Meet/Greet/Practice 8/27/11 Berlin Conservation Club

How would all feel about a meet & greet as well as a little informal pistol shooting practice? August 27th at the Berlin Conservation Club. All would be required to purchase an annual membership at the whopping cost of FIVE BUCKS We would go over range/firearm safety as well as marksmanship fundamentals. Afterwards, the club is holding a brat fry in the town of Berlin where all could stop for a little chow.

This is a range located in Central WI....

http://www.berlincc.org/Home_Page.php

To bring:

Paper targets
Ammo
Ear/eye protection

A pistol might be a good idea....

As taught in our Hunters Ed Classes, always remember T-A-B-K:

T- Treat every firearm as if it were loaded
A- Always point the muzzle in a safe direction
B- Be sure of your target and beyond
K-Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire

BCC Gun Handling Rules

ALWAYS KEEP THE GUN POINTED IN A SAFE DIRECTION.
ALWAYS KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL READY TO SHOOT, and outside the trigger guard, until ready to fire or until the command "Commence Firing" has been given.
ALWAYS KEEP THE ACTION OPEN AND FIREARM UNLOADED UNTIL READY TO USE. On a firing range this means the shooters are in position on the firing line and the range has been cleared for live firing.
KNOW YOUR TARGET AND WHAT IS BEYOND. When on shooting ranges, be mindful also of adjacent areas and act accordingly.
BE SURE THE GUN IS SAFE TO OPERATE.
USE ONLY THE CORRECT AMMUNITION OF YOUR GUN. When at a shooting range with more than one firearm, use one at a time and when finished, store that firearm and its ammunition before using the next one.
WEAR EAR AND EYE PROTECTION.
STORE GUNS SO THEY ARE NOT ACCESSIBLE TO UNAUTHORIZED PERSONS.
FOLLOW ALL STATE OF WISCONSIN FIREARM DISCHARGE AND POSSESSION LAWS AND REGULATIONS.
ALCOHOL AND FOOD ITEMS ARE PROHIBITED IN SHOOTING AREAS.

General Range Rules

• Know and obey all range commands and rules.
• Know where others are at all times.
• Shoot only at authorized targets.
• Ground level targets are not authorized; attach them to backstops at pistol and rifle ranges.
• Follow range officers commands when one is present.
• Unload, open the action, remove the magazine, remove arrows and ground, bench or cradle all weapons during a cease-fire.
• DO NOT handle any firearm or draw a bow or stand at the firing line where firearms are present while others are down range.
• Always keep the muzzle pointed at the backstop or down range. Never allow the muzzle to point in any direction whereby an inadvertent discharge would allow the escape of a projectile into an outer area.
• Gun actions are to remain open at all times until ready to fire.
• Guns are to be loaded only when ready to fire.
• Observe all posted rules, warnings and other directional signs as posted at the ranges and at the clubhouse.

I could do that - it's less than an hour away.

Nobody gets to shoot at the Meet & Greets...until now The more the merrier. Afterwards, the club is having a brat fry where we can do our thing again and support the club a little. Rather have my $$$ go to support a range that we can all use.

So far there are 3 of us planning to attend...
C'mon folks, I know there have been lots more than that looking at this thread.

I think it's a great idea but it's a little far for me.

Pool it. The range is maybe 90 miles from central Milw.

Last call...anyone is invited.

I SO wish this range was closer so I could conduct classes there.

Grant Guess said:

Pool it. The range is maybe 90 miles from central Milw.

Last call...anyone is invited.

Click to expand...

What time? (Got a friend racing at Elkhart Lake - hoping to make both events)

9am 'til whenever.
Then we'll get lunch (Grant said something about a brat fest in town).

Nice to meet with Krysta, Joe, Rick and Jim there. "LOTS" of lead and copper went into the berm. Hope that all had fun and learned something now

Thanks for putting it all together Grant.

It was fun,
I learned,

... and I got to meet the infamous MKEgal.

Let's do it again.

"Infamous"? Oh, dear... I suppose that's slightly better than notorious.

Thank you, Grant, for putting this together. :exclaim: :lol: :monkey :banana:
I wish more people had been there. It's a nice facility, with friendly people.

Learned new things, tried things that aren't allowed @ the indoor range I prefer, had a decent lunch at a local eatery, nice long conversation with Grant (who has some very interesting stories to share), & proved once again that most people don't notice when someone is OCing... even those who should know better.
:lol: (Where's that "whistling innocently" smiley?)

We're looking at doing it again in SEP. Hopefully more people will show up. We'll have to check to see how to reserve the pistol range, so we don't end up 'sharing' with people with rifles. (It was time for lunch anyway.)

(A bit hard to find, but now my GPS has a mark for "BCC" so I can get back there... & I fully intend to. Even with the cost of gas, if I spend more than an hour there I come out ahead. I figured it costs just under $20 for gas RT. Going to my preferred indoor range is $14/hr. I could see taking a lunch.)

But now there's one more thing on my list of "firearms I'd like to buy next"... an air rifle, so I can inexpensively & quietly learn & practice new skills. As I told Grant, once I learn the skill, then I can start having fun with it.
New games to play (marksmanship program):
A description of the program http://www.nrahq.org/education/training/marksmanship/
The booklet (which is probably violating copyright) http://pistol.org.ohio-state.edu/qualbook.pdf

I was looking at the Beeman online catalog and the closest models that they now have to what we were shooting is the R1 model in .22 caliber. I'd not recommend a .22cal, but instead, the weakest .177cal model (R7). You must hunt around for the best price on the web. http://www.topairgun.com/product/PY-1899-3885. That is very similar to the one that I was shooting back at 45+yards. That one I have is just dastardly accurate. They guarantee accuracy of .15" center to center for a group at 10M. That is under an inch at 50yds if you can hold it. I was using std Daisy pellets BTW, not any of the precision "match" grade pellets like you were shooting out of that .22cal rifle up closer.

The air rifle the cheapest way to learn all of the finite elements of marksmanship...particularly trigger control. Once you work with one of those a spell, you will see how it relates to trigger control on anything (pistol, rifle, etc).

That Berlin Cons Club has an outstanding facility. The ranges are groomed, good backstops, covered shooting benches, clubhouse, etc. For 5 bucks, that is a steal of a deal. I am looking forward to getting back there again. Maybe we can get some heavy cardboard silhouettes and then use 3/4" buff/black pasters so that we can simply repair the targets over and over. http://www.letargets.com/estylez_ps.aspx?searchmode=category&searchcatcontext=~010000~011000 I would think that we could comfortably run a sizable group through the range if we planned it right. You are right, reserving the range 'IF" we can get enough people committed, is the way to go.

Grant Guess said:

Maybe we can get some heavy cardboard silhouettes and then use 3/4" buff/black pasters so that we can simply repair the targets over and over. http://www.letargets.com/estylez_ps.aspx?searchmode=category&searchcatcontext=~010000~011000

Click to expand...

Did anyone notice (& does it disturb you) that some of those targets are labelled as being for the DOE? (Department of Energy) Whatinell does the DOE need with shooting people?!?!
http://www.letargets.com/estylez_item.aspx?item=DOE-15CB2000GR

For our use, these are IPSC torso-shaped cardboard targets, 100 / $45: http://www.letargets.com/estylez_item.aspx?item=IPSC-CB
with 500 pasters for $3.50: http://www.letargets.com/estylez_item.aspx?item=PAST/BUFF

Or here's a misprinted target (probably on paper) of a picture of an actual person for 10c:
http://www.letargets.com/estylez_item.aspx?item=TCQ-95(B)+MP

I wish the fence were higher, so the targets would be at torso height.
Otherwise, we're shooting at attacking midgets.

MKEgal said:

Did anyone notice (& does it disturb you) that some of those targets are labelled as being for the DOE? (Department of Energy) Whatinell does the DOE need with shooting people?!?!
http://www.letargets.com/estylez_item.aspx?item=DOE-15CB2000GR

Click to expand...

Now that's a heckuva question.....Dr. Google reveals that DOE maintains a massive "protective force" to guard nuclear materials and energy researchers and research facilities. Per DOE website:

"The forces are organized and trained along paramilitary lines and are equipped with armored vehicles and weapons comparable to those employed for similar defensive purposes by the nation’s military armed forces. The performance expectations for individual protective force members are correspondingly high. These expectations have evolved over the years from what was once essentially an industrial security mission to one that is now capable of combating the current terrorist threat."

Who knew???

MKEgirl, I have 2 of these and they take a lot of hits. Very heavy target mat'l: http://www.letargets.com/estylez_item.aspx?item=SMPB-21


However, we should have a ZOMBIE SHOOT at the next Berlin get-together http://www.letargets.com/estylez_item.aspx?item=RLZ-4

:banana:

Grant Guess said:

However, we should have a ZOMBIE SHOOT at the next Berlin get-together http://www.letargets.com/estylez_item.aspx?item=RLZ-4

Click to expand...

... and schedule it for Halloween.