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FCL :: Day in the Life :: 28 Jul – 04 Aug 2019 (Soil Blocks, K9 Play Date, Kamikaze Dragonflies)

Another HOT week with limited outside project work. Can’t WAIT for September!

Created 640 soil blocks and planted some broccoli, cauliflower, beets, kale, cabbage and okra … all to be transplanted into garden rows by the end of the month.

Moved bucket-based cucumbers and basil into raised bed frames, and added a set of new cattle panel trellis’ to support cucumbers, beans, peas and other viney plants.

I know … I know … too much footage of Deuce and his damn tractor tire. I think I need to dig a big ass hole with the front loader and just bury the damn thing about 3 feet below grade. The tire, not Deuce!

Picked up a new Glock 19X and TLR-1 LR for evaluation. More to come (review wise) in the future.

My neighbors adopted a 10 year old male GSD/Labrador mix about a week ago, so we scheduled a doggie play date to introduce Miko to Deuce and Hunter. They got along GREAT. Miko and Deuce pretty much ignored each other, which was a pleasant surprise. Never know WHAT Sir Shitzalot (Deuce) will do around others. In this case, he was more interested in playing with the kids.

Just for grins, I do a little frame-by-frame analysis of two dragonflies that dive bombed Deuce while he was in the duck pond. At full speed, you can barely see the dragonflies buzz through. But, in slow motion, you can see how amazingly agile those damn things are. If you watch the second dragonfly that comes in from the lower-left, it executes a “turn on a dime” maneuver that … as a pilot … just freaks me out. I can’t imagine how many G’s that thing pulled in that maneuver. Try doing that in a Cessna 172 and it will shed its wings and become a lawn dart. I doubt even the F-22 Raptor can do that!

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FCL :: Day in the Life :: 22-28 July 2019 (Glock 42, Deuce’s Birthday, Bucket Gardening Update)

Seems like we packed quite a bit into the last week.

The ducklings have integrated with the two remaining adults, and Bianca is doing a great job of mothering them. Warms my heart to see her leading them around. She tried SO hard to hatch her own eggs naturally, but predators and a hurricane got in the way. Now, she has 15 ‘babies’ to boss around. Statistically, half of them are her offspring.

Deuce succeeded in reaching his 1st birthday without Hooey ripping his face completely off, getting flattened under the tractor, or choking to death on any of the million objects he has chewed up and destroyed. I love the boy, but Lord he can drive me nuts.

Picked up a new Glock 42 (.380 Auto) and put it through its paces. VERY happy with it. I was going to get a Ruger LCP II (2), but I’m glad I went with the ‘baby Glock’ instead. Could not be happier. I plan to pick up and evaluate a Glock 19X next. Stay tuned.

Got the second bucket gardening pallet built. Will be planting the following today: arugula, snap beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, bush peas. Need to find some heirloom okra seeds. Nevermind … just found them on Amazon, be here in 2 days.

Just threw DJ (our ‘chuck’ … duck that thinks he’s a chicken) into the duck pond with his biological species mates, and he ran out of there (literally!) like I threw him in a hole filled with Pit Vipers. I think he’s afraid of Bianca, and freaked out by all the ducklings. Then again, I see him chasing hens (best he can, they are way faster and more agile) every evening. He just thinks he’s a damn chicken. Freak-o-Nature … that one.

According to historical data, the hottest day of the year is about 10 days away, then temps will start slowly dropping through mid-September. YAY!!!

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FCL :: Range Day :: Ruger Precision Rifle (RPR) (6.5 Creedmoor) Cherry Run

I don’t shoot as often as I’d like. Why? Because I have too many other chores / tasks / priorities to take care of on this here farm and, therefore, don’t have the time or energy required to be cleaning guns all damn day. 😉

That said, I’ve now zero’d three *new* rifles in three days. I think I’ve gotten the shooting bug out of my system now. I can go back to building rabbit cages and garden fences.

I sort of rushed through this shooting session with the RPR, largely due to the heat and humidity, which just sucks the fun out of everything.

The RPR is a very interesting shooting platform. Long, heavy barrel. AR-15 inspired pistol grip and safety. Two-stage match competition trigger (light, crisp), and exceedingly smooth bolt action.

Two of the three rifles I’ve zero’d in the last three days had Vortex Viper PST (Precision Tactical) scopes, which I’m really starting to like a lot. I need to build up a higher level of expertise with their EBR MRAD reticle system, but even without 100’s of hours behind the scopes, I find them to be easy to step into and ‘just use’ out of the box. I’m sure once I get out to 500 meters or more, the finer details and idiosyncrasies of the reticle system will become much more important.

First impressions? I find the RPR to be extremely accurate out of the box, easy to shoot, and an absolute ‘tack driver’ from the shooting bench.

Also, I’ve become quite the 6.5 Creedmoor fan over the last few days. I’ll never give up on my .308 go-to platform, but may need to invest a bit more in the 6.5C alternative.

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FCL :: Range Day :: Springfield M1A (.308) :: Cherry Run

Decided to put the first 30 rounds or so through a Springfield Armory M1A (.308) that I’ve been sitting on for a few years. It has a REALLY nice custom stock (J. Allen Engineering, JAE-100 G3) favored by U.S. military ‘specialists’ … and I mounted a Millett 4-16×50 Illuminated Tactical Riflescope on it this morning (for now, not permanent).

Got the rifle zero’d at 100 yards with about 15 rounds, then ran a quick-fire drill on a steel silhouette to see if I could replicate (or even beat) the 1″ sub-MOA group I shot on the same target with a 6.5 Creedmoor M1A the other day.

Very happy with the .308’s performance, but I think the 6.5C out shot it, perhaps because the newer 6.5C has a National Match (NM) barrel and trigger.

Obviously, both are more than effective at this relatively short range (100 yards).

I’m working on a new, longer range shooting lane on the property, which I hope to have completed in the Fall … out to about 300 meters. Then, we’ll see which of the two M1A’s really shines.

We all know about the “weak link” metaphor often used in business, which was well demonstrated in my second shooting drill. I hit a 6″ AR-500 rated steel plate right in the middle, and one of the two chains holding it in place failed (snapped) from the energy transferred from the bullet, to the plate, to the chain. Bullet disintegrated, plate absorbed and transferred the energy, and the chain failed.

The M1A is considered by some shooters to be an “old school” design, basically a civilian version of the venerable military M-14 that dates back to the end of WWII. I beg to differ. I’ll take an M1A over an AR-15 (or similar) any day. I own both, and I carried an M-16 in the military for 8+ years.

Overall, I’m happy with this rifles performance. I’ll probably switch over to a Vortex Viper PST scope at some point, but for now it is demonstrably G2G (good-to-go!).

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FCL :: Day in the Life :: June 21, 2018

A bit longer video today … I got a little chatty during the garden irrigation project today. I’m still a little flummoxed regarding the PVC water line pressure variation observation (high, low,, high). I bet I can solve it with 30 minutes (or less) of web research, but I just haven’t found the time (yet).

Got the new Springfield M1A (6.5 Creedmoor) rifle demonstrably zero’d at 100 yards with only 10 rounds. I looked a bit closer at the yellow target later on and noted three of four center-of-mass rounds in a sub-MOA (less than 1″) group on target. Sweeeeeet rifle. Will probably end up re-zeroing it at 200 meters next.

Product Endorsement: Hi-Lift Jack PP-300 Post Popper.

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FCL :: Day in the Life :: June 18, 2018

Got the first couple of raised bed rows covered (tarps) in the garden plot to kill the remaining cover crop in preparation for transplanting the seeds I sowed in the soil block mini-greenhouse the other day in about 4 to 6 weeks.

Got too hot … so I spent some time in the workshop getting a Vortex Viper PST 2.5-10×44 scope with EBR-1 reticle (MRAD) mounted on the new Springfield Armory M1A rifle, after installing a SADLAK M14/M1A Airborne Scope Mount and lapping a set of Burris Extreme Tactical 30mm rings. Wow, that’s a mouthful.

Finally caught one of the two rabbit does nursing the baby kits, so now I know which one is the mother, and which one is … NEXT … (as my buck rabbit is prone to saying!).

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New Day … Hooray!

After all of yesterday’s trials and tribulations … I got up this morning not defeated, but determined to enjoy this day … a new day … fresh, and with a positive attitude.

Obviously, I have my hands full managing this here farm thingy. I’ve only been at this for less than 2 years, so every day undoubtedly — and without fail — presents many new ‘lessons learned‘ and ‘teachable moments.’ Yesterday was rich with such experiences, but today may not. Even if it does … so be it. Onward. Upward.

This video covers my morning activities between first cup of coffee and breakfast (sweet Italian sausage, veggies, brown rice, eggs, feta cheese, basil). Got all the critters up, out, checked, fed and watered, and run threw a few ‘snake drills‘ because of all the snake activity this week. 😉

Enjoy.

P.S. OBVIOUSLY (and no surprise) … the 7 1/2 shot was way more effective vs. the snake (target) than was the 000 buck. Onboard my ranch gun (Taurus/Rossi Circuit Judge carbine) I carry 7 1/2 shot (snakes), 000 buck (coyotes, short range), .45 Colt (coyotes, long range), and PDX1 (biped trespassers). 😉

P.S.S. And NO, I didn’t shoot the two ‘chickens’ beneath the ‘snakes.’ They just did what I taught all my chickens to do when I engage predators in their vicinity … drop, cover and bug-the-f*ck-OUT (i.e. beat feet).

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Circuit Judge :: Day 1 :: Zero

Picked up a new Taurus/Rossi Circuit Judge carbine chambered in .45 (Long) Colt / 410 gauge and spent my first hour behind it this AM getting it zero’d using a Holosun HS503C red dot site.

The first sequence in the video is of shooting five rounds of Winchester PDX1 (410 gauge, 3 inch) self-defense shotgun ammo at a distance of 65 feet. That’s a LONG shot given the firearm and ammo, but I was really impressed with accuracy energy on target.

The second sequence is of shooting five rounds of Hornady Critical Defense .45 Colt 185 grain FTX rifle ammo from 50 yards out. The red dot was zero’d at 65 feet with no adjustments made prior to engaging from 50 yards, so it may be a little off. My sense is it is shooting low/right.

I need to put a few 100 more rounds through the rifle before I can write a meaningful review, but so far … I’m favorably impressed.