Gunny Heaven

Favorite People. Favorite Activity. Favorite Place. Perfect weather. It really doesn’t get much better than this. Marian, Alex and I went out to a farm in Meade County for a training session hosted by my guru, Jim Higginbotham. The agenda for the day was to shoot the FBI qualifier, but to do it in half the time, so if the qualifier specified 12 seconds for a string of fire, we did it in 6. Interspersed were tales and anecdotes, explanations and technical guidance. Alex used the Springfield XD-9 Tactical. Marian used her S&W 640. I started out with my Series 70 Combat Commander but switched to the Kimber Pro Carry when the Commander started acting up. A new extractor is on order.

Even with some gun malfunctions and shooting in double-time, I qualified for the FBI which is a scary thought in itself. The difficulties with my beloved Commander reminded me in a powerful way that even the best autoloaders can get fussy and have problems sometimes. The experience also underscored the value of a regular training schedule to maintain skills and test equipment.

We also did some move-and-shoot and reloading practice drills, these laced with liberal doses of rationale and doctrine. I love listening to Jim tell stories. He’s a great collector of stories that illustrate the tactical realities that we face. If you want to listen to some of what Jim did, click here and listen to the podcast. Finally the last sharp report of pistol fire echoed away into the hills and the last brass clattered to the ground. We did our farewells and loaded the gear into the car. A day spent shooting like this has the effect of a good tranquilizer on me. We hit the road in the hotrod Nissan for the drive back to town. I felt like a million dollars.

We talked about what we’d learned or not learned, lots of politics, mostly how we really don’t like Barak Obama, and wound down the country road under a brilliant blue sky with the car purring like a kitten. Back in town we went to Kroger’s and bought a monster T-Bone, a rib eye, and a filet mignon, each our individual favorites. Back at the house, we fired up the charcoal grill and splashed some good bourbon over ice. Music on the stereo and baked potatoes in the oven, we just let the profound cool-ness of the day wash over us.

It really doesn’t get much better than this.