It's Range Report time!
Took only three to Lake City on Saturday. I put only about 20 rounds through my Kel-Tec PLR-16, basically just to get it "close" to being sighted in. It is closer to POA (point of aim) but nothing precise, really. I emptied several clips of .22LR from my Ruger...always a fun little plinker. And lastly I put the Bersa .380 through its paces. One failure to feed in 50 rounds...gouged a hole in the bullet face. I assume that is what happened as opposed to the gouge being there already and causing the stoppage, but I don't know. I'll have to pick the brains of the online gun gurus on that, as well as tear the gun down for a thorough cleaning. Recoil isn't bad...between firing the massive PLR and the light, almost recoil-less Ruger, I found it somewhere in the middle. More recoil obviously than the 22 but nothing like the thunderous blast of the PLR, which I may remind the audience is essentially an AR-15 chopped down to a pistol, albeit with a superior short-stroke piston for the gas operation, instead of direct impingement. So, like an AR-15, with one of the better aspects of the AK-47 thrown in. But all in all, I think I much prefer shooting down at the lake, with the inlaws. More informal, and much better suited for pistol shooting. Do you know how disheartening it is trying to shoot at a 6" target from the minimum distance of SIXTY feet with a short-barreled concealment pistol? 7 to 15 yards (21-45 feet) are much better ranges for pistol shooting, especially in a tactical training context. Lake City is more of a "come and hone your deer hunting skills" sort of place...crack out the scoped rifles, but pistols are kind of worthless.
In other news, I am too tired to write about other news. To quote from my favourite silly show of the moment, "Three pints of damnation and a chaser of hellblast, John!"
20 September 2006
I wonder why they don't sell silhouette targets at Walmart. It's not as if they are pretending that they don't sell things related to self-defence....357 Mag hollowpoint and 9mm +P Hydrashok are NOT hunting calibers. But that's neither here nor there.
Well, the new addition to the family is here:
I apologize for the COB'ed manufacturer photo, but mine looks exactly like this...a duo-tone Bersa Thunder 380. Basically an Argentinean .380 compact pistol, blowback action, basically an improved version of the classic Walther PPK (a very famous gun...wielded in style by James Bond, used by Hitler to blow his brains out). First shot is double action, a very smooth trigger pull compared to the Walther, and consecutive shots are single action. Sights are very visible, and the fit and finish is excellent. Safety is a bit stiff but I've got instructions on how to make it smooth as silk. But the ergonomics of this gun are its high points...it melts into your hand. I know that sounds silly, but compared to either my snubbie or my 1911, this one just fits the hand, instead of the hand fitting the gun. It fits quite nicely in the shoulder holster for my snubbie, which surprised me...I just have to adjust the retention straps a bit. I bought a box of S&B ball ammo, which I'll be sending downrange this Saturday when I put it through its paces at Lake City. All my effusive praise and gushing aside, this isn't really my gun, it's Debra's. We were looking at compact .380s (including the ultra-compact Kel-Tec P3AT, which I fired last Saturday down at the lake) and this was the one she liked best. Perhaps not the smallest, nor the lightest, nor the most powerful, but well balanced. Fairly small, manageable weight, reasonable power with the right JHP loads, nice trigger, good sights, and excellent grip. The Kel-Tec on the other hand had great advantages in size and weight, close to equal power (though one less round, and a shorter barrel leading to lower muzzle velocity), VERY tricky trigger, non-existant sights, and a grip that was hard to manage comfortably. The Kel-Tec, don't get me wrong, is the ultimate answer for deep concealment and pocket carry, but it would actually be better for more avid and experienced shooters like myself...most people would actually perform better with more of a compromise, like the Bersa. Odds are the Bersa will be more reliable as well...they are built like Volvos...a little heavier than they need to be but solid and reliable. Kel-Tecs on the other hand are finicky race cars...great performance, and at the top of their class in certain respects, but they take special attention and care, and can be, as I said, finicky. My main carry pistol will probably be a Kel-Tec, but their flat stack 9mm soon to be out. I've had it on order for a while, but it will be a while yet before they come out with it.
I've got an experiment running that should be good...the "Dark and Stormy" is a cocktail made with a shot of dark (usually black) rum in a spicy ginger beer (ginger beer in the non-alcoholic but very spicy ginger soda sense...something like Reed's, not Canada Dry). I'm going one up and creating a "Less Dark But Even More Stormy" cocktail...basically I took a dark amber rum (Bacardi Select...hey, it was fairly cheap!) and I'm infusing it with a pound of peeled and chopped ginger root. Ginger-infused rum! The flavours go so well together...perhaps because they are both Carribean flavours, but the spicy, sugary "rumminess" of the rum (well, how else would you describe the flavour?) with the hot, fiery ginger...a dose of this in some Reed's, or Bundaberg...great for zingiphiles like myself. Yes I just made that word up (Zingiber officinale being the scientific name for ginger).
There are big issues to tackle on here, for you, my countable-on-one-hand audience, but I never seem to muster the mental effort to get started. The emerg[ent/ing] church movement, pragmatism and trusting God, and pacifism and the Bible. But I never actually buckle down and address these, do I? Oh well, not as if I'm doing the world a disservice by not enlightening the masses with the golden rays of Neufish opinion...its easier and quicker to rant about little things like hobbies!
S I V I S P A C E M , P A R A B E L L U M
Well, the new addition to the family is here:
I apologize for the COB'ed manufacturer photo, but mine looks exactly like this...a duo-tone Bersa Thunder 380. Basically an Argentinean .380 compact pistol, blowback action, basically an improved version of the classic Walther PPK (a very famous gun...wielded in style by James Bond, used by Hitler to blow his brains out). First shot is double action, a very smooth trigger pull compared to the Walther, and consecutive shots are single action. Sights are very visible, and the fit and finish is excellent. Safety is a bit stiff but I've got instructions on how to make it smooth as silk. But the ergonomics of this gun are its high points...it melts into your hand. I know that sounds silly, but compared to either my snubbie or my 1911, this one just fits the hand, instead of the hand fitting the gun. It fits quite nicely in the shoulder holster for my snubbie, which surprised me...I just have to adjust the retention straps a bit. I bought a box of S&B ball ammo, which I'll be sending downrange this Saturday when I put it through its paces at Lake City. All my effusive praise and gushing aside, this isn't really my gun, it's Debra's. We were looking at compact .380s (including the ultra-compact Kel-Tec P3AT, which I fired last Saturday down at the lake) and this was the one she liked best. Perhaps not the smallest, nor the lightest, nor the most powerful, but well balanced. Fairly small, manageable weight, reasonable power with the right JHP loads, nice trigger, good sights, and excellent grip. The Kel-Tec on the other hand had great advantages in size and weight, close to equal power (though one less round, and a shorter barrel leading to lower muzzle velocity), VERY tricky trigger, non-existant sights, and a grip that was hard to manage comfortably. The Kel-Tec, don't get me wrong, is the ultimate answer for deep concealment and pocket carry, but it would actually be better for more avid and experienced shooters like myself...most people would actually perform better with more of a compromise, like the Bersa. Odds are the Bersa will be more reliable as well...they are built like Volvos...a little heavier than they need to be but solid and reliable. Kel-Tecs on the other hand are finicky race cars...great performance, and at the top of their class in certain respects, but they take special attention and care, and can be, as I said, finicky. My main carry pistol will probably be a Kel-Tec, but their flat stack 9mm soon to be out. I've had it on order for a while, but it will be a while yet before they come out with it.
I've got an experiment running that should be good...the "Dark and Stormy" is a cocktail made with a shot of dark (usually black) rum in a spicy ginger beer (ginger beer in the non-alcoholic but very spicy ginger soda sense...something like Reed's, not Canada Dry). I'm going one up and creating a "Less Dark But Even More Stormy" cocktail...basically I took a dark amber rum (Bacardi Select...hey, it was fairly cheap!) and I'm infusing it with a pound of peeled and chopped ginger root. Ginger-infused rum! The flavours go so well together...perhaps because they are both Carribean flavours, but the spicy, sugary "rumminess" of the rum (well, how else would you describe the flavour?) with the hot, fiery ginger...a dose of this in some Reed's, or Bundaberg...great for zingiphiles like myself. Yes I just made that word up (Zingiber officinale being the scientific name for ginger).
There are big issues to tackle on here, for you, my countable-on-one-hand audience, but I never seem to muster the mental effort to get started. The emerg[ent/ing] church movement, pragmatism and trusting God, and pacifism and the Bible. But I never actually buckle down and address these, do I? Oh well, not as if I'm doing the world a disservice by not enlightening the masses with the golden rays of Neufish opinion...its easier and quicker to rant about little things like hobbies!
S I V I S P A C E M , P A R A B E L L U M
12 September 2006
It's about that time, another post on that enormously-uninteresting-to-whatever-readership-I-may-have topic of firearms. Well, at least first I'll make a comment on British comedy and other television entertainment...
First off, Hugh Laurie has become a favourite actor of mine...I'm not terribly keen on the general genre of "House", for which he is most famous currently, but his manic, darkly comic acting makes it much more entertaining than it could be. My favourite stuff of his, though, has always been with Stephen Fry, starting with Black Adder III and IV. As Prince/Lieutenant George he was crazy, foppish, innocent, and wholeheartedly daft. The sort of person who said, bally-ho, chaps, and advocated sunny optimism in total obliviousness to the utter crappiness of his circumstances...much to the chagrin of the more intelligent and cynical Blackadder (played by Rowan Atkinson, before he became the Bean). In Jeeves and Wooster, he plays the upper-class twit perfectly, and his interactions with Stephen Fry (as Jeeves) make what should be a very boring series (of the sort you'd see on PBS Masterpiece Theatre) into a quite funny and engrossing little show. And lastly, "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" ends up being my favourite, as a sort of reincarnation of Pythonian sketch comedy. Very, very funny and diverse stuff, and it highlights their talents as writers. Most people are surprised to learn that "House" isn't American, much less that he is principally a comedy actor.
"The Path to 9/11" was an exceptionally good TV movie. I've not seen a made-for-TV movie as good as that one, and it was highly engrossing, in a "24" sort of fashion. Although I really didn't trust Condi Rice when she was played by the actress who played the back-stabbing Sherri Palmer on "24". And Patricia Heaton? What a typecast role, hehe...you could almost hear her grating voice going "Ray.....get your parents out of the Embassy THIS INSTANT!". She ought to try to land some roles where she isn't...how shall I put this delicately...eternally bitchy. If she keeps these roles up she'll never be allowed to smile on film again. But on the whole, an excellent, well rounded film. Why in the world did the Clintons and the Democrats get their undies in a wad over this? Quite lame of them, I'd say. The film hands out blame in small dosages to BOTH administrations but reserves the greatest quantities for those that deserve it the most...the Islamist terrorist wankers themselves. It does a good job as well of not stereotyping...with the Massoud character, the Paki colonel, and the two informants...you don't walk away equating Muslim with terrorist at all! In fact, I was enormously saddened at the reenactment of Massoud's assassination (yes that actually happened), as he was one of the heroes of the film, and probably was equally as admirable in real life. Though perhaps the Russian Spetznaz didn't think so highly of him...
Finally, I'm digging myself into an ammo hole. Why is it that I can never buy two guns that share a caliber? It would save on ammo. Each firearm I own is of a different caliber which means I have to keep on hand a box of each for taking to the range. Right now I've got a new automatic coming, which will be my wife's gun. It's a fine pistol, a Bersa Thunder 380, which is an Argie gun loosely patterned after the Walther PPK. Small, compact, and comfortable to shoot. Fires the 9mm Kurz (short) 380ACP round, 9X17mm. My next gun (which will be for me, this time) is the on-order Kel-Tec PF9. Half the weight of the Bersa and more power (9mm parabellum)...not as comfortable to shoot for that reason, but very, very small and powerful. So those two will take me up to seven calibers to keep in stock (.22LR, .223 Remington, .303 British, .380 ACP, 9mm Parabellum, .38 Special, .45 ACP). Oh well! All the more fun to take to the range.
There's also a great website about women and concealed carry:
http://www.corneredcat.com
It has some fantastic articles on Christianity and pacifism:
http://corneredcat.com/TOC/TOC.htm#EthicalReligious
Very good reading. Even if you are not a woman...
First off, Hugh Laurie has become a favourite actor of mine...I'm not terribly keen on the general genre of "House", for which he is most famous currently, but his manic, darkly comic acting makes it much more entertaining than it could be. My favourite stuff of his, though, has always been with Stephen Fry, starting with Black Adder III and IV. As Prince/Lieutenant George he was crazy, foppish, innocent, and wholeheartedly daft. The sort of person who said, bally-ho, chaps, and advocated sunny optimism in total obliviousness to the utter crappiness of his circumstances...much to the chagrin of the more intelligent and cynical Blackadder (played by Rowan Atkinson, before he became the Bean). In Jeeves and Wooster, he plays the upper-class twit perfectly, and his interactions with Stephen Fry (as Jeeves) make what should be a very boring series (of the sort you'd see on PBS Masterpiece Theatre) into a quite funny and engrossing little show. And lastly, "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" ends up being my favourite, as a sort of reincarnation of Pythonian sketch comedy. Very, very funny and diverse stuff, and it highlights their talents as writers. Most people are surprised to learn that "House" isn't American, much less that he is principally a comedy actor.
"The Path to 9/11" was an exceptionally good TV movie. I've not seen a made-for-TV movie as good as that one, and it was highly engrossing, in a "24" sort of fashion. Although I really didn't trust Condi Rice when she was played by the actress who played the back-stabbing Sherri Palmer on "24". And Patricia Heaton? What a typecast role, hehe...you could almost hear her grating voice going "Ray.....get your parents out of the Embassy THIS INSTANT!". She ought to try to land some roles where she isn't...how shall I put this delicately...eternally bitchy. If she keeps these roles up she'll never be allowed to smile on film again. But on the whole, an excellent, well rounded film. Why in the world did the Clintons and the Democrats get their undies in a wad over this? Quite lame of them, I'd say. The film hands out blame in small dosages to BOTH administrations but reserves the greatest quantities for those that deserve it the most...the Islamist terrorist wankers themselves. It does a good job as well of not stereotyping...with the Massoud character, the Paki colonel, and the two informants...you don't walk away equating Muslim with terrorist at all! In fact, I was enormously saddened at the reenactment of Massoud's assassination (yes that actually happened), as he was one of the heroes of the film, and probably was equally as admirable in real life. Though perhaps the Russian Spetznaz didn't think so highly of him...
Finally, I'm digging myself into an ammo hole. Why is it that I can never buy two guns that share a caliber? It would save on ammo. Each firearm I own is of a different caliber which means I have to keep on hand a box of each for taking to the range. Right now I've got a new automatic coming, which will be my wife's gun. It's a fine pistol, a Bersa Thunder 380, which is an Argie gun loosely patterned after the Walther PPK. Small, compact, and comfortable to shoot. Fires the 9mm Kurz (short) 380ACP round, 9X17mm. My next gun (which will be for me, this time) is the on-order Kel-Tec PF9. Half the weight of the Bersa and more power (9mm parabellum)...not as comfortable to shoot for that reason, but very, very small and powerful. So those two will take me up to seven calibers to keep in stock (.22LR, .223 Remington, .303 British, .380 ACP, 9mm Parabellum, .38 Special, .45 ACP). Oh well! All the more fun to take to the range.
There's also a great website about women and concealed carry:
http://www.corneredcat.com
It has some fantastic articles on Christianity and pacifism:
http://corneredcat.com/TOC/TOC.htm#EthicalReligious
Very good reading. Even if you are not a woman...
06 September 2006
Pardon the lack of content on here...usually when I can think of good things to post I don't have time to type them up, and when I do have the time I've forgotten anything worthwhile.
First off, a good show worth checking out is "Yes Minister", a British comedy I thought I'd give a shot since I rather liked Paul Eddington in "The Good Life". Very clever show...a bit too blasted clever sometimes, and I wish the DVDs had closed captioning, as it can be hard to follow. But a great indictment of office politics (and naturally government politics) and the stonewalling/CYA maneuvers of superfluous bureaucracy. One of the best written shows I've ever seen...can you imagine a show done in America about just three 55-year-old white men working together in an office for government administration? No wacky characters, no crazy situations, just the drudgery of paperwork and meetings. Cheap gags are at a minimum...they have to work for it to be funny, and they succeed at that.
Secondly, both Steely Dan and Michael McDonald were excellent in St Louis on Monday night. Jon Herington, in particular, is a freak of nature. With a guy like that in the band, Walter Becker ought to just sit down when it comes time for a guitar solo. Herington was the closest thing to mind-blowing I've seen in a live guitarist, whereas Becker, well, he does what he does pretty well, but his addiction to bluesy phrasings stuck out like a sore thumb on some songs. He definately has his own voice. But in terms of relatively unknown guitarists, Herington is it. I know this is one of those stupid sayings, but the guy really does reinterpret the original solos. Usually I am disappointed by the live solos, but not with this guy...easily an equal with Carlton and the others, if perhaps a generation late.
First off, a good show worth checking out is "Yes Minister", a British comedy I thought I'd give a shot since I rather liked Paul Eddington in "The Good Life". Very clever show...a bit too blasted clever sometimes, and I wish the DVDs had closed captioning, as it can be hard to follow. But a great indictment of office politics (and naturally government politics) and the stonewalling/CYA maneuvers of superfluous bureaucracy. One of the best written shows I've ever seen...can you imagine a show done in America about just three 55-year-old white men working together in an office for government administration? No wacky characters, no crazy situations, just the drudgery of paperwork and meetings. Cheap gags are at a minimum...they have to work for it to be funny, and they succeed at that.
Secondly, both Steely Dan and Michael McDonald were excellent in St Louis on Monday night. Jon Herington, in particular, is a freak of nature. With a guy like that in the band, Walter Becker ought to just sit down when it comes time for a guitar solo. Herington was the closest thing to mind-blowing I've seen in a live guitarist, whereas Becker, well, he does what he does pretty well, but his addiction to bluesy phrasings stuck out like a sore thumb on some songs. He definately has his own voice. But in terms of relatively unknown guitarists, Herington is it. I know this is one of those stupid sayings, but the guy really does reinterpret the original solos. Usually I am disappointed by the live solos, but not with this guy...easily an equal with Carlton and the others, if perhaps a generation late.
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