And About Time, Too

Well now, lookee here:

Colt has reintroduced its legendary Python .357 Magnum revolver in a blued finish.  The reintroduced blued Python comes with either a 4.25″ or 6″ barrel length and holds six rounds of ammunition.

That’s indeed good news.

Sadly, from what I can see in the pic it’s not Colt’s Royal Blue finish, which for me made the original Python the best-looking revolver ever made:

Compare the Python (Royal Blue) with the Officer’s Match below (Standard Blue) and I think you’ll see what I mean.  The difference is what made the Python so beautiful.

Still, I’m not going to complain too much, and at least the new Python is going to sell at the Colt premium price (~$1,400) compared to the old Python’s nosebleed one.

And yes, the new gun’s action isn’t the same either — but I’m told by a gunsmith buddy that while the new action isn’t as smooth, it’s also less complicated and therefore less likely to break (like my old Python’s did).

Time for the obligatory lottery ticket check… damn.

Close, But No Cigar

Reader Mike L. asks me whether this incident is worthy of being classified as a Righteous Shooting.

It nearly is, Mike, except for this part:

The break-in attempt did not go as planned. The owner, Gordon Richard Sr., 75, used a muzzleloader rifle to shoot one of the three men, causing the other two to flee. He then secured himself inside the home and called the police.

State police say the man who was shot was 39-year-old Paul E. Brown of Milton and St. Albans, he was seriously injured.

When police arrived, the other two intruders had fled. The police report states, “Responding troopers located Brown in a neighbor’s yard. No other individuals were found at the scene. Brown was transported by ambulance to Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans and later transferred to the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, where he was listed in critical condition Wednesday afternoon.”

You all know the rules:  no dead goblin, no Righteous Shooting.

But Our Hero deserves a huge “Attaboy” from all of us for using a muzzleloader to send the “Leave Me Alone” message to the would-be property redistrubutionist.

Oh, and Mike?  Let me know if the goblin snuffs it, so I can upgrade the award from Armed Good Guy to Righteous Shooter.

The More, The Merrier

Looks like Texas is getting help:

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Thursday that he is sending members of the Florida National Guard (FLNG) and Florida State Guard (FSG) to Texas to help Governor Greg Abbott (R) stop the “invasion” of illegal aliens flooding into his state that has unfolded during the Biden administration.

Excellent stuff.  Can they bring a few dozen of your alligators with them?  Guaranteed a good home, and plenty to eat.

Plus 1

From Frequent Commenter JQ comes this heartening news:

Hi Kim,
I thought you’d be happy to know that I brought one of my nephews to the range for the first time yesterday. We started off with the safety rules. He shot a Ruger Single Six, S&W model 63, Ruger Mk II, S&W model 66 in 38 special and 357 magnum, SW1911 in .45ACP of course, S&W M&P 9c and a S&W model 29-2 in 44 special and magnum. At the rifle range we started with a Ruger 10/22, M1 carbine, M1 Garand and a No4 Mk II Lee Enfield. The lever action Glenfield 30 wasn’t working so we’ll have to try that again on another trip. He liked the 9mm and 22lr rifle best. The 10/22 has a scope on it so it was easier for him to use. With some time, practice and coaching, I’ll bring him to the 1911 side soon enough. If the weather stays nice we’ll visit the range again Friday. Now that the introduction trip has been a success, the flood gates can open. Please have mercy on my ammo locker. lol

Your mantra of making us a nation of riflemen one person at a time still has legs!

Thankee JQ, for doing your civic duty.  Your day at the range sounds like so much fun, I’m jealous.

To the rest of my Readers:  if that little episode doesn’t warm your heart as it did mine, we can’t be friends.

And yes, the mantra doesn’t just have legs, it’s eternal.

JQ didn’t enclose any pics, but here are a few from the archives:

…etc. etc. etc.  All good stuff, and a wonderful intro to The Gun Thing for our young novice.

Inspiring

I have often scoffed at people who build or live in houses located in a flood plain (or at least a place prone to occasional floods — not the same thing).  But here’s a story of a guy who did:

Nick Lupton, 60, and his wife Anne, 50, live in a converted 17th century house on the banks of the River Severn.  Since they moved into the four-bedroom detached property in Pixham, Worcestershire in 2016, the house and one-acre of land has been flooded 11 times.

But instead of weeping and wailing when his house was repeatedly underwater, he said, “Fuck this!”  and did something about it.

The couple became so fed up with the costly clear-ups, they decided to surround the entire property with a 7ft-high flood defence.  They spent four months constructing the brick barrier before finally finishing it last October – just weeks before Storm Henk swept Britain.

Here’s before:

And after:

The house itself?  Dry as a bone.  Read the whole story;  it’s excellent.  With more people like this, the Brits would still have an empire.

Of course, this being Britishland, when the flood waters go down the local council will doubtless tell him to tear the wall down because it ruins the character of the 17th-century house, or something.

But let me not be so cynical.

Good News, For A Change

You seen me rant about those evil assholes before.  Now there’s this:

Diamonds were once a girl’s best friend, according to Marilyn Monroe in the 1953 classic film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

But the boom of lab-grown rocks has upset traditional mining firms such as Anglo American, the owner of De Beers, the world’s leading diamond company, according to The Times.

The FTSE 100 company’s shares dropped by 20 per cent after it announced production cuts at its mines. Meanwhile, De Beers sold just $80million of rough diamonds at the end of October, compared with $454million a year earlier, BNN Bloomberg reported.

In comparison, the lab-created variety – regarded as more ethical and sustainable than those from mines – appears to be on the up; 10 per cent of diamonds sold in 2022 were lab-grown compared to only 2 per cent in 2018.

Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of corporate assholes.