Cosmoline
Member
Well it was suitably cold today, hovering from 5 to -5 f. And with the snow deep but hard I took the bike for a spin to the range. I had some fine pictures to show including one of an icicle that bridged my upper and lower eyelids, but the "tough" Olympus which is supposed to be fine at cold temps took a powder and is refusing to function. I believe the last digital display was something like "TOO COLD. I AM OUT OF HERE SUCKA."
My M28 is on the repair block at the moment getting new stock fitted because the original bicycle-ski is too fragile for rough use. So I took my trusty M39, 1970 vintage. Not exactly a Talvisota weapon, but the receiver is ancient so who knows. It performed without a hitch, though I did screw up a charger load due to a wool glove snagging the clip. Did prone, sitting, kneeling, off hand and repeated till I was out of ammo at 50 and 75 yards. Tons of fun, and quite challenging. With winter gear on and a balaclava it's tough to get a good cheek or shoulder weld. It's also tough to get a feel on the trigger. I was wearing special gloves with the finger tips removed, but it was too cold to have any bare skin on the steel so I had to wear a liner underneath. As a result I couldn't feel the trigger very well and mistimed about one out of eight shots. Nothing too wild, but I was out of the 9 and 8 ring.
Even under a roofed shelter, with modern poly blend clothes and top of the line boiled felt Norwegian ski booties it's a challenge to shoot in those condition. It's a challenge to do anything. If you want a very small taste of what those guys went through, or for that matter what our guys went through at Bastogne or in Korea, just pick a good cold snowy day and walk or bike all or part of the way to the range. Even ten miles of walking in the snow will give you a little sampler of how much more difficult the cold makes any movement. Then imagine having no warm bed to return to, no heating station at the range to take refuge in, seriously substandard winter gear, and targets shooting back at you. It really boggles the mind. Even after my little excursion today every muscle hurts. Those that I can feel, that is!
To top it off I got a little combat simulation at CostCo on the weekend. I feel like I need someone on the fifty anytime I venture in there for bulk tuna.
I also performed a snack experiment, in the interest of science, to see which snack truly works best in subfreezing temps. The winner by a long distance were Walker's Scottish pure butter shortbread cookies. They're basically pure fat with some sugar and flour, so they remained soft and easy to digest even below zero. The regular candy bars were steel ingots by that time.
My M28 is on the repair block at the moment getting new stock fitted because the original bicycle-ski is too fragile for rough use. So I took my trusty M39, 1970 vintage. Not exactly a Talvisota weapon, but the receiver is ancient so who knows. It performed without a hitch, though I did screw up a charger load due to a wool glove snagging the clip. Did prone, sitting, kneeling, off hand and repeated till I was out of ammo at 50 and 75 yards. Tons of fun, and quite challenging. With winter gear on and a balaclava it's tough to get a good cheek or shoulder weld. It's also tough to get a feel on the trigger. I was wearing special gloves with the finger tips removed, but it was too cold to have any bare skin on the steel so I had to wear a liner underneath. As a result I couldn't feel the trigger very well and mistimed about one out of eight shots. Nothing too wild, but I was out of the 9 and 8 ring.
Even under a roofed shelter, with modern poly blend clothes and top of the line boiled felt Norwegian ski booties it's a challenge to shoot in those condition. It's a challenge to do anything. If you want a very small taste of what those guys went through, or for that matter what our guys went through at Bastogne or in Korea, just pick a good cold snowy day and walk or bike all or part of the way to the range. Even ten miles of walking in the snow will give you a little sampler of how much more difficult the cold makes any movement. Then imagine having no warm bed to return to, no heating station at the range to take refuge in, seriously substandard winter gear, and targets shooting back at you. It really boggles the mind. Even after my little excursion today every muscle hurts. Those that I can feel, that is!
To top it off I got a little combat simulation at CostCo on the weekend. I feel like I need someone on the fifty anytime I venture in there for bulk tuna.
I also performed a snack experiment, in the interest of science, to see which snack truly works best in subfreezing temps. The winner by a long distance were Walker's Scottish pure butter shortbread cookies. They're basically pure fat with some sugar and flour, so they remained soft and easy to digest even below zero. The regular candy bars were steel ingots by that time.
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