Something Darned Clever
Ever Tell Yourself, “Wish I’d Thought of That!”?
Dave had this .41 Magnum along on a deer hunt when he used
it to put down a wounded buck. The grips are by Altamont,
and they have a clever little secret inside.
While I write this, I’m listening for my tumbler to shut off, as I’ve got about 65 pieces of recently fired brass getting a cleaning in soapy water, which started hot but, by now, has cooled down.
This is the work after the fun. It was an afternoon visit to the range to zero a couple of handguns with a new load using a 225-grain LSWC bullet ahead of a comfortable dose of H110 and a Winchester large pistol primer. Caliber: .41 Magnum with a mix of Winchester, Remington, Federal and Starline brass, getting prepped for the annual sojourn to the countryside near Spokane for the annual Elmer Keith Invitational Long Range Memorial Shoot.
For the second year in a row, there’s a new site for this spot. Last year, the match was held on farmland several miles north of Spokane. This year, the match has moved again to a spot several miles south of the city. It’s a complicated story, not really worth telling.
What makes this tale interesting is something I’ve known about for a few years but didn’t really appreciate it until now; one of those ideas one sees and finally tells himself, “Geez, I wish I’d have thought of that.”
I had mounted a set of Altamont grips on one of my sixguns and after a couple of hundred rounds I noticed something which hadn’t happened. Typically, when I’m blasting away with one of my Magnums, I can feel the target grip panels shift ever so slightly to where it’s not uncomfortable but noticeable. This was the set of grips I had on the gun when I finished off a buck a few years ago.
The folks at Altamont solved this by adding two small pins fitting in holes aligned on the inside of each grip panel. No grip shift under recoil, so you can shoot and shoot. Very clever! Wish I’da thought of that!
Out of sight, out of mind, sort of. Altamont’s secret to grip uniformity
during shooting is a pair of pins like this inserted to the inner surface
of the grip to keep both panels uniform.
Clean ‘Em Up!
Grips are one thing. The grip frame is something else.
Every time I swap out grips on a sixgun or a semi-auto, which happens occasionally due to weather or for a photo shoot or just because of a whim, before I mount the swapped panels, it has become a habit to wipe down both sides of the frame and add and little gun oil. This prevents rust, and it might also help when it comes time to remove said grip panels.
A lot of bad things can happen inside the grip frame, which people often overlook. It’s a good idea to check the grip frame on a pistol or revolver. Pop off the grip panels, whether they are wood, ivory, antler, some kind of bone or a synthetic. Use an old toothbrush to scrub things off with a bit of Hoppe’s No. 9, wipe clean with a cloth and add a drop of oil, which is spread around with a finger.
Remember when you pull off the grip panels to add a
spot of gun oil to the inner surfaces of the frame.
This is one of those little “ounces of prevention” which prevents a “pound of cure.” Changes in temperature can result in condensation inside any firearm. If neglected, it can turn into a problem.
Back from the range, while my brass was tumbling, out came the bronze bore brush and Hoppe’s. Gotta scrub up for an upcoming match. Run a clean patch through to pick up the crud, then a lightly oiled patch for bore protection. A drop of lube down into the action, a final wipe and back in the gun safe.
Before the tumbler quits and it’s time to rinse the sparkling-like-new brass, it’s into the workshop to swap out dies from .45 Colt to .41 Magnum, change the shell plate and prepare for a bench session 48 hours later.
Betcha Didn’t Know This!
Stating the obvious, Atlanta News First recently reported, “Gun control and the Second Amendment are key issues that drive voters to the polls in any election, and already, ahead of the November race for president, both Democrats and Republicans are leaning into the issue.”
This is where “Well, DUH!” seems an appropriate reaction. Of course, gun control will be a campaign issue this fall. It already is a campaign issue. Apparently, somebody didn’t get the memo.
Donald Trump is the guy who put some 300 constitutional judges and justices on the federal benches, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Joe Biden is the guy who infamously told a CNN Townhall three years ago he was determined to prevent the sale of modern semi-auto rifles and 9mm pistols.
The party conventions are on the horizon. Pay close attention to each party’s platform. It will be easy to tell who’s who and which side they’re on.
With the National Rifle Association under new leadership, the organization has already been pushing gun owners to make sure they vote this fall. NRA endorsed Trump at the annual convention last month in Dallas. Two of the “reform” slate candidates are now in top leadership positions, and the consensus is that the association is working toward regaining momentum.
Meanwhile, Democrats are already declaring that if Trump wins in November, he will “block bipartisan common sense gun safety measures.” They’re saying he will restore policies that will enable criminals to get guns (like they already can’t do that). Makes me wonder if they ever get tired of the script.
Big ‘Oops!’
Two guys in Auburn, Washington realized about five seconds too late they had picked the wrong target for an armed robbery late last month.
Their intended victim — for whatever reason, parked in the lot of a Walmart at about 3 a.m. one morning — was a 53-year-old woman. The perps were 19 and 22. At least one of them had a gun. As they approached the parked vehicle, they reportedly demanded the woman’s possessions.
Well, they got a couple, alright. She drew a pistol and capped off some rounds, causing one of the thugs to open fire and the woman was hit, but the wound was not life-threatening. Insider Online spoke to the Auburn Police Department about this incident. The spokesman said the two suspects were tracked down with a drone and a K-9 unit, and they were hauled to jail.
Auburn is in King County and is a suburb of Seattle. King County has the largest number of active concealed pistol licenses of any county in the state. At last count, there were more than 113,000 CPLs in circulation.
In Washington, opening fire on people who clearly intend to do you harm is allowed under state statute, provided it happens “(1) In the lawful defense of the slayer, or his or her husband, wife, parent, child, brother, or sister, or of any other person in his or her presence or company, when there is reasonable ground to apprehend a design on the part of the person slain to commit a felony or to do some great personal injury to the slayer or to any such person, and there is imminent danger of such design being accomplished; or
“(2) In the actual resistance of an attempt to commit a felony upon the slayer, in his or her presence, or upon or in a dwelling, or other place of abode, in which he or she is.”
A separate Washington State statute allows the use of force “Whenever used by a party about to be injured, or by another lawfully aiding him or her, in preventing or attempting to prevent an offense against his or her person, or a malicious trespass, or other malicious interference with real or personal property lawfully in his or her possession, in case the force is not more than is necessary.”
