Itchy Finger

 Over the years I've had multiple head hunters wanting me to interview for positions in the Tampa Florida area. Every time I told them I was not interested because I can't tolerate months of the summer heat and humidity. Here at home, for the last couple of weeks, we've been suffering with the same heat and humidity that I have been avoiding for years.

A few years back when weather was similar, I went to the range with a rifle stored in my air conditioned home. When I opened the case, the water in the air condensed on the rifle. It was as if it was raining.

So now my itchy trigger finger continues to itch. I may be able to scratch it later in the week when the temperature is predicted to be 10F cooler.

Four Leg Family

 We have mutually adapted to having Lil'Dog in our home. Since most all of his teeth have been removed, he's turned into a little chow hound. We need to control his access to food or he'll turn into a sausage.

The husky/shepherd (15YO) is continuing his decline. We'll probably have to put him down before the first of the year.

The teeth in the wife's horse are so worn down he can't chew hey anymore. He's getting senior grain with a supplement to increase calorie intake. He got very skinny last winter, and if he doesn't put on some weight he'll never make it through this winter. I may have to put him down this fall.

This is not a good year for our 4 legged family.

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BTW, have not had a chance to do any more testing with the 2 scout rifles. 

2 Then 3 Then 2

 About 13 years ago we decided to downsize our home and also move closer to my place of employment. As we were going through the move we lost our Siberian Husky, putting the Boss into mourning. For years the Boss was interested in a Shiba Inu, so we bought a puppy. That helped the emotional issues. We then went looking for another husky. At a rescue facility, a 1.5 year old husky shepherd mix chose the Boss, so we took him home. Today the husky is 15 years old, and we put down the Shiba last week. 

About 4 weeks ago, a woman at church picked up a little dog wandering down the middle of the country road. The Boss brought him home. The little Rat Terrier had no collar or chip. Lost dog posters were put up, and someone tore them down a few days later. We speculate he was abandoned. This little dog was not well maintained. Last week we had  the vet remove a growth on his lower leg, skin tags and most of his infected teeth. He's doing very well, and he and the Boss have bonded to the extreme.

So we had 2 dogs, then 3 dogs, now back to 2 dogs. So now the Boss is happy to have a dog that likes to cuddle.

Scout Rifles

 Got the scout scoped K31 to the range again. Managed to duplicate the best of my last best loads by putting 4 rounds in 1-1/8" at 100 yards. Last time it was 3 rounds in 1-1/4". I'll be taking it back out with slight variations of the powder charge. This time I'll have a cheek riser attached to the stock.

Finally got the modified Ishapore ready for load testing. The scout scope is now aligned with the barrel and I have attached an adjustable cheek riser to the stock.  Unfortunately the Burris rings that fit the picatinny rail that I used to align the scope bring the scope up higher than I like. 

Also loaded a couple more ammo tests for the FN Hi -Power 40 S&W. So far I've never been very happy with the accuracy using Universal powder.

Ishapore Scout

 As I've posted in the past I've been messing around with turning a hacked up Ishapore Enfield into a scout rifle. The last was getting the barrel threaded and a brake installed. I want to be able to tune the barrel harmonics. After that I purchased a scope mount specifically made to replace the rear sight assembly. Using a laser bore sighter I found the scope to be at a significate angle to the barrel. So I bought a set of rings with inserts designed to correct this issue. Using the maximum offset, front and rear, the problem seems to be corrected. Only a range session, or several will tell if all is well.

The rings use polymer inserts, some with offset bores, and that can rotate to eliminate torque on the scope tube. The local gunsmith recommended them. This allows the cross hairs to be centered in the tube to improve visuals and eliminate having extreme cross hair movement.

Back Home

 The wife, 2 dogs and a 5th wheel camper made it home from Utah in one piece. So now I need to rest from our 'vacation'. We were away for about a month, and saw some truly magnificent country.

There were a few 'bumps' along the way.

Had to get a local tech to get the trailer AC running during our Moab stay.

Heading back on I-80 we spent 3 nights in Rawlins Wyoming. One night the temperature dropped to the mid 20s F. The propane furnace barely produced any heat at that elevation (7,000 ft).

The high, gusting cross winds in Kansas and east Colorado wore me out.

Came within a few feet of smashing into a small car on I-80. One trying to enter, came next to the one in front of me, then both hit their brakes. My brakes locked, then I managed to swerve around them. Thankfully there was no traffic to my left.

Traveling

Recently I pulled a 5th wheel camper from Ohio to Grand Junction Co across I-70. Found the road condition from marginal to just terrible. Last fall I was on I-70 from the Ohio state line to Indianapolis. Pavement was so bad I busted a band in the front tire of the truck. This time I refused to drive I-70 on that stretch, using SR 40 instead. The farther west, the pavement improved to just tolerable.

In all of Kansas and eastern Colorado had to fight strong gusty cross winds. It was so bad I drove well below the speed limit to maintain control. Damn that was tiring.