We Know you Ride, But do you Shoot?

Plant is a little west of Dixie off Lakeshore , the ranges are still there and some older brick buildings . At one time a big observation tower was over towards the lake to spot bombers . They built a huge floating pyramid roof with black shingles they would tow out into the lake , bombers would fly out of Hamilton and do a run down the lake and bomb the pyramid with dummy shells . My mom and uncles as kids would go to Marie Curtis park on Lakeshore and watch the bombers. When the war was over my dad’s friends bought surplus dive gear and made a business with the Port Credit fishing fleet walking on the bottom of the lake collecting scrap lead from dummy bombs .


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I grew up nearby...
In the early/mid 70's we'd ride our bikes out behind where the test ranges were. The baffles were still present.
We'd occasionally find spent .303 casings.

The Lee Emfields produced at Long Branch are coveted as the best examples of that particular rifle.
They were also produced in the UK, Australia, India and the USA, however....The Canadian made rifles were of superb quality and enjoyed production conditions unaffected by war.
The US produced rifles have a reputation for brittle steel and many recommend not firing them...
 
I very briefly lived near there , I was in LongBranch for a couple years . Was visiting friends down there when the biker war blew up the log Cabin burger place.

Since we are on WW two , my mom used to get ice cream as a treat from the German POWs at the camp in Mimico, they were often out on work detail and since they had a small working wage per day and nothing to spend it on they bought ice cream for kids . I asked her if she thought that was kinda weird . She says they probably had little sisters or kids of thier own they missed . They were just on the wrong team . The really lucky ones ended up POWs in Ontario .


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My dad came to Canada from Germany in 1956.
Growing up I came to know that several of his German friends/guys he knew weren't all immigrants like him... Some were former POWs that decided to stay or... they were former POWs that when freed went back to Germany, looked around. 'said "Scheiß drauf" and sailed back to Canada.
 
I think the deal at the end of the war was you had to go back , there was a brief waiting period then you could apply to return . A really large number opted to come back to Canada .


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Gaoler said:
Canadian Arsenals Ltd.

'Plant was located at Dixie Rd. and Lakeshore.
They manufactured the Lee Enfield there as well as the Sten gun and I believe the Bren gun as well.
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Are you referring to Long Branch? I know that’s where the made the Lee Enfield Mark IV which is highly regarded among collectors. The building was still there up until a few years ago that I know of. I know the Inglis plant made Bren guns at their plant closer to the city near the CNE grounds somewhere.
 
Bobo said:
Are you referring to Long Branch? I know that’s where the made the Lee Enfield Mark IV which is highly regarded among collectors. The building was still there up until a few years ago that I know of. I know the Inglis plant made Bren guns at their plant closer to the city near the CNE grounds somewhere.
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Yes, thats pretty much it.
 
Gaoler said:
Yes, thats pretty much it.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I skipped over those previous posts.Coincidentally, my father is from Steyr, Austria. That’s where they made a large number of the K98 rifles as well as MP40 sub machine guns among other things during the war.As the Americans got close a lot of guns got dumped into the canal/river that ran through town. Not sure if by soldiers or the factory. My dad and his friends would pull them out and trade them for cigarettes to the American soldiers.They still make high end firearms there to this day.
 
Both adult kids love to plunk in the backyard with my old pump action BB air rifle. One gifted me self indicating Zombie targets.

When they came with their partners for Easter I thought it the perfect time to get those zombie targets out since jesus is the most famous zombie of all. It was a perfect warm sunny day and every body had a blast.

I'd like to step that up a notch for next time their home with an air pistol. Perhaps a CO2 cartridge type for less fiddling? BB or pellet? .22 or .177?

I'm thinking this could be a CTC purchase with nothing more required than showing a driver license......

I know really nothing about these other than I like firing pistols. ( My old man was a competitive marksman and would take me to the range as a kid).

Thoughts? Suggestions?

FWIW my backyard faces a railway line embankment - a perfect back stop.
 
timtune said:
Both adult kids love to plunk in the backyard with my old pump action BB air rifle. One gifted me self indicating Zombie targets.

When they came with their partners for Easter I thought it the perfect time to get those zombie targets out since jesus is the most famous zombie of all. It was a perfect warm sunny day and every body had a blast.

I'd like to step that up a notch for next time their home with an air pistol. Perhaps a CO2 cartridge type for less fiddling? BB or pellet? .22 or .177?

I'm thinking this could be a CTC purchase with nothing more required than showing a driver license......

I know really nothing about these other than I like firing pistols. ( My old man was a competitive marksman and would take me to the range as a kid).

Thoughts? Suggestions?

FWIW my backyard faces a railway line embankment - a perfect back stop.
Click to expand...
I had spring/pump BB/Pellet pistol as a kid. Put a lot of bb's through it. By the time I retired it, the accuracy had declined to ~8' circle at 30'. Useless.

I really like the suppressed air rifles that they are allowed to use in the US and UK (EDgun and similar). Canada hates them so I can't have one. They are also far from cheap.

For playing in the backyard, I'd go with 177. Cheaper to shoot and you don't care about energy downrange. BB's are cheaper and faster to load but much less accurate. Whether pellets are worth the time and money depends on the people involved.

I'd be super careful with pistols these days. If a bystander sees you, expect the ETF team showing up all hot and bothered.

Wear safety glasses. At pistol range, bb's can get back to you.
 
timtune said:
Both adult kids love to plunk in the backyard with my old pump action BB air rifle. One gifted me self indicating Zombie targets.

When they came with their partners for Easter I thought it the perfect time to get those zombie targets out since jesus is the most famous zombie of all. It was a perfect warm sunny day and every body had a blast.

I'd like to step that up a notch for next time their home with an air pistol. Perhaps a CO2 cartridge type for less fiddling? BB or pellet? .22 or .177?

I'm thinking this could be a CTC purchase with nothing more required than showing a driver license......

I know really nothing about these other than I like firing pistols. ( My old man was a competitive marksman and would take me to the range as a kid).

Thoughts? Suggestions?

FWIW my backyard faces a railway line embankment - a perfect back stop.
Click to expand...

Double-check your local laws/bylaws regarding air powered firearms on your property. As @GreyGhost mentioned, you don't want the police breaking up a nice family gathering.
 
I got back into it after an extremely long time being without any firearm other than my Diana 5G pellet pistol and Diana Model 48 pellet rifle that I kept. So I got my RPAL and didn't seem to forget anything after decades with 92% to 100% on the 2 written and 2 practical tests.

Unfortunately, I was a few years late because Di*khead Trudeau changed some laws. Now that I was back into shooting and I had some money, I was looking forward to get back in handguns. My last handgun was a cheap Vostok .22. It was all I could afford back in the mid 80s. It was it or a Suzuki RG 500 Gamma. ;)

I always wanted an Anschütz bolt action. But I chose a .22 target rifle that was cheaper but better than my skill level, a CZ 457 MTR. If I miss, it is not a gun issue, it is a "me" issue.

It was warmer Friday and Saturday so I went to the range for the first time this year. Saturday was a very gusty day.

Friday after running a few rounds through a clean bore to get some consistency, 9 shots and 1 flyer. I later adjusted my windage. I am more interested in a tight grouping.
2026-04-17 - 50 Yards -1.jpg

Saturday was a gusty day and despite that, 50 yards with 10 shots going into the 19mm x 19mm red square using cheap Norma TAC-22.
2026-04-18 - 50 Yards - 1.jpg

I am looking forward to taking my first centerfire that I bought to the range, a TIKKA T3x ACE TARGET in .223.
I'll sight it in at 100 yards, and run it to 200, 300 yards....


And now to have a bit of fun with respect to the Gun Confiscation Program started by Alan Rock, Justin Trudeau and continued by Mark Carney.

In the last year, any sane person would think that Chipmunk Face Gary would have better things to do with his time to tackle FAR more important issues than firearms that are not a threat to anyone. It is quite obvious he is bored.

 
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