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Shooting at the range today…looks like they are having a gathering this weekend. Tents are going up and campsites are being established.

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Shooting my .54 today. It’s shooting much better today since Ray pinned the barrel at the front of the stock.

Still getting fliers. Before I leave today, I’ll get an image of my target…Have Ray take a look and see what he thinks

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Nice group of 3, then a decent group of 4…1flyer to the right, low…2 fliers to the left.

Yeah…I need work. Great day though. I’m hot and tired. Ready to go home, clean guns and enjoy the rest of the day
 
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I had to get some shooting in today, before the storm hits and our 2” to 5” of wet spring snow arrives.

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First 3 shots of the day with my TVM .40 calibre Natchez Poor Boy. The top shot is my cold bore shot from 50 Yrds. The other two were followup shots.

Then I shot 10 shots at 100 yrds and managed to keep everything in the black. It Felt So Good….

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At 25 yrds I shot off-hand…I need to try and recover a lot of lost skill, so gotta start somewhere. I shot on my Dad’s target, I’m shooting a .40 and he’s shooting a .32.

I pulled my first shot and then put the next 3 side by side around the bull.

It was a great day.
 
As we were packing up to head home…one of the other shooters snapped off either his ram rod or his short starter. The sharp end went right through his hand. The guy is on blood-thinners, so there was enough of a concern we had him leave the sharp wooden shard in his hand. Took about 4 hrs and 7 stitches, but he’s fine and drove himself home.

Great ending
 
Yesterday we had a Great Horned Owl hang out in the backyard all day.

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The trouble started when the owl landed in the yard and started eating a garter snake. Our cat, all 4 lbs of him, decided the owl was an intruder…and needed to go.

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You can’t see the cat in the above image, but he’s right in front of the owl.
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Once I got the cat away from the owl, I was able to get the little guy up off the ground and onto the fence.
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Last I saw the owl, it was sitting in the neighbors tree, being hassled by a group of Grackles and Bluejays.
 
Had a fun day at the range. The group that meets today is an older retired group that gets together every Thursday to shoot. Nice group, its growing…we’re up to about 20 shooters on average, and there’s always a couple that show up to chit chat and swap stories.

Shot my TVM .45 calibre Southern Mississippi Poor Boy.

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These are my .45s, the bottom rifle is what I shot today

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Here’s my grouping at 50 yrds…considering I was ready to sell this gun for a nickel a couple months ago…not to bad.

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Above are my shots at 100yrds. I just do not shoot as accurately as I did years ago. I’m afraid that my days of off-hand 2” groups at 100yrds are behind me. Still…that is accurate enough to bring down a deer or antelope
 
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Yesterday, I had my .54 Tennessee Mountain Rifle re-crowned. Headed to the range tomorrow. If I can get good groups at 50 yrds…probably spend the remainder shooting at 100 yrds. 100 yrds is where the tread meets the road for me.
 
Hot day yesterday…the truck says it was 88 degrees, but it felt much hotter. Clear blue skies and no wind, so other the than the heat, perfect shooting conditions.

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Here’s my final 3 shot group at 50 yrds. My groups at 50 yrds were all tight, so 2” groups reduced to single ragged holes in the target.

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I’m really impressed with the progression of this rifle.

Dixie Tennessee Mountain Rifle (rebarreled) 36” barrel, .54 calibre

.530 RB, 75 grains ffg, pillow ticking. moose milk lube
 
It’s starting to get hotter and hotter. The last couple times to the range, I’ve ended my shooting sessions with temperatures in the mid-90’s to low triple digits. There’s not a lot of trees at the Ft Lupton Range, and the trees that are there, are fewer than they were a couple years ago. I see volunteer cotton woods coming up, some in very nice locations, but every time I recommend that we fence these little seedlings as future replacements…it gets shot down by the present powers that be…

At any rate, 95 to 100 degree days, that’s just too blazen hot for me.

Looking at going to a different range, up in the mountains…while it’s 90 degrees down here, it’s usually in the mid-70’s up there. That will extend my shooting…and allow me to get some range time with some of my more modern firearms as well.

In the fall as daily temperatures drop back into the low 80’s and on down, I’ll be returning to the Ft Lupton Range.

But yeah, I don’t do well in the heat…
 
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I’m headed up to Encampment, this Saturday to attend their 41st Rendezvous, July 22nd, 23rd, & 24th. This will be my 1st time at their event, and I’m looking forward to going. The weather should be lots milder than it’s been around here lately, 90+, some days 100+. Haven’t been to the range lately due to the heat, Ray was tellin me yesterday that the Thursday crew is s usually done shooting by 11:00-11:30 courtesy of the heat. Our little range just turns into a furnace in the summer.

My Kibler Kit has arrived, it is surprisingly beautiful. I ordered the Kit a couple weeks ago, expecting mid October or early November delivery…it arrived Monday at 12:10.
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I ordered the extra grade curly maple stock, .40 calibre Southern Mountain Rifle. The wood is so beautiful it’s intimidating… I’ve been working on the but-late and trigger guard today, getting them polished and fitted.

Talked with Ray this week about my Early Plains Mountain Rifle build, that kit gun is a bit beyond my current abilities. I’ve been looking for a builder…Ray said to bring over the parts and he’d build it. He’s not fond of set triggers, but he’ll build it. He’s a stellar guy. So one less thing for me to worry about. I should’ve posted images of the parts, before I took them over
 
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My wife, my daughter and my daughter’s boyfriend Mike, went white water rafting down the Poudre Canyon today. Joe fell out, so that’s his foot…

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I…Went to the Encampment Rendezvous in Wyoming today, with my dad. We only day-tripped it this year. I recognized a few people, and several recognized me from the Ft Lupton area and our local Rendezvous

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The drive up was very nice. We left the Loveland / Ft Collins area around 6:00am and drove up to Laramie WY, then through Centennial and over the Snowy Range mountains, into the North Platte valley and into Encampment. Going over the Snowy Range, there was a huge rainstorm. We arrived around 9:30.

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There had been a morning rain, so venders were slowly opening up for the day. Real nice morning, I don’t think it ever got to the mid-80’s.

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The people were very nice and friendly, I had some great talks with some of the venders, I recognized people and people recognized me from the Ft Lupton group.

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Shooting had started just as we arrived, and by the time I had got down to the range the aggregates were well under way.

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I watched the shooting matches for a bit. Some looked to be real dyed in the wool shooters, very skilled and knew their guns very well. Others looked to be shooting their guns for the 1st time this year. Everyone was having a great time.

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Drove home in the late afternoon and hit another heavy rainstorm in LaPorte, just outside of Ft Collins. Not as bad as the one on Snowy Range, but still good and memorable.

I did find a nice new shirt, and a guy was selling some handmade Tomahawks for a price I could not say no. The maker is a guy out of Texas, whose name I recognized from several posts on this forum…so yeah, another inducements buy. I cannot remember the name of the maker of the Tomahawks, but he’s known for his fine craftsmanship…and I’ve read about him in several posts…gosh what a long day, today has been.

Long, long day…I’m too pooped to party at the moment. Bed will feel so good tonight.

Ray called me, as we were driving home headed to Laramie. He’s been working on Early Plains / Mountain Rifle…the gun is coming along very well. So my rifle that I have wanted for a little over 10 years, is progressing nicely. I cannot put into words how much I’ve wanted to own a full stock early Hawken Styled Plains Rifle. I’m going to stop by Monday and take Ray out to lunch…I just love his stories
 
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Stopped by my dad’s house, to see if he wanted to go with me to see Ray. He had a couple of young Cooper’s Hawks sitting on the fence.

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Went over to Ray’s this afternoon. He wanted to locate the positioning of my rear site on the Plains Rifle.

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A lot of work has been done in such a short amount of time.

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There’s still a lot or wood that needs to be removed , but it’s looking good.

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Ray was in the process of fitting the nose piece when we arrived. I had most of the parts needed for the project, but there’s a few bits and pieces that I was missing…they are on order and should be in soon.
 
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