Some Gun Blogger Rendezvous Memories

Some more-or-less random pics from GBR IV and V.

Me shooting the Springfield 1911 I didn't win in the raffle...

Me shooting Kevin's S&W Model 25

Bea--True Blue Sam's mom

Chuck with Project Valour IT laptop

Swag

Quick Cal demonstrates Cowboy Fast Draw

Rick's from Texas, can you tell?

Molly and Keewee.

GG with Derek's AR

Allen,with Rick's KRIS

Rick let me shoot his Thompson!

GG with Kevin's 1911

GG with my S&W 625

Lori checks out the competition...

This one is "real"--full auto and everything...

 

Dirt Crashr's Krag--I think that thing's longer than a Mosin!

I never did get all my video from last year's Cowboy Fast Draw sorted out, maybe in my copious free time...

Gun Blogger Rendezvous VI is coming!

But I'm not going.  Mrs. Drang says we have to go to Kauai for her birthday.  Darn.

Anyway.

As part of house "blogkeeping" I have consolidated my GBR V entries in the sidebar into the two previous posts, and then added them to what was the GBR IV item there, and is now just GBR. All the information should still be there. (This of course negates this post from lat year: New Blogroll--Update.)

Mr. Completely sent this message out:

...Pre-registrations are coming in, but we need to encourage a lot more folks to attend to make it all worth the effort and to be able to continue to attract sponsors, and in the end, raise money for Project Valour-IT.

We will have at least three guns to give away in the raffle, and possibly four, plus other cool stuff too. The NRA is buying us Breakfast on Friday morning, GunUp is going to buy us dinner on Friday Night, and NSSF is buying us pizza on Saturday night. Registration is still only $30 per person, so you make that back just in free food, even before the door prizes!

You do NOT need to be a Blogger to attend! Especially on Saturday night, lots of folks who are more-or-less local show up to eat the National Shooting Sports Foundation's pizza and win sweet schwag in the raffle--note the "three or four guns" in Mr. C's message above...

Although, obviously, being there the whole weekend and eating the NRA's breakfast Friday morning and GunUp's BBQ Friday night would be cool, too.  And, hey, since you're there, why not let a teenage girl out-shoot you, too?

GBR V Sponsors

Brownells (Sponsor)
Cabela's (Sponsor)
Crimson Trace (Sponsor)
Glock (Sponsor)
Gun Up
Hi-Point Firearms (Sponsor)
Lucky Gunner
Midway USA (Sponsor)
NRA-ILA
NSSF
Silver Legacy Resort and Casino
Soldier's Angels--Project Valour IT
Special Interest Arms
Springfield Armory (Sponsor)
Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. (Participant, Sponsor)

GBR V Survivors

Anthroblogogy - on the brink of civilization, or off the edge...
CS Tactical
Firearms and Training
Girls "heart" Guns
Gun Up
KeeWee's Corner
Lucky Gunner
Mr. Completely
Random Nuclear Strikes
THE MOLLY MINUTE
The Packing Rat
The Smallest Minority
Special Interest Arms
Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. (Participant, Sponsor)
Traction Control
True Blue Sam the Travelin' Man

GBR-V Swag

So, I finally remembered where I hid the swag from myself, dug it out, and sorted through it; while I didn't win a Major Prize!, I'm happy with what I got.

Well, OK, it would have been nice to win a Glock... Or a discount on a Para... Or...

Anyway.

• Crimson Trace t-shirt
• Brownell's gun oil, in those little single-use pouches up front.  I got 6 or 7 of those little pouches; I think they just kept shoveling them into a garbage bag until it was full. Other folks got Brownell's AR-15 mags, but I have a few mags already, so I passed.  I suppose I may regret that..
• GunUp.com t-shirt.  The site should be active in a week or so; if you click the link it will take you to the home page to register for notification when it is.

Midway USA T-shirts, 2 each, front and back
Midway USA "tactical" pistol cases, Olive Drab in color, 2 each, also front and back.

These are nice, padded, and the two large pockets on the back zip open along the top and the "inside."

They are sized right for my range bag, as well.

 Detail of magazine pouches, 7 each, on side of Midway USA "tactical" pistol case.

Note to self:  Buy more 1911 mags!

 Lori Petoske of Ruger brought us all a cap, a travel mug, and a briefcase/laptop case.

 It's pretty much a standard briefcase/laptop case, except inside one outside pocket there is a large expanse of velcro, and a strip of cordura nylon...











...which turns out to be a holster, here modeled by Mrs. Drang's Ruger LCR.

Sorry, no pics of the LCR alone, she's shy...

 Back during the Viet Nam War Special Forces teams started a new military tradition, the challenge coin.  Everyone on the team was supposed to carry his at all times, if someone issued a "Coin Check" in the bar, anyone who didn't have theirs owed everyone else a round.  If everyone had theirs, the challenger bought a round.

Eventually, the practice spread to the rest of the Army, and then the other services; now, The Brass all carry their own coins to give to a soldier who has done something outstanding, or as sort of a durable calling card for a souvenir.  I've got a dozen or two myself.

Now I have a new one, from Jeff Bader of Soldier's Angels.

The obverse...

..and the reverse.

Swag from Springfield Armory: 

• Mouse pad
• Ball point pen
• Stickers (two kinds)
• Paddle holster for a Springfield XD pistol  (I don't have one--yet.  One is on the way.)
• A "Team Springfield"  lapel pin, not shown here.  I'll probably find it in the middle of the night...
• The XD can cozy is actually from last year; last year there were also patches and t-shirts.

There was other swag, this is what followed me home.

And, finally, the FTC can KMA.

$5,088 Raised for Project Valour-IT at GBR-V

Mr. Completely says $5,088 Raised for Project Valour-IT at GBR-V:

Although there will most likely be a few donations made to Project Valour-IT as a result of the Gun Blogger Rendezvous that are not in the totals, as it now stands the Gun Blogger Rendezvous raised $5,088 this year in Reno! We also had the largest attendance and the most shooters at the range events that we've ever had.Thanks to the generous support of all of our wonderful sponsors, everyone went home with lots of cool swag. It was absolutely the best Gun Blogger Rendezvous ever!

This year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous set the bar really high, and next year, I hope to move it even higher.

Thanks again to everyone who made it possible, and thanks to Soldier's Angels and Project Valour-IT for all the great things they do for our troops.

New Blogroll--Update

I added a two new Blogrolls, "GBR-V Blog List" and "GBR-V Participants & Links." 

The intent is to list the blogs, AND websites of non-bloggers, of all attending, plus Dirtcrashrs' post of mailing addresses for sponsors, and Kevin's post of their web links. (If it's not a blog--i.e., doesn't have an RSS feed--it went into "Participants & Links".)

I may have missed some, especially those who arrived later on Saturday, so please either leave a comment or drop me an email with the corrections.  Thanks.

Thank You! to GBR-V Sponsors & Benefactors!

If Mr. Completely can borrow the post from Kevin, then I can borrow the post from Mr. Completely borrowing the post from Kevin. Or something...
A Big Thank You!:

When I finally got home from the Rendezvous I was both swamped with work, and totally exhausted from all the fun at the Rendezvous. I wanted to put together a list of all the great sponsors who contributed to the success of the event. I still haven't got the list put together, but Kevin (bless you!) has done the list already, so I 'borrowed' it from his blog, The Smallest Minority.

All of us that had such a great time at this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous owe a huge 'Thank You!' to all of these great folks who made it all possible!

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 (I scored two), 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.

Thanks everyone, Well Done!

NOTE: If I've forgotten anyone, please mention it in a comment so I can be sure everyone gets proper credit. Thanks...

Some people just plain take better notes than I do. Or at least, they can read their notes...

GBR Range Day

Some pics, more or less randomly selected from those that turned out best.

Lori Petoske of Ruger shoots Tootsie's (True Blue Sam's mom) Ruger Mark III.

GG of Girls Heart Guns tries Derek The Packing Rat's AR

US Citizen rang the 350 yard gong with his semi-auto Thompson!

I didn't...

He also let me shoot his Kris Super-V. In fact, he insisted that we help him not have to take ammo back. 

I would be more than glad to take any "excess" .45 AP off anyone's hands...

GG about to try Kevin's 1911

And my Smith and Wesson Model 625-8, also in .45 ACP.

Beneath the starry flag
Civilize 'em with a Krag...
DirtCrashr was kind enough to allow me to shoot his .30-40 Krag.  DirtCrashr rang the gong; again, I did not, although I do believe that I had it seriously considering hanging up it's bolo and going back to herding carabao.
The front sight of this thing is slim and sharp enough to double as a back-up bayonet.

"The third Classic Blunder..."

So, we all know that the greatest Classic Most Famous Blunder is to engage Get Involved in a Land War in Asia, and the  greatest Classic Second Most Famous Blunder is to Go Up Against A Sicilian when Death Is On The Line.
At our GBR Mini Steele Challenge match yesterday I proved that the third greatest Classic Most Famous Blunder is to try a new shooting sport with a gun you've only shot twice, and on a "square range" at that.
After the first stage I put the Jerry Miculek Model 625 away and fell back on the Colt Combat Commander, which has the classic laughable sights, but at least, while I hardly made up my abysmal times on the first stage, I didn't suck so badly.
Posted on my Droid; I'll fix the quotes when I get home.

UPDATE:  FIXED.  Pretty close, actually. 

Our Story So Far

Saturday of Gun Blogger Rendezvous V is moving into evening and pizza, courtesy the National Shooting Sports Foundation.  Been busy:

• 12 hours to drive down Thursday.  Crashed shortly after dinner with the early arrivals.  
• Breakfast on the NRA's tab--guess it's cheaper than those wheelbarrows full of cash I keep hearing gun bloggers get--and then range Friday AM, Show and Tell Friday afternoon, dinner at Gecko's BBQ, crashed shortly after.   (Rachel Parsons of the NRA is recovering from a medical emergency, alas, and could not make it.  Get better soon!)
• Breakfast, and then back to the range for Steel Challenge Shooting this morning; we just back.  Time for a quick shower, then NSSF will talk about bloggers' places in the firearms industry--apparently, I can now be credentialed as a "journalist" for SHOT Show and the like!--and then pizza, and the raffle.  Hopefully, I can stay up late enough tonight that I don't wake up at 5 AM and not be able to get back to sleep....
• Different range tomorrow morning, for Cowboy Fast Draw, and then home.  Like I said, it's a long drive, hopefully I won't have to pull over in a rest area in Oregon for a "power nap""--but I will if I need to.
• The  back home to the Birthday Bearcat.

I'll post photos and maybe some video (if it turned out decent) later, with a fuller description of events.  Now, I have to go retrieve some laundry from the Bell Desk...

GBR-V Schedule

I put the schedule of events into a Google Calendar--that link goes there opens an ICS-format calendar.  Oops. I think.  Try this link for on-line viewing.  That's better...

I also added Reno weather from Weather Underground to that calendar:

The 5-Day Forecast for ZIP Code 89502

Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
68° F | 43° F	65° F | 40° F	74° F | 45° F	77° F | 47° F	81° F | 47° F
T-storms 30% chance of precipitation	Partly Cloudy	Clear	Clear	Clear

Gun Blogger Rendezvous V Participants

Per Mr. Completely:

• Random Nuclear Strikes
• True Blue Sam
• Traction Control
• The Smallest Minority
• The Molly Minute
• The Packing Rat
• Our Gun Thing
• The Clue Meter
• Anthroblogogy
• AR15.Com
• NSSF Blog
• NRA Blog
• Joe's Crabby shack (Inactive)
• CS Tactical blog
• Gunup blog (launching soon)
• Mr. Completely
• Keewee's Corner
• Firearms and Training (blog) (Can't find a listing by this title...)
• Lucky Gunner (blog)  (A sponsor last year, Lucky Gunner stepped up to provide raffle ticket sales when PayPal punked us over raffling a gun.)

 Bold titled blogs were represented last year.

Sponsors/providers of raffle schwag this year include, in no particular order (Links go to GBR Blogpost):

• Midway USA
• Leupold
• Ruger
• Hi-point
• Cabelas
• Glock
• National Shooting Sports Foundation  (PIZZA!)
• National Rifle Association (Breakfast--BACON!!!)
• Who knows who else?  Last year there were t-shirts, patches, and caps from Crimson Trace, Springfield Armory, and I forget who and what else.

Lots of folks who were there last year can't make it this year, including, alas, Mrs. Drang.  I wasn't going to go since she can't get the time off--for her birthday!!!--but she insisted.  I pointed out she could fly down Friday night and join us for Gecko's BBQ, but she seemed underwhelmed. Oh, well. 

Tentative Schedule For GBR-V 2010

Mr. Completely has posted the tentative sked for GBR-V.  Looks like the NRA is springfing for breakfast this year--ummm, bacon...

http://gunbloggers.blogspot.com/2010/08/tentative-schedule-for-gbr-v-2010.html
I'll be there, stag, as Mrs. Drang could not get the time off.  :-(  (I wasn't going to go without her, but she insisted.)  Staying in the Silver Legacy this year, but not in GBR-block rooms; made reservations threough the time share's service, not usable for "events."  Driving down Thursday, so will miss Cabela's tour, but be there for dinner & "after" on Thursday.  Heading home Sunday after the Fast Draw.  Driving the Drangmobile, so I can  provide wheels to the range (Costco, grocery store, ammo store, liquor store) for those who prefer not to rent, or not to run up mileage on their rental.

Sent to you via Google Reader on my Droid.  Composing a longish post on this keyboard kinda sucks, but the hardware keyboard beats the touchscreen...