A Toy For The Boss

The Boss and I spent most of the day running errands. The most enjoyable, at least for me, was shopping for a concealed carry weapon for the Boss. Our last stop was a gun store with an indoor range and pistols for rent. We enlisted the aid of a salesman that I've dealt with in the past.

If you've visited here much you probably know that the Boss has had surgery on both hands. Due to arthritis the base of both thumbs are no longer connected by bone to the wrist. This meant we were looking for a defensive weapon with relatively low felt recoil, and I perceived it would be a revolver in 32 Mag. Why a revolver you ask? I don't own a semi-auto that she can pull back the slide with her very weak grip, so I anticipated the need for a revolver.

The salesman immediately directed us us to a case containing Bersa/Firestorm pistols. In his mind the slides are easy to work, they have a little heft to help dampen recoil, and they're reliable. I was prepared to spend whatever it took to get something she could carry and still shoot (practice) without pain, so the price tag sure didn't bother me any. Surprise, surprise she could actually work the slide 3 times in short order before her hand started hurting.

We then rented a 380 and she ran 50 rounds through a gun that had thousands put through it before us. She worked the action and fired all 50 in 30 minutes without any pain at all. The only problem she had was loading the magazine. She just doesn't have the thumb strength to push the cartridges down into it. That was my job.

I don't remember her ever shooting a DA/SA pistol before, so I was pleasantly surprised that she kept all 50 in the silhouette at 27 feet, and the more she shot the more centered the holes became.

I never noticed before, but she's right handed and left eye dominant. I was standing near her right shoulder and I thought she was closing her eyes with each shot, but no, only her right eye. We'll need to work on that a little.

She liked the thing so we left with one of these. She's happy as a clam. Now she's searching the Internet for a good way to carry it. She tried a couple of my inside the waist band holsters, that almost fit the gun, and was satisfied, so we'll probably get her one of those. Now she wants to get a shoulder bag with a gun compartment. Then she asked if I can reload the 380 for her.

Makes a husband proud.

Good Grief

If we practice any more political correctness, bending backwards, breaking our backs not to offend anyone we'll all be a bunch of cripples. So Trijicon inscribes refreences to bible verses on the underside of their sites, well good for them. Unfortunately they seem to be caving in.

I appreciate the political environment our military has to work in in Muslim countries but how can our Muslim allies respect us as partners when we run like embarrassed girls at a very subtle reference to the religion that over 80% our country as well as the founder of Trijicon practice? . . . As Americans we need to stop apologizing for who we are.

I think our military bases, around the world, should broadcast Christian prayers over loud speekers every morning and evening. We're a nation based on Christian values, and we should be proud of it.

A Few Thoughts

The news programs are simply overflowing with reports and comments regards the disaster in Haiti and the results of the election in the peoples republic of Mass. The former was by nature and helped by a corrupt government. The latter was the direct result of a corrupt government.

For the first time I'm seeing the talking heads on the TV say that The People are just sick of the self serving crap in Washington. The evil party and the stupid party need to take heed. The independents are growing by leaps and bounds. The time is ripe to elect candidates that have no or little affiliation with any group, but will actually serve The People.
--------

I had plans to do some long gun shooting yesterday, but alas not enough time. The Boss had a house full of women for a baby shower most of the afternoon and into the evening. My help with the preparation and clean up was needed. I did manage to get away long enough to re-up my membership at the shooting range.

Today I have the time but not the interest in sloshing around in the cold rain. There's a roof over the firing line, but a muddy mess down range.
--------

I was going to take the Boss out shopping for her carry gun today, but that's been postponed. We've been waiting for her surgically repaired hand to heal, but the progress has slowed to a crawl, and she's been impatient to get on with it. Now the shopping is postponed again.

She got home from church in a depressed mood. She goes to an extremely small church that has become as an extended family, and that family took a big hit today. The pastor is calling it quits for some undisclosed personal reason. To the Boss this is like losing a brother. The chances are the church will not survive after this, and therefore this part of the Boss's family will not survive.
--------

For now I'll head into the workroom/armory and clean up the mess, with maybe a football game on the TV.

What Was It??

The Boss informed me that the eldest son stopped by today and borrowed something from the armory. All the guns seem to be where they belong, so it must've been a tool or reloading component. Oh well . . . . . if needed, I know where to find it.

Red Hats & Guns

Last Night the Boss and a friend had dinner with a group of the Red Hat Ladies. At least I think it's Red Hat. Anyway according to the Boss 2 of them have CCW licenses. I don't know how many didn't, or what the total attendance was, but I'm happy to hear that the number of women carrying guns is on the rise. Prime targets of the goblins need to protect themselves.

A few Thoughts

Sorry about the lack of posting. With the new job I also lose about another hour of my life each day driving. Not a whole lot of time left after eating dinner and cleaning the kitchen. The Boss cooks and I clean up afterwards. I sure miss coming home for lunch. I was spoiled for 3 years.

This weekend the Boss is having a baby shower here, so I'll probably be able to sneak away to the outdoor range for a couple hours. I prefer outside to inside shooting, besides I need some long gun practice. I've never heard of a 200 yard indoor range.

My great niece is pregnant. She's still in high school, single, and just turned 18. My Brother-in-law will be supporting his daughter, granddaughter, and soon to be great grand kid, all living in one house. I feel a little sorry for him, but without sympathy. He raised them to be dependant, not independent. My 2 sons both went to school and acquired skills that allow them to support themselves. They were raised to take responsibility. His daughter and granddaughter weren't.

Interesting Results

Last night's election results in the peoples republic of Mass was interesting. A Rep actually won a senate seat. Who woulda thought. For months the Dems have poo-pooed the TEA parties as being right wing extremists. Just MAYBE now they'll realize that The People, don't like what they've been doing.

They have government health care in Mass, and they still don't support Fed health care.

Politics is getting even more interesting.

Communists

Todays local paper had an interview with Senator Sharod Brown (D-Ohio). In the interview he's quoted as saying that he's disappointed that government run healthcare won't be in the final bill, but that he'll vote for the health care reform bill regardless what it contains. He believes that in a few years it all will be government run.

A POX on communists.

Denmark???

According to Fox last night, Oprah is very fond of the social/economic system of Denmark. I would be too if they could reverse the income tax rates. Apparently they pay something like 75% income tax in Denmark.

Happy Birthday to ME

As of today I've been breathing earthly air for 59 years. When I turned 50, the sons gave me a card that said the only thing older than me would be a petrified dinosaur turd. For 9 years they've been telling me that I'm older than dirt. Next year, when I turn 60, I wonder what they'll be saying.

To celebrate the Boss took me to a local seafood place for lunch/dinner where I made a complete pig of myself. Afterwards I took the grandson to the local indoor range for 1/2 hour of paper punching. Since I was there yesterday I didn't fire a shot. I enjoyed myself watching another generation learn some pistol shooting with my Browning Buckmark. (Short single action trigger travel - See below)

In the next 2 lanes were 2 grown men shooting at full sized silhouette targets at 7 yards. One was using a snubbie and the other a striker fired semi auto. They both were barely able to keep the rounds on the target. At, say 50FT, those targets would've been clean as a whistle.

On the other side was a woman shooting a 40, tearing the center out of the paper at 50Ft. I've always felt that any woman who isn't afraid of the gun, has the ability to out shoot any guy around with a pistol.

Since I'll be starting back to work next week, shooting during the week will once again become very rare. Oh well, being an evil gun owner has a few drawbacks, like having to work for a living.

Short Throw is Way Better

So this morning I met the ex-coworker at the range. It became immediately apparent that he had some familiarity with handguns, but was definitely a beginner. After the first magazine through his new Glock I gave a few pointers and retreated to my own lane to work on my weak hand only shooting.

After about 30 minutes, and a couple more pointers he started getting a little better, so I let him try a few through my 3" 1911 carry piece. I wasn't surprised to see him shooting significantly better with my gun, a pistol that he knew absolutely nothing about. In fact he never held one before. Once again there's evidence that a short trigger movement is superior for marksmanship.

It's been said that one of the hardest pistols to master is shooting a snub double action. In my opinion, any of the long trigger stroke, striker fired pistols are just about as difficult. I had thought it was just me, because I grew up shooting single action. Years of evidence tells me that it's not just me. It's universal.

I suggested he try some dry fire practice at home to improve his trigger and site picture control.

Apparently the practice is paying dividends because my weak hand only was just as good as my strong hand only shooting today. Naturally 2 handed is the way to go.

Carry Something

Isn't it interesting how us gun-nuts discuss the merits of various cartridges and platforms to fire them? It's actually a whole lot of nonsense because people and situations in which they carry a weapon is so very different. I presently carry 3 different weapons depending on the situation, and all are different. Most of the time I carry an alloy framed 1911 with a 3" barrel in 45acp. At other times I'll have the Kahr PM9 or the tiny Keltec 380. It all depends on what I'm doing, where I'm going, and what I'm wearing.

A little over 3 years ago I caried a Walther 32acp, in a tuckable IWB, under a tuxedo at my eldest son's wedding. I didn't yet own the PM9 or the 380, and the 45 was too large to conceal.

When the Boss finally gets her handgun it'll end up being a revolver, probably in 32Mag. Her surgically repaired hands don't have the strength to rack any slide, and probably can't tolerate the recoil from even a 38.

The bottom line is carry what you can, but carry something.

New Handgunner

Inbetween power washing the basement floor where the drain backed up and running to the bank and hardware store, I got an e-mail from an ex-coworker. This guy was also unemployed the last day of 09. According to the message he just purchased a Glock 23 (40S&W) and wanted to know if I wanted to go do some lead thowing with him tomorrow. He starts a new job in a couple of weeks. My answer was an emphatic HELL YES, so tomorrow we'll go punch some holes in paper.

I'd like to say I had a big hand in him becoming a gun owner, but alas not entirely true. He's an ex-marine (I know, no such thing) but he's never owned a handgun before. Well . . . Maybe I am partially to blame for his corruption.

38 Special vs 380 ACP

Most of the experts say that the 38 or 380 is the absolute minimum a person should carry. I find that interesting because the 38 is superior to the 380 by a significant margin. If a minimum is picked for an auto cartridge it should be the 9mm. It's a hell of a lot closer to the 38 than the 380.

A while back I compared the more common cartridges, mathematically. I used momentum, energy, optimum game weight, power factor, surface area, etc.

----------- Added 1/12 -----

About a year ago I created a spread sheet to calculate a comparison of the various, most popular cartridges for self-defense. I used the bullet weights and maximum velocity for each weight found in my reloading manuals for the raw data. For each cartridge and bullet weight/velocity I calculated energy, Taylor index, power factor, optimum game weight (normally used for hunting), and momentum factor. Momentum factor is something I created using the momentum divided by the cross sectional area. For like bullet design, this should give a relative indication of penetration. The cartridges were 25acp, 32acp, 380acp, 9mm Para, 38 special, 357 Mag, 40 S&W, and the 45acp. Since different bullet weights are available, and it's not known what an individual will choose, I averaged them per cartridge.

The rankings of the 3 cartridges in question are:

Energy - 9mm >375; 38 special >306; 380 >165
Power Factor - 9mm >137; 38 special >135; 380 >86
Taylor index- 9mm >6.9; 38 special >6.9; 380 >4.4
OGW- 9mm >35; 38 special >28; 380 >9.6
Momentum factor- 9mm >39; 38 special >38; 380 >24

Average score of all cartridges calculated:
357Mag >167; 40 S&W >137; 45acp >126; 9mm >118;
38 special >103; 380 >58; 32acp >40; 25acp >26

A Little Surprised

Having never worked as a contractor through an agency before, I was surprised at the amount of paperwork involved. I'll be employed by the agency, doing a service for the client. One of the agencies policy is the employee not carry a weapon anywhere unless it's allowed by law. A little surprised by that. I was expecting a policy of not carrying while on the job, despite the absence of a no-guns sign on the door.

It looks like I can legally carry at the client because the place is void of the legal no-guns sign, regardless of their employee policy. I don't know what the employee policy is, but I won't strictly have to comply. I'll decide whether I will or not after checking in with the client in a few days. I certainly will not ask about carrying a weapon.

After all the paper work this morning, I was lead into the back of the office for a drug screen. Surprise. I was expecting to go to some other place for that. Before going to pee in the cup I was instructed to empty my pockets, as if I might be carrying a clean sample. Apparently my clothing and holster do a good job of concealing the .45 I was carrying. I decided not to reveal I was carrying unless asked about the bulge under my shirt. Wouldn't want to scare the sheeple.

I was Wrong

Carter was not the worse president I'd see in my lifetime. He's been upped a notch to number 2 from the bottom. Welcome to the ObamaNation. The man who took a morally and financially sick nation and put it on the death bed.

Stand Up For Right

Yesterday I was at the Boss's church to do some repairs. It's a small congregation with little money, so I sometimes volunteer to help. In any case, I arrived late, but caught part of the Pastor's message. It consisted of not dwelling on the negatives heard on all the news sources because God will prevail.

That's all well and good, but the Bible is full of people doing God's work with His helping hand. Seems to me that more than sitting around, waiting for some devine intervention and smiling is required. History is loaded with examples of what happens when people are controlled by their faith. They passively get squashed by a steam roller. People are required to fight the evil of this world, and to do so, people need to be informed. Whether God is involved or not, people need to stand up and fight for what's right.

No More Sleeping Late

Monday I'm to go sign some papers, piss in a cup and wait for the results of my background check. When the drug screen and background come back clean I'll once again be employed. And since I don't do drugs and I have 2 concealed carry licenses, Ohio and Florida, both will be clean as a whistle. I'm to start either Wednesday or Thursday.

So much for having a few months for the honey-do list, shooting and other relaxations. The new job appears to be interesting, but I was tempted to decline just for some time off. Oh well, in these times it's best to accept a job when you can. Besides it's basically the same pay a I was getting, when I was expecting to have to settle for less at a new place.

I'm starting out as a contractor, which means no benefits. I was told by a guy who doesn't make the final decisions that a direct hire is really needed due to the learning curve. I suspect my contract position will turn into being hired in a few months. To be on the safe side I'll keep looking for a direct hire spot.

And I was starting to appreciate sleeping late in the morning.

Nice Sticker

Via e-mail came this gem.

Another Stupid Law

Here in Ohio they passed a law that requires the head lights of your vehicle being on when the windshield wipers are on. Next thing you know they'll require a permit to take a crap and regulate how much water your toilet uses per flush. Wait a minute. The Fed did that last one a few years back.

God save us from the do-gooder elites that think they're smarter than the rest of us.

Appendix Carry

My eldest son is now carrying inside the waist band at the appendix position. He's thin enough, front to back, that strong side hip carry just doesn't conceal his baby Glock. He made his own holster that tilts the barrel away from his "boys". Like lot of guys, having a gun pointed at "the boys" just doesn't cut it for him.

I tried strong side and cross draw appendix carry and found it doesn't work for me at all. The biggest issue is having done-lap disease. My belly has done-lapped over my belt. Then again, there's no way I'm pointing a gun at my "boys" either. I still have a use for them . . . ain't dead yet you know.

It Worked For Russia

According to the sender, this cartoon was published in 1934.
The commies have us on the ropes. It just took a little longer than they expected.
Click for a larger image.

I'm Still Here

Yep, posting has been minimal as of late. The holiday festivities and the honey-do-list has kept me extremely busy.

The good news is that I had the second interview today with a company that grows silicon crystals for the semiconductor industry. I was there 3-1/2 hours. Instead of working with products, this position works with the highly complicated equipment used to grow the crystals. My broad background in mechanical engineering is a plus in this case. I'm expecting an offer in the next couple of days.

A professional recruiter found me. It was never posted. I had no idea this place existed . . . and in Ohio no less.

The bad news is that it'll be a 35-40 minute drive instead of the 10 minutes to which I've become accustomed. Assuming the offer comes, and is sufficient, then my days of sleeping late are gone, and my Florida trip planned for late February is in jeopardy.

PS: There was a distinct absence of a no-guns sign on the door. That's refreshing, but I'll bet there is an employee policy against having a weapon of any kind. That would be typical for this neck of the woods. If I work there I'll be a contractor, at least initially, and not an employee. My shoulder bag will be a little heavier than usual, don't you know.