Gun Blogger Rendezvous

2011-12-26T10:33:00.001-08:00

The contract is now signed for the 2012 Gun Blogger Rendezvous. The dates will be September 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th of September. This is the second week in September, as usual. It is also the same weekend as the Reno Balloon Races.

The Rendezvous will be at the Silver Legacy Resort and Casino in Reno, where it's been for the last few years. We will be moving a few doors over to a larger Hospitality Room, but only a few doors away from where we were last year. The new location has the possibility of opening up into a larger size, which allows us some growth area for the future. Plans are to follow the basic schedule of last year's Rendezvous, but there will also be a few changes, and possibly some new things too, but it's still; way too early in the planning stages to make any announcements about that.

Every year I get a few emails asking why the Rendezvous can't be held on a different weekend, as that weekend conflicts with (fill in the blank). Reno has some sort of major event going on almost every weekend, and hotel prices vary widely depending on the demand for rooms. The week after the Rendezvous is the Reno Air Races, for example, and it's tough to get a room at all, let alone a group of rooms at a discount. Later in the month the weather starts getting colder, and it starts getting miserable at the ranges when we go shooting. Earlier in the year it seems that just about everyone is busy just about every weekend. In short, we are on the dates we're on because it's the best compromise, taking all the different factors in to account. If the dates happen to conflict with something for you, we're sorry about that, but there isn't a single day in the year that doesn't conflict with something for somebody, so we try to pick the best possible dates we can get.

Someone always asks "Why not put the Rendezvous in (his home town)? ", or "Why not move it around to a different city every year, like the NRA Convention?" The short answer is that it's an amazing amount of work to put on an event like the Rendezvous, and where the NRA has a good sized staff on the payroll to organize the convention, the GBR has only an unpaid staff of KeeWee and I, along with the much appreciated help of a few blogger volunteers. To move to a different city means re-inventing just about every detail, and moving it every year means starting almost from scratch every year, and that's way more work than I can handle.

We all hope that the Gun Blogger Rendezvous dates will work into your schedule and that we'll see you in Reno in September. If you've never been to the GBR, perhaps this is the year to give it a try! We always have a grand time, and for spouses not so interested in the gunny side of the Rendezvous, there's also lots of other things in Reno to see and do, so come to Reno in September, and have a ball!

Rendezvous Raises over $8,000!

2011-09-25T20:33:00.000-07:00

We've just about got all of the accounting finished up, thanks to the help of Barrett Escrow, and it looks like the Gun Blogger Rendezvous raised about $6,000 for Project Valour-IT. Added to that is the yet to be determined amount being raised by SIG's generous donation of a SIG 1911, custom engraved with the Soldier's Angels logo, currently being auctioned off at Gunbroker.com. At the moment the price on it is $2,075, and there's still time for it to go even higher. Although the Gunbroker auction didn't happen at the Rendezvous, it was a direct result of SIG Sauer's participation in the Rendezvous as a sponsor, so I think it's OK to count it in there. Regardless, it's more money raised for Soldier's Angels and Project Valour-IT, so it's definitely good news!

Hospitality Room Change

2011-09-08T14:03:00.000-07:00

There has been a last minute room change for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous Hospitality room. We are now using the Silver Baron "E" room instead of the Silver Baron "C". It is just a couple of doors over, and there is a Gun Blogger Rendezvous sign outside the door.

Otis Technologies To Sponsor Rendezvous

2011-09-05T19:44:00.000-07:00

Otis Technologies, maker of some very fine cleaning kits, will be sponsoring the Saturday breakfast at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous. In addition, they will also be contributing one of their Elite Cleaning Kits to the Project Valour-IT Fund Raising Raffle at the Rendezvous.

Otis Elite Gun Cleaning Kit.

Here's the full description of the Elite kit:

The most innovative gun cleaning system in the Otis line of products is the Otis Elite®.

Suitable for an armorer but used by thousands, the Otis Elite® is designed to maintain all rifles .17 to .50 caliber, pistols .17 to .50 caliber, shotguns .410 to 12/10 gauge, and all in-line muzzleloaders. The Otis Elite® contains the world famous item #750 Tactical Cleaning System, and the entire line of bronze bore and chamber cleaning brushes from .17 caliber through 12/10 gauge.

Also included in this extensive cleaning system are six Memory-Flex® cleaning rods, an all purpose nylon receiver brush, a T-handle bar, three slotted tips, obstruction removers, small and large Patch Savers®, a bore reflector/flag safety, small caliber and all-caliber 100% cotton patches, and two .5 oz. tubes of Otis O85® Ultra Bore® Solvent.
All of the components are neatly stored in a black nylon, rust proof case which includes a lock and keys for additional security. The Otis Elite® now includes the brass scraper tool set, optics cleaning gear and an interactive instructional DVD. With over 40 gun cleaning components, detailed gun maintenance guide, and a lifetime warranty, the Otis Elite® is the Hallmark of Excellence in firearm maintenance.

To say that this kit is pretty nice is like saying the Pope tends to be a bit religious!
Come to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, buy a raffle ticket, and this Otis Elite kit could follow you home!

See you in Reno.................

Appleseed Project At The Rendezvous

2011-09-01T15:26:00.000-07:00

More great news from GG at Girls Love Guns!I've always thought it would be great to attend one of the Appleseed rifle clinics, and maybe this will be the incentive to finally do it!

The following has been "borrowed" from GG's blog:

HawkHavn of Appleseed has agreed to send Gun Blogger Rendezvous FREE APPLESEED gift certificates. We will be passing them out to all of those who have registered to attend GBR at the Saturday night shin dig. Whoohoo!

HawkHavn will also be sending free targets (who doesn’t love free targets?) as well as Appleseed brochures and business cards. I hope every GBR blogger uses this opportunity to learn about RWVA and its Appleseed program and to attend a free Appleseed shoot. These shoots are amazing.

Still Time To Attend The Rendezvous

2011-09-01T08:36:00.001-07:00

There is still time to get your registration in and to attend this year's Gun blogger Rendezvous, but it starts next Thursday, September 8th., so you need to get hopping! If you send your registration Priority Mail (or FEDEX) today or tomorrow, I should get it in time to get you in. If not, or if it only becomes possible to attend at the very last minute, you can still get in. Download and print out your registration and bring it, along with your $30 / per person to the Rendezvous and give it to me directly, and I'll get you in. The Rendezvous is not full to capacity, and one way or another, if you show up, we'll get you in.

2011 Gun Blogger Rendezvous Registration Form

Hotel accommodations group rate pricing "Officially" ended 30 days before the first day of the Rendezvous, but they have been very good about honoring the group rate at the last minute, provided they have the room available. Be sure to contact them right away and give them the group code.

To reserve your room, give them a call at the Silver Legacy at 1-800-687-8733 and give them the Gun Blogger rendezvous Group Code of GBLOG11. When you are making your reservation, you might ask them if you can get a room that faces McCarran Park, so you can watch the hot air balloons from your window.

See you in Reno!

Driving Directions to Ranges at Rendezvous

2011-08-30T18:04:00.000-07:00

NOTE: The directions last year weren't very good, and we have re-written them this year to make the route more direct. HOWEVER, until we have one of the Reno Residents verify these directions, they are still only tentative. If there are any changes needed, we will post the changes as soon as we know what to change. The final directions will be available at the Rendezvous.

Driving Directions from Hotel to Washoe County Regional Shooting Facility – Pyramid Range Friday for long Range Rifle and Pistol, Saturday for Steel Challenge Pistol shooting.

Start at (Silver Legacy) 407 N VIRGINIA ST, RENO going toward E 5TH ST - go 0.3 mi
0.3 Turn RIGHT (East) onto E Maple St 131 yds
0.4 Take Ramp onto I-80
Take SR-445 [Pyramid Lake Hwy] exit towards Pyramid Lake
Follow road towards Pyramid Lake. Watch for sign to range.
26.8 (Approx.) Turn LEFT (West) onto Local road(s) 0.7 mi
27.5 Turn RIGHT (North-East) onto Local road(s) 43 yds
27.6 Arrive Range

SUMMARY
Driving distance: 27.6 miles; Trip duration: 31 minutes Driving time: 31 minutes

On Friday we will be shooting at the covered Public Shooting range area. On Saturday we will be at the Western Nevada Pistol League pistol bays. These bays are part of the same facility. The pistol bays are in the same area, but to the right of the public shooting area, down a dirt road.

The Pyramid Range

Driving Directions from Hotel to the Sage Hills Gun Club for Cowboy Fast Draw on Sunday.

On Sunday we will be shooting Cowboy Fast Draw at the Sage Hills Gun Club Range in Reno. 7370 Desert Way, Reno, NV. Sage Hill Clay Sports is located on the southeastern flank of the Washoe County basin, overlooking the city of Reno and its southernmost suburbs.

The club is easy to find if you follow our directions and not those of any online mapping service or your vehicle's navigation, its driving directions will dead-end you on the wrong street.

Follow these instructions instead:

Start at (Silver Legacy) 407 N VIRGINIA ST, RENO going toward E 5TH ST - go 0.3 mi
0.3 Turn RIGHT (East) onto E Maple St 131 yds
0.4 Take Ramp onto I-80 1.1 mi I-80
1.5 At exit 15, turn RIGHT onto Ramp 0.2 mi US-395 / Susanville / Carson City
1.7 Take Ramp (LEFT) onto US-395 1.3 mi US-395 / Susanville
From the 395, exit at Damonte Ranch Parkway and drive EAST.
Turn LEFT onto Steamboat Parkway.
Turn LEFT onto Rio Wrangler.
Follow Rio Wrangler onto the access road and into the shooting facility (we're up on the hill above you).

Tentative Schedule For The Rendezvous

2011-08-30T17:43:00.001-07:00

Wednesday, September 7th.

6:00 Pm. For those arriving on Wednesday, KeeWee and I and some of the other early arrivals are planning on having dinner at the El Dorado Buffet Restaurant. The El Dorado is part of the same giant casino complex as the Silver Legacy and the Circus Circus.

Thursday, September 8th

8:30 am. Leave the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron C” Hospitality Room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.
2:15 pm. Leave the Hospitality Room to car pool to Cabela’s.
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm. Guided tour Cabela’s and browsing/shopping. Pick up munchies and soft drinks on way back to hotel. Buy ammo?
6:00pm. Leave the Hospitality Room to go to dinner. Location to be determined later.
Thursday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Friday, September 9th.

8:00am. NRA Sponsored breakfast in the Silver Baron “C” hospitality room. California firearms Attorney Chuck Michel will be talking to us over breakfast.
9:00am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, the Pyramid range for rifle and pistol target shooting out to 900 yards.
9:45am – 2:00pm. At the range.
4:00pm. – 5:45pm. Show-N-Tell at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Manufacturers and show new stuff, and attendees show neat things too!
6:00pm. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to go to Gecko’s BBQ Restaurant for dinner sponsored by GunUp.com.
7:30pm. (Approx) Alan Gura informally discusses legal stuff.
Friday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Saturday, September 10th.

8:00am. Otis Technologies sponsored Breakfast in the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron C" Hospitality room.
9:00am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, the Pyramid range for an introduction to Steel Challenge Action Pistol shooting and more.
9:45am – 2:00pm. At the range.
5:00pm – 6pm. Bill Brassard of the National Shooting Sports Foundation
6:00 pm. NSSF all you can eat pizza feed at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. After dinner will be the fund raiser raffle for Project Valour-IT and the drawings for the door prizes.
Saturday Evening until Midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Sunday, September 11th.

8:00am. Leave the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron C" Hospitality room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.
9:00am. Leave for the Cowboy Fast Draw Blogger Match.
10:00am – 1pm Cowboy Fast Draw Shooting with Quick Cal Eilrich.

The Cowboy Fast Draw shooting will be the last scheduled event of the Gun Blogger Rendezvous. For those not leaving until Monday however, there are still lots of things to do. Virginia city is nearby (you are already part way there at the Fast Draw venue), the Reno Car Museum, and the river walk through downtown Reno are all recommended. There may also be shows available for Sunday night of interest.

As you can see from the schedule, there is not a lot of time extra throughout the day, so we need to try to keep as close to on schedule as we can manage, otherwise it makes it difficult to have enough time for all of the activities. Although the conversations in the evenings tend to go well into the night, I would suggest not staying up too late, as you will regret it as the Rendezvous goes on!

Pro Ears at The Rendezvous

2011-08-30T15:05:00.000-07:00

I just got an email from Pro Ears (IMHO the BEST dynamic hearing protectors money can buy) and they are really stepping up to the plate with their sponsorship of the Gun Blogger Rendezvous and our fund raising efforts for Soldier's Angels and Project Valour-IT.

First, they will be giving a set of Ultra 33 hearing protectors to the first 35 attendees to register for and attend the Gun Blogger Rendezvous.

Pro Ears Ultra 33 Hearing Protectors

Second, they will be bringing bags of “stuff”, including stickers, DVD’s with images and videos, spec sheets, and more, for all registered attendees.

Third, they will have a gift promo code worth $50 at Proears.com, for all registered attendees.

Fourth, they will be donating 1 set of Pro Ears Pro Tac Mag Gold hearing protectors (MSRP $329.95) to the raffle.

Fifth, they will be bringing sample Pro Tac Mag Golds for all to try-about 3 or 4 sets—on the range.

Sixth, Charles Ricci, co-owner of Pro Ears, will be attending the Gun Blogger Rendezvous in person, and bringing some interesting stories about pro ears and hearing protection.

Charlie did mention that he wouldn't be bringing any of his guns, though, but I think we can find a few interesting things for him to shoot, don't you think?

Lucky Gunner Sponsors GBR-VI

2011-08-29T14:46:00.001-07:00

The good folks at Lucky Gunner are contributing a $100 Gift Certificate to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous for our Fund Raising Raffle.

In addition, they have set up a special discount code for $15 off of any purchase of $150 or more. They would like for the GBR attendees to share this special on their blogs as an exclusive deal for event participants and their blog following to enjoy.

Here are the details:

$15 off an order of $150 or more on LuckyGunner.com
Good for 1 use per customer
Expires this September 30th, 2011
Discount code: GBR-2011

Need ammo? check it out!

History Channel & Top Shot Sponsor The Rendezvous

2011-08-25T09:01:00.000-07:00

When I was going over the list of sponsors, I knew I'd probably forget someone, and sure enough, I missed one of our newest Gun Blogger Rendezvous sponsors, The History Channel and the Top Shot Program.

I'm sure most of you are already watching Top Shot, but if you somehow missed it, it's a really enjoyable program. I watch almost no television at all, with the exception of the Top Shot show, and I've seen every episode of Top Shot from the very first one.

If you've missed the previous episodes, you can watch them on your computer by going to the Top Shot website. That's cool, since you can watch certain segments more than once, as I do!

Rendezvous Supporters & Sponsors

2011-08-24T08:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a list of all the great sponsors and supporters who make the Gun Blogger Rendezvous possible.

Brownell's
Cabela's Reno
Cowboy Fast Draw Association
Crimson Trace
Front Sight Training Institute
GLOCK
GunUp
Leupold
Lucky Gunner Ammo
Midway USA
National Rifle Association
National Shooting Sports Foundation
The Packing Rat
Palomino Valley Gun CLub
Para-USA
Pro-Ears
Sage Hill Reno Rustlers
Smallest Minority
Springfield Armory
Sturm, Ruger, and Co.
Weatherby
Western Nevada Pistol League
Woolrich Tactical
SIG SAUER
J. Dewey Mfg.
Otis
The History Channel/Top Shot
Magnum Shooters Supply

I certainly hope I haven't forgotten any of the great sponsors and supporters for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, but if you see someone I've left out, please leave me a comment and I'll get it fixed right away!

Thanks to True Blue Sam for pulling most of this list together for us!

Chuck Michel To Speak at The Rendezvous

2011-08-15T19:14:00.000-07:00

Chuck Michel is the California attorney who represented the high school kid who was expelled from school for having his shotgun in his pickup truck that was parked off campus when he was in school as he had been duck hunting before going to school. Chuck got the lad back into school, recovered the legal costs, and the entire incident removed from the school records.

Chuck works with the NRA on firearms and Second Amendment cases in California. Chuck is planning on attending the NRA Breakfast on Friday morning at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, and hopefully, will be able to spend some time with us in the Hospitality room socializing!

If you have considered attending the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, this is definitely the year to be there. You don't have to be a blogger to attend, either. The Rendezvous is open to not only the Gun Bloggers, but to everyone who has similar interests, including industry folks, the NRA, The National Shooting Sports Foundation, competition shooters, and more. There will be attendees from New York, New Jersey, Ohio, and all over the United States.

We need a few more folks attending, just to fill it out to a nice comfortable size, without it getting to big and impersonal.

The Rendezvous is an event like no other, and if you miss it, you are going to kick yourself, particularly once you read the write-ups after the Rendezvous is over and find out what you missed!

So,

The 2011 Rendezvous will be September 8th, 9th, 10th, & 11th, 2011 at the Silver Legacy in Reno, NV. It's not too late to register and make your reservations.

Don't forget, all the money we raise at the Rendezvous goes to help injured military folks through Soldier's angels and Project Valour-IT.

Win A Ruger SR9C at the Rendezvous!

2011-08-08T19:09:00.001-07:00

CORRECTION: Ruger is donating a SR9C (Compact) rather than a SR9B. Even cooler!!

The great folks at Ruger have come through big time in helping the Gun Blogger Rendezvous in our fund raising efforts for Soldier's Angels and Project Valour-IT. Ruger is donating a Ruger SR9C for our raffle. The SR9 series are a hot item right now, and I'm sure they can sell every one they can make, just as fast as they can make them!

WIN ME AT THE RENDEZVOUS

Yes, there is a little fine print, but here's the short version.

You must be able to legally own this gun to win it.
If you can't legally own it, for any reason, you have made a contribution to Project Valour-IT, but you don't win anything.
No substitutions.
You cannot give your ticket to someone else.
The name on the ticket must be the name of someone who can legally own this gun, else no gun.
No Exceptions.
You must present at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous at the time of the drawing to win.
All decisions are final.

More News and Sponsors

2011-08-07T22:32:00.001-07:00

I've got so much new and interesting things going on regarding the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, I haven't been able to keep up with it all. There are going to be some new and fun things going on at the range on Friday and Saturday, along with the regular activities like in previous years. Weatherby and SIG SAUER are combining their efforts on the new activities.

Weatherby will be donating a new shotgun to the Project Valour-IT Fund Raising raffle, and Ruger is also donating a new pistol to the raffle. Dewey, makers of fine quality gun cleaning kits and rods, will be a new sponsor this year. Leupold will be adding a beautiful new scope to the raffle too. Pro Ears will be also sponsoring this year, and also letting us play with their hearing protectors at the range. We will be able to buy them at a very special Rendezvous price, if we find one we like.

This is just some of the highlights, but I've been so busy I haven't had time to really get posts up about all of the neat things going on for this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous.

If you don't go this year, I GUARANTEE you are going to kick yourself.

It's going to be amazing.

Hope to see you there!

Woolrich Joins Rendezvous as Sponsor

2011-07-19T08:24:00.000-07:00

I just got an email informing me that Woolrich will not only be sponsoring this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous, but that their sponsorship will be the donation of between $800 and $1,000 worth of really cool clothing!

Here's the email from Allen Forkner:

Woolrich Elite Series Tactical wants to keep you in comfortable concealed carry clothing for a year.

Woolrich Elite is donating an “Elite for a Year” package to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous prize table. The winner of this will receive one Elite Series Tactical item every month for the next 12 months. This includes new products slated to be unveiled at the 2012 SHOT Show.

A leader in military and law enforcement tactical wear, Woolrich Elite Series is taking advantage of its traditional sportswear catalog to develop concealed carry products for the responsible citizen. These products deliver all the tactical utility, without the heavy tactical look.

Items such as the Elite Concealed Carry Chino, the Elite Discreet Carry Short-Sleeve Shirt or the Elite Discreet Carry Twill Jacket are designed to meet the needs of concealed carry.

See more at www.woolricheliteseriestactical.com or visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/woolricheliteseriestactical.com

Would I look good in that, or what?

Always need shirts......

Even the pants are cool!

If you have never been to a Gun Blogger rendezvous, then this is the year to be there! Many thousands of dollars of neat things including guns, training, clothing, and lots more will be raffled off to folks attending the Rendezvous. There will also be a whole lot of swag for door prizes too.

Lots of bloggers that you probably already read will be there, and some other interesting folks too. You don't have to be a blogger to attend, either! It will be the Gun Blogger Event of the Year, so get your reservations in NOW, as it's less than eight weeks away!

What is Project Valour-IT?

2011-07-14T12:19:00.001-07:00

All of the money we can raise at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous goes to Project Valour-IT, a division of soldier's Angels.

What exactly is Project Valour-IT? Let's let Maj. Chuck Ziegenfuss, the founder and first recipient, explain it:

Chuck has attended some of the Gun Blogger Rendezvous' in the past, but now that he's stationed in Hawaii, it's a bit far to travel for him. There WILL be someone at this year's Rendezvous representing Project Valour-IT, and although specifically who it will be has not been confirmed, it's going to be someone you will enjoy meeting if you are there!

Get your registrations in ASAP. You don't want to miss out on all the fun!

A hat tip to True Blue Sam for showcasing Chuck's video!

2011-06-23T16:16:00.000-07:00

More great news! At this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous, coming up in mid-September in Reno, GunUp.com will be hosting our dinner on Friday night. We plan on going to the truly spectacular Buffet Dinner at the El Dorado hotel, part of the complex where the Gun Blogger Rendezvous is held. GunUp

CEO Dan Hall is planning on being there in person, and there's a good chance Caleb Giddings, who now works for GunUp, will also be there. No decision has been made yet as to if any of the GunUp Pro Staff and shooting team will be there. If you would like to meet Kelly Bachand (from the first year of Top Shot), Molly Smith, or James Austin in person, drop Dan an email at dan@gunup.com and let him know.

While you're at it, you might mention how much we appreciate the support for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous from GunUp!

GLOCK Donates Gun To Rendezvous

2011-05-09T10:41:00.001-07:00

Great news for our fund Raising efforts at this year's Gun blogger rendezvous! GLOCK will be donating a GLOCK pistol certificate for our fund-raising raffle. This certificate will be good for a new basic model GLOCK of your choice. For a small upgrade fee, you can also step up to the fancier models. We will have all of the raffle rules available before you buy any tickets at the Rendezvous, but the new GLOCK will be won by someone actually attending the Rendezvous, so you must be present to win!

A big thanks to GLOCK, and particularly to Randi Rogers (El Supremo Lady Shooter!) at GLOCK for arranging the details for us. Maybe someday Randi will be able to join us at the Rendezvous......

Pro-Ears To Co-Sponsor Gun Blogger Rendezvous

2011-04-16T12:03:00.001-07:00

I have always liked the Pro Ears hearing protectors, I've used their products for years, and the people that own and operate the company are really nice folks too. Pro Ears is an American owned company, and their products are built right here in the US of A, too!

I recently received an email from Charles Ricci, co-owner of the company, telling me that both he and his partner are planning to attend this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous. Pro Ears will be donating a $329.00 set of electronic hearing protectors to the raffle, and they will be bringing other promotional items too, for door prizes. On top of that, they will be bringing a number of the top of the line Pro Ears Hearing protectors for us to try out at the range days, and if we like them, we can buy them at the end of the Rendezvous at a HUGE discount!

This year's Rendezvous is going to be amazing!

Alan Gura at This Year's Rendezvous

2011-04-14T18:32:00.001-07:00

Alan Gura and some of the "Usual suspects" at the
2009 Gun Blogger rendezvous. That's Alan in the black shirt.

In 2009 at the Gun blogger Rendezvous we were fortunate to have Alan Gura as an attendee. Alan's schedule was tight, and he wasn't able to be there for the entire Rendezvous. Alan's insights on the Heller decision, the not-yet-decided McDonald decision, and the state of Second Amendment issues was well worth the trip all by itself!

This year, Alan is going to do his best to be there again at the Rendezvous, subject to scheduling, of course.

Here's a quote from Alan's email:

"Thanks so much again for your generous invitation. I'd be happy to attend as much of the get together as I can. I'll block off that time on my calendar and avoid setting things for those days. The final details will have to wait. As you may know this is an extraordinarily busy time in the 2A litigation business.."

I have also received information that another 2A attorney who has been doing some excellent high-profile work in California is also making plans to attend. We should be able to make an announcement on this very soon.

This September's Gun Blogger Rendezvous is going to blow the doors off of previous year's Rondy's, with new faces, new sponsors, higher involvement from our previous sponsors, and of course, the usual suspects there too! It looks like there will also be several well known folks from the shooting sports world, and more announcements will be coming soon on those folks, too!

We have already contacted the Silver Legacy about getting a bigger meeting room. Before we commit to that, though, we need to get some sort of idea as to how many are planning on attending. If we wait too long, the larger room will be taken by someone else, and then we will have to set a cut-off number for attendees to be able to use the room like we used last year.

If you are planning on attending, please send in your Rendezvous Registrations right away. If you are pretty sure you are going to be there but not sure enough to register yet, send me an email and let me at least get your name on the list of those hoping to be there.

2011 Gun Blogger Rendezvous Registration Form

Thanks!

Time To Make Your Silver Legacy Reservations

2011-04-12T13:39:00.001-07:00

It's already time to think about getting your Silver Legacy room reservations in for this September's Gun Blogger Rendezvous. We have reserved a block of rooms, and in doing so, we have also get free room WiFi for you, and the use of the Hospitality Room at no charge for the entire Rendezvous.

The Single/Double rate for Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday nights is $59.00 per night, and the weekend rate for Friday and Saturday nights is $119.00 per night. That's for single OR double occupancy, so there is no extra charge for a second person. Yes, they do tack on some extra taxes and fees, just like everywhere else.


A Room at the Silver Legacy in Reno.

To reserve your room, give them a call at the Silver Legacy at 1-800-687-8733 and give them the Gun Blogger rendezvous Group Code of GBLOG11. When you are making your reservation, you might ask them if you can get a room that faces McCarran Park, so you can watch the hot air balloons from your window. The earlier you book your room, the better chance of getting a room facing that way.

The Gun Blogger Rendezvous is September 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th. A number of us show up on Wednesday, though, and don't leave town until Monday morning, the 12th.

If you've never made it to the Rendezvous, perhaps this is the year!

See you in Reno!!!

Rendezvous Registration

2011-03-31T18:32:00.000-07:00

This year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous, scheduled for September 8, 9, 10, & 11th. at the Silver Legacy Hotel & Casino, is going to be even bigger and better than last year. The plans are for most of the events to follow the way it was last year, with some new things, new sponsors, new faces, and other good things thrown in.

I will be soon making an announcement about a person planning on attending who you will definitely want to meet! (No, no word from Sarah Palin, but one never knows....)

I can tell you already that this is not the sort of thing where you will have much chance to catch up on your sleep! Also going on the same weekend as the Gun Blogger Rendezvous will be the Reno Balloon Races. Watching over 200 hot air balloons in the air at the same time, and from your hotel window, is something to see! The park where they launch the balloons is really close to the hotel, so you get quite a view.

To get your registration in, click the link to download the Registration Form, fill it out, and mail it in, along with your check. If you have a few extra bucks to donate to Project Valour-IT along with your Registration, there's a place on the Registration form for that, too.

2011 Gun Blogger Rendezvous Registration Form

Next week I will be posting all of the information on how to book your hotel room at the Silver Legacy, and how to get the group rate. The Hospitality Room that we use throughout the Rendezvous is provided at no charge to us, provided we have enough folks staying in their hotel. They also provide our group with free Internet Access in our hotel rooms, so you can get in some blogging, if you are so inclined, in your spare time!

See you in Reno in September!!

Win a .45 A GBR-VI

2011-02-21T20:25:00.001-08:00

For those of you that attended the Gun Blogger Rendezvous last year or the year before, you already know True blue Sam's Mom Bea. For those of you that haven't met Bea, True Blue Sam has a post up about his 110 pound (maybe) 80 year old .45 Revolver packing mother. It is an absolute 'Must Read". Not only is Bea one of the coolest shooters you'll ever meet, she has decided that since she has a Ruger Black Hawk in .45, she figures everyone should have one!

Bea has arranged with Ken Jorgensen, Lori Petoske, and the great folks at Ruger to buy a brand new Ruger Black Hawk, which she is then donating to be raffled off at this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous as part of our fund raising efforts in support of Project Valour-IT!

You better start making plans to be there at this year's Gun Blogger rendezvous!

You should also go read the entire post over at Sam's about Bea.

2011 Rendezvous Dates Set

2010-11-25T13:36:00.001-08:00

Great news! The contract with the Silver Legacy Hotel in Reno has been negotiated and signed, and the dates for next year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous have been set. The 2011 Gun Blogger Rendezvous will be held on September 8th., 9th., 10th., and 11th. That's Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

The hotel room rates are exactly the same as last year, and for those coming in on Wednesday or departing on Monday, there are also group rates for Wednesday and Sunday nights. The plan is for the 2011 Rendezvous to very closely follow the 2010 event as far as major activities and outings, with some new smaller events thrown in. If you have never attended the Rendezvous, or haven't been there for a few years, have a look at last year's schedule and you'll get a pretty good idea of what to expect at GBR-VI.

The money we raise at the Rendezvous will go to Project Valour-IT, like last year.

I can pretty much guarantee you that the attendees to GBR-VI will not get enough sleep, eat more than they should, meet some amazing people, and be able to set off the TSA's gunpowder residue detector from 100 yards away!

You should put the dates on your calendar right now, before you forget. For those of you planning on flying to Reno, I would suggest setting up your travel dates on one of the online airfare watch services like Kayak, and follow the air fares closely. When you start monitoring the airfares well in advance, you can usually get the best prices available.

See You in Reno next September!!

Soldier's Angels Article About this Year's Rendezvous

2010-10-11T18:30:00.000-07:00

There's a nice article about this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous up over at the Soldiers Angels / Project Valour-IT website.

Go check it out!

Steel Shooting at the Rendezvous

2010-09-24T09:41:00.001-07:00

True Blue Sam put together a very good video of some of the steel shooting at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous.

It was a lot of fun!

Steel Challenge and Cowboy Fast Draw at the Rendezvous

2010-09-22T13:16:00.001-07:00

The guys at CS Tactical put together a really well done video of the Steel Challenge and Cowboy Fast Draw sessions from this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous.

Gun Blogger Rendezvous 2010 from CS Tactical on Vimeo.

Mike, from CS Tactical, knocked me out of the fast draw, but I shot some of my best times of the day, making him work for it! It came down to Mike having two wins and I had one, so I had to win the next run against him to stay in the competition. I shot a .739, which for me is about as fast as I go, but Mike shot .736, and I was done for the day. That decisive round is on the video. Mike went on to win the match overall with some very good shooting. After the match the timer operator commented that for a bunch of folks that don't shoot Cowboy Fast Draw we had a pretty fast group!

"Next year, Mike, I'll be a gunnin' for ya!!"

Thanks to Mike and "Mase" from CS Tactical for putting together the video, and to The Western Nevada Pistol League folks for making the steel shooting possible this year, and to Quick Cal and the Sage Hills Reno Rustlers for putting on the Cowboy Fast Draw match for us.

$5,088 Raised for Project Valour-IT at GBR-V

2010-09-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

Although there will most likely be a few donations made to Project Valour-IT as a result of the Gun Blogger Rendezvous that are not in the totals, as it now stands the Gun Blogger Rendezvous raised $5,088 this year in Reno! We also had the largest attendance and the most shooters at the range events that we've ever had.Thanks to the generous support of all of our wonderful sponsors, everyone went home with lots of cool swag. It was absolutely the best Gun Blogger Rendezvous ever!

This year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous set the bar really high, and next year, I hope to move it even higher.

Thanks again to everyone who made it possible, and thanks to Soldier's Angels and Project Valour-IT for all the great things they do for our troops.

A Big Thank You!

2010-09-17T11:28:00.000-07:00

When I finally got home from the Rendezvous I was both swamped with work, and totally exhausted from all the fun at the Rendezvous. I wanted to put together a list of all the great sponsors who contributed to the success of the event. I still haven't got the list put together, but Kevin (bless you!) has done the list already, so I "borrowed" it from his blog, The Smallest Minority.

All of us that had such a great time at this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous owe a huge "Thank You!" to all of these great folks who made it all possible!

Bill Brassard Jr., Director of Communications for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. The NSSF provided the pizza dinner Saturday night, and Bill is the gateway through which bloggers can get media credentials to attend the annual SHOT show in Las Vegas.

Rachel Parsons of the NRA, who provided a very nice breakfast for us Friday morning before we headed off to the range, but was unable to make it herself due to illness.

Randi Rogers AKA "Holy Terror" of Glock, who provided a certificate for any standard Glock handgun.

Charles Brown of Hi-Point Firearms and MKS Supply, who provided a certificate for a 9mm Carbine.

Kerby Smith of Para USA who provided a 35% discount coupon for any new Para pistol

Lori Petoske of Ruger Firearms who provided very nice briefcase-style range bags for all of the bloggers, plus cups, hats and other swag.

Larry Weeks of Brownell's, who unfortunately couldn't be with us as this year he was a range officer at the USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals being held in Las Vegas. Brownell's provided AR-15 mags (I scored two), one of their top-of-the-line range bags, and other great stuff.

Colin Anthony of MidwayUSA, who provided shirts, a stack of excellent pistol range bags and other stuff, plus a discount code for blog readers (and another one to come!)

Patrick Harlan of Crimson Trace, who provided a certificate for any in-stock Lasergrip, and some very nice pistol rugs and other swag.

Leupold, who through Allen Forkner of Swanson*Russell, provided a damned nice VX3 scope.

Springfield Armory donated a stack of hats, and ball point pens and shopping bags.

Dr. Ignatio Piazza of Front Sight Institute provided a certificate for a $2,000 four day training session at Front Sight.

Jamie Klund and Gary Shank of Cabela's who hosted a tour of their 125,000 square-foot Reno store, and let us fondle the rare firearms in their Gun Room, (including a $30k Single-Action Army!) Cabela's also gave us some discount coupons that most of us made immediate use of.

The Cowboy Fastdraw Association, who put on a match for Rendezvous attendees Sunday at absolutely no cost to us. It was, to coin a phrase, a blast. Special thanks to "Quick Cal" Eilrich and the Sage Hills Reno Rustlers Cowboy Fast Draw club who ran the match.

The Palomino Valley Gun Club who run a fine range, and the Western Nevada Pistol League who let us shoot their steel on Saturday.

Richard Brengman of Special Interest Arms, who brought some of his stuff to Friday's Show-'n-Tell for us to look at and handle. Richard lives an hour or so away in Gardnerville, NV, and said he thought some other local manufacturers might be interested in attending next year.

The Gun Blogger Rendezvous was honored to have Jeff Bader, co-founder of Soldiers' Angels attend this fund raiser.

Caleb of Gun Nuts Media provided a personally autographed NRA hat!

Kevin of the Smallest Minority for donating some very nice (and expensive) scope rings.

Derek of The Packing Rat, who donated an Air Venturi Bronco break-barrel air rifle. Derek is also the unofficial photographer for the Rendezvous.

And the Silver Legacy Resort and Casino who treated us well all weekend.

And Thanks also to all the attendees who helped us raise money for Project Valour-IT.

Thanks everyone, Well Done!

NOTE: If I've forgotten anyone, please mention it in a comment so I can be sure everyone gets proper credit. Thanks...

Steel Challenge Stage Times

2010-09-14T23:07:00.000-07:00

Stage Times From the Steel Challenge at
The Gun Blogger Rendezvous

Name	#1	#2	#3	#4
Allen	16.77			6.02
Andrew		23.66		9.87
Ashley	102.23	50.29	89.13	9.20
Bea		68.90	112.00	55.33
Connie	120.00	120.00	120.00	65.50
David J.	30.99	25.71	40.03	16.81
David M.	33.54	30.44	71.03
Derek	21.01	13.05	24.24	5.69
Drang	68.22	29.28		9.53
KeeWee	21.41	14.45	23.37
Keith	33.35	44.80	56.52
Kevin	22.82	20.54	37.35	7.89
Lori	16.20	23.32		6.92
Mike		27.46		7.06
Molly			28.56
Mr. C.	15.00	10.03	13.15	4.64
Olav	23.11	17.10	36.61	4.63
Patricia	34.93	26.76	51.86	12.41
Skip	46.05	31.47	33.81
US Citizen		27.35	46.42	6.05

Unfortunately some folks forgot to write their names on each score sheet so some of the stage times could not be matched to anyone. In some cases the stage numbers got mixed up, so I did my best to move a few around to get the right times on the right stages. No totals are shown as they wouldn't mean much as shooters were trying different guns on different stages and so forth. It was all for fun, and everyone had a grand time!

Cowboy Fast Draw Results

2010-09-14T17:41:00.000-07:00

Although a number of attendees had to leave for home before the Cowboy Fast Draw event, we still had 14 shooters and some really close matches. I will try to get some pictures and more info posted later, but for now, here's the results:

CST - CS Tactical Blog
Millisecond Molly - The Molly Minute
Derek - The Packing Rat
David Whitewolf - Random Nuclear Strikes
US Citizen - Traction Control
True Blue Sam - True Blue Sam The Travelin' Man
Mr. Completely - Mr. Completely
Death Wish - The Clue Meter
KeeWee Belle - KeeWee's Corner
GG - Girls <3 Guns
Kevin Baker - The Smallest Minority
Connie - Random Nuclear strikes
MASE - CS Tactical
Tootsie - True Blue Sam The Travelin' Man

The match was put on by the Cowboy Fast Draw Association, Quick Cal Eilrich, "Short Keg", the Timer operator (I forgot to write down his name, so please leave a comment if you know) and the Sage Hills Reno Rustlers Cowboy Fast Draw club.

I should mention that this was a double elimination match and the match-ups were by random drawing, so a lot of luck as well as skill determined the final placings. There were a lot of very close runs, and it was a ball!

Gun Blogger Rendezvous Project Valour-IT Donation Drive

2010-09-07T20:23:00.000-07:00

One of our gun blogger friends who was unable to make it to Reno this year has made a very generous donation directly to Soldiers Angels and Project Valour-IT in recognition of the Gun Blogger Rendezvous and our fund raising efforts for Project Valour-IT. That seemed like a pretty good idea, and I've decided to expand on it a bit.

If any of you would like to make a donation directly to Project Valour-IT in recognition of the Gun Blogger Rendezvous that would be great, and Project Valour-IT will certainly put every penny to good use. If you do donate, leave a comment to this post and we'll see what sort of running total we can come up with.

Bloggers, how about mentioning this fund raising drive and giving Project Valour-IT a hand raising a few bucks?

If you are a blogger or not, got to Project Valour-IT's donation site and give them a few bucks. Then come back and leave a comment and tell us the amount you donated. You can use your name or not, the important thing is the donation. If all you can spare is a buck, that's still a buck better off than if you didn't donate! You can be sure that they truly appreciate every donation, no matter how large or small.

Thanks!

GBR Driving Directions to the Ranges

2010-09-07T18:36:00.000-07:00

Driving Directions from Hotel to Washoe County Regional Shooting Facility – Pyramid Range Friday for long Range Rifle and Pistol, Saturday for Steel Challenge Pistol shooting, and to the Sage Hills Gun Club for Cowboy Fast Draw on Sunday.

Start at (Silver Legacy) 407 N VIRGINIA ST, RENO going toward E 5TH ST - go 0.3 mi
0.3 Turn RIGHT (East) onto E Maple St 131 yds
0.4 Take Ramp onto I-80 1.1 mi I-80
1.5 At exit 15, turn RIGHT onto Ramp 0.2 mi US-395 / Susanville / Carson City
1.7 Take Ramp (LEFT) onto US-395 1.3 mi US-395 / Susanville
3.1 At exit 70, keep RIGHT onto Ramp 153 yds N. McCarran Blvd / Clear Acre Lane
3.2 Keep RIGHT to stay on Ramp 0.1 mi North McCarran Boulevard
3.3 Keep RIGHT to stay on Ramp 87 yds N McCarran Blvd / Sparks
3.3 Bear RIGHT (East) onto N McCarran Blvd 1.8 mi
5.1 Turn LEFT (North) onto SR-445 [Pyramid Way] 0.3 mi
5.5 Bear RIGHT (North-East) onto SR-445 [Pyramid Lake Hwy] 11.5 mi
17.0 Keep STRAIGHT onto SR-445 [Pyramid Lake Rd] 9.8 mi
26.8 Turn LEFT (West) onto Local road(s) 0.7 mi
27.5 Turn RIGHT (North-East) onto Local road(s) 43 yds
27.6 Arrive Range

The Pyramid Range

On Sunday we will be shooting Cowboy Fast Draw at the Sage Hills Gun Club Range in Reno. 7370 Desert Way, Reno, NV. Sage Hill Clay Sports is located on the southeastern flank of the Washoe County basin, overlooking the city of Reno and its southernmost suburbs.

The club is easy to find if you follow our directions and not those of any online mapping service or your vehicle's navigation, its driving directions will dead-end you on the wrong street.

Follow these instructions instead:
Get onto 395 from the Silver Legacy by following the instructions above.
From the 395, exit at Damonte Ranch Parkway and drive EAST.
• Turn LEFT onto Steamboat Parkway.
• Turn LEFT onto Rio Wrangler.
• Follow Rio Wrangler onto the access road and into the shooting facility (we're up on the hill above you).

Gun Blogger Rendezvous Schedule of Events

2010-09-06T13:32:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, September 8th.

6:00 Pm. For those arriving on Wednesday, KeeWee and I are planning on having dinner at the El Dorado Buffet Restaurant. The El Dorado is part of the same giant casino complex as the Silver Legacy and the Circus Circus.

Thursday, September 9th

8:30 am. Leave the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron B" Hospitality room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.
2:15 pm. Leave the Hospitality Room to car pool to Cabela’s.
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm. Guided tour Cabela’s and browsing/shopping. Pick up munchies and soft drinks on way back to hotel. Buy ammo?
6:00pm. Leave the Hospitality Room to go to dinner. Location to be determined later.
Thursday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Friday, September 10th.

8:30am. NRA Sponsored Breakfast and Rachel Parsons in the Silver Baron “B”
9:30am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, the Pyramid range for rifle and pistol target shooting out to 900 yards.
10:15am – 2:00pm. At the range.
3:00 pm. - Major Announcement at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room.
3:00 pm. – 5:45pm. Show-N-Tell at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room.
6:00pm. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to go to the ground floor to Gecko’s BBQ Restaurant for dinner.
Friday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Saturday, September 11th.

8:00am. Leave the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron B" Hospitality room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.
8:45am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, the Pyramid range for an introduction to Steel Challenge Action Pistol shooting.

9:30am – 2:00pm. At the range.
5:00pm – 6pm. Bill Brassard of the National Shooting Sports Foundation
6:00 pm. NSSF all you can eat pizza feed at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. After dinner will be the fund raiser raffle for Project Valour-IT and the drawings for the door prizes.
Saturday Evening until Midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Sunday, September 12th.

8:30am. Leave the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron B" Hospitality room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.
9:15am. Leave for the Cowboy Fast Draw Blogger Match.
10:00am – Noon Cowboy Fast Draw Shooting.

The Cowboy Fast Draw shooting is the last scheduled event for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, but many attendees will be staying Sunday night and returning home on Monday. The Reno Balloon Races, Virginia City Camel Races Festival, The Reno Car Museum, the Downtown River Walk, the new Reno Museum, and a number of other things should be considered for the rest of the day on Sunday. As you can see the days and nights are packed with activities from start to finish.

The scheduling is fairly tight, particularly for breakfasts. Note that the "Gather to go to breakfast" time varies a bit from day to day, depending on the main activity for the day.

Transportation to the various events is up to you, but in the past there have always been enough rental cars and personal cars to be able to car pool up and get everyone to the activities of the day. Worst case, some of you may have to split the cost of a rental car. The major rental car companies are at the airport, and rental cars are also available not too far from the hotel. The Hospitality room the night before is where you need to arrange who's riding with whom. Don't wait until the morning of the event!

Although it tempting to continue the interesting conversations well into the night in the hospitality room, you need to pace yourself or you will end up totally exhausted by Sunday! Trust me on this one!

If you haven't registered yet, it's now too late to get a registration in by mail, so if you would like to join in on the fun, download the registration form, fill it out, and bring it and your $30 per person registration fee to Reno. Be sure to email me that you are planning on coming, so we can get an accurate head count for the meals.

Cowboy Fast Draw Gun Blogger Intergalactic Championships

2010-09-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

The fastest Cowboy Fast Draw Gun Bloggers will convene at the Sage Hills Gun Club in Reno, Nevada on Sunday, September 12th. at 10am. to settle the scores from last years Championships. Will KeeWee manage to make up for her narrow loss to Millisecond Molly last year? Will the Packing Rat smoke everyone like last year? Will US Citizen uphold the honor of Texas with a win this year?

Cowboy Fast Draw Gun Blogger 2009 Intergalactic Champions

To see the match live, show up at 10am. at the Sage Hills Gun Club in Reno for all the action. Quick Cal Eilrich, multiple Cowboy Fast Draw World Champion, will be there in person helping the gun bloggers to shoot their very fastest. Gun Bloggers from all over the Cosmos are invited, but it will most likely be only gun bloggers from the United States competing, although you never know........

Midway Sponsors Rendezvous - Save Bucks

2010-08-31T12:16:00.000-07:00

More great Gun Blogger rendezvous news. MidwayUSA, one of the premium sources for all of your shooting needs, has come on board as a sponsor for this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous. Not only that, check out this email from Colin Anthony, MidwayUSA's Marketing Specialist:

Special Email From MidwayUSA

Good Day Mr. Completely,

As the Gun Blogger Unite this month in Reno Nevada, MidwayUSA would like to extend our special appreciation for what they accomplish in shooting industry. First, we would like for each Blogger to receive a special gift from MidwayUSA when they arrive at the Rendezvous. Second, we would like to extend some exclusive discounts for each of the Bloggers and their respected communities/following to take advantage of. We hope these exclusive discounts help as many people and Bloggers as possible to enjoy the shooting sports industry.

Mr. Completely, would you please forward the following promotion codes and guidelines along so that people can start saving on shooting and outdoor gear.

1) Place regularly priced in-stock products in your shopping cart and receive:

$10 off a Purchas of $100 or more - Use Promotion Code 19410
$50 off a Purchas of $500 or more - Use Promotion Code 59410
$100 off a Purchas of $1,000 or more - Use Promotion Code 109410

2) Enter the promotion code in the box entitled "Promotion Code" on the shopping cart page.
3) You will see the discount on the Confirmation page before placing your order
4) Remember, this promotion code is valid for orders placed on MidwayUSA.com.
5) Limited to one per Customer and one promotion code per retail order.
6) Offer cannot be combined with Birthday, Special or Dealer Pricing.
7) Offer not valid on MidwayUSA Gift Certificates, Nightforce, Sale and Clearance products.
8) Offer valid on regularly priced products only.
9) Hurry, offer ends at 11:59 PM CT September 15, 2010.

My final note is that we would like to develop a personal relationship with each of the Gun Bloggers before and after the Rendezvous so that we can continue to support their work. Please let the community know that if they would like any exclusive discounts or support from MidwayUSA to please contact me at the below information.

Thanks for your help,

Colin B. Anthony
Marketing Specialist
canthony@midwayusa.com
573-447-5179

Blogs Represented at this Year's Rondy

2010-08-31T07:33:00.000-07:00

Registrations are still arriving, but here's the list of blogs that will be represented at this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous. I'm sure there will be more than that, as a lot of folks seem to be waiting until the last minute to register.

Random Nuclear Strikes
True Blue Sam
Traction Control
The Smallest Minority
The Molly Minute
The Packing Rat
Our Gun Thing
The Clue Meter
Anthroblogogy
AR15.Com
NSSF Blog
NRA Blog
Joe's Crabby shack (Inactive)
CS Tactical blog
Gunup blog (launching soon)
Mr. Completely
Keewee's Corner
Firearms and Training (blog)
Lucky Gunner (blog)

Of course, this is just the blogs represented. There will also be blog readers, shooters, and gun nuts attending who don't have blogs. It's gonna be big!

If you'd like to go and join in on all the fun, there's still time to get on board. Here's what you need to do right away.

1. Download the Registration form and fill it out. email me the information on the form in whatever manner you like. Bring your $30 per person registration to the Rendezvous and I can complete the process in Reno.

2. Contact the Silver Legacy at 800-687-8733 and give them the group code of GBLOG10. Their room rates are reasonable, and considering that the room rates include the use of the Hospitality Room for the Rendezvous and free Internet for everyone, it's a pretty good deal. Yes, there are cheaper places to stay in Reno, but I really recommend staying at the Silver Legacy. You miss out on quite a bit if you aren't actually "On Site" for the Rondy.

Get registered, book your room, come to Reno, shoot stuff, eat too much, have fun! What more could you want?

Venturi Bronco Air Rifle Added To Gun Blogger Rendezvous Raffle

2010-08-27T19:58:00.000-07:00

I just got an email from Derek, chief cook and bottle washer over at the Packing Rat blog, and he tells me he's donating a Venturi Bronco air rifle for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous raffle.

Derek reviewed the rifle on his blog a while back, and Here's Derek's review.

For more information ,specs, and a video demonstrating the rifle, check out the PyramidAir website.

Thanks, Derek, and we'll see you in Reno!

Win A Leupold VX3 at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous

2010-08-27T09:23:00.000-07:00

We are happy to announce another premier sponsor for the upcoming Gun Blogger Rendezvous. Leupold & Stevens will be donating one of their top of the line VX-3 scopes with the Custom Dial System! Check out the specs below:

WIN ME at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous

You gotta be there to win!

From Leupold:

BEAVERTON, Ore. “ To help hunters get on target at any range with any load, Leupold® offers the Custom Dial System® (CDS) feature for VX-3® riflescopes. The CDS allows shooters to match their scopes with the ballistics of their ammunition.

With the purchase of any CDS model VX-3 riflescope, shooters receive two customized, ballistically matched adjustment dials at no extra cost. This is a special offer that ends December 31, 2010. Send Leupold the ballistics data and shipping information, and the company provides two dials custom built to match the specified calibers, bullet weights and loads.

Leupold® has launched a microsite to educate hunters and shooters about the Custom Dial System® (CDS) feature for VX-3® riflescopes, and highlight a limited-time offer.

The microsite is located at www.leupold.com/VX-3CDS. CDS helps hunters and shooters get on target at any range, with any load, by matching their scopes to the ballistics of their ammunition. With the purchase of any VX-3 CDS riflescope, shooters receive two customized, ballistically-matched adjustment dials ($100 retail value) at no extra cost. This is a special offer that ends December 31, 2010.

Visitors to the VX-3 CDS microsite will find an educational video and graphics, an overview of how the system works and its advantages, and more details on the offer.

The CDS is available on the following riflescope models: VX-3 3.5-10x40mm, VX-3 3.5-10x50mm, VX-3 4.5-14x40mm, VX-3L 3.5-10x50mm and VX-3L 4.5-14x50mm.

For additional information, go to http://www.leupold.com/VX-3CDS.

CDS dials change out easily, allowing shooters to quickly adjust to different loadings. With precision ¼-MOA click increment finger adjustments, and no adjustment covers to lose, the CDS makes VX-3 riflescopes even more accurate and rugged.

Other key features:

· Custom calibrated turrets allow hunters to quickly dial in elevation for first shot hits. No more need to tape ballistics tables to the rifle stock, and no more missing out on a trophy due to mistaken holdovers or miscounted clicks.

· Dials can be quickly changed out by loosening set screws. Shooters can match their dials to the specifics of their ammunition. For example, a .30-06 can have a calibrated dial for a 150-grain mule deer load and another for a 200-grain elk load.

· Unlike most bullet drop compensating turrets, which are only available in the most popular calibers and bullet weights, the Leupold CDS allows shooters to obtain dials calibrated to whatever caliber, bullet weight, or charge they desire. It doesn™t matter if it™s a .222 Remington or a .444 Marlin, the CDS is set to the specific ballistics.

· Leupold CDS riflescopes are ideal for handloaders who demand the ultimate performance from their rifle and ammunition. Each dial is calibrated based on shooter-provided ballistics data, allowing users to set their scope to the load a particular rifle likes the best.

Many bullet drop-style scopes come in œranges� with multiple turrets that may or may not match the specific loading. With the CDS, shooters have only the dials they need, without unneeded extras to loose or store.

Leupold matches the CDS to exact data for the utmost in accuracy. Other bullet drop turret scopes are approximate to a generic factory load, such as a 68 grain .223 Remington. The VX-3 CDS, however, is calibrated to the unique ballistics data of that bullet fired out of a 16� barrel as compared to one fired from a 22� barrel.

The CDS is available on the:

VX-3 3.5-10x40mm
VX-3 3.5-10x50mm
VX-3 4.5-14x40mm
VX-3L 3.5-10x50mm
VX-3L 4.5-14x50mm

Leupold & Stevens, Inc., the preeminent American-owned and -operated optics company, employs more than 600 people in its state-of-the-art facility near Beaverton, Ore., where rugged, dependable, high-performance Golden Ring® optics are designed, machined and assembled. Leupold is a fifth-generation, family-owned company whose products are sold worldwide to hunters, competitive shooters, American military warfighters, law enforcement personnel and wildlife observers. The product line includes rifle, handgun and spotting scopes; binoculars; rangefinders; flashlights; mounting systems; and optical tools and accessories.

There's still time to get your registration in for this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous, but you need to do it right away. When you send in your registration also send me an email letting me know you've mailed your registration so I will be watching for it. email me at blog (at) whidbey (dot) com

Thanks, and we'll see you in Reno!

Major Announcement at Gun Blogger Rendezvous

2010-08-26T13:49:00.000-07:00

Although I am sworn to secrecy (actually I'm just supposed to keep my mouth shut) I have an announcement of a announcement. HUH??

At this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous the head of a major internet start up endeavor will be announcing something new and big and cool! It will involve the internet, guns, shooting, hunting, shooting sports, forum-ing (is that a word? Should it be?), 2nd. Amendment Issues, blogging, and a lot of other stuff too.

I've had the chance to spend some time with the head of the project, and it looks like it could be something of a game-changer. If you are at the Rendezvous you will be one of the first to know, and possibly even contribute some feedback. If you are lucky, you might even get a shirt or a belt buckle.

This could be really big...............

Sfc. Toby Nunn To Attend Gun Blogger rendezvous

2010-08-17T07:42:00.000-07:00

It was kinda sad to hear that Maj. Chuck Zigenfuss, the founder of project Valour-IT, won't be attending this year's Gun Blogger rendezvous. The reason is that Chuck's been transferred to Hawaii, which is great news, and I hope he's having a good time over there! We'll miss Chuck at the Rondy, but maybe next year!

When I contacted the Soldier's Angels and Project Valour-IT folks about someone to attend this year's Rondy who could represent Project Valour-IT, they said they'd see what they could do. The next day I got an email from Sfc. Toby Nunn. Here's a video introduction:

Toby is very involved with Project Valour-IT, and he handles the purchasing of the laptop computers for them. Toby is also a Mil-Blogger, an author, and is one of the principals in the Frontline documentary "Bad Voodoo's War".

If you're kinda on the fence about coming to this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous, then here's an excellent reason to get off the fence, send in your registration, and book your room at the Silver Legacy. Come help us, and Sfc. Nunn, to raise money to buy voice actuated laptop computers to be given to our injured servicemen who, due to the nature of their injuries, are unable to email and communicate with their family and friends using a computer with a keyboard.

This is going to be the very best Gun Blogger rendezvous ever, and you REALLY don't want to miss it!

See You In Reno!!

What Guns Should I Take to the Rendezvous

2010-08-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

Some of last year's "Show-and-Tell"

Since guns are a major component of the Gun Blogger rendezvous, the question of what guns should you take is a good one. The short and tongue in cheek answer is "All of them!"

More realistically, we will be at a public range on Friday with paper targets from 25' out to 600 or 700 yards, so anything you enjoy shooting is fine. On Saturday we will be shooting an "Introduction to Steel Challenge" with hand guns, so just about any hand gun works here. Very high power and magnum handguns should not be used for the steel, but at the Friday range they are OK, and even encouraged! For the Steel Shooting you should bring at least 150 rounds, 200 is better. Rimfire pistols are good for steel too, and you can shoot more than one gun if you want. There will also be the opportunity to shoot other stuff than you own.

Show-and-Tell

On Friday there is a Show-And-Tell at the Hospitality Room at the hotel where you can show and tell about anything interesting and unusual that's either firearms or firearms related, including guns. Just about everyone has something interesting, unusual, rare, or strange in their gun safe!

For the Cowboy Fast Draw shooting on Sunday everything will be provided, but you could bring your own cowboy hat and boots!

For concealed carry be sure to check Nevada's reciprocity, as they aren't very "Out of State" friendly.

See you in Reno!

Tentative Schedule For GBR-V 2010

2010-08-10T14:51:00.000-07:00

Thursday, September 9th

8:30 am. Leave the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron B" Hospitality room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.
2:30 pm. Leave the Hospitality Room to car pool to Cabela’s.
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm. Guided tour Cabela’s and browsing/shopping. Pick up munchies and soft drinks on way back to hotel.
6:00pm. Leave the Hospitality Room to go to dinner. Location to be determined later.
Thursday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Friday, September 10th.

8:00am. NRA Sponsored Breakfast and Rachel Parsons in the Silver Baron “B”
8:45am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, the Pyramid range for rifle and pistol target shooting out to 900 yards.
9:30am – 2:00pm. At the range.
3:00 pm. – 5:45pm. Show-N-Tell at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room.
6:00pm. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to go to the ground floor to Gecko’s BBQ Restaurant for dinner.
Friday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Saturday, September 11th.

7:30am. Leave the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron B" Hospitality room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.
8:15am. Leave for the Cowboy Fast Draw Blogger Match.
9:00am – 11:00am. Cowboy Fast Draw Shooting.

The Cowboy Fast Draw shooting is the last scheduled event for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, but many attendees will be staying Sunday night and returning home on Monday. The Reno Balloon Races, Virginia City Camel Races Festival, The Reno Car Museum, the Downtown River Walk, the new Reno Museum, and a number of other things should be considered for the rest of the day on Sunday. As you can see the days and nights are packed with activities from start to finish.

If you haven't registered yet, time is running out, so you better get on it right away!

Ruger Joins Gun Blogger Rendezvous as Sponsor

2010-08-09T20:41:00.000-07:00

Thanks almost entirely to the efforts of True blue Sam, I'm happy to announce that the Gun Blogger Rendezvous has another sponsor. The final details have not been worked out, but it looks like Lori Petoske, the Marketing Communications Manager for Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. Will be joining us for most, if not all, of this year's Rendezvous. Lori will be traveling all the way from Enfield, Connecticut to join in on the fun. Lori mentioned in her email and phone call that she's looking forward to meeting the gun bloggers in person, so if you are thinking about attending but haven't decided, here's one more great reason to come join us in Reno at the Rendezvous. Get your Rendezvous Registrations and room reservations in ASAP.

How many of you own at least one Ruger? I thought so! Two? Three? More than that? That's what I figured! There's a lot of Rugers out there! I think my favorite's the Super Red Hawk .480, but it's really hard to choose. What's your favorite Ruger?

See You In Reno!

Hi Point Donates Carbine to Rendezvous

2010-07-29T10:04:00.000-07:00

Would you like to win a brand new Hi-Point 9mm. carbine? One of the lucky folks at this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous will be the proud owner on a Hi-Point 995ts carbine. The rules are pretty simple. You have to attend this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous, and you have to buy a raffle ticket! The odds of winning are really good as the number of tickets sold will give you excellent odds.Of course, you must be able to legally own it or you can't win it, for obvious reasons, but other than that all you have to do is to attend the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, buy a ticket (or several to boost your odds), and get lucky!

"Win Me" at this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous!

All the money raised at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous goes to Project Valour-IT, so by buying raffle tickets you are also supporting a really outstanding charity to help our injured military folks.

Hi-Point and the other sponsors will also be donating some neat stuff for door prizes so everyone who attends will definitely walk away with some great swag.

We owe a big THANKS to Charles Brown, the head guy at Hi-Point and MKS Supply, for generously donating this very cool rifle to our fund raising raffle. If possible, Charlie is going to try to attend this year's Rendezvous in person, so keep your fingers crossed!

Gun Blogger Rendezvous Registrations Critically Low

2010-07-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

It's only 41 days until this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous, and so far the number of registrations sent in for the Rendezvous are critically low. There are a number of factors that probably are contributing to this including the state of the economy, higher air fares, and other factors, too. Some folks who usually attend the Rendezvous every year won't be there this year due to circumstances beyond their control, but are still planning to be there next year.

It has been suggested that the Rendezvous should be moved closer to one place or the other, but any move closer to one region is farther from somewhere else. Reno is one of the most gun-friendly places around, and if you make a list of all the factors, there are few, if any, places that score as high as Reno. It is also important to me that the location is at least close to my resident time zone. Trying to set up a convention over the phone is enough of a project as it is, without having to deal with a large time zone difference too. The Silver Legacy hotel people have been really good to work with, and without a really helpful bunch of folks in the group sales department, the Rendezvous wouldn't be possible, at least if it's put on by only one person (me).

The gang at Western Nevada Pistol League have been great in letting us use their pistol bays and loaning us steel targets, stands, and timers. Not every club would do that for us. You don't find a 1,000 yard rifle range everywhere either, and the Pyramid range just outside of Reno is excellent. Having the Quick Cal Eilrich, the Cowboy Fast Draw Association's founder only 20 miles away in Fernley, Nevada, is a big help as it makes setting up a Cowboy Fast Draw event for the attendees possible. Having 23 restaurants available in the resort hotel complex is handy, as you can always find something to eat at the rendezvous 24/7.

For the Rendezvous to be successful a minimum number of rooms must be occupied at the hotel each night, which in turn, gets us the free internet access, discounted room rates, and most importantly, the free use of the Silver Baron 'B' Hospitality room, where a number of our activities are held. If we were not to get the Hospitality Room for free, most, if not all of the registration receipts would go to renting them instead of going to Project Valour-IT. Some things, like the Friday morning breakfast have a minimum number requirement for the hotel to serve it. At the moment we are below that point. The status of the breakfast, at least as originally planned, is still up in the air.

To get good sponsorships and valuable donations of guns and so forth for the Valour-IT fund raiser raffle, I need to be able to show to the sponsors that they will be getting some good exposure for their companies and products. One of the first questions they ask is about attendance. The bigger our Rendezvous, the more sense it makes for the sponsors to donate more valuable items. They only have so much it the budget to spend, and to stay in business, they need to get the most bang for the buck, and you certainly can't blame them. It is critical for the continued success of the Rendezvous that we have enough folks show up.

This year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous will absolutely go on as planned, and all of the activities originally on the tentative schedule are still planned. We will still get in lots of range time, lots of socializing, a pizza feed, and some other activities too. We will still have the raffle on Saturday night, as we have done in the past.

If you are still undecided about attending, send in your registration and book your room ASAP. You definitely will be glad you did, as we always have a good time. If you have attended the Rendezvous in the past, but other things have come up and you can't be there this year, please encourage others to attend. Tell them about the good times you've had at previous GBR's. If you are a blogger and you've attended in the past, help to get the word out on the Rendezvous. If you can, put up a post describing your previous attendance from your point of view. Let folks know that it's a weekend like no other, and the socializing alone is well worth the trip.

The bottom line is this. This year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous will definitely go on as planned. Next year's Rendezvous, however, may or may not happen, depending on the success we have this year. For the Rendezvous to prosper, it must continue to grow. If it does not, then maybe the writing is on the wall and this may be the last Gun Blogger Rendezvous, at least in its present form.Time will tell........

Cabelas/Reno to Sponsor Gun Blogger Rendezvous

2010-07-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

The Beautiful Cabela's Store in Reno.

Great news! I just got off the phone with the great folks at the Cabelas store in Reno, and they will be joining as a Co-sponsor at this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous. With all of the door prizes and raffle prizes at each year's Rendezvous, it's just not possible for everything to be shipped to me, and for me to be able to drag everything to Reno on the airplane.

In previous years HiCap Gun Works in Reno has served as a shipping destination for all the swag, but HiCap has sold their business to The Safe Shot Indoor Range, and have closed their doors. Gary and Jamie at the Reno Cabela's have agreed to step in and help us out by serving as our shipping destination for GBR-V. YAY!!!

Gary, the Gun Library Manager
at the Reno Cabela's.

Some of you that were at GBR-III may remember Gary, as he was the one who gave us the guided tour of the Cabelas store that year. We are planning on doing another guided tour at Cabela's again this year, most likely on Thursday afternoon. The gun library is really something to see, and the fudge shop, YUM! They even have a restaurant where we had lunch.

If you are still undecided as to if you are going to attend this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous, this is one more reason to come to Reno and join in on the fun.

It's going to be a blast!

Raffle Rules For Firearms

2010-07-16T11:28:00.000-07:00

Drawing will be on Saturday evening, September 11th at the

Gun Blogger Rendezvous

at the Silver Legacy Hotel in Reno, Nevada.

All Raffle tickets will be sold only at the Rendezvous.

The winner MUST be present to win.

It is up to the raffle ticket purchaser to verify that they can legally receive and own this pistol where they live, and the winner must be a resident of the United States.

If they cannot legally own this pistol, they are automatically disqualified from the raffle, no substitution or other prize to be awarded, and there will be no refund.

All decisions are final.

Important: To win a gun in the raffle, make sure you can legally own it before you buy a ticket.

Glock Donates a New Glock to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous

2010-07-16T11:02:00.000-07:00

I've got all sorts of good news regarding the Gun Blogger Rendezvous coming up in September. Today, however, I'm extremely pleased to announce that Glock has again agreed to help sponsor the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, coming up September 9, 10, 11, & 12th. in Reno at the Silver Legacy hotel and Casino. As a Glock owner, (a G17, a G22, and a G34, if you must know!) I am pleased to see Glock join the Gun Blogger Rendezvous. This year Glock is donating a

A BRAND NEW GLOCK!

The new Glock will be raffled in the fund raising raffle for Project Valour-IT. However, this year the raffle will be open only to attendees of the Rendezvous, so some lucky attendee at the Rendezvous will win a brand new Glock! If you are planning on attending the Rendezvous this year, be sure to bring plenty of money for raffle tickets, as your odds of winning a new Glock, a $2,000 dollar training session at Front Site, or other very valuable prizes will be very good.

If you've considered attending the Rendezvous in the past but didn't quite manage to make it last year, this is the year to be sure to attend. There will be lots of range time, including some Steel Challenge action pistol shooting, long range rifle and pistol shooting, and some Cowboy Fast Draw fun for everyone. There will be a social session with folks from the NRA, a fund raising raffle for Project Valour-IT, an "All you can eat" pizza feed, and "Social Gatherings" (read: BS Sessions) until the wee small hours every night in our own Hospitality room at the Silver Legacy Hotel. There is also a possibility of some "Full Auto" range time with rental waepons at a lead free indoor range. This is still in the works......

If you are a gun blogger, mil blogger, shooting enthusiast, competitive shooter, or a reader of the blogs that cover shooting and 2nd. amendment stuff from time to time, you are all welcome to attend. You do not have to be a blogger to attend. The cost of the registration for the Rendezvous is low, and the cost of Silver Legacy accommodations is very reasonable, in fact, the Silver Legacy rooms are either the same, or less expensive than last year, depending on the night of the week.

Fellow bloggers, please give me a hand in getting the word out on the Rendezvous any way you can. It all helps. If you have attended in the past and are planning to be there this year, why not encourage some of the other bloggers in your area to attend this year too? We could stand to have a few more folks show up as one of the first questions the possible sponsors ask is how many will be attending. The more folks attending, the easier it is to get more sponsors.

Last year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous was the best ever, and this year we are adding several new things to make it even better, so you really don't want to miss out!

Hope to see YOU there!

2010-07-09T15:06:00.000-07:00

This year's Gun Blogger rendezvous is only 61 days away, and time is flying by! Do you have your hotel reservations and Rendezvous Registration set up? If not, you better get on it right away!

The Gun Blogger Rendezvous is like no other event as it's all about the gun bloggers themselves. We don't have a big name celebrity speaker where the attendees sit in the seats and are basically spectators. That's not to say that there won't be some really interesting people there, though. Last year Alan Gura was there, and we all got to learn a lot about the legal stuff he's been up to lately from an insider's perspective.

The Rendezvous is not a side event for some other much larger happening like the NRA convention. No, at the Rendezvous the attendees themselves are the reason to be there. The discussions in the hospitality rooms go well into the night every night of the Rendezvous.

Sure, during the day we get in plenty of shooting, including rifles and pistols at targets out to 1,000 yards, Steel Challenge against the clock, even with a bit of coaching from Molly Smith, who's not only a blogger, but is also the Steel Challenge Pre-Teen World Champion! Plans are also underway for some Cowboy Fast Draw practice under the watchful eye of Quick Cal Eilrich. Quick Cal is the "Intergalactic Fast Draw" Champion (Not really, I made that up, but if it DID exist, Cal would win it!) in addition to numerous National and World Championships. I am also looking into some range time at a new indoor lead-free range in Reno that rents guns, including FULL AUTO goodies! Interested? I thought you would be!

So, if you attend this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous, who are you likely to meet there? Well, here's a few:

Rachel Parsons, representing the NRA. You've probably seen her on TV as the NRA 2nd. Amendment Spokesperson. If you still aren't quite sure exactly who Rachel is, go to Youtube and enter 'Rachel Parsons NRA' in the search box, then watch a few of her television interviews. Very impressive, and you can meet Rachel in person at the Rendezvous.

Derek - from "The Packing Rat" blog. An excellent photographer, blogger, shooter, and avid hiker. Oh, and he was also not only the fastest centerfire Steel Challenge shooter, he also won the Cowboy Fast Draw Blogger match.

Molly Smith - from the Molly Minute blog. Molly is one of the better blog writers out there when the subject is competition shooting. One of her first posts, writing about "Being in the zone" when shooting, is one of the best I've ever read on the subject. For competition shooting, it's all about being in the zone. Molly is also sponsored by Smith & Wesson, and she shoots the Bianchi Cup, IPSC, Steel Challenge, and other stuff too, and preferably, with a revolver. Did I mention she's thirteen? Yup.......

Kevin - from The Smallest Minority blog. Kevin has been to every GBR since the beginning, and it just wouldn't be The Gun Blogger Rendezvous without him. It's worth the trip just to meet Kevin in person.

Dirtcrashr - from Anthroblogogy. His blog header describes the blog as the "Partially sprawling adventures of a culturally hegemonic anti-idiotarian functional-structuralist and anti-collectivist imperialist among the smugly self-satisfied Prius-driving lizadroid-Leftbat Californoodlian Eco-Tofuistas. With guns and some home-improvement stuff." Got that? Me neither, but I'm pretty sure it's accurate......

That's just a sample of some of the cool kids that will be there at this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous. I'll be posting some more on who's going to be there in a few days.

You really don't want to miss this one!

Update

2010-06-29T11:32:00.001-07:00

In spite of all the computer problems this last week, I have also been busy pulling things together for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous coming up in Reno in September. It looks like all of the previous sponsors are on board again this year, and a few more too. The steel shooting session for Saturday morning is pretty much arranged, and it looks like there will be some Cowboy Fast Draw Competition for the attendees on Sunday, although the location has not been determined. The interest in a UTAH CCW class on Thursday morning has been essentially zero, so I'm scrubbing that from the schedule. I've got some other ideas, though, for Thursday, so there will definitely be stuff to do for those of you showing up either on Wednesday or on Thursday morning. KeeWee and I will be arriving on Wednesday afternoon, so if you are getting in on Wednesday let me know and we can probably have dinner together Wednesday night.

Stay tuned!!

Utah CCW Class Update

2010-06-16T15:07:00.000-07:00

We are considering adding a Utah CCW class on Thursday morning, September 9th., at the Gun Blogger rendezvous. There are several reasons we are considering Utah CCW class. First, the Utah license has a large number of states who recognize it. Second, it can be completed in four hours of class time. Third, no range time is required. Finally, we have the place to hold the class at the Siolver Legacy Hotel where we are already staying, and there is time in the Rendezvous schedule to fit it in, just barely.

Here's a list of state honoring the Utah Non-Resident CCW permit:

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming.

The Utah class, as we are considering, can also count as the first part of an eight hour class with range time which would add additional states. The additional training and range time would have to be arranged separately, if there were enough folks interested.

If you would like to look at more information on which states recognize which permits, or combinations of permits, Check out US Carry.com

If you are going to attend this year's Rendezvous and would like to take the CCW class please let me know. We need to have enough people taking the class to make it worth the instructor's time to come and teach it, and we need to know the approximate number of students well before the Rendezvous.

Emai lme at blog (at) whidbey (dot) com and put Utah CCW at GBR-V in the email title so it will get into the right pile!

Thanks, and we'll see you in Reno!

Utah CCW Class at This Year's Rendezvous

2010-06-09T22:29:00.000-07:00

It looks like we will be offering a Utah CCW class on Thursday morning, September 9th. at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous. The class will run from 9am to 1pm. and it will be held in our Hospitality Room. The cost of the class will be $60, and that will include the photo and fingerprinting. After taking and passing the class, all that you will have to do is sign the application and have it notarized, and mail it, along with $65 to Utah. This course can also be extended to include the Arizona CCW permit, but that requires some range time and four more hours of class time. Unfortunately we do not have time in the busy GBR schedule for that, but we may figure out some way to arrange it anyway, if there is enough folks interested. If you are going to come to this year's Rendezvous and are interested in the class, please let me know by email so we will have some idea of how many to plan for.

Utah CCW Class - Any Interest?

2010-06-08T21:53:00.000-07:00

Are any of you that are planning on attending the Gun Blogger Rendezvous coming up in mid-September interested in arriving a day early and taking the CCW class to get the Utah permit? If so, drop me an email at

b l o g (at) w h i d b e y (dot) c o m

and let me know right away. If there is enough interest I'll see if it can be set up for us.

Registration & Room Reservations

2010-06-02T11:07:00.000-07:00

It's barely 98 days until this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous will be underway in Reno at the Silver Legacy, and if you haven't got your room reservations and Rendezvous registration sent in, now is the time to do it! It's very important that as many attendees as possible send in their Rendezvous Registrations early so we will have some idea of how many to expect. It is also helpful when soliciting sponsor donations for door prizes and the Project Valour-IT fund raising raffle as one of the first questions they ask is "How many will be attending?" The more that attend, the better it is for the sponsors, and the more they can afford to donate. If you've never been to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous before, this is the year to finally do it!

We will be having all of the same activities as last year, three range days covering all sorts of gunnly goodness, food, conversation, and a lot more. We are also working on some new things for this year, and I'll announce the new stuff once everything has been sorted out.

This year's Rendezvous will be Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, September 9th., 10th., 11th., and 12th. There will be activities continuously from Mid-day Thursday through late Sunday afternoon. A number of us usually show up on Wednesday and leave town on Monday. The Hospitality room is reserved for Wednesday through Sunday afternoon. Our special hotel group rates are available from Wednesday through Sunday nights.

To Register for the Rendezvous, download the registration form and mail it in as soon as possible.

To book your hotel room, telephone the Silver Legacy directly at 800-687-8733 and give them the group code of GBLOG10. Their room rates are reasonable, and considering that the room rates include the use of the Hospitality Room for the Rendezvous, it's a pretty good deal. Yes, there are cheaper places to stay in Reno, but I really recommend staying at the Silver Legacy as you miss out on quite a bit if you aren't actually "On Site" for the Rondy.

Once you have booked your room and sent in your registration, please send me an email with the details so I will know you are going to be there.

See YOU in Reno ! ! !

Rendezvous Room Reservations for 2010

2010-03-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

All the details are now sorted out for the discounted hotel reservations at the Silver Legacy Resort and Casino in Reno. I have arranged for group rate pricing for not only the three nights of the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, September 9th, 10th, 11th, but also the preceding Wednesday the 8th, and for Sunday the 12th. This way you can arrive a day early and leave on Monday for home. I'd recommend staying the Sunday night if you can, as Sunday will be the Cowboy Fast Draw Intergalactic Blogger Championships, and you won't want to have to rush off right after the event. Millisecond Molly and KeeWee are already "Talkin' Trash" since Molly narrowly edged KeeWee at the Fast Draw match last year, and KeeWee is "Goin' fer gittin' even!" You won't want to miss it!

To reserve your accommodations at the Silver Legacy for the Rendezvous, give the Group Reservations department a call at 800-687-8733 and give them the group code of GBLOG10. Their room rates are reasonable, and considering that the room rates include the use of the Hospitality Room for the Rendezvous, it's a pretty good deal. Yes, there are cheaper places to stay in Reno, but I really recommend staying at the Silver Legacy as you miss out on quite a bit if you aren't actually "On Site" for the Rondy.

Gun Blogger Rendezvous IV Slide Show

2010-03-25T12:43:00.000-07:00

Check out the slide show from last year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous. It's over on the top of the right side bar over there on the right up at the top. Find it? Good!

I dare you to watch it all the way through without tapping your foot, though!

Thanks to Derek, The Packing Rat for taking the photos, and to True Blue Sam for putting the slide show together. Nice job!

2010 Rendezvous Registration

2010-03-23T18:57:00.000-07:00

The 2010 Gun Blogger rendezvous Registration Form is now available to download and mail in. The link to it is at the top of this page, or click on

GUN BLOGGER RENDEZVOUS

REGISTRATION FORM

The registration costs the same as last year, thirty bucks, and every penny not used in running the Rendezvous goes directly to Project Valour-IT, also just like last year.

If you are planning on attending this year's Rondy, it is a big help to me if you can get your registrations in fairly early so I can properly plan and prepare for the number of folks attending. If our attendance if significantly larger than last year I will need to reserve a larger hospitality room, and if I don't know we need a bigger room until June or July the bigger rooms will probably not be available.

If it looks like you may be attending or you are hoping to but aren't sure yet, please send me an email and let me know, too.

I'll have information up very soon for you on making your room reservations at the Silver Legacy and how to be sure you get the group rate discount.

There's a lot going on between now and the middle of September, but it will be here before you know it, and it's an event like no other, one you really won't want to miss.

Hope to see YOU there, too..............

2010-03-22T20:36:00.001-07:00

There's lots of interesting things going on, but a lot of it can't be announced until it's confirmed. That stuff will get announced as soon as I have confirmation. For now, However, I have the following announcements:

I talked to Quick Cal Eilrich, the head of the Cowboy Fast Draw Association, and we are planning to have another Cowboy Fast Draw Match for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous participants like the one that was so much fun last year. Some young whippersnapper blogger from California (CALIFORNIA???) kicked everyone's butts last year, so this year we're a'gunnin' for a rematch (cue Clint Eastwood spaghetti western sound track...). On the ladies side, the match between Millisecond Molly and KeeWee was worth the effort to get there all by itself. It was a "Best of Five" and it went back and forth, with Molly narrowly pulling off the victory. This year, however, some of the other cowgirls are lookin' to settle the score... (OK, turn off the sound track. Thanks)

I talked to Bill Brassard of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, and NSSF intends to be involved as a sponsor again this year. Bill was able to attend in person last year, and schedule permitting, hopes to be there again this year for all the fun.

We had an inquiry from Ireland regarding attending, and I've gotten emails from several other folks who are interested in attending for their first GBR this year. It looks like we're going to have a good mix of the regulars along with a number of new faces.

Plans are to have two range days, one on the longer distance target range, and a second day shooting handgun steel. The third shooting event will be the Cowboy Fast Draw activities.

Stay tuned, it's going to be a blast!

2010 Rendezvous Dates Set

2009-12-11T11:41:00.000-08:00

Even though the Gun Blogger Rendezvous isn't until next September, there's a ton of work that has to be done well in advance of the event. First and foremost is the negotiating of the contracts with the Silver Legacy and setting the event dates. Last year I didn't get to that until February, and we were just barely able to get the dates and amenities we needed.

This year I'm on it a bit earlier, and the dates have now been set and the final contract negotiations finalized. The details have now been sorted out, and the contracts will be signed in the next day or so.

The official dates for Gun Blogger Rendezvous V are
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday,
September 9th., 10th., 11th., and 12th.

We have reserved a block of rooms for these dates, and also a few rooms for Wednesday, the 8th., for those of us who arrive a bit earlier. We have reserved the same Hospitality Room as last year. We also will get a $10 per night rate reduction for Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday nights compared to last year. Friday and Saturday night's rate will be the same as last year.

Plans are for events and activities from early afternoon on Thursday through Sunday, so we'll be on the move a lot. I'll have all of the registration info and the room reservation group code available in a week or so.

It's gonna be a big one!!

GBR-IV Report - Part 1

2009-09-27T20:10:00.001-07:00

KeeWee and I arrived in Reno on Wednesday, the day before the Rendezvous. The shuttle ride from Whidbey Island to Seattle, the Horizon flight to Reno, and the shuttle ride to the Silver Legacy were all uneventful, in other words, just as I like it. We checked in at the hotel, and dropped our bags in the room. We stopped by the hotel offices and checked in with our account representatives to make sure everything was in order for the Gun Bloggers for the next four days. The tables, chairs, and layout were just as we had requested.

KeeWee had to try out the huge ornate chair in the lobby of the Silver Legacy.

After making sure we were all set for the Rendezvous, we headed back to the room to relax a bit before heading out to dinner. The view from the 28th. floor was spectacular.

Looking in the general direction of Virginia City.

28 floors up means it's a L-O-N-G ways down!

We arranged to meet for dinner in the El Dorado buffet with Monty from the Western Nevada Pistol League club to sort out the final details and logistics for Saturday’s Steel Challenge shooting. Monty had recommended the El Dorado’s buffet as being exceptionally good, and it was as he had described, good food, lots of variety, and lots of choices for deserts. I think I gained ten pounds in one meal!

After dinner we stopped by the hospitality room to see if any gun bloggers had shown up yet, and a few were starting to arrive. We visited a bit, then it was off to bed early, as Thursday the Rendezvous started up in earnest.

Thursday morning we had breakfast in the Americana Café in Circus Circus. After breakfast we wandered around a bit to get our bearings. By now more of the gang were starting to arrive. At 2PM. We stopped by the Hospitality Room to get car-pooled up for our field trip to Scheel’s, the largest “All Sports” store in the world. Is it? Don’t know, but at approximately 300,000 square feet, it truly is huge. We had arranged for an employee of Scheel’s to show us around and tell us a bit about the store. If you are in Reno, it’s definitely worth a look, and be sure to try some of their fudge. There must have been thirty or forty different flavors, and they’d give you samples to taste for free! Scheel’s also has quite a large gun department, and most of us spent some time there eye-balling their inventory.

After browsing through Scheel’s, we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up for dinner. On the way back from Scheel’s Phil and David, the editorial staff from Random Nuclear Strikes, stopped and picked up soft drinks, mixers, and munchies for the Hospitality Room. By now even more of the gang had arrived, and we all headed back to the El Dorado Buffet for dinner. After another big dinner, we staggered back to the Hospitality Room for ~~an evening of enlightened conversation, a spirited and enlightened discussion,~~ OK, a BS session that went well into the night.

Not too late for me, however, as tomorrow was the first range day. Don’t want to be too groggy for that!

— To Be Continued —

GBR-IV Raises $8243.80 for Valour-IT

2009-09-18T15:29:00.000-07:00

The Gun Blogger Rendezvous is over, and everyone has returned home safely. The work to finish it all up, however, still remains.

Yesterday Jenny at Barrett Escrow, an angel in her own right, and I sat down and went over all of the receipts and finances for the Rendezvous. As you know, Barrett Escrow has received all of the registration and donation money for the Rendezvous, maintaining a good paper trail of the receipts. Jenny, and the rest of the folks at Barrett Escrow have done this at no charge as a donation to Soldier's Angels and Project Valour-IT. It's a lot of work, but they did a fantastic job. (They also don't mind when I eat the candy in the big basket on their counter.....)

Anyhow, after sorting it all out, and adding in all money received from

On line raffle ticket sales
GBR-IV Registrations
Donations
Raffle Tickets sold at GBR-IV

We cleared a grand total of

$8243.80

and we had a ball doing so!

I should also mention that National Shooting Sports Foundation (AKA NSSF) at the last minute donated an additional $1,000 to Project Valour-IT. This is in addition to their buying us pizza on Saturday night! If you would like to thank them for their generosity, an email to

info@nssf.org

should do the job!

For all of you who attended the Rendezvous, it was great so see you all, and if you weren't able to make it this year, it's never too soon to start planning for next year.

I'm still wiped out, but a few more naps and I should be back up to speed.

Driving Directions to Pyramid Range

2009-09-07T08:07:00.001-07:00

Driving Directions from Hotel to Washoe County Regional Shooting Facility – Pyramid Range Friday for long Range Rifle and Pistol, Saturday for Steel Challenge Pistol shooting.

Start at (Silver Legacy) 407 N VIRGINIA ST, RENO going toward E 5TH ST - go 0.3 mi
0.3 Turn RIGHT (East) onto E Maple St 131 yds
0.4 Take Ramp onto I-80 1.1 mi I-80
1.5 At exit 15, turn RIGHT onto Ramp 0.2 mi US-395 / Susanville / Carson City
1.7 Take Ramp (LEFT) onto US-395 1.3 mi US-395 / Susanville
3.1 At exit 70, keep RIGHT onto Ramp 153 yds N. McCarran Blvd / Clear Acre Lane
3.2 Keep RIGHT to stay on Ramp 0.1 mi North McCarran Boulevard
3.3 Keep RIGHT to stay on Ramp 87 yds N McCarran Blvd / Sparks
3.3 Bear RIGHT (East) onto N McCarran Blvd 1.8 mi
5.1 Turn LEFT (North) onto SR-445 [Pyramid Way] 0.3 mi
5.5 Bear RIGHT (North-East) onto SR-445 [Pyramid Lake Hwy] 11.5 mi
17.0 Keep STRAIGHT onto SR-445 [Pyramid Lake Rd] 9.8 mi
26.8 Turn LEFT (West) onto Local road(s) 0.7 mi
27.5 Turn RIGHT (North-East) onto Local road(s) 43 yds
27.6 Arrive Range

SUMMARY

Driving distance: 27.6 miles Trip duration: 31 minutes Driving time: 31 minutes

Thursday Breakfast Added to GBR-IV

2009-09-05T17:11:00.001-07:00

For those of you arriving in Reno on Wednesday, we have added a Thursday morning breakfast to the agenda. If you are at the hotel, The Silver Legacy, in Reno on Thursday morning, we will be leaving the Hospitality Room (Silver Baron "B") at 8:30am to go to breakfast.

The Silver Baron "B" room is on the mezzanine level, which is the same level as the lobby, and if I remember correctly, it's only a short distance from all of the restaurants. There are 23 restaurants in the multi-hotel complex from which to choose!

Here's the latest version of the Gun Blogger Rendezvous Agenda:

Tentative Schedule For
The 4th Annual
Gun Blogger Rendezvous

Thursday, September 10th

8:30 am. Leave the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron B" Hospitality room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.

2:30 pm. Leave the Hospitality Room to car pool to Scheel’s Sports Store in nearby Sparks.

3:00 pm – 5:00 pm. Guided tour at Scheel’s Sports and browsing/shopping. Pick up munchies and soft drinks on way back to hotel.

6:00pm. Leave the Hospitality Room to go to dinner. Location to be determined later.

Thursday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Friday, September 10th.

8:00am. Leave the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron B" Hospitality room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.

8:45am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, the Pyramid range for rifle and pistol target shooting out to 900 yards.

9:30am – 2:00pm. At the range.

3:00 pm. – 5:45pm. Show-N-Tell at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room.

6:00pm. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to go to the ground floor to Gecko’s BBQ Restaurant for dinner.

Friday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Saturday, September 11th.

8:00am. Leave the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron B" Hospitality room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.

8:45am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, the Pyramid range for an introduction to Steel Challenge Action Pistol shooting.

9:30am – 2:00pm. At the range.

4:30 – 5:15pm. Rachel Parsons of the NRA

5:15 – 6pm. Bill Brassard of the National Shooting Sports Foundation

6:00 pm. NSSF all you can eat pizza feed at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. After dinner will be the fund raiser raffle for Project Valour-IT and the drawings for the door prizes.

Saturday Evening until Midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies. .

Sunday, September 12th.

7:30am. Leave the Silver Legacy "Silver Baron B" Hospitality room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.

8:15am. Leave for the Virginia City Camel Races Festival and Cowboy Fast Draw Blogger Match.

9:00am – 10:00am. Cowboy Fast Draw Shooting.

The Cowboy Fast Draw shooting is the last scheduled event for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, but many attendees will be staying Sunday night and returning home on Monday. The Camel Races Festival, The Reno Car Museum, the Downtown River Walk, the new Reno Museum, and a number of other things should be considered for the rest of the day on Sunday.

Note that many of the times shown are departure times. Plan on being there a little earlier than the departure time.

On Line Raffle Ticket Sales Ends Saturday Midnight

2009-09-04T19:36:00.000-07:00

The Gun Blogger is now only days away, and the on line raffle ticket sales are about to end. In fact, tomorrow night (9/5/09) the on line sales will be shut down for the year.

Go get your raffle tickets and maybe YOU will be the lucky winner of the Para GI 1911 or the 4 Days of Training at Front Sight Academy. Here's the link:

Gun Blogger Rendezvous / Project Valour-IT Raffle Tickets

Remember, if you can't legally own the Para GI 1911, either because of the state you live in, or other reasons, and your name is drawn to win the Para, your entry will be disqualified. If your ticket is drawn for the Front Sight Training, however, you will get to enjoy four days of excellent training in Las Vegas. You DO have to get to Front sight on your own, but for a course like that, I think you'll be able to figure out something!

We all owe a big thanks to Brian and the gang at Lucky Gunner Ammo for hosting our ticket sales and processing the bankcard transactions for us.

GBR-IV Steel Challenge Information

2009-08-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

A Steel Challenge Stage

This year we will be going out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility on Saturday and will be the Guests of the Western Nevada Pistol League and will be using one of their pistol bays for Shooting a few Steel Challenge stages. For those of you unfamiliar with Steel Challenge, here's the basics:

What does a Steel Challenge Stage look like?
There are five steel targets, or plates, per stage at various distances from 7 to 35 yards away. The plates will be either 10", 12", or 18" x 24" in size. All of the plates are relatively easy to hit, just hard to hit if you try to go too fast! One specific plate, called the Stop Plate, must be shot last. The others must each be hit at least once prior to hitting the stop plate. You can shoot the first four plates in any order. (Except on Outer Limits, but we probably won't shoot Outer Limits as it also includes movement). Each shooter makes five runs, or shot strings, on each stage. Your slowest run is thrown out, and your four best runs on the stage are added together. Your score is your total time to shoot all of the stages.

There are eight standard Steel Challenge stages. Here's the specific stages:

We will be using Steel Challenge rules in Reno, with the exception that there will be no drawing from a holster. Instead, we will use the rimfire start position, which is with the gun pointed at a marker on the ground directly in front of the shooter's position and 12' away.

Some basic Range Safety rules:

It is a "Cold" range. ALL weapons must be unloaded at all times, unless you are in the shooter's box and under the direction of the Range Officer. That means concealed carry permit holders, too. If you are packing, Just drop the magazine, put it in your pocket, clear the chamber, and re-holster.

No handling of weapons outside of the shooter's box. If you need to work on a weapon, there is a designated safety area close by. No ammunition allowed in the safety area. You can load and unload magazines at any time behind the line.

What can I shoot:
You can shoot any handgun; revolver, semi-auto, or rimfire. If you've got a .22 you like, bring it along. Rimfire steel is a lot of fun, and is also usually the fastest category. Single action revolver? Sure! Bring what you've got.

Ammo:
For obvious reasons, no armor-piercing rounds! You do not have to knock anything over, just hit the plates hard enough to leave a mark. If you load your own ammo, stick to relatively light loads, hot enough to cycle and feed reliably, but no more than that is needed. Please save your maxed out mega-blaster hunting loads for use on the rifle range on Friday. Any factory standard loads are fine, and Plus P's aren't needed. How much ammo should you bring? It depends on how many times you miss, but I'd figure on at least 150 rounds as a minimum.

For a full set of the rules and a lot more information about Steel Challenge, check out the Steel Challenge Shooting Association website.

We will have a brief shooter's meeting at the range prior to getting started to review safety rules, procedures, and range commands.

Bangin' and Clangin', here we come.

See you in Reno!

More FAQ's

2009-08-28T12:26:00.000-07:00

How about transportation? To the ranges, from and to the hotel, etc?
From and to the hotel there is a free Silver Legacy shuttle bus and it's perhaps a ten minute ride.
As to getting back and forth to the other GBR activities, in the past we have always had enough extra seats in various vehicles so everyone had a ride. Getting back and forth, however, is your responsibility. Ask around the night before at the hospitality room and make sure you've got a seat. In the worst case, three or four of you may need to pick up a rental car and split the cost. There is a car rental office a few blocks from the hotel, or you can arrange a car rental on line for airport pickup if you are flying in.

How about lunch when we're at the ranges?
There's no food available at the range on either Friday or Saturday, but most likely there will be food booths at the Virginia City Camel Races Festival & Cowboy Fast Draw on Sunday. We usually eat big breakfasts Friday and Saturday morning, and haven't really been very hungry! Something to munch on might be a good idea, though.....

Driving Thru SoCal With Guns? Read This.....

2009-08-26T09:05:00.000-07:00

If you are driving up or down the Coast to get to Reno and the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, David at Random Nuclear Strikes has some good advice regarding routes and some areas to avoid due to local firearms laws. Be sure to check the comments too, as there's a lot more good advice there.

PARA Donates Gun Rights .45 To Rendezvous

2009-08-24T17:01:00.000-07:00

With the current political climate, just about all of the gun manufacturers are building everything they can as fast as they can just trying to cover back-orders. Considering that, it's even more of a credit to Kerby Smith and PARA-USA that they were not only able to come up with a to donate to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, they were able to come up with a spectacularly nice example of their products, a "Gun Rights" high capacity .45, single action and in stainless to boot!

Rounds: 14+1
Barrel: 5"
Weight: 40 oz.
Length: 8.5"
Height: 5.75"
Hammer: Spurred
Sights: Fiber-Optic Front/2-Dot Rear
Receiver: Stainless
Finish: Stainless
Magazine: PNM45
MSRP: $1,149.00

Someone attending the Gun Blogger Rendezvous is going to be the proud owner of this beauty, and if you are going to be there it could be you. Of course, you DO have to buy a raffle ticket, or perhaps a handful of them, but considering the money raised goes to Project Valour-IT, it's a double-win!

See you in Reno!!

2009-08-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

While KeeWee and I were down in California for the World Championships, one of the people we met was Molly Smith. It turns out that Molly is not only a very fine pistol shooter, she is also a Gun Blogger. I was on the same squad as she was in Rimfire in California, and I can attest to the fact that she can shoot well!

Molly Smith shooting in the Rimfire Steel Challenge World Championships
Photo by Yamil Sued

Everyone else walks around the hay bales. Not Molly.....
Photo by Yamil Sued

Her blog is The Molly Minute, and it is well worth reading. Her second post ever, on shooting "In The Zone", is definitely worth reading if you participate in any sort of competition, not just shooting. (Look in the January Archive to find it). Drop by and leave her a comment and let you know you enjoy her writing.

After we got home from California I got an email from Molly inquiring about the Gun Blogger Rendezvous as she not only loves to shoot, she'd like to meet some gun bloggers and learn more about blogging. It turns out that Molly, her Parents, and her brother Steven will all be attending this year's Rendezvous!

Welcome to the Mr. Completely blogroll, and we'll see you and your family in Reno.......

GBR-IV FAQ's

2009-08-22T18:14:00.000-07:00

Some frequently asked questions
about the Gun Blogger Rendezvous

Do I have to stay in the Silver Legacy Hotel, or can I stay somewhere else?
The Silver Legacy provides the Hospitality Room at no charge to the Rendezvous and gives us a discounted group rate on rooms, but it is based on having enough people staying in their hotel. It has happened in the past where not enough rooms were filled by our group in the hotel and it ended up costing us some money. I paid it out of my own pocket, but I really prefer not to have to do it again! This year it looks like we are OK, but I haven't seen the final numbers yet.

All Rendezvous financial considerations aside, to get the best enjoyment out of the Rendezvous, you really should be staying at the Silver Legacy. Folks who have stayed elsewhere usually miss out on a lot of the fun. The BS sessions go well into the night, and it's nice to be able to walk to your room. We usually eat most of our meals together at the various restaurants in the complex (there are 23!) and one of the highlights of the Rendezvous is getting to spend as much time with each other as possible. It really is a lot like a giant extended family reunion!

Do I have to Register for the Rendezvous and pay the $30 Registration fee, or can I just drop in?
If you want to stop by, you are most welcome. However, as a visitor rather than a registered attendee, you do not get any of the cool swag or door prizes. Every previous year attendees have gotten cool stuff worth far more than the $30 just in door prizes. By registering you also get to attend the All You Can Eat Pizza Feed on Saturday night put on by The National Shooting Sports Foundation. Steel Challenge shooting on Saturday, and the Cowboy Fast Draw Shooting on Sunday also require Rendezvous Registration.

Since just about all of the $30 registration money goes to Project Valour-IT anyway, there's no reason not to register.

Can I register at the door?
Yes, you can, but since the number of door prizes is based on how many we know in advance are attending, you may miss out on some of the door prizes if we run out. You will definitely get some swag, though! If you are planning to register at the door, PLEASE email me ASAP, so we know you are going to be there.

If you have any questions, please ask in the comments.

See you in Reno!!

Event Schedule for GBR-IV

2009-08-21T16:28:00.000-07:00

Tentative Schedule For
The 4th Annual
Gun Blogger Rendezvous

Thursday, September 10th

2:30 pm. Leave the Hospitality Room to car pool to Scheel’s Sports Store in nearby Sparks.

3:00 pm – 5:00 pm. Guided tour at Scheel’s Sports and browsing/shopping. Pick up munchies and soft drinks on way back to hotel.

6:00pm. Leave the Hospitality Room to go to dinner. Location to be determined later.

Thursday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Friday, September 10th.

8:00am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room, then downstairs to one of the restaurants for breakfast.

8:45am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, the Pyramid range for rifle and pistol target shooting out to 900 yards.

9:30am – 2:00pm. At the range.

3:00 pm. – 5:45pm. Show-N-Tell at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room.

6:00pm. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to go to the ground floor to Gecko’s BBQ Restaurant for dinner.

Friday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Saturday, September 11th.

8:00am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room, then downstairs to one of the restaurants for breakfast.

8:45am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, the Pyramid range for an introduction to Steel Challenge Action Pistol shooting.

9:30am – 2:00pm. At the range.

4:30 – 5:15pm. Rachel Parsons of the NRA

5:15 – 6pm. Bill Brassard of the National Shooting Sports Foundation

6:00 pm. NSSF all you can eat pizza feed at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. After dinner will be the fund raiser raffle for Project Valour-IT and the drawings for the door prizes.

Saturday Evening until Midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies. .

Sunday, September 12th.

7:30am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room, then head downstairs to one of the restaurants for breakfast.

8:15am. Leave for the Virginia City Camel Races Festival and Cowboy Fast Draw Blogger Match.

9:00am – 10:00am. Cowboy Fast Draw Shooting.

The Cowboy Fast Draw shooting is the last scheduled event for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, but many attendees will be staying Sunday night and returning home on Monday. The Camel Races Festival, The Reno Car Museum, the Downtown River Walk, the new Reno Museum, and a number of other things should be considered for the rest of the day on Sunday.

Note that many of the times shown are departure times. Plan on being there a little earlier than the departure time.

SCSA to Sponsor Rendezvous

2009-08-18T19:06:00.000-07:00

While I was down in California for the Steel Challenge World championships, I got a chance to talk a bit with Dave Thomas, the head of USPSA and Steel Challenge Shooting Association. Dave decided that since the Gun Blogger Rendezvous raises money for Project Valour-IT, a very worthy charity helping our injured Vets, and since we were going to be featuring Steel Challenge shooting at the Rendezvous, that the Steel Challenge Shooting Association would like to help out a bit by donating some door prize and/or raffle items to the Rendezvous.

A big Thanks is in order to Dave Thomas, USPSA, and Steel Challenge for helping us out!

Cowboy Fast Draw at the Rendezvous

2009-08-11T13:15:00.001-07:00

I've got some more great news about the upcoming Gun Blogger rendezvous. On Sunday morning at the Rendezvous we have been planning for some Cowboy Fast Draw fun under the watchful eye of Quick Cal Eilrich, the head of the Cowboy Fast Draw Association and multiple Cowboy Fast Draw National and World Champion.

We were going to do it out at Cal's place, but those plans have changed. We are now going to be having our mini fast draw match at Virginia City as part of the Virginia City Camel Races Festival. Yes, Cal will be there showing us how, and we'll all get to "Shoot it out" Sunday morning in Virginia city. The rest of the day we can check out the festival and watch the camel races.

Sunday is going to be a lot of fun!

Raffle Tickets On Line NOW!

2009-08-07T16:43:00.000-07:00

In spite of efforts to shut down our Fund Raising Raffle for Project Valour-IT , raffle tickets are now available. Thanks to the hard work of a number of people, and particularly to Brian of Lucky Gunner Ammo, Lucky Gunner is now providing us a shopping cart and ticket buying process on their website. Brian put in some long hours after his regular work day to make this all happen. What are they getting out of this? Nothing! Every penny, less the 3% processing fee by the credit card processor, goes directly to Project Valour-IT.

Go get your raffle tickets and maybe YOU will be the lucky winner of the Para GI 1911 or the 4 Days of Training at Front Sight Academy. Here's the link:

Gun Blogger Rendezvous / Project Valour-IT Raffle Tickets

Of course, while you're there you might browse through the ammo they have in stock and see if there's a good deal on whatever you might be getting low on.

Gunnies REALLY ARE the nicest people.

Raffle Ticket On Line Sales Friday - maybe

2009-08-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

It's looking like Friday we will be able to announce the Gun Blogger Rendezvous on line raffle ticket sales as up and running. We are awaiting the final approval from the credit card processor, just to be sure we don't end up getting shut down again, like Paypal (sucks!) did to us. I'll announce it here as soon as it's underway......

Raffle Ticket Sales Back On Line Tomorrow?

2009-08-04T14:40:00.001-07:00

It looks like we've managed to come up with a way to get the raffle ticket sales for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous/Project Valour-IT effort back on line, and it should be up and running tomorrow morning. Check back tomorrow for the full info and the link to take you to the raffle ticket sale page.

In the mean time, why not go have a look at Lucky Gunner Ammo and see if they have some of that ammo you've been looking fo?. Why am I mentioning Lucky Gunner Ammo in a post about the Rendezvous raffle? Well, it looks like a lot of the credit for getting the raffle's on line ticket sales going again will be earned by the Lucky Gunner folks! Thanks, Guys!

Paypal Refuses GBR-IV Raffle Ticket Sales

2009-07-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

Note: I am late in getting this posted as I needed to calm down A LOT before writing about this.

As part of this year's Gun Blogger Fund Raising efforts to benefit Project Valour-IT, we are having a section of our fund raising raffle set up so you could buy raffle tickets on line. We included two very nice prizes, a Para GI 1911 pistol, and a $2,000 four day training session at Front Sight Academy. The pistol was purchased and donated by Kevin from The Smallest Minority, and the training was donated by Front sight Academy.

The on line ticket part of the raffle was set up and hosted by Soldiers Angels, the parent organization of Project Valour-IT. In the first three and a half days over a thousand dollars worth of tickets were sold on line. Then someone at Paypal decided to shut it down. They not only shut down the raffle ticket sales, they shut down ALL Paypal on line contributions to all areas of Soldiers Angels. Soldiers Angels had to remove the button to buy raffle tickets before Paypal would turn the account back on. Unfortunately Soldiers Angels was in the middle of a fund raising drive and it's anyone's guess just how much in donations they lost in the twelve hours that Paypal was refusing to accept donations for them.

It appears that they consider buying a raffle ticket where you might win a gun is the same thing as actually going to a FFL and buying a gun. What is actually going on is people are making a donation to Soldiers Angels and Project Valour-IT, and for every $10 they spend they get a raffle ticket that might win them a gun. That's quite a big difference.

From Kevin:

"So where does that leave us? Well, you can call Soldiers' Angels and do a transaction over the phone. During normal business hours (PST) you can call (626) 529-5114, or you can call their voicemail service any time at (615) 676-0239, leave them a callback number and they'll get back to you - probably the less expensive option, timewise. It's not as convenient as a mouse click, but it beats snail-mailing a check."

The bad news is it's a pain to have to do it this way, but the good news is that Paypal doesn't get a percentage of the money spent on tickets.

If you'd like to call Paypal and discuss why inter-species offspring should not be put in policy making decisions, or anything else along those lines, their Customer Service phone number is (402) 935-2050.

For Kevin's full post and a lot more information about this, it's here.

Update Here's the list so far of bloggers that are writing about this:

Maj. Chuck Zeigenfuss at From My Position, On the Way! - Paypal is asshats
Laughingwolf at Blackfive - Step Up for Valour-IT, Especially as PayPal Won't
Blackfive at Blackfive - Anti-gun PayPal Shuts Down Soldiers' Angels Contributions
BillT at Castle Argghhh! - How Innnnnteresting
Alan at Snarkybytes - Paypal: Anti-Gun
Sebastian at Snowflakes in Hell - PayPal's Gun Policies
Kahr40 at From the Barrel of a Gun - Paypal is anti-gun
Kevin S. at Brown Valley Kingdom - Paypal shows their ass
Albert A Rasch at The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles - It's About Time We Pushed Back!
Major C at A Major's Perspective - Important Information You Need to Know
SayUncle - PayPal: Fear of guns overrides helping soldiers
Tam at View from the Porch - Figures
Joe Huffman at The View from North Central Idaho - Quote of the Day--Kevin Baker
Phelps at The Everlasting Phelps - PayPal Hates Soldiers
Jim at The Travis McGee Reader - A current outrage
Morgan at My Two Cents Worth - Outrage via PayPal
Derek at The Packing Rat - Paypal = Bigots
Jennifer at In Jennifer's Head - PayPal and Guns
Pamibe - PayPal vs. Soldier's Angels
Firehand at Irons in the Fire - So PayPal is so anti-gun that they'll screw over Soldier's Angels
Musings of the Geek with a .45 - That's Quite Enough of PayPal
falfenix of Insert witty title here - Sometimes you just can't win
Some Soldier's Mom - PayPal is Anti-Gun
Stephanie's Blog - PayPal is Anti-Gun
Ride Fast and Shoot Straight - PayPal is an evil, eBay anti-gun minion
Caleb at Gun Nuts Media - PayPal cuts off donations to veteran’s charity group
Russell at Solarvoid - Gah, stupid Paypal
Sailorcurt of Captain of a Crew of One - Paypal and the Geek
US Citizen at Traction Control - PayPal is no Pal to Soldiers
Top of the Chain - Paypal = Bovine Fecal Material
Dirtcrashr at Anthroblogogy - Pay-Pooper is Not Your Pal
Linoge of Walls of the City - paypal sucks
Phil at Random Nuclear Strikes - Some People's Children
Hazmat at Thunder River Home - Gotta Love That PayPal
Evyl Robot Soapbox - Paypal is Anti?
The High Road - at least three threads

LuckyGunner.Com Joins the Rendezvous

2009-07-30T10:33:00.001-07:00

I just got an email from Brian at LuckyGunner.com and not only is LuckyGunner going to help sponsor this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous, Brian is also planning to attend in person! He says he's looking forward to hanging out with a bunch of fellow gun nuts!

If you are looking for ammo, be sure to have a look at their website. Unlike some places, if they list it on the site, they have it in stock. No worries about ordering something and having it end up as backordered, and your money tied up until the backorder is finally filled.

If you'd like to meet Brian in person, the Rendezvous is the place to be!

Rendezvous Blog Sidebar Logo

2009-07-22T14:18:00.000-07:00

It's taken me WAY too long to get this logo up so you can use it on blog sidebars to link to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous blogsite. Graphics/website wizard Rob Allen of Sharp As A Marble put this logo together for us a while back, along with a very cool new header for the Rendezvous blogsite. Thanks, Rob, beautiful job!

Unfortunately I haven't managed to get the new header into the GBR template in the right place where it would look right. Trial and error eventually gets me there in HTML, and eventually I'll figure it out.

Anyhow, here's the logo. The Gun Blogger Rendezvous URL is

http://gunbloggers.blogspot.com/

Some assembly required.......

More "Who's Gonna Be There.......

2009-07-20T14:06:00.000-07:00

I've been getting in a steady stream of registrations for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, so here's a few more bloggers you will be able to meet in person if you go:

D.W. Drang of The Clue Meter

Miss Elain-eous of Bearcat's Spin

Azreel of Free Spirit Mind

John O'C. of the Gun Counter forum

Benjamin of The Reasonable Nut

For those of you who have included a donation to Project Valour-IT with you registration, we all thank you for your help, it's a very worthy cause.

BTW: Miss Elain-eous of Bearcat's Spin is just getting her blog up and running, so why not stop by and leave a comment of welcome?

On Line Raffle Ticket Sales

2009-07-16T22:30:00.000-07:00

Hey! Wanna Win One of THESE?
On Line Raffle Ticket Sales Now Open!

That's ParaUSA's new GI Expert entry-level 1911. The specs are:

Caliber: .45 ACP
Barrel: 5 inches, stainless steel
Twist: 1 in 16 inches, left-hand
Action: Single-action, Semi-automatic
Sights: Dovetail Fixed, 3-White Dot
Receiver: Carbon Steel
Trigger: Medium length
Hammer: Skeletonized Spur
Magazine: 8-round with removable base pad (two provided with pistol)
Overall Length: 8.5 inches
Height: 5.75 inches
Weight: 39 ounces
Finish: Covert Black Para Kote™
Stocks: Checkered Polymer
Safeties: Slide Lock, Internal Firing Block, Grip
Additional Features: Lowered and flared ejection port, beveled magazine well, flat mainspring housing, grip safety contoured for spur hammer
MSRP: $599

It looks like a good, solid piece with just enough enhancements to make it a great shooter.

Remember, THIS GUN WILL BE FIRED AT THE RENDEZVOUS. We'll try to clean it up a bit before we pass it on to the winner!

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS
TICKET SALES ARE NOW OPEN!!

Soldier's Angels is running the on-line ticket sales ($10 each, no limit!), and there is also a chance to win a four day training course from the Front Sight Firearms Training Institute worth $2,000!

Raffle Details:

Drawing will be on Saturday evening, September 12th at the
Gun Blogger Rendezvous
at the Silver Legacy Hotel in Reno, Nevada.

The winner need not be present to win.
(But you ought to be anyway!)

It is up to the online raffle ticket purchaser to verify that they can legally receive and own this pistol where they live, and the winner must be a resident of the United States. If they cannot legally own this pistol, they are automatically disqualified from the raffle, and there is no substitution or other prize to be awarded. All decisions are final. Raffle tickets sold at the Rendezvous, and raffle tickets sold online will be combined in the drawing.

Important: To win a gun in the raffle, make sure you can legally own it before you buy a ticket.

On-Line ticket sales END on Friday Sept. 4th. at midnight!
If you want to win one of the many, many other prizes being given away, you either have to attend, or you'd better know someone who is! ;-)

Major kudos to Kevin Baker of The Smallest Minority and Kerby Smith of Para USA for their help in supporting the Gun Blogger Rendezvous and Project Valour-IT!

Note: The above post was shamelessly stolen from Kevin because:

I'm lazy
It's Hot
It's late
I have no shame......

Front Sight Donates $2000 Training to GBR-IV

2009-07-13T21:49:00.000-07:00

I just got an e-Mail from Dr. Ignatius Piazza, founder and head guy from Front sight Firearms Training Institute, and he confirms that he will be donating a $2,000 dollar four day training course to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous for inclusion in our Project Valour-IT fund raising Raffle. For this we owe him a big "Thanks!"

I am trying to convince Dr. Piazza to try to attend at least part of the Gun Blogger Rendezvous so we can meet him in person and he can answer any questions we may have about his training programs. He sounds like an interesting guy and I'd like to meet him in person some day.

If you are planning on attending the Rendezvous and would also like to meet him in person, why not send him an email and let him know? info@frontsight.com is an email address he follows, so if enough of us ask, maybe we can pry him out of Las Vegas and get him to Reno for at least part of the Rendezvous? You never know.......

Who's Gonna Be There......

2009-07-12T14:44:00.000-07:00

The Gun Blogger Rendezvous is just eight weeks away, and some of you are still on the fence as to if you are going to attend or not. The Rendezvous is different from most events, as it is the attendees themselves that are the reason to attend.

Here's a partial list of the attendees for this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous. I am SURE I've left some folks off, so if you are going and you're not on the list, leave me a comment and I'll get you on the list.

So who's going to be there, you ask?

Here's a partial list, and new names will be added as we get closer to the Rendezvous.

Planning to Attend:

KeeWee, from KeeWee's Corner

Phil & David, from Random Nuclear Strikes

US Citizen, from Traction Control

Ride Fast & the Commandress, from Ride Fast - Shoot Straight

Mr. & Mrs. JimmyB, the Conservative UAW Guy

Lou from Mad Gun

Derek from The Packing Rat

Rachel Parson from the NRA

D.W. Drang from The Clue Meter

EJ from Engineering Johnson

Cap'n Bob & Damsel

Alan Gura

Mark Knapp from Firearms Lawyer

Maj. Chuck Ziegenguss from From My Position - On the way and founder of Project Valour-IT.

Kevin from The Smallest Minority

Dirt Crashr, from Anthroblogogy

Chris & Mel Byrne, from The Anarchangel

Uncle, From Say Uncle

Larry Weeks, from Brownell's

Andy and Lance from HiCap Gun Works

and, of course, me.....

There are a number of folks hoping to be able to attend, but not sure either way quite yet. There is a possibility we may see our first attendees from the UK, as I've gotten a couple of emails regarding registering in Euros and so forth, so keep your fingers crossed. We might even see some folks from Holland, at least briefly, as there are a few coming over to Las Vegas for the USPSA Nationals being held the same weekend.

We've still got room for lots more folks, so get off your "Donkey-like creature" and get your registrations in ASAP. It's going to be the best GBR yet, and by a long ways, so you really will kick yourself if you don't go. More range time, warmer weather, Alan Gura, The NRA, National Shooting Sports Federation, All you can eat pizza feed, at least three guns to win, lots of door prizes, and plenty of things to do for the family members not quite so gung-ho for gun stuff.

There are even some more surprises coming up to be announced. I am waiting for confirmation, but there's a pretty good chance there's more neat stuff and a some big announcements yet to come!

SEE YOU IN RENO ! ! !

BTW: All bloggers automatically get press credentials. If you are from a newspaper, magazine, radio, or TV station, maybe, maybe not...........

Hi-Point Carbine For GBR-IV Raffle

2009-07-09T12:35:00.000-07:00

Charlie Brown, the head guy over at MKS Supply/Charter Arms/Hi-Point, has donated a brand new Hi-Point 9mm. carbine to the raffle at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous. The below picture is of the YET UN-ANNOUNCED new Hi-Point carbine! Official announcement will be around the end of the month, but Charlie has said that I can blog about it even before it is officially announced to the media.

The Brand New Hi-Point 9mm. Carbine.

I don't have a lot of information on the new carbine yet, but the primary difference is the new stock. The main mechanical parts are essentially the same (identical?) to the current 9mm. carbine.

Charlie did give me a little more advance info though, as after the 9mm. is rolled out, a .40 caliber version will not be too far behind. Even more exciting, though, is that they are looking into a version in .45ACP! How cool is that! I WANT ONE..............

Get Your Registration and Reservations in ASAP

2009-06-26T12:07:00.000-07:00

It's only a bit over two months away, so get your Gun Blogger Rendezvous registration and hotel room reservations in ASAP. To get the best flights and prices, you should get on that right away, too.

The Silver Legacy in Reno is giving us a special group rate, and by booking our rooms at the Silver Legacy, they provide our hospitality room for us for five days at no charge. There's a small catch, though, that if we don't have enough rooms, then it costs us money for the hospitality room.

We have blocked out rooms for Wednesday the 9th, through Sunday the 13th. Most folks plan on arriving on Thursday, and then leaving Reno either Late on Sunday, or on Monday. KeeWee and I are planning on arriving around Noon on Wednesday. Since we will be having GBR activities on Sunday, you may want to consider leaving for home on Monday if you can arrange it.

The room rates are a bit higher than last year as the Silver Legacy is a bit more expensive that where we were last year, but it's supposed to be rated a bit higher as hotels go, too. The rates for a room for up to two people is $69 per night on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday. Friday and Saturday rate is $119 per night. There is also a $3.00 "Resort Charge" on to of that ,and a 17% (!) Reno room tax. Wireless internet, usually an extra $10.00 per night, is included in the room rate.

To book your room, call the Silver Legacy direct at 1-800-687-8733 and be sure to mention the group code of GBLOG09 to get the reduced rates.

Everything is all set for you to register for this September's Gun Blogger Rendezvous at the Silver Legacy in Reno on September 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th. (Note that we've moved it a month earlier to take advantage of the much warmer weather) The registration is $30 per person, the same as last year. The majority of the registration money will go to Project Valour-IT, and a small amount of it will go to GBR expenses.

To register, download the registration form, fill it out, and mail it in along with your check to the address on the registration form. Your money will be deposited into an escrow account, so every penny is accounted for.

To download the registration form, click on The Registration Form. We need your registrations in as soon as possible, as advance registrations give me an idea of how many attendees to plan for.

You don't have to be a gun blogger, or even a blogger to attend the Rendezvous. Since you are reading this blog, you are welcome to attend! Don't put it off any longer, get your transportation, room reservations, and Rendezvous Registration in TODAY!

See You in RENO!

Mark Knapp, Firearms Lawyer to Rendezvous

2009-06-26T12:06:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I was at the Paul Bunyan Gun Club in Puyallup, Washington shooting in one of their monthly "Fun Steel" matches. On our squad was a fellow named Mark Knapp. I'd never met Mark before, and as the day progressed we got a chance to talk a bit. Mark is an attorney (yeah, I know, but Mark isn't one of those slimy types at all!) Mark not only specializes in firearms law in Washington State, but he's a good solid shooter and a gun blogger too! How 'bout that!

Mark Knapp, Firearms Lawyer & Blogger

I wish I would have remembered to take my camera so I could put up a picture of Mark shooting rather than in his "Lawyer Suit", but you use what you've got! At Puyallup made what I would consider the shot of the day, at least in our squad. Mark hit a 12" plate one handed while in full gallop to the second shooting position! A bit of luck was involved, for sure, but he hit it, none the less. Quite a shot.....

Mark is also making plans to attend this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous. On top of everything else, Mark is running for judge in Federal Way, just South of Seattle. Too bad we can't just send him straight to the Supreme Court. How cool would it be to have one of the Supremes be a regular competitive shooter!

Check out Mark's blog Washington State Gun Lawyer, and his Firearms Lawyer website. There's lots of good reading on both. If you'd like to meet Mark in person, why not come to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous?

See you next month at Puyallup, Mark, and maybe over at Kitsap if you can make it!

NSSF To Co-Sponsor GBR-IV

2009-06-25T11:58:00.000-07:00

This one's been in the works for a while, but it's now official, The National Shooting Sports Federation will be co-sponsoring this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous. NSSF has agreed to pick up the tab for the "All you can eat" Pizza feed on Saturday night in our Hospitality room. Since the cost of the pizza will now not come out of the Rendezvous Registration money, it, in effect, is a donation to Project Valour-IT, as all money after expenses raised by the Rendezvous goes to Project Valour-IT.

If you are not too familiar with NSSF, you should definitely check out their website. They do a bunch of good things to promote hunting and shooting sports. Most recently they donated $50,000 as startup funding to establish the Scholastic Steel Challenge program to introduce Steel Challenge shooting into the schools.

If a representative from NSSF will be able to attend the Rendezvous has yet to be determined, but good lines of communication established between the Gun Bloggers and NSSF could certainly be a positive benefit towards the hunting and shooting sports. Let's hope they can be there!

Be sure to check out their website, as there is a lot of good information there!

Para To Donate a Pistol To the Rendezvous Raffle

2009-06-24T14:39:00.000-07:00

Last Year's Raffle Para PXT LDA Limited Single Stack Pistol

I now have confirmation from Kerby Smith of Para USA regarding the pistol that Para USA is donating to the Project Valour-IT fund raising raffle to be held at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous. Para is having a hard time meeting the demand for their products, but they will definitely be donating a brand new Para pistol to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous to help raise money for Project Valour-IT through the GBR raffle. They don't know for sure which model it will be, but I can't think of any of them that I wouldn't like to win in the raffle!

We all owe a big thanks to Kerby Smith and Para USA for their generous donation.

Thanks!!

Smallest Minority donates PARA Pistol To GBR-IV

2009-06-23T13:04:00.000-07:00

Kevin Baker, prolific gun blogger at The Smallest Minority and Rendezvous regular, has stepped up to the plate big time in support of the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, and more importantly, in support of Project Valour-IT.

As you may recall, Project Valour-IT buys voice actuated laptop computers and gives them to injured service men and women who otherwise are unable to use a computer due to their injuries. Anyhow, Kevin busted open his piggy bank and bought a Para USA GI Expert and is donating it to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous Valour-IT fund raising raffle.

ParaUSA's new GI Expert entry-level 1911. The specs are:

Caliber: .45 ACP
Barrel: 5 inches, stainless steel
Twist: 1 in 16 inches, left-hand
Action: Single-action, Semi-automatic
Sights: Dovetail Fixed, 3-White Dot
Receiver: Carbon Steel
Trigger: Medium length
Hammer: Skeletonized Spur
Magazine: 8-round with removable base pad (two provided with pistol)
Overall Length: 8.5 inches
Height: 5.75 inches
Weight: 39 ounces
Finish: Covert Black Para Kote™
Stocks: Checkered Polymer
Safeties: Slide Lock, Internal Firing Block, Grip
Additional Features: Lowered and flared ejection port, beveled magazine well, flat mainspring housing, grip safety contoured for spur hammer
MSRP: $599

Tickets will be available at the Rendezvous, and if all goes according to plan, we will also have tickets available on-line soon.

2009-05-31T21:27:00.000-07:00

Derek of The Packing Rat blog, Alan Gura,
and blogger Dirtcrashr from Anthroblogogy

(Picture stolen shamelessly from Derek)

STOP THE PRESSES!!
(I always wanted to say that....)

Just got this eMail from US Citizen at Traction Control:

Traction Control has just received confirmation - and permission to announce this Breaking News:

Alan Gura the Attorney who won the Heller case in the Supreme Court will be attending the Gunblogger Rendezvous in Reno!

Travel arrangements have been made and Traction Control is welcoming Alan to a weekend of good fun and guns at GBR IV.

WOWSERS!!!

Glock to Co-Sponsor GBR-IV

2009-05-13T08:24:00.000-07:00

I've got all sorts of good news regarding the Gun Blogger Rendezvous coming up, but I'm waiting for full confirmation before announcing anything new. Today, however, I'm extremely pleased to announce that Glock has agreed to help sponsor the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, coming up September 10, 11, 12, & 13th. in Reno at the Silver Legacy hotel and Casino. As a Glock owner, (a 17, a 22, and a 34, if you must know!) I am pleased to see Glock join the Gun Blogger Rendezvous.

If you've considered attending the Rendezvous in the past but didn't quite manage to make it, this is the year to be sure to attend. There will be lots of range time, including some Steel Challenge action pistol shooting, long range rifle and pistol shooting, and some Cowboy Fast Draw fun for everyone. There will be a social session with folks from the NRA, a fund raising raffle for Project Valour-IT, an "All you can eat" pizza feed, and "Social Gatherings" (read: BS Sessions) until the wee small hours every night in our own Hospitality room at the Silver Legacy Hotel.

If you are a gun blogger, mil blogger, shooting enthusiast, competitive shooter, or a reader of the blogs that cover shooting and 2nd. amendment stuff from time to time, you are all welcome. You do not have to be a blogger to attend. The cost of the registration for the Rendezvous is low, and the cost of Silver Legacy accommodations is very reasonable.

Hi-Cap Gun Works, a local Reno gun shop and FFL holder, will handle shipping of firearms if you would like to bring your stuff to shoot but don't want to carry it in your luggage on the airplane.

Fellow bloggers, please give me a hand in getting the word out on the Rendezvous any way you can. It all helps. If you have attended in the past and are planning to be there this year, why not encourage some of the other bloggers in your area to attend this year? We could stand to have a few more folks show up as one of the first questions the possible sponsors ask is how many will be attending. The more folks attending, the easier it is to get more sponsors.

Last year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous was the best ever, and this year we are adding several new things to make it even better.

Hope to see YOU there!

Limcat Custom Guns at GBR-IV

2009-04-21T14:35:00.001-07:00

Limcat Razorcat Open Class Race Gun

I spoke with Johnny Lim today on the phone, and if everything works out schedule-wise, he's going to try to attend at least part of this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous. Johnny is the head of Limcat Custom guns, and he builds tome absolutely beautiful race guns in his shop near Reno. The plan is to at least get him to bring some of his beauties to show and tell so we can see them up close and personal. Will he be able to come to the action pistol shooting portion of the Rendezvous? We don't know, but anything's possible. Johnny is a very accomplished steel shooter in his own right, so maybe he'll be able to give us a live demo, we can hope!

For more information on Limcat Custom's products, have a look at their website. Be sure to check out the movie of JJ Racaza doing reloads. I forgot to mention, Limcat sponsors JJ. WOW!

GBR-IV Hotel Reservations

2009-03-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

This year's Rondy will be held in the Silver Legacy Hotel & Casino in Reno. We have blocked out some rooms at a special rate. By booking our rooms at the Silver Legacy, they provide our hospitality room for us for five days at no charge. There's a small catch, though, that if we don't have enough rooms, then it costs us money for the hospitality room. If we have as many folks as las year, though ,we'll be fine.

We have blocked out rooms for Wednesday the 9th, through Sunday the 13th. Most folks plan on arriving on Thursday, and then leaving Reno either Late on Sunday, or on Monday. Since we will be having GBR activities on Sunday, you may want to consider leaving for home on Monday if you can arrange it.

The room rates are a bit higher than last year as the Silver Legacy is a bit more expensive that where we were last year, but it's supposed to be rated a bit higher as hotels go, too. The rates for a room for up to two people is $69 per night on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday. Friday and Saturday rate is $119 per night. There is also a $3.00 "Resort Charge" on to of that ,and a 17% (!) Reno room tax. Wireless internet, usually an extra $10.00 per night, is included in the room rate.

To book your room, call the Silver Legacy direct at 1-800-687-8733 and be sure to mention the group code of GBLOG09 to get the reduced rates.

Registration for GBR-IV

2009-03-25T14:26:00.000-07:00

Everything is all set for you to register for this September's Gun Blogger Rendezvous at the Silver Legacy in Reno on September 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th. (Note that we've moved it a month earlier to take advantage of the much warmer weather) The registration is $30 per person, the same as last year. The majority of the registration money will go to Project Valour-IT, and part of it will go to GBR expenses and the Pizza feed.

To register, download the registration form, fill it out, and mail it in along with your check to the address on the registration form. Your money will be deposited into an escrow account, so every penny is accounted for.

To download the registration form, click on The Registration Form. Don't wait until the last minute to send it in, as advance registrations give me an idea of how many attendees to plan for.

Thanks, and

We'll See You in Reno!

New Hotel & New Dates for GBR-IV

2009-03-10T19:53:00.000-07:00

The Silver Legacy Hotel & Casino in Reno.

I've got lots of news about next Fall's Gun Blogger Rendezvous. We have moved GBR-IV from the Reno Circus Circus to the Reno Silver Legacy. We have also changed the dates, moving from Early October to Early September. It took a lot of work to work out all the details, line up the facilities we need, and to get the best room rates available.

First, about the hotel, the Silver Legacy: The Circus Circus, the Silver Legacy, and the El Dorado are all connected to each other by Sky Bridges and you can't always tell when you have moved from one to the next. The Circus Circus is on one end, the Silver Legacy is in the middle, and the El Dorado is on the other end. For those of you who have been to previous Rondy's, the Mining Machine and it's dome are part of the Silver Legacy. Looking over the various hotel reviews, it looks like the Silver Legacy is rated perhaps half a star higher than the Circus Circus.

The Dates: This year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous will be held on

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday,
September 10th, 11th, 12,th and 13th.

This is the first weekend after Labor day.

Thursday will be Arrival Day, and nothing is scheduled until late Thursday afternoon/evening. Reno is amazingly busy clear through next Fall, and getting the dates I wanted wasn't easy! Holding the Rondy a month earlier will make being outside at the ranges really pleasant, weather-wise. Instead of snow, it should be shirt-sleeve temperatures. It WAS a mite "Brisk" at times last year in October.

"Dawn Patrol" Launch at last year's Reno Balloon Races.

For those of you who will be attending the Rendezvous but aren't quite as "Hard Core" about getting out to the range for the shooting, there will be plenty of other things to see and enjoy. While we are in Reno they will be holding the Annual Reno Balloon Races.

Quoting from the Balloon Races website:

(RENO, Nev.) - The nation’s largest free hot-air balloon festival, The Great Reno Balloon Race, will paint the sky again September 11, 12 and 13, 2009 at Rancho San Rafael Regional Park. What began with just 20 balloons in 1982 has grown to showcase more than 100 balloons and pilots from as far away as New Zealand and Switzerland. On average, 140,000 spectators from all over the world come to share in the wonder of this three-day event.

This year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous is going to be by far the best one yet, so circle the dates on your calendar now! I've got a number of other things about to be announced regarding GBR-IV, but I've got to get final details sorted out first.

GBR-IV Updates

2009-03-01T11:27:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, it's already time to start putting all the pieces together for next October's Gun Blogger Rendezvous.

I've got plans for some new stuff this year, including a second range day. One day at the range we used last year, mostly for rifles, and one range day aimed (a pun?) towards action pistol shooting, something along the lines of a few Steel Challenge Stages to shoot. Maybe even a mini Steel Challenge Fun Match?

If we can get all of the ducks in a row we'd also like to coordinate with the Cowboy Fast Draw Association (located only 20 miles outside of Reno) and see if we can set up some Cowboy Fast Draw shooting and additional fund raising, possibly on Sunday. We have tried to put this together for two years now, but scheduling kept getting in the way. Maybe this year, I hope!

We will be having our fund raising raffle for Project Valour-IT, our all you can eat pizza feed, the regular BS sessions well into the night, and all the fun stuff like we have done in the past.

I do, however, need some feedback from you all who might be considering attending this year's Rendezvous. What I need is some feedback from all of you as to your projected attendance at GBR-IV. I realize that October is a long way off and things can change between now and then, so I'm not holding anyone to their positions, but I do need to get some idea of what everyone wants to do. In particular, I'm interested in hearing from folks who haven't been to a GBR in the past and are hoping to make this be the year.

You don't have to be a Gun Blogger, or even a blogger, to attend. If you enjoy shooting, if you read some of the gun blogs, and would like to meet some of the gun bloggers in person, here's your chance.

Leave us a comment if you are thinking about attending this year!

GBR-IV Prelim Info

2008-12-14T14:19:00.000-08:00

Although getting sick didn't help, I have been working on some ideas for next year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous. I haven't got the details and confirmations worked out yet, but I promise you that GBR-IV is going to take it to a whole new level.

All the good stuff from previous GBR's will still be there, but there will be several BIG new things added. As more details become available I'll be letting you all know.

It's going to be in early October, probably the first or second weekend. Start making your plans now by at least putting it on your calendar.

I'm not kidding, it's going to be big!

Barrett 50 at GBR-III

2008-10-29T09:26:00.001-07:00

There were a lot of cool things out at the range, but this was clearly one of the coolest!