DC Area Blogshoot

The Miller is hosting a blogshoot at the NRA Range in February. Go over to his place and RSVP. If you are local to me, we might be able to carpool if required.

I plan on going, The Good Lord willing (and the creek don't rise).

Good times.

No Candlelight Vigil here.

Sorry folks. I am not lighting candles for the "victims of gun violence", no matter how well-intentioned the PR campaign-for-relevance is. I have two "victims of gun violence" in my own family and at least one friend too, and I am not playing the game of "blame the tool, not the wielder". The Brady Campaign can suck it.

My son was not mugged by a gun. He was mugged by a mugger who used a gun. My friend was not robbed by a gun, he was robbed by a robber who armed himself with a gun. My uncle died from a gunshot wound, and the gun did not fire itself.

I carry a gun. Daily. Not because I have something to prove, because I don't. I carry a gun daily because it is the most effective tool for self defense that I own. My wife now owns one of her very own, too.

The Brady Campaign would tell you that my wife would be better off in an encounter with a mugger, rapist, or murderer if she just gave them whatever they wanted. Just lie back and think of England, or some-such rot. Nonsense. Why should we acquiesce to the predators in our society? Why should we allow our finest and fairest to be victimized, just so some milquetoast, namby-pamby, progressive policy wonks can feel better about themselves? Screw that. I am done playing their games.

In honor of those who have sacrificed everything, so that we can have our Liberty, here is a tribute. To our Fighting men and women of the military, and to those freedom fighters everywhere in the world striving to keep the flame of Liberty alive, I salute you. I stand ready to join you at the call.

Maybe my wife will even let me borrow her gun... :)

Pax,

Newbius

Emily takes a training class

Follow Emily Miller's attempt to navigate the bureaucratic maze in D.C. HERE.

Newbius

Range day today

Sorry, no pictures of the Redhead punching paper...

Took the new Colt out for its first run through.  One magazine had two FTF issues.  Twice, magazine #4 (yes, my mags are numbered) popped the last round near vertical and jammed.  Not sure what it is, but will monitor it. 

One other issue: Gun began shooting right of aim point.   When I got home, this is what I saw:

The set screw for the rear sight had backed itself out, leaving the rear sight to shift with recoil. I tightened it, but I know that I am going to have to spend some time sighting it in again.

Mrs. Newbius did well, but began anticipating the shots (causing the barrel to dip and the shots to go low) after a few magazines. We will work on it. Maybe we can both take a basic pistol course and brush up on our fundamentals.

The Astra A-100 is still functioning properly after the repair. I am glad to have this one back in the stable (er, desk drawer). It has a lot of sentimental value, and is a solid gun (especially given its original price point).

The XDm-45 still runs without a hitch. In fact, I think I am now over 2,500 rounds through the XDm-45 and it has never failed in any way. It has fed, fired, and extracted every round without fail and is pretty accurate too. I cannot ask for anything more in a handgun. This is my daily carry gun and I appreciate the reliability.

Tonight is going to be spent relaxing with my bride, eating homemade pizza and drinking good wine. Life is good.

Pax,

Newbius

1911 holsters

Need to start looking at a holster for the 1911. Of course, choosing one for her is going to be tough. There are so many nice ones to choose from. I wonder what cool things Dennis is up to?

Newbius

1000 Words, Marital Bliss Edition

Drilling

No, she is not for sale.

Newbius

1911 shopping

Trimming the list down, the ones that are nearing the top of the shopping pile are the:

Remington
Ruger SR1911
Springfield Range Officer
Colt XSE

There are things about each that I like, and also things about each I dislike. Trying to find them in the wild has proven to be a difficult task. Used 1911s are going for near full-retail as well. New, at auction, are all above MSRP. I think it is time to begin begging friends to see if anybody is selling.

I love the smell of Hoppes

Just finished cleaning gun #4 and the house smells like Hoppes #9. Do you think Chanel would be interested in bottling the essence of it for a perfume?

Just wondering...

Newbius

Home again

Arrived home and have unpacked the car. Lots of guns to clean, maybe some pictures to post later. Thank you Breda, Heath, and Amanda for everything. NorthCoast II is in the bag. I hope to be able to play again next year

Opportunity lost

Had an original Colt Model 1913 slip through my fingers yesterday...

Le Sigh.

Blogger-versary

Three years ago I put my first post out there for any and all to see. It wasn't much, but it was my mission statement for what I wanted to do here. I did not know at the time that this would turn into anything. It was (and is) intended as an outlet for me to say what I feel needs to be said, without breaking televisions, or alienating my family, or scaring the pets.

Since then, I have met the most wonderful group of people-the "gun-blogger" community-through interaction on this blog. You people are amazing. I am proud to call many of you my friends.

For all who have stopped in over the past three years; for all those who have linked to this page; and for all those who have added their wisdom and insight through comments: THANK YOU.

Pax,

Newbius

Oooh! Shiny!

Just a quick note. The Mrs. has basically decided upon a gun that fits her and that feels comfortable to her hand.

Since it is a lightweight compact 1911, the next question is: 9mm or .45? If I was buying for myself, I would go for .45. For her, will the recoil be much less in 9mm? It has been a long time since I shot 9mm.

Opinions?

Newbius

What are YOU doing on Memorial Day?

I am pretty sure I am going to be in Knoxville. LuckyGunner.com is sponsoring a blogshoot, and will be providing the ammo, guns, and FUN. Oh, did I mention that they were FULL-AUTO fun guns? Yeah. Like I said. FUN.

Plus, Tam is going to be there, and maybe JayG, and possibly RobbAllen...so you know that the snark will be going as rapid-fire as the machine guns. :)

Count me IN.

Newbius

Saturday Range Day After Action

Saturday's dawn greeted extremely windy conditions, so much so that we decided to scratch the trip to Clark Brothers and instead go to the local indoor range.

Prior to departing, I conducted a safety briefing with my kids to remind them of the rules. I also went over the operation of each of the guns we would be firing. We then picked up my son's girlfriend Cheryl, who had never handled a firearm before but was eager to learn. On the drive over, we again covered the Rules, grip, stance, and expectations.

Arriving at the range, we discovered a line to the door with 12 or more people ahead of us. Thankfully, after checking we only had to wait another 30 minutes for our lanes to open. We got set up, and then everyone got one more reminder about safety and operation and then we were shooting.

Cheryl really enjoyed the Walther PP .32 ACP, the Savage Mark II .22LR, and the XDm-45. In fact, she kept going back to the XDm time and again for her recoil fix. Big grins all around!

I did have one casualty though. My Astra A-100 failed. The gun locked up out of battery and would not close. I dropped the mag and didn't see anything obvious. When I tried to re-insert the magazine, it would not insert fully. I took the slide off and walked out front where the light was and examined it more closely. Upon closer inspection, it was obvious that the gun was done for the day. The barrel stop had broken in 2 places.

This gun, while not expensive, has a great deal of sentimental value. It is no longer in production and some parts are scarce, especially magazines. I called European American Armory (EAA) this morning after a quick check of their website, and they do have the part in stock. Hopefully, I can have this one back up and running shortly.

On the whole, it was a pretty good day. I got to scrape the rust off of my skills and get some recoil therapy. My oldest son and my daughter got to have some fun. And, a new shooter got to see that guns are fun when used properly. Sounds like a win to me!

Pax,

Newbius

The open carry debate

A little brouhaha has erupted over the 'library carry' demonstration. I am not going to address the specific controversy here.

What I will state is this:

Define your goals. Plan a way to effectively achieve those goals. Do an 'after-action' report to gauge the effectiveness of those plans. Adjust, adapt, and then repeat.

If your goal is to maximize media exposure, regardless of reaction or outcome, then you take the negative with the positive and live with the result. If your goal is something else, then it would help to state it in advance so that the reaction can be tempered in the context of the desired outcome.

Pax,

Newbius

Something interesting in an unexpected place

Went to Dysfunctional City today to catch a museum. While learning all about the horrors visited upon native groups by the evil white man (no joke-90% of the indigenous populations died as a result of contact), I came across a pretty amazing firearms exhibit.

In addition to some very fine examples of 15th and 16th century flintlock pistols, early-to-late black powder muskets and rifles, early long arms of the plains and such, there were a couple of oddities at the modern end of the display.

First, one of the prettiest handguns I have ever seen:


Now the oddities:
A 7.62mm assault rifle prototype purportedly to be Heckler and Koch G3 or similar:


And a Colt Advanced Combat Rifle prototype:


I really wasn't expecting to find these last two rifles in a display on guns of native Americans. Truly the surprise of the day. If you are a firearm enthusiast, it is worth your time to stop into the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.. The gun display alone is worth the trip.

Pax,

Newbius

Top Shot Mike

I watched the first episode of Top Shot on HULU and thoroughly enjoyed it. I am not a fan of Survivor-type shows, but I do understand the appeal.

After watching Mike Seeklander completely fail at shooting the 1903 Springfield, I (like many others) were wondering just what the heck happened. And, to be fair, I am out there in print saying I thought I might be able to figure out that shot sooner. But, I wasn't there and it is easy to criticize from behind the anonymous keyboard.

Anyway, here is Mike in his own words regarding the performance. Seems like a class act, and someone I would like to meet some day.

Pax,

Newbius

Best range report ever

Brigid wins the quote of the day with the "World's shortest range report":

I named the gun "Nancy". She's small, skinny, not particularly pretty and has a mean bite if you're not careful. On the other hand, she's accurately deadly in close for something with a lousy sight picture.

That, right there, is full of WIN.

Pax,

Newbius

Want

Springfield Armory is releasing an "M" version of their XD45. I got to play with it in Charlotte. One word:

WANT

Should be hitting the stores around June. Look for it.