Big Boomer Time in New Mexico!

I'm off tomorrow to film the .50 Caliber World Championships down in Raton, NM. I'll get a chance to throw some big rounds downrange (add that image to your hot, festering dreams, Ranger Walsh!) and in general incite liberals all over the place. Then it's up to Wyoming for Hell On Wheels 2005, the cowboy action shooting regionals, where I am, in fact, shooting. Hard to believe, startling, but true! I'm thinking of using the two Ruger 50th Anniversary Blackhawks in .357 and one of Steve Young's flawless Navy Arms M-92 lever actions. I got a REALLY slick M-97 pump shotgun from Coyote Cap, the lord high god of old shotgun slickin', and it rocks.

My goal is to get through the match without overtly humiliating myself!

My CCW is expiring in a couple of weeks, and Boulder County's policy is to make it as hard as possible to renew. You've got to fill out the complete form again, get a notarized affidavit that you haven't forgotten how to shoot in the last three years, then hand-deliver the renewal request, along with a money order/certified check to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and a check for the Boulder Sheriff's Office, to the Sheriff's Office. Jeez...when I asked whether there was a "grace period" where my expired CCW would still be valid until the new permit was issued, the response was a terse, "Can't you just not carry a gun for a few days?"

Depends on whether or not I fall into the RHINO DOOKEY during those few days! Hell, I could be set upon by enraged Forest Rangers...oh, that's right...they're unarmed! I suppose they could pummel me with branches, or, worse, make me listen to them sing "Kumbaya."

I hooked back up with C. Rusty Sherrick, holster-maker extraordinaire, who's making me a couple of holsters. One is for the Ugliest Gun in the World, my 1917 S&W .45 ACP revolver fitted with a 6-inch 1955 S&W Target barrel. The barrel has a ramp...the frame doesn't. It's butt-ugly and hard-chromed to boot. It also shoots as well as any big frame Smith I've ever shot. And I've shot a bunch of 'em! My father had it for years, but I was able to spirit it back home recently after he let some idiot stuff a .44 Special in it and touch it off. I have this fantasy that one of these days I'll get Hamilton Bowen to pull the barrel and machine it to look like it was designed for the frame...of course, I had an adjustable sight machined into the frame (yes, I'm going to OLD GUN KILLER HELL! I didn't know no better!!!). Besides, I already owe Hamilton Bowen 'way too much money...he could get a second mortgage on my house...

The other holster is one of his really cool crossdraw flap holsters for my Ruger Blackhawks:

Big John's Half Flap Crossdraw
Named and created for pistol aficionado extraordinaire Big John. A heavy duty crossdraw designed to handle the big guns. A half flap with a one way snap will keep the gun in the holster. Ideal for horseback and tree stands. Made from horsehide so you get a very tough holster yet light in weight.

Rusty does beautiful beautiful work. You're going to have to wait for it (I'm at about 5 months), but it's worth it. Check out his Thinman IWB, desinged by my pal Tom Givens, which looks to me like the only IWB that can hold a candle to Lou Alessi's magnificent IWB holster. BTW, I had an amazing conversation with Rusty about chaos at the Edges of the Known Universe. Not only is he one heck of a holster-maker, but he's a wise man!