Looking at the calendar for the next two months, I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I’ll be burning through all of my time off from the day job (and working extra days to make sure I have enough saved up) in the span of about eight weeks and will have exactly zero free time. On the other hand, the sheer awesomeness of what I’m going to get to do is astounding. And I’m bringing you guys along. Here’s what’s coming up . . .
This week, I’m going to visit the FNH USA manufacturing plant in South Carolina. I’ll be snapping tons of pictures of all the nifty machines, the genesis of FNH’s iconic firearms, and of course lots of glamor shots of the finished products. Keep in mind that FNH USA makes just about every small arm in the US government’s arsenal and you can see where this is going.
After I get back from South Carolina, I have less than a week before I’m on a flight to Oregon to compete in the second annual Crimson Trace Midnight 3-Gun Invitational. I’ll be live blogging the whole thing (well, as close to live as the cellular connection permits) and talking all about the guns and the gear. The stage descriptions have already been posted, and they look like they’re even better than last year. Oh, and I’m running this competition 100% suppressed. How cool is that?!
When I get back from Oregon, I’ll have three days to wash my gear before I’m back on the road for the AR15.com Pro/Am Competition at the Rockcastle Shooting Center. This is one of the 3-gun matches that I’ve always wanted to shoot, and getting the opportunity to do it as part of the FNH USA 3-Gun Team is incredible. I’ll be covering the whole thing, including stage breakdowns and how the team fares in the competition.
For the next event, I won’t need to go anywhere. I stay out at the Rockcastle Shooting Center and move over to a long range shooting clinic that Bushnell has put together in cooperation with Surefire, Accuracy International, Black Hills Ammo, Smith & Wesson and others. This is the clinic at which Chris Dumm stole the “longest shot by a TTAG writer” title away from me, and I plan on regaining that crown. And also playing with all the beautiful works of precision-guided art.
Then I get a weekend off. Kinda. I’m expecting that by this point the Colt Mustang XSP, the Taurus PT1911, and the Zastava M70A should have arrived at my FFL, and I’ll be putting those guns through their paces and reviewing them for your reading pleasure. Then, after the break, back on the horse again.
The following weekend is the final 3-Gun Nation Pro Series competition in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The entire season has been leads up to that point, and the race for the coveted 3-Gun Nation shoot-off slots will be heating up. Lena and Kay Miculek are in the lead for the ladies division, but with Dianna Leidorff (who’s only trailing by about 10 points) and Maggie Reese hot on their heels, will they be able to keep their lead? Will Larry Houck and Mark Hanish be able to wrap up a spot high enough on the list to make the shoot-off? Stay tuned.
The very next weekend, we’re off again to West Virginia for FNH USA’s own 3-gun event. I shot in the very first one a couple years ago and Larry is convinced that this year will blow everyone’s socks off. There’s also some rumors that we’re going to be allowed exclusive access to FNH USA’s gun vault to test out all their goodies, including some of the rarer firearms in production.
From there, the schedule finally starts to slow down a little. The Fallen Brethren match is about a week after FNH and located back in Texas, and I’ve just been confirmed as having a slot there. We’ll be blogging that one as well. Two weeks later, the legendary Blue Ridge 3-gun caps off our coverage of the 3-gun season with what promises to be one of the more challenging events of the year.
That’s two solid months basically living on an airplane. It’s going to be a blast, and you’re going to be there every step of the way. Stay tuned.