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Post by strat-0 on Aug 7, 2005 20:16:14 GMT -5
Well, I guess this is the board for this... I've already shared this with Stratman, knowing him to be a shooting aficianado... I recently purchased a cap and ball Colt .44 reproduction for target practice and shooting fun. I've long been interested in black powder arms, having watched many Civil War re-enactments and being a student of history. This thing is so cool! It's an 1860 Army model. I went to some friends out in the country to try it out a couple of weekends ago, and it was a blast! (pun intended!) You get an impressive and satisfying "boom" and lots o' smoke when you shoot it. It doesn't really kick like a modern gun, but it sure packs a wallop! I told that coffee can, "This town ain't big enough for the both of us," but it wouldn't listen, so I let 'im have it! Totaly destroyed! What I find interesting is that you can readily buy black powder arms - I bought it over the internet, no questions asked. No registry, no waiting period, no background check, etc. - they didn't even ask my age! (Which they did when I bought a pellet gun over the internet.) As if they aren't lethal enough! I guess it was good enough for Wyatt Earp! You have to clean it after you shoot it, which is a bit tedious but goes with the territory. With a little practice, you can actually hit stuff pretty consistently with it. Makes quite a mess of the target! So be warned - I'm lookin' for the man who shot my pa!  Here's what it looks like:  Kaboom!  Men were shot down for the sake of fun
or just to hear the note of their 44 gun - Marshall Tucker Band, Fire on the Mountain |
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Post by Rit on Aug 7, 2005 20:52:06 GMT -5
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Post by strat-0 on Aug 8, 2005 17:08:48 GMT -5
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Post by stratman19 on Aug 9, 2005 11:45:18 GMT -5
Atta boy Strat! Enjoy that fine piece, my friend. Remember this; a man can never have too many guns! My latest firearm purchase:  Nice carry gun. 9mm, well balanced, good sight picture, rated for +P ammunition. Shoots very nice. |
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Post by strat-0 on Aug 9, 2005 19:20:15 GMT -5
Wow, that's a cool looking little pistol!
(I think we may find limited interested in this thread, buddy!)
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Post by stratman19 on Aug 9, 2005 19:25:59 GMT -5
I think you're right! Somehow I don't think the Second Amendment, or private firearms ownership, is going to get a lot of play here. Damn shame really...  |
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Post by strat-0 on Aug 31, 2005 20:33:02 GMT -5
Oh, well.
You know I've got some paper targets and cans in different places in the woods across the creek, for plinking with my .22 cal pellet gun from up on the deck. I want to be ready for the next copperhead I see. I just about stepped on one down there and it scared the bejesus out of me! I'm getting real tight groups at about 40 yards, and it packs a pretty good wallop for an air rifle (900 f/s). It goes cleanly through both sides of a coffee can or imbeds in a sound 2x4 as much as a quarter inch.
I had some fun Sunday night, though! Sunday afternoon I took a couple of those break-and-glow light sticks and tied them to a target stand about 25 yards down in the woods. After it was good and dark, I started taking pot shots at it. It took me a while; those things are pretty small! Even after we turned on the yard lights, I could barely see it and I was beginning to wonder if it would work. Finally I nailed the green one! It lit up very nicely! Then I nailed it again and it twirled around, slingling the glowing juice all over the target and stand and ground around it! Cool! Now, I could turn off the damn yard light. Then, it took me a while to get the blue one. It ruptured, spraying glowing blue goo liberally. After that, I had great fun making them spin and sling their glowing goo! It was abstract photon art.
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Post by strat-0 on Sept 3, 2005 19:37:26 GMT -5
This weekend's quarry: helium balloons. Those evil, devilish spectres with their vivid colors! Bobbing around, trying to hide behind trees as they float above the shrubs! But it was no use - I killed them all! You have to nip it in the bud, or else soon, those latex bastards will overrun you! The only good balloon is a dead balloon, as they say. Some were lurking far away on the outskirts, but I nailed seven with only one miss. That one tried to zig-zag out of the way at the last second, but ultimately, he went down in a loud explosion of yellow fragments.
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Post by strat-0 on Sept 4, 2005 20:19:50 GMT -5
Whoa! Major snake alert today! I went down to the creek area to pick up balloon fragments and put out some new targets and it was one snake after another! The first one was just a common brownish-gray water snake - he gave me a little start, but no big deal. Then in the Ivan pond, I saw a rather large copperhead. I've had people tell me that copperheads don't live in the water, and I know this is true, but do you know what I think, Strat? I think they'll go wherever they think they can find dinner. This guy in no way resembled the brown-banded water snake - he had the copperhead markings (brown and tan with the wedge-shaped pattern) and a big-ass copper-colored head. He was just sitting there with his head out of the water. I went up and got the hoe and he was still there, but I couldn't reach him well enough to be sure I'd get him. KayJay brought me the .177 pellet gun. The .22 has the scope that came on the .177 mounted on it, because it's the better gun, but that renders it useless at close range, of course. The open sight on the .177 is for shit (that's why they put a scope on it, I guess), but I had to try. I missed of course, and he went under the dam. I rousted him out with the hoe, and that son of a bitch had a shiner in his mouth! If copperheads eat amphibians, I don't see why fish wouldn't be on the menu too. I don't really care it if WAS a brown banded; they eat the fish and frogs that I like, and they can put a mean hurt on you too. The other possibility is that it was a young water moccasin - they have very similar markings to the copperhead, plus he swam like a moccasin and stood his ground. Anyway, I never could dispatch him with the hoe and the water got too cloudy and he hid. About this time, I saw a much smaller snake of the same species - never could get him either.
So I went back up to the deck and started my hunt from there with the .22 pellet gun. He presented himself several times, going this way and that way, and I kept missing him, but I did hit him once. He writhed around but I don't know how bad I got him. Jeez, I've been hitting smaller targets, but I just couldn't seem to get a got shot in on the bastard. He finally slithered up the shoals, out of sight. Then he showed up again in the pond. There might have been two of those large ones - I don't know. I could never nail him in the head or body after that one shot. Man, at 50 ft., that's some pretty tight shooting! 'Close' just isn't good enough with a .22 cal pellet!
Bottom line: I think for this snake problem, I'm going to have to get a real .22 pistol with some rat or snake shot shells to take down there with me. A shotgun would be fine, but not only would it be rather indiscreet neighbor-wise, but I might end up blasting the dam to smithereens. Plus, whenever I go down there, I'm usually carrying stuff, so something I can wear on a belt would be much better.
You prolly remember from our snake discussion at the Place Where I live board that I'm not an anti-snake person, but poisonous or toothy, biting snakes 50 ft from the house is where I draw the line!
We interrupt this target practice session for a MAJOR SNAKE ALERT!
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Post by phil on Sept 4, 2005 20:37:19 GMT -5
I bet you can carry C-4 explosive on the belt... Blast the slithering beast right out of the water... Along with the fish, the frogs and the dam !  ! |
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Post by strat-0 on Sept 4, 2005 20:47:37 GMT -5
As elusive as he was, I was indeed considering extreme measures! (Not quite that extreme, of course!) But jeez - last night I put out a light stick for fun, which is much smaller in any dimension than that snake, at a greater distance, and nailed it in two shots! At night! My average is about eight. But I think I got eight in on Mr. No Shoulders, and couldn't seem to get him. Then again, he might slither off and die tonight, but I really wanted to do a post mortum and see what he was, so I'll know how to deal with his small cousin down there.
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Post by phil on Sept 4, 2005 20:56:08 GMT -5
Do light sticks move in the same way as a snake ??
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Post by phil on Sept 4, 2005 20:57:55 GMT -5
And do snakes glow when you shake them ??
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Post by strat-0 on Sept 4, 2005 21:09:56 GMT -5
True - the moving (and living) target presents some differences! It's very different. But the light sticks are dark - that's the game; to hit it and make it glow!
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Post by stratman19 on Sept 5, 2005 8:00:20 GMT -5
Strat, just wanted to let you know I read your recent posts...been working a lot lately. Got home this morning, going back this afternoon for half a shift of overtime, then working a full shift on Tues. Will try to catch up with ya and comment on Wednesday! Good shootin', Tex! |
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