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.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
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.
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.
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.
Monday, January 11, 2010
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 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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
