BigK

Loved the look on Raylan's face when he was explaining to Art how he ran into Nix in the elevator, but didn't recognize him because he hadn't bothered to look at the photo. That was good.

I've yet to hear a shooter who also reloads say it's not worth it or that they don't enjoy it. I'm sure someone out there feels like that, but I haven't met 'em yet. I've even had company over who saw me reloading and asked to try it. Most think it's fun and gratifying. They all get the dime tour of how the equipment works and the gotchas. Some ask more questions and end up getting the dollar tour and still want to learn more. There's just a mystique about reloading that intrigues veterans and newbies alike. In fact, 2 people who wanted to try and enjoyed it have never shot a gun. They want to REAL bad now. I promised to oblige.

Love the quotes Mykltn! Here's a few more that prove it's not just an American phenomenon: The people of the various provinces are strictly forbidden to have in their possession any swords, short swords, bows, spears, firearms, or other types of arms. The possession of unnecessary implements makes difficult the collection of taxes and dues and tends to foment uprisings. -Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Shogun 1588 "Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest." - Mahatma Gandhi Germans who wish to use firearms should join the SS or the SA - ordinary citizens don't need guns, as their having guns doesn't serve the State. -Heinrich Himmler But 2 words say it best: Molon Labe - King Leonidas to Xerxes 480 BC

I don't believe newspaper readership is dying off due to bias, but I have heard several people outside Walmart tell the Tennessean solicitors they "wouldn't read that rag, if it were free". I know that's only anecdotal evidence, but I'd bet others have heard it said as well. Industry statistics are kind of elusive. I can't find any decent stats other than for individual newpapers. Regardless, most I've seen are reporting that online readership isn't growing as fast as print readership is declining. More importantly, the collective readership is declining rapidly vs population growth. I'd take that to mean a) people nowadays are lazy and get news elsewhere and w/ over half the subscribers being over 50 yrs of age, that spells doom unless something changes. That might mean good night sweet prints.

I have to agree with you here, but only in the strictest sense. The state should never have been allowed to trample on anyone's private property rights, unless they create a nuisance or hazard to others. Unfortunately, they've already tumbled nearly to the bottom of this slippery slope with policies like imminent domain. This creates one of those all too familiar conditions where a precedence to tell us what we can/cannot do has already been established and abused. I wouldn't want to further abuse those precedents, even though I don't "totally" agree that a law giving me the right to keep a firearm in my vehicle while at work is a such an egregious violation of my employer's private property rights. My vehicle is my private property too, however, I see that their property rights should probably trump mine in this case.

Mine says no weapons on company property, but we lease our space and share the parking lot w/ other businesses. Hmmm?

Ha! I like that! Is that like a 'going out in a blaze of glory' list?

I believe the recent Supreme Court rulings on 2A have concreted that meaning for the most part. Dialogue is always welcome, however, given both sides of the argument are heard. I'm really proud of the SCOTUS for it's rulings, which fly in the face of the current administration's wishes and take the opposite side that the mainstream media seems to have. I've got to hand it you personally, Brian, for your professionalism and demeanor. Some of us (especially me) have been pretty critical and pessimistic in this thread about your motives on this subject. I hope you understand it's not personal. It's just that this is a very dear subject to us and we are very protective of it. You've been more fair than any other member of the media on this subject and I do honestly appreciate that. It's just hard to see the hatchet job most of the media does on this subject and not take an adversarial role in the argument.

I can't apologize for splitting hairs about this comment...they aren't rules, they are LAWS! It's as important to stress that point because Kroger can make a rule against me wearing pink ballet slippers in their stores. While I may be forced to shop elsewhere in my cute lil' shoes, I'm not going to get arrested for it at Walmart. Referring to them as rules instead of laws, whether intended or not, demeans their importance as if to say they don't matter, since some people on the left don't like them. I agree with you on this point whole-heartedly. If we'd listened to the IPCC, CNN, and Al Gore when they said the man-made global warming debate was over, we'd all be driving SMART cars. My only gripe is that the debate on some topics is fueled by the media and not others. The right of law-abiding private citizens to buy/sell firearms amongst themselves is a story that would go away if left alone. If nobody stirred the pot about gun laws, we'd quietly go on exercising our rights and the anti-2a crowd would see no effects whatsoever other than decreased crime rates. How about stirring the pot in favor of a federal balanced budget amendment or congressional term limits? I'd read about that! I implore you to expand upon what you mean by "headed toward some interesting times". I hope you don't mean interesting times like the 'blood in the streets' or the 'wild west' predictions some seemed sure would happen. Instead, I hope you mean that it will be interesting to see how fighting to exercise our God-given rights on issue like the 2nd Amendment might lead to clarifications about our other rights. You know, like 1) the federal government cannot force me to buy health insurance, 2) the federal government cannot restrict whether California allows doctors to prescribe marijuana, and 3) the federal government cannot tell Arizona they can't uphold laws against illegal imigration.

That leather one is a Hunter 1100 series. Great holster, huh?

I used a DeSantis pocket holster for mine most of the time, but sometimes I used a Fobus paddle holster. The most comfy was a modified Hunter 1130. It's made for a Ruger Alaskan, but I relocated the hammer strap to go behind the trigger guard. It was an excellent holster.

Brian, his editor, and the owner(s) of the newspaper have no interest in educating the public about this topic. If they did, they could simply recited the laws and give a simple explanation. In fact there are un-biased interpretations of the law readily available. This information is so easy to find online, that even a caveman (or reporter) could do it. But, that's not sexy. And, nobody would read that story. Anti-2A folks get all riled up every time this kind of story is published. Clever rhetoric and misleading names like "gun show loophole" are intentionally used to accomplish this purpose. As many have said here, there is no loophole. The laws governing firearm sales apply everywhere...even gun shows. However, Brian and his ilk continue to spin the subject to keep it in the news...why? When Brian or someone else gets a firearm-related story published it generates lots of newspaper sales and/or website traffic. I often see as many comments on the Tennessean website by "us" as I do "them". When "we" go there to make comments that attempt to set the story straight we are generating hits on their site to sell ads. These hits/ads/revenue allow them to continue to bend us over and stick it to us on these issues.

No surprises... Compass: You are a far-right moderate social libertarian. Right: 8.08, Libertarian: 2.18

Those EFA-2K holsters are pretty cool. Interesting that they put an ejection port on the holster, so you can unload the gun w/out unholstering it. I've seen them for nearly $100 recently, so you got a pretty darn good deal.

I used a Ruger Mark II, because I had no idea how strict the shooting qualification would be. I figured, better safe than sorry. In retrospect, I could have smooth-bored my Hi-Point C9 and still qualified. They ask you to get 70% hits on a standard full-size silhouette. The shots are 12 rounds each at 3 yards, 7 yards, and 15 yards. Then there are 12 rounds at a distance of the instructor's choice (usually easy, since he wants you to pass), totaling 48 rounds. It's not hard at all, since you can completely miss the silhouette almost once out of every four shots and still qualify.

Yeah, I was just throwing ideas out there...no clue really. FWIW...the Taurus 905 and S&W 940 and 547 are some factory 9mm revolvers. The only reason I thought about the revolver idea is that I've seen similar marks on a .357 case after a bunch of 38 specials have been fired out of the gun first. Like I said, though, I have no clue. Very interesting. Hope someone chimes in with a 'real' answer. I'm kind of anxious to know what the deal is.

I'm curious, do you think it's possible someone loaded these rounds pretty hot and shot them using a moonclip out of a revolver? Or maybe they shot Luger ammo out of a pistol chambered for Makarovs?

Did anyone else see that huge German Shepherd in the video? They said the idiot that was shot had Oxy in his pocket and tested positive for drugs. I ask ya...how stoned would you have to be to try to break into a house with that big beast in there? Surely he barked, right?

My IDPA gun is a full size CZ 75 Shadow, which is very similar in size/weight/length to yours. Fast follow-up shots are crucial, so muzzle flip is the enemy. I worked up a load with 124 gr Berry's plated RN over 3.9 to 4.0 gr of Bullseye with a OAL of 1.12. I run a reduced power recoil spring or I wouldn't be able to go this low and still cycle the action. That being said, what load works optimally in one gun, may not be so good in another. The most subtle differences will affect accuracy and performance to some degree. The key is to find the OAL that your gun cycles the best w/out jamming. From there, pick a bullet you like and starting working up a load from the mfg load data. I highly recommend Berry's new plated 124 gr HBRN. It allows you to seat the bullet deeper w/ the same OAL. That lets you use less powder, since there's less volume inside the case. With a low volume powder like Bullseye, I can get down to as low as 3.4 gr of powder before I start to see jamming (near the end of a practice session when the gunk has built up inside the gun). Just be careful about going below the minimum recommendations and don't fire rapdly while working on the load. I gotta squib in my Glock once this way. I had been shooting the same ammo all day in other guns. The 4th round through the Glock got stuck about 2" from the muzzle. Had I not noticed the difference in the way the gun fired, I might have gone KABOOM.

Awesome story!

I have a pair of Peltor SportTac ($150 when I got 'em) and a pair of Caldwell E-MAX ($18 on sale at Midway) muffs. I can tell a big difference in quality and performance, but I'm not sure they're worth 8X the price. On a casual day at the range, the Caldwells are plenty good enough. If you spend a lot of time at matches and in classes, then the Peltors are worth the money. Otherwise, I like your idea of saving bucks on "good enough" muffs and spend the gift card on something else.

Good for her! And good for the customer! It's rare to have a chance to literally change someone's life (even if for a short while). If he can afford a $1400 tip, I'd bet he'll forget the money's gone or where it went LONG before she does.

Nice deal... I'd go with Safe/Fire. The other looks like it means full mag/empty mag, LOL.

I'm on the fence. On one hand, public figures or not, until they're charged w/ something I don't see how dragging their names through the mud is fair. Let's assume briefly that we find out Estep gets out of his car 1st and approaches the off-duty cops' car ranting like he's done before. If the cops' names had been published before those details come out, half the folks that didn't follow up on the whole story have the wrong idea about these cops. Yet, their names will forever be mentally associated with some wrong-doing even though their actions were justified. On the other hand, let's assume it's proven that it all went down exactly like Estep says. Knowing these cops' names and whether they have a history of anything similar is very relevant...especially if the cops' names are withheld and later all they get is administrative duty with pay or some similar slap on the wrist. The public may never find out who these bad cops are and they'll just get away with it and likely do it again. To me it's a tough call either way, but something doesn't sound right about this Estep guy's story. I'll be glad when more details come out, so we can alll stop speculating. Moreover, I hope what details do come out are verifiable (eye-witness, camera footage, etc.). I'd hate for it to just wind up being a stalemate, because somebody actually did something wrong and should be punished.

Gee, thanks a lot, Rob. You just spoiled the entire next season of Walking Dead for me.