DGU

Over at Daily Pundit, Bill relates a classic example of the unreported defensive gun use. No shots fired, no one injured. Just knowledge that the intended victim was awake and armed was enough to send the cretins the other direction.

He wasn't the only one, though.

Last night after supper, MrsZ and I were sitting on the couch (a large green affair, very comfortable) reading. Out of the blue, our vicious guard cats (siblings, gray and white, one looks Siamese and I think is kind of special) went nuts and bolted to the living room window, where they sat snarling and growling. I got up and peered out the window but didn't see anything. The cats settled down and I went back to my book. Thirty seconds later, they were back up there and hissing at someone outside. I grabbed a flashlight (my Leatherman Serac S2, always in my pocket) and shone it outside, but still couldn't see anything.

Then I decided I wasn't going to live my life in fear.

I picked up my carry gun (a S&W 642-1 no-lock, with the original factory stocks, and stoked with 5 rounds of Federal HydraShok 129gr +p) from the coffee table, hefted it in consideration, and set it back down. I opened the safe and considered my options. The front row of long guns holds two 12ga shotguns (a Remington 870 with 26" vent-rib barrel with a modified choke, and an Ithaca 37, also choked modified) , a 20" AR (Anvil Arms lower with a DPMS LPK, 20" DPMS 1/8 upper and match A2 sights), a .270 boltgun (Remington 710), and a .22LR boltgun (Savage MkII BTVS w/ Nikon scope). None seemed appropriate at the time, so I picked up the S&W 4053 (with night sights) and slapped in a magazine full of 180gr WWB JHP.

I headed for the back door while MrsZ remained on the couch as my backup, the entire contents of the safe within easy reach for her. I looked out the door and to both sides before opening it, keeping my strong side back from the door and one foot behind the door to prevent someone from trying to slam it out of my grasp. The deck was clear.

I stepped out onto the deck with the pistol held down by my leg and flashlight in my weak side hand. I'd gone two steps and heard someone running for the back edge of our property. I flicked the light on and swept the area just in time to see a black and white cat disappear into the woods.

No shots fired, no one hurt, and successful home defense!

(No MS Paint, sorry hivemind.)

:-D

(Seriously folks; go read Bill's post. I'm not a fan of the "racking the shotgun always scares away bad guys" mentality, but it is step one to "9 pellets of #00 buck stops bad guys" and that I am a fan of.)
(And if you didn't catch that this is ArfCom-esque tongue-in-cheek, I'm sorry.)

Acquisition, disposition

I finally put my C&R license to use. I've been sitting on it for better than six months, and keeping half an eye on classifieds and sales from the usual sources. I didn't want my first purchase as an FFL(03) to be something generic - a Mosin-Nagant or an SKS. It had to be something with style. Additionally, all those pretty 03-eligible handguns? No go in New York. They have to go through an FFL(01).

Last week, a fellow posted an Ithaca Model 37 on the S&W Forum classifieds. Good condition, great price. I sent him a message and snagged it immediately, beating another poster by a whopping two minutes. :-D The serial is 667xxx, dating it to 1957, and comfortably inside the window for a C&R (all guns are automatically considered eligible fifty years from the date of manufacture).

It arrived yesterday afternoon, and was even more than I'd hoped for. The trigger is VERY heavy, but I can run it down to Diamond Gunsmithing for some attention to that. The finish isn't perfect, but it's by no means in bad shape. Looks like once upon a time it may have gotten sprinkled on and not dried off promptly - just a bit of off-color freckling on the receiver. The front bead has been replaced with a fiber optic dot; that will be one of the first things I expect I'll have changed. Either a gold or ivory bead is much more period-appropriate, and pleasing to my own sense of propriety.

I'm definitely looking forward to getting this out on the trap range, and quite possibly out for some upland and small game.




That's the acquisition. Now for the disposition.

I've decided to move along my S&W 242Ti. Yes, I just got it a couple months ago. It's a fine gun, but it's not the right one for me. I've shot it a fair bit, and have found that some combination of the grips and my hand isn't "right". I feel like I'm struggling to get a sight picture, and that's not appropriate for a CCW. So, down the road it goes.

Seven-shot AirLite/Titanium L-frame hammerless, .38+P rated, with a Lobo Gun Leather IWB holster (1.25" and 1.5" loops), 7-shot dump pouch, and Master trigger lock.

It's been carried (by me and others before) and has a bit of character. There is a small ding on the bottom edge of the barrel shroud, picture below. The recoil shield has a wear line from the lock stud, as usual for alloy-frame guns. The finish is a little shiny on a few high points.

Extractor is straight and true. Cylinder is intact. No flame cutting that I can find. Forcing cone is intact, as is the frame. Screws are un-buggered. I had the sideplate off once for a more thorough cleaning immediately after purchase, internals all look good.

$800 shipped/insured FFL-FFL, three-day non-firing inspection, otherwise as-is.

Trades +/- cash will be considered; of particular interest are flat-top AR carbine uppers, mid-grade 1911s, S&W/Ruger/Colt revolvers, or anything from Ithaca Gun.

Please email me with questions/offers, zercool at gmail.

Rise and Fall

OldNFO has a post up lamenting the lack of properly-trained and -qualified replacements for a retiring generation.

He writes:

But seriously, what's the next generation going to do? Forfeit the capability to the Asians? Hope they can pay somebody to do the work for them? Just stop doing R&D? I don't know, but I'm not getting a good feeling here...

Hie thee forth, RTWT.

Ammo Spam?

I got an email today from an ammo sales company I'd never heard of, suggesting I link to them because they have ammo in stock and have a coupon code that all my readers can use.

Snarky got the same email, it appears. And a quick google reveals that Patrick over at WAFTT got it too.

Short answer, in public:
Mr. Otterbacher: My blog is not a commercial site. Somewhere, far in the future, I MAY consider accepting paid adverts, but probably not. I will NEVER provide free advertising to a company that I have no experience with.

As it says in my sidebar, anything I review here is something I have direct experience with, without receiving compensation.

I'd hope that most of my fellow bloggers would feel the same way.

Minor Change

Astute readers will notice that the blog title changed.

I'd been toying with it for a while, and gently kicking myself for not thinking of it when I first titled the blog.

I have a long habit of remaining tied to brand identity, such as it were.

You know what? It's my brand. I can change it if I want to!