The Eastern Shore's most fun shooting event!

Range Day is a sporadic gathering of friends and family at the local Eastern Shore shooting range. There's no objective other than to have fun (safety first, of course). There is no schedule or real definition of Range Day - it's just whenever I go to the range, and have pictures to show for it. There are occasional "mini-range-sessions" which do not get an actual "Range Day" designation. Here are pictures from past Range Days and a few videos here and there. Enjoy.

But FIRST! Here are the basic gun safety rules (NRA) for anyone who doesn't know them already:

The fundamental NRA rules for safe gun handling are:

1. ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.
This is the primary rule of gun safety. A safe direction means that the gun is pointed so that even if it were to go off it would not cause injury or damage. The key to this rule is to control where the muzzle or front end of the barrel is pointed at all times. Common sense dictates the safest direction, depending on different circumstances.

2. ALWAYS keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.
When holding a gun, rest your finger on the trigger guard or along the side of the gun. Until you are actually ready to fire, do not touch the trigger.

3. ALWAYS keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.
Whenever you pick up a gun, immediately engage the safety device if possible, and, if the gun has a magazine, remove it before opening the action and looking into the chamber(s) which should be clear of ammunition. If you do not know how to open the action or inspect the chamber(s), leave the gun alone and get help from someone who does.

http://www.nrahq.org/education/guide.asp

Range Day XI

August 5th, 2010 [COMPLETED]

This Range Day was HOT. We actually cut this one short because of the heat. By 3-4PM, we were packing up to go. There were more dragon flies on the range than usual, and some of them were very fond of my shirt. They would cling on and stay there for several minutes as I shot and then fly away, just to come back later. There's also a picture of a moth or butterfly that kept coming back to my hand as I was shooting.

Ellen and Lando came down for the day to shoot. Ellen's a pretty good shot, and really enjoyed the exploding targets. She set fire to a couple targets which had to be extinguished before we continued. Kirk and Bill also came to visit. We didn't get any pictures of the Tannerite explosions, but they were pretty good, too. We didn't blow up anything notable; we mostly just used them for target practice.

I also attempted to shoot sporting clays with the Taurus Judge revolver with 410/7.5 shells. It's kind of hard... and I'm not very good, so that made it harder!

A dragon fly rests on my shirt for a while as I shoot clays

Kirk at the pistol range

Ellen shooting targets at 25 yards with a .22 pistol

Ellen showing off her exploding target

Erica attempts to shoot for the first time after her dislocated shoulder

Kirk tries out the Ruger 10/22

Lando's shirt is clear evidence that it was hot that day

Kirk taking aim at the 300 yard range with the Rem700 .270WSM, I think there was a Tannerite charge down there

Ellen seemed to like the Ruger 10/22 for its simple no-kick shooting, and the scope is always fun for beginners

As I was shooting clays, a butterfly/moth tries desperately to stay on my hand

The Judge by Taurus - Shooting clays

Range Day X

July 8th, 2010 [Completed]

This was a very short-notice Range Day. I had very little Tannerite left, and had actually ordered a new case a week earlier. It didn't show up in time for this Range Day; it was sitting on my doorstep when I came home from the Range... talk about bad timing. The one half-pound charge that I had was split into two smaller charges. One of them was used to launch The Last Airbender into the sky.

I also borrowed a Taurus Judge from a friend of mine. The Judge shoots .45 Long Colt rounds AND 410 shotgun shells from the same cylinder and barrel. It's a lot of fun. This is the 2.5" cylinder with 6" barrel.

Annie and Julie (a.k.a Lucy/Juicy/Sushi) came down to shoot as well. It was their first time shooting! Annie preferred the AR-15 at 100 yards, while Julie seemed to prefer busting up clays with the Ruger .22 at 25 yards.

Since Erica dislocated her shoulder a couple weeks ago, shooting wasn't really an option, so she brought a book and watched.

Dragon Flies everywhere! This one wasn't even scared of the AK just a few feet away

Tan fires the Judge with 410 shells at 25 yards

The Taurus Judge - 2.5" cylinder and 6" barrel

The Last Airbender takes a ride on the Tannerite Express

Erica reads a book because of her hurt shoulder

Annie warms up with the .22LR

Julie spots for Annie

Julie takes her turn with the .22

Annie moves up to the .223 at 100 yards

Julie may look like an 8 year old - but Julie is actually 16

Annie gives the .270 a try, and doesn't like it much

After Annie decides that she doesn't like the .270, she convinces Julie to give it a try

Annie and Julie head down to 100 yards to see their targets

I replaced the stock on the Remington Model 700 to this Choate long-range accuracy stock. This stock alone brought me down to 1/2 MOA, with shot groups of 1.5" at 300 yards

Julie shows off her shot groups

Annie proudly shows her punched paper

This Range Kitty has had a rough life. It's hard to tell by the picture, but she's a tough ball of fur.

Range Day IX - Black Betty

May 26th, 2010 [Completed]

Our first official Range Day of 2010 was great. The weather was a little warm, but very nice and clear. The range was a little crowded for a Wednesday, but not too bad. This was Black Betty's debut. Black Betty is a home-made Tannerite mortar. My frist attempt at a Tannerite mortar used PVC pipe... that didn't go well. Black Betty didn't end well, either... but it was a lot more fun. We launched everything we could find. I bought some potatoes, onions, oranges, a tennis ball, and fruit before getting to the range. We also got a bowling pin from the range, and cut it in half.

After Black Betty's "big finale", we found a white moth in the crater left by the last explosion. There's a series of photos taken from the last explosion.

Black Betty was so much fun, that we did very little other shooting.

Betty "launches" an onion and sweet potato. Nothing solid came out; it was all spray and smoke. It smelled like onions all day around the 100 yard mark

Black Betty, in her prime

Official Range Day IX mascot

Shootin' some .357

Split bullet from the handgun range

Bill carries Black Betty down-range to her new home

Black Betty gets set at 100 yards for her big day

We all head down-range to see what happened

Apparently Ruger .204 will go straight through one side of a quarter-inch steel pipe

Joe shows off Betty after she gets flowered... the first time

The Tannerite blew the plastic cover on the bowling pin up like a skirt

KaPOW

Erica practices shooting a .357

Tan fires a few rounds of .357

Joe setting his sights on a little container of Tannerite

After Betty split open, we continued to use her, despite her protests

Bill's excited about launching the bowling pin

After the last charge, Betty was far from where she started

Rest in pieces... Black Betty

Life created by Tannerite, fruit, and vegatables

Big Finish - 1

Big Finish - 2

Big Finish - 3 (that's Black Betty at the top of the frame)

Big Finish - 4 (Black Betty falling in foreground)

Big Finish - 5 (Black Betty flew about 20 feet up, and landed about 30 feet away from where she started)

Range Day IX - The Official "Black Betty - The Tannerite Mortar" Video

MCD - Thanksgiving Shoot-Out

November 25th, 2009 [Completed]

This wasn't an official Range Day, but since Erica and I went shooting, and I have pictures to show for it... I'm putting it on the Range Day page. A client and friend of mine invited us to their annual Thanksgiving Shoot-Out. It's shotguns only, and all sporting clays. There were 4 shooting positions, and anywhere between 2 and 6 shooters at any given moment. This was Erica and my first attempt at shooting clays, and we didn't do too bad. Erica hit 2 clays (out of about 20) and I hit about 40 out of 50 clays. Lots of fun, and completely different than rifle shooting.

Erica gives me "that look" as she waits for me to get my camera ready

"I hit one! Did you see it?"

Erica's shooting an 80 year old 410 shotgun that belonged to someone's grandmother

Erica likes the 12 gauge pump better

Erica entertains the idea of getting her own 12 gauge

Fast paced concentration

I take my turn at a few clay birds

It takes me a couple clays to know where to aim; then it gets fun

"Are you lookin' at me?"

Reggie knocks them all out of the sky without even trying

Erica gives me her most seductive look

Thrower at station 4

We also had a competition shooter around. He would shoot whatever other people missed. He didn't let many clays hit the ground intact.

The fire ring next to the outdoor kitchen. Very cozy, very comfortable... this place instantly felt like home

Thrower at station 1

Reggie's old tractor sitting nearby. It still runs, and was used to pull the outdoor kitchen into place.

The ground near one shooting station around mid-day. They were carrying out ammo by the case.

After we ran out of clays, it was time to eat.

Range Day - VIII

October 7th, 2009 [Completed]

Acer laptop strapped to a 1 pound Tannerite charge

Range Day VIII attendees

Joe's dime (.204/25yds) and quarter (.204/100yds), Tan's nickel (2x .270/25yds), and Andy's quarter (.22LR/25yds)

Andy brought a small army of creatures to destroy at the 25yds

Tan's .223 for 25yds, and the .270 for 100

Range Day VIII had a guest of honor - Tannerite

Dell laptop on top of a wooden platform at 100 yards with a 1/2 pound Tannerite charge underneath

Dell laptop takes a few hits at 25 yards before going for a short flight

The servers left a debris field of 50+ yards. Here's what was left of 2 servers

It was so windy that some rifles were blown off their bipods

Joe uses a vice for his .204 to increase accuracy due to the wind

Andy shoots the .270

Joe and Andy decide to make ornaments out of coins at 25 yards

Tan attempts to make a necklace out of a nickel.

Joe puts a hole in a quarter at 100 yards with his .204. Amazing shot considering the wind factor

Andy recovers the 5 gallon bottle after it took a half pound Tannerite charge to the face. It was surprisingly intact.

5 Gallon water bottle after being "blowed up" with Tannerite

We drilled a hole in the plastic TNT barrel, filled it with Tannerite, and made Mr. Matrix hold it while we shot it. The head was never found.

VIDEO: TANNERITE RANGE DAY

Range Day - VII

May 20th, 2009 [Completed]

Erica becomes the first casualty of Range Day by hurting her knuckle

The weather was so nice that Dora the Exploder came out to play... again

Erica shooting .45

Bill sighting in the 22LR pistol

Harris shoots a pistol for the first time!

And so does Sun!

Special Agent Fontaine tries to keep her cover with: "I don't even know if I'll hit the board"

Dora plays hide and seek

Harris tries the .45 and gets surprised by the kick... priceless

Harris tries again, much more serious this time

Harris's flinches for his second shot. You can see the brass flying!

Sun takes to shooting like a true under-cover CIA special agent... "what? shoot a gun? that sounds fun!?"

Sun tries out the .223 AR-15

This un-named Englishman decides to join the festivities as a spectator

Yeah gurrrl... you bad ass

Rockband and DDR got nuthin on first-person-shooters

Sun tries the AR-15 off-hand, but finds it a little too heavy

"Hi Mom!"

"... I coulda been a Navy Seal, this is easy"

BLAMMO!!! (Sun was upright before she pulled the trigger)

Harris on the Model 700 .270

Sun shoots the 700 .270

Gallon of Blue Drink before...

... and after

Gatorade before...

... and after. Notice the bullet is already well into the dirt.

...and after the last afterness.

"One time at gun camp..."

Kid's Juice Box before...

... Juice Box after

Half of the Juice Box didn't want to move. Oh, by the way, that's an IBM x225 server being sacrificed.

Harris and Sun show off their "Yin & Yang" bullet holes... awwwww

Jeff shows up late, and immediately starts assaulting paper and plywood.

Jeff shoots the .45

Jeff tries out the bolt-action .270 and seems to like it

Jeff shoots his shaken-up pomegranate soda can!

Soda can after

Jeff tries out the AR-15

Look who's back!

Here's what's left of Jeff's soda can

Jeff finishes out the day shooting anything still standing

RangeDay - VI

July 23rd, 2008 [completed]

Lindsay hangs up hard drives

Linda wonders "what gun made THOSE holes?"

Linda tries out the AR-15

Very serious "Sarah Conor" moment

Lindsay tries out the .223

Lindsay likes the .223

Tan's Bushmaster AR-15 .223 with heavy barrel, quad rail, 3-9x40mm tactical scope, and collapsible stock

Lindsay and Linda get creative with their targets. That's two Gatorade bottles on top of a milk jug... filled with dirt

Lindsay likes shooting.

"Serious Lindsay"

Anyone know what this is? That's right, it's a Compaq Proliant ML350 G3 server! About 50 rounds went in... only 5 made it through the other side.

Lindsay hits a dirt-filled bottle with a .223. That's a cloud of dust exploding out of the bottle.

Hard drive after a few shots

Another hard drive takes a beating

RangeDay - V

March 5th, 2008 [completed]

All photos were taken after leaving the range.

I got to the range and realized that the camera had no memory card it in.

Tan hits empty brass casing with Remington Model 700 .270 at 100yds, first shot.

Joe hits empty brass casing with Remington Model 700 .204 at 100yds, first shot.

Joe and Tan take out frustrations on an unsuspecting computer.

Bullets shred through the case and leave carbon dust and smoking electronics

Almost every round pops the front cover off, but we insisted that it stay on.

Tan successfully puts a bullet through a clay disc without breaking it. This may seem easy unless you know how fragile these discs are.

Back of clay disc, no breaky.

Here's a Compaq Hot-Swap Power supply from a server. The 3 holes you see are from a Ruger .204, Rem .223, and Win .270 (left to right)

These are the exit holes - (left to right) Win .270, Rem .223, and the Ruger .204 didn't pass through. The 3rd hole is from a different .223 round.

Back side of computer with case removed.

2GB IDE Hard Drive takes 1 round through the disks. The picture doesn't do it justice... it's really quite beautiful.

Hard drive from another angle showing entry and exit.

A second round goes through the read/write head section

The impact almost separates all of the parts, but it barely holds together.

3 shots to a stick of RAM. Ah... good times.

Joe's high dollar ATI Radeon video card takes a couple shots. The fan shattered to pieces, and the processor went flying off.

RangeDay - IV

September 6, 2007 [completed]

Linda tries out the 10/22 on the short range

Linda takes a shot with the .270 at 100yds

Linda getting a better sight picture

Calm, quiet, focused... can you feel the tension?

Andy loads up another magazine of .22LR

Shooting at 50yds

Left over from a recent birthday party, a helium tank is sacrificed

Reloading the 9mm

Shooting the 9mm

Relaxing before heading home

RangeDay - III

June 20, 2007 [completed]

VIDEO - If you've ever wanted to see a bag of flour hit with a high-velocity round... here it is.

Erica tries out Jeff's new desert carbine with .22LR conversion

Erica pretends to be Border Patrol again.

Joe talking guns with some guy

AR talk time

Jeff's AR-15 Desert carbine

Erica and Jeff taking a break. Anyone care for a juice-box?

Where the hell does Jeff find these shirts?

Past-due Easter eggs get another life as colorful little targets!

BUH YAH!

An empty soda can makes a little hole when shot. A soda can full of dirt explodes when shot.

A Gatorade bottle filled with water nearly melts into shreds when shot. Notice the warped edges of plastic.

RangeDay - II

April 18, 2007 [completed]

VIDEO - Watch the video of Boots taking the head shot at 25 yards. If you watch carefully, you can watch his head return slowly from being inside-out.

VIDEO - Here's a 1.5 minute video of Erica trying to hit Dora with a .45 pistol. I'll go ahead and tell you now - she doesn't hit Dora at all.

Here's Boots after taking a .270 round through the face at 25 yards. You can't see it, but the back half of his head is missing.

Tan learning to point shoot with Bill's instruction

Bill shows off his shot groups at 300 yards on a picture of an un-named English fellow

Here's a 25 yard shot group of the same un-named guy

Tan's Ruger 10/22 with Dragunov type stock with Bushnell 24x40mm scope

Here's the 300 yard range through Tan's 20x40mm scope on the Remington Model 700 .270

Erica tries out Jeff's HK-SL9 (don't worry, the trigger lock is still on)

Jeff's AR-15 Carbine and HK-SL9 (modified SL8)

Joe gets more time with his new found 9mm friend

Range Kitty

Jeff shooting his HK SL9 .223 on a bipod

During the day, Eliza and Tess were safely stowed in the nearby motorhome

Another picture of the SL9

SL9 again... it's just fun to take pictures of

Jeff spotting for Bill while shooting at the 300 yard target

Jeff's Russian WWII 9130 7.62mm

Jeff and Tess sitting on top of the 100 yard range dirt mound. (All guns and ammo were put away already)

RangeDay - I

March 21, 2007 [completed]

VIDEO - Bill takes aim at Barney on the pistol range

VIDEO - Erica lays a couple .45 rounds into little Dora

Joe with AR-15 taking aim at silhouette target at 200yds

Joe with AR-15 again

Dora waving "hola" at 100yds

Bill trying out the EOTech holographic scope on Jeff's AR-15 carbine, Jeff spots

Pete sighting in the Remington Model 700 - .204 at 100yds

Same as before

Bill likes the new AR-15

Tan's Remington Model 700 - .270 with new scope

Looking down-range at the 200yd targets

Leupold VX-III 6.5-20x40mm sight picture at 200yds

Bill takes a few more shots with the EOTech sight

Jeff's AR-15 carbine with his H&K SL8 .223

Tan shooting at Dora the Exploder "wall walker" at 25yds with the .270

Dora's head pasted to the board after taking the 150grain .270 to the forehead

Dora gets a new mouth from Joe's new slug barrel

Barney also joined the festivities and received a new mouth

Jeff shooting at stuff