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Gun Thread: January First! 2023 Edition!

Howdy, Y'all! Welcome to the wondrously fabulous Gun Thread! As always, I want to thank all of our regulars for being here week in and week out, and also offer a bigly Gun Thread welcome to any newcomers who may be joining us tonight. Howdy and thank you for stopping by! I hope you find our wacky conversation on the subject of guns 'n shooting both enjoyable and informative. You are always welcome to lurk in the shadows of shame, but I'd like to invite you to jump into the conversation, say howdy, and tell us what kind of shooting you like to do!

Holy Shitballs! Happy New Year! How in the ever-loving Hell did it get to be 2023?! Did you stay up all night reveling, or were you in bed by 9:30pm as I usually am? For the late stayer-uppers, did you go out and start shooting handguns and rifles into the air at the stroke of midnight with reckless abandon? Any naked fire dancing? Have to say January is probably my least favorite month as I have to do about 90% of my annual work in this one month which makes Weasel grumpy and sad.

Wishing you all a very Happy and Prosperous New Year!

With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?

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As is customary with every January 1st Gun Thread, tonight I want to very sincerely thank all "you people" for being here week after week, and especially thank those who participate. Whether by commenting or submitting range reports and gun pictures for all of us to enjoy, the more participation we have, the more interesting the Ol' Gun Thread is going to be. I know we have a lot of lurkers, and that is fine if that's your comfort level, but I want everyone to know they have something to contribute and that contributions are always appreciated.

We are blessed to have a great deal of accumulated knowledge among us but remember every single one of the "experts" here had a first day on the range at some point. What I'm trying to say is just because you might not have years of shooting experience doesn't mean you don't have something to offer. When your 'ol pal Weasel was learning about guns and shooting, it was often answers to questions asked by other beginners that I learned the most from. The answer to your "basic" question, or analysis of results on a target, are probably going to be relevant and helpful to someone else at the same stage in their shooting career.

What's your favorite gun? Where do you like shooting it? Is there some particular type of ammunition causing you problems? Don't be a scairdy-cat! Let us know what is on your mind. Have you had a particularly memorable day at the range? Take a few pictures of the gun and targets and let us know what made it special for you. Have you had just a regular and normal fun day at the range? We want to hear about those, too!

Submitting content is easy - the best reports are a few hundred words long with two or three pictures. No special editing is required. Just compose an email and add the unedited pictures as attachments, then email them to me at gunthread at protonmail dot com and I will take care of the rest. It's really that easy! Don't forget to please, please, please include your blog nic so I know who to credit!

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Guns of the Horde

First up, our pal AlaBAMA shares a couple of new acquisitions!

Made a couple more purchases over the past month. One is my Christmas present to myself, because hey, if I don't get me the perfect gift, who will?

First up, is the latest addition to my inventory. I was carrying the Smith and Wesson M&P Shield for a while as my CCW, but I never grew comfortable with the overall size of the handgun. Grip was too short for my taste. I sold that and purchased the Smith and Wesson M&P M2.0 in Compact size, pictured below.

It's a much better profile for my hand and comes with a 4" barrel. You can also get these in up to a full size (5 inch) or as small a barrel as 3.6 inch. They also have a 10mm variant, although I opted for 9mm. It's optics ready, and some variants also come with optics mounted if you want. Smith replaced the hinge trigger a while back because no one liked the trigger pull and have opted for a one piece trigger, which is what I got. Not the greatest trigger in the world, and I would estimate she's coming in around a 4.5 lb pull. I will likely replace that at some point. But for now, she's my new EDC gun and I am much happier with it than the micro compact Shield series.

How does she shoot? Pretty darned good! To be honest, the sites were off from the factory and I had to adjust them (rear sites are adjustable via a set screw). But once those were honed in, it's pretty much spot on.

This is 10 yards at the range

The first few scared my as I thought the sites were still off (outside the money ring holes pictured) but quickly realized my grip was crap and adjusted for the mass of shots in the X. She's on.

Next up is my Christmas Gun.

Always been a fan of the Sig Sauer, I did a ton of research as they have a lot of models and settled in on the P226. I was looking for an external safety (I'm old school and just don't feel comfortable with one in the pipe without a manual safety), It was between this and the P320, but after reading about the lawsuits around the P320 (I think the M17 or M18 series), I went with the P226. I believe the P226 was the go to for the SEALs for some time. It's a very accurate and (hopefully) reliable gun.

This is the "Legion" series, which comes with the Sig Romeo red dot. It took some getting used to (I'm an iron sight guy), but was very nice once I co-witnessed the dot. It also comes with a nice carry case and a "Sig Legion Coin" if you register it with Sig to 'join the Legion'. LOL

How does she shoot? Well, for what it costs, it better shoot like a boss. How about 14 out of 16 in the money from 10 yards? Again, I have a bad habit of a lazy grip until I correct myself, hence the two outside. Need to shoot more often. So that's my update. A couple of new toys for the tree this year!

Wow! Very nicely done, AlaBAMA! Great looking guns and nice shooting! Thank you!

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Next up, our pal Oddbob shares a new Kimber and a nice Colt inherited from his Dad.

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I had bought a Kimber Gold Match II because I had been wanting a 5-inch, single-stack with adjustable sights. I finally managed to work a quick range trip into the holidays and here is a report.The other 1911 in the picture is one inherited from my Dad. The best thing about old guns is the stories that go with them. The story of this one is that in the mid or late 70s, my Dad was stationed in Adak, AK as a civilian contractor after retiring from the Air Force. Apparently, there wasn't much to do in Adak in the winter except drink at the O Club. There was a sailor who wanted to do just that but it was a week until payday and his tab was maxed out. He offered to sell this Colt Government Model to my Dad for, IIRC, $75. The serial number dates it to 1967.

Excellent, Oddbob! Thank you! Dang Range Babes. I am a big Kimber fan of both guns and you are shooting them very well. Appreciate it!

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Next up, our pal Dr. Fred is concise and to the point with his report on what Santa left for him on Christmas. Not a package of tongue depressors, not a stethoscope, not an MRI machine, a SIG 716i!

Since you asked, Santa left me a SIG 716i under the tree.

Wow! Santa must like you! How about a report after you take it to the range?

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Next up, our pal 10 Gallon Hat shares a range report.

Well I finally made it to the range again. It's been probably 2 months since my last session.

This time I brought 2 that I haven't shot before. The first is a Henry Golden Boy .22 caliber. My wife bought this for me for Christmas 2 years ago and it has been keeping my safe warm all this time. Yeah, she is a great woman and I am blessed. This rifle will shoot .22 short, long and long rifle.

The second was a Heritage Rough Rider .22 lr single action revolver. I bought it about a year ago and it also has been begging to be released from the safe. Before going to the range I gave both a quick wipe with Hoppes No. 9 and then a couple dry patches.

I started with the revolver, shooting at 15 feet on a playing card target. The cards are small, about 2" x 4" or so. The target in the picture shows 2 loads on each card, so 12 rounds per along the top row.

I was pretty impressed by this gun. For $99 its a real good little shooter. Of course I am really out of practice so I'm sure it could shoot much smaller groups, but I was happy with it overall. My only complaint with it is that the loading gate doesn't want to stay open very well. It could use a better detent. I also bought the .22 magnum cylinder for it but didn't play with that this trip.

Then I broke out the Henry and ran about 50 or so rounds of long rifle, shooting offhand at 60 feet. I was very impressed by the rifle. It has a very smooth action and is well balanced. I was not as impressed with my rifle skills. I have really lost the touch, but that shows how important it is to stay practiced. Even with my terrible shooting I managed to get groups around 4 to 5 inches. I found my old bones don't like holding up that long barrel anymore. Time to build my muscles up again. Due to the lousy shooting with it, no target picture for it.

Overall I had a great time and plan to take these out again if I can ever dredge them out of the lake after flipping my rowboat in and losing everything.

I have said it before and I will say it again, don't overlook the .22 for training and a plain old fun day at the range. Nicely done, 10GH, thank you!

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Browning Historical Photo
From our very own KT, proprietrix of the Gardening and Pet Threads, among others, comes a little bit of Browning history.

Found this on social media, with comments by two different guys:

"The first Browning retail shop on Washington Blvd where several of the first Browning prototypes were created. A plaque next to the Bigelow Hotel marks the spot. WHAT THAT GROUP CREATED! AND JUST IN TIME."

"Samuel, George, John, Matthew, Edmund Browning and Frank Rushton. All of them are holding John M.'s first manufactured invention - what would become the Winchester model 1885."

That would be in downtown Ogden, Utah.

Fishing tackle?! The Hell?? Anyhow, great find! Thanks KT!!

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More History! Wingo - San Diego

Next, our pal Bemused Builder in SoCal shares an excellent range report from a trip to Wingo in San Diego.

Longtime lurker here with an interesting memory from over 50 years ago - growing up as a kid in what was then a fairly quiet little Navy town.

In San Diego, 1971 Mr. Drogin took his son Steve and me to a new place just down the road called Wingo. I had no idea what Wingo was but quickly learned that it was an indoor shooting range where we shot with a provided (actual gunpowder firearm) range gun at ice balls that were launched towards us out of an ejection port (one of five possible ports) controlled through a programming panel.

We would shoulder the gun, watching the five ports and await the emergence of the ice sphere whereupon we would shoot and see if we could hit the danged thing. It was loud, smelled of gunpowder, and was completely novel to an 11 year-old kid who had never fired a gun before. The gun was chained to a bench so it could only be pointed downrange and there was a rangemaster keeping an eye on us. Looking back 51 years later, I can remember it like it was just yesterday.

I'm sure my parents hadn't given permission for me to go shooting, but times were way different back then. My Dad grew up in Oklahoma and had been in the Navy and my Mom's whole family were hunters and anglers up in Oregon. Guns were much more prevalent and much less scary.

A few years later when I got my first BB gun, my Dad taught me the 4 rules of gun safety and actually took the gun away that first day when I swept the muzzle past someone's foot. It didn't matter that the gun wasn't loaded or cocked or that my finger wasn't on the trigger. Because the gun is always loaded and you never point it at anything that you're not willing to destroy.

See? Do you see what I am saying? Bemused Builder in SoCal, an acknowledged lurker, has a most excellent range trip report to share from 50 years ago! Thanks, Bemused!

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Laarry Potterfield on checkering a gunstock. Anyone brave enough to tackle this?

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I swear I must get a hundred email requests each week for information on the development of the flourescent light. So for all of you flourescent bulb fans out there, here's a little something to enjoy.

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Musical Interlude
The Eagles and Joe Walsh (a personal hero) with Life's Been Good. Skip to 2:20 for the song.

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Gun Basics 101
New video from the She Equips Herself gal! This week's video is Day 3 in the 12 Days of Carry Series on taking charge of your own safety.

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Cigar of the Week

This week we are featuring the Romeo y Julieta 1875 Bully, a bit of a departure from my usual full bodied cigar preference. This medium strength offering from the Dominican Republic is worth a look! Around $8 each.

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Here are some different online cigar vendors. You will find they not only carry different brands and different lines from those brands, but also varying selections of vitolas (sizes/shapes) of given lines. It's good to have options, especially if you're looking for a specific cigar.

Cigarsinternational.com
Cigarpage.com
Famous-smoke.com
Cigarsdaily.com
Neptunecigar.com
Smallbatchcigar.com
Bobalu Cigar Company
Cigarbid.com

A note about sources. The brick & mortar/online divide exists with cigars, as with guns, and most consumer products, with respect to price. As with guns - since both are "persecuted industries", basically - I make a conscious effort to source at least some of my cigars from my local store(s). It's a small thing, but the brick & mortar segment for both guns and tobacco are precious, and worth supporting where you can. And if you're lucky enough to have a good cigar store/lounge available, they're often a good social event with many dangerous people of the sort who own scary gunz, or read smart military blogs like this one. -rhomboid

Anyone have others to include? Perhaps a small local roller who makes a cigar you like? Send me your recommendation and a link to the site!

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Ammo Link-O-Rama
I'm really very seriously not kidding around anymore. Buy Ammo
AmmoSeek - online ammo search tool
GunBot - online ammo search tool
SG Ammo
Palmetto State Armory
Georgia Arms
AmmoMan
Target Sports USA
Bud's Gun Shop

***Mail Bag***

This week's mailbag entry is from our pal JT. Great one, thank you!

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Please note the new and improved protonmail account gunthread at protonmail dot com. An informal Gun Thread archive can be found HERE. Future expansion plans are in the works for the site Weasel Gun Thread. If you have a question you would like to ask Gun Thread Staff offline, just send us a note and we'll do our best to answer. If you care to share the story of your favorite firearm, send a picture with your nic and tell us what you sadly lost in the tragic canoe accident. If you would like to remain completely anonymous, just say so. Lurkers are always welcome!

That's it for this week - have you been to the range?