Catching up on Saturday

[trystinn]

Kevin, Josh and I headed out early yesterday for the Gun & Knife Show in Mt. Vernon. I've been looking for a 357 revolver, preferably with rubberized grip, for myself. Josh just wanted something to plink with to hang out with me up at the handgun portion of the gun club, as he only owned long guns. Somehow, all three of us ended up with 22 LRs. I with an old fashioned, double action H&R Sportsman (with tactical holster, go figure), Josh with a Remington semi-auto and Kevin with a bolt action (no magazine) rifle (aka "The One Hit Wonder"). Obviously, we're not going to kill anything with these, but we'll irritate them a whole lot.

And we went straight to the range to play with them, which frankly was somewhat stupid. Though we'd broken down the guns to check them out, we hadn't thoroughly cleaned them. The Sportsman, in particular, hadn't been shot for awhile and she spewed gun powder so bad the first shot I've got some embedded in my left hand. The guys finally asked me to move down a few more stalls as they were getting shot with it, as well. She's what my grandfather would have called a "smutty gun". That said, the guys had a ball shooting her. Sailors, whatcha gonna do?

I like the Sportsman, even though she pulls high and left. The wood grip is a nice solid handful and the reach is long, which I need with my larger hands. The Sportsman is light enough to wear comfortably at my waist, but dear Gods, don't ever carry her fully loaded! This model has no safety and she's twitchy as all get out. Gently lowering the hammer after loading will indeed make her shoot. Load her with eight and have her rest on an empty chamber. Nasty surprise, that. Glad I checked it, though it really goosed the guys who weren't expecting it. Josh loves that it's a Western style belt gun, I would have preferred a more modern gun. Shooting 9 is fun, especially as the rounds come in a plastic container five across, so I'd pull out two rows and hand the 10th to Kevin with great ceremony.

Moral of this story is obvious: Never go to a Gun & Knife Show with cash.

Comments

[glenmarshall.livejournal.com]

My next pistol will be a .357 mag, probably a Ruger GP-100 with a 6" barrel and rubber grips. It's not a light gun to shoot or carry, but it does very nice at the range.

I'd get the same with a 4" barrel for home protection or a tactical range practice, but that's not my first choice since I'm mainly a target shooter.

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

I like the Ruger, but tend to prefer Smith & Wesson, given my first pistol was one. Something in the 4-6", though as you mention, tends to work differently for different needs. The .357, to me, is a great load weight for shooting. Not too nutty, won't wear your arm out and won't knock a smaller person backwards. Yet, does more than a bee sting of damage (like the 22). I'm really fairly dead set against the .38, which is a bias from growing up in New York, no doubt.

I watched someone with a 45 magnum whack himself in the forehead yesterday, he was not prepared for that load at all. Sadly, he had no one to guide him. Likely bought something "bad ass" without realizing it was more than he could handle. I'm fortunate to have had an uncle who let me shoot his as a teenager, he stood behind me and caught me when I flew back! For my brother, Uncle Gary let him fall on his ass. :)

[man-of-snows.livejournal.com]

Damn, I wish I had known this was going on.

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

My bad, I should have posted something ahead of time. Next time I will. :)

[wastedmouthfull.livejournal.com]

So has kevin moved in?

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

On the weekends, he may as well have as he's here most of the time.