Beer Drinkin’ President

Watching the condensation roll down the side of my beer bottle setting on the table, I realized today was the scheduled day for Obama to have a beer with Crowley and Gates. So what can I say about this that has not been said already? I only listen to news on the radio, because of my work schedule, don't even try to watch the local news on T.V. So I really have not idea how much coverage this event has had. I do know that the local morning talk show host has been on the subject nonstop.

As an avid beer drinker myself, as is most every other red blooded American. I can't rightly object to the gathering of persons that have a problem to work out, doing it over a beer. I just don't know if the president of the United States is the one that should host such an event. I am not disagreeing with Obama drinking beer, which would make me a hypocrite. But, is this the way we want our country to look in the media around the world?

With that in mind, my question is, will Obama ask every officer to the White House for a beer after arresting an African-American? I am not racist, but the reason there is a majority of African-Americans in jail is because they commit a majority of the crime. If there was no race issued, why start one? Didn't Obama plainly state that he would never play the race card? Well, it has been dropped a lot since the election, even since the campaign started.

So I am saying that this was turned into a race incident thinks to the work of our fearless leader. (I use that term VERY loosely.) The media thinks Obama is the best thing since peanut butter, and can't get enough of him. Seems as though he can't do any wrong, well as far as liberals go. But where do we draw the line? What can we do to stop such madness?

Since the election the U.S. has seemingly been the laughing stock of the world's leading nations. Russia thinks we are full speed towards a Soviet Union style government. China thinks the American Dollar value will soon be surpassed by the value of a Paso. Between the IPOD given to the Queen of England and the hood rat style he allows for his daughter, dare I ask where this great nation is headed?

The Rem 700 SPS

About 9 months ago I finally got my Remington 700 SPS 308 Tactical. After waiting for months to save the money, along side ordering it with out the wife knowing, I got the call from the gun shop. How ironic the call came on February 24, my wife's birthday. When I called her and told her that we needed to go to the gun shop she flipped. Then when she found out that I didn't get her anything for her birthday, well I am just lucky that I am still alive.

Anyways, I did have to order it from a Remington Premier dealer, and wait for about a month to get it in. I have seen them online, which means one should be able to order one online and have it sent to their local dealer without waiting so long. The price was a little steep on mine as I paid around $650 for it. Again, I have seen them online for around $550. Of course you will have to pay for shipping and transfer fees, which in my case would have totaled close to what I paid.

So what do you get for the money? Well, you get the 700 short action with a 20 inch bull barrel. Actually it is the same barreled action as the 700P LTR. The differences between the two are the Tactical comes with a Hogue OverMolded stock and the 700P LTR comes with the H-S Precision stock, and the LTR is about $400 more than the Tactical. This is the reason a lot of people go with the Tactical.

It also comes with the X-Mark Pro trigger, which Remington claims is the most accurate out of the box trigger. It is fully adjustable from approx 2lbs to approx 4lbs. this is the way mine is anyway. The exact weighs can very slightly between rifles.

As for the rest, I topped mine with cheap weaver scope mounts and a cheap Center Point 4-16x X40 AO scope, all from Wally World. I know I should have gotten a better scope for it but I am poor, so have to use what I can. I have no complaints about the scope, it has tactical/target turrets, illuminated Mil-Dot radical, and an adjustable optive. The optic over all is surprisingly good quality for a $60 scope.

As soon as I could, I got out to the range. I took along some Remington UMC FMJ and some Winchester Super X 180gr. SP. I sighted in at 50 yards, just to get the scope close because I am poor and can't afford a bore sight. When I moved to the 100 yard range I then noticed rather quickly which ammo my rifle liked most. With the Winchester I was grouping at around ¾ to 1 MOA, heavy on the 1 side. With the cheap Remington I was able to group at ½ to ¾ MOA. Which with an out of the box rifle, I done think you can complain about half MOA accuracy. Since I am all about hitting what I aim at, I do load my own ammo. Since I emptied some brass on my first trip to the range in loaded up a couple of different loads and went back out.

I used Hornady SST 180gr. bullets with 38.5 to 48.5 grains of H380. All of my brass was once fired, and I used CCI Large Rifle Magnum primers. I was able to sub ½ MOA accuracy with my loads of 42.5 gr. (Use load data at own risk, reloading maybe fun, easy, and a good way to get away from the wife and kids for a few hours, but you have to be careful and start with smallest load possibly and work your way up.)

All in all, the Remington 700 SPS 308 Tactical is a great rifle. I would not trade mine for anything. Only thing I did was lighten the trigger a bit and find some good ammo. It is made on the action that has proved itself time and time again. The only complaint I have is that they don't make one in lefty. Other than that it is a lot of fun to shoot and has very manageable recoil.

Forth of July without Fireworks

Its 11o'clock, July 4th. Fireworks bursting in the back ground of night fall. People celebrating their day of independence. We had a little celebration of our own, well until we got in trouble. See I was not aware of the city ordinance that prohibits " Anything explosive, including all forms of fireworks..." My family, friends, and myself were outside just starting our display when the officer pulled up. Now i know that the big city would have some sort of ordnance against certain types of firework. Even the small town that I grow up in, out in the sticks, had some prohibited.

So following the guidelines from my home town, I based my purchase on what to get for our celebration. No Saturn Missiles, no M-80's, no "Silver Salutes", etc. I was trying to be a little conscious of the rules and regulations that may be in place. And what good did it do me, none.

Here in Overland Park, Kansas, they have a no tolerance order for fireworks. So when the officer pulled up, it came to me as a surprise when she not only confiscated my fireworks, but my friends, both bags that our kids had, and called me over to her car.Like I said I was in awe when she started to tell me that she was going to issue a ticket.

So I was in the wrong. We had fireworks, and we set them off, but without knowing the law in full. The officer was not reluctant to issue the citation. Only saying, "We all have strick orders to issue tickets to anyone with fireworks". The officer went on to tell me about the person that received one of this unpatriotic citations just before me.

She did not go into detail, just describing a single mother with a few children and a some child friendly fireworks. And yes, this single mother got a 200 dollar fine for sparklers and fountains used in passing the Independence Day tradition on to her children. Now my party did have the "Morter Shell" style of aerials. So I can say that if anything should be against law, it should be them. So I am not complaining about my ticket, just that I think that it is foolish that our children can not experience the same joy of fireworks that we did growing up.

Yes, we all I am sure had a few firecrackers go off in our hands. But really, is it worth taking the joy of The Fourth of July away from our children for. With smart parenting, and a watchful eye, how bad can a Black Snake or Sparkler be? I know ANYTHING can happen. But really think about it. Our children see the magnificent displays and want to take part in the festivities as well. I know I did when I was young, and my children do now.

I can remember my father giving me a couple of grosses of bottle rockets, an arrow to shoot them with, and a lit cigarette for lighting the fuses. I can remember absolute joy that filled my heart on these once a year occasions. I can not see how something that I am sure was cherished by not only my self but you as well during childhood can now be be against law. We all want to partake in the wonderful joyous celebrations of our independence of America. Once we lose the right to celebrate our independence, what is next?