What did you do today?

[bigrich]

I got asked by a prominent Liberal official to speak on behalf of our farming demographic against Tiggy Forrest's Squadron Energy's 210-tower wind factory threatening to destroy Stanthorpe from his greed. At a rally in Brisbane organised by Scott Challen and with Pauline Hanson as the key speaker. I'm extremely concerned I am not good enough. I've spoken at town meetings against this project, but never something this big. Too big for this bloke.

do it , this is your chance to make a difference . you know what your talking about , spread the word about this green lies b@llshit and it's impact on the local environment , not to mention it's hypocritical importing manufactured products from china that have already created pollution just by being made, and transported halfway round the globe to where crews are going to bulldoze the bush and burn a lot of diesel installing turbines with a 15 year life span . it's bloody madness . i have faith in you

actually if china wants to cripple this country they just have to wait till our last coal power station is gone and just not sell us anymore solar panels or wind turbines when the ones we got now are up for replacement

[bladeracer]

I got asked by a prominent Liberal official to speak on behalf of our farming demographic against Tiggy Forrest's Squadron Energy's 210-tower wind factory threatening to destroy Stanthorpe from his greed. At a rally in Brisbane organised by Scott Challen and with Pauline Hanson as the key speaker. I'm extremely concerned I am not good enough. I've spoken at town meetings against this project, but never something this big. Too big for this bloke.

I spent an hour or two chatting with you last year, you'll be awesome mate!

[bladeracer]

I've finally found some quiet time away from the kids (mostly) to load some ammo.

I'm still hoping to get over to Perth for the WA Single-Action State Titles, September 18-20. Four days driving each way, about $1000 in fuel, a $60 temporary permit for my firearms, and a fair bit of ammo. I need to call WA Firearms tomorrow to find out what the wait time is on the permit. I really can't decide if I'm going until it's much closer. Because we're building a house here on the block I might decide, at that time, that I'd be better spending the twelve days getting things done here than tootling around the Nullabor for giggles. For the Cowboy and Wild Bunch matches in WA it will be 240rds of black .44-40, 64rds of black 12ga. and 100rds of .45ACP - plus any side matches they might have happening.

The Chisholm Trail at Millmerran in Qld is September 27 to October 4, eight days of shooting. I haven't entirely ruled it out but it would be a battle to drive to Queensland (2000km) the day after I get back from Perth (3500km each way). I'd love to do the Chisholm again and there are mutterings about somebody having to make an ammo trip to Cleaver soon so it might be possible.

October 11/12 is The OK Corral at Warrugal-Drouin. At the moment it doesn't look like we'll be shooting Pat Garrett or Wild Bunch so it'll be 180rds of .44-40 and 40rds of 12ga., plus any side matches.

Two weeks after that, October 19-25 is the Nationals in Virginia, just north of Adelaide - seven days of shooting. Main match is 240rds of .44-40 and 50rds of 12ga. Wild Bunch will be 40rds of .44-40, 24rds of 12ga., and 120rds of .45ACP. Warm-up and speed matches will be 100rds of .44-40 and 20rds of 12ga. There are nine novelty side matches, some of which might clash, so it might not be possible to shoot them all. But they add up to 148rds of pistol/rifle ammo and 47rds of 12ga. One is Cowboy Clays which can nearly double the number if you take two shots at each clay. There's also 40rds of long-range matches that I may do some of. If I made it to the top (ain't gonna happen) I'd need another 100rds of pistol/rifle and 20rds of 12ga to get through the shoot-offs. So I need a whole lot of ammo for Adelaide.

The weekend after that is the Border Shootout at Mildura, October 31 to November 2. I don't have a round count for Mildura yet but I'm guessing it'll be around 400rds of pistol/rifle and 100rds of 12ga.

Two weeks after that is Rawhide at Little River, November 13-15. I don't remember what the round count was last year but I'm expecting about 300 pistol, 300 rifle and at least 100rds of 12ga.

Two weeks later should be the Tasmanian state titles. I'm not sure they even have the date locked down yet so no idea of round count. The ferry adds a fair bit to the costs but I'd like to do it once.

Queensland states were in April which I couldn't make, and I haven't heard anything about the NT states. I still need to get up to Alice Springs for a Cowboy match, which I'd love to squeeze in this year if I can.

Since my daughter brought her family down ten weeks ago life has been very hectic, but also good fun

[Bugman]

Me? I had my first bourbon in three years as I read and listened to the buy back diatribe. Unfortunately it didn't ease my pain.

[Wapiti]

Thanks for the support, blokes. I respect your knowledge and appreciate the faith in this ex-steel worker.
I have a few return calls to make this morning with these people, I'll see.
What's first and foremost on my mind isn't that, strangely, it's getting 8 strainer posts in at a gate/laneway intersection for my new Elk paddocks, without my cheeky cattle pushing them out of whack. Spent yesterday putting concrete holes in the rock. You can't drive in simple posts in this country, usually.
Looks fine on the surface but - Murphy's law.

[Wapiti]

I've finally found some quiet time away from the kids (mostly) to load some ammo.

I'm still hoping to get over to Perth for the WA Single-Action State Titles, September 18-20. Four days driving each way, about $1000 in fuel, a $60 temporary permit for my firearms, and a fair bit of ammo. I need to call WA Firearms tomorrow to find out what the wait time is on the permit. I really can't decide if I'm going until it's much closer. Because we're building a house here on the block I might decide, at that time, that I'd be better spending the twelve days getting things done here than tootling around the Nullabor for giggles. For the Cowboy and Wild Bunch matches in WA it will be 240rds of black .44-40, 64rds of black 12ga. and 100rds of .45ACP - plus any side matches they might have happening.

The Chisholm Trail at Millmerran in Qld is September 27 to October 4, eight days of shooting. I haven't entirely ruled it out but it would be a battle to drive to Queensland (2000km) the day after I get back from Perth (3500km each way). I'd love to do the Chisholm again and there are mutterings about somebody having to make an ammo trip to Cleaver soon so it might be possible.

October 11/12 is The OK Corral at Warrugal-Drouin. At the moment it doesn't look like we'll be shooting Pat Garrett or Wild Bunch so it'll be 180rds of .44-40 and 40rds of 12ga., plus any side matches.

Two weeks after that, October 19-25 is the Nationals in Virginia, just north of Adelaide - seven days of shooting. Main match is 240rds of .44-40 and 50rds of 12ga. Wild Bunch will be 40rds of .44-40, 24rds of 12ga., and 120rds of .45ACP. Warm-up and speed matches will be 100rds of .44-40 and 20rds of 12ga. There are nine novelty side matches, some of which might clash, so it might not be possible to shoot them all. But they add up to 148rds of pistol/rifle ammo and 47rds of 12ga. One is Cowboy Clays which can nearly double the number if you take two shots at each clay. There's also 40rds of long-range matches that I may do some of. If I made it to the top (ain't gonna happen) I'd need another 100rds of pistol/rifle and 20rds of 12ga to get through the shoot-offs. So I need a whole lot of ammo for Adelaide.

The weekend after that is the Border Shootout at Mildura, October 31 to November 2. I don't have a round count for Mildura yet but I'm guessing it'll be around 400rds of pistol/rifle and 100rds of 12ga.

Two weeks after that is Rawhide at Little River, November 13-15. I don't remember what the round count was last year but I'm expecting about 300 pistol, 300 rifle and at least 100rds of 12ga.

Two weeks later should be the Tasmanian state titles. I'm not sure they even have the date locked down yet so no idea of round count. The ferry adds a fair bit to the costs but I'd like to do it once.

Queensland states were in April which I couldn't make, and I haven't heard anything about the NT states. I still need to get up to Alice Springs for a Cowboy match, which I'd love to squeeze in this year if I can.

Since my daughter brought her family down ten weeks ago life has been very hectic, but also good fun

Man, you do some shootin'
Your trigger finger and all your other fingertips used for reloading gazillions of kilos of lead into shells must be calloused as!

[Wapiti]

Scott Challen, and what all this fight is about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9HBZYpyqbs&t=196s

[wanneroo]

Lots going on here. Summer is ending soon, already starting to notice the days getting shorter. New propane tank installed to heat the workshops in winter if needed. New water filtration system going in. A mennonite landscaper came in and did a total landscape renovation around the house, trimming everything back, removing weeds, etc.

I got a new Glock 43X with an RMSc optic footprint. The 43X is a slim slide for concealed carry but has a longer grip. Glock made it's first metal magazine ever and it stuffs 15 9mm rounds into a tight double stack mag. I got it a couple of weeks ago and have not even shot it yet, so busy. But I will do a full video on it.

Also big news for the Civilian Marksmanship Program. The ATF is going to allow the CMP to receive 100,000 ex US Army M-14 rifles, make them permanently semi auto and make them available for sale to us citizens for less than $2000.

We also had a big court win. A Federal Court struck down parts of the NFA and there are still some issues to sort out. But buying suppressors, short barrel rifles and short barrel shotguns should be as easy as a regular background check.

[Wapiti]

Also big news for the Civilian Marksmanship Program. The ATF is going to allow the CMP to receive 100,000 ex US Army M-14 rifles, make them permanently semi auto and make them available for sale to us citizens for less than $2000.

We also had a big court win. A Federal Court struck down parts of the NFA and there are still some issues to sort out. But buying suppressors, short barrel rifles and short barrel shotguns should be as easy as a regular background check.

I am so jealous of the freedoms you guys have.
Unfortunately, Australians take it up the arse and tell themselves that they must obey the leather-chair city Burgermeisters. Then whinge for the rest of perpetuality.

Years ago I bought a H&R-made original M14, they came here as select-fire which I realise is just so very rare. They were refurbished by the Israelis from US purchase and being sold off as is. The selector switch was welded internally so it couldn't be turned from semi to auto fire, and the tab on the sear that it tripped when the bolt closed was ground flush to mimic that of the Garand or M1A.
From the outside, they looked original M14, still had the trip guide that the op rod activated. It was needed on them anyway to hold the op rod in the groove because the dismount notch is in the middle on original select-fire M14's, not at the rear like Garand or M1A.
Edit: and the heavier NM barrel, spring guide and NM front sight.
Three of us out this way had them and used them as pig culling rifles. We used 150gn hollow-point commercial ammo and they easily shot MOA off a benchrest. We only used 4X scopes.
I remember the few times I went to Brisbane and used mine in IPSC rifle comp and won a state title with mine. It seemed easy at the time, because I had used the rifle so much in the field in very quick response type shooting so seemed to take to that kind of comp well.
Then the country's shooters sat down to p*ss and let all this be taken from them.
I took mine to Belmont SSAA range to test some new ammo and was surrounded a a group of paper shooters who told me that it was people like me, with rifles like mine, that put THEM into the political trouble their cowardice brought upon us all.
I really hope you Americans don't listen to the weak slime amongst you and NEVER give up the freedoms we all should have - and that you still do.
Rather than see mine shredded, I sold it legally to someone, just before the buy-back deadline.
I told myself that I would rather do that than EVER participate in the cowards acceptance of that crime against the people.
You can't fight the slime singularly, but everyone together cannot be beaten. Unfortunately we breed cowards that infiltrate and split us up.

It will be interesting to see if that is how they come to the public for you guys.

I would have a number of the beautiful, forged receiver Fulton Armoury civilian-legal M14's, and a new Garand that they also make.

[wanneroo]

Also big news for the Civilian Marksmanship Program. The ATF is going to allow the CMP to receive 100,000 ex US Army M-14 rifles, make them permanently semi auto and make them available for sale to us citizens for less than $2000.

We also had a big court win. A Federal Court struck down parts of the NFA and there are still some issues to sort out. But buying suppressors, short barrel rifles and short barrel shotguns should be as easy as a regular background check.

I am so jealous of the freedoms you guys have.
Unfortunately, Australians take it up the arse and tell themselves that they must obey the leather-chair city Burgermeisters. Then whinge for the rest of perpetuality.

Years ago I bought a H&R-made original M14, they came here as select-fire which I realise is just so very rare. They were refurbished by the Israelis from US purchase and being sold off as is. The selector switch was welded internally so it couldn't be turned from semi to auto fire, and the tab on the sear that it tripped when the bolt closed was ground flush to mimic that of the Garand or M1A.
From the outside, they looked original M14, still had the trip guide that the op rod activated. It was needed on them anyway to hold the op rod in the groove because the dismount notch is in the middle on original select-fire M14's, not at the rear like Garand or M1A.
Edit: and the heavier NM barrel, spring guide and NM front sight.
Three of us out this way had them and used them as pig culling rifles. We used 150gn hollow-point commercial ammo and they easily shot MOA off a benchrest. We only used 4X scopes.
I remember the few times I went to Brisbane and used mine in IPSC rifle comp and won a state title with mine. It seemed easy at the time, because I had used the rifle so much in the field in very quick response type shooting so seemed to take to that kind of comp well.
Then the country's shooters sat down to p*ss and let all this be taken from them.
I took mine to Belmont SSAA range to test some new ammo and was surrounded a a group of paper shooters who told me that it was people like me, with rifles like mine, that put THEM into the political trouble their cowardice brought upon us all.
I really hope you Americans don't listen to the weak slime amongst you and NEVER give up the freedoms we all should have - and that you still do.
Rather than see mine shredded, I sold it legally to someone, just before the buy-back deadline.
I told myself that I would rather do that than EVER participate in the cowards acceptance of that crime against the people.
You can't fight the slime singularly, but everyone together cannot be beaten. Unfortunately we breed cowards that infiltrate and split us up.

It will be interesting to see if that is how they come to the public for you guys.

I would have a number of the beautiful, forged receiver Fulton Armoury civilian-legal M14's, and a new Garand that they also make.

Well glad you got to enjoy the M-14 while you could. That's a cool story with a sad ending.

Here in the US it was a surprising turn of events because the ATF considers a receiver, once a machine gun, always a machine gun, so that they worked a deal out to modify these receivers is a sensible decision.

The Civilian Marksmanship Program is also working on making brand new Garands, as surplus has dried up and is finite.

[Wapiti]

Man, you could get them with either the timber stock or the fibreglass GI issue one. The parkerising had been redone, or rather, if it wasn't redone then they were in incredible condition.
Stainless steel gas blocks and pistons for the wet conditions in SE Asia, chrome bores and chambers.
22" barrels to get the powerful best from the 7.62 cartridge, not the short stupid 16" barreled stuff now to satisfy the dress-up crowd.

Isn't it strange, over in the US an original M14, because of the ATF's "once a machine-gun, always a machine-gun" perversions, they are hen's teeth until now, and I believe over 400,000 were destroyed there, was it in the '80's?
But here in Oz now, we can manage to stack dog sh*t in pillars 6' tall and they become politicians that now wet themselves at the thought of anyone being better armed than their minders and enforcers. But sh*t piles eventually fall over when people finally realise that they stink, and give them a bit of a push
Then the GWOT started, and the pea-rifle 5.56 pop guns weren't up to the task of the longer ranges and the engine-breaking and machine disabling qualities of the 308.
A mate bought one from the store that imported them, in the early '90's, and we went out bush at Newbeith to try the thing. He said, hey, if you push this lever thingy down and turn it 180', there's an "A" facing you. Wonder what that does.
750rpm, that's what it did. Holy crap, what a monster. That one missed the grind and weld job.
And he sold it in "The Trading Post" just before the buyback too. I wonder if it ever got handed in. Bet it didn't.
Believe it or not, I don't care. 35 years ago now, and there's never been an incident anywhere, even here, with a select-fire M14. What does that tell you about good people and gun laws being only a politicians lie.

[Fester]

I have to do an ammo stocktake to decide what to make at the next reloading session.
The best part of ranges going Fudd-like, and not going so much, is less dreaded case prep.
Reloading, the charging and seating is OK and not just tedious work and wasted life.

The downside is not really knowing what stocks of what ammo I have with my cupboard full, and extra toolbox reserves everywhere.

I did the old local centerfire range last week, and the crowds were gone; I heard lots of blokes no longer bother, and it must be about 2 years for me.
The trouble is they still bunch us up at one end, but was lucky with no muzzle breaks.

It's only 200yds, but I did some 200 rimfire shooting as it's fun, in it's own way, I call the groups clusters, and aim a few feet above the target after stepping out and sighting splashes.
There was some wind, but I still got on the target with the .22lr.
The 22 Mag not so much, but sort of expected that.

Blokes on land should do it more, as it can be a hoot, and I miss playing field golf with the .22 and steel plinking with the sluggy.
It's like longer-range shooting, but without the hassles of long-range shooting.
No reloading is also a bonus.

Sad times for NSW shooters, but warm barrels, blokes, and stay happy after getting over the latest announcements from that pair of closet pfters.

[Wapiti]

.22 long range doesn't do it for me, nor be practice for anything we do (as farmers).
Yes I tried it, and tried to see fun in it, but the variations in velocity between individual rimfire cartridges, the effect of that on the brick they call a projectile, the spray they make at range, the unseen puffs of wind halfway out there, all of that is the opposite of what we need. We need to practice for a fast, accurate shot from a powerful enough rifle to take anything that pops up especially in a sub-optimal situation. Not what is most economical of the latest craze.
As best you can, anyway.
No field shooting is OK when you just "whilst there's lead in the air there's hope"

[Fester]

It's just a bit of fun for me, and variety is what I like with different types of shooting.
I don't think I would ever build a long range 22lr rig, but the CZ 452 and 4-16 Vixen go well enough.
Best on a calm day, but if I can see the splash, I can get a cluster on paper.

I was once told that I should have the same rifles, with the same scopes and triggers, stocks even.
I thought f_k that, may as well just shoot 1 rifle and go home 30 min later, bored to tears.
The serious fly shooters use .22 LR ammo that cost about $60 a pack a couple of years ago.
It sort of defeats the purpose of 22 plinking; I just use CCI std unless I want to shoot a serious 50m group, then the SK comes out.
Used to pay $80 for bricks of that lol

[bladeracer]

I rang WA Firearms Branch today. If I'm going to do Perth I need to apply for a permit tomorrow as it can take a couple weeks to come through, especially if they have to swap some emails with you. They want to know if I have any criminal or traffic convictions. I told her I took a traffic case to court in 2000 and was convicted, she said put it in there because they will check. They also want to know "Ammunition type" for each firearm, but she wasn't able to explain what that means. The permit fee is now $133, whether you want it for three days or three months. She also said it is unlikely they would allow me to bring more than ten firearms, but it may be allowed with adequate genuine reason. She also wanted to know how the firearms will be secured while I'm traveling in WA, but that's not actually required on the permit application. And shotguns are capped at 5rd and 10rds for everything else.

[bladeracer]

.22 long range doesn't do it for me, nor be practice for anything we do (as farmers).
Yes I tried it, and tried to see fun in it, but the variations in velocity between individual rimfire cartridges, the effect of that on the brick they call a projectile, the spray they make at range, the unseen puffs of wind halfway out there, all of that is the opposite of what we need. We need to practice for a fast, accurate shot from a powerful enough rifle to take anything that pops up especially in a sub-optimal situation. Not what is most economical of the latest craze.
As best you can, anyway.
No field shooting is OK when you just "whilst there's lead in the air there's hope"

You can learn a lot shooting long-range .22LR, especially in wind, everything is exaggerated over a high-velocity centrefire rifle. I consider it essentially the same as shooting long-range centrefire just at shorter distances. Lots of drop, lots of wind drift. I really enjoy shooting .22LR at long ranges. I wouldn't be trying to drop a rabbit or fox at 500m, but it is good fun trying to hit a steel one at 300m.

You can also practice those quick-acquisition, accurate kill shots on paper targets with the .22's at reduced ranges.

[Fester]

Yeah, lots of blokes don't see the fun in a 22lr much past bunnies at 50ish, but I like variety and different shooting challenges.
It's much like long-range shooting, but different.

That .22 has helped me a lot and got my marksmanship where it is now by shooting heaps in the first years, then building up with cals, as I think is the best way to improve.

I first learned how to shoot with both eyes open; it has helped with my hunting.
I could see my offhand shooting was far from where it was needed, and no chance of using it on an animal.
That CZ and some years of practice were needed, but I got there.
Then had to start over with my mountain deer rifle, as it was a whole other thing.

I don't seem to need the practice as much now, but can judge things like not seeing as many splashes when I do a 500m day every 6-8 weeks. I then concentrate and fix it with a better hold and set-up.
It's a windy place, and I always put a big single target at 300m and send some .std .223 loads, 55gr super roos.
It is good as the group will often be pushed a few inches with wind, and if I do a run out to see the target, I practice wind correction.
I am not proficient on wind yet, but always improving.

When a newb says I lost a deer because I forgot the safety, it heard me rack the round, seen my hands or the barrel movement.
I reply that you could have practiced at home and at a range, and none of those rookie mistakes would have happened.
The day in these forests is often a 1 shot day so you won't bring the meat home if that shot opportunity is wasted.

Like everything, there are lots of different types of shooting; I just like them all lol

[wanneroo]

Man, you could get them with either the timber stock or the fibreglass GI issue one. The parkerising had been redone, or rather, if it wasn't redone then they were in incredible condition.
Stainless steel gas blocks and pistons for the wet conditions in SE Asia, chrome bores and chambers.
22" barrels to get the powerful best from the 7.62 cartridge, not the short stupid 16" barreled stuff now to satisfy the dress-up crowd.

Isn't it strange, over in the US an original M14, because of the ATF's "once a machine-gun, always a machine-gun" perversions, they are hen's teeth until now, and I believe over 400,000 were destroyed there, was it in the '80's?
But here in Oz now, we can manage to stack dog sh*t in pillars 6' tall and they become politicians that now wet themselves at the thought of anyone being better armed than their minders and enforcers. But sh*t piles eventually fall over when people finally realise that they stink, and give them a bit of a push
Then the GWOT started, and the pea-rifle 5.56 pop guns weren't up to the task of the longer ranges and the engine-breaking and machine disabling qualities of the 308.
A mate bought one from the store that imported them, in the early '90's, and we went out bush at Newbeith to try the thing. He said, hey, if you push this lever thingy down and turn it 180', there's an "A" facing you. Wonder what that does.
750rpm, that's what it did. Holy crap, what a monster. That one missed the grind and weld job.
And he sold it in "The Trading Post" just before the buyback too. I wonder if it ever got handed in. Bet it didn't.
Believe it or not, I don't care. 35 years ago now, and there's never been an incident anywhere, even here, with a select-fire M14. What does that tell you about good people and gun laws being only a politicians lie.

In the 1990s they destroyed a lot of surplus but they kept all the good stuff that was still in good condition and put it in the strategic war reserve. However now that the M9 pistol for instance has been retired, there is no longer any need for the 100,000 1911s so they have been selling those off and I need to get myself one. Same now with the M-14s, they kept the best ones, many were repurposed during GWOT for use in A-Stan.

When it comes to it and gun rights, like many of us did, you never give up pushing for your side. The gun grabbers never let up. Why should you?

[Fester]

I got asked by a prominent Liberal official to speak on behalf of our farming demographic against Tiggy Forrest's Squadron Energy's 210-tower wind factory threatening to destroy Stanthorpe from his greed. At a rally in Brisbane organised by Scott Challen and with Pauline Hanson as the key speaker. I'm extremely concerned I am not good enough. I've spoken at town meetings against this project, but never something this big. Too big for this bloke.

I just browsed back through the thread and watched that vid.
That bloke is on the money; play their game and get into the lobby group ways.

Good on you for even considering doing the talk at a higher level, if you think you can do it, go for it.
I couldn't do public speaking if my life depended on it.
Twiggy is doing it up your way, eh? No wonder he has been quiet, just getting on the carbon stamps wagon or whatever they call it, and pretending it is for the environment, like he was pushing a few years back.

We are likely to lose our local hunting state forests to wind farms.
Traveling to other forests, I see the No Wind Farms signs on farms as well.
I suspect they just look at it like free land; let's get it.

Not much talk on these things having a 15-20 year life and disposing of them.
They can't just be buried.
It seems that the Chinese companies all had our scumbag leaders sign that it's our responsibility, not their problem.
At a guess, Twiggs is just a middleman for his Ch_k mates.
What good dirt and bits of info do you have on the Qld turbine farms, Wapiti, is there a thread on the subject?
Forum searches are usually hopeless, but not yet tried here.

[Wapiti]

We've been trying to connect but the wifi phone service I can manage at the farmhouse here is just screwing that up and making me look like an idiot.
They'll give up on me soon.
How the hell I can do that anyway, get down to Bris, stay, park, all that when this place is full-on for me now I can't think of a solution.
Dunno how that Chal, as a builder, puts his business second. Better more determined man than me to try and get the plebs to use their own brains and see the cells they are letting others make for them.

[Wapiti]

It seems that the Chinese companies all had our scumbag leaders sign that it's our responsibility, not their problem.
At a guess, Twiggs is just a middleman for his Ch_k mates.
What good dirt and bits of info do you have on the Qld turbine farms, Wapiti, is there a thread on the subject?
Forum searches are usually hopeless, but not yet tried here.

If you have facebook, search for "Pikedale wind factory Southern downs"
There you will find everything you need to know about the toxic PFAS dust, fire risk, Chink crap blades disintegrating, native animals bulldozed, birds slaughtered, you name it. Mental defects caused by ultrasonic sound.
The links Gaybor politicians have with Chinese companies in the backrooms and the financial immortality they have been sold out with.
Links to all the real studies, not the ABC/Labor/Greens lies.

Unfortunately, you will have to request to join, but do it.
It's run by a great compatriot here who has a business bringing Aussies back here from overseas from political, legal and diplomatic poor decisions.
We do not want the man-bun infiltrators that infest so much social media from upsetting the applecart, and will police every comment.
We are not there to speak for the sold-out crowd.

[Wapiti]

I got challenged to a fight by one of my Wapiti bulls, Odin.
He's decided he is moving from playful nudges with his antler tips, to full on boss of the paddock.
I was bringing them a lucern round, when he decided the wrap wasn't coming off quick enough, so he decided to try and unwrap the layers off the bale as I was cutting the mesh wrap.
Then he charged me, and I got behind the bale, still on the loader spears. he went the other way then, smart arse.
It's quite amusing watching a bull elk grinding his teeth and baring his tusks to try and play boss.
First shot from the pistol was between his legs at arms length, this has always made the big red stags stop, but not him. I didn't even see a blink actually.
Next one was between his antlers over his head, that stopped him long enough to get around and in the tractor. No time for sights.
Bloody ungrateful b@astard.

Then, Ghost, aptly named other Wapiti bull in another paddock, worked out how to unlatch the 1900 high gate and is off on an exploratory mission in a paddock of about 450 acres. Luckily, high-fenced. Then, came back to the house yard fence last evening and didn't respond to my coaxing by rattling a steel bucket of cattle nuts. Smart prick.

[wanneroo]

I bought a Gen 5 Glock 21 MOS, 45 ACP. I mainly bought it for the MOS system because I review so many optics and weapon lights. With the MOS you can swap out different adapter plates for various "cuts" of optics footprints. If the weather behaves I'll take it up to the range and try it out.

[bladeracer]

I've been giving my grandson driving lessons around here, pretty technical logging roads, gravel, single-lane, tight bends, and very muddy and marbley. He's doing very well so I'm mostly pretty relaxed in the passenger seat, mostly Taking him up to Pakenham next week for a proper lesson with a mate, have to go up there for more primers anyway.

I want to drive to Perth in a couple weeks for the WA state titles so I'm loading ammo whenever I find myself with a few minutes free. The .45ACP is sorted, .30-30 is sorted, black .44-40 rifle ammo is sorted and I might have enough black 12 gauge to do Perth (I can use factory smokeless for the club match). Still have to do a couple hundred rounds of black .44-40 pistol ammo though.

WA State titles are September 18-20, so I want to leave here on Sunday the 13th if possible. That gives me five days to get there and if I do get there in three I can spend a couple days catching up with mates. Spend three days making smoke, then head home Sunday arvo.

Can't hang around there as I've got a local Cowboy match here the following Sunday, 27th, so I need enough ammo to do that as well. Then I need to get stuck into loading a lot more ammo for October and November. October will be busy. The OK Corral (hosted by our local club) on the 10th and 11th, then the nationals in Adelaide from the 19th to 25th, then The Border Shootout at Mildura from the 31st to November 2nd. Then Rawhide at Little River from the 13th to the 15th, then the Tasmanian state titles should be one or two weeks after Rawhide - they haven't finalised a date yet.

Still waiting on a building permit for the house. Had engineers out on Monday to inspect the wall structure, lintels and beams and such. I explained to them that the walls are refrigeration panel supporting no weight at all so there is no structure to them. they are a sheet of polystyrene with a steel outside skin and a wood veneer on the inside. Cut a hole in it and poke a window in and that's it. But they insisted that we pay them $500 to come and inspect. Drawings are done, all the fees have been paid so we're just waiting on footing details from the engineer and a building permit so we can pour some concrete. Hopefully it'll be waiting for me when I get home from Perth, and the weather will be improving.

[Wapiti]

I'm laying out a grid of larger deer paddocks to better breed my Reds and Elk and make sure there's the best with the best,
and so spent the day drilling holes for the end assemblies and pallet full of 12 and 14 foot gates.
What a prick it turned out to be too, the fence lines I'd chosen so that each paddock leading into the long laneway (to bring them all painlessly into the yards quite a long way off), so that each paddock has a dam, underground water supply and groves of box and ironbark shelter trees, led to me hitting a huge rock shelf 400mm down where I picked the spots. So the afternoon was spent on the jackhammer.
I wish I had x-ray vision.
These posts will be 5-1 concreted into solid rock, no way are these buggers coming out. That's good because the fence is 2m high and has 20 HT horizontal line wires in the mesh and puts big stress on sub-par average strainer assembly styles. But man, my battery is completely flat and the tank is empty.
WTF am I doing.

[bigrich]

I'm laying out a grid of larger deer paddocks to better breed my Reds and Elk and make sure there's the best with the best,
and so spent the day drilling holes for the end assemblies and pallet full of 12 and 14 foot gates.
What a prick it turned out to be too, the fence lines I'd chosen so that each paddock leading into the long laneway (to bring them all painlessly into the yards quite a long way off), so that each paddock has a dam, underground water supply and groves of box and ironbark shelter trees, led to me hitting a huge rock shelf 400mm down where I picked the spots. So the afternoon was spent on the jackhammer.
I wish I had x-ray vision.
These posts will be 5-1 concreted into solid rock, no way are these buggers coming out. That's good because the fence is 2m high and has 20 HT horizontal line wires in the mesh and puts big stress on sub-par average strainer assembly styles. But man, my battery is completely flat and the tank is empty.
WTF am I doing.

anything worth doing takes hard work mate , i'm sure the end result will be worth it . stay the coarse .

do it once , do it right

[bigrich]

what am i doing today ? put my 308 tikka back together after getting the bell&carlson stock bedded . the action was only contacting the stock at the very bottom, got a stock maker to bed around the recoil lug and the first inch of barrel. it shot okay , but wasn't never a tack driver . i'm curious to see if this tightens groups .

took my the action of my musgrave FN i had recently converted to 338-06 out of it's stock to do some work on the feed rails . it's had some feed quirks since rebarreling. it was originally set up as a 308 with a spacer in the mag . upon closer inspection the bottom of the rails were sharp "as cast" finish . with a little work on the rear of the rails with a fine file , to allow the cartridges to sit a fly sh!t higher , the bolt engages with the cartridge base better to commence feeding . better, but the cases were hanging up in the sharp edge of the feed rails . pull it apart again , and using 400 grade wet and dry , gently smoothed the edge and bottom of the rails . i've been very careful not to get too enthusiastic as too much material removal could stuff my rifle altogether . put it back together and she now feeds 5 rounds slick as you could want . first round is a little sticky cause of mag spring pressure, but she's 100% better now. job well done . i think i deserve a drink later...

[Fester]

Yesterday, rather than today.
Been about a month, so did the Honey King Prawns lunch special by the river, then shot clays down near the new Western Sydney Airport.

So nice as it's like spring weather, and back to just a T-shirt.

No crowds and a practice round of Down the Line. No bragging, as I was missing some at first, then got my eye in, so no real ammo cost savings using 1 pack for the round.
It feels great when you just walk up and smash them. I hit all but the very last shot last time; it had to be the pressure. Equal PB as the time before was the new PB of 1 miss.

Even better was heading down the end for 5-Stand.
Machines worked faultlessly, and smashed one of the doubles like a champion.
I can't work out why it's less popular when the clubbies shoot DTL for half a day.
I don't care about missing heaps more, when it's much more fun.

I can't wait for the proper sporting field to be set up down at Hilltop, but nothing has started yet.
Big job as they used old Cherry picker trucks to launch the clays through the trees, and they would have to be trucked down there.
Still spewing, as the govt and its corrupt, filthy Cleanaway company mates kicked the sporting clays club out, and at short notice.

As it is a 1hr 40min drive, and not cheap to shoot, it's going to be an exy day, and would have to pay for 70-80 targets to make it worthwhile.
Still, it should be good if it's up and running within another year or so.

[Wapiti]

I had a bit of time so dragged out the DTA SRS .308 for a bit of 2, 4, 5 and 700m gong shooting, from the stash yard.
I picked a wrapped silage bale as a rest for the rifle, with a BR Harris bipod only, and my left hand as the rear bag.
I was using 42.5gns 2206H with 168gn Matchkings, seated 20' off the lands. That load shoots amazingly in all 308's we have.

Anyway I'd had my little range card for that rifle that I'd meticulously compiled from actual shooting, because I've never found any program or drop chart to be anywhere close to a first shot centre hit. But I had lost it somehow, maybe it went through the wash. So I printed out one from online that's pretty close to most others, within about 5% I suppose, they all seem to copy one another, and set up.
Have you blokes found this too?
First shot with zero of 100 at 500m said 11.7 MOA for 168gn Sierra at 2710fps, but being used to these AI generated junk being wrong, started at 10MOA.
Straight over the top of the 1m high boiler plate gong, so I clicked down to 9 MOA, just clipped the top, so a quick 8 MOA ad a perfect entre hit. Next 5 shots spot on.

I'd forgotten the "dope" I had worked up previously so next time, I will back it up. Showed yet again that you have to shoot your rifle to find your drops, and use that AI stuff as a guide only. If "guide" is the right word.
Never use it to shoot at some poor animal. And don't use pencilling match projectiles to shoot game either. That's just my personal limits.

When I packed up, I could hear my distant neighbour Steve having a shooting session too, judging by the faint pops coming back on the air.

[bigpete]

Made arrows. Got kit ready for 4 days away pig and goat hunting. Got windows measured up to be replaced. Took the missus to the layers. Got blood taken.