12/23/11

Well, this is probably going to be the last entry of the year. I'm not working at all next week and usually don’t do the rant thing when I'm not at work. This is not to say I don’t rant about things, but I don’t usually put them in writing and send them off to Spiderman for to be posting on the intergoogles. So anyway, at one of the gun shows recently I bought a 1911, remember? I call it Heldey LaMarr because it is made by Rock Island Armory which makes me think of Rock Ridge, the town in the Mel Brooks movie “Blazing Saddles,” which has a character played by Harvey Korman named Heldey LaMarr. Anyhoo, at one of the other gun shows I saw a replacement barrel bushing which incorporates a muzzle brake. I did not buy it. I regretted that decision at every subsequent gun show as I searched for it again. Well, I finally just broke down and bought one on e-Bay. It arrived yesterday. It didn’t fit. It was too tight on the barrel. Well, after a little futzing with it, I got it to go on to the barrel. Then I spent a few hours lapping the parts together so they moved freely. It also involved some work with an emery board but the thing slides smooth now. It looks so friggin’ bad ass now too. Unfortunately the gun is now too long to go on the rack on the shelf of my gun cabinet. I have to set it “upside down” with the hammer and beaver tail in the rack and the barrel pointing up. I need to get some sort of dust cover to put over the barrel to keep the innards clean. Also, this might require a new name for the gun. The slots in the muzzle brake makes it kind of look like, but not really, the helmet of one of the Knights who say “Ni!” or perhaps the Black Knight from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” I'm thinking I might change the name to “Monty.” Yes, despite the slightly negative connotation that particular name brings to my mind due to (tee hee, I said "doo doo!") a guy I know, I think I'm going to do that. Besides, I kind of have the hots for a “Commander” sized 1911 by Rock Island which would then assume the name Heldey LaMarr. See, there are three common sizes, at least, of 1911 pistols. Monty is what is known as a “Government” model with a 5” barrel. The “Commander” has a shorter 4.5” barrel. Then there is the “Officer’s ACP” with an even shorter 3.8” barrel. I’m sure the “Officer’s ACP” also has a shorter grip and the “Commander” may as well. Anyhoo, the point is I saw a “Commander” sized Rock Island at the last show and I think I'm going to buy one at the next. Well, it is finally 1100 h, ok so it is only 1050 h but that is close enough, so I'm going to call it a rant and go hang out in the shuttle with Larry until time for lunch. I may come back and rant some more, but I may not. We’ll see.