The first shots of the new year

[Wind]

The first shots of the new year

Well I got my Christmas presents built. Got the vanity built (finally!) for the bathroom upstairs. I was on my way to a hundred other projects this morning, thinking about a friend who had mentioned he was looking at an M1 to buy. It reminded me of mine, and the times when I was a pup and a few of us would release a bunch of balloons on an emergency airstrip up in the Cascade Mountains, scamper into the trees and re-fight the Battle of the Bulge, as the wind blew red and yellow and blue Germans down on us.

Today was an overcast, light air day, I had balloons and no motivation to work. I started blowing up balloons, literally! Putting them on the nostril of a 150 pounds per square inch airline wasn’t a good idea. They would shred before inflating. Decided against the M14 and free wheeling balloons in favor of a new target stand and five at a time at 300 yards. Four survived the trip through barbed wire fences and 250 yards of sagebrush. I have been focusing on a new to me 32-40 lately and neglecting my beloved Winchester 1894 30WCF.

Grabbed up The Mutt, the sticks, and went to work. Orange turned out to be a bad choice of color for long range. “Light air” still moved the balloons around pretty good. I could have helped my cause by blowing them up bigger than 12 inches, but I was feeling cocky I guess. It took fourteen rounds, but I got them all. I could actually hear them pop with the electronic ear protection. All in all, it was good to pull a trigger for the first time in 2010. Happy New Year to you all. Best regards. Wind

[Wind]

Still having trouble staying logged in. Here are three pix that didn't make the original post... Wind

[Bogie35]

Thanks Wind! Happy New Year to you also!

bogie

[Nath]

Very good Wind, I would of loved to here what you said every time one popped on the way to the target stand

Please tell me more about that leater cover on the stock? Looks interesting.

Nath.

[RIHMFIRE]

that sounded like fun...
happy new year!

[Borregos]

A fun time, Happy New Year

[Sixgun]

Wind,
Yea, nothin' in life as enjoyable as pullin' the trigger on a few old Winchesters, especially in obsolete calibers. I like the way you have your 32-40 sighted. So much easier to shoot long range when you have the proper sights. You must still have some good eye sight left. I would have needed black balloons against the snow. I can't tell orange from green from brown---color blind

One question--How do you manage to go out and only shoot 14 rounds? I don't get my fill until at least 100 have been sent down and preferably 300.-------------------Sixgun

[gamekeeper]

Happy New Year Wind, sounds like you started the New Year in a fun way.

[Wind]

Nath – The rifle dates to 1896, at least the receiver! Somewhere along the way someone cut off the butt stock just ahead of the top toe of the crescent butt plate and bubba’d on a poorly fitting recoil pad. A Model 64 front end was added somewhere along the line too, complete with sling swivel. When I traded for the rifle, it had a butt stock from something with a pistol grip cobbled on to it. A real mess. The fact that it came with the remains of the original was a plus. I put a Precision Gun Works new replacement on it, but it just looked too new. (That was going to “gamekeeper” if his new rifle had been a pre-64). Decided to extend the old original stock one and a half inches as I have long arms. All I had for material around here at the time was some very old growth Douglas Fir left over from the boat building days. Figured I had nothing to lose really, stretch it and cover it. Just about everything under the buckskin is Fir!! I like slings, especially if my hands are full of Silhouette gear, so laid out and laminated a sling and Karla (www.purdygear.com) ran the stitching in for me. I lost a first place long range shoot-off two years ago when the Range Officer declared it an eight round shoot-off for time, knowing full well my rifle only held five rounds and I would have to reload three on the clock. That’s how the long magazine tube came to be. It’s now a nine shooter!! Here is a similar stock extension…

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14581

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14611

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14644



Sixgun – Well I almost hate to tell the story of just fourteen rounds!! At the risk of sounding anal, I knew I had a tray of primers with 32 primers remaining. I wanted to get the reloading back on track at multiples of 10. I would have expended 500 rounds so as not to leave a balloon standing, rest assured! Orange was a bad choice of color as you could see a bright spot, but no discernable shape. Black would have been better. This rifle is a Winchester 94 ( know you knew that!!) and the 32-40 is my “new” Marlin 1893 built in 1896, and fast becoming a favorite. It will probably be wearing a similar rear sight soon. It done good at the last two months silhouette matches.

Best regards. Wind