan	MR 1722	0.22	85
4	DavidN	Ruger 10/22	0.22	75
4	E Johnson	Ruger 10/22	0.22	75
4	Billl	Marlin 795	.22A	70
5	Billl	Glock22	40 S&W	65
5	Billl	Rossi971	0.357	40
5	Fred M	Colt 1911 Commander	45ACP	40
5	Steve R	Ruger Blackhawk	45ACP	35
5	E Johnson	Springfield 1911	45ACP	35
5	Billl	CZ82	9x18	20
5	Merle M	S&W M625	45ACP	20
5	Fred M	S&W M625	45ACP	10
5	Fred M	Berreta  92FS	9mm	10
6	Merle M	TC Contender	9mm	30
7	Steve R	M1 carbine	30 carbine	30
8	Steve R	Ruger AR556	0.223	10

I think I can safely say that magnification is a good idea if you want to break 50 on this target, though I'm very impressed with Bill's scores using iron sights, and I definitely need a ghost ring like he has on his Mk I!

Patty Ann and Susan take top honors with rifles this time around, both of them scoring a rare bulls-eye on the top center target.  I'll admit the top three targets were a  bit of a gimmick but they did force a little decision making.  It looks like most people picked up on the leaping hares being a difficult target and opted to take a likely 5 points and possible 15 rather than lose a shot on the smallest, odd shaped targets.

What really surprised me is that we didn't have more class 3 targets (RF Rifle iron sights)  It was difficult to pick up on the smaller targets with the iron sights but I had a good time with my little lever action and Steve turned in a respectable score shooting a 'barn fresh' 12a.

For those who are into crunching numbers (hey, I am an engineer after all) here is the ranking without class separation.  Class 4 obviously dominated but after that it's very nicely mixed.

Class	Shooter	Firearm	Caliber	Score
4	Pattie Ann	Ruger 10/22	0.22	85
4	Susan	MR 1722	0.22	85
4	DavidN	Ruger 10/22	0.22	75
4	E Johnson	Ruger 10/22	0.22	75
4	Billl	Marlin 795	.22A	70
5	Billl	Glock22	40 S&W	65
1	Billl	Ruger Mk1	0.22	60
1	DavidN	Ruger 22/45	0.22	50
3	E Johnson	Marlin 39a	0.22	45
5	Billl	Rossi971	0.357	40
5	Fred M	Colt 1911 Commander	45ACP	40
1	Susan	Ruger Mk3	0.22	40
5	Steve R	Ruger Blackhawk	45 acp	35
5	E Johnson	Springfield 1911	45ACP	35
2	Merle M	TC Contender	0.22	30
1	Merle M	Ruger Mk2	0.22	30
1	Pattie Ann	Ruger 22/45	0.22	30
1	Steve R	Ruger Std	0.22	30
6	Merle Morrison	TC Contender	9mm	30
7	Steve R	M1 carbine	30 carbine	30
3	Steve R	Remington 12a	0.22	25
5	Billl	CZ82	9x18	20
1	Fred Morrison	Ruger Mk2	0.22	20
5	Merle Morrison	S&W M625	45ACP	20
1	Dan A	Hi standard	0.22	15
5	Fred Morrison	S&W M625	45ACP	10
5	Fred Morrison	Berreta  92FS	9mm	10
8	Steve R	Ruger AR556	0.223	10
1	Steve R	Ruger mk2	0.22	10

Hope everyone had a good time!

Now go over to Billl's and try his target.  I here it's easy as, well, shooting fish in a barrel.

June E-Postal

With the warmer weather comes the annual migration of a species common to much of North America.  They start off following the cherry and apple blossoms up the milder coastal climates then as the storm season subsides they move into the Midwest to partake in the sweetcorn and watermelon, eventually moving south with the fall festivals before the cold weather.  I speak of course of the common American Carny. 

Back before the lawyers and legislators made it a liability nightmare carnivals would commonly feature shooting galleries with actual .22 rifles.  Anyone young or old could walk up, pay their money and be handed a little pump action 22 loaded and ready to go.  I’m sure some of these were rather shady affairs with plenty of bent front sights and glued down tin cans, but some of them were absolute mechanical marvels.  Animated targets, gongs, and falling silhouettes were common features and if you had enough nickels you could destroy an entire fleet of steel ducks and an army of jumping hares. 

Since you can’t really go to one of these galleries anymore, I’m bringing one to you.

This month’s edition of Mr. Completely’s e-postal match.

Here are the rules.

Go Here to download the black and white version of the target.

Print the PDF at 100% scaling (you may lose the edges depending on the margins on your printer.  That’s OK)

Tape it to a cardboard backer and place it at 10 yards (or 25 feet)

You have 10 shots. 

  Animal targets count for 10 points but may only be counted once.  (Just imagine them falling with a satisfying ‘ting-GOOOONNG’ sound.) The three bull’s-eye targets are worth a maximum of 20 points with 15 points for the center dot and 5 for the surrounding circle.  Each shot can only be counted once so it’ll take two shots to get the full 20 points out of one of these.

The target should be shot standing unsupported.  There is no time limit.

The classes break down as follows

1 Rimfire pistol with iron sights.

2 Rimfire pistol with magnified sights.

3 Rimfire rifle with iron sights. (This is how this target is meant to be shot so if you submit a picture of your slide action 22 with your target you get 10 bonus points!)

4 Rimfire rifle with magnified sights.

5 Centerfire pistol with iron sights.

6 Centerfire pistol with magnified sights.

7 Centerfire rifle with iron sights.

8 Centerfire rifle with magnified sights.

If you care to shoot the target with anything else, let me know.  I’m sure we can accommodate. 

Send a picture of the target to my email (posted on the upper right side of the page) by the end of the month.

Have some fun with this one folks, after all, It’s a carnival!

Shooter, are you ready?

Standby...

The June e-postal target is done.  I just need a write up to go with it.