As a prelude to the annual United Nations Day protest rally in Lansing, we decided it would be fun to do an anti-U.N. day of shooting at U.N. Blue targets - this time, bowling pins.

Early Saturday morning, a couple of hardy militia members met at our place, and we loaded down two trucks plus our suburban with lumber, food, and everyone's own personal supplies. We then formed a mini-militia caravan and went together to Camp Stasa.

We arrived about 10:00am and got right to work. Frank L. put together the shooting tables and measured the where to place the bowling pins on the tables, then went the extra (very handy) step and marked on the tables where the pins are to be set.

While he did that, Paul W. and his teenage son, Cheyn trucked supplies back and forth from Stasa's barn to the range. Nick & I set up the food area whilst our kids played on the new tire swing.

Frank S. came out at this point to survey the area and pick a spot to dig a foxhole. (Yes, a foxhole.) He went back to the barn and came back with the backhoe. We watched as he dug out the area and piled up the dirt to be used to fill sandbags. He also brought out a rubberized flooring material to put down so the foxhole would drain, and the people inside would not be standing in mud.

After he completed that, he moved to an area that had a pile of large rocks that he moved into a position for a fortification wall. This was quite impressive. There is an additional temporary wall in place until we clean up the area of several large dead trees. Once we clear the area, several of the "smaller" rocks are going to be moved to the winter fire ring.

We were very pleased with the new improvements made to the area, and look forward to next training so that we can get some finishing touches completed.

Frank drove the backhoe back to the barn, and we went downrange to test the buckshot bowling concept. We found that at 35 feet, birdshot will ricochet whereas buckshot did not, thus, "Buckshot Bowling". Paul and Cheyn had a new Mossberg shotgun that had not yet been fired, and I can personally say it has definitely been gleefully christened. The two of them took turns shooting down pins and setting them up again for about an hour. At one point, Paul had the shotgun loaded with a slug, fired, and sent one of the bowling pins flying right through the cardboard on the backstop. There is a now a good 6" hole in the cardboard! That was a sight to see. When they were through, Paul was surprised at how quickly one can go through 100 rounds of ammo just plinking (and he thought he had a lot of shells for his shotgun)...

I fired a few shells of 000 buckshot with my daughter's .410 Rossi to see if it would make a huge difference, and I knocked all 10 pins down each time, which I was quite pleased with. At this point, we got the grill fired-up for lunch. Hamburgers, hot dogs and baked beans never tasted so good on this perfectly beautiful autumn day in the company of patriots and friends.

We then went back down range and did some more practice, this time for the pin shoot. I bought some new ammo last week to put through my pistol, and it performed admirably as I swept the pins off the table. I was satisfied that the competition Sunday would go well for me (boy, was I wrong...).

Everyone did a bit of shooting, sighting-in and such. We had a good time shooting at the pins and sometimes getting the most unexpected results. That's what makes bowling pins a fun target; they could fall straight back, making an even smaller target to knock off the table, they spin, jump, and sometimes just plain refuse to fall down at all. There's always a story to tell about bowling pin antics.

As the day grew long, a couple more members arrived, and a couple had to go for the evening, although they were coming back tomorrow.

We got the campfire blazing, tossed a grill across the fire and cooked up some more burgers and dogs. Several of us stayed up well into the night (and next morning) catching-up, talking and having a few laughs. At the point we realized what time it had gotten to be, we all turned in for what was left of the night.

Sunday morning arrived earlier than we would have preferred, but after a pot or two of campfire coffee, we were ready for the day. The masses straggled in slowly, so we moved the first shoot to a later time, and while people arrived, everyone got a chance to get sighted-in and do a little practice round of pin shooting at our UN blue bowling pins. Gerry Runkle was as our Range Officer for the day, and did a great job. Thank you, Gerry!

After everyone was satisfied with their practice, the first event of the day got under way. The competitors were shooting to win a Turkish 8mm Mauser rifle with bayonet as the grand prize. In lieu of doing a timed shoot against a clock, this time, it was elimination rounds with three stations shooting against each other. The winner of each round then advanced to the next round. The competition was good-spirited and all competitors did well.

The final round of shooters in the men's pin shoot was Gerry Runkle, Frank LoPiccolo, and (shooter unidentified). It was close, but Gerry Runkle swept the table clean using his Ruger P39 9mm semi-auto. (This other dude) came in a close second, and Frank took the honor of third. Congratulations Gerry!

In the ladies category were Kathy LoPiccolo and myself. After my first pin went down, my front sight malfunctioned (it fell off...) I finished the round as best I could, but only got four pins down before the round was called. Kathy had all her pins down, and only needed to shoot three off the table. We had a good round, and because she is such a good sport, she offered a re-match. I fixed my sight with the tools I carry for just such occasions, and we went again. We both had only a few rounds of ammo left, so it was agreed that the most pins down in 20 shots would win. Kathy won handily, as I shot-up the table. Congratulations Kathy, and thanks for being a great sport!

Alex Stoner was the only youth competitor today, so he limited it to 10 rounds in the pistol to see how many pins he could get down. He was using my (now not-sighted-in) pistol, but took down two of the five pins. Great job Alex!

After the pin shoot, we took a break to get some more of that yummy food. Everyone enjoyed the beautiful weather, and many of us had to take off our jackets or sweaters because it had gotten so warm.

While we got ready for the next event after lunch, the kids took this opportunity to play in the new foxhole and the littlest one played on the tire swing. They had a lot of fun doing what kids do best - get dirty!

Apparently, many of the shooters were not aware of the Buckshot Bowling event, and had not brought our their shotguns, so we decided to do another 5 pin shoot, only this time it was with rifles, using iron sights only at 50 yards in any unsupported position. This brought a few comments from the "scoped" crowd, and several moans of, "I'm sighted-in for 100 yards" and whatnot. We chuckled a bit thinking of how fun this will be to try sweep the table of pins with a barrage of off-the-cuff shooting.

We did elimination rounds again, and there was a bit more growling this time due to some "gun problem" or another...The final round was between Gerry Runkle and myself. Gerry chose to use his .223 AR15 in a standing unsupported position, and I used my trusty 9mm AR15 in the prone position. Although it was close the first couple of shots, Gerry cleared the table before I, and took the top prize. Congratulations Gerry! Although, next time we do this one, I'll be better...

After the adults finished, both my son and daughter wanted to compete with each other with their Rossi .22 rifles. They each got 10 rounds to take down as many pins as they could. This was Samantha's first competition and she was very nervous, so Gerry and I coached her a bit. They both did well and gave each other encouragement. Alex took two pins down while Samantha did not get any down this time, but she said she is going to practice more so next time she can get more down than Alex!

It was a great weekend with patriots, friends, and militia people together for a common cause. We'll see you Tuesday, October 24th at the anti-U.N. protest rally in Lansing. If you couldn't make it out this weekend, make it to the rally Tuesday. If you don't stand up and speak out against tyranny in America, who will? No one will do it for you; it is up to all of us individually so that together we have a voice.