Left-handed revolver

Over on Guffaw's site, there's discussion on shooting left-handed, notably with revolvers, most all of which have traditionally been made for lesser right-handed creatures to use.

Now I confess that when I started shooting, all I wanted was "cool" semi-autos. I did not own a revolver until I bought one on the last day that my Federal Firearms License was valid. (Yes, I'm old enough to recall the days before Clinton when almost anyone could get an FFL for $35.00...) As I was packing away my FFL paperwork, several days after I thought that it was expired, I realized that it actually expired on that very day. Naturally I wanted just one more gun so I set about to ordering one. The only problem was that it was already 5pm on a Saturday.

However I was saved by the nice folks at J&G Sales in Arizona, who were still open and who had no problem shipping out a gun immediately once I explained my FFL issue. Now they didn't have much of a handgun selection at that time, but they did have some nice stainless Smith and Wesson Model 66 .357 Magnum revolvers for $219.00 so I grabbed up one of those and it showed up a few days later on the UPS truck.As a shooter, I was in love with it immediately. The sights, trigger and balance were fantastic, and the .357 Magnum rounds were a real attention-getter. However I could not manage to reload it quickly or reliably so I dismissed it as a carry gun and it sat in my safe for years other than a few range trips and a great summer spent in Colorado where it was my open-carry secondary firearm, complimenting a lever-action rifle in the same caliber on many day hikes and backpacking trips.
Over the years, I'd picked up other revolvers here and there, mostly collectables (and almost always Smith and Wessons because Colts turn and open the wrong way) but I'd never felt comfortable enough with my reload skills to carry one as a CCW arm. But that changed when I took a class from Mas Ayoob back in the late 1990's. Mas demonstrated how easy it was to reload a revolver from speedloaders and stripper clips, and even worked with me one-on-one after the class one day to ensure that I, a leftie, got it down right. I have confidently carried this and other revolvers from that time on, and I've taught this same technique to others that I teach to shoot revolvers. It's simple, instinctive with a bit of practice, and it's quick and effective. But rather than me explain it, I'll let Mas himself explain it, courtesy of one of his many wonderful videos posted to Youtube:

So lefties, you CAN shoot that revolver and reload it quickly in combat. Now get out there and practice, and then practice some more.

A new gun

And this one really is new--as in "never before owned or fired by anyone else".

I can't remember the last time I bought a brand new gun. I think that it might have been back in the 1980's. I bought three new guns back then, and I still have them. Other than those, since my tastes run to historic arms, every gun I've ever bought has been used.

But then I stumbled across this one--an older First Generation Glock 22 in caliber .40 S&W that was initially delivered to the Detroit Police Department back when that department used Glocks. (They now use the Smith and Wesson M&P .40.)This one was never handed out to an officer and when Detroit switched, they traded this one in or otherwise disposed of it, along with the rest of a small batch of never-issued Glocks. I got this one, and my friend Aaron over the The Shekel got one, too. In fact, our guns have consecutive serial numbers.

After giving it a virtually unnecessary cleaning and basic lubrication, I took it out to break it in today. Like many police-issue handguns, this one has the heavy New York 1 trigger that Glock installs at the request of agencies who fear liability more than they do poor accuracy. Granted, Mas Ayoob shoots his Glock 22 with the NY trigger in competition, basically just to prove that it can be done and done well with enough practice, but I like light, crisp triggers such as the ones on my H&K P7's or my 1911, so I will be switching out this pistol's connector out for one of the excellent 3.5lb. connectors made by Lone Wolf Distributors.

But shooting it today, I was pleased to see that it kept every round fired on the paper plate targets. The sight picture is excellent, as is the norm with Glock sights, and I actually found myself liking the longer sight radius of this full-sized pistol, which was noticeably different from the compact Glocks that I'm used to shooting. It sits in my hand nice, points well, goes "BANG!" every time and has the Detroit Police Department's property stamp prominently rolled into the slide.What's not to like? And the best part is that it fits the same holsters that I already have for my other Glocks, so I don't need to run out and buy new stuff for it. I even had a number of Glock 22 15-round magazines in storage, so I didn't even have to buy any of those.

One thing that did irk me though. The dealer that we got these from sold them with two magazines (also each marked "DPD") but on the Glock tupperware box that the pistol came from the factory in, the label clearly indicated that it had left said factory with one Glock pistol and THREE magazines. Obviously, either the dealer or they City of Detroit held one back--a minor sore point, but a sore point nonetheless.

Still, it's a nice pistol that came at a fair (but not fantastic) price, and besides being a totally serviceable sidearm that I can shoot for recreation or rely on for self-defense, it fits into my collection of police guns quite well. I'm sure that it will become fast friends with my District of Columbia-marked Glock 19.

I keep trying to tell people that I'm not a Glockaholic...I just happen to own a few. Don't think less of me because of it.

EDITED: After reading this article by Mas Ayoob about the Glock with the NY1 trigger, I think I'll keep mine stock, at least for a little while. We'll see how it goes.

A day away

So yesterday, I went along with Nicki on a trip to deliver her daughter to the grandparents' house up near Philadelphia.

Now I shall miss this child, as she's one of my most reliable and credible witnesses when I tell tales of Nicki's road raging. I half suspect that she was actually spirited away for just that reason.
On the way back, we stopped all too briefly at Valley Forge, home of the newly-formed Continental Army's winter quarters in 1777 and 1778. It's a fair-sized park, and we were only able to see but a fraction of it before having to rush on, as we'd intended to meet my old friend, Massad Ayoob, for dinner following a class that he's teaching in Harrisburg this week-end.

We caught the tail end of Mas's class, then met his charming lady friend Gail, and Ken, another LFI grad who is actually local to Washington DC, and we adjourned to his hotel for a casual pizza dinner and a nice, relaxing evening. We caught up on old times, and as you can tell from this picture, Nicki was enjoying Mas' Michael Jackson jokes to no end.

And of course us all being gun folk, the appropriate fawning was done by all over Mas' new Springfield Armory XD, as modified by SA's custom shop.





It has a easy to acquire fiber-optic front sight, adjustable rear target sights, an enlarged mag well, and a trigger pull that's to die for. ow I have to figure out what I can sell to get one of those...that pistol was a work of art. I might just have to put Lagniappe up for sale again. (Not to worry, every time I sell him, he always sneaks away and comes back.)


It's nice to get away every once in a while and spend time with good friends, even if only for a day.

Gun humor

Granted this one will really only resonate with people who know the three real-life gun trainers involved (Two still living, now that Col. Cooper has passed,) but I do, and when I heard it today (courtesy of Gabe Suarez) I just couldn't stop laughing. And those of you who, like me, are familiar with these three shooting legends should understand why immediately.

The story goes that Jeff Cooper, Chuck Taylor, and Massad Ayoob are all sitting in a bar discussing shooting techniques and equipment when a hoodlum walks in, pulls a gun, and demands everyone get on the ground.

All three men jump to their feet and blaze away at the gunman who instantly falls dead at the front door with multiple holes in his chest and head.

Cooper holsters his 1911 and says, "I have slain the goblin...the sky is bluer, the beer is colder, and the world is a better place".

Taylor says, "No Jeff, you have it wrong, I smoked him with my Glock 17 (serial number XYZ-123) with the 1,232, 017th round fired through it", as he holsters it in kydex.

Ayoob looks around and says, "You all heard it--they claimed it. I'm outta here".

What a week-end

So Friday night, I'd just returned home from work and was about to rack out for the night, anticipating a nice, restful Saturday, when my phone rang. A friend had called to tell me that he couldn't meet me at a shooting class that I was supposed to be helping teach on Saturday...in Harrisburg, PA.
Damn! I'd forgotten the date and thought that the class was NEXT week-end. And here it was, 10:30 PM the night before. So I threw a few things together and packed a range bag, then hit the hay for about 4 hours of sleep. Getting up even earlier than I normally did for work, I tossed my bag and Lagniappe in the van and off we went.
Oh--and I mention that I needed to be in Clarksburg, WV on Sunday to pick up a new gun?
So Lagniappe and I drove north with the rising sun. We passed through Gettysburg and like a fool, I went through town to get something from the battlefield visitor center. Big mistake--town was crowded with a bunch of can't-drive-for-shit tourists with out-of-state tags--and the insane traffic jam that I hit docked me a fair bit of time and got my stress level up. And then I lost more time as I happened to glance into a lot next to the highway sough of Harrisburg only to spot...a World War Two German Tiger Tank?!

I had to exit, turn around, and go back to look again. To paraphrase that annoying little Warner Brothers bird: "I did! I did taw a Tiger tank!"
Actually, upon close inspection, it turned out not to be a Tiger tank (Those are incredibly rare today) but a well-done mock-up on a Russian T-34 tank chassis. (The Christie-type suspension was a dead give-away, and the "armor" and "gun barrel" on this one turned out to be made of wood and thin metal. Nice replica, but who would do such a thing to a perfectly good T-34?! It appears to belong to Michael Sunday Heavy Equipment, Inc. (Phone: 717-432-2834). There were also several eastern-bloc artillery pieces there, but all appeared to be incomplete and definitely non-functional. Still, that cost me more time.

But we finally got to the class just as things were getting set on the range, and spent the day with a long-time friend of mine who is also one of the finest firearms and self-defense instructors in America today: Massad Ayoob.
Mas teaches a great 40+ hour course on self-defense with firearms. He's also the author of many regular gun magazine columns and several books, including In the Gravest Extreme, which is still a must-read for anyone owning a handgun for self-defense.
And here's Mas and Lagniappe after class. I'd planned to head over towards Clarksburg but decided to have dinner with Mas and didn't get clear until well after dark. So Lagniappe and I spent the night in a PA Turnpike service plaza near Somerset and finished the drive this morning.








Since we had all day and as it was a beautiful sunny morning, we drifted and took back roads. Here's a nifty covered bridge that we found on the way down.










Then I stopped next to a field full of cows so that Lagniappe could bark at them. This particular cow wasn't impressed, however.




We got home a couple of hours ago and dined on red beans and rice. Now I have to clean out the van and do my laundry. I can't believe that I have to go back to work again tomorrow already! Argh!