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Gun Thread: Father's Day and More Secret Mission Edition!

bluebell learns to shoot

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, it's Father's Day! Happy Father's Day to all you Mom's and Dad's out there! I hope you are enjoying yourselves and get in some range time as part of the festivities! If not range time, then some time just hanging out with the people who are important to you.

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

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More Secret Mission!

I had an opportunity to participate in a micro-mini MoMe on Friday, and what a good time! A full day on the range where the conditions were just about perfect, and the company of fellow morons not too shabby, either. We were able to make targets as far as 800 yards look stupid, but the farthest at just over 1100 yards proved to be somewhat elusive. I think there were two contributing factors; first, I don't think I brought my wind calling 'A' game, and 2) we were definitely beginning to see the accuracy limits of commercial ammunition. But since only a retard blames their tools, I own the results. Sorry guys!

Still, any day on the range is a good day, especially when you spend it with your pals, right? What are you doing today? Any shooting?

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Guns of the Weasel
I recall promising in the comments recently I'd find the post I did some time ago, February of 2022 to be exact, of a Colt Pre-70 National Match 1911 which found its way to me. Here 'tis.

1964 Gold Cup National Match

I think I recall some of "you people" discussing the Colt 70 Series last week, so I thought I'd share some pictures with you. No, this isn't a Colt Series 70, it's a Colt Pre-70 manufactured in 1964. Our pal CBD says it's ugly and stupid and that I should give it to him so as not to have it contaminate the rest of the WeaselCollection.

Here's an interesting article on the history of the Colt National Match family which is worth a read. In the Variations section of the article they give the highlights of this model:

Gold Cup National Match - Introduced in 1957 in .45 ACP, the Gold Cup National Match was fitted with a match grade barrel, collet-style bushing, flat mainspring housing, long adjustable stop trigger, a hand fitted slide with an enlarged ejection port and adjustable target sights. It had the gold medallion in the grips and NM suffix on the serial number. These pistols were manufactured between 1957 and 1970.

The "Gold Cup" business didn't appear on the slide until later and was no doubt a brainchild of Colt's marketing department. It's hard to see in the pic but this one has 'National Match' roll marked on the left side of the slide before the word COLT. If you have never seen an example of the deep blued finish on a Colt product from this era, you're missing out. I take it to the range periodically for practice with carefully produced and light handloads.

Is it a shooter? Seriously? What do you think?

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Next, our pal WTM shares a photo of a 1910 Smith & Wesson .38.

WTM indicated it was used as the carry gun by a small town sheriff for many years, but didn't provide any other details. Here is an article from the American Rifleman on the history and performance of the S&W .38 but I am having a hard time (didn't come up immediately in a cursory online search) identifying the model. Anyone?

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Jer and a Webley
Here is our pal 'Jer' Miculek with a Webley!

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Don't Try This at Home
This has been linked on the main page sidebar, but here 'tis again, in case you missed it. Pretty neato!

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CZ75 Restoration
Very cool, I think.

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FSJ's New Training Aid

I saw this stuffed toy on my recent trip and knew it had Fun Size Joe written all over it. Currently the squirrel/chipmunk v. FSJ score is about 7 zillion to zero, but he remains undeterred. A fair portion of his day is spent chasing prey around our back yard, and hopefully this will be a valuable training tool for him.

Speaking of my little buddy, he's figured out a way to occupy both Cozy Caves!

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WeaselCares
Here is a fun little video on fallout and surviving an atomic attack.

Good luck!

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Musical Interlude
Here is a Warren Haynes and Gov't Mule cover of Elton John's Madman Across the Water. Dude goes through a lot of guitar picks.

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Gun Basics 101
No new video from the She Equips Herself gal, so here is a recent one on DIY-ing your own holster.

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Armed Attorneys

Since I just took a roadtrip through hostile Injun' country, I thought something on traveling with firearms would be appropriate.

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Cigar of the Week

This week our pal Diogenes scores again with this excellent review of the H. Upmann Cuban Half Corona.

Every once in a while you find yourself in a situation where you can do something different if you are willing to pay for it. Such was the case in Victoria last week where I rediscovered my favorite tobacconist and his stash of Cuban cigars. After walking past a couple of times (usually headed to my favorite Irish pub down Government street) I screwed up enough courage to singe the credit card a bit and pick up a couple of sticks. Now I have had mixed results with Cuban cigars in the past, ranging in quality from "That's not bad" to "WOW" so I'm not fully on the Cuban is better train. I have had others from different Latin countries that have been just as good. That said, this particular cigar, the H. Upmann Cuban Half Corona, was everything one would expect in a Cuban. It is a 44 Ring gauge and short, only 90mm long. I found it to be astonishingly mild with a hint of vanilla in the pure fresh tobacco aroma. It is rated as light-medium, and I agreed. Easy draw and it held a constant ash. It was perfect. It was easily the most relaxing 15 minutes of the week. Why only 15 minutes? Well, because this is the Half Corona and if there was one fault here, it was that I didn't by the full Corona. Did I mention price? Well, let's not go there and just say it was more than $20 in town. Although my justification is that this was in Canadian dollars.

Excellent report, Diogenes!! Thank you!

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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, Switzerland. Great source of Cuban cigars. WeaselApproved

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
American Elite Ammo NEW!

***Mail Bag***

This week's mailbag entry is from our pal WTM. Great one! Finally, the smile is explained!

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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?