Monday, March 19, 2007

Good Week for Mayhem at the Movies!

We can segue directly from 300 to Shooter! More than this, you can't ask...I'm sending an email to Brother Steve Hunter, whose classic (and dare I say it, beloved among gun-sters like myself) book Point of Impact was the basis for Shooter.

I'm back from the Frozen Northlands, where I was on a pretty cool project for SIGARMS, essential "video-editing" their catalog. More about that later. I did get a chanc e to put some rounds through the new SIG P220 Compact, the repla cement for the now-discontinued P245...you'll see the whole video on DOWN RANGE (of course!), but I'll give you a quick bottom line — spectacular! A little .45 that delivers.

I ordered one on the spot.

In fact, I sort of had a P220 epiphany. I got my first 220 .45 back around 1982, one of the European versions with a butt magazine release. The gun had been overhauled and finished with electroless nickel, and it was slick slick slick. In a moment of spectacular weakness, I traded it for a new in the box Browning Hi-Power Combat in .40 S&W. This is when I was still suffering from the delusion that .40 S&W had anything to offer. I shot the first IDPA Columbia Invitational with the H-P and did okay. I eventually had Wayne Noval overhaul the gun, but like every other .40 I've owned, I found myself not taking it to the range, defaulting to .45s and 9mms. I eventually solved this problem by not getting any more .40s, probably the most overrated cartridge on earth.

Anyway, short story, I remembered just how good my 220s shot, so I've resolved to get another full-sized one along with the Compact.

Interesting summation in Real Clear Politics of the D.C. decision on how the Second Amendment is viewed:

For nearly 70 years, the Second Amendment has been the Jimmy Hoffa of constitutional provisions -- missing, its whereabouts unknown, and presumed dead. The right to keep and bear arms, though treasured by many Americans, was a complete stranger to the Supreme Court. But recently, a federal appeals court did something no federal court had ever done before: It struck down a gun control law as a violation of the Second Amendment.

There's also an interesting column from Sam Venable in Tennessee that sums it up well:

But I'm guessing everyday folks - who may or may not own a gun and don't feel strongly either way - will be inclined to side with the court this time around.

Why?

Because we've all felt the heavy hand of Big Brother, and it's a most uncomfortable sensation.

Between the broad auspices of the Patriot Act, domestic surveillance programs and other abuses of time-honored civil liberties, John and Jane Does have come to the sobering realization that Uncle Sam isn't always a kind, benevolent father figure who respects the privacy of his citizens. Unchecked, open government will inevitably morph into an Orwellian nightmare.

I'm certainly no legal scholar. If I interpret the court's ruling correctly, however, it means laws can be enacted to govern gun ownership, but they can't be so sweeping and so absolute that they abridge a basic constitutional right.

If only the courts would take a similar approach to other civil liberties - such as freedom of expression.

BTW, I have to apologize for today's videos on DOWN RANGE being a bit late...I made a critical mistake in wrestling with QuickTime, thinking I could use one of two highly regarded utility problems as a workaround. I probably could have, if I could have obtained said utilities...one company is MIA; the other took my money, allowed me to download the utility,then NEVER sent me the key to turn the program on. Talk about vaporware!

Videos will be up this afternoon, with our new audio intro!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

When can we see the video on the new Sig? Luv the 45s and want to see how it shoots.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad that some one else agrees with me on the .40. Every test I see has it under performing the 9mm or certainly not out performing enough to justify it.

And of course it is NO match for a .45

Overload in Colorado said...

So, the 220 Compact is a replacement for the 245, and NOT a replacement for the 225? This is a caliber thing, right? The 220 is in 45 and the 225 is a 9mm?

Wait, you mean the 220 Carry, right?

Anonymous said...

OK, now I'm really confused. I have nheard nothing other than the 9mm is obsolete, the .40S&W is far superior, especially in an HP round, and nothing beats the .45.

Except for us guys with small hands, which is why I went with the .40S&W. Now you all are saying the .40 is worse than the 9mm? How so? What tests?

Michael Bane said...

RE: P2320 Compact, yep, it's a replacement for the star-crossed 245, which never took off (I address that in the video). I mentioned the 225, a 9mm single stack long discontinued SIG model because that has been my choice of a carry gun for a while and I think it is one of the best little guns ever made...

Michael B

Michael Bane said...

I mean, P220

Anonymous said...

Here are some test results for 9mm, 40 and 45.
http://shootingmessengers.blogspot.com/2006/05/wound-ballistic-workshop.html

Anonymous said...

Hazcat, link doesn't work.

Anonymous said...

Geoff,

You have to do a "copy and paste" to your browser (best I can do). It will work then.