I woke up at 03:30 this morning thinking about a work-related problem. Looks like for the next several weeks (excepting my trip to Gun Blogger Rendezvous VIII), I’m going to be BURIED at work, so don’t expect to see much here except for random snippets. Certainly no Überposts. Sorry about that. Read the archives, or go outside and get a tan or something.
Tag: Rendezvous
Rendezvous!
Only 45 days until Gun Blogger Rendezvous VIII! As I’ve reported previously, the activities this year will include some time using the new OCAT (Optical Computer Aided Training) System both indoors with a laser, and outdoors with live-fire. Here’s a demo:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj1AofC0aNw?rel=0]
Plus, one attendee will be taking one home with them!
If you attend, you can also win a new Ruger Blackhawk in .357 Magnum, a Hi-Point pistol-caliber carbine, or a youth-sized Stevens take-down .22 rifle.
Mr. Completely says:
The Gun Blogger Rendezvous is not just for gun bloggers. if you read gun blogs, enjoy shooting or shooting sports, are interested in Second Amendment issues, or are in the shooting sports industry in some manner, you are all welcome to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous.
As we have done for the last seven years at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, every penny we can raise goes to benefit Soldiers Angels and project Valour-IT. if you have not attended a Rendezvous in a few years, then this is the year for you to get back into the swing of the Gun Blogger Rendezvous. The registration for the Rendezvous is only $30, and it has not changed price in eight years. For the $30, you get one dinner, two breakfasts, access to all of the events, and several trips to the door prize table. Between now and the Rendezvous dates there may be additional items and benefits also added. The Silver Legacy hotel and casino where we are holding the Rendezvous provides the hospitality room for us at no charge, since we book a block of rooms for the attendees. they also provide free in room Wi-Fi for attendees.
It is very important that you send in your registration right away, so that we will know how many people are planning on attending. We are expecting a really good turnout this year, and it is possible that those who sign up at the last minute may not be able to get in on all of the free meals. We must notify the hotel well in advance as to how many people will be eating at each meal. If we give them a number that is too high we pay for those meals whether they are eaten or not. If we give the hotel a number that is too small there may not be enough meals for everyone to eat. As you can see, it is very important that you get your registration in right away. Since the all you can eat pizza feed on Saturday night sponsored by NSSF is not catered, we can order the amount of pizza that we need right at the last minute, so everyone will get plenty of pizza!
To make your room reservations at the Silver Legacy you need to use the group code GBLOG13 in order to get the discounted room rate. to use this group code and to get the discounted room right, you must place your reservations by telephone. It will not work if you try to book online. The telephone number for the Silver Legacy is 1-800-687-7733.
To register for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous you must download the registration form and mail it in along with your $30 to the address on the registration form. you’re check will be deposited into a Gun Blogger Rendezvous escrow account, and after the Rendezvous one check for the total amount will be sent to soldiers Angels.
If it is too far to Reno for you to drive, and you would prefer not flying, the Amtrak train station is only a block or so away from the Silver Legacy.
This is definitely the year to come to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous in Reno. We will be having more fun and more activities than we have ever had in the past. Hopefully, we will also be raising more money for Soldiers Angels than we ever have raised at any previous Gun Blogger Rendezvous. For that to happen, however, we need for you to come to the Rendezvous, bring your friends, and also help promote the Rendezvous by forwarding this on to other folks who you think would also enjoy coming to Reno for the Rendezvous.
So make your plans! I’d love to meet you!
Rendezvous!
The 8th Annual Gun Blogger Rendezvous is fast approaching, September 4-8 at the Silver Legacy Resort and Casino in Reno, NV. Event organizer Mr. Completely has published the schedule of this year’s events:
Wednesday, September 4th.
6:15 Pm. For those arriving on Wednesday, KeeWee and I and some of the other early arrivers are planning on having dinner at the El Dorado Buffet Restaurant. The El Dorado is part of the same giant casino complex as the Silver Legacy and the Circus Circus. The El Dorado Buffet is at one end of the complex. The Silver Legacy is in the middle, and the Circus Circus is on the opposite end.
Thursday, September 5th8:30 am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality Room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.
1:15 pm. Leave the Hospitality Room to car pool to Cabela’s.
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm. Guided tour Cabela’s and browsing/shopping. Buy ammo? Pick up munchies and soft drinks on way back to hotel.
6:00 pm. Leave the Hospitality Room to go to dinner. Location to be determined later.
Thursday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.
Friday, September 6th.8:00 am. NRA Sponsored breakfast in our Hospitality room. NRA representative will be speaking to us over breakfast.
9:00 am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, the Pyramid range for rifle and pistol target shooting out to 900 yards.
9:45 am – 2:00pm. At the range.
4:00 pm. – 5:45pm. Show-N-Tell at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Manufacturers and show new stuff, and attendees show neat things too!
6:00 pm. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to go to Dos Gecko’s Mexican Restaurant for dinner sponsored by Gunlawsbystate.com and Brian Ciyou.
7:15 pm. (Approx) Ray Carter from the Second Amendment Foundation and Brian Ciyou from Gunlawsbystate.com, will talk to us, and other industry, shooting sports, and legal aspect folks will follow.
7:45 pm. Double Elimination Pistol competition in Hospitality Room using the Optical Computer Aided Training Simulator from Outwest systems, using real guns shooting lasers instead of bullets. An OCAT System will be awarded to one of the competitors by random drawing!Friday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.
Saturday, September 7th.
8:00 am. Gunauctions.com sponsored Breakfast in the Silver Legacy Hospitality room.
9:00 am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, Western Nevada Pistol League Action Pistol bays at the Pyramid range for an introduction to Steel Challenge Action Pistol shooting, a demonstration of the live fire version of the OCAT system, and more.
9:45 am – 2:00 pm. At the range.
5:00 pm – 6 pm. Short presentation by the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
6:00 pm. NSSF all you can eat pizza feed at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. After dinner will be the fund raiser raffle for Project Valour-IT and the drawings for the door prizes.
Saturday Evening until Midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.Sunday, September 8th.
8:00 am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room for one of the restaurants for breakfast
9:00 am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, Western Nevada Pistol League Action Pistol bays at the Pyramid range for some fun with the Black Powder bowling Ball Mortar from Gunauctions.com, and some other surprises you won’t want to miss!
9:45 am – 1:00pm. At the range.
This year sounds like a real blast!
Rendezvous!
The eighth (8th!) annual Gun Blogger Rendezvous is coming up, September 5-8 in Reno, Nevada. Each year the Rendezvous is sponsored by several manufacturers and distributors of firearms and firearm accessories, along with gun rights and advocacy groups:
Allchin Gun Parts
Brownells
Cabelas
COMP-TAC
Crimson Trace
Dillon Precision
Front Sight Academy
Gunbroker.com
Hi-Point / MKS Supply
Lucky Gunner
NRA
NSSF
SAF
Tactical Solutions
Burris Optics
GunAuction.Com
True Blue Sam did a little video of some of last year’s sponsors:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPUxmaCZOYM?rel=0]
Trust me, the swag is worth the $30 registration fee alone, and this year the sponsors will be feeding us breakfast Friday and Saturday, and dinner Saturday as well.
S&W team shooter “Millisecond” Molly Smith and her family will be joining us again this year, and for the first time we’ll have a bowling ball mortar at one of our shoots:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQvTIEH0H7I?rel=0]
Bowling ball mortar courtesy of new GBR sponsor Gunauction.com. If I did the math right, a 22 second hang-time corresponds to a peak altitude of approximately 1950 feet AGL. Impressive. If you come to GBR-VIII, I’ll tell you the story of the bowling ball mortar at the second big AR15.com Southern Arizona shoot….
Rendezvous!
OK, we’re officially 94 days from Gun Blogger Rendezvous VIII! Mr. Completely has the details:
Once a year Gun Bloggers, Gun Blog Readers, gun writers, shooters, gun association folks, and industry representatives from around the country gather in Reno at the Silver Legacy Hotel & Casino to visit, socialize, compare notes, discuss everything firearms related, and get in three range days covering everything from long range rifle, steel shooting, Cowboy Fast Draw, and more. At the Gun Blogger Rendezvous there is something going on from breakfast to well into the night! 2013 will be the Gun Blogger Rendezvous’ Seventh Anniversary.
The Rendezvous also raises money for Project Valour-IT, a division of Soldiers Angels, through a raffle of firearms and shooting sports items donated by our sponsors. Project Valour-IT buys voice actuated laptop computers for injured servicemen, who, due to the nature of their injuries, are unable to operate a computer using a conventional mouse and keyboard. This allows them to communicate with their family and friends, directly from their hospital beds, and has been shown to significantly increase their rate of recovery.
We also give out a large number of door prizes and promotional items to our attendees. Our sponsors, in return, get a lot of positive Internet exposure through the Gun Blogs and stories about the Rendezvous.
Some of our current and previous year include Ruger, Gunbroker.com, Cabelas, MKSSupply/HiPoint, Crimson Trace, Comp-Tac, Springfield Armory, Dillon Precision, Brownells, National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), The NRA, The Second Amendment Foundation, and more.
Last year we raised approximately $6,000 for Project Valour-IT, and this year, we hope to do even better. Every penny we can make from the Rendezvous goes to Project Valour-IT. Even the event organizer (that’s me) pays to register for the Rendezvous!
Dates: September 5th, 6th, 7th, & 8th
Location: Silver Legacy Resort/Casino in Reno
Gun Blogger Rendezvous Website: http://gunbloggers.blogspot.comContact:
Mike Gallion
2704E Gabelein Rd.
Clinton, WA 98236
[email protected] or [email protected]
(360) 321-6258
Some footage from previous Rendezvous:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWxVvZUpT1Q?rel=0]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsYarFtEwkQ?rel=0]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kIoMWyW070?rel=0]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYEenS0dcHE?rel=0]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq7xBerIQQE?rel=0]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3Iz7vqMruc?rel=0]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfEVLNKxovw?rel=0]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLZm5MXynsI?rel=0]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvm7oFct97Y?rel=0]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1MMHW72DNc?rel=0]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8Y7tG4D6x4?rel=0]
So, you coming this year? Make your reservations now!
I Hope Mr. Completely and Keewee are OK
Homes evacuated after major landslide on Whidbey Island
At least 17 homes have been evacuated after a major landslide overnight on Whidbey Island.Island County Sheriff Mark Brown said no one was hurt, but one home was destroyed by mud and debris when the slide happened in an area near Alderwood Street and South Fircrest Avenue just after 4 a.m.
“It’s a pretty massive slide,” he said.
Brown said a relief center for displaced residents has been established at a nearby community center.
It was not clear exactly what caused the slide, as there was no rain overnight in the area.
Check the link for pictures. For once the media didn’t exaggerate. It was a major slide.
SandCastle Air
For the first six Gun Blogger Rendezvous, I drove from Tucson to Reno. It’s about 15 hours each way, if you average 55MPH over the trip including stops for food and fuel. I can do that in one shot, but that’s about my limit. This year I got an interesting offer. Danno from Sandcastle Scrolls was going for the first time – and Dan owns a plane. A plane that cruises at 200MPH. Specifically, this plane:
Pretty, isn’t it? It’s a 1967 Cessna 310, with two Continental fuel-injected 471 cubic-inch six-cylinder boxer engines rated at about 260Hp each. At 200MPH, they burn about 25GPH for an average fuel economy of 8MPG – not bad at that speed. As Dan reported on his blog,
We fired up the #1 engine at 10:27 local and shut them down 3:26 later on the ramp at Carson City. (note flight time is not the same as engine time. Engine time includes taxi time at each end while flight time is from take off to landing.)
Beats the hell out of 15 hours. Including idling, run-up, takeoff and landing, we burned about 91 gallons each way. At well over $5/gal. Ouch. Still, the scenery from 8500 to 10,000 ft ASL is a lot nicer than it is at ground level over Nevada:
Trust me, the desert is MUCH prettier from the air. And you don’t get to do this – our approach and landing at Carson City:
http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf
Dan’s been flying about 25 years. He greased the landing at Carson, and did it even better on our return to Chandler. Not a bad way to travel! And without blogging, I’d never have gotten this chance.
Oh, and the speed? Here’s the proof:
That’s from the GPS on my Blackberry.
0 for 7
Well, I’ve been attending the Gun Blogger Rendezvous since its inception. The first year the top prize at the Saturday night raffle was a pistol – a High Point 9mm. Each year since the prizes have gotten better and better – more guns, more neat swag. I even gave away a gun at the 2009 GBR.
But I’ve never won one.
I’d hoped that last year would end my dry streak. Bea had donated a Ruger Blackhawk that she said she wanted me to win, but it was not to be. Molly Smith took home the certificate for that one.
This year, Ruger Engineering Johnson donated a .45LC Vaquero I really wanted.
My nemesis took it once again. (Meddling kids!) And she’s sponsored by Smith & Wesson!
Oh well, I guess winning a gun will be a once-in-a-lifetime event for me.
Buth there’s always next year.
(Typos corrected. I was in a hurry and typing on my EeePC keyboard. Sue me.)
Quote of the Day – Mr C.Edition
Commenting on his win in the Super Senior Rimfire class at the Western National Steel Challenge Chamionship:
You don’t have to outshoot ’em, you just have to outlive ’em!
Off to See the Wizard
The trip will be a bit different this year. Instead of driving the Mustang for 15 hours each way, I’ll be traveling up with first timer Danno of the blog SandCastle Scrolls.
In his Cessna 310.
Too cool.
It has just a bit more horsepower than the ‘Stang, but it’ll do the better part of 200mph, and will take us from Chandler, AZ to Carson City, NV in about 3½ hours, where we’ll pick up a rental and drive the remaining thirty minutes to Reno.
Unfortunately, the Cessna doesn’t have the cargo capacity of the Mustang, so I had to leave a few things behind this year I’d planned on taking. I’ll be bringing my Garand, my M1 Carbine, and three handguns, but I’m leaving a (borrowed) semi-auto Thompson, my 1917 Enfield, and my “Power Tool” – the T/C Encore chambered in .260 Remington.
Anyway, we hope to be off the ground and en route by 10:30 AM, which should put us on the ground in time to meet up with the group at Cabela’s.
Hope you’re coming this year. Should be a good one!
Oh, and blogging will be light for the next couple of days.