3" 629 range report

While in the "dealer of death's" store recently, helping a coworker pick out a 1911, "the tempter" showed me a pre-MIM, pre-lock, 3" S&W 629. Naturally it followed me home. It has a rounded butt so I was a little concerned that the gun would turn in my ape hands under fire. But it has been Magna-ported. I'm not a big fan of Magna-porting as am not convinced that the muzzle flip reduction is worth the added muzzle blast and noise being directed at the shooter.

I was testing two loads:

(a) 240gr Ranier HP plated bullets over 21.0gr of 2400
(b) 240gr cast L-SWC bullets over 21.0gr of 2400

I must have not crimpled the Ranier loads properly, as early during the shooting session I had trouble rotating the cylinder. Close inspection showed that one of the bullets had pushed forward under recoil and was poking out past the front edge of the cylinder. Also, the accuracy of those loads was not great. I was shooting about 4” to the left.

The SWC loads were the cat’s pajamas. All holes were centered about POA with a group spread of about 3” at 15yds. [Several sub-groups were 1” in diameter ..... if I slowed down and concentrated]. I was shooting two handed, unsupported, standing up. I was VERY happy with this group, considering it’s coming out of a 3” barrel.

The gun is quite manageable, even though the recoil is stout, both in DA and SA modes, but the factory trigger is heavier than I like it. Will have to lighten the trigger return spring a tad.

Combined with shooting my Glock 21 with stiff loads, playing with an M1A and Chronying some loads outta my Puma 454, it was a great day.

I certainly had a better day than the guy a few tables down who “hot dogged” his S&W 500. His barrel split right down the vertical plane. He confirmed that he was shooting handloads so considering that his cylinder was intact, I’m guessing he had a squib, then an uncleared barrel obstruction, and he then touched off another round.

Be careful out there ......

Anger ... and Hope

Spent the day walking around Berkeley (yes, CA) yesterday .... you know ..... for educational purposes. Yes, Darwin would have had, and should have, a field day.

As for anger ..... ugh ..... I switched off and observed .... and even then I had to suppress the urge to punch a bunch on a few occasions.

But the day was punctuated by polar differences. It was the day the Dalai Lama was to speak and inspire the crowds. I have no interest in what the Lama has to say [though I would pay money to hear him say "SEE! THIS is what unchecked PACIFISM leads to"], but I was more fascinated with the people coming to see him. The starry eyed, the sheep who need a leader in troubled times, the SUV driving drones who come to hear him speak of global healing.

My wife and I actually came to Berkeley to hike up to the Lawrence Hall of Science, where we stumbled across a High School Solar Powered Sprint Car Competition. The cars were nothing special, though it was obvious that some kids understood that mechanical design matters. What did stand out was that the Lama didn't matter, at that moment anyway, to these kids. For them science, competition and design mattered. Those who didn't win will be back next time with better designs. Learning, progress, perseverance.

So, yes, anger .... but hope too.

P.S. Turns out, the Lama spoke about terrorism and admitted he like George W. Bush. Well, knock me down and shit on my head. Maybe the Lama does have a clue.

P.P.S. Telegraph Ave. was once, oh ... say in the mid-1980s, interesting. Now it's gritty, dirty ... and irrelevant. Seeing the summer-of-love rejects aging hippies, with their skin wrinkled from years of drug abuse, flogging their wares and their old and tired political screeds, is sad.

Obama speaks

After listening to "The One" talk before congress two weeks ago, where he promised to cure cancer, I couldn't help thinking that he has a lot in common with a certain character from the comic strip Luann.

Maybe I'm wrong. You be the judge.

Or maybe, if you've listened to him speak (sans preparation) for 3 minutes without saying anything, while attempting to answer a fairly simple question, you'd come to the conclusion that perhaps he has more in common with a certain Loony Tunes character.

GM seizes better business climate in Brazil ... on US taxpayers' dime

GM invests $1M in Brazil.

Makes sense. GM can't budge against the labor unions so they build plants where the business climate is more conducive to ... well ... doing business. It's about time the UAW pulled their heads out of their collective asses.

And I hope this comes back to bite the sycophants in congress who passed the $700M *bailout* package, part of which was handed to automakers by "Bush the Lesser" to "save American jobs".

What a bunch of putzes we have running this country.

The environuts may just get what they wanted; fuel efficient cars made by a "US car maker", at the cost of US jobs. [Pulling up a chair to watch the upcoming cat-fight between "big labour" and environuts]

No, we are not all to blame

In the Sunday (2/8/2009) issue of the San Jose Mercury News (interestingly, the paper headline read "Budget Mess: We're all to blame") columnists Rogers and Poitinger claim we're all to blame for the budget mess. Missing from their analysis is the many multi-billion dollar bonds, passed by proposition, floated by voters to fund many feel-good measures. Naturally, most of these bonds would be paid from the general fund or homeowner property assessments.

One glaring example that comes to mind (on the ballot 8 years ago) was a "Open Space preservation" measure what would be funded exclusively by private property assessments. It passed. The subsequent analysis was astounding. Of the "yes" voters, 75% owned no property. Yup, business as usual ... those who "can" pay for those who "need". (Where have I heard that before?)

And so it is typically for bond measures. Obligations are paid out of the general fund, the income from which comes, primarily, from income taxes; 80% of which are paid by 20% of tax payers.

So, no Misters Rogers and Poitinger, we are NOT ALL TO BLAME. Some of us didn't vote for this crap, and do understand economics. Stupid voters, who don't have a stake in the financial obligations for the measures they vote for and pass, are to blame.

As for how to fix the budget problem, since the state can't just erase the obligations with the stroke of a pen? I'm OK with a general tax increase, paid for by EVERYONE. A general consumption tax? Sure .... raise the sales tax to 15% and reduce income and property taxes, thus proportionately spreading the pain for economic stupidity. That I could get behind.

What you won't read about the "beatification" in the MSM

Firstly: This is what the National Mall looked like after the inauguration.



This from supporters who claim to be "green" and wanting to "save the environment". Yup, someone else will clean it up, while we "save the environment".

Secondly: "The One, The Light" decided to skip the "Salute the Heroes Inaugural Ball". The argument that he was too busy because he had 10 other balls to attend sounds hollow. Clearly "The One, The Light" prioritized the"Neighborhood Ball", the "Youth Ball", the "BET Ball", "The Recording Industry Ball" over a ball honoring Medal of Honour recipients.

Well, I was hoping to see leadership from "The One". Nope, not this one. Perhaps if he'd attended, he would have met William Crawford and could have learned something about leadership from a janitor, who's also a Medal of Honor recipient.

Nah, nothing to see here ... Hope ... Change.

Gran Torino and sensitivity

Mr. Pitts nails is.

Indeed, Kowalski gets as good as he gives from his barber, an Italian, each slurring the other's ancestry with good-natured brio. Yet when Kowalski confronts a group of black street punks, the script has him calling them "spooks" — not the more obvious epithet that rhymes with "trigger." Eastwood doubtless knew using that word would have rendered the character irredeemable.

That the script allowed Eastwood to fire at will at his Italian friend but required him to pull up short in dealing with black thugs is telling. It speaks not simply to script dynamics, but to dynamics of American history and culture, to the question of who has assimilated enough that we deem them fair game and who has not.

[Emphasis mine!] Hear that Mr. Sharpton and Mr. Jackson? You fucking race-baiters.

[Not so funny] Comedian in the house

How appropriate that a rather unfunny comedian will most likely take a seat in that, once, august body. It's not a laughing matter that congress has become somewhat of a laughing stock with the US public.

But then, He's Good Enough, He's Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Him!