Tag: Guns and such

My favorite toy

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Pietta King Trio

Gratuitous Gun Pics

Loyal Reader Mike S. (thankee) sends me this lovely pic of a gun (or a pic of a lovely gun, whatever):

Note the extra cylinders.  These will be explained later.  But first, a close-up:

I don’t care who you are, that’s a purty lil’ thang right there, yessirree.

“But Kim… what’s it chambered in?”

According to the article Reader Mike so thoughtfully provided:

A close copy clone of a Colt Single Action Army (SAA), the King Trio comes with three cylinders, making it capable of shooting four different cartridges, earning King status on versatility for six-shooters.

And the boolets?

First up is the .38 Super. The .38 Super came out in the late 1920s and is a favorite cartridge for Mexicans. Being illegal to own firearms capable of shooting cartridges of war like 9mm and .45 ACP, the .38 Super is a popular choice by having the power to take care of business in the famous 1911 platform.  Having a cylinder for .38 Super adds to the versatility of the King Trio revolver while upping the cool factor by 10!

Next is the .357 Magnum/.38 Special cylinder. Who doesn’t love the power of the .357 Magnum? Capable of taking deer-sized game, as well as being a proven one-shot man stopper, the .357 may be our most balanced and practical cartridge for everyday chores.

That .38 Special can be fired in the same cylinder, making it doubly good!  Usually abundant and cheaper than most ammunition, the mild loads are great for practice, small game and teaching youth how to shoot without all the nasty muzzle-blast the .357 Magnum is known for.

Lastly, we have the 9mm. For plain plinking fun and varmints, the 9mm is hard to beat.

As any fule kno, I’m not a huge fan of the last-mentioned.  But the ammo is cheaper than almost anything except .22 LR, and I bet it’s great fun to shoot those teeny lil’ Europellets out of a honking big revolver like the Trio.

Can you say “Governor’s BBQ Gun”, children?

Dept. Of Righteous Shootings

Righteous Shootings

Several Readers sent me this happy little tale (and thankee, one and all).  Seems as though this goblin invaded a home armed with a butane torch, motive unknown but I think we can all make a good guess.  Anyway, his mistake was in threatening Our Hero’s grandchildren, whereupon said goblin received  a quick bullet to the vitals and expired shortly after.  (That’s the reason they’re called “the vitals” — destroy them and you’re dead.)

This lovely story, however, also contains a Quote Of The Day nugget from an attorney:

“The law doesn’t require someone to gamble on the intentions of an intruder.”

Which is why, even in the People’s Soviet of California, Our Hero is unlikely to face charges.

Also, it seems inadvisable to bring a butane torch to a gunfight.  Lesson learned, alas too late for the goblin.

The Never-Ending Debate

The Gun Thing

Here we go (again, and again, and again):  the old Glock vs. 1911 argument.

And as a bonus:  the opinions expressed are those of a gun “newbie” on the topic, and then those of Clint Smith (whose opinions on handguns I respect more than just about anyone’s on the planet).

As everyone in the frigging world knows, I am a 1911 man, period, end of statement, the end, th-th-th-that’s all, folks.

I’ve put more rounds through various 1911s (GI, Combat Commander, Officer’s whatever) than through any other gun that isn’t a .22.  When I can be bothered, I can be extremely accurate with it — I’m a “90%”-type of guy, and refuse to let the perfect be the enemy of the good enough.  The only malfunctions I’ve ever had were either because of cheapshit ammo (never again), bad magazines (ditto) or a physical breakage (e.g. of a slide stop, after well over 20,000 rounds) which, let’s be honest, could happen to any gun thus tortured.  All other foolishness whereby a boolet doesn’t hit at least the 9-ring is absolutely 100% the fault of the idiot (me) pulling the trigger, whether it’s a flinch, a momentary lapse in concentration, a desire to finish the range session RIGHT NOW!… and I admit to those shortcomings candidly.

I hate Glocks because they’re fugly, plastic and designed (albeit no longer necessarily made) by furriners.  I hate that spongy double-action trigger, the grip angle is just wrong, and so on.

But the gun that I shoot hands-down more accurately and consistently than any other is a Glock 19.

Once again, I admit that frankly, even though I hate to admit it.

And then there’s that “9mm vs .45ACP” argument, and on that, I will accept no substitutes for the .45 ACP.  Something Clint Smith says in the video is quite telling:  “If you’re talking just one bullet, it (the 9mm) just ain’t gonna get it done.”

“So why don’t you just shoot the Glock 21 (.45 ACP), Kim?”

Because I shoot a 1911 more accurately than I do the 21.  When the boolets are the same, that shitty Glock trigger kneecaps me more frequently than a drunken IRA gunman with a .22.  Once again, that’s not the experience of shooting only a box through the 21 — over four days of shooting during that long weekend so far back in the past, I must have popped well over 5,000 rounds of .45 ACP through the Glock, and my accuracy never improved.

Hell, when I set my mind to it, I can feel my accuracy improving with my old Springfield by about the third (8-round mag), and it only starts getting bad after about 200 rounds on the trot because my wrist starts to hurt.

Yeah, the 1911 is a heavy beast.  Don’t care, I’m a strong and beefy guy, so it’s no big deal.

As Clint says towards the end:  it’s all about the shooter and the confidence he has in his gear.  As a thing, my 1911 is as much a part of me as my glasses or the shoes on my feet.  I would have absolutely no problem getting into a gunfight with it because of my supreme confidence in the gun and its cartridge.  To me, all other guns (with the exception of my .357 revolvers) are a compromise which I’m not prepared to make.

Your mileage may differ, and that’s just fine.

And by the way:  that video is excellent.

Department Of Righteous Shootings

Righteous Shootings

Ordinarily, I’d treat the end result of the story: “guy feels aggrieved, gets a machete and attacks, only to be shot dead by the attackee”  with something approaching glee, but as this story (sent By Reader Brad_In_IL, thankee) shows, things are often not as cut and dried:

According to authorities, 36-year-old Michel Lope Montes de Oca had contacted a mobile tire repair service to fix his car, and he got into an altercation with the mechanic who showed up and started working on his vehicle.

The customer became upset when he checked the tire that was installed on his car and found that it was a used tire, police said.

Now, let’s at least acknowledge that selling a used tire at a new-tire price is not an action that doesn’t require at least some pushback.  But “getting upset” should never involve grabbing a handy cutting implement and having at it.  Over-action, meet overreaction.

As Señor  Machete discovered, alas too late.

One must ask — although not condemn — why a tire repair guy would feel the need for self-protection in his job.  But if it’s his common practice to sell old tires as new, small wonder.

Left a bad taste in my mouth, this one did.

Department Of Righteous Shootings

Righteous Shootings

What can you say when a popular high school football player is cut down in his prime, taken too soon and is a victim of gunfire?

Perhaps the little asshole shouldn’t have crashed into a Halloween party and shot nine people, before being gunned down himself by another armed partygoer who didn’t much care for his attitude.

The latter part only came out after everyone was calling our scumbag footballer the victim, instead of the aggressor he actually was.

Best part is that the hero of the story isn’t going to be charged with any crime — self-defense duh, not to mention saving innocent lives — so we won’t have to bring out the tar and feathers for the local prosecutor.