Friday, April 30, 2010

I Don't Think I Make Enough Money!

Maybe Barry will send me a mil or so out of his expansive pocket! Probably not, huh?

Office at this point is functional, so I've gone back to writing on THE NEW SURVIVAL GUNS, although I need to get some .32 H&R reloading done this afternoon for my Sweetie's cowboy revolvers.

This morning's WSJ takes a slap at open carry, written by their TV critic, Nancy DeWolf Smith:
Speaking of serious shooters, I don't know a soul among gun owners who is itching to prance around showing everybody what is in their holster. Most of the time, citizens who carry weapons in public places are doing it for protection, and that means concealment. They don't want their handgun easily grabbed by some idiot in a checkout line, and they don't want a potential aggressor to know what they have on them or where it is. If flashing an armory were anything but a stunt, our air marshals would be strapped like Pancho Villa.
I personally think Air Marshals should open carry, although perhaps without the linked shotgun bandoleros of Pancho Villa. I wonder that WSJ considers their television critic, who recently delved into the sociopolitical implications of Cougar Town, suited to write about anything but this week's Survivor episode (which was, BTW, excellent). To be fair, Ms. Smith sits on the WSJ editorial board, in case perhaps there's some critical international financial issue with Two-And-A-Half Men this week.

My friend Caleb over at Gun Nuts Media says that shooting revolvers will "make you a stud." Perhaps I should mention this to my Sweetie...no wait, she shoots revolvers, too! A stud-ette, maybe? Seriously, or as seriously as I'm likely to get today, it's a good article on how mastering the DA revolver will make you a better shooter...just ask Jerry Mickulek.

Finally, my good friends over at Crimson Trace and Ruger are getting some great mileage off Texas Governor Rick Perry whacking a coyote with a CT-equipped Ruger LCP .380 while out jogging with his dog:
Perry said he was jogging shortly after sunrise when the coyote appeared, stopped in its tracks and stared at his dog.
“I holler and the coyote stopped. I holler again. By this time I had taken my weapon out and charged it. It is now staring dead at me. Either me or the dog are in imminent danger. I did the appropriate thing and sent it to where coyotes go,” he said.
Texas state law allows people to shoot coyotes that are threatening livestock or domestic animals. The dog was unharmed, Perry said. Perry holds a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
The governor left the coyote where it fell. “He became mulch,” Perry said.
"Mulch"...I like that! Notice the coyote didn't even laugh one little bit at being shot with a "mousegun" in an "inadequate" caliber...how can that be?

Finally finally, in our Cheesecake De Jour file, the guys over at International Military Antiques are offering a WW2 metal sign repro of Hellcat Honey, complete  with Thompson:


This'll probably send Nancy DeWolf Smith straight into an aneurysm! Put your head between your knees, Nancy, take a deep breath and go back to watching The View...everything will be all right!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Am Reorganizing My Office...



today...heaven help me!

(*not a picture of my office...mine has a lot more wires hanging off things...)

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Too Cool...


...and the very essence of steampunk weaponry...the Webley-Fosbery automatic revolver. I totally agree that the quirky Webley design perfectly defines the late 1800s' Gilded Age, and the Webley-Fosbery is maybe the most superb example. As it happens, I've been doing some research on George Fosbery, VC, in regard to Paradox guns, another of his inventions. I think the appeal of that time period is its wide open vistas, the first great explosion of exploration and gentlemen and lady adventurer/explorers. Richard Sir Francis Burton has always been a person hero...even his Wikipedia bio causes the blood to race!

It's also the gun used to kill Miles Archer, Sam Spade's partner, in The Maltese Falcon. When I first read the book, I was shocked that a pro like Dashiell Hammett would talk about a ".38, 8-shot" when I knew of no such gun at the time. Of course, I was wrong...when I first researched the Webley-Fosbery, I discovered 8-shot .38s!

I've been lucky enough to handle a couple of the Automatic Revolvers, with their weird single action cocking cycle requiring two hands and a monkey to accomplish. The Cody Museum has a .455 version in absolutely perfect condition. There are a few around for sale, but they come dear...

BTW, I hope your preparations are well under way for Friday's Walpurgis Night...I always like to hang cloves of garlic in the doorways, listen to Wagner and never, ever let really hot girls with overly long canines or guys in capes in the house. OTOH, I strongly support traditional Beltane festivities this coming weekend...break out the Maypole; light the fire; shuck the clothes; prepare for earthquakes.





Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Sorry...Light Blogging Alert

Between the travel and the fact that I had a whole day in the studio today, I haven't really had a chance to sit down and blog...I even missed the Boobquake! That's not like me, no-sir-eee-bob! Well, maybe no-sir-eee-boob...

Anyhow, tomorrow I'm going to sleep late, that is, later than 7AM, and you can't stop me! Try it...just try it. It has been a 6-week run of filming with what amounted to ours, rather than days, at home. I got through it, but I did have to bag the Single Stack Classic this coming weekend...May is just too tightly scheduled to do anything that doesn't directly concern work.

Through Roberta X's blog, I've relinked with Royal Enfield motorcycles...the Military Model appeals to the retro steampnky side of me (that's the same side that used to restore Nortons, which is dangerously close to self-abuse). 


Retro is cool...


Monday, April 26, 2010

Steampunk 101

From Wikipedia:

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction and speculative fiction, frequently featuring elements of fantasy, that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used — usually the 19th century, and often Victorian era England — but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of "the path not taken" of such technology as dirigibles, analog computers, or digital mechanical computers (such as Charles Babbage's Analytical engine); these frequently are presented in an idealized light, or with a presumption of functionality.
Steampunk is often associated with cyberpunk and shares a similar fanbase and theme of rebellion, but developed as a separate movement (though both have considerable influence on each other). Apart from time period and level of technological development, the main difference between cyberpunk and steampunk is that steampunk settings usually tend to be less obviously dystopian than cyberpunk, or lack dystopian elements entirely.
Various modern utilitarian objects have been modded by individual artisans into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical "steampunk" style, and a number of visual and musical artists have been described as steampunk.
Ah, Little Grasshopper...here's a collection of steampunk weapons:



You have to remember, I dress up for SASS, so it's just a short putt to something weirder...


Try again...

From The Firearm Blog this AM, a Turkisk 1966 Winchester fitted with a water-cooled barrel...that is so steampunk it cries out fir its own SASS class!


-- Post From The Road

Total Steampunk Rifle!

http://cdn1.thefirearmsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/2857039896_1b_5d_80fba_9_o-tfb.jpg


-- Post From The Road

Boomershoot!

Great event and some amazingly talented shooter! Joe Huffman and his family not only run a super match but went out of their way to make things smooth for me and the SG crew. Thank you, Joe!

Traveling today...more on Wednesday's podcast!

BTW, got my appetite whetted for long-range handgunning again...no good can come from that!


-- Post From The Road

Friday, April 23, 2010

At the Cody Airport...

...after a successful trip to the Museum Gift Store, one of the truly great museum gift stores!

Also did a quick tour of the Whitney Museum of Wester Art...thank HEAVENS I don't have the money to collect art!

-- Post From The Road

Thursday, April 22, 2010

All Hat; No Horse



Or cows, for that matter...yippie-ky-aye...or something like it.

Filming went great at the Cody Museum today...Curator Warren Newman is one of the most knowledgeable people on firearms I've ever met. He also has a really good eye for quality leatherwork. So much so that I immediately went back to the hotel room and ordered a holster just like his for my Ruger LCP from Ringler Custom Leather. I was also pretty impressed with Ringler's Wyoming Combination Holster:

Neat stuff, and the handwork in Warren's piece was exceptional.


Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Me & the Big Buff


Things went great at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center today...Curator Warren Newman of the Cody Firearms Museum is a walking encyclopedia of gun trivia, and that's my definition of a good day! I'm thinking of having a 1450s-vintage hand cannone made and see if I can shoot through a suit of armor...that's more of a SHOOTING GALLERY than a COWBOYS. My Sweetie wants to see a show on blunderbusses:
Hard to argue with, to be sure. 

BTW, I've seen some stuff on the web that the low turnout of the Second Amendment March was the fault of the NRA...not so. There were a lot of issues that contributed to the low turnout, not the least of which was that event was on a Monday workday and it followed the Tea Party Tax Day events the previous week. The event got good press, and noted by Snowflakes in Hell, and as such was actually a success. I agree with Sebastian...lay of the blame game.

DRTV Weekly 042110

The video podcast is posted on Down Range:
http://www.downrange.tv/blog/?p=2997

Cody Firearms Museum...

...today after an all-day flight across the country yesterday. Cruised the mean streets — actually street — of Cody, WY yesterday afternoon...what a cool little town! I did find a pair of Olathe purple-and-orange cowboy boots, but after sitting down for a few moments and using an ammonia inhaler I was able to leave the store without buying them.

Once again, am staying across the street from Jeremiah Johnson's gravesite, leading to decidedly odd dreams. I have an overwhelming urge to trap and skin a Prius.

Tam over at View from the Porch has a nice smack-down on Brady's endless vapors about people carrying guns:
I mean, guns were all over most every state capital this past week, and nobody busted caps, so what's your problem? You keep tearing at your hair about this blood in the streets that keeps not happening. For heaven's sake, get a grip on yourselves, okay? Everyone with a gun is a violent spree killer armed robber only in the way everyone with a car is a drunk driver or everyone with a p33n is a rapist...

Monday, April 19, 2010

Grinding to a Halt...

...for the evening. Am tired, not to mention a 4:15AM call for tomorrow...

I think my talk went well — I certainly wish it was to a bigger crown, but things are what they are. My focus was on Gun Culture Ver. 2.0, which was boistered this AM by the newest NSSF poll:
The first comprehensive survey to look at ownership and use of modern sporting rifles reveals that 8.9 million Americans went target shooting with AR-style rifles in 2009 and that participants using this type of rifle were the most active among all types of sport shooters.
"These findings underscore that modern sporting rifles are becoming commonplace in America and are among the most desired firearms by sport shooters," said Steve Sanetti, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, trade association of the firearms industry. "Those who want to ban these civilian sporting rifles simply because they look like military rifles must acknowledge after seeing this study that AR-style rifles are exceedingly popular with millions of Americans. These rifles are our industry's high-tech, cutting-edge product -- rugged, accurate, versatile, fun to shoot and easily accessorized -- and they're here to stay."
Not a surprise to us, certainly, but glad to see it coming from NSSF.

Also — and I can't go into this just yet — there is very positive movement from the industry on allocating Pittman-Robertson funds specifically for range development. I brought this subject up today and got great response, so I think the fledgling industry initiative is very timely. There are also some very specific legislative remedies that are available to us, but I'd rather see the industry step up and lead.

Finally, the Remington 1911-R1 is now at least announced, in this issue of SHOOTING TIMES, a sort of GI version with a $699...looks like a nice pistol (I especially like the nubby vintage thumb safety and the classic diamond walnut grips). I should have one in my hands within the next few weeks, even if it's only for a limited time. We'll get it up on DRTV very quickly.

View from the Stage




-- Post From The Road

Second Amendment March





-- Post From The Road

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Audio from Armed American Radio

Here is the portion of tonight's AAR with yours truly:



Download mp3 file

Armed American Radio

Here in the studio...



-- Post From The Road

Watch the Twitter Feed

...will probably be Twittering more than blogging throughout Second Amendment March...may post my comments Monday PM or include them in the weekly podcast...


-- Post From The Road

Friday, April 16, 2010

R.I.P.

The Wild West was a dangerous place!


-- Post From The Road