THE POWDER KEG - Temple Gun Club
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THE POWDER KEG
Officers Board of Directors
Ken Gaby - President Jason Armstrong 254-534-0739
Arthur Chaput - Vice President Arthur Chaput 254-239-7321
Don Wyatt -Secretary/Treasure Dick Dwinell 254-698-0085
Ken Gaby - Recording Secretary Ken Gaby 254-780-2025
Stephen Hammonds 254-721-0534
Membership Jeff Howard 208-741-0152
Jeff Howard – tgcmembership2@gmail.com
Erik Marshall 510-725-7499
Editors- Powder Keg Watt Taggart 254-760-4900
Dave Hamel - HAMEL484@live.com Don Wyatt 254-780-2664
Ethan Begely - chimeraofarezzo@gmail.com
Temple Gun Club TempleGunClub@gmail.com
P.O. Box 2027, Temple, TX 76503 www.TempleGunClub.com
RANGE MAINTENANCE – Aug. 31, 2021 – The grass has grown.
From the President
Construction of the protective berms for the 300 and 500 yd firing lines is scheduled
to begin Aug 16th. During the first week, the rifle firing lines on the west side of the
range will be closed.
The new covered pistol firing line will be closed while the concrete culverts are
removed. The remainder of the range will remain open. After the initial dirt is removed
in front of the rifle impact berm on the west side, the 100-200 yd firing line will be re-
opened. Construction will take approximately 2 weeks weather permitting.
Freedom – Where Do We Go Next – Ken Gaby
Since the Democratic administration has taken office on Jan 20th, it’s becoming hard to
recognize America as the land of the free. Freedoms are being removed by
administrative dictat on a weekly basis. Most recently, the Biden administration has sent
the BATF on a mission to go after gun dealers. Most likely, this will be an assault similar
to the one under the Clinton administration where dealers will be audited and any small
administrative error will result in closure and maybe arrest. This is simply an attempt to
reduce the number of dealers and harass and intimidate those that remain in business.
Funny how the Dept of Justice ( I use that term very loosely) had no problem letting
dealers violate the law when they wanted to run their Fast and Furious campaign.
If you haven’t made it your mission to bombard your elected officials at every
opportunity to vote against any proposed Bill that limits any of our freedoms, that needs
to become a high priority today. If we stay complacent and don’t stand for our
freedoms, those freedoms will be gone tomorrow. Taking a stand with keyboard and
phone is much less painful that having to fight an actual battle. Commit yourself to be a
loud voice for freedom.
www.templegunclub.com 1 Temple Gun Club, IncMy Old Gun: 1895 Nagant Gas Seal Revolver Article contributed by Ethan B. who is TGC member and co-editor of the Powder Keg. I was only 14 years old when I found her; she was an antique wheel gun sitting on a table, hastily cabled to a chain gang of modern striker fired semi-autos at a gun show in Oklahoma City. Boy that was my favorite thing about leaving California to visit family in Oklahoma or Texas! My dad always took me to a gun show and let me bring back another relic, sometimes even two... I was intrigued by her from the very beginning, years spent watching documentaries on the history channel had given me a wealth of knowledge when it came to soviet weaponry, a fascination of mine that I still maintain to this day. When I found her, I recognized her beauty and mystique right away, unbeknownst to the dealer who possessed her, this mighty warhorse had survived multiple world wars just to spend decades locked away in a dusty warehouse, deep in the Soviet Union. She wasn’t perfect, that’s for certain; whoever had cleaned off the cosmoline had abused the poor girl, the factory blue had been stripped off the barrel haphazardly. Cosmoline is a brown, viscous and foul-smelling creation, it works paraffin deep into every crevice of the gun, throughout the fire controls, barrel and cylinder. Anyone who’s ever received an antique firearm still covered in it knows exactly the pain-staking labor that is required to clean it all out. A few hours of restorative justice and she was ready to rock and roll. The hard part becomes finding the proprietary ammunition that was specifically designed to operate the weapon. The 7.62x38R cartridge is unique in the fact that the 32-caliber projectile remains recessed below the case mouth, to which a crimp is applied above the projectile. When fired in the revolver, the cylinder actually moves forward to mate with the barrel, the crimp expands as the projectile moves forward and the case mouth seals tight in the chamber. No gas is expelled along the sides of the cylinder, making this a clean and quiet revolver that won’t blow your fingers off if you leave them indexed high up on the gun. A standard revolver leaves a small gap between the cylinder and the barrel, otherwise the cylinder would not be able to freely rotate. One notable feature with the Nagant design is that the sealing of the barrel to the cylinder allows one to effectively suppress the subsonic projectile, all gas funnels directly into the baffles of the cylinder. One simply has a machinist thread the barrel up to the fixed front sight and you are ready to roll. Legend has it that the North Vietnamese effectively utilized suppressed Nagant revolvers for assassinations and that an example is maintained in the CIA museum at Langley. I have a particular love for this revolver that is centered around the history and peculiarity of its design, I would not choose to carry the weapon unless all other handguns of mine were defunct. It is not particularly powerful or generous in accuracy, with a double action trigger pull of 20 pounds! The movement of the cylinder to the www.templegunclub.com 2 Temple Gun Club, Inc
forward position requires a long and heavy trigger pull, I fire the revolver almost
exclusively in single action. I have begun reloading my previously fired brass with
modern propellant and velocity, although the process to effectively crimp the
ammunition is agonizing, at least compared to a simple 45 ACP load. I expect that I
shall pass this revolver down the line to my children someday and hopefully my
admiration for historical firearms will pass with it.
Do you have an exciting relic or classic that you would like to share? Please email the
editors of the powder keg to have it featured in the next edition.
Statistics – Got correlation…Well, so what?
We are in the silly season of 24x7 media bombardment and political shading of the facts
(or truth). This comment from a member in Temple reminds us to separate the wheat
from the chaff.
Statistics is one subject that is difficult for most of us to get excited about. It sure isn’t
as exciting as getting some trigger time at the range. However, when it comes to gun
control – and many political issues for that matter – one of the most fundamental
concepts in statistics is regularly disregarded by those seeking to take away our
rights. Therefore, it is worth taking a moment to consider the following: correlation
alone is not sufficient to prove cause and effect. Correlation essentially means that as
one measurable “thing” increases, another measurable “thing” tends to either increase
or decrease. If you were to record the amount of ice cream sold and the number of
heatstroke cases for each month in your county, you probably wouldn’t be surprised if
ice cream sales increase in the same months as heatstroke cases. There would be a
positive correlation between ice cream sales and heatstroke cases. Should you then
conclude that selling ice cream causes heatstroke? Clearly that would be ridiculous,
but that is the kind of conclusion one can come to when it is assumed that correlation
proves cause and effect. More evidence is required to support a conclusion of
causation.
When correlation alone is used to prop up an argument – especially one for gun
control – it should be called out for the fallacy that it is.
The Biden Gun Ban Plans – Oliver North | June 08, 2021
On June 08, 2021 in an editorial published in Townhall, Oliver North provided key insight
into the direction of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and its proposed new
director David Chipman. LTC North focused on June 4th ruling by Judge Roger T. Benitez
in the Southern District of California and the 94-page opinion in the case of Miller v.
Bonta. The careful wordsmithing by Judge Benitez provides memorable quotes with his
description of the “AR-15” rifle. The judge’s comment about “assault weapons” was
particularly pithy and pointed when he said, “these prohibited guns, like all guns, can be
used for ill or good. They could just as well be called home defense rifles or anti-crime
guns.” In fact, the opening sentence of the ruling included the comparison of the AR-15
to the Swiss Army knife. [Miller v. Bonta, Case No. 19-cv-1537-BEN (JLB)]
www.templegunclub.com 3 Temple Gun Club, IncThis ruling will work its way through the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and probably
further up the judicial totem pole. For your reference, a copy of the ruling is linked here
and archived in the Temple Gun Club’s online file. Read the ruling closely for reference.
Democrats Plan to Use Budget “Slush Fund” to Go After Guns
In the nationwide email blast on 20-July-2021 from the Gun Owners of America (GOA),
the organization’s members were alerted to the threats to the Second Amendment and
actions planned by the current administration in Washington.
The national leadership has not been reluctant to leak their intentions to the press. The
following are talking points taken verbatim from the GOA’s newsletter:
GUN CONTROL: If Biden can steal from COVID patients in order to implement gun
control, there is no part of the $3.5 trillion budget he cannot use for the same
purpose. GOA will ask Congress to adopt an amendment prohibiting any of the
money from being used for AR-15 bans, gun confiscation, and gun registries. We
expect virtually every Democrat to oppose our amendment. This will tell you
something.
AMNESTY: Sources within the committee tell us that the upcoming budget bill
could grant amnesty to as many as 10,000,000 illegal aliens. A Pew poll has shown
that undocumented aliens support anti-gun candidates at a rate of 8:1. So if these
become voters, America will turn anti-gun in the same way that California did when
3,000,000 illegals were given amnesty in 1986.
OBAMACARE: The $3.5 budget proposal offers a massive influx of subsidies to
buck up the ObamaCare program, which requires people’s medical history be put
into a government run database. Of course, this opens the door for the FBI to use
certain medical data to deny gun purchases. And with the government providing
insurance, doctors will increasingly be pushed to ask patients and their kids
whether they have guns. This will create a computer-retrievable, de facto gun
registry.
TAXES: Under the budget rules, if Biden wants to spend a trillion dollars, he has to
raise an offset from somewhere else. One idea that he is pushing for would
increase the corporate tax rate from 21-28%. So if taxes on your local gun store
increase by as much as 7%, who do you think is going to pay for that tax increase?
That’s right. You, the gun owner.
The administration has made it clear that he can use billions of dollars from the
previous COVID-relief legislation as a means to seize and confiscate guns. This is
precisely what anti-gun politicians in New York City are bragging about!
Voter Integrity Legislation
Regrettably, some members of the legislature have chosen to grandstand and use novel
lobbying efforts attempting to leverage their political imbalance in Austin. By fleeing to
Washington, DC with one case of Miller Lite, these folks were able to acquire six cases of
Corona. [humor intended] This accomplishment is one that the late Johnny Carson could
have used for weeks. Going maskless on the party plane seems to have bitten them in
the keister.
www.templegunclub.com 4 Temple Gun Club, IncHugh Shine, Texas State Representative for HD-55
The club was honored to have the local state legislator address the membership at the
July 2021 meeting. In the week prior to the meeting, Rep. Shine was provided with a list
of questions from the club’s leadership and asked to address those topics before moving
onto the questions from the floor. By and large, Rep. Shine accomplished his mission
and adroitly avoided stepping on anyone’s toes, including his own. Shine did provide his
perspective on taxpayer funded lobbyist legislation. Some members may have seen the
lobbying legislation differently. Since Rep. Shine did not get on the sponsorship of the
Constitution Carry legislation until midway through the session, it is clearly important to
keep the members of the legislature headed in the right direction and remind them that
voters are watching. Many “thanks” go to Watt Taggart for helping facilitate the meeting
with Rep. Shine.
Upcoming Speakers
August 2021- representative from Texas LawShield. It will be an opportunity to
refresh your understanding of your Second Amendment rights and being aware of local
laws and practices as they apply to gun ownership.
The next club meeting is Monday, 02-August-2021 at the Harris Community
Center in Belton, TX.
Monthly Range Rule Reminders
Please note the Board has updated the range rules, so the prevailing document is dated
June 14, 2021.
Temple Gun Club’s Range Rules and Safety Rules are on the website: Log-in, then click
the Members Only tab, and click Range Rules. The three-page document includes the
rules and safety standards for the facility.
Rule Reminder: Members must display TGC membership card on their person while on
the range. The targets may include paper, cardboard, and polymer material, but nothing
else.
Programs
Temple Gun Club Thursday Night Steel Match is 3 stages of family fun held from May until mid August
at Temple Gun Club Range 3924 FM 438 Loop, Temple, TX 76501. The minimum round count for the
match is 75 rounds, but always bring more in case you miss. Please make sure you arrive early for
check in. If you have any questions, please email us at tgc.practiscore@gmail.com.
Jason Armstrong, Match Director.
Tigertown 4-H Club provides a Shooting Sports activity for the youth from 3rd-
12th grades. The club’s activities and venues are as follows:
• Archery practices alternating Saturdays at 10:00 a.m. at the CWUWCD in Belton;
• Rifle practices alternating Sundays at 2:00 p.m., and the opposite Tuesdays at 6:00
p.m. at the Temple Gun Club;
• Shotgun practices Thursday evenings at 6:00 p.m. at Webers in Troy; and
• Muzzle loading practices usually precede the Sunday rifle practices, weather
permitting.
www.templegunclub.com 5 Temple Gun Club, IncThe activities are posted on FaceBook< https://www.facebook.com/tigertown4h/> and
on Bell County’s FaceBook page < https://www.facebook.com/BellCounty4H/> Barbara
Wood can provide more detailed information (woodbtwice@gmail.com or text at 254-
624-6507) Barbara has a day job, so the return call may be in the evening.
Interview of David from Bell County
About how long have you been a member of TGC? Have been a member or any other gun clubs?
Perhaps as early as 2009 - I moved here Nov 2008 and joined after I settled into the
area and became acquainted with things. I was a member of the Golden Triangle Gun
Club in Beaumont Texas during most of the 15 years I lived there 1993-Nov 2008. I
trained with the Luke AFB pistol team in 1963.
About how often do you go to the range and is it a particular day?
I don't go regularly - just as I can spare time. I do not have a particular day. Usually, I
try to go when not busy so I can do sighting in - lot of back and forth between firing
point and target
I have seen you on the rifle range. Do you use any of the other facilities? Are there any particular calibers
that you shoot and do you have a favorite?
I do some shooting at home - live in a rural area. [The interviewee indicated he has an
appropriate number of long guns and pistols. -editor]. All my guns are "favorites" -
each has a purpose.
Do you remember your first firearm? If so, do you still own it? [I still have the first two 22s that I purchased
with my own money.]
A .410 single shot Savage shotgun - Christmas present from parents when in 2nd
grade. At that time I also was allowed to shoot my mom's .22 rifle. The shotgun and a
Remington NYlon 66 were stolen from my household goods being shipped to Germany in
1964.
Have you participated in any of the competitive events? Have you or your family participated in the 4-H
shooting program?
I did "Steel Challenge" once. Would like to do more but typically don't take the time
from other activities. Never did 4-H - attended urban high school with no 4H program
What is the condition of the range when you go to the property?
Excellent, with exception of times when drainage is an issue. That is being address on
an on-going basis. I did some drainage work on east edge of range by the pistol area, to
complement what Ken Gaby did with the tractor.
Do you have any suggestions for how the property is managed or groomed for club members?
I would like to work with the Austin amateur radio club to install a MESH "local internet"
with a camera up fairly close to the rifle targets that would transmit video back to a
monitor at the rifle firing stations - would enable seeing bullet holes in targets without
spotting scope or walking/driving up to target. I have the basic parts but have never
assembled them.
www.templegunclub.com 6 Temple Gun Club, IncDo you affiliate with any of the gun or firearm lobbying groups? [GOA, NRA, etc.]. If so, has your group
kept you up to speed on the happenings in Austin and DC?
NRA, GOA, Texas Rifle Association. Yes - GOA is best.
My recollection is that we first met at a political function. Then, I recall seeing you again at the capitol in
Austin. I was there with the GOA group, but I believe you were focused on vote integrity issues. Do you have
any suggestions on how and why individuals should interact with their elected representatives? If so, why is this
important.
We must "interact" with the "elected class" because they are, with the exception of
perhaps 4 to 8 in House and 4 in the Senate, totally NOT WITH US - they have to be
"supervised". And is very hard to get them to do what is right. Look at the record of
last 2 sessions, and all before that. We occasionally get something we want - and it is
ALWAYS a result of MASSIVE phone calls, visits, and e-mails to them DEMANDING what
we want. The system is awful, we don't get much of what we went, but, we do get a few
things.
What type of airplane do you fly?
I fly an RV-6A - 2 place, cruises 150 knots, goes farther than I can sit without a pee
stop.
If there is another topic or angle you would like to chat about, please let me know.
I'd like to set up a demo/test of the video camera system and see if it would really work
to see bullet impacts.
Dues Increase: The Board of Directors has determined to raise the annual dues per
member to $150.00. The initiation fee has also been raised to $50. These increases are
effective July 1.
When you log into the Temple Gun Club website, there is a notice about the dues invoice.
Everything can be paid online and works very well. The website hosting service, Wild
Apricot, has produced a good product that supports the Temple Gun Club’s brand.
NOTICE: The club mails a small number of hard copies of the Powder Keg to members
without emails. Please notify the President or Powder Keg editor, if you would like to
continue this accommodation. The list will be updated in October 2021.
TGC Range Maintenance Posting – Pick Something and Do it
Trim weeds Other tasks
-Around all concrete -Replace/Repair target backers, as needed
-On all sides of the berms within the reach
of the trimmer The above tasks can also be accomplished
-Around all buildings and shelters before the 8 am, shoot start and after the
official sunset, shoot stop.
-Around all ground mounted signs, be careful of
the wood posts *This posting is in addition to the normal
-In the ditches along the roads, culverts, andrange maintenance day which is the last
range entry. Saturday of the month.
Please do not interrupt others shooting to perform any of these tasks.
www.templegunclub.com 7 Temple Gun Club, IncYou can also read
