Excellent for shooting pictures and firearms, that is.
I took a bunch of pictures today after our excellent session at the firing range. Many more of them turned out excellent (in my humble opinion) than usual. It was difficult to post any one of them, but since my little S&W 442 .38 special revolver is my choice for personal protection (I have no favorite gun), I decided to post this close-up of the right side of this pretty little revolver.
After the weekly trip to the shooting range, we set up shop on the patio (weather permitting) for cleaning and maintaining the firearms. Regardless of which guns belong to whom, Damsel always cleans the revolvers (shines ’em up good) and I disassemble and clean up the pistols. She cleans up the shotgun barrels and chokes and I clean up the fore-end, breech bolt and receiver. Once every couple of months, I knock out the pins and clean and oil the trigger mechanisms. We each do the part we like and make a good team.
Clockwise from the bottom:
Click on the image for the big picture.
OK – pardon the paraphrase, but after a shoot, we religiously lay out our equipment for cleaning and maintenance. On nice days, we do this outside on the patio swing. Here, you see the guns we shot today. The handguns on the left, from top to bottom, are S&W 908 9mm pistol, Glock 26 9mm pistol, S&W 686 .357 magnum revolver and S&W 442 .38 special revolver. The shotguns are both Remington 870s – one a synthetic 7-round capacity 12 gauge and the other is a youth 20 gauge 5 round capacity.
After all the cleaning was done, the guns, now clean and lubricated, were put into their secure containers until next week at the range. All of them, that is, except for a personal firearm that we each keep close at hand.
Whew! When we got to the range last weekend, the cooling fan wasn’t keeping up with the elevated temperatures outside. Good thing we dressed in tank tops to help us cope with the heat.
California and the West have been having a heat wave. We usually have a warm spell toward the end of summer, and this year is no exception. Don’t worry, this has been happening for the last 60 or so years that I recall as a California native (second generation), and has nothing to do with mythical anthropogenic climate change.
Shooting was a lot of fun in spite of the temperatures in the range. We each brought our little guns – Damsel’s S&W 442 and my Glock 26 – the regular hand guns – the S&W 686 revolver and the S&W 908s pistol – and all three shotguns with wooden stocks – my 40-year old Ithaca, and both our Remington 870s. The video is us emptying the 870s 5-round capacity magazines.
The 2 by 3 paper target did not do so well.
Just to dress her up a bit, I got these rosewood grips for the li’l S&W 442 revolver. We’re going to the range tomorrow and see how they feel with live rounds.
And I now have taken possession of my new best little friend. After the long wait and finally taking delivery, I went into the range and promptly put 50 rounds through this little beauty. Not only did I put the rounds through the gun barrel, they actually managed to go through the target at (more or less) where I was aiming. She’s got quite a kick for a little lady, but I just love shooting this lightweight, compact firearm. When I slip her into my pocket she disappears from view, and you would never know she was there — until I whip her out. No hammer to catch on my holster or pocket either. She’s ready in a flash!
Can you say Happy Dance?
This is excerpted from an article written by Stan Katten, who is a former RAND Corp. analyst:
Here’s what we’re in for if Democrats take over
This may be the most important election in a generation. Whether the traitorous Democrats or the virtuous Republicans prevail could influence this country for years to come.
By Stan Katten
[ . . . ]
A House or Senate controlled by Democrats will try to accomplish what the liberals have been striving for since Al Gore failed to reverse the 2000 presidential election — bring down the Bush administration by blocking everything it proposes and reversing its accomplishments, regardless of the negative and often dangerous consequences:
- Withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, surrendering to the terrorists.
- Abandon the fledgling Iraqi government, permitting an Iranian-backed insurgent to take over.
- Launch impeachment charges against President Bush for “lying the United States into war.”
- Abandon the Afghanistan government, allowing a Taliban resurgence.
- Stop all CIA and National Security Agency monitoring programs used to help prevent terrorist attacks.
- Grant citizen civil rights to Guantanamo Bay detainees. This would include providing lawyers for civil criminal trials.
- Stop fencing the border, allowing more than a million illegal immigrants per year to enter the nation.
- Provide five-year amnesty for illegal immigrants, including up to 66 million family members.
- Grant driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.
- Cancel Bush’s tax cuts, increasing average taxes by 15 percent to 20 percent.
- Continue the federal estate tax, returning to former confiscatory rates and exclusion.
- Increase the federal tax on gasoline 50 or more cents per gallon.
- Block appointments of strict constitutionalist judges.
- Extend prohibitions on increasing domestic recovery of petroleum.
- Approve same-sex marriages.
- Continue to refuse to make English the official national language.
- Seek United Nations and European Union approval for U.S. foreign policy.
- Cede U.S. trade policy to control by the World Trade Organization.
- Subvert the Constitution by participating in organizations like the World Court.
- Participate in military efforts only as part of United Nations forces.
- Add more entitlement programs, like socialized health care.
- Increase environmental regulations and restrictions.
- Sign the Kyoto Treaty despite widespread signatory noncompliance.
- Further empower trial lawyers by removing all limits on awards.
- Continue to block picture identification to impede voter fraud.
- Continue the idiotic prohibition on racial profiling at airports.
- Refuse to simplify the tax system and improve Social Security.
If you think these are exaggerations, check the liberal Democrats’ and environmentalists’ Web sites, including the George Soros-funded MoveOn.org. Read Gore’s book Earth in the Balance and view his new global- warming scare movie. Review the Democrats’ obstructionist record in Congress and their traitorous undermining of the war on terror. Note former President Clinton’s failures to capture or kill Osama bin Laden because he considered terrorists criminals, even though bin Laden had declared war against the United States years earlier.
Read the speeches of the Democrat leaders: John Kerry, Jack Murtha, Hillary Clinton, Howard Dean, Al Gore, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, Charles Rangel, John Conyers and even Rep. Jane Harman.
[more]
Please vote Republican. Remember the alternatives.