I cleaned the factory gunk off the gun today and lubed it with Rem Oil everywhere something turned and put a couple of tiny dabs of Tetra grease on the rails.  Then I stood on an old tarp and tried loading it and cycling them all back out.

The cycling back out part is no problem, but loading it is a chore.  I think I need to get some dummy loads to practice loading with.  If anyone has any tips on loading this sort of gun, leave some comments.

One question:  Should I unscrew the end of the tube for cleaning?  Or is this something that would cause me trouble?

I loaded it up several times, and it did get a little easier each time, so I think it's only a matter of practice and getting the gun broken in.

It ejected straight up and back.  This is one I'll be wearing a hat for, when I shoot.  I've seen some of this variety in action before, and a protective hat is pretty much standard wear for all of them.

The sights line up easily and look good from the business position.  This model has a semi-buckhorn rear that's ramp adjustable, with a brass bead front.

Next weekend, expecting that my daughter will be fully recovered, I'll take both kids to our private rifle range and do some shooting.  I'll probably have to take the Hawken along, as well.

I was snooping around and found a pretty cool site at AnimePaper.  I even registered.  There are several good Hellsing and Trinity Blood wallpapers there.

Here's one from Hellsing that has a very autumnal mood appropriate for this time of year (resized way down to fit here).


Although this one from Trinity Blood is also very appealing, with all its blacks and purples.



Here's a not-wallpaper scan from AnimePaper of the same character but in a different mood.

My daughter is suffering from strep throat.  She's on antibiotics, but it is still wiping her out.  She woke up this morning, ate a small breakfast, took her medicine and went back to sleep.  So, we're just going to stay home from church today.

I finally got around to fixing up the next step in my quest for a new blend.  Today I measured out three more samples, each twice as big as all the older samples (8g each instead of 4g).  Batch #1 is 3/4 Grey Ghost, 1/4 Perique.  Batch #2 is 13/16 Grey Ghost, 3/16 Perique.  Batch #3 is 7/8 Grey Ghost, 1/8 Perique.  Each batch went into its own ziplock baggie, and after squishing all the air out and zipping them shut, I put all three into a vacuum bag and vacuum-sealed it.  Proportions were written on the individual baggies with a Sharpie, and today's date went on the vacuum baggie.  I put it up in the closet where it will stay cool and dark for a couple of months.  There's going to be some good stuff up there around Christmas time.

Recently a reader of this blog sent me a gift of pure Syrian Latakia.  I already thanked him privately by email so I won't mention his name again here.  Anyway, I will probably use this tin of Latakia to spice up various other blends, including my ongoing project.  I don't want to use it in my final decision because I wanted this blend to include only tobaccos grown in the United States.  Not because of any weird prejudices, but because I wanted to make it more traditionally American.  The Virginia in the Grey Ghost is grown in the States, although not necessarily always in Virginia.  The maduro in that blend is grown in Pennsylvania.  Perique is grown in Louisiana.  There are some fake Periques of lesser quality that are grown elsewhere, but I believe this is real Louisiana Perique.  To get really technical, the original true Perique is grown only in St. James Parish.  This is why real Perique is more expensive than other leafs.

While I'm on the subject, there are two kinds of Latakia, and this leaf is named after the Turkish port city of Latakia.  The two varieties are called Syrian and Cyprian because they come from those two countries.  When Syrian is good, it is better than Cyprian.  Unfortunately, the quality of Syrian is inconsistent, and when it's not good, it's not as good as Cyprian.  The quality of Cyprian Latakia is pretty much consistently all the same, as far as I know.  Also, because of international tensions, Syrian Latakia is not always easy to import into the States.  A few years ago, the one warehouse where all the imported Syrian was stored burned, and several tons of Syrian Latakia went up in smoke.

Many blenders who use Syrian in their blends check the quality of the leaf carefully, and if it is not up to their expectations, they simply stop making that blend until a better leaf becomes available.  They won't compromise by using Cyprian.

I'm pretty sure that I've never had a blend made with anything but Cyprian Latakia.  So I'm looking forward to trying out some of this Syrian stuff.

There's a sort of pipe-smoking urban legend that Latakia gets its flavor from being cured over fires of camel dung, but it's only a legend.  It really gets its distinctive flavor from being cured over smokey fires of a variety of oak tree that grows only in that part of the world.

Whichever proportion I decide is the best, I'm going to call this blend Rebel Yell.

For Cowboy Blob's Weekend Caption Watchamacallit.

This one is pretty dumb, I admit.  I think I used up all my weekend GIMP-fu on another picture that I haven't posted yet.