I love shooting. I’ll shoot any gun, any time. But not everyone shares my passion. And last weekend, I had planned for some of my friends to come shoot their .22s with me, but the wind got in the way.
I don’t mind stepping outside to shoot, even in gale-force winds. I may not stay out as long when it’s cold and windy, but I’ll go. However, when you’re taking kids out to shoot, you can’t expect them to enjoy themselves when the wind is picking up pea-sized gravel and blowing it straight into their faces.
That’s a bummer, too, because I was ready last weekend. A friend of mine was bringing his grandsons to shoot their .22 rifles at my backyard shooting range. I had my own .22s oiled up, and I had several boxes of ammo laid out. Next to the ammo was a pile of ready-mixed Tannerite .22 targets. The .22 version of Tannerite is different from the original formula, because the regular stuff won’t explode when it’s hit by a .22. It takes a certain speed of impact to detonate, and a .22 can’t go fast enough to set it off.
So I had made a special trip to find the .22 targets, and I had spent the time to mix the two parts of it together. That’s the other thing about Tannerite. You can buy it legally, because it’s not pre-mixed. You have to combine the parts to activate it, but even after you do, it won’t explode without a high-velocity impact.
I’m not worried that it’ll go off, because it’s really stable, but I can’t leave it in my gun safe for long. It’s like having an extra twenty-dollar bill in your pocket. You can’t leave it there long before you just have to blow it.
So I hope the weather holds for a while, and I hope my young friends can make it out before long. Of course, I know where I can get more Tannerite. That’s the easy part. The hard part will be finding more .22 ammo.
