Nuremberg Gun Show

[nagantino]

Couple of weeks ago I went to Nuremberg, Germany for the big gun show. Massive collection of all-things-shooting. I was especially impressed by the number of Turkish manufacturers. Beautiful shotguns of all types from sporting to tactical and competition. Remington and Mossberg? Not so impressive. It struck me how plain they were. They looked like guns we used to think "the Turks" made years ago. That's reversed now. Turkish Guns are first class. The Glock stand was good. Hey it's a Glock, what's not to like? Smith and Wesson stand was very tasty. Lots of other things too many to list, but at this exhibition you can't buy anything. No, what I wanted to mention was that Dillon, RCBS and Hornady were there but not Lee. I asked one of the guys on his stand about it, he explained that you will ever see a Lee stand at a trade show. He thought it was because Lee keep all overheads and expenditure to Zero so that the end product is at its lowest possible price. I respect that........but I would have loved to chat to a Lee guy.

[Fyodor]

Well, if you told me you're there, we ould have had lunch together. I was there on Saturday.

I was able to see a real Volcanic pistol and rifle at the booth of a British auction house. Nice!

Unfortunately no of the resellers did show any LEE products, except one safety scale and a couple of dies.

[Ranch Dog]

I'm suspect that they attend the Shot Shot here in the US but that is probably it. As far as speaking with them, and I know it is not as easy for you as it is us here in the US, when I have wanted to ask them something I've just called. It has always surprised me the number of times that my question has been fielded by Mr. Lee himself.

[nagantino]

That would be good...talking to the boss. I didn't want to talk technical just to shoot the breeze. Those RCBS and Hornady presses are mighty, you have to give it to them. But, Lee makes bullets that go bang so there you go. They reminded me of those huge gas guzzler cars of the 50's, beautiful but not really necessary. When I approached the Dillon stand and chatted for a few seconds, the guys just stared at me......my thick Irish accent I guess.

Happy st. Patrick's day y'all.

☘☘☘☘☘

[Ranch Dog]

That would be good...talking to the boss. I didn't want to talk technical just to shoot the breeze.

I think it is tough for a business to understand just how valuable this contact could & would be. For that reason alone I personally think it would be worth the effort on their part.

Happy st. Patrick's day y'all.

☘☘☘☘☘

Back at you! I have a great St Patrick's Day story, I think!

Some six years ago my step daughter had moved to the ranch after her divorce. I had only know this lady as an adult and really had not visited with her a lot. She was a city girl and never lived on a ranch. She took to it real good though and seemed to enjoy everything about it. She even learned to shoot and eventually shot a feral hog. Now to the day.

In the wee hours of St Pat morn, I had come home from three days of airline piloting and I would always climb out of my Jeep and just take the night in. As I was standing out in the driveway, I had a large sounder of feral hogs move into a pen around my yard deer feeder about 50 yards from where I was standing. They were all little hogs of about 5 pounds each. Of course there were a couple of sows with them. I slowly walked out to the feeder pen, it was very dark but mind you I'm in my pilot uniform. When the first hog looked at me I rushed the "gate" which caused all the piglets to run into the solid wire at the back of the pen and I closed the gate on them. I had to jump back and forth across the hog panel pen a couple of times because the sows were not happy. When I would jump in the pen the little ones would try to get me so I would jump back out. Finally the sows gave up and moved into the brush.

When I got up to my house, a large sow came out so I reached inside the back door for a rifle and shot her. Still in my pilot uniform. My First Officer had told me he would like a hog, even though it was now 3 am I called him as I figured he was just getting home too. He said I was the craziest Captain he had ever met and he told me he would pick it up the hog before lunch. I told him I would go ahead and clean the hog for him. By the time I finished cleaning it I decided to stay up and enjoy the St. Pat's Day sunrise. I'm sitting there drinking my coffee and another large sow came out to the feeder pen trying to figure out what to do about the piglets. I shot her too.

Shortly after that, my step daughter leaves to take her daughter to school. She stops and I show all the pigs in the pen, thirteen of them. She is also aware that I've cleaned two large sows as my game cleaning station is within sight of her home. My step daughter was pregnant so I could see her mind kind of thinking about all these little ones. At the same time she has seen first hand all the damage these critters do. She went on to school.

I called a friend of mine to see if he wanted the pigs and he said yes, he has a large family and they were having a barbecue on the coming weekend. He said that little pigs are cheaper and tastier than chickens so he and a couple of his brothers would be out in a bit to clean them. He also asked me if I would mind dispatching them which I would rather do so it is done quickly and humanely without getting them all riled up.

All went as planned, I was able to feed a lot of people with two large hogs and 13 piglets. Later that evening my wife told me that her daughter was quite upset with me for killing all the little ones. So I texted her about it and she was upset. I told her while she was looking at them she knew as sure as %@*&$ that those hogs were never leaving that pen alive. I told her that she would eventually get over it and that this would simply come to be known, in the annals of our ranch's history, as the St. Patrick's Day Massacre!

She texted back "You're a dick!"[hr]Have a happy day!

[Fyodor]

Nice story, thanks for sharing!

[GasGuzzler]

gas guzzler... beautiful but not really necessary. ☘☘☘☘☘

I guess you're correct.

[nagantino]

Great story. All them pork chops, and shooting too. My dad shot hares around the fields where we live, I think you call them Jack Rabbits, I loved stroking and looking at the dead hare, soon to be stew. When I got my own shotgun I hunted them too. But then I began reading about how the Irish hare was venerated as a mysterious and magic animal in old Ireland. How the hare and the power of the moon were connected and the bad luck that will occur if you kill a hare. I stopped shooting hares and don't mind telling others that it's unlucky. My dad laughed at me, Here comes Mr Superstitious he'd say when we were pinting. When I would glimps a hare in the wild it would have the most fantastic red/ginger colour on it back, but a dead one was plain dirty brown. I rest my case. Surly its I me for a drink.☘

[RBHarter]

I'm glad that even my extended family is comfortable with "circles of life". I don't know that I could/would hammer suckling pigs (you say piglets I hear/see sub 15# pigs) , of course within a mile of a ranch I'd drop the hammer on a den/litter of coyotes so it's the same just a different critter . That and pigs are groceries.
Good story RD !

Nagant
I expect our blacktail/jack rabbits are different from yours ,at least where I am ,they're heavy boned and short on meat , sort of the greyhound of hares . I'd bet the snow shoe is closer to a meat hare .

Tonight is all about the corned beef ,cabbage and small red potatoes. A Guinness or at least a green beer ........ and all the Irish run a muck . Me tinks St Christifer as' is' warkk' cut out for im' tonigh'.

[GasGuzzler]

My wife has an Irish name and is Catholic. I am thin, red bearded, and like whisky.

We had corned beef, fried cabbage, and a Guiness today.