Whistling Pines Gun Club

In case you missed it, Whistling Pines’ Tony Brunetta was interviewed on KRDO regarding the tragic death of Chris Kyle the legendary Navy Seal sniper.

According to news stories Chris and a friend Chad Littlefield were shot a killed by a fellow veteran, Eddie Ray Routh.  Click on the image below to watch the interview:

With the daily attacks by the anti-gun fanatics on “high capacity magazines” we decided to find out how long it would really take for an average shooter to swap out a magazine.  We talked to our instructors and spent some time observing members on the range here at Whistling Pines Gun Club.

Our official, non-scientific determination is three seconds.

As with anything, practice can improve your performance. How many hours of practice do you think it took for IPSC competitor Edy Lee to perfect this mag change:

Pretty Impressive! Maybe banning high capacity magazines is not the answer.

Have you ever timed yourself?

A Flashlight as a Weapon?

Yes, you heard right.  The new P2X Fury Dual Led flashlight from Surefire is just that.  Say you are going to your car late at night and you are accosted in the dark parking lot. The Fury P2X can serve several purposes:

• It will light up your assailant and let you know exactly what you are up against.
• Focused on their eyes, this flashlight will virtually blind them. Yes, it’s that powerful!
• By blinding them you will gain valuable time to escape or draw your own handgun to defend yourself.
• The bright light will alert passers by to your situation.

Here are some of the features of this new tactical flashlight:

• A Virtually indestructible LED emitter that is regulated to maximize light output and extend runtime.
• Two output levels—high for maximum light, low for extended usage
• Precision micro-textured reflector creates a smooth, optimized beam
• Coated, tempered window resists impact and thermal shock, maximizes light transmission
• High-strength aerospace aluminum body, Mil-Spec hard-anodized for extreme durability
• Dual-output tailcap click switch—press for momentary-on low, click for constant-on low, return to off then press or click again for high
• Tailcap switch that locks out to prevent activation during transport or storage
• Weatherproof with both an O-ring and gasket seal
• Includes high-energy 123A batteries with a 10-year shelf life

These Surefire Fury P2X flashlights are available in Colorado Springs at Whistling Pines Gun Club.  For more information on these and other Surefire products, you can visit http://www.surefire.com

The Second Amendment is under constant attack. Hostile legislators, mayors and private interest groups are all lined up against our right to bear arms. Your best defense is education. Learn who does and does not support our rights as gun owners.  Fortunately there’s help.  The NRA ranks legislators based on  voting records, public statements and their responses to an NRA-PVF questionnaire.

Here are the rankings of Colorado House of Representatives running in the upcoming Election.  This information comes from the NRA Political Victory Fund website.  Click here to see their rankings for  the Colorado state races. You can select your candidates and print a Personal Voting Card.

Here is the scorecard for President:

• On July 20, 2012, a lone gunman opened fire in a movie theater in Aurora.
• On August 5, 2012, a lone gunman opened fire in a Sihk Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
• On September 4, 2012, a lone gunman opened fire at a political event in Montreal, Quebec.

It’s seems the that the incidents of deranged, lone gunmen attacking innocent people are increasing. This trend is certainly disconcerting. The incidents tend to scare people due to their random, senseless nature. But the odds of being involved in this type of altercation are slim. In fact, there are greater dangers to us much closer to home!

For example:
At 2:00 AM on this past Monday night, 92 year old Earl Jones heard a bang in his basement. He walked 8 feet to behind his bedroom door and retrieved a loaded .22 rifle. He sat in a chair with a clear view (and shot) of his basement door. When he heard the first of the three intruders walking up the stairs, this WW2 veteran took aim. When the intruder kicked open the door from the basement to the house, Earl shot the thief in the chest – center mass – dead. It was the third robbery this year and Earl had had enough.

The bad news is, we could cite example after example of people’s houses being broken into by thieves and rapists. The good news is, more and more homeowners are protecting themselves and their families. According to FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics, the number of killings by private citizens nationally of a felon during the commission of a felony has increased from 196 in 2005 to 278 in 2010. We don’t want to seem like we are celebrating these deaths, but rather we are supporting the rights of citizens to defend their lives against criminals who know the risks involved with their criminal activities!

Lets not forget that, in addition to the handful of deranged, lone gunmen out there in the world, there are a lot of just plain bad people.

On Saturday, September 15th we are teaching a four hour training class entitled Defending Your Home. Click Here to Register.

The world is a dangerous place, be safe.

WPGC Summer Bullseye League

WPGC finished its Summer Bullseye League with the appropriate fanfare.  After 8 weeks of shooting the 1^st and 2^nd place standings in several categories came down to the final match.

Bullseye shooters are categorized, similar to USPSA, but just using a different system.  In USPSA your average score of recent stages are compared against the current best scores and your percentage defines your shooter category.  In Bullseye that “best” is a perfect 300.  There are many categories, but for example, those who shoot 150 or better are “Marksmen”, those who repeatedly shoot 250 or better are “Experts.”  Just like at the larger USPSA matches, in Bullseye people shoot against others in their same category.  So the Sharpshooters compete against the Sharpshooters and the Distinguished Experts and against other D.E.’s.  The WPGC Bullseye match held to this tradition.

After 8 weeks of shooting several people rose to the top.  The youngest shooter, Dakota Bowden, over doubled his accuracy rating in just 2 months.  Matt Reed, who began the competition as a Sharpshooter, skipped over Expert and finished the league earning the NRA’s highest marksmanship qualification rating of Distinguished Expert.

The winners of the WPGC Summer Bullseye League are:

Bill Ditt – 1^st Place Rimfire Distinguished Expert, 1^st Place Centerfire Expert & 1^st Place Combined

Chuck Chambers – 2^nd Place Rimfire Distinguished Expert

Mike Remington – 1^st Place Rimfire Expert

Gary Thompson – 2^nd Place Rimfire Expert

Matt Reed – 1^st Place Rimfire Sharpshooter, 1^st Place Centerfire Marksman & 3^rd Place Combined

Mike Grandstaff – 2^nd Place Rimfire Sharpshooter

Dakota Bowden – 1^st Place Rimfire Marksman 1^st Class

Alan Bowden – 2^nd Place Rimfire Marksman 1^st Class

Phil Donner – 1^st Place Rimfire Marksman

Jim Lathrop – 2^nd Place Rimfire Marksman

Dominic Foti – 2^nd Place Centerfire Expert & 2^nd Place Combined

Randy Parks – 2^nd Place Centerfire Marksman

At the last event shooters participated in a handicapped event where they shot against their own best scores using the official Bullseye handicap scoring tables.  There are no distinctions between rimfire or centerfire since it is the shooters versus themselves.  The handicapped scores are adjusted to the “normal” for Distinguished Experts.  In this shoot off Chuck Chambers took 3^rd place, Alan Bowden took 2^nd, and his son Dakota took 1^st place by 5/1000 of a point!

Everyone who shot earned an NRA Marksmanship Qualification.  The certificates for those who could not attend the end of league shoot off were left at the WPGC desk.  Please remember to pick up your certificate.

The WPGC Bullseye Leagues are entirely run by members.  Thank you to all the competitors who helped score and record the matches.  Special thanks go out to Dan Tippie, Ed Pompea and Mike Remington who helped officiate at the matches, sometimes twice a week.  Without their efforts the league would not have happened.  And above all thank you to the owners and managers of WPGC for allowing us to regularly use the range to improve our marksmanship skills.

Chuck Chambers
Bullseye League Director

We would like to Thank Chuck Chambers for all his hard work and Dedication!!!!!