My favorite toy
Here’s a pretty one from Champlin Arms:
I’ve had a fresh perspective on Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing Company ever since I watched Jonny do a tour of the place a while ago.
Despite being located in gun-hating Connecticut, it’s a company I’d love to buy from, especially one their top-end RBL shotguns.
Of course, I’d get a side-by-side and not one of those new-fangled O/U things, but still.
…and of course with a double trigger:
But that’s just me; others may vary.
…you know, that 10-day waiting period before you can take possession of that gun you just purchased.
Let’s just hope you don’t need that shootin’ iron before then, is all.
Or if you are being robbed and you’re still stuck in that waiting period without a gun, I’m sure that if you explain the situation and ask the burglars / robbers nicely, they’ll go away and leave you alone till the end thereof.
That’s what the CalGov means by “tough shit”, I guess.
(My CA Readers — and why are they still there? — are probably not in that same boat, as I’m pretty sure they’re all, shall we say, adequately armed.)
Let’s hear it for Idaho grannies:
The 85-year-old mother of a disabled son committed a “justifiable homicide” in Idaho when she shot an armed burglar who snuck into her home and threatened to “kill her multiple times,” a county prosecutor said.
Christine Jenneiahn presented “one of the most heroic acts of self-preservation” that Bingham County prosecutor Ryan Jolley has ever heard of when she shot and killed 39-year-old Derek Condon, according to an incident review written Tuesday.
Yup. The only bad thing that happened in all this shooty goodness was that before expiring, the goblin was able to get off a few shots himself, wounding Our Heroine (may she have a complete and speedy recovery).
In the meantime, please do the usual:
Tami Keel talks about the trend in carry guns that she’s witnessed over the years:
The first [competition] I attended, at DARC in Arkansas back in 2017, was largely after the “Caliber Wars” were over. I’m sure there were a few .40s and .45s in attendance, but 9mm was the overwhelmingly most common chambering and it wasn’t even close. I’d feel pretty comfortable stating that probably half everybody was shooting a Glock of one variant or another, with M&Ps being the second most common, and the remainder a mishmash of Sig Sauers, HKs, and Berettas, mostly
Next year TacCon was at DARC again. Glocks were still the most common gun, but probably only a plurality at this point. Sig P320s were already vying with M&Ps as the second most commonly seen pistol. There were a handful of people using red dot optics in 2018, and John Johnston made it into the man-on-man shootoff with one.
At 2019, down in Louisiana at NOLATAC, there were more red dots, and Rick Remington won the shootoff with an RMR atop a 9mm Wilson. Glock alternatives continued to grow in popularity.
After a one-year hiatus during the Plague Year of 2020, TacCon was held at Dallas Pistol Club in 2021. That’s when I first started seeing significant numbers of the smaller pistols, like Glock 48s and Sig P365s. Red dots were commonly spotted in every class and were no longer limited to hardcore dot proponents who’d had pistol slides custom milled for RMRs.
2022 was back at DPC again. Red dots and smaller pistols were everywhere, even in the shootoffs.
2023? More of the same.
For 2024, the biggest difference I noticed was that there was a greater number of people who were willing to talk openly about living “the snubby lifestyle” à la Darryl Bolke. Gear-wise, dots had become downright prevalent. Walthers had become more common. I don’t know how Walther’s doing in terms of overall market share, but they’ve certainly penetrated the serious training hobbyist demographic. The majority of optics were now Holosuns.
All very interesting. I couldn’t help thinking how my personal carry choices have changed over the same period of time.
2017:
2018:
2019:
2020:
(briefly, then back to the usual)
2021:
2022:
2023:
2024:
I know, this is carry as opposed to competition, but still. One assumes that the competitive shooters were carrying the same as, or at least copies of the ones they were shooting. (If not… LOL.)
The only changes I can foresee in my carry choice would be substituting one 1911 for another.
Occasionally, if I’m in the mood, I may carry my bedside S&W Model 65 instead of a 1911, because that’s the holster belted onto a different pair of jeans and I’m too lazy to swap it out:
So you see, I can be flexible.
I’m just not interested in carrying a little gun like a SIG or Walther in 9mm Europellet, unless one day I decide to substitute it for my backup Model 637.
Don’t hold yer breath.
By the way, I typically carry two or four backup 1911 Chip McCormick mags (depending on whether or not I’m wearing a gilet), and a couple of 5-round speedloaders for the 637. That should be enough ammo to get me back to the car rifle, after which I can really bring down the thunder.
Update: Several people have written to me, speaking of their preference for hi-cap mags. One asked me whether the 8-round Chip McCormick 1911 mags would be sufficient in a BLM-type encounter.
I have two responses to this: firstly, three CMC mags = 24 rounds, five mags = 40 rounds, and three .38 Spec loads = 15 rounds. If I wanted to get serious, and with a little foreknowledge, I could just swap out the 8-round mags for 10-round CMC mags, of which I have a half-dozen or so on hand. Should be enough.
Any more than the above, and I probably would avoid going out to where there’s a chance I may be heavily outnumbered — OR I could just turn the trunk gun into a front-seat gun (with several backup mags), if you get my drift. I venture to suggest that this combination of weaponry would be adequate for any group of scraggly scrotes.
I stumbled on this fine article SOTI, and I had to share it with everyone because not only is it a good analysis and background story on the wonderful old Nylon 66, but it evokes from me a feeling of deep regret, because I was once offered one for about $20, and I turned it down because to me the little gun looked kinda cheap and nasty.
It was a Black Apache like this one:
No, don’t bother to offer to kick my ass, because said ass already has an excellent set of bruises thereon, self-inflicted.
In my defense, I didn’t know as much about guns back then as I do now, and in fact I’d never even heard of the thing because of my deprived South African childhood.
Anyway, here’s a different model, the brown one:
…and one that was recently on sale at Collector’s (it’s long gone, don’t bother), and for around $650 (!!!!):
Now go and read the article, because it’s full of interesting stuff.
By the way, I rejected the Nylon 66 because it looked flimsy and cheap, whereas it’s anything but.
Don’t trust me with any investment advice; I suck.
Talking about the Huns fiddling with the numbers when the results aren’t to their liking:
The German army’s accuracy has again been mired in controversy as it was revealed in a classified report the testing for their latest rifle was lowered.
The G95A1 rifle failed to pass trials with military-standard ammunition so the Bundeswehr – the German army – lowered the standards of the test, the report stated.
The manufacturers of the rifle – Heckler and Koch – were allowed to test it with civilian ammunition and at room temperature rather than in extreme heat and cold.
The classified report read: ‘Current testing by the army in laboratory conditions shows that the weapon doesn’t meet army standards when loaded with combat ammunition.
‘The army requires an assault rifle that is sufficiently accurate under real conditions with its combat ammunition.’
The rifle was ordered to replace the G36 – also made by Heckler and Koch – which was dropped after it was found to become inaccurate after sustained firing.
The G36’s inconsistency was down to a plastic channel that support the barrel would become soft when the gun heats in a quick succession of firing.
The fault was first discovered when German soldiers serving in Afghanistan complained their guns were not shooting straight after a bout of heavy fire.
As we all know, when the facts are uncomfortable and/or do not conform to the theory, they must be changed. (I don’t know how that sounds in German, but I bet it’s lovely.) Also:
Their 180,000-strong army is due to be receiving new weapons next year after it was reported that they only had enough ammunition to fight for two days.
However, the new gun’s accuracy is up to scratch according to Germany’s elite KSK troops who have been equipped with the G95A1. [as long as you only shoot it indoors — K.]
A 2015 survey of German soldiers found that only 8 per cent of Bundeswehr soldiers trusted their weapons.
Somewhere out there, Paul Mauser is spinning in his grave.
I bet they’d even do better with one of these instead…
Looks like it’s not just German cars that are starting to suck.