Rifles and Roses

So the blog has been pretty quiet lately, it's mainly because work has been really hectic the last couple of weeks. This time of year is always crazy with catalogs being edited, finishing up projects for January introductions, and the start of show season. Top all of that with hunting season, and a lot of people out of the office. In addition to all the usual craziness, I got to go to Ft. Benning, Georgia a few weeks ago to watch the International Sniper Competition. They hosted 17 teams this year, one being from Sweeden (or one of the Scandinavian countries), one team from Ireland, and two teams from Canada. Unfortunately, I got there about an hour too late the day of the helicopter events. After the competition was done, they were giving rides to anyone one around in the Blackhawk. Well at least I didn't have to come home and explain how I got to do that to Kris. He gets a little jealous of the cool things that I get myself into. You can check out some of the pictures from last year. I was never close enough to see anything really cool myself.

Last week I had another really cool thing. I got to visit a firearm manufacturer that is about an hour away from here. Just a little company called Barrett Firearms. For those of you not in the know, Barrett makes .50 cal rifles that are used by many military forces. These are the big rifles that shoot 2,000 meters and sometimes more. While I was there I got to shot the semi-auto, the 95, and the 99 . You would think the recoil would be terrible, but because of the design and the muzzlebreak, all the energy disperses around you. The recoil kept pushing me backwards which made staying in position between shots difficult, but you could shoot one of these all day and not feel it.