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Gun Thread: First November 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! How in the ever-loving hell did it get to be November? I distinctly recall complaining just the other day about it being April. WTF? Also, a quick note, Guys and Gals - I am waaay behind on my email correspondence, so please bear with me. Thank you.

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

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Some Sad News...

WeaselDog 2011(?) - 2023

Before we get to the gun stuff, I'm going to ask you to indulge me as I pass along some sad news. We had to say goodbye to our girl Olive, who you all knew as WeaselDog, earlier in the week. You may recall her from the sign-off to the WeaselAcres videos and weekly Cozy Cave status updates here on the Gun Thread.

We adopted Ollie at the local animal shelter in late 2014 where she had been surrendered after some serious injuries and generally not being treated very well by her previous owners. As a result, she didn't really trust people and was a snarling little mess when we first saw her in the adoption kennel. At that point she had been at the shelter for over three months and her prospects were grim. We expressed an interest and the shelter staff simply gave her to us on the spot, waiving all adoption fees and offering us a collar and leash to take her home.

It took some time, but Ollie eventually warmed up and learned to trust us. Soon, with a lot of love, patience and diligent work, she turned into a sweet and loyal little member of the family and we loved her very much. Although she faced some medical challenges over the years, she was a very happy girl with a great personality and a lot of energy, and we spoiled her and gave her the very best life, and all of the love, we could.

Eventually, however, you have to make a tough and selfless decision. When Olive's condition and quality of life began to decline, and there were no more available solutions to her problems, we owed it to her to repay all of the unconditional love by letting her go. In life the books and ledgers must be balanced, and while we enjoy all of the love and companionship and loyalty up front, one day a very large bill comes due and the accounts must be settled. Last Thursday was that day.

Olive had always been under the care of the same veterinarian and over the years we've become friends. The senior vet technician at the practice also had come to love her, and both of them were there at the end, both for us and for Olive. I cannot tell you how meaningful it was for them to make the effort to be there and for caring so much. The end was peaceful, but so very sad. We can rest easier, however, knowing she isn't in pain or suffering and that it was the right thing to do and the right time to do it.

So if you have a furry little friend in your life, please take some time and give them some extra love and attention tonight. If you are able, support your local animal shelters and rescues who do such difficult and important work. Monetary donations are always needed, but they also appreciate donations of new or used towels and bedding, toys, and unopened food to name a few items. If none of that is compatible with your situation, offer to volunteer your time.

Thanks to all for reading and for caring about our pal WeaselDog over the years. Rest easy, little girl.

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Guns of the Horde
You may recall our pal EdL's H&K P7 PSP from earlier in the year. Well it's been to the range!

Before the TX MoMe, I took this H&K P7 PSP to the range. The target was at 15 yards. I fired off a box of Federal Syntech 124 grain ammo using a mix of both aimed and rapid fire. As you can see, the P7 delivered good accuracy, which you'd expect out of this pistol.

Very nice, EdL! Thank you!

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Next, our pal Dagger not only has been to the range, but he's been to the range with a Garand! And better still, he entered his first match!

This past Sunday I drove over to Gonzales, LA to shoot the Louisiana State Garand Championship. Shockingly, I didn't post a novice win.

The match is organized by the Louisiana High Power Club and shot at the Accession Parish Sherriff's range, a very nice 300-yard range. The Garand match was shot in the afternoon following a morning, 50-round National Match format club championship.

Being as this was my first match of any sort, I asked for and received a great deal of help, advice and encouragement from the other seven competitors. While I think I am very cognizant of safety, there are a lot of details that make the day more safer if you know them, and now I do.

The match was a 30-round affair at 200 yards after five rounds for sighting. I had been to my local range the day before and gotten the rifle 'on paper' at 200 yds, but those five rounds showed that I still had work to do.

The first two courses of fire are prone, 10 rounds slow and 10 rounds rapid. I shot about 75/100 on each of those, which is ok to me. The 10 rounds standing were my complete undoing, resulting in only three of 10 hits and 20 points. Very difficult to do well.

I have now purchased a .22 cal rifle with which to practice and will be back for more of these. I may even build an F-class gun as they run those matches also.

Congratulations, Dagger! I have always said competition will improve your shooting, and if you keep with it I bet you will start to see your scores improve quickly. Give it three or four tries and let me know if you agree. The first few outings there is an almost bewildering number of things to think about other than good shooting fundamentals, but soon enough that all becomes second nature. Please stick with it and let us know how it goes!

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Attention Reloaders

Our pal JTB sends this note on reloading component availability:

Just got an email from Natchez Shooting Supplies. They have ammo and primers on sale and available at the moment. I don't need any but thought it worth mentioning, especially the primers.

Thank you, JTB!

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Angry Mob Got You Down?
Attacked by a mob while in your car? Here, an attorney offers some advice. I'm sure the law varies by locality but this will give you something to think about.

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Hickok45 and the Ruger LCP

Anyone else have one of these little pocket guns?

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Loaded Mags Part Dos
Due to overwhelming reader requests, here's another video on the effects of leaving magazines loaded for extended periods.

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Small Engine Maintenance
I suppose it's time for me to harangue you about proper winter storage of your small two (and four) cycle engine equipment. Please do yourself a favor, and take an hour this fall when you're done for the season and prepare these items properly for winter storage. For two cycle stuff, drain the fuel/oil mix, check the air filter, and run them dry. Generally look over the equipment, tighten loose fittings, clean off accumulated dirt and grease and maybe toss in a new spark plug. For four stroke engines, change the oil, inspect/replace the air filter and spark plug, turn off the fuel and run the carb dry.

Do fuel stabilizers work? Let's find out!

Always remember it's preferable to use non-ethanol fuel if at all possible. None of this is difficult to do and you'll save yourself considerable frustration in the spring.

Please remind me to yell at all y'all some more about this in the coming weeks.

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Musical Interlude
Here is Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes with Ten Years Gone

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Gun Basics 101
No new video from the She Equips Herself gal, so here is a another repeat on fall concealed carry considerations.

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Cigar of the Week

This week we have not a cigar but rather a lighter instructional video.

I'm old school and use a Zippo to light my cigars. I know, I know, that's wrong and I'm ruining the cigar with lighter fluid cooties and generally hastening the collapse of western civilization, but that's what I like and I'm not changing.

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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 Hrothgar. Great one!

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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?