All posts by MadOgre

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Gunfighter Cast

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This most recent post of Gunfighter Cast talks about MAG-40, Slipstream, and the crushing defeat I handed to Shaw of Japan.

Okay, I have to give some clarification here.  The Gun Dudes and Shaw of Japan were mostly way over on the far left side of the Range, with Gundoc… Positions 1-15 over there.  I was in position 32 or something… the very last shooting position. This wasn’t planned.  What happened was that we were told we would not be shooting on Day One.  So I didn’t go get my ammo before getting in there that first morning.  I planned on buying the ammo and shooting on Day Two.  Well, it turns out you do shoot on Day One.  I was offered guns and holsters and ammo… an the generosity was humbling. But I feel bad for shooting another man’s ammo, especially when ammo is so expensive these days.  So I humbly stood back.  I also had a raging migraine, and part of me just didn’t feel like blasting.  Okay, so the next day I had my ammo, my gun, my holster, my magazines… and my headache was very diminished thanks to Gator-Bull with breakfast.  Now when we lined back up, everyone was told to take your same positions as the day before.  Ah… I didn’t have one, so that meant I was in the back of the bus… out there at the far right where I was stuck with Stan of the Gun Dudes.  What it was, was Shaw of Japan was relieved that he didn’t have to stand side by side with the Ogre.  Yeah, I shot a higher score, but I have to hand it to Daniel, the man can seriously shoot.  His groups were much better than mine and I thought he was stomping me.  See, I was shooting during the first rotation, and Shaw of Japan was in the Second.  Since I was at the very end, I had no shooter I had to back up, so I got to go keep tabs on our young Marine.  I honestly thought he was kicking my trash… so I walked away, getting ready to eat crow pie.  I was surprised that I had won.  Shaw dropped his shots firing from the required Weaver position, which he hates. If he didn’t have to fire from Weaver – Shaw would have won.  But he did… so I did.  But now the challenge is on.  Next time he’s out this way, we’ll go for again… with M-4’s.  His weapon of Choice.

Back to the pod cast.  This is a good one to listen to.  When you get these guys together, that’s some dang good Pod Casting.  If you are not listening to these Pod Casts – you really are missing out.  I know there are a ton of them out there… but Gunfighter and Gun Dudes are the ones to listen to first.

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Spending

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Men spend money primarily on two things.  If you want to sell your product you have to tap into those two things:

Sex and Violence.

If something looks sexy and dangerous… it’s going to sell.  If it’s not selling, it’s not sexy or dangerous enough.

Weapons

Lever Action Reaction

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There are few firearms that just give me such gratification as a lever action rifle. The elegant lines that fuse form and function with a mechanical simplicity that makes the Lever Action one of the most beautiful of all firearms.  Doesn’t matter which lever you have… they are truly lovely.  I find myself simply taking out my Rossi made Winchester 92 clone, just to look at it, just to feel it, just to hold it in my hands.  I’ve got a lot of other guns that I like… but they don’t stick in my mind like that little 92.  I’ve got my guns I use for certain purposes… and to be honest, this 92 doesn’t fall in to any of those purposes. But that’s all besides the point.  I could probably very easily adopt the 92 for more serious purposes.  Maybe I will. But I do prefer the right tool for the right job, shotguns, magazine fed semi-auto rifles, long range precision bolt actions.  And they are all fine and good within their spheres.  But if I had to have just one gun… well… that would still be an 870, but the 92 is encroaching on that in a big way.

Training

MAG-40 Photos

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Part of the class. Couldn't get them all in one photo.
Massad Ayoob doing his thing.
My qualification target, 298 out of 300.

 

Mas's lectures were always captivating.
A pair of Gun Dudes
Shaw of Japan, aka Gunfighter Cast. Fantastic shooting.
Gundoc's target. Great shooting for Crusader's Gunsmith.

 

Mas teaches the legal matters better than anyone else in the business.
Bring sack lunches... you eat during the lectures.
Upon request, I actually signed a Kindle. Yes, I'm still geeking out about that.
A Graduation I actually attended!
Training

The MAG-40 class.

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This class was hosted by THE GUN DUDES, with special guest THE GUNFIGHTER CAST.  Meeting these guys in person was fantastic.  And of course learning from Massad Ayoob was absolutely amazing. Their links are now on the right side over there under the A List Links.  The class was held at a confidential law enforcement training range.  A beautiful range, that was a great venue for the training course.

There are a lot of great shooting schools out there.  I’ve been to a bunch of them, and all can help you be a better shooter.  But the way of the gun demands more than just being a good shooter.  Because if you are ignorant, you might win a gunfight, and then spend the rest of your life in prison.  Let me be clear about this, the MAG-40 class was the most important class I’ve ever taken.  Half of it was shooting.  Half of it was legal lectures and videos.   In the course, you will take a lot of notes.  Technology is great, and Gundoc and I used our HTC Sensation smart phones for note taking.  At the end of the course, there is a test.  I’d suggest bringing a notepad and pen, and then after the class, each nite, transfer what you wrote to your computer so you are going over everything twice at least.  The note taking is heavy and justifiably so… the info flow was heavy.  Heavy in volume and significance.  I can’t stress this enough, this was the most important class I’ve ever taken.  Also, as a bonus, when you graduate, should you be involved in a defensive shooting, Mas will serve as an expert witness should you be prosecuted. That could be worth it’s weight in gold one day.  Everyone who takes the art of the gun seriously, or carries one daily by choice or career… you need to take this class.

The shooting is straight forward Old School stuff, with some modern stuff thrown in to keep it up to date.  Mas is big on the Classics and makes sure you try it out.  Weaver, Chapman, Isosceles.  You fire 6 rounds in each course of fire… each stage.  So you are only loading 6 per mag.  You can very easily bring a Revolver to the MAG-40 class and do very well with it.  In fact, if I take another one, and I’d love to, I’ll bring a revolver. Accuracy over speed is stressed.  Over all the shooting portion was great, and I enjoyed it.  The Qualifier had me shooting a 298 out of 300.  I posted a number of class photos on my Facebook page, so if you want to see them, then by all means, check them out there.

 

 

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Almost a whole hour?

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Some customers at Basin Sports… You just want to say “Get Out.”  Guy wanted some new arrows cut to length of his old arrows.  Okay, fine.  No problem.

But then the guy starts running is mouth… “Yeah this is my last arrow.”  Alright, not really caring about what you do with your splinters, but fine.  “I shot this big old Buck this morning… nailed it.  High shoulder hit. Blood was pumping out like a fire hose.  Those Grim Reaper heads really cut them open, you know.  But the critter ran off.  The blood trail ran out about a hundred yards.  Searched for that sucker for almost a whole hour.  Gunna go back out and get another one.  Gotta fill the tag you know.”

I chewed on my tongue as I cut the arrows.  I had a lot I wanted to say… but instead I just did my job and kept my mouth shut.

 

Automotive

Bike chain failure.

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I knew I was well overdue to get a new bike chain.  I was planning on doing it in October, towards the end of the riding season.  Fate however, had other plans.  Coming back from a lunch at Cafe Rio, the chain broke.

I’ve had a chain break before on me.  When it did, the chain locked up the rear tire and I was suddenly dumped to the ground.  I was going pretty fast and the results were unpleasant but not serious as I was wearing good protective gear.  I was shaken, but not stirred.   This time, it was strange… engine RPM just ramped up and spun free with no increase in speed… the chain just unspooled off the sprockets.

The bike will go into the shop tomorrow.  New chain, sprockets, tires. (7000 miles of hard riding is evidently the life span of these tires I had.) While it’s in the shop I’ll have them put in some iridium plugs, K&N filter and rejet it.

I think my riding for the year is done.  I’ll hit it again in the spring.