Matt.Cross

I didn't get a look at her. She was either stupid or just an outright slut, getting drunk with a truckful of males in the middle of nowhere.

Actually, when they have printed you a boarding pass, contractually you have the right to be on the plane all the way to your destination. I hope he makes enough to afford his own private jet.

Soooo..... ~Midnight, April 1st Having completed a badass midnight distance shoot, we're once again watching Ranger TV and talking about the day's events, when Mike spots a white pickup wandering around off in the distance. Nobody thought much of it, just noted that it didn't have but a single working headlight and a mounted spotlight. You're never really alone out at the AO, and it pays to keep your head on a swivel, so Tom loaded a mag into an AR and slung it across his barrel gorilla chest. We continued to talk and BS around the fire, keeping a weather eye on the status of the white pickup, which continued to wander around the desert at random, spotlighting the terrain. Eventually, the occupants of said pickup spotted our camp, and decided to come over and get acquainted. Said occupants were more than a little inebriated, talking loudly, laughing, yelling, generally acting like a bunch of stupid drunk adolescents. They rolled up on the camp, spotlight glaring, Mike had headed towards his car to retrieve his handgun when he saw them head towards camp. Larry was packing and I figured we were plenty well strapped to deal with dumb yahoos. As they rolled up on camp, Mike returns to just outside the firelight with his pistol behind his back and the drunks start hollering slurred questions in an attempt to begin a conversation: "Ya'll out here partying?" - this said almost incredulously, as if strangers camping in the desert at the nicest time of year is just unfathomable. "We saw you guys' camp and thought we'd come see what's up...." - several are now talking at once, including a adolescent female who seems to be the Alpha of this drunken gaggle. Meanwhile the spotlight that has been wobbling all over the camp sight comes to rest on Tom, who has for some time been looking away from the fire and any lights, preserving his night sight. Tom turns and squares off against the truck, his hands on the rifle, relaxed but ready... The truck occupants falter into silence and the spotlight goes out suddenly, as if an afterthought. "We're just out here camping guys, that's all." Alpha female becomes clumsily polite and apologetic, leading off with "Oh God, we're really sorry, we didn't mean to roll up on you guys and spotlight you and all that...." A drunk cohort chimes in helpfully with "Yeah, we thought you guys were out here partying and we thought we'd check it out..." The whole group starts talking at once and Alpha female shuts them up by setting the new agenda, getting the fuck away from these dangerous looking dudes camped in the desert. More apologies follow as they turn around and head back into the desert, and we all look at each other and start laughing and talking about WTF just happened, and can't wait to put this one on the forums. Good times!

Tom has to procure the prior steel silhouettes as well, it just isn't the same without them.

LOL 100yd speed run knocks the target over....

I would've given my left testicle for a nickname like that, I get sh!t like "Peanut"...

As an aside, shooting in the dark with a suppressor... 1st class awesomeness. No muzzle flash, no visual impairment, just a soft crack followed by sparks at the target, and the sound of uncomfortable shifting as we fight to keep our erections from ruining our prone position.

... and Treachery is drunk as a skunk!!!

Sorry for the delay, it's been a busy weekend! Saturday April 1st - Sunrise I slept pretty well Friday night, a byproduct of staying up late listening to tales of the glory days from the ancients gathered around the campfire. I was awake early, my body still on East Coast time, but didn't stir so as not to wake the ancients. However, one can only preoccupy oneself for so long before needing to be up and about. So I got up and dressed as quietly and inconspicuously as possible, took a leak, washed my hands and began preparing my gear for the day. Saturday was scheduled as long distance day and I prepared the faithful and legendary MA TEN for steel pummeling duty. After preliminary prep, I grabbed myself a cold Coke from the cooler for my morning caffeine infusion, and began patrolling the camp for stray items and trash from the preceding day. Still no signs of life from the rest of camp. And then it happened.... Understand that we had expended a great many rounds downrange on Friday, we were shooting pistol and rifle like it was going out of style... Between reloads/mag changes/malfunctions and other weapons manipulation, a few stray 5.56 rounds had failed to join their brethren downrange in the desert. I stumbled upon 4 such unfortunate rounds and was immediately filled with compassion and sympathy for their plight. I immediately dropped all else and loaded up a PMAG with the 4 strays and retrieved one of the Barbie builds from Tom's truck. Fate had smiled upon me with the solution to two problems at once; getting everyone awake, and sending those poor lonely rounds out for a rendezvous with their brethren. I chambered a round, set my sights on the 100yd gong, and let rip as quickly as I could regain a sight picture... BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!!!! Good morning desert dwellers! Up and at 'em, we are burning daylight! Saturday was awesome! A full day of sunrise-to-sunset shooting mayhem. We shot a little more pistol and carbine and shortly before midday, we walked out the steel gongs to 100 and 435 yards. Tom instituted and initiated the fine tradition of the 308 AR cactus huggers, setting a wonderful and enduring precedent which will undoubtedly become a staple of future events. We were literally becoming one with the desert, a real transcendental experience for sure, albeit with copious amounts of swearing. The day passed us by too quickly, and I had the immense pleasure of getting to shoot everyone else's gear in addition to mine, and managed to twist a few arms enough to get them to try out the MA TEN, which got very kind reviews by all. This 308 AR crew has some VERY NICE kit, it's just incredible the variety of applications and gear you can put your filthy mitts on at these shoots. Those of you who can never make it for whatever reason, have no idea how bad you are missing out. It's as much fun as you can have with both a hard-on and fully clothed. Speaking of fun, it didn't end at sunset... Crazy-ass Tom procured a couple LED flashlights and we propped them in front of the targets close enough to light the target, but not close enough to take backsplash damage. The sun had set and the moon and stars were out. We had a beautiful 1/3rd crescent moon and you could actually see your shadow by the natural light, so Tom and I hike out to make adjustments to the targets and lights after getting a preliminary peek from the shooting station. We made the 100yd target with no problems and headed towards the 435yd target to complete final adjustments before beginning the night shooting phase. I had noticed some small baby chollo cacti quite near the footpath during the day, but they were very visible during the daytime and easy to avoid, and I was paying attention during the day. Now, we're traveling the same path in the dead of night, albeit in fair light, but I wasn't paying enough attention and I unwittingly stepped on a tiny ball chollo near the path. So we're walking along, BS-ing and having a good time when suddenly I feel something like fangs bite my right leg, really hard, low on my calf. My brain screams "OH SHIT, SNAKE!", so I shake my leg hard, hoping to dislodge whatever hateful critter is fastened to my leg. Big mistake, the little fucker bites me again, harder, farther up my calf.... DAMNIT! Trying to dislodge this thing is only making it worse, and this thing is heading North, and the valuables are in that direction soooo.... "Tom, something has got me, right leg at the calf..." He cuts his light on and looks, there's a bright tan cute little fuzzy spiny ball cuddling my right calf 2/3rds to my knee. WTF? It looks like a sea urchin but we're in the fukkin' desert, what gives? Tom laughs and says, "Bro, you just got from fukked up by a chollo!!". That cute little fuzzy sweet looking thing is a cactus? Well, yes. Everything in the desert either has thorns, or teeth, or both. So, Tom whips out his knife, and scrapes off the offending chollo. After removing the more offensive spines imbedded in my leg, Tom commented on both the frightening paleness and hairiness of my leg, and we proceeded on to adjust the 435yd target. Targets in place and with a new story to relate, we returned to camp to spot our targets and employ our lit reticles. We proceeded to pummel steel at distance just as in the daylight, only in the middle of the night. IT.WAS.AWESOME!!!! In addition to the typical auditory feedback, the gongs cast sparks that you can see both through the scope and with your naked eye. Night shooting is a definite go for the fall shoot, you guys are going to love it! Saturday night was only barely beginning though....

That's what you were running at distance in December? You were killing it!

Josh shall be hereafter affectionately known as "The Bone Crusher". I think it is fitting.

It is absolutely awesome!

^^^^ This.

The funniest comedian of our time. RIP Mr. Rickles, thanks for the laughs.

Not sure what you mean, a picture might help. Soft case, hard case, what kind of case and what kind of rifle? If your case is adequately sized and configured correctly, there should be no issue.

Legs forward is the standard bipod configuration for precision rifles AFAIK, I've never seen otherwise.

Keep an eye on http://www.palmettostatearmory.com/ and sign up for their email list. They frequently have Federal Gold Medal Match in both 168 and 175 grain for $20 a box.

I couldn't help myself, I had to put it out there.... LOL

Now where did I put my wedding album?

Yeah Larry, that was unfair, the rest of us are midgets in comparison. Next time we're giving you kneepads and you'll have to crawl. Just sayin'.

1630 hours (1:30PM MST) We arrive at the AO and begin unpacking gear and setting up camp. Introductions are made all around, and preparations for live fire are made in short order. The fun begins with a timed fire pistol course with stationary and stationary reactive targets. It quickly becomes apparent that I'm way out of my element, but it's a whole lot of fun anyhow. I learn two interesting facts right off the bat: #1. Matt (JB Rep) is a former US Shooting team competitor. #2. Larry is a former IPSCA competitive shooter. No wonder I'm getting my ass handed to me! Still, shooting under a timer is so much fun, I don't care that I suck at it. It is definitely going to be a staple of the Fall Shoot. Pretty soon we added carbine ARs to the timed fire action, adding to the adrenaline, elation, and frustration and comedy of the timed fire events. Matt introduced his friend John to a couple of new weapon types he'd never shot before, and he proved surprisingly adept and comfortable for a newcomer. Pistol and carbine consume the remainder of daylight on Friday, Matt and John headed out after handshakes all around and reassurances that they wanted to be a part of our next event. As the sun began to sink below the nearby ridgeline, the shooting wound down as Tom began preparing supper. We feasted on green chili and beer brats and ice cold beer and soda, and sat around the fire telling stories until late in the night.

I want to say yes, but that's a slippery slope....

It's the least I could do for the man who dialed in my Barbie builds.

Sweet! Nice to see Fulton Armory selling SLR gas blocks along with their barrels, they pair up really nicely. It took maybe 5 minutes to get mine adjusted at the spring shoot.