Tiptoeing Toward Turkeys

I promise...no Thanksgiving recipes this year...not even my much-admired oyster dressing (although celeb chef Robert Irvine's version isn't exactly chopped turkey giblets, either).

Yesterday I toured the site for the proposed $25 million High Plains Tactical Center outside of Denver. Wow! Ten thousand acres of wooded, rolling hills and spectacular views, with more than 3000 acres devoted to what amounts to a Jurassiac Park for shooters, After last week at the $14 million world-class U.S. Shooting Academy in Tulsa, I have to call big-dollar shooting facilities an interesting and important national trend, essentially recognizing the recreational aspects of the gun culture as a wildly underserved market.

It also spits in the face of the antigunners, who have had their programs and their principles — if you can call that sad, sordid collection of mistruths, misinformation, spin and outright lies principles — increasingly rejected. While I like the trend, it still doesn't do anything to stem the loss of shooting areas around the country, although I am hoping for something of a "trickle-down" effect. The rationale for not building new, expanding old or sometimes even maintaining existing shooting areas has been essentially a reflection of antigun disinformation.

We are not a small, declining market...in fact, nothing could be farther from the truth. The shooting sports and the self-defense market is vibrant, growing and full of potential. The building of such facilities as the U.S. Shooting Academy and. hopefully, the High Plains Tactical Center, along with other datapoints such as the multimillion dollar refurbishing of GUNSITE in recent years and the explosive growth of training as a major industry, signify that mainstream culture is moving closer to our core beliefs; that, hopefully, we are moving away from the seering indictments in the classic 1993 essay A Nation of Cowards:

Gun control is a moral crusade against a benighted, barbaric citizenry. This is demonstrated not only by the ineffectualness of gun control in preventing crime, and by the fact that it focuses on restricting the behavior of the law-abiding rather than apprehending and punishing the guilty, but also by the execration that gun control proponents heap on gun owners and their evil instrumentality, the NRA. Gun owners are routinely portrayed as uneducated, paranoid rednecks fascinated by and prone to violence, i.e., exactly the type of person who opposes the liberal agenda and whose moral and social "re-education" is the object of liberal social policies. Typical of such bigotry is New York Gov. Mario Cuomo's famous characterization of gun-owners as "hunters who drink beer, don't vote, and lie to their wives about where they were all weekend." Similar vituperation is rained upon the NRA, characterized by Sen. Edward Kennedy as the "pusher's best friend," lampooned in political cartoons as standing for the right of children to carry firearms to school and, in general, portrayed as standing for an individual's God-given right to blow people away at will.

The stereotype is, of course, false. As criminologist and constitutional lawyer Don B. Kates, Jr. and former HCI contributor Dr. Patricia Harris have pointed out, "[s]tudies consistently show that, on the average, gun owners are better educated and have more prestigious jobs than non-owners.... Later studies show that gun owners are less likely than non-owners to approve of police brutality, violence against dissenters, etc."

Winchester Grabs Fed Contract

This from Walt Rauch via email this PM:

November 19, 2007
Winchester Wins FBI 40 S&W Ammunition Contract

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has awarded Winchester® Ammunition the single largest ammunition contract in the history of federal law enforcement worth a maximum of $54 million for ONE year.

Winchester Ammunition will produce 40 S&W service ammunition, training ammunition, reduced lead training ammunition and frangible ammunition for the FBI for one base year, with four, one-year renewal options.

"The innovation behind the enhanced 40 S&W bonded service round is a testament to our Winchester engineers and the quality of our manufacturing," said Dick Hammett, president, Winchester Ammunition.

Winchester's enhanced 40 S&W service ammunition is a 180-grain, bonded jacketed hollow point round and was selected over all other rounds that were tested. The FBI tests the terminal ballistics of each round by shooting a specific test
protocol through various barriers such as heavy cloth, wallboard, plywood, steel and auto glass into ballistic gelatin.

In addition to the FBI, the contract affects many agencies both inside and outside the Department of Justice, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and U.S. Marshal Service.

"On behalf of Winchester, we are extremely proud that our nation's premier law enforcement agency has selected Winchester ammunition to use in its mission of protecting and defending the United States," said Hammett.

Supremes Sing Next Week?

According to Glenn Reynolds (sorry, Glenn!) at InstaPundit, there are rumors that the High Court will rule next week on whether they'll consider District of Columbia v. Heller. In the meanwhile, I strongly urge you all to read Reynold's 's paper with the unlikely title of Guns and Gay Sex: Some Notes on Firearms, the Second Amendment, and "Reasonable Regulation." It reaches some very interesting political conclusions, which, if I may butcher them into lay language, addresses the potentially explosive issues of how the Court might rule and the legitimacy of the federal court system as a whole.

I'm also going to reprint this whole essay from Marko over at the Muchkin Wrangler blog because it is a magnificent and eloquent statement of our beliefs. Nicely done, Marko!

Why the gun is civilization

Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that's it.

In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion. Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction, and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some.

When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force. The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gangbanger, and a single gay guy on equal footing with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats. The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender.

There are plenty of people who consider the gun as the source of bad force equations. These are the people who think that we'd be more civilized if all guns were removed from society, because a firearm makes it easier for a mugger to do his job. That, of course, is only true if the mugger's potential victims are mostly disarmed either by choice or by legislative fiat--it has no validity when most of a mugger's potential marks are armed. People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that's the exact opposite of a civilized society. A mugger, even an armed one, can only make a successful living in a society where the state has granted him a force monopoly.

Then there's the argument that the gun makes confrontations lethal that otherwise would only result in injury. This argument is fallacious in several ways. Without guns involved, confrontations are won by the physically superior party inflicting overwhelming injury on the loser. People who think that fists, bats, sticks, or stones don't constitute lethal force watch too much TV, where people take beatings and come out of it with a bloody lip at worst. The fact that the gun makes lethal force easier works solely in favor of the weaker defender, not the stronger attacker. If both are armed, the field is level. The gun is the only weapon that's as lethal in the hands of an octogenarian as it is in the hands of a weightlifter. It simply wouldn't work as well as a force equalizer if it wasn't both lethal and easily employable.

When I carry a gun, I don't do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I'm looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don't carry it because I'm afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn't limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force. It removes force from the equation...and that's why carrying a gun is a civilized act.

Be sure to visit the site and read the comments!

Stag Notes...

Started working with the new Stag Arms carbines today...so far, so good. No problems at all...hauled them out of the box and started pulling the trigger. Both are 100%. I sent most of the day working with the one with the Aimpoint M4 with the 3X magnifier, one of my favorite sighting systems.



I also got a chance to shoot the super cool S&H suppressed .44 Magnum Ruger 77/44 bolt gun...superb gun and totally fun to shoot. No recoil to speak of with subsonic .44 Special ammo, and not much noise with a .44 Magnum 240-gr screamer. Those guys build excellent suppressors...you can see the whole report in a couple of weeks on DOWN RANGE!


Sleepy now...more later...

A few Notes on the NRA...

...from NPR, who featured that scumbag Richard Feldman, author of Ricochet: Confessions of a Gun Lobbyist. I talked briefly to Feldman once; then I went home and took a long hot shower to get the stench off. I'd sooner associate with Norwegian rats. Interesting comments at NPR, though, and worth reading through!

Heavn knows I have occasionally had my differences with the NRA, but I send them money every year. The NRA carries the freight for all of us, and all those gun owners who tsk-tsk the organization should be kicked on their butts for getting a free ride.

Alphecca has a nice wrap up on the book.

Monday is National Ammo Day, and as Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit notes, now you can finally buy something made by the Chinese that's supposed to have lead in it! I'm thinking it would be a good day to buy 1000 rounds of .22 ammo, just for fun fun fun.

I note the surprising number of comments on the Detonics press release...setting aside the issue of the press release itself, I have gone on record as saying the Detonics was a superior 1911 pistol, and I'd like to see the little CombatMaster back in production. As to any writer's competence to run anything but a word processing program, well, that's a whole 'nutha can o' worms!

I tend to agree with the questions about IL. I don't think it's a great idea to give money to economies run by our enemies, because it tends to foster the idea that we don't put our money where our mouths are.

A Thought from the Master

A friend sent me this quote from Robert Heinlen that I'd forgotten:

"Always listen to the experts. They will tell you what can't be done, and why.
Then do it."

Cheers me up, to be sure. Have I mentioned the 1897 Winchester project gun? it's still in the evaluation stage, but basically a year or so ago I picked up a 1903 vintage '97 pump 12 gauge at my local gun shop — I walked into the shop and the owner said, "Hey Bane, there's a piece of crap over in the corner you're going to take home."

The '97 was actually in okay shape for a gun more than 100 years old, so I took it home for kibbles and bits. Do they have me pegged, or what?

I was gonna cowboy it out just to have it...not as many original '97s around as there used to be, but it lay in the safe pretty much unscathed until recently, when I hauled it out to the range and put a few rounds through it. It got me thinking that it would be cool to have a vintage '97 for trap and even sporting clays...sort of the shotgun equivalent of self-abuse.

I sent it off to Tom at Old Western Gun Repair for the basic safety work and overhaul — extractor, extend forcing cone, ream chamber, install screw-inc choke, etc. If Tom vets the Old Dog, it'll go for wood refinishing at the Stockfixrs, then onto to Doug Turnbull for charcoal bluing. Finally, Ill get it professionally fitted, and I'll end up with a gun that is not nearly as good as a new Remington 870, but a lot cooler. At least, I think so.

Of course, it's one of those "cash available" deals...it'll stay in the safe until I have the spare cash for each step. Tom Knapp need not start worrying yet...

...and while I'm putzing around with guns, NYU students are pondering what they would take to give up the right to vote. Read all about it:

Most at NYU say their vote has a price

Two-thirds say they'll do it for a year's tuition. And for a few, even an iPod touch will do.

That's what NYU students said they'd take in exchange for their right to vote in the next presidential election, a recent survey by an NYU journalism class found.

Only 20 percent said they'd exchange their vote for an iPod touch.

But 66 percent said they'd forfeit their vote for a free ride to NYU. And half said they'd give up the right to vote forever for $1 million.

Reminds me of that old Harvey Danger song "Flagpole Sitta:"

Been around the world and found
That only stupid people are breeding,
The cretins cloning and feeding,
And I don't even own a TV

New Democratic Presidential Candidate Sighted!

From DRUDGE this AM:

Small Town Overcome By Mysterious Ape Sightings

GLEN ST. MARY, Fla. -- Mysterious ape sightings are bringing excitement to a sleepy Florida town.

The local newspaper even ran a story about the sightings.

"There is kind of that 'I've seen a bigfoot' type of feel to it," said resident Eric Lawson. "They said it made a nest in that tree, so it's probably somewhere here in the area."

Some believe the mysterious animal is an orangutan -- one local family had found what looked to be an orange ape up high in a tree.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission investigator who answered the original complaint call on the orange ape said there was definitely something up in the top of the tree, but he really couldn't be sure what it was.

So it could be a new Democratic contender...or Bill Clinton. If I were Fish and Wildlife, I'd check under the tree for waffles...or interns.

Details on Detonics Sale

I mentioned on the podcast last weeks that Detonics had been sold. I just received this via email from old friends Jerry & Sharon Ahern:

Detonics Press Release
November 13, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE!

In the fight for Democracy, John Moses Browning’s Model 1911 weapon system is arguably one of the most important technologies of the 20th century. Better known as the Government Model .45, Browning’s 1911/1911-A1 pioneered break-through weapon technology, bringing forward a weapon platform that enhanced the mission capability and survivability of military personnel and peace-keepers world wide. In fact, Browning’s 1911 was instrumental in the heroic actions leading to multiple American military personnel receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Browning’s 1911 weapon system remained virtually unchanged for the next 60 years, until the team of Pat Yates, Sid Woodcock and Mike Maes joined together in 1973 to develop the first fully functional true compact 1911. The innovations needed to bring this concept to market were spearheaded by Sid Woodcock, a weapons and explosives engineer who was a World War II veteran and security specialist and consultant to numerous government agencies. Woodcock and Maes would go on to form Detonics Manufacturing Corporation, Inc., with Woodcook leading an engineering team that produced a battery of innovations that created a new 1911 industry.

In 1986, Detonics Manufacturing Corporation ceased day-to-day weapons manufacturing and licensed their intellectual properties to a series of start-up Detonics companies, the most recent being Detonics USA of Pendergrass, Georgia.

In a two party transaction, Double Nickel, LLC, acquired Detonics Manufacturing Corporation as well the assets and inventory of Detonics USA. Double Nickel is owned by Bruce Siddle of Millstadt, IL, and Dr Steve Stahle of St. Louis, MO.

Siddle is best known as the founder of PPCT Management Systems, Inc., and Homeland Security Corp, where he is the CEO. Siddle is also recognized internationally as one of the leading experts in Combat Human Factors, the study of how combat/survival stress impacts performance. His research into the triggering of the Sympathetic Nervous System during combat is considered pioneering and has influenced a whole new generation of firearms and combat skills instructors.

Dr. Steve Stahle, a nationally recognized sports internist whose clients include a wide spectrum from professional athletes and Olympic athletes to families of the greater St. Louis area, is an expert on performance conditioning and performance human factors.

Siddle (who also owns five patents, four of which are law enforcement technology oriented) and Stahle bring forward a very unique leadership team in this acquisition. “The firearms industry is rich with tradition, and has been growing rapidly over the last five years in all sectors – sporting, competition and peace keeping. We are very proud to be part of this industry, although our focus will be on developing stress compatible and combat oriented weapon systems specifically for military and law enforcement applications.”

The acquisition of the Detonics Manufacturing Corporation provides Siddle and Stahle with a platform that was created upon the “…combat driven legacy as developed by Sid Woodcock, who, we are very proud to announce, will be part of our team. And, while we will continue the successful 1911 platform, everyone can expect some truly innovative technology which will enhance combat accuracy and weapon safety to emerge from Detonics within the next several months. Our goal is to restore Detonics as the leader in weapon system innovation, creating the next generation weapon platform for peace-keepers.”

Siddle will be leaving HSC as the CEO the week ending November 17th to assume the leadership of Detonics. Siddle will be handing off his current CEO duties to Joseph Johnson, who is the Chairman of The Board. Some of HSC’s headquarter operations will be relocated to Washington, DC.

“My wife, Sandy, and I formed PPCT Management Systems, Inc., in 1980 and grew it into the largest use of force training organization on the planet. We merged the firm into Homeland Security Corporation in 2002, post September 11. Together, the HSC and PPCT teams provided support to our Nation’s security by receiving the TSA contracts to train all of the passenger and baggage screeners at all U. S. airports, a contract to train a classified number of Air Marshals, a contract to provide force protection training for U. S. special forces units, and, today, HSC is one of the companies providing U. S. peace keepers to the United Nations. But, for a former police officer and use of force instructor to have an opportunity to acquire Detonics, knowing we can bring forward innovations to enhance an officer’s or soldier’s survivability, is an honor that deserves 100% of my focus and attention. I leave HSC in great hands with a partner and friend for the last five years.”

Within the next few weeks, Siddle and Stahle will relocate Detonics Headquarters to Southern Illinois. “The logistics of the relocation will take several weeks; but, once completed, Detonics will have a full customer service support unit again. A new website should be up within a very short period of time. The community can expect a series of innovation-related announcements over the next six months.”

In the short term, Jerry Ahern is the designated Detonics media-relations point of contact. Jerry has a long history with Detonics, which includes a position as a former CEO. Jerry can be contacted at 251 747-3742.

Veterans Day, 2007

I took Sunday off, but I did want to post this today.

To all who have served, thank you.

To all who are serving, I pray you return home safely, and thank you for your service.

You are all heroes.

I Am Not on Strike!

I stand four-square on the Right to Work, and at my Sweetie's request I am volunteering to step forward and write episodes of the soap opera Days of Our Lives, which my Sweetie has been following apparently since she was in the womb. I've pretty much got the rhythm down, doncha think:

STEFANO

Argh! How can you say that? You married my son...er...my daughter..er...my wife...er...my poodle...my Suburban...

LUCUS

I didn't mean to fire the RPG...I love her...she's carrying my baby...er...wallet...er...my mojo...my gat...

MARLENA

I'm so confused! Who did I marry this week? Whose baby am I carrying? Do I have amnesia again? Swine flu? Am I possessed by Satan? Wal-Mart? Roman? And who is writing this crappy script?

ELVIS JUNIOR (internal dialoge)

I am the least realized character on this show, the soap equivalewnt o of Unnamed Crewman #4 on Star Trek...now I've been shot and have to lay around in a stupid coma for six months...I can't believe I took acting classes in junior college for this!

What do you think?

See, this is what happens when I get a day off...my brain starts slip-sliding away and I start using ellipses...ellipseses...ellipsomethings...

Anyhow, some real news, and marginally comforting. This from The War on Guns blog, through Instapundit on new AG Michael B. Mukasey:

Take another unsettled legal question: whether the Second Amendment secures an individual right to bear arms. Here is what Judge Mukasey told me: “Based on my own study, I believe that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms.”

Well, that's something and a step up from Gonzales, who apparently believed whatever Bush told him to believe.

Starting to get some Real World data on the Ruger SR9...you can pick up one of the threads on DOWN RANGE.

Numbah One With Mercs Everywhere!

This from Wired Magazine, who should know better...

You can't call yourself a gun-for-hire if you don't have the right gun. Which is why mercenaries are fired up about Sig Sauer's "Blackwater Special Edition" pistol.

If I was a mercenary, I think I'd like a "Hello Kitty" FNH Five-seveN. And some of those little Dutch grenades with the small kill radius...then I'd paint them something festive...

Floozy Alert!!!

Yes! You've all been waiting for this! TLLF* (*The Lovely Lisa Farrell) in her award-winning floozy costume from Gunfight Behind the Jersey Lilly!

No wait...this is TLLF at her office on a typical work day!

Action Friday

As we speak...eh, blog...The SCOTUS is considering whether to take District of Columbia v. Heller. I've said this before, but this scares the hell out of me...courts will go where courts will go (which is why the NRA wasn't rolling over with enthusiasm on Parker/Heller going to the Supremes).

Yes, we have a good case to present; yes, we have probably the best Court we're going to get, but still, there is a staggering downside threat. Of course, there's an equally tremendous upside on a win, especially if the Supremes weigh in just before the election in 2008.

We'll see...regardless of how the SCOTUS goes, one thing is certain...the war never ends.

Got two of the well-reviewed Stag Arms AR-style carbines yesterday. One is going to be set up with my Leupold Mark 4 CQ/T; the other with an Aimpoint CompM4, the current issue Army sight, and the 3X magnifier. I'll take the rifle to the range on Monday, then use them in SHOOTING GALLERY episodes filmed at the U.S. Shooting Academy in Tulsa next week.

And speaking of sharp things, I got one of the Cold Steel authentic Scottish Dirks, more of a short sword, really. I figure it will be the ideal companion to the claymore I don't yet have. There's actually some controversy over whether the word "claymore" refers solely to the 2-hand great sword a la Wallace in Braveheart or both the great sword and the more common "back sword," the basket-hilted double-edged sword a la the Cold Steel Scottish Back Sword. I've discussed this with a couple of sword experts, and they confirm that opinions are mixed. For useage, I refer you to my very distant relative Donald McBane's The Expert Sword-Man's Companion, Or the True Art of SELF-DEFENCE from 1728, almost two decades before the Disarming Act after the loss of the great Battle of Culloden Moor.

Before the Disarming, Highlanders were among the most heavily armed people in the world. According to historian Paul Wagner, a roll taken by the Earl of Atholl in 1638 records that 523 men between then owned 448 swords, 3 two-handed great swords, 112 guns, 11 pistols, 149 bows, 125 targes, 9 lochaber axes, 2 halberds, 11 breastplates, 8 "headpieces," 2 "steel bonnets," a pair of plate sleeves and a coat of mail.

...when that doctor asked me
Son how did you get in this condition
I said hey sawbones I'm just carryin on
an old family tradition!"

— Hank Williams Jr.
Family Tradition

The Day is Coming...

...for the Supremes to decide whether they're going to be taking District of Columbia v. Heller and rolls the dice...

Here's a somewhat disturbing article from the ABA Journal on the whole process:

“For gun owners and NRA members, this is the biggest legal battle that we have ever fought, or will ever fight—and its outcome will probably impact every law-abiding American gun owner,” LaPierre wrote in the five-page letter. “It is a battle we simply cannot afford to lose.”

Here’s where LaPierre heads into a wrong turn: It’s not an NRA case. In fact, the gun rights supporters who filed it complain that lawyers working for the NRA, concerned the case could backfire, spent considerable time and money trying to scuttle it. The association finally was dragged kicking and screaming before the Supreme Court after the prospect of review appeared more likely than it has in years.

“They recognized this was a good case and D.C. was the perfect place,” says plaintiffs lawyer Robert A. Levy, a senior fellow at Washington’s libertarian Cato Institute. “That’s what concerned them.”

Lumbering Toward Bethleham

Every so often I try to throw in some obscure culture references to pretend I'm smarter than I am....didn't fool you, did I?

Anyhow, the Hamilton Bowen/Ruger 56-50 Spencer revolver — Project Ultimate Bulldog — is now officially rolling along. Ideally, I'll end up with a 5-shot round-butt 3-1/2 inch .50 cal snub throwing 350-grain lead softballs at 800 fps. Yes, of course, there's no point to it, unless I'm set upon by feral riding lawnmowers...maybe I'll get a crossdraw holster for it...with floral carvings.

Check out that bad boy in the picture above...the coolest air gun I've run across in a while. It's an 8-shot, CO2 cartridge-fired less lethal system from Security With Advanced Technology. It also fires pellets for force-on-force simulations. Short review...it rocks! Was out putting rounds — er, pellets — through one today. We were using pellets filled with talcum powder instead of a pepper compound, so the whole range smelled like a freshly buffed-up baby's butthole.

Seriously, you'll see more of this blaster on SHOOTING GALLERY...I'm liking it a lot for simulations, not to mention neighborhood critters. There also appears to be some utility in changing infant diapers with the right pellets, but I'm not going to go there.

Detonics is refunded and, I'm told, good to go. That's a Good Thing, since I like the little CombatMaster a lot...hey, if it was good enough for Sonny Crockett, it's good enough for me, being as I am a simple peasant. More when the details are worked out in a week or so.

Crazy Busy Alert!

Will get back to blogging in a day or so!

Meanwhile, get ready for videos of plastic vitamin water bottles vs. S&W .500 Magnum 300-gr JHP hunting loads! Have 'em up in a couple of days...couldn't resist it...

FORGET the iPhone!

Meet the gPhone, for when you've got to reach out and touch someone...repeatedly!

This from TLLF-SFE* (The Lovely Lisa Farrell, Saloon Floozy Extraordinaire)

A Few Critical Thoughts...

...from the last post on Richard Heinie's collaborations with Nighthawk Custom. I'd like to point out that both Frank James and Walt Rauch — two gunwriters whose reputations are simply beyond reproach — stepped in to talk about their own personal Heinie 1911s.

Think about that...regardless of the field, critics are a pissy lot. I mentioned somewhere recently about my early life as a rock critic in New York City (four most important words in the English language — "I'm with the band"). You become a rock critic because you love music; eventually, you find yourself only talking about rockabilly music recorded at the original Sun Studios in Memphis in 1956 between 3 and 6 AM with Cowboy Jack Clement on the board producing. I called it the "critic's disease."

Part of it is surely a function of volume. In the last 7 days I've shot a suppressed AR-15, a couple of Glock .45s, a Martini-Henry 577-450, a Spencer carbine, a Snider musket, lever actions in 50-90, 45-60, 45-75, a High Wall in 45-120, .22 Ruger Single Sixes and a Henry Golden Boy, shotguns in 12 and 20 gauge, wax bullets through assorted cowboy guns and the new Ruger SR9 service pistol. The ten days before included an American 180 submachine gun, assorted .50 caliber pistols, a 1911 .45, a Krink in 7.62, my S&W M&P 9mm, a prototype Colt SAA clone in .45 Colt, a couple of .50 caliber Brownings, a few more .22s, production versions of the new Sig Sauer P250 9mm and a few rounds through a J-frame. Next week I'll be shooting a full array of cowboy action shooting guns, then USPSA race guns and taking a precision rifle class. Boy...that's a weird month even for me!

Anyhow, it's not that people like me or Frank or Walt know more (although at least in Frank's and Walt's case, they do know more), it's that we shoot a lot of stuff. It's interesting that we've spent money on Heinie 1911s. I'm glad Dick is working with Nighthawk, because more poeple have a chance to own his guns.

Anyhow anyhow, if you're looking for new reading material, check out Whoosh Boom Splat: The Garage Warrior's Guide to Building Projectile Shooters by William Gurstelle. I've always wanted to build a siege engine for the front yard (Gurstelle wrote a previous book on the subject) ever since I read the wonderful book Catapult: Harry and I Build a Siege Weapon years and years ago. I have to say that my Sweetie has been less than enthused for a project that would result in a full-sized trebuchet in the front yard; for reasons I don't fully understand — probably a Woman Thing — the idea of lobbing dead horses onto the main street of the little town I live above holds no appeal for her. She didn't warm up to the 3/4-scale Civil War cannon idea, either. OTOH, she doesn't much care for shoes.

In a fit of SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION, I also strongly urge you to go to the Outdoor Channel page, sign up for the Golden Moose Awards competition and vote for me as your favorite host!!! You can win a free trip to Vegas! Heck, if you win voting for me, I'll throw in a seat at my table at the Golden Moose Awards and a nice...take-home! And pretzals for the plane trip home!

Post Halloween Survival Guide

Okay, after yesterday's podcast, I'm swearing off zombies for at least a year. At least until the WWZ movie...

Hopefully, my new post on OUTDOOR LIFE's GunShots blog will be up tomorrow, a paean to the Martini-Henry 577-450...I thought I needed a break from battle rifles. I sent off a couple of 56-50 Spencer cartridges to Hamilton Bowen to explore the feasibility of a Ruger Alaskan in that caliber...sort of the ultimate Bulldog...

I also want to give a big ole plug to Action Target's "Evil Roy" steel targets. My Sweetie and I have been shooting on them for the last couple of weeks, and they are just great. Just like everything from Action, built like tanks. I bought an el cheapo $23 dolly and some bungee cords to transport them, and the whole system is easy to cart around.

I got a note from Richard Heinie last week mentioning that he was working with Nighthawk Custom on two 1911s — a 5-inch Tactical Carry model and a Personal Defense Package 4.25-incher. I think this is a Very Good Thing...Dick builds the finest 1911s on earth (hey, they said it on "Miami Vice" so many years ago...must be true), and the problem is that he is booked up, like, forever. His involvement in these two guns mean you can once again get a Heinie .45. Yes, they're expensive, but don't pass this up! It took me 14 years to get my Springfield 1911 back from Dick, and yes, it is as close to perfect as a carry 1911 can be.

I'm working with Ruger on Ruger Rimfire Challenge matches for 2008. We definitely want to do a big East Coast match, and maybe one at the Sigarms Academy in New Hamster as well. I'd hoped to pull off the eastern match this fall, but too, too much work!

It's Halloween...Do You Know Where Your Popular Culture Is?

Ah, little slut dolls from Victoria's Secret; Halloween pre-teen slutty witches, slutty milk maids, and bondage sluts; Kid Rock showing his Victorian (not Victoria's Secret, sillies!) furniture on Larry King; Democratic Presidential candidates compare UFO stories and call for the government to come clean on the Roswell incident; Hollywood is on the verge of striking, which will mean no more crappy, unwatched antiwar movies; Britney Spears' new album is actually getting good reviews...what do it all mean?

Beats me, but I feel fine!