The Best of the Friday Night Group
www.irighti.org
Another Remarkable Digital Image
This picture captures a military type .223 caliber rifle firing .22 Long Rifle cartridges in "full auto." A close look will show three empty cases coming toward the camera. One is a blur just below Mike's less than a year old wedding ring. One is above the ejection port and a third appears to be just forward of the port.
Here's another extraordinary photo. This time it shows Gordon firing a Widley .45 Winchester Magnum pistol. Notice the very large case which has been ejected as the slide goes back.
It is not unusual to see unusual firearms when we get together on Friday nights at Blue Ridge Arsenal. In this photo, Rob has fallen asleep while firing one of those MAC-10 submachine guns. The gentle recoil and faint sounds of "brrrrrrrp" can lull anyone to sleep.
Other guns are guaranteed to keep you awake. In this photo, Melinda fires the .454 in a Ruger revolver. Although there is some disagreement on the subject, many people believe the term "ka boom" was invented to describe the sound of the .454 Casull cartridge.
Sometimes we just shoot and compare "ordinary" guns like these SIG Sauer Model 226s. The 226 on the left has been refurbished at the SIG factory. The 226 on the right is going in for refurbishing soon. The Navy SEALs carry the SIG 226.
Normal People Spotted on Friday Night
This normal family was spotted at Blue Ridge Arsenal on a recent Friday night. As a general rule, normal people do not fit in well with the Friday Night Group. There are rare exceptions, which is one of the reasons a photographer is always on duty. Note the existentialist grafitti on the exit door.
Ho, Ho, Ho, KABOOM! Tink. Tink.
In the photos shown above, Jason fires the Taurus lightweight .32 H&R Magnum, shown next to a Ruger SP-101 (same caliber) in the adjacent picture. Just above are pictures of Mike, Laura, and Melinda. Mike is getting ready to open his can of Diet Grape Drink. Laura is quivering. Melinda is firing a very cool Ruger Mark II pistol with a "silencer." For more information on the guns shown here, check out the "Gun o' the Week" page.
This generation's last summer of innocence is over. It's time to get out the sweaters, jackets, submachine guns, and attitudes of resolve. It's also time to relax a little on Friday nights whenever we can. As you can see in this picture, the old guy in the middle is holding some kind of Viet Nam era 9 mm subgun. The newlywed fellow with the crop circles t-shirt has his full auto .22 Long Rifle subgun. Mr. Field Grade NRA cap person has a target depicting an evildoer. Mike is holding the target used for the Gun o' the Week (SIG Model 229 .357 SIG). Bill has a new Kimber staple gun. Bert is playing with something in his pockets and we can only surmise what that might involve.
In the spirit of the times, and based on the cable television show "Bowling for Food, " the Friday Night Group has a contest each week. You purchase a target like the one shown above for $2, then you measure the sight radius of your gun, and move the target to a distance based on the target radius. Snub nose revolvers shoot at a closer range than 1911 pistols. Too technical? Here's an example. If you have a SIG Sauer Model 229, you shoot at the target about 30 feet away. You get one shot, and the closest to the center of the target wins. The winner gets some of the money and the rest goes to charity. All of the winners so far have donated their winnings.
Melinda and Mike Marry
LATE BREAKING NEWS! After an incomplete 25 yard match on August 17, a follow-up 25 yard match was held the following Friday night (September 7). Two of the targets had close to identical scores, while another target had an almost perfect score. While this is possible in theory, it is not possible with anyone who was there Friday night. Someone may have attempted to shoot a 25 yard target at a closer distance, but we will never know because the "best" target was signed with a false name. The resulting dispute was resolved by scheduling a third and final 25 yard session to be fired on September 14. This will be a "winner take all" one target, no wussy "best two out of three" scores, five shots, and no excuses. Stay tuned.
15 and 7 Yard Winners Receive Their Prizes from The Guy in the Red Shirt
Friday night August 25, we had the first annual Dunk Tank Match in which members of the Friday Night Group put aside excuses, bad ammunition, lack of concentration, all inhibitions (although not for the first time), and became competitive. The objective of the match was to shoot the best score at one of three distances: 7 yards, 15 yards, or 25 yards. Enough of the participants understood the rules, subsequent rule changes, and resulting clarifications so that we were able to complete the 7 and 15 yard portion of the match and award two of the three scheduled prizes. One of the people competing at 25 yards got confused and only turned in one target. In order to be fair, the 25 yard part of the match will be rescheduled until sometime after school starts in September.
Each shooter had to pick a distance then fire five shots at each of three different targets. Now, you may be asking yourself, did he fire five shots or only four? Do you think you know? Do you feel lucky? Oh, that's from that movie. Anyway, most everyone figured that out and turned in three targets at their favorite distance. An independent scorer took an objective look at each target, applied NRA Bullseye, IPSC, and IDPA "if it's on the line, it counts" type criteria and came up with a raw score. Ties were broken by an "X" count of shots closer to the center. Everyone seemed to agree that the scoring was as far as possible under the circumstances. Some money may have changed hands, and one of the scorers took credit cards, but the better shooters, more often than not, were the winners.
Genuine Idaho Potato Gun.
"More Than 300 Shots From One Potato"
For those with a technical bent, the best groups at 25 yards were fired with a SIG 229 (.357 SIG), although this did not count. The 7 yard winner used an H&K P-7M, and the gun used to snag the 15 yard prize was a tricked up race gun that must have cost a lot of money. That gun went back into the carrying case so fast that nobody knows for sure what it was. This was the basis of one of the many protests filed, and overruled, after the match.
Friday Night Group Action Shooting Squad
Competes and WINS Out West
Sometimes you just have to say, "What the heck?" and go for the gold.
The Friday Night Group's Action Shooting Squad took its act on the road in July, entering IPSC matches in Idaho and Montana. The Idaho match was June 30 and the Montana match was July 1. Click here for more information and more great pictures. Imagine a "3 gun" (rifle, pistol, and shotgun) match where the sling melts and falls off the rifle as you engage targets at 220 yards while guys stand behind you yell, "HIT!" Imagine a match where you have to fire EIGHTEEN shotgun slugs in a row at reactive Steel targets, or the rapid firing of a shotgun so hot that one slip of your hand from the stock to the barrel guarantees a Serious Burn. Imagine the traditional "El Presidente" pistol stage with hard cover and "no shoot" targets in the way. Well, folks, if you weren't there, you weren't there. Pain is weakness leaving the body and winners win. Pass the Gatorade. And would somebody please go back to the pickup and get another case of ammunition.
And now for some news about those wussy East Coast plinkers...
Friday Night Group Hosts the Pink Pistols
Colleen and Rob. Colleen is the one with the blue ear protectors.
Rob appears to have blue ear protectors, but in fact had a recent accident crossing a fence.
Dex instructs a "newbie," and the group poses before heading out for dinner at Applebee's.
For more information on the Pink Pistols organization, see their Web site at www.pinkpistols.org.
From the South Bay to the Valley
From the West Side to the East Side
Here are the directions to the Friday Night Group shooting range starting in Pasadena, California. First, take Colorado Boulevard to the 110 freeway, then take the 105 and get off onto Sepulveda. Take Sepulveda north under the runways at LAX. Turn in the rental car and take the shuttle to the terminal. Take an airplane to Dulles. Leaving the Dulles airport, take Route 28 to Route 50 and go west on 50. Turn south on Lee Road, then west on Flint Lee Road. Watch for the signs to Blue Ridge Arsenal. The trip takes several hours. An alternative is to take the 110 to the Santa Monica Freeway to the 405. Exit on La Cienega, then turn west on Manchester Blvd and go to the LAX Firing Range. This saves the transcontinental airplane ride, plus you can have dinner in Manhattan Beach instead of Herndon.
Memorial Day 2001 NRA Instructor Class
Over the Memorial Day weekend, in spite of heavy thunderstorms and many distractions, several members of the Friday Night Group managed to complete the intensive training needed to become NRA Certified Instructors. Of the ten students in the class, six have been known to participate in the Friday Night activities. In the picture to the left, you'll see Jason, Ginger, Ted, Keith, Bill, and Dex from Friday nights. The picture on the right shows Dex studying for one of the lessons, which proves that even members of the Pink Pistols know how to play it straight sometimes. Click here for a photo album from the weekend.
The Old and The New
Dex fires a wheel lock pistol.
Randy engages multiple IPSC targets with a CZ-75B Single Action Pistol
Friday Night April 13, 2001
Friday the 13th? Time to make a movie!
Melinda and Iris take screen tests.
The movie's working title is "Crop Circles."
Friday Night April 5, 2001
Here's another Zoloft moment in the making. Prior to posing for the picture, Liza has told her sweaty friend that if he pokes her in the ribs again, she is going to put this cartridge where "neither the morning or afternoon sun shines." Next to this Kodak moment is a display of some unusual guns, a Desert Eagle .50 AE ("Action Express"), a Phillips & Rogers multi-caliber revolver, which takes just about any pistol or revolver cartridge with a .357 or 9 mm bullet, and a Ruger .454 Casull. The Ruger .454 has one of the highest theoretical flash to bang ratios ever recorded.
Liza appears to enjoy the larger models. Note that she has two cell phones.
Many years ago, a pictures of a baby's hands appeared on a box of ordinary soap. The baby was held by a young model and future film star named Marilyn Chambers. Who knew that someday the baby in that picture would grow up and own a Makarov pistol. Yes, there are emotional as well as fun moments on Friday nights. The adjacent picture is interesting because it shows an apparition which appears in photographs taken at a local restaurant. One member of the Friday Night Group's Paranormal Unit (PU), referring to the apparition, said, "Yeah, it does look like Texas, but you ought to see the one that appears around midnight at the Shark Club!"
After dinner, instead of going home to watch "Law & Order Special Victims Unit," some members of the group decide to have a little fun with some of the items found in the restaurant.
Randy displays the effects of too much coffee and not enough "half and half." Mike holds a butyl nitrate capsule under the dead deer's nose. Randy later said, "That was a peculiar thing to do, even for Mike."
The Friday Night Group PETDA representative gets ready to perform a routine check to make sure Mike's efforts have not harmed the dead deer in any way.
The following e-mail was sent to the Editor of the www.irighti.org Web page. In the interest of fairness, we present it here for you to read.
"Editor, Friday Night Group Web page:
"I am shocked, alarmed, and dismayed, and not a little bit upset, too, because you have let this Web site drift from it's original purpose. Too many times, I've paged down, gone to another link, or otherwise roamed around in the so-called 'content' of this site, and found not the expected objective firearms information and commentary site, but instead a collection of images of women taken with a cheap digital camera then manipulated with a digital photo editing program that it is obvious you do not know how to use right. This makes me upset, ok?"
Signed Mr. "C" from Sterling
Editor's Response:
Nice to hear from you. First of all, this Web site has never had an original purpose. St. Thomas Aquinas couldn't even find a first cause for this page. Oh, sorry, too intellectual. Second, any fair observer would admit that while there are a few pictures of women on this site, the majority of the pictures and text are useful, informative, very well written, and border on being academic more often than not. The fact is that many of the professional technical people who join us on Friday nights are women, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Editor's Name Withheld by Request.
And now for a photograph from recent Friday Night activities...
And, I got your "cheap digital camera" right here...
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