{"id":730,"date":"2013-03-02T12:00:49","date_gmt":"2013-03-02T17:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kb1awv.com\/?p=730"},"modified":"2013-03-04T06:52:09","modified_gmt":"2013-03-04T11:52:09","slug":"shooting-diehards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idlenot.com\/?p=730","title":{"rendered":"Shooting Diehards"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Smiling<\/a>

John, Fred, Niu, Anna, and Alex. Abdullah is off camera and busy setting up the trap machine.<\/p><\/div>\n

It’s a Sunday afternoon in the winter. The ground is white with about ten inches of snow, including the most recent two-inch dusting. Temperatures hover around the 26 degree Fahrenheit mark and the wind does its best to create an instant blizzard with the occasional fifteen mile per hour gust. In short it is an ideal setting for a little trap shooting.<\/p>\n

My son first proposed this outing to me some 4 weeks earlier. The night before the event he called to remind me. What? Shooting? Tomorrow? In the snow? That’s right, I had forgotten. Of course I agreed to meet his train the next day as it arrived in Providence from Boston. I entered the terminal in my Sunday best shooting attire: Day-Glow\u00ae orange chest-to-toe suspender coveralls over blue jeans topped off with matching insulated jacket. I was easy to find and I suspect I provided some entertainment to the crowd waiting in the terminal (were they looking for my city plow or my shotgun?).<\/p>\n

Alex arrived about 20 minutes late and off we went to the range in Warren, RI. He quickly informed me that the shooting party was whittled down to 7 since several other registrants had backed out in light of the weather conditions. We can’t all qualify as true New Englanders! Upon our arrival at the range Alex made introductions all around and we began the festivities. The range master and Abdullah, the party organizer and supplier of firearms, were busy loading the trap shed with our supply of clay pigeons.<\/p>\n

\"Abdullah<\/a>

Abdullah had the ticket for keeping out the cold. Always shoot in comfort!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Frozen<\/a>

Removing a token from the control box roof so it can be inserted in the mechanism. They froze solid in no time.<\/p><\/div>\n

Shooting commenced. I am a center fire target shooter. I have never mastered the shotgun. How many clays did I connect with? None. That was the story for almost everyone until about half way through the session when all the other guys (the ladies had long since retired to the lodge where cupcakes baked by Anna were waiting) began improving as they acquired the rhythm. I decided to donate the balance of my shells to Alex so as to prevent the range being further  littered with untouched clays (suitable for mounting over your fireplace mantle or reuse as outdoor ashtrays).<\/p>\n

\"Hand<\/a>

Alex demonstrates the hand assist method of shell ejection with the side-by-side.<\/p><\/div>\n

After all the shells were exhausted we policed the range and retired to the club house for beers and Anna’s cupcakes. I got to see a couple of really nice rifles that Fred had with him (a reproduction Henry repeater and an original Mosin-Nagant) and of course there was general gun talk. (Just in case you were wondering nobody was able to nibble on the cupcakes in just the right pattern to create a pastry gun<\/a>). This was followed by additional lunching at a local Mexican-style restaurant. Definitely an enjoyable day with my son and his great friends (and I was warm as toast all the time).<\/p>\n

(Note: Clicking on any photograph will give you a full-sized image. Check it out!)<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Additional Features:<\/span><\/strong> I also was able to shoot a couple of hand-held videos of the action. The first video is quite short. It shows Alex connecting with a clay pigeon. It was taken using the Nikon Coolpix S6300. The resulting QuickTime .mov file was converted to .wmv using Hamster and then edited in Windows Live Movie Maker.
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