Sunday, January 24, 2010

the weekend

this was the first weekend i have had off since before thanksgiving. i'm not bitching, i earned a nice amount of change during that time frame and i used a good amount of it to buy something i've wanted for awhile.




a little cz side by side 20 gauge, with double triggers and an english stock. i like it due to the classic styling and the double triggers. more traditional, i think it hearkens back to a simpler time, and i can't wait to hunt it next fall.

in the mean time, i'll be shooting trap, and sporting clays with it. the wife and i went and broke it in this weekend, shooting trap, and for awhile i was scared she would out shoot me with my own gun. fear not loyal patrons, i prevailed. she is a good shot however, and gets better the more i critique her stance, follow through, etc.

i don't want to read any"you're a puss, shooting a 20, blah, blah, blah" comments. i've hunted a 12 for years, (mossberg 500-ugly, functional, heavy sumbitch) it will be sold soon, but i still have a remington 11-87 12 gauge. i'll keep it forever as the wife gave it to me years ago for Christmas, but i'll probably never hunt it as it is too pretty. i got the twenty 'cause she shoots a 20, and with the way ammo prices keep climbing, it just makes sense. additionally, cz's other(12's) side by sides don't come with dual triggers or the english stock.

last night we went to the local hockey teams first boxing match in their new barn.

only hockey fight pic i liked, not our actual boxing team

it is a real nice building, but 3 fights, 2 near fights (double minors for roughing) and the near drunken DV behind us, reminded me why i don't like minor league hockey. i'll probably go back, but it's hard to support a team that appears not to understand the basics like, head up, stick on the ice, go to the net. or, support the man with the puck. pass to the open man, don't shoot into the crowd. worst offense i saw-starting a fight while your team has the puck-and is in scoring position.

some of that extra money i earned went to buy momma the gun that she'll be carrying after the ccw class next week.


today was the last chance she would get to practice prior to qualifying and i think she was a little nervous. again she is a good shooter, not good enough for me to put an apple on my head, but good enough i sure don't wanna piss her of if she's close to a pistole, either. so today found us at the indoor range. she had a few problems early, which i corrected with a couple of," what the fuck was that's." she says i'm very nurturing when it comes to firearms instruction, and i should consider doing it full time when i retire. or not.

anyway it was the best session yet and i'm sure she'll be fine next weekend. seeing how we were there i decided to shoot also. i brought along one of my all time favorites.


can you say timeless classic? j summ grew up on this old war horse. i think i might have even cried when uncle sugar took mine away and replaced it with that italian piece of shit the boys are suffering with currently. if you remember, i wrote about how years ago i nearly bought for myself what i recently bought for the wife. i chose Mr. Browning's 1911 instead. it's a springfield and the only thing i've ever changed was the grip screws. guys will spend ridiculous money to get a gun to shoot "right". most guns are more accurate then we are. i spent $350 on this dude new. you can drop $1000 or more on a kimber and more still on the nighthawk. oh, they're nice alright, but i'll put the springfield up against them anytime as far as accuracy goes. i found out some time ago that when it was made, somebody came back to work drunk or high or maybe just pissed at the boss, and dropped match parts into my basic gun. couple of guys have tried to buy her, but she stays with me.

so i'm shooting today and i start taking incoming. i saw shit flying back at me. not cool when we are talking 230 grains of lead and copper. i turn away, and get hit in the side by most of my flattened out bullet.


here are some other examples of what i had to dodge. bottom left is the culprit. no blood no foul, but i'm damn glad i got it in the side and not the face. i told the guys at the range but they didn't seem too concerned. for those of you out there who are shooters, it was blazer brass 230 grain FMJ. anyone else had problems like mine?

lot's of shooting, a good amount of fighting and a bit of hockey. not very romantic, but old girl seems happy. i know i am.

5 comments:

  1. I'm curious.. you mentioned you own a Mossberg 500, but say it's ugly and heavy. I could care less about looks... but a friend recommended one to me a while back, as I don't own a firearm but would like something for home security.

    He showed me an ad from Cabella's - they had a "just-in-case" model that has a pistol grip, also comes with a carrying case for camping, etc. and it listed at the time (about a year ago) for a reasonable $300 or so. It apparently also could be fitted with the standard shoulder stock if one preferred a classic shotgun.

    Any comments or thoughts, if you're familiar with such? Like I said, not owning anything.. I thought the pistol grip might be nice in a home environment, yet the shotgun increases the odds for someone in the heat of a moment as compared to a pistol. Eventually I'd probably own a .38 revolver and / or 9mm also, but I thought the Mossberg might be a good starting point.

    Thanks for any insight...

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  2. excellent question! it's ugly and heavy because it is a 28 or 30 inch barrel monster. it is also functional. that means she works all the time and i don't mind crawling around thorn apple trees in the rain. i won't do that with the 11-87.

    i know the gun you are talking about. it would be a very good choice for home defense, but in 12 gauge it will be a handful with only a pistol grip.

    if you want, shoot me your e-mail, i won't publish it, and we can trade ideas back and forth.

    i would not buy a .38. get the .357 magnum, as you can shoot either .38 or .357 out of it.
    that is real nice cuz .38 practice ammo is fairly cheap, and when you get home you can load up with the proven reliability of the .357.

    also these guns can be relatively inexpensive, as most departments have traded in for semi-autos. used cop guns are a good buy because they usually don't get shot often and are pretty well maintained.

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  3. J, I remember distinctly the day they took our Colt 1911A1's away...trading in our beloved .45's for the Beretta 9mm M-9 dumpster castoffs.

    They issued me my .45, and one of those shotguns we had for riot control (dude, were those Remington 870's or ancient Winchester Model 12's? they had the barrel shrouds and bayonet lugs)and halfway through my shift they took my .45 and left me with just shotgun (and no fucking shells) while they inventoried the .45's and then called me back in to issue me that M-9.

    As you may recall, that piece of shit rusted in a fog once....

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  4. I want to meet a woman like your wife. That lady knows how to spend a day out! You are a lucky man.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nickie, you are soooo right. He is a very lucky man ;)

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