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Gun Lust

Gratuitous Gun Pics, The Gun Thing

At my age, and given the number of guns I’ve a.) shot and b.) owned, you’d think that I’d be immune to gun lust by now.  And to a large degree, I am.  Certainly, I’m no longer seduced by a pretty gun like this vintage Purdey Hammer gun (because Purdey co$$$$t):

…and for purely cost:quality criteria, I would be more likely to go for something like this Chapuis Chapeur Classic (Classique?):

…which runs for under $5,000 and gives me a balance between looks and utility, rather than a super-budget CZ Bobwhite:

…which sells for under $800, still has all the features I want (splinter/English stock, double triggers, etc.) but would probably not provide the same stirring of the loins when I opened up Ye Olde Gunne Sayffe.

Leaving aside all mention of Purdeys and their ilk, one asks the question:  is the Chapuis a better gun than the CZ?  Answer:  probably, and certainly in terms of workmanship (hand-built vs. Turkish assembly line), yes.

Next question:  is the Chapuis six times better than the CZ?  Answer:  probably not.

The only time this becomes a more interesting question is if one wonders whether such a decision (upgrading to a more expensive gun) would improve one’s score / performance.

And here I turn again to Jonny Carter, who talks shotguns with ace shotgunner Anthony Matarese Jr., multiple-times world- and U.S. champion shooter.

Most of the things I once thought critical to shotgun shooting performance (e.g. locktime and trigger) turn out to be, well, not that critical, according to the (again:) multiple-times world- and U.S. champion shooter.

Go ahead and watch it (20-odd minutes), and prepare to be surprised.

Just Suppose

Drive Time

…that you were in your thirties back in early 1980-85, and had a job that required you to drive about a hundred miles a day, every weekday — let’s go back in time, and imagine that you were what they called back then a “traveling salesman” and had to call on both existing and new customers in a fairly large sales area.

Let’s also stipulate that this job was somewhere that required driving in non-urban traffic (perhaps in the Midwestern states, or maybe the rural Northwest or Northeast), so not in LA, NY, Chicago or any of the other metropolitan cesspits.

Clearly, this would require a car that was reliable, comfortable, could handle hot and cold weather and was large enough to carry samples.  So the company accountant took you aside and said, “Here’s $15,000 dollars;  go buy yourself a decent car.”  (Note that no company accountant was ever going to give you enough for a Merc or the like;  you’d probably be stuck with a Murkin car or one of the minor Euro, Japanese or Scandi brands.  For reference, a 1984 Olds 98 would run you between $14k and $15k back then.)

So:  to which dealer would you be going, and what car would you get for yourself?

Feel free to give reasons (because I know you will).

My choice below the fold.

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Amateurs Vs. Professionals

Diplomacy, Marxists, Politics, Wars & Other Fun Games

In which some smart guy compares the hard-headed and realistic professionalism of Trump’s foreign policy towards Iran vs. that of the feckless Obama administration.

While then-Secretary of State John Kerry famously treated Iranian negotiators like esteemed colleagues, Vice President JD Vance just treated them like a landlord dealing with a delinquent tenant who thinks he owns the building.

I’d like to think that was Kerry’s underpinning philosophy — simple foolishness and a massive misread of the room — but then I’d have to think that Fuckface’s dealings with Iran didn’t involve in-depth discussions with Barack Traitor Obama, who always had another, more malevolent attitude towards his adopted country.

The fact of the matter is that the Obama administration sold the United States out to Iran — with cash as well as white-glove treatment — and it’s taken us this long to reverse that ghastly policy.

Random News Update

Bad News

Maryland’s House of Representatives followed the state Senate’s lead and passed a ban on Glocks — far be it for me to agree with anything that the Maryland legislature does, but...
#ButtUglyGuns

Widow sues after husband was killed when he wore 20-lb chain in hospital room where she was having MRI scan — Charles Darwin, call your office.

A question to one of the agony aunts in the newspaper:

Am I being prissy if I say no to having a threesome? — Yes you are, and that’s not a Bad Thing.

Suspect in $11 Million Minnesota Fraud Scheme Disappears — “Abdirashid Ismail Said avoided being ordered to surrender his passport by paying the unconditional bond amount of $150,000. The conditional bond, which would have required him to surrender his passport, was set at $50,000.  Investigators had voiced concerns that Said had a wife and child living in Nairobi, Kenya, and it was possible he could flee, hide, or prevent officials from executing the warrant.”

You have to ask yourself this question.  The scrote is charged with embezzling $11 million, and is hit with a chump change bail amount.  He has family still living in Kenya… and people are shocked — shocked! — when he disappears?  Whoever set his bail should have to spend an amount of time in jail equal to what Said would have served, no bail, no early release, just for being either a moron or a co-conspirator.

FFS.  What time does the range open, again?