I need to get back to shooting no less than once a
month. If construction-cost-overruns do
not bankrupt the owners, a new range is supposed to open soon less than a mile
from my door; the proximity will make quick range visits easier to keep on my
schedule.
The Next Chapter
Nothing is over.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
FINALLY went shooting
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Yes, my old 1999 GMC AWD Safari Van is still in service
As of today, all of the repairs the old mule needed are
complete. I’ve been retired for 7-years
now and each of those years I expected to be the last for the old clunker, but
it still serves dutifully. I put in a
new battery (last changed in September 2008; this one is a NAPA, not a Sears),
along with a new alternator (it had not failed completely but was having
trouble keeping the battery charged under full load). The heater / AC fan motor had been out of
service for the past couple of winters and I finally was able to cut and tear
the plastic cover out of the way in order to gain access to do the replacement. Further, the original resister for the heater
fan was also bad and the replacement was a different size than the original, so
I had to cut a larger slot in the chamber housing in order do the
installation. Naturally, doing the
cutting was “blind” because it is located where nobody can see. Simply said, it was all a pain; the engineers
did not design the GMC Safari Van to be easily repaired.
The odometer has passed the 174,000-mile point (it was
around 143,000-miles when I retired), but I have only put a bit over 10,000
miles on the beast since November of 2010.
The price of gasoline keeps us using our 2005 Chevy Cobalt for most
trips; the GMC is used only for hauling and foul winter weather. Once I get the bulk of my brick, stone, and
gravel finished on my landscape (hardscape), I can seriously plan to replace
the old van with something a bit younger and sexier, but still able to manage vile Chicagoland winter weather.
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Friday, April 18, 2014
Billionaire Michael Bloomberg plans to ride a camel through the eve of a needle straight into Heaven.
Move over, Elon Musk. Your rocket to Mars is nothing compared to this!
I have to tip my hat to Bloomberg. That shriveled old runt sure does aim high. Imagine how much clout and wealth it must take to bribe God. All the bullies who
once beat his skinny ass on the playground should now cower in awe; Michael Bloomberg has become the ultimate
bully and may even plan to dethrone The Almighty!
I now stand vindicated; Bloomberg has fulfilled a prediction
I made as a child during Vacation Bible School.
To me, all a rich man had to do to get his camel through the eye of a needle was to use his wealth to build a really big freaking needle; problem
solved; time to rewrite the Bible.
Anyway, since my lifetime of blasphemous contraventions (and my
membership in the NRA, SAF, and ISRA) guarantees that my camel is humping straightaway toward the barbecue-pit of eternity, the only way I will know whether little
Mike’s scheme to breach the Pearly Gates succeeded will be by his absence in perdition, which my eternal soul would find just heavenly.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Review of Galco Stow N Go STO204 IWB holster for Walter PPK and PPK/S
Owning a bit more than a couple of holsters and handguns does not
make me an expert. This review is simply
“campfire conversation” and is not intended to influence anyone’s decision on
the purchase or use of anything.
Quick Product Summary:
This is a major brand name, economical, mass-produced,
inside the waistband (IWB) holster.
This model is usually available for around $30 or less and
is commonly available from online outfitters; I purchased mine from a local gun
store.
It is a simple, open top (i.e. no retention strap or flap) holster
design.
The soft leather is (what I would call) utility grade,
napped finished (some call it “suede”), steer hide.
The mouth of the holster is reinforced via a simple stitched
leather fold-over. The rear of the front
sight on my PPK has a wee bit of a hook and does occasionally snick the inside
stitching of the holster mouth during the draw-stroke; it does not happen
often, but if it happens enough it will cut the thread.
Breaking the holster in does take considerable effort. This soft leather holster is not form-fit or
boned; in fact, the PPK will not initially fit into the holster; a new holster is much too tight. You will need to
take your UNLOADED PPK and work it into the holster to create the fit; you are
stretching the leather. Follow
instructions that come with the holster.
As with most any leather holster, the grip of the fit relaxes with age and use.
The holster has a very substantial nylon belt clip
(advertised to work with belts up to 1.75-inch wide); I used it with both
1.25-inch wide and 1.5-inch wide bespoke gun belts. There was never a problem with the clip
failing to maintain a hold on my gun belts, but IMHO the 1.75-inch holster clip
size leaves far too much play on my narrower belts. More on this is in the narrative.
Background:
I never take any holster for granted; I run tests on each
one I intend for even occasional use. I
purchased this holster new in February of 2013 and put it through periodic use
consisting of leisure-carry and active-carry.
I consider periods of vigorous work as active-carry, such as while
performing chores during each of the four seasons over the past year. Such chores include hauling and setting patio
bricks and landscape boulders, cutting / trimming trees and bushes, mowing the
lawn (tractor and push mower), moving snow (shovel and blower), etc. Obviously, I do not believe that disarming is
mandatory before performing physical activities (it is not unheard of in our
area for miscreants to target folks working in their yards). A holster must keep the handgun secure during
these activities; losing a handgun in the snow can at the least be embarrassing
and at the worst contribute to a tragedy if a child or other unqualified person
finds and misuses it. Further, handguns
do not take kindly to being dropped onto hard surfaces; it can damage the fit,
function, and finish of the piece; a dropped handgun discharging a round of
ammo is a possibility. “To the best of
thy ability, thou shalt endeavor to avoid unintentionally dumping thy handgun.” Due diligence on the choice of a holster can
help prevent dire consequences.
Narrative:
I salute Galco for still making some affordable, serviceable holsters in what is left of the good old USA.
Choice is a good thing. Value is
a good thing.
Generally, with some exceptions and concerns that I noted
further on, this holster does what a holster is supposed to do; it protects the
trigger and (to some degree) keeps the pistol where it is supposed to be. It is reasonably comfortable in all positions
of IWB carry (although the small of the back works best for me), and it does
not have any peculiarities that hinder concealment.
The short-barreled Walther PPK presents some challenges for
IWB holster designers; it is somewhat of a butt-heavy gun, i.e. a bit more of
the weight is above the waistband than below, and there really is not much of
the pistol ahead of the trigger guard for the belt and pants waistband to glom
onto for control. IMHO, this PPK IWB holster
is best used with a sturdy, thick, tight belt and not with something flimsy and
loose. Let me repeat that using other
words; “With this holster, the thicker and wider the belt, and the tighter you
wear it, the better off you will be.” It
was my experience that the “one size fits all” 1.75-inch belt clip is not a
good thing; I feel Galco would be better served to forego the 1.75-inch thick
gun belt market and limit the holster clip size to 1.5-inch. I do not own a 1.75-inch wide gun belt
because none of my pants has loops that large.
The loops on my jeans will barely take my 1.5-inch wide gun-belt while my
dress pants, my light casual pants, and (some of) my cargo shorts, can only handle my
1.25-inch wide gun belt.
NOTE: The following never
happened during real-time active-carry.
I used chairs and other everyday items as experimental snags
and was able to simulate conditions where the 1.75-inch holster belt-clip
allowed the holster to move up against my 1.25-inch and 1.5-inch gun belts far
enough that the gun and holster could twist the belt and flip out of my
waistband. This put the holstered gun
upside down with the muzzle pointed at my anatomy. Further, such “snag and tug” events could possibly
yank the inverted pistol from the holster.
These experiments gave me pause early on and I became ever conscious
about the status of the handgun and holster when carrying, especially when
doing any vigorous activity.
Conclusion:
I will likely keep using this holster and handgun combo on
occasion, but only during leisure carry periods with little to no possibility
of extreme physical activity that might contribute to snagging the pistol.
If I were to choose (likely, I will not) the Walther PPK as
my dedicated, sole choice for IWB everyday carry, I would take the information
that I learned from my experience with this holster (along with around $200)
and head on over to my favorite custom holster maker. A great deal can be learned from using affordable,
mass-produced holsters that will help folks prevent making expensive mistakes
on bespoke designs.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
We have blooming Daffodils!
Northern Illinois is edging out from the Winter Without End.
Four hours after I took the photo, many of those flowers were in full bloom.
Four hours after I took the photo, many of those flowers were in full bloom.
The standards (the green blades) of my ever-faithful foundation planting of
Irises are shooting up from between the row of bricks (used to limit the spread of the Iris
rhizomes) and the hose faucet (where there is another row of limiting bricks; there is a bed of Dianthus beyond it). The nearest bed has a row of Daffodils (planted last fall) by the wall of the house, a row
of established Daylily clusters (this will be the fourth season for them) sprouting up in the center of the bed, followed
by a row of Tulips breaking the surface (planted last fall). In fact, things are now popping up all over
the yard.
Despite the prediction of snow for Tuesday Monday of next week,
there is no denying our stealthy advance into springtime. Gaia, northern Illinois is not alone in finding that you are a troublesome wench.
Friday, April 4, 2014
No spring flowers yet in our area of northern Illinois
Despite the calendar saying that we are two-weeks into
spring, the sepia melancholy of winter hangs on. There is no spring yet for us. “Verdant” is
not a word anyone would use to describe our neighborhood landscapes, “Nuclear
waste spill aftermath” would be a better fit.
Some daffodils have broken through the crust but there are scant few
buds yet. Most evergreens suffered
through winter’s cold and snow with little visible damage, the exception being
Dwarf Alberta Spruce trees, most of which showed substantial winter burn.
Perhaps Gaia will be kinder to us after another couple of
weeks.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Don’t count on my support for GOP Chris Christie as a candidate for POTUS should New Jersey pass a ban on the Remington Nylon 66 and other .22 rifles.
I promise no less than a one-man-boycott of New Jersey and
all anti-gun businesses located there. I
sincerely promise to do my best to get others to shun New Jersey and everything
that originates from there.
These ignorant, warm and fuzzy, feel-good gun laws have gone past insanity. They are an abusive
mockery of our political and legal system.
These gun laws do nothing but criminalize honest gun owners. They do nothing "for the children." They defy "common sense."
While New Jersey laws do not affect me directly, Illinois is
not above plagiarizing foolish gun laws successfully passed by other
states.
Support the National Rifle Association and the Second Amendment Foundation. They are YOUR lobbyists and they make good things happen.
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