4/30/09

Well, I could have done a rant yesterday after all. John was sick and couldn’t make it to the shop. I decided to go gun accouterment shopping instead of going home though. I first went to Cabela’s to look for a gun bag like the one I bought for Big Millie but sized for the Pimp Gun. See, this bag is really cool. It is compact yet holds the gun and one magazine in semi-fitted recesses in the main zippered section. Four more magazines go in pouches in a zippered outer pocket along with my shooting glasses and ear penises. The zippered pocket on the opposite side will hold one of those 100 round plastic cases and my magazine loader thingy. I want another bag just like it with the bigger semi-fitted recesses for the Pimp Gun. Thing is, there are two styles of these awesome bags. There is the standard bag which just has the semi-fitted center section for the gun and one magazine but no outer pockets. Then there is the “Mag-5” version like the one I have for Big Millie. They had the standard bags for the regular automatics and the “Mag-5” bags for compact automatics. Incidentally, the Big Millie bag is the compact “Mag-5” version in case you hadn’t fingered that out. I carried the standard bag to the gun counter and test fit a Taurus PT 92 to it. It was very nice. I carried the thing around for a while and thought about it. I eventually decided against it because it wouldn’t really do what I wanted it to do. After I left the store I realized it would have been perfect for setting next to my chair downstairs while I watch TV. It would hold the gun de-cocked with one in the chamber, a hot magazine in the hilt, and my one spare magazine. I could still use the range bag to carry that bag, ammo, another magazine loader (yes, I have more than one), and eye & ear protection when going to the range. I should have bought it. Oh well. I guess I'll be going back to Cabela’s soon. Hey, the Pate Swap Meet is this weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway. I guess I'll stop in on the way back from that. I think we have a plan. Ok, so I left Cabela’s and headed south on I-35. I stopped in at Blood-Bath & Beyond to look for something like the Cabela’s bag. They didn’t have one. They did have some aftermarket, Promag brand, magazines for Big Millie though. I took three of them to the counter and asked one of the dude’s his opinion. He was all for the Promag magazines. I didn’t tell him I'd had no luck whatsoever with them and he independently confirmed that they work better in some guns than others. He looked around and said, “Look, I've got a PT 145 magazine out in the car that I don’t need. I’ll sell it to you for $10.00.” I agreed and he went out to retrieve it. He came back with the magazine and nineteen Winchester Silver Tip (Werewolf ammo!) .45 ACP hollow point rounds. “I’ll let you have the lot for $13.00,” he said. I slipped him a twenty and he went to get change. I went ahead and bought two on the Promag units as well. I know, one of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. This is at least the third set of Promag magazines I've bought, why should I think they’ll work? I don’t know. Anyhoo, I head out and swing by Academy to look at, duh, gun bags. They also did not have what I was looking for. I stopped at Popeye’s for some fried chicken and a strawberry soda, I felt so ethnic, and then went home. There I did a really, REALLY, dumb thing. Relax, no one and nothing got shot. I'll say that up front. But it was a distinct possibility owing to what I did. I loaded up the Promag magazines and, ulp, racked live shells through the gun. I know! Stop looking at me like that. It was stupid, and I shouldn’t do it. I should buy some dummy rounds or snap caps or something for those exercises. But at least I know this; these Promag magazines will feed Hornady JHPs. I loaded all of my Hornady .45 JHPs into magazines and slipped them into the pockets of Big Millie’s bag. I had to trade out eye protection and put the bigger glasses in the bigger range bag because they wouldn’t fit in the pocket with the magazines. I stuck the nineteen rounds of Werewolf ammo in a box and, surprisingly, it fit on top of the magazines and the pocket still zipped. So, I have 169 rounds of .45 ACP ammo in that tiny little bag along with the gun, eyes & ears, and a loader. See why I love that bag so much? After fondling my weapon for a bit (after putting the guns away! Bah dum bum!), I called it a night and went to bed. Now I'm at work telling y'all tales. Well, as it is approaching lunchtime, I think I'll call it a rant. Y'all have a day.