Still alive...and 100 Years of the .45

I'm still here. was a bit sicker after Mardi Gras (And I didn't even get to go out much...) and then when I got back to wrk, I found out that I can no longer post to Blogger from our work machines so that's going to sting a bit.

But today I got out to the range and fired a few of the best .45s out there.

(Top: Thompson 1928. Lower Left: Springfield Armory 1911A1 Lower Right: Smith and Wesson Model 1917.)

The 1911 is my first gun, purchased new back in 1988 from Patrick Sweeney back when we were both a lot younger. It's got thousands of rounds through it and it's still my "go-to" handgun. The M1917 came aboard a few years back, complete with it's "US Property" markings and wearing it's original World War One blued finish. The Thompson... What a problem child. I bought it from a "well respected" dealer in Pennsylvania who allegedly warranties the guns he sells, but I guess "All Guns Guaranteed" means "I'll take it back and let some guy mess with it two or three times and make it worse, then tell you that it's as good as it will ever shoot."

Fuck him. I finally sent it off to John Andrewski up in New Hampshire and he fixed it right and put a real spec finish on it instead of sprayed-on duracoat, and it just came back today so it was right off to the range. 200 rounds later, with just a few hiccups that seemed restricted to specific magazines, I'm pretty damned happy. And it even swallows hollow-points!

20-yard target. (Head shots came from the 1911.)

Yeah, that Thompson gun can do the job, I'm thinking.

This calls for some Zevon.