This explains why Anti-Gun laws are Fundamentally wrong.

From Brigid's Home on the Range

USA Ammo

Wanted to give these guys props. While it took almost a month to get my order from them, that is no real surprise these days. An order for 1500 rounds of .45 ACP can be hard to find at all.

On top of actually delivering the full 1500 rounds, they gave me 3 to grow on. Im so used to getting shorted on bulk orders that this was a nice surprise. Their prices may not be rock bottom but then again the places with lower prices don't usually deliver this quickly. Not saying their prices are high, not at all, just not the lowest of the low, but the appearance of the ammo is primo.

I cannot comment on the quality of the stuff because Sig Sauer has still not delivered my P220 Super Match yet well over a month after ordering it, so I have nothing to shoot it with.

So if you are looking to buy Ammo, this start up all american company is worth giving some business.

Their selection right now appeares to be limited to .223, 9mm, .40, .45, .308 Winchester, 5.56 NATO and .50 BMG. (The 5.56 NATO rounds are Armor Piercing)

Give them a look if you are looking for some bulk ammo in those calibers. If/When Sig ever delivers on my P220 I'll give a report on the performance of the ammo.

Gun Show redux

6 hours of work left, then hiho, hiho, it's off to the Timonium Gun show we go. I'm betting even money that Mysti decides to buy a .22 of her very own to shoot with, rather than beat up my collectors item :)

This show promises to have approximately 600 tables so we should come home with the trunk loaded. I'm hoping to score some water tight ammo cans, some silloette targets, some snap caps
and ammo.

By gone days of youth

Carteach0's recent blog post about his first BB Gun brought back a whole flood of memories.
As a kid I had the seemingly obligatory Red Rider type BB Gun, made famous in "A Christmas Story" and various other models that you could pump several times to increase the power.

I remember living on the Farm in Western Pennsylvania (near the home of Ground Hog day, Punxsutawney) part of the farm had been strip mined while we lived there and had an AWESOME area where there were huge piles of rock and shale before they restored the landscape along with a largish fresh rain water pond. This are provided endless hours of fun using little green army men and small pieces of shale to construct bunkers and forts for the little green guys, which I would then demolish from several yards away with the BB Gun sending in round after round of make believe artillery fire. :) Another favorite BB wasting pastime was Wasp hunting. After large thunderstorms we had huge puddles laying around on various parts of the farm with surrounding mud flats, mud wasps would proliferate on these shoals and gather mud or whatever it is they do, and I would pick them off. I would thereby eliminate a nuisance from the farm and enjoy the imaginary war theme I would construct (yeah I was a lonely kid out in the boonies on the farm) the BB's would make these beautiful craters and the sheer enjoyment cannot be explained to an adult, you just had to be a kid at the time to experience it.

WoooHoooo Another Gun show

Jeff, one of the instructors at our range class yesterday also operates a Gun Store in Baltimore (Parkville) and while I was up there today getting cleaning supplies he told me the Gun Show I attended is not the one I thought it was despite the naming similarities. The show that got kicked out of my current county has a new name and is happening this coming weekend in Timonium. This show is set to have well over 500 tables as opposed to the 20 something at the other one.

Sooooooo My shopping list is:
Environment Resistant Ammo Cans
Snap Caps for .22, 9mm, and .38, .308 and possibly .223
Ammo for the 9mm and .22 and an initial stock of .223

Jeff, has me interested in two possible rifles which I am going to wait till after the new year to decide on. A Bushmaster M4 and a Sig M4. Both are outfitted with the rail systems and stocks I want but the Sig is a special deal he runs and comes with a Hogue (sp) optical site for $1390

I want to time my purchase so that I can take the class these same guys teach on rifles (we get a discount on the class as we have taken the other class with them) I need to learn about the AR15 style weapons. All my Military training and work was done with M14's.

Range Report

Well we had a 10 hour class and by the time we were ready to put some lead down range the skys had cleared and the rain had stopped. There were three instructors, the ""Gunny" is a nationally ranked shooter and knows his stuff, as did the Sheriff, Jeff and The former Russian "Gene" all of them very very good with their weapons. The class was somewhat basic overall, but perfect for C.

I learned what my problem has been with my Sig, three very simple things.
1. I now use an Overlap grip instead of a pedestal grip
2. my overall body stance was not optimal
3. The indoor range I normally shoot at is too dimly lit. I could really see so much better outside, and by see, I mean how the sites line up.

I fired off 60 rounds very quickly and hit center mass with every shot, the groupings were not too bad, but need work and at least I'm getting them much closer to where I am looking. Over all I used up about 150 rounds with nothing off the center mass. (9" pie plate) Not great shooting but good enough for home defense.

C. using the Huntsman had to overcome an initial fear and tension about the weapon, then had to get used to the guy next to her shooting. Once she stopped shaking and jumping out of her skin she settled down and did very well, her last 30 rounds were center mass. When she gets more comfy with the pistol and doesnt take so long between raising the weapon and firing she will do great. (One funny bit, on preparing for her first shot, she racked the slide back and the mag fell out of the gun. Totally hilarious and totally my fault, I didn't push the latch forward far enough when I was showing her how to secure the mag in the pistol)

We had a good time and C was showing interest in taking the rifle course to learn about the M4 and AR15 style weapons, We got our certificates AND our first "rockers".

Range day tomorrow.

Heading out to take our NRA course and state certs for handguns tomorrow. Also getting some shooting instruction from a real pro. Former Marine Gunnery Sergeant and a state champion shooter. Maybe I'll be able to hit the broad side of a barn with my Sig after he makes me give him 20 :)

Will be my first time out shooting with C and I was surprised when she wanted to go along too.
Really looking forward to this.

I'll be shooting this P226 Sig 9mm















While C will be shooting this Colt Huntsman .22.

Range Time

Wow, I really sucked today. Went through about a hundred rounds each of .22 and 9mm ammo this morning. You know, I used to be pretty good, I qualified expert pistol in the Navy 5 years straight. I grew up shooting and have gone through lord knows how much ammo. So when I got to the range today I expected much better. I suppose I did ok with my trusty Colt Huntsman .22, it wasn't great or even good, but compared to how I did with my Sig P226 it was acceptable. I can't figure out what my problem is with the sig, but at 25' I am doing well to get a 6" grouping and I cannot seem to get my sighting down. I suppose lack of practice can account for most of the crappy shooting but jeeez. So I've decided that along with more range time (I quit shooting for a long time too wrapped up in my work and school) and some professional instruction. I want to be more than merely acceptable, I want to be "pretty good" :)

Anyway I sucked so bad, I didn't bother taking any pics of my targets...and I forgot the camera anyway.

Range Rove: A hunt for a shooters paradise.

Yesterday (Sunday) I decided that instead of going shooting at the same old range I had been going to since my arrival in Maryland, that I would spend the day scoping out the area to see what was available for the would be shooter. My friend Brigid had blogged about various kinds of shoots which got me interested. Up till now all my shooting was me alone or with a friend or three in the woods, or canoeing down rivers either hunting or plinking. I also spent a large amount of time in the fields picking off groundhogs and other varmints. In the Military I did a lot of volunteer shooting as my rating was not an arms intensive one, however our small facilities and commands never had enough Marine guards so us Spooks would be organized into volunteer defense (NEGDEF) Teams which would hold off would be attackers until the Gunships arrived.

Anyhooo I started my trek at 9am. I used the Internet to locate as many places in my area that looked promising and used my GPS system to plot my course for the day. I purposely avoided anyplace that was inside the DC Beltway due to extreme aversion to the traffic. Not surprisingly most of the hits I got lay in the DC/Baltimore Corridor (I also didn't bother with places inside the lesser known Baltimore Beltway either).

My first stop was Atlantic Guns, in Rockville. I believe this is strictly a gun and ammo sales shop as it is tucked away in a tiny storefront with no room for any kind of indoor range. Unfortunately I would not be able to look around as it was closed on Sundays. It's hours were M-W 9-6, Thu-Sat 9-8.

Next Up was the Gilbert Indoor Range. Situated on a cul de sac on Rothgeb Dr in Rockville. A nicely located convenient place for me, I had my hopes high going in. The place was fairly new construction and looked great from the outside. Hours are M-F 12-9, Saturday 10-7, and Sunday 12-6. I got there a bit before they opened so I sat in the car making notes to post in this blog about my journey. The place opened a bit early which is surprising for this area, most of the time you are waiting for places to open a little late.

The facility was pretty nice and I was surprised that they had both pistol and rifle lanes. Though to me it seemed kind of silly to have a 75 foot rifle range. I mean 25 yards with a long gun...there is not much challenge there. The place used to sell guns but new Montgomery County rules had changed and they were debating on what to do about it. Still they had some interesting weapons on display to drool over. I got a nasty surprise here though. Montgomery County is one of the more GFW filled counties in Maryland and that is saying something (Gun Fearing Wussies) The county had enacted what is in effect a gun ban without actually banning guns...you aren't allowed to transport ammo. You can carry the gun apparently but you are not permitted to have it loaded or to transport ammo, thus to use this range, you are required to buy all ammo on site. My next shock was sticker shock. To use the facility you had to be a member, no big surprise there, but the annual membership was freaking $300 per individual or $60 a month or $1000 for 5 years. I know I have not been involved in Maryland's shooting arena but yeesh, this seems a bit excessive. Between the high cost of membership and Montgomery County's little rule about Ammo and having to purchase it all on site, I don't think this will be my choice of places to shoot.

Third up on my list was a place called Beam Hit LLC located in Columbia Maryland. This was a bust as they no longer were in existence.

4th on the travel Itinerary was the Associated Gun Clubs of Baltimore Inc. Located near Patapsco Vally park in Marriottsville. This was a beautiful outdoor range where I met several friendly and helpful people. The only downside was that there was no one present on Sunday who could tell me the details about membership/usage fees but It was NOT in Montgomery County and was free of that stupid Ammo restriction. There are a couple of caveats to using the range, one is that I would probably have to join a "sanctioned" local gun club but they had the information available for several such clubs, the second little gotcha is that It may be required that you belong to the NRA. I used to support the NRA but over the years it seemed to me that they had been caving in on too many issues and were allowing too many firearms restrictions go by without putting up a fight, as if they had become part of the political process....even so, if it is required I may actually join up to use this range. This range has trap shooting (which I used to love), rifle, pistol and black powder ranges. The one real drawback is that it is a bit of a drive, 30 to 40 miles I would say.

My next stop was BassPro which is a nice place to get some discount merchandise WalMart style shopping, though they had pretty much none of the staples I wanted to pick up. I wanted some really good 9mm self defense rounds (I have great .357 rounds but wanted something for in the P226) which BP did not have in stock. I also wanted a good holster/mag holder combo for the Sig but again BP didn't have any. (Would LOVE to know what the rig Bruce Willis wore in his last Die Hard Movie was, it is exactly what I was looking for) If anyone should read this who has any suggestions for carry rigs for the Sig P226 I would like to hear them. I hate buying holsters off the net, I like to be able to see them and try them before committing. I did pick up A new cleaning kit and mat, and a new Gerber knife.

My last stop was to my reliable and economically friendly "On Target". Located just outside the back gate of Ft. Meade on rt 175. It is a no frills indoor pistol range but hey, it is affordable and I can bring my own ammo. They also sell some weapons though the selection is not large, ammo and accessories.

All in all it was about an 8 hour day of driving and looking and I covered roughly 140 miles.
Maryland is not as bad as CA or NY or Illinois but it is not all that much better either. I seriously hate hate hate living in a GFW county but this is where M had her house (and a really nice one it is too) and this is where she wants to live for now, so I persevere.

Another Bonus is I found out about an upcoming Arms and Militaria show In Fredrick Maryland September 13-14 at 289 Willowdale Drive, Fredrick Maryland 21702. The hours of the show are 9-5 on Sat and 9-3 on Sunday. There used to be several gunshows in Montgomery County but they have all been banned by the county now. So it is a nice surprise to find out about a reletivly close out of county show without having to go to Virgina. Marylanders can't buy handguns in Virginia.