A Christmas party

Christmas parties or to be more generic, holiday parties, happening either at work or with the groups you hang with, are all the rage this time of year. And, since time seems to condense around the holiday season, all these gatherings happen in a fleeting time. So far, I’ve been invited to two parties, and they both were scheduled for the same day and starting at the same time.

I had committed to the blackpowder club’s gathering first, so I attended it. Besides, the prime rib dinner was an added incentive as opposed to the potluck the other party was serving (my mom didn’t raise no dummy!).

After dinner, the December monthly meeting was held and, as usual, the split-the-pot drawing winner was not present, so the pot’s cash value rolled over to the next month. The part of the gathering I have always enjoyed most is the auction held after the meeting. Folks were asked to bring in items they no longer needed or wanted, and which other members might be interested in, to donate to the auction. The proceeds are used to pay the insurance premium covering club members shooting at various events.

The items donated usually are related to some aspect of the muzzleloading shooting culture, but items can be anything. For instance, I had two sets of reloading dies for a modern cartridge I shoot and hunt with on occasion. I brought in the older set, complete with the shell holder and a small powder scoop.

I bought more stuff than I needed, but most items were purchased for far less than it would have cost me if I was buying retail. Besides, I can use everything I bought. For example, I can always use a tin of musket caps for my military-style rifled musket, and the unopened box of round balls will shoot nicely out of a couple of same-caliber rifles I have.

I scored on one item I was told to take for free since I was the only one who knew what it was used for. The item is a short starter used when loading a muzzleloading rifle. Both the short starter “punch” and the longer seating rod had projections screwed into them which fit in the hollow nose cavity to use when seating a hollow-point conical bullet. This keeps the starter from slipping off the bullet nose when pressing it into and down the barrel.

One of the guys enjoys collecting knives and usually donates a couple each year for the auction. I’ve bought a couple of them over the years during this event. He donates quality knives, so I know I’m getting a quality item. This year, I bought two small folding knives – identical except for handle colors. One had brown scales and the other had green. I would have bought the third knife, with black handles, if another bidder hadn’t bid higher than I cared about going.

Somebody else had donated six kitchen knives, all used but all from name brand manufacturers. There was one large butcher knife, a couple of long carving knives, and three shorter boning and slicing knives. They all have wooden handles and look like they’ve been through the dishwasher more than once. I located a bottle of food-grade mineral oil at the grocery store to use for refinishing, restoring, and protecting the wooden handles. After I’m done working on the handles, I’ll resharpen the blades to a sharp and usable state.

Once these knives are rehabbed, I plan to put them out in our small motor home to use for whatever is needed on various hunting and fishing trips I hope to go on this coming season. I also bought some cartridge brass to use to reload for three different calibers of modern rifles.

Overall, I think I did all right with my purchases. I was surprised at my total auction bill – it was lower than I thought it would be. The other good thing is that all the monies paid will be used to offset the cost of the club’s shooting insurance bill. I look at this the same way I look at my drawing permit hunt application fees when I don’t draw a permit – it’s a donation toward a worthy cause!

Between last week’s column and this one, you know what I got for Christmas this year. This has been one of my better Christmases in recent years. And the nice thing is, I can actually use everything—no more stuff in drawers or sitting on shelves!