Month: November 2011

Early Christmas Present

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I’m getting a new gun for Bowling Pins.  US Citizen of Traction Control has an FFL, and access to a large stock of firearms.  Well, I’m reducing that stock by Qty. 1.  I’m ordering one of these:


That’s a S&W Model 327 TRR8 – a Scandium-alloy 8-shot N-Frame .357 magnum with a stainless cylinder milled for moon clips, 5″ stainless barrel with a Dan Wesson style barrel shroud, provisions for mounting Picatinny rails both on the top strap and under the barrel, all finished in matte black. 
Here’s a shot of the business end with both rails attached:
It should make a fine Pin gun. 

A Dampness on the Pins – (Match Report)

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Or:  Eight people can have a lot of fun in the rain.

Turnout was light Sunday due to the weather (and the NASCAR race in Phoenix).  Bill and Elaine Tab rejoined us from the soon-to-be-frozen North, and Joe Lancaster rejoined us from his latest tour of the Sandbox.  It drizzled on us off and on, and we had a downpour for a few minutes in the middle of the match, but eight of us in total showed up with nineteen guns.  First rounds went downrange about 8:30, and we were finished by 11.  The competition was pretty fierce, with several ties and several sets going four or more rounds.   

The winner in Major was Jim Burnett with his Clark Custom 1911 pin gun.  Minor and overall pistol champ was John Higgins with his EAA Witness 9mm.  (In the eternal argument between .45 and 9mm, 9mm can be faster in pin shooting.)  Revolver had only four competitors this month, and Jim won that one as well with his S&W .41 Magnum, squeaking by John and his Python.  I learned firsthand that you should not try to reload your revolver with an EMPTY speed loader.  It will cost you the round.  I took the .22 rimfire class with my MkII Target.  I had a couple of really good runs with it.

The next match is December 11.  Hope to see you there!

Quote of the Day – It’s the .gov’s Fault Edition

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From The Washington Examiner, Conn Colin’s column (say that three times fast) “Facts show Fannie, Freddie led mortgage market to the collapse“:

From 1992 through the height of the housing bubble, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac used their monopoly position in the mortgage securitization industry to reward firms like Countrywide for making bad bets in the housing market. Countrywide’s success was a signal to other market participants to lower their standards as well.

Wall Street banks are not blameless for the financial crisis. But they were only responding to the incentives set up by the federal government. Ignoring this history will help no one.

But ignore it they will.  It does not fit The Narrative™.

RTWT.  The .gov set up the conditions, the lenders ran with it.  If they didn’t they’d have been penalized by the .gov.  Once one major lender did it, everybody did it.  Why wouldn’t they?

Bowling Pin Match, Sunday, November 13

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Usual place, the Tucson Rifle Club action range.

Time:  8:00 AM sign-up, first rounds downrange about 8:15

Handguns only:  .22 rimfire, centerfire revolver (.38 caliber minimum), semi-autos (9mm minimum). Single-shots, if you’re a masochist.

You’re welcome to shoot your revolver against the semi-auto crowd, but we think it’s more fun to shoot wheelgun-vs.-wheelgun. 

Cost:  $10 for the first gun, $5 for any additional guns.  Bring about 100 rounds for each.  You probably won’t need ’em all unless you’re really good at missing fast, but 50 probably won’t be enough.

It promises to be damp this weekend, so bring rain protection.  Hope to see you there!

Authorized Journalists

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David Codrea and Mike Vanderboegh, that is.  At least according to my hometown newspaper, the Brevard Times.  (I grew up in Brevard Country, Florida.)

In January 2011, journalists David Codrea and Mike Vanderboegh picked up the Gunwalker story from CleanUpATF.org. They began to investigate and report their findings as well as precipitate a Senate Judiciary Committee inquiry into the matter led by U.S. Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA). Codrea and Vanderboegh have zealously attempted to publicize the issue ever since. Their hard work finally paid off – Fox News briefly began to report the story while CBS began a full length investigation which aired last month. Just yesterday, CBS reported that the National Rifle Association used its annual convention to highlight the Gunwalker scandal.

And there’s this:

…President Obama’s claim that 90% of guns recovered from Mexico originated from the U.S. Obama’s 90% statistic drew criticism from media outlets such as Fox News and PolitiFact in April 2009 that his claims were not true and unsubstantiated.


So did the Obama administration hatch a plan to create evidence by using the A.T.F. to enable U.S. gun shipments to Mexico beginning in November 2009 in order to back up his 90% claim made just seven months earlier? It is quite possible that we will find out that answer as the Senate investigation proceeds.

So now we have official acknowledgement from the MSM that bloggers can be journalists.

And it’s interesting to see even a small MSM outlet ask the question, “Was Fast and Furious botched, or was it intentional?”

Codrea and Vanderboegh: The Woodward and Bernstein of the Twenty-first Century!