Thousand Words, etc

Yesterday at the Sunday Family Shoot, I was working with grandkids and didn't have the time to get behind the camera.  Unbeknownst to me, my daughter was taking pictures.

Working with Dylan, the grandson of a friend, I was trying to show him some of the basic points of Fast Draw.  Not that I'm any expert, but he's got to start somewhere, and I strapped up and got on the line with him for a little informal shooting.

Dylan is the little fellow with the big revolver, and PawPaw is the fat man in the background.  yesterday was a beautiful day in Central Louisiana with temps in the low 80s and very little humidity.

Looking at the picture, I notice that Dylan is having a little trouble with that big Uberti.  The next time he comes over, we'll have to adjust that holster for a better draw stroke.

Of course, a still photo doesn't tell everything, so here's a video



With a little work, he'll be just fine.

Vintage Leather

Last week sometime, I was surprised to find an email in my inbox from a fellow I've never met.  Jim and I are members of the same forum and he goes by the screen name Old Grafton (an alias that I think is very cool, in a poetic fashion.)  He told me that he had come upon some vintage leather from the '60s and thought that I might be interested in it.

Vintage leather appeals to me and when he told me that it was from the old Lawrence company, I was intrigued.  I thanked him kindly and asked him to send it on.  I talked with my leather-working son, who told me that when it came in, to treat it carefully.  That old leather might need preservative techniques so that it wouldn't crack or split, and that if I had any questions, to get with him before I did anything.  That's good advise.

Lawrence Gunleather used to be a huge name in the gun-leather industry.  They made saddles and leather goods of all kinds.  A complete history is here.  They made very good leather products, and when I was growing up in the '60s and '70s I saw lots of ads for Lawrence leather products in the various hunting and fishing magazines I read.  To say the least, I watched for that package with great anticipation.

It came in on Friday, packed in a Boyd's gunstock box.  Milady asked if I had ordered a stock and I told her "No, but someone sent me a gift."  Like an archaeologist opening a tomb, I gently opened the box wondering what I'd find.

Great Jumping Jehosephat!  This leather is in  great shape.  Supple, well preserved, it looks almost as good as it did when it came out of the box a half-century ago.  Let's take a look, shall we?

First up, we have an absolutely marvelous Lawrence Model 120BN holster for the Ruger Super Blackhawk.  It's fleece lined and absolutely pristine.  I don't think that it's ever been on a belt, indeed my SBH may be the first gun that has ever been in that holster.

Next, we have a box from the period.

Cool graphics, and reminiscent of the boxes I remember from my youth as I'd drool over those magazine ads.  Of course, you can click on the picture for a better look.  I think that the box is cooler than hell.  But wait, there's something inside.

It's a Lawrence Model 79 holster for what looks like a Colt Single Action.  Of course, I immediately grabbed a cowboy revolver and tried to  holster it.  That didn't work, the holster is simply too small by a degree to hold the Model P.  So, I look at the fitment chart on the back of the box.  This particular model is designed for the Ruger Single Six or similar sized revolver.  I don't own one of those, but this holster is pristine, supple, and looks like new-old stock.  I'll keep it in the box and I'm sure that eventually we'll find a home for it.

Then I found a gunbelt at the bottom of the box.  Stilll supple, it feels like it was oiled regularly.  It's tooled with cartridge loops, and just beautiful.

The stamp on the inside of the belt says that it's their Sportsman model and that it's cut for a 40" waist.  The cartridge loops are adjustable and it is 1-3/4 inches wide.  I may set it up for .45 Colt cartridges and see if I "lock" the adjustment in place.  Either way, it will go in my spares bag as a trying belt for new shooters, grandkids, or other folks who need to borrow a belt.  My tape measure tells me that it will fit from a 38" to a 42" waist, but the way we wear our belts in the cowboy game, it will likely be a good fit for someone with a 36" to a 40" waist size.  It's a size that I don't have in the bag right now, and it's a really beautiful belt.

Thanks, Jim, for thinking of me.  We'll use them for sure.

Sunday Morning Dawg

After the club shoot yesterday, Milady and I went out on the porch to cocktail for our afternoon wind-down and the dog decided to join us on the porch.  He's obviously in need of a hair cut and we'll see about that this week.

With temp in the low 80s and humidity down around 50%, we had a nice breeze blowing and it was altogether pleasant sitting in the shade.

You'll notice Milday's stylish boots behind the dawg.  We had a lot to talk about at the club yesterday.  We're planning an invitational shoot for the second weekend in November and we had two new shooters with us today.  Before they left, they bought brass, primers and wax.  We gave them all the info to join CFDA and links to such things as they might need.

A Little History

A reader pointed me to a fascinating article by John Taffin in American Handgunner magazine that talks about the history of the fast draw game.  The game has been through changes and evolutions that formed the basis of several organizations today, including World Fast Draw, CFDA, CAS, and SASS.  Some of the earliest folks in Fast Draw are fairly common names to us today.

Left to right:  Ray Chapman, Eldon Carl, Thell Reed, Jeff Cooper, Jack Weaver.

If you look at the picture above, you'll note that this group, known as the first Combat Masters, are all using semiauto pistols, except for Jack Weaver.  Weaver, of course, is the originator of the Weaver Stance, taught for decades at police academies all over the world.  Next to him is Jeff Cooper, who needs no introduction to my readers.

And ad from Andy Anderson's shop in California.  Legend holds that Marty Robbins saw a revolver in Anderson's shop that captured his imagination and was the basis for the song Big Iron.  That holster and belt rig would be completely at home on the line at a CFDA competition today.

It's altogether a fascinating article.  Click over on the link above and go read the whole thing.

9/11 Threats

We come to the anniversary of 9/11 and I remember where I was that day, as most Americans do.

But, never able to let a good memorial service rest, we see that the Black Lives Matter folks are making threats against the police.  That's not a good idea.

An Internet radio show purportedly tied to “black supremacy” and “black liberation” groups recorded a segment that included threats of violence toward police officers, the Daily Caller reported. One caller on the show said, “When those [expletive] are by themselves, that’s when we should start [expletive] them up.” That caller later said, “’Cause we already roll up in gangs anyway. There should be six or seven black [expletive], [who] see that white person, and then lynch their ass. Let’s turn the tables.”

Actually, if we look at felonious police killings over time, 2015 is on schedule.   While each police death is a tragedy, felt keenly by the family and the agency, we're pretty well on track.  The whole "War On Cops" narrative seems to be over-blown.  It's a pretty silly war when the casualties as so low.

Over at Reason.com, they've got a pretty good article, looking at the data, and data is what drives reasonable people. If we look at felonious gun-related deaths of police officers over time, we see that for this year, we're above 2013, but below 2014.  However, if you look at the spike back in the '70s we've made quite a bit of progress

Of course, you can click on the chart for a better look, but gun-related police deaths have been declining since then, and is lower than it's been since 1870.  But, the chart above is adjusted for population, so let's look at another, not related to population, but with actual numbers of police officers killed by guns.  We see much the same trend.

Again, after that spike in the late '70s we've seen the number of cops shot each year decline.

The simple fact is that most shootings against the police are unrelated.  They are individual events that are fueled by the individual incident.  Usually caused by fear, paranoia, mental instability, or drugs, each police killing, while regrettable, is an individual event, totally devastating to the family and the agency involved.  But, there really doesn't seem to be a "War on Cops".

Y'all be careful out there.

Pawn Shop Crawling

While on my lunch break today, I went by my favorite pawn shop to put some money on a layaway.  The counter guy took my money, then asked me if I was interested in vintage police leather.  I told him I might be, and asked him what he had.

It's a Buchiemer police belt.  Buchmiemer was a big name in gun leather in the 1950s-70s.  This one is in pretty good condition and comes with a Jordan thumbsnap holster from the same time peiod.  The holster, of course, is hopelessly outdated for a police rig, but it fits the K-frame Smith and Wesson revolver, and it might be good for a woods cruising holster.  The gun belt is in fairly good shape and might have some life left in it.  If my measurements are correct, it will fit a waist from 37-42 inches.

The price out the door was $20.00, mainly  because the pawn broker didn't want to deal with it.  He said that it came in with some other stuff he wanted, and he bought it all to seal the deal.

Interesting, the stuff I find in that pawn shop.

Not Feeling It

Searching about for something to talk about, and I'm just n not feeling it.  The middle east is in chaos, the Europeans are in the midst of a refugee crisis, the presidential politics has become a clown show.  It's like we're living in an insane asylum and no adult is in charge.

Then I look at the White House and realize that there are no adults in charge.  We have an immigration crisis of our own and this administration wants to bring in Syrian refugees.  Have we lost our frigging minds?

It appears that our president and his foreign policy team is foundering helplessly in  a crisis of their own making.  After over six years of not standing by our allies, and the same six years of kow-towing to our enemies, no one believes the administration or our president when he makes a statement.  It's as if the leaders of the world hold him in contempt.

Ten Years

Going through my blog, I notice that I've been blogging for over ten years.  I started in 2005, and in September, we were going through the throes of Katrina and Rita.  On this day in 2005 , in New Orleans, the Chief of Police, Eddie Compass issued instructions to confiscate firearms in the stricken city.

The residents of this good state were outraged and in days, Compass had resigned in disgrace.  In the aftermath, Louisiana passed strong laws forbidding the confiscation of firearms, even during an emergency.  Later, the Louisiana voters approved a state constitutional amendment that makes possession of firearms a fundamental right, subject only to strict scrutiny.  The elected officials of that time are gone.

The then-Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin is in federal prison.  The then-governor, Katherine Blanco is retired from politics.  Our US Senator from that time Mary Landrieu, didn't survive her next election.The Katrina/Rita debacle pretty much made a clean sweep of the Democrats in office. Now, Louisiana is a bright-red state and we've made dramatic reforms in our gun laws to make sure that in an emergency, The People have the ability to defend themselves.

It's been ten years, and I'm still blogging.  How about that?

Single Actions

My son wanted to take a picture of my Single Actions yesterday.  I thought it was a good idea, because even though they're on my inventory, it's a good idea to have a picture for evidentiary purposes in case it's needed.

Every gun I own or have bought to give away is on my digital inventory.  I update it occasionally to note where certain guns are.  For example, if I loan a gun to a family member, I make a note of it on the Excel spreadsheet.

Even so, when I started this cowboy game in March, I didn't own a single revolver in .45 Long Colt. Shortly after we started the game, I decided that two revolvers were simply not enough, and we started modestly adding to the collection as we found a good deal on a revolver.

That's our current battery, and we'll talk about each one, top to bottom.

First, we have Milady's new Traditions Liberty edition.  Tastefully engraved with wfite PVC grips, Milady bought it at Bass Pro Shops in August.  When she asked to see it, I could see her face as she grasped the grip frame.  It fit her hand perfectly.  We did a hammer job on it to reduce the force needed to cock the gun, and she's very happy with it.

Second, we have the newest heater in the battery, a Uberti 1873 Cattleman.  I picked it up this weekend from a local merchant.  Yesterday we did a hammer job on it, because the action was stiff as a board fence.  It's much nicer now.  Milady tried it, and announced that it fit her hand as well, and with the hammer job, she can cock it easily.

Third, a Ruger New Vawuero.  This is the first .45 Colt I ever bought.  Akarate Zach shoots it now, until he can get a gun of his own.  I remind him regularly that the gun isn't his, it belongs to me, but he's certainly welcome to use it.  We lightened the cocking force by clipping four coils from the mainspring. Now, it wears Ruger bard-rubber Gunfighter grips.  I still have the rosewood grips that came on it, in case I ever get my revolver back.

Fourth, a Uberti Hombre, with the brass grip frame.  This is my go-to revolver for Cowboy Fast Draw.  This one is bone-stock, just like it came out of the box.  After a couple of thousand rounds of our wax bullet ammo, it slicked up nicely and is the gun in my holster when I step to the line.

Fifth, on the bottom of the photo, is another Ruger New Vaquero.  This one, Milady customized after we gave it a hammer job (by clipping four coils off the mainspring). The gun also sports Ruger hard-rubber Gunfighter grips, but we sanded them down to better fit her hand, and she painted them with fingernail polish before clear-coating them.  This is the revolver she used to win in Odessa in July, and her turquoise grips are known all over the Southern Territory.

I believe that I'm through buying cowboy guns for a while.  We seem to have plenty.  However, my son missed one Single action that I've had for several years, long before I started the gunfighter game.  It's my woods-cruising gun, the Super Blackhawk.

It's barked and roared in the game woods, and it has introduced new shooters to magnum handguns.  It's not technically a cowboy revolver, but it certainly evokes the aura of the late 9th century.

Labor Day Carpentry

I built my large deck in 2009 to accommodate my daughter's first wedding.  It's all treated lumber, guaranteed to last fifteen years.  Except if you put a flower pot on the wooden deck.  After three or four years the constant moisture under the deck rots even treated lumber.  A couple of weeks ago, Milady and I learned this lesson when we moved some flower pots and found that the deck underneath was rotted.  So, I had to replace four deck boards and decided that this morning would be a good time to accomplish that task.

At about 8:00 I hied myself to the lumber yard and picked out four nice, 16' deck boards, treated lumber.  I specifically inspected each board to make sure that it was straight and relatively free of knots or other inclusions that would limit its useful life.  I had to go through about 24 boards to find the four I wanted, but I checked out, loaded them in the truck and took myself home.

After ripping out the old boards, I commenced to installing the new boards.  Two of them had warped on the way home, simply from the difference in temp and humidity from the time I took them out of the lumber yard to the time I got them home.

Luckily, just about the time I got to this stage, second son Matt came over to let his young'un swim in the pool.  So, I enlisted his help and with a crowbar and some screws we were able to work the warpage out of the board and make it look like it is straight.

That's better and the deck is safe to use now, structurally sound and ready to entertain family and friends.  We've gotten a lot of use out of that deck, and I hope I've done all the maintenance I need to do for the next year or so.

May Grace Disintegrate

It's September, and the height of the hurricane season, so we keep watching the National Hurricane Center, where Tropical Storm Grace has appeared in mid-Atlantic.

She's not a big storm, as tropical storms go, and from the discussion, it doesn't appear that she'll make hurricane status:

Given the strong southwesterly upper-level winds expected near the eastern Caribbean late in the period, it is quite possible that Grace will degenerate to a tropical wave before it reaches the Lesser Antilles.

We can hope that the models are correct and Grace becomes a simple line of thunderstorms.

As for PawPaw on this Labor Day, I have a simple little carpentry project to take care of, then I'll enjoy the rest of the day with Milady.

Family Connections

My daughter's wedding was  in a small little church in northern Rapides Parish.  I had never been inside the church before yesterday, at the rehearsal, but I noticed something that said family, in a strong and familiar way.

My grandfather was a woodworker, among other things.  All manner of marvelous mysteries came out of his shop, and in his later years he started making toys and small knickknacks to give away.  One piece that he made hundreds, f not thousands of was a simple little piece of wood that he painted brown, then with natural wood strips, glued those strips to spell the word JESUS in reverse relief.  There is no telling how many of those things he made and gave away and I'd put the number somewhere in the high hundreds, if not the low thousands.

So, when I noticed the little wooden knickknack on the alter I knew immediately who had made it.  I don't know the story of how it got to that altar, but I am as certain of the shop where it originated as I am of my own last name.

The horseshoe nail cross is a nice touch as well, but I felt comforted seeing that little plaque on the altar.  It was a connection for me that was simply touching.  I'm glad to know that the church she attends has a little piece of her great-grandpa inside it.  I feel like he would be pleased.

Uberti 1873 Cattleman

The Uberti 1873 Cattleman is a fair reproduction of the old Colt Model P.  Uberti makes a dozen or more models, but the basic revolver, the Cattleman has been around for a while.  It's a staple of SASS and CFDA shooting, well regarded by both organizations.  The basic model has a steel grip frame, color casehardened receiver, and blued cylinder and barrel.

Louisiana, twice per year, has a tax-free weekend for hunting, fishing, and outdoor activities.  It's a 2nd Amendment holiday, and lots of gun shops staff extra people to handle the flood of customers.  Hunting season starts today in this area, in the form of dove season, and lots of guys and gals wait until this weekend to make major purchases.

Out in the woods, near Woodworth, LA, on a forest service road, there is a shop called Boone's Hunting and Trapping.  Mr. Boone has been selling guns out of this shop for years, and he's known to keep a nice selection of the guns that people like.  On the way home from the wedding, we stopped by Boone's as he was just six miles out of the way.  When I walked in the door, I asked if he had any cowboy revolvers, and he told me that he had a few, but that the NICS checks were running behind, about two hours, because of the volume of calls they were getting from Louisiana and Mississippi (which also has a tax free day today) .  Still, I wanted to look at the revolvers, and found this little jewel that begged me to take it home.

It's the Cattleman Steel, new in the box.  He had several other versions in stock, to include the Hobre and the El Patron, but I went with te Cattleman steel.  That casehardened receiver talked to me.

I think that's just as pretty as can be, and while I was filling out the paperwork, Milady fondled it and said that it seemed to fit her hand.  The grips seem to be just a little smaller than both the Hombre and the Ruger grips.  The action is as stiff as a wood fence, and I'll have to do some tweaking, but that's not terribly hard to do.  It will become a spare, I'm sure, just in case we're at a shoot and have mechanical problems with one of the guns.

I told Mr. Boone that I had never had a problem with NICS checks, that when I bought a gun, the problems cleared up and the sale was approved immediately.  He scoffed, and handed his wife the phone.  Within ten minutes I had the gun tucked under my arm and was out the door.  Oh, the price was under retail for the gun.  Any time I can buy for under retail at a local merchant, I feel like I've done a good deed.  The money stays in the local economy and the profit goes to local merchants.  

Goin' To A Wedding

PawPaw's been pulling pork and cooking brisket, and in about fifteen minutes, we're going to load the goodies and head out the door.  My daughter is getting married this morning, and while it's a second marriage for each of them, it is a wondrous joy.  Her fella is a family friend, the kids grew up together, so we know each other pretty well.

My daughter is happier than I've seen her in years, and that makes a father feel good.

I'll talk with y'all later.

Gator Comes A'Calling

A bit of a palate cleanser for a Friday afternoon, it seems like in the town of LaPlace, LA, a big gator climbed out of a storm drain and caused a stir in a neighborhood.  It seems like a nice place, and the video is narrated by the fellow taking the footage.



One wag on the Book of Face, commented simply "sauce piquante", which is possible in that part of Louisiana.

Y'all have a great weekend.

Spider Lillys

Spider Lillys, or Lycoris, is a plant that grows in these latitudes.  Often seen in the red variety, I was able to find a patch of white a couple of years ago, and snagged a couple of bulbs.

Look what I saw when I pulled into the driveway this afternoon.

Lovely, just lovely.

We have the red variety too (Lycoris radiata) planted in the front yard around an oak tree.  I'll have to keep an eye out for them too.

Thursday Thuds

HILLARY'S IT FOLKS TAKE THE 5TH.  A former aide to Hillary Clinton who helped set up her private email server has told at least three congressional committees that he will invoke the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying against his former boss, Fox News has confirmed.  When your IT people start taking the 5th, it's not a good sign. Offer him immunity and compel testimony.

FBI STARTING PROBE OF HILLARY'S SERVER:  ESPIONAGE. The FBI has begun a probe into whether foreign intelligence services compromised Hillary Clinton’s e-mail server during and after her tenure as secretary of state, according to U.S. intelligence and Congressional officials.  Espionage is a word that used to get people shot, or hung.  No wonder her IT guy is taking the 5th.

WILL EMAILGATE BURN THE WHITE HOUSE? Will Hillary Clinton’s Emails Burn the White House?  Some are asking how far up this went, who knew, and what the damage is.

KENTUCKY CLERK JAILED.  A federal judge ordered a defiant county clerk to jail for contempt Thursday after she insisted that it would violate her conscience to follow court orders to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.  Just exactly how did she think this would turn out.  If she doesn't want to issue marriage licenses, that's her prerogative.  If the judge want to jail her for contempt, that's his prerogative.  Maybe she should just resign and let someone else have the job.

And some folks wonder why I quit following politics at the national level.  There is just so much suckge that one man can cover without losing his sanity.

Professor Reynolds Gets It Right

If you don't read Instapundit, you're missing something.  Today, he gets it exactly right, while talking about the relationship between police and the criminal class.

Burglars would be hung from lampposts, and shoplifters would be beaten and tossed into the gutter if there were no police, as in fact happens in countries where there isn’t a reliable justice system and a civil-society culture that restrains vigilantism. Reminder to the criminal class: Ultimately, we’re not stuck in this country with you. You’re stuck in this country with us.

Police tend to restrain good people from acting on their baser instincts.  Instead of  hanging a burglar or a child molester from the nearest convenient tree, a civil society calls the police.

Pawn Shop Crawling

In 1950, Smith and Wesson introduced what was destined to become an iconic revolver, the Chief's Special.  A five-shot, small frame revolver in .38 special, it was introduced at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Colorado.  Derived from the old Hand-Ejector, the frame was beefed up to handle the new .38 Special cartridge and the new frame was called the J-frame.

It was marketing genius to introduce it at the IACP conference, but the simple fact is that the J-frame revolver makes a lot of sense for a lot of people  The .38 Special is a wonderful old cartridge, a cast-bullet dream, but the newer loadings from the ammo manufacturers today make the .38 Special into a perfectly capable defense package.  Combine the light weight and small frame of the Chief's Special with the good ammo we find today and the little revolver is perfectly suited to defensive carry.

I've owned and carried several J-frames over the years.  I like the little guns, and indeed, I carry a J-frame today, in the form of an Airweight Model 38, another revolver built on the J-frame.  But, like most revolver fans, I like the Model 36.  The Model 36, is of course, the basic Chief's Special, renamed when Smith and Wesson went to model numbers rather than names.

Yesterday, I walked into my favorite pawn shop.  A family friend had asked me to look for a small handgun.  I had an hour to kill between assignments and decided to see what Jimmy had in his gun case.  He had the usual semi-autos and a few revolvers, but all by itself, over in the corner, lay a gun that caught my eye.

It' s a nickeled Model 36, but it has the heavy, 3" barrel.  And Pachmayr grips.  I asked to look at it, and the counterman handed it across the counter.  It felt good in my hand, and those big grips may cover either the square butt or the round butt.  Smith made the little gun with both grip styles.  The little gun seemed tight, as most of them do.  J-frames are guns that are generally carried much and shot little, and even the survivors from 50 years ago are normally pretty tight.

I looked at the price tag, and it seemed about right for a used revolver, but pawn shops are places where the price is flexible, and I've been buying in this shop for more than a decade, so the counterguy and I began the dance.   Then along comes the shop owner, the world famous Cajun Pawn Star, and we started talking about other things. We walked toward the back door, and I shook Jimmy's hand and crossed the street to my parked truck.

I climbed up in the truck, started the engine, and realized that the counterguy and I had not finished our dance regarding the price.  I texted my son and asked him what he thought, then got the checkbook out of the console and walked back in the shop.  In a few minutes, the counterguy and I had come to a conclusion, so I wrote him a check to hold the gun on layaway.  I'll get it out in a month or so.

Another One Gone

We lost another police officer this morning, gunned down while chasing fleeing men.

The officer radioed in Tuesday morning to tell dispatchers he was chasing three men on foot, but communication was lost shortly after, according to Covelli.  "His backup arrived shortly thereafter and found him injured with a gunshot wound," Covelli said. "The officer has succumbed to his injuries and passed away."

This one, Lt  Joseph Gliniewicz of the Fox Lake IL police department was a 30-year veteran of the department.  As always, my thoughts and prayers to the survivors.

A manhunt is going on right now for three suspects, two white males and one black male that the officer was chasing when he was shot.  The area of the manhunt is described as "wooded and rural".

More information at the link above.

This subject is getting damned monotonous.