In the few years past I've been here, there were some pretty serious fireworks displays coming from three properties near me.

 

Last Independence Day, A year ago, almost nothing. Ditto on New Years.

 

A few hours ago, before it even got dark, gunfire erupted from properties all around me, in every direction. None of it came from adjacent properties, just the next one or two over in just about every direction.

 

Now there are fireworks going off, and it's only July 3rd. There's also people setting off explosives. But I live near quaries and I'm used to having the ground shake.

 

So, I'm looking at my Kitchen Gun. Mossberg 9200. This poor POS only makes it to the range about twice a year. And I always unload it before putting in the car. Wonder if it works in the condition that it sits in 6 months at a time, with the round that sits in the tube...

 

Boom!

 

What is all this about? Well, I think we are going to see a resurgence of celebration and patriotism over the next 36 hours. That has been dampened in recent years.

 

I hope everybody has a great time, have fun, and God Bless. Oh crap, they are shooting again. You better hope, for my sake, that my competitive streak does not show

My friends neighbors had a serious firework show tonight... Nothing in the past couple years, cops always came right after the first one would go off, not this time tho! they had like 4 years worth stockpiled and lite every single one!

busy here last night also..

Most "private" shows I have ever heard. Some big bangs also up until almost midnight.

Went to a family farm in PA this weekend and had a little display of our own on Saturday. I had my three sons and one of their friends along and we usually try to make some noise when we're there.

 

Loud noises... Flashes of light... Fireworks...

 

 

Our display started about 1500 when we took out some steel plates and started them ringing. My son's friend and my wife's cousin had never shot before so we started out easy with the .22 rifle and pistol. When I was sure everyone was safe and confident in handling the weapons we moved up a little to the Sig 220. It was the first time my 12 year old had fired a .45 and he didn't know what to expect. I showed him a stable stance and told him to hold on tight. He didn't know what to expect, but after the first shot he did great. I don't think I'll have to worry about him. One thing I can say is that we were definitely the loudest in the immediate area.

 

After about 4 hours of warming up with the daytime noisemakers we made a trip to what I like to call the Home Depot of Fireworks to stock up for our night display. All the guys at the farm get their own supply, and sometimes it's some pretty big stuff. We usually set off our display near the house so everyone can sit in chairs, relax and watch the show. Due to some near misses in the past, we had a new rule this year - don't burn down the barn (after all, the walls were just straightened). So we had to move to the top of the hill. While we were moving the neighbors were setting off some of their own displays. Amateurs.

 

Top of the hill worked great. Everyone took turns setting off their stuff saving the largest or loudest for the finale. The slight breeze cleared the smoke almost as fast as we could create more. Since we were on one of the highest hill in the area the neighbors got a good show. I'm sure we rattled more than a few windows. Good times for all. As Mel Brooks once said, 'It's good to be King.'

 

Have a safe Fourth and make some noise of your own.

There's going to be a lot of .22 (including full auto) and a lot of 26.5mm flares, smoke, and parachute flares

 

I have a feeling it's going to get really noisy tonight.