Snow vs Me Round 2

Last Saturday I didn't get to do much shooting due to too much snow up in the mountains.  Weather's been mild this week, so I went back again.  All my buddies were working, broke, or both.

 Initially, roads were clear.  Ran into few parked vehicles off the freeway which was strange.... but I soon found out.  As you climb up, all shooting spots were taken, there was one group who even lined up their trucks blocking the way(I assumed they were shooting on the road).  Rest of the logging roads had foot of snow, so unless you came up to do uphill off-road climbing, you were out of luck.  

I came back down near the freeway myself to regroup.  I knew of another road just few miles from there, so I decided to take the chance & bingo!  I discovered this sweet spot with nice backstop. 😍

I kinda wished I had brought my AR with me.  I had brought just two guns:  My conceal carry Glock 43x MOS(with Trijicon RMRcc) + the new gun S&W Model 69 .44 Magnum.

Glock shot well.  I have TLR-6 light/laser combo on it(laser turned off).  To fit RMRcc on the gun, I went with the adapter plate made by Forward Controls Design.  Tall-ass suppressor height sights to cowitness are also by FCD.  Let me warn you: If you go with this setup, most holsters will not fit.  Only one I found for IWB(In-Waist-Band) & under $80-ish was Werkz holster.  Other holsters didn't have the tall clearance for FCD front sight blade.  It's decent, but like many other holsters out there, it's uncomfortable.  😭

I didn't know this, but like how .357 Magnum revolvers can also shoot .38 Special, .44 Magnum revolvers are able to shoot .44 Special.  After shooting few rounds of .44 Magnum from the S&W M69, I finally tried out the .44 Special.  I saw Hickok45 on youtube comparing .44 Special kick to that of .45ACP?  After shooting .44 Magnum, I shit you not, it felt like I was shooting a .22LR man.  Crazy. 😳  

Unfortunately for me, .44 Special actually costs more than the Magnums.  Magnum were around buck a round, Specials little over buck a round.  👿

I think I mentioned in the last post that I had bodyshop work on my pickup.  I was told that they had to take my tonneau cover(bed cover) off during the repair, so I decided get my tools out & just make sure it was put back on correctly?  Uh-uh.  Clamps weren't tightened properly & it was on crooked.  💩  Took the rear hatch off, spent about 30 minutes working on this thing, but I wasn't able to straighten it out with out taking the other hatch off & I wasn't up for that.  I just tightened the clamps, put the rear hatch back on & called it good.  Bummer....

At least I was able to find a brand new plinking spot, so I'm gonna call this a win.  👍

 

Smith & Wesson Model 69 .44 Magnum

So I hit another car for the first time ever back in January & it was in bodyshop for like 3 weeks.... until yesterday.  Progressive Insurance took their sweet time & one week of the stay at the bodyshop was just waiting for insurance adjuster approval.  They also used Non-Ford aftermarket bumper on my 2022 truck to save couple of bucks.  Not impressed with Progressive, but anywho, I was happy to finally get my pickup back.  I've been dying to go to the woods & do some plinking.  I also wanted to test out my new .44 Magnum.  I'm into 9mm & .45ACP typically & this was my first "hand cannon" caliber.  Been wanting .357 Magnum for long time, but I was like why not go big?  😚

So Friday morning.  WTF.  I like snow, but not right now.  My favorite plinking spot is on the south side of the mountain range.  It's a lot more snow than I expected....

I didn't get the chance to take pics, but entrance into the service road had foot & half of snow, so I didn't even attempt to drive into it.  If there was that much snow at the bottom(and it's steep downhill into it), it was only going to get worse from there.  I turn around & try to cut thru to the northern side of the range:

Road closed. 😭

Finally I arrive at the Northern entrance of the mountain range after driving around for like 30 minutes.... It didn't look bad.  At first.  After getting stuck the first time, I was forced to put it in reverse to climb back down for I don't know tenth, eighth of a mile probably.  That's when I made a mistake of backing one side into a snowbank trying to turn it around.  This happened to be where there were three guys getting ready to do some shooting.  I tried to give them little space & I guess I went little too wide.  They actually helped me get unstuck & even offered to let me shoot next to them.  I saw another spot down the road, so I politely declined & thanked them for the help.

Finally my own spot:

Saw so many youtubers talking about how hard this gun recoils.  Smith & Wesson Model 69.  .44 Magnum on relatively lighter frame.  Slaps your hand so hard, etc., etc.  Honestly it wasn't that bad.  Yeah you feel it, but as long as you know what you are doing with high power pistols, you'll be fine.  I was relieved, because I was afraid I made a mistake of purchasing a gun that I'd be afraid to shoot. 😅 

Only bummer here was the snow.  It was so deep I could only take the target out to about 12 yards.  I didn't even bother with AR or P226 I had brought, but I got to shoot my first revolver & also my first .44 Magnum, so I was happy.  Out of ten rounds, I actually did miss one off the paper(8.5"x8.5").  Most of those were shot with double-action, so I'm not too worried about it.  I'll get better(probably lol).

Revolver reminds me of my childhood toy guns.  Very cool.  😍

 

My Ford Ranger Part II

Wow.  Nearly 10 months since the last post.  Let's pick up right where we left off.  Ford Ranger:

BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 - Also went from 265/65R17 to LT265/70R17 which added bit more ground clearance.  Still squatting little bit.  It needs leveling.

I believe I got this 3D printed ignition trim ring on Etsy for $8.  It just snaps in.  Picked red to make it easier to find ignition cylinder.  I so wish I had push-button start!

I had heck of time picking out a phone mount for this truck.  I went thru this expensive route of bracket made by BuiltRight Industries that mounts onto the tray on top of the dash.  From there, RAM mount system.  RAM is a expensive system in itself, so I bought used pieces from eBay to put one together that could hold my old Garmin navigation...  That tray bracket is mounted on, it kind of wobbles now.  I also had to cut the mounting screws little bit shorter with a dremel.  Not straightforward install, nor clean.  😕

This RAM holder claw thing's a bit of pain in the ass to put the phone in it, so I almost never use it to hold the phone.  Great if you off-road though.  Good grip!  Still need a actual phone holder...

Anywho, this is how the truck was setup for while....  Also added black textured bug shield/hood deflector by Ford Accessories.

Next was the air dam.  This Ranger was originally expected to come with silver airdam?  I was disappointed when it showed up with black.  Luckily for me, my buddy who also have a Ranger agreed to let me swap mine with his silver!

Before & After:

His chrome bumper actually looks pretty good.  Dare I say black air dam matches it better than the original silver.

I think I screwed up the black one little bit & didn't fit his Ranger perfectly even.  His fit my Ranger just fine.  We had a good laugh over this one.... actually it was me laughing watching him get upset. 😂

This was probably the last item added on the exterior.  Ford Performance towing hooks.  Sold my original black ones on eBay, I think red pair ended up costing me only about $35 IIRC.

Almost forgot.  Stickers.  US flag decal = Classic.  JDM sticker on the right says "Slow Life" in Japanese, "Slow Style" in English(Yeah, I don't get that one either).  On the tailgate is the wakaba mark sticker I still get a kick out of.  Used to have one on my Ford Edge also.  Neat looking logo.  

That's it on the Ranger!