One Good FU Deserves Another

As we all know by now "The One" has ascended to the office of POTUS.  This doesn't bode particularly well for gun owners, or conservatives, or hell, anyone who wants to keep the money they earned or Civil Liberties!  I digress.  What to do about it?  Why go out and buy one of the most hated guns the idiot Left fears, an AR15 EBR (Evil Black Rifle).  I don't "need" one, but I've wanted one for a while and had made up my mind to get one this year "just in case".  Well I put it off for a while looking for a pre-built that I think I want at a decent price (I'm Cheap Frugal) as I don't really know enough about the EBR to know what I want so's I can build one.  This past weekend, I spied the ticket, the DPMS Sportical AR15 from Panther Arms, its a complete flat-top AR with no forward assist and not a sight to be found, a blank slate of an AR to be done with what I wished.  The best part?  $640, sweet!

Anyway, I had MCSports put it on hold for me as I wanted to deal a 1911 away I've been wanting to get rid of.  I took ownership of it today of all days, kind of appropriate no?  Perhaps I'll see if I can save some more before 1/21/09 to buy another (or just some lower recievers) on innaugaration day, just my way of flipping the bird to those that are ignorant and unfortunately in charge as of next year.

This is too good

I just HAD to post this video, it is simply too darned good to not post.

Hat tip to Instapundit (actually one of his readers)

Electrical Engineering FTW

THIS is full of awesomeness and win. 

To think that a parent would either send a 9yo child into a neighbor's yard to steal a sign or be upset that he got what was coming to him is utterly and completely disappointing.  First of all, if I were that boy, I wouldn't have told my dad under any circumstances because I'd gotten worse than what that sign gave me and secondly, my dad wouldn't have gone to the neighbor but woulda tanned my hide.

And thus the problem these days is that when children do wrong, they aren't necessarily punished or corrected, rather they are taught to look for someone else to blame.

No apology from the parents for their thief of a son.

And you wonder why I worry...

about Zombies!

It's that time of the year again and as usual out come the Zombies. If only we could deal with them as god and George Romero intended.

So the Zombie Riot was interesting but in the end didn't amount to much. Zombies = 0, Constabulary = 1

I voted yesterday...

How about you!

So far in my district they have had record numbers voting everyday using early/absentee voting. I stood in line for 2 hours...take your ipod and a book cause the lines are only going to get longer. Whatever you do, get out and vote.

All the cool kids are doing it

So I decided I'd post this Chuck Norris video.

I'm not sure the cameraman survived this video, perhaps someone should send flowers after Chuck threw that last punch, even when he doesn't make contact with you, Chuck is deadly.

Keep my fingers crossed

I'm keeping my fingers crossed because it looks like I might get the opportunity to attend Jeff Gonzales Pistol Operators Course. I put in for the course a month ago and due to staffing problems at work I didn't think I was going to be able to attend. As of this week however the dates opened up so if all goes well I should be in the class next month.

This will be one of the first outside training events we have hosted at our new range and I am very much looking forward to the experience. I meet Jeff Gonzales at Shot Show a couple of years ago and he seems like a great guy. I also had the chance to pick up his book Combative Fundamentals and enjoyed it immensely. I found the book helpful and thought provoking without being overly preachy or boring which sometimes happens in books of the type. I do wish the book had a few more photographs to help show what he is talking about, but overall it was very good. Now I hope to get the chance to improve my skills and get some much needed training.

Many people think that if you are a firearms trainer you get to shoot all the time. That couldn't be further from the truth. Usually you find yourself instructing and teaching so much that you miss out on opportunities to improve your skills. So no matter how good you might think you are it is always a great idea to get out and take some courses from other people. If nothing else you will get some much needed trigger time.

New Stuff

Sorry I've been away for awhile, but things have been very hectic with me this year. Cowboy Shooting started grand with my being appointed as Vice President of Thunder Valley. In VP Tradition I immediately missed a majority of the matches this year due to work and other commitments. I hope to change that next year and make every match! (I'll settle for most of them)

I found myself working or taking care of my daughter most shoot days and I have only managed to attend less then a handful of shoots for the entire year. I did however get elected as President of a national law enforcement organization and managed to help my department get it's own range after a 10 year fight.

The new range is fantastic. It is a state of the art 12 lane indoor range facility rated for small arms fire up to and including .308 rifle rounds. The backstop and targets were installed by Action Targets and they include 12 turners, 1 runner, and 1 retriever (the retriever comes right at you and/or runs away from you). This range took a lot of work but it's finally done and we are all very happy and excited about it.

Sure there are glitches and bugs with the new building. It's just like moving into a new house. Once in you find out all the stuff that was accidentally left out or forgot so we still have a ton of stuff to do. Along with the new range we finally got approval for our patrol rifles and I'll be attending a patrol rifle instructor course next month. My experience with a patrol rifle is very limited so I'm a little apprehensive about the instructor level course. All in all it's been a very exhausting year and I am looking forward to it winding down so I can start fresh again next year. Hopefully it won't take me as long to post as this time.

PS. It's almost Zombie time again so stock up on the esentials.

New-Old .45s

Well, with the economy in the dumps, but its not like I haven't been trying.  I've acquired a couple of new irons, one a carry piece, the other a cowboy action revolver that I really don't need, it was just too good a deal, yeah, one of those...

At the last Indy 1500, I picked up an Officers model Rock Island as I noted previously here.  I did a few things to it, I dropped in an STI trigger and cleaned up the area where the spring guide and slide stop reside as it had quite a bit of flashing or remnant metal that was causing the slide stop to pop out under firing (not a desired thing).  I dropped in a new slide stop as a precaution and put on a pair of double-diamond rubber grips from Kimber, something I picked up from reading Xavier's blog (oddly, he recently posted his own compact 1911).  I agree with him in that there really isn't anything comparable in grip and comfort.

So far, I've put over 600 rounds down range with it and aside from the slide stop issue and some horrible ammo I bought at the 1500 (don't buy "factory reloads") it has nary a problem that weren't on me.  Ejection and feed are positive and the gun shoots accurately enough (better than I).  I also am loving the smaller form factor while carrying, it is a very handy pistol that disappears nicely on my side (like a deck chair on the Queen Mary).

The only thing I'm thinking of doing is replacing the sights, the mil-spec sights really don't pick up well under certain circumstances, though I do find them mostly adequate.  The problem is, what do you go with?  Novak makes a rear that fits the rear government dovetail, but I don't think they make a post sight for the front.  A lot of folks rave about the Yost hardball sight, but I don't see it being much better than what's on there.  Trijicon makes night-sights, but getting that front post sight staked without breaking the vile is nigh impossible without Trijicon's $300 tool and that seems a bit steep to me.  I have found the King-Tappan form Kings Gun Works may just be what I'd like to try, it isn't flashy, but does provide visual cues to help a shooter out.  If anyone has a suggestion that won't require milling of dovetails, let me know in the comments pleast.

The second shooting iron I recently acquired is a Ruger Tank Vaquero in .45 Colt and 4 5/8" barrel.  I really didn't need it, but the price and extras the fella was offering were too much for me to pass up.  This gun was manufactured during the first year of Vaquero production in 1993.  That's pretty neat, for me anyway, it certainly was very well taken care of and certainly wasn't used in CAS, that's for sure.  My guns that are less than 7 years old are showing wear from use, but then they are Rugers, so aside from holster wear, you wouldn't know the difference.  I'm very pleased with this gun as it is beautiful for a tank Vaquero and it completes my second set of shorter barreled Vaqueros (I had a 5 1/2" version).  BTW, if anyone out there has another 4 5/8" Vaquero in .45 Colt they would like to trade for a 5 1/2", let me know, I wouldn't mind matching up barrel lengths.

All in all, its been a pretty decent month and I picked up a couple of nice guns for under $1k, guns that I'll USE more importantly.  I don't like having guns that don't have jobs.

The Deal

Rep. Mike Pence on the bailout.

"I must tell you, there are those in the public debate who have said that we must act now. The last time I heard that, I was on a used-car lot," said Rep. Mike Pence, R-Indiana. "The truth is, every time somebody tells you that you've got to do the deal right now, it usually means they're going to get the better part of the deal."

Pence’s humor aside, all I hear from the guys who want to pass this bailout is that the alternative is unthinkable. Well skippy, if you want $700 Billion to hand out to the very idiots who mis-managed this whole thing down the shitter in the first place, I’d suggest you start convincing me by laying out exactly what the alternative is because I happen to think that handing out $700 Billion to morons IS UNTHINKABLE!!!

Wild Bunch Rig

Last month I shot my first Wild Bunch match at Pleasant Valley. I had a great time and a lot of fun. I wasn't very happy with my set up so I decided to come up with something different.

I stated with the notion that a boarder town gunfighter who opted for the new wiz bang auto loader wouldn't settle for a military flap holster. So I decided to improvise just like that gunfighter and cut off the flap.

I purchased an army surplus flap holster for next to nothing ($18) along with a leather knife case ($3). I cut the flap off of both the holster and the case. I then used some leather thread and stitched the top of the holster back together and fitted the knife case to the magazine by getting the case wet and letting it dry with a magazine wrapped in plastic inside the knife case. I then cut the back of the holster and knife case open enough to except an old 3" western cartridge belt I had lying around. The rig looks western enough and the holster presents very well allowing you to get your master grip on the gun well in advance of the draw stroke. Of course now I just have to get a chance to use it. Oh, and don't pay any attention to the 1911. It's not Wild Bunch legal, but it was all I had for the picture.

Newb 101

It's important to know when you're dealing with a new shooter. I got a snort out of a post on a local gun board today when the new shooter had this to say about a handgun he tried out.

"I didn't really like the grips but everything else felt great on it."

I'm trying to restrain the sarcasm, this is a new shooter, but you HAVE to know that a proper and comfortable grip is paramount to shooting well. You need a good grip, trigger and sights, everything else is gravy.

Toy Show

The Indy 1500 Gun & Knife show is going on this weekend so I went toy shopping and came back with a new one. It's nice to go in with a lot of options for what you'd like to have. I wanted a large bore wheelgun for carry, an officers model 1911 in .45ACP, I'm always looking for a snubbie .357 it seems (stainless) and I could have been convinced to purchase an AR15. This was just the guns that I wanted, let alone reloading and accessories...

I came back with a RIA officer's model. I had seen one in a pawn shop about a year ago and thought about getting it to play around with, just to know more about them and to see if the smaller version could be made into a carry piece for me and my ginormous hands. Turns out after handling this one at the Gun Show, I have to admit that it is a handy little piece that fits my hands remarkably well. Why this RIA over a whiz-bang Kimber Ultra Carry or Pro Carry or Colt Agent? I didn't want to spend $800-$1,000 to satisfy my curiosity. Besides, my short list for a 1911 includes reliability and accuracy, both of these have been achieved on the RIA's that I've handled. This particular model sports a commander hammer and beavertail grip safety, so it is essentially carry ready with the only upgrade I might consider (besides grips) is a set of sights and I'm not convinced yet on those.

Anyway, I'll post pics when I can and get out to the range for testing soon.

(pst, yes I know the image above is flipped, blame Armscor)

W00T!

Heller got his gun permit from the DC Overlords.

Congrats Mr. Heller and thanks.

Have A Shot

Not lead shot, rather a shot of Bourbon. I don't pretend to be a person of refined taste, but I do know what tastes good and being as how one of our fellow shooters works for Brown-Forman, we occasionally get to sample some of the finest spirits available. One such spirit is my current favorite bourbon, Old Forester Signature 100 proof. While Jack and Jim are fine for mixing, they don't really sit well with me as a "sipping" whiskey. Old Forester Signature has a beautiful amber color and a spicy taste with a subtle backdrop of fruit (I told ya, I ain't refined!).

The really great thing about OFS is that it won't bust your wallet. At about $18 a bottle, you can't get a better Bourbon, the only problem you'll have is finding it if you aren't from the Kentuckiana area. I live just close enough that our large liquor store carries it.

Also, I realize the good folks making this Bourbon can't proclaim its medicinal qualities, I have no such restriction. I was having what I now think was some mild food poisoning and felt really bad, so I took a couple of glasses of OFS before going to bed and woke up the next day as good as new! So there you go, Bourbon, is there anything it can't do?

On Caliber & Myths

I wouldn't be a gun blogger if I didn't weigh in on the fairly recent gun blogosphere ramblings on caliber snobbery and some outright 1911 mis-information.

First of all, Syd at Front Sight, Press has an anecdote of a .380ACP not penetrating a skull. This compells him to proclaim his unconfidence of the .380 as a man stopper. First of all, yes, the .380 is an anemic caliber compared to the mighty .45ACP, but does it make it unworthy? I say no and here is why. I carry a 9x18 Makarov in my front pocket a lot, now the 9x18 round is an over glorified .380ACP, why would I carry such a loathesome caliber over say a .45ACP or .357Magnum? Simple, because it fits me best.

The Makarov pistol is a compact semi-auto that is absolutely reliable, fits my hand(!) and carries 8+1 and another 8 on my hip in full view because it looks like a Leatherman. It is quite litterally, the only gun I can get into a pocket, fits my hand, is reliable and in a reasonable caliber (it ain't a .32 for Pete's sake).

Why not a J-Frame .357 or similar? Believe me, I'd LOVE to have one of those little fireballs, but I have a hell of a time wrapping my huge paws around one of those little suckers. I've fired Judge's 640 in full anger and the gun tries to rotate in my hand so much I can't be confident of reliably hanging on to it during a stressful moment. The Makarov fits me and I'll have it on me when I can't or don't want to carry the K-Frame .357 or a Government .45ACP (my other carry pieces).

About that 1911. Some knuckleheads has it in their head that 1911 are tempermental, malfunctioning POS's that require many $$$ of gunsmithing to make right before you can carry them. BULL! I have three and have handled many more and they all work great. I have a Colt Mark IV that i've not done anything to the feed mechanism, a Kimber that is likewise unaltered and a Rock Island that is lock stock. They run, period.

The ONLY issue with them is that you HAVE to have a good magazine for them. This isn't such a problem with most semis because there aren't that many magazine choices, you get the factory mags and Pro-Mag and that's about it. The 1911 however, WOW does it have magazine choices, every Tom, Dick & Harry makes one and it is usually an "improvement" over everything before it. Rest assured, if your Blastomatic 2000 (thanks Tam) had 2,000 different mag manufacturers and 500 different frame manufacturers and examples that are nearing 100 years old, you'd have issues with mags.

So, if you don't have a 1911, what are you doing here? Go! Go now and buy one! Also, don't let some interweb jockey shame you out of carrying that fart gun, they have a purpose so get your mousegun freak on!

The Hero of Canton

As much as I detest these things sometimes, Firefly (Serenity) is one of my favorites and I can't figure out whether I'm please to be a "Jayne" or not. I suppose since he is my favorite character, I'll say I'm pleased. Just watch your back Malcolm Reynolds!

PS, I think a rousing rendition of the Jayne song is in order

You are Jayne Cobb (Mercenary)

Although you can be a good fighter and good at protecting others you are not very bright sometimes. Jayne Cobb (Mercenary) 70% Derrial Book (Shepherd) 55% Wash (Ship Pilot) 50% Alliance 50% Malcolm Reynolds (Captain) 45% Zoe Washburne (Second-in-command) 45% Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic) 45% Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic) 35% Inara Serra (Companion) 20% A Reaver (Cannibal) 20% River (Stowaway) 15%

Click here to take the Serenity Personality Quiz

Wild Bunch Fun

Saturday I made it down to Pleasant Valley for the first time this year. I won't try and explain the crazy schedule I've had this year, lets just say it's the 3rd time I have managed to shoot Cowboy in '08 so it was good to get down to my "other" club.

Pleasant Valley has a "Wild Bunch" category started by Jose and this was the first chance I had to shoot the category. I borrowed Jose's Rock Island Mil-Spec and his 97 and shot my Marlin for the match. I had a tanker's shoulder holster for the 1911 and I kept the magazines in my pocket. Not the best set up by a long shot, but I was only there to have fun.

Speaking of fun I really enjoyed the category. I got to shoot fast and except for one stage when I failed to lock out my elbow I was perfect with the pistol. I also had a little malfunction on the first stage and it's nice to see that all of those malfunctions drills I've worked so hard on over the years just run on their own without me having to think about it.

I wouldn't shoot the category on a regular basis because it would interfere a little with the way I do things int he real world, but a couple of times a year would be a blast. I would like to be able to fully load the 97 off the clock and see how the category compares to the other fast categories. I think it's hard to convince people that reloading is always slower then switching guns, they don't call it a "New York Reload" for nothing!

If you are looking for some 1911 shooting with your cowboy come on down to Pleasant Valley, you can even bunk in the clubhouse and shoot the whole weekend. Tell 'em Judge sent you.

I'm Not Surprised

Syd at Front Sight Press asks if anyone is surprised that The Chicago Tribune has come out in support of Mob Boss Mayor Daley's stance on Heller being wrong, however, they don't think the city (not my the city, thankfully) should fight the ruling insisting that you can't fight a SCOTA rulling. Gee, you think? The paper would rather Chicago take the same tact that DC is taking in making it very cumbersome to register and firearm and impose ridiculous restrictions upon them in the home.

It's nice to know that d-bags like Daley and his cohorts in Chi-town will gladly c-block your constitutional rights when they see fit. Hey! They know what's best for us right? We the unwashed masses shouldn't be thinking of such lofty plans as being able to defend ourselves against criminals that the nanny state classifies as "victims" and sends them on their merry way as long as they stay away from their gated communities.

Remember, this is the same political womb of arrogance, corruption and greed that the Obamassiah was birthed from.

Aggrigate This

There's a new gun blog aggrigator at http://www.gunblogs.org/

So you can get your roundup of, well roundups. Whoa!