blogs

A shout-out

Posted on by Caleb

It occurs to me that I should probably thank all the people who were instrumental in my purchase of the Glock 24.  Since it wasn’t on the list of guns that I initially wanted to buy, and I had never heard of it, of course my first email went to Tam, which essentially consisted of “There’s a Glock 24 with X extras for Y dollars, I hope you’re near a computer”.

The next email went to Robb, who is a notorious Glock guy, to let him know that I was going to the dark side and buying a Glock instead of another .45 caliber revolver.

The finally piece of the pie was The Breda who proceeded to tell me that I shouldn’t buy plastic guns; and although I don’t think I was able to convince her, she did eventually acquiesce to my decision.

I always get a little panicky when my gun store ideas don’t go according to plan, hence why I feel the need to reach out to the network of gunpeoples to either persuade or dissuade me from certain gun choices.

Thanks for helping me defeat my horrible gun ADD, guys!

Uncategorized

Things that give me the damn creeps

Posted on by Caleb

I was at The Breda’s blog and found her post with a picture of two people holding 1911’s with their fingers in what is generally considered to be a “naughty place” – inside the triggerguard.  I sort of vaguely recognized them as some kind of pseudo-celebrity from watching the guy on The Soup mock them, but couldn’t quite place them.

So what did I do?  I followed the rabbit hole to the video of them shooting at some range in Beverly Hills.  It was at the end of the rabbit hole that I found the godawful video of these two low-watt bulbs actually shooting firearms, and at that moment I died a little inside.

You see, my search for KNOWLEDGE had led me to discover just who these idiots are: the “stars” of the fake-reality show The Hills, who have apparently decided that in an effort to keep their faces in the limelight, are staging “appearances” all over LA.  Their names are Spencer and Heidi (of course), and although their actions are marginally disturbing on their own, it’s even more off-putting that they decided to stage their most recent appearance at a gun shop and in so doing violate uh…all four rules of firearms safety is really messed up.  My favorite moment in the whole thing is when the male idiot points the AR right at the cameraman, and right next to him the female idiot can’t figure out the slide release on the 1911, which when I think about it is probably a good thing.

Now, I am all about celebrities and all kinds of people getting educated and involved in the shooting sports and gun safety education – people like Tom Selleck and Charlton Heston have done a lot to help the cause and further advance the shooting sports.  The problem I have with these pseudo-celebs is that they’re not getting involved in the shooting sports, they just wanted to play with loud toys and get their picture taken, and not only that they were irresponsible and unsafe about it.  That really bakes my crust.

hoplophobia

Post-Heller Histrionics

Posted on by Caleb

I have had a lot of fun reading the hysterics and histrionics from the gun control crowd post-Heller; Sebastian has a great link up to the New England Journal of Medicine where they are of the opinion that the Heller will somehow cause the streets to run with blood.

NEJM unfortunately bases their article on the Loftin study, which has been roundly pounded by other bloggers, so it’s not exactly what I’d call credible.

The last time I remember craziness like this was when the AWB sunset a few years ago – the mantra was almost exactly the same as it is now, just substitute “Heller” for “assault weapons”.and you’d get the same effect.

I guess I’m having a hard time believing Paul Helmke when he says that they like the Heller decision, since every single anti-gun org are screaming their heads off over it. Needless to say, it’s a fun show for me to watch.

handguns

Glock 24

Posted on by Caleb

As I mentioned in the post immediately below this, I just acquired a used-but-not-abused Glock 24, which was Glock’s .40 S&W competition model that was made right up until the currently offered Glock 35 was introduced.

I had been looking for a Glock to shoot USPSA, GSSF, Pins, and other action sports with, and had initially planned on getting the Glock 35 so I could shoot it in IDPA as well. Then yesterday in Gander Mountain, I happened across this used Glock 24 for sale. It had almost zero wear on it, the trigger was great, and this gun is LOADED out. Nevermind the cheap holster it came with, whoever had this gun before me had the frame modified for a laser sight – seeing as this is the pre-rail Glock model, the laser sight is now built into the trigger guard. Plus, the sights are fully adjustable Trijicon night sights, so uh, awesome. What’s that you said? Pics or it didn’t happen?

I also managed to get a really good shot of the porting on the front of the barrel. Unlike the other “C” model Glocks, the Glock 24 uses a series of elliptical ports which increase in size the closer they get to the muzzle; the standard “C” models use two parallel ports.

I am really, really excited about taking this gun to the range – the previous owner had obviously had a serious interest in this gun, going so far as to have the frame forward of the trigger guard cut to accommodate a laser sight. You can see exactly what I mean in this last picture.

I’m actually kind of surprised that this gun went for how low a price I got it for, especially when you consider the Trijicon sights, the laser, and the (admittedly cheap) holster and mag pouch it came with. Add to that the fact that there is very little wear on the gun, just some minor cosmetic scuffs on the slide; and you get what amounts to an almost brand new competition gun, ready to go shoot the Bianchi Cup or a USPSA Match right out of the box (with the laser disabled, of course).

My best guess is that the previous owner of the pistol bought it, had the work done, shot it a few times and then put it in his safe, and then later sold it when he couldn’t compete any longer – now their loss is my great gain.  This sort of stuff does happen a lot, you buy a gun to compete and then never shoot it, and years later you end up needing some dough, so off the gun goes. Now because of that sale, I am pumped up to shoot this gun; I can’t recall the last time I was this excited about taking a gun to the range to go a-blastin’. You have my word that you’ll get a full range report once I do shoot my new-to-me Glock 24.

handguns

Happy Birthday to meeeeee

Posted on by Caleb

My birthday is the 12th, and in honor of such a joyous occasion, Mrs. Ahab has gifted me with a truly wonderous gift – I get to overspend the gun budget.

Now, that may seem frivolous to you, but I understand the importance of a budget (or more accurately, I fear my wife’s wrath), especially where my hobby is concerned, as I have been known in the past to go a little crazy with gun stuff.

I had mentioned that I was looking at either a Glock 34/35 or a Taurus Judge, and oddly enough I ended up with neither. See the below picture for the grand total of my birthday swag.

What you see there is a Glock 24 (the discontinued competition model), a spare magazine for the Glock, 150 rounds of .40 S&W for the Glock, and a cheap holster and magazine case for the Glock. That’s my birthday present. What also fortuitously came today were the fruits of me selling a gun, namely my 2nd Beretta Jetfire, with a spare magazine, two holsters, and a pistol rug; not only that my shipment of 147gr 9mm HPs for my Beretta 92D came yesterday as well.

Yesterday was an awesome day for gun stuff.  I’m obviously excited about the Glock, as it gives me a single platform to shoot for USPSA, Bowling Pins, and GSSF – the only sport I can’t really shoot it in is IDPA, since the Glock is ported and wouldn’t fit in their “box” anyway.

The Beretta is allegedly going to be my wife’s carry gun when she gets around to filling out her permit paperwork and all of that jazz, she liked mine and thought it was “cute”.  Even if she doesn’t carry it, I have no problem having a second version of the gun I carry the most often – it never hurts to have a spare.

So if you add up all the cool stuff I received, you could probably say that this was a very good birthday, and it hasn’t even officially happened yet.

shooting/shotguns

410 bore shotguns

Posted on by Caleb

Alright shotgun peoples, I have a question for you. I have heard from two different camps on the issue of the .410 bore shotguns – the division is that some look at the .410 as an expert’s gun, and some look at it as a beginner’s gun.

So what say you? I’m looking for a shotgun that I can use to learn the fundamentals with, where I won’t be bothered by the recoil of shooting 200 rounds a session. The light weight and lack of any kind of recoil pad can make Frankenshotty unpleasant, and I certainly wouldn’t want to run more than 50-75 rounds through it at a time. Since my training strategy revolves around the principle of “shoot more”, I thinking about a .410 to save the shoulder abuse that upwards of 200 rounds will cause.

So what do think – beginner’s gun, or expert gun? Should I just shoot less and go with the 20 all the time?

shooting/shotguns

I suck at shotguns

Posted on by Caleb

I really, really do. My experience with Frankenshotgun taught me that a lifetime’s worth of pistol shooting has made me a terrible shotgunner.

Being a competitive guy, I’ve been seeking out help from whatever avenues possible, which is why I very much enjoyed this post on “hard focus” from the Gun Shots. I’m going to try that the next time I shoot clays, because anything that helps me break more targets is a good thing.

Next time, I’m going to get target loads with a full ounce of shot, which might help me break a few more targets. I also want to try my .410, because it actually fits me better and has a tighter choke than the Frankenshotgun. I think I’l go a shotgunning again sometime in the next couple of weeks.