We had a good time at the range last night with friends.  Jodi didn't care much for the 9mm so it was back to the SR22, which she shot quite well.  We looked at the Ruger Mark IV .22's while there and I think she is going to get the Mark IV Lite.  We will add a red dot optic on it for her and that will be her range pistol.  I may get the Ruger Mark IV Hunter or the Competiton model, then she can shoot both.

I tried out the Sprignfield XDM 45 for the first time and I have to say it shoots like all of the other XDM's I have shot, awesome.  I shoot 45's so much better than 9mm's for some reason.  The yellow target is one 13 round magazine from the XDM at 7 yards.  I got in a little hurry and had a couple miss right but was pretty solid overall.

I then got out my 1911 and put the blue target at 10 yards.  Two magazines to center mass and then one magazine quicker to the head.  Pretty happy with the results.  Have been working on my trigger squeeze a lot and it makes a big difference.

The range was followed by dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  We had some fun conversation, our waiter was entertaining and the food was pretty good.  We now are looking forward to the gun show on Saturday morning.

After work yesterday, Jodi and I went to pick up Angus from being groomed and then went to the dealership to get my Jeep.  It's ready to go another 5000 miles and the recall has been taken care of.  The service manager gave me a nice MOPAR calendar featuring off road vehicles and it has the new JL on the front.  He didn't know when they would be getting their first one in but I expect the first arrivals are already spoken for.

After dinner, JD, Megan and Jayson came by for a short visit.  Jayson has so much energy, he spent the whole time running around the house and acting silly for us.  I happened to be in the middle of cleaning my Glock 19 and it was disassembled on the kitchen table.  He thought it was the coolest thing and it gave us a chance to talk about firearm safety with him.  He asked if he could come back over later and help me clean my guns!

I'm looking forward to our range time this evening and dinner with friends.  I spent a good deal of time getting the firearms I'm taking ready.  Jodi will have her Ruger SR22 and the new Walther PPQ to shoot and i am taking my 1911 and my new Springfield XDM 45 to try out.   I loaded up about 15 magazines so we don't have to reload too much when there which will give us more shooting time.

The chalet we hope to rent in Colorado is really nice.  It backs to the river, has a fire ring out back, two bedrooms, a covered porch and more.  We are going to share it with another couple if it's available the week we need it.  See it here:  http://www.tigerrunresort.com/vacation-rental-home.asp?PageDataID=129279

On Wednesday, Jodi and I and another couple are going to the shooting range followed by dinner.  I'm looking forward to shooting the new Springfield XDM .45 and seeing how Jodi shoots the Walther 9mm.  I think she will do better than she does with the Ruger SR22 after the first few rounds, getting accustomed to the recoil.  

We dropped my Jeep off at the dealership last night for the recall and an oil change and rotation.  I talked to the service manager for a bit who happens to be a big Jeep guy,  He goes to Moab every year and has a coilover rig with 40's.  He is getting ready to install a 5.7 liter Hemi in it after his Moab trip this Spring.  He always takes good care of us when we come in.  AFter chatting with him awhile, we went in to the dealership and said hello to our salesperson we bought Jodi's Jeep from.  We also looked over the Jeep Grand Cherokee Track Hawk that was on the showroom floor.  $90k and faster than a Hellcat.  I also liked the Hemi Challenger.  Jodi said no.  

Well, one day off of work and back at it for another week.  At least a 3 day weekend lies ahead with the MLK holiday next Monday.  I have to take my Jeep to the dealer this evening for a recall appointment.  If I'm not mistaken, this is the second recall I've had on the impact sensor.  I looked it up online and they have detailed instructions on what the tech is suppose to do to resolve the problem.  It involves taking the grille off, headlights out, etc...  They will be re-routing the sensor and the wiring as apparently in some instances, the airbags will not deploy in a front end collision.

Since I purchased a Ruger Precision Rifle a while back, I was considering trading or selling off my Remington 700.  I decided to put it on Midwest Gun Trader on Saturday and by Sunday morning, I had worked out a reasonable trade.  In return for the 700, I got a like new Walther PPQ M2 with 6 magazines and an IWB holster.  I figured it might be a nice gun for Jodi to shoot as the Walther has a more comfortable grip than many firearms and 9mm is a good caliber for women.  I hope to go shoot this week with her.  We are still looking at a Ruger Mark IV for her as well.  Another firearm I'm looking for is a Taurus Raging Hornet.  It shoots 22 Hornet ammo, which goes about 3100 feet per second.  It has a 10 inch barrel and is quite the beast.  It's no longer in production and pretty desirable so I don;t know if I'll run across one or not, especially at a reasonable price. I'll be looking for one at the gun show this weekend.

I had my weekend events mixed up thinking the Wrench-a-thon was next weekend but it's actually the last weekend of the month.  Next weekend is the big gun show at KCI.  I decided to make it an event for our Jeep club and as of this writing, we now have 12 Jeeps going to breakfast that morning and then to the gun show afterward.  It'll be a great opportunity for Jodi to get more guns in her hands to determine the best one for her. 

Yesterday, I ordered Jodi the knockoff SPOD off Amazon and with the same day delivery, it was on our porch by 7pm.  Pretty incredible when you think about it.  All of our friends have been going with this model as it's only $180 instead of nearly $500.  We will install it at the Wrench-a-thon.

 

I can't remember the last time I called in to work and missed a day but it happened yesterday.  On Tuesday, I did something to my back while at work and it progressively got worse the rest of the day.  I didn't feel anything happen, just started bothering me.  Yesterday morning, I could barely get out of bed and walking was a challenge, so I called in.  I was pretty uncomfortable most of the morning so I decided to go lay in bed and watch TV for a while.  After an hour or so, I got out of bed, expecting to be in discomfort still but it was 80% improved.  As the day went on, I got better and by evening, I had still had soreness but was still feeling pretty good.  I had a good night of sleep last night and seem to be about 80-85% this morning.  Must be muscular.

There have been a number of good deals on firearms of late and on Tuesday, Grabagun had a Springfield Armory XDm .45 ACP with threaded barrel at an attractive price so one is finding a  new home in my safe.  I'm a fan of FDE so this one was kind of a no brainer for me.  I like the FDE with black slide as my Glock is the same configuration.  I shoot my friends 9mm XDm very well and I hope I do the same with my new acquisition.  One day, I may add a suppressor.

Grabagun also has a couple of the Ruger Mark IV .22's on sale.  Neither of them are the Lite model I am looking at for Jodi but one is the target model and I was tempted to get it.  I think I'll hold out a bit longer and see if they put the Lite model on sale soon. 

I'm looking into joining the Glock Sport Shooting Foundation and start doing some competitive shooting.  They have events across the nation, with three being in the region, including one in Sparta.  It's family focused and most competitions are for stock Glock's but they do have an unlimited class.  When you join, ($35), you get one Blue Label Glock per year, which is LEO pricing.  You save about $100 on each gun so the membership is well worth it.  You also have access to a Glock armorer at the events and they clean, inspect and replace parts for free.

Our Wrench-a-thon is coming up next weekend and I'm looking forward to getting my new Steer Smarts adjustable track bar installed and a couple other minor things done.  My Jeep goes to the dealer for the impact sensor recall next Tuesday and I'll get my free Jeep Wave oil change and tire rotation while there.   

A new year has dawned and it's back to work after a nice break.  We enjoyed having Kyle and his girlfriend in town the last few days as we celebrated his birthday and Jodi and I's 25th anniversary.  We all went to the shooting range on Kyle's birthday and had a good time.  I wound up going through 150 rounds of .45 and shot about 50 rounds of 9mm.  Jodi shot 100 rounds of .22 and I'm looking at getting her a target .22 with an optic on it so she can have something a bit more accurate.  The Tuger SR22 is fun but as small as it is, you're not going to punch the same hole on a target at 7 yards.  We went to Cabela's and the Ruger Mark IV Lite 22/45 is a candidate for her.

I'm looking at getting a high end 1911 for my collection.  I will likely never spend the money on a Wilson Combat but maybe a Sig Sauer that has been customized a bit would satisfy me.  I just can't bring myself to spend $3K on a handgun.

Jodi got me some Jeep related shirts for Christmas.  I like this one a lot.