So, I hope to mostly avoid politics, although if something truly stupid is happening - it’s fair game.

Having said that, over time I’ll be building out several areas of content in HOWTOs, recommendations and information:

Preface

This section will undoubtedly have a huge range of reactions from readers, but the reality is - we each like what we like, and we make our own choices - sometimes even before consideration of the long history of “the right to bear arms” enters the mix. I’m going to remain outside of politics as much as possible in this section, and perhaps people can make their own decisions with actual thought, knowledge and reasoning behind them. If not - get offended all you’d like and move on.

Like most kids before the growing obsession on gun control, I indeed had a BB gun or two growing up. Perhaps surprisingly, I never did manage to shoot my eye out. I was also a Cub and then Boy Scout, and later served in the US military. I was never inherently ‘afraid’ of guns, unless one was pointed near me, excepting paintball, which I played for some time and still think it’s among the best work team-building events if you can manage to get it by HR. I’ve found this phrase to be particularly effective is getting all kinds of people who were initially against the idea into the idea of trying it.

Hey, has your boss ever really pissed you off? Yeah, mine too. Wouldn’t it be nice to get even, even if just for an hour? How about - shooting them! (paintball).

This has managed to lead to at least 3 work team outings I can think of, with men and women of all ages - after which, it was nearly universal in wanting to go back and do it again. Remember to wear a face mask though - shorts and t-shirt if you must, but always eye and face protection! If you just can’t swing the paintball, laser tag is the wimpy but still-can-be-fun version of this one.

Working long hours and normal life has gotten me out of paintball and a lot of more active things, so I decided I needed another hobby, which initially started out getting more into range and target shooting, as well as the usual for last resort for home/family defense in the event that is (hopefully not) ever needed. (Boy Scout motto, right? Always Be Prepared..)

I had seen an automated target range once back in TN, which was a very cool thing, with different target popping up on the range automatically, which had always looked like fun, and I fair quickly got into competition shooting or ‘3 gun’ matches and others. Why? The short version is it’s kind of like flying a plane - when I was taking lessons, once the initial novelty wore off, it was still nice, peaceful, and relaxing, but doing ~100MPH in the air with a never-exceed bank angle of something like 15* just didn’t hold much long-term excitement for me - stall training was fun, but I really wanted to jump into something acrobatic and more fun. Target shooting, especially at indoor ranges, is kind of like that - bang, bang, bang, usually at limited distances. 3 gun competitions are more like the acrobatics, going fast, getting at least some movement into my life, and just - a whole lot of fun.  

What will I be covering?

• Guns - initial reviews, thoughts, and in some cases long-term reviews - with a focus on those most interesting from the perspective of 3 gun friendly competition level, training, and home defense.  

• Maintenance and Modifications - From simple breakdown to polishing and (legal) modifications to make them work better for the task at hand.

• Gear and optics - From backpack and range kits to the optics I use today, why I chose them, and how they perform.

• Reloading - I’ve been reloading for around a decade, have tried a fair number of things, have both wasted and saved some $ along the way, so I’ll be doing a fairly complete series on reloading.