1st ANNUAL PUMPKIN PURGE

NOV 1ST, 2008

 Prime plump pumpkins perched perilously, precariously, 'pon palleted platforms...... Patriotically, precisely, purged......pierced properly per powerful, penetrating projectiles.....Man, did we splat the hell out of these pumpkins!!!

You know how when you do something that's so cool, you know you are going to do it again next year? Well, this was like that. It's no longer "November Training"...It's now our Annual Pumpkin Purge!!!

The day started out with a walk, during which two new guys were trying to qualify. We noted with some interest that Xena, 11, was driving the ATV.

Now, that's an odd thing for an eleven-year old girl to be driving, you might think. You'd be wrong. She handled it well, with zero accidents or mishaps. She made several trips back front to secure supplies or people. The rifle you see on the ATV is her own. This is how you raise a kid to be a good, free American!!!

Some of the guys, including a couple of newer folks, were walking for qualification, and most of the rest were along for a tactical walk, which is usually at a slower pace. Both of the new guys came in at around 33 minutes.

The gear check followed. In an odd turn of events, we saw no less than three rifles chambered in the powerful .30-'06, and a couple of .30-30 rifles. Add to that a few .308's and 7.62 x 54r, and you can see that there was massive lead flying downrange, massive kicks, and even more massive boomage going on. This was not a day to be without ear protection.

One of the guys was short a pair of latex gloves, which we were able to furnish. The .30-'06 ammo was counted, and it looked heavy.

Some of the guys sighted in at closer range, for starters, guided by the able leadership of Bishop. It's not a bad idea to start at 25 yards, if you have a new rifle or a new scope. I hope nobody ever gets frustrated trying to hit. It's just a matter of working on it, finding ammo that your rifle likes, and picking up a pointer at a time until you get dialed in. A typical military battle rifle should be able to hit 4MOA, which would be a four inch target at 100 yards. Level One is a nine inch target, so, it falls well within the capability of most rifles.

Speaking of rifle accuracy, we noted the chart (below) taped to the stock of an M1 Garand. It represents the drop of the bullet at various distances. if you don't feel like taping this information to your rifle (you should), then at least take the time to familiarize yourself with the drop associated with what you are shooting.

There was some attempted four pin shooting, but some of this was tried with rifles that had not yet been sighted in all the way. It was a little frustrating, but a bowling pin at 100 yards is a much smaller and harder target to hit than any potential bad guy.

We also did a fire and maneuver drill, more than once, with somewhat larger fire teams. Yours truly served as OPFOR, and while there was a thing or two to work through and tighten up, we think the guys got some of the ideas down, and should be able to run through this a bit more crisply next time.

A fire team bounding.

Team closing in.

A fine soiree of freedom-a-licious goodness.

Since I was acting as support (they hate this, they do), we had old MRE entrees, crackers, and leftover Halloween candy for lunch. At least it was something, and Xena actually LIKED the chili mac. Seriously, if we all kept a box or tub of food like this (or better!!!) with us, then anyone can step up and feed the crew at the range.

There was also a slight injury to report as someone caught a scope over their eye. This required minimal attention, and minimal mockery. Still, a .30-'06 with a scope can indeed open up a nifty wound in the ocular region. So be careful with your scopes, and make sure that somebody has some band-aids handy.

...and then it was time for the pumpkins to die. All of them.

Mad Hatter had secured 30 pumpkins from a local fruit market. He was only going to get 20, but when the dealer found out what we were going to do with them, he threw in 10 more. People like cool, fun things, dammit.

Okay, this wasn't all just simple, mindless fun. Mostly it was, but we also got to see how different rounds from .22 up to buckshot affected pumpkins, and thusly pumpkin-like things. The victims were lined up, above, and then we just cut loose.

We stopped frequently to check what which rounds were doing to to the pumpkins. The bigger thirty caliber rounds created what looked like big pumpkin fireworks, exploding gloriously across the width of the backstop, showering all things with orange, gooey, goodness. The smaller handgun rounds, and the .22 caliber rifles, while fun, produced no explosive showers of pumpkin guts. T-Bone's .22 conversion for his AR was impressive, though.

.30-.30 plus Pumpkin = Orange fireworks

Yep. This pumpkin is finished.

A very happy Mad Hatter.

This was a hoot, and a holler. Twenty something good folks showed up to train, shoot, and have some serious fun whilst determining what their particular weapon of choice will do to a pumpkin. This was too much fun NOT to do again next year.

This was in fact, so fun, that when I was talking to an FBI Agent and a Postal Inspector about the Nov 5th meeting, they were visibly jealous. I continue to extend the offer to them, any or all of them, to come out and shoot pumpkins with us next year!

Have fun! Be prepared! Live your life!

-Weapon M

"I have my mind, I have my life, and I am the boss of myself!"  -Thomais (Toni) Angelousis, (Weapon M's Mother-in-Law)