RIFLEMAN'S JOURNAL - JULY 2003

Yes, it's a damn litmus test. If someone doesn't trust me with weapons, why should I trust them at all? The only reason to restrict the private ownership of weapons is to oppress and control and enslave a population. Crime isn't in it. Crooks can buy guns right out of police evidence rooms, or probably right out of the holsters, from crooked blueshirts, for cash, or drugs, or sexual favors, or gods know what. Tons of illegal drugs, hundreds of illegal immigrants, cross our border every day, it would be insultingly simple to smuggle guns instead - or in addition. Already happening in "gun-free" England, it's a bloodbath over there now. Manchester has been nicknamed "Gunchester." Prohibition of alcohol didn't work in the 1920s, unless somebody wanted to boost crime rates and government powers. Prohibition of firearms, or tobacco, or drugs, or abortions if you wanna go there, isn't working and isn't going to work either - at least, not for the stated purposes.

The Federal Government doesn't know where hundreds of their firearms, including fully automatic submachineguns, have disappeared to. And that's just the one's they're admitting to. I damn sure won't trust them with anything of mine!

John Lott's The Bias Against Guns on hold at library, I forget my queue position. Kinda surprised the lefties ordered it. Stack of the Declaration of Independence delivered to free-literature shelves. My queue position, last I checked, #56 of 66 for Ann Coulter's Treason. That's rather a lot, in my experience. :)

Actually Ann's too far right for my taste - libertarian, here, remember. But I'd still be more comfortable in a room full of card-carrying members of the John Birch Society than in the same ZIP code as a registered Democrat. At least the Birchies have morals.

Speaking of ZIP codes, the Free State Project describes Wyoming as the "most libertarian state" in the country.... (Daydreaming about where to emigrate after winning the lottery.)

Now reading Hope by Aaron Zelman and L. Neil Smith and so far it's a page-turner. Considering donating it to the library when I'm done.

How many people have ever read the Constitution? I mean really, understanding what it means? You're not grasping it? Here's the condensed version: it's a list of things the government is allowed to do. If something is not on that list, government is not allowed to do it. We have not had a Constitutional government since at least 1861.

Government bad. Freedom good. Vershtehen sie?

231 - Friday, 4 July 2003: Happy Independence Day!

232 - Saturday, 5 July 2003: Had a blast at the engineer friend's house, blew up lots of stuff. Another co-op fireworks fund already started for New Year's.

Finally got that wrench set on sale, now should have plenty of tools. Also got a pair of oil filters on sale but no oil or catch-pan yet. Minor electrical concerns with the car but everything that matters still works. Just about to go to U-Pull-It, probably start with the dome light and driver's seat. Should probably get a multimeter for working on the wiring, or dig out the one I think I still have - nah, it's too deep, the whole apartment would implode. I'm sure someone will have one on sale.

Broke down and spent $56.68 on new cartridges for a $49.99 printer. :( And that was at 10% off. But it is a decent printer.

Did not find the front seats I wanted, will try their other locations. Just now noticed that the passenger front seat is mismatched with the rest of the interior already. Fixed dome light, windshield washer, and got some replacement instrument light bulbs, will open that up some other day. Informed that rental agreement precludes working on car in driveway, must be out on street. Eh, it's nasty gravel in the driveway anyway, though I haven't yet been under the car for anything but looking and bolting on the front license plate. Discovered I need some good screwdrivers and probably a hex-wrench set. My toolbox could use some more ballast anyway. Anyway the Haynes manual is useful.

Finished Hope a couple days ago, enjoyed, found some thought-provoking ideas on national security and immigration policy. Don't know if I'll donate it to the library or not, might want to hang on to it.

Also helped the woodworker friend work on his small sternwheeler riverboat. The hull is nearing completion, possibly this summer he'll flip it upright and start on the rest. He's getting out of cabinetry, so there won't be any employment for me there, but really I didn't like wrasslin' a 4'x8'x3/4" sheet of plywood onto the tablesaw, or the finished product into the back of his pickup, any more than he did, so no great loss. He's thinking of building guitars now, a lot easier to deliver. He's already built a couple very nice harps.

233 - Sunday, 6 July 2003: Argh! Big 5 has a Mosin 91/30 long rifle collector's bundle for $99.99! "Arsenal refinished!" "Excellent condition!" With socket bayonet! And sling, issue cleaning rod and charger pouch. Grumble. Dig out my cleaning rod, headspace gauge, mutter mutter.... Also the same deal on the M38 carbine, but that doesn't come with a bayonet and I already have two M44s which do.

Stopped at Bi-Mart first to get a second cleaning rod because the one I have isn't long enough, combined sections from the two. Only one 91/30 bundle per store, could not get my headspace gauge under the extractor, took it on faith, I can always swap a bolt head later. Decent bore, deeply reblued metal, put it on layaway. Only $25, and I have until October to pay it off.

234 - Monday, 7 July 2003: Arg! Took near half an hour to change one light bulb in the instrument panel! #@*% industrial protectionism, that's what it is! The Haynes manual could have been a little clearer too, but I managed. So this car-maintenance stuff isn't so hard after all. Will need a set of real screwdrivers in future. Possibly decent, long, hex-wrenches too. Anyway it seems only one light was out, over the fuel gauge, so I didn't even need the spares I got at U-Pull-It. I just swapped it for the annoying shift-indicator light.

Besides finding perfectly serviceable parts at low low prices, another good reason to go to a place like U-Pull-It is to see how things are taken apart before you take yours apart. Others had gone before me in search of instrument lights so I knew what to expect when I got the panel off.

Problem-solving ability. Analytical thought. I dropped out of public education. So there.

Consulted the back pages of the Dixie Gun Works catalog, rummaged through desk drawer, found .30 Carbine case and large paperclip, tracked down small butane torch and the solder from my electronics days, made 20-grain volumetric blackpowder/Pyrodex dipper. Three of those will give me the 60 grains I want for my Pyrodex 12-gauge loads, and one will nicely fill my .36 revolver's paper cartridges (still under development). Then sorted out the hulls I've collected, sticking with the Winchester AA low-base red plastic type to start. Many of the ones I got from Cruffler are of that type and once-fired, while most of the ones salvaged from the club are high-brass buckshot hulls, apparently also once-fired. At least six dozen of each, and well over a hundred more-than- once-fired AA hulls that need further inspection and culling. May do a loading session tomorrow, but would only make a few rounds, no sense going into full production until I've tested my chosen load.

Still haven't found Accurate Solo 1000 smokeless powder. The Pyrodex loads are for recreation and possibly Cowboy Action shooting, but I want some approximately-equivalent smokeless loads for possible 3-Gun competition - and I also want some smokeless to develop a low- recoil (my definition) buckshot load for the Mossberg for home-defense.

235 - Tuesday, 8 July 2003: Sorted through the more-than-once-fired hulls, discarded nearly half - eh, they were free, and I've still got 74 once-fired.

Sorted through Lee's powder bushings and experimented with the volumetric measure, the .128 powder bushing is really close to 30 grains by volume, I'll just double-charge the powder and use the Load-All with Pyrodex!

Bonus - these hulls don't need to be resized for the double! That saves time, since the Load- All's resizing die is a collar that must be mounted on and removed from each hull by hand, and requires significant force to do its job. Decided to make ten rounds, will test them in the Mossberg next time I'm at Clark Rifles, possibly this Saturday the 12th but more likely the next, the 19th. Cruffler's pestering me to go to Barberton on the 12th too, though, I might do a twofer that day - but probably can't spare the range fee this paycheck anyway.

Using CCI 209 (regular) primers. Deprimed, reprimed, charged with powder, rolling right along-

-and forgot to double-charge the powder, not realizing until after I put in the .125" overpowder card, and the ~.5" lubed cushion wad. So, tore and wadded up some newspaper and made an experimental blank, clearly marked.

Second round, two charges of 30 grains by volume, overpowder card, cushion wad, and an overshot card, maybe about .02" (I should have bought those calipers at the last Expo show) to protect the shot from the lube. Now an ounce of #6 shot by Lee's bushing.

-And the column height is way too low. Eyeball, guesstimate, dump out shot, add two overpowder cards, add shot again, that looks about right, crimps OK. Seven more rounds like that but without the overshot card above the cushion wad, seems all right. Tenth round, another paper- packed blank, this time with 60 grains and no cards over the cushion wad, just to see what happens. And I want some blanks for holiday noisemaking anyway.

Probably not a good idea to use the Load-All's powder reservoir with Pyrodex - granule shearing, much, and it doesn't settle very well so you could get light charges if you forget to jostle it. So, decided to make ten more, measuring powder with the dipper I made yesterday. Much slower but I don't end up with Pyrodex dust, and I don't have to empty the powder reservoir again.

You may think I'm getting bogged down with minutia, but I'm also using this weblog as my reloading log. So:

Round #11, three dips, .125" card, .5" wad, one .125 card, shot, and eyeball - a little low, add two overshot cards, shot and crimp. Hmm, next one without the last two thin cards. That's just about right, so, the powder bushing was throwing light anyway (Pyrodex is bulky, remember, compared to modern smokeless powders, and a light or heavy charge is immediately apparent in column height), I'll stick with the dipper. Also my supply of cards will last longer! Will probably order some from Dixie, I think they offer them by 500 and 1,000.

Hm, #s 13 and 14 were a little low, putting the two thin cards back in again. #15 better, add another thin card, #16 through #20 pretty good. So, my load is a Winchester AA plastic hull, 60 grains by volume Pyrodex RS, a .125" overpowder card, a .5" cushion wad, another overpowder card and three .025" (according to Dixie's catalog) overshot cards and one ounce by bushing #6 shot. Eight-point crimps, by the way, the Load-All has stations for both 8- and 6-point. Dixie's catalog describes their wads and cards (Circle Fly brand, p.279-280 of catalog #152, with Chuck Yeager on the cover) as the same thicknesses I'm dealing with here, in packages of 500 wads and 1,000 of either card, for a unit price much lower than I paid at the show, even after shipping. They also have the Blue and Gray brand I have now, for about what I paid. The Circle Fly wads are unlubed, which is probably just what I want for plastic-hull cartridges. Might get a muzzleloading shotgun someday but feeling no great yearning for one.

So I can make old-timey-sorta 12-gauge cartridges with cards and fiber wads instead of modern plastic. Buckshot comes later. Using the charts in the back of Dixie's catalog (which are worth the $5 cover price all by themselves), nine pellets of OO is a little over one ounce so I won't have to change much in my load, I just have to find the stuff. Maybe I want #1 instead, that will pack four per layer in a 12 gauge. Four layers would be - ow! - about an ounce and a third! Three layers, twelve .30" pellets, would be about three-quarters of an ounce, that ought to kick even less and still offer good striking power. Once I get a smokeless powder I like I can work up a whole different load for the Mossberg, and I've got 85 Federal high-brass hulls, originally their Tactical OO load, to put them in. The Mossberg can run on factory ammo for now, I do have recoil tolerance, the old double is the main reason I got the Load-All and being able to load for the Mossberg is just bonus.

Anyway all that distracted me, briefly, from how bummed I am at work. It's a zoo. I'm one of maybe two and a half people on the warehouse floor who can type more than three words a minute - and that matters, with computerized inventory, and the mere existence of such subliteracy is quite depressing - and there are some people there twice my age who act half my age. I did get a raise, finally, of an enormous twenty-five cents per hour, bringing me to a whopping $9.10, which after taxes is maybe two extra gallons of gas per paycheck. I'll probably put in a vacation request later this week or early next (no telling when I would get the actual time off) - and the worst part is, if I know what's good for me, I'll spend most of it looking for another job. :(

236 - Wednesday, 9 July 2003: My raise is retroactive to last pay period, so there's that at least. Next payday the 18th. Put in for a week's vacation - I have over two saved - scheduled for the last week this month. Learned I cannot cash extra vacation or sick time unless I leave the company, but at least I'll get it all then. Also learned there's a 120-hour maximum for accumulated vacation time, I'm somewhere between 80 and 90 right now.

So, I'll still have another week's vacation time available. A coworker, one of the few who knows anything about anything, has an interview this Friday at some kind of welding place in Troutdale, at the east end of the metro sprawl, and says they're looking for more people. I took welding for 23 months in Job Corps but it's been a long time since I picked up a stinger or a torch, and I never did get around to wire-feed, but the coworker also says this place trains. He'll share with me on Monday. Warehouse manager has already figured out that if this coworker quits, I won't be far behind.

Coworker says the manager says he'll have to hire two newbies when we two quit, to which I responded, based on past observation, No, four newbies; one of which won't show up, two of which will quit in the first week and the fourth will turn out to be yet another subliterate FWR (Future Welfare Recipient), thus requiring the hiring of another four newbies, at least eight people to replace me and this other guy.

Picked up Lott's The Bias Against Guns at library yesterday, jumping it to the front of the reading queue. Something to leave out on the break room table in my Usual Spot, for the Democrat office critters to see. And that's another thing. One of these office critters has a "Dean for America" bumper sticker - I mentioned that a while ago - posted conspicuously in her office, where it's visible to the entire office when her door is open (which it always is) and to everyone coming into the office from the warehouse. Also a "Regime Change Begins at Home" poster. (So, she wants to replace a national socialist with... another socialist?) But when I wanted to put up the unadulterated Bill of Rights in the break room, on Bill of Rights Day, it was denied, with some lame excuse that the office was "her private space." It's a blatant, discriminatory double-standard, which is just what my kind has come to expect from that kind.

Democrats are traitors. They are bigots. They are the enemy. They're even worse than Republicans. This office creature also has "Dean for America" signs taped to the rear side windows of her car. I just now fired up WordPerfect and made some for mine, for Ron Paul, the only republican in Congress (and I don't mean Republican). They look something like this (with black and white opposite of this of course):

RON
PAUL
for PRESIDENT
www.paul2004.com
THE LAST, BEST HOPE
for a
CONSTITUTIONAL
REPUBLIC

237: Saturday, 12 July 2003: Zzzz....

Completely wasted from work, didn't get out of bed ‘til noon, wimped out on Barberton show. Later, managed to bike over to the flea market for some exercise, saw a Barnett crossbow with Tasco 3-9x scope and what was left of one bolt, $40. If it's still there next weekend (after payday), I might get it. Big 5 wants $100 for a new one when on sale. But then I might pass, too, I'd prefer traditional, period styling in a bow or crossbow, and this Barnett ain't it.

Really short of funds, and gas (another excuse to pass on Barberton this month). %$#&! Lexmark cartridges. Can probably squeeze a few bucks out of my accounts to get me through next week though.

Gart Sports also has sales, this month (through the 27th) featuring a Homak 8-place gun cabinet for $80, which might actually fit in my hatchback, but probably not in the apartment yet; Bi- Mart or G.I. Joe's often have similar offerings. Gart also advertises specials on 9x19mm and .223 ammunition, both Winchester USA white-box. If the .223 is what I think it is, it's actually M193 ball with military headstamps. Of course I don't own a .223, or a 5.56x45mm either, but it's an international-standard caliber, and Portland's blueshirts often carry ARs in their cruisers, and.... Same concept with the 9x19mm (though I think the blueshirts around here use .40 - in Glocks, ick).

Still planning on a practice session at Clark Rifles on the 19th, hopefully along with Cruffler (not least for the lower Guest range fee :). Upon further examination, the PIG Match's course of fire is 40 rounds, plus a minimum of six sighters: 10 rounds each in four stages, 10 minutes prone at 300 yards, 70 seconds prone at 200, 10 minutes standing at 100 and 60 seconds sitting at 100. 130 rounds Albanian 7.62x54R left, if I save 60 for the match that leaves 70 to practice with, which is a useful amount. Since I am getting paid on the 18th, maybe I'll buy the other tin of Albanian that Cruffler should still have, I'll e-mail him about that presently (and to apologize for standing him up at Barberton), then I'd have plenty.

Yojimbo, for a samurai flick, is not a downer. Interestingly, the box says director Akira Kurosawa was inspired by his love of the American Western, which Yojimbo was later remade as (A Fistful of Dollars by Sergio Leone). Full circle.

Finally finished watching the flintknapping video and will hang onto it a while, I think I should watch it a couple more times. Bruce Bradley, Ph.D., does the rock-whacking and man does he know what he's doing. Wow. All I want to do is touch up my gunflints.

Now reading Lott's The Bias Against Guns and already furious by the second chapter. I have not read More Guns, Less Crime, but understand it's kinda academically dry anyway, and that Lott deliberately made Bias for a wider audience, and so far seems to have succeeded. I also understand both he and his children (like, a newspaper clipping of a school shooting and a note saying "I hope this happens to your children") have received death threats as a result of his objective, scientific, truth-seeking work. Which only demonstrates what kind of sick, perverted people are behind the gun-prohibition movement.

Huh - if I'm reading it right, there are three relays of ten shooters each in the PIG Match, two hours apart. The match fee is $15 and $5 for successive relays, which I think means that for $25 I could shoot the match three times if there's room in each relay! Interesting. But probably there will only be room for one. Anyway hope to get some practice on that range, at those distances, preferably with those targets (listed as MR-63, SR-42 and SR-1), on the 19th.

238: Monday, 14 July 2003: My one piece of mail today was a beg-for-money from Michael Benjamin, Republican, running for senate in New York against Schumer on a pro-gun platform. Might send him something after payday - or later, the election's a ways off - depending how the raise works out in real life. Reading his site, he's obviously less republican than Republican, but he departs refreshingly from the herd on the drug issue, proposing to fight the demand side (through tax-funded treatment programs, phooey, but at least it's a different idea from the rest of the elephants and jackasses), instead of supply which of course is working about as well as banning booze did in the ‘20s.

One semi-independent gas station between my apartment and work is selling Plus gas for $1.56⁹, same as their Regular, and as the average price for Regular around town. Got $5, should be fine for the rest of the week. Yes, Cruffler, I could have made it to Barberton after all, awright already. :)

ARGH! Rude uncivilized NEIGHBORS won't turn down their EXTREMELY LOUD TV with their WINDOWS OPEN RIGHT NEXT TO MY TINY LITTLE APARTMENT for HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS! Hopped in my little green car and drove. And drove, and drove, out to Troutdale, past which there isn't much, citywise. Should have brought a book. I will be taking long, longer drives in future, to the Pacific coast for example, because now I damn well can. Will probably invest in a larger gas can, or another smaller one or two like I already have, which fit nicely in the cargo net in back. Peaceful out there, less traffic (except of course dodging the freight trucks going through Troutdale but that's not the truckers' fault, they're just doing their jobs and I'm in their way), saw gorgeous Pacific Northwest sunset. Saw a gas station in Troutdale with Regular at $1.46⁹, but didn't get any, only had $6 left to spend, got some groceries on the way back. Another station a block away wanted $1.60.

Man did it suck to come back. At least the TV was finally down when I did. A Major Life Goal is to live somewhere Other Than a City. Probably a lottery ticket needs to be involved. :(

Might have minor brake trouble - some noise, and the steering wheel jiggles a bit when braking from speed, like something's uneven. Probably just need new shoes, or whatever. Will examine Haynes manual. Some people cannot handle mechanical devices. I am not one of those people.

(#%&* rental agreement, I've lived here near a decade and never had a car so never learned that I couldn't work on it in the driveway, and I don't want to leave my car even for a minute, like to fetch a tool or a glass of juice, with her guts hanging out on this street. Probably go to the woodworker's place. I could help him with his riverboat. And he's got jack stands.)

-Still haven't done oil change. Coupon in snail-spam for a local place, $15, might do that just to get it done and do it myself next time. Apparently no significant leakage, of anything for that matter. Air conditioner may need recharging, Haynes manual shows how to inspect but warns strongly against non-professional service.

Before I drove off, I think I made a viable prototype for a shotgun speedloader. By packrat reflex, I've stockpiled bunches of small, heavy cardboard tubes, 4" long by 1¼" outside diameter by 1" inside, roughly. The shipping labels come on them, at work, and one or two get used on an average day. This is very much the right size, though of course not near the length nor of an appropriate material, for the speedloader I have in mind. Anyway I took the Mossberg off the rack and stared at it, then dug out the X-Acto knife and started whittling and I'm pretty sure I've got the business end figured out, if the PVC pipe from the hardware store (which I haven't bought yet anyway) will bend the way I want it to and stay there - that will be heat, of course. The stuff comes in like eight-foot lengths, and the estimated finished length is sixteen inches for the four-round model, with the mating projection and the plug/follower and enough tube to hold it all, so there's five loaders from a single piece counting waste. Maybe six, I measured long to be sure I had enough.

Probably make a four-round tube, generally, lighter and less awkward to handle than the full eight, though of course reloading with eight rounds would take twice as long - but still, if it works, bunches faster than the old way. (Could conceivably make a speedloader carrier to attach to the butt, instead of the five-place elastic-loop carrier I have now - no, that would get in the way of a firing grip on a conventional stock with the four-round models, though it could work on a vertical-pistol-grip or folding stock.) A long slit down one side will be for the operating handle, which will pass through to a moveable plug - a magazine follower, really - appropriately shaped to shove the rounds all the way through the speedloader and into the magazine tube past the Mossberg's shell stops. (Another reason to make it four rounds instead of eight, that slit will make the tube squishy-wiggly, and that would be worse with length.) The slit will be closed at both ends to keep the plug from falling out, and the loader will dispense and be filled from the same end that will mate with the shotgun's loading port.

Still have not figured an elegant way to keep the rounds inside the tube until I want them out. Been fiddling with the spring from an ordinary wooden clothespin, mangling it with pliers. Might be something there if I can figure how to make it stay on the tube with four rounds of 12-gauge going thumpa right through it. Maybe wire-wrap like the stocks of those grenade-launching SMLEs. Meanwhile, probably I would just tape some heavy paper, like from a grocery sack, right over the dispensing end of the loader after it is filled. The paper would then break when I shoved on the handle, and would be somewhat less likely to gum up the works than, say, something cut from a plastic grocery sack, if it were to find its way inside the shotgun. Of course the paper and tape would have to be replaced when the loader is refilled, but you don't worry about how fast a speedloader is prepared for use, rather how fast it is used.

Hmm, will want to carry the tubes dispensing-end-up to minimize stress on that paper - but the operating handle will be at the other end, and sticking out of course. Hm, a folding handle? Spring-loaded even? Like perhaps cut down from one of those cheap carabiner-style keyrings, hm, so you fold the handle and slip the filled loader into its holster, and the handle pops into place when you pull it out, hm. Well, I shouldn't get ahead of myself.

Actually, tactically, I want to carry them dispensing-end-down, so I hold the shotgun in one hand and roll it belly-up to expose the loading port, then grab the loader with the other hand, mate it to the port and shove on the handle with that same hand. Thus requiring a real method of retaining large, heavy 12-gauge rounds, by the smaller front end, under significant jostling. Hm. Well, if I can get it to work at all with just the paper and a non-folding handle I'll be pretty pleased with myself. Then I can refit it later, or just make a new one with an improved design.

In other news: The home hobbyist machinist, reading this ‘blog and noting my desire to stockpile .223 ammunition on principle despite my not owning a rifle in that caliber, suggests the NEF Handi-Rifle, an affordable break-barrel single-shot - but, no, the idea is to take an AR (or L85, or G36, or FA-MAS) off a dead fascist (or monarchist, communist, globalist) thug. (Which would also imply taking his ammunition so I wouldn't need to stockpile that caliber, but I'm an Accumulator, not a Collector. Logic isn't always in it. Besides, it's on sale! Also Clark Rifles apparently has a couple ARs for club use for CMP stuff and I can use that ammunition to familiarize myself with the preferred weapon of my expected enemy. And to do actual CMP stuff and qualify for a ~$500 Garand, which is by any measure a Real Rifle.)

Besides, as far as I can tell, the Handi-Rifle in .223 does not come with iron sights and I will not own a rifle without them.

Forecast for the weekend, clear and 90 degrees. Good thing Clark Rifles' firing lines are shaded, it can be even worse at altitude. Cruffler resistant to parting with the other tin of Albanian 7.62x54R but I have enough for a practice session and one match relay. If I want to shoot a second relay, it has to be in a different rifle category. I might have access to a Simonov for a second relay but the SKS is not known for accuracy to begin with, and at this point I'm much more intimate with my ‘53 Hungarian Mosin M44. The Mausers are out until I fix that cheek-smacking problem, and I don't think I have enough of any one kind of ammunition left for a whole relay, let alone useful practice, except for the Turk, which I wouldn't trust at 100 yards, never mind 300. Since cargo space is less an issue now, though, I'll probably take the MojoMauser on the 19th anyway. Will look into making a comb riser in the meantime.

Must remember to take the MOA chart from Fred's Guide and use it to measure my front sight(s). Not only can this information be used for rangefinding in the field (Fred's purpose in including it), it can also be useful in making corrections during a match - so many inches this way or that, and the front sight is this many MOA tall and that many MOA wide, and at that distance an MOA is this many inches, you see. Some people cannot do basic math (like the current generation of high-school graduates...). I am not one of those people either.

Uh! Retain the rounds in the loader similarly to percussion caps in a straight-line capper! In fact with the mating protrusion it would look a lot like an overgrown capper. Hm, I'd have to learn how to make springs, and these might end up with weird compound curves - no, that shouldn't be necessary, but they'd be rather large flat things. Hm, possibly scavenge belt clips from some cheesy inside-waistband holsters or knife sheaths or pager or cell-phone carriers, if I can figure how to get them to stay attached to the tube. But paper and tape first just to get the thing working.

Sometime next week, when I have money to spend on plastic pipe.

239: Wednesday, 16 July 2003: Got off work early, tried to relax at home - and the neighbors started up again. Again, drove.

And drove. East, further east, ‘cause there's a lot more city to the west, and a lot of that is like California with trees, and I don't mean that in a nice way - but I'll be going that way too, in future, there's an ocean out past it. Meanwhile, decided to take Historic Columbia River Highway.

Treacherous road, and in some disrepair. My car is a lightweight, bouncy. Glass needs thorough cleaning on both sides. Gaining valuable driving experience.

Further east. Just short of Crown Point, found a little bulge in the road with stone benches that probably date back before the Depression, and a nice view of the river. Sat & read awhile. Finished Lott the other day, now on Roma Eterna by Robert Silverberg.

That was nice, very much what I was looking for. Then a tourist family showed up in an RV and the kids were climbing all over the stonework and I drove further east. Past Crown Point itself - tourists. Miles further on the Historic Highway - would hate to drive that at night! - Multnomah Falls, more tourists. No decent solitude zones found. Imagine it's vastly worse on a weekend. Decided on I-84 for return trip.

And got caught in a slowdown from paving. Crawling along with a freight truck's ass filling my windshield. The gods hate me. Couldn't even take one of the scenic exits I passed, they were closed for the paving. Finally returned and the city still sucks. Neighbornoise abated but still present. I can see I'll be burning a lot of gas.

Haven't tried generating numbers yet, but noticed real difference in fuel-gauge-needle movement, with and without air conditioner. Open window, especially at freeway speed, makes too much noise. The car is noisy, too, generally. Passenger door watershield is decayed, window rattles alarmingly in frame if not all the way closed, hope to fix that via U-Pull-It.

But it's a by-gods car and it's by-gods mine. L. Neil Smith goes on in more than one of his books about the libertarian virtues of the individually-, privately-owned personal vehicle, as opposed to mass-transit. I can dig it.

Apartment manager informs me I can work on my car in the driveway so long as it's not disabled, which it wouldn't be for more than a few hours at any time. Discovering that having a car really is worth the expense and hassle, I'm not going to cripple the thing just when I want it most.

240: Thursday, 17 July 2003: Discovered three more paper bundles, sixty rounds, of Albanian 7.62x54R lurking in what was left of the original-issue tin. This brings my total to 190, plenty for both practice this weekend and the match next, and I can hunt down more of it later.

Turned on local TV news for headlines the other night and got MURDER, ARSON, RAPE, POISONED DOGS, ABDUCTED CHILDREN, AND A FABULOUS FORECAST FOR THE WEEKEND! Turned it off again until it was time for the weather.

Since I found those extra sixty rounds, this makes my plans for tomorrow, payday, slightly less intense - before I found them, Cruffler had finally broken down and offered to trade his tin of Albanian on Saturday for something equivalent to be delivered by me at the next Barberton show. I was going to make phone calls to some Shotgun News vendors to check actual shipping rates, and possibly charge out to Aloha Surplus way out on the west end of the urban sprawl, or gunshops elsewhere, to see if they had anything suitable, but that's no longer necessary.

Need a haircut though. Not only is it hot, it's in the way of my line-of-sight. Also want a ground mat for prone shooting, which I've never done before. Need gas too, and to refill the small can I used up last week and possibly to buy another. Depending how fat my raise check is I might even get new glasses started, finally, though they probably wouldn't be ready in time for the match.

By the way, talking with friends at the Independence Day party I learned that those little dust-mote-thingies wandering across my vision are "floaters", little bits of my eyeball which have broken off inside and for which there is no practical treatment. Crud. At least they're only a distraction and don't seem to be getting any worse. Anyway my current glasses are several years old and beat three- quarters to death and are long past due for replacement.

241: Friday, 18 July 2003: Yup, about $15 more net pay. Frankly I'm not impressed. Now the warehouse manager wants me to start coming in an hour earlier, since I have a car. I wonder if I'll have the willpower to go look for another job on my vacation. I'd better.

Anyway filled the tank with Plus, and the little can too, and started rebuilding savings account. Went to G.I. Joe's, having a sidewalk sale, got an automotive-intended fire extinguisher for $10, and an FRS radio for the same price (nice to have in the glovebox, since I haven't fixed the lighter socket to power the CB yet), and an extra pair of hearing protectors for $5 (for loaners, for example) - and a ground mat for $15. If it's not entirely suitable for prone shooting I can always use it for camping.

Paid car insurance bill, rent fully set aside. Got haircut & groceries. Ready for practice at Clark Rifles tomorrow.

Sort of. Up a little late packing range bag. Decided to not take the MojoMauser, not least since I didn't get around to making a comb riser. Also skipping handgun practice this trip due to ammunition shortage. Taking Mosin with 110 rounds (leaving 80 for the match, which requires a minimum of 46), the Mossberg and the old double with the eighteen live and two blank Pyrodex rounds I loaded recently (and the shooting glasses I strongly dislike wearing), and the Stevens .22 single-shot and an assortment of ammunition. Also taking two sets of Fred's AQT in addition to usual targets, and the later edition of the Guide. Don't know if I'll get a chance to practice on the lower, 300-yard range, there's some kind of match going on but I forget what. Cast Bullet Association maybe, and they might be using that range. Anyway the smaller, 100-yard upper range should still be available for my rifleman training, and a handgun range for testing the shotgun loads.

242: Saturday, 19 July 2003: Arrived at 9am. Leisurely day for me, took my time, yakked with Cruffler, other shooters, Range Officers. Yup, Cast Bullet Association using the 300-yard line for a match all weekend, won't get any long-range practice for the PIG Match today. Have to hope the Albanian ammunition's ballistics match the elevation steps on the M44's rear sight. Good thing there are sighters required for each stage, I'll probably need them. Cruffler running hot-dog stand, getting match business.

(Oh, seven lanes on the upper, 100-yard range, not six.)

Cruffler doing a little shooting, brought a cute NEF/H&R rifle in .22 Hornet with a full "Mannlicher-style" fore-end, and it was grouping under 2 MOA. (And he complains about crappy eyesight. Probably gonna kick my butt in the PIG Match next weekend....) Also had an Interarms commercial Mauser in .375 Holland & Holland, with only five rounds ammunition, of which he let me fire one after handily sighting-in the scope with the other four. Oof! Yes, I have some recoil tolerance, and I hit within about 3 MOA of where I intended, but oof! I could handle a .375 for a couple-few shots to put a large quantity of meat on a dinner table but I damn sure wouldn't want to shoot a match with it. For hunting I'd probably just take one of my 7.92mm Mausers, I can handle enough of that to get enough practice to have a reasonable expectation of making a humane kill.

But the Second Amendment ain't about hunting...

...which brings me to the point of today's trip. Argh! Forgot 45x Tasco spotting scope and larger tripod! Oh well, the little brass 25x stays in the range bag. Starting with the Mosin, my 1"/4 MOA practice targets at 25 yards. RO discourages four targets on the holder, for fear of shooting through the sticks that hold it up, so only two.

First string, high & some left. Compensate, string two on same target, three hits.

Third string, second target - rimlock on second round, what's up with that!? Anyway decent group. Really considering Mojo for this Mosin.

Hm... AQT? How many rounds - 65, counting sighters. How many left - more than enough. Yes. Standing, sitting and prone all allowed, phooey on English Pit.

Stage one, simulating 100 yards, ten rounds on one target in two minutes, standing. "Load one magazine of 10 rounds." That would be nice.... Three sighters on a sighting target scaled for 200 yards, all hits, V, 4 and 3. Chrono in wristwatch, beep- one minute fifty seconds, I got that much right at least. 45 points from a possible 50, better than it felt like when I was doing it.

Stage two, simulating 200 yards, sitting, two rounds each on five targets in 50 seconds, starting from the standing position. "Load one magazine of 2 rounds. Load second magazine of 8 rounds." Five and five it will be. Can I do ten aimed rounds in 50 seconds with a Mosin?

-Apparently not. 2:28, with rimlock, stiff chargers, beat-up glasses, floaters, and the unfamiliarity of the position. Will seek actual rifle manual, like USMC, for tips. Or, duh, should dig out Jeff Cooper's The Art of the Rifle which I received as a gift a couple years ago. Hasty sling requires adjustment for sitting, can still be used standing or benchrest at new position. Stage two score, 36 points, again from a possible 50. Boy did that whole stage suck. Must practice sitting.

Stage three, simulating 300 yards, prone, two rounds each on five targets in 60 seconds starting from standing. Stage two sighters should have been fired on the second sighting target on the stage one sheet, eh. Three sighters on the stage three sighting target, V, 4 and 3. Record targets- 1:52, way over, total of 42 of 50 points with one dead-center V on #4. Buttons of BDU shirt pressing uncomfortably. Must also practice prone.

Crowded, with the people who wanted to use the lower range coming to the upper range instead because of the match - but it's a different Kind of people from those at English Pit. I'm in lane 1. Lane 2 had an elegant old double rifle in 9.3x74R (and boy did it spit its brass out when he opened it!). Lane 5 had an ‘03A3 Springfield, apparently unaltered except for a great big scope with target knobs, operated by an elderly gentleman who seemed to know quite well what he was doing. (Later the same man had an FAL.) Much friendlier range officer, we shared derision of English Pit.

Really, must get off my butt and spend a couple minutes shoving something under the MojoMauser's cartridge carrier to raise the comb so I can have a rifle with truly adjustable sights and a feed system that doesn't suck. Then of course I'll need decent ammunition for it, in quantity.

Stage four, simulating 400 yards, prone slow-fire, two rounds each on ten little bitty targets in 22 minutes - I should be able to do that even with a Mosin. The ‘53 Hungarian is shooting high today, as discovered on my practice targets, but still seems to be grouping when I do my part - which isn't as often as I'd like. Three sighters, two Vs and a 4 - huh. For record- took about 9 minutes, 69 of 100 points. Total for this AQT, 192- high Sharpshooter! Rifleman (Expert) is 200-250! I've made progress. And I did it the right way, too, except for the time and I can legitimately blame that much on the Mosin. I may yet qualify for the special Fred's t-shirt!

Now just relaxing with the Stevens. Two 1" practice targets at 25 yards. Still no sling for the Stevens. Still heavy trigger, must fix both for training/seduction purposes. -Five rounds Remington Thunderbolt, four hits. Maybe I should shoot the PIG Match with the Stevens. It appears I still have recoil issues. -Buttplate too slick, won't stay on shoulder, maybe skateboard tape for it. Still grouping about 5 MOA high. Anyway, will train/seduce with reactive targets, like ordinary 4½" clay pigeons, slightly larger at 100 yards than what I can hit most of the time at 25. Some company is now making stand/holders especially for those, if I see them at a show I'll probably buy some. Also I have what's left (after some jacketed 7.62mm impacts) of a Targetman, available for about $25 from Bi-Mart, which will hold near a dozen clay pigeons - or soda cans, balloons, etc. - with ordinary wooden clothespins. Will have to get another of those.

Twenty rounds Winchester Wildcat, mostly hits. Fifteen rounds Winchester Super-X copper- plated hollowpoint, even fewer misses.

Something else I forgot, to use the chart in the Guide to measure the Mosin's front sight by MOA. But I did bring that sheet and I can just uncase the Mosin and do it now after changing targets and the measurements are... too small to read from 25 yards! This diagnostic sheet also includes silhouettes scaled for various riflemanly distances, and using these I'm estimating the Mosin's front post is about 8 MOA wide and about 30 tall.

Fiddled some more with the Stevens, it'll do 4-5 MOA with just about anything but still needs trigger and sight work. About 2:30pm, done with rifles, to the handgun range to test my shotgun loads!

Last time I was at Clark Rifles, the RO just let me remove the handgun target holders and blast away at the ~10-yard backstop. This week's RO says no shotguns are allowed at all - but then spies one of the board members passing by and goes and asks him, who says, "Yeah, sure, shoot at that popper" [a distinctively-shaped steel plate] on the left end of the handgun line at about 50 yards. Really must get membership here. So! On with the safety glasses.

In the Mossberg, single-loading, starting with round #2, the first live round from the last loading session (#s 1 and 10 are the blanks). Very manageable recoil. Numbers 3 through 9, no different.

Seems safe enough. Now the double, first with the blanks. -More powder next time, but they worked. Now rounds #11 and 12, the first live rounds I've ever fired through this 70+ year-old shotgun. The double is lighter than the Mossberg and so kicks more, but still manageable, slightly less than the Mosin, even without a recoil pad on the double. But still, maybe 7/8 ounce shot for the next batch, maybe 55 grains powder. The double is purely for recreation, not Business, so there's no sense beating myself up with it in the name of terminal ballistics. Anyway no danger signs at all, the load I have now would work fine.

Yes! The double has been brought back to life! Will make up more Pyrodex loads and put it on-duty with the Mossberg and the GP100. (By the way, in his book The Bias Against Guns, economist John Lott gives scientific proof that "safe storage" laws - unloaded and locked - do nothing to prevent either crime or accidental or negligent shootings, and probably increase all of these in the longer term, as 1: Criminals know they are less likely to meet armed resistance from their victims, and 2: The "lulling effect" noted with child-safety caps on medication or with airbags in automobiles leads to less-cautious behavior.)

Left about 3:20pm. Cruffler gave me surplus hot dogs & sausages, bonus. Returned about 4pm. Uh! Didn't try the Federal .22LR from the 525-round value pack I bought a month or two ago! Oh well, there will be other trips.

I think cleaning blackpowder bugs me more than corrosive surplus. Eh, I got it done. The double is actually easier to clean than the Mossberg, since I have to remove the M590's handguard to keep water from collecting under it, and then I have to thoroughly dry and then lube the openings in the front sight base and the plunger for the magazine cap ratchet so it won't rust there either. But now I don't need to test Pyrodex in the Mossberg anymore, and the double doesn't have those extra requirements and the rest of the double wipes off with a rag. Anyway, looks like the Parkerizing-peeling noted earlier in the Mossberg's bore has run its course.

Mail from The Liberty Committee (Congressman Ron Paul, Honorary Chairman), begging for money of course. I sent them $10 some months ago, I forget what for exactly - RKBA stuff, anti- UN stuff (that's the topic this time), opposing a national ID scheme, something worthwhile. The highest amount requested on this form is $20 and they sent a first-class postage stamp paper-clipped to the letter, and I'm financially solvent at the moment, so yeah, twenty bucks it is.

Um- my vacation starting next weekend does not immediately follow a payday, which was this weekend. Eh, bills are caught up, rent is set aside in cash - I could pay it right now in fact - I'll manage. And I've got another week available.

So the $15 ground mat works, and shooting prone isn't as hard as I'd feared but sitting is but that's only because I'm not doing it right. Shoulder a little sore from recoil at the unaccustomed angle, or maybe just from that .375.

Arms were fatiguing again, during prone stages, especially the longer stage four. Probably not doing that right either. Quickly found The Art of the Rifle, has a whole chapter on positions, will study. Heh - a quote, from later on: "With any sort of action, the principle remains the same: Do not take the butt out of your shoulder between shots! It astonishes me to find people who do not understand this, but I suppose such ignorance is because of the general adoption of the self-loading rifle for both military and sporting use. This phenomenon is somewhat akin to the general ignorance of the technique for shifting gears on an automobile, since most cars now have automatic transmissions." And dig this cartoon by Mark Anderson. I shoot a bolt-action. And I drive a stick. I can even do long division with pen-and-paper.

And I can work a Mosin's bolt without taking it out of the shoulder! And that's something, compared to a Mauser or SMLE or some commercial Amurican Remchester. Must- buy- bulk ammunition. Need more practice.

(Ew- I just tested that statement about the Mosin, and I should be dry-firing much more. It seems I am just this side of a case of flinches. Eww!)

Arg. Just leafing through it, it sucks me right in. Must- set- book- aside or I'll be up ‘til two rereading the whole thing.

243: Sunday, 20 July 2003: Today is the 34th anniversary of the first manned extraterrestrial landing by the crew of Apollo 11. When are we going back?

Okay, I have Pyrodex loads for the double, cool. Don't need, or really even want, smokeless loads for it, even low-pressure ones according to the manuals. Now I can start developing a low- recoil smokeless load for the Mossberg, for 3-gun competition for example.

(So the shotgun speedloader will wait a while, big deal, I had my burst of inspiration, I've got a cardboard prototype and a sketch Post-Ited to my computer monitor, I can pick it up again whenever. Also, being disappointed as I am with my raise, I'll pass on the plastic pipe for now.)

(Although Big 5 has a digital camera for $30 this week....)

Months ago I downloaded several .PDF powder data manuals and I never even looked at some of them. Opened the one from Alliant, makers of Red Dot and other commonly-available powders, and immediately found loads which should work. Also some useful reference material, like how much space one ounce of shot takes up in cartridges for the common gauges. So probably next pay period (if, as always, I haven't quit in disgust by then) I may pick up some Red Dot, or something else, at Bi-Mart.

So the PIG Match is next Saturday, hm. 116 rounds Albanian left, plenty. Practicing the sitting positions - there are a few - as described in Lt. Col. Cooper's book. The Mosin does not have a loop sling - or does it? I could use that little leather keeper on the back half, hm. At worst I can use the hasty sling like I've been doing, though the Colonel doesn't like it. Eh, in the same chapter he says, "The student should be allowed to use what is most comfortable for him and not forced to conform to a pattern." Anyway. Stretch. Creak. Ow. Also discovered my prone position (two of those in the book, too) needs some work, which probably explains why my arms were hurting so much yesterday.

Loading up more Pyrodex rounds for the double, now with 7/8 ounce by Lee's bushing of #6 shot, and the same 60 grains by volume Pyrodex RS as last time. Rounds #2 through 9, fired from the Mossberg, must be resized for the double. Also making four more experimental blanks for holiday noisemaking. This batch of blanks consists of the CCI 209 primer, 80 grains RS by volume, an overshot card and crumpled newspaper to fill the hull to get a good crimp. Very dangerous at close range of course, but all blanks are, of course.

Made six of those, now the live rounds. 7/8 ounce shot obviously takes up less space than one ounce. Through trial and error, discovered I need, above the cushion wad, two .125" overpowder cards and no .025" overshot cards. And I'm running out of the .125"! Could use a bunch of .025" instead I guess. The Circle Fly cards from Dixie Gun Works come in thousands....

Damn, damn, can't really justify placing an order with DGW at this point (and won't have much money to spend on vacation either). I could take some of the rent money I've already set aside, I get paid again on the first when the rent is due, I'm actually way ahead there, what was I thinking? Hmm....

244: Monday, 21 July 2003: The $30 digital camera from Big 5 requires Win98, which the new(er) Compaq 233MHz machine has but which is weighted down with so much silly personalized junk I'd just as soon wipe the drive and start over. Still running the old Packard Bell 133MHz. No sense copying my data files to a new machine until I have a stable operating system to copy them to, and appropriate applications besides.

Went for another Drive, this time to Wilsonville to visit the great big electronics store there. Looked at digital cameras, apparently they all need Win98 now. There was one that looked nice - LCD screen, video-capture mode - on clearance for under $60 but the demo was damaged and there were no more in sight. Also sniffed over some DVD players. Made no purchases. Something different every week there, regular newspaper spreads.

Gart Sports sold out of mil-spec 5.56x45mm and 9x19mm, may get more Thursday.

Snail-mail alerts from both SAF and GOA. $15 to SAF. Probably at least $10 to GOA in the next day or two, need postcard stamps. Oh, and five bucks to Sluggy! And $20 on the Mosin 91/30 long rifle on layaway.

The Mosin is just too slow for the AQT, and maybe for the PIG Match too. Unfortunately the MojoMauser isn't ready yet - once I get the thing sighted-in and hitting reliably, I want to make an Alteration to the sight which would be of great help in the PIG Match or on the battlefield, but I still haven't done anything about that cheek-smacking. And I have no other rifles whose accuracy I trust at this point. The Ishapore would be great for either the AQT or the PIG if it had a consistent point of impact, I've seen it group but the groups don't always appear in the same place. Maybe I'll dig out the NATO ammo and take the Ishapore to Clark Rifles on Saturday, to fiddle with after I shoot the match (I've been told I'm in the first relay, 9am).

245: Tuesday, 22 July 2003: Oh, I shouldn't'a done that.

Slow day at work, left early, drove around. Went to local great big flag store looking for Betsy Ross and Gadsden window decals - "They don't make ‘em." Well I know they make a Betsy Ross because kissata sells them. Will search web. Love the internet.

Then, on the way back, I stopped by the same pawn shop where I bought the double a couple years ago and that's what I shouldn't'a done because they had an EAA Witness .45 in the case. Full size, stainless apparently or maybe it's a certain finish, fixed three-dot sights, tag said "new from factory" and I'm sure it was once upon a time (okay, it was probably Excellent). Fit my hand better than I would have expected of a double-column .45. $419 and I know from experience that this place haggles, which is how I got the double for $165 when it was marked something over $200. Exerted great deal of willpower, did not even ask about layaway policy.

They also had a Remington 1858 reproduction marked $159, "Made in Italy". Big turn mark on cylinder, right-side grip escutcheon protruding some, a little residue in the bore, but otherwise Very Good or perhaps better. Passed on that too, I can order a brand-new one from Cabela's for less - never mind haggling, if I know who made it (Pietta, as I understand) I can order spare percussion or cartridge-conversion cylinders for it.

But now that Witness is haunting me. It's a Proper Pistol and I could put it on layaway. Argh. If it's still there after next payday....

Ah, "Wonder Finish" is what that Witness has. Not bad a'tall. Did not notice forward cocking serrations, might be an older model on closeout or maybe I just wasn't looking for them. It's apparently EAA's catalog number 999158, 4.5" barrel, 10-round magazine. I imagine it could take 12 or even 14, maybe when the ban expires they'll make some. Dovetailed rear sight, front appears either staked or integral, that might be a problem. Oh, argh, argh, ARGH!

246: Wednesday, 23 July 2003: And now I learn that Charles Daly is making a copy of the Browning Hi-Power, with XS Sights in front and rear dovetails, extended-but-not-too-much safety and slide release levers, and ...suggested retail, $499. Hm. And the Witness, if someone doesn't beat me to it, is a .45 for about $100 less, hm.

247: Thursday, 24 July 2003: Argh! Still running the older, slower Win95 machine, and one of the three hard drives had a bad-file-day. Salvaged most of it, fortunately nothing really important was on it. Will have to start all over with Tie Fighter. Hope to get the 233MHz Compaq running during vacation. Worried about applications, anything on this machine is suspect. Have access to a Win98 install, does it come with a decent word processor? If so will it convert files from a seven- year-old version of WordPerfect? Guess I'll find out. Also I could do it the hard way and laboriously hunt down and remove all the personalized junk from the Compaq's existing Win98 system. Once I get my data files safely transferred and converted, I'll wipe this older machine and set it up for vintage games, like Aces of the Deep. (Just finished To Kill the Leopard by Theodore Taylor, an historical-fiction WWII U-boat story. Pretty good, kinda like Clancy Lite.)

(And where does Clancy have left to go with Jack Ryan now? War with Japan, war with China, war with the Islamic world, war with the drug cartels, foiled an eco-freak doomsday plot, nuked the Superbowl, wiped out Congress- everybody's ass is kicked in that universe that is worth kicking! Hm, Mexico, maybe, war against the Reconquista, but after all the rest I don't think it would measure up....)

Still practicing shooting positions. Afraid there won't be enough room on the line for a proper prone position, with the body angled 45 degrees from the target. May use cross-legged sitting position, adequate for the range, but will also practice the open-legged version Cooper recommends and that's a stretch. No keeper on the Mosin sling, I was thinking of some other rifle, Hasty Sling it shall be.

Oh! Found the Betsy Ross and Gadsden flag decals, 4"x6", $1.75 each, $2 shipping up to $10, from flagline.com. On the way.

248: Saturday, 26 July 2003: Match day! Arrived 8:40am. Beautiful day, cool, light overcast, perfect match weather as far as I'm concerned. Cleared and warmed later.

One of the first things I see is a guy in a "Camp Perry - National Matches" t-shirt. Yeek! Helluva thing for my first match!

Mr. R., match director, got me signed in, issued scorecards. (Slight confusion as to which lane I and the next shooter were supposed to fire on, worked it out.) 9am, gathered on the line, Mr. R. gave orientation and safety briefing, plain and clear. Took pictures of the first relay with our rifles, will provide link when they appear on Clark Rifles' site.

Saw several nifty rifles - a formerly-military Mauser with target sights (Williams I think), an M1 Carbine (with bayonet of course), several Garands, some very pretty. A couple mouseguns. Noted various equipment in use - shooting mats with non-slip patches for elbows and, for Olympic position, knees (I used military prone, according to Cooper, whose book shows both); spotting scopes mounted on long poles for use at various heights.

Soon enough, sighting in - minimum of two hits at each distance. Bayonet fixed from the beginning. Fired total of 11 rounds just to be sure, two chargers and one loose left over from last time. I know I can hit at 100 yards, just hold low and right. Two rounds there, set the Mosin's slider at "2", aimed, squeezed - looked like the puff of dust came from immediately behind the target, indicating the bullet went through it instead of over or under or off to the side. Two rounds at 200, slider set to "3", two more rounds, looks good again. Did I just hit a target at 300 yards? On purpose? Can't tell in the spotting scope, won't know ‘til Mr. R. drives everyone down there to check. Anyone with less than two holes in the paper at each distance will not be allowed to fire that distance. Two more rounds at 300, a couple more at 200, etc.

Woo hoo! Hits! I made hits! Never fired past 100 yards before and I hit the black, three times out of four, at 300 yards! The fourth was just outside. Huh - better at 300 than 200, two in and two out of the black, and the two in were near opposite, outer edges. But still hits! No trouble at 100 yards, as expected. Cool! With 14-year-old Albanian-surplus ammunition in a 50-year-old Hungarian-surplus carbine designed in 1891 and with original military sights! COOL!!

Interesting - the Hungarian Mosin is shooting with no windage, and I guessed the elevation correctly, with the bottom of the black balanced on top of the front sight post. Was also holding some to the right, and that's where they went. So I guess she's shooting straighter today. (But I was holding low and right at 100 and got center hits. Didn't think about that! Cost me, later.) Chamber flag insert, $1, sold, now I have one. (There is one tied to each bench, but we're not at the benches and the strings won't reach, and I should have one anyway.)

First stage for score, ten rounds in ten minutes, prone at 300 yards. Rimlock (on all but one charger throughout the relay! Argh!), but plenty of time to reload on this stage. Also, learned that I won't have to reload on the clock in the rapid-fire stages, match rule in deference to bolt-actions. Whew!

...So, where'd they go? It felt all right.... Fiddling with the spotting scope and taking my time, I can make out little specks which I know to be the scoring numbers, and if those show up then the holes should to. ...They can't all be in the black, can they...? Won't know for sure ‘til the end of the relay, now.

Second stage, ten rounds at 200 yards, five rounds in 35 seconds twice, no reloading on the clock - which is good, ‘cause the Mosin just won't make it otherwise. Woo hoo! More hits, I can see them now!

Third stage, ten rounds in ten minutes at 100 yards, standing. Hasty Sling a little too loose for standing, compared to prone, managed. And- damn! Now she's shooting high and left again! What the hell? No windage at 200 or 300 yards, and a half-dozen MOA to the left at 100? Consistently? Grouped, though, even in standing position. Would have been a very nice stage if I'd realized how weird the carbine would perform at different distances. As is, lost maybe ten, fifteen points.

Fourth stage, ten rounds sitting at 100 yards, five in 30 seconds twice. Using cross-legged position, not stretched enough yet to get into open-legged position and still be able to breathe. Should do something about gut. Score, I dunno.

Okay, relay over, checking targets, adjacent shooters scoring each other's. And for 300 yards prone slow-fire I got one miss (high and left, uh-huh), a 5, two 7s, an 8, four 9s and an X! Holy crap! 73 out of a possible 100 points my first time at 300 yards! Second stage, all scoring hits, 5, two 7s, 8, five 9s and a 10, 82 points. Third, disappointing, stage, two misses, 5, two 6s, two 7s, 8 and two 9s, all high and left, 57 points. Fourth stage, all scoring again, 6, two 7s, two 8s, three 9s and two Xs, 83 points. 295 out of 400 in my first-ever rifle match! Shocked! Shocked and amazed I am! They only do the PIG once a year, more's the pity, but there are other matches and I'll be there!

11am, second relay. Just enough ammunition left, and only $5 more ($15 for the first)... but no, going to meet Cruffler, drove around sniffing over gun and pawn shops around Orchards, Battleground, etc. Also he showed off some of his collection, including a Mosin chopped down to 16½" and a NEF Handi-Rifle in .45-70, great balls o' fire. A good time was had by all, including the dog. :)

Filled tank at $1.45⁹. By law, no self-serve in Oregon, never done it before. Looked at pump a few seconds, figured it out. Some people can't do that....

Next year I think I'll shoot all three relays! Boy that's fun! When's the next match, when's the next match?

Didn't forget anything vital, except a rag to wipe the boltface to combat the corrosive priming. Quart of fruit juice, bag of jerky, didn't bother with long-sleeve BDU shirt but I did bring it. $15 camping mat worked fine, no need to blow ~$50 on a shooting-intended mat, though I can see how the strategically-located non-slip patches could be useful. Cheap Tasco 45x spotting scope adequate for .30" holes at 300 yards, when floaters and light conditions permit.

On the far end of the line was a guy in full Camp Perry get-up - loop sling, shooting jacket, Glove, hat, thingie over the non-dominant eye. Post-Ban M1A with National Match sights, only one or two rounds out of the black at 300. And... that's not much better than I did, with post-and-notch sights on a $69 surplus bolt-action, crummy old eyeglasses, bare hands and a t-shirt! Holy crap I can shoot a rifle!

Hope to find more of this Albanian stuff soon. Actually the Mosin is very slow, I should work on the Mauser instead, a lot less trouble loading and feeding with rimless cartridges and the superior Mauser charger and staggered-column magazine. Smoother action too.

Confirmed I get extra ten points for shooting with bayonet fixed. Results will be mailed to me and, according to Mr. R., will include proof of eligibility for a CMP Garand! Woo hoo!

249: Sunday, 27 July 2003: Got up (relatively) early again, charged off to the Pacific coast to Seaside, Oregon, for a little bitty gun show. The show gives me an excuse to go to the coast and the coast - I am on vacation - gives me an excuse to go to the show. :)

Left about 8:20am, reached Seaside about 10. Uh! Forgot optics, telescope, for sightseeing! (But actually I was kinda thinking of a long trip down the coast later in the week anyway.)

So I park in the free public lot next to the Convention Center and I walk over to the entrance and I start seeing Democratic bumper stickers. There's a Democratic Party of Oregon convention going on upstairs from the show! Filthy mass-murdering totalitarian communist scum. Now I have to buy something at the show.

As Cruffler warned, it was a small and rather disappointing show, with many of the same vendors as the big Expo shows. But I did see some nice things.

Huge pile of holsters, probably the same vendor I got my Uncle Mike's thumbreak IWB from for my GP100. Oh, here's something, for Cruffler even: a formerly-military Mauser (thumb cut in left side of receiver for the chargers) properly built up as a sporter - in .375 Holland & Holland. Four-leaf express rear sight. I believe it had scope bases, but no glass. Some accessories too, I forget what. In a nice case, too. All very pretty, engraving, a little gold inlay if I recall correctly, lovely stock of course. Card said "believed to have been made for P.O. Ackley." $1,900.

Moving along: a .45 Witness, Wonder Finish, "11- and 10-round magazines" (so they do, or did, make more than ten), ported muzzle (through the slide), $435. Um, porting can cause as many problems as it solves, and I don't carry that kind of money around. Again, we'll see if the other one is still in the pawn shop next payday.

Same table, a J.C. Higgins 9-shot swing-out .22 revolver, I forget the price, $135 I think. "Tight action" - no, it wasn't. Frankly I've seen cap pistols that locked up better.

1895 Nagant revolver, $135. Several Garands, lowest $630; an M1D with flash hider but no scope, $2,695. One table with a few vintage 1911s (not -A1s), no prices. Several Star pistols there too.

Greek 7.92x57mm, $1.75/20 - same vendor as at the Expo last time, said he only had the four boxes, bought them all. Also four bundles of Albanian, $3 each, and yet another bandolier of TurKrap for $6, because this bandolier came with steel two-piece chargers and they're worth almost that much by themselves, some places.

Mosin M44 carbine, $51; collector's bundle, $76. 91/30 bundle, $109, got that beat. Turk Mausers, $61. One P17 Enfield, $550. Chilean 7mm Mausers, a couple, $149.

Flea-markety stuff of course. Decorative-and-not-much-more-than-that swords and knives.

British 30-round AR (NATO/L85) magazines, $20. Couple Ishapores, no prices. Same place, Trapdoor Springfield, metal painted black, missing some small parts like the outer hammer/tumbler screw.

ChiCom Winchester 97 clone, short barrel but not a Trench Gun, $355. Chinese SKSs, $250-$295; Russian, $375-$495 (!); Yugo, $250 (!!). Gibbs Rifles display, the Yugo SKS, Mausers, Mosins, "Jungle" carbines made from 7.62mm Ishapores.

National Ordnance M1 Carbine, $400 "with 30-round magazine". Remington M11, 12 gauge/26"/Modified, "will shoot steel shot with factory Modified choke", $295. It was in Very Good condition. No further purchases, left about 11am, had to fight my way out of the parking lot - Democrats don't pay much attention to their surroundings, and they seem to spend their welfare checks on big cars and SUVs.

So now what...? Tourists (ick!) all over, no easy beach access that I could find, the whole area, even dinky Seaside, far too built-up for my taste. Sigh - north, I guess, Astoria, Highway 30, and Portland. Some vacation.

And about half an hour later, somewhere north of Gearhart, I played a hunch and turned left and kept going and drove right out onto the beach. Went a mile or so south on the sand until I couldn't see any more people or cars through the mist, parked facing Asia, climbed up on the hood, leaned back against the windshield and read a book. (Future Imperfect, some Keith Laumer works compiled & edited by Eric Flint.)

That's what I was looking for, finally! Next time, bring a chair. And a telescope.

Although there wasn't much to see from this particular piece of beach. Quite the onshore breeze from the northwest, and quite thick mist. After about half an hour, got back in the car, closed the upwind window and relaxed, reading, some more.

About 1pm, hungry, found my way back off the beach - didn't quite get stuck in the sand - mist never cleared while I was there - and headed to Astoria for lunch.

Agh! Mob in Astoria! And most of the coast, apparently. Weekend summer tourism. Will probably try again later in the week. Picking my way through traffic, crossed picturesque Astoria bridge into Washington, because I could; viewed politically-correct "Heritage Marker" portraying Lewis & Clark, sans flintlocks, and crowing about how they included Sacajawea and a black in the voting process for where to camp. Turned around & returned to Oregon.

Seafood restaurants completely mobbed, Burger King slightly less so. After, braved crowds, walked through Astoria Sunday Market, bought overpriced cotton candy. Left Astoria about 3:15, reached Portland about 5pm.

Tomorrow I sleep in and do laundry and maybe go to U-Pull-It in search of a driver's seat. Tuesday I sleep in and see if I've won a digital camera, a roll of wax paper, or other fabulous prizes at my local Bi-Mart, where I will probably buy a beach chair for a long drive down the coast on Wednesday, seeking quiet and solitude.

Hm, used about 2/3 of a tank of gas. Prices on the coast even higher than in Portland, $1.65 or so. Will likely hop over to Vancouver to fill up with cheap(er) gas before I go next time.

250: Monday, 28 July 2003: Zzzz.... Finally sleeping in on vacation!

Whoa! That was fast - the Betsy Ross and Gadsden flag decals I ordered on Thursday arrived today! On the car now, expressing my views.

While at laundromat, studied Haynes car manual. Pulled out radio/CD (panel was butchered on installation - oh! I bet I can replace the panel from U-Pull-It!), found blue-and-white wire meant for cigar lighter, will need extra wire and connectors for restoration. (Actually I may have some, and a stripping/crimping tool, from my electronics days but they'd be in another geological strata.) (May yank entire CD/radio unit and replace it with something useful. Found and downloaded installation manual but a dead link for the user's manual.) Located fuse panel, pulled, inspected & replaced turn signal relay, which has been giving a little trouble. Maybe just a loose connection, may pick up spare anyway. No clues on the third brake light yet but haven't thoroughly studied wiring diagrams. Maybe I'll just jam a stick against the brake pedal, look in the hole meant for the rear speaker and start touching wires together.

Ah, found a serviceable driver's seat! (Had to check two U-Pull-It locations....) Most of the driver's seats are long gone, more passenger seats remaining, as might be expected. Will go back for a passenger seat later. Also got some little things, another dome light fixture to replace the imperfect one which replaced the completely missing one, and a turn signal relay - the radio/air conditioner panel is also a popular item and not found intact, but I got an antenna (mine's long-since broken off). May need a little Adaptation to make it work, the mount on mine is slightly different from the one I took it off of. ...Um, if I'd'a known how different an ‘88 is from an ‘89 I'd'a took more of the antenna mount. That'll need another trip, maybe tomorrow. Saw a place near there with Plus gasoline for $1.51⁹, same as regular, I'll fill up there on the way back, for the coast trip Wednesday. Anyway the seat dropped right in, might get the passenger seat from the same wreck. It's even the right color!

Oog - record heat forecast tomorrow, over 100F, won't be fun to hike around a gravel-covered junkyard and pry chunks off shiny metal boxes. Eh, maybe I'll lose a couple pounds. At least this time I know exactly what I'm looking for and where it is.

Also noticed that the squeegee things that keep water from running down the door windows into the doors are decayed, like mine, on many of the wrecks - and I can't see an easy way to get the good ones off intact. Maybe I'll pick another decayed one and test to destruction.

More neighbornoise, as late as 11:30pm, sometimes midnight or later. Blueshirts useless of course, not bothering to call (ever again, for anything). Maybe INS... nah, they're equally useless - hell, some of them are just plain crooked - which is largely how I got this problem. No word from on-site apartment manager about whether other neighbors want to sign the letter to the property owner, may just send one unilaterally. Not. Putting. Up. With. This. Can't believe I'm looking forward to winter, when they'll close the %#@* window! Or maybe they'll be deported by then. ...Nah, the commies will push through some "amnesty" deal so they can live off my tax money forever.

Gods I hate the city. I want to live somewhere my nearest neighbor is beyond rifle range. And I've recently discovered that 300 yards ain't nearly that far.

251 - Tuesday, 29 July 2003: So I got the passenger seat and the radio panel and a whole other radio antenna and a full tank of gas and a beach chair and a small cooler and I got back and took off the stub of my old antenna and- the broken end of the antenna cable came out with it. So I'd have to take the right front wheel off to have room to work, then gently remove the fender liner so I can put it back in one piece, to get at what's left to splice the (coaxial!) cable onto the new antenna. In a gravel driveway in record heat. Hm. But at least I had the foresight to look at the wrecks to see what was where before I left the junkyard, and to take as much extra cable as I could. Maybe I'll go down to the woodworker friend's place, there might be a little shade there, and I could see how the sternwheeler's progressing. Anyway the passenger seat posed no difficulty and the radio panel shouldn't.

Also examined the cigar lighters in the wrecks to confirm wiring, and got a pack of what appear to be proper connectors. That, some pliers and some electrical tape should get that much working at least, but I might just dig out my neglected bugout bag and take the battery-powered handheld CB out of that, besides or in addition to the lighter-socket-powered one already under the seat (and the FRS in the glovebox).

Still haven't done oil change or coolant flush, and now out of money unless I take savings below the $100 minimum for a $1 service fee in checking. Which I might; I'm on vacation dammit. -No, that can wait just a little longer, until payday on or about the 1st, but I'll get both done next week one way or the other. Should stop by Les Schwab and have them check tire inflation, I understand that's free if I flash the yellow envelope the car came with. Should also put fresh water in a couple-few of those apple-juice jugs I keep filled with emergency water and pack them along too. Made essentially no preparations for the Seaside trip, which is one reason I came back through Astoria instead of exploring further down the coast.

35 psi all around, the tire people said the left front was a little low (and it was pulling just a touch left). Went to woodworker's place, he's a compulsive fixer-upper and helped. Discovered I shouldn't have cut the antenna cable after all, went back to U-Pull-It for yet another whole antenna with plug - they only charged $1 - got the antenna installed, now I can get AM news and not-liberal talk stations! There was no plug when I got the car, the previous butcher appears to have lost it. Didn't actually have to remove fender liner after all, just risk skinning some knuckles reaching in with the door open. Lighter socket fixed, CB radio tested. Braking and steering concerns test-driven by former-race-car-driver woodworker, declared not immediate danger.

Radio panel replaced, some more work required there but definitely an improvement. Still can't figure out how to set clock. May e-mail manufacturer. Internet Good.

Still no clue on the third brake light. Pretty sure it's the wiring, bulb and socket look OK.

Taking incomplete bugout bag along too. Two full-feature FRS radios, both socket- and handheld battery-powered CBs, water filtration bottle, wind-up flashlight/radio, small tent, sleeping bag, a couple MREs, some changes of underwear, a half-dozen pair of socks. Not planning on camping.

252 - Wednesday, 30 July 2003: Yawn - ache - on second thought maybe I'll go to the coast tomorrow, when it's supposed to be even cooler. Crawling around the U-Pull-It lots, and then inside my own car, in yesterday's official-record heat took a little out of me and I wouldn't want to take a long drive if I'm not feeling good.

10am, what's this, the United States Postal Service? Huh - some days they're way early, some days they don't show up ‘til late afternoon. Federal Employees....

Only one piece of mail- ah! The match results! So let's see how badly I embarrassed myself compared to the other shooters-

Goodgodsa'mighty! I won, won the Military Bolt Action Rifle category! Of course there were only two entries in that category, and my score included 40 points for firing with bayonet fixed in all four stages, but wow! I actually won something in my first-ever rifle match!

And how did I really do? Removing the bayonet points from all competitors who earned them and counting only the holes in the targets, I placed ninth overall in a field of fifteen shooter/relays (there were twelve actual shooters, and three fired in the second relay). High score not counting bayonets was 370, 7X. Mine was 295, 4X. Not bad for my first try, with a crotchety old carbine and a fraction of the other folks' equipment! (Um- there were a bunch of medals on the RO-shack table, do I get one of those? Maybe it's mailed separately. Eh, I've got the official match results anyway, pinned to the wall next to the rifle rack.)

So! The report printed on the back of the results says the next matches are:

A muzzleloading rifle/pistol match on 17 August - I might-could do something in that one with my 1861 Colt and/or flintlock pistol, but I don't have a muzzleloading rifle - I'll examine the rules on the website but will probably pass;

"North American Grand Slam Hunting Match" on 7 September, but I don't own any sporting rifles and I think that match requires something larger than .30; the Mauser might qualify but I don't know if it/I would be ready in time, and really my Mausers will largely remain fighting rifles (I might, someday, build or have built a couple pretty sporters in .243 and .30-06, or possibly .35 Whelen, which combined with the rest would give me at least one rifle for just about anything I'd ever need a rifle for - especially the -06);

"NRA Approved Smallbore Conventional Prone" on 25 October - I have one crunchy-trigger old single-shot, I'm not matching that against Anschutzes and Eley ammo; and

The Allies vs. Axis match on 9 November, where the national origin of your rifle determines which side you're on. The MojoMauser should be ready by then but I don't know if the sights will be allowed. I can shoot that one with the Mosin at least, I'll look at the rules for that too.

Seems I had the only Mosin at the PIG Match. Five entries listed for the M1 Garand category - the other in my category was probably that target-sighted Mauser. Five shooters in "Military Style Rifle", which would be the M1A and the mouseguns I guess, and maybe that M1 Carbine I saw, which wasn't used in my relay. Three in Sporting Rifle. Huh - I'm guessing there was no third relay! Oh well, next year I'll fire at least two.

Sigh - closed savings account. It served its purpose, I got the car, and I can always open another one later. And now I have more money to spend on vacation!

253 - Thursday, 31 July 2003: Departed 9am. Should have gone sooner, caught in morning rush hour on I-84. About an hour later, slowed by stripe paining on highway 26.

...About 10am, near Coast Range summit, pulled over by State Patrol radar trap. Ticket says 75 in a 55 zone, $109. Apparently I'm not allowed to have a vacation, not allowed to relax and enjoy myself without some filthy extortionist agent of government stealing my money at gunpoint. If I weren't libertarian already, this would have made me one. Completely ruined my vacation and I haven't even reached the coast yet. (Court date in Astoria, 18 August. Gathering advice from friends.) May invest in radar/laser detector if only on principle, deny the totalitarians as much money as possible.

Furious and depressed by turns. I guess I'll never take Highway 26 again, nor spend another tourist dollar in Clatsop County. -Something bad always happens when I try to have fun - SCA events, going to a movie (when I still wasted money on Hollywood), camping or road-tripping or anything, whatever I try to do, something goes wrong, something sours the entire outing. There is a God and He's a Sadist.

Except for shooting. That match on Saturday was the first purely good time I've had since I can't remember when. I'll be going to the Allies vs. Axis match in November for sure.

$109! That's more than a quarter what I paid for the car! And it's only going to feed a bloated, pathologically-wasteful bureaucracy. More exotic-wood paneling for the judge's bench. More submachineguns for the SWAT team in Neverheardofit, OR, population -23. "Protect and serve." More like oppress and exploit!

Trying to carry on. Reached Tillamook about noon. Much cooler today, resident high-pressure system moving on. Gas $1.69 in Tillamook. Three-quarters tank left.

Tillamook Air Museum! Maybe that will take my mind off how much every speck of government stinks. $9.50 admission, eh. Many nifty aircraft, old A-4 Skyhawk gate guardian, huge C-somethingorother (the one on the B-29 airframe) out front. F-14 Tomcat fighter, apparently retired. Scaffolding leading up to (closed) cockpit. Crowded in there!

Old warbirds out on the airship hangar floor - P-47D Thunderbolt, P-38J(?) Lightning, P-51D Mustang, apparently all airworthy judging by the drip pans set under them to catch fluid leaks. B-25 Mitchell medium bomber. Neptune and Harpoon maritime patrol aircraft. Douglas A-26 Invader medium attack/bomber. Bell JetRanger helicopter in Coast Guard colors. Some cockpits, or simulators thereof.

Sigh - brats, crying running shouting screeching brats. Are there any other kind? I can't remember ever encountering any. See "something bad always happens" above. -Well, Cruffler's kid seemed nice enough the couple times I've met him, but he's being home-schooled, and that's different.

Exhibit rooms, many cool scale models like I used to build. Photo and artifact exhibits. Some aircraft engines, including a Rolls-Royce Merlin, the Mustang & Spitfire's power plant, with holes in both sides of the crankcase where a broken rod exited. Signage draws attention to these, and says that the pilot managed a safe airport landing anyway.

More aircraft under canopy inside the airship hangar, including an AM-1 Martin Mauler, an intended replacement for the Dauntless dive-bomber if I recall correctly. One of something less than ten surviving. World War One-vintage Spad biplane, apparently not a reproduction. Animatronic barnstormer-type narrating.

Video documentary, possibly the one PBS did with Quentin Aanensen (spelling?), about P-47s in combat. Many cool models all over. Dramatic photograph of dirigible USS Los Angeles nearly vertical at her mooring mast at the mercy of the wind.

Little bitty two-seat helicopter by Rotoway of Tempe, AZ, built from kit. Interesting. No speed traps there! And I gotchyer "beach access" right here. Several autogyros but they don't do vertical take-off, the main rotor is not powered, the Rotoway interests me more. The woodworker friend's building a boat....

Left museum about 1:15pm, felt a little better.

...A little.

Further down the coast. Tourist mobs everywhere. Is there no speck of beach without tourists, cityfolk, litter? What isn't packed is "protected." So far I might as well have turned north at Seaside instead of south, and gone back to that stretch north of Gearhart.

Clearing and warming now. About 2pm, crossed 45th Parallel, halfway between pole and equator.

Lincoln City - tourists. Again. Keep going. Gas $1.57. 2:30pm, Depoe Bay, tourists. Gas $1.63. 2:50pm, Newport, lots of tourists. Gas $1.69. What do I have to do, buy an island? On another planet?

Still depressed over blueshirt encounter. Nothing's fun anymore. Nothing's allowed to be fun anymore, except according to strict government regulations, fees, and fines.

Including shooting.

Corner of Hurbert St. and Highway 101, Bittler Bros. Sporting Goods. "Wanted: Used Guns." Implies they already have some to look at!

Eek. Coast prices. $125 for an NEF shotgun. $357 for a Baikal side-by-side. $250 for a used Mossberg 500. $480 for a CZ75B, 9x19mm (there was also a .40 which I didn't look at too close), apparently NIB with two magazines and loading tool. 3pm, further south.

"Warning: Entering Tsunami Zone." Cartoon of pedestrian trying to climb hill while waves curl above him. No kidding. "Tsunami Evacuation Route."

3:30pm, Waldport. Half tank remaining. Gas $1.71. Maybe I don't want to retire to the coast after all. Governor Patterson State Park, tourists. Further.

4pm, Yachats wayside road - scenic (saw actual live seal, or maybe sea lion, puttering about in surf), but still too many people.

This whole trip is depressing. 4:40, Florence. 5pm, Heceta Beach - still too crowded, and now too much wind. 5:15, back to Florence, late lunch at A&W restaurant (most root beers do not have caffeine, which I am now clean of).

5:40, continuing south. 6pm, Reedsport, gas $1.75. 6:15, quarter tank. 6:30, slowed by road work. I am not having fun. This is no fun.

North Bend... Coos Bay... 6:50pm, ten dollars of regular at $1.66, should get me back. Further south, then Highway 42 east. Twisty. At least I'm getting driving experience. 8:20pm, Roseburg and I-5.

9pm, discovered my headlights are not working. Exited at Cottage Grove, fumbled around in RV park parking lot. Haynes manual not helping. Called woodworker friend with pre-paid long-distance card (called both Senators the other day on RKBA action items - handy things, those cards, and essentially untraceable by government, will have to keep a fresh one from now on), no conclusion reached. Still have extra-high-beams, "flash-to-pass", if I hold the lever. And thus gave up and drove to Cottage Grove proper, only blinding two other vehicles in passing, and spent $35 on motel room for the night, ‘cause I ain't gonna drive about 200 miles to Portland at night with no headlights. At least I get to see a little Fox News Channel again, but no History Channel apparently.

Some vacation.

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