A very special HP

I let my subscription to American Handgunner lapse (how I don't know I thought I renewed in Nov). But I snagged the recent issue in the newstand yesterday

Lo & behold something you are not likely to see everyday, a longslide BHP, the custom compact was cool but that longslide well, I'd like one but I don't want to sell half of my collection to obtain one.

http://www.americanhandgunner.com/Ftrs/MA09/perfection.html

I do have several pair of Esmeralda Grips, www.esmeralda.cc, (760) 949-1645; one set looking very much like what's on the pictured pistol.

In the world of Glock O Matics, it's nice to see steel still has it's place.

Baby it's cold outside.....

Like you all didn't know that, it is winter don't you know.

We ventured out yesterday, & our road was still solid ice, but the state routes were clear.
check ammo supplies at the local box store & they were indeed thin.

I am getting to old to shovel snow, but will work on the parking area today, my plow guy's rig is a bit to big to really clear it out. With the tree line on the west the training building on the north side & the house on the east, & slightly box on the south by a few more trees he really can't move it with out burying or blocking something. speaking of old I was going to buy a snow blower in the fall but busy got in the way, & I didn't remember until this week that I had forgotten to order it.

Storm has passed

At 8:30 am I made a couple of passes up & down the driveway, & it wasn't to bad, at 10:30 the ride down was exciting enough I didn't care to try bring the car back up. I left it parked by the road. Around 3:30 the plow went through & at 4:30 the phone rang, it was one of my neighbors telling me if I want the driveway plowed to come move the car. I'll still have to shovel out some of the parking area but the class will go on as planned. That is if the students will brave the cold.

seen a few posts on ammo

I've tried to keep it simple myself

22lr, 9mm, 45 ACP, & 38 special (.357 Mag) for pistols

.223, 308, & 30.06 in rifles

12 & 20 in Shotguns

I stock pretty deep in 22lr, 9mm, 45 ACP, & .223

Haven't been shooting much in the wheelguns, & with only one .308 bolt gun I figure 750 rds to be enough (I likely have only put about 50 rounds through it since I got it in 1998)

The .06 is unfired as last year I found I had a 1000 rds of ammo & no gun to put it in, so instead of selling the ammo, I bought a Savage bolt gun.

Really seldom shoot SG's & with over 2000 rounds of shot, buck, & slug, think I'm good there.

But I think it will pay to stash some extra ammo back, & don't be one of those that has to swing by Wally World on your way to the range.

Guns are not much use without the ammo.

Ah the weather...

Well I'm not cussing yet, I was able to get up & down the driveway this morning, mine is longer than most 900 feet, between two farm fields. If I can keep it open we should be ok, hopefully we won't get much wind after the snow has fallen.

Hopefully my neighbor will show up with his plow & we can get the parking area opened up for this weekend, otherwise it could be a hassle for the class this weekend.

Did go down & knocked the ice loose from the portable car port & will repeat once the snow stops.

Working on finishing the "office" in the new class room it's really not a lot bigger than a closet, about 4x5 feet. But big enough to have a file cabinet, & a copier, someplace for the Instructors to stash coats, & with an in the wall safe a place to keep pistols when not doing a class.

Pro-gun US Senate pick makes anti's squirm.

Now that's a good thing!

So why are banks open & the mail being delivered today?

Tam has it

Good News!

Gov. David Paterson has picked Democratic U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to fill New York's vacant U.S. Senate seat,

Understand she was on her school rifle team

Yep, just let them go

Ex-Gitmo detainee joins al-Qaida in Yemen
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090123/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_yemen_al_qaida

and give them all the rights American citizens have!

Mad men don't need a gun

3 dead, 10 wounded in Belgium day care stabbings
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090123/ap_on_re_eu/eu_belgium_stabbings

To bad someone working at the daycare didn't have the means to stop him

DRAT!

Recently purchased a S&W 1911, first trip to the range I noticed the rear sight was about 2 millimeters left of center, which of course caused impact on the target to be several inches to the left. Last night I found the right side hex bit, & loosen the screw & drifted it using a brass drift, nice & centered, I tightened the screw & then could not get the bit out of the screw head. Loosening the screw didn't help, a light tapping didn't seem to do much, so I applied what now appears to be to much pressure on the hex bit & broke it off nearly flush with the screw head, I was lucky in that I had re tightened the screw, but still.

Double Drat.......

One of those weeks, I had dropped off a BHP to the smith, as it was failing to fire on CCI Blazer ammo, I'm not a fan of guns that don't work with whatever I feed them. The failure rate was about 80%. The gun has a light skeleton hammer, & very likely the original firing pin spring & the hammer lacks the weight to over come as I recall the 32 lb firing pin spring, so usually a lighter firing pin spring needs to be installed. Not exactly sure what the smith did, but now the failure to fire rate is down to about 20%, which is still way to high. It's not a gun that I'll carry even if my normal carry gun is a BHP, as it is a lovely blue, & I prefer a tougher finish on a carry piece. But none the less, I want it to go bang every time, I press the trigger.
I have two such HP's that tend to do this & both have the alloy skeleton hammer, I suppose the best way to fix them would be to have proper steel hammers installed.

Well I won't say I told you so........

http://booksbikesboomsticks.blogspot.com/2009/01/who-didnt-see-this-coming.html

Like Tam, I'm a bit light on small AR parts, plenty of springs & rings, have extra gas tubes, but I still have 3 striped lowers that need to be filled, could also use some buffer stop plungers.

Guess I should make a detailed list of needs now that I think of it, I also need some upper parts, as there are also at least 6 striped uppers, sitting in the box, found a flat top last week I didn't even know I had it.

Just ordered extra recoil springs for the 1911's, perhaps it's time to look at everything & see what needs to be procured to keep them all running.

Para LTC

Well got it back from service with the correct firing pin, & that was 2 months ago, but I have been busy, but yesterday I got it & 2 new Mec Gar mags, & walked down to the backstop.

It shot very well, the only fault I could find was with myself, the gun did what it was suppose to do & it ran like it was suppose to.

With the Para, I'd still want to run a a couple of hundred through each before I carried ether one, but since they are built so tight, it's to be expected.

Whats with my 22's?

We provide 22 semi autos for those that don't own a gun for our CCW class, I'd much rather they have some knowledge to buy a firearm after the class, than be sold something they can't use (like an airweight .357 hammerless "J" Frame for a beginning shooter)

So all the Buck Marks are acting up, recently replaced firing pins, recoil springs, & extractors, as we getting a lot of failure to fire, & failure to eject, even with all the new parts we are still getting the same, using Remington Thunderbolts, switched to Aguila & the same problems, tried Federal, & they all went on strike.

Picked up a S&W 22a, & the 2nd class, it was used the extractor assembly disappeared, tomorrow could be an interesting day. They are always worse in colder weather.

Well the old stand by is the Hi Standard wheelgun, they may be using that. I also know there will be 2 Hi Points being brought to class tomorrow, & sometimes they shoot ok, but the rest of the time they don't.

Well at least it will be a lot warmer tomorrow, it's about 15 degrees below zero right now, not counting the windchill, but it's suppose to be a balmy 28 tomorrow......must be that global warming thing.

Brrrrrrr

Well since the Goreanites keep telling us the Artic is melting, this severe blast of cold air must have come from mother Russia, they have been storing it in vast post war warehouses, & have now shipped it our way, only thing I can come with.

The S&W M&P

The ladies really seem drawn to this gun, I've been bringing Lady D's out to the classroom & the women like both the looks & feel of the gun.

With the interchangeable back straps, it's near custom fit for any hand.

Perhaps I'll have to add an XD-M so they can compare the two, as the old style XD is the second choice, the ladies seem to steer clear of the Glock mainly due to it's monolith styling, & even the 17 seems bulky in the hands of a smaller female. The M&P just has better lines to the eye, & seems more stylish than the Glock

Of course choice is a personal thing, nothing wrong with a Glock if thats what you like, but even the lady that had the Glock, really liked the looks & feel of the M&P

Saturday Class

Although it was a bit slick in the morning 7 students made it, 5 ladies & 2 gents.

Only one of the girls had really been shooting, but by the time we finished on the range, they were all doing very well.
Now many will say a 9 inch paper plate at 7 yards is not a hard target to hit. But if you have never shot a gun before, & you are a bit apprehensive about shooting the gun, & you add in a cold damp blustery day. Which means you can't feel your fingers or toes & you score 4 hits out of 5 weak handed & score an 87% in the qualifier that really is pretty good for a new shooter, I've had guys that couldn't do that when it's mid 70's & sunny!

Blackhawk II

Roberta in the customer service dept contacted me, & they are taking care of the holster switchero.

I've worked with their customer service dept, in the past & they are always really helpful, Blackhawk makes some fantastic products.

But even when I had Hi-speed access to the net, I had problems with their website, hopefully they can bring it up to the level of their products & customer service dept.

I have the catalog & from now on will just call them, it's a lot less frustrating than trying to use the website.

Blackhawk

I really like a lot of the Blackhawk gear, up until I went to Blackwater I had only used some of their slings, but they gave us a care package the weekend of the Para Blogger event, & since I returned I have purchased some Warrior Wear, & several Sherpa Holsters, mag carriers & a belt.

But their website sucks, it's slow & cumbersome, in mid december I ordered a right handed 1911 level 2 Sherpa, & got a Left handed Level 2 Glock 17 , how do you explain that?

By the way the 1911 Level 2 will not take a Taurus 1911, the light rail is to thick, bought one for soon to be son in-law, & while my Kimber Warrior fits just fine his Taurus did not. He did some Dremel work to one or the other & got it to fit.

Unprepared?

yep we have a class today, & it's going to be a bit messy, little rain, & sleet & snow, temps in the mid 30's.
But last night students were concerned about staying warm, would they need coats?.....uh duh it's January in Ohio, " yes you will likely need a coat."

They always seem surprised that the range is outside when they call, now we do try to keep them comfortable we have a 10x20 carport so they stay dry, & side walls on the north & west side to act as windbreaks. & when it drops into the mid 20's or lower & gets a bit breezy we take one of the Crown Vics down & leave it running so they can get warm.

If the average midwest city dweller is unprepared to deal with the weather, which the average adult has had about 20 years to get use to, how are they going to deal with some punk trying to rob them at knife point?

Of course at least one or two will show up in tennis shoes & a wind breaker, hell maybe even flip flops.

Democrats' proposed gun ban list revealed!

http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/6376

Here we go again

Dark Clouds Coming?

http://michaelbane.blogspot.com/2009/01/storm-warning-obama-will-attack.html

Bane is in the business, & the future is not looking bright for gun owners, might be time to write a check to the NRA or one of the other Pro 2nd amendment groups.

Time to band together & show the power we have rather than hide in the closet

Project?

Picked up a Springfield 1911-A1 in 2006 that some garage monkey had tried to customize.
Now of course the question has come up weather I should sell it as is or redo it & hang onto it.

The ejector is in wrong, or the extractor is way to tight, the frame was spray painted with Krylon spray paint, & has several blobs of paint & areas where it ran, it is rather unsightly.

The trigger was not fitted well, and appears to have been dragged in gravel, it does shoot well, but does not cycle well as it extracts the empty, & then shoves it straight back into the chamber, so the recoil spring could be to heavy & not allowing the slide to go far enough back to hit the ejector.

I have several 1911's, 3 Kimbers, 2 S&W, & 2 Para's, so I'm really wondering do I put some time into it or just sell it?

Tech Question

We very much want to add Power Point Presentation to our classes, I really don't want to have to invest in a multi media projector. I have been told by several that it would be no problem to hook my lap top into my 32 inch analog TV. They say just buy a cable, yeah right, I get a lot of blank stares at the stores I've gone to (Radio Shack , Best Buy, the computer zoo etc..)
The lap Top has VGA outlet, & the TV appears to have co-ax & RCA, it's a bit bulky to move to see what's back there. Anyone out there could give me some advice other than "just buy a cable" would be most helpful

Busy Weekend

Saturday's class were all newbies, with a lot of preconceived notions, sadly several people had told them they had to have guns which they had purchased before they called, a 32 pocket rocket, & 2 hammerless snub nose .357's, needless to say we went through a lot of 22lr, to get the basics down. With 2 Instructors & no more than 3 shooting at once we could do the hands on training, & work on sight alignment trigger control, grip & stance. All 5 left with a lot more knowledge, some new skills & a new attitude.

While we recommend you bring the gun you are going to carry, but if you are new at the game don't buy anything take the class first so you have some knowledge on what to buy rather than have the guy at the gun shop sell you something.

Hit the gun show early Sunday, and I am a bit befuddled by both the crowds & the prices, I mean last year I bought the M&P for $425, this year same dealer $539?!

We also stopped at the Vandalia Range & Armory, a very well stocked dealer with state of art ranges.
I checked out their used guns & saw one of the silliest ideas yet, I spy ed an STI Trojan for $625, (like I need a another 45) but after the owner handed it to me he says that it has a Bra-Sto match barrel.,..................... in .357 Sig, I just handed it back to him. I mean if your are going with a full size government 1911, why not stick with 45 & only have that shove, rather than be slammed every time you pull the trigger? Guess that was why it was in the used case.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!

I haven't stayed up for the new year for the last 7 years, and it always gets here without my help which is I guess is a good thing.

Here's to all those that stop by a wish that we have a great 2009, & shooting goodness to all!