12/1/08

Well, another Thanksgiving holiday is behind us. Mine was… interesting? No, not really now that I think about it. Here’s the rundown. Saturday, 11/22/08, I was looking online at reviews and stuff about a new gun I was introduced to on Friday. Larry Shuttlebus had given me a review of several pistol caliber carbines and they loved the one built by Hi-Point. That was the gun I was looking at. I found a dealer on the other side of town and decided to go check them out. They didn’t have any but were expecting an order of four to come in on Tuesday. “Three of them are already sold,” he told me. I had them put my name on the fourth. Oh, did I mention that they are really inexpensive? Yeah, like $250.00 for the .40 caliber and $225.00 for the 9mm! I was thinking about getting one of their 9mm pistols as well since they were listed at $150.00 or something. I figured for less than I paid for the Judge, I could have two guns in the same caliber as each other. That evening, or possibly Sunday, I was looking at other stuff for the carbine and found a replacement stock which made the futuristic “Space gun” look even spacier! I was determined to get one of them for it. Monday, after John got off work, we went by to see if the shipment had arrived early. It had not. I did find out that they could get the stock and install it so I ordered one from them. Now, I wait. We had a look at the Hi-Point .45 pistol they had in stock and John was not terribly impressed. He could not see any reason, other than having two guns in 9mm, for buying that pistol. He made me an offer. We’d trade his Magnum Research/Israeli Weapons Industries “Baby Eagle” 9mm for the Springfield 1911. I'd been making noises about trading it in on the two Hi-Points and he’d rather give up the BE than see the Springfield go away. I told him I'd want to shoost the BE before deciding. Tuesday I checked again but the carbines still hadn’t arrived. I wasn’t surprised. Wednesday, again after John got off work, we went back. This time the guns had arrived but they didn’t call me because the stock wasn’t in yet. I went ahead and bought the gun and took it to the range. John loaded up a clip in the DE and handed it to me. Oh yeah, I like that gun. I'd pretty much already decided to make the trade but still wanted to fire the DE before finalizing the deal. While I shot the DE, he loaded a clip for the carbine. Oh yeah, I like that gun too! There is no way a gun that chea… no, not “cheap,” inexpensive has any right to be as accurate as it is! I love it. I loaded another clip for the carbine and fired it. On the third or fourth clip I handed off to John to see what he thought. He didn’t like the kick or the stock, which I agree sucked but is a moo point due to (tee hee, I said doo-doo!) the one coming in soon. I do have a bit of a sore spot on my shoulder from the recoil, but I think it is worth it. Hopefully the new stock will be more padded or something. The biggest complaint was the way the stock-stock interfered with the ear protection. Again, hopefully the new stock will fix that. We’ll see. From the range we went to Cabela’s to see about a case for the carbine. We found one I liked and I bought it. The gun didn’t fit. I took it immediately back inside and traded it for one which did. Unfortunately, the one that fits says “Ruger 10/22” in bright red stitching on the outside. I suppose if someone expects me to pull a .22 caliber rifle out, they’ll get a surprise when I pop off some 9mm ammo from my Space Gun, especially if they are on the receiving end of the fire! Speaking of people being on the receiving end of fire, the reason I decided to go ahead and make the trade with John was this: I have gone 43 years without having to “stop” someone with a firearm. Hopefully, I never will. The reason I wanted to keep the 1911 was for the harder hit of the .45 caliber ammo. 9mm ammo will eventually take the fight out of someone and I'm a good enough shot that it shouldn’t take more than a few rounds to accomplish. Hell, if a few to “center mass” doesn’t stop them, I can hit a face-sized area at a pretty good range. No, 9mm should suffice for my needs. And if I keep hollow-point self defense ammo in it except at the range, through shots shouldn’t be a worry either. Now I'm not going to say I never miss. There is always going to be that concern. But at typical confrontation range, I think bystanders will probably be safe enough. Besides, for home protection I do still have the Judge loaded with one round of #4 birdshot, two 000 buckshot shells, and two hollow-point .45 Long Colt “Werewolf” rounds. Yeah, announce yourself before coming into my room in the night! And on that note, I think I'll call this rant complete. Talk to y'all tomorrow.