Tag: trying

August 6, 2025 – What Everyone Tells You To Do But Never Does

August 6, 2025 /

Imagine that you want to buy a new car. It is easy and smart to go to various websites and look at specs of your short list of cars. After you narrow down the options, there is likely a list of two to four cars that meet the specs but you still want more. So, you go to the dealer and they say ‘these are the cars that you can look at’. The key word is look. I one time looked at a Porsche 911 but the salesman said that I could not drive it unless I made an offer to purchase. How would I know I want to make an offer if I cannot drive it and see it is for me?

As a high school trap coach, I see plenty of new shooters. They may not be new to shooting but most are definitely new to the game of trap. Most of them fit into two categories. There are those that fall into the camp that they purchased a shotgun to participate which is almost always inadequate and those that upgrade their shotgun within a year. The latter group is often the ones shooting dad’s or older brother’s shotgun.

What I can say from experience is that fit is king. I don’t care if you are shooting 20 gauge as opposed to 12 gauge, if the gun does not fit you are going to struggle. A few years ago a kid on the team was shooting a beat up Remington 870 pretty well. He purchased a semi-automatic Tri-star and could not hit the broad side of a barn. After struggling six out of eight weeks with his newer and fancier shotgun he switched back only to shoot season high scores. Neither gun was wrong but the simpler 870 fit him much better and so he scored better.

I recently attended an event that my range put on. This is a new thing; they used to host a fully automatic shoot that was a real hoot. This was intended to bring back a fraction of that fun that no longer can happen due to insurance costs. But the premise was to bring in a number of manufacturers and a whole lot of guns to shoot. Ideally, that would lead to purchases from the sponsor of the event.

What you can see in the picture is about a third of firearms that Sig Sauer brought to the event. There were a number of other vendors there as well. The idea was that participants would purchase tickets that would be presented to vendors for ammunition. Depending on what caliber you chose to shot, a ticket was worth 10 22LR, 8 9mm, 6 45 ACP etc.

In today’s world, semi-automatic handguns are king. In my day growing up, 38 special was the same price as 9mm ammunition. Not so today, 38 special is three times the cost as 9mm. This event was almost exclusively 9mm pistols which is too bad because I don’t own any. On top of that, my tastes are pretty eclectic. For instance when I visited the Taurus bay, I really wanted to shoot a Judge (45LC/410 revolver) but no such luck.

I have heard over and over from multiple sources that first time, gun owners should try a bunch of different firearms before just buying one. But how, where? This event was awesome for handling and shooting a large number of the most popular firearms in the market. In fact, the majority of firearms I have purchase were a surprise in how I shot with them until I purchased them and went to the range for the first time.

I could have shot different exotic things but I did not. I tried three different 22LR, a 9mm and a 45acp pistol. I tried some shotguns that were way out of my price range and also a 6.5 Creedmoor rifle. The pistols were things that I have considered over the years. The shotguns and rifle was just for fun. Nothing I tried is on my next to purchase list but then again they didn’t really have what I wanted to shoot to begin with.

I definitely learned some things. I learned which 22 pistol I liked over the others. I learned that I really liked the 9mm and I learned that I didn’t like how the 45 felt in the hand. The one overall lesson I learned was with the 6.5 Creedmoor. This has become an extremely popular cartridge in the last ten years. I wanted to shoot a rifle that I considered affordable and without a silencer. This particular rifle had a muzzle brake on it.

After firing the first round, it blasted my ears causing them to ring even with ear plugs in. I have heard about this phenomenon before but never personally witnessed it. I found myself closing my eyes on the remaining two rounds which I am sure that effected my marksmanship. If this is how all brakes work, this is a definite no-no for me.

End Your Programming Routine: I am fifty years old and have been in the scene most of my life. There are two places that I can think of that actually rent firearms but you are limited to what they have on hand and the disciplines that they offer. This was a very unique experience to get a large swath of manufacturers of similar firearms together. This is something that you really cannot reasonably do, try before you buy.

January 10, 2023 – Fly Tied, #1

January 10, 2023 /

As with my philosophy, first build discipline and then proficiency. Well you could say that this is what I did. I wanted to tie a fly that used all of the materials I had on hand (I did have to buy hooks however). I saw no reason to buy more materials when I had plenty on hand. I also wanted to make something that was large. It is easier to do dexterity work when you are not at micro-scale.

I have alluded to this before but it used to be that fly fishing and fly tying was a very traditional endeavor. I have some pattern books, but I just wanted to make something. And what is more flashy then a streamer? These are the peacocks of the fly world. So, I found a picture of something that I liked the looks of and made up the rest.

Step one is to wrap the hook in thread as a base layer. Then I put down a layer of gold tinsel. My intent is to have a butt end with some exposed gold.

With my base layer down, I added black chenille. That simulates the body of an insect. I probably made a mistake using marabou (feather) as hackle, that simulates wings. Marabou is typically used as dubbing (or adding mass to a body, not as hackle. But remember, I was using what I had on hand.

After building up the head and adding head cement to hold it all together. I had tied my first fly in thirty years. Now, it wasn’t super tidy or good looking. I was thinking of naming it something in-appropriate, but didn’t. Maybe you can suggest something funny or unique? I have no illusions that this is the one to knock them dead. But this is the one that got me back into the game.

I learned a few things in this trial process. The first thing I learned was that my vice sucks. It essentially free spins with almost no pressure. I sure don’t remember that from the past. It is going to be a while before I actually do anything about replacing the vice. For one, I can’t justify doing something for a ‘someday I might want a better one’. Second, I have other projects/expenses lined up before this becomes a priority.

The second thing that I learned was that I have enough tools to make simple flies. I do plan to purchase more thread bobbins and hackle pliers to have some spares on hand and thinking that I might make more complicated flies eventually. But for now, what I have will work for what I am doing. I will never give up on two is one and one is none in case something gets lost or broken but this should be fine for what I am doing now.

I don’t think the hook I used was proper. The pattern I emulated called for a #3 to #5 hook. This is actually a #2 but it seems short to me. This hook was billed as a bait hook but I think the shank is too short. There are specific or common fly hooks and this was not one of them. So, I think my output would be neater an cleaner if I actually used a better hook. But again, this got me going and I could buy it locally.

End Your Programming Routine: I really wanted to prove to myself that I could still do it. I think that I have lost some skill and technique as well as knowledge after all these years but proof of concept is complete. I am trying to figure out exactly how I want to handle all of this but this is a good start. I am really trying to keep my toolbox fallacy at bay and this is the way that I started.