Today is the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy. 156,000 Allied Troops landed on a 50 mile section of highly fortified beach. At the end of the day an estimated 4,000 Allied troops lost their lives. One week later the beaches were fully secured.

As you go about your day, take a minute to think about how it would have felt to stand in those landing craft. Imagine the sound of the machine-guns and know that as soon as the ramp dropped, you would be wading into hell.

Without those brave men, the world would have suffered a much worse fate.

It always amazes me to see the highs and lows of range traffic. It never fails that when the sun is out and the temps are mild, the range will be packed. Take a below-freezing day with high wind and snow and I can almost guarantee the range will be empty. Those “ugly” range days are a blessing in disguise. Not only does nasty weather clear the range. It also forces you to deal with factors you have no control over. If you are a professional shooter, training in adverse conditions is critical. You don’t control when you are sent on patrol or when you are called out. If you are a match shooter it is also critical. Ugly weather will test your gear and your discipline. The next time the weatherman says to stay inside next to the fire, consider grabbing your rifle and heading out into it. Not only will you gain skill and experience, but it will make warming up by the fire with a cup of cocoa much more enjoyable.

The AK gets a little Magpul goodness.

Today was a reminder on why I recommend cleaning a new barrel.

I just got done assembling and oiling up a new AR. I was going down my checklist and remembered that I had not punched the bore yet. Since this is not a precision rifle, I don’t worry with the Dewey rods and bore guides. I grabbed a Boresnake and pulled it through. The amount of crud that came out of the other end was amazing. I gave the snake a couple more passes before I was satisfied that any debris was gone. I can’t say for sure exactly what it was that came out of the barrel, but I am positive it was not something I wanted drug through by a bullet going 3000+ fps.

No matter what the origin of a rifle, clean the barrel before your first firing. Machining debris, packing material and other amazing items all have a way of slipping into the barrel. You don’t want to destroy your new rifle because a piece of silica gel wedged itself in the bore during shipping.