Holy crap that stuff gets everywhere.

In related news one of the biggest problems with a Lee Load-All is that you have to empty the shot and powder hoppers before you can change bushings. I think I’ve found a way around that. Maybe some pictures and video later.

1) Our coonhound will swim if she’s got a duck to chase in a pond.
2) Neither dog will exit the pond as long as there’s a duck to chase.

I swear they were in that pond for 15 minutes straight swimming in circles after 4 ducks. Would not get out no matter how much we called for them. Somebody that lived there (we were at a private residence, people I’ve known for about 15 years) finally donned a swimsuit and waded in to snag them. I felt like a real dick for that one, but was ready to strip down to my skivvies long before that happened.

Clearly we have some obedience issues here. They’re pretty good when there’s no distractions. I can direct ‘em around the house just by pointing, and the stubborn coonhound will gladly prance from one end house to another to crate herself with a simple “Hops in box!” command. (Her name is Hops. I thought it was funny to teach her to crate with that command.)

Of course, watching the Labradonkulus chase ducks in a pond for 15 minutes straight has got me thinking I should take up duck hunting just to give the dog a job. Fetching and swimming we’ve known were his forte for a while now. Seems he got a thing for ducks too.

Reference this particular post.

I’ve spent the last couple of years working dope and violent street crime in some of the crappiest parts of my city. During that time my team and I have knocked doors off hinges during entries, busted out car windows during vehicle assaults, shot dogs, and planted people on the ground hard. However we never received a single internal affairs complaint or been threatened with a lawsuit during that time. I guess if you are a robber or a drug dealer, you understand how the game works and you take your lumps as part of doing business.

I’ve been back on the bike patrol for less than a month and I’ve already been threated with IA investigations and a lawsuit twice for barely putting my hands on someone.

The story continues with him getting a drunk guy off the road as he hails down a cab. That’s good stuff, and an arrest for drunk in public or some such would have been very prudent in such a situation, but he didn’t bother with that. He continues:

As I started to bike off, he stepped back in the street and yelled, “Fuck you asshole!” Well that did it. I came back around and got in his face.

Not being an officer of the law, and having this same epitaph screamed at me a few times in my life, I’d just shrug and keep on going. Not him.

I told him that he was under arrest and to put his hands behind his back. He just stood there with a smirk on his face and said I couldn’t arrest him. One judo hip toss later, he was laying on his face while I cuffed him.

Call me crazy, many have, but this isn’t the best story to be telling when you’re complaining about lawsuits and IA investigations. This doesn’t sound like a matter of public safety, it’s just ego.

And then:

Once we got to the jail, he wouldn’t sit on the bench while we waited to have him processed. I told him that if he didn’t sit down, I was going to force him to. He said, “I think I will just keep standing. Thank you very much.”

One jugular notch pressure point later and he was sitting on his butt coughing.

He’s not making a very good case for himself here.

Of course, this is the same blogger that lamented that the police don’t have enough funding or resources to properly handle murder and rape cases, actual violent crimes. Then goes on to explain that in the narcotics unit they have all the resources they need. You know, for busting people doing drugs.

Then again, given that the blogger uses a picture of Denzel Washington from the movie Training Day as his profile icon I really shouldn’t be surprised. Not sure he got the point of that movie.

So, today I wander over with my little 20 gauge again today and shot a 15 for the first round. Another member of the Off A Lot Shooters team asked if I’d be interested in trying out a different gun. (Note: I shoot about as well with my little NEF as I do with a 12 gauge 870. I think this says something about what I should be using for trap.)

So, he hands me a Baikal single shot 12 gauge. Shot an 18 with that. Started at station 1 and went: 4-4-2-4-4.

Now, for those of you that have been following along I usually have problems on stations 4 and 5. Not today! I blew station 3 pretty badly, but knew they were misses as soon as I pulled the trigger. Now, it’s nothing to brag about, but 18 is the best I’ve shot all year and I was really happy to smash some birds that broke right on me at 4 and 5. That’s where I’ve been having problems all year and I’ve finally figured out just what the picture needs to look like when I pull the trigger. Awesome.

Oh, and the originator of the Off A Lot Shooters team handed me a pile of spent hulls, 500 wads, an Alliant powder manual, and a good helping of Promo powder and #8 shot. All I need is a scale and I’ll be able to start cranking out my own shot shells!

We’ve made a baby and at this point it’s 13 weeks along.

I have some notes that I jotted down during the week after I found out. One thing that sticks out at me is how I felt about the whole thing. It’s not something I remember hearing from other fathers, but I’ve never really talked with another father about what they felt when they found out they’d made a baby.

I felt like Superman. I’m not kidding. That feeling repeated itself when I saw the first ultrasound at 8 weeks and got to see the heart beating, and then the doppler reading of the heartbeat at 12 weeks.

Among many other things I now have to revamp the manner in which I store my guns. The majority are locked up good and safe but I tend to just store my carry pistols in my desk drawers. Obviously I’m going to need to invest in some kind of GunVault safe in the near future.

Instead I mounted up my first reloading press in the basement and deprimed and resized some shotgun hulls.

I’m really geeked about this one now. Finally, after 8 years of shooting, I’m going to start reloading!

So, last night around 11:00pm I hear a crash, thump, and a dog going ape-shit upstairs. Wife’s in bed. I’m at my desk in the basement. I’ve got a Kel-Tec P3AT, Glock 23, S&W 1911SC, and CZ RAMI in .40S&W all within an arm’s reach.

It took about 0.2 microseconds for me to decide on the Glock.

Take from that what you will.

I’ve looked into reloading metallic cartridges before but never pulled the trigger on it because of the initial costs and matching up dies, and whatever else is involved. It’s not cheap. So, when my shooting league’s team leader said I should just get a Mec 600 Jr. for shotshell reloading I looked into it. Turns out they’re $150-$200 new and about $90 on eBay after you figure in shipping. Okay, that’s doable, but I’m a cheap bastard.

Then I discover the Lee Load-All II. Sells for $42 + shipping over at MidwayUSA. Here’s a video of one in action. Okay, this is simple enough for me to do. This bloke has his C-clamped onto his kitchen table so it can’t take much of a bench to hold one in place. Not like the kind of bench you’d need to resize rifle casings.

Plus, like I said, it’s about $40. With a box of shells currently selling for $7 I can save about $3 a box by reloading them. So, I’ll recoup my costs after 14 boxes, or 7 weeks at my current pace. Even if I suddenly stopped doing shotgun shooting this year I’d still save money.

Plus I’d really like to try out some 7/8th oz loads. Then I might be up for shooting 3 or 4 lines in a night instead of 2. I’ve got a bit of a sore cheek today thanks to me popping my head up on a couple of shots tonight.

*: Back in 2005 or 2006 I did a fair amount of trap shooting over the summer. That was back when you could get a 100 round pack for $15, or about $3.75 a box. When I got back into trap I still had about 600 rounds of those in 12 gauge laying around and I’ve finally gone through them all. Didn’t make sense for me to reload until I burned through them.

ZOMGWTFBBQ!!! That game is fucking fun!

Week after week of trap where the birds fly in the same pattern gets boring. This shit? Oh man! That was a breath of fresh air!

I’ve heard about the game for years, just never tried it. Sounded kinda fun, but I wasn’t that motivated. Not any more! Oh boy, I like it.

The best part is I’m walking the course with my brother and he says his new girlfriend got all excited when she told him what we were doing that weekend. She used to shoot all the time with her dad doing stuff like this and really wants to do it again. So, he’s got that going for him!