Gun Thread: First August 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! It's August! In fact, it's August 4th, 2024 and as we all know there is a longstanding Gun Thread tradition to celebrate a new gun purchase each and every August 4th, 2024!

Programming Note: I am once again way behind on my email correspondence, and I apologize. I am doing my best to catch up, so thank you for your patience!

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

Q: Weasel, are you ever going to shut up about fundamentals?
A: No. No I am not, because practicing good fundamentals is the path to shooting enlightenment.

Think I am kidding? Do you not want to be on the path to shooting enlightenment? Do you think I just harp on fundamentals to fill up space here on the thread? Well, maybe a little of that, but also because practicing fundamentals really works. As a matter of fact, I believe it is the only thing that works. Is there any possible way that focusing on fundamentals could make you worse?

You people are really beginning to piss me off by not practicing fundamentals. By not having a training plan, and I'm not talking about some big complicated thing here, all you are likely doing is randomly reinforcing bad habits. In order to reinforce good habits, you need focus, repetition, and a way to measure results. I know this is true because it worked for me and I have seen it work for many others. There are arguably a lot of things to keep in mind at first, but the sooner you start focusing on them in a logical and methodical manner, the sooner muscle memory takes over and they become second nature.

So remember; stance, grip, sight alignment and trigger mechanics. You can concentrate on the smaller component elements to each of these four, but every single time you fire a round you should be focusing on some element of fundamental marksmanship. At the end of a range session, reserve a clean target and some ammo to fire a test series. Take notes on the target with the date and any other remarks you think relevant, but particularly what you were focusing on and what you think may have gone right and wrong. Measure your progress!

Have a bad day at the range? Wondering why you took up the sport to begin with? Let me share a little-known secret; everybody has a bad day at the range from time to time, and I mean everybody. Anyone who tells you otherwise doesn't have much credibility in my book. When you can't seem to do anything right and the range babes are beginning to notice, STOP what you are doing. Let me repeat that. If what you are doing is not working, stop and try something else. In all my years spent shooting, I have never once seen a shooter improve a bad result by executing poor fundamentals harder or faster.

Stop and evaluate what is going on. Put your aggravation or embarrassment aside, analyze what you are doing and re-focus your thoughts. Take a break if you need to. Without firing, mentally walk through the fundamental elements of stance, grip, sight alignment and trigger mechanics. I absolutely guarantee you the problem is in there somewhere.

Next week: FUNdamentals!

Here is a link to a Shooting Illustrated review., and some pics of my actual firearm, below.

For comparison, here is a photo with my 6+1 round Sig P238 in .380ACP

The Sig is definitely a titch smaller, and the loaded Sig is approximately the same weight as the unloaded Kimber. I didn't go all scientific and use a scale, but that's about how it feels to me. Why did I get the Kimber you ask? I dunno, I suppose I had the idea in my head for a pocket 9mm for some time, and figured it was time to get at least something off the list. I carry the Sig a lot, whether slipped into a front pocket or in my laptop bag when I go to the office. As soon as I make it to the farm-o for a workout I will let you know how it did. In the meantime, here are a couple of video reviews:

And potentially some reasons why you don't want one.

I have a sort of unrelated question all y'all. You will note in the left side photo of the Kimber above I fuzzed out part of the firearm serial number. Why did I do that? I really have no good answer, other than gun people seem to become hysterical when they see photos of guns with serial numbers visible. Why is that? I am fairly certain that at some point Smith & Wesson, or Colt, or Ruger have made firearms with the serial number 123456 so why is a series of numbers on a gun such a closely guarded secret? How could that possibly be used against you? I get the point with Social Security Numbers and Nuclear Launch Codes and so forth, but have never been sure why a firearm serial number in a picture is such a big deal. I'm pretty sure my TV has a serial number and I really don't care if anyone knows what that is, so what is up with guns?

If anyone has thoughts on the matter, please comment below!

Lots of good stuff here.

Space Available! I think SEH Gal's video posting has become too intermittent to warrant a regular feature. Any suggestions?

Cigar of the Week

This week our pal Diogenes scores again with this excellent review of the Montecristo Pilotico

Have you ever sat down with a bunch of friends, shooting the shit, having a good time, and some of them brought other friends, some of whom you kinda know slightly? And as it goes you find yourself volunteered to help one of these other friends with some task? You really don't want to but agreed to it. It's not a small thing, but not that big a deal either. You get it done and you are glad you helped, but know that you will never do that again?

Well, here is the MonteCristo Pilotico.

MonteCristo has a fantastic name and reputation in the cigar world. Typically one of the best out there. The Pilotico is not one of the top shelf offerings. Good? Sure, but not one I will go out and buy.

Why? This is a medium yet robust smoke, featuring an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, Dominican binder, and a blend of both Nicaraguan and Dominican Pilotico filler tobaccos. Strong flavors of the tobacco with a leather flavor with a bit of sweet nuttiness in the background. Well crafted, although mine had an uneven ash and a hot burn. It was OK, but just didn't ring my chimes, as it were. Depending on your source, they run about $10 a stick. Enjoy if you must.

Excellent, Diogenes! Thank you very much!!

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 Hrothgar. Great one!

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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