Last Plinking of 2017

Just three of us this time.  Same spot in Timber, Oregon.  Some shower were forecasted, but all we got was some fog, then slight mist.  We got lucky.

Something new to shoot at.  Old Blazers bobbleheads.  This was fun.

  

I had planned on bringing  just .22LR rifle, AR10 & Glock 19, but that was before my coworker said that he was bringing in his new S&W .44 Magnum, Glock 21, Springfield 1911, Ruger 10/22 & Mossberg pump.  I decided to bring in my H&K USP as well.  

Tested out the Silencerco threaded barrel as well.  It shot perfect.  :)

I used to have this same 33rd magazine for my Glock 17.  When I bought this Glock 19, I decided to buy it again.  I buy almost every single mags from Botach.  Also bought my new range bag/backpack from there(pics later in this post).

My Gen 4 Glock has modular back strap?  I've been told that without using any add-on strap pieces, grip size of the Gen 4's basically equal to that of SF models(smaller grip).  It sounded good to me, so when I first shot it earlier this year, I shot it without any modular strap added.  I shot way off.  I couldn't even hit the paper!

This time around, I went with the biggest back strap attached, with beavertail.  Money:

 This is a 9mm next to .44 Magnum.

I know this ammo costs a lot, so I just asked to shoot couple of rounds.  Hand cannon amirite.  This S&W shot nice.

Sad news.  I had my red dot dialed in last time, but it was off today?  I dial that in, then the scope in for the first time.  When I finally had done that, red dot dropped to the ground.  WTF.  I guess I need to put a threadlock on the bolt or something?  What a pain.  :(

Oops, here come some truck.  Cease fire.

Mossberg, 590 I think?

Poor video, but it captures little bit of the spray pattern from the bird shot.  It was pretty cool & the pattern looked tad bigger in person.

Ruger 10/22 w/some cheap red dot.

 Remington 597, w/scope.  I hadn't cleaned it in awhile & it was jamming quite a bit.  :(

Now my new backpack.  5.11 Rush 12.  I bought it to use as a range bag.  Originally, I had a Glock case, all tools, eyes & ears(glasses+muffs) & all of my ammo in this pack.  It was absolutely full + I wanted to have a ammo can to stage on the ground, so I decided to take the .50 cal ammo can with me for the ammo.  In a pinch, I could have loaded everything in my rifle bag(w/AR10 & .22LR rifle) & this backpack, but this was a sound decision.  Ground was wet with very limited staging spaces.

Nice organizer.  two pockets on the left, I was able to fit 25rd .308/7.62 magazine in there.  However, with oversized magazines like that, it did impact the way molle on the outside laid.  Decided against it, just put a handgun mag.  Other small pockets were super useful & great size for gun tools & even a cleaning kit(on right, ACU camo).

Pics don't do this pack justice.  Filled up & on the back, it looks so good!

My buddy told me that he was shooting at the exposed rock surface on the hillside when he saw something came dropping down.  It seems to be a flattened bullet.  lol

And that was it today.  We were above the fog that we saw on the way in.  It looked like we were driving in higher altitude than the clouds.  Neat.  :D

MLB Game Used Baseballs

I used to be a big NBA fan, but if you watch it long enough, it becomes a repetitive & predictable game.  In the NBA, "dynasty" is the norm.  When David Stern was the NBA, you really questioned the refs.  "Superstar Treatment" was painfully obvious, and the league even had a name for it: "Benefit of Doubt".  

No.  You call whichever call you think is right, regardless of whether the player's European, or coming off the bench.  "Benefit of $$$" is more like it.  Today's NBA isn't bad, but now the superstar players form "Super Friends" & that's another kind of bull shit, too.  No, thank you.

So, I go back to my first love:  Baseball.  A sport I never followed seriously.  But you know what?  It's competitive.  No Golden State Warriors, or Cleveland Cavaliers here.  Officiating actually amazes me.  Consistency with the strike zone's hit & miss, but overall, it's a refreshing to follow even if my team Atlanta Braves are horrible.

So the game used baseballs. Generally, I would never buy something like this.  Even if it's authenticated by some "expert", I don't know them.  How do I know if memorabilia like this is a real deal?  Apparently, this became a serious enough problem that MLB started getting hands on with authentication:

More on this on the MLB authentication page here.

Anywho, after finding this out.  I searched eBay for "game used" Atlanta Braves baseball.  I always thought it would be cool to have legit MLB baseball used in a actual Braves game.....  I couldn't find any that I liked.  Most weren't authenticated, some were too much money, but bottom line, there just weren't that many to be had on eBay.  So I changed the search term from the Braves to my favorite baseball player:  Ichiro.

The ball I bought is the third one pitched.

I ended up paying WAY more than I had planned to spend.  Listed for $100 + shipping on eBay, got it for $75(best offer) + $3 shipping.  You type up the code on the tamper-proof hologram sticker on MLB Authentication website & voila:

Ichiro grounded it into a force play, but the ball was hit by future HoF player Ichiro!  I'm happy to have it.  Extra cool to have had MLB stream subscription this season & I actually have the footage of Ichiro hitting the baseball I now own.   :)

I just think it's such a cool thing for MLB to do.  I just need the Braves authenticated game used baseball now, oh, there it is:

My email box gets spammed by the online MLB store pretty hard, and when they had 30% off sale, I checked to see maybe they had game used ball, bam!  Julio Teheran pitched baseball from 2016 season.  With the discount, $32.98(shipped).  Yes! 

Now, I'm content with the two game used baseball.....  

Wait.  Is there three baseball?  It's another Braves ball.  Erick Aybar(no longer w/Braves, but I liked him) ground out against my second favorite team, St. Louis Cardinals @ Busch Stadium.  I couldn't help it.  On eBay for $15.99, shipped.

I get the feeling I'll have couple more of these things before the next season's over......

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy 4th of July!

Got this picture in the email from Aero Precision.  Very cool!

PROPEL DOWNRANGE AO 30-000725

I see a pic of this knife online one day.  "Man, I wish I was in market for one...."  I google it, it was $140.  Forget about it.  I already have two good Benchmade pocket knives.  Full size Griptilian & my current EDC knife HK Axis.  

Not two days later, there's a email from Botach Tactical advertising this knife for $40 on eBay.  I still didn't need a new knife, but I couldn't resist offering $35 using their "Best Offer".  They accepted it.  XD

Color is more like in the Gerber stock photo at the top.  Lighting made the grip color really pale for some reason.  Grip is big, blade is tad bit shorter than my Benchmade.

The round silver button is not the "fire" button, like with the automatic knives.  As the "AO" in the name suggests, this is an "assisted-opening" knife.  It means that you still have to flick the knife open using the thumb stud on the blade.  Spring assist you in opening the blade, but it's not a push button open.

Like with firearms, when you slide the safety to show "red", it's ready to go(open, fire, whatever).  It's really rough/hard opening, but I'm guessing it has to be broken-in.  If stiffness continues, I might lube it(let's get your mind out of the gutter).

I still think Benchmade is way better, but this knife is WAY too cool for $35.  Botach rules!