Gun Thread: Father's Day 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 Father's Day? Well, evidently it is, so Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there. Please print a copy of this thread as your authorization to buy guns 'n ammo!

Your ol' pal Weasel is heading to the farm-o for a few days, so the GT is going to be a little on the lite side this week. I'm heading down on Thursday and planning to get home just in time to hit the big red post button Sunday evening. I have had another shed built which I need to organize and also know there is going to be a lot of vegetation to do battle with when I get down there. Plus all the usual rigors of Organic Tree Farming. Plus some relaxation.

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

Here's a video on pistol malfunctions. Note big watch on shooter.

Note: I have condensed previous Gun Thread katana background articles HERE.

Progress continues with not one but two reports hot off the press from our pal and togishi, Dave!

Arato stone can you spot the defect? click for hint

This is the second Arato stone, or the second coarsest stone used. You can see it's just a pretty coarse and scratchy surface at this point although you can see the hamon (temper line) beginning to show. You can also see the small flaw that we discussed before starting. This is a spot where the softer core steel is coming through the harder skin steel. A flaw like this can not be removed, but will hopefully become a little less prominent with further polishing. It's unfortunate, but when you're four hundred years old, you will probably have a few blemishes too.

Q:Weasel, are you going to be wrinkly and blemished when you get to be 400 years old?
A:Are we talking people years or WeaselYears?

binsui-do stone click to embiggn

This is the binsui-do, roughly the third stone. Not much to look at so far. Like I originally described, just different variations of scratchy and gray until we get much closer to the end. This stone dose not cut as quickly as the arato, so the surface is a bit less uniform, but the geometry is actually getting sharper and more precise with each successive stone.

Well will you looky right there! it's starting to clean up and I can sort of see patterns in the steel!

What are Arato and Binsui-do stones you ask? Here is probably more than you wanted to know about water stones and grit.

Here is one from a company in the U.S., SharpeningSupplies.com, that I have been using for years whenever I need a new toaster. Kidding, as the name implies, they sell sharpening supplies.

And here is yet another look at the general polishing process.

Next week, exciting progress with the kaiseido stone!

Cigar of the Week

This week our pal rhomboid scores with this excellent review of the Southern Draw 300 Hands

There's a truism in the cigar industry that each handmade cigar reaching the consumer has been touched by 300 hands. From harvest of the leaf, to curing, fermentation, aging, selection, cutting and rolling, every step is labor-intensive. Southern Draw launched the 300 Hands line over five years ago with the intention of bringing the stories of Nicaraguan cigar workers to the consumer, and donating 25% of profits from the line to worthy causes benefiting these workers and their families. Each pack comes with a card telling the story of a Nicaraguan cigar industry worker.

There are 3 blends in the line - habano, maduro, and the one reviewed here, Connecticut. It has a US Connecticut wrapper over a Peruvian binder, with Nicaraguan and Dominican filler. For me this one offers a fairly standard Connecticut experience - mild body, notes of light wood and hay. No real sweetness or baking spices as with many Connecticuts, but also no bitterness. Construction is good, burn line needed only a little touching up. A good basic Connecticut in the value category, something to burn at the driving (or when possible, shooting) range, on the golf course, or around the yard. Available online from just under $4 and up.

Excellent, rhomboid! Thank you!

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
Nicks Cigar World New!

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!

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!

This week's mailbag entry is from our pal WTM. Potential MoMe site?!

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?

posted by Weasel at 07:00 PM

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