Practical Rifle E-mail quoted below.

I've tried to maintain the emphasis in the original.


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This is a long Practical Rifle email, so if you’re just looking for the results feel free to scroll down to page 14.  Although I try to keep this list from getting too political, there is an essay at the end that I found worth reading.

Table of Contents:

  1. Dumb Quote
  2. Intro
  3. Stage descriptions
  4. Thank you’s.
  5. Future matches and practices.
  6. Policy and procedures
  7. Photos and movies
  8. Tyros, winners and scores
  9. Dumb quote
 10. Political essay (worth reading or forwarding to liberal idiot friends)


The great body of our citizens shoot less as time goes on.  We should encourage rifle practice among schoolboys, and indeed among all classes, as well as in the military services by every means in our power.

Thus, and not otherwise, may we be able to assist in preserving peace in the world.

The first step in the direction of preparation to avert war if possible and to be fit for war if it should come is to teach men to shoot.

Theodore Roosevelt


We had another great Practical Rifle match on Saturday.  As far as I could tell, we accomplished our two main goals:  everyone was safe, and everyone had fun.  We had just enough rain to keep the dust down, keep us aware of our footing, and keep the fair-weather warriors at home.  Then the sun came out in the afternoon.

Forty-eight shooters were tough enough to ignore potentially poor weather and shoot four tough stages.  Each stage emphasized magazine changes and not leaving loaded magazines on the ground.

Stage One seemed easy when we thought it up but it proved very challenging.  From over a sawhorse you had to engage six 10-inch flash targets from 110-161 yards, and then engage them again from the side of a berm on your left, and again from the side of a berm on your right.  The fact that a small stream of water was running under your feet and the sides of the berms were a bit muddy made it difficult to concentrate on your sights.  You also had to reload between each position.

Stage Two was my favorite.  You start with your rifle unloaded and cased on a barrel along with four cans of diet soda.  On signal, you grab the four cans, run downhill about 25 yards to put them on four 4X4 posts, then run (or walk, stagger or swagger) uphill, back to the barrel, load your rifle, and shoot the cans (they blow up real good…), and then hit two small plastic targets, reload, shoot four steel “Q” targets at about 150 (?) yards away, reload again, move to a nearby barrel and hit the “Q” targets again.  I got a few complaints about the plastic targets so I will try to use them differently next time.

Stage Three was a handgun/rifle stage.  You had to engage six large (close) steel targets with your handgun, reload, engage them again, and if you felt confident, you could try to hit one of the 60(?) yard rifle targets for a twenty second bonus.  Then you grab your rifle and engage three small steel targets from standing, squatting, kneeling, sitting and prone.  Oh yes, and you had to reload after each position.  I called this the “knee surgery special.”

Stage Four was the most challenging, I think.  (Terry thought it up!)  You started fully loaded facing a wall with a window in it.  On signal, you engaged a moving IDPA cardboard target with five rounds only through the window as the moving target moved about 20-30 yards.  Then you reloaded and engaged the moving target (which was now going the other way) from the side of the wall with five rounds only.  Then you reloaded and engaged the moving target again from the other side of the wall with five rounds only.  If you fumbled your reloads at all you had no chance of getting all your rounds off.

Thank you very much to everyone who helped set up the match and especially those who helped put everything away after the match.  It is very much appreciated.

Thanks also to Heidi, who did a great job of keeping score this month.


FUTURE MATCHES and POSSIBLE PRACTICE OPPORTUNITY!!!

May 13th will be a regular match, including a handgun/rifle stage.

June 10th will have Terry as Match Director.  I think he is still planning a two-person team match. You can team up beforehand or at the match.

July 8th is our annual 3-gun match.  Actually, it is a regular rifle match with a handgun or shotgun, or both, included in each stage.

August 12th will be our annual Mike Jones Memorial Classic Battle Rifle Match.  This match will be for classic battle rifles (but all rifles can compete) and will have plaques for CBR top finishers.  You can also use up your steel-core and steel-jacketed ammo at this match as it will have only cardboard and paper targets, no steel.

September-November will be regular matches (including handgun.)

December 9th will be our annual night match in the pistol pits.  Shooting will start at dusk and only 223 or pistol caliber carbines will be allowed, due to noise concerns.

February 10th, 2007 is the annual Sniper Match.  I suggest you start practicing now.

I also hope to have a special summer Sniper Match, if I can arrange to get the pit for a day in August or September.

We are going to try to get gun club board approval for a monthly Practical Rifle practice match in the pistol pits.  It will probably be on a weekday afternoon/evening.  It kind of depends on what my days-off will be this summer.  I will keep you posted.  Thanks to TFT for the suggestion.


I have had the honor of putting on the Practical Rifle match for seven years now.  The most common criticism I have received is that the match sometimes runs too long.  I have tried many things to keep the match from lasting all day.  For example, I have used your match fees to purchase more steel targets so we don’t spend so much time taping cardboard targets.  I also attempt to carefully design stages so that one stage doesn’t cause a “bottleneck”, slowing down the whole match.  I have tried putting a maximum time limit on stages and requiring a limited number of rounds per target.  The goal has been to have the match end by 1500 hours (3 pm for sailors, dogs and airmen.)

One of our limitations is that we don’t shoot on a designated range.  We shoot in a big gravel pit that changes around every month.  Trying to follow the gun club safety rules in that environment is challenging, to say the least.  It limits the number of stages we can shoot safely and the manner that we can shoot.  Also remember that Practical Rifle is not “politically correct” and there are some people who would like to shut us down.  We must constantly prove that we can operate safely in our unconventional shooting area.

I know that different people have different reasons to shoot Practical Rifle.  Some are professional warriors, some are amateur warriors, some just like the game and some just want an outlet to shoot their black rifles.  Some people care about their scores and some don’t.  I try to make it worthwhile for everyone.  I am always open to suggestions.  But please remember, I am getting old and my memory is failing.  Please make your suggestions in writing, preferably by email, so I can remember to implement them.

For this match we tried a couple of new procedures.

First, I passed out a copy of the list of rules and procedures I read from during the mandatory safety briefing and walk through.  This was not done to imply anyone was doing anything wrong, but just to help keep me from forgetting any important points.  It is not my intention to be a control freak, but I need to remind everyone that we need to be careful in order to keep doing this worthwhile activity.

Second, we limited misses to three rounds per target.  If you tried to hit a target and missed it three times, the range officer said “move on!” and you had to take a miss for that target.  Most people told me they liked the rule as it kept the match from dragging on and saved some ammo.  If you disagree, please let me know.

Third, I tried to check everyone’s bullets with a magnet.  I have always intended to do that at every match but usually I forget.  Brian S-W told me that the polymer-cased PCA-Spectrum 223 ammo had steel in the bullets.  I had seen some of those cases laying around after matches so it renewed my resolve to check all ammo during the match.  When steel bullets damage our steel targets it can cost us thousands of dollars, so I was just trying to be a good steward of your match fees.

In any case, please email me your feedback and suggestions.  I can’t promise to implement all suggestions, but I promise to consider them and not hold them against you (except west side or phillippeake. )

Thanks to everyone that has forwarded photos and movies of Practical Rifle.  I post the photos here:  ]pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/practicalrifle/my_photos] and put the movies on ]video.google.com/] (just search for Practical Rifle.)


Last but not least, I must put in the names of Tri-County Gun Club members who are eligible for work-party dues credit within the next few days.  Many of the Practical Rifle shooters are eligible for this credit due to the amount of work they have done to set up matches, repair targets, etc.  Unfortunately, my memory is poor, so please email me with the next day or two to remind me why you should have a credit.  Thanks.


Six brave souls tried Practical Rifle for the first time.  Congratulations to Jack G, who took the Top Tyro (first time PR match) award.   Also congrats to Wrikki M, the top woman Tyro.  Jake H took the Top Junior Award, finishing 20th out of 48!  Remember, there is no age limit (in either direction) for PR, so get the kids some practice and bring them out to give Jake some competition!

Match Winners were Jeff L (scoped rifle) and Jeff H (iron sights).  If either of you would like to give me lessons to get me back into the top ten I will happily make time for it.

The below scoresheet shows your elapsed time (or points) in each stage, your placement, or rank, in each stage, and your total rank points (the total of your placements in each stage).  The person with the lowest total rank points is first, etc.  The total time is shown for information only.  We don’t use total time for placements because it can cause some stages to count for much more than others.

Practical Rifle Scores 040806


Your biggest challenge isn't someone else.  It's that ache in your lungs and the burning in your legs, and the voice inside that yells 'can't!'  But you don't listen.  You just push harder, and then you hear the voice whisper 'can', and you realize that the person you thought you were is no match for the one you really are.

Tom Robbins


I might have to re-evaluate my opinion of lawyers after reading this next message.  Randy

This is a long read, but explains a lot.....

A California Lawyer's Perspective on Iraq War:

Sixty-three years ago, Nazi Germany had overrun almost all of Europe and hammered England to the verge of bankruptcy and defeat, and had sunk more than four hundred British ships in their convoys between England and America for food and war materials.

Bushido Japan had overrun most of Asia, beginning in 1928, killing millions of civilians throughout China, and impressing millions more as slave labor.

The US was in an isolationist, pacifist, mood, and most Americans and Congress wanted nothing to do with the European war, or the Asian war.

Then along came Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and in outrage Congress unanimously declared war on Japan, and the following day on Germany, which had not attacked us.It was a dicey thing.  We had few allies.

France was not an ally, the Vichy government of France aligned with its German occupiers.  Germany was not an ally, it was an enemy, and Hitler intended to set up a Thousand Year Reich in Europe.  Japan was not an ally, it was intent on owning and controlling all of Asia.  Japan and Germany had long-term ideas of invading Canada and Mexico, and then the United States over the north and south borders, after they had settled control of Asia and Europe.

America's allies then were England, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, Australia, and Russia, and that was about it.  There were no other countries of any size or military significance with the will and ability to contribute much or anything to the effort to defeat Hitler's Germany and Japan, and prevent the global dominance of Nazism.  And we had to send millions of tons of arms, munitions, and war supplies to Russia, England, and the Canadians, Aussies, Irish, and Scots, because none of them could produce all they needed for themselves.

All of Europe, from Norway to Italy, except Russia in the east, was already under the Nazi heel.

America was not prepared for war.  America had stood down most of its military after WWI and throughout the depression, at the outbreak of WWII there were army units training with broomsticks over their shoulders because they didn't have guns, and cars with "tank" painted on the doors because they didn't have tanks.  And a big chunk of our navy had just been sunk and damaged at Pearl Harbor.

Britain had already gone bankrupt, saved only by the donation of $600 million in gold bullion in the Bank of England that was the property of Belgium and was given by Belgium to England to carry on the war when Belgium was overrun by Hitler - actually, Belgium surrendered one day, because it was unable to oppose the German invasion, and the Germans bombed Brussels into rubble the next day anyway just to prove they could.Britain had been holding out for two years already in the face of staggering shipping loses and the near-decimation of its air force in the Battle of Britain, and was saved from being overrun by Germany only because Hitler made the mistake of thinking the Brits were a relatively minor threat that could be dealt with later and turning his attention to Russia, at a time when England was on the verge of collapse in the late summer of 1940.

Russia saved America's butt by putting up a desperate fight for two years until the US got geared up to begin hammering away at Germany.

Russia lost something like 24 million people in the sieges of Stalingrad and Moscow, 90% of them from cold and starvation, mostly civilians, but also more than a million soldiers.  More than a million. Had Russia surrendered, then, Hitler would have been able to focus his entire campaign against the Brits, then America, and the Nazis would have won that war.

Had Hitler not made that mistake and invaded England in 1940 or 1941, instead, there would have been no England for the US and the Brits to use as a staging ground to prepare an assault on Nazi Europe, England would not have been able to run its North African campaign to help take a little pressure off Russia while America geared up for battle, and today Europe would very probably be run by the Nazis, the Third Reich, and, isolated and without any allies
(not even the Brits), the US would very probably have had to cede Asia to the Japanese, who were basically Nazis by another name then, and the world we live in today would be very different and much worse.  I say this to illustrate that turning points in history are often dicey things.  And we are at another one.

There is a very dangerous minority in Islam that either has, or wants and may soon have, the ability to deliver small nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons, almost anywhere in the world, unless they are prevented from doing so.

France, Germany, and Russia, have been selling them weapons technology at least as recently as 2002, as have North Korea, Syria, and Pakistan, paid for with billions of dollars Saddam Hussein skimmed from the "Oil For Food" program administered by the UN with the complicity of Kofi Annan and his son.

The Jihadis, the militant Muslims, are basically Nazis in Kaffiyahs - they believe that Islam, a radically conservative (definitely not liberal!) form of Wahhabi Islam, should own and control the Middle East first, then Europe, then the world, and that all who do not bow to Allah should be killed, enslaved, or subjugated.  They want to finish the Holocaust, destroy Israel, purge the world of Jews.  This is what they say.

There is also a civil war raging in the Middle East - for the most part not a hot war, but a war of ideas.  Islam is having its Inquisition and its Reformation today, but it is not yet known which will win - the Inquisition, or the Reformation.

If the Inquisition wins, then the Wahhabis, the Jihadis, will control the Middle East, and the OPEC oil, and the US, European, and Asian economies, the techno-industrial economies, will be at the mercy of OPEC - not an OPEC dominated by the well-educated and rational Saudis of today, but an OPEC dominated by the Jihadis.

You want gas in your car?  You want heating oil next winter?  You want jobs? You want the dollar to be worth anything?  You better hope the Jihad, the Muslim Inquisition, loses, and the Islamic Reformation wins.

If the Reformation movement wins, that is, the moderate Muslims who believe that Islam can respect and tolerate other religions, and live in peace with the rest of the world, and move out of the 10th century into the 21st, then the troubles in the Middle East will eventually fade away, and a moderate and prosperous Middle East will emerge.

We have to help the Reformation win, and to do that we have to fight the Inquisition, i.e., the Wahhabi movement, the Jihad, Al Qaeda, the Islamic terrorist movements.  We have to do it somewhere.  We cannot do it nowhere. And we cannot do it everywhere at once.  We have created a focal point for the battle now at the time and place of our choosing, in Iraq.

Not in New York, not in London, or Paris, or Berlin, but in Iraq, where we did and are doing two very important things.

(1) We deposed Saddam Hussein.  Whether Saddam Hussein was directly involved in 9/11 or not, it is undisputed that Saddam has been actively supporting the terrorist movement for decades.  Saddam is a terrorist. Saddam is, or was, a weapon of mass destruction, who is responsible for the deaths of probably more than a million Iraqis and two million Iranians.

(2) We created a battle, a confrontation, a flash point, with Islamic terrorism in Iraq.  We have focused the battle.  We are killing bad guys there and the ones we get there we won't have to get here, or anywhere else. We also have a good shot at creating a democratic, peaceful Iraq, which will be a catalyst for democratic change in the rest of the Middle East, and an outpost for a stabilizing American military presence in the Middle East for as long as it is needed.

The Euros could have done this, but they didn't, and they won't.  We now know that rather than opposing the rise of the Jihad, the French, Germans, and Russians were selling them arms - we have found more than a million tons of weapons and munitions in Iraq.  If Iraq was not a threat to anyone, why did Saddam need a million tons of weapons?

And Iraq was paying for French, German, and Russian arms with money skimmed from the UN Oil For Food Program (supervised by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and his son) that was supposed to pay for food, medicine, and education, for Iraqi children.

World War II, the war with the German and Japanese Nazis, really began with a "whimper" in 1928.  It did not begin with Pearl Harbor.  It began with the Japanese invasion of China.  It was a war for fourteen years before America joined it.  It officially ended in 1945 - a 17 year war - and was followed by another decade of US occupation in Germany and Japan to get those countries reconstructed and running on their own again ....  a 27 year war.

World War II cost the United States an amount equal to approximately a full year's GDP - adjusted for inflation, equal to about $12 trillion dollars, WWII cost America more than 400,000 killed in action, and nearly 100,000 still missing in action.

[The Iraq war has, so far, cost the US about $160 billion, which is roughly what 9/11 cost New York.  It has also cost about 1,800 American lives, which is roughly 1/2 of the 3,000 lives that the Jihad snuffed on 9/11.] But the cost of not fighting and winning WWII would have been unimaginably greater - a world now dominated by German and Japanese Nazism.

Americans have a short attention span, now, conditioned I suppose by 60 minute TV shows and 2-hour movies in which everything comes out okay.

The real world is not like that.  It is messy, uncertain,and sometimes bloody and ugly.  Always has been, and probably always will be.

If we do this thing in Iraq successfully, it is probable that the Reformation will ultimately prevail.  Many Muslims in the Middle East hope it will. We will be there to support it.  It has begun in some countries, Libya, for instance.  And Dubai.  And Saudi Arabia.  If we fail, the Inquisition will probably prevail, and terrorism from Islam will be with us for all the foreseeable future, because the Inquisition, or Jihad, believes they are called by Allah to kill all the Infidels, and that death in Jihad is glorious.

The bottom line here is that we will have to deal with Islamic terrorism until we defeat it, whenever that is.  It will not go away on its own.  It will not go away if we ignore it.

If the US can create a reasonably democratic and stable Iraq, then we have an "England" in the Middle East, a platform, from which we can work to help modernize and moderate the Middle East.  The history of the world is the clash between the forces of relative civility and civilization, and the barbarians clamoring at the gates.  The Iraq war is merely another battle in this ancient and never-ending war.  And now, for the first time ever, the barbarians are about to get nuclear weapons.  Unless we prevent them.  Or somebody does.

The Iraq war is expensive, and uncertain, yes.  But the consequences of not fighting it and winning it will be horrifically greater.  We have four options

1.  We can defeat the Jihad now, before it gets nuclear weapons.
2.  We can fight the Jihad later, after it gets nuclear weapons (which may be as early as next year, if Iran's progress on nuclear weapons is what Iran claims it is).
3.  We can surrender to the Jihad and accept its dominance in the Middle East, now, in Europe in the next few years or decades, and ultimately in America.
4.  Or we can stand down now, and pick up the fight later when the Jihad is more widespread and better armed, perhaps after the Jihad has dominated France and Germany and maybe most of the rest of Europe.  It will be more dangerous, more expensive, and much bloodier then.

Yes, the Jihadis say that they look forward to an Islamic America.  If you oppose this war, I hope you like the idea that your children, or grandchildren, may live in an Islamic America under the Mullahs and the Sharia, an America that resembles Iran today.

We can be defeatist peace-activists as anti-war types seem to be, and concede, surrender, to the Jihad, or we can do whatever it takes to win this war against them.

The history of the world is the history of civilizational clashes, cultural clashes.  All wars are about ideas, ideas about what society and civilization should be like, and the most determined always win.

Those who are willing to be the most ruthless always win.  The pacifists always lose, because the anti-pacifists kill them.

In the 20th century, it was Western democracy vs.  communism, and before that Western democracy vs.  Nazism, and before that Western democracy vs. German Imperialism.  Western democracy won, three times, but it wasn't cheap, fun, nice, easy, or quick.  Indeed, the wars against German Imperialism
(WWI), Nazi Imperialism (WWII), and communist imperialism (the 40-year Cold War that included the Vietnam Battle, commonly called the Vietnam War, but itself a major battle in a larger war) covered almost the entire century.

The first major war of the 21st Century is the war between Western Judeo/Christian Civilization and Wahhabi Islam.  It may last a few more years, or most of this century.  It will last until the Wahhabi branch of Islam fades away, or gives up its ambitions for regional and global dominance and Jihad, or until Western Civilization gives in to the Jihad.

Senator John Kerry, in the debates and almost daily, makes 3 scary claims:

1.  We went to Iraq without enough troops. We went with the troops the US military wanted.  We went with the troop levels General Tommy Franks asked for.  We deposed Saddam in 30 days with light casualties, much lighter than we expected. The real problem in Iraq is that we are trying to be nice - we are trying to fight minority of the population that is Jihadi, and trying to avoid killing the large majority that is not.  We could flatten Fallujah in minutes with a flight of B52s, or seconds with one nuclear cruise missile - but we don't. We're trying to do brain surgery, not amputate the patient's head.  The Jihadis amputate heads.

2.  We went to Iraq with too little planning. This is a specious argument.  It supposes that if we had just had "the right plan" the war would have been easy, cheap, quick, and clean. That is not an option.  It is a guerrilla war against a determined enemy, and no such war ever has been or ever will be easy, cheap, quick, and clean.  This is not TV.

3.  We proved ourselves incapable of governing and providing security. This, too, is a specious argument.  It was never our intention to govern and provide security.  It was our intention from the beginning to do just enough to enable the Iraqis to develop a representative government and their own military and police forces to provide their own security, and that is happening.  The US and the Brits and other countries there have trained over
100,000 Iraqi police and military, now, and will have trained more than
200,000 by the end of next year.  We are in the process of transitioning operational control for security back to Iraq.

It will take time.  It will not go with no hitches.  This is not TV.

Remember, perspective is everything, and America's schools teach too little history for perspective to be clear, especially in the young American mind.

The Cold war lasted from about 1947 at least until the Berlin Wall came down in 1989.  Forty-two years.  Europe spent the first half of the 19th century fighting Napoleon, and from 1870 to 1945 fighting Germany.

World War II began in 1928, lasted 17 years, plus a ten year occupation, and the US still has troops in Germany and Japan.  World War II resulted in the death of more than 50 million people, maybe more than 100 million people, depending on which estimates you accept.

The US has taken a little more than 2,000 KIA in Iraq.  The US took more than
4,000 Killed in action on the morning of June 6, 1944, the first day of the Normandy Invasion to rid Europe of Nazi Imperialism.  In WWII the US averaged
2,000 KIA a week for four years.  Most of the individual battles of WWII lost more Americans than the entire Iraq war has done so far.

But the stakes are at least as high .  .  .  a world dominated by representative governments with civil rights, human rights, and personal freedoms .  or a world dominated by a radical Islamic Wahhabi movement, by the Jihad, under the Mullahs and the Sharia (Islamic law).

I do not understand why the American Left does not grasp this.  They favor human rights, civil rights, liberty and freedom, but evidently not for Iraqis. In America, absolutely, but nowhere else.

300,000 Iraqi bodies in mass graves in Iraq are not our problem.  The US population is about twelve times that of Iraq, so let's multiply
300,000 by twelve.  What would you think if there were 3,600,000 American bodies in mass graves in America because of George Bush?  Would you hope for another country to help liberate America?

"Peace Activists" always seem to demonstrate where it's safe, in America. Why don't we see Peace Activist demonstrating in Iran, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, North Korea, in the places in the world that really need peace activism the most?

The liberal mentality is supposed to favor human rights, civil rights, democracy, multiculturalism, diversity, etc., but if the Jihad wins, wherever the Jihad wins, it is the end of civil rights, human rights, democracy, multiculturalism, diversity, etc.  Americans who oppose the liberation of Iraq are coming down on the side of their own worst enemy.

If the Jihad wins, it is the death of Liberalism.  Everywhere the Jihad wins, it is the death of Liberalism.  And American Liberals just don't get it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Raymond S.  Kraft is a writer and lawyer living in Northern California.


Randy

An Armed Society is a Polite Society

Quoted: Speeleed my name is wrong

He be not in the wrong, Be not your name ARRRRRRRRRon!  ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRon!!

Updated with new e-mail (emphasis added):

-------------------------------------
A couple of redneck hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to the ground. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are rolled back in his head. The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls 911.

He gasps to the operator, "I think my friend is dead! What can I do?"

The operator, in a calm soothing voice says, "Just take it easy. I can help.

First, lets make sure he's dead."

....There is a silence, then a shot is heard.....

The hunter says, "OK, now what?"


For whoever is interested, this is where I got the small plastic targets:  stores.ballistictec.com/Detail.bok?no=59

I am going to buy a Tobeyknocker target (or two) for the sniper match:  stores.ballistictec.com/Detail.bok?no=56

I plan on using an OXY-ACETYLENE heating tip to bend some rebar for target stands, supports, etc.  If you have experience in this please contact me with advice.

Many of you have valuable experience with military, law enforcement or competition shooting.  If you know of any targets that could be used at Practical Rifle, specifically those that stand up to centerfire rifle hits, please send me the info.

I know there must be many of you that have ideas for PR stages.  I will try to get the Radio Controlled boat idea ready in the next month or two, but surely you can't expect me to keep coming up with all the new ideas month after month, year after year.  If you have any ideas for Practical Rifle stages, please, please, email them to me.

Thanks


A man and his wife were sitting in their living room, talking.

He said to her, "Just so you know, I never want to live in a vegetative
state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle.  If that ever
happens, just pull the plug."

She got up, unplugged the TV, and threw out all his beer.


Randy
An Armed Society is a Polite Society

Quoted: I plan on using an OXY-ACETYLENE heating tip to bend some rebar for target stands, supports, etc.  If you have experience in this please contact me with advice.

Depending on the size of rebar and the radius that it needs to be bent will warrant the need for an oxy-acetylene torch. I have a Ridgid tripod pipe vise that I would be willing to donate the use of for bending rebar. 1/2" rebar will bend pretty easy without any heat, depending on the length of rebar, leverage and a place to bend a radius helps, the vise has places to bend round stock; pipe, conduit, rebar etc...

You can probably bent it without a torch.  If you have welding gear, but no torch, you can run a bead where you want it to bend too.  

If I can figure out posting pictures I will post the targets I hve been making.

You can also rent an electric rebar cutter/benders for about $20/day, the same thing rodbusters use. Just a thought.

I finally thought of something I've never seen at Practical Rifle that sounds like fun.

Set up the targets normally, but your firing position is on a rubber dingy or boat on the lake. Not the most steady position.  No orange life-preservers allowed.

Quoted: I finally thought of something I've never seen at Practical Rifle that sounds like fun. Set up the targets normally, but your firing position is on a rubber dingy or boat on the lake. Not the most steady position.  No orange life-preservers allowed.

There's a joke in there somewhere..

"Honestly, Mr. ATF Agent, There I was at PR..."

Quoted: I finally thought of something I've never seen at Practical Rifle that sounds like fun. Set up the targets normally, but your firing position is on a rubber dingy or boat on the lake. Not the most steady position.  No orange life-preservers allowed.

Accidentally shoot the boat....sink...

Fire off that massive .308 FAL you like...fall in the water...

Maybe extra points for using the water as cover and for your retreat.  

Naw, just shoot from the unsteady platform of a boat.  Kind of like the pickup truck stages.

If you are looking for rebar shoot me an IM. There is a metric ass load of spare on my job.