Sunday Afternoon

We fed our family, as we do every Sunday and they left for home a couple of hours ago.  Milady and I shifted into "getting ready" mode for our trip this week.  On Wednesday morning, we leave for the big city of Hartford KY, for the Kentucky State Championships of Cowboy Fast Draw.

We have a house-sitter coming in, a dear, old-time friend who will pamper the dawg and generally look over the place.  We trust her with everything we own, and know that when we get home next week, everything will be okay.

I'm working my list, and tomorrow will be spent checking off block on that list, making piles of stuff, and trying to make sure I don't forget anything.  Guns, gear, bag-and-baggage, it's something I've done before.  Yeah, the competition is fun, but what I'm looking for is four days of rest and relaxation, shooting with old and new friends and spending time at a hobby that Milady and I both love.

Speaking of which, Milady is taking her Rangemaster's course at this shoot.  Before you can become a Rangemaster in Cowboy Fast Draw, you have to complete the Range Officer course at the local club, then go through a class at a sanctioned shoot, and run the line at that sanctioned shoot, under the supervision of a Regulator, who'll certify her nationally.  She's ready, and I know she is, so when we come home, Blue Eyed Belle will be a Rangemaster.  I'm proud of her for making that step.

Looking around the Faecebook group, I can see the folks getting ready for Kentucky.  Idaho finished up this afternoon, Kentucky is next.  Nebraska is the last sanctioned shoot before World's in Nevada in October.  Then, we'll all catch our breath, take a little break, and start all over again.

Our club, Thorn Valley Shootist Society, hosts one of the first invitational shoots after Worlds.

I'm not going to World's this year, the boss would crap down both legs.  But, Blue Eyed Belle and I get to slip off a couple of times a year.  This year, it's Kentucky, and we're stoked.  We want to see if those guys east of the Mississippi know how to hold a shoot.

Smelting

My younger son showed up with some salvaged lead, so we spent the cool morning hours smelting lead to make into bullets.  Out in the backyard, with plenty of ventilation, we started melting about a hundred pounds of dead-soft lead and about 40 pounds of old wheelweights that I had laid back.

That's the set-up.  A tripod set up over the burner, the lead pot on the burner, and the big chunk of salvage lead suspended in the pot.  The salvage lead was bigger than any smelting pot I had on hand.

A picture from a little farther out, of the same set up.

As we melted the lead, we cast it into ingots.  I've got hree ingot molds, one small Lee mold, and an old cast-iron muffin tin that we use for dead-soft lead.  And, an old cornbread-stick mold that we use for harder metal, like magnum pistol and rifle bullets.  The alloy is different, and by simply looking at the cast ingot, we know what alloy we're dealing with.

Some smelted lead cooling in the grass.  You can see the small Lee molds, the round muffin molds and the long cornstick molds cooling.  The cornsticks are wheelweight metal, the other two are dead-soft lead.

All in all, I figure that we smelted a hundred pounds of lead this morning.  At an average of 150 grains per bullet, that's better than 4600 bullets that we prepped today.  Not bad for a couple of hours work on a Saturday morning.

Thanks, son.

Oh, The Lies

With the document dump today, it is becoming clear that Comey couldn't track a white elephant up a muddy creek bank.

Hillary Clinton told FBI investigators last month that she did not have a personal computer inside the area within her home designed for viewing classified information known as a SCIF.

But three different witnesses told the FBI Clinton did indeed use personal computers inside the SCIFs at her Washington, D.C., and Chappaqua, N.Y., homes.

The contradiction in Clinton's statements was just one of many that was exposed in the scathing 58 pages of notes released by the FBI Friday from its investigation of Clinton.

Comey sold out his personal reputation, the good name of the FBI, and put to rest the idea that we're a nation of laws.  He should be indicted for malfeasance and his name be eternally shamed in the annals of incompetent cops.

Given the opportunity, I intend to piss on his shoes, and tell him that it's raining.

Have Y'all Noticed??

Only in America can a back--up quarterback get paid $19 million a year and claim that America is racist.  Amazing.

There is supposed to be a debate scheduled between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, moderated by Matt Lauer.  They're going to talk about implications of military strategy.  What do any of those three know about military strategy?

The Donald, a career businessman, deal-maker, billionaire, and corporate entrepreneur is now the champion of the underdog working class, and Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, is beholden to big money and Wall Street.  This is a strange world we live in.

Glenn links to some interesting stuff about the Middle East.  With American influence waning there, Obama knows that the region can only be ruled with an iron fist, be and America can't rule with an iron fist, so he's letting the Chinese and Russians expand their influence there.  In the past, the oil would have been an issue, but with fracking, oil isn't an issue anymore.  Brilliant!

In other news, it's Friday, and I plan to stop on the way home this afternoon at my favorite butcher shop and get some fine ribeye steaks.  Let's get this weekend started.

Hermine

It looks like tropical storm Hermine is going to go in to the Big Bend along the Florday coast later tonight.  I hope those folks are hunkered down and have their plans together.  The folks in Florida, especially the Crackers in northern Florida (and I use that term respectfully and lovingly) know how to deal with tropical storms, so I'm not particularly worried about them.  They know what to do.

The latest map from the National Hurricane Center.

The National Hurricane Center is warning about life-threatening storm surge and flooding.  Our prayers, of course, are for the people of north Florida tonight.

Stash Guns

Tam talks about this, and as a long-time concealed carrier, maybe I should too.  We'll start with a discussion she links to, from a detective working a murder scene:

"One of my very first murder scenes as a uniformed officer was a guy toes up halfway in/halfway out of his door and in his boxer shorts. Someone had dumped a mag of .25 in him. Evidence indicated he was gut shot, fell down, and they they emptied it into his face. I spent over 3 hours clearing guns to transport to the property room for safe keeping until next of kin could be notified. Eleventy bajillion loaded guns in the house, dead on the door step in his boxers."

 Why someone would open a door in his boxer shorts is another quesion, but in several decases of police work, I've seen that more than once.  The point is a guy laying dead in his door, and loaded guns all over the house.  Didn't do him much good, did it?

You never know when someone is going to get the drop on you, and that's a fact.  In 2000, I made a decision to have a gun on my person at all times. It became my default position, being armed.  People ask, sometimes, ask how I carry a gun to _________ (fill in the blanks.  Sometimes it's church, sometimes it's a Little game. you get the point) .

Normally, the first thing I do when I get up in the morning, is slip on a pair of jeans that is hanging at the foot of the bed. The gun is already in those jeans.  It goes with me on my daily travels. This particular gat hasn't been "put away" in over four years.  It gets cleaned and serviced occasionally, but it is the one that rides with me everywhere.

Here's the thing about being armed as a default.  If you ever run into me, and I'm not armed, it is because I made the decision to leave the gun, for reasons that are purely personal and my own.  I may have made the decision for a variety of reasons, but when I'm not packing, I am acutely aware of that fact, and I remedy it as soon as possible.  That familiar heft on my right side is part-and-parcel of my daily attire, and it feels odd when it's not there, like I decided to go out with one shoe.

I liken it to a lady going out without her purse.  Every woman I know carries a purse and when they decide NOT to carry it, that is a conscious decision.  It really is that personal.

It's not a decision for everyone.  I get that, but it's a decision I made sixteen years ago, as an experiment, and I've never regretted it.

ChicagoLand

In case you haven't noticed, Chicago is having a particularly horrific month.  It's the murder capitol of the US, with the tally at 78  murdered now for August (and that tally is liable to change before midnight).

Chicago, you might note, has the harshest gun regime in the US.  Normal people can't have guns in Chicago.  So, what's the problem?

Some call it "gun violence," a definition greatly appreciated by Democratic politicians like those at City Hall. They can point to guns and take that voter anger over homicide numbers and channel it into a safe space.
But there are plenty of guns in the suburbs, and suburbanites aren't slaughtering each other.
It's the gang wars.

 Everything I 'm hearing tells me that morale is low in the police department.  As a result, street stops are down and street stops are the best way to control violence.  The street gangs have sensed an opening and they are nothing if not opportunistic.

Yet, we don't hear anyone in the administration talking about the gang problem.  It's there, but they don't want to talk about it.  All they want to talk about is guns.  One thing that the administration has not learned is that we can either support the police, or we can support the street gangs.  That's pretty much your choice.  If you support the street gangs, be ready to pay the butcher's bill.

Light Primer Strikes

In our game, we shoot single action revolvers with wax bullet ammo.  We're tough on our revolvers, even though the ammo is under-powered.  And, the game is fast, with shots being scored in fractions of a second.  As a result of trying to be as competitive as possible, we're apt to tune our revolvers It's fairly easy to trim a spring, or polish a strut, or lighten a hammer.  This isn't rocket science.  It's basically 19th century technology, and frankly, with a good set of screwdrivers, a file, and a basic knowledge of mechanical interactions, it is entirely within the realm of the garage-tinkerer to do most of the basic gunsmithing that was done back in the 1800s.

We have a rule that at a sanctioned shoot, the host supplies all the ammo for the match.  It's a good rule, because it levels the playing field.  Everyone shoots the same ammo.  While we have standards for our ammo, and every host makes an effort to supply reliable ammunition, they have no control over the strength of your mainspring. If your mainspring is too light, the ammo might not ignite and the match is lost.

So, it's a balancing act.  Tune the revolver, but keep the springs tight enough to ignite the primer.  Especially for our ladies and youth, who might not have the grip strength of the men. Wolff makes springs for the Vaquero and they make springs for the Colt clones.  Those two spring packs stay in my spares bag, and on my Brownells's wish list at all times.

I'm telling you all this, because next Wednesday, Milady and I are traveling to Kentucky to shoot at a sanctioned match, the Kentucky State Championships.  Sure as God made little green apples, there will be a misfire sometime during the match.

Over the next several days I'll be going over our revolvers to make sure that they are clean and all the screws are tight.  I've reduced the mainspring tension on Milady's Piettas and she's been shooting them for several months without a light strike, so I'm convinced that she won't have a problem, I run factory springs in my Ubertis, The Rugers are a mixed bag.  Milady's backup was the first time I had tried to lighten a mainspring.  She and I had matching guns, and I lightened both of those by the simple expedient of cutting four coils.  That reduced the hammer tension considerably and has never been a problem.  The Turnbull Vaquero has factory springs, but the action has been polished to a buttery smoothness.

Watching TD 9

Tropical Depression 9 is churning away in the Gulf, and is expected to become a named storm later today.  The models seem to indicate that it's going to turn to the north, then toward the east and go to Florida.  The models are pretty much in alignment, and look like this.

Taken as a composite, we get our standard warning cones map from the National Hurricane Center.

I've been watching these things for a long time, and while the weather-weenies are better at what they do, I've seen storms break the model.  I'll keep an eye on this thing and hope that it doesn't come to Louisiana.  (Sorry about that, for Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.)

Humiliation

It's rough going through a separation and divorce.  Rougher still when the problems in the marriage make it into the local gossip column.  I can feel sorry for Huma Abedin in the latest scandal about her husband.  Finding your spouse on the front page of the scandal sheet is humiliating enough.  She's dumping him, and rightly so.

She has bigger problems, though, and she probably knows it.  As the aide-de-camp of the female half of the Clinton Crime Family, she is in the thick of things, and as the evidence mounts, those things are liable to come to light also.  The Benghazi problems, the pay-to-play, the email scandal, eventually, one of those things is going to get the bosses in big trouble.  Indictable trouble, and you know how those things go.  It's just not the head of the family that gets picked off.  They generally start with the under-bosses.

Her husband is a sleaze-ball, no doubt, but so is her boss.  Huma is caught between a rock and a hard place.  But, she put herself in this situation.  When the end finally comes, I wonder how much time Huma will end up doing, or if she'll turn states evidence against her boss.  She does have a young son that needs to be raised.

November will tell the tale, but even the Associated Press is catching on to the idea that Hillary broke several public corruption laws while she was Secretary of State.  Those things are starting to come to light and cannot bode well for Hillary, Bill, or the staff of the Clinton Crime Family.

Tropical Depression 9

I see this morning that the National Hurricane Center has changed the name of that storm we've been watching.  It's now Tropical Depression 9.  The current models indicate that it is going to get into the Gulf of Mexico, then turn right (toward the northeast) and head toward Florida.  The static map for this morning is here.

Again, models are models, and if anyone tells you for certain that they know what this storm (or any other) will do three days out, they're lying to you.

We'll continue to keep a weather eye on this thing, and update our plans as necessary.

Body Work Complete

Over the past couple of days, my auto body project came together between rain showers and today, the boys and I put it back together.

YouTube is a magnificent asset to projects such as this, and we figured out how to stab that front header panel back in with the least heartburn and anguish.

I think that it looks pretty good.  The color-match paint is very close to factory, and that's close enough for a 15-year-old car that's used to get to work.  Let's see, since I got it three years ago, I had some engine work done (new timing chain, gears, etc), it's got new rubber all the way around, the front suspension has been rebuilt, and now the crashed headlight header has been replaced.  It's probably good for another 100K miles.  And, it's paid for.

Practice Day

We held a practice day at Thorn Valley yesterday, and we tried to get some video.  Just like football teams review game videos, we've learned that watching video can help us understand what we're doing wrong.  Below, a video of PawPaw hisself running the long gun.  The revolver in question is a Ruger (old) Vaquero.



What I've learned from watching this video is that my holster is a bit high, and that I tend to hesitate for just a couple of milliseconds before I trip the trigger.  I'm shooting in the 0.83s, which is slow in this game.  I need to lose about 2/10ths of a second to be really competitive.  That would put me down in the mid 5s, and that ain't bad with a long gun.

Next, we look at a video taken by me, while Big Mark was running his long gun.  This is from the perspective of the hand judge.  A hand judge is vital to any CFDA competition.  The hand judge is the front line of keeping everyone focused on a fair competition.  The hand judge sees it all.



I'm honestly not sure what revolver Mark is running in this video.  He favors Rugers, so if I had to guess, I'd speculate that it's a New Vaquero.  I'll leave him to critique his own performance, but I'll note that he's getting the gun out and the bullet downrance in the sub-6/10th range.

In ten days we leave for Kentucky State.  We're stoked about it, and looking forward to a good time.

Sunday Morning Dawg

It's been a while since I posted a picture of the dawg, but Friday was National Dawg Day, and I snapped a photo of him for the Book of Face.

He's doing well,  Pampered, spoiled and well fed.  In a few minutes, Milady is going to start cooking chicken and dumplings, a special request from one of the grandkids.  They'll be over for lunch.  And, yes, the dog will get his ration of dumplings.  Milady will see to that.

Saturday Update

Beautiful weather over my acre this morning, the second day of no rain, and we can hear lawn mowers and small engines all over the neighborhood, cleaning up the place.  It is the last week of August, and it's hurricane season, so we turn our eyes toward the tropics and see what's brewing up this morning.

Two areas of interest.  The closest to us, that yellow X just south of Lake Charles causes some concern, so we hover our pointer over it to see the pop-up.

It only shows a ten percent chance of getting organized, but it's going to throw rain on south Texas and south Louisiana.  Just what we need.  NOT.  We'll keep an eye on that.

The next item of interest is that second X, down around Florida/Cuba/Bahamas.

It's got a forty percent chance of getting organized as it moves through the strait of Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico.  It will pay to keep a weather eye on it over the next several days.

PawPaw got up early and finished his yard work after coffee.  The mower is rinsed off and put away, and Milady and I can enjoy the Saturday.  We plan to go out to the club later, and get into a gunfight.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have a mid-morning cup of coffee then take a shower.  Today is shaping up very, very well.

Y'all get out and enjoy it.

Friday Supper

A little shooting in the backyard after work and Milady found a couple of little filets in the freezer that we needed to cook.

A little filet, some loaded mashed potatoes, and...  oh, the revolver? Yeah, I need to clean that.  I may get into a gunfight at the club tomorrow.

The Election

I haven't said much about the election recently, for a couple of very good reasons.  First, I believe the political landscape to have degenerated into a surreal parody.  National politics is bizarre.

However, Scott Adams is talking about the latest news cycle and he posits some interesting speculation.

Here in the USA, we’ve narrowed our search for a new leader to two lying, 70-year old racists. (You should see how bad the other 320 million of us are.)

I’m exaggerating, obviously. There are big differences in the candidates. For example, Clinton has allegedly killed lots of people in the past, whereas Trump will allegedly kill lots of people in the future. That’s very different, timing-wise.

 They are both lying. All the time. About everything.

If that isn’t obvious to you at this point, you are hypnotized. Literally.

That's my take on the current presidential race.  It's bizarre beyond belief.  Whatever happens, the United States is about to elect a liar to the presidency.  One of them has been plotting since the '80s to become the president, but she had to sell out American interests everywhere to get the money to get the nomination.  The other one is a businessman who never really intended to be president, but he won the nomination and is now out of his element.

It's become a race of two political cripples.  Neither one of them is fit to serve, have no good ideas, but each have outlasted their political adversaries.  They're limping toward the finish line, trying to deliver a telling blow to the other before the final bell rings and the curtain falls on this national tragedy.  It might be interesting if it weren't so pathetic.
 

Hurricane Prediction

I've seen all the models, and I've seen all the predictions, and eventually, they start to look like this.

It's going to go where it goes, and there is not a hell of a lot we can do about it.  These things tend to sort themselves out after a couple of days and the track becomes more clear.  Take a breath, check your plan, and be ready to move if necessary.

Oh, Joy!

As south Louisiana tries to dry out, the National Hurricane Center brings us a warning about a possible problem next week.  It seems that there is something brewing that might cause us problems.

It's not a tropical storm yet, and it is not even named, but the weather-weenies are keeping an eye on it.  Go to the National Weather Service for more information.

It's not time to freak out yet, but it is time to review your plan.  (You should always have a plan.)  This thing doesn't bode well for southern Florida, and if it gets into teh warm Gulf waters, who knows how fast it might brew up.  PawPaw will be keeping an eye on this one over the next several days.

What's Your Home Defense Gun

Massad Ayoob wants to know.  It's a legit question, and there may be several correct answers.

For myself, a little J-frame Smith and Wesson is a constant companion.  Always and everywhere.  I haven't been without that pistol in civvies for the past 14 years.  At that time, I decided to conduct an experiment, and began carrying always and everywhere.

For a while, I carried a little Ruger LCP, but it got loaned out, or it needed cleaning, or something.  Right now, the LCP is in a convenient drawer near my computer.  But, the J-frame is in my pocket.  Always and everywhere.

So, what's your choice?