10X

This is tragic. I never made it to one, but always wanted to attend. I can't find any word on why the shoot this month was the last one. The event remained insanely popular.

Well, the competition was educational, and I got fairly well thrashed by some exceptional teams. No trophy or cash prize this time! 66 teams showed up, from 7 states. The backyard BBQ division I was in (cooking chicken and ribs only) had 23 entries, the rest were masters teams cooking the full slate of chicken, ribs, pork butt, and brisket, on both Saturday and Sunday. There were a number of nationally-ranked teams in both divisions, and some really impressive set-ups, custom trailers, often with separate smokers for each meat. I got a kick out of the team that travels with the life-sized statue of Jack Daniels. I was at the opposite end of the scale, camping in a tent and running two Weber Smokey Mountain cookers. Things got underway each day with the traditional 9:22 am shot of bourbon (no one seems to remember how that tradition got started), though by then most of the teams have been cooking for hours. I was happy to have the meats done to my liking in time for the turn-in windows (2:30 pm for chicken, 3 pm for ribs, missing the window by 10 minutes either way results in disqualification). I was very happy with the ribs; I still haven't settled on the right combination of brine, injection, rub, and sauces for the chicken, but they weren't bad, and the turn-in boxes sure looked good.

Happy to help

I don’t think you can establish residency in Texas without showing proof of lever gun ownership.

After reading the manual and watching some videos (although finding a tutor is even better) start with 9 mm. Straight wall pistol cases are the easiest. Make sure you get dies that include a carbide sizing die (virtually all do) and you won’t have to lube cases before sizing. Be careful not to over- or double-charge the case. Especially with fast powders used for light loads, most pistol cases will hold a lot more powder than you can safely use. 22-250 and other bottleneck cases are a little more involved, but I’m a big fan of that cartridge. Eighteen months ago you could buy trap loads for what it cost to load them, but now if you can find components reloading may make sense. You don’t have nearly as much leeway to mix and match components with shot shells though. Follow published loading data exactly.

I don't know, I've never been there. I've just been commenting on pin shooting in general. Which is a blast. I'd suspect it is open to the public, however, and there is a 'contact us' link on the club web page. EBSportsman

Can't say for sure, but I'd hope they'd let an interested 13-year old shoot! There are a lot of videos out there; this one shows the 'classic' format, starting from low ready and shooting at 5 pins set back 1 foot from the front of a 4 x 8' table. The matches are generally at a distance of 21' or 25'. This video shows a head-to-head format with two shooters, but more commonly shooters are timed individually, with time starting with a shot timer buzzer, and ending at the last shot recorded. Pins don't count until they are OFF the table, in the centerfire events. Practice reloading the gun quickly and safely. Pin match There are a LOT of fun local variations...more pins, different distances, multiple levels of targets, no-shoot pins to shoot around, etc.

@brucin may know. I've heard of pin tops (only) for the .22 events, but a .22 rifle will reliably knock over full-sized pins, at least if you don't hit them too far down towards the base. I've shot the event at a couple of clubs using full pins for .22, with a knock down sufficient, no need to clear them off the table. I'm not sure how the Bangor club is running it.

Bowling pin shoots are a hoot! I'd be all over this if I didn't have a previous commitment. If done in the standard format where the centerfire classes need to knock the pins 3' back off of the table, you want fairly stout loads and heavy bullets will perform better than lighter ones. Momentum wins over kinetic energy here. Pins tipped over but not knocked from the table will chew up a lot of time and ammo, as they tend to spin around with subsequent hits--so try hard for solid hits that knock them clear on the first shot. Rimfire classes just require the pin to be knocked over.

Those are good! Here is a pic I took on my last lab visit to Singapore.

I'm just back from a week in Idaho. I didn't have time to get to any gun shops up north in the Panhandle, but did wander into a Sportsman's Warehouse in southern Idaho. They had a reasonable selection of handguns and long guns, but they weren't fully stocked. They still had the two used, high-end Walther bullseye guns they had when I was there in April. They also had a reasonable selection of bullets and loaded ammo in most of the calibers they normally carry, but what was missing was selection. If you were after a specific brand or bullet weight, you'd often be out of luck, but you could at east find something to shoot. Prices were somewhat elevated, but I didn't pay a lot of attention; it's been a very long time since I've bought centerfire ammo. I did note that the only .22 LR they had was Win Super X, at $15 for a plastic pack of 100. Also elevated from a year or two ago, but Super X has never been one of the bargain brands. They had a decent selection of high-end hunting shotshells, but no target loads. The trap and skeet shooters are having a rough year, though I did note they had lead shot for about the same price as it has been in recent years. Other than bullets and shot, the other components were mostly absent. They had only three pounds of assorted powder on the shelf, each $37. There were no primers when I was there, only a sign on an empty shelf limiting purchasers to 1000/day. No idea what the price would have been. It was sad to see so many empty shelves.

Not exactly. However, the media and democratic candidates for office seem able to turn any rifle or shotgun into an assault weapon.

Haven't actually seen it, but from the description on the website it appears that it should not fall under the hollow point restrictions in this state. But NJ is known for fanciful misinterpretations of the law when it suits them...

Woof

Hope the paperwork goes through quickly. And we have a gubernatorial election fast approaching. Be sure and get registered to vote.

It does. 200 yd/300 yd range hours alternate as follows, but always check the range schedule first because sometimes scheduled competitions will close the range to non-competitors. 200/300 YARD RANGE The shooting schedule for the 2 firing lines is as follows. 8:30 am to 1:00 pm at the 200 yard line except on Wednesdays when the 200 yard line shoots 1:00 pm to closing 1:00 pm to closing at the 300 yard line except on Wednesdays when the 300 yard line shoots 8:30 am to 1:00 pm. Shooting may continue on the 200 yard line after 1:00pm as long as no other member wants to use the 300 yard line. Range is for shooting paper targets only. Single paper targets with one aim point. Paper targets with multiple aim points that are less than 12" x 12" All targets must be CENTERED on the frames. Standard distances are 200 yards and 300 yards.

He was very lucky. Not only due to the aileron input (which is almost an instinctive mistake until it's been trained out of you), but it didn't sound like he pulled back the power either time. I assume he at least got the rudder input correct, since he didn't auger in. I doubt his instructor encouraged him to practice power-on stalls on his very first solo flight outside of the traffic pattern. And when the first one went south, it wasn't a good idea to try again and screw it up even more. I wonder if he'd have done the same if he wasn't videoing himself and planning to put it online? I took Rich Stowell's spin training class a few years after I got my ticket...I'm glad I did, but that first spin is a real eye-opener

Will do! I've actually had one up for awhile with powder, dies, and some components; I need to get an updated one there soon.

Black powder is very easy to make. It's making desired-size granules to the quality standards of the commercial stuff that is hard. And I wouldn't much want to be doing it on a large scale.

I'll likely post some guns here, once I'm sure of what I can part with. I do have a fair bit of powder, reloading dies, and some other assorted gear up on the NJ Guns For Sale MeWe group.

Quite true. UPS used to do that as well, not sure if they still do. It works because if you are there to sign when the guns are shipped, and you are on the other end to sign for the delivery, no transfer has occurred. Ownership never changed. So it is perfectly legal. That said, it can be really hard to convince the clerk at the counter, and the supervisor who will inevitably be called in, that it is legal. Be prepared with chapter and verse of the relevant laws, not because they will listen to you, but to convince them that maybe they should look it up for themselves.

I'm likely to be wrestling with that next year. Moving everything myself won't leave a lot of room in the car for anything else, and I'll be looking at 4 long days of driving...3 nervous nights with the car unattended in a hotel or motel parking lot. I'm not thrilled with that situation either.

I think there is a typo in the linked article. It should read “10-25 ft (3-8 m) height”.

There would be time for a short brine soak, if I get up early enough (the chicken turn-in is at 2:30), and an hour or two of brine is all that is needed for chicken pieces anyway. But the injection did a great job of keeping the chicken moist so I may just stick with that and skip the brine. I do need to make the injection and the sauce more flavorful, though. I've got an idea for modifying the sauce, still thinking about how to tweak the injection.

I've did my first planned practice cook over the weekend. It's a lot of work running two smokers and having everything done exactly on time, to meet the turn-in window they'll have at the competition. And it's really a lot of work to transform bone-in chicken thighs into the perfect little 'chicken pillows' the judges want to see. The ribs were great--I've got the flavor profile and cook time pretty well dialed in. The chicken needs some more work on the seasonings (probably tweaking the injection, the rub, and the sauce), but they sure looked good, so I thought I'd share that photo.