Thankful, etc.

First, HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We all have at least a few things to be thankful for, so make sure you take stock of them and give thanks to whatever higher power you believe in, if any.

Second, a quick range report. 'Twas a day for male bonding, with my brother and one of his sons, along with this blathering blogger and his son, all spending a couple/three hours at the range. After quickly reviewing the rules for gun safety with all present, I chronographed some .38 Spl. handloads built around the first bullets I've ever casted (I'll need to do some more testing), and then we just engaged in some informal plinking.

The guns involved were a S&W 617, S&W 19, NAA mini .22 Mag., Marlin 1894 in .38/.357, and the venerable SKS. Oh, yeah, one other gun put in an appearance: my brother's Hi-Point .40 S&W. (Despite its somewhat low reputation, the Hi-Point shot quite well, having only one FTF that I know of, and hitting the target accurately. I'm not sure how much he paid for the gun, but I know he bought it used, so he must have gotten it for a relative song and dance.)

One thing I am thankful for on that outing was the sparking of my son's apparent interest/enjoyment in/of shooting; in the past, he didn't seem to have much interest in shooting, so I didn't push him. But on that day, things were different. With his eye and hearing protection on, I gave him the basics of sight alignment and trigger manipulation and then he fired a cylinder of .22 LR out of the S&W 617 (with me directly behind him) and he LOVED it! I thought he'd be done after that, but he instantly asked to shoot it some more; I gladly obliged his request. I don't want to read too much into this, but I have the feeling that come next summer I am going to have a new, dedicated shooting partner. By the way, he also fired a couple of rounds of .38 Spl. through the Marlin 1894 rifle, which he enjoyed.

After the firearms shooting was done, my brother and his son had to leave. We bade them goodbye and then my son and I headed over to the archery range. (See above photo.) With his little kid-size compound bow, Sasha's (his given name is Aleksandr, but we call him Sasha) first arrow was just outside of the bullseye at 10 yards. After that the hits were sporadic, but he kept on trying anyway. You can view an incredibly cute video (is that my bias showing?) of him here on You Tube shooting his bow.

I managed to get some practice in with my bows, and I believe I'm finally getting the hang of my new Martin Savannah long bow. Of course, whenever I'm at the range time flies faster than anywhere else in the world and this day was no exception. We reluctantly packed all of the gear away and hit the road for the forty-mile return trip. Sasha dozed off and I was left with my thoughts and impressions of the day. I was quite happy and content.

Take care.
DAL357