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Gun Thread: First February 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!

Remember last week in my explanation of the naming convention for Gun Threads how the the new month's thread would be called "Beginning of {insert month here}?" Do you remember that? Well, I went all wacky and changed things up and went with "First February Edition" shown above instead. Just keeping all y'all on your toes. Anyhow, welcome to February! Been to the range?

Oh, and thanks for not burning the place down last week. WeaselWoman had a very nice birthday!

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

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Sprash 1 Red Barroon!!

Yesterday an F-22 took out the Commie Chinese Spy Barroon allowed to float unchallenged across North America last week by President Retard. An AIM-9X Sidewinder missile was used as the mostly peaceful inflatable crossed the east coast and headed out over the Atlantic on it's totally-not-spying-on-shit mission.

Here's a recap of the engagement by Ward Carroll. Note his remarks about balloon incursions into U.S. airspace also occurring during the Trump administration are being refuted elsewhere. Anyhow, the video below contains some good photos and footage.

Here's another look with some tactical analysis by C.W. Lemoine.

Any way you look at it, nice shooting by the U.S. Air Force!

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Part 3 of the reloading series is below with this week's section on working with powder. Quick question - would you all find it beneficial to have the entire reloading series in one place, say a PDF or on a web page for reference? If so, let me know in the comments and I can set something up.

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Guns of the Weasel

This is my Springfield Armory M1 Garand produced in mid-1945. I also have a Winchester model converted to .308 by Navy Arms which is all kinds of fun to shoot, too. Here's a little video I made some time ago at WeaselAcres with the SA edition.

Why am I mentioning all of this? Because I recently found this video on what to look for when buying a Garand. It's long, so you may want to bookmark it to watch later.

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Range Time!
First up our pal chappyman66 shares a report on taking his grandson to the range for the first time.

My grandson turned 12 last month, which is the minimum age for our indoor range. I had started him with the Red Ryder and a pellet gun in the basement hallway. But a real gun had to wait. Saturday was the day, as he is staying with us for the weekend. We were quite conservative, keeping the target close (20 ft). He ran about 50 rounds of 22LR through the BLR-22 at the middle bullseye and the lower left target and very rapidly picked up the lever action.

This was followed by about 25 rounds of 22LR through the Ruger Single Six convertible at the lower left target, which also went pretty well.

The pistol case containing the Ruger also held the FI Model D in .380 ACP. And he did want to try it. The first couple were single rounds, so he could learn the basics of running the gun, but then he ran about three magazines through the lower right target before our time was up.

As a first trip to the range, it went very well and I am thrilled to have been able to help my grandson start experiencing the enjoyment of shooting.

Holy Shitballs! Man, this right here is what I am talking about. I have said it before and I will say it again, I strongly believe it is our responsibility to introduce the next generation of shooters to the sport. Very, very nicely done chappyman66!

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Recommendations?
Next, our pal Sergeant Major is looking for some advice on a carry weapon.

A few weeks ago, on the Gun Thread, you highlighted one for concealed carry. I have had many senior moments since then and am unable to recall the gun in question. One thing I remember tho was that it had a manual safety. At present I have a Glock 26 and would gladly convert it to a house gun if I could find a suitable CC weapon. Any help?

I mentioned to Sergeant Major I wasn't sure exactly which gun he was referring to, but that I was sure we'd get lots of responses in the comments to his question. Do you guys and gals think you have enough information to make a useful suggestion? If you are going to make a recommendation and want to be taken seriously, give the reasons why you are recommending a particular make & model.

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Colt Python History

image courtesy EdL

Last week we took a look at a pair of beautiful Colt Python revolvers shared by our pal EdL, and I found the following history of the model presented in Shooting Sports USA.

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Mastering the Handgun
When I went back to find the reloading stuff I noticed something recently mentioned in the comments, and that is an instructional video originally sent in by our pal and delightful 'ette, lin-duh. This is an excellent presentation well worth your time whether you're a beginner or an old pro at shooting.

What do you think?

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Who Knew?
If I get one request for a video on lichen a week, I get a hundred. Who knew we had so many lichen enthusiasts among us?

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Handloading 101 Pt. 3: Working with Powder - 4/21/2019

For those who need to catch up, we've been discussing reloading and spreading the material over a few weeks. So far, we have reviewed essential gear and how to begin setting it up.

As a reminder, please do not list specific load powder charge weights when discussing reloading, and please remember this material is intended for the novice reloader, and for now let's keep the information basic for now. Thanks.

Moving right along in our reloading series, it's time to unbox the powder dispenser and scale, and this isn't a particularly difficult procedure. So open the boxes, and take out the powder dispenser and scales, and put them on your bench. The End. Seriously, a few words on the gear; you recall from the shopping list I recommended investing in a better than average powder dispenser and scales, and the reason is simple. While you can reload with satisfactory results using much less expensive equipment, using it can be tedious and frustrating. You want to make the reloading process as smooth and uncomplicated as possible, and a goofy powder dispenser is a pain in the ass to use. And it doesn't get better the longer you sit at the bench fighting with it. Same with scales. Nothing will make you less confident in your work than a powder scale that seems to be wandering all over the place, so if at all possible, this isn't the place to economize.

Powder Dispenser
These all work about the same way with the difference mostly being in the quality of the components. A micrometer of some sort is moved in and out creating a volumetrically variable chamber which fills with powder from a larger hopper above each time the lever is cycled. The setup really only involves putting the parts together and practicing a bit to develop a technique for operating the dispenser the very same way each time and using as close as possible to the same speed and pressure on the lever as you dispense a charge. At the beginning of a reloading session I always run through several test charges, measuring each until I am getting acceptably consistent results. It's also helpful to keep the main powder chamber at least approximately half full. I've found the charges begin to vary as the powder level gets close to running out. Finally, it's not a good idea to store powder in the dispenser between reloading sessions. I dump any unused powder back into the original container when I'm done for the day.

One note: For some powder dispensers, the micrometer size varies depending on whether it's designed for loading handgun loads where smaller charge weights are used, or rifle loads where larger charge weights are needed. Be sure to look at the range of performance for your particular dispenser to make sure it's appropriate for your intended use.

VIDEO: Powder measure setup
VIDEO: Using a powder measure

Scales
Powder scales come in all shapes, sizes and prices. You can spend a lot of money on a scale. I have small inexpensive digital jeweler's scales which honestly aren't too bad for a quick check, and very elaborate and expensive laboratory balances which can be fussy and subject to electromagnetic interference from household wiring and fluorescent lighting fixtures. What I use is an old-fashioned beam scale and I have collected a few from various manufacturers. There are all sorts of integrated dispensers and scale combinations which many people like, but what I use to produce my match ammunition is a plain old reloading beam scale. A couple of tips; calibrate your scales before each reloading session using a check weight, and I find it very helpful to add about a pound of stick-on lead wheel weights to the underside of the scale body when you first setting it up. This helps dampen tiny vibrations and keep the scale from skittering all over the place on the bench as you work.

VIDEO: Redding beam scale review
VIDEO: How to zero and read a beam scale

Next week we'll talk about choosing components!

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Musical Interlude
Here is SRV and Jeff Healy with Look at Little Sister.

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Gun Basics 101
Day 10 of the 12 Days of Carry video from the She Equips Herself gal! This week's video is on holsters.

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Cigar of the Week

This week we feature the Montecristo No. 4 from Cigar One in Geneva Switzerland.

Here are the notes from the Cigar One website.

A constant cigar and the bestselling stick in the world! The No.4 is well balanced, well-structured and appealing to the palate. Smooth, mellow, rich and creamy the leather, coffee and earth flavors remind us of classic Havana. This petit corona rivals its popular brother, the Montecristo No.2, in taste.

Your ol' pal Weasel has ordered a bunch of cigars from Cigar One over the years and has always enjoyed a smooth transaction with fast and discreet shipping. The owner of the site, Marc, is very helpful regarding selections and always responds promptly to email. Two Weasel thumbs up!

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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
Cigar One - Geneva

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 Hrothgar. Ha!

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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?