New Heights in Impracticality

This month Ben and I surprised my Dad by showing up unannounced for the monthly Gun Show in Austin. It was a good opportunity to spend a little time with Dad, sell some flags and decals (and even some ammo!), and stock up on stuff like Jalapeño Summer Sausage.

We sold more of everything this time (but still not a single framed picture), and had a motel room for both nights, making it our most pleasant show for quite a while.

And though we otherwise managed to break even in terms of sales v. expenses, I decided to finally spring for a Swiss K31 military rifle. (Official Excuse: I'd been wishing for one for some years, the supply appeared to be ready to dry up, and I found one at a good price.)

These rifles have a terrific reputation for quality workmanship and accuracy (they're Swiss, after all). The bolt pulls straight back without external rotation, which makes chambering a new round a bit smoother than with typical bolt-action rifles. The six-round magazine holds a unique Swiss-made (of course) 7.5mm caliber of ammo (I've already started stocking up). Mine was originally issued to Hans Rudi Steiner of Basel (name and hometown are recorded on a tag behind the stock's metal buttplate).

In the interest of "completing" the K31, I ordered a leather sling. Bayonets for these prohibitively costly — typically going for around $100 or more, but I snagged one for $81 including postage.

Meanwhile...

MY EYES! MY EYES!
On "Thanksgiving Day" I had my first chance to fire a few rounds. I shot a total of twenty rounds at about 50 meters, and wasn't very impressed with myself (though I ended with a bullseye). It was becoming painfully obvious that my vision was deteriorating ... "right before my eyes."

With my glasses, I could see the target and the front sight, but the rear sight was blurred beyond usefulness. Without my glasses, I could see both sights, but the target was blurred to near invisibility. AARRGH! Maybe I'm just a lousy shot anyway, but I was becoming concerned about this vision thing. Then I found this site, featuring some exercises to improve vision, and this site, featuring more exercises and a useful chart, all of which might just improve my eyes' depth of field.

I plan to give these exercises a try and report back here on the results after several weeks of trying the exercises. More later.