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Proper Load

The Gun Thing

As Longtime Readers know full well, I’ve never been a fan of the NATO 9mm Europellet in its 115gr FMJ configuration.  I think it’s puny and ineffective, and my only personal experience in its application was seeing a man shot seven times with that load, and surviving the encounter (long story, irrelevant to this discussion).

My only other experience with seeing the effect of a gunshot wound up close and personal was at a morgue (also a long story, not that interesting) where the pathologist showed me the result of a single .45 ACP Silvertip bullet on the deceased’s internal organs — “hamburger” would be the best description.

As a result, I’ve always preferred the latter over the former — real world situations, so to speak.

The other day I was browsing among the assortment of 9mm pistols out there from which I’m going to have to make my choice as a replacement for the Browning High Power, which is destined for Daughter’s next birthday present.  Of course, knowing me as y’all do, it should come as no surprise that the leading contender is the excellent CZ 75 B, in its original configuration:

CZ claims that it is the greatest handgun ever made, and while we might all quibble over the manufacturer’s obvious puffery, I would certainly have no problem with its appearance in the top 5 of all 9mm pistols, and nor would anyone else, I think.

One of the stipulations I would make in buying any 9mm pistol, though, is that it could handle a “heavy” 9mm bullet.  This would rule out any of the smaller- or pocket pistols like the SIG 365, Springfield Hellcat and so on — you know what I mean.  I need a large frame to handle the heavier recoil meted out by what I would consider to be the best choice for a 9mm stopper, the Winchester Silvertip 147gr:

I know that there are similar loads to the Silvertip — the Winchester Ranger comes to mind, also in 147gr — but once again, I’ve seen what the Silvertip has done to an actual human being (as opposed to ballistic gel or putty), so I’m pretty sure that it would be a good choice.  Current prices for the Silvertip are about a buck a round, so about the same as any other decent self-defense load extant.

With this gun, loaded with this cartridge, I would feel almost as adequately armed as with my 1911 loaded with 185gr JHP.  For practice (and only practice) there’s the El Cheapo 115gr ammo.

Feel free, as always, to discuss the issue in Comments.

Bullshit

Economics, Politics

Headline:

First Task for a GOP Congress: Subpoena the Jan. 6 Committee

With all due respect:  fuck that nonsense.

The first task for a GOP Congress is to stimulate the economy, which they can do not by playing meaningless little political games like the above, but by reining in government spending — the management of which, lest we forget, is the primary purpose of Congress.

Here’s a pro tip for the politicians:  if the economy is whizzing along, unemployment is close to zero, people’s retirements aren’t being eroded by inflation, energy costs are low and all the things that make for a happy populace are in place, then you won’t have any problem getting reelected (which, lest we forget too, is the primary focus of all politicians — yeah, I know, it sucks but there it is).

Unfortunately, reining in public spending is difficult — it shouldn’t be, but to our betters in Congress it is — whereas making cheap political gestures (e.g. nailing the Jan 6 clowns or “impeaching the President”) are very easy, even though they don’t do diddly about making the voters’ lives more affordable.

You want some ideas?  Sure.

Reduce every single government department’s budget by 25% (this number being close to the actual rate of inflation for the past two years).  No exceptions.

Start the process of repealing the 16th Amendment, towards an end goal of a replacement Amendment which institutes a flat, universal, no-exemptions income tax of 5% that can only be raised by a Congressional (both House and Senate) vote majority of 75% — or, even better, repealing all wage, corporate, estate and cap gains taxes to be replaced by a national end-user sales tax.  (I can dream, too.)

Pass a law which institutes a blanket “sunset” provision of ten years for every law in the U.S. Code, past, present and future.  (If a law’s that good, it should pass a re-vote easily;  if not, it should die a well-deserved death.  If this makes Congress too busy to create more laws, that’s a feature, not a bug because we have too many laws on the books already.)

Start the process of repealing the 17th Amendment.  The state legislature, not the people of the state, should decide who should be sent to represent the state’s interests in Congress.  (The people can control this by voting for their U.S. House and local legislatures, as originally envisioned by the Constitution.)

Of course, there are more suggestions, many more.  But none of them have anything to do with empty political gestures.

Quote Of The Day

QOTD, The Gun Thing

It’s probably been around forever, but I only saw it recently:

“Handguns put holes in people.  Rifles put holes through people.  Shotguns remove chunks from people.” — Clint Smith

The whole gun thing, in three short declarative sentences.

Apologia

Disaster

I had every intention of attending the WWII shoot up in Kansas last Saturday — I was even bringing New Wife along to meet people — when somewhere along the interstate north I managed to drive over a discarded 18-wheeler’s tire tread, and I mean the entire tread, lying on its side and looking for all the world like a tire.  No time to avoid it — I was looking back for oncoming traffic as I came onto the highway* — and only saw the fucking thing when it was about twenty feet away.

THUMP-THUMP-THUMPETY-THUMP-THUMP FUCKING HELL

Bloody thing did a number on the underside of the Tiguan (fortunately, not the engine, at least, I don’t think so as no warning lights came on), and tore off parts of both front-wheel wells.

So much for that car trip.  Ignoring the horrible scraping sound from underneath, I limped off the interstate and managed to get to a mechanic shop.  They cut off most of the draggy parts, but then recommended I not drive the thing.

And here I sit, waiting for the insurance guy to look at it and write me a check.

My apologies to all for my non-attendance, but there it is.

*Texas drivers will not yield to nor even slow down for cars entering the freeway in case they lose their God-given place in the traffic, so it’s vital to look back to see that someone isn’t coming up on you at speed.

Rock, Meet Hard Place

Advice, Guy Stuff, Lifestyle

Via Reader Mike L. I get this bit of news:

In Missouri, where abortion is illegal, Planned Parenthood sees surge in vasectomies

Doesn’t surprise me.

I had mine done in 1997, some time after my 43rd birthday, and have never looked back.  Frankly, I think that any man who doesn’t have it done by age 45 is asking for trouble, whether or not abortion is legal.  (If your Missus has had her tubes tied or her factory is otherwise disabled, then fine — but be aware that as long as the little swimmers are still there, you can still become a Daddy regardless of the recipient thereof.  I shudder just at the thought.)

And let’s not forget that nowadays you can be stuck with child support payments even if you’re not the daddy — but having had your tubes tied, such an eventuality is highly unlikely if not impossible.

I must admit that back in the times when I did this kind of thing on an ad-hoc basis, it was a real comfort to know that the old production pole had been turned into a joystick.