I left Atlanta on Wednesday to attend a birthday dinner for Kim du Toit. Psst! Don't tell anyone. He's 50.
It's easy to get from Atlanta to Dallas. Get on I-20 going west and keep driving.
I went out to the AAA site and printed off a Triptic. It's not as good as the old ones. I'll have to see if they still have them for my next road trip. Having a better map would have been handy on the return trip.
I was also able to book my hotel at the AAA site. They even had a handicap room available. Cool! It was about 7 miles away from the du Toit's who actually live in Plano which is north of Dallas. I had been to Plano twice on business for TCIDNN (The Company I Dare Not Name), but that was over ten years ago.
On the first day I made it as far as Monroe Louisiana. I missed the turn for the motel that I wanted to stay at, but got a decent room on the west side of Monroe. The tap water was strange. After washing my hands, they felt oily. Eeewww!
Got up the next morning and continued my trip making it to Plano in about four hours. The whole trip took about 12 hours. At 830 miles I averaged just under 70 mph. I set my cruise control on 80 and cruised the whole trip.
Rested in my room for a while (even took a nap), changed clothes, and headed to the du Toit's house. As seems to be par for the course for me (must be old age), I missed a turn, but was able to make the next turn and somehow find their house.
Kim and his wife, Connie, were everything that I suspected. No surprises. They were just like their blogs.
One of the first things Kim said after I had been given a glass of wine was, "What company is TCIDNN?"
Everyone at Kim's birthday party now knows the answer. Everyone at the party who has read my blog had guessed other companies. No one had guessed the right one. I feel like Scott Adams. When he created Dilbert everyone thought he must work at their company. It just shows how screwed up American technology companies are. Unless sumpin' happens to change my mind, I will reveal the true name of TCIDNN the end of this year.
Airboss, who knew that I was looking to buy a gun, brought some of the guns he thought would be perfect for me. Kim showed me some of his. These were all concealed carry weapons except for Kim's open carry pistol. When I mentioned that I was interested in a home protection type of gun, Airboss said I should get a shotgun. Jim said that just the sound of cocking the shotgun would either make the intruder shit in his pants or leave the house and shit in his pants.
Whoa! What a great evening! Connie made a delicious meal of roast beef, mashed potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, peas, spinach, and a salad. She also made Kim's favorite cake which I am unable to properly describe. Maybe she might write about it on her site. I had some red wine (an Australian Shiraz and a Bordeaux) with the meal. It turns out Airboss is a fellow wino and we have similar tastes.
I sat between Kim and Jim. I discussed sailing with Jim and how much I hated Dimocrats with Kim.
Kim has a really good plan to solve the problem of the illegals crossing our southern border: Build a wall along the border creating a strip of no man's land between the wall and the Rio Grande. Put 25 lions in no man's land, and they have to be African lions, not the pussy mountain lions we have. When Jim pointed out that the lions only hunt when they're hungry and with the number of illegals crossing the border, the 25 lions would get full real fast, Kim upped the number to 50.
I told Kim my lion food joke about TCIDNN. He got a kick out of it. All right. I will relate it here.
It seems two lions escaped from a zoo. Two weeks later they met up. One lion was thin and looked like crap. The other was fat and well groomed. The thin lion said he had eaten a human and had been chased all over the city and was in constant hiding. The well fed lion said he had gone to TCIDNN's headquarters and had eaten a manager a day and no one seemed to notice.
Jim had brought some nice cigars and I smoked one of them after the meal with Port. Kim had cognac, but I decided since I was gonna drive the next day, I didn't want to get too hammered. And I didn't.
Kim and I also talked about how much we disliked the French. Kim thinks Paris is the most beautiful city in the world. It's too bad French people live there. I'm partial to Rome and Florence myself. Everytime I walk into St. Peters it takes my breath away. What amazes me about Rome is that you can come upon a church that looks like crap on the outside but inside it is spectacular. And it's easy to come upon a church in Rome. They're more prolific than Waffle Houses in the South. But I digress.
Serenity was there also, but I didn't talk to her much. She was rather quiet amidst all of us outspoken right wingers.
This is the fourth time I have gotten together with fellow bloggers.
The first time was last year when Pumpman invited Georgia bloggers to meet him in Dahlonega. That was the first Jawja Blogger Meetup. All of us at that meetup were conservatives.
Speaking of Pumpman, he was invited but he went to Costa Rica instead. To my great disappointment, Rachel Lucas was a no show also. I was really hoping to finally meet her. Maybe on my next trip to Dallas.
The next one was put together by Greg Greene who is a really nice guy considering he's a Dimocrat. That meetup was half liberal and half conservative. No fights broke out.
Then we had the second Jawja Blogger Meetup which was in Helen Georgia and was named Blogtoberfest. I wrote sumpin' about it here. We even allowed non-Georgia bloggers to attend.
So this was the fourth time I got together with bloggers. As Pumpman has pointed out, bloggers are loud, opinionated, and fun to hang out with. This party was no exception. I was a good boy and didn't get hammered. I left around midnight and returned to my hotel to try and get a good night's sleep for the return home. Unlike Blogtoberfest, I was able to sleep in my assigned bed.
I didn't know that I was supposed to attend a shooting session the next day and I had already planned to return to Atlanta. Hopefully, I will return to Dallas in the future and have a gun that I can use to go to the range with Kim.
Here is the gun that Airboss thinks I should buy.
Tomorrow I will relate my adventure returning to Atlanta.
Posted by denny at November 21, 2004 10:15 PM
you are aware of the denotative and conotative symbolism of guns, especially in relaation to psychodynamics, ae you not. can we say "repression"?
.
glad you had a good time, anyway.
Nice pistol I have one almost like it I think you will like it ,wish I had the speed loaders Ill take a quess and say 38 special
Posted by: Pharaoh on November 22, 2004 09:33 AMMatthew - Can you say Second Amendment?
Pharaoh - I believe that is the .357. He showed me so many neat guns I couldn't keep track.
Posted by: Denny Wilson on November 22, 2004 11:29 AMDenny -
I'll have to agree with Pharaoh and say that's likely a 38 spl. That looks like a S&W "J" Frame, which I dont think is available in 357 because its too small for the 357 firepower. I have a similar one in blue with a normal hammer and I absolutely love it. Generally, short barrel revolvers with fixed sights like that aren't known for their accuracy at medium range, but for self defense its what's close that counts. Notwithstanding, I've found my S&W 38 to be VERY accurate, and reliable to a fault.
I'm sure you don't wanna turn this into a gun blog, but for my 2 cents, I'd suggest the following for self/home defense:
1. A medium caliber revolver like this is wonderful. You can even get specialized ammo for defense purposes.
2. Shotguns are great too, especially if you have a short barrell which allows easier use in confined quarters. However, a shotgun is best fired standing or some variation thereof. With all due respect, you should give that serious thought. What I mean is, if you're in bed and a burglar comes in the house, wouldn't it be easier for you to grab your handgun from the nightstand than to get out of bed to use the shotgun? I've seen the pics of your crutches but I cant tell to what extent you're "crippled". If I'm offbase here, just ignore this, but I had a cousin who was in a wheelchair so we armed her with a revolver instead of a shotgun for this exact reason.
And the best advice you can get is found on Kim's blog. I'm a long time gun nut too (even ran a gun store for a few years back in the 80s) and still learn stuff from his site.
And I can't believe you'd drive I-20 without a gun. You're a brave man GOC!
Posted by: daniel on November 22, 2004 12:26 PMWelcome back.
Matthew: Be Hush When You Don't Know Of What You Speak.
I'd say be sure not to get the ported barrel. I'm reading of many problems with them "shaving" pieces off bullets. And for the home use, you don't want the extra noise and flash directed at you. Other than that, it's a good piece. I've got 2 S&Ws, a .357 and a .44 Mag, the .44 is incredibly smooth.
Want to come out to the range one day? I've got a Mossberg 590, the aforementioned S&Ws, and a "few" others you can try, see what you like.
Posted by: Addison (the other one) on November 22, 2004 01:45 PMDaniel - Airboss suggested that if I do get a shotgon have a gunsmith shorten the barrel to 18 1/4 inches. Nope it isn't a 38. I thought it was at first. My sister owns a 38 that looks just like it.
Addison (the other one) - According to Airboss the porting is done using a laser which doesn't mess with the rifling on the inside of the barrel and therefore doesn't do any shaving on the bullet.
I got a real good lesson on firearms 101. Now I gotta use what I learned and go up to Georgia Range and Guns and do some shooting.
Posted by: Denny Wilson on November 22, 2004 02:05 PMThis is a ported .357 S&W 640 the porting is a non-issue.many times in the past,when I ask someone when they bring up the "porting problems"do you have a ported gun?The answer has always been,well no,but my "Uncle Louie"said he knew a guy who had one and________ect."Or well I read it in a gun magizine.
No it doesn't blind you at night or in low light conditions-I have shot it at night and low light conditions.
If you are haveing shaveing issues or spitting problems your revolver is most likely out of time.If you had enough metal hanging down into the barrel to cause any problems like described above you would have pressure problems to the point of the gun being unsafe.
The prefered ammunition for this gun is 125gr .357 magnum @1350fps out of a 6" barrel,if you reduce the velocity by 50fps for every inch the barrel is reduced out of a 2"barrel you are still moveing the bullet at 1150fps,give up another 100fps for the porting,a fair trade in the recoil recovery and reduction of recoil that you get in exchange and you have a Hollow point moveing at 1050fps this will still blow the back out of a 1 gallon water jug at 7 yards
Re the shotgun,if it is in reach from the bed and has a short barrel it will work,if you can't reach the shotgun while you are in bed,fall back to plan B use the revolver to fight your way to the shotgun.Short barrel(longer than 18" and overall lenth longer than 26") pump action shot is the best home defence weapon around! 12 or 20 ga it doesnt make any difference load with #4buck in the 12 and #3 in the 20 and you have a easy to use simple effective home defense gun.
Both the revolver and the shot gun are just point and click.
Excellent mission de-brief, Denny.
I like the idea of the lions in the no mans land, but I've got a better idea. Build the wall on our side of the border. Build another wall about 35 feet inside of that one. Top each wall with concertina razor wire, and in the no mans land between the walls, plant a landmine every three inches.
Posted by: chip on November 22, 2004 04:52 PMDenny: No offense to Airboss, who is a master gunsel, but forget about any S & W newer than 25 years old. The quality isn't there anymore.
In a 5-shot .357 magnum, the best offering out there is the Ruger SP101.
If you do weaken and get that S & W, dump the fancy burlwood grips and get a rubber Hogue grip. This is going to be your carry piece, so you won't be showing it unless you plan to shoot someone, then you want it to count. The Hogue grips will make the first shots count.
Given your gimpy situation (which I am sharing now due to gout), I don't recommend a long gun for defense, as you might be using your hand(s) to steady yourself. Get a good handgun, and have a cross-chest holster rig made for it. Look up some old photos of old WW2 pilot's rigs to get the idea. You sure as hell won't want a hip holster if using your chair, and you will find a traditional shoulder rig makes pumping the chair awkward. That leaves only the front of your chest. I built one of these to use for my Ruger SP101 "Snuffy" while riding my mountain bike. I used an Uncle Mikes #0 holster, a web belt for around the neck, and an elastic military pants belt for around the chest. Very secure rig.
Posted by: Rivrdog on November 22, 2004 05:21 PMChip - No to the landmines. We don't want to injure the lions.
Posted by: Denny Wilson on November 22, 2004 06:00 PMRivrdog - What is my biggest concern is home defense. Airboss, Kim, Jim and many others much more knowledgable than I all agreed that a sawed off shotgun would be the best.
The next issue was concealed carry. I would mainly be looking for a gun to protect me in my car. Once again, I would defer to Airboss and Kim. On crutches I wouldn't stand a chance for any hand gun. My only defense then would be to beat the shit out of the guy with a crutch.
Posted by: Denny Wilson on November 22, 2004 10:16 PMAirboss:
http://www.defense-training.com/quips/23Sept04.html I'm just very leery of porting. If I was shooting a .44 or bigger gun for hunting, sure. For close in, home work? Just more to possibly cause a problem.
Inside the house, I'd use .38 special - less overpenetration. The new 130 gr loads built just for snubbies look very, very good. Your .357 loads are good, but any energy expended on the far side of the target is wasted. :)
I personally have the 590 ready in the bedroom, but if you didn't grow up on pumps (Like I did), I recommend semi-autos. Still a resounding noice going into battery, less chance of a short-stroke, or forgetting to pump the action (I've seen this several times with people new to pumps). (Saw a guy at a IDPA-type match completely brain fart on the 2nd shot with a pump, for example).
Denny: why would you be unable to fire with crutches? can't you drop one, lean on the other, and shoot?
Posted by: Addison (the other one) on November 22, 2004 10:57 PMRivr:
Give S&W another shot.
Their new Ti/Scandiums look incredibly lovely, and I've heard very very good things about their new customer support guys. I've seen the new Ti/Sc 29, and the .45 ACP revolver, and they were *very* smooth and slick. Timing, Trigger pull, all of it... I think they're back, and they're bad. But bad is good.
Posted by: Addison (the other one) on November 22, 2004 11:00 PMDenny: and, BTW, if you want to come out here, we've got a good outdoor range. Heck, Saturday there will be a IDPA match. $10 to enter, free to watch, and several NRA rated firearms instructors that are very good.
http://epixy.com/WGTS/
Good crew, lots of fun. I'll be out of town, drat it.
(BTW: http://epixy.com/WGTS/photos.html has photos of me. Just so you can tell me apart from addison)
Denny,
Notwithstanding some of the comments from these very knowledgeable gents, I'd recommend taking a look at the Taurus model 617 Titanium .357 Mag. I bought this for my wife a few years ago. Titanium with rubber grips weighs only 20 1/2 oz unloaded, 2 inch barrel, holds 7 rounds.
here's a picture:
http://www.alternatevoice.com/blog_archives/images/Taurus617Ti.jpg
It's not a "ladies" gun. It's a light .357 that a lady can handle. Packs a lot of kill power and you can use .38 special or .357 Mag rounds.
Personally I like .45 caliber and I formed that opinion from my Marine Corps days. I have a Glock 21 .45 ACP that I keep in the night stand. So if they get through the three very vocal hounds that sleep in the house, they'll have a real bad day if they make it all the way upstairs to the bedroom.
I really recommend a dog, even a small yappy one. Guns and Dogs just go together. Plus they're real babe magnets (the dogs that is)
:-)
Posted by: Jesse Brown on November 23, 2004 06:53 AM