2/13/11

Frerbrurary 23, 2011 So Sunday I went to the Shooster’s Club with Larry Shuttlebus. He was supposed to bring his sister so she could try out a few of my guns but she, apparently, had John's flu too and didn't make it. Oh well, what are you going to do? I brought the Judge, Petey, Kurt Corto, and of course my carry gun, Katey. As for ammo, I had a couple hundred rounds of 9mm, a bunch of .45 Colt, and about fifty each of .380 and .410 shotgun. Larry had his GP100 .357 Magnum with a bunch of .38 Special and .357 Magnum ammo. I blew away a target with .410 and .45 Colt in the Judge then asked if he wanted to try it. He offered me reciprocity with his .357 and I took it. He was shocked at the kick of the Judge, especially with the .410 rounds. I was amazed at how light a shooter his gun was with the .38 Special and how much more pounding it was with the Magnum loads. I put the Judge away and got Kurt Corto out for him to try. He liked it... I think. I shot a few rounds through it just to remain proficient. Then I got out Petey. I ran a new target all the way out and fired a whole magazine at it. When I pulled it back in, even I was amazed at how well we shot! A quarter might have fallen through the hole in the center of the target, but it would have to bend some corners to do it. I handed the gun to Larry and let him try it out. He said he liked that gun too. I ran a few more magazines through Petey and then pulled Katey out of my belt. I popped off a few proficiency shots and handed off to Larry... I think. I honestly don't remember if I let him shoot that one. Hmm. Eventually, the string on the target return thingy broke so I was done on my lane. I went out and told management but didn't try to get another lane since they were kind of busy. Larry also had his Ruger MkII .22 caliber pistol which he switched to at some point. He let me try it. I like it. For those not familiar with the MkII, it looks kind of like the old German Luger pistol of WWII. Anyhoo, I think I might start looking at one of those at the next gun show. That, and the full length stock 10/22 rifle of course. OK, back to the narrative. Larry and I shot our guns for a while then went to Krystal’s for some mini hamburgers. After we ate we went to Blood Bath & Beyond. I wanted to get some cleaning supplies so I wouldn't have to go to the shop to clean all the guns. This I did. Of course I went to the shop on the way home anyway because I'd forgotten my reading glasses on Saturday. At the house I cleaned and oiled all the guns and then put them away. I updated the Weapons Inventory spreadsheet here in my laptop and settled in to watch TV. When there wasn't anything on, I went back up to see about putting Slick Willie back together. Again, for those out there with short attention spans, Slick Willie is a Smith & Wesson SW9M Sigma 9mm pistol I should never have bought. One of the myriad problems with the SW9M is how Juan has to knock out a roll pin to field strip it. Unfortunately, there are two roll pins. Last time I went to strip it, I knocked out the wrong pin. Oops. This pin goes through the frame, the barrel, the trigger group, the trigger, a spring, the trigger again, the trigger group again, the barrel again, and finally back out the other side of the frame. Simple enough, right? Well, thing is, you can't get that spring in while the trigger group is in the frame and barrel. Juan needs a “slave pin” the width of the trigger group to hold the trigger and spring. Said “slave pin” gets knocked through by the regular pin during assembly. I had to make a “slave pin.” I found some wire in the right diameter and cut it to length with the file of my Leatherman Multi-Tool. Yeah, it did take a while, thankyouverymuch. Anyhoo, to make a short story long, I used the pin I made and got Slick Willie put back together. Now I just need to grow a pair of balls and take it to the range to see if it is going to blow up in my face. I doubt it will since what I assembled had nothing to do with the structure of the gun... I hope. Anyhoo, with that complete I loaded up its two magazines and added it to the Weapon Inventory, both physically and in the computer. And there you have it. I'll get to Monday’s tale tomorrow.