Started on a more formal shooting range

     As you might already know we have been busy with the kids and baseball from most of the spring and summer now. As the season has ended with NW in the All star tournament and having a head coach stating to his players after the 33-0 butt whooping, "I expected to loose that game". When I heard that, it was like grabbing the needle off a vinyl record and scratching it to the edge. You don't expect to loose any game, you practice hard, work on fundamentals, and use you head to make the right play each time, but what do I know, my kid had a batting average of 1.000 with all the other coaches kids batting .000 without spending one dime on some baseball academy run by a high school coach. Enough of my rant, we have a two month break until they are back at it in another local league. Yes, it costs more, but that usually weed's out a lot of the kids that don't want to learn the game and are only there because their parents want them to play. My kids love baseball.


     Well moving right along. I have around 60-70 cubic yards of red clay as my back stop. It has been weathered down a bit over the past year and a half. Inside is a core of 3 inch chunks of asphalt from a local road that was removed 3 years ago. Our friend the Farmer has a brother in law that works for the state and he needed a place to dump some dirt, granite embankment rock and chunks of asphalt, well I didn't turn him down. In the first picture here, I put the 3 point post hole digger on the tractor with a 6" auger bit and drilled down in the soil around 25-30" down. I didn't use concrete in them as I pushed the red clay back in and periodically stopped then took a sledge hammer and rammed it into the hole to pack it in. Once the rains come, it will harden up real good. I choose to use landscaping timbers instead of fence post from Tractor Supply or 4 X 4 posts from Home depot and here is the reason why. They cost over half the price as the others, they are pressure treated, and have a flat side to screw boards into.      

The boys and I deciding what we want to hang

Phase 1 complete

      As you can see from the above picture, I added a variety of different targets and also a board to add paper targets for sighting in. I have thought about adding some more steel to it and getting rid of the tanks. With the price of the steel, I will take some time to do that.

     With the addition of this more formal range, JUGM and I wanted to get the boys a nice gun that they could learn with that was an easy gun to use, clean, and fire. I also wanted it so I could add my suppressor to it so we went with a classic reborn: the Ruger Mark IV 22/45

ND taking a turn on it

NW having his turn

     As I am writing this, JUGM is giving me the evil eye about helping her with the corn we picked today. Stay safe out there.

Senior

P.S.

Update on corn from the first picking tonight for "K", picked, packed and heading to the freezer.