Posted on 09/23/2009 6:19:16 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog
Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!
Naaahh....just the regular catalog.
I’ve been considering getting a sleeping bag rated for at least -20 for this winter, but it’s too freakin’ hot to shop!
Just wrote my Congressman (Justin Amash, R-MI3, one of the good guys):
Message Subject: Please remind your colleagues
Message Text:
We did not send a fresh majority to Washington to negotiate our surrender to the status quo. You are there to restore the Constitutional government, taking particular notice of Article I, Section 8, and the 10th Amendment.
CC&B is the compromise between our position and that of the administration. Shut the government down— including, if necessary, stopping my Mother’s Social (In)Security checks (her grown children can take care of her) if need be, rather than hand the President and Senate another blank check.
You are doing well. Please remind your colleagues.
STANDARD BOILERPLATE: The next Michigan Primary is in 214 days. We, who elected you, are watching.
I must be jinxed. Every time I stop by the Ye Olde EBR Shoppe, and I'm short on cash, something fantastic appears, and starts calling to me. This week, I had $12 in my pocket, and this in the used-handgun case;
It's a Colt 1903 in .32ACP, serial number 427xxx, made in 1928. It would almost be in mint condition except some moron sometime over the last 83 years dropped it, leaving some scratches on the right side of the slide and grips. And then put it back into some sort of container that allowed tiny patches of rust to develop on the edges of the slide and frame.
However, 98% of the surface area remains pristine day-it-left-the-factory rust blue. The blue under the grips was the same shade as everything else, indicating that sunlight never started to lighten the visible blued surfaces. There is no wear or flattening of the checkered walnut grips, either, which means no excessive handling. It's by no means pristine, but I've never owned anything so old, and so close to perfect, before.
I bought it, and played my hunch. Sure enough, when I stripped it, I saw it was absolutely unfired after all this time. No wear on the breech face, and the sear surfaces had only tiny spots of shine on them from being snapped a few times. The only time this was fired was when it was proofed.
One problem I had with disassembly (aside from the fact that it's very user-unfriendly compared to its grandchild, the M1911), was that the tiny bit of oil had oxidized away ages ago, leaving a dry sludge that just about glued the moving parts together.
I used Nanolube on all the moving surfaces, as well as honing the sides of the internal hammer on a diamond hone so they wouldn't drag inside the frame. And then sweated bullets as I finally got it together hours later. One set of online instructions said: "disassembly- take to professional gunsmith". Another had a nice diagram on how to take it apart, but left reassembly with the pithy advice, "reassembly maybe done in reverse order". What wasn't mentioned was that certain parts had to be held in some exact position inside the narrow frame for the next part to go in without locking up the weapon. The grip safety was far harder to handle than the relatively straightforward one on the M1911.
After finally getting it working, and the Nanolube worked-in, I took it to the range for its baptism by fire. No matter how perfect it could have been, I felt I owed it to John M Browning and myself to experience his first really successful autoloading handgun. I would be the first person to fire a round since it left the factory.
It's weight and monstrous recoil spring made for pleasant shooting, once I racked the slide. It was a bit more recoil than a .22, but not much. It shot well at 10 yards, once I remembered to lose all my bad habits. It has now fulfilled its initial reason for creation. They just don't make them like this, any more.
This was an extremely popular model with 520,000+ made until 1946. It is a natural as a concealed carry piece, and was popular with crooks, cops, and civilians alike. This handgun was among the first of the non-ugly, non-funky designs made. Patton carried a M1903 with ivory grips as his hide-out piece, despite the three large handguns he wore as his two-gun outfit. In the movie, he jumps onto a truck to shoot his M1903 at the attacking German planes.
This got me to thinking back to the movies set in the 1920s and 30s. Cops carried five-inch revolvers. Bad guys carried M1911s or rarely a Luger, but a BAR was the ultimate weapon. American spooks carried the M1903, while enemy spies carried something alien-looking.
But it was the private citizen living in a Park Avenue penthouse that I really identify with the M1903. Blued for him, nickle-plated and pearl grips for her. Yeah, the NYC Sullivan Disarmament Law was already on the books, but rich folks, politicians, and gangsters (might even be the same person) gave each other the wink-wink, nudge-nudge when it came to carrying weapons.
The time machine that brought this handgun to me seemed to transfer me back to a swank penthouse where I was doing a press-check on the weapon while I was sipping a martooni, checking my tux, and waiting for the luscious lady to finish up and slip her nickle M1903 into that ridiculous little formal handbag they carried to all the swell charity events. If we wanted some after-hours entertainment, we could always hunt down nazi agents along the East River.
Sorry, this weapon must have awakened some long-forgotten racial memory in me. :)
Cute little bugger, too. Do you have to get a fresh purchase permit every time you decide to buy?
Awesome! :-)
Yes, a separate permit is required for each handgun purchase. Every single legal handgun transaction going back to 1934 (the start of permits) is now supposed to be online. Considering BATFE admits to only 90% accuracy in their Class 3 database, I will maintain my doubts.
Each permit has to be notarized up one side and down the other. Usually there's a notary at the dealer who will do it for free. But my two-bit town now insists on $20 for them to notarize it. State law says they cannot charge for that, but they need money (doesn't everyone except the feds?), so no cash, no piece of paper.
Having a CPL, the dealer will generate the purchase papers for free, including the notarization. The CPL means only an instant NICS check, no 24 hour background check as on other handgun permits. So every handgun I buy means I deprive my cheapskate town of another $20 that they're legally not entitled to, anyway. :)
My BattleMug is now complete, and ready to collect dust, replacing my gigantic IBM/Boeing 777 beer stein.
The laser engraving is a bit hard to see due to the flash and the shiny surface, and commemorates my Army service from a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.
And yes, everything is functional, including the frickin' laser:
No glass bottom like a pirate's tankard, but who needs it when this mug is good for everything from hand-to-hand combat to painting a target for a Hellfire. And drinking, too.
SUUUUUUUWEET ~!
Cost ? w/o the accessories of course......LOL !
Good Morning Winmag - oh, that is a sweet one. That sort of a jinx I believe most of us could live with. Those Colts seem to be found in excellent to LNIB condition or 100% ‘patina’ with cracked grips, seldom in between. A most excellent acquistion. Congrats.
Sniffy mug. Looks like two birthdays, and a father’s day to get one.
You need a tactical bottle opener for that there stein.
http://jtdistributing.net/store/more_a215.html
Squantos, the basic price of the Battle Mug is $189 for the basic model. What can you expect when something starts out as a 13+ pound billet of aluminum, and is CNC-machined into a final product. I figured it was time for me to commemorate something from my past.
I also found the perfect "old school" decal for the rear window of my GMC. Standard American Flag in left corner, this in the right corner:
I guess I was finally fed up with Obama (and Kerry, and Gore) stickers still on cars. And don't let me get started on the "coexist" stickers.
Good deal.... I will order one soon.
Great decal as well.
Mine in my trucks window ftom EOD school....
http://gobombsquad.tripod.com/ubbihf.jpg
Stay Safe.
Now that Tea Party types are being called Hobbits, there are a bunch of newly-minted ‘Hobbits’ on the News threads. One example:
Hobbit Name Generator “ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2756957/posts “
Awesome. :-)
Did you get any of that rain that came through a couple of hours ago, we didn’t(sob). Strider tries to roll on the grass and he just crunches it.
The pups have added an element of excitement to our lives. Walks first thing in the morning and then around 9:00 in the evening. Aubrey goes to her second obedience class tomorrow, the first one was so bad, the trainer said “no charge” and suggested we bring Strider to try and keep her calm. He does an excellent job of showing her the ropes. Here’s hoping.
Nope. No rain. We got some wind, though. And I’m getting emails from seed companies for fall planting. Great...more stuff I can kill.
I was wondering how the new pups were getting along. Strider, huh. Aubrey...poor dog! I expect she’ll get the hang of it soon.
Strider, as in Lord of the Rings hunky-guy. Dan thought of it, and the dog is answering to it just fine. Strider is just a solid rock, had his teeth cleaned last Thursday and didn’t have to have any extracted, so that was good.
Aubrey is just an extremely lively pup. She is very loving, but scared of everything. Annie has her pretty much cowed. She is as fast as greased lightning, and she and Strider race through the backyard at full tilt chasing each other, it’s fun to watch. She needs to be obedience trained so I can put some of that energy to work. As she is, she would pretty much destroy an agility course :)
Glad Aubrey and Strider get along. Teh Kitteh Czars think that Annie has things well in paw.
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