Happy Birthday to Me!

For decades I have been a fan of the .41 Magnum cartridge. It started in the mid 1970's when I purchased a Model 58 plus a duty holster and a box and a half of ammo from a coworker who had just transitioned to a Colt Commander. For those not familiar with the Model 58, think of a heavy-barreled S&W Model 10 Military & Police on steroids.

The photo at left is from an on-line forum and depicts an early Model 58 in fabulous condition.

That Model 58 stayed with me for almost 30 years until a burglary in 2004 and it was one of 4 guns I really wanted to get back. So far, no luck there.

In January of this year, I found a Model 58 with goodyear grips and wearing a nickle finish in a bay area gun shop. Since these are scarce as turkey lips, bought it. Just handling it brought back fond memories and shooting it showed that it was just what I had come to love about the gun. With the "Police" loading - a 210 grain bullet at just under 1,000 fps - it delivers over 450 ft-lbs of energy at the muzzle. That's between 20% to 30% more power than .45 ACP or .38 +P. The only problem was that it had a nickle finish. Beautiful as it is, I'm not a big fan of nickle guns. The constant worry that the finish can be chipped, the shiny finish can reflect light at a critical moment, either into your eyes or enough that your opponent can locate you in the dark and cleaning them requires a little more care to avoid scratches.

Then, last week a friend of mine emailed me to inquire about a blued Model 58 he'd seen in a local gun shop. It was an older gun with an "S" serial number prefix and he said it had a mild case of rust-freckling on the backstrap and part of the frame. So I drove 80 miles to look it over. With gas prices here hovering around $3.30 a gallon, a Model 58 is one of the few guns I'd drive my green gas-hog pick-up truck to see.

In the ambient lighting of a gunshop it didn't look too bad. But I pulled out my Surefire 6P flashlight and the Xenon lamp revealed the true extent of the corrosion. Sadly, the gun didn't only have rust-freckling but some larger areas of corrosion under the triggerguard. It appeared that it sat in a drawer at one time, probably near a bathroom where moisture from the shower could reach it. But none of the rust appeared to have pitted the gun...yet. Reluctantly I paid a princely sum for a gun in this condition, but with nearly new specimens hitting the $800 range (or more!) I thought this might be a decent shooter. If necessary, I could always clean it up and send it to either S&W or Ford's custom gun refinishing for a professional job. And I justified all of this by reminding myself that my birthday was coming up in four days.

Not that I'll be able to have it on my birthday, however. California has a ten day waiting period. Thus, I'll pick up this S&W hand-cannon the day before Independence Day. But those ten days are agonizingly slow, especially since I feel like a kid with ten days until Christmas. I can only imagine how it feels to someone who is waiting those ten days because they need a gun now. I wrote previously about Global Warming and I can make a lot of comments about the stupidity of attempting to "fix" it. But it seems to me that California should repeal this 10-day waiting period and use NICS because of Global Warming. Why? It would elminate a second trip to the gun shop - especially ones far away - and lower pollution while saving oil! If most states can rely on NICS, why can't California? (Yes, we all know it is really to inconvenience gun owners and has little to do with "safety".)

Once I get this previously owned and slightly neglected Model 58 out to the range, I'll update here with a range report. For those of you who are fans of the .41 Magnum and the Model 58 in particular, read Payton Miller's article in the June issue of Guns & Ammo on this gun.

Global Cooling?

"Climate is what we expect. Weather is what we get."
--Proverb

Everyone seems to want to do something about Global Warming. I have noticed a trend in the media to press very hard to remind us that we have to do something and we have to do it now. In the meantime, quietly, in less well-known publications, the so-called "settled science" is springing leaks left and right. I read this National Post article out of Canada that claims we are in for a period of global cooling, not warming. Curious, I found that there is plenty of information on how sunspots affect our climate. What does this have to do with guns? Consider that at least one California city has raised the issue of taxing any products that put carbon into the air. This includes toner cartridges for your laser printers, production of carbon-fiber products and, of course, your charcoal BBQ. Sooner or later, one of these bureaucrats will realize black-powder is charcoal based. Never mind that its use is so small as to be insignificant on a global scale, once the bureaucrats can find a way to tax gun products out of existence, they'll certainly try.

Thrust, Parry, Riposte, Touché!

18 June 2007
Living in California, I get to hear a lot of anti-gun opinions. It usually does no good to try to argue with facts, to point out the history of the RKBA or legal issues. But it sometimes works to make a witty comeback that sticks in their minds.

I found these on the web and just had to share them with our members.

Guns are only made to kill.
Sure makes 'em handy for self-defense, doesn't it?

Even if one child were saved, banning guns would be worth it.
Uh-huh. But wouldn't it also be true that if a gun saved a child's life, having guns would be worth it?

Only the military and police should have guns.
Tell that to someone who survived the "purges" by Stalin or Chairman Mao, or Cambodia's killing fields, or the Holocaust.

Guns cause crime.
The Earth is flat, the sun revolves around the Earth, blacks are inferior to whites... oh, we aren't discussing myths and falsehoods?

I don't believe in guns.
Apparently, neither did Nicole Simpson.

Why do you carry a gun?
Because it gets all scratched up if I drag it behind me.

I don't know why you need a gun.
Ever hear of someone being killed in a robbery? Well, there ya go!

Guns should be banned.
We tried banning booze once too, look how well that turned out.

Father's Day 2007

17 June 2007

I hope all of you had a good Father's day. Those of you who are fathers, I hope you were able to spend quality time with your children, letting them know how blessed they make you feel. I also hope those who could, called or visited their fathers and let them know you're thinking of them. Nothing warms a parent's heart like hearing from their kids, unless it's hearing the love in their voices.

I visited my dad on Father's day at his resting place in Golden Gate National Cemetery. Dad left us in October of 1983 and there are few days when I don't miss him. I think back on the things he did for me, from teaching me basic gun safety to help with my geometry homework. He taught me to play golf, to respect your elders, be courteous to ladies, avoid trouble when you could and defend yourself when you must. We weren't a big "outdoors" family, unless you include golf. Many weekends were spent trying to knock a little white ball into a hole with tools ill-suited to the purpose. When I started shooting I learned that shooting is a lot like golf. The only person you really compete against is yourself. More control, don't tense up, focus, concentrate.

My dad was not perfect and I'm well aware of his faults. But he made up for those faults by teaching my older brother and myself things we needed to know. I don't miss the lectures I received for misbehavior, nor his stern look when I tried to wiggle out of yardwork. But I do miss him. A lot.

So I visited my mother after visting dad. Now in her mid-eighties, mom keeps our family - one that now includes two beautiful great-grandchildren - firmly rooted. We talked about dad, some of the personal moments they had, how she worried during his around-the-world flight in the Air Force, and how he, unknown to us, worried about taking care of his family. It's been 24 years since he left us, but he will always be a part of us. If I can leave you with any thoughts at all, it would be don't wait for Father's day to be important in your child's life, do it every day.

Random Thoughts

15 April 2007
Guns purchased for self-defense are like your car insurance. You may be a safe driver, always wear your seat-belt, double-check your blind spot and pay careful attention to your driving, but you still buy auto insurance. You pay large sums of money to protect yourself and your assets just in case something happens, even if it isn't your fault. Likewise, many people spend large sums to purchase a gun for self-defense and then spend almost half the gun's price in ammo to practice with it. The gun, like insurance, is there to protect the owner, their family and their assets, just in case something happens.

----- o -----

Speaking of costs, a neighbor of mine, here in California, wanted to know how to purchase a handgun. It seems a family member is something of a black sheep and will be getting out of prison soon, something he and his wife dread. He wanted to know how much it would cost to buy a decent 9mm pistol and practice enough to be comfortable with it. When I told him to expect to shell out between $900 and $1,200 I thought his eyes would pop out. I explained he should expect to pay about 1/2 to 2/3 of the price of the gun in ammo and range fees to practice, plus the cost of cleaning supplies, and a lockbox (he has two nice kids). When he got through sputtering, I told him the good news - he only has to pay that much once, not annually like his insurance. The on-going costs of ammo, range fees and cleaning supplies amount to less than about $200 a year for non-competitive shooters.

----- o -----

I have to admit to being biased in favor of the older Smith & Wesson revolvers. Not only did my family own a Victory model, but my first duty and carry guns were S&W's. Lately, however, I've been trying to find S&W target grips for a couple of my revolvers and they seem to be scarce in supply and expensive. I see all sorts of after-market standard or "Magna" grips, but few grips patterned after the factory "target" grips. I think someone is overlooking a profitable market here.

----- o -----

In a gunfight, the most important thing to do is to score effective hits. The second most important thing is to make hits. Why is this an important distinction? Because the human body is a remarkable resilient design, able to take some serious damage before it quits. Most of us have been taught to fire center-of-mass (COM) to stop an attacker and targets reflect that concept. We have seen instances where people are hit center-of-mass and still keep going or even survive. A shot to the lungs, which occupy most of the chest, are not immediately incapacitating (Andrew Jackson carried a musket ball in one lung for over 30 years). Even a shot to the heart may not cause rapid incapacitation because the muscle can sometimes close up around a puncture with little leakage.

Look at a diagram of human anatomy and it quickly becomes clear that center-of-mass is a narrow, vertical line between 4 to 6 inches wide, from the head to the pelvis. In this area are the spine, heart, and the major veins and arteries of the body which transport blood to organs and muscles. In self-defense, you want to hit an area about as wide as the subject's neck anywhere in this vertical zone of the body. Preferrably higher, but certainly on this center of mass line

Because the spine and major arteries are closer to the back, when shooting at an angle, you need to imagine your target's position relative to the body. At shot centered on the sternum from a 45-degree angle can miss the critical zone by several inches.

Springfield's EMP-9

9 April 2007
I finally managed to get a look at the new Springfield EMP 9 pistol yesterday and I'm impressed with this small pistol. It's a scaled down version of the 1911, chambered for 9mm with just the right number of "add-on" features. Balance, ergonomics and handling qualities are very good. This thing is about the size of a Kahr K-9 pistol and feels lighter. There are only two shortcomings with this pistol. Because it is a smaller-than-normal 1911, parts won't interchange with standard 1911 parts. I guess this is to be expected due to the size. However, I'd suggest purchasers procure replacement extractors, springs and a firing pin in case the gun is discontinued. Why would it ever be discontinued? That's the second shortcoming - price! My retailer had it listed at $1,105 and said that he had gotten this first one on a discount! Nominal retail price is $1,250. It's a nice gun, but for that price, I can buy a pair of other 9mm pistols.