Tuesday, March 29, 2011

So, the 1911 has a Birthday...

(of sorts), and some folks want to trot out their examples and well wishings. Never one to miss a gathering, I humbly submit my small family of 1911s...



Clockwise from top left is a Smith & Wesson PD, a Sig Sauer Blackwater, a Colt Defender and finally, a Kimber Pro Raptor II. All in .45 ACP and all similar in their 1911ishness.

Notably missing is an early 1940 era Colt that I am still searching for. That, is my project for this year... find a WW II Colt 45... lots a luck cowboy. ;)

I do note that my birthday is in a couple of days, perhaps the planets will align causing it to rain vintage 1911 pistols in Alabama. ;)

Happy 100th birthday 1911...

Friday, March 11, 2011

Home... before it was home


















Article forwarded to me via e-mail, appreciate it Momma... Devil's Tower, WY in 1890... picture courtesy of the Denver Post & the Library of Congress and taken by John C.H. Grabill. It looks like it is taken from about 180 degrees away from the one in the header.

Edit... the header picture used to be of devil's tower... it is now of Bear Butte. Devil's Tower can be seen below...

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

An expanded answer to a question...

posed here... "Would you prefer a selection of guns in common calibers that shared ammo and parts? Or would you want a wide variety of weapons in as many calibers as possible so that you could take advantage of anything that might come your way?"

My original plan was to be able to use one caliber in a pistol / carbine combination and ultimately gravitated toward Beretta and 9 x 19mm. As of today, I own two Beretta pistols (both of them in 9 x 19mm) and a couple carbines (notably in .30 Carbine and 5.56 NATO, not 9 x 19mm).

As the collection has matured, I seem to have ended up with something that shoots just about anything. Having said that, it appears, from a recent purchase, that anything in .40 S&W will grab my attention. And, truthfully, I have migrated to the .40 S&W pretty much completely as my daily carry.

The aforementioned purchase? A heretofore unknown to me... a Sig Mauser M2... that I probably wouldn't have noticed except for the Mauser logo on the slide and much less bought except that it was in my current 'pet' caliber. All of that blather pretty much boils down to, I picked a fairly common caliber and now have a pile of different arms that will chamber it. So much for the original plan...

So, in a roundabout way, I started out with a desire to own a couple of guns in a common caliber and ended up with a selection that will shoot just about anything that shows up. Even though that be true, I still believe having two of something is better than having one of something... most times. ;)