Monday, September 19, 2011

Springfield XD 5.25 9mm

Yesterday I got to shoot a Springfield XD 5.25 in 9mm.  After one magazine, I am sold.  The trigger was good enough for this beginner, at 10 yards I put all 20 rounds into the X ring on a B-27 target.  If I can find this one on sale for less than the $750-800 I see it listed for, then I'd be tempted to buy it.  At this price point, it's too close to either a Springfield RO 1911 or a pair of RIA Tactical 1911s.  ;)

What can I say, I like .45 ACP.  :)

Thursday, September 15, 2011

The family goes to the Gun Show

Well, it finally happened, I got my family to go to a gun show last Saturday.  Met some nice folks, got to check out some good deals, some not so good deals and still managed to walk out with almost nothing purchased.  I did get a line on a high-cap Bersa 9mm for significantly less than the standard street price (as well as wifely approval to get it...after she gets her SIG 238!)

My biggest concern was for my 9 yr old son.  He doesn't tend to do well in cramped quarters with a fair bit of people, so I was VERY pleased that he lasted almost an hour in the show before he got overwhelmed.  Mainly it was the rifle barrels pointed at him on the tables, he said.  He did say that he knew they were not loaded but it still made him uncomforable to be 'flagged' every time we went past a booth.  Also, we were done with almost everything by that time so it was ok to go.

I was glad that there was very little political 'nonsense' going on there.  There were pro-gun bumper stickers, of course, but nothing truely inflamatory.  A lot of the vendors said that they prefer this show's promoter since they are a local company and the money stays in the local area, unlike the other major gun shows that are run by a company from another state.  There was a lot to see and we will be going back for sure in November if we're not traveling for Thanksgiving or at worst January.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Another great weekend with a good trip to the range.

Labor Day weekend has gone past and the kiddo is back in school.

We went to the range a bit after church on Sunday.  Had fun shooting a Hi Point 995 Carbine and my wife shot a Glock 19.  Once we both finished our 50 rnds of 9mm, we switched over to .22lr pistols.  She had a Chicappa 1911-22 and I shot some Taurus .22 9-shot revolver.  After our fun was done, I filled a gallon ziplock back with brass from the range.  I got a couple hundre .45 ACP easy and another few pounds got added to the box of spent brass that I will be sending to WV to trade for gun money.

Once we were done shooting and got cleaned up, we spent some time in the 'pro' shop at the range.  My wife fell in love with a SIG 238 Rainbow (under $680, that will probably be her xmas present) and she and my son were thinking about getting me a Mini-14 in .223.  Not a bad rifle, but not terribly practical.  I won't say no if I get it, but I might not hang on to it long.  I am now leaning twards getting a Rock Island in .38 Super so I can reload for .380 9mm and .38 Super without having to stock a bunch of different bullets.  I still want to get a .45 1911 as well; the LGC does have a Sprinfield RO on the sale wall...that's why I am not naming the place!  lol

That's all for now.  I didn't get to the Labor Day parades like I had hoped to, will need to do that next year.  :)

Friday, September 2, 2011

Time to stick to a budget

Well, it's happened.  I've hit adulthood.  Time to budget my income properly so I can be sure that my family gets their fun.  The kiddo needs to be able to get his allowance (so far he's much better at saving money than his old man!) Momma needs to get what she needs and I need to stay on track to get the things I would like to have.  Also, it's a good idea to keep the power and internet on as well as ensure that I can get to work to earn the money for the budget.  Thankfully, we have an awsome landlord.

Since we live in one of two school districts in Missouri that has been taken over by the state (and neither have gotten better enough to regain their acredation) the kiddo gets to go to private school.  When we first moved here, we were able to get him into assisted home schooling via a program that lost funding last year due to the budget crunch.  Fortunately, we got him into a good one.  Unfortunately, it costs a decent amount of money each month for us to have him in there.  Thankfully, it is as good a school as what my wife and I each had attended when we were growing up so that's a good piece of mind.

What that means is that my entry into True Hobby Shooter is a bit on hold.  We're still renting our 'ordinance' from the range when we go there, so that'll save me some cash on reloading supplies.  ;)  thankfully, my wife had the foresight to get us the good membership so all we have to pay for in order to go shooting is our ammo and gas to get to the range.  As soon as we have something that can be reloaded for then we'll be shooting more.  I could say we'd save money but that would be a lie.  ;)

My plan as it stands right now is to keep collecting brass when we go shooting, save the 9mm and .45 ACP as that is more than likely the calibers we'll be shooting and send the rest off to a FFL01 in West Virginia who grants store credit at a higher rate than I'd get for selling or scrapping the brass locally.  He also does lay-away and carries a good selection of new guns at his shop so that will more than likely be where Christmas gifts for the wife and I will be coming from.

Unfortunately, the money situation means less traveling in the enar future than I was hoping for.  I just have to stay healthy so that when I convert from a contractor to an employee I'll have some vacation money coming to me for unspent vacation time.

On a different note, here's a link to a buddy's Etsy shop, where his firearms-inspired woodcrafts are being sold.  I ahve two of his reloading trays and will have some 1911 grip stocks on order here shortly.  he does great work and is also a fellow member of the Liberal Gun Club.  Tim's Etsy shop

With luck, I'll have a range report from this glorious three-day weekend.  At worst, as long as the weather holds out, we'll be at the St Louis Labor Day parade on Monday and I'll post pics from that.  labor built this country and hopefully can get us out of this near-Depression level resession we're in.  We have a lot to thank the labor movement for in this day and age, that is for sure.  Corporations are not looking out for their workers, just their stock holders and bottom lines.  While my position is in the blurry area between Labor and Management, I do come from a union background of which I am proud.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Greetings from the Armed Left

Greetings!

Armed Liberal?  Lefty Gun Worshiper?  What is this all about?

Well, as the old adage goes, an anti-gunner is a gun owner that just hasn't been mugged yet.  Let me tell the story about how this 'almost-Progressive' Liberal became a 'gun nut'.

I grew up and lived in Illinois most of my life.  I've had an interest in guns and gun culture from a very young age, thanks to my older brother who enjoyed shooting guns, reloading his own ammo and lived at home with us.  As a Boy Scout (made it to Life but not Eagle) I got to shoot .22 rifles and .410 shotguns.  When I tried to get into the Army for Operation Desert Shield, I was looking at getting $2000 in signing bonuses due to my high ASVAB score (94, woot!), getting several buddies to enlist and wanting to go into EOD (the guys who survived ended up mostly training the guys that explode IADs in Iraq and Afghanistan today).  This money was going to go to either a .50 Cal Desert Eagle, a Colt .45 or a few things of the nature along with my FOID card.  Well, thanks to a Navy Dr, I never made it into the Army and my life unfolded the way it did.  The only regrets that I have is not getting those pistols somehow anyway or at least getting my FOID card and stocking away VERY cheap pre-1994 ammo.

Fast forward several years.  I've been married to a Canadian Resident Alien and have a nine year old son.  We've moved from Illinois to the wilds of St Louis, MO.  My hobbies at this point include tabletop war gaming, paintball and woodworking.  No guns, they are very much against what my wife is comfortable with.  I hadn't been shooting since my days as a DEPP (Delayed Entry Program Participant, my pre-Army time). 

Then, December 1 2010 everything changes.

At 4:05pm I get a call at work.  My wife is panicked.  Our house got broken into while she was picking our son up at school.  She came home, unlocked the front door and saw that the back door had been kicked in, our big screen TV and Wii were gone and it was still warm in the house.  The cats are both ok but hiding.  the thieves also kicked in the service entrance to the garage but didn't take anything from there.  the police were on their way, she called me second.  There were footprints in the snow leading to the abandoned house behind ours.

At this point, discussions on what we could do started up after a co-worker drove me home.  First, I got three 2x4's, screwed two into the baseboard and one along side the door jam to hold the back door closed until the landlord could get the door jam fixed and the service entrance to the garage replaced.  Then we decided that it was time that we look into increased home and personal security.

Over the next few months, I find out that MO has some of the most nonrestrictive gun laws in the nation and also has a CCW permit that has reciprocity with several other states.  There are issues, however.  In MO you need to be a US Citizen in order to exercise your Natural Right to self-defense.  Thankfully, my wife is very nearly a US Citizen so this is not too large an issue, especially since I was born in IL.  One thing that was instilled in me during my Scouting days was a LOVE of the Constitution, which continues unabated today.

I checked out some gun stores in our area such as Cabela's, Bass Pro Shop, Rural King (well, in IL so no pistols w/o paying shipping and an FFL transfer...pesky interstate commerce regulations!) and a couple of Local Gun Shops.  Most places were semi-friendly and mostly helpful.  I did get a strong 'he's not MY POTUS!' and 'Liberals are Scum' vibe off of some of the gun shops so I don't go back there.  Then we found a new range that had opened recently in the next county over.  I figured I'd give them a shot, so to speak.

I went there on a Saturday.  $20 per hour of lane time, $10 for access to their rental guns and moderate prices on the ammo that can be put into the rentals.  The range doesn't own the rentals, they are on loan from the manufacturers to assist in sales so what goes into the guns is regulated to ensure no harm comes to the guns.  They are fairly busy but make the time to make sure I have everything I need and to show me the proper operation of the guns I picked (some .380-based handguns as self-defense was my interest).  I did pretty well, and found that I still REALLY enjoyed putting holes in paper and also found that I was pretty good with even unfamiliar pistols at 30 feet.  After shooting a box of 50 .380 Auto cartridges, I had 50 holes in the black silhouette target most inside the 9 ring.

Also around this time, States Attorney Lisa Madigan of IL was calling for the Illinois State Police to release the names of all of the FOID card holders in Illinois.  This sparked my desire to see the 2nd Amendment and the 4th Amendment to the US Constitution protected as much as I had worked to keep the 1st Amendment safe.  The release of that information would give criminals a veritable menu of peoples' homes to burgle while they were not home to get guns fairly easily.

Over the years I had considered joining the NRA but was massively put off by the NRA-ILA's portrayal of all Liberals as Gun Grabbing 2nd Amendment haters that want to keep everyone disarmed.  There were some other groups that were less anti-Liberal, but then I found the Liberal Gun Club (http://theliberalgunclub.com/).  It took me less than an hour of reading what they were about and some of the forum posts to decide that this was the group for me.  I signed up on the spot.  The only issue - a hotly-contested one by 99% of the active membership - is that of high-capacity magazines.  Otherwise, they are right along with what I believe.

Now I have started two main things, to expand the CCW permit in MO to legal immigrant aliens and to be a champion of RKBA (the Right to Keep and Bear Arms) as not a conservative-vs-liberal issue but an issue of Natural Rights vs. Gun Restriction Laws. 

While I do believe that those who commit violent felonies have chosen to give up access to their rights by proving that they can not exist in society, I do not feel that guns should be restricted from any other group.  Someone who has been found guilty of a non-violent Felony or a misdemeanor non-violent crime with a sentance over a year should have some method to repeal the blockage of their rights under the Contitution.  Likewise, non-Citizens that are in the US as permanent residents who may or may not be heading twards Citizenship should have access to their Natural Rights as well.

While I do get some level of acceptance from conservatives when I explain my stance on being a Liberal and a RKBA activist, I have gotten a lot of pushback on the Resident Alien CCW issue.