Old photo time

On this last day of April 2011 I thought to post another photo from my vast collection. How about this stereotypical 1950s family, complete down to the cutest little Annie Oakley cowgirl with her two six-guns drawn. Awww...

Norman, is that you?

After checking with my blogger stats I find that one reader stumbled upon my site while searching through the internetz with the phrase "human war trophies." I don't want to offend you, sir or madam. I just want to say that you maybe, possibly, might want to seek out some professional help. I'm also going to ask with all sincerity that you please not use my hide to make a fine poncho... No seriously, please don't.

Movie Reviews - Hanna

After seeing the trailer and reading some reviews for Hanna I thought this film might be worth seeing on the big screen. I rarely go to the movie theater anymore, in fact this film was the first time this year for me. Hanna stars Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett and they are all excellent actors that truly add to this production. It is directed by Joe Wright (Atonement - Pride & Prejudice) and in reviews it has been compared with The Bourne Identity. While that might be correct in a very vague sense you will be disappointed if that is the movie you're hoping for. This is not your typical Hollywood action movie, there are a lot of good action scenes but this film is not as rapid paced and has many slower, thoughtful moments. The movie also has an odd almost fairytale vibe to it. I must also mention the soundtrack by The Chemical Brothers, I enjoyed the score but could see it becoming annoying quickly for those that are not "into" their type of music. Overall I enjoyed this film and thought it was well worth the price of admission. I'm giving Hanna an A–.

Bacon Utopia

With THIS it is now finally possible for all ages to enjoy the goodness of bacon, whether they can chew or not.... We have truly reached the Bacon Renaissance.

That day is here

National Buy A Gun Day is finally here and now I can proudly show the new addition to the wilsonarmory®. It's inexpensive to buy, inexpensive to shoot and a whole lot of fun, it's my "new" Ruger MKII Government Model .22! If you made a purchase this year let's hear from you, Jay G wants to hear from you too. For those of you that didn't have the money to participate, in this economy that's understandable. But if you forgot to make a purchase this year or you just couldn't be bothered please click

EDIT

A regular reader e-mailed to tell me that I should put a disclaimer on that link I posted. It seemed to him too cruel and perhaps he has a point. Let me also restate that said link was intended for those that willingly chose not to be a part of Buy A Gun Day this year, not anyone that wanted to but couldn't for whatever reason...

SO YOU WANT A DISCLAIMER - HERE IT ISHERE and think ahead to 2012.

Question for the gunnies

Do any of my readers use a shot timer to practice with on a regular occasion, either live training at the range or dry fire at home? Both? If you do has the timed training significantly improved your abilities, specifically pertaining to self defense shooting and concealed carry? Has the use of a timer made a noticeable improvement in your presentation speed and effectiveness down range? For years I have been "concealed carry" practicing (live fire) by simply making a concerted effort to shoot as fast as possible while keeping all my bullets on target. Of course it's not very scientific and while I might "feel" I'm shooting fast I really don't have anything to compare it to, it's all subjective on my part. I'm thinking it's time to move my training up another level. If you have personal experience with this your opinion would be helpful.

Some tweaking

Just rewrote the description for my novel Joshua on the My Fiction page. Hopefully this new version will be more enticing to potential readers.

CHAPTER NINE

Chapter nine of my novel is now up.

Gone Shooting - Back to basics

Decided to go shooting this morning as the weather was nearly perfect for it, sunny and 64 degrees by the time I got there. Today I took my two main carry guns. It's been months since I shot either and was getting rusty. All shooting was done using a Weaver stance at seven or ten yards (21 and 30 feet). Targets were Shoot-N-C 5-Inch stick ons over a standard USPSA/IPSC target. Since this was concealed carry practice I tried to keep the shooting speed up.

First up was my Smith & Wesson model 342PD. This is the gun that I grab when heading out for a short trip like to the gas station. Just slip it in my Kramer pocket holster and I'm out the door and on my way. I also use it most of July and August when the hot and humid weather makes carrying a larger gun much more uncomfortable. Today I was shooting Remington 130 grain jacketed target ammunition. It's the same weight as my normal carry load, so same point of impact and recoil but at a third of the price of hollowpoints. Shooting was done with the S&W at 21 and 30 feet. At 21 I was easily able to keep all my shots on the 5-Inch targets usually producing 2 ½ inch groups. At 30 feet my groups started to open up some with about 70% of my hits still in the "A" zone of a USPSA/IPSC target and about 30% landing in the "C" area.

Next up was my main carry gun, my Colt Government Model .45 that was made in 1953. All shooting today was with 230gr ball at 10 yards. Except when it's super hot I carry this pistol (usually IWB) most of the year, anytime I know I'll be out a while. I've been carrying this gun since 2003 and it has served me well. Look at the photo; it was my best group of the day, that's seven rounds through two holes at 30 feet. This gun makes me look like a superstar. That's why I love it, that's why I've been carrying it so long. Longer than any other gun I have ever carried. The Colt is basically stock. Someone did trigger work on it and polished the feed ramp, but it is essentially like every other one being churned out by the factory 60 years ago. The only "issue" this pistol has is feeding hollowpoints bullets. Since this gun was produced before hollowpoints were actually invented it's hard to blame the gun. Even with the gunsmith work it will only fire bullets with a more rounded profile. Brands like Winchester Silvertip and Remington Golden Saber are fine. Although I typically like a heavier bullet in .45 ACP for the last couple of years I've been using Cor-bon Pow'R Ball because this gun swallows it up like Pac-Man at an all you can eat power pellet bar. Unfortunately all is not glitter-covered unicorns dancing on rainbows over a field of cotton candy. This pistol still has the original sights, and while they were fine when I bought it now middle age has hit me right in my peepers and those old sights seem to be getting smaller every time I shoot it. So I'm thinking that I might replace this gun with another, my Yost Commander a possible candidate. Or I might send this one off for a rebuild, better sights and correcting the hollowpoint problem are two much needed improvements. I'm going to have to make a decision sometime soon as those sights will probably disappear completely before I know it. I'm torn between retiring this veteran as is or rebuilding it into something new and keeping it a "working" gun. I guess the decision will have to be made this year, but for now I'll just appreciate moments like this morning when this old soldier could still do no wrong...

1911 Day

Today is 1911 Day! Well actually March 29th was the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Military officially adopting John Moses Browning's most famous creation. Seems I'm a few days late, you caught me sleeping on the job. Hey, if you wanted more timely info you would pay me better! Today I thought to post a few favorites concerning "Old Slabsides" that I've found on the webz over the years. I shot my first 1911 in 1978 and bought my first one in 1991. Since then I've lost count of how many I've owned, but suffice it to say that "Old Ugly" is one of my favorite handguns ever and I'll always have a least one around. There are still nearly nine months left in 2011 and I'm sure this won't be my only post on the subject this year.In the beginning was the 1911...

"In the beginning was the 1911, and the 1911 was the pistol, and it was good. And behold the Lord said, thou shalt not muck with my disciple John's design for it is good and it worketh. For John made the 1911, and lo all of his weapons, from the designs which I, the Lord, gave him upon the mountain."

"And shouldst thou muck with it and hang all manner of foul implements upon it, and profane its internal parts, thou shalt surely fail and have malfunctions, and in the midst of battle thou shalt surely come to harm."

"And as the ages passed, men in their ignorance and arrogance didst forget the word of the Lord and began to profane the 1911. The tribe of the gamesman did place recoil spring guides and extended slide releases upon the 1911, and their metalsmiths didst tighten the tolerances and alter parts to their liking, their clarity of mind being clouded by lust."

"The artisans did hang all manner of foul implements upon the 1911 and did so alter it that it became impractical to purchase. For lo, the artisans did charge a great tax upon the purchasers of the 1911 so that the lowly field worker could not afford one. And the profaning of the internal parts didst render it unworkable when the dust of the land fell upon it. And lo, they did install adjustable sights, which are an abomination unto the Lord, for they doth break and lose their zero when thou dost need true aim. And those who have done so will be slain in great numbers by their enemies in the great battle."

"And it came to pass that the Lord didst see the abomination wrought by man and didst cause, as He had warned, fearful malfunction to come upon the abominations and upon the artisans who thought they could do no wrong."

"Seeing the malfunctions and the confusion of men the Lord of the underworld did see an opportunity to further ensnare man and didst bring forth pistols made of plastic, whose form was such that they looked and felt like a brick, yet the eyes of man being clouded, they were consumed by the plastic pistol and did buy vast quantities of them."

"And being a deceitful spirit the Devil did make these plastic pistols unamenable to the artisans of earth and they were unable to muck much with the design, and lo these pistols did function."

"And the evil one also brought forth pistols in which the trigger didst both cock and fire them, and which require a 'Dingus' to make them appear safe."

"But man being stupid did not understand these new pistols and did proceed to shoot themselves with the plastic pistol, and with the trigger cocking pistols, for lo, their manual of arms required great intelligence which man had long since forsaken."

"Yet man did not repent of his evil ways, but continued to gloat over these new pistols blaming Satan for the negligent discharges which they themselves had committed."

"And when man had been totally ensnared with the plastic pistol the Devil didst cause a plague of the terrible Ka-BOOM to descend upon man and the plastic pistols delivered their retribution upon men. And there was great wailing and gnashing of teeth in the land."

"Then seeing that the eyes of man were slowly being opened and that man was truly sorrowful for his sinful misdeeds, the Lord did send his messengers in the form of artisans who did hear and obey the teachings of the Prophet and who didst restore the profaned 1911's to their proper configuration, and lo, to the amazement of men they didst begin to work as the Prophet intended."

"Amen."
I've had this so long I don't know who to attribute. If you do let me know.

It's April Fool's day - and we're the fools!

Just those of us that buy or eat food. I've been meaning to post on THIS subject for a while now but kept forgetting, Jason reminded me. As I've said, been noticing this for some time now, especially in the last six months or so. Bags of chips only half full (the rest air), canned goods slowly shrinking on the grocery shelves and my favorite example crackers. All of my life saltine crackers have been exactly the same, crisp bleached starch salty SQUAREs. A few weeks ago I bought a box (store brand) that were rectangular. The packaging was exactly the same but to save money now a quarter inch on one of the sides was missing. You have to constantly watch them, they are sneaky!