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Land of the free and home of the Brave.

It’s about remembering our fallen, remembering WHY they gave their lives. To keep us free. Seems to be lost on too many people these days.

Thinking about selling my BNIB SCAR 20S in 762x51. NJ compliant. Never fired, has unattainable SureFire FH762SV-SCAR brake & also take off OEM brake. Prefer greenish upper vs tan. Sitting in safe since new. asking $4,200.

My grandfather, who I was named after, was born in Paris, Arkansas. I’m honestly not sure what year. I never paid much attention to that sort of thing. It was somewhere around 1920. He moved to St. Louis and met my grandmother, a second-generation Italian. They conceived my father in 1941 and my grandfather shipped off in the Army before he was born. Although his military records were lost in a fire, we know a little bit. He was a radio operator in the infantry. He was in North Africa, Sicily and Italy which means that he may have served under General Patton. We don’t know. When the war in Europe ended, he was marching through northern Italy toward Berlin with the intention of finishing the job. After Hitler committed suicide in his bunker, my grandfather turned toward the French coast with orders to get on a ship and head to the South Pacific to help finish off the Japanese. Before he boarded the ship, Truman authorized the dropping of two atomic bombs on major Japanese cities and the Japanese surrendered soon thereafter. My grandfather still climbed on board the ship but this time it was to bring him to the United States. Ships and trains brought him back to his wife and child in St. Louis. My father was now three years old and remembers meeting his father for the first time. Seeing him walk down an alley, still in uniform, carrying his duffle bag. Sixty plus years later, my son (also named after my grandfather) and I stood at the same spot, in the same alley in St. Louis talking to my father on the phone. The third and the fourth talking to Junior where he first met Senior. After the war, my grandfather worked for RCA in St. Louis. He used to talk about having built a projection TV in the late 1940’s. They used to test it at night by projecting images on the GE building across the street. He also said that it probably produced so many X-Rays that it wasn’t safe to be in the room with it. RCA took him and his family from St. Louis, to Jackson, Mississippi, to Albuquerque, New Mexico installing radio towers. They had two more kids a long the way. My Aunt Betty and my Uncle Fred. Their last move took them to Somerdale, New Jersey in 1954. He worked at RCA’s broadcast division in Camden until he retired in the mid-1980’s. Their fourth child, my Uncle Dave was born in 1960. Just 10 months before I was born myself. My grandfather went to work every day. Took his family on long vacations around the country and filled the family room in his house with books about World War II. He also had a penchant for Southern Comfort and obscene limericks at family gatherings. Usually after the young ones went to sleep. He never talked about the war with anybody in the family. Maybe with some of his contemporaries but we don’t know. One of my great regrets is that I never sat down and made him tell me about the war. What he saw there and what he did there. He passed away in 1994. I was 33 years old and should have known better. I’m sure that some in my family could correct things in this story but this is the way that I remember it so this is the way that I tell it. I always cry when I tell this story and this time isn’t any different. We all have great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, friends and other family members who have served. We all have our stories and our memories. I would like to wish everyone a happy, healthy and, most of all, thoughtful, Memorial Day weekend. Remember it isn’t all burgers, dogs and parades. It’s much more.

Howdy y’all! It’s Memorial Day weekend, and we are all remembering the sacrifices of our brothers and sisters to keep us free. What better way to remember the fallen than to do something truly American, like bbq? This time, I’ve chosen to do this thread over the course of a couple of days, as I’m doing two different entree meats. two of my favorites. Smoked beef short ribs, and smoked chicken wings! Not much beats meat on the bone!! Ribs will be cooked today (Sunday), and I’ll smoke the wings on Monday. I did the prep work for the short ribs on Saturday. First, (as always) you start with good quality meat. I got 2 lovely racks of prime beef short ribs from Arnie’s Gourmet meats (https://www.arniesgourmet.com). I love the quality of their meat, they always carry USDA Prime cuts, and they supply meats to competition bbq guys. They KNOW their meat! I highly recommend them. Prices are reasonable too! These slabs are 4 bones each, and are about 8” long. These are the best for smoking. Sometimes you’ll see beef short ribs in your grocery store meat case, but usually they are 3” long, cut into individual ribs, and not very meaty. They are from the bottom of the rib cage, and are best reserved for braising. For bbq, you want the slabs with 4 bones. They are from a higher cut on the rib, and are MUCH meatier. Don’t separate them into pairs or individual ribs. They will cook faster, and not allow the fat to render properly. In my experience, this leads to a tough rib. I trimmed the fat cap on top of my ribs back a good bit, because it won’t render, and besides, good short ribs have plenty of fat marbled into the meat. If we do these right, they’ll be tender, and juicy! Unlike pork ribs, you do not need to remove the thin membrane on the bone side of the ribs. Many people say that it helps keep these big, meaty ribs from falling off the bone in a big chunk, so you can eat it like a meat popsicle! That being said, I removed the membrane, just because it’s my preference. My rub consisted of a 1:1:1 ratio of kosher salt, black pepper, and granulated garlic. Gave them a nice massage with the rub, and placed them in the refrigerator overnight to ‘dry brine’. This will help the meat to retain all its succulent moisture. This morning, I fired up the Pit Barrel Cooker, got a nice batch of coals going, and placed them on the rack of the smoker. Those of you familiar with the Pit Barrel Cooker know that one usually hangs the meat on hooks, but with these, I chose to rack them. Place them on the rack with the bone side down. The PBC cooks at a bit higher temperature than most traditional offset smokers. Usually 250°-275°F. I expect these ribs to be done in about 6 hours or so. Target temperature is much like brisket, you’ll want to get to 203°F before you pull the meat. Like brisket, short ribs will stall at about 170° or so. I do not recommend a foil wrap for these (Texas crutch), or they will turn to pot roast, and get all mushy. Now, we wait. In the mean time, I have prepped the chicken wings. I bought several pounds of whole wings from Arnie’s. I broke them down, and gave them a nice rub with Adkins BBQ seasoning. As a few of you know, this is what the much loved ‘Dillo Dust’ from LaRue Tactical REALLY is. I gave the wings a nice coating, covered them, and stuck them in the refrigerator. I’ll fire up the PBC again tomorrow to cook these. 24EC6BE6-F5FE-4566-8E70-145F4EEBE83A.webp

I didn't think it was morbid when my mother went to my dads grave and sat there after cleaning the site and talked to him. Took her a while to deal with his death. I'm sure there are plenty of Moms, dads and families that feel that way.

Remember all that hysterical pearl clutching when the NRA recommended allowing teachers with concealed carry licenses to carry in schools? Well, they've apparently been doing that in Utah since 2003. Not only has it been largely uneventful (NOT at all the blood-covered scene predicted by the anti-gun crowd)... uneventful, that is, until THIS recent event: https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2021/05/27/armed-teacher-thwarts-kidnapping-at-utah-elementary-school-n45777 Do you think we'll see this dramatic story reported on CNN? Maybe an interview with the teacher? (Rhetorical questions...we all know better.)

We do have a Don who has been with us for decades. He now just works 4 days a week and only digs thru the mountains of paperwork in the back.

2018 - Running for office. 2021 - In office. QED Staging crossed my mind. But in the absence of any other information, I took the photo at face value. Regardless of the photo's authenticity, I'm quite sure there are widows in the country who feel exactly that way.

As I am just a lowly employee at Shooters, I would rather not get into public posting of prices and availability. PMs would be better. NICS are about 1 to 2 days out.

Thanks!! Am I cooking for my own ‘going away’ bbq??? May have to incorporate that into a shotgun shoot....

I have a Winchester model 37 bought for $125. It is an excellent weapon. Clay busting machine! It is fugly and 100% functional. I took it apart and barely needed cleaning. Some clown smeared PolyShade wood finish over everything including the barrel. I was going to restore it but why bother? Well worth the money and if I didn't have one, I would pay up to $300 for a nice one.

I have a Dan Wesson PM9, it is a nice gun.