The contract is now signed for the 2012 Gun Blogger Rendezvous. The dates will be September 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th of September. This is the second week in September, as usual. It is also the same weekend as the Reno Balloon Races.

The Rendezvous will be at the Silver Legacy Resort and Casino in Reno, where it's been for the last few years. We will be moving a few doors over to a larger Hospitality Room, but only a few doors away from where we were last year. The new location has the possibility of opening up into a larger size, which allows us some growth area for the future. Plans are to follow the basic schedule of last year's Rendezvous, but there will also be a few changes, and possibly some new things too, but it's still; way too early in the planning stages to make any announcements about that.

Every year I get a few emails asking why the Rendezvous can't be held on a different weekend, as that weekend conflicts with (fill in the blank). Reno has some sort of major event going on almost every weekend, and hotel prices vary widely depending on the demand for rooms. The week after the Rendezvous is the Reno Air Races, for example, and it's tough to get a room at all, let alone a group of rooms at a discount. Later in the month the weather starts getting colder, and it starts getting miserable at the ranges when we go shooting. Earlier in the year it seems that just about everyone is busy just about every weekend. In short, we are on the dates we're on because it's the best compromise, taking all the different factors in to account. If the dates happen to conflict with something for you, we're sorry about that, but there isn't a single day in the year that doesn't conflict with something for somebody, so we try to pick the best possible dates we can get.

Someone always asks "Why not put the Rendezvous in (his home town)? ", or "Why not move it around to a different city every year, like the NRA Convention?" The short answer is that it's an amazing amount of work to put on an event like the Rendezvous, and where the NRA has a good sized staff on the payroll to organize the convention, the GBR has only an unpaid staff of KeeWee and I, along with the much appreciated help of a few blogger volunteers. To move to a different city  means re-inventing just about every detail, and moving it every year means starting almost from scratch every year, and that's way more work than I can handle.

We all hope that the Gun Blogger Rendezvous dates will work into your schedule and that we'll see you in Reno in September. If you've never been to the GBR, perhaps this is the year to give it a try! We always have a grand time, and for spouses not so interested in the gunny side of the Rendezvous, there's also lots of other things in Reno to see and do, so come to Reno in September, and have a ball!

Labels: GBR-VII

"Black Bunny"

Wow, where to begin! There's been so much going on lately I hardly know where to start. I guess I'll start with the Black Bunny story, at least the background and where we are now.

As those of you who have ever been to Castle Completely have found out, we have several wild but very tame and friendly rabbits living around the place. They will eat out of your hand, and even follow you around to see what you are doing. I had no idea rabbits were so curious! The rabbits around here are a mix of wild cottontail and escaped/released domestic rabbit genetics. Our house rabbit "Bun", who we have raised from a severely injured little ball of fur, is now a big healthy girl, and brings a lot of joy to our household. Bun looks like a really big cottontail with longer ears.

Anyhow, to get back to the story, a couple of years ago a nearly solid black rabbit showed up. With the exception of a few white hairs on his forehead, he's solid jet black. It didn't take long before he had become the friendliest of all the outside bunnies by far. He would come in the front door to see what you were doing, jump into your car if you left the door open, and even follow me around n the shop and barn. We would feed him oats, which he would devour as fast as he could! He also loved to have his forehead petted, and he would stand there for as long as you kept petting him. After the second year, he had worked his way up to being an Alpha Rabbit, and had established his family's own territory or turf, so to speak. We named him "Black Bunny".

Unfortunately, our neighborhood also has some very unpleasant people living nearby. A couple of their kids drive up and down our narrow one lane road at fifty miles per hour, or even faster. Along our little road there are rabbits, quail, pheasants, deer, and other small creatures. Most of us drive slowly and watch for them, but not the neighbor kids. A little over a week ago Kelly, the sheet rock guy, was just getting out of his truck when he saw the neighbor's daughter roar by. As soon as she had passed, Kelly heard an animal screaming in pain. He walked out to the road and looked, but the screaming had stopped, and he couldn't find anything. Kelly told me about it, and I went looking too, but couldn't find anything. I went back to work in the new machine shop, and about an hour later I was walking back to the house when I spotter Black Bunny in the driveway. His hind quarters were dragging behind him, and he was pulling himself towards the front porch with his fore legs. He was trying to get to me for some help.

I picked him up and took him into the house to see how badly injured he was. There was no blood or obvious wounds, but he was definitely in shock. I bundled him up in a warm towel and put him in a big box so he was at least as comfortable as possible, in spite of what must have be terrible pain. It looked like it was either a broken lower spine, hip, pelvis, or some combination of all. It didn't look like he'd make it through the night, but I figured all I could do was try to give him a chance, even if it was slim, or even if he ended up having to be put down later.

I was up just about every hour all night checking on him, and it was obvious to me that he knew he was badly hurt, he recognized me, and he appreciated my efforts to comfort him, even if the odds were not good. By the next morning he was pretty much out of shock, and he was even starting to eat and drink a bit. Every so often he would move the wrong way and the pain would be intense, and he would panic. I would calm him down and he would relax again. Over the next few days he learned what positions hurt, and he learned to avoid them. He was also getting better at getting around, and his right rear leg looked like it might be starting to function a bit. That was a good sign, as it could mean that the spinal cord was intact.

By Saturday he was eating and drinking well, and his vital signs looked good. On Monday we made an appointment to go see Dr. Bishop, the vet. Black Bunny was again a little trooper, riding on my lap wrapped in a large towel. He was alert, ears up, and looking out the windows watching everything go by, just like a dog or a cat! When we got to the vet's, the power had gone out, so they couldn't take an x-ray. We went back home again, and they said they'd give me a call when the power came back on. A few hours later they telephoned, and we headed back over to the vet's office. Again the little rabbit impressed me with just how tough he was. The x-ray showed that he was in better condition than I had feared, but still pretty badly injured. His back and spinal cord looked fine. A small spur on one side of a lower back vertebra was broken, but other than being painful, that would not be a problem and would heal by itself. The big injury turned out to be a badly dis-located hip joint. That explains why he's dragging one rear leg.

We've decided to wait another week and let some natural healing to occur, and for some of the swelling and inflammation to go down before making any further decisions. Sometimes dis-located hips can be put back together. We'll probably have a much better idea next week. We'll just have to cross the bridges as we come to them, but for now I'm keeping my fingers crossed......

Yesterday afternoon I had an appointment with the doctor to get the results of the prostate biopsy. Everything pointed heavily to it being cancer, and even the doc was pretty well convinced that was the case. Nothing else quite fit the results of the various tests. However, the only real test for prostate cancer is a biopsy, and then you know for sure. To my amazement, and the amazement of the doctor, no cancer was found at all! All they could come up with was some prostate inflammation, but no indication of any sort of bacterial infection. With a bacterial infection your white blood cell count goes high, but my white cell count was perfectly normal. The doctor's final diagnosis was that the only thing that fit was some sort of extremely rare viral prostate infection. Viral prostate infections are so rare the doc couldn't remember the last case of it he saw! Anyhow, it now looks like this whole mess was some sort of virus, and it seems to have now run it's course, and now all I have to do is get recovered from it. The really really good news, though, is no sign of cancer, and if it had been there, the biopsy (12 samples taken) would have found it!

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for a good result, and all of those of you who have left comments and sent emails of support and encouragement. Hearing from you definitely helped to make it a bit easier to get through the worst parts of it all.

Thanks Again!

The doctor's have been stumped, but now they have possibly figured out the details of my recent illness! Brocolitis! Yup, Brocolitis! Brocolitis is a fairly common viral infection caused by the virus know as Broc-coli. It can be difficult to diagnose, as not all symptoms are always present, and it seems to be more common with men. Many women seem to have a natural immunity to the disease. Some of the more common symptoms in men include wearing Birkenstocks, an obsession with granola, an unusual development of their sensitive side, and driving an older Volvo station wagon, often with one front fender a different color.

It seems that a few weeks ago I was at the grocery store with KeeWee, and I spent a few minutes standing in the produce section as she was picking up some kale for our rabbit, "Bun". When leaving the store I must have forgotten to use the hand sanitizer lotion, and some of the Broc-coli must have followed me home.

Fortunately, the broc-coli virus is pretty weak, and once diagnosed, is easily defeated with common and readily available treatments. One of the best medicines of all in "Pop-Tarticillin", and it's available over the counter in most grocery stores. It comes in several tasty flavors, and regular doses will also prevent the infection in the first place. During shooting season I carry a supply of Pop-Tarticillin in my range box, but as the shooting season is pretty much over, I had been lax in taking my preventative doses on a regular basis. I'm sure this had something to do with the sudden illness.

I will make a point to be much more conscientious about it in the future.......

---

Actually, I will hear the results of my prostate biopsy late this afternoon to find out if it's cancer or not. The Doctor figures it's highly likely that it is, but without the biopsy it's only speculation.

I'm feeling quite a bit better, but having lost almost 18 lbs in one week, combined with the fever, dehydration, and other fun stuff, I'm still really weak and worn out. I can work for a few hours at least, but then I've got to rest or take a nap. I went in for a prostate biopsy today to determine if I've got cancer or not, but they say everything so far points that way. I won't have any results until next Tuesday. KeeWee was able to book a last minute flight to New Zealand to go see her family. She's leaving this Saturday, and coming back Christmas day. I really felt bad that she had to delay her trip home, but now she'll get to go after all, and was able to get the same price as before.

I talked to the sheet rock guy about putting up the ceiling in the expanded machine shop, and he may be able to do that for me by the weekend. I may have to give him my main air compressor to pay for the job, but I do have a smaller compressor I can get by with for now. The local recycling center has free part cans of paint, so I can probably pick up a few gallons and mix them together to paint the walls and ceiling. Then I can finish up wiring the 220v circuits and we should be ready to power up the new mill. Then, all I have to do is figure out how to program it, and then write the code to make some parts! Hopefully, some of those parts will sell........

Not a whole lot to report right now. Still feeling really weak, and it looks like with my immune system weakened, I managed to pick up a head cold too. The cold seems to be slowly going away, though. The cause of the original high fever is still unknown, although some sort of virus is suspected. In trying to identify the source of the fever, they found some prostate problems that need to be dealt with, although the prostate issue is causing no symptoms at all. The urologist is strongly suspecting cancer, but until a biopsy is done, we won't know for sure. The biopsy is next Tuesday. A week later we should see some results. Other than that, not much to report.....

Last night I was released from Harborview Med Center to come home. I am pretty comfortable, as Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen are keeping the fever away. Full diagnosis and treatment have not been determined, as we are awaiting additional test results.

For full updates and further info check KeeWee's Corner, as she is keeping everyone up to date on my condition.

I'm sitting here on the edge of the bed in my hospital room at Whidbey General Hospital. Actually I feel pretty good right now, but that's just because of the drugs that are holding my fever down. Without them I would be probably in a coma right now. It looks like a very rapid onset case of kidney and urinary tract infection and possible blood infection too. For the whole story, check out KeeWee's Corner

Things aren't too bleak, however, as the doctor here at the hospital is also not only a shooter, but a handgunner, and he  shoots IDPA!Having an action pistol shooting doctor is a good sign, I think.

I got a phone call from True Blue Sam's MOM Bea an hour or so ago. Yep, the same Bea who comes every year to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous!

Once we got the new milling machine into the barn, the work was just beginning. I already had a small area walled in and insulated and heated to keep my lathe, mill, and other machines from getting cold and attracting condensation, and then rusting. Now that the mew CNC mill is in place, I have to wall in the area, wire, insulate, and sheet rock in the expanded machine shop room.

First, a new wall needs to be framed up.

Fortunately, there is already an overhead beam that makes a good place to attach the top of the new wall.


A used door I had kicking around gets framed in and mounted in the door. With the new wall, I need a way to get to the rest of the barn.


The first sheet of rock in place.


Then the second sheet.

One wall sheet rocked. I added a couple of outlets on the wall while I was at it. Can't have too many outlets in a shop!



I had to frame in a second door on the stairway up to the upper storage area. This door will keep the heat from escaping up the stairs and out of the machine shop.

The walls will all need to be taped and sanded prior to painting. To get a good enough looking job it takes me several more coats that what it takes the pros, but I work a lot cheaper......


In addition to the new partition, I still have two outside walls of the pole barn constructed building that need to be furred out, insulated, sheet rocked, taped, and painted. Here's the wall behind the new mill getting furred out with 2 by 2's out of the misc. lumber pile.

To be continued............

Mr. C's Super Sekrit Gun Oil

 The excellent gun blog   Empty Mags   has agreed to give Mr. C's Super Sekrit Gun Oil a try, and he's got a "First Impressions" post up. This weekend he's going out to the range to give it a through workout. Here's a pull quote from his first impressions:

It is extremely slick, and has even made the sound of charging the AR somewhat more quiet. There is absolutely no felt friction between the bolt carrier and the receiver when sliding it in and out by hand. So far, I’m impressed.

You can go HERE to read the entire post. While you're at it, you might want to wander around his blog a bit and see what else interesting you might find there.........

To get your very own bottle of Mr. C's Super Sekrit Gun Oil, it's for sale at


Which is, of course,  a blatant plug for my On Line Shooter's Supply store!

Last Saturday was the first part of the "Move The New Milling Machine" project, and although it took us a while, everything went smoothly. Jeff, the previous owner of the mill, rented a four wheel drive fork lift to do the heavy lifting and moving on the departure end of the move.

There are three major components of the mill, the GE 1050 controller, the many boxes of tooling, and the milling machine itself.

We had to move everything out the back door of Jeff's shop, across his back yard and down an area of sloping lawn, through a gate, out onto one street, then a few hundred feet up that street to a T intersection, then left at the intersection and a few more hundred feet to the flat bed truck.


The first part to move was the GE 1050 controller. This is the unit that accepts the CNC file from it's nearby computer, which gets the CNC file through a network connection from another computer. The computer then reads the CNC file, also called "G-Code" and actually controls the milling machine, moving the table, controlling the spindle, turning on the coolant, and so forth.



The controller weighs roughly 500 pounds. It is normally connected to the milling machine by several large wire bundles that are carried overhead through a wire raceway.



The next, and biggest, was the EX-CELL-O milling machine. This beauty weighs in at roughly 2 1/2 tons! The fork lift was up to the job, picking it up without much trouble.

Going across the back yard.

Down the hill in the back yard towards the gate.

Backing through the gate and out onto the road.

Lifting the mill onto the 4x12 wooden beams on the truck.

After we got the milling machine trucked to my barn, I arranged for a forklift and driver from the local lumberyard to unload everything from the truck and set it inside the barn doors on the floor.



The mill dwarfs my poor little Towmotor fork lift. I had hoped the Towmotor could at least slide the mill into place. We  tried for several hours, but it was a case of if it lifted the mill, the rear wheels would lift off the floor, and you had no steering. I was able to drag it farther into the building though, and then we hooked several chains to it and pulled it closer to it's destination by hooking the chain to an excavator outside of another side door into the barn.

I figured if I could get it close, I could move it the final few feet and rotate it with come-alongs. Even the come-alongs wouldn't slide it! I machined four pads out of Delrin plastic and put them under the four feet on the mill, and that made it slide a lot easier. I was then able to pull it into place.



Now it's almost in place, except for turning it 45 degrees and moving it closer to the wall.

The dual spindle milling machine heads.

The mill has now been angled and pulled back into the corner. I've left myself just enough room for access to the various machine panels and electrical boxes, and also left just enough room to be able to insulate and sheet rock the walls. A new wall will be built on the left side of the machine directly under the overhead beam that you can just see in the upper left corner of the picture. The wire raceway and the controller are approximately in position.



Although the machine was built in the early 70's, it's been well maintained as is still very accurate. A number of upgrades have been done over the years. Although it's old technology, it will still make very accurate parts. I've got the first 24' of aluminum angle and bar stock on the way, and we (the mill and I) should be making chips in the next week or so, I hope!

I do still need to wire in a circuit to get 220v. 1 phase power to near the machine, where a VFD (Variable Frequency Drive) solid state converter will turn the single phase power into 3 phase to run the spindle motors. The rest of the machine runs on 220v single phase.

It's been a lot of work so far, and it's taken a lot of time to get this far, but we should be making and selling some pretty neat gun stuff not too far down the road!

Mr. C's Super Sekrit Gun Oil

It's been really busy around here this year, traveling around the Western US and to Holland for matches, working on new products for Magnum Shooters Supply, and planning for future growth of the business. Within the next week or so we should have our new (to us) CNC milling machine installed and operational, so we can start manufacturing some gun specialty parts in house. Watch for announcements on this in the near future.

One new product we are introducing is "Mr. C's Super Sekrit Gun Oil". I've developed this formulation based on both synthetic and petroleum components, combined with some special lubricating molecules that make the oil extremely slippery. I refer to those special molecules as my "Special Herbs and Spices". Several people who have experimented with the new gun oil have commented on how it seems to make the slide feel like it's on ball bearings, compared to their previous lubricant. You really can feel a difference! I've been running it in the Tanfoglio for testing ,and it works very well.


If a few of you gun bloggers out there would like to give this stuff a try and then write up a review of it, email me and I'll send you some to play with. Make sure you include your mailing address and the name of your blog.

We had a good time over at the Kitsap Rifle & Revolver Club's full 8 stage Steel match this weekend. It's a great club, and we always have a lot of fun there. We went over on Friday afternoon so I could help a bit with setup, both Friday afternoon, and also on Saturday morning before the match, when we put the steel targets on to the target stands. The weather held out nicely for us, and it was mild and rain free all day. I had a particularly good day, both with the Tanfoglio 9mm. Gold Custom race gun and also with my High Standard rimfire racer. Both sporting OKO Red Dot sights of course! I ended up with personal bests with both guns, good enough to win both Rimfire and Centerfire! More importantly though, shooting the Tanfoglio is starting to feel a bit more natural as the individual operations are becoming more ingrained. The most difficult parts have, at least so far, been getting the gun out of the holster and getting the first shot off quickly, and allowing a little more time for the sight to settle onto the next target.I'm getting better at it, but I still need a LOT of practice!

It's now looking like we will be able to get the milling machine loaded onto a truck and bring it home late on Saturday. We will probably get it unloaded and into the barn early on Monday morning when we can get a fork lift here. Once we get it into the barn I've got a fork lift inside we should be able to move it into it's new location and start hooking everything back up, including running a 220V circuit to it. I've got a brand new VFD (Variable Frequency Drive) box to convert the 220V single phase power to 3 phase to run the spindle motors. The rest of the machine runs on 220V single phase. Hopefully I can get everything set up and wired in a day, and then I can start experimenting with programming it and doing some test machining.

On Sunday I'm planning on taking a day off and heading down to Puyallup for some steel shooting at the Paul Bunyan club. If you are in the area, come on down and shoot some steel!

This afternoon Keewee and I are off to the Kitsap Rifle & Revolver club for their last full 8 stage Steel Challenge match of the year. They will still be shooting steel every month, but this is the last "8 Stager" until January. The season is winding down, and it's been a busy one, for sure. I'll do a recap in a later post and cover where all we went and how we did.

The milling machine is still sitting in the current owner's shop over in Mukilteo, actually between Mukilteo and Hwy 99. The big hold up is getting a fork lift to lift it on to the truck. Even though all of us involved in moving the mill are experienced fork lift drivers, none of us has a Washington State Fork Lift Driver's License, and the rental yard won't rent us a fork lift unless we have a licensed driver! Luke, who's helping with the move, has been running every sort of heavy equipment you can imagine for most of his life, and has run fork lifts capable of lifting 120 tons. That's a BIG forklift! We've got the truck lined up, and a fork lift at my shop available to lift the mill off the truck, where my smaller fork lift can move it around in the barn. We just can't get it onto the truck in it's current location. What a pain.............

Heck with it for now, I'm going to Bremerton and do some shooting!

Since my last post, KeeWee and I have driven to Nampa, Idaho, near boise, for the Idaho State Steel Challenge Championships. We left for Idaho last Thursday morning and got as far as Huntington, Oregon, where we stopped for the night. We parked our mini-land-yacht behind a hedge on the back side of a very small park that's maintained by the local Lion's Club. Behind the park was a large area with some train cars parked on the far side, a few hundred yards from us. What I hadn't noticed was that there were two main line set of rails barely a hundred feet from us. It looked like a large parking lot, and the rails weren't raised above the surrounding ground level at all, so they were just about invisible. During the night, though, we found out that there were quite a few big freight trains traveling that set of tracks! We were so tired, though ,that we barely heard them!

The next morning, Friday, we drove the last couple of hours to the range, and I help the guys to get all of the targets and steel set up for the match. Friday night we spent the night at the range. Saturday we shot the match, and right after the awards ceremony we drove as far as I could go until exhausted, which was the rest area in Yakima, Washington. After some sleep, we drove the remaining several hours home. It was a lot of long hours on the road, but the match was excellent, we met some great folks, and (except for the driving) had a great time!

How did we do? All of the final results are not posted yet, but KeeWee shot Rimfire Optic class, and ended up Top Lady. I Won Rimfire Optic overall, and shooting my Tanfoglio 9mm. in Centerfire Open Division was Top Super Senior. Since the entire results aren't up yet, I don't know where I placed overall in Open. Our squad was a really amazing bunch, with our squad also winning Centerfire Production, Centerfire Limited, and Overall Match Winner, too!

John Shaw was the overall Match Winner and Limited winner, and he has only recently come out of retirement and started competing again, as his son has gotten interested in competition shooting. With a Dad like John, he's got a super coach, as John won the very first Steel Challenge World championships about thirty years ago, and he's still to this day an outstanding shooter!

KeeWee has a post up showing some pictures from our stay in Huntington, and has a lot of match pictures on the way in future posts.

I'll try to get more posted on the trip, when I get some time!!

Labels: Matches, Steel Challenge

We've just about got all of the accounting finished up, thanks to the help of Barrett Escrow, and it looks like the Gun Blogger Rendezvous raised about $6,000 for Project Valour-IT. Added to that is the yet to be determined amount being raised by SIG's generous donation of a SIG 1911, custom engraved with the Soldier's Angels logo, currently being auctioned off at Gunbroker.com. At the moment the price on it is $2,075, and there's still time for it to go even higher. Although the Gunbroker auction didn't happen at the Rendezvous, it was a direct result of SIG Sauer's participation in the Rendezvous as a sponsor, so I think it's OK to count it in there. Regardless, it's more money raised for Soldier's Angels and Project Valour-IT, so it's definitely good news!

Labels: GBR-VI

I can't believe it's been over a week since the Gun Blogger Rendezvous already, and I still haven't got any posts up about it. Granted, KeeWee has a good one up already, as do a lot of the other attendees. Why no posts here yet? Several reasons, but all are a combination of being pretty much exhausted from the Rendezvous and being swamped when I got back home. I'm not sure how it works that way, but you can be all caught up when you leave, be gone for six days, and when you get back you're two weeks behind! Go figure....

Here's some of what I've been up to, though. First, I am still working on getting the Tanfoglio Gold custom 9mm. race gun to where I want it to be. So far I haven't been able to get the loads and power factor down as low as I'd like. I took some weight off of the slide, though, and that seems to have made quite a difference. There is still some ways to go, but it's progressing nicely. I've also been working on getting my draw to first shot times down, and although I'm still not as fast as I need to be, it's steadily improving.I shot a club match on Sunday at Puyallup, and did OK both in rimfire and centerfire classes.

Second, I am in the process of buying and moving  an old CNC milling machine so I can start manufacturing some specialty mounts for the OKO Red Dot sights and also some other competition gun parts. The older CNC milling machines don't cost much compared to more modern machines, but they still can do a very good job. They one I am getting is an Excello two head Vertical mill with a GE 1050 controller, for those of you familiar with that sort of thing. Of course, that means I need to get up to speed on CAD software and G-Code programming so I can run the mill!

Third, KeeWee and I are getting semi-organized for our trek to Boise, ID. for the Idaho State Steel Challenge Championships being held on Oct. 1st. This will be the first Idaho Steel Challenge Championships hosted by this club, and we really want them to have a successful match!

Fourth, I'm still getting the final accounting from the Rendezvous wrapped up, as we want to be sure every single penny is accounted for and everything all adds up as it should. We're just about done on that, though, and we should be able to send out a nice check to Soldier's Angels and Project Valour-IT very soon. 

Finally, I'm shipping out some OKO red dot sights to folks. Shooters are finding out that thr OKO sight is available again, and they are starting to sell. No big volume of sales, but a little growth at a time.

Gotta get back to blogging, though......

More later.

(I need sleep..........)

Labels: GBR-VI

 There has been a last minute room change for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous Hospitality room. We are now using the Silver Baron "E" room instead of the Silver Baron "C". It is just a couple of doors over, and there is a Gun Blogger Rendezvous sign outside the door.

Labels: GBR-VI

Otis Technologies, maker of some very fine cleaning kits, will be sponsoring the Saturday breakfast at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous. In addition, they will also be contributing one of their Elite Cleaning Kits to the Project Valour-IT Fund Raising Raffle at the Rendezvous.

Otis Elite Gun Cleaning Kit.

 Here's the full description of the Elite kit:

The most innovative gun cleaning system in the Otis line of products is the Otis Elite®.

Suitable for an armorer but used by thousands, the Otis Elite® is designed to maintain all rifles .17 to .50 caliber, pistols .17 to .50 caliber, shotguns .410 to 12/10 gauge, and all in-line muzzleloaders. The Otis Elite® contains the world famous item #750 Tactical Cleaning System, and the entire line of bronze bore and chamber cleaning brushes from .17 caliber through 12/10 gauge.

Also included in this extensive cleaning system are six Memory-Flex® cleaning rods, an all purpose nylon receiver brush, a T-handle bar, three slotted tips, obstruction removers, small and large Patch Savers®, a bore reflector/flag safety, small caliber and all-caliber 100% cotton patches, and two .5 oz. tubes of Otis O85® Ultra Bore® Solvent.

All of the components are neatly stored in a black nylon, rust proof case which includes a lock and keys for additional security. The Otis Elite® now includes the brass scraper tool set, optics cleaning gear and an interactive instructional DVD. With over 40 gun cleaning components, detailed gun maintenance guide, and a lifetime warranty, the Otis Elite® is the Hallmark of Excellence in firearm maintenance.

To say that this kit is pretty nice is like saying the Pope tends to be a bit religious!

Come to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, buy a raffle ticket, and this Otis Elite kit could follow you home!

See you in Reno.................

Labels: GBR-VI

This month's e-Postal match is now up and running over at True Blue Sams place. Go download the target and head out to the range, shoot 'em up, take a picture, and email it to True blue Sam to get entered.

You probably aren't getting out shooting nearly as much as you should, so here's a great reason to go empty some brass!!

Labels: e-Postal Matches

More great news from GG at Girls Love Guns!I've always thought it would be great to attend one of the Appleseed rifle clinics, and maybe this will be the incentive to finally do it!

The following has been "borrowed"  from GG's blog:

HawkHavn of Appleseed has agreed to send Gun Blogger Rendezvous FREE APPLESEED gift certificates. We will be passing them out to all of those who have registered to attend GBR at the Saturday night shin dig. Whoohoo!

HawkHavn will also be sending free targets (who doesn’t love free targets?) as well as Appleseed brochures and business cards. I hope every GBR blogger uses this opportunity to learn about RWVA and its Appleseed program and to attend a free Appleseed shoot. These shoots are amazing.

Labels: GBR-VI

There is still time to get your registration in and to attend this year's Gun blogger Rendezvous, but it starts next Thursday, September 8th., so you need to get hopping! If you send your registration Priority Mail (or FEDEX) today or tomorrow, I should get it in time to get you in. If not, or if it only becomes possible to attend at the very last minute, you can still get in. Download and print out your registration and bring it, along with your $30 / per person to the Rendezvous and give it to me directly, and I'll get you in. The Rendezvous is not full to capacity, and one way or another, if you show up, we'll get you in.


Hotel  accommodations group rate pricing "Officially" ended 30 days before the first day of the Rendezvous, but they have been very good about honoring the group rate at the last minute, provided they have the room available. Be sure to contact them right away and give them the group code.

To reserve your room, give them a call at the Silver Legacy at 1-800-687-8733 and give them the Gun Blogger rendezvous Group Code of GBLOG11. When you are making your reservation, you might ask them if you can get a room that faces McCarran Park, so you can watch the hot air balloons from your window. 

Labels: GBR-VI

NOTE: The directions last year weren't very good, and we have re-written them this year to make the route more direct. HOWEVER, until we have one of the Reno Residents verify these directions, they are still only tentative. If there are any changes needed, we will post the changes as soon as we know what to change. The final directions will be available at the Rendezvous.

Driving Directions from Hotel to Washoe County Regional Shooting Facility – Pyramid Range Friday for long Range Rifle and Pistol, Saturday for Steel Challenge Pistol shooting.

• Start at (Silver Legacy) 407 N VIRGINIA ST, RENO going toward E 5TH ST - go 0.3 mi
• 0.3 Turn RIGHT (East) onto E Maple St 131 yds
• 0.4 Take Ramp onto I-80
• Take SR-445 [Pyramid Lake Hwy] exit towards Pyramid Lake
• Follow road towards Pyramid Lake. Watch for sign to range.
• 26.8 (Approx.) Turn LEFT (West) onto Local road(s) 0.7 mi
• 27.5 Turn RIGHT (North-East) onto Local road(s) 43 yds
• 27.6 Arrive Range

SUMMARY
Driving distance: 27.6 miles; Trip duration: 31 minutes    Driving time: 31 minutes

On Friday we will be shooting at the covered Public Shooting range area. On Saturday we will be at the Western Nevada Pistol League pistol bays. These bays are part of the same facility. The pistol bays are in the same area, but to the right of the public shooting area, down a dirt road.

The Pyramid Range

Driving Directions from Hotel to the Sage Hills Gun Club for Cowboy Fast Draw on Sunday.

On Sunday we will be shooting Cowboy Fast Draw at the Sage Hills Gun Club Range in Reno. 7370 Desert Way, Reno, NV. Sage Hill Clay Sports is located on the southeastern flank of the Washoe County basin, overlooking the city of Reno and its southernmost suburbs.

The club is easy to find if you follow our directions and not those of any online mapping service or your vehicle's navigation, its driving directions will dead-end you on the wrong street.

Follow these instructions instead:

• Start at (Silver Legacy) 407 N VIRGINIA ST, RENO going toward E 5TH ST - go 0.3 mi
• 0.3 Turn RIGHT (East) onto E Maple St 131 yds
• 0.4 Take Ramp onto I-80 1.1 mi I-80
• 1.5 At exit 15, turn RIGHT onto Ramp 0.2 mi US-395 / Susanville / Carson City
• 1.7 Take Ramp (LEFT) onto US-395 1.3 mi US-395 / Susanville
• From the 395, exit at Damonte Ranch Parkway and drive EAST.
• Turn LEFT onto Steamboat Parkway.
• Turn LEFT onto Rio Wrangler.
• Follow Rio Wrangler onto the access road and into the shooting facility (we're up on the hill above you).

Labels: GBR-VI

Wednesday, September 7th.

6:00 Pm. For those arriving on Wednesday, KeeWee and I and some of the other early arrivals are planning on having dinner at the El Dorado Buffet Restaurant. The El Dorado is part of the same giant casino complex as the Silver Legacy and the Circus Circus. 

Thursday, September 8th

8:30 am. Leave the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron C” Hospitality Room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.
2:15 pm. Leave the Hospitality Room to car pool to Cabela’s.
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm. Guided tour Cabela’s and browsing/shopping. Pick up munchies and soft drinks on way back to hotel. Buy ammo?
6:00pm. Leave the Hospitality Room to go to dinner. Location to be determined later.
Thursday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Friday, September 9th.

8:00am. NRA Sponsored breakfast in the Silver Baron “C” hospitality room. California firearms Attorney Chuck Michel will be talking to us over breakfast.
9:00am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, the Pyramid range for rifle and pistol target shooting out to 900 yards.
9:45am – 2:00pm. At the range.
4:00pm. – 5:45pm. Show-N-Tell at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Manufacturers and show new stuff, and attendees show neat things too!
6:00pm. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to go to Gecko’s BBQ Restaurant for dinner sponsored by GunUp.com.
7:30pm. (Approx) Alan Gura informally discusses legal stuff.
Friday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Saturday, September 10th.

8:00am. Otis Technologies sponsored Breakfast in the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron C" Hospitality room.
9:00am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, the Pyramid range for an introduction to Steel Challenge Action Pistol shooting and more.
9:45am – 2:00pm. At the range.
5:00pm – 6pm. Bill Brassard of the National Shooting Sports Foundation
6:00 pm. NSSF all you can eat pizza feed at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. After dinner will be the fund raiser raffle for Project Valour-IT and the drawings for the door prizes.
Saturday Evening until Midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.



Sunday, September 11th.

8:00am. Leave the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron C" Hospitality room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.
9:00am. Leave for the Cowboy Fast Draw Blogger Match.
10:00am – 1pm Cowboy Fast Draw Shooting with Quick Cal Eilrich.

The Cowboy Fast Draw shooting will be the last scheduled event of the Gun Blogger Rendezvous. For those not leaving until Monday however, there are still lots of things to do. Virginia city is nearby (you are already part way there at the Fast Draw venue), the Reno Car Museum, and the river walk through downtown Reno are all recommended. There may also be shows available for Sunday night of interest.

As you can see from the schedule, there is not a lot of time extra throughout the day, so we need to try to keep as close to on schedule as we can manage, otherwise it makes it difficult to have enough time for all of the activities. Although the conversations in the evenings tend to go well into the night, I would suggest not staying up too late, as you will regret it as the Rendezvous goes on!  

Labels: GBR-VI

I just got an email from Pro Ears (IMHO the BEST dynamic hearing protectors money can buy)  and they are really stepping up to the plate with their sponsorship of the Gun Blogger Rendezvous and our fund raising efforts for Soldier's Angels and Project Valour-IT.

First, they will be giving a set of Ultra 33 hearing protectors to the first 35 attendees to register for and attend the Gun Blogger Rendezvous.

Pro Ears Ultra 33 Hearing Protectors

Second, they will be bringing bags of  “stuff”, including stickers, DVD’s with images and videos, spec sheets, and more, for all registered attendees.

Third, they will have a gift promo code worth $50 at  Proears.com, for all registered attendees.

Fourth, they will be donating 1 set of Pro Ears Pro Tac Mag Gold hearing protectors (MSRP $329.95) to the raffle.

Fifth, they will be bringing sample Pro Tac Mag Golds for all to try-about 3 or 4 sets—on the range.

Sixth, Charles Ricci, co-owner of Pro Ears, will be attending the Gun Blogger Rendezvous in person, and bringing some interesting stories about pro ears and hearing protection.

Charlie did mention that he wouldn't be bringing any of his guns, though, but I think we can find a few interesting things for him to shoot, don't you think?

Labels: GBR-VI

Someone once said that man invented time so everything wouldn't happen all at once, and some days it seems like it didn't work, at least around here! For example, I've been trying to get some posts, pictures, and videos posted from the World Steel Challenge championships, held a week or so ago in Piru, California. When we take off for a few days, like to go to Piru, the work load overflows back at home, and when I get back I've got to work like a beaver to get caught back up. On top of that, the Gun Blogger Rendezvous is only a bit over a week away, and I'm scrambling to get the last minute details wrapped up for that. Believe it or not, I'm already working on things for NEXT year's Rendezvous! I've also got to shoot this month's e-Postal match today, and get that sent in.

KeeWee has already got two posts up on the Piru trip, including a lot of pictures, so you might want to go have a look at Part 1 and Part 2.

This year Dave Sevigny was shooting a High Standard pistol in rimfire. It used to be I was always the only one, but there were at least three High Standards this year, and probably more. Now if I could only shoot like Dave does!

In the meantime, here's a short video of BJ Norris shooting "Outer Limits" at the World Championships. On this run he actually had to take an extra shot to make up for a miss, but even so, his time was in an area seldom reached by mere mortals. Pay particular attention to his draw, and how little time and motion is used getting from the holster to the shot. Simply amazing!



It's no wonder BJ won Rimfire, Open, and was second in Limited, being narrowly edged out by Dave Sevigny, I think. With two overall wins and a second place, BJ was declared the "Steel Master", the overall champion. He's also a blogger, at least, when he finds time!



Congratulations to a nice guy who's also a totally amazing shooter.

KeeWee thinks he's cute, too.......

Labels: Matches, Steel Challenge

The good folks at Lucky Gunner are contributing a $100 Gift Certificate to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous for our Fund Raising Raffle.

In addition, they have set up a special discount code for $15 off of any purchase of $150 or more. They would like for the GBR attendees to share this special on their blogs as an exclusive deal for event participants and their blog following to enjoy.

Here are the details:

• $15 off an order of $150 or more on LuckyGunner.com
• Good for 1 use per customer
• Expires this September 30th, 2011
• Discount code:  GBR-2011

Need ammo? check it out!

Labels: GBR-VI

"Miss me yet?"

It turns out that the earthquake in Washington D.C. was caused by a previously unknown and unnamed geologic fault. By decree President Obama has officially named the new fault "Bush's Fault" in honor of ex-president G.W. Bush.

Labels: Humor

When I was going over the list of sponsors, I knew I'd probably forget someone, and sure enough, I missed one of our newest Gun Blogger Rendezvous sponsors, The History Channel and the Top Shot Program.

I'm sure most of you are already watching Top Shot, but if you somehow missed it, it's a really enjoyable program. I watch almost  no television at all, with the exception of the Top Shot show, and I've seen every episode of Top Shot from the very first one.

If you've missed the previous episodes, you can watch them on your computer by going to the Top Shot website. That's cool, since you can watch certain segments more than once, as I do!

Here's a list of all the great sponsors and supporters who make the Gun Blogger Rendezvous possible.

Brownell's
Cabela's Reno
Cowboy Fast Draw Association
Crimson Trace
Front Sight Training Institute
GLOCK
GunUp
Leupold
Lucky Gunner Ammo
Midway USA
National Rifle Association
National Shooting Sports Foundation
The Packing Rat
Palomino Valley Gun CLub
Para-USA
Pro-Ears
Sage Hill Reno Rustlers
Smallest Minority
Springfield Armory
Sturm, Ruger, and Co.
Weatherby
Western Nevada Pistol League
Woolrich Tactical
SIG SAUER 
J. Dewey  Mfg.
Otis 
History Channel/Top Shot
Magnum Shooters Supply

I certainly hope I haven't forgotten any of the great sponsors and supporters for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, but if you see someone I've left out, please leave me a comment and I'll get it fixed right away!

Thanks to True Blue Sam for pulling most of this list together for us!

Labels: GBR-VI

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Labels: Humor

This is the big week for Steel Challenge shooting, as the Steel Challenge World championships will be held in Piru, California on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The awards ceremony will be on Sunday morning. Where is Piru? Piru is up in the hills a bit West of Valencia. Valencia is  best known for the Six Flags Magic Mountain Theme Park. Valencia is roughly a thirty minute drive North of the North end of Los Angeles, or more specifically, Burbank.

Tomorrow morning KeeWee and I board the Whidbey SeaTac shuttle for an hour and a half ride to the  Airport, then fly from Seattle to Burbank. In Burbank I pick up the rental car and "White-Knuckle" my way out of LA and up the freeway to Valencia, where we are staying. Thursday morning at 8:30am I will be shooting the Rimfire Open division, shooting all eight stages in one day. I don't know yet when I will be shooting the Centerfire Open division, as it could be four stages on Friday and four stages on Saturday, or it could be all eight on either Friday or Saturday. I won't know until I get there.

The new Tanfoglio Gold Custom 9mm. race gun is working pretty well, and is pretty reliable, but it's just barely ready for prime time, so to speak. Each match it's a little better, but it still has more recoil than it needs, and it still stove-pipes once in a while. It's actually quite a bit ahead of schedule, as I had originally figured on not having it really ready for competition until early Spring, so having a few problems is still to be expected.

The weather in Piru is always horribly hot and miserable, but this year I think I've got a better handle on controlling dehydration and heat exhaustion, so I'm hoping problems from that will be minimal.

The Rimfire High Standard race gun with the Volquartsen barrel and OKO red dot sight has been working really well the last few weeks, and I'm fairly confident that it will do exactly what it's supposed to do, provided I do may part!

Since I don't know exactly what the shooting schedule will be, I don't know how much time I'll have for blogging from Piru, but I am taking my netbook so if I get the chance I can post a report or so.

Stay tuned..............

Labels: Road TripsMatchesSteel Challenge

Chuck Michel is the California attorney who represented the high school kid who was expelled from school for having his shotgun in his pickup truck that was parked off campus when he was in school as he had been duck hunting before going to school. Chuck got the lad back into school, recovered the legal costs, and the entire incident removed from the school records.

Chuck works with the NRA on firearms and Second Amendment cases in California. Chuck is planning on attending the NRA Breakfast on Friday morning at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, and hopefully, will be able to spend some time with us in the Hospitality room socializing!

If you have considered attending the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, this is definitely the year to be there. You don't have to be a blogger to attend, either. The Rendezvous is open to not only the Gun Bloggers, but to everyone who has similar interests, including industry folks, the NRA, The National Shooting Sports Foundation, competition shooters, and more. There will be attendees from New York, New Jersey, Ohio, and all over the United States.

We need a few more folks attending, just to fill it out to a nice comfortable size, without it getting to big and impersonal.

The Rendezvous is an event like no other, and if you miss it,  you are going to kick yourself, particularly once you read the write-ups after the Rendezvous is over and find out what you missed!

So,


Don't forget, all the money we raise at the Rendezvous goes to help injured military folks through Soldier's angels and Project Valour-IT.

Labels: GBR-VI

The results are all in and tabulated  for the e-Postal match "Common Problems" just completed, so here they are:

Place	Name	Pistol	Score
	Rimfire Iron Sight
1	Mr. Borland	K-22	42
2	BILLL	Ruger Mk. I	38
3	True Blue Sam	Ruger Single Six	24
Tie	Firehand	S&W K-22	15
Tie	Danno	Ruger 22/45	15
	Rimfire Optic Sight
1	Mr. Completely	High Standard/OKO	44
	CF Iron Sight
1	BILLL	CZ-82  9x18	17
2	Duane	Ruger P-85 9mm.	14
3	Duane	Rock Island 1911 .45	3
	CF Optic Sight
1	Mr. Completely	Tanfoglio Gold 9mm.	40
2	Mad Gun	Tanfoglio Gold 9mm.	24
	CF. Rev. Iron Sight
1	Mr. Borland	S&W K-38 .38	43
2	BILLL	Rossi 971  .357	23
	Air Pistol
1	Duane	KJW 1911 Airsoft	18

Thanks to everyone who entered, and don't forget that this month's e-Postal match based on Top Shot, is now underway over at Sandcastle Scrolls. The number of entries was a bit light this month, so lets get lots of entries all shot up for the next one!

Labels: e-Postal Matches

CORRECTION: Ruger is donating a SR9C (Compact) rather than a SR9B. Even cooler!!

The great folks at Ruger have come through big time in helping the Gun Blogger Rendezvous in our fund raising efforts for Soldier's Angels and Project Valour-IT. Ruger is donating a Ruger SR9C for our raffle. The SR9 series are a hot item right now, and I'm sure they can sell every one they can make, just as fast as they can make them!

• You must be able to legally own this gun to win it. 
• If you can't legally own it, for any reason, you have made a contribution to Project Valour-IT, but you don't win anything. 
• No substitutions. 
• You cannot give your ticket to someone else. 
• The name on the ticket must be the name of someone who can legally own this gun, else no gun.
• No Exceptions.
• You must present at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous at the time of the drawing to win. 
• All decisions are final.
  

At last year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous Leupold donated a beautiful scope to the fund raising raffle, and this year they are not only donating another very cool scope, they are also donating two trail cameras! Some lucky raffle ticket holder at the Rendezvous is going to take home some really nice things!

Here's the details:

Leupold VX-R Patrol Scope

• 1.25-4 x 20mm
• Exclusive FireDot illuminated reticle
• Eight illumination intensity levels match any conditions
• Automatic reticle deactivation conserves battery life
• Index Matched Lens System for astonishing clarity
• Extreme fast-focus eyepiece

RCX-1 Trail Camera System Kit

 RCX-1 Trail Camera System Kit

• In-the-field programming, viewing and downloading in real-time
• Real-time video camera alignment
• Super-wide 54° camera image angle
• XD image quality

Swing the hunting odds in your favor with this innovative plug-and-play trail camera. Take high-resolution color images during the day and infrared images at night, as well as a video option.

The RCX-1 8.0-megapixel camera has a super-wide 54-degree lens along with 36 infrared LEDS to deliver 45 degrees of heat/motion sensing coverage to a range of 45 feet.

Featuring a silent, digital shutter, the RCK-1 fires in the blink of an eye (less than one-second trigger speed) and operates on eight AA lithium batteries or alkaline batteries (not included).

RCX-1 Trail Camera Kit includes: camera, controller/viewer, 12-volt cable, car adapter, home adapter, USB cable, AA battery pack cartridge tray (batteries not included), lithium-ion battery (for the controller/viewer), six hex standoffs for mounting and a mounting strap.
Megapixels: 8.0.
Camera lens angle: 54°.
PIR sensor angle: Single PIR 45.
Maximum trigger range: 45 ft.
Infrared LEDs: 36.
Video/Audio: Yes/No.
Barometric pressure: No.

Trigger speed: Less than one second.

RCX-2 Trail Camera System Kit

RCX-2 Trail Camera System Kit

• In-the-field programming, viewing and downloading in real-time
• Real-time video camera alignment
• Super-wide 54° camera image angle
• XD image quality

Leupold’s RCX-2 trail camera takes high-resolution color images during the day and infrared images at night, as well as video and audio.

The Dual Sensor Technology^™ (DST^™) 10.0-megapixel camera has a 54-degree lens, 48 infrared LEDs with the option of 10 degrees of sensing coverage out to 90 ft. Dual Sensor Technology gives you the option to have the 45-degree sensor and the 10-degree sensor active at the same time. Includes a silent, digital shutter, blink of an eye (less than one second trigger speed), and operates on eight AA lithium batteries or alkaline batteries (not included).

RCX-2 Trail Camera Kit includes: camera, controller/viewer, 12-volt cable, car adapter, home adapter, USB cable, AA battery pack cartridge tray (batteries not included), lithium-ion battery (for the controller/viewer), six hex standoffs for mounting, a mounting strap and a lock-down security plate and screws.
Megapixels: 10.0.
Camera lens angle: 54°.
PIR sensor angle: 45/10 Dual Sensor.
Maximum trigger range: 45 feet/90 feet.
Infrared LEDs: 48 or 36.
Video/Audio: Yes/Yes.
Barometric Pressure: Yes.
Trigger Speed: Less than one second.
Lock-Down Security Plate: Included.

Labels: GBR-VI