Friendship AARs Here, Please

[Cruzatte]

How about a few AARs (After Action Reports) on Friendship? It's getting late and past my bedtime. I'll post mine tomorrow.

Cruzatte :sleep:

 

[Stumpkiller]

ARRRRRRRR!

Oh? You ment that other kind.

Nope. Didn't go.

 

[Cruzatte]

Avast thar matey, aye, I did. :crackup:

Cruzatte

 

[akapennypincher]

As I understand it FriendSHIP, and the NMLRA are Sinking, or Dying like the Good Ship Titanic after it hit the IceBURG. As the place and the group is for Target Shooter FIRST & FOREMOST, and that is that IMO. Due are now $40.00/YEAr to be an NMLRA Member, and for most of the 16,000 Member it means only a Subscription to Muzzle Blast, that is not worth the $40.00/a year . :imo: :shake: :shake:

 

[Cruzatte]

Liver Eatin' Latz and I pulled into Friendship, IN on Friday afternoon, and having reserved our campsite earlier, proceeded to set up camp. The ballance of the day was spent in taking care of loose ends, planning our shooting strategy and so forth.

The first week end being generally the most well attended, I spent busking in front of the club house fiddling away. And who should I meet but Eric A. Bye, editor of Muzzle Blasts Magazine, the NMLRA's official magazine. He's quite an accomplished banjo player. So we traded tunes, and found more than a few we knew in common.

I can't brag about my shooting, I do about as well as the elder Cruzatte, erstwhile bowsman for the Corps of Discovery. But, like Liver Eatin' Latz is fond of saying "I'm havin' fun." And I did, too. I tried the smoothbore sillhouette match, having never shot at a target more than 85 yards out. Knocked down four of the sillhouettes with a charge of 70 gr. FFg behind a .015" linen patch lubed with bore butter, and a .600" ball.

Both Latz and I watched the folks shoot on the trap line, and I decided after meeting and visiting with the McDonalds from Canada to try it with my trade gun. Alas, I could not even buya spark, even with a fresh flint installed. The range officer blew out the charge with the air compressor, and examined my gun, and announced what I had been suspecting. My mainspring was going south on me. Rats! I muttered a few choice French and Omaha cuss words, took her back to camp and cleaned her up, deciding not to risk shooting her again.

I spent the rest of the time shooting various rifle matches. Funny thing is, I shoot better at the home range than I did at Friendship. It must have been the relative calm of the wind in Indiana that time of year. For as most of you have heard, it is quite windy here in Kansas. And that's how we learn to shoot. See, in Kansas, if you see those little Japanese cars being blown off to the side of the road, it's a relatively calm day. And you won't see many mobile homes here in Kansas, either. You'll find most of them accross the border in Missouri where the wind deposited them, intact--sometimes--that is if it isn't too windy. Otherwise, on a really windy day, they just get all torn up, and you'll never see them again, not even a sheet metal screw.

One lesson I learned: take all your guns to Friendship and all their fixin's, too. Because you never know what sort of shooting might look like fun. And unless you can shoot a score of 49 4X, you won't even be a contender for third place. And that's only the flintlock shooters. Me? I just go to hang out and have fun. C'est bon com

 

[Cruzatte]

Sinking? Dying? Nah--I don't think so. And forty bucks a year for a magazine subcription works out to something on the order of $3.33 per issue. How much is Sports Illustrated, or National Geographic? Gas to get there is becoming prohibitive, I'll grant you. But like the TV commercial says--fun? Priceless. For everything else there's MasterCard.

Cruzatte

 

[Bob J]

Sinking? Dying? Nah--I don't think so. And forty bucks a year for a magazine subcription works out to something on the order of $3.33 per issue. How much is Sports Illustrated, or National Geographic? Cruzatte

I still renew my NMLRA membership (and NRA - they're fighting the good fight!). Love Muzzle Blasts :front:

 

:crackup: Pennypincher, you earn your nickname! :crackup:

Actually, I think that Muzzle Blasts is worth the price of membership. Their minor transgressions with inlines don't ruin the mag or the organization for me. It has a great history--and yes, it was originally formed by shooters (rather than reeneactors/hunters per se) who were interested in keeping alive a traditional sport and traditional guns....can't find fault with that...we all owe the NMLRA alot...I don't know if I will ever get to Friendship, but it is nice knowing that it is there for us.... :m2c: :front:

As I understand it FriendSHIP, and the NMLRA are Sinking, or Dying like the Good Ship Titanic after it hit the IceBURG. As the place and the group is for Target Shooter FIRST & FOREMOST, and that is that IMO. Due are now $40.00/YEAr to be an NMLRA Member, and for most of the 16,000 Member it means only a Subscription to Muzzle Blast, that is not worth the $40.00/a year . :imo: :shake: :shake:

 

[susie s]

Rolled into Fship on a Wednesday morning before the shoot started-had a friend's funeral to go to that morning-we gave him a great send off. Was miserably hot the next couple of days, so didn't do much. Wish I would have known you were making music on the porch Friday evening-would have been there! Eric and I share a love of the old English songs. Come shoot with us in the primitive! We had great crowds this year and a lot of new faces. Was glad to see so many more women up there. My son Tom and I did OK, he got second in the Mountain Man Agg. and I got a first in the ladies Free Trapper-one of my all time best scores for that event. We had a lot of also-rans and unlimited good times shooting with good friends. My good friend, Jeanine Marchesseau just about wiped out everybody up there. Tom and I played dulcimers and I sang while the kids churned butter on Saturday on the primitive. Butter was delicious. I will stick with the NMLRA (my father was a member first in the late 30's-he called it Mecca-still is) until my or its dying breath! Will probably participate in the Lore of the Laughrey if Leslie decideds she needs me, but will be back for sure in September for more fun! Your 40 dollars helps support our American freedom! That is priceless. Just to see all those kids shooting on the line, in the primitive, and on the bow range and throwing hawk-priceless. S

 

[djnye]

a strong second to the spirit of your note, susie. and it was a pleasure meeting you. i also count eric as one of my friends. since the first day i met him he has been more kind to me than one human deserves. being diabetic and also forgetting my own food, i found the butter wonderful also. mine lasted two days. the folks in the next camp were married during the weekend, sunday morning we had a delightful work bee making ramrods from scratch. this is the second year that the folks there were kind enough to allow me to cut a shagbark for the demo. ain't that something. monday found several of us including mike y. digging around the raw materials and sharing oldtime woodworking techniques. elbow adzes buried in tulip poplar rounds to carve bowls; crooked knives slicing hewn stock into boards; scraping and carving; and processing lots of fibers into very useful items. i had a new friend who re-enacts seventeenth century frontier blacksmithing make me staples for a couple newly acquired horns i will be carving. all because i helped supply materials to repair his well-used bellows. he is a wonderful man. finally, i was fortunate to camp accross from a young carver of animal parts who was there from colorado with his family. in one weekend i met two new and yet seemingly lifelong friends. for this crusty old man that is absolutely astounding.

there was so much more that it cannot be listed in any complete fashion. i take real pleasure in showing my work to people who enjoy them. friendship is full of those kinds of people. i don't think they could keep me away from there again next spring. and it is only an eighteen hundred mile trip.

take care, daniel

 

[Flint50]

AAHHH Friendship-such fond memories. I havent been thar since the early '70's. I used to go with a good friend "Mus'rat jack" (recently retired from the Friendship Board of Directors). We had such a good time there, enjoying the atmosphere. We also enjoyed "Boones Farm" assorted flavors, gently warming to perfection in the trunk of the car. Ah the good ol days! ::

 

[susie s]

Muskrat Jack is still very active in the organization. He's now head of the PR committee and gives the prayers at appropriate times, and conducts church on Sundays behind the block house. S

 

[amccall]

I just joined the NMLRA this year and was not going to go to Friendship but it seemed like my vacation time and and everything else seemed to work out. So I went for a quick look see for my first time. My NMLRA card got me in free and I was able to procure many things at a good savings from the vendors. I then went to buy blackpowder that only NMLRA card holders can get for $9.50lb goex. So I sat down and figured that I saved $30+ dollars with the NMLRA card and I could of saved more if I knew what to expect at Friendship. So just this year Muzzleblast cost me $10 annual subscription, that is worth it to me. :results: :front:

 

[BillinOregon]

Wish Indiana weren't such a fur piece from Oregon. Friendship does indeed sound like heaven to a BP shooter and primitive skills nut.

 

[akapennypincher]

:crackup: Pennypincher, you earn your nickname! :crackup:

Actually, I think that Muzzle Blasts is worth the price of membership. Their minor transgressions with inlines don't ruin the mag or the organization for me. It has a great history--and yes, it was originally formed by shooters (rather than reeneactors/hunters per se) who were interested in keeping alive a traditional sport and traditional guns....can't find fault with that...we all owe the NMLRA alot...I don't know if I will ever get to Friendship, but it is nice knowing that it is there for us.... :m2c: :front:

Well $3.33/Month is a good point, but Muzzle Blast is a repetitive, and boring for the most part. The Magazine if you read it for about 2 years, is like playing a Old Familiar Record Over & Over again with little New Editorial Content.

Think part of the reason is because the Editorial Rates Paid to Writers & Photographers are so low, that New Talent does not want to work for the low Editorial Rates.

Yes I do understand Editorial Rates Paid to Writers & Photographers is directly a Reflection on Monthly Circulation, and Advertising Dollars taken in to advertise in Muzzle Blast.

But many Major Muzzle Blast advertiser like

 

[BigPaGuy]

This is my first year in the NMLRA also, and I knew I wanted to go to Friendship after reading all of the posts here, and on one other board. Well, to say it was all I expected would be an understatement. I walked around with my jaw hanging open in awe. I'm sure I looked like the Village Idiot. My biggest regret is that I didn't ask more questions, because everyone that I DID speak to was very kind, and very tolerant of the greenhorn. I was only able to spend a few hours there, so next year I would like to get at least a few days' worth of Friendship in. :thumbsup:

 

[AeroE]

I made my first trip to Friendship this year. Took my 12 year old daughter along. After showing some interest in carving and engraving, she got a 30 minute tutorial from Gusler about carving and wire inlay. I ran into a member of my local club shooting his bench gun, and met a fellow from Dixon, Missouri that knows some of my kin that taught school there, plus another feller I knew from the same area.

I was glad to see all the women and kids shooting.

Gunmaker's Hall is great and I enjoyed the workshop on the back porch. Hopefully I'll be able to return soon, maybe in September.