V.G.C.A NEWS JULY '98

MEETING DATE AND PROGRAM

The meeting this month will be Thursday July 23 at the NRA Hdqt. At 8 PM. Come by 7 and have a light dinner compliments of the club. The program is one I don’t think you will want to miss. . Scott Benedict will be discussing his fantastic German pistol collection that he displayed at our last show. So come early to eat and enjoy Scott’s presentation. We will again keep the business part of the meeting short so we can devote the evening to learning about these most interesting and historic pistols.

VERY CLOSE CALL FOR MARTY EAKES

Marty had a very close call recently. He had a very bad automobile accident the week before the picnic. He suffered many broken ribs and a severely mangled and broken arm. The good news is that he is mending and will be OK. He very much appreciated all the calls expressing concern about him. Hang in there Marty and get well soon !!!

 THE PICNIC

By guesstimate, we had about 135 members and guests. Ed Johnson’s BBQ was as good as ever and the amount of food that showed up to compliment it was astounding. No one went away hungry I think. The shooting was great. However, many others and I had concerns that the number of shooters overwhelmed the small Norva Range. I think it was the largest number of shooters we have ever had at the picnic. Because of the safety concerns, we will have to restrict the number of shooters on the line at any one time next year. We will clearly outline the new range rules before the next picnic so that there will be no misunderstandings about what is expected of guests on the range. The presentation by Carlos Davila on the FN FAL rifles was really outstanding. An intense thunderboomer ("Star Tannery Sprinkle") came up suddenly and soaked everyone at the range and all of Carlos fine rifles got a good rain water rinse. After the shower ended, the sun came out and Mo and crew fired his 1862 Dalghren Boat Howitzer many times. It was impressive to say the least. Mo was firing 3" balls made of zinc rather than of Lead. The balls were recovered and fired again. The power of this piece was evident to all who attended Most people have never seen such a gun and fewer yet have ever pulled the lanyard on one. It was fun and I hope we can badger Mo into bringing it back next year. It was truly a BLAST !!!! ( You might want to start suggesting this to him now so that by next year he will have no choice but to show up with the gun and lots of ammo )

DEATH OF ERICH LENGYEL

It is with deepest regret that I must report to you about Erich’s passing. He died in a boating accident in Page County July 3rd. For those of you who have been attending the picnics during the past few years, you may recall that Erich and his son Ryan had lots of Sharps and other single shot rifles at the range. I believe last year he and Ryan loaded over six hundred rounds of .45-70 and .50-70 rounds for the members to shoot. Erich was an active sportsman and was a delight to talk to and be around. We will certainly miss him. We sent flowers to the funeral in the names of both VGCA and NORVA.

MAKES YOU WANT TO VOMIT !!!!!

Col. Grier sent the attached photo from a local paper in Scotland. I think the article and photo need no explanation. Would Clinton like to do that to us or what??? Maybe the next time the Krauts or Japs come ashore in the U.K , Scotland or Australia, we should send this photo instead of lead-lease arms with which to defend themselves.

INTERESTING RESEARCH ARTICLE BY O.H McKAGEN

O.H. sent his interesting article on a modified Maynard carbine that is a dual fire weapon. Thought you would like to read up this article that O.H. published in the April 98 Gun Report. Thanks O.H. for sending and sharing it with the membership. Anytime anyone does original research and would like to share it, send it to me and I will publish it in the newsletters.

NOTE FROM TOM "BEAR" LITTON

Those who have been in VGCA for a while will recall Tom. He always had a fine table or two and sold Sako rifles and ammo. Tom and Alexandria moved to MO a few years ago. He is doing some research on a most interesting Weatherby Rifle that was a presentation piece at the NRA show in 1959-held in Washington DC. That was before the wacko’s took over ! Tom mentioned that if any VGCA members were interested in Sako or Zeiss products, he will sell them at a substantial discount. If you have priced any of these products recently, you might want to contact Tom at: High Grade Services, 805 E. Ridgecrest Drive, Marceline, MO 64658-1816. His phone is 660-376-3761 and his FAX is 660-376-3763. He sent some literature and I will have it at the meeting. It was great to hear from Tom. He sends his best wishes to all.

WEB PAGE

If you have not done so, you should check out our page. There are lots of neat things there. There are still some slots for business cards to be included on this page. Send any cards you want on the net- it s free to Larry Hunt or myself.

Hope to see you at the meeting. Don’t forget to bring Show and Tell stuff!! Addison Hurst