Pressing On - Adventures at the Gun and the Home Range

THIS is a Lee Single Stage Press.

THIS is a Hamilton Beech Single Stage Press.

Well actually it's one of those "Goerge Foreman-Style" meat grills. A friend was moving and gave it to me as she cleaned out her kitchen.  It's very durable and pretty heavy, with a thick white outercoat and black metal plates that remove for cleaning. . If a Storm Trooper ever tangled with a steamroller,  this would be the result.

Designed for grilling meat, it CAN be used to make a pressed and grilled panini style sandwich.  But more on that later. . .

I got to a range this weekend.  Coming off off of surgery, 6 months of desk only work, and not much more than light household activity on the weekends,  a lot of skills degraded, especially my shooting. The truck was loaded up early for a trip into the city as it was going to be a scorcher and it was bound to be busy early.

EJ brought his new Glock 21

I looked forwarded to some practice with a favorite or two.

It felt good to get the dust off.

Having someone taking your picture during shooting just isn't blog material, it's a VERY good way to learn some things, including what your bad habits are.  A couple of  summers ago,  I found that when shooting large caliber loads with fairly rapid shots, I was getting my shots placed very close to one another, but they were, as a group, not where I wanted them.  Tam snapped some photos and I saw that when the firearm "flipped" back after firing, I was releasing my grip noticeably before re-gripping for the next shot.  I had no idea I was doing that.

Knowing I was doing it keeps me thinking about it, and I was happy to see in one of the photos taken this weekend as the Sig started coming up (as it is prone to do, much more than the 1911)  that my grip was pretty much where it should be The backboard was pretty well blasted up, but with a fresh target, I could see that after some warm up shots, I was hitting center.

Ammo depleted, we said goodbye to the great folks at Tactical Firearms Training (www.tactical-firearms.com) , who provided the NRA certified range officers. They do a great job, keeping us ALL focused on gun safety and skills, and it's always appreciated, whether one is a beginner or experienced.

Our gear stowed at home, we were off for a couple errands.  A stop at a big box store found THIS find.  Gee I don't WHY they are on sale?

"You get the Zebra one and I'll look for a Lion one". . . (maybe not)

And then there was this  find.  Actually, if I could turn the lamp on and off with the trigger, I might consider it.

Supplies in hand and as hungry as lions, it was time to go home.  I had a hankering for a Panini with bacon, but I don't have a Panini press.  Hmmm.  Why not try the Storm Trooper Grill?

Italian bread was sliced, not too thin.  Ham, Bacon, Swiss, and some garlic mayo.

Did I mention bacon?

The sandwiches, lightly buttered on the outside, were placed in the preheated grill and cooked for 5 minutes.  The cover didn't quite close, but provided enough pressure to cook and flatten them  to crunchy, melty goodness.

The meat grill now has a new function. It's nice to know one is never too old to learn something new

You all have a safe trip into work today.  Monday night,  I'll have up the recipe for Sunday dinner - Mexican Train Lasagna (a HOTR Southwestern take on an old favorite).