Abilene or San Angelo Area ?

[Leadpot]

Just looking for local shooters to chat with about guns and stuff of that nature. Anyone with machining skills would sure be nice to talk to also.

 

[BurkGlocker]

Ahhh, San Angelo... My hometown... I dont know many people from back in the day when I hung around Devil's Mountain because most of those guys were alot older and probably passed on by now. But when I visit the area, I could look you up, because I will never pass up the opportunity to shoot and talk.

Brad

 

[Leadpot]

Devils Mountain

I went there my 1st time to shoot. I had just bought a .44 mag. super blackhawk. Friend took me out there to get my feet wet so to speak. Boy , I sure did. He loaded up some rounds for me and away we went. I got on line and was told to get off after a few shots .LOL..I was spitting lead everywhere. It was embarrising . I'm only glad I didn't hurt anyone at the time. He apologized and said his load was a little too hot. Thats when I got into learning how to reload on my own. Never again did I trust him , He's no longer among us and neither is that Blackhawk. LOL..

 

[BurkGlocker]

they had some inch and a half steel prairie dog targets out there, mind you, this was 10 years ago, and I got on them with my Super Redhawk .44 mag and Raging Bull .454 Casull. One hit from either of them would send them flipping end over end, until the owner, and I cannot remember his name to save my life, came out there and asked me not to shoot them with those pistols. I jsut grinned real big and said that I wouldnt anymore. I still remember the first time I shot that .454 on the line. I stopped everyone from shooting, and quite a few came down to see what the hell I was handling. Matter of fact, I lost some hearing in my left ear at that range, but that is another story.

I remember sitting in the shop and reloading ammo at the table and taking them out on the line to test them out. I really do miss that place.

Brad

 

[Leadpot]

Devil's Mountain

Yes sir, I bet that was getting everyones attention. My god...too much pistola for little bity dogs..LOL I wished I still had that Blackhhawk. After I learned a little bit more on the basics of re-loading I tamed mine down suitable for me. Later I sold it and bought a DW .357 MAX. I still have that one. I would liked to have been there just to look at the damage that .454 was doing to those dogs. I bet it was funny watching them fly end over end. I'm 55 now and its funny when you look back and stuff like that you just never forget. I miss that friend that started me off. He was older but sure one for a quick laugh LOL..No one else like him in this world.

 

[BurkGlocker]

I shot them with some Corbon loads, some .45 Colt mags, and some full house Corbon .454 loads and some Partitions. The .44 I loaded up with jsut plain ol' lead and were pretty tuned down, along the lines of a .44 Special. It left about an inch wide indention in them about I'm guessing three quarters of an inch deep. It was funny as hell. He usually never got onto me, but that was the only time. He is actually the one that taught me how to reload and I bought quite a bit of stuff from him, until I found out about Field and Streams. They always had everything I was looking for. I think over a one year time frame I went out there 3-4 times a week. I was 19 then, and married to an older woman who had an endless supply of money, and I damned glad to be rid of her, no matter how much money she had...

 

[Leadpot]

Field and Streams

Yes, I remember F&S very well. I went once and thought B&B in Abilene was still cheaper to me. I lived in Winters at the time. A lb. of powder then was $12.00 for WW-680, 296 ,and 4227 either one of them. I was casting my own by then for .357 Max. They always seemed higher at F&S. That was around 84' I believe. Angelo was further from Winters. I do remember hearing a lot about the .454 . I was in my 30's then. I had worked for a manufacturing plant and thought I was going to retire but they had other plans . They did that a lot to others. I had plans on getting a milling machine and that went out the window. Now i'm stuck with stuff for one ..but no machine LOL.

 

[BurkGlocker]

Yes, I remember F&S very well. I went once and thought B&B in Abilene was still cheaper to me. I lived in Winters at the time. A lb. of powder then was $12.00 for WW-680, 296 ,and 4227 either one of them. I was casting my own by then for .357 Max. They always seemed higher at F&S. That was around 84' I believe. Angelo was further from Winters. I do remember hearing a lot about the .454 . I was in my 30's then. I had worked for a manufacturing plant and thought I was going to retire but they had other plans . They did that a lot to others. I had plans on getting a milling machine and that went out the window. Now i'm stuck with stuff for one ..but no machine LOL.

Yeah, they were a little on the steep side for pricing, but did always have whatever I was looking for. The last time I stepped into F&S was in 1999, I was 19 then. I never bought any firearms from them, always from Cason's Pawn, I think over on Bell St. on the North Side of town. Landy always gave us good deals and my ex-wife knew him and his old man for years, so it was always a good thing when we walked in the store. I think in a two month time period she spent $25K+ on firearms, so we were on their good list.

I was talking to dad a few weeks ago and we were talking about getting a lathe/mill combo for doing work here at the house. I have a mess load of tooling but no machine. Matter of fact, I found $600 worth of carbide end mills the other day that I've been looking for since my last move.

I really do miss home, and my wife has been talking about moving out that way, but the last time that I was there for dad's funeral it didnt seem like anything had changed, jsut a sleepy retirement town with a bad gang problem.(and not to get confused, I had two dad's, the one who raised me, and the one who married my mother, adopted me, and gave me his last name.)

Jsut so many places that I would like to revisit, but getting back down that way is tough right now, with the current finacial situation. Last time I was even close was to go to a football game in Sweetwater, and that was one helluva trip. Blown out tire, in my mother in law's SUV nonetheless, my wife almost rolled us over by over correcting. If I hadnt of grabbed the wheel from her we wouldve been road tar by now. Needless to say, I drove after that. She doesnt handle situations very well... LOL

 

[Leadpot]

Cason's pawn

That was the only place I ever did my business with at the time, good old Cason's pawn shop. It still is there on Bell st. I lived my youth in Bronte Tx. Been married 3 x's, you would think a fella would have learned by now. I finally settled down and still have 2 kids in high school left to deal with. Angelo isn't too bad, Thats why I live out of town if I can help it. Too much in big citys to deal with. Not only does Angelo have gangs ,but so do these other sml. towns. Just not as visible ..but they are there. If you ever do make it out this way ,holler at me. I think we are all in a financial bind. If you ever make it out this way and need help, holler at me friend. I enjoy meeting new friends and good people to chat with. They drive me into town nowadays anymore, But I can still get somewhere if I really need to. My chores consist of picking up kids and taking kids to school when they miss the bus . LOL...Its hell getting older..

 

[BurkGlocker]

I lived right on the edge of town, where the DPS hub is there in Angelo, but wouldve rather lived father out of town. I grew up with the gangs, fell in with them, but quickly learned that it wasnt worth it when I saw six people get shot in one night. I was 13 then. This gang vs. that gang is all BS. Hell, we had a murder in our apartment complex as well. Dad was the head of maintenance, so when he got called, I always went with him. I was 15 years old when I witnessed that. Guy was shot 7 times with a .22, twice in the head. One of the neighbors from upstairs was working on him, but he already had "the stare". He was gone. Then, another one of our friends, 'Raton', he was shot by mistake because he was in the wrong car. Shot in the face with a 12 gauge shotgun, survived two days with half of his face gone. He tried to live, but gave up. I'm glad I got away from that crap, and I for certain dont want my kids living like that. Thats why I havent moved back to Angelo... I have a 14 and 10 year old daughters and a 4 year old son. Way to much responsibility to just sit back and let that kinda influence take over. Hell to the no...

But if I ever get out that way, I will definately give you a holler.

Brad

 

[Leadpot]

Wow

Man you saw a lot for your age back then. I never saw anyone dead from a gun shot. I consider myself lucky. Sounds like you ran with a Latino gang. "Raton" is spanish for a big rat...LOL. I am latin myself ..but an American by birth. I'm glad you view your kids as being # 1 in your life. Change is always good. Pm me if you want. Gotta pick up that boy. Later friend.

 

[Outbreak]

I'm up in Abilene. I've been to Field and Stream, and it's a nice store. Bought a Kel-tec fom them about a year ago. I've never shot down that way, at least not on ranges.

I'm a member at the Abilene Indoor Gun Range, and the Abilene Gun Club. AIGR is a bit more expensive (I forget exact amount per year) but it's close to home, so I shoot there a lot. The Abilene Gun Club is only $35 a year for Military, so I couldn't pass that up.

 

[Leadpot]

Welcome . Field and Streams just seemed to pricey for me. When I used to shoot in Abilene B&B pawn and Bibles Hardware were the hot places to buy reloading items. Today B&B I understand is under new management. Bibles got out of the Reloading business. glad to have you on board.

 

[Outbreak]

At the time, Abilene was out of guns. There are precious few gun shops there as-is, and most were quite sold out of just about everything. There were more guns in my safe than there were on the shelves. Not a Kel-tec to be found in Abilene. I went to visit a friend in San Angelo, and decided to browse the gun shops there. After going to two or three stores, F&S had the only Kel-tec P-11 in the Big Country, so I bought it. Don't remember what I paid, but the service was worth it.

And thanks for the welcome! Glad to be here.