Range Basics; Courtesy of Ruger Firearms

The bloggers really enjoyed visiting with Lori Petoske in Reno, and she told us that Ruger is planning on continuing with their series of videos related to shooting. Ruger is doing a great job with all of their videos, and this series for beginning shooters is really hitting the mark, judging from the postive comments on YouTube.

Not My Victrola: Bonus Post!

I was over on Grouchy, and his Sunday Guitar was a nice gentleman playing the Traumeri. I immediately did a search on YouTube and found one of my favorite Jolson songs, from 1912. I have heard this song on an original disc, but my only copy is vinyl, so I haven't been able to share it with you. Victrolaman posted his record, and no-one should give him any trouble since we can see his machine playing it. These old records are iffy sometimes with YouTube if the singer is a big name that may have been published on CD or mp3. The lyrics are included on this video, which can be a help if your ear isn't used to picking up the words on acoustic discs.

Monday....Groan.

Back To The Old Grind!

Not My Victrola

Pax41 has posted a 1911 recording of "Alexandar's Ragtime Band" performed by Collins and Harlan. Irving Berlin had just published this song,and it is fun to listen and see how the singing styles have changed. Below are the notes included with this record by Pax41:

"United Record A1032 recorded 6/7/1911, this is a Columbia recording used by United Talking Machine Co.

The song was written by Irving Berlin in 1911.

Collins and Harlan were the most successful duo of the acoustic era. Collins and Harlan came to be largely identified with black dialect work but they were not limited to this. They sang comic songs in various dialects, performed rube skits and recorded songs satirizing trends of the day.

Collins and Harlan were the first to record Irving Berlin's "Alexander's Ragtime Band". The choice of Collins and Harlan for "Alexander's Ragtime Band" was natural considering they had recorded more Berlin songs than any other artists up to that point in time. They were also well known for singing syncopated melodies, what Tin Pan Alley called ragtime."

Thank You To All The Gun Blogger Rendezvous Supporters!

GBR-V was a great experience, and all who attended enjoyed it greatly. Mr. Completely and KeeWee work harder than we can imagine to put this meeting together every year, but it also requires the support of others. Below is the list of contributors, borrowed from The Smallest Minority:
"Bill Brassard Jr., Director of Communications for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. The NSSF provided the pizza dinner Saturday night, and Bill is the gateway through which bloggers can get media credentials to attend the annual SHOT show in Las Vegas.

Rachel Parsons of the NRA, who provided a very nice breakfast for us Friday morning before we headed off to the range, but was unable to make it herself due to illness.

Randi Rogers AKA "Holy Terror" of Glock, who provided a certificate for any standard Glock handgun.

Charles Brown of Hi-Point Firearms and MKS Supply, who provided a certificate for a 9mm Carbine.

Kerby Smith of Para USA who provided a 35% discount coupon for any new Para pistol

Lori Petoske of Ruger Firearms who provided very nice briefcase-style range bags for all of the bloggers, plus cups, hats and other swag.

Larry Weeks of Brownell's, who unfortunately couldn't be with us as this year he was a range officer at the USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals being held in Las Vegas. Brownell's provided AR-15 mags, one of their top-of-the-line range bags, and other great stuff.

Colin Anthony of MidwayUSA, who provided shirts, a stack of excellent pistol range bags and other stuff, plus a discount code for blog readers (and another one to come!)

Patrick Harlan of Crimson Trace, who provided a certificate for any in-stock Lasergrip, and some very nice pistol rugs and other swag.

Leupold, who through Allen Forkner of Swanson*Russell, provided a damned nice VX3 scope.

Jamie Klund and Gary Shank of Cabela's who hosted a tour of their 125,000 square-foot Reno store, and let us fondle the rare firearms in their Gun Room, (including a $30k Single-Action Army!) Cabela's also gave us some discount coupons that most of us made immediate use of.

The Cowboy Fastdraw Association, who put on a match for Rendezvous attendees Sunday at absolutely no cost to us. It was, to coin a phrase, a blast. Special thanks to "Quick Cal" Eilrich and the Sage Hills Reno Rustlers Cowboy Fast Draw Club who ran the match.

The Palomino Valley Gun Club who run a fine range, and the Western Nevada Pistol League who let us shoot their steel on Saturday.

Richard Brengman of Special Interest Arms, who brought some of his stuff to Friday's Show-'n-Tell for us to look at and handle. Richard lives an hour or so away in Gardnerville, NV, and said he thought some other local manufacturers might be interested in attending next year.

Derek of The Packing Rat, who donated an Air Venturi Bronco break-barrel air rifle. Derek is also the unofficial photographer for the Rendezvous.

And the Silver Legacy Resort and Casino who treated us well all weekend.

And thanks also to all the attendees who helped us raise money for Project Valour-IT."

A few more: The bloggers were greatly honored to have Jeff Bader from Soldiers' Angels attend this fund raiser.

Springfield Armory donated a stack of hats, and ball point pens.

Front Sight Institute provided a certificate for a deeply discounted training session.

Caleb provided a personally autographed NRA hat!

And, Thank You, Kevin, for putting this list together!

Weekend Steam

I must apologize for the smudge in the upper left of this video. I was busy running around Pinckneyville taking pictures and should have checked the lens more often, but Oh Well, or words to that effect. The video is still worth looking at.

Recreational vs Competitive Shooters

The photos and videos from the Rendezvous are not only fun, but are very educational to watch. In this little compendium, we see Dirtcrashr with his .45, Lori Petoske of Ruger with a Mk III, (both recreational shooters) then KeeWee and Mr. C, both of whom compete regularly. Quite a difference! Bea is pictured at the front end, and Dirtcrashr at the finish of this clip.

Crankin' It Up

Vaughn De Leath recorded this one on November 14, 1921. Both sides of this record were well liked, and played pretty much to death.

The Reason For The Rondy

Before we post any more photos and reports from Gun Blogger Rendezvous V, I want all of our readers to pause and remember the reason that Mr. Completely and the other gun bloggers gather every year for this fun event. GBR is primarily a fund raising event for Valour-IT (Voice Activated Laptops for OUR Injured Troops), one of the many projects which are promoted by Soldiers' Angels. Jeff Bader, one of the founders of Soldiers' Angels honored the Rendezvous attendees by attending and becoming acquainted with every person at the Saturday night dinner. He told us that last week Valour-IT placed its' 5001st laptop with a wounded soldier. The bad news is that as long as this war goes on against us and our culture of freedom, soldiers are going to be seriously wounded, and more laptops will be needed. Please go to the Valour-IT site and make a donation, even if it is small. Then go over to Mr. Completely's appeal and let him know that you have made a donation as part of his Gun Blogger Rendezvous fund raiser.

Mr. Completely, True Blue Sam and all of the other bloggers involved in this project greatly appreciate any contribution you can make.

Multi-Talented Mr. Completely

Meeting Mr. Completely in person at GBR-V was a great thrill. Bea and True Blue Sam both traveled to Reno to represent this blog, and we were warmly greeted by Mr. C and KeeWee when we arrived at our meeting room. Here, we see Mr. Completely and The Smallest Minority welcoming Lori Petoske, the representative from Ruger Firearms. Lori soon impressed the entire group of bloggers with her shooting skills out on the range.

During our show-and-tell session, Mr. C provided the group with some of the super secret details of the machine work and gunsmithing that go into his homebuilt High Standard competition rigs. Here, Mr. Completely explains his stance and grip for shooting steel plates.

Out on the steel range he put us all to shame putting lead onto the plates.

Some of us shot the five shot drag race stage with Bea's .45 Ruger Blackhawk, and I think Mr. Completely smoked both True Blue Sam and Bea with her gun.

He's a fast draw artist, too! CS Tactical goes up against Mr. Completely in this stage, and you could have cut the tension with a knife. The bad guys wouldn't have stood a chance against these two shooters.

We will be posting more about the Rendezvous, so check back once in a while. The Packing Rat (official photographer for GBR) has published a bunch of photos on his blog, so click over there to see his posts. His photo galleries for each day can be viewed by clicking on the 'read more' link at the bottom of each day's report.

The Monday's Just Keep Coming!

Back To The Old Grind!

Not My Victrola

Here's an amusing number by the Georgia Yellow Hammers.