Something I wrote about Burt, range attendant

You can never make ammunition for lever action rifles quite the same as regular ones. This is because all the bullets are lined up in the chamber, when you fire one round, the explosion and resulting shock cause all the other waiting rounds to discharge, and you blow your shit all to hell. Most lever action rounds have blunted, flat tips. That way they don't push against the center of the cartridge in front of them. But at the range today, Burt showed me these new rounds; they get the distance and the accuracy of point tip rounds because they are pointed. The point is rubber. Burt rubbed it across the table and I watched the little thing bend back and forth against the fiber glass. Burt said the round will hit about six inches higher than normal rounds at about 100 yards. I bought one case, and two cases of the regulars for simple target practice. The pointed types were for the straight killing of beasts.

Burt had a sticker and a picture of Obama. Instead of hope, it said nope. I thought that was funny and decided to play along. He said that as soon as that man gets in office you can kiss your guns goodbye. I held my 30-30 good and tight. Not mine, I said. I'd die before that. Me too, said Burt. And he meant it, for sure.

Burt was a hard, stupid son of a bitch. I hate everyone lately, besides him.