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Gun Thread: Last Week of July 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! How in the ever-loving Hell did it get to be the last week of July?

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

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Guns of the Weasel

Sig Sauer P230 originally featured Jan 2022

Here's a fun little feller from the WeaselCollection, a Sig Sauer P230SL. I am a big fan of the Sig Sauer brand, and bought this example over 10 years ago. Chambered in .380, the pistol was manufactured in 1993 and is roll marked "Made in W. Germany" on the slide. The model also came in .32 ACP, strongly resembles the slightly smaller Walther PPK, and has a capacity of 7+1 rounds. It was marketed by Sig as a concealed carry option to civilians and a concealed/backup weapon to the West German state police and other agencies. It was replaced in the Sig Sauer lineup by the P232 in 1996. As is the case with most of my carry(able) guns I have replaced the original grips with Hogue Combat grips, which I like bigly.

Here's a video review of the pistol:

The SL model is all stainless, while the blued version has an aluminum frame. The magazine release is located behind the magazine floorplate which bugs some people, and really bugs other people. This is a very solid, well-made gun and isn't as 'snappy' as some lighter .380s can be.

These are great little guns and would make a fine candidate for concealed carry or as a backup pistol! Don't listen to all the underpowered cartridge business; is the .380ACP less powerful than the .45ACP? Yep. And the .45ACP is less powerful than, say, a 500-pound bomb. You can play this game nearly forever. Next time you're at the range, rent or borrow one and decide for yourself!

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Overpressure?
Last Week our pal RI Red mentioned having some cartridge pressure concerns with 9mm ammo out of his carbine and sent in a sampling of fired cases for analysis.

RIR sez:

The 6 on the right are factory 147s out of my FPC with 16" barrel. 5 Shiny ones in the middle are my 147 reloads. Note same brass crater flow around firing pin mark. Both running about 1000 fps. Left are factory 147s through M&P 4" pistol barrel at 929 fps. Next to them are same through Ruger Max 9 with 3.2" bbl at 874 fps. Plain old primer strikes. Case head expansion on all of the above is only about .001, so not out of the ordinary. And I see no excessive primer flattening and outward expansion, just that funny looking crater. The FPC longer barrel is clearly getting more out of the cartridge.

Any comments or advice from the peanut gallery?

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Gun Tests

How many of you are familiar with the Gun Tests website? If you aren't, you should check them out. It's a site and a resource with an amazing number of reviews on weapons and ammunition, and many articles on general shooting topics. Weasel are a member, and I regularly come across some nugget of information that I didn't know before. Gun Tests does not accept commercial advertising and is entirely member supported which virtually guarantees complete impartiality in their reviews and opinions.

As an example, here is a recent article explaining the function of Double-Action Only (DAO) triggers. As you can see the articles are well-written and comprehensive without becoming overly technical in detail.

When I was first learning about guns and shooting, this is the sort of resource I was looking for. Do yourself a favor, take a look and consider subscribing! $20/yr for the digital edition is worth every cent.

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Up Your Game
Speaking of learning about guns and shooting, here is a not terrible video on some of the common mistakes seen on the range by instructors.

What do you think? Anything to add?

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Looks like Fun Department

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Gun Sales

Interesting article from our pals at AmmoLand. Although down considerably (21%) from same time last year, over a million firearms sold in June 2023

Anyone care to speculate on the cause for the drop in sales? What was going on last summer to make more people head to the gun stores?

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Remember?
When air travel was fun and special and something you put on your good clothes for?

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Musical Interlude
From 1967, the Doors and The End. Cheerful and uplifting!

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Gun Basics 101
New video from the She Equips Herself gal! This week's video is a bit of a departure from the normal fare and is on DIY target construction! SEH Gal with power tools!

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Armed Attorneys
Like last week's video (on not training) this week again deals with the optics of someone's actions or behavior in court after a self-defense shooting. I get the point, but geez... I suppose I'd feel differently if it were my ass sitting at the defendant's table, but still.

What do all y'all think? Carry a trauma kit or not? How about a little first aid kit? I have one in the trunk of my car, and not too long ago had an opportunity to use it when I stopped for a big crash on the highway.

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Cigar of the Week

This week our pal rhomboid scores again with this excellent review of the Stillwell Star by Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust

The Stillwell Star line from Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust is a series of four cigars blended using a combination of cigar and pipe tobacco. A while back I reviewed the Aromatic No. 1 from this line (a sweet treat). Now for another cigar in the series - the Navy No. 1056. The name is to honor the US Navy ship on which Dunbarton's owner and master blender, Steve Saka, served - the Knox-class frigate USS Connole.

The cigar has an Ecuadoran habano wrapper, a Mexican San Andres binder, and the fillers are a mix of Virginia, Oriental, and Latakia pipe tobaccos. Smoking this one - especially what I think was likely the Latakia with its distinctive taste and aroma - reminded me that I need to get back to the pipe occasionally. It's a medium cigar with rich flavors that will be familiar to pipe smokers. To me both the cigar and pipe notes came through, the blend hit its target. The burn and draw were perfect, as seems to be the norm with Dunbarton cigars, which are on the higher end of the premium cigar spectrum. Their prices reflect the quality - the Navy No. 1056 starts north of $12 and usually runs around $14. This whole line is a good "special occasion" cigar idea, obviously especially for pipe smokers.

Excellent as always, rhomboid! Thank you very much!!

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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
American Elite Ammo NEW!

***Mail Bag***

This week's mailbag entry is from our pal That SOB Van Owen who found a picture of WeaselDog! Thanks TSOBVO!

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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?