About This Blog
The right to keep and bear arms, occasional attempts at satire, frequent recourse to sarcasm, and anything else I can think of. Oh yeah, and pipe smoking. Sometimes H.P. Lovecraft. And obscure Monty Python references when applicable.
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Most recent update: 5 August 2007.
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Saturday, March 18
Saturday night dog-blogging
by
alandp
on Sat 18 Mar 2006 11:41 PM CST
I have been going through the archives and categorizing a few posts. I don't think I'll try to categorize all the old archives that were imported to the new blog, but I did all the Pipesmokers of the Week and I think I got all the "stoppin' power" posts. At one point, long ago, I considered changing the name of this blog to "Stoppin' Power." I'm surprised no one else has used that title (that I know of). I created a new category today called "Gun Reviews." I created it for the new post on the Walther P22 and I also added the old post about the Stevens Favorite there. I hope to get more articles in this category as time goes by. Hardly a day goes by that the post about the Stevens Favorite .22 still doesn't draw at least one hit from a search engine, so maybe this category will be helpful to some people. Oh yeah, the dog. Besides being "helped" today by the kids, that is, my daughter known as Shoot 'Em All and my son known as Shellcatcher, I also had "help" from the dog, Brownie. She seems to have a good amount of Black-Mouthed Cur in her, and possibly some Rhodesian Ridgeback (she has an odd swirly ridge of fur on her back end), but only God knows what else. I really need to teach her to hunt squirrels.
Gun Review: Walther P22
by
alandp
on Sat 18 Mar 2006 03:23 PM CST
Walther P22 in .22 LR
The P22 is designed to be nearly identical to, although smaller than, Walther's P99 (a 9mm or .40 S&W gun). I decided to take my new one out today for some shooting. Please excuse some of the blurry pictures, I was in a hurry because it was about to start raining (unfortunately, the rain didn't last long).  Ammo being tried out today was Remington standard "High Velocity" .22 LR and Remington Subsonic .22 LR as pictured. Grouping and accuracy didn't seem to matter--both kinds of ammo shot the same. Recoil was more noticeable with the High Velocity ammo, but it's a .22, so who cares? Just above the trigger in the above picture is the trigger lock, if you ever care to use it.
As usual, I have to make some left-handed comments. Shooting in the isosceles position kept popping the Subsonic empties right back into my face, and one even went down my shirt (ouch). Adjusting to sort of a hybrid isosceles/Weaver stance took care of that (I just shifted my feet a little). The High Velocity empties ejected with more force, and flew clear of me without me even noticing them.
 I'm trying in this picture to illustrate the ambidextrous magazine release located on the trigger guard. The mag release makes this gun very lefty-friendly. The safety is also ambidextrous.
The P22 has what they call a "loaded chamber indicator," but it's the kind that is simply a small gap through which to look and see if it's loaded. It's not the tactile kind. Personally I'd rather just press-check it.
It has a magazine disconnect so the hammer won't fall with the magazine removed. What may seem odd to some (it did to me), is that when the safety is on and the magazine installed you can pull the trigger and the hammer will fall. However, there is a hammer block that prevents it from transferring the impact to the cartridge. According to Walther, this is the decocker. Still, it seems odd to use the trigger for a decocker rather than have a separate decocking lever.
To disassemble, first ensure it is not loaded, then lock the slide back and remove the magazine. Slide the take-down lever down. This is not actually a lever, it is more of a sleeve. It must be pulled down with equal force on either side. If you try to walk it down one side at a time, it won't work.
 Lift the back end of the slide up slightly and carefully allow it to go forward. As with some other semi-autos, if you aren't careful the spring could pop out.
 The P22 has a fixed barrel. It comes with an accessory wrench to remove the barrel. Walther also produces an optional 5" barrel which can be installed by the owner--no gunsmithing required. The 5" barrel is called the "target barrel." I don't have one, yet. The gun also comes with three front sights of varying heights. The factory installed front sight can be removed with a screwdriver and a new one installed by the owner. The rear sight is micrometer adjustable for windage. There is also a second palm swell that can be owner-installed on the back of the grips to increase the size of the grips if desired. I plan on trying that out too, but I haven't yet. It also comes with two 10-round magazines, and it has a light rail. The tricky part is putting the gun back together when you're finished cleaning it. In the little accessory bag which includes the wrench is a plastic rod. This rod is used to guide the guide rod back into its respective hole in the end of the slide.   Carefully--making sure everything stays lined up straight--pull the slide back into its locked open position. The plastic guide rod will pop out unless you have a third hand to catch it, so be sure it pops out where it won't get lost. On mine, there is one extra step which took me a while to figure out. After the slide is back in its locked open position, a light tap to the back of the slide with the heel of the hand is required to finally seat it into its correct position so that it can slide forward again. After sliding it forward, push the takedown lever back into its previous position, and lower the hammer. You're done. How does it shoot? you ask. This gun shoots way better than I do, but that can be remedied with practice, which is the main reason I bought this gun.  This 8" Shoot-N-See target shows--although it's hard to count them all--40 bullet holes from a distance of 25 feet. I am almost certain the rightward drift of the group is due to me rather than the gun. I should mention that for the last two magazines, I was shooting about as fast as I could and still keep them all in the black. (The extra black circle that was stuck on there didn't cover any holes, that was just my son sticking a sticker there because he likes to do that sort of thing). Other bullet holes in the backing are from previous sessions. This gun is sweet. It is so comfortable that I could easily just stand and shoot all day. I just need to teach the kids how to load the magazines so they can load while I shoot. If Walther were to ask me for any suggestions, I would recommend an extended magazine. By the way, here's a factory picture of the gun with the 5" barrel and the accompanying barrel stabilizer installed.  Visit Walther's P22 page for technical details. MSRP on this little guy is $295. I got mine brand new for $243 plus tax. An affordable gun that shoots affordable ammo. UPDATE: Check the comments for another tip on how to reassemble the gun without using the plastic guide rod. I'll have to try that!
Technorati Tags: Walther P22
Cell phones and self defense
by
alandp
on Sat 18 Mar 2006 10:23 AM CST
James Rummell at Hell In A Handbasket posted about the importance of the cell phone as a tool of protection. They cheap and easy to get. Gone are the days when one had to wait for a credit check, put down several hundred dollars, and only use it in an actual life-or-death case because the airtime was so high. Personally, if I go out carrying a gun, but forget my cell phone, I consider myself inadequately prepared. The same as if I happen to carry the phone but not the gun. Communication is vital. Although it may take some time for emergency services to arrive, wouldn't you rather save a few minutes--or longer--by having a phone actually on your person? Or would you rather hunt down the nearest pay phone (do they even exist, anymore?) or depend on the kindness of a stranger whose door you find yourself frantically banging on in the small hours of the morning. Even if you come out on top of a violent encounter, but have been wounded, it could mean the difference between living and bleeding to death. And though I'm no lawyer, it seems that calling emergency services as soon as possible could only improve your legal situation, as well.
Well, I did it
by
alandp
on Sat 18 Mar 2006 09:38 AM CST
Back when I was using Blogspot, I never thought I'd pay for a blogging service. But, I just upgraded this blog to the lowest pay-for-service level ($4.95/month). This allows me to remove the Eponym toolbar from the top, and also take the ad away that was in the right sidebar. There are some other perks, also, but nothing that would be apparent to the reader.
Now I need to come up with some cool graphic for the title bar.
I also thought I'd mention Eponym's trackback system. It is so transparent and slick that it works without even thinking about it. They have their own pinger, so you don't have to use a third-party trackback pinger. So far, it has been pretty much automatic on my posts.
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