stamina
02-03-2013, 3:10 PM
Like a lot of women, I was introduced to firearms via a male family member, in this case a beloved uncle.
My uncle was a Korean War veteran, and his time in that conflict caused him some problems from which he was, unfortunately, never able to recover. He was rarely able to relax and smile, one notable exception being when he was shooting.
He always said that the focus and concentration of competition shooting was for him a zen-like, meditative act, that enabled him to get to a genuinely peaceful state in his mind.
So he was my first teacher, and we had good times, esp going outdoors to a lot of places in Southern California where today it's just not possible to shoot any longer. This was 1983, and he bought a new Browning Challenger 3 that year, and that was the first firearm I ever used. We went shooting every week, and got to know the firearm as a reliable and trusty friend that always delivered a fun time.
Later that same year, he suffered a setback and was never able to shoot again. The gun was packed away in Sept of 1983 and it stayed packed away until last month, when he passed away. He left it to me, and so I was reunited with it after 30 years.
Took it out of a 30 year-old leather gun rug, wiped it off, and thought it looked pretty good for an aging firearm:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8330/8442144369_36dfae79e5_b.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8506/8442144271_b2909da347_b.jpg
Needless to say, I was very much looking forward to shooting it again. Took it apart, cleaned it (it was still spotless from the cleaning I gave it before it was packed away), and :facepalm:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8052/8443234758_d8bd8a8486_z.jpg
Ah, yes. The Bad Old Days of plastics. Remember cracking dashboards and vinyl seats? :oji: Luckily those buffers are still made, and now they use HDPE, so the replacements I bought will probably last a lot longer than the original. So after waiting 10 days for the new buffers, I was finally ready to go...
This magazine's springs have been fully compressed for 30 years -- will they "take a set", or will they work fine?
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8377/8443234810_628bdcb51a_b.jpg
Likewise the ammo in that magazine is 30 years old - any bets as to if / how it will fire?
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8195/8442144315_a481be55f7_b.jpg
My uncle was a Korean War veteran, and his time in that conflict caused him some problems from which he was, unfortunately, never able to recover. He was rarely able to relax and smile, one notable exception being when he was shooting.
He always said that the focus and concentration of competition shooting was for him a zen-like, meditative act, that enabled him to get to a genuinely peaceful state in his mind.
So he was my first teacher, and we had good times, esp going outdoors to a lot of places in Southern California where today it's just not possible to shoot any longer. This was 1983, and he bought a new Browning Challenger 3 that year, and that was the first firearm I ever used. We went shooting every week, and got to know the firearm as a reliable and trusty friend that always delivered a fun time.
Later that same year, he suffered a setback and was never able to shoot again. The gun was packed away in Sept of 1983 and it stayed packed away until last month, when he passed away. He left it to me, and so I was reunited with it after 30 years.
Took it out of a 30 year-old leather gun rug, wiped it off, and thought it looked pretty good for an aging firearm:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8330/8442144369_36dfae79e5_b.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8506/8442144271_b2909da347_b.jpg
Needless to say, I was very much looking forward to shooting it again. Took it apart, cleaned it (it was still spotless from the cleaning I gave it before it was packed away), and :facepalm:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8052/8443234758_d8bd8a8486_z.jpg
Ah, yes. The Bad Old Days of plastics. Remember cracking dashboards and vinyl seats? :oji: Luckily those buffers are still made, and now they use HDPE, so the replacements I bought will probably last a lot longer than the original. So after waiting 10 days for the new buffers, I was finally ready to go...
This magazine's springs have been fully compressed for 30 years -- will they "take a set", or will they work fine?
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8377/8443234810_628bdcb51a_b.jpg
Likewise the ammo in that magazine is 30 years old - any bets as to if / how it will fire?
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8195/8442144315_a481be55f7_b.jpg