The Few, The Proud, The Retired Marines

This is my nephew one day in July hanging out at my house before an Independence Day parade. Even though today, his height towers over me, this is the loveable brat I still see.
When he was out of high school, he joined the United States Marine Corps and decided to make it a career.

A little more than a year ago, when he started the countdown til having 20 years of service in (Twenty Years!!! Wow!), I decided I wanted to do something special as a gift for him to let him know I was proud of him, and to congratulate him on his retirement. Twenty years is a long time to be at the mercy of not knowing where you may be sent next and not knowing what he was going to be tasked to do once he got there. It's an impressive commitment of mammoth proportions.

I wanted the gift to come from something we have in common so every time he saw it/used it, he'd remember his ol' auntie.
I remembered back to the day I took him shooting when he was home for a visit...

We were shooting at "Zombie" targets and joked about all the zombies that needed killin'.
Not long after, he sent me these (ha!);

 I decided I wanted the gift to be... a firearm.
Not just any firearm... one blinged up with some USMC stuff.
First, I bought the rifle.
A Smith & Wesson M&P sporterized AR15

Once I started looking around, I found what I wanted to change...
I ordered these pivot pins that don't need tapped from the opposite side to get them out...they're knurled so you just grab and pull. Plus a little EGA (Eagle Globe & Anchor) bling;

I knew he liked the Infidel thing, because a year or so back I bought the last shirt with that on it from G.I. Joe's store and when I posted a picture of it, he asked me if I could get one for him to match the patches on his gear. I sent it to him.

I knew I'd have to put something with that on this rifle.
I found it! An extended magazine release...too cool!

Things were starting to come together when I found a case just like mine, but in digital camo instead of black. I love that case...it's SUPER dense foam with roomy pockets and that ballistic weave water-resistant stuff. It's awesome!

When I went to the Air Force museum in July, I picked up a pull tab for the zipper.
You aviation bugs know ;)

It was getting to the point that I couldn't contain my secret. I was really excited all of it was starting to come together! I started telling people, but with the caveat that they keep their mouths shut...especially on Facebook...so none of my family would find out and accidentally let the secret slip. I think half the state knew I was working on this...but nobody in my family! I asked questions on forums about switching out the pieces and got info/advice from customers at the store where I work...tons of other people knew! Hahaha!

A friend of mine was getting into a company that was making these cleaning kits that fit in a leak-proof mag shaped slider box, and they fit in the mag pouch of your case... this is one of the few prototypes, and he gave it to me to include with the rifle accessories I was starting to get gathered up.

Probably the sneakiest thing I had to do was ordering what was laser-engraved on the charge handle spine.
There were SO MANY quotes to pick from... I'm a fan of all those Chesty Puller quotes. And many of them would have fit perfectly. I ended up telling my nephew that I was changing a rifle for someone (true) who was already a retired (not so true) Marine (true), and if he was doing it for himself, what would he get on his own? He said "Once a Marine, Always a Marine".
Done!!
I ordered it...and waited and waited and waited.
There were a couple issues and I thought for sure this was going to do me in time-wise.
But JUST in the nick of time...it arrived!

Charge handle in!
With the help of a co-worker who had all the AR smithing tools;
EGA pivot pins in! Over-sized Infidel mag release in!
It was looking good coming together and not a moment too soon!

The day was fast approaching when he was going to come visit me for "breakfast out" and to pick up his present. This is where I decided to be a little evil. Mwuahaha...
I purchased a range pass for him to the place where I'd taken him to shoot. It's good for one year.
I put it in a "congrats" card and then I bought one of these bouncing targets that re-seal themselves so they can take hit after hit, into the thousands, from everything from .17 to 50 cal!

I put the target in a box and wrapped it up with THIS paper. Not even kidding. HeeHee

When I showed him the box, I kept saying how excited he was going to be and how much he was going to love this present...I clapped my hands and said "Open it!Open it!OPEN it!!"...
When he did, I said "Isn't that great?? A re-sealing target and a year at the range! How awesome is THAT?!"
He smiled and nodded and said it was pretty awesome.
I asked if it was a good retirement gift and he said "yes"...
Awww...what a good kid!
I let him off the hook...sort of! I said, "That's not your real present. This is..." and I pulled the cardboard Smith & Wesson box out of the hall closet. But then I said, "Don't be thinking there's an actual gun in there...I work in a store where I can just get the boxes, you know?"
He said, "Oh,yeah...I know. There's not a gun in there, I'm sure."
But then there was.
His eyes were kind of saucers at that point and he said (not even kidding) "Uh...is it REAL?"
Is. It. Real.
HA HA HA!!!
I told him it was indeed real, and that it would probably be best to get a case for it and cleaning stuff and some extra mags and ammo...but then I pulled out the case and accessories and such.

I said "Show me your WAR FACE!!"
It's kind of smiley for a War Face, but I'll take it!

Like a BOSS!
Love that kid.

If it hadn't been pouring buckets of rain, we'd have run to the range.
Well...that just gives him a reason to come back and spend another day making his crazy ol' auntie happy.
Congrats on 20 years, Marine.
You made your whole family proud.
Semper Fi.

I know, I know, I know. Shaddap.

Yes, those are 1911 grips.
Yes, that is glitter.

Idiot Scratch

Oh, just click it.


Yeah, that ^.

I'm Putting an End to it Right Now!

I love making those posters! lol :D

The heat...it made me crazy.

The temp thingy on my page here says 106°F. Ugh.. It's freakin' hot. Spent about five hours walking around in it (shopping with my favorite cousin)... it baked my brain and I bought some Elton John sunglasses. I never buy bling. It's not really me. 

I blame it on heatstroke and sunblock poisoning(475Gazillion SPF).

Even my hair looks wilted! 

1911 Lurve

Just cuz. :)

Mistaken Identity

Just so happens, I'm not the only one of my shootin' peeps who happens to own MidwayUSA's "Shooter Competition Bag".
It looks like this:

I decided I was gonna solve the potential problem of "mix ups", at least from my end.
None of the guys will get confused and pick up MY bag now.
First pink primers...now this;

Now, I know you're probably saying "Well, maybe the bags won't get mixed up... but what about the brass bag?"
Got that covered, too.

A Good Day To Burn Powder

*BONUS EDIT*
I was invited to go shooting by the guy who bought a GSG and let me shoot it first...remember that?
Anyhow, I said, "well, the forecast is calling for rain..."
The reply was, "Are you afraid your candy ass is gonna melt?!!?
I thought, "Oh, it's ON now!" but knew if I didn't do well, I would never live it down. Seriously. :P
So we met at a range that had some sort of qualifications going on for the cops...and decided to try a different range. My range. At least I was on "home turf". HA.
So here's a pic in lieu of an ARR (I took the left, he took the right);


OH, and by the way...there were 2 tight groups between our two plates and one on top of the right side. These were done by this fellow playing "chase the bullet", and the one between our 2 plates was done with him shooting my S&W22.

Txt Convo

Me: Where my O.G.s at?!
MiniMe: Mom, ur so lame.
Me: That did not sound like a holla.
MiniMe: I ain't no holla back girl.

Breakfast With The Grim Reaper

That's what it probably looks like...
Mr.Chaos tends to get his hair cut super short when he goes to the barber. This morning (as well as many others recently) was still below freezing temps, and the programmable thermostat hadn't kicked in for the set time yet, creating a chilly house.
Mr.Chaos was sitting across from me at the dining room table eating breakfast in front the big window... It was cold out there. He was wearing an all black sweatshirt and decided to put the hood up over his nearly shaved head. But it's not one of those fitted hoods, so it came off looking sort of Emperor-ish.
Passersby would have been amused...or frightened...
My oatmeal needs warmed up!!

Things are not always as they seem.

Mr.Jet took the day off because I had the day off...
He took me to lunch and then we just bummed around Ft.Wayne.
One of the things we like to do is hit the thrift stores. He likes looking through the books and junk and I just kind of wander around until something catches my eye that I didn't know I couldn't live without.

I never look through stuff like purses and such... because I don't carry one.
However...

Something caught my eye that gave me a good idea.
I saw this neat purse that had a roomy interior, big expandable side pockets, a zipper pouch inside, and lots of divided sections sewn into the inside walls.

Upon seeing this, most chicks might think "Zippered pouch = keys/wallet/phone security at the mall."
CLOSE. It's "keys/wallet/phone security at the range."

They might think; "expandable side pockets for sunglasses, camera, novel, gloves..."
No.
It's "expandable pockets for electronic earmuffs, shooting glasses, stapler, 1st aide kit, PatchWorm."

They might say; "inside divided sections for pens, paper, nail files, hair barrettes, chewing gum"
No.
It's "inside divided sections for magazines, small ammo boxes, speed loaders, chewing gum."

Now you might think this set me back a pretty penny...
but it just so happened that we landed there on some kind of "everything is half off" day.

My coolio impromptu chick range bag...
cost a whole dollar.

It's Not Silly Putty.

Today's Date: 1911

For all you 1911 lovers on 1-9-11...

Just Spreading Some TSA Christmas Cheer...

Thanks to RonSC from RimfireCentral.com for the find!

Reloading - It's for girls.

Huh. Who knew? *shrug*

Who knew this song was about a Rock Island Armory 1911 Commander?

New Hawtness

Shotgun traded off? Check.
Employee discount? Check.
New lurve purchased today and dragged to the range?
CHECK!!! (Even let MiniMe shoot, because she brass-dawg'd for me)

Enjoy the awesomeness that I now bestow upon you for your viewing pleasure...
You may click for embiggenation!

More Sunday Statues

My aunt came for dinner last night and afterward we drove to a city where other statues like these were on loan again.
I didn't take pictures of many...









But decided goofiness was in definite order!
So we had some fun with it...




And for those of you who did NOT believe me when I said that I walked up behind a cop writing a ticket...a grabbed his sidearm without so much as a flinch from him...
Suck it! :-D