a target I meant to post earlier.  After a long day of shooting, multiple guns, multiple trips to the range, here is the last target of the day.  That last bull (top left) is a 42-4x . . .  offhand.  Hard to say when THAT will ever happen again.

Snow day trigger work

Spent the snow day working on the triggers of my CZ 452s. First up was the American, which got the green YoDave shim tube between the sere and the barrel, and the third heaviest spring. Shot a couple of targets with it earlier in the afternoon--not quite a hair trigger, but very, very light and virtually no creep. Pretty impressive, actually.


Came home and did the UltraLux. This one got the thinnest (blue) tube, and although I was going to put on the heaviest spring, it was longer than the factory spring and felt like it would stiffer than the factory spring. So I opted for the #2 spring (second lightest). Got everything back together, shot a couple of targets. Managed the following target offhand, one of my better efforts. The Ultra trigger is not quite as light as the American, but comfortable with the BRNO sights.

Other than falling apart on the fourth bull (I was getting pretty tired at that point), this was pretty good offhand shooting for me with the aperture sights.

You'll see on this first benchrest target where I got stuck after the first three bulls (clockwise from the sighter) just a hair to the right of the x-ring. Messed with the screws, pushed/nudged the windage knob gently but firmly for the next two bulls, finally dialed in on the sixth bull:

I'm pretty pleased so far. Offhand shooting seems easier with these sights, at least for the Ultra -- I've always struggled to shoot the Ultra as well as I shoot the lighter Trainer. The first bench target with the thing dialed in yielded the following results:

That's pretty good for me--I generally can't do that consistently with my scoped American. (and yes, I always seem to fall apart on the third bull . . . don't know exactly why that is. but I usually finish strong.)

enough for now. As soon as I'm done with this post I'm going to attack the sights with some Kroil to loosen things up, and then a good cleaning and oiling.

Finally got the BRNO sights on the UltraLux today, with pictures below. I have to say, the BRNO target sight photos thread on rimfirecentral was very helpful, particularly the photo of the modified screwdriver to seat the nut holding the front sight to the ramp. I did exactly that with a Dremel tool and it worked great, whole thing only took 10-15 minutes.

Took the gun down to the club tonight, but also had Sophia with me trying her new 22 as well, so I only got to shoot a couple of targets with the new sights, but I was in and around the black pretty quickly. Offhand didn't seem to difficult at all, and first three sighters off the bench went into a single hole--that got me pretty cranked up.

SINCLAIR INTERNATIONAL : Forend Benchrest Adaptor -

SINCLAIR INTERNATIONAL : Forend Benchrest Adaptor -

Caldwell Rock front rest on sale at Cabelas

Just ran across this sale, the Caldwell Rock BR 1000 is on sale at Cabelas for $89.  Normally this lists for $199 and tends to sell online for $160-170, so this is a good deal.  Here's the info:

Caldwell® Rock BR™ 1000 Shooting Rest

• Magnum size for heavy rifles and extreme-distance shooting
• Massive, 24-lb. frame supported by a wide 18" footprint
• Precision, ball-bearing elevation system
• Includes two forend bags

Unleash the full potential of your rifle and ammunition. The the magnum-sized BR 1000 is extra wide and heavy, perfect for taming hard-hitting long-range rifles. With features like a fine-adjustment ball-bearing elevation system, windage-adjustable cradle and customizable bag tensioning, it's built to meet the high expectations of competitive bench-rest shooters. The two-stage elevation adjustment reaches up to 11-1/2". It includes a 3" three-lobe bag and a 5" three-lobe bag. Stable, recoil-soaking 18" cast-iron footprint. Long-life stainless steel components. Accepts any of the Caldwell Deluxe front rest bags.
Weight: 24 lbs.

Seven Steps To Better Shooting

Seven Steps To Better Shooting

From http://www.shootingtimes.com/longgun_reviews/mark_091306/index1.html

1. Do you jerk the trigger? Adjust the grip of your shooting hand so that your thumb doesn’t wrap around the wrist of the stock. Sometimes eliminating your ability to “grip” the stock will solve the problem.

2. Riflescope magnification higher than 6X can hinder offhand shooting. If you have trouble seeing the target with low magnification, get a bigger target.

3. Coarse open sights can be difficult to align on a target. Use a six-o’clock hold: hold at the bottom of the target. This provides a much more defined aiming point with open sights.

4. To help steady the rifle raise your shooting elbow so it is parallel to the ground or at a 90-degree angle to your body. This will pinch the rifle between your shoulder and cheek providing a rigid shooting platform.

5. The best offhand shot I know often says, “If you hold long, you hold wrong.” Don’t struggle to hold a position for more than eight or 10 seconds. If you haven’t fired by then, lower the rifle and relax.

6. Do most of your live fire practice with a quality rimfire. It will save money and help overcome flinching.

7. To avoid fatigue, never shoot more than 20 to 30 rounds per live fire session.

Searching for new ammo . . .

Have had to go searching for new rimfire ammo since I burned the last brick I had of Federal Champion Target #714.

After a trip to Mike's Ammo in Horseheads, here's the best so far, using Federal 510 off sandbags at 50ft indoors:

This was using a CZ 452 American with a Mueller APV target scope.

Tried the CCI Blazer, but the groups were just a bit larger; I also have some CCI standard velocity that shoots real well. The Federal 510 is high velocity, but at 50 ft stays supersonic to the target so should be all right for competition.

Using the Trainer for offhand, open iron sights practice.

The aging eyes saga continues

Been working on my shooting using my CZ trainer with open iron sights, shooting 50 foot NRA targets. With my normal contacts it was pretty rough; contacts with reading glasses not much better; things improved a bit with bifocal contact lenses. Today, I shot with my new eyeglasses, which have progressive lenses.

Here's the target I shot. I'm pretty pleased with the results: I could see the front sight pretty well, and as I worked on a consistent sight picture, the progressive lenses helped me maintain a consistent cheek weld as I worked to put the front sight into sharpest focus (there is a sweet spot where the front sight is clearest). This is a benefit of the progressive lenses that had not occurred to me.

Now the problem will be getting shooting glasses in polycarbonate safety lenses. These won't be cheap. But I'm thinking that my shooting will improve pretty dramatically by switching over to eyeglasses versus contact lenses and shooting glasses.

3 Below Honey

Record Cold across the Northland

Originally printed at http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/local/Record-Cold-across-the-Northland-114356369.html

By KBJR News 1
January 21, 2011

Temperatures have been reported as low as -46 degrees for International Falls beating the previopus record set in 1954 of -41F.
A Extreme Cold Warning, Wind Chill Warning and Advisory expire today at 10am.
Fristbite times in Duluth have been hovering around 10-15 minutes today with the cold snap.
Temperatures this afternoon will be in the negative single digits for Highs.
Here are some of this morning's lows collected from the National Weather Service in Duluth, MN
TEMP LOCATION
---- -----------------------
-46 INTERNATIONAL FALLS
-43 EMBARRASS
-43 BIGFORK
-43 ASHLAKE
-43 EFFIE
-40 BIRCHDALE
-38 CRANE LAKE
-37 MINONG
-37 HILL CITY
-36 LONGVILLE
-36 PINE RIVER
-36 SEAGULL LAKE
-36 ELY
-36 WRIGHT
-33 GRAND RAPIDS
-33 MCGREGOR
-33 AITKIN
-33 HIBBING
-31 HAYWARD
-31 MOOSE LAKE
-30 SIREN
-26 TWO HARBORS
-26 SILVER BAY
-24 DULUTH

Our Weather Watcher Zeke in Alborn, MN had a temperature of -40F this morning.

Global warming panic explained

hot Italian sausage

sausage day today:

1.5 pounds venison
.5 pounds pork fat
3 pounds pork shoulder
5 tsp black pepper
5 tsp paprika
4 tsp salt
5 tsp garlic powder
5 tsp fennel
3 tsp anise seed
5 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup ice water

Grind venison, fat, and pork shoulder with coarse plate.  Mix together.  Add black pepper, paprika, salt, and garlic to meat, and mix by hand.  In food processor or blender, combine fennel, anise, red pepper, and ice water.  Add to sausage mixture and mix by hand.  Chill sausage mix in freezer 10 minutes, run through grinder with fine plate.  Cook or freeze.

Demons

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