I see that I’ve forgotten to itemize my non-vegan intake over the past two weeks. I plead Old Fart Forgetfulness, so please forgive my sloppiness. Here, however, is sort of a representative summary of my meals thus far:
Oh wait, there was some pulled pork in there too:
I’ll try to do better next time, promise.
Not the quivering that happens before hopping into bed with a first-time lover, or when about to shoot in competition against (say) Jerry Miculek; I’m talking here about shaking hands last Friday afternoon with two old friends:
…the Ruger Single-Six having been exchanged for my Ruger MkIV 22/45 (thankee, Reader Jerry!). As such, this specific gun wasn’t an old friend, but I’ve owned a Single-Six before, so it was a familiar experience. All shots were taken at 10 yards, and here’s what the target looked like, in overview:
First: the Browning High Power. As my delivery of practice 115gr ammo hadn’t arrived yet (some nonsense about needing an 18-wheeler), I had to go with ten rounds from an old box of Fiocchi I happened to have lying around in Ye Olde Ammoe Locquer — oh sure, like none of you have any “orphan ammo” in your lockers, right? The self-defense load tested was thirteen rounds of SIG V-Power 147gr. I wasn’t trying for any serious accuracy with the 115gr. stuff; it was just getting re-familiarized with the High Power’s trigger. Here’s the result:
Shooting the 115gr was a breeze, and the three outliers were the first three shots taken, holding on the “8” in the target — trigger familiarization, folks. Then I got a little more serious, and dropped the last seven bullets into the single hole, as shown. A tad high, but next time I’ll hold at the bottom of the 8.
Then I changed to the SIG ammo, and I have to admit that the heavier 147gr. bullets took a little getting used to (the hold was on the X):
The 13-shot grouping wasn’t as tight as that of the lighter 115gr, but certainly in terms of self defense clustering, I wasn’t too displeased with the outcome. (Only one flier? I must be getting better, or else the High Power is a better gun than I remember.) It looks like the hold, as for the 115gr FMJ ammo, is at the bottom of the target circle.
I love my High Power 9mm, and once its carry holster arrives from Don Hume and the spare mags from [can’t remember] , it’s onto my waist it’ll be going, on probation of course. You may all reach for the smelling-salts now.
Next came the Single-Six (aiming at 2 1/2″ yellow targets), and I shot one cylinder each of .22 LR and .22 WinMag without too much regard for the grouping, just to get used to the single-action trigger. Then I got a little more serious, and took my time with the next two cylinders, first with the CCI Mini-Mag .22 LR 40gr. solids:
…and then with the CCI Maxi-Mag .22 WMR, also 40gr. solids:
Hmmm… thought I’d do better with the .22 Mags, as I was getting really used to the trigger by then. So what does that mean, Readers? [3…2…1…]
“MOAR PRACTICE!!!!”
Can’t wait. It’s a good thing I stocked up with .22 WMR during the Dubya Administration: .22 Mag is more expensive than 9mm.
And yes: a slow, deliberate, one-shot-at-a-time session with the single-action Ruger was just fantastic.
As my own offspring have proved to be utterly shit in the Grandchild Production Process, I have had to resort to marrying someone whose kids (or one of them, anyway), has a clue.
Yes, Angie’s Elder Son has just given us a grandchild.
Sadly, however, he is not local to these climes; in fact, he married an Oz-chick* a while ago, and… moved to Oz!
[pause to let gasps of horror die away]
You know what this means, right? Yes… I have to go to Australia in April to wet the baby’s head. And as any fule kno, this means being exposed to the various (and toxic) forms of Oz wildlife, such as the Brown Snake (and its buddies):
…the Funnel-Web Spider (and its buddies):
We all know about the Sand Tiger Sharks (and their buddies):
…and let’s not even talk about the other species of dangerous Australian fauna:
Thankfully, the last two species (sharks ‘n sluts) pose little danger to me as a.) I never swim in the sea, and b.) I’m taking my own woman with me.
So off I go, to wander ‘midst furriners again… [sigh]
Gah.
*Some people may wonder why I got involved with a family which is happy to consort with Australians, but hey: my own Son&Heir has a Canucki-Girlfriend, so we try to be inclusive. It’s all about Diversity!, isn’t it?
Some guy over at National Interest (never heard of them) opines on the 5 best pistols (and I assume all generations thereafter) ever to shoot the 9mm Europellet. His list is as follows (and I don’t know if the order is important):
…and by the omissions is his ignorance revealed. Here’s my top 5 list, in order of preference:
Feel free to argue with me in Comments.
From Britishland, (a.k.a. Vegan Nation):
Fish and chips are set to go vegan as Quorn launches an alternative made with protein derived from fungus – to help create a similar flaky texture.
The meat-free brand is set to release breaded and battered fishless fillets in March, both of which took five years to produce.
It comes just two weeks after Greggs launched a vegan sausage roll, and days after Harvester announced a new plant-based menu.
Thanks but no thanks… I’ll be sticking with cod.
And don’t get me started about vegan sausage rolls.
Colt is re-releasing the King Cobra, a .357 Mag version of its Cobra revolver.
I remember trying one of their earlier Cobra .38 Specials, and being rather underwhelmed by the feel of the thing. It puzzled me, because the Cobra was (still is?) based on the venerable Trooper, which I’ve always had a soft spot for. Here’s a MkV, with a 4″ barrel.
As I recall, Colt Troopers and Pythons alike shared the 4″ barrel as the most popular version of either brand. Here’s a Python, similarly equipped:
(I myself always preferred the 6″ barrel, but that’s just me.)
So here’s my question for Colt: why are you bringing out a .357 Magnum revolver with only a 3″ barrel?
I know, I know: under the heading of “Bullshit-Stupid Marketing” in the dictionary, you’ll find the Colt logo. But seriously: how difficult would it be to have released the King Cobra with (okay) a 3″ barrel, but also with, say, 4″ and 6″ options? They might even have offered the longer barrels at a [gasp!] premium price… or is that kind of thinking too dangerous to contemplate?
When Smith & Wesson re-released their excellent Model 19 Combat Magnum, they released it with two variants: the “Classic”, featuring a blued 4″ barrel (strengthened so that you can shoot lots of .357 Mag ammo through the gun without the medium-sized frame buckling):
…and the bead-blasted “Carry Comp” with 2 1/2″ barrel — with an integral 1/2″ compensator to reduce the .357’s recoil:
In the past I’ve had lots to say about S&W (not all of it complimentary), but they did this one right.
Colt, on the other hand…