Humility Day: Double-Tap 2 Bad Guys Drill at range with carry pair

Got a couple of hours of range time Saturday and started off with some forgotten fun, shooting a .22LR rifle.

I bought a Marlin-Redfield Model 75 carbine a while back because I had one just like it several years ago and really loved shooting it. I gave it to my son after he got grown and gone.

We had one like it marked down for clearance at the shop so I bought it because it was cheap.

Alas, I discovered my fuzzy eyes could no longer get the iron sights focused and aligned, the latter due to the Monte Carlo stock.

I bought the earlier Marlin carbine with a scope already on it so it never occurred to me I'd have a lefty alignment problem.

But Saturday morning I finally got around to mounting a Simmons 4X scope on it that had been gathering dust on my shelf for more than a year. So I started off the range trip with zeroing the scope.

The scope was so far out of zero I had to break out one of my few Blue Man full-size target to get the shots where I could find them.

Then since I already had the Blue Man out, I decided to invent a new drill to simulate two idiots who might try to rob the gun store.

Believe it or else, this actually happened a while back but they changed their minds about it quickly when confronted with a Glock .40.

So I set up a smaller black bull offset to the left of the Blue Man target, which simulates a second BG some distance behind the first BG.

I had already planned to do some draw and shoot practice drills with two shoulder rigs for my two favorite carry pistols, my Sig P229 SAS Gen2 .357 Sig and my Para Ord P12-45.

I drew and fired double-taps at each target as quickly as I could get the sights aligned, sorta practicing "panic mode" as in a genuine armed robbery attempt.

I wore the Bianchi rig for the P229 so I started off with it. I knew the long double-action pull of the first shot would likely adversely affect the first shot.

What I wasn't prepared for was the single-action shots at the second target also missing an equal amount of time. Shazzaam! as Gomer Pyle would say.

After the first round of 3 mags of 12, I had 12 holes in the blue man, 12 holes in the black bull and 12 holes off either target.

As the King James says, that sucketh. Can't blame that on the DA pull for the first shot.

So I put up a fresh set of targets and strapped on my Para 12-45 with its Galco leather shoulder harness rig.

After four mags of .45 ACP, one 12, one 14 and two 15s, I had only a very few holes out of the blue or black.

Conclusion: nothing beats a great single-action trigger in a 1911 pistol, not even the great DA/SA SRT Short-Reset Trigger in P229 SAS Gen2.

I think I'll be practicing more with my pair of Sig P229 .357 Sig pistols and carrying my Para P12-45 a lot more until I can improve my P229 shooting.

Nothing like a little simulated "panic mode" pistol shooting to remind me I ain't near as good as I think I am. More range time needed.

Then I finished off the day with a little double-action revolver shooting with my two backups, Charter .327 Magnum and S&W 65-3 .357 Magnum. The Charter with Crimson Trace Lasergrips is definitely a hand cannon as it's nearly the equal of the .357 Magnum in ballistics.

It's at least a slight insult to call either of these powerful wheel guns a backup, but until I get the Colt Cobra .38 in the layaway safe paid off, they'll have to assume that lesser role. When the Cobra is ready for action, I'll work out some other combo with the two magnums in lead roles.

Para P12-45, Colt Cobra .38 and S&W 65-3 .357 Mag. showoff time

In the spirit of "It's my blog and I can show off if I want to" I finally got around to taking some new photos of my latest carry pieces yesterday, so here they are.

My new-to-me Para Ordnance P12-45 is first up, along with the Galco shoulder harness with double-mag holder which was purchased along with the pistol from the former owner, a retired Navy chief corpsman.

The P12 has several custom features, including ambi thumb safeties and a 3-hole adjustable trigger, which I presume was done by Cylinder & Slide since that shop also customized the chief's former P14-45, which I'm in the process of purchasing also.

I didn't appreciate the customization fully until I tried to order a set of wood grips and discovered that stock P12 grips are not fitted for ambi safeties, like mine. So either I find somebody who can custom fit some grips or just stick with the black Para grips that have already been custom fitted to the pistol. Probably the latter.

Then there's my new-to-me Colt Cobra .38 Special snubby, which is almost paid off. I took the liberty of finding some new grips for it after discovering the painful truth that the original grips fit too high and the back of the trigger guard raps your knuckle when you shoot it.

I have test-fired it with a new set of wood grips, shown installed, and they work fine. Also got a set of rubber grips which I haven't tested yet, but I suspect I'll stick with the new wood grips. I'll be carrying it with my small-of-back Galco holster, belt holsters or a new Bianchi shoulder rig, shown with the Colt.

My Colt Cobra, according to Bluebook, was made sometime prior to 1972.

COBRA (FIRST ISSUE)- .22 LR, .32 Colt NP, .38 Colt NP, or .38 Spl. cal., first issue, 2, 3, or 4 (square butt on early model, later models had round butt) in. barrel, blue or nickel finish, similar to Detective Special, only alloy frame and available in .22 LR, very early guns had plastic grips with silver medallions, changed to plastic w/o medallions, and finally changed to wood grips. Mfg. 1950-72.

It has a square-butt frame, which makes it an early model, but it came with wood grips, which makes it a later model? Go figure. It's old, that I know for sure, and it has a great trigger so it will be a fine backup carry piece. Plus it's a D-Frame Colt, same size as a K-Frame S&W, so it's a 6-shooter, not a 5-shooter, like the Smith J-Frames. I'm math challenged, but I am pretty sure 6 shots in a snubby beats 5 shots.

And last but certainly not least is my new-to-me Smith and Wesson 65-3 with 3" barrel, a great set of grips and a custom trigger job from the S&W Performance Center.

Bluebook says this about it: MODEL 65- .357 Mag. cal., stainless version of Model 13, K-frame, has 3 (round butt, disc. 2000) or 4 (square butt) in. heavy barrels, satin stainless steel, current production uses Uncle Mike's grips, fixed sights, 35 oz. Disc. 2004.

The grips may be the "smooth Dymondwood combat grips" which Bluebook says came on the Model 65 Ladysmith. Whatever they are, they fit my hand perfect and shoot great. I love the 3" barrel, which carries great and shoots great too. I have learned that shooting really hot .357 Magnum loads, like 180-grain Cor-Bon, is not a good idea with a K-Frame. Save those for your N-Frame Smiths. It shoots just fine with 110-grain .357 Magnum loads, which are more than adequate to stop anything short of a charging rhinoceros.

A pair of Para 45s; subcompact P12 and P14 CST-1 Custom

My new-to-me Para Ordnance P12-45, top right, has a big brother Para P14-45 that we got at the gun shop where I work from the same former owner, a retired U.S. Navy Chief Corpsman who was downsizing his collection of handguns.

I just got the Para 12 paid off and since the Para 14-45 was still unsold, I just had to add it to the layaway safe so I could start paying on it.

The Para 12 may well have some custom features, I don't know because it's no longer in production and I can't compare it to a stock Para. It does have ambi thumb safeties and an adjustable 3-hole skeletonized trigger, which I'm about 100% positive is not stock Para. And I also strongly suspect it's had a trigger job as the trigger is very light and crisp.

And the custom work, I also strongly suspect, was done by the famed custom shop of Cylinder & Slide, which as the name says, specializes in cylinder guns (revolvers) and slide guns (semi-auto pistols).

The reason I suspect C&S is because I know that the other Para the retired chief sold us, the P12-45, has been heavily customized by C&S with their CST-1 package. It says so right on the right side of the slide along with the famous C&S mustache logo.

The C&S website says that package includes the following features:
Cylinder & Slide CST-I Custom Features:
# C&S Tactical Match trigger pull set 5 piece
# C&S Long Aluminum Trigger with Overtravel Stop
# Deburr breech face, radius & polish center rail
# throat barrel and frame for reliable feeding
# Hand lapped slide to frame
# Round all external corners and edges
# Bullet nose relief on front ejection port
# Trigger Job 4.5 lbs.
# Radius and Tension Extractor
# C&S Tactical High Grip Ambidextrous Thumb Safety
# Brown High Grip Beavertail Grip Safe with Memory Groove
# C&S One Piece Recoil Spring Guide Rod
# Wolff Extra Power Recoil Spring
# C&S front sight
# Matte Reblue Pistol.

As you can see from the photos, the retired chief also had C&S install a huge magwell on the grip, which I've heard called a "flowerpot magwell."

It's certainly big enough to plant daisies in and more than big enough to facilitate fast mag changes with the handful of 15-rd. mags with big slam pads that the former owner supplied along with the pistol.

And how, you might ask, does it shoot? I got my first chance to try it out yesterday at the indoor range where my concealed-carry class shot. My only complaint is it shoots up those 15-rd. mags way too fast. Just when you're starting to really get in a rhythm punching .45 holes in a small group, the slide locks back. Was that 15 already? This pistol is gonna blow my ammo-hoarding plans right out the window. It's probably gonna take at least 100 rds. a week just to keep it fed and happy.

Its C&S Custom trigger feels and looks virtually identical to the P12 and with either of these great 1911 .45s the trigger is so good it overcomes my tendency as a lefty to pull my shots down and to the right a bit. With either, I punch holes right where I'm looking, dead on the money.

And the P14 has one other feature not on the CST-1 list, a BoMar adjustable rear sight, so I could adjust the sights to zero it with something other than 230-grain loads if I wanted to. But with the P12 and P14 both shooting dead-on with 230-grain loads, why mess with perfection?

Time to start serious prayer for and about President Obama

I've decided to quit complaining about Obama and begin praying for him. My prayer for him henceforth is Psalm 109:8, "Let his days be few; and let another take his office." Amen.

Obama's 'crotch salute' for Old Glory on display at Ft. Hood

President Barack Hussein Obama's got that bowing-to-royalty thing down pat, at least when it comes to Arabs and Asians. Curiously, he had no bow for the Queen of England, leader of the nation we formerly had a "special relationship" with P.O. (Pre Obama).

But our rookie Dither-in-Chief is still having a lot of trouble with what to do with his hands when our National Anthem is played and Old Glory is honored.

You may recall that moment early in the 2008 presidential campaign when Hillary and other Democrats on stage saluted Old Glory with hands over hearts while Obama stood with his hands down, folded. That infamous photo has come to be known as "the crotch salute."

Well, the crotch salute is back. This photo was taken at the memorial service at Ft. Hood army base in Texas during the presentation of our flag. Note the other civilian on stage with hand over heart and the military members saluting the flag while Obama reprises his infamous crotch salute. While I respect the office of the President, this guy is disgracing it. As a veteran I gotta say, "Hey Obama, I got a crotch salute for you!"

An American leader who bows: Another Obama First!

Wesley Pruden, as usual, cuts through the fluff to the heart of the news, Obama's infamous full genuflection to the Japanese Emperor.

He established a new precedent for how American presidents should pay obeisance to kings, emperors, monarchs, sovereigns and assorted other authentic man-made masters of the universe. He stopped just this side of the full grovel to the emperor of Japan, risking a painful genuflection if his forehead had hit the floor with a nasty bump, which it almost did. No president before him so abused custom, traditions, protocol (and the country he represents). Several Internet sites published a rogue's gallery showing how other national leaders - the prime ministers of Israel, India, Slovenia, South Korea, Russia and Dick Cheney among them - have greeted Emperor Akihito with a friendly handshake and an ever-so-slight but respectful nod (and sometimes not even that).

Now we know why Mr. Obama stunned everyone with an earlier similar bow to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, only the bow to the Japanese emperor was far more flamboyant, a sign of a really deep sense of inferiority. He was only practicing his bow in Riyadh. Sometimes rituals are learned with difficulty. It took Bill Clinton months to learn how to return a military salute worthy of a commander in chief; like any draft dodger, he kept poking a thumb in his eye until he finally got it. Mr. Obama, on the other hand, seems right at home now giving a wow of a bow. This is not the way an American president impresses evildoers that he's strong, tough and decisive, that America is not to be trifled with...

Douglas MacArthur, who ranked above mere heads of state in his own mind, once invented his own protocol on greeting Emperor Hirohito. The emperor, the father of Akihito, wanted to meet MacArthur soon after he arrived to become the military regent of Japan in 1945, perhaps to thank him for saving the throne at the end of World War II. When the emperor invited MacArthur to call on him, the general sent word that the emperor should call on him - speaking of breaches of custom - and the two men were photographed together, astonishing the Japanese. The emperor arrived in full formal dress, cutaway coat and all, and MacArthur received him in summer khakis, sans tie, with his hands stuffed casually in his back pockets. Further astonishing the Japanese, he towered over the diminutive emperor.

But Mr. Obama, unlike his predecessors, likely knows no better, and many of those around him, true children of the grungy '60s, are contemptuous of custom. Cutting America down to size is what attracts them to "hope" for "change." It's no fault of the president that he has no natural instinct or blood impulse for what the America of "the 57 states" is about. He was sired by a Kenyan father, born to a mother attracted to men of the Third World and reared by grandparents in Hawaii, a paradise far from the American mainstream.

He no doubt wants to "do the right thing" by his lights, but the lights that illumine the Obama path are not necessarily the lights that illuminate the way for most of the rest of us. This is good news only for Jimmy Carter, who may yet have to give up his distinction as our most ineffective and embarrassing president.

I wonder how many other embarrassments we have in store with our rookie President's first and hopefully brief tenure in office? Each world tour seems to bring at least one new one. As Pruden notes, we may soon be looking back at Jimmy Carter's reign as "the good ol' days."

"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end"

R. J. Wiedemann Lt Col. USMC Ret.

I see your dither and raise you another bow to royalty

As our Dither-In-Chief continues to extend his Guinness record for the world's longest dither, leaving our troops at war in Afghanistan slowly twisting in the wind, here comes another low point during his current World Apology Tour in Asia.

I liked it so much I stole it whole hog from Townhall.com.

This Is Getting Embarrassing...

Posted by: Meredith Jessup at 12:12 PM

First this... Now this... Even the LA Times is asking, "How low will the new American president go for the world's royalty?" President Obama first denied he had bowed to the Saudi royalty, but his actions were crystal clear during his visit to Japan this week. In Japanese culture a deep bow like this is a sign of respect and "deference to a superior." Sweet--just the message I want my president sending! This kind of "deference" is pretty unprecedented. I guess this is just some more of that "change" Obama promised us all--indeed another teachable moment. Go ahead and do a Google search to try and find other instances of American presidents bowing to the Emperor of Japan. And while you're at it, see if you can find any other world leader bowing. Go ahead... I'll wait.

Mystery Colt No. 1 solved, how about Mystery Colt No. 2?

Mystery Colt solved by Jim Watson, senior member at TheHighRoad.us.

Parts gun in a big way.

Frame:
Colt sn 13719 was made in 1912 for the US Army. Therefore it is, or was, a true 1911.
The stamp over the magazine catch is WGP for Major Walter G. Penfield, chief inspector for military production at Colt from 1911 til 1914.
It would have had a big bold "United States Property" stamp on the left side in front of the slide stop. That has been removed to sanitize the frame and disguise the fact that it is stolen government property. Don't worry about that, the FBI and BATF don't care about the origin of a gun any more as long as the serial number is still there.

The finger thingie on the frontstrap was welded up, the rear tang ground to take a beavertail grip safety, an aluminum trigger with holes was installed, and Pachmayr grips added, slit to clear the thingie. The arched mainspring housing looks like a Pachmayr but I would need better pictures to be sure. Hammer is a flat type much newer than the frame.

Slide:
I can't read the slide markings, you say it says .38 Super but has a .45 ACP barrel?
That was a lot of work.

Besides that, the rear sight is a Smith & Wesson revolver sight, which is kind of a gunsmithing chore to install.

Next question, call it Mystery Colt No. 2: What's up with the other .38 Super 1911 in the double auction? It has the 1911 flat mainspring housing, but it has the scallops behind the trigger, which is a 1911-A1 frame change? Serial number is 163679.I'm all ears.

Mystery Colt 1911-A1 .38 Super/.45 ACP: What kinda frame izzit?

I need some help with a mystery Colt. The gun shop where I work bought a 1911-A1 with a Colt .38 Super slide, a .45 ACP barrel and an unknown frame.

That's it in the photos. The frame has this spike on the front grip frame that sticks out from the Pachmayr wraparound grip as part of a very aggressive set of fingergrooves.

It's a standard 1911-A1 that seems to be set up for target competition with an adjustable rear sight and a Patridge front sight.

The slide has the expected Colt .38 Super markings and patent dates the most recent of which is 1913 as expected with a 1911-A1.

But the frame is just plain weird. One of the changes from 1911 to 1911-A1 is the arched rear grip frame of the latter, which this frame has.

But another change on the 1911-A1 frame is the half-moon cuts behind the trigger and this one ain't got none of those. The frame is flat behind the trigger like a 1911.

And on the left side of the frame, behind the trigger guard, is a logo that might be a C with an M and a P. That's my best guess of what the logo says.

The fourth photo is a closeup of that logo. I figured it had to be some non-Colt company's logo.

But when a customer asked me to test fire this pistol to check its function, I did this past weekend. It shoots fine.

And then the mystery deepened. One of my buddies who was at the range is retired Air Force who collects military arms and he said he has some old military Colt 1911s that have that same logo.

So, is it a Colt? And if so, is it a 1911 or a 1911-A1? And is it a genuine .38 Super Colt? Serial number on the frame is 13719.

If you want to see more photos and read the description in more detail, this mystery Colt and a genuine 1911 .38 Super Colt are both listed on gunbroker in an auction for my gun shop.

Anybody got any info on the mystery Colt or about the mystery logo?

So long EAA Witness P-Carry, hello Para Ord P12-45

Tomorrow is my first Para Ordnance carry day! The Good Lord sent me a buyer for my EAA Witness P-Compact .38 Super/.45 ACP at the gun show in Hickory over the weekend, attended by the other folks at the gun shop where I work. So far I've been able to get away with not spending my weekends at gun shows with the rest of the crew.

That enabled me to get my new-to-me Para Ordnance P12-45 out of hock at the gun shop today and bring her home for good. So tomorrow I'll be carrying the Para and 12+1 rds. of Winchester PDX1 230-gr. JHP Bonded Personal Protection loads, plus a couple of spare magazines of 12 and a backup piece.

I shot the Para P12-45 again this past Saturday at the range and she just loves those 230-grain loads with the sights dead-on at 15 yards. She has a Cylinder & Slide trigger job and some other custom touches, including ambi safeties which makes her perfect for a lefty like me.

I also got my Charter Arms Patriot .327 Magnum back from a gunsmith at the Hickory show, so that will be my backup tomorrow. The gunsmith tried unsuccessfully to install a lighter weight hammer/trigger spring, but said he couldn't find one that would also fire cartridges of any type. That's sorta essential for a firearm, that it actually fires, certainly more important than a lighter trigger pull.

Speaking of lighter trigger pull, I've been carrying my new-to-me Smith & Wesson Model 65-3 stainless .357 Magnum revolver lately, second photo. This little 3" barrel darling has a trigger job from the S&W Performance Center that has to be felt to be believed. Everybody who has tried that trigger has had a shocked expression and a mouth that falls open. It's that good. I guess one great trigger job is enough for the moment.

I got enough from the EAA sale to pay off the Para Ord and also make a down payment on my next acquisition, a Colt Cobra .38 Special 6-shot snubby, third photo.

The Cobra is the same frame size as the Smith 65-3, K-Frame for S&W and D-Frame for Colt. It's a dead ringer for the famed Colt Detective Special, the only difference being an alloy frame vs. the all-steel Dick Tracy snubby. I've got nothing against light carry pieces if they shoot good.

And the Colt Cobra shot just fine when I took her for a test run this past Saturday. She has a good trigger and she's a 6-shot vs. the usual 5-shot J-Frame Smith snubbies, plus the grip is also a bit bigger which works well for my large, long-fingered hands.

And the Colt Cobra trigger is pretty slick too, not as slick as the Smith 65-3 but definitely better than the Charter Patriot .327 Magnum. It's destined to be my everyday backup carry piece.

My only caveat at the range was the discovery that hot .38 Special loads banged the back of the trigger guard on the knuckle of my middle finger no matter how I tried to adjust my grip. I'm gonna find some of those grip fillers for the front of the grip frame that will fit a D-Frame Colt.

A "Mighty Mouse" hero emerges from the Ft. Hood massacre

Even Fox News has ticked me off with the coverage of the Ft. Hood massacre.

The Army major who decided to become a terrorist somehow is supposed to be granted victim status because he's a Muslim? WTF? When a Muslim commits terrorism, suddenly he's a victim because he's a Muslim?

And even the FBI director says the FBI is "not even discussing" the possibility that a Muslim terrorist who kills 13 soldiers just might be connected in some way to Muslim terrorism worldwide? I agree with the Fox News panelist on this one, who commented that William Webster needs to be fired for making such an idiotic statement as that.

What does Webster need to investigate Muslim terrorist ties to the traitor major, a mash note from Osama bin Laden saying "I did it!"?

As sickening as this whole mess is, there is one bright note: the female police officer who cut short the traitorous major's killing spree at the risk of her own life.

As she pulled up to the center, the officer, Sgt. Kimberly Denise Munley, spotted the gunman, later identified as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, brandishing a pistol and chasing a wounded soldier outside the building, said Chuck Medley, the director of emergency services at the base.

Sergeant Munley — a woman with a fierce love of hunting, surfing and other outdoor sports — bolted from her car, yanked her pistol out and shot at Major Hasan. He turned on her and began to fire. She ran toward him, continuing to fire, and both she and Major Hasan went down with several bullet wounds, Mr. Medley said.

And this female hero has N.C. ties and even plans to move back here in the near future.

Sergeant Munley began her career as a police officer in the beachside town of Wrightsville, N.C., after graduating from high school in nearby Wilmington. She quickly earned a reputation for fearlessness, despite her stature. (She stands 5-foot-4.)

Her partner in Wrightsville, Investigator Shaun Appler, recalled how Sergeant Munley saved him one night when she wrestled a large man off him after the man had pinned him down and was trying to take his gun. She earned the nickname Mighty Mouse for that, he said.

“She’s a ball of fire,” Mr. Appler said. “She’s a real good cop.

While Obama dithers, soldiers keep fighting the good fight

The story today on military.com is worth linking just for the photo alone, a 4th Infantry Division G.I. caught in mid-air leaping into a muddy canal ditch to escape fire from the Taliban in the hills above an Afghan village.

The G.I.'s built a clinic in the nearby village. The Taliban blew it up. The G.I's return, knowing they will start another fire fight with the Taliban.

But that's what soldiers do, hunt and kill the enemy.

The atmosphere was tense. An attack was expected. Back at the ruined clinic, the squad's Afghan translator had asked if this journalist had a mobile phone. "You should call your loved ones now to say that you care about them. I'm telling you, the walk home from here is not a joke," he said with a nervous smile.

As they left Qatar Kala, with U.S. helicopters buzzing overhead, Goodman split his men into two squads, one along the riverbed and one in an irrigation canal on higher ground.

About 500 yards outside the village gunfire whistled down from the eastern mountainside.

Soldiers dived stomach-down. The rushing canal water soaked boots and uniforms and jammed at least one weapon as Soldiers got up to shoot back...

Gradually the Soldiers made it to safety. The firefight had lasted about four hours. The entire operation, from dawn until the return to base, went on for about seven hours.

The Soldiers were met in front of the bazaar of a friendly village by troops in military vehicles who gave them bottled water. They were caked in drying mud but with no casualties except for two sprained ankles.

Then they headed back to their outpost, which is named Honaker Miracle after two U.S. infantrymen, Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Honaker and Pfc. Joseph Miracle, killed in Afghanistan in 2007.

The platoon was later told by its company command that reports suggested up to five Taliban were killed in Tuesday's fighting.

Just another day on the job for our soldiers. Say a prayer for all the men and women in harm's way, defending our freedom daily around the world.

The VPGS Special Pistol Package with something for everything

I bet you ain't got one of these. Here's your chance for the ultimate SHTF carry handgun. It's the handgun package that has something for everything: a Glock 19 compact 9mm in OD Green with Crimson Trace Laser Grip, 33-rd. magazine and a Ka-Bar pistol bayonet to finish off what's left.

Light 'em up with the CT Laser, blast 'em with 34 rds. of 9mm, and then if there's anything left to poke, finish 'em off with the bayonet.

We call it the Village Pawn & Gun Shop Special and here's the listing on gunbroker for this package deal:

New In Box: VPGS Special Edition Glock Model 19 OD Green Compact 9mm Double-Action-Only Semi-Auto Pistol, 4.02" black-steel barrel, black-steel slide, OD Green polymer frame with accessory rail, 5.5-lb. trigger, fixed sights, Ka-Bar pistol bayonet with LaserLyte quick-detach mount and black plastic blade cover installed on accessory rail, Crimson Trace Lasergrip installed on grip frame, Glock factory 33-rd. magazine included with (2) Glock factory 15-rd. magazines. Ships in factory hardcase with Crimson Trace pouch including laser adjustment tools, manual and warranty; bore rod and brush, magazine loader, cable-lock, fired cartridge, Glock manual, warranty and factory papers.

Fabled Colt Royal Blue? Only Colt knows for sure

When I first started doing gunbroker.com auctions for the gun shop where I work, I made the grevious error on a Colt auction of calling a deep-blue finish "Colt Royal Blue" which is what BlueBook called it for that particular model.

I think it was a Colt King Cobra revolver, but since I don't have a clear memory of what I ate for breakfast I could be wrong on that little detail.

Whatever.

You woulda thought I suggested to a bunch of die-hard Catholics that the Pope might be a secret Baptist.

Howls of anguish and charges of "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!" came flooding in by email from every Colt "expert" on gunbroker. "Do you have a genuine Colt factory letter proving this Colt is Royal Blue!!!???" the "experts" all chorused/shouted by email?

As the Mexican bandits said to Bogart, we didn't have no stinkin' Colt letter so after the first jillion or so emails, I changed Colt Royal Blue to a mere blue.

And I have gone forth from there and sinned no more by never again claiming that any blue Colt we've offered on gunbroker is Royal Colt Blue cause we still ain't got no stinkin' Colt factory letters.

But at the risk of causing another eruption of hissy fits from the Colt "experts," today I listed a Colt Classic Government Model .45 ACP in extremely dark blue and I dared utter the forbidden words in the auction listing "Royal Colt Blue."

I phrased it thusly: We wouldn't dare claim this Colt Classic Government Model is the fabled Colt Royal Blue because we don't have a factory letter to back up that claim and we don't want to cause an eruption of hissy fits by Colt "experts." But it sure is a very dark blue with a beautiful set of ivory-appearing grips.

I will add this, hopefully far enough away from the wrath of Colt experts on gunbroker to escape their notice.

If this Colt Classic Government Model ain't Colt Royal Blue, I can't imagine what the real McCoy could look like. That blue finish is so deep and dark you could dive in there and swim around in it.

But I still ain't saying it's Colt Royal Blue. It just looks like it, that's all I'm saying. In case you feel compelled to respond with indignation, send all emails to heresaquartercallsomeonewhocares@idont.com

The World's Longest Dither seeks a 'Compromise' war plan

Bill Kristol at The Weekly Standard Blog gives us an update on the world's longest dither as President Obama and his "military experts" continue "developing a new strategy" for the war in Aghanistan. Meanwhile, Gen. McChrystal and the troops continue the fight short-handed.

The McChrystal review was done by August 1st. It is now the end of October.

According to today's Washington Post ("Obama seeking options on forces; President looks to send fewer additional troops"), we'll get a decision by the end of November. That's four months. And it's evident that the review at this point is being driven entirely by White House political concerns. 148 American soldiers have died while the president holds seminars.

It's really outrageous.

There are, though, comical aspects to the Post story.

One is that Army chief of staff George Casey, a stubborn opponent of the Iraq surge at the end of 2006, is using this excuse to oppose an Afghanistan surge: "The Army is particularly concerned that soldiers who spend less than 18 months at home between combat tours do not have enough time to train for high-intensity tank warfare."

Just where are we going to fight that kind of war in the very near future?

Another is this: "But opinion among members of Obama's national security team is divided, and he now appears to be seeking a compromise solution that would satisfy both his military and civilian advisers."

Huh? Who are those "civilian advisers?" Secretary of Defense Gates is with Generals McChrystal and Petraeus, and (I gather) so too are Secretary of State Clinton and Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke -- all the "civilian advisers" who have real responsibility for the situation. But Joe Biden and Rahm Emanuel have political concerns -- so Obama is trying to find a "compromise" that would "satisfy" them too.

Sometimes, in political and public policy, compromise is a good thing. But it's not a way to win a war. Especially when the "compromise" is between what your own military commander judges, based on an extensive review, he needs, and what your political hacks want.

You didn't think Obama was going to interrupt his golf game to make a decision, did you?

Socialist-Takeover-of-America's-Healthcare-System Bill: The Movie

Have you read the Socialist-Takeover-of-America's-Healthcare-System bill? No? Me neither. Actually, nobody has read it. Not the members of Congress who are voting on it, not even the people who wrote it. If you think that's weird, so does my friend Mary Katharine Ham. Check it out.