But WAIT . . . before we left Tom's house, we had a little fun at Tom's basement, indoor, shooting range! What a great idea, if you have the room (and a basement?) First, he made a box that he got the idea from on-line. It is made with 2x4s and a steel plate and some plywood. Here is the general gist of it:
The plate is angled at a 45 degree angle and about 4 inches of sand is at the base. The foam is simply to deaden some of the sound. He staples a piece of cardboard to the front and wha-laa
We have a shooting range. Tom mostly uses his 22LR (Long Rifle shell) pistol to practice. Not too loud and doesn't set off the smoke alarm ;-) . . . . too much . . . He beat me on the competition, but he did shoot on the U of Utah ROTC Pistol Team (I was on the rifle team ;-) but that shouldn't have made a difference? I tried a few with the laser on and a few with the laser off. I don't think he was playing fair because the pistol shoots left and high and he didn't tell me this early . . . Plus, I'm writing this blog and I'll make any excuse I need to to degrade him beating me at shooting!!! ;-) I'm ready for the next contest . . .
Anyway, when the 22LR got boring, we had to experiment! He had already Myth Busted the story of the soldier getting saved by the Bible in his pocket, by shooting a 22 Long Rifle into a 3" thick book (Leon Uris' "Trinity") and the 22 went in to page 420 with damage all the way to almost 600 pages! That's 201 pages of paper with a thick hard cover on the book. That's at least 1.5 to 2 inches of penetration. . .Tom knows all about that part . . . ;-)
Well, I wanted to see what the LCP .380 would do!
We set up the experiment and I let Tom take the shot. BAM the bullet from the little LCP .380
went ALL the way through the 3 inch book and intio the safe box. Well, if that was fun, shooting the Glock 27, 40 cal into the book would be mo beddar . . . :-)
This bullet is quite a bit more massive that the .380 and the 22LR
The first shot Tom took went through the side of the book, a pretty cool picture. Of course, I busted the sharpshooter for almost missing the whole but, but he corrected me and said, "Do you know how HARD it is to just nip a book to get that shot?!?" I guess I had to agree . . . :-)
But that wasn't the shot we wanted. Would a Bible stop a bullet from a 40 cal Glock? Thats what we need to see. We set up the next shot to hit the book dead center And BAM, the book went flying. Here are the 3 entry holes . . .Top was the 22, Middle (right on the top orange sticker), was the .380 and Bottom was the 40 cal
Here is the back (exit) for the bullets
The 22LR didnt make it through, the .380 did fine at the top, and the glock 40 cal ate it up!
This shot is 1/2 way through the book
as you can see, some serious damage. SO, if the soldier was carrying a 3 inch thick Bible, in his left breast pocket, and he got shot by a .22LR, he would be ok! But ANY other bullet, NOT!! - but by the grace of God, would he survive. Myth Buster's, Tom's place, July, 2014. . . It was a good time, doing useless stuff, but loving it!
Here was the 40 cal after the trip down range - note, they all were hollow points except the .22. Notice the mushrooming
It was a fun time! :-)Oh, by the way, there was a casuality. Tom, shooting the LCP in a two handed grip, had his left hand to high (a rookie mistake) and got bit by the slide:
Ouch, but he put a Cookie Monster band-aid on it and away we went for another adventure!
Now back to the story, Our great plan was to go sailing, BUT. . . no wind, so a quick change of plans. We unloaded the Hobbie back at it's spot and headed to the Marine Corps Museum! One of the things I had to do while I was here We drove for a few minutes and this huge place appeared
Tom said, while walking in, that it is funny how things turn out. We were supposed to go sailing, but did this instead . . .And that means we will probably run into someone we know from bygones past and that's why the cosmos lined up they way it did, forcing us here, at this time, right now . . .
So we go in and it is a facinating place, just beautiful!! Here is Iron Mike, a famous Marine greeting all who enter:
That big thing slanted skyward and sticking out the top in a few previous pictures, represents the iron pipe the Marines put the flag up on Mt. Suibachi, Iwo Jima. It's at the same angle as the famous picture and goes all the way through the roof skyward
Here is a view of the model of the whole place
We saw a lot of cool stuff, the welcome movie was outstanding, and spent a couple of hours there. And no we didn't meet anyone we knew, so Tom's theory about the cosmos was jacked . . . :-)
But WAIT!!! Tom had to pee on the way out. I'm standing there waiting for him, and this Marine comes walking up and says, "Is that softball shirt you're wearing from Palo Verde High School in Las Vegas?" I smiled and cursed at the cosmos (and Tom) and said yes it was! This great kid graduated from CImarron Memorial High School, about 3 miles from Palo Verde. He played football for Cimarron and remembers me announcing the games when he played against us at Palo. He is now a Marine Sgt and has duty at the museum. A great kid and proved Tom right! SNAPS!!!!
It truly is a small world . . .
Then over to Tom's son, Tom's house to see Tom's son, Tom's, son, Tom . . . Get all that? I didn't. Tom's grand son is named Tom and his son is named Tom and the grandson is Tom FInn the 5th. See the confusion, Well, it's not to bad, if you need someone, you just call Tom and 1, 2, or 3 of them come running . . . :-)
Here they are together
Tom, Tom, and ......... Tom!
Dad and boy, Tom and Tom!
We met Tammie at a great Mexican food restaurant with a short drive to a custard place afterwards for a small Italian Ice (strawberry/mango and peach) and home to watch a movie. I had been talking up Clive Owen and Jenniofer Aninson in Derailed. Tom pulled it up and we watched it before bed. Then 1 episode of House of Cards, a pretty good series, especially being here in DC . . . ;-)
Then it was night night and Day 29 came to an end.
LUKE Out
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