Holiday Relaxation

As most of you should be aware by now I travel a lot, mainly for work, and therefore spend a lot of time away from home. I love my work, but a lot of time it is quite stressful. Therefore, holiday season is time to stay at home and relax.

From now to 3^rd January 2012 (the day I get back to work) I plan just to “do nothing” and enjoy my family.

Some of the “do nothing” includes one or two afternoons out for antlerless deer with Greg, taking my son pheasant hunting at least once, revising a book for future publication and a lot of indoor air gunning. The picture above shows my basement air gun range, and it was inspired by the ranges of Chris Martin (a.k.a “20 Cal”) and Tony South.

I used an old bookshelf to hold multiple targets. The big box at the top shelf holds two “letter-sized” targets and was presented to me by Chris. Currently it has reduced “Mini-Snipping” (.22 LR) targets.

The shelf below it has a number of reactive targets: in the lower part there are nine golf T’s that support brass pistol shells for precise shooting” or shotgun shells for rapid fire with my Crossman 3357. On the upper part, from a heavy gage wire, hangs a set of silhouette animals and from paper clips rang playing cards that only show their edge. When you hit the playing cards properly you can actually cut then in half. It takes a bit of practice, but it is very fun. This is the domain of my Walther LGR and Hammerli AR50, both Olympic grade rifles with scopes to compensate for my middle aged eyes.

Finally, on the bottom shelf I have another reactive target and some precision pistols targets, the later for my much cherished Feinwerkbau Model 65.

I also have a Gammo “Running Deer” moving target that is very fun.

It is important to mention that I only shoot soft lead pellets and there are appropriate target backers that will not allow them to ricochet, and I have a poured concrete all behind the bookshelf. In any case, I always use eye protection.

From my basement TV room I can shoot at about 10 meters, and this is the perfect set-up to relax during the holidays (my children will often join me), endure the cold Michigan winter nights or the humid and uncomfortable summer days, and the fact that my “wine cellar” is just a couple yards from my air gun range motivates some friends to visit for the after shooting “discussions”.

Life is too hard not to have fun!

P.S: My “macaw” and toy car are not targets!