The Hobbit Hole XXXVIII - There and Back Again!

[ExGeeEye]

...and the trio is complete...RIP Eddie Carroll...

[SuziQ]

I don’t know what happened; Hal Holbrook asked for the media to let the family have privacy to handle this tragedy. Makes me wonder what happened, but I haven’t seen any info on that.

[300winmag]

Today was my first trip to the range in a few weeks, so I brought along the two Kimber SISs, Sig P220, and Walther P22. Also some ammo (duuuuh), 100 rounds of .45 ball, 50 of Speer 200gr .45 +P, and 50 of Winchester .22 HV.

First, the Walther functioned flawlessly with its first box of ammo. Maybe it was that "miracle" extractor, or I just got a good one. As usual, the first trip to the range for a new weapon is a shakedown for debugging purposes. It was vey comfortable to shoot, and I know I can do better with practice. Next on its schedule is a detailed tear-down so I can remove that cursed magazine "safety", which I consider one of the most dangerous things you can do to a handgun.

The Sig P220 shot both kinds of ammo without fault, although that +P is pretty nasty stuff as far as noise, muzzle blast, and sharp recoil goes. But the ball ammo was great, and that short-reset/short-trigger makes the thing a "double-tap" machine. Also, the Sprinco double-spring guide rod might have something to do with handling recoil

I was dismayed that a handgun this classy (and expensive) had a plastic guide rod for the recoil spring. I would have been satisfied with just a simple metal replacement rod, but thought I'd give the two-spring system, which seems to be the coming thing, a try.

One thing I noticed was that locking the slide back required extra effort the last eighth of an inch, which is about the stroke of the second spring. So the factory "green" (as opposed to "blue sport"), spring compresses enough to activate the second spring. As that happens, momentum transfers, and the total recoil moment is stretched out.

I think that's what made the +P ammo almost tolerable. I also found out that the screws on the right grip (which I removed earlier) had loosened up about a quarter turn, even though I torqued them as best I could. I almost couldn't get them off in the first place, and found out the screws had toothed lockwashers and red Loctite on them, something I'd never seen before. While the recoil I felt was vey manageable, there must be a lot of recoil-induced forces flexing things inside the weapon. I guess I'll have to use red Loctite on these grips.

I've got so much to say about the problems I encountered with the +P ammo in the Kimbers I'll have to save that for a later report, if anyone is interested. Let's just say I saw types of failure-to-feed that I never dreamed of.

Oh well, at least I have 450 rounds of Lawman +P to use as a known ass-pain ammo for testing purposes. I'll have to use it in my Glock as a control, since the Glock works like a garbage disposal, and digests anything.

[Corin Stormhands]

Other stories that came out said she had cancer.

[Overtaxed]

98 years ago today....

Jaaaack.....

[Corin Stormhands]

I thought it was the 12th too, but it was actually the 14th. She sank on the morning of the 15th.

[Overtaxed]

My bad....maybe she set sail on the 12th? For some reason I keep thinking it went down on the 12th.

You know how us old folks get... :)

[Overtaxed]

Nope. Sailed on the 10th.

At least I got the month and year right.

[Corin Stormhands]

Yep, sailed on the 10th, but hit the iceberg on the 14th. Still, itsa beautiful memory...

[Overtaxed]

Buh Bye, Jack!!

[Overtaxed]

[osagebowman]

Evening Win-mag - interesting comments regarding the +P 45 ammo, have never tried it, not sure I intend to now. The ball ammo appears to work fine for me.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

To fill everyone in on why there has been no news about the Hobbit lately. They can’t announce cast members until the contracts are signed. They can’t sign the contracts until the pictures have been given the green light. MGM can’t green light the pictures until its current finances have been stabilized. News on the financial front are expected fairly soon.

[Overtaxed]

Meanwhile....

[Overtaxed]

So much for today’s dirt therapy...had to go to the extra strength Icy Hot.

[osagebowman]

Thanks for update - sounds like it is ‘hurry up and wait’.

[osagebowman]

Oh, the extra heavy duty IC-HOT but it must have been a good day. Dirt therapy is a hobbit-necessity. btw Over in PV this afternoon, seems like roadwork is popping up there too.

[Overtaxed]

Yeah...I’m still dodging potholes in OP. Guess we need another economic stimulus to fix the last economic stimulus.

[300winmag]

Evening Win-mag - interesting comments regarding the +P 45 ammo, have never tried it, not sure I intend to now. The ball ammo appears to work fine for me.

Since then, I found out that two mags of that +P wrecked the front sight on the Kimber Pro. Meprolight tritium sights are notorious for leaking out their tritium after a number of rounds are fired. Sig and Kimber, among others, use Meprolight because they're cheaper than Trijicon. After cleaning, I take each one into a dark closet to see if all the lights are still there. The front sight went away after about 100 rounds (some +P, but that shouldn't matter much).

Fortunately, the sight heights and dovetails are standard, so it shouldn't take me long to find the proper Trijicon sight. Their glass capsules are bedded in silicone, with a sapphire cover lens over the viewing-end of the tube.

I've decided that if there's a job out there that can only be taken care of with a .45ACP +P, I've got too small a weapon, and need a rifle.

[osagebowman]

Plus P strikes again. I’ve heard similar things about Truglo TFO, some swear by ‘em other swear at ‘em. I’ll be interested to see what you come with for a replacement.