JAB

  My thought, exactly.  I tend to view 'home invasion' robberies as being entirely different than a burglar who breaks into someone's home when the residents are away.  A home invader would be breaking in knowing full well that the residents are home.  Therefore, my line of thinking is that such an invader is prepared to 'deal' with the residents - i.e. inflict serious, bodily harm or death - if the invader meets with any sign of resistance.   I do think that, perhaps, the region in which one lives could make a difference in response.  In New York or New Jersey, meeting a homeowner armed with a firearm might not be as likely.  In East Tennessee, however, for someone to be 'anti-gun' often really means they don't like handguns and only believe in owning one shotgun with which to defend their home.  Any home invader who knows anything about this area has to assume that the home owner will be armed.  That being the case, were I to be the victim of a home invasion, it would be my assumption that the invader knows I am likely to be armed, has chosen to invade my home anyway and is prepared and equipped to meet my threat of armed defense with deadly force.  Therefore, I would have no desire to give him a 'heads up' and a chance to shoot me, first.    For that matter, such home invaders might even be prepared to take preemptive measures.  There was a case in South Knoxville a couple of years back where two individuals intended to invade the home of a sixty-something year old cancer patient (probably looking for his pain drugs.)  The gentleman was in another room when the invaders knocked on the door.  As the gentleman's son approached the door, the invaders shot through the door and killed him and killed the gentleman's fiance who was sitting in a recliner.  The gentleman returned fire with a handgun, killing one of the would-be invaders and wounding the other.   The Knoxville News-Sentinel is doing some 'new' things with their online material (requiring a paid log-in to view some things) so I am not sure if this link about that story will work or not:   http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/jul/25/three-shot-killed-in-apparent-home-invasion/?comments_id=1410870   I know that isn't exactly the same thing but my point is that shouting out a warning, to my thinking, only constitutes:   1. Giving up any element of surprise you might have had, 2. letting the invader know that you are armed - meaning he probably wants to go ahead and take you out now and 3. helpfully assisting the invader in pinpointing your location so he has a better chance of shooting you, first.   I absolutely, positively do not want to shoot anyone, ever, period.  That said, I have an infinitely greater desire to never be shot, myself.  In some, other instances I might issue a warning, first.  Heck, if someone were creeping around my (fenced in) yard at night I would certainly yell for them to go away (I live in a rural area where 'cutting through' yards does not happen.).  Once they are in the act of entering my home while I am there, however, to my thinking they intend to seriously harm or kill me and, at that point, I am protecting my life, not just property.

I picked up a box of Remington 33 grain Accutip-V at the Turkey Creek Walmart last Saturday but forgot to post about it until now.  There were five or six boxes and I just took one and left the rest.  The price was $18.xx but this stuff was pretty expensive compared to other WMR ammo even before the shortage.  I have some WMR ammo at home but only had three or four rounds of this, particular type left and it is the most accurate from my Marlin 925M so I like to keep a box of it around.   They had quite a bit of ammo although it was still mostly rifle ammo.  I started to pick up a box or two of Tula 7.62X39 (the price was pretty much the same as 'pre-scare', $5.xx per box) but decided to wait on that.   I was in Madisonville on Sunday and decided to check that Walmart.  No .22LR or WMR but they had even more .380 and .45acp than they had the last time I was in there.  I also saw (for the first time in a while) .38 Special and .357 ammo on the shelf.   I think at this point the 'shortage' could go either way towards the end of the year.  On one hand, we might see folks who panic bought selling off guns to get Christmas money (possibly resulting in less ammo being bought.)  For that matter, some of the profiteers might be spending their free capital on the latest Tickle Me Furby or whatever for the kiddies, forcing them to take a hiatus from clearing out store shelves.   On the other hand, firearms and related things might end up being very popular Christmas gifts this year which could reverse the very slight easing in pressure on ammo supplies that we are just starting to see.  Either way, I still expect it to be next Spring/Summer before things are really back to normal - and only then as long as some nutjob doesn't shoot up another school or perpetrate a massacre in a large mall full of Christmas shoppers (for some reason, I have a sense of dread in my gut that the latter will happen.)  Let us hope that neither happen, both for the obvious reasons of avoiding another tragedy and out of a desire to see gun/ammo supplies normalize.

  I am not just talking about 'a couple of Black teenagers'.  I am talking about inequality in the law.  The inequality comes when 'hate crime' laws are obviously intended to only be applied when the victim of a crime is a minority and the perpetrator is White or the victim is gay and the perpetrator straight.  Can you name one, single case where 'hate crime' laws have been applied to Black on White crime - even when race was clearly a factor?    Further, when two Black teens jump an older, White man I am not buying that race wasn't a factor and that they could just as easily have jumped an older, Black man.  To me, that line of thinking basically insists on denying the very idea that Blacks could commit crimes with racist 'hate' as a motive and perpetuates the idea that only Whites can commit racist acts.  Besides, they didn't beat this elderly gentleman to death because they just liked him so, darned much.  Lacking any other, apparent motive, then - if stupid 'hate crimes' laws are to remain on the books - prosecutors should at least consider applying them to cases such as this.  To do otherwise results in inequality, meaning that if Sharpton and Jackson and all the other 'Rainbow Coalition' folks are truly interested in equality rather than just playing the race card when it suits them then they would be marching and protesting in these instances, too.  The fact that they aren't tells me that they have no, real interest in equality.

  So, if you were around in the 1960s and were asked as a white person to condemn 'Jim Crow' laws then you think that would be racist?    See, it isn't so much about individual crimes as it is about how the justice system - and, to a lesser extent - the media and even society treats such crimes.  As I said in another post, the FACT that black on white crimes are treated differently (never prosecuted under 'hate crime' laws, etc.) is no different than when things tended the other direction.  It was right for all people to recognize, point out and protest the inequalities, then and it is right to do so, now.

  In the past, I have actually discussed my views on just this sort of thing with Black friends and acquaintances of mine.  Keep in mind that this was while the Shrub was still in office, before Obama became POTUS and long before the nation had ever heard of a guy named George Zimmerman, etc.  I saw just such a thing coming even then.   What we discussed is the fact that I have more in common with the average Black man who goes to work on a daily basis and is just trying to live his life than either of us have in common with the George Bushes (and Barack Obamas) of the world.  Further, I believe that there are people 'in power' of all races, creeds and ethnicities who want to keep racial strife going because they know that if we ever stop hating each other long enough to look around we will realize that if there is 'oppression' going on it isn't the average White person oppressing Black people but, rather, that group of power brokers oppressing us all.  As long as they (the Obamas and Bushes and Cheneys and Gores and countless others whose names we will likely never know) can keep us at each others' throats - as long as they can use tools like Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to perpetuate distrust, anger and hatred - then we won't have time to turn our eyes to them and maybe, just maybe, do something about the real problem.

  To me, the double standard that exists re: White on Black crime vs. Black on White crime is no different from the double standard that used to say that Black folks had to sit at the back of the bus or drink from a different water fountain.  Black folks were right to point out and protest that double standard and it is just as 'right' to point out and protest the double standard that has now swung in the other direction.  To think otherwise or act as if race doesn't matter in such cases, to me, is basically sticking one's head in the sand and hoping that things won't get worse.

  While one issue was political and the other was about $$$, I don't see the issues as being all that different.  In fact, I think that Metallica was far more hypocritical and betrayed their fans far worse than did the Dixie Chicks.   I say that because Metallica got where they are (well, were - before they were washed up) BECAUSE of bootlegs of their music.  Early in their careers, Metallica encouraged people to record audio and even video of their concerts and share it with their friends.  They actually had special areas set aside for people who wanted to record to be able to get better recordings (heck, that had become such a tradition for the band that they were still doing that as late as the Black album tour when I saw them play although by then there was some kind of contest or lottery or something to decide who got into that area.)  Those bootleg recordings being shared over and over were, apparently, a large part of them becoming known, popular and successful so for them to then turn on their fans and participate in court cases to stop bootlegging was the height of hypocrisy.  Further, their claims that it wasn't so much about their royalties as it was about standing up for lesser-known bands rang hollow and smelled like something a bull leaves in a pasture.   Had it been any other band fighting against Napster, it likely wouldn't have bothered me.  However, a band that made its name (and, ultimately, a lot of $$$) largely by freely allowing and encouraging bootlegging to take the lead in that fight was, to me, pretty much unforgivable.  Luckily, their music started going downhill after "...and Justice" and has pretty much sucked since "Load" so those of us who have trouble forgiving their hypocrisy aren't missing much.  Heck, maybe there is even a correlation - an indication that around that time they stopped being musicians and started being corporate puppets.   I have to admit that I still listen to their older music, sometimes (Ride the Lightning was their best overall album, IMO.)  Hard to stop when they were once one of my two, favorite bands (them and Iron Maiden.)

  Well, Romney backed and signed into law a pretty sweeping gun control bill as governor of Massachusetts.    The Lord High God of Republicanism, Ronald Reagan, supported and signed gun control laws as governor of California (which, in turn, likely started a lot of the Kommiefornia gun control crap that has since spread like a cancer to the rest of the nation.)   Later in life, Reagan also supported the Brady BIll:   http://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/29/opinion/why-i-m-for-the-brady-bill.html   Certainly the most vocal, rabid anti-gunners currently in positions of power are generally Democrats but I wonder if that doesn't have more to do with the fact that areas of the country where anti-gun sentiments run highest tend to elect not only Democrats but extremely left-leaning Democrats.  I also think that many politicians on both sides of the aisle have learned a lesson about what can happen to their chances of re-election if they support gun control.   My point is that I don't think we can assume that either party is 'on our side' beyond using the issue to try and drum up support for their next re-election bid.

  No, I must admit that I haven't.  Of course, as I mentioned earlier, dark meat isn't real popular among those I feed so I usually just cut to the chase and do breasts.  Or wings.  Now, you want to talk about some good eatin', mix some dried, ground habanero with a can of that Jumex (Mexican brand) mango nectar, a little lime juice, (and just a little orange juice, if you so desire) a little salt, black pepper, a pinch of onion powder, a dash of rooster sh*t sauce (Worchestershire sauce) and maybe a little ginger then cook that down until it makes a glaze.  Grill some bone-in chicken wings and, when they are nearly done, brush with the glaze and allow it to caramelize a little.  Dang good.  Just be careful not to get any on your forehead because your tongue will slap your brains out trying to get to it.   Oh, that also made me think of a pretty good glaze for pork chops.  Combine orange juice, ginger and soy sauce in a sauce pan and reduce to about 1/2 to 1/4 - again, until it makes a glaze.  Grill pork chops and brush that on a few minutes before they come off the grill.  Yum!

Pink Floyd is one of those bands where I never really understand why anyone would 'remake' one of their songs.  Pretty much everything they did was perfect (within their style/realm of music) to begin with and any remake, no matter how 'good', will fall far short.   I also have little use for the bubblegum pop with steel guitar, parody of real country music crap that passes for most mainstream contemporary 'country music'.

So, how long has it been since there was an increase in the tax on being a jackass politician?  I am thinking that is where we need to set our priorities.   More and more I understand the ammo hoarders.  Not the folks buying to resell but those who have multiple pallet loads of ammo.  I have a small - very small - 'stash', I guess, but I am not a hoarder.  If I had the cash to invest, however, I just might be.  Not even so much because of an expected TEOTWAWKI event or some, other SHTF scenario but just so I would know that I would always have ammo to shoot my guns if some Arschloch of a politician ever manages to pass one of these back-door gun control 'limit the ammo they can buy/afford' bills.

One day, I was out shooting with an older (now deceased) friend of mine (actually, my now soon-to-be ex-wife's grandfather.) He had a new to him Ruger P95DC that he hadn't shot, yet. Well, we took turns shooting it and he said, "Do you like it?" I answered, "Well, the first time I shot it I wasn't crazy about it but after shooting it a few times, yeah, I like it." He then said, "Well, I don't like it, much. Why don't you just keep it?" That was how I got my first 'service level' semiauto pistol (the only other semi-auto I had owned to that point was a Titan .25.) Over time, I came to realize just how darned reliable the thing was and came to like it even more. Well, for a while after I got my HCP I carried a Kel Tec P11. It was a perfectly decent little gun and I shot it okay but that was about it. One day I realized that - because the only way I could carry the P11 was OWB - I could carry the P95 just as easily. I shoot the P95 much better than the P11. However, I didn't want to carry the P95 because of it having been a gift and having sentimental value. Solution? I traded my P11 even for a (barely) used, newer model P95 that was in the case at the LGS. The new one has a rail and a safety/decocker instead of just a straight decocker (I prefer the straight decocker on my DC model but can live with the safety decocker - I just use it to decock then switch the safety off.) My understanding is that the DC (decocker only) model is no longer made. I am not sure if it was ever made with a rail. Lately, I have mostly been pocket carrying my 642 but I am sure the P95 will see more carry when cooler weather gets here (making it easier to wear a cover garment.) So, anyhow, that is how I ended up with: As far as your 'slick grip' issue, I have since put a Hogue Handall on the one I carry and have no problems. When I got it, someone had already put grip tape on the front and rear of the grip and that worked fine - I just prefer the feel of the finger grooves on the Handall. They are also quite easy to do a basic field strip for cleaning. One thing, though, be sure to check the manual when re-assembling. There is a part (I can't remember specifically which part) in the frame that has to be manually pushed into a downward position before the slide will go back on.

  I hear you on the cheap beer.  I am with you in that it doesn't seem to make much difference when adding it to a marinade or using for other cooking purposes.  In fact, the 'good stuff' can sometimes have too strong a flavor for that use - especially the darker beers and hefe weizens (which I like.)  I imagine using a blend of that and apple juice gives you a good flavor and moistness.  I haven't tried beer can chicken (yet) but I'd bet it is good.   I like Match Light charcoal for grilling simply because of the convenience factor (not sure I ever used it in a smoking application) but I do find that I have to let it burn for quite a while to get rid of that lighter fluid taste.  Of course, even when using regular charcoal and lighter fluid it has to burn long enough for the lighter fluid flavor to go away.  I think the Match Light takes longer to lose that flavor, though, because the briquettes are impregnated with the lighter fluid.  I can imagine it wouldn't work well for an application where you are slow smoking - especially if you are adding 'fresh' charcoal in as you go along.   I never really soak the wood for use in my offset smoker.  Once I get a good coal bed, I am generally able to keep things to a smolder just by setting the vents were I want them.  I can see that the type of wood used wouldn't make much difference using charcoal+wood in your setup.  It does make a difference in an offset, especially if you like a very pronounced smoke flavor like I do.   I am sure you have heard of 'lump' charcoal.  Basically, my understanding is that charcoal is made by piling a bunch of wood into a kiln, closing it up tight and letting it smoulder for a certain amount of time.  When it is done, you will have big pieces of 'charred' wood that can be broken up into lump charcoal.  For briquettes, the lump charcoal is ground up and pressed into pieces of uniform size/shape.  Well, one of the fringe benefits to having a smoker - at least with mine - is that if I still have wood in the firebox when I am done smoking then I can close all the vents down and let the wood smolder.  Once the fire goes out on its own, I will have a varying amount of lump charcoal in the ashes of the fire box.  That lump charcoal gets added to commercial briquettes whenever I fire up my charcoal grill.  It burns a lot faster than commercial briquettes but adds a noticable, smoky note to grilled steaks, chicken or so on.

  I would just caution that you probably want to look for 'white' cranberry juice.  I was concerned that regular 'red' cranberry juice might do funky things to the color of the meat.

  My favorites tend to be fruit or 'sweet' woods.  Honestly, though, I generally don't buy wood for smoking and use whatever hardwood I can get access to, either some from trees that friends have had to cut or by harvesting a little, myself, from the woods at home.  Right now, I mostly have access to pecan along with a little peach and apple and maybe some red oak and a very small amount of maple and hickory.   I generally prefer using a blend of two or three different woods but if I smoke over just one type of wood hickory is not my favorite - not that it is bad, I just like others better.  Truthfully, my favorite is cherry.  Straight cherry wood does well with pork and chicken.  I like oak (preferably red oak) for beef but use an equal blend of oak and cherry (with maybe a little pecan thrown in) and it goes to a whole, 'nother level.  Maple may well be my second favorite, behind cherry, for pork and chicken usage if I were using just one type.   I have also kind of gotten into the idea of a 'finishing smoke', lately.  By that, I mean I will do the majority of the smoke time either over one, main type or a blend of different types then, for the last hour or two, toss in a whole, 'nother type of wood to 'layer' the smoke flavor a little.   Black walnut works as an 'additional' wood in small amounts but I find that it can quickly get overpowering if I use too much.  As and experiment, once, I collected up the empty shells (not the green outer hull just the shells) where we had cracked some black walnuts and added them to the firebox.  I think they worked just about as well as black walnut wood for adding another flavor note.   One of the more unusual things I did, once, was when I was smoking a 'jerk' style pork roast.  I mostly smoked that one over maple then, toward the end of cooking time, threw some small pieces of sassafras into the firebox.  Now, I don't know that I would recommend sassafras for the entire smoke nor would I necessarily recommend it for everything but for a jerk pork roast it added a really nice flavor note.   I have also smoked and dried jalapenos (and other peppers) from my garden, in the past (won't have enough this year.)  Before making my homemade chipotles, I read up on them a little.  I suspected that the 'traditional' wood for making them was likely mesquite (which I can pretty much only get by buying bags of chunks at the store.)  I was surprised to find out that pecan wood is just as 'traditional' as mesquite for smoking them - so I use pecan whenever I am smoking peppers to dry.   As far as the alder, I haven't worked with that one, much.  In fact, the only time I remember doing so was with a bag of chips I bought at Walmart to add to the charcoal grill way back before I even got that upright Brinkmann (Wally used to have a HUGE variety of wood sold for grilling and smoking - not so much, anymore.)  I found it worked well for chicken breasts - especially if I were going for a 'lightly smoked' chicken to be used as an ingredient in another dish.    As far as smoking fish, on the recommendation of a guy who owned a little barbecue joint that I loved (it is now out of business), I once used cherry to smoke some trout.  Well, being that cherry was already my favorite, it didn't take much to talk me into it.  I put some onion, fresh dill and lemon slices in the cavity, brushed with a little olive oil and used one of those 'fish cooker' basket type things that are made for that.  It was really, really good.

  Could be.  Things certainly won't change until non-minorities start protesting these laws and the manner in which they are applied.  Sad thing is that if a bunch of straight, white guys and gals were to form a peaceful protest of 'hate crime' laws and the fact that they are applied inequitably - no matter how much factual evidence or how many examples of legal cases we cited - we'd likely be labeled as whack jobs, racists and domestic terrorists.  Add in that so many non-minorities feel that they don't have the right to say anything due to their feelings of 'white guilt' and, unfortunately, your assessment is most likely right on.

  Well, as far as 'wood fired', I know it is called a 'charcoal' smoker but when I used one I generally only used charcoal to start the fire/build a coal bed.  After getting it going, I would use small (soaked) chunks/pieces of wood to do most of the actual cooking/smoking.  That is part of the reason it was a bit 'labor intensive', I guess, but the results were really good - not that a good charcoal with some wood chips couldn't also give excellent results.  I'll bet there are no complaints about the turkeys you cook.  IMO, smoking the turkey is a lot safer and tastes better than deep frying it.  I generally only do a turkey breast, when I smoke turkey, because no one that I feed really likes dark meat.  A good sized turkey breast is still a nice chunk o' meat, though, and takes some time.  One of the best I have done was one that I brined overnight in a mixture that contained, along with the usual brining ingredients, some white cranberry juice.   One other thing - do you use the second, metal 'bowl' in yours - the one that sits above the fire bowl that you are supposed to put water in to help create steam and keep the meat from getting dry?  Well, I found that adding other things (like apple juice) to the water in that 'bowl' could have a subtle but noticeable, positive impact on flavor depending on what kind of meat you are cooking.   The only time I had an 'epic fail' when I was using one of those was once when I decided to try cooking a duck on it.  Now, keep in mind that I had never cooked duck, before (or since.)  I made sort of a 'rack' out of an uncoated, wire clothes hanger so I could sit it on the grill with the cavity opening pointing down towards the heat.  I also decided, for whatever reason, to forgo using that second bowl - I think because I didn't want the heat baffling effects so the bird would cook faster.  Well, I didn't realize just how fatty a duck is.  The fat in that thing started rendering and dripping down into the fire and, before I knew it, I had a friggin' bonfire going.  Pretty well charred the skin on the duck before I could get things under control.  The meat was still 'edible' but too dried out - plus it tasted a little like I had cooked it over flame fueled with motor oil because of the burning fat.

  I don't know that it would make much difference in sentencing.  I also agree that the idea of 'hate crimes' is a bit ridiculous - 'hate crime' laws should be struck from the books.  That said, if 'hate crime' laws are going to remain on the books, I would at least like to see the powers that be admit that it is possible for a white person to be the victim of a hate crime simply because they are white (not because they are gay or some, other reason.)  I would also like to see an admission that it is possible for a non-white person to commit a 'hate crime'.  If these ridiculous laws are going to remain on the books then at the very least I would like to see the double standard that is applied to them go away.

I rarely shoot my Marlin/Glenfield Model 60 or my Winchester 190 after getting a Henry H001.  It is great fun to shoot and, IMO, gives just about the perfect rate of fire.  By that, I mean you aren't tempted to burn through rounds like with a semiauto (although with practice you can get pretty quick) but it isn't slow and tedious like a single shot can sometimes be.   Pump action .22 rifles are also a hoot to shoot.  I think they are sometimes called 'gallery guns'.  I have a Rossi pump in .22WMR and my mom has an old Remington and a Norinco, both in .22LR.  I'm not sure who is still making them 'new' but I think new ones run a pretty penny.  Collectible old ones aren't exactly cheap, either but you might find a 'non collectible' used one at a reasonable price.   As far as single shots go, my nephew has an old Sears (probably made by Ithaca) falling block that really is a lot of fun.  I don't know of anyone making a rifle of that style, currently, and have no idea what the existing ones go for.

Was in the Lenoir City location of Walmart last night.  They still didn't have much in the way of handgun ammo - just some .40S&W and .45acp in one brand or another (I don't own either so didn't look too closely.)  Still no .22LR or WMR.  The bit of good news, though, was that there were at least two, different brands/types of 30-06 on the shelf as well as one or two types/brands of .308 along with the 7mm Mag, 300 Win Mag, etc. that never got scarce.  I don't have a .308 but I do have a 30-06 and haven't noticed any ammo for it on Wally shelves in quite some time.  I was a little surprised that there was still no 30-30.  There was also some .223 of some type (also don't have a .223 so didn't pay a whole lot of attention.)  Shotgun ammo supplies looked pretty much 'normal' - maybe even a bit more than normal for some types.   I didn't need any of what they had so I left it all there.

Gander Mountain has a more or less weekly insert in the Knoxville News Sentinel.  I am guessing that is the case with other, local papers as well.  The interesting thing about this week's insert is that on the front page there is an ad for CCI Standard Velocity, 40 grain .22LR ammo.   Now, before we get too excited I will point out that this is just basic .22LR ammo with unplated lead bullets and the price listed is $4.99 for a 50 round box.  I don't think I'll be knocking down the doors to buy at that price.  They also list several, other ammo brands and types in the flier.   I don't think that any of the ammo listed is on 'sale' but still, this is the first time I have seen .22LR ammo listed in one of their fliers in months.  In fact, for a long time I didn't see any guns or ammo in the fliers - despite the fact that before the current 'shortage' they would have at least some guns/ammo in there every week regardless of the time of year.  If they think that inventory supplies are readily available enough to warrant listing it in the flier then I have to wonder if they, at least, aren't seeing a little easing of the 'shortage'.   Further, this week's flier is, by my memory, the first time in months they have listed handguns at a 'sale' price (for instance, $30 off on the Taurus TCP .380 for a 'sale' price of $199.99 as well as other handguns and long guns listed at 'sale' prices.)  In fact, I don't remember seeing many handguns in their fliers lately, at all.  I guess they figured, "Why put them on sale or use up ad space when we are selling them hand over fist at regular prices without advertising?"  I take this as another, possible sign that things are letting up.   Of course, some folks are starting to gear up for hunting season and that could partly explain the features/sales on long guns but really doesn't account for sales on non-hunting type handguns.  Here's hoping this is a good sign for the near future of the gun/ammo market in general!

I also read that Manning wants to live as a woman named Chelsea.  Yeah, well, I want to live as a billionaire named 'Biggus Dickus' but that ain't likely to happen, now is it.

My first experiences with smoking meat were with one of these:   http://www.walmart.com/ip/Brinkmann-Smoke-N-Grill-Charcoal-Smoker/876295   You can actually get some pretty good results but I will warn that true smoking with one of these is pretty labor intensive.  You really have to keep an eye on it to keep the fire/smoke going but not allow it to get too hot.  That means choose a day when you can sit around the smoker with a beer and maybe some buddies, not a day when you have a lot of other stuff you want to do.  Also, even with pretty tight management these still generally cook the meat a lot faster than an offset smoker, meaning you still can't go quite as 'low and slow'.  Still, when it is what I had I loved it and got some really good barbecue off of it.  Hard to beat for under $50.   The smoker I have now is nothing special.  It is just a Brinkmann like this one:   http://www.productwiki.com/upload/images/brinkmann_805_2101_s_pitmaster_deluxe_smoke_n_pit.jpg   I think they generally run a little under $200 at Walmart.  My ex-wife got mine as a Christmas present for me one year.  Because it was the 'off season' I think she got it on clearance for somewhere around $100.  I have had to make a minor mod or two (such as using an old cast iron skillet for a baffle in front of the opening between the firebox and cooking area) to improve it.  At first, I would put a lot of effort into smoking on it, too.  Now, once I get a good coal bed established I can literally load the firebox up, set the firebox vent and the exhaust vent to exactly the right amount of opening then go to bed and it will still be smoking - and just be time to add more wood - when I get up the next morning (although I still often get up and check on it after about four hours or so.)  It is just a matter of getting to know your individual smoker, much like getting to know your individual firearm.  Makes those 16-18 hour smokes I use for larger cuts like pork arm shoulder roasts or huge pork butts a whole lot easier (I once smoked a green ham and, IIRC, I let it go for 24 hours before it was 'right'.)   BTW, I like pork butt better than shoulder but the shoulder is still pretty good - and often a lot cheaper, especially if you catch it on sale.   Oh, and Erik88, if you like sweets (especially pineapple upside down cake) try this on your gas grill, sometime.  I came up with it when some friends and I rented a cabin in the smokies and it was a big hit:   Slice a store-bought pound cake into roughly 1 inch thick pieces and brush both sides with a little melted butter and set aside.  Now you need one slice of pineapple for each slice of pound cake (I love fresh pineapple on the grill but for this I think the canned is actually better.)  If using canned pineapple, reserve the juice in the can.   Place the pieces of pound cake and pineapple slices on a warm grill.  Keep the heat low to medium - you don't want to burn anything.  Allow the pound cake slices to warm and ever so slightly toast on both sides (careful that they don't stick) then remove them.  Allow the pineapple slices to get some nice grill marks and a little carmelization on both sides then remove them from the grill, as well.   Finally, in a saucepan - either on the stove or on the 'hot plate' burner of your gas grill, if it has one, combine the pineapple juice with enough brown sugar (and water, if needed to make a sufficient amount) to make enough syrup to have a good amount for each slice of pound cake (sorry I don't have exact measurements - I made this up and don't normally measure stuff for things like this, I just 'eyeball' them.)  Now, on individual plates, stack a pineapple slice on top of each cake slice.  Now, place a maraschino cherry in the center of each pineapple slice (you can actually skewer and grill the cherries along with the pineapple and cake, if you want.)  Now drizzle some of the syrup over each of the cake/pineapple/cherry combinations.  Add a little whipped cream or a small spoon of vanilla ice cream to each plate, if desired.  Enjoy!  Delicious and looks impressive on a place - even though it is ridiculously easy.

  Yeah, cause if anybody's gonna be whoopin' hippies I want it to be me!  Why should my gun get to have all the fun?  (Just kidding.  No, really - kidding.)   I think I have bought a beverage at Starbucks once in my entire life and that wasn't even in one of their actual stores - it was at a Target that had a Starbucks in it.  I have bought their bottled, 'iced' coffee on occasion - but still probably not more than five times, total.  Still, I might have to try and make it into a Starubucks this Saturday.  I realize that their policy is more a refusal to take a side than anything else but, honestly, in this case I think it is a matter of, "If they ain't agin us then that's about as good as bein' fer us."   Oh, and lately I have been thinking, "What is the difference between a real hippie and a wanna-be hippie?"  Well, I figure a real hippie kind of wanders around the country, maybe in an old van or similar conveyence, smoking weed and trying to do their 'thing' without becoming too much a part of the 'rat race'.  Meanwhile, wanna-be hippies also smoke a little weed but then put on their $200 wannabe-hippie sandals, their $100 'environmentally friendly' jeans and $50 'socially conscious' t-shirt then load their laptops and tablets, along with their similarly dressed kids, their laptops and their tablets into the new Volvo they just bought to take a trip to Starbucks so they can pay $8.00 apiece for something to drink while trying to make themselves feel better about all the excess and more 'righteous' than the rest of us by using their laptop and/or tablet to post to their blog and preach about how the rest of us need to be more environmentally and socially conscious and, of course, get rid of the guns, man.   I have little use for the former and absolutely none for the latter.

  Me.  in a heartbeat.  Well, that is if for some reason I had a Glock in the first place.  But then, I like wheelguns better than semiautos and am not a fan of Glocks, at all.  Nothing to do with the quality, etc. I just don't like them.   Congrats to the OP, however, on getting a gun you wanted and that you like better - not to mention one of your 'Holy Grail' guns..  If we all liked the same things then 'LGS' would stand for 'Local Glock Store' instead of 'Local Gun Store.'