Author: Kim du Toit

Ass, Corporate Head Up

The Gun Thing

Colt is re-releasing the King Cobra, a .357 Mag version of its Cobra revolver.

I remember trying one of their earlier Cobra .38 Specials, and being rather underwhelmed by the feel of the thing.  It puzzled me, because the Cobra was (still is?) based on the venerable Trooper, which I’ve always had a soft spot for.   Here’s a MkV, with a 4″ barrel.

As I recall, Colt Troopers and Pythons alike shared the 4″ barrel as the most popular version of either brand.  Here’s a Python, similarly equipped:

(I myself always preferred the 6″ barrel, but that’s just me.)

So here’s my question for Colt:  why are you bringing out a .357 Magnum revolver with only a 3″ barrel?

I know, I know:  under the heading of “Bullshit-Stupid Marketing” in the dictionary, you’ll find the Colt logo.  But seriously:  how difficult would it be to have released the King Cobra with (okay) a 3″ barrel, but also with, say, 4″ and 6″ options?  They might even have offered  the longer barrels at a [gasp!]  premium price… or is that kind of thinking too dangerous to contemplate?

When Smith & Wesson re-released their excellent Model 19 Combat Magnum, they released it with two variants:  the “Classic”, featuring a blued 4″ barrel (strengthened so that you can shoot lots of .357 Mag ammo through the gun without the medium-sized frame buckling):

…and the bead-blasted “Carry Comp” with 2 1/2″ barrel — with an integral 1/2″ compensator to reduce the .357’s recoil:

In the past I’ve had lots to say about S&W (not all of it complimentary), but they did this one right.

Colt, on the other hand…

Old Friends Are Not Forgotten

Gratuitous Gun Pics, The Gun Thing

My abbreviated honeymoon last weekend had one additional benefit:  it brought three old friends back into my life.

During the Great Poverty Gun Sell-Off (when I was forced to sell guns to pay medical bills), several kind and generous buddies came to my aid, buying several of my guns from me — with the caveat that should they ever decide to sell them, I would get right of first refusal.  (There was a hidden danger, of course:  that they would fall in love with the damn guns and refuse to sell them back  to me, which actually came close to happening with one.)  Recently I had a small windfall which made their buyback possible, so…

Anyway, here’s one of them, which I managed to persuade Longtime Friend Mark C. to sell back to me.  This is my prized Browning High Power 9mm, which had been on permanent loan to Connie.  Sadly, as her health deteriorated, she was no longer able to operate it and, well, there were doctors which needed paying, so onto the block it went.  But now it’s home again.  This was how it first arrived in the house:

…and this is how it looked when Reader Mark took possession:

I will soon (very soon) be reacquainting myself with this beauty at the range, maybe even this afternoon or tomorrow.  If I love it as much as I remember doing, it may well replace my 1911 as a primary carry piece.  (I know, I know, 9mm Europellet!  Say it ain’t so, Kim!!!  But as Loyal Readers will recall, the 1911’s .45ACP ammo has been beating up my old wrists badly… and anyway, pistol cartridges have come a long  way since 2004.  Right now it’s loaded with this new offering from SIG, which seems to be all the rage with the 9mm Smart Set.)

…and my bulk ammo order from the ammo dealers on my sidebar will follow shortly.  One problem:  I only have one mag for it, the original issue.  But a visit to the next Evil Loophole Gun Show (ELGS™) should provide me with some of those doubleplusungood 13-rounder magazines — you know, the ones which give the gun-controllers fits.  Five or six should do the trick, yes?

Welcome home, old buddy.  Range report to follow.

And Another Old Friend

Drive Time

I see that Toyota has brought back the Supra, and all I can say is, it’s about damn time.

It’s pretty. isn’t it?  The Mail  compares it to a Porsche Boxster, and I think it kicks the Krautcar’s ass in the looks department.

I’ve only ever driven one Supra, back in the early 1980s:

..and what I discovered was that it was a beauty:  nimble, quick and best of all, it started every time  (I’d just come off a Fiat 124 and an Alfa Romeo Giulietta).

Sadly, I’m out of the Supra / sporty car market now — I can’t handle hauling my fat old ass out of these low-slung numbers anymore — but let me tell you…

Sounds Familiar

Deep Thoughts

It appears that the Royal Ginger is into meditation (through the efforts of his Hollywood strumpet consort, of course).

So am I, and always have been.

However, I don’t do it by way of yoga or Buddhism or any of that mystical bullshit.  I just call it “thought and reflection”, and I do it when I wake up — in that delicious period of time when my mind can wander freely — or else when I’m otherwise alone (e.g. in the car or on a long flight).  During that wonderful break, I think about life, my life, my priorities in life and my goals and ambitions.  I also reflect on my problems, my faults, and the hindrances which prevent me from living properly.

See, I always thought that everybody  did this stuff.  But apparently not.  Maybe it’s because everyone is too caught up in the here-and-now, or is being enslaved by technology, or is entangled in the machinations of others.

And in today’s world, it’s so difficult to cut oneself off, even for just a half an hour;  and even if one does, there’s a real need to empty the mind of the clutter before turning inwards for those Deep Thoughts.

Myself, I think a little range time is the perfect way to clear the mind — there’s no time to think about life’s minutiae  when you’re trying to slow your heartbeat, concentrate on the sight picture and drop each round into the X-ring.  And in that wonderful aftermath of a range session when the adrenaline levels drop and you reach that calm state we all know so well, you’ll find that this  is a good time for quiet contemplation and reflection.

So there you have it:  shooting  helps with meditation, not that airy-fairy yoga bullshit.