Author: Joe Berk

Mini 14 Marksmanship

I recently purchased a copy of Field and Stream, a magazine I had not read in decades.  I was traveling, the selection of good reading material at airport newsstands is limited, and it was the only thing that looked even remotely capable of occupying my interest on a 3-hour flight.  In scanning the cover, I saw that the magazine included an article on long-distance shooting, so Field and Stream it was for that flight.

The Ruger Mini 14

Back on topic, the Ruger Mini 14 is a rifle not known for its accuracy, and I was frustrated with mine.  It was (I thought) barely okay as far as accuracy goes.  I like shooting it, but the Mini 14 wasn’t great in the accuracy department and great was what I wanted.

The Ruger Mini 14, a rifle not known for exceptional accuracy.

The Field and Stream piece on long-distance shooting was partly focused on hunting at extreme distances (something in which I have zero interest), and partly focused on rifle marksmanship (something in which I have a keen interest).  There was nothing new in the article (I’d been exposed to all the topics it covered at one time or another), but seeing them all in one place was a good refresher that made me realize I was getting sloppy in my old age.  As I read the article, I realized that I wasn’t doing a lot of the things that are important for shooting tiny groups and I had been relying too much on the rifle and the load to make it all happen.  This somehow seemed particularly relevant to the Mini 14 and it made me want to get to the range with it and focus on the techniques mentioned in the story.  I realized there was more to this accuracy business than just the gear and the ammo.  The nut behind the trigger plays a significant role, and this particular nut had not been focused on the basics.

I resolved to concentrate on the fundamentals mentioned in the Field and Stream article (things I learned 50 years ago in the Army) during my next trip to the range.  As soon as I returned to California, that’s exactly what I did.  And you know what? I shot better. A lot better.

Back to basics, and the groups got smaller. My load was a 62-grain PRVI full metal jacket boat tail bullet over 23.2 grains of ARComp. Always start low on the powder charge and work up; this is a max load in my rifle. Your results may vary.  These targets were shot at 50 yards.

The load (a 62-grain bullet over 23.2 grains of ARComp) is one I had previously found to be a decent one in my Mini 14, but it had never given me groups like I shot that morning.  That morning my groups were consistently tight and significantly smaller than what I had seen in the past.  It was extremely satisfying, and I proved to myself once again that it’s the fundamentals that make a difference.  Bear with me; I’ll get to those in a moment.

First, a comment or two on my Mini 14.  Whenever I show a photo of it or take it to the range, folks ask about the stock.   My rifle is a special run 580-series Mini 14 offered by Davidson’s (a Ruger distributor) about 10 years ago.  It has a Circassian walnut stock (folks often ask if it’s a custom stock, but it’s not).  I looked at a lot of Mini 14s online from that special run before I bought the one you see above.  I wanted exceptional walnut and I think I found it in this rifle.

As configured from the factory, my Mini 14 didn’t meet the laws here in the Peoples Republik of Kalifornia.  I had to remove the flash suppressor and replace it with a muzzle brake to bring it into the Golden State.  I also replaced the Ruger rear aperture sight with one from Tech Sites (it’s a better design, in my opinion).  Other than that, the rifle is completely original.  I’ve put tens of thousands of rounds through my Mini 14, it’s my favorite rifle, and it’s absolutely reliable.  But it’s never been terribly accurate (or so I thought) until I read that Field and Stream article and got back to the basics.

Marksmanship Fundamentals

You might be wondering about what the fundamentals of sound rifle marksmanship are.   Or maybe you already know what they are, but you would like a few reminders.  That’s kind of where I was. Here’s what I took away from that Field and Stream article.

1.  The first fundamental is to get into a good position.  I shoot from the bench, and most folks might think that the rest, the rifle, and the bench make everything work.  There’s a lot more to it than that.  You need to get square to the rifle and sit directly behind the stock, and you need to adjust your position to achieve a natural aim.  What that means is that after you think you are in the right position, you sit up away from the rifle, close your eyes, and then position yourself behind the rifle again.  Open your eyes, and when you look through the sights, the sights should naturally align on the target.  If they are not on the target, you’re not there yet.  Move around and try it again.  Keep doing this until you can shut your eyes, get in position, look through the sights, and find the target right where you want it to be.   Trust me on this:  It makes a difference.

2. The next fundamental is to focus on the front sight only. The Field and Stream article was about a rifle with a telescopic sight, but it mentioned front sight focus for iron sights and I knew I had a hard time doing it right when shooting the Mini 14.  I guess I needed to be reminded. This is a tough thing to do for most people. I do it superbly well with a handgun, but I have a tough time doing it when shooting a rifle equipped with a rear aperture sight. I find myself wanting to look at the target, wanting to get the front sight post perfectly aligned in the rear aperture, and generally not doing this the way it’s supposed to happen. Focusing on the front sight only is almost zen-like in the concentration it demands.  When I do it right, though, I actually don’t see the rear sight or the target and that’s tough for me to accept mentally.  When I do it right, the only thing I see is the front sight and the muzzle flash when the hammer drops.   Seeing that flash outlining the front sight lets me know I’m in the zone and I’m doing it the way it should be done.  It’s a weirdly satisfying feeling.  When it happens, I know the bullet will go where I want it to go.

3.  The third important factor is breath control.  None of us can hold a rifle steady while breathing, so I had to find a natural point to hold my breath.  According to the Field and Stream article (and my old drill instructors) we can only do that for a couple of seconds before the sight starts to blur.  In the Army, we were taught to take a breath and let it half out.   The Field and Stream article pointed out that the “let it half out” thing may not be the best approach. The article said to find your natural point for holding your breath, so I tried that and sure enough, I seem to have a spot about two-thirds of the way down that feels like a natural stopping point.  The article also mentioned that if the front sight starts to blur, don’t try to force the shot.  Take another breath and start over.  Not doing all of these things, I realized, were bad habits I had picked up.

4.  The fourth important factor is trigger squeeze.  Easy, steady, straight back, using the tip of my finger only.  I have a tendency to get my finger too far around the trigger.  On this outing, I forced myself to use only my finger tip, and wow, it really worked.

5.  The last thing the Field and Stream article mentioned was holding the rifle properly with your trigger hand.  Some of this stuff I knew, and some of it I didn’t.   Shooting from the bench involves barely touching the rifle.  That part I knew, and I think I did okay there.  What I do is to just barely have my cheek on the stock without bearing down on it (you can impart torque into the rifle if you hold it too securely, and that works against accuracy). The other thing was how to hold the rifle with your trigger hand.  This was something I hadn’t been doing correctly.  The correct technique is to use my lower three fingers to lightly pull the rifle straight back into my shoulder, use my trigger finger tip to squeeze straight back on the trigger, and position my thumb off the rifle above my other fingers (I had to relearn not to wrap my thumb around the stock).  That last part felt unnatural to me, but boy oh boy, it sure worked.  I could see the difference on the target.

So there you have it. I focused on the fundamentals described above, and what do you know, I shot my Mini 14 better than I ever did before.  My Mini 14 is suddenly far more interesting and way more fun to shoot, and I have a new respect for it.  And the group sizes show it.  Back to the basics.  Good times.

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Ride Easy, Mr. Fonda…

All good things must come to an end, I guess, and Peter Fonda’s life was a good thing that ended earlier today. It was too soon. He reached the ripe old age of 79, which is more than most, so in one sense I guess you could say he got his money’s worth. But it would have been better if he could have stayed longer. I liked the guy.

Peter Fonda first entered my life with the release of Easy Rider, a movie that hit the silver screen when I was a goofy teenager. Choppers entered the scene through that movie for me, and Wyatt was a character I think most guys my age wanted to be at one point or another in their lives. Billy, not so much. It was Jack Nicholson’s big break, and the movie put the idea of long distance motorcycle riding in many of our minds. It spawned a cultural and seismic shift in how most folks viewed motorcycles. It launched a motorcycle magazine of the same name where my short stories would later appear (yeah, I wrote short stories for Easy Riders back in the day). Easy Rider, the movie, by any measure was a big deal.

Fast forward a year or two, and it was a 750 Honda for me. I didn’t have the panhead Harley chopper, but I bought me a Captain America helmet and I was (at least in my mind) as cool as Peter Fonda. I wore that helmet on a motorcycle ride to Montreal. It’s all about the look, and I had it.

Fast forward a lot of years, and one day I was leaving Glendale Harley Davidson after stopping there to pick up a part and Peter Fonda was walking up the sidewalk as I was leaving. I said hi and he said How’s it going, man. It was a chance encounter I remember like it happened 10 minutes ago. He would have been in his mid-50s then, and I told everyone I knew for weeks after that I had seen Peter Fonda in person. I like to think that he told everyone he knew for weeks after that he had seen Joe Berk in person, but that was before I started writing the blog so deep in my heart I knew he probably didn’t. But for one brief instant we were equals: Peter Fonda nodded at me and asked How’s it going, man, like he had known me all his life. You can’t put a price on that.

Ride easy, Mr. Fonda.  Thanks for the memories. And to answer your question, it’s going well, thank you, in no small part due to the influence you’ve had on many of us.

Gunstock Refinish: Part I

I’m refinishing the stock on my .222 Remington Savage 340 and as promised, here’s the beginning of the story on this project.

The Rifle:  A Savage 340

This story goes back a few years when I spotted a Savage 340 on the used gun rack at a local gun store.   Several thing about the rifle intrigued me…it was cheap (it was only $180), it was chambered for the 222 Remington (a very accurate cartridge), and the stock was scratched and worn (but the damage was superficial). I thought the little Savage would make for an interesting refinishing project.  But I guess I’m like Gresh.  Some things need to be put on simmer for a while.

The rifle shot well, I played around developing a load for it, and it was only after the thing sat around for a couple of years that I finally got on with my refinishing project.  I’ve blogged about this rifle a couple of times before, and I’ll give you the links to those posts at the end of this blog.

The Original Finish

The Savage had some kind of a shellac or varnish finish that was flaking and scratched in a lot of places. The underlying wood was sound; there were just a lot of finish scratches all over.

Superficial flaking on the butt.
More superficial surface finish damage.
Other light scratches. Like I said, the underlying walnut was sound.

The rifle had a black butt plate with a thin white plastic spacer, and the pistol grip catch had the same deal.  I knew I was going to delete the white spacers because I like the look better without it.

The white spacers had to go.

I’ll show you what the butt plate and pistol grip look like without the white line spacers in a subsequent blog.  Trust me; it’s way more elegant.

TruOil to the Rescue

Me?  I’m a big fan of oil finishes, and my soup du jour is always TruOil for projects like this one.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The best stuff ever invented, TruOil is.

Barreled Action Removal

The first step in any gunsmithing project is to make sure the rifle is unloaded, which I did, and then I remove the barreled action from the stock.  That was easy peasy…the Savage has three screws securing the metalwork in the stock.  It’s the rear trigger guard first (and unlike most rifles, on these old Savages all that rear most screw does is hold the rear of the trigger guard in the stock; it does go all the way through to the receiver).  Then it’s the screw up front, which taps into a barrel retainer.  And then it’s the main action screw, immediately under the forward portion of the receiver.  It’s an unusual setup.  Most rifles are secured by bolts through the trigger guard/floorplate that secure the receiver to the stock.  Having only one attach point to the receiver and another on the barrel is supposed to hurt accuracy.  No one told that to my Savage, though.   It shoots into an inch at 100 yards all day long.  After that it was the sling swivels, which unscrew from the stock.

Three screws release the barreled action from the stock (the barrel mount, the forward action, and the rear trigger guard screws). The sling loops unscrew, too.
The rear trigger guard screw and the action screw.

The next steps are to remove the butt plate and the stock’s pistol grip cap.   Those are retained by Phillips head screws and they came off easily.

That’s it for now.  The next steps will involve stripping the finish, and that’s a topic for the next blog in this series.  Stay tuned.  If you want to read the original blog we posted on the Savage 340, it’s here.

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Indiana Jones: Part II (The Mo Gao Grottos)

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog about the Indiana Jones aspects of riding a motorcycle across China, and in that blog, I told you about the Roman Legions that had settled in Liqian two thousand years ago. I mentioned that there were other Indiana Jones experiences to be had in China and I said I would write about them.  It’s time to keep that promise. This blog is about the abandoned Mo Gao Buddhist grottos in the Gobi Desert. It’s an excerpt from Riding China, and if you want to get the whole story, well, hey, buy the book!

Dun Huang

The day was to be a short one for riding (only a hundred kilometers), but it would be rich with sightseeing in and around Dun Huang. It started with a short ride to Dun Huang’s vendor stalls with all kinds of brightly-colored trinkets, lots of Chinese tourists, and around it all, huge sand dunes. We had arrived at what might possibly be the least known and most inaccessible tourist attraction in the world: The Gobi Desert, up close and personal.

The Lake of the Crescent Moon in the Gobi Desert.

The signs pointed to the Lake of the Crescent Moon (and if that doesn’t sound like an Indiana Jones movie title, I don’t know what does). It was a small bright green crescent lake surrounded by the Gobi’s massive pale white dunes. The city planners in Dun Huang were making good use of it as a tourist attraction. It was amazing. The lake was a bright green arc of still water perhaps 300 meters long, forming a natural arc in the dunes, surrounded by bright green vegetation. I can only imagine how a camel caravan would have felt coming upon this place a thousand or more years ago, slowly drifting through the oven that is the Gobi, long before Dun Huang built its five-star tourist hotels. They must have viewed it as a miracle. A true oasis in the desert. It seemed to be a miracle to me and I had it easy; I had ridden here on my RX3.

Gobi Camel Riding

What really interested me were the camels. I was still feeling smug about seeing camels in the desert the day before, and I had wondered what it would be like to ride one. This was to be my day. There was a large camel riding operation set up specifically for tourists, and I realized I might never have an opportunity like this again. I needed to ride a camel. Yep, I became Joe Tourist, and I’m glad I did. It was fun. The camels took us to the top of one of the dunes, and I loved every minute of it. I’ve heard camels described as ships of the desert, and I realized as I rode along on mine that it was an appropriate description. A camel kind of rocks back and forth as it walks, the same way a ship does as it sails the ocean. The sand dunes, devoid of any vegetation, could be rolling waves. It’s all very calming. The camel behind mine came closer, and closer, and closer until its face was literally right alongside me. Its nose was just an inch from my arm. I could feel its warm dry breath on my arm and my face. It sounds a bit on the strange side, I know, but it was all somehow very soothing, riding along in the hot dry air, gently rocking left and right, with a camel breathing in my ear.

Camels in the Gobi.
Quite a sight. I enjoyed Dun Huang enormously. You may have seen this photo before. It’s the cover photo for the ExhaustNotes home page, and it as a two-page spread in RoadRUNNER magazine.
The view from the camel cockpit.

We spent the entire morning riding camels, taking photos, and being tourists. As much as I like riding my motorcycle, it was good to be off it for a day. We were all feeling great, even though it as incredibly hot. But it was dry, and that made it bearable.

A very attractive young woman who allowed a photo on our camel caravan. I told her I walked a mile for my camel. She smiled politely. I don’t think she spoke English.

The Mo Gao Grottos

That afternoon, we parked the bikes and rode in air-conditioned buses to the Mo Gao Buddhist grottos. This was more Indiana Jones stuff. It’s another incredible story, and it is one I had never heard until this trip. Listen to this: Ancient Buddhists created a massive temple complex in the grottos along a riverbed canyon wall in a location called Mo Gao. It’s in the desert outside of what is now Dun Huang. It was a thriving Buddhist center a thousand years ago, and then the people living there left. No one really knows why. Time and history forgot about the place. It was only recently rediscovered, and a few years after that, it opened to the public. The place was stunning. I can see it possibly being named the 9th Wonder of the Ancient World, just as Xi’an’s Terra Cotta soldiers (which I’ll describe in a later chapter) became the 8th Wonder of the Ancient World. It’s that wondrous.

The Mo Gao caves consisted of many smaller grottos that were apartments for ancient monks, and larger ones that held majestic statues and ornate decorations. I can only imagine what it must of have been like for the archeologists who uncovered these things. Today, it is all closely managed and Chinese police were there to enforce a photography prohibition.

A small portion of the Mo Gao Buddhist grotto.
A forbidden photo inside one the Mo Gao grottos. Once again, the Nikon D810’s low light level capabilities came through for me!
The sights and photo ops at Mo Gao were well worth the trip. There were many, many more, but I called it quits after grabbing these photos.

There are two reasons for a photography prohibition in these kinds of places. The first is that flash photography could degrade the statues and artwork. A natural light photo (one shot without flash) would prevent that kind of degradation, but most people wouldn’t understand the distinction and a “natural light only” photo policy would be too hard to enforce. The other reason is that the owner of the place (I assume it would be the Chinese government) probably wants to sell its photos. Allowing people to grab their own pictures would interfere.

The bottom line to all of the above is that the no photography policy only slowed me a little. I waited until somebody else took a photo and the picture police started yelling at them, and then I would discreetly do my natural light thing. I got some good shots, too.

Let me go tangential here for a moment and tell you a quick story about Joe Gresh. He is a great guy to travel with and I’d go anywhere with him. We both have a twisted, extremely wry, and very corny sense of humor. He cringed every time I said something I thought was clever, and I did the same with him. I enjoyed being with him on this trip immensely. The guy just has a way with words, which is readily apparent in his columns for Motorcyclist magazine. Anyway, as we walked along one of the landscaped Mo Gao pathways, I noticed a ground-mounted speaker that was in a plastic case designed to look like one of the naturally-occurring rocks. It blended in well with other real rocks along the path. I pointed to it and said to Joe, “Look at that…even a thousand years ago, these Buddhist monks had electric speakers…”

Gresh, without missing a beat, responded with, “Yeah, they loved their grotto blasters…”

I slept well that night in our unusually upscale hotel. I probably had dreams along the lines of an Indiana Jones movie plot, but I didn’t remember any of them. I was tired when I called it a night and I felt refreshed the next morning. This was the trip of a lifetime, and I was enjoying the hell out of it.

So there you have it. The Mo Gao Grottos. Lost in time nearly a thousand years, only to be discovered again a few years ago. And we were there. Indiana Jones? You bet! And if you want to read the earlier Indy in China blog about the Romans, it’s right here!

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My 3FC19 Scooter

Yep, it’s going to be the CSC RX4, and I’m pumped about the ride.  There’s not a lot of information out there on this bike yet other than here on the ExNotes site, and I’ll give you the link for that at the end of this post.

Steve Seidner (President and CEO of CSC Motorcycles) and good buddy Matt (motorcycle maestro extraordinaire), the two guys who are prepping my RX4 for the 3FC19 ride.

I’ll be the first guy to take the RX4 on a major road trip in the US, and I’ll be the first guy to ride it internationally on a single ride.  I think that’s pretty cool.

Steve and Matt prepped the bike for me by changing the oil, adjusting the valves, installing spotlights, installing the cell phone holder so I can use Waze to navigate, and more.  It was cool visit, and I enjoyed seeing the guys at CSC again.

Down to the frame, just to make sure everything is ready for my 4,500-mile epic international journey. It wasn’t necessary. The guys found nothing wrong.
These are going to turn night into day for me. I like them!
Check out the double disks, and hey, Orlando…look, it’s orange…the fastest color!
A subfender. Cool!
A new rear tire and chain lube. It’s going to be a great ride.
I spec’d out the Tourfella aluminum luggage on this bike…I’ll be carrying my laptop and all my camera gear, and like always, I’ll be blogging from the road every night. You’ll be able to follow the entire trip right here on the ExNotes blog. Hey, do you think the top dawgs at Harley or Honda personally prep bikes for their rally riders?

So, about that additional RX4 information…you can find it right here on our RX4 page!  And hey, check out the CSC Motorcycles site, too!

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Want to read about some of our other epic rides on CSC motorcycles, Royal Enfield motorcycles, Janus motorcycles, and the odd Harley or two?   Take a look at our Epic Rides page!

Loaded for bear…

Good buddy Jason, a Ruger No. 1 in .338 Win Mag, and a 400-lb, 7-ft Alaskan black bear.

As the title of this blog implies and in this case, my good buddy Jason was literally loaded for bear. For several years I had owned a Ruger No. 1 single-shot rifle in .338 Win Mag.  That’s a monster of a magnum.  I had never fired the rifle and I sold it to Jason. He told me he was going on a bear hunt in Alaska (something I’ve always wanted to do), and I was happy to the see the rifle go to a good home. Most recently, Jason sent the photo you see above and a recap of his hunt to me to share here on the ExNotes blog. Here you go, folks!

It all started in 2016 when I purchased my first Ruger No. 1 in 338 Win Mag from Joe.  I’ve always wanted a Ruger No. 1, but I already had a Winchester Model 70 in 338 Win Mag. I planned to go on a bear hunt in 2018, so what I did was sell my Winchester Model 70 to my best friend, who went on the bear hunt, too. I would be using my Ruger No. 1. So this is a story about me and my new rifle and our quest for a big Southeast Alaskan black bear. It was a guided hunt through Alaskan Coastal Outfitters.

Our base camp was on a boat and in the evening we would take a skiff and cruise around all the little islands and bays looking for the right bear. We saw lots of bears (a lot of sows with cubs). We also saw a lot of boars. On Day 4 of our hunt we saw a really nice bear. We got as close as we could without spooking him. My guide told me to get out of the boat and he held the boat still for me. Then, as I was pulling my leg over the side of the boat I got hooked on to the edge of the boat and I fell face down in 8 inches of water.

The bear ran off and my beautiful Ruger No.1 was laying in 8 inches of salt water, so we raced back to the boat, took the rifle apart, and cleaned it up so it was like new.

The next day we went out again and this time I was extra cautious not to fall in when we came across the bear you see in the picture. He was about 300 yards from the skiff when we spotted him. We got as close as we could without spooking him, which was about 140 yards, and my guide kept on asking me if I could make the shot. I always answered “yes, no problem.” I lay down and rested my rifle on my pack. Wouldn’t you know it, I had to lay down in a little creek so I got wet again. We lay there for what seemed to be an eternity. My guide made sure it was a boar and not a sow. Finally, he gave me the OK.

Just then, the bear turned so he had his back to me (so I couldn’t shoot). It gave me an opportunity to situate my follow-up shot. I decided the quickest way to get a follow-up shot (if I needed one) was to shoot with the next round in my hand.

The bear finally turned broadside and I dropped the hammer. I hit him just behind the shoulder and he dropped. My guide backed me up with a 375 H&H rifle, but he didn’t need to fire it. The bear went down, and when we reached him, we saw he was the monster he appeared to be from a distance. The bear measured 7 feet and weighed about 400 lbs.

Jason, that’s an awesome story and a magnificent photograph.  I was sorry to see that rifle go, but it obviously went to a good home and you sure put it to good use.  You know, it takes a real sportsman to do what you did…going after bear with a single-shot rifle.   Congratulations on a successful hunt, and thanks much for sharing your adventure with us here on the ExhaustNotes blog!

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Back in the saddle again…

Yep, just like that song, we’re back in the saddle again.  We’ve got the email thing on the road to being fully squared away, and we’ve had a bunch of new folks sign up in the last day.   Things are looking good.

Automatic Email Notifications

If you haven’t heard the word already, we’re having a limited time contest for folks who sign up for our automatic email notifications.  Just add your email to the list, and for every 50 folks who sign up (even if you are already signed up), we’re going to give away a free copy of Destinations.  You can sign up here:

The CSC RX4

I’m stopping by CSC Motorcycles tomorrow to get a photo of the RX4 I’ll be riding in the SCMA Three Flags Classic.  Good buddy Steve asked how I wanted the bike configured and I told him what he already knew:  Spotlights, the big Tourfella luggage, a phone mount, and I’m good to go.  This is going to be one hell of a ride.  Mexico to Canada on a CSC RX4.  I’ll be the first to do this.  More good times.  I’m pumped and I’m eager to get on the road.

It’s going to be hot on the southern part of the ride, as the temps will be above 110 degrees.  But as they say, it’s a dry heat. I’ve ridden in that kind of heat before, and I have a few strategies for dealing with it.  I’ll be blogging the entire ride, so be sure to follow us right here on ExhaustNotes!  And hey, if there are questions you want me to answer or things you want my opinion on related to the RX4, please post your questions here in the blog’s comments section.

The Triple Deuce

Nope, it’s not a car and it’s not a US Army truck.  I’m talking about my .222 Remington Savage 340, a used rifle I picked up on the consignment gun rack at a local store 2 1/2 years ago for the whopping sum of $180.  The Triple Deuce (as the .222 Remington cartridge is known) is one of those inherently accurate cartridges that just groups great without a lot of work (three others are the .308 Winchester, the .375 H&H, and the relatively new 6.5 Creedmoor).   These are rounds that are just flat accurate.  My .222 certainly groups way better than any $180 rifle has a right to do.  I’m having a lot of fun with it.

I had the Savage out this past Sunday and it was shooting sub-minute-of-angle at 100 yards, and that’s close enough for government work.  The stock has a few surface finish scratches (but no gouges that reach into the wood) and I’m going to refinish it.  Before any of you get your shorts in a knot, the rifle is not an uber-collectible piece (so I’m not destroying its value with a refinish).  I’m going to do my TruOil-to-perfection number on it.  I may add a little stain to darken the walnut a bit.  Or not.  We’ll see.  All the metal work on this rifle is perfect and I want the lumber to match. I’ll be posting the step-by-step project here on the ExhaustNotes blog, and you’ll be able to follow along as this labor of love progresses.    And hey, if you want to read our other gun stories, take a look at our Tales of the Gun page!

Good times straight ahead, folks!

And yet more likes and dislikes…

We like seeing big numbers of folks on the ExhaustNotes site.  We can tell how many people are on the site at any given time, which pages they’re viewing, and where they’re located (to the city or town level).  We see folks from literally all over the world, and it’s cool seeing folks in really out of the way (for us, anyway) places.

Take a peek at the blog below about our email signup contest.   You could win a free copy of Destinations just by signing up, even if you are already on the list.  And yeah, we already had a healthy response, and yeah, we already randomly selected our first contest winner from the first group of 50.   That’s good buddy Colorado Dan, and Dan, your copy of Destinations is going in the mail today.  Sign up here, folks, and you might win a copy, too!

More likes and dislikes…

The good news is that it looks like we have this email thing fixed!  Whew, we’re software geniuses!  Who knew?

Okay, back to our likes and dislikes:  We like giving stuff away, and we need to get our email list updated again, so here’s what we’re going to do.   Whether you’re on the email list or not, sign up for our automatic email updates.   For every 50 signups, even if you are already signed up, we’re going to give away a copy of Destinations, our latest book, to one person drawn randomly from each group of 50.  Hey, that gives you a 2% chance of winning, and that’s damn near a sure thing!

Likes and dislikes…

I needed to do a blog to see if this nutty automatic email program is working again, and even though Joe G. and I have a rich repertoire to draw from as far as blog topics go, I thought I’d briefly hit a few likes and dislikes to check out the email notification system. We usually try to limit ourselves to one blog a day to keep your email inbox from getting overwhelmed, so bear with me while I test this system.

I’ll do two or three blogs today to see if I can get this thing sorted. Patience, my friends.

The first is a dislike. I dislike mindless software updates, as apparently occurred with the Icegram software (that’s the plug-in we use for the auto email update feature). Something updated, it stopped working, and then it dumped half the names on our list. I could tell you if you haven’t received an email from us and you should have to let us know, but that would be like asking all the kids who aren’t in class to raise their hands, and that would be about as mindless as a software update when everything was working fine before the update. Ah, here we go.

Hey, if you want to be on the list for automatic email updates, please add your email here:

Stand by, there’s more to follow in a subsequent blog or two.