Escaping Milton

 The Saturday before Milton hit Florida, the Boss and I arrived in Lakeland Florida. When we left home 3 days earlier, to visit my sister, there was no sign of a Hurricane.  All the models had us right in the center of the probability cone. So rather than risk sitting in a 5th wheel camper with 100mph winds we were there only 2 nights. We then spent a week in central Georgia, now one night in Tennessee heading home.

Glad we didn't wait any longer. The Hwy was so packed with vehicles heading north, that the usual 5hr drive time to our destination in Ga, took 8hrs on the road.

Plan ??

 I didn't watch the debate because my vote is cast in concrete. I choose substance over style, capitalism over socialism/communism, small Fed government over large.

Some in the media say that she voiced her plan for the future. I disagree. She voiced mostly targets, not plan. Plan is how you get to the end result, not the end result itself.

Threw Some Lead

One of the firearms I received when the sister-in-law's husband passed (brother-in-law) was a FN Hi-Power in 40 S&W. I never did and still don't have a need for a 40. To me it's a solution looking for problem. Any way, the first thing was to eliminate the magazine disconnect, and then have a fiber optic front sight installed. The metal frame of the front sight failed, so it's back with the 'smith getting a set of Heinie sights installed. I have the same brand and style on a 30 year old Hi-Power 9mm and a Kimber 1911 45. 

The most available bullet for the 40 is 180 grains. I've been loading 185 or 200 grain bullets in the 45. The velocities are close to the same and therefore the felt recoil is about the same.

Another pistol given is a 45 colt single action revolver. Until recently I haven't shot it. I ran about 40 rounds through it and thought it was ok, but won't shoot it very often.  I just don't like the grip style or angle. I suppose that's because I've shot 1911s so much.

No Range Time

 Haven't had a chance to get back to the range to work on my one handed pistol shooting. Unfortunately life sometimes gets in the way.

The Bosses charity work is taking a lot of my energy and time. She takes donations, sorts and then is open one evening a week for those in need to come and get things at no cost.

About a year and a half ago I had hip replacement surgery. I stopped physical therapy to be home taking care of the Boss after her surgery. I'm now back in therapy because of weakness and pain.

And in addition I'm recovering from prostate biopsy. It has been getting larger over the last couple of years. In that time I've had 3 physical exams, 2 ultrasounds and an MRI. Waiting on the biopsy results now.

Handgun at the Range

So yesterday I made it to the range for a couple of hours. Been shooting mostly handguns lately in an effort to regain marksmanship skills that have eroded the last few years. Fired a few rounds through my 2 hunting revolvers, 50 rounds of 357Mag, and about half that many 454Casull. I was after targets at 50 and 75 yards with some success, but not nearly to my satisfaction.

When shooting my 1911 or Hi-Power, I frequently practice strong hand and weak hand only. As one might expect I'm not as good using just one hand. Yesterday I didn't bring either full sized pistol, so as a whim I pulled my carry gun, a Kimber Ultra Carry in 45acp. I fired several magazines strong hand only at 25 yards. Marksmanship was typical, but I had 3 stoppages probably due to limp wrist. Need to work on that, and try the same with my other carry gun, a Sig 938.

 - - 

Even if you've been living under a rock, you know a guy missed his target at about 150 yards. Yes there was luck, or maybe a guarding angel, but the shooter wasn't very good. His head didn't seem to move enough for me to miss at twice that range, and I'm not that good.

I have cleanly taken deer with a single shot with a 357 revolver at 120 yards. Granted, I was going for center of chest, not a head.

Why Bother?

 Thursday a guy asked if I was going to watch the debate. Why bother watching? We know how each would do,or not do, the job, and there's evidence that one is corrupt. I don't give a damn about personalities, but how the job is performed.

40 30 and 9

 So I shot the remaining 40s I loaded using the jacketed loading chart, followed by a box of 1 grain reduced load. Saw a definite increase in consistency with the reduced load pushing the coated 180 grain bullet.

Last night when cleaning the FN I found an issue with the recoil guide rod assembly. The round loop on the end fractured into a heart shape. So were my original loads producing excessive recoil, a flaw in the material, or is the recoil from the 40 too much for that part?  Physically it appears to be the same as used in the 9mm version. Regardless I ordered a replacement and a spare. 

 - - - - - - -

My 30cal carbine is a lot of fun to shoot. Short, light weight and low recoil. So a few weeks ago I loaded a dozen and tried them. They worked just fine. So I reloaded 50 more for additional reliability testing. Of course that requires more shooting :). The only issue is that the long, almost straight walled cartridge is a bit tricky to resize. Regardless of the amount of lube used, the die tends to push some of the brass towards the base creating a small ridge. 

- - - - -- - - 

For the first time ever I bought a used firearm that was not considered a relic. Back before there were such a variety of small 9mm pistols on the market, I bought a Kar PM9. That is the only striker fired pistol I have ever owned. I never shot the PM9 very well, so I was keeping my eye open for a similar sized single action. I'd shot both the Kimber and Sig versions better than the PM9. I was in a local shop for a different reason, and they just so happened to have a used Sig 938 for a couple hundred less that new. So I bought it. In my part of the world both tiny 9s are somewhat rare.