Tuesday Torque: Model T Tractor Kit

You are liable to see Model T tractors if you hang out at engine shows.  There were kits that used complete cars so you could swap back to your car for trips to town, and ones like this that made  the changes permanent.  I think they would be boiling over regularly, and the rods probably got to rattlling, too. Plowing with one bottom looks like a slow job.

Don't Be Too Caught Up In Your Work!

Back To The Old Grind!

Crankin' It Up: My Buddy, From 1922

We pulled a new one out of the cabinet, and it's a good one for Veterans' Day.  My Buddy is a sentimental song that was popular with with WWI vets during the 1920's, and fifty years later it was featured in All In The Family when Archie Bunker sang it.  The men who fought in World War II heard this song during the years they were growing up, so it became an important sentimental song for them, too.  This record is a violin solo, and it's a good one.

Not My Victrola: Yes Sir! That's My Baby, Ben Bernie

A great song from 1925 by one of my Dad's favorite bands.

Weekend Steam: Ingenious, Beautiful Miniatures

Merle sent the link to me for this video.  These are cute little engines, and could be built by just about anyone who wants a small model engine for entertainment.

Susan's Birthday

We celebrated another birthday recently, mostly by working outdoors in the unusually pleasant fall weather that just won't quit.  I was looking at some old snapshots and ran across this one that I had not seen before.

Susan, on another birthday, down on the Hinkson in her first year at Mizzou.  We would meet about a year after this photo.  I wonder the same thing her mother does; what the heck did she ever see in me?

Natural Points Of Aim Matter

I was a little sloppy when I shot the Postal target with pistols and I shot a four and a three.  That's not bad, but I was muscling in the sights and I should have used Natural Point Of Aim to at least center up the windage for each nut before I squeezed off.  I wobble enough it might not have mattered, but it matters more when you move out to 25 yards and shoot with a rifle.  I lined up on the top left nut, squeezed off; and missed high and left.  I was shooting with my elbows on the bench and using a hasty sling for steadiness, but when you break that trigger the rifle will drift toward your natural point of aim before the bullet leaves the barrel.  If that spot is somewhere other than your intended target, you will miss.  I adjusted my position for the remaining nine nuts, breathed, paused and shot, and made all of them.

These nuts are just a little bigger than a 1 inch circle, so at 25 yards you just need the ability to shoot into 4 minutes of angle to make a respectable score.  With a pistol at 25 feet you need to be able to hold your shots inside of 12 minutes of angle.  These numbers have been my guide behind putting these targets together.  If you make the required minutes less than those you make the target more about luck than good shooting technique.  You should utilize NPOA for pistols, too.  Adjust your stance so your windage is dead on the center, and then adjust your grip and holding method so your elevation wants to center vertically.  I use a close-in hold with my left forearm on my chest when I am shooting .22 pistols, and it keeps me closer to the center of the target than shooting with my arms extended.  I do the same thing when I shoot a rifle offhand, and also use the sling to tighten up my hold.

I enjoy watching Hickok shoot his gong at 80 yards, and he can hit it with just about any pistol he tries.  Do the math.  It is a 24" gong at 80 yards; that is 30 minutes of angle.  At 25 feet where we have been shooting our e-Postal targets, that is equivalent to a 2.5" circle. You all have been hitting 1" circles at that distance with your pistols, so you could do the same as Hickok with ease after you learn your holdover for the relatively slow pistol bullets.

You can go to the Label section of this blog, bring up the e-Postal matches, download the targets still out there on the Internet, (All of mine are there.) and relive all the good times we had here shooting against each other.  Make up your own rules for shooting them and keep up your shooting skills.

Ruger's Auction To Benefit The Light Foundation

Ruger is offering a rare one this week.  It is a P89 Manual Safety Convertible.  This pistol has the .30 Luger barrel installed, and a 9mm barrel is included.  This model was made for only one year.  CLICK HERE to read the entire description and to place your bid.  This rare firearm will sell mid-day, Wednesday, November 2, 2016.  100% of the proceeds of this auction will go to benefit the Light Foundation.  $1525

Olney FFA Forestry Team Takes Third Place!

The Olney FFA Forestry Team took first place out our local meet in September, held at Sam Dale Lake State Park.  They went to the State Contest at SIU in Carbondale and took first place there, too.

That win sent them to the National Contest at Indianapolis where 39 top teams from all over the country competed.  Olney won third place there, which is pretty darn impressive.  They also won first place in a team activity event.  It looks like each contestant won a neat little hatchet as a reward for their hard work.  I bet they will treasure those the rest of their lives.  Congratulations to these excellent students, and to their FFA teacher, Jamie VanDyke.

November Rose