Nov 2007
FRIDAY SURPRISE: Drop in the bucket
Holy cow, it's Friday
already! I've been so busy, it didn't dawn on me until mid-morning
that I had a blog post due today!
Here's one that I really like - stop-action photography of water. Take a look - it's not what you think!
(I was going to write a clever introduction to the work of Harold Edgerton, but you'll just have to research him yourself.)
-=[ Grant ]=-
Here's one that I really like - stop-action photography of water. Take a look - it's not what you think!
(I was going to write a clever introduction to the work of Harold Edgerton, but you'll just have to research him yourself.)
-=[ Grant ]=-
|
I'm getting to be downright boring
Wednesday, November 28, 2007 Filed in:
Blog stuff
The post-holiday rush is on
Monday, November 26, 2007 Filed in:
Blog stuff, My
Life
I hope everyone had a good
Thanksgiving!
The problem with this holiday is not the surfeit of food, but rather the Friday after. No, I'm not talking about shopping crowds (my wife and I don't participate in that frenzy), but rather the fact that everything not retail is closed that day!
Every year I sit down on Friday morning to get what I hope to be a normal amount of work finished, only to find that the people I need to contact are out shopping. You'd think I'd figure this out by now.
The upshot is that this morning is twice as hectic as normal, which means today's blog entry is correspondingly short.
Gotta go...the FedEx guy needs my signature. Boy, does he look overworked!
-=[ Grant ]=-
The problem with this holiday is not the surfeit of food, but rather the Friday after. No, I'm not talking about shopping crowds (my wife and I don't participate in that frenzy), but rather the fact that everything not retail is closed that day!
Every year I sit down on Friday morning to get what I hope to be a normal amount of work finished, only to find that the people I need to contact are out shopping. You'd think I'd figure this out by now.
The upshot is that this morning is twice as hectic as normal, which means today's blog entry is correspondingly short.
Gotta go...the FedEx guy needs my signature. Boy, does he look overworked!
-=[ Grant ]=-
FRIDAY SURPRISE: When men were men, and computers filled a room
At least, some of them
did!
Here's a great little collection of pictures from the last few decades of computer technology. Ranging from mainframes to the first microcomputers, it's a neat glimpse of just how far things have come.
-=[ Grant ]=-
Here's a great little collection of pictures from the last few decades of computer technology. Ranging from mainframes to the first microcomputers, it's a neat glimpse of just how far things have come.
-=[ Grant ]=-
In case you haven't heard
Wednesday, November 21, 2007 Filed in:
Political
Action, Second Amendment
The Supreme Court of the
United States has agreed to hear the case of District of Columbia v.
Heller (the case is better known as
Parker v. District of Columbia, wherein five other D.C. residents
seek to join Mr. Heller's suit. Heller, then, is the base decision
that we are most concerned with.)
There is much hand-wringing about this case. A certain segment of the firearms fraternity (I'll call them the Not Ready Alliance, or "NRA" for short) doesn't want the case to be heard, because "we might lose, and then what will happen?!?" The other side, which I'll call "Gung-ho Order of Allegiance" ("GOA", in case you don't get the joke) is proclaiming "this is GREAT! Now we'll get rid of all those unconstitutional laws all over the country! Let's go get 'em!"
My position? Simple: sooner or later, the SCOTUS is going to hear a Second Amendment case. That much is sure. It might as well be this one.
From my standpoint, it's best if they hear Heller and not something else. Why? Because we are unlikely to find another case anytime soon that has a better chance of coming out on "our side." It is as close as to a "slam dunk" as we will probably ever see, and I'd rather they look at Heller than some other, less solid, case.
What's more, this court is probably the best relative to individual rights that we'll have in a long time. Don't get me wrong: this court is no friend of the Constitution, and has shown so time and again, but it's about as good as has existed in my lifetime.
(Given the field of likely Presidential nominees - of either party - they aren't going to get any better, either. Only one candidate holds out hope of real change in this matter, and unfortunately he's not getting a lot of support from the "gun culture." More's the pity.)
Again, it's not about the downside if we lose or the upside if we win; it's about timing. This battle has always been inevitable, and the smart warrior chooses to engage when he is strongest and his opponents are weakest. For us, that is now.
Let the chips fall where they may.
-=[ Grant ]=-
There is much hand-wringing about this case. A certain segment of the firearms fraternity (I'll call them the Not Ready Alliance, or "NRA" for short) doesn't want the case to be heard, because "we might lose, and then what will happen?!?" The other side, which I'll call "Gung-ho Order of Allegiance" ("GOA", in case you don't get the joke) is proclaiming "this is GREAT! Now we'll get rid of all those unconstitutional laws all over the country! Let's go get 'em!"
My position? Simple: sooner or later, the SCOTUS is going to hear a Second Amendment case. That much is sure. It might as well be this one.
From my standpoint, it's best if they hear Heller and not something else. Why? Because we are unlikely to find another case anytime soon that has a better chance of coming out on "our side." It is as close as to a "slam dunk" as we will probably ever see, and I'd rather they look at Heller than some other, less solid, case.
What's more, this court is probably the best relative to individual rights that we'll have in a long time. Don't get me wrong: this court is no friend of the Constitution, and has shown so time and again, but it's about as good as has existed in my lifetime.
(Given the field of likely Presidential nominees - of either party - they aren't going to get any better, either. Only one candidate holds out hope of real change in this matter, and unfortunately he's not getting a lot of support from the "gun culture." More's the pity.)
Again, it's not about the downside if we lose or the upside if we win; it's about timing. This battle has always been inevitable, and the smart warrior chooses to engage when he is strongest and his opponents are weakest. For us, that is now.
Let the chips fall where they may.
-=[ Grant ]=-
This isn't the kind of innovation I had in mind...
In a recent article, I
expressed my thought that perhaps we would see some new, innovative
revolver offerings from Ruger in the coming months.
Pardon my curmudgeonly demeanor, but I really don't think this is it.
A number of people have emailed asking my opinion of this new .327 Federal cartridge. As a defensive round, I'm not sure it really has a place. They're advertising a 20% reduction in recoil compared to a .357 (exactly which .357 loading isn't specified), but we don't know what the reduction in terminal effectiveness will be. That's the $64,000 question (apologies to the younger generations who may not understand the reference.)
The rub is that we already have a cartridge with half the recoil of the .357 and proven performance: the .38 Special +P. The old 158 grain LSWCHP +P load has a sterling reputation for effectiveness, even from a 2" barrel; the new Speer Gold Dot 135 grain +P is developing an enviable track record with even less recoil. Why go smaller?
Of course, there is always the 6-round selling point, but I don't think it makes up for what will probably be reduced terminal effect.
I do think that the new round has a place as a small- to medium-size hunting cartridge (it would rock from a lever action rifle!), but beyond that I just don't think it has much of a future.
(I remain fully prepared to eat a large helping of crow should it prove to be a runaway success.)
-=[ Grant ]=-
Pardon my curmudgeonly demeanor, but I really don't think this is it.
A number of people have emailed asking my opinion of this new .327 Federal cartridge. As a defensive round, I'm not sure it really has a place. They're advertising a 20% reduction in recoil compared to a .357 (exactly which .357 loading isn't specified), but we don't know what the reduction in terminal effectiveness will be. That's the $64,000 question (apologies to the younger generations who may not understand the reference.)
The rub is that we already have a cartridge with half the recoil of the .357 and proven performance: the .38 Special +P. The old 158 grain LSWCHP +P load has a sterling reputation for effectiveness, even from a 2" barrel; the new Speer Gold Dot 135 grain +P is developing an enviable track record with even less recoil. Why go smaller?
Of course, there is always the 6-round selling point, but I don't think it makes up for what will probably be reduced terminal effect.
I do think that the new round has a place as a small- to medium-size hunting cartridge (it would rock from a lever action rifle!), but beyond that I just don't think it has much of a future.
(I remain fully prepared to eat a large helping of crow should it prove to be a runaway success.)
-=[ Grant ]=-
FRIDAY SURPRISE: It's metaphysics time!
When I was in college, it
was fashionable amongst a certain segment of the student population
to walk around carrying a copy of the New York Review Of Books. The
aim, of course, was to appear worldly and sophisticated to people
who recognized the title, but didn't themselves read it.
The great secret was that very few of the people carrying the NYROB around, treating it as an icon of sophistication, ever actually read the thing either!
Many people buy copies of Musashi and Sun-Tzu which they never read, but which certainly look good on their bookshelves and serve to create a certain image. It helps, of course, when people quote common passages from Art of War or Book of Five RIngs without ever having read them in their actual context.
So it is with Meditations on Hunting by Jose Ortega y Gasset. It has been called "the most quoted work in sporting literature", but it appears that no one has ever actually read the thing!
Allow me to digress for a moment. My own hunting experiences are relatively few compared to many who read this blog. Though my father hunted, and I accompanied him at times, it was always a subsistence kind of affair: he hunted because we needed the meat. He would go out, get his deer (or elk), and that would be the end of it. He never took pictures of his kills nor kept trophies; hunting was a means to an end (to eat) rather than an end in itself.
As an adult, I wrestle with this. I don't need to hunt, meat being readily available otherwise, and so have chosen not to (save for necessary agricultural activities, such as pest and predator control, which aren't really hunting.) Despite this self-defined comfort, there has always been a gnawing at the back of my mind: what am I missing? Did my father derive anything other than protein from his hunts; was there something more profound at work? (That my father always hunted solo, eschewing the elk camp and its beer-fueled antics, left me suspecting that there might be.)
I wanted clarity on the subject, and thought that Ortega might be able to provide it. Color me surprised when I could find no one, even seasoned and experienced hunters of my acquaintance, who owned a copy. Our library system, which spans the largest city in Oregon to the most backwood hamlet, did not list it in their holdings. How odd! Such an important work, well known and oft-mentioned, yet no one seemed to have actually encountered it.
So, when the Second Edition of the Wescott translation of Meditations recently came out, I availed myself of free shipping on Amazon and ordered it. Finally I would get to see what all the fuss was about!
The book springs from Ortega's contention that life comes to us (or we to it) essentially empty, and it derives whatever meaning it has from the choices that we make relative to each situation in which we find ourselves. To Ortega, life really exists at the boundary of man and his surroundings, those surroundings to include our own thoughts and feelings. Hunting is such an interaction, and creates meaning by virtue of what it requires of the hunter.
The chase, the stalk, and yes the kill, all have great importance to the experience; missing any one negates the hunt's meaning. Ortega contends that the tension created by the sequence is an essential part of the experience, and without the unease created by the death of the animal that sequence becomes a farce, devoid of any meaning. This is the genesis of his most famous quote: "one does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted." Do not, though, assume that quote to be a substitute for the book - there is far more contained in that simple statement than is readily apparent, for it only hints at Ortega's complete philosophy.
(Like the poseurs I mentioned at the top, walking around with the NYROB poking out of their pocket, the passage is often intoned by those who have never read it in context. Having now digested his whole treatment of the subject, the statement by itself seems a caricature.)
It's important to understand that Meditations isn't about hunting as much as it is about man's relationship to the hunt. Remember that Ortega was a philosopher by training and occupation, holding a doctorate in the subject and chairing departments at Spanish universities. Thus, he's not a hunter who waxes a bit philosophic, but a serious philosopher who looks at the act of the hunt and reconciles it with his overall point of view.
As philosophers go, Ortega is surprisingly readable. Make no mistake, though - if you hated studying philosophy in school, Meditations may not be your cup of tea. It isn't about shooting deer, but about allowing the mind to learn more about itself. It requires introspection, an ability to deal in concepts rather than kinesthetics, and thus may turn off some people. However, his work is illuminating enough - even for the average person - to make it worth the effort.
I highly recommend that you pick up a copy of Meditations on Hunting and take whatever length of time you need to digest what Ortega wrote. I think that you'll come away with a better understanding of yourself, and a clearer picture of why you choose - or not, as the case may be - to hunt.
-=[ Grant ]=-
The great secret was that very few of the people carrying the NYROB around, treating it as an icon of sophistication, ever actually read the thing either!
Many people buy copies of Musashi and Sun-Tzu which they never read, but which certainly look good on their bookshelves and serve to create a certain image. It helps, of course, when people quote common passages from Art of War or Book of Five RIngs without ever having read them in their actual context.
So it is with Meditations on Hunting by Jose Ortega y Gasset. It has been called "the most quoted work in sporting literature", but it appears that no one has ever actually read the thing!
Allow me to digress for a moment. My own hunting experiences are relatively few compared to many who read this blog. Though my father hunted, and I accompanied him at times, it was always a subsistence kind of affair: he hunted because we needed the meat. He would go out, get his deer (or elk), and that would be the end of it. He never took pictures of his kills nor kept trophies; hunting was a means to an end (to eat) rather than an end in itself.
As an adult, I wrestle with this. I don't need to hunt, meat being readily available otherwise, and so have chosen not to (save for necessary agricultural activities, such as pest and predator control, which aren't really hunting.) Despite this self-defined comfort, there has always been a gnawing at the back of my mind: what am I missing? Did my father derive anything other than protein from his hunts; was there something more profound at work? (That my father always hunted solo, eschewing the elk camp and its beer-fueled antics, left me suspecting that there might be.)
I wanted clarity on the subject, and thought that Ortega might be able to provide it. Color me surprised when I could find no one, even seasoned and experienced hunters of my acquaintance, who owned a copy. Our library system, which spans the largest city in Oregon to the most backwood hamlet, did not list it in their holdings. How odd! Such an important work, well known and oft-mentioned, yet no one seemed to have actually encountered it.
So, when the Second Edition of the Wescott translation of Meditations recently came out, I availed myself of free shipping on Amazon and ordered it. Finally I would get to see what all the fuss was about!
The book springs from Ortega's contention that life comes to us (or we to it) essentially empty, and it derives whatever meaning it has from the choices that we make relative to each situation in which we find ourselves. To Ortega, life really exists at the boundary of man and his surroundings, those surroundings to include our own thoughts and feelings. Hunting is such an interaction, and creates meaning by virtue of what it requires of the hunter.
The chase, the stalk, and yes the kill, all have great importance to the experience; missing any one negates the hunt's meaning. Ortega contends that the tension created by the sequence is an essential part of the experience, and without the unease created by the death of the animal that sequence becomes a farce, devoid of any meaning. This is the genesis of his most famous quote: "one does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted." Do not, though, assume that quote to be a substitute for the book - there is far more contained in that simple statement than is readily apparent, for it only hints at Ortega's complete philosophy.
(Like the poseurs I mentioned at the top, walking around with the NYROB poking out of their pocket, the passage is often intoned by those who have never read it in context. Having now digested his whole treatment of the subject, the statement by itself seems a caricature.)
It's important to understand that Meditations isn't about hunting as much as it is about man's relationship to the hunt. Remember that Ortega was a philosopher by training and occupation, holding a doctorate in the subject and chairing departments at Spanish universities. Thus, he's not a hunter who waxes a bit philosophic, but a serious philosopher who looks at the act of the hunt and reconciles it with his overall point of view.
As philosophers go, Ortega is surprisingly readable. Make no mistake, though - if you hated studying philosophy in school, Meditations may not be your cup of tea. It isn't about shooting deer, but about allowing the mind to learn more about itself. It requires introspection, an ability to deal in concepts rather than kinesthetics, and thus may turn off some people. However, his work is illuminating enough - even for the average person - to make it worth the effort.
I highly recommend that you pick up a copy of Meditations on Hunting and take whatever length of time you need to digest what Ortega wrote. I think that you'll come away with a better understanding of yourself, and a clearer picture of why you choose - or not, as the case may be - to hunt.
-=[ Grant ]=-
Update on the waiting list
Wednesday, November 14, 2007 Filed in:
Blog stuff, Gunsmithing, My
Life, What's
New!, Other
resources, Humor
I've gotten a number of
emails and calls regarding the waiting list closure, and I
appreciate the positive thoughts! I didn't think I'd ever get to
the point that I had to do that, and I hope that when the list
opens again people will still remember me!
(The only thing worse than being talked about, is NOT being talked about!)
Now I have to get back to work; the last couple of weeks of injury-related work slowdown have left me even further behind than I already was!
-=[ Grant ]=-
P.S.: I thought about starting up a collection to buy Tam a Python, just so she'd have a non-flat Colt. Then I thought "hey, what am I thinking? If I'm going to solicit contributions for a Python for someone, that someone is gonna be ME! I'm my own favorite charity! If she wants one, she can buy it for herself!" I then cackled maniacally until my wife hit me with a frying pan. I'm recovering nicely, thank you.
Anyhow, Tam, I just hope you're not too disappointed...about the Python, I mean.
(The only thing worse than being talked about, is NOT being talked about!)
Now I have to get back to work; the last couple of weeks of injury-related work slowdown have left me even further behind than I already was!
-=[ Grant ]=-
P.S.: I thought about starting up a collection to buy Tam a Python, just so she'd have a non-flat Colt. Then I thought "hey, what am I thinking? If I'm going to solicit contributions for a Python for someone, that someone is gonna be ME! I'm my own favorite charity! If she wants one, she can buy it for herself!" I then cackled maniacally until my wife hit me with a frying pan. I'm recovering nicely, thank you.
Anyhow, Tam, I just hope you're not too disappointed...about the Python, I mean.
AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
Thanks to the many people
who have entrusted me with their guns, I am enjoying a surplus of
requests for work. In fact, for reasons that are not entirely clear
the requests keep increasing, especially in the last number of
weeks. This is both gratifying and concerning.
Up until this point, I've taken everyone's name and put them on a waiting list. This worked nicely when I was only a month or two backlogged, but now I'm up to a year behind - and the list keeps growing with no end in sight. The management of the list (answering inquiries, etc.) has now become a time-consuming endeavor unto itself.
To tell you the truth, when I first started in this endeavor I sort of harbored the dream of being able to casually say "oh, I'm so-many-years backlogged", accompanied by a flippant wave of the hand. Now that I'm at that point, it's not as pleasant as I thought it would be, because I'm more concerned with the positions of my clients than with my own. I have so much work to do that guns anticipated for holiday gifts won't make the date, and mostly not even the season - and that bothers me.
I'm sure that some other 'smiths are in the same situation, but I've come to the conclusion that it is unconscionable to continue to accept "reservations" which are so far out, I can't possibly predict whether or not I'll be able to make the date. I'm acutely aware that my skills at time estimation are not as good as they should be, and I find my chronological errors growing in scope as the length of the list increases. That's not fair to you, my clients and prospective clients.
So, as of today I am no longer accepting new clients until I've worked the waiting list down to a more reasonable level. Those who are on the list are, of course, still on the list - I just won't be adding to that list for a while.
If you have wanted to have me work on your guns, but are not on the list, I apologize for my unavailability. As soon as the list has shrunk to the point that I feel comfortable putting people on it, I'll make an announcement and open the list for new work.
Of course, the Blog will still be here to amuse and - hopefully - inform you.
-=[ Grant ]=-
Up until this point, I've taken everyone's name and put them on a waiting list. This worked nicely when I was only a month or two backlogged, but now I'm up to a year behind - and the list keeps growing with no end in sight. The management of the list (answering inquiries, etc.) has now become a time-consuming endeavor unto itself.
To tell you the truth, when I first started in this endeavor I sort of harbored the dream of being able to casually say "oh, I'm so-many-years backlogged", accompanied by a flippant wave of the hand. Now that I'm at that point, it's not as pleasant as I thought it would be, because I'm more concerned with the positions of my clients than with my own. I have so much work to do that guns anticipated for holiday gifts won't make the date, and mostly not even the season - and that bothers me.
I'm sure that some other 'smiths are in the same situation, but I've come to the conclusion that it is unconscionable to continue to accept "reservations" which are so far out, I can't possibly predict whether or not I'll be able to make the date. I'm acutely aware that my skills at time estimation are not as good as they should be, and I find my chronological errors growing in scope as the length of the list increases. That's not fair to you, my clients and prospective clients.
So, as of today I am no longer accepting new clients until I've worked the waiting list down to a more reasonable level. Those who are on the list are, of course, still on the list - I just won't be adding to that list for a while.
If you have wanted to have me work on your guns, but are not on the list, I apologize for my unavailability. As soon as the list has shrunk to the point that I feel comfortable putting people on it, I'll make an announcement and open the list for new work.
Of course, the Blog will still be here to amuse and - hopefully - inform you.
-=[ Grant ]=-
Another lame blog day
Just a few tidbits today,
then back to work:
- I got an email from a fellow who referred to me as having an "influential position" in the industry. Huh?? Since when? Does he know something I don't? Apparently I didn't get that memo...and neither did anyone at Ruger, Dan Wesson, or Colt. (I notice that I have yet to be invited to any industry junkets - I hear about them from AFGWWWTRA. It's probably because I don't have a big enough audience here at the Revolver Liberation Alliance. Guess I'll have to get a regular column in one of the magazines, then I'll get invited to all the "right" parties!)
- Thanks to all who expressed sympathy for my tendonitis. It's healing, slowly, but improvement has been noticed. I managed to get in a fairly normal work schedule last week, though I still can't lift anything that is moderately heavy and requires a strong grip - say, a quart of milk out of a grocery sack on the floor. I hate this whole aging process; I honestly thought that I could somehow avoid it. Silly me.
- Someone emailed a query regarding a rumor he'd heard: that Colt had sold the rights and plans for the Python to Wilson Combat, who were to begin producing them "soon." I don't know where to start with this one, but suffice it to say that it is far more suited for April 1st than November 1st. (Should you ever be involved in a game of "gunsmith trivia", both Bill Wilson and I started out in life as watchmakers. True story.)
- Finally, Tam recently posted another in her "Sunday Smith" series: the Model 15. I just wish she'd show equal love to the Colts in her collection. (Uhh, Tam, you DO have non-reciprocating Colts in your safe, don't you? Tam? Hello??)
-=[ Grant ]=-
- I got an email from a fellow who referred to me as having an "influential position" in the industry. Huh?? Since when? Does he know something I don't? Apparently I didn't get that memo...and neither did anyone at Ruger, Dan Wesson, or Colt. (I notice that I have yet to be invited to any industry junkets - I hear about them from AFGWWWTRA. It's probably because I don't have a big enough audience here at the Revolver Liberation Alliance. Guess I'll have to get a regular column in one of the magazines, then I'll get invited to all the "right" parties!)
- Thanks to all who expressed sympathy for my tendonitis. It's healing, slowly, but improvement has been noticed. I managed to get in a fairly normal work schedule last week, though I still can't lift anything that is moderately heavy and requires a strong grip - say, a quart of milk out of a grocery sack on the floor. I hate this whole aging process; I honestly thought that I could somehow avoid it. Silly me.
- Someone emailed a query regarding a rumor he'd heard: that Colt had sold the rights and plans for the Python to Wilson Combat, who were to begin producing them "soon." I don't know where to start with this one, but suffice it to say that it is far more suited for April 1st than November 1st. (Should you ever be involved in a game of "gunsmith trivia", both Bill Wilson and I started out in life as watchmakers. True story.)
- Finally, Tam recently posted another in her "Sunday Smith" series: the Model 15. I just wish she'd show equal love to the Colts in her collection. (Uhh, Tam, you DO have non-reciprocating Colts in your safe, don't you? Tam? Hello??)
-=[ Grant ]=-
FRIDAY SURPRISE: The Big Bang
But not the one you may have
thought!
You may recall that back during World War II, we developed the first operational nuclear bomb. It was a massive effort, with the epicenter in Alamogordo, New Mexico. So, why was it called the "Manhattan Project"?
Many believe that it was a name picked to draw attention away from the desert southwest, to confuse the enemy by calling it by something completely unrelated to the project. A little security sleight-of-hand, as it were.
You might be surprised just how close to the mark the name actually was.
-=[ Grant ]=-
You may recall that back during World War II, we developed the first operational nuclear bomb. It was a massive effort, with the epicenter in Alamogordo, New Mexico. So, why was it called the "Manhattan Project"?
Many believe that it was a name picked to draw attention away from the desert southwest, to confuse the enemy by calling it by something completely unrelated to the project. A little security sleight-of-hand, as it were.
You might be surprised just how close to the mark the name actually was.
-=[ Grant ]=-
Defensive ammo update
Wednesday, November 07, 2007 Filed in:
Ammunition, Techniques &
Training
It's been several years
since Speer introduced their Gold Dot Short Barrel Personal
Protection 38 Special +P loading. It looked good on paper, and the
Gold Dot line has a superb reputation for performance, but many of
us prefer to carry well-tested ammunition. Let someone else be the
guinea pig!
Sporadic reports have come in that the Gold Dot load is "working"; Massad Ayoob told me that he's heard around the country that people are "satisfied" with the performance. Still, I'd not been able to run down anything more specific.
That is, until yesterday, when one of my clients called. He's a higher-up in a large metropolitan police department and a long-time revolver carrier. He indicates that his department has had several shootings with the Speer load, and that he personally knows two of the officers who have used it. His verdict? The load performs as advertised - very effective at stopping violent action.
He notes, based on his agency's long experience with the famous 158gn +P loads from various makers, that the new Speer 135gn appears to be very similar in terms of terminal effect. "No complaints", was his succinct summation.
Good news for those who have chosen this load!
-=[ Grant ]=-
Sporadic reports have come in that the Gold Dot load is "working"; Massad Ayoob told me that he's heard around the country that people are "satisfied" with the performance. Still, I'd not been able to run down anything more specific.
That is, until yesterday, when one of my clients called. He's a higher-up in a large metropolitan police department and a long-time revolver carrier. He indicates that his department has had several shootings with the Speer load, and that he personally knows two of the officers who have used it. His verdict? The load performs as advertised - very effective at stopping violent action.
He notes, based on his agency's long experience with the famous 158gn +P loads from various makers, that the new Speer 135gn appears to be very similar in terms of terminal effect. "No complaints", was his succinct summation.
Good news for those who have chosen this load!
-=[ Grant ]=-
Day of little or no blogging
Sunday, November 04, 2007 Filed in:
Blog stuff
FRIDAY SURPRISE: My life and welcome to it!
Remember my
declaration of
geekiness? Well, a fellow I've been
known to hang around with (also a ham radio enthusiast - go figure)
sent me this:
Yes, that's me in a nutshell. Except I'm not an engineer - but I'd play one on TV if someone paid me.
-=[ Grant ]=-
Yes, that's me in a nutshell. Except I'm not an engineer - but I'd play one on TV if someone paid me.
-=[ Grant ]=-