Never really done it before but one of the things I noticed (as can be seen in this video of me here) is that I had a tendency to shoot the tops of the steel plates. This, according to Todd Jarrett, can have the effect of causing the target to bounce back up. Also, Todd Jarrett was an advocate of aiming 3/4 high on the target since 95% of your misses are low and left. So, I did that. The tendency to bounce the targets was not generally an issue if you’re shooting the targets in order from left to right. However, shooting three and four first and then the rest (as in the video) can create problems if the targets bounce up. As you’re going back through you have to spend a half second remembering if that is a target you already hit or not.

My dad on the phone just now after watching the various videos of me shooting:

I told your mom I should have taken you to the range before you went on this trip.

Ouch. And this after I took third in the shoot house!

I’ll have more later but here’s a good central point to see what everyone is saying.

When not talking about guns, we gun bloggers were talking about gun rights strategy. One of the more interesting bits was brought up by Joe Huffman who noted that, though the anti-gunners try to get info on our side through nefarious means, they’re mostly unsuccessful because they’re easy to spot. See, we use a whole vocabulary and they probably can’t keep the subterfuge up (what kind of gun do you own? where do you shoot? Isosceles or Weaver? etc. – they’ll be inconsistent).

We have an advantage because it’s easy to act like a pants-shitting, hysterical ninny.

We got to shoot a ton of International Cartridge Corporation’s frangible and lead free ammo. Gun bloggers are green, ya know. Highly recommended. There’s no lead, which is a bonus for both environmental and health reasons. Additionally, the fact the ammo is frangible makes it nice for shooting steel plates. We were doing magazine dumps into steal at three yards without worrying about ricochets or jacket fragments.

Sebastian has a much more detailed report on the ammo.

Caleb and Joe had a bet on who could get the fastest time. The bet was for some ammo. Caleb had the best raw time. However, due to shooting a no shoot target, Joe bested him.

I should have taken the bet because I beat their times. Not bad for a guy who’s never done any practical shooting. I had the third best time overall, being bested by Robb and Armed Citizen. It was the day for newbies as I don’t think any of us had ever done any shoot houses before. And I know I’d never done any practical drills before.

On the second go through, I did not do nearly as well because I did not get a second on one target. I shot the target, missed, and shot two more times and was certain I scored two hits. However, I only scored one hit. Bummer.

The Gun Blog 45. And a report. I will note that I never could duplicate Joe’s problem. That’s likely because I’m accustomed to GLOCKs and don’t really utilize safeties. For instance, I never once engaged the safety on the Para.

Tam has a pic of the 9mm version.

The Para TTR AR-15. Sadly, my plane left early and I was unable to shoot their AR. Bummed.

A bad day at the range.

Todd Jarrett’s special ed pupil?

Over at Gun Nuts, Day 2 in pictures.

Todd Jarrett at work. I dunno, he looked a lot like he was at play too.

More pics from Day 2.

I’ll have more on the event in a bit, but here’s what others are saying:

JR has pics and a report.

David Hardy has a report. He, like me, is aching all over.

Practicing the fundamentals – over, and over, and over.

Kevin recaps the event.

Zombie simulators? Guess they’re getting for the next Chicago election.

No surprises: here and here. And Bane reminds us of this blast from the very recent past.

Another gun owner. It’s a good day.

Kevin has a report and pics, including our training gun the Gun Blog 45.

Video of me getting my steel plate on.

Joe has pics.

Ack! Ninjas.

Ahab has a report.

Hardy does too.

JR has a report too.

Run, gun and steel.

It is clear the Democrats understand nothing about politics. This may be the worst VP choice in history. Good luck with any cross over voters.

He chose poorly.

Did no one else want the job?

The polls right now show Obama ahead by 1.6%. How many points will Obama lose from this very dumb choice? 5%? 10%?

The only question left is how did Karl Rove do this?

A write up some first impression stuff here.

JR has a write up and a pic of our ride.

Caleb is having a bad day. (I kid, he left his computer unattended while Robb was around).

Hence, the no bloggy yet. Sorry about that.

At the ParaUSA event at Blackwater, 8,000 acres of kick ass. This morning, we spent time at Blackhawk. Got the skinny on their lines of holsters and their apparel line. Also, they recently aquired Knoxx and have a line of recoil reducing stocks. They have a new stock coming out for the 10-22 (sans recoil reduction, of course) that looks sharp.

Also, we have frangible ammo provided International Cartridge Company. More on that later.

And that other thing I forgot was my camera. Ack. But plenty of others will have pics.

Spent the afternoon time getting schooled by Todd Jarrett. I’ve probably learned more about what I do wrong shooting in three hours today than I’ve learned in the last ten years.

Also, the guns Para gave use are slick. The Para LDA loaded with Crimson Trace Laser Grips. I got to shoot steel plates with a handgun for the first time. Quite awesome and, though I’ve never done that sort of thing, did better than I thought I would.

I was also interviewed to appear on The Outdoor Channel. Michale Bane said some flattering things to me on the air. He also says I need an agent.

A feed of coverage of the event is here. And take the poll. Yeehaw.

Robb, like me, found it odd that people open carried in bars in Virginia.

Joe shot Caleb. Actually, his frangible ammo came back and hit him the nose.

Now, there will be beer drinking and other assorted merriment.

On the ground in Ohio. Think that’s officially yankee country.

About to board the plane. Looking forward to seeing some friends and meeting new ones.

Remember when I said I always forget something? Well, I forgot the manufacturer’s original packing for some ammo. Feh. Now, I gotta make another stop.

And you can track blog posts on the Para event via this handy aggregator.

PGP: Needless to say, at the end Lewis Black (who’s pimped for the Brady Campaign in the past) overrules the audience’s vote at the end of the show and declares the NRA the greater evil.

I was quite excited when I heard Lewis Black had his own show. He’s hysterical. However, his show sucks. I TiVoed it twice and gave up on it. Stick to ranting, it’s a strength.

How to feed your poodle-shooter.

A bunch of us gun bloggers are gonna go get some training from Todd Jarrett, hosted by ParaUSA. The top ten ways we’ll keep ourselves entertained:

10 – Debating exactly what the feminine form of the name Caleb is.

9 – Perusing the various conspiracy theory blogs that are discussing Blackwater and leaving comments from Blackwater IPs stating we’re watching you.

8 – Reminding Robb that proper range attire consists of pants.

7 – Showing sympathy to Todd Jarrett for having up to put up with us.

6 – Censoring Kevin’s shirts while ignoring Michael Bane’s choice in shirts.

5 – Placing side bets on Joe and Ahab’s friendly wager. note: I know my limitations, have never shot any practical shooting before (after this, I may start) and haven’t been to the range regularly enough to take Joe’s bet. And I’ve seen Joe shoot.)

4 – Referring to Todd Jarrett as the GLOCK guy.

3 – I hear we may do some shooting.

2 – Bandaging our fingers every few hundred rounds.

1 – Primping for TeeVee: Does this gun make my ass look fat?

Hearing reports of a school shooting in Knoxville at Central High.

Update: Yup. Details at KNS.

Update: The student has died. Tragic.

Getting my stuff together to go to the ParaUSA blogger event to train with Todd Jarrett. When I travel, I always forget one thing. It always changes and is usually important. Not sure what it is this time, but it will be major.

More on criminals and their gun skills from Denise.

A bad slogan made into law. It would be kinda neat to have a Prius that sounded like a Harley, though.

Update: And Tam: There oughtta be a law to protect inattentive morons.

Coincidentally, I had to explain to Junior what an idiot was this morning because I used that word in reference to some kid. You see, one idiot child in my subdivision was crossing the street this morning with his head buried in his cell phone or iPod or some such. My truck is much louder than a Prius and if I were as inattentive as said idiot, said idiot might be a squishy spot right now.

A muffled heh.

Women of the IDF.

Pics here.