I wasn't quite ready to give up the color thing and admit defeat with my terrible eyes, so I went back to the drawing board. Way back when I first started noticing I was having trouble seeing my front sight, I complained to L at the shop about it. He suggested picking up some modeling paint and painting the front sight before dropping a bunch of money on different sights, so I did, and that's how I ended up with my red front sight.
I chose red first, because when we were trying out different colors at the shop, it seemed red was easier for me to pick up. Obviously, though, red was the wrong choice, so I thought back to the other colors of HiViz sights I'd seen and decided I'd go with one of the neon-ish colors. Off to the hobby store we went and I picked up a bottle of Sublime Green.
I had some microbrushes tucked away from painting my sight red, so I dug those out of my gun catch-all box. What I love about the microbrushes is that they fit inside the front sight exactly.
One little dab of Sublime Green on the front sight and viola! a whole new sight to try out.
I took the Para out to the range that afternoon with Tara and I was back on target despite the buffeting winds. My lousy right eye picked up the green every single time. My groups were about three inches, which isn't great, but taking into consideration that the wind was literally knocking us from side-to-side as we lined up our shots, I'm pleased.
I'm even more pleased that I've found at least a temporary work-around for my little half-blind problem. Seeing as how I just bought six month's worth of contacts, I wasn't thrilled about the possibility of having to change them.
The real test will be at the defensive pistol match next Sunday. Will I be able to pick it up while shooting on the move?
If you have trouble seeing your front sight, what kinds of things have you tried to work around the problem?
On Wednesday I had to deliver a shirt to Double Tap and, conveniently, the delivery spot was at a range. Since we were going to be there anyway, why not put some rounds downrange? I've really been strugging with accuracy lately, which had never been a problem in the past, so I wanted Double Tap to watch me shoot to see what the heck I was doing wrong. Having a friend who is both an experienced shooter and an experienced instructor is definitely a benefit.
I know about "the wheel" - a diagram that helps shooters figure out what they're doing wrong based on their shot placement. Here's a really good explanation of the wheel that's a little more in depth.
Google images
According the the wheel, I was tightening my grip while pulling the trigger. Only, I wasn't. I was sure of it. Maybe if I was a new shooter, or if it was a new gun, but nothing had changed other than I was shooting low and right. Double Tap watched carefully and agreed that I shouldn't be throwing my rounds. We checked my sights to see if they were loose or had drifted. The sights were still tight, so I had Double Tap shoot the Para. Dead freaking on. Every round.
Back to square one, it had to be something I was doing, so he watched me from several angles to make sure I wasn't doing anything wrong. After three or four rounds he asked, "Which eye are you shooting with?"
Suprised, I answered, "Right. Why?"
He asked if I could shoot with my left eye, so I did. Guess what? Dead freaking on. Every round.
I am strongly right eye dominant, so I was surprised that I was shooting better with my left eye. We picked out a different area on the target and I shot using my left eye to sight in, dead on. I lowered my gun to the low ready to check the target, brought it back up and threw the next round. Double Tap asked which eye I had used. I had to think about it for a second and realized that when I brought my gun back up on target I'd automatically switched to my "strong" eye.
I'd been complaining for a while about not being able to see my front sight, but I blamed it on the color I'd painted my sight. But I can see the sight with my left eye and can drill the hell out of one hole left eyed, so we ruled out the color being the problem. Before I spring for a new front sight, I want to try out several colors so I know which color to buy. Currently my sight is a bright red. That my right eye can't see! I'll try a neon green next. My intention is to buy a Hi-Viz or something similar, but for that kind of money, I want to make sure I can see the sight every time.
We ruled out a mechanical issue with my stance and grip.
We ruled out loose sights.
We ruled out the color.
That leaves me with crappy eyes. Well, one crappy eye.
Guess who is going to be heading back to the eye doctor in short order? And if she tells me one more time that it's because I'm "forty now", Ima punch her in the nose.
RCC picked up the shirts this morning and they are beautimous!
Aren't they amazeballs? I love them very much. So much that I had to try all three of mine on.
Too bad this is the only AR I currently own :)
Aren't they loverly?
I know you want one for your very own! Or two or three. Only $20 each (includes shipping). Just email jayjaywilson51@yahoo.com with your shirt size, font color, quantity, and address. He'll provide you with the PayPal information at that time.
Thank you so very much, JWby Design, for designing these amazing shirts (though the printer may kill you - they weren't an easy task).
Yep. That's me. Mrs Mom, shooting my AR and LOVING it.
It's been a while- and I do mean a WHILE- since I posted here. GunDiva keeps sending me "gentle reminders" that this blog is here, and that she'd appreciate some support writing. Since there are so many new folks joining us, I figure it might be a good thing to re-introduce myself before I get into today's post.
Where to begin?
I'm a 41 year old Mother, wife, horsewoman, shooter, 2nd Amendment supporting, US Constitution believing, no bullsqueeze tolerating, Kimber and AR toting, bundle of joy. I hold NRA certifications in Pistol and Refuse To Be A Victim as well as Range Safety Officer. I've carried everything from Combat Tupperware (which I adore,) to my current love, a 1911. We also homeschool our sons, now six and seven years old.
A small part of the reason I've not had much time to post is because Dear Husband and I have been tied up in knots. No, it is NOT what you think. We've literally been tied up in knots. Or rather, tying up loads of knots. All KINDS of knots. Tons of knots. Lots and LOTS of knots.
Why?
Because we discovered the joys of creating items with cord and rope.
Things like rifle slings.
Custom colors with quick disconnect
Yes, that is my AR. No, it is NOT for sale! Only the pink sling is.
And GunDiva's Favorite Sling.. (NOT)
The Snake belly
(Want to see more? Hit Facebook- there is a whole page dedicated to Southern Winds Solutions. On it you'll find more items, such as equine equipment, more rifle sling styles, various bracelet styles, and color options along with ordering information.If you don't see what you'd like or what you need? Email me- we will work with you to create exactly what you need!)
There you have it. What the mysterious Mrs Mom has been up to and why I've been neglecting my co- writing duties at GunDivas. With any luck, you'll be able to read more from me in the coming days.
Let me give you a little history on my love affair with 5.11. In 2005, during my first trip to SHOT Show, the 5.11 tactical pants caught my eye. I was walking the floor and I noticed the coolest pants ever on a couple of guys. I'd never seen them before, so I stalked the guys until I could get close enough to see whose pants they were wearing - I wanted a pair!
After SHOT Show, I came home and ordered a pair and thus began my love affair with 5.11 apparel. I've got a couple of tactical pants, some training shorts, and shirts and I love them all.
I have been noticing that my current range bag was starting to show its age, which I bought at the 2005 SHOT Show and have been hauling it all over ever since. But little things were starting to not work so well. Mostly the shoulder strap will stay on if I bend the clip just right, and who really needs the feet on the bottom of the bag anyway?
I started looking for a new shooting bag, all the while keeping 5.11 in the back of my mind. I loved their clothes, why wouldn't I love their range bags? When the opportunity arose for me to review one of their bags, I jumped at it. It was like fate or something.
About a week and a half ago, the mailman brought me a very, very early Christmas present (or a very late one). I got home from work and a huge box was sitting on the couch. I opened it up and there inside was a magnificent bag, much larger than my old range bag.
5.11 Range Ready bag on the left,
old, beat up bag on the right.
Range Ready bag on the left,
old, beat up bag on the right.
I'm somewhat of a compartment freak. I love compartments, the more there are, the happier I am. The Range Ready bag made me positively giddy. There are two large compartments on the ends, a place for a water bottle, two large compartments along one side and a zip-down workspace along the other side. And all of that is on the outside of the bag, I haven't even gotten to the inside.
I love having a place to lay my guns.
I immediately started moving things from my old bag into this new one. Now, instead of having my cleaning stuff divided between two compartments, it all fits in one. My sunscreen now has its own area, as does my eye and hearing protection - it's not all jumbled together - and I still have a whole compartment I've purposely left empty for a small first aid kit and some QuikClot.
The inside of the bag is just as joyous. The large inner compartment (9x18x10) has padded side pockets to help protect pistols (they might be for pistols, but that's where my staple gun and extra staples ended up) and has what the website calls a "removable ammo tote and brass bag with two side zipper pockets". I call it genius! The removable portion of the bag is just right - the zippered pockets on each side are big enough to slip pistols down inside. There are handles for carrying just the "ammo tote" or you can take the shoulder strap off of the main bag and attach it to the D-rings at the ends of the ammo tote.
Inside the ammo tote I have: 100 rounds of .45 ACP,
my Para and paddle holster,
two magazine holders,
and six high-cap mags.
There was still room left over!
Another little bit of genius, and proof that the people at 5.11 pay attention to details, is the addition of a bag for brass that fits in the ammo tote. I love having a brass bag! It sure beats the grocery bags I've been using. Okay, that's a lie. I've been just dumping my brass into the bottom of my range bag because I kept forgetting to put a new grocery bag in. No matter, I *love* having a bag just for brass.
Though I am head-over-heels in love with this bag, I would be less than honest if I didn't mention two little drawbacks. Number one, it's a big bag, which means it would be very easy to overload and make too heavy to comfortably carry. If you are someone fun-sized like me, you should take that into consideration.
It does, however, detract from the size of my butt.
Number two, the very handy magazine pouches in the zip-down workspace don't fit my extended magazines.
Standard 1911 mags on the left,
extended mags on the right.
Seriously, those are the only two drawbacks I can think of and I've already got a solution: the Range Ready bag lives in my car. When I get home from the range, I simply pull out the ammo tote, which has my guns, ammo, and brass in it, and bring that into the house. For matches I'll do the same thing, only I'll add the shoulder strap to make it easier to move between stages. As for the extended mags not fitting in the magazine pouches, that's not a big deal, I've loaded them up with standard size magazines and my extended mags are now living in the ammo tote.
If you're looking for a great all-around, versatile range bag, this one is darn close to perfect. It's listed on 5.11's site for $119.99, which is a phenomenal deal for something that is going to last a very long time.
Disclaimer: I received the 5.11 Range Ready bag for purpose of review, but have receive no financial compensation. The opinions contained in this review are mine and have not been swayed by receipt of the product.
Our Defensive Pistol matches are always the first Sunday of the month, which means I'm way behind on posting. However, the delay does mean that I now have access to the scores and can tell you that I *finally* beat Mez.
Sort of.
Ok, I take that back. The scores say I beat him, but I don't believe them simply because we were in a group where a new timer and scorer were being trained. There are always mistakes when training new scorers. For example, for the stage that I solidly "beat" Mez on (according to the scorer), the score sheet shows 60 seconds worth of penalties. Each penalty is worth 0.5 seconds, so that means in order for Mez to have 60 seconds worth, he would have had to amass 120 penalty points. That doesn't happen. Mez is one of the best shooters I've ever met. There's no way on earth he had 120 penalty points. Not even shooting blind-folded, weak-handed, hanging upside-down, drunk on a Sunday could he amass that number of penalties.
I finished eighth in my class (mag capacity of 10 rounds or less) of ten. Not great, not horrible. But solid shooting. I had a couple of stages that I was smokin'! And then I started thinking (or in one case, just stopped thinking) and completely screwed myself up. I also like to compare my scores to the other classes, specifically those with higher capacity magazines. In theory, shooters with higher cap magazines should have faster times because they don't have to reload as often. I "beat" six of the high cap folks.
I'd like to see my times drop, but it's going to take a bit more time for me to trust the Para again. It had so many problems for so long that were blamed on my technique instead of anyone believing it was the gun, that I lost a lot of confidence with it. I don't think it's even been six months since I got her fixed up properly, so I'll just keep on with the slow and steady, knowing that speed will follow.
Stage 1
Raw time: 54:03 seconds; penalty seconds: 10; total time 64:03 seconds.
Stage 2
Raw time: 71.84; penalty seconds: 4.5 seconds; total time: 76:34 seconds
Stage 3
Raw time: 28:08 seconds; penalty seconds: 3.5; total time: 31.58
Stage 4
Raw time: 34:07 seconds; penalty seconds: zero; total time 34:07 seconds
Stage 5
Raw time: 93:49 seconds; penalty seconds: zero; total time: 93:49
Shotgun Side Match
I wasn't even going to post this one, I sucked so bad. But maybe other shooters can feel better based on my total and complete suckage. I decided the night before to take off my Blackhawk Knoxx buttstock that kept slapping me in the face and put on the stock buttstock. Only, I forgot that I'm fun-sized, not adult-sized and the whole reason for changing out the buttstock in the first place was because my shotgun's too big for me. I sucked. Badly. And then it got worse...I ran out of rounds, so I didn't even finish the stage due to my total cand complete suckage at the beginning. By the time I got me and my gun sorted out, it was too late. The writing was on the wall. Chalk this up to one big FAIL!
I just heard from Tara that SEAL of My Dreams, a collection of short stories by famous romance writers nation-wide (including our own Tara Janzen), has now raised over $110,000 for the Veterans Research Corporation. In addition, it also won The Romance Review's highest honor of BEST BOOK OF 2011!
If you haven't read this fabulous book, you can still buy it and help contribute to the charity - it's a fun read and the proceeds are going to a good cause.
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Don't forget to spread the word! When we hit 100 followers, we will be giving away prizes!
Brigid over at Home on the Range has an excellent post up about Self-Defense in the Home. My sibs and I were just talking about tactical mindset and how most anything can be used as a weapon, the primary one being our brain.
Do yourselves a favor and go read her post and put it into practice.
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And don't forget, when we hit 100 followers, there will be a t-shirt give-away (and a little something extra - still deciding).
We have a Facebook winner! 100 likes on the GunDivas' Facebook page. Woo Hoo!!
Click on over to see if that winner was you.
Next up: let's see if we can get this blog to 100 followers! One follower (non-family followers, let me clarify) will be randomly chosen using a random name generator when we hit 100. The prize will be a GunDivas t-shirt and a little something extra (yet to be determined).
I received the 5.11 Range Ready bag for review last week; I'm super excited to get to try it out and review it. I'm an unabashed fan of 5.11 gear and was thrilled last year when I was approved to do reviews for them. Here are a couple of pictures from our "product photo shoot" yesterday (meaning, RCC, his artistic eye, and fancy camera along with the new bag).
5.11 bag on left, my old range bag on right
5.11 on left, old bag on right
I'm relatively certain that I could live out of the range bag or park a Smart car in it. I'll have the review up in a week or so, after I've had a chance to take it out to the range and not just play with it in the house.
I've had some questions about the Mossberg catastrophe...it was out of time, which Stein was able to fix. But, the trigger and safety are broken, which might have happened when we were having such a hard time with the receiver. It looks like the bolt was too long, so when we were tightening it down, we broke off the top of the trigger. The good news is that Stein can do the trigger (I won't touch them, they're too important) when I get the new parts in.
The shirts will be here next week, if you want to order one, please email jayjaywilson51@yahoo.com. The cost is $20 and you have your choice of size and font color: blue, red, or purple. If you want a chance to win one for free, listen close. You know the "Find us on Facebook" thing in the sidebar? Click it. Click "Like" when you do find us on Facebook. When we get to 100 likes, I'll randomly draw a winner from the likes (likers?).
I know she's wearing a long-sleeve, but we're getting short-sleeve.
It is summer(ish), afterall.
We're ordering the shirts on Thursday and I can't wait!!
We're ordering small, medium, and large in three different font colors: red, blue, and purple. If you would like a shirt in a size other than what we're ordering, please let me know ASAP. They are $20 US, which includes shipping. (Canadian GunDivas, the price will be the same, thanks to a little tip from Mrs. Mom on shipping.)
If you are interested in buying a shirt, please email your order to jayjaywilson51(at)yahoo(dot)com. Please include your size, font color and mailing address.
After a really gawdawful day at work in February, I found Zombie Industries online and did a little retail therapy. I ordered a bleeding zombie target, the zombie shooting gallery, and some Zomboom!.
I ordered the Rocky Zombie, but got a phone call the next day from Zombie Industries' customer service. Seems they were out of Rocky, so they offered a different zombie. I didn't really have my heart set on just one zombie, so I agreed to the change and in less than a week a box bearing the following warning showed up on my doorstep.
The "Outbreak 'Face Off' Shooting Gallery" and the Zomboom! arrived the same day the bleeding zombie did, and they all arrived earlier than the estimated delivery date. Two thumbs up for their customer service and shipping department.
Unfortunately, I didn't have time to take the zombie out shooting until the end of March. After I finished customizing Junior's shotgun (I still have a headache from that cluster!), we decided to go out the next day to kill some zombies. The range was a disaster when we got there, but after a few minutes of clean-up I stopped twitching and cursing enough to unpack the zombie.
We carefully read the instructions,
just in case we'd missed something.
The Zombie Hunters: Junior, me, M
After we'd staked down the zombie via 1x2 wooden enema, we pulled out the shooting gallery and got it ready to shoot. Set up was unbelievably easy and quick. The most time consuming part was loading all of the clays into the holes. We were lucky in that it wasn't a windy day. As a general rule, the plains are exceptionally windy and this set-up would not have worked if we would have had wind.
Look closely, you can see that Junior had a bit of a zombie moment
We started the day with the shooting gallery, which is a whole lot harder than it looks. We were shooting from about 15 yards, not too far, but it still took some doing to shoot out all of their brains. I love the shooting gallery and I especially love that it's re-usable (as long as you or your friends don't miss too often). But I do have one complaint: the eight edge targets - four on the right and four on the left - are right in front of the poles that support it. I ended up having to throw my poles away at the end of the day because they were unusable from people shooting through the clays and hitting the poles. I don't know that there's a solution other than not loading up those eight zombie brains. I kept the cardboard cut-out and I figure I'll buy some dowel rods and plan on throwing them away after each shooting day. Other than that one complaint, this was definitely worth the $30 or so I spent on it.
We were all chomping at the bit to get to the bleeding zombie, so after warming up at the shooting gallery we moved on to our captive zombie. That wooden enema actually worked pretty well to keep him in one place (well, that and the fact that he had no legs).
I was surprised when I unpacked him at how lightweight he was and I wondered how on earth he could possibly be a bleeder when he weighed so little. I also noticed that Zombie Industries was kind enough to provide us with a couple of spaces for Zomboom! - one in the zombie's head and one in his chest. Because we've been under fire weather warnings, I chose to leave the Zomboom! at home and not risk starting a prairie fire. I'm thinking that the Zomboom! will be fun to have next winter in the snow.
We had a plan in mind for shooting the bleeder. We started with the smallest caliber we had (.22) and worked our way up. Being as how I bought the bleeder, I pulled rank and got to go first with my new GSG (which, BTW, I *love*). I know the rule for shooting zombies is "two to the head kills 'em dead" and I was shooting a .22, so all shots were headshots. It was hard to see him bleed through those little holes, but when I put enough holes in him, he started oozing pink. Did you know zombies bleed pink? Yeah, me either.
M pulled out her new XDM 9mm and went next while I loaded up RCC's new PX4 Storm with 9mm Golden Sabers. The nines made slightly bigger holes and we moved onto chest shots just for the bleeding factor. There wasn't much tissue damage difference between the round-nose 9mm and the Golden Sabers. I think that's because there really wasn't much "tissue" to 'activate' the Golden Sabers - they passed right on through.
Junior had his Taurus .45 loaded and ready after I gave the PX4 Storm a go. The .45s really started showing the destruction. I almost felt sorry for the zombie. Almost. I mean, really, chest shots weren't going to kill him and he was being kept upright by a 1x2 stick in his arse. Good thing I unloaded twenty or so .22 rounds into his nogger to put him out of his misery first.
After we'd worked our way up from .22 to .45, we went back and started all over again. I let The Girl, Deejo's daughter, unload a magazine or two from the GSG into the zombie and we all switched around guns for fun. Honestly, we probably could have put another couple of hundred rounds through the zombie, but seeing the destruction just whetted our appetite for more zombie destruction, so we pulled out the shotguns. Yeah, baby. Though I had slugs, I chose not to use them on the zombie, seeing as how there wasn't much of him left and I wasn't sure how far the slug would fly after passing through a tissue-less zombie.
I used RCC's shotgun, which has the GoPro mount on it and had set up the Flip camera earlier to record the destruction. We loaded up the shotguns and took our turns throwing #7.5 birdshot into the carcass. Was a blast!
I wish I'd set the Flip up closer than the firing line, I think we would have had much better footage. Next time, I'll take the tripod out and arrange the camera so that we can see every round (even the .22s) hit.
Two thumbs up for the bleeding zombie targets - I'll definitely be buying more in the near future. Easy to set up, fun to shoot, and they're biodegradable, so clean up is a breeze!
