I see he has learned nothing.

David Petzal, of Field & Stream:

Range Day is the Monday prior to the Show’s opening when manufacturers demonstrate their wares. People like me are bussed out to handle the goodies. This year, Range Day sounded like the Battle of Dak To, or perhaps Fallujah, with the distinctive pop-pop-pop of full-auto fire, which was extremely popular amongst all the SEAL wannabes. Indeed, this was symbolic of the whole show, which has now become so heavily militarized that you have to look fairly hard for something designed to kill animals instead of people.

Wow. I mean, what do you say to that? Well, that is, other than everything that was said after Jim Zumbo lost his gig at Outdoor Life, or everything that was said after Dick Metcalf lost his gig at Shooting Times.

…but it deserves to be noted that somehow, David Petzal still has his platform to sell out and demonize everyone whose firearm of choice looks different than his. That speaks volumes about the readership of Field & Stream, and absolutely none of it is good, especially considering this is far from the first time Petzal has done such.

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Good deal at ammoman.com…

Hey folks, heads up: Eric over at ammoman.com has a pretty good deal going on right now. Every so often they find dented up ammunition boxes that don’t have any damaged ammunition and they sell ’em at discounted prices. Right now he has a limited number of .30-caliber ammunition boxes full of 9mm that he’s selling for $72 each. Works out to about $0.16 a round. They’ve separated the ammo with a magnet, so you can get either all brass cases or all steel cases depending on what you order, and it might be a mix of FMJs and JHPs. Check it out if you’re interested.

Oh, now this is enlightening.

…or, Gun geekery alert!

Via Borepatch, we have Ballistics by the Inch, a fun look on the effect of barrel length on various loadings of pistol ammunition. I had to go straight to the .357 Magnum results. Why?

Well, at one point I had a Ruger SP101, a little snubby .357 revolver with the 2.25-inch barrel. And I can tell you that shooting full-house .357 out of that thing was quite literally a real pain. So I was thinking that for that kick I’d at least be getting a decent muzzle velocity, right? 1100-1200 feet per second? (The standard loading for a 125-grain .357 is 1450 fps out of a 4″ barrel.)

Yeah, not so much. Try about 1050 feet per second. It certainly beats a sharp stick, but I’d definitely be carrying something else given the choice. YMMV, and all that…

Not sure if real…

…or an April Fool’s joke…

North America Arms set a new power standard for mini, macro and nano revolvers with its introduction of the Judgment Day – Brimstone Edition Mini. The Judgment Day is a highly concealable firearm, chambered for the 454 Casull. The Judgment Day – Brimstone Edition marks the first product introduction since the company’s relocation from Briggs & Stratton on the Avon, Iowa to Brigadoon, Scotland.

My initial reaction? “Oh my dear sweet Lord in heaven. NO.”

I mean, really. What would such a thing be good for? A secondary back-up gun in case your primary back-up fails? How in the hell could anyone expect to hit anything with something like that? I mean, I’ve shot your standard magnum revolvers — both .44 and .357 Magnum out of standard-length barrels and .357 out of the 2.25″ barrel of a Ruger SP101. The first two were quite a handful, and the last was downright painful. I can only imagine how bad .454 Casull would be out of a 1.125-inch barrel. I suppose it beats a sharp stick, but I think it’d be better just rather leave enough room for another standard-size revolver. At least then you’d have six extra rounds instead of just two. To each his own, though…

Hey, our guns aren’t expensive clubs anymore!

…or, Yeah, I had to brag.

One box each of 9mm for Sabra’s Ruger and .45ACP for my 1911, from Academy. I got there about 20 minutes before they opened and there were about 25 people in line. I was almost afraid I had gotten there too late, but fortunately not, due to their one box per customer per caliber limit. So that’s all  I was able to get, but hey, every little bit helps. It’d sure as shit beat going to the gun shows; from what I was hearing in line, people were buying the ammo from the big-box stores and going to the gun shows to sell it at 2 or 3 times the price. I don’t know if that’s why Academy instituted that limit, but no matter what I am glad they did.

Why, hello, old friend!

So, check out what we brought home from the local merchant of death freedom today!

Remington 1911R1, the famed New York company’s entry into the 1911 market. I refuse to call it a clone or a copy just because it isn’t a Colt, for previously stated reasons. I saw a Gold Cup in the same display case but didn’t want to pay $400 more for it than I did this one. And if you’ve been a regular reader, you know that I’ve been lusting after this one for a pretty good while. Can’t wait to see how it shoots…

 

Just follow the manual and you’ll be fine…

…or, I Get Referrals, “best 180 grain handload for 10mm with accurate no.9”.

Make with the clicky. To be honest I didn’t have that much experience with the 180-grain bullets. The ones I ran with were the plated bullets, but they did just fine; as I recall, I was getting about 1170-1180 fps with 12.5 grains. My favorite bullet was the 155-grain Hornady XTP. I loaded those in front of about 14.8 grains, good for about 1370 feet per second. I ran them through a Kimber Stainless Target II and a Dan Wesson Razorback, both very accurate guns. I think my fave was the Dan Wesson. Sure miss that gun…

Hey, I tried…

Overheard at Texas Guns on Bandera Road yesterday evening, shortly after I fondled a Remington R1:

Me: “Guns have been going up in price since ’08, Imma have to start slingin’ blow, dude. Means to an end, yes, sir….If I bring you some of that high-grade Mexican coke, will you cut me a deal?”

Clerk: “No sir, but I will introduce you to my buddy at the Leon Valley Police Department.”

Me: “Oh, is he the guy who gives the shoplifters the free rides?”

Incidentally, the Remington R1 feels pretty solid. I think it just might be my next firearm purchase, despite the fact that I was making goo-goo eyes at the Kimbers and talking to the clerk about the 10mm Dan Wesson Razorback. The clerk was telling me that the barrel and the bushing were machined from the same bar stock and they went through the entire manufacturing process together. I thought that was pretty cool; I didn’t think they did that sort of thing with production guns.

Of course, what would really blow my mind is if they did the same thing with the frame & slide…

Oh, look, more out-of-context rambling about bullets!

From someone who should know better, natch:

Prosecutors in the capital murder trial of a man accused of shooting his estranged wife, their two teenage daughters and the wife’s grandmother in northeast Kansas have shown jurors grisly photos of the victims after a coroner described their shootings as “execution-style,” done with ammunition effective at causing damage.

But as far as I can tell from reading that story, the forensic pathologist never said anything about what the bullets were designed to do, or what they were going to do no matter what given the weight and muzzle velocity of the .223 cartridge. Am I wrong, or are those specs things you just can’t talk your way around to give an honest reason as to why the bullets do what they do? Don’t get me wrong — if James Kraig Kahler did what he’s accused of, he deserves one of those bullets to the back of the head and a shallow grave. But what do you want to bet at least one of those jurors is going to walk out of that courtroom thinking an AR-15 is some sort of magic death ray when other calibers can do just as much damage to internal organs?

Why you shouldn’t trust MSM pieces about guns…

…part only God knows what:

Full military potency, eh? So they put the happy switch on it? And American gun stores sell that select-fire AK?

And the .38 Super is “less powerful” than the .45? I’m sure that’s news to those folks who are loading those 115-grain bullets for just shy of 1400 feet per second.

Journalism FAIL, indeed.