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! How in the ever-loving Hell did it get to be the First August Edition? I told you it was coming! I may not be around much in the comments so please don't burn the place down. Appreciate it!

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

This is what focus looks like

I preach a lot about fundamentals. Mostly the mechanical shooting fundamentals of stance, grip, sight alignment and trigger manipulation. To become a successful competitive shooter you need to add grit, determination, seemingly endless practice and the will to never quit. Those who have attended a TXMoMe have probably met lin-duh's spawn, appropriately named Spawn and maybe even seen her shoot on the ranges. I can tell you from years of experience in evaluating shooters that Spawn has skills.

Here is what lin-duh had to say about her recent trip to the National Matches.

Here is a picture of the spawn shooting her rimfire iron rifle at Nationals. Despite all the team drama this year she did well individually. This is the first year she won anything and it was all HOA awards. The second place RPO is the one she wanted the most and had the biggest field of competitors.

lin-duh

And here are the results:

It's quite an achievement, so please join me in congratulating Spawn!

This is what the result of focus looks like!

Alternate title: Birth of a Pimp Gun. As you know, not a fan. Are you?

I'm not sure I knew that Hornady had an Accuracy Center.

Q: Weasel, do you know how are Blackwing pencils made, perchance?
A: Why yes, yes I do. Please see below.

This week's episode: The Seventh Green!

Holy crap! It's the gol'-danged saucer men!! Personally, I'd have preferred saucer babes, but whatever.

Cigar of the Week

This week our pal rhomboid scores again with this excellent review of the La Palina No. 4

La Palina is an old name in cigars, and one of the more interesting ones. It's an American company, not Cuban, Nicaraguan, or Dominican, and always has been. Founded at the end of the 19th century in Chicago by a Ukrainian immigrant, it was a victim of the Depression. It was revived in the early 2000s by the founder's grandson - who, interestingly, was the son of one of the big kahunas of broadcast TV (and radio before that), William S. Paley, of CBS. That grandson revived the company and brand, and now its managed by 2 cigar industry veterans. All of that to introduce a fairly ordinary cigar, the La Palina No. 4. Ordinary, but well made, tasty - and inexpensive. I happened upon a deal, $57/box, recently, and here we are.

The No. 4 is a Nicaraguan puro except for the Ecuadorean binder. Wrapper from Jalapa, fillers from there and two of the other major growing regions, Condega and Esteli. Construction is solid, draw is perfect. Reviews and marketing talk of cocoa and sweetness, for me there's more citrusy tang, slightly sweet wood, and some spice here and there. At under $3/stick for a long-filler cigar, this one's suitable for a yardwork cigar (or sorting brass, or cleaning guns), but it's nice enough that for now it's in my regular rotation. Normal price isn't much more painful, just shy of $4 each. So, a solid candidate if you're looking for good quality at a bundle cigar price.

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 Bigly Recommended

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
Lucky Gunner Ammo NEW!

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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