Creeking Monday...

..after a day shoveling snow...yes, as a matter of fact, I do have a highly rated Sears/Craftsman Snow Blower, which is more fragile that a Waterford Crystal hockey puck. It works great, as long as you DO NOT start start the engine...and heaven help you if you try to use the thing to actually blow snow! Thank heavens for Advil!

I'm not the only one giving away guns these days....my pals at STI International, makers of some of the finest pistols on the planet, are giving away one of their 1911 Spartans. You can enter here. They're very nice 1911s...I have an STI Trojan 1911 .40 and used to compete with a .40 STI Edge. the definitive USPSA Limited race gun.

Speaking of STI, I hear there are some inevitable delays in getting their plastic-framed Slovakian GP6 9mm into the country...q'uel surprise! If you're interested in the gun's pedigree, take a look at the parent company, Grand Power S.R.O., site.


Our next DOWN RANGE Giveaway is going to be one of the new Mossberg 464 lever action .30-30, topped by a superb Leupold scope. The rifle's on the way, so we should have it up ASAP...

I'm lobbying Mossberg for a .44 and a .357 magnum versions, because I like pistol caliber lever guns both for cowboy action shooting and home defense. My little cherubs and seraphim tell me that uber-lever gun maker Marlin should be adding some additional capacity for lever guns, spurred by the new generation of Hornady ammo, (such as the .308 Marlin Express).

Kahr Arms, makers of little bitty carry guns in general, is sprinting to get their .380 to market in the wake of Ruger's big success with the LCP. The photo's from Kahr through the XD Forums, thank you very much.

I don't have any MSRP info yet, but rumors on the Internet are putting that number in the $600+ range, consistent with Kahr's generally high-end, higher-priced products. I bet it pains Herr Glock terribly that he has a .380 product in Europe, the subcompact M28, that doesn't have enough points to get into the country. This was never an issue for Glock because the .380 would have directly cannibalized the existing Glock subcompacts like the 9mm M26. With the now-proven demand for the smaller cartridge, I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see Glock make some magic moves to get the M28 in country.

I do want to say some kind words (WARNING! WHORING ALERT!) about the North American Arms subcaliber guns, both the .32s and .380s. These guns are proven products...I got my first N.A.A. .32 around 1998, and it rode in my pocket in an Ahern pocket holster for years and years. It has never malfunctioned and always put the bullets right where I wanted them. It's beefier than the Ruger .380, but hardly a concrete block. I also like the heck out of the Pug Mini Revolver, although I can't for the life of me think what I'd do with one. I have a motorcyclist friend who sears the N.A.A. mini revolvers are the ideal gun for a biker...one was his constant companion when he did the Iron Butt Rally a couple of years back.