Duane, Cape Buffalo, and reduced recoil…

I was at the rifle range yesterday totally absorbed in what I was doing when this guy walked up to me and said, “Hey, Joe…”   He sure seemed to know me and I sure had no idea who he was.  That happens a lot.  One of the things about shooting that is a lot like riding a motorcycle is this:  It demands absolute concentration.   When I get like that, I’m in the “zone.”   Stated differently, I kind of lose track of everything else.  I’ve had times when other folks I’ve known for years approach me at the range and I had no idea for a few seconds who they were (that happened with my good buddy Josh not too long ago).

Yesterday, the unknown interloper was none other than CSC-rider and good buddy Duane, whom you’ve seen grace the blog before.   In my defense this time, ol’ Duane had changed…he was sporting short hair and no beard, and that’s the excuse I’m gonna stick with for my failure to recognize him.  We both had a good laugh about my memory lapse, but hey, what an excuse:  Duane is a hippy no more…

One thing I’ve noticed repeatedly is that there’s a lot of similarity between our hobbies (and when I say “our” hobbies, I mean all of us).   Shooting, guns, watches (my blog about the Casio Diver’s watch drew a lot of email), cars, and of course, our greatest common denominator, motorcycles.   Great minds work alike, I guess.

And speaking of shooting, I sure had a good time yesterday.  I’ve got a couple of muey cool guns more suited for hunting big game in Africa than punching paper holes in So Cal, but I can dream.  The problem with these Howitzers is they kick like a Missouri mule (some literary license there on my part, folks, as I’ve never even seen a mule in Missouri, but it sure sounds cool to say it).    I’ve kind of made a specialty of finding reduced loads for these cannons, and I hit a winner yesterday when I tested a low-velocity round for my .375 H&H.

The .375 H&H goes all the way back to 1912, when it was developed by the great English firm of Holland and Holland.  It’s still one of the best cartridges out there for hunting the big beasts that snarl, roar, bite, stomp, and gore those who would do them harm.   That’s not me, by the way (I haven’t hunted for anything other than a good story in decades), but if the lunatic legislators in Sacramento (a redundant phrase, I know) ever create a Cape Buffalo season in southern California, I’m ready…