Dinner

Grilled deer steak, that was on the hoof last month, home made garlic and parsley mashed potatoes,  sugar snap peas, and Sam Adams Winter Lager.

I am in food heaven!

What's in your closet?

I saw a blog post on the Gun Blog Black List by Keads (  http://keads-anotherday.blogspot.com/2014/12/whats-in-your-closet.html?m=1 ) with this title. His concerned toy trains and nostalgia,  but I immediately thought "a lot of damned guns" when I read his post title. The Mossberg and  Taurus are not loaded, as I do not use them every day (the Mossberg will likely be riding in my unit after the first of the year). The Glock is my duty gun. The 638 is my office/court/dog days of summer carry gun, and so gets worn 3 or 4 times a week. The Kahr is my daily concealed carry gun, and gets worn almost exclusively on weekends, as well as most days after getting off work. The bobbed model 60 is my wife's daily carry.

What's in your closet?

Voting

Took my son with me. Civic duty done, and my son has now seen one of the cornerstones of out governmental processes.

Hunting

I went hunting this weekend with my good friend, Greg. His family has been leasing the same acreage since 1982, and they have quite the camp. They graciously gave me a place to hunt on a well-traveled-by-deer piece of pipeline. I didn't see anything, but I had a great time.

We sipped cheap whiskey, told lies by the fire, and ate like kings. Saturday,  one of the guys shot a 4 point, and watching lifelong hunters process and skin a deer was very cool. In a total time of about 4 hours, the deer was completely processed, and all the waste could fit in a 5 gallon bucket. They were very efficient in using all the meat possible, and soon had piles of steaks, roasts, loins, and burger.

I also learned that my target gun is just not very friendly to hunting. A 14 pound rifle is a chore to carry, and doesn't shoulder quickly. Unfortunately, we were hunting a pipeline, so 200 yard shots are common. This made my rifle choice for me. A lever action chambered in a pistol caliber with iron sights just wouldn't be up for those shots. One day I will fill the hole in my gun collection left by a sensible, no frills hunting rifle for making 100-300 yard shots, but in the mean time, I will make do.

I made no meat, but had an awesome weekend, nonetheless.

New Holster

I have been kicking around the idea of a paddle holster for a while now. While on the job, I don't like them, because they aren't very secure to your body. At least not as secure as a good belt loop and a top grain leather belt are. In my normal work attire, the least secure part of my holster-to-body contact is my belt loops.

I like IWB carry, though. Problem is, I have some pants that fit my body in such a way as to make IWB carry impractical/uncomfortable. I have been thinking that a nice paddle holster would be great for those quick trips to the store, as it can just be slipped on without any wardrobe adjustment, except for perhaps throwing on a light jacket or cover shirt. In that vein, I built a paddle holster. I have a few paddles from various bits of gear that have belt/paddle mounting options, so I bought some Chicago screws, hauled out my leather working supplies, and Googled up some paddle holster images.

Of course, I stitched a Fleur-de-lis into the holster, because if I decide to open-carry, I want my holster to look nice. I also added a tension screw with a rubber grommet, so I can adjust the tension level on the firearm. You can see it behind the trigger guard.

I like how it turned out. A few months of use should tell the story of if I got it right, though. I will keep all informed.

Shooting, and Halloween

Life has been busy. This weekend, I worked late, Halloween being a holiday where there is a lot of crime and criminal mischief. I missed trick-or-treating with the Boy-o, but got to hang with him during his sugar-high late in the evening. He had fun.

Saturday morning, my buddy and I went to the range. I sighted in my father's AR-15, which I am borrowing for a carbine course. I also ran some new defensive loads through my CW9, and had no feeding issues. That afternoon, we went to my brother's new house for a party, and generally ate, told lies, sat by the fire, and had fun.

Today, we have been running errands and doing chores. Which reminds me, I need to do another load of laundry.

Ya'll have a great week!

Weekend Update

It's been quite a weekend around the DLG household. Friday night was beer and movie night, and my wife and I got in some snuggle time while sipping beer and watching the boy-o watch his movie.
Saturday saw the boy-o in his 3rd of 4 half mile races. He beat his best time! We lounged a lot, bought Halloween stuff, shipped a holster to a friend, and generally had a relaxing day, finished by a Salsbury steak dinner.
Today we had a lazy morning, did some laundry, and then I took the boy-o to PawPaw's for lunch. Grandma made a great chicken spaghetti, I reloaded 200 rounds of 9mm, PawPaw gave me another 200 rounds, and he let me borrow his AR-15 for a carbine course I plan on taking in February. We are now relaxing, and enjoying our last few hours of laziness before the next week starts.

Hope ya'll had a great weekend!

Working Shotguns

My father and I are both in police work. You may have seen my shotgun in posts recently here, it's the Mossberg 590 in the picture above. It started life as a tactical model with an adjustable stock and pistol grip. I got ahold of a wood stock from my uncle, and made it into a proper working gun, and it will ride in the trunk of my unit.

My dad owns the Remington 870 in the photo. I have borrowed it for qualification with my department for the past 3 years, as I have not owned a 12 gauge police model shotgun until recently. Dad's started life as a humble, bone-stock, off the shelf 870. He bought a short, unrilfed barrel with rifle sights, removed the plug, and put a sling on it.

Both of us are of the same school of thought on working guns. It needs to be simple, with only what you need to run it properly added to the base gun. In his case, he needed a sling and good sights. In my case, I needed a better (read more ergonomic and with less moving parts) stock. I chose the Mossberg over a Remington, because I am left handed, and both the safety and the slide release are more easily accessed by a lefty on a Mossberg.

Few things in life are more comforting than a gun that is customized to your needs, that you know will reliably run when you pick it up.

Gun Store Woes

I went to a local gun store yesterday on my lunch break with a coworker. He needed a shotgun, and after calling around to find the best price on the model he wanted, we went and got one. While he was dickering with the clerk, a noticed a man and woman a little down the counter being helped by another clerk, and the man handed his wife a Ruger LCP, and told her to manipulate the slide. She couldn't, so he took it from her, set it down, and handed her another equally diminutive firearm, which she was also having trouble with. The guy behind the counter was no help, either. He was not making any bad suggestions, but he wasn't making any good ones, either. I spoke up, and asked the woman if this was her first gun. She said it was, and she was a realtor,  and after what happened in Arkansas, she figures she might need a handgun. I told her that I did not want to be nosy, and that I was sure her husband was going to do a great job helping her find the best gun need for her, but that she needed to be sure to try out a bunch of guns before buying one. I told her that those tiny semi-autos were great to conceal, but hard to manipulate and shoot. I told her the same applies to snubby revolvers. They are easier to load, because you are not fighting the stiff slide on a tiny object, but the sights suck, and the trigger pull is heavy and long. She asked me about lasers, and I told her that there were benefits to them, but negatives as well, but being diligent about changing the batteries and getting a grip-activated style mitigates some of the negatives, and they are a great dry-firing aid.

I made sure to compliment her husband in the process, as I didn't want to step on any toes, and I even complimented the range, pointing out their great rental policy. Her husband was shaking my hand as I left, and she had 4 firearms on the counter to rent as my friend finished up his shotgun purchase, a S&W airweight with crimson trace grips, a Ruger LCR with lasergrips, a S&W M&P Shield, and a Kahr CM9.

She smiled and thanked me as I left. I just hope that she will be able to make a choice about what she likes and can shoot, and not be forced into a gun she doesn't know much about. When I left, at least she seemed closer to finding something she wanted than when I went in.

New furniture

No, not that kind of furniture, but I did help my brother move some stuff today, into his new house, so I did move plenty of that kind of furniture,  today.

The furniture I am talking about is gun furniture, though. I got a new Mossberg shotgun in a trade deal a few months ago, and I have been looking for a better stock than the one that came with it. It had one of those tactical collapseable stocks on it, and I just didn't like it. I saw my Uncle in the grocery store last night, and I remembered that he put a new stock on his Mossberg shotgun last year. I asked him if he still had the old stock, and he said he did. I asked him if he would be interested in selling it, and he told me no, but he would be happy to give it to me. He brought it by this afternoon.

A half hour later,  and I had the new stock mounted.

I like the feel of this stock much, much better. Call me crazy, but there's just no place for a pistol grip and telescoping stock on a damned shotgun.  

Rare as hen's teeth

A conversation between me and my dad. I lamented the fact that I was having so much trouble finding duck hunting loads for my 16 gauge last week,  and he apparently found some...

How To Tell You Are From Louisiana

When you and your son are eating leftover gumbo for breakfast, and your son is not wearing a shirt...

Cop Humor

Yesterday's Dennis The Menace...

Beer Glasses

When I was living in Florida, a package mysteriously appeared at my door one day. When I opened them, there were 6 Sam Adams beer glasses in the package, and a note from my brother, simply reading: "Happy Birthday"

Miraculously,  i have only managed to break one in the intervening 3 moves, and they are still a gift that i love using, and use regularly.

Prosit!

Thanks, Matt.

And this is what it looks like when it's done.

Ryan, next time you're in my town on a weekend, give me a heads up, and I will pass on a right handed IWB holster for your new heater.

This is what leather working on a Sunday looks like...

Just a lot of measuring, cutting, and poking holes.

Ammo-unts

The Other Ryan did a post about ammo ammounts at totalsurvivalist.com in which he discussed the ammounts of ammo he thought was sufficient for each gun he had. My thoughts follow for MINIMUM ammo. Of course, more is always better.

Shotguns- 100 hunting rounds and 200 trap rounds for each hunting/ general use shotgun. If it is a dedicated defense shotgun, 150 rounds mixed buck and slugs. 100 rounds always on hand for training, and 50 on hand for fighting purposes.  I firmly believe for a defensive shotgun ( for all defensive guns really) you should shoot what you carry to practice with.

Rifle- for defensive rifles, 500 rounds. 250 ball, and 250 defensive ammo. Ball for most training, but 50 rounds of the same type you will fight with, so you understand how it functions in your gun. For a hunting rifle, about 200 rounds. All of the ammo should be what you hunt with.

Pistol- 500 rounds per pistol. If it is defensive, split this like you would for a rifle. If it is for range fun, it can all be ball, except for 100 rounds of defensive ammo, in case it needs to be pressed into service as a defensive gun at some point. While i don't have a strong opinion on fighting rifle magazines, i feel that you need a MINIMUM 3 mags for a fighting pistol, but more is always better.

.22cal- for all your various 22 weapons, i like to keep 500 on hand. Truthfully, 1000 would make me happier, but i have never had more than 700 on hand, and have never noticed a lack.

These numbers are just what I'm comfortable with, and are working numbers from personal use. Right now, i am flush on my rifle ammo stores, general use shotgun stores, and .22 Cal stores. I am short a bit on defensive pistol and shotgun stores. The pistol stores are short because i shoot as much as i reload, and the defensive shotgun stores are short because i have only had defensive shotgun for about 2 months, and am slowly working on building those stores.

Just my 2 cents on the subject.

Ammo

Tula Ammo costs $215.00 for 1000 rounds of FMJ 9mm. That's 21.5 cents per round of poor quality range ammo.

Wheel weights can be had around here for 25 cents per pound (I figure about 30 cents after you have processed it). 7000 grains in a pound, so getting a 124 grain bullet from it costs about .5 cents.

Powder cost me $28.00 for HS-6. I use 6 grains, and there, again, is 7000 grains in the pound of powder on my reloading bench. That comes to approximately 2.4 cents.

Primers run about $30.00 for 1000. That's 3 cents.

That's about 5.9 cents per round for the 200 I loaded yesterday.

21.5 - 5.9 = 15.6. That's 15.6 cents saved per round. Total savings of $31.20 on those 200 rounds. I have less than 5 hours total time invested in those 200 bullets. If my time investment is worth less than the difference between my cost per round, and the cost per round of cheap range ammo, my time investment was worth about $6.24, or a dollar less than minimum wage.

Being as how if you make minimum wage, you can't take home $6.24 after taxes, and being as I work a salary job, so I can't work extra to cover my ammo costs, I think I did good.

If I wasn't reloading ammo, I would have just spent those 5 hours goofing off anyway.

Reloading is a great way to shoot a lot more, for less dollars per round.

True story

So today, on the way home from school, riding with my son in the truck, we hear one of those 'seat belts save lives' ad campaigns. Boy-o looks at me and says

" sometimes, when I'm riding with Pawpaw, we will have been driving for 10 seconds, and I will say 'Pawpaw, you should put on your seatbelt, because it can save your life'."

I asked "What does Pawpaw say to thay?"

"Pawpaw says 'Yep, slick, you're right'."

If you knew my dad, you'd realize just how funny that is, because that is EXACTLY what he would say.

Kicked over my giggle box!

Gun Pron

Posted without further comment...

Range Day

I didn't have plans today, other than lunch at my pop's (a delicious pork loin!), but my buddy called at about 9:30 this morning, and asked if I wanted to hit the range about 2pm. After lunch, I headed to his house, and we proceeded to the local range.

I put another 100 rounds through my Kahr,  without a hitch. I also shot my .357 Marlin, and verified zero. It needs to be moved up an inch, and left 1.5 inches, but maintains a 6 inch group, if I do my part. Shot the Savage .308. With the Hornady SST bullet, I was able to keep a 10 shot group in about 1.5 inches, and I just wasn't on my game. Even so, that's a good 10 shot group, and if I was doing my part, it could have been half that size.

Met a man on the pistol range, and I let him have my brass. I have over 3000 pieces of 9 mm brass at the house, so I didn't mind him having the 200 there. He was grateful, and offered to let me shoot his Highway Patrolman. It was the 4 inch model, and it's an amazing gun to shoot. The Highway Patrolman  is a dead serious weapon, and his was an excellent example. It had the original stocks and a nice finish, with a little honest holster wear near the muzzle.

Then he let me shoot his K22, another beautiful Smith. It shot like a dream, and it is amusing to shoot a gun that heavy and not feel any recoil.

Last, he let me shoot a Kel-Tec Sub 2000. Man, those things will kick over your giggle box. A 9 mm carbine is absurdly fun.

I let him shoot my .357 Marlin, in thanks for his generosity. He shot at a soda bottle on the 50 yard berm, and smiled when it flipped over on his third shot.

I took a turn at it, and hit the bottle 4 out of 5 times. 100 yards is the outer limit for that gun, but at 50, it's every bit as accurate as the shooter can be.

All in all, not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Boolits

Today, I cast more 9 mm bullets. I glanced at my watch when I started, and it was 2:17 when I cast the first one. When I got tired, I looked at my watch, and it was 3:16. I figured an hour of casting was good enough for now, and I had the added bonus of being able to figure out easily what my hourly cast rate was. I put everything away, and counted the bullets. I apparently cast 352 bullets per hour.

Huh. That ain't bad for an hour's work.

Knife

This little knife from Gerber is possibly the best idea ever. It uses cheap, replaceable razor blades, is super small, and costs about 12 dollars. This is the third one I have owned in the past 10 years, and I don't even care when I lose one because they are inexpensive. The quality is what you would expect from Gerber: a good product, considering that it's mass produced for a low price point. Generally I keep one for a few years, then lose it and buy another. Now, you want to carry a good knife, too, for serious knife work, but you don't dull your good knife opening boxes or bags of charcoal or what-have-you. And when the blade gets dull on this one, you throw it away and replace it.

Great product.

Ammo count

.308- 116
9mm- 197
.38 special- 296
.357 magnum- 85
.22 long rifle- 500 (approximately)
.410 gauge- 80
20 gauge- 113
12 gauge- 12
16 gauge- 250

I plan on making more 9mm, and once I have about 500 rounds, I will start working on .38, and bring it up to about 500 rounds, too. I need to make about 100 or so more rounds of .357, and obviously need to buy a good bit of 12 gauge. I also need some steel shot for my 16 gauge for duck hunting. Otherwise, I feel reasonably well about my current ammo stores.

New Shotgun

I ended up with this Mossberg 590 recently. It has all the "evil" features associated with "tactical" weapons. Bayonet lug, extended magazine tube, barrel shroud, collapseable stock, pistol grip, light and laser...

I'm going to replace the collapseable stock and pistol grip with a standard stock, because it makes the safety on a Mossberg as useless as tits on a boar, but otherwise, I'm going to leave it alone. It's going to become my work shotgun, and will ride in my unit.

I kinda like it...

Photo-Negative

One of the many things I love about leather holsters (and leather in general, for that matter) is that with a little imagination, you can "see" the gun that has been riding in a well-worn one.

Leather is an amazing medium, and there is a reason that top-quality holsters and belts are still made from leather.

National Museum of Naval Aviation

On our trip to see my wife's family this week, we stopped to see the National Museum of Naval Aviation. Short version? If you are in the area, GO.

We pulled up to the gate, and since it is an active military base, there were M.P.'s at the gate, and no firearms signs. When I got to the gate, I showed my badge, and asked if they had a storage box for handguns. The MP advised that they didn't, and they didn't allow firearms on base, even though I was a cop. Seeing my badge was a Louisiana issue, he asked where I lived. I told him, and he commented that his wife was from Baton Rouge.  He then sighed and handed me a pass. "Look, man, I appreciate your honesty. Leave it locked in the car, and enjoy the museum. "

Good guy, that MP.

Anyway, the museum has hundreds of planes, representing the span of the entire history of flight in the US Navy. It is an amazing museum, and to truly experience it, one should plan at least 6 hours. We were there for 3, and didn't see an entire hangar.

Trust me, this one is worth going to.

Belts

The Other Ryan at www.tslrf.blogspot.com has a post up about belts and holsters. I have been following his blog for a while, because while I have never met him, he lives in roughly the same geographical region as I do, so his posts about choices of gear and specific survival skills are relevant to me due to their applicability to my geographical location. (I really need to add him to my side bar)

Anyway, I have a dual need for gear. What is applicable for duty use, even in a moderately plain-clothes assignment is widely different than what I need during my personal time, when I tend to carry smaller, lighter firearms and about 15 pounds less gear. I will not get into weapons, holsters or other gear in this post. This post is about belts.

With the rare exception of when I wear a true duty belt or a dress belt for court, I wear one belt. Being a leatherworker, I am partial to, well, leather. Picking a sturdy piece of vegetable tanned leather is fairly easy, these days, as Tandy Leather makes belt blanks, and uses high-quality hides. They can be had for about 12 dollars at Hobby Lobby. They come with snaps for adding a buckle, but I usually cut the snaps off and stitch a buckle on permanantly. The belts come in lengths up to 48 inches, so it's easy to get one big enough, and trim to length. These belt blanks are thick, and are about 1 and 1/2 inches in height. Now, leather breaks down over time, so it will need to be replaced every 4 years or so (mine is approaching this mark, so I need to get another one). Still, for 12 bucks, that's only 3 dollars a year.

I would literally trust this belt to hold me up, hanging off the side of a mountain, and I trust it to keep my firearm tight to my side on duty.

There are a lot of options for belts out there, but a full-grain, vegetable-tanned leather belt has a lot to recommend it. For under 20 bucks, you can have one that lasts for years with very little work to make it what you want.

Just my 2 cents.

The best Easter basket

I was remembering back today to my time spent in Florida. Our fist easter there, I was working as a store manager for a Big Lots, and I had to work on Easter. My wife wanted to go spend Easter with her family, a few hours away,  and I had to stay behind. Her Mom, Ginny,  decided to make me an Easter basket, so that Easter didn't such quite so much for me. In said Easter basket was: a six-pack of Guinness, 2 Acid Blondie cigars, a DVD of Rocky Balboa, and a pack of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

That was one awesome Easter basket. This memory bears no relation to anything going on in my life, but I was just thinking about it today, and wanted to let ya'll know how great of an Easter basket I once got.

Ginny hit it out of the park with that one.

Leather, again.

Decided I needed an IWB holster for my Kahr. I like how it turned out.

Memorial Day Range

So, I went to a private range with my friend today, and we shot a BUNCH. Part of that was shooting 140 rounds of 9mm through my new Khar. Fisrt, the gun shot great, with no failures of any kind, even when I intentionally limp-wristed it, trying to induce a stoppage. I am very pleased with this gun's accuracy and reliability so far. Secondly, the bullets I shot were some new handloads. The bullets worked great, were powerful enough to reliably cycle the slide, but not punishing. As the pics attest, HS-6 powder is a bit on the dirty side. However, the load was great in function, and shooting these loads just means that I will be more diligent about cleaning my gun upon return from shooting.

I'm pretty happy with my new gun, And new 9mm loads!

When reloading...

(Or doing anything that has the potential to go boom) if something looks wrong, stop and try to figure out what the problem is. Don't do the same thing 9 more times, expecting everything to magically get better.

After reassessing how my bullet seater die was set, the other 40 turned out like they should.

Reloading

Well, I've lubed bullets, prepared and reprised brass, expanded throats, got powder, settled on a load, set up my powder measure and scale, and set my press with my bullet seater die. I've got calipers set and my COAL should be right.

We are going to have a family day today, just driving and sight seeing, but tomorrow I'll get to the rat-killing of making some bullets.

Cleanin'

I just spent two hours cleaning out my shed and throwing crap away. The back of my pickup is full of stuff to go to the dump, but my reloading bench is set up now, and since my brother found powder and bought a few extra pounds for me (thanks, Matt!), I plan on stuffing a couple hundred 9mm rounds this weekend.

Me and my buddy Greg are going shooting on Memorial Day,  and I need ammo.

Khar CW9

I have been looking for a concealable 9mm single stack since my brother bought a Ruger LC9 about 2 years ago. I shot his, and I fell in love. While slightly too big to be considered a true pocket gun, the Ruger shot well, had manageable recoil, was accurate,  and fit the hand well. I have been green with envy, and while the "gun funds" have gone to other things over the past several years, I have had in the back of my mind that a single stack 9mm would be my next firearm purchase.

My wife told me the other day that the way our finances have worked out, my next paycheck would have no bills coming from it. As I always do when she mentions excess money, I jokingly asked if I could buy a gun. She thought for a second, and said "Yeah. We could afford that, I think." We discussed it further, and settled on a reasonable dollar amount,  and yesterday I went over to my LGS thinking about what an awesome wife I have.

I looked through the offerings on display, and decided against the LC9,  primarily because I am left handed, and it has a right hand only safety, which does nothing but needlessly complicate a carry gun for me. I looked at a S&W Shield and Bodyguard, but the Bodyguard was in .380, and the shield was right outside the upper limits of my budget. I then saw the Kahr CW40 in the display,  at about 30 bucks less than I was planning to spend. I asked how often he got them in in 9mm, and he reached under the counter.
"Last one in the store, but I get a few in every week."

"What's your feelings on it?"

He smiled, reached into his front pocket, and pulled a CW9 in a well-worn holster out.

"Got a few thousand rounds through this one. I trust it."

At that point, I called my wife and told her that I was about to buy a gun.  She told me to wait, do some research, rent one and shoot it tomorrow, and then decide.

Smart girl. It was hard to walk away, but when I came back today, I knew from reading around that many don't like the trigger, because it has a very long pull, and that the magazines have sharp lips.

Both of these things are true. The mag lips are sharp, making loading a bit of a trial. The trigger pull is long, too. But it's smooth. I carry a S&W j-frame, so I am no stranger to a long, smooth trigger pull, with no reset. In fact, the CW9, with it's long trigger pull and no manual safety is about the most revolver-ist semi-auto I've ever shot. It's like hanging out with an old friend.

At the range, I shot 2 mags for accuracy, and was satisfied with the 2 inch groups at 10 yards. After that, I shot about 40 rounds doing everything I could to make it jam. It wouldn't. Limp wristing, sloppy grip, weak hand shooting.... This gun just kept on loading and shooting the bullets.

So I bought it.

And I like it. The manufacturer says to shoot 200 rounds to break it in, and I will do that. But regardless, I am sold on this Kahr.

Boots

I love a good pair of cowboy boots. You can dress up with 'em, you can dress down with 'em. They are versatile and comfortable. The last pair I had I wore almost every day for 2 years,  and they developed an odor. Then their soles melted. And because they were a bonded sole, I couldn't get them repaired.

But my wife called me today, about a half hour before I got off work and said that they had Justin Boots on sale at Tractor Supply. I swung by after work to see what they had. A pair of Justins,  in my size, for $80? It was a no- brainer. They are a $180 pair of boots, and they have by-god leather soles, meaning I can get them re-soled in a few years when they wear out.

SCORE!

Airplanes!

MOAR PLANES!

Fly In

We have had a busy morning. Boy-o and I went to a fly-in and breakfast hosted by the local aviation club this morning. There were plenty of beautiful birds, and even a ( I think) Blackhawk from the local military base came by to show off. My pop met us there, and even bought breakfast. Thanks, pop! It was a helluva time, and watching that military boy show off was really something. He knew how to put that helicopter through it's paces.

Bug Day

After the air show, I met my sister and her boyfriend and his kids at a local venue that was hosting a bug day. It's a chance to expose children to the insect world, and Boy-o really seemed to enjoy himself. We are now back home relaxing and washing clothes, waiting on sister's boyfriend to come by so that the kids can play on the slip-n-slide.

WHEW! It's been a busy morning!

.357

To regular readers, it should come as no surprise that I am an outspoken, unabashed fan of the .357 Magnum. Loaded hot, and shot from a rifle, it can almost match performance with the venerable .30-30 Winchester. Using it's smaller brother,  the .38 Special, it can be loaded light and can be easily managed by novices with the smallest and lightest of handguns. The .38/.357 family of cartridges is one of the most versatile. Loadings can be readily tailored to suit any need from plinking to defense to harvesting game. It's even relatively easy to make shot she'll loads for the .357, although they are admittedly of little use beyond a few yards.

Few individuals outside of war zones (and some within them, I'd bet) feel under gunned with a .357 revolver on their hip. Mine has ridden hundreds (thousands?) Of miles tucked between the seats of my vehicle. A .357 revolver on a dark road, standing next to a broken down truck is a comfort when waiting for a friend to arrive with a tow-strap.

It is also comforting to know that your rifle is up to the job when hunting deer in the thicket-clogged woods I live in. Unless you are on a pipeline, 100 yards is a long shot in North Central Louisiana. A light, short lever-action with iron sights is perfect for stalking white-tails. It is comfortable to carry, rugged, and perfect for snap shooting. If you choose your bullet loading with care, you can place 158 grains of lead, traveling at velocities within 50 f.p.s. of a .30-30 hunting load, into a 6 inch circle at 100 yards. That is easily sufficient to make meat.

If ever I am faced with a need to bug out, circumstance may dictate which of my guns I can bring, and which I'd have to leave behind... but even if I was walking, with nothing more than what I cold carry on my back, I know two firearms that would definitely make the trip.

Clean Livin'

For the last few weeks, I have been thinking about my lifestyle. I have multiple things in my life that are bad for my health. I drink beer daily,  I smoke a pipe,  I eat what I like with little concern for it's healthiness, and I live a sedentary lifestyle. You see, since I got out of police academy, where I dropped 2 pants sizes, I've been relatively the same size. That was 2 years ago. I noticed the other day that my pants are a bit snug. Not uncomfortable,  but unchecked they will be in 6 months.

I decided that I can't give up smoking at this juncture, and if I had to change my diet I would be miserable. My choice made itself. Staying in my current pants size and possibly even trimming down is worth giving up some beer and starting exercising again.

Last week, I told my wife my plan. She was kinda shocked. I'm not exactly a health nut, so this is big for me. The plan is, Monday through Thursday,  run a mile, increasing by 1 block a week, followed by an exercise routine including push-ups, burpees, crunches, jumping jacks, bridges, and other stuff. It will vary slightly weekly, and reps will increase over time. Monday through Thursday I will also abstain from alcohol consumption.

Today starts the second week, and it's beginning to become a natural part of the routine. I don't exactly look forward to it, but I am becoming used to it.

This is the first time in my life that I've voluntarily exercised,  for no other reason than I wanted to for my health. It's also the first time in my adult life that I've voluntarily curbed my drinking. Now, I have no problem going weeks without drinking, and have plenty of times, but this is the first time that I've made a conscious decision to not drink (x) number of days a week.

I'm hoping that because this is voluntary,  and I actually WANT to do this, that it will stick. Get healthy, lose weight, all that jazz.

And, ya know, I'm feeling pretty optimistic about my success in this endeavor.

Robots

My son is obsessed with robots. We buy the robot 'kits' from Hobby Lobby, and he loves assembling pre-made 'tin can' robots and 'sweeperbots'. They move with a simple battery pack, and entertain him to no end. He loves 'em. Invariably, though, he tears them apart to scavenge pieces for his "latest invention" (his words), and brings forth a ball of servos, tape and wiring that does nothing. We encourage, he is crestfallen, wash, rinse, repeat. For a year, we have been putting pieces of disassembled robots in a box in his room.

For the last two days, he's been obsessed with a 'drawing robot', and has been frantically building.

I'll be damned.

My 5-year-old built a robot.

Picnic Day

March Encampment

I finally got back to a reenactment today. I'm too bushed to go into detail, but I had a blast.

Here's a photo of my reenacting family sharing a meal at the end of the day. Sorry for the quality, time was a cell phone pic, hastily snapped indoors, with no lighting.

Lundi Gras (Fat Monday)

Lundi Gras is a relatively new tradition in the celebration-soaked New Orleans. The term was coined some time in the 70's or 80's, referring to specific riverside festivities that occurred the day before Mardi Gras in the Big Easy.

In Cajun country, the southern central part of the state surrounding places like Eunice, Mamou, and Ville Platte, traditional Mardi Gras is still observed with couriers riding the countryside, begging foodstuffs from the locals so that a community gumbo can be made at the end of their ride.

Lundi Gras is a day that the couriers drink, enjoy each other's company, eat heartily, and try to form a loose plan of the routes that various groups will use, so as not to ask the same farmers 8 times for chickens. In a way, Lundi Gras is the courier's celebration. Make no mistake, while Mardi Gras is fun for the couriers, 15 hours on horseback can be grueling. On Mardi gras, the couriers work.

In honor of the upcoming Louisiana state holiday, today, on Lundi Gras, I made a gumbo, and bought a King Cake from the store. We dined on the finest of Louisiana delicacies, and listened to Cajun music.

By the way, if you've never heard Dewey Balfa play fiddlesticks, you have NO IDEA what Cajun music is all about.

Enjoy your Mardi Gras, however you choose to spend it.