The Wandering Minstrel

Our shooting range in California recently required that only slugs and buckshot can be fired through shotguns. Their reason is that birdshot will not stick in the backing downrange and will be ricocheted back towards shooters. As a complication, the rifled slugs are ill-advised to be shot through guns with chokes as it will damage the threads into which the choke is secured. That’s why I became highly interested in a new product - the Trulock Tactical Choke available from Brownell’s for about $55:

TACTICAL CHOKE TUBE

* Mfr:TRULOCK CHOKES
* Price:$54.99
* Delivers Excellent Performance From A Wide Range Of Law Enforcement Ammo

Multi-purpose, screw-in choke tube gives excellent performance with a variety of law enforcement shotgun ammunition, including rifled slugs, buckshot, and breaching rounds. Direct replacement for popular factory screw-in tubes, so it eliminates the inconvenience of having to change the muzzle device for specific applications. Sharply crenelated muzzle provides the proper stand-off distance and secure grip on the surface for use as a breaching device. Won’t interfere with performance of buckshot, and preserves the downrange accuracy of slugs. Precision machined from carbon steel, with a knurled surface for easy installation/removal, and a wear-resistant, non-glare black oxide finish.

SPECS: Carbon steel, matte black oxide finish. Extends 2.1” (5.3cm) from end of muzzle. 12 gauge only. Remington fits Rem™ Choke Win/Brng/Moss fits WinChoke®, Browning Invector, and Mossberg 500. Benelli/Beretta fits Mobilchoke™ system.

The 12 gauge only thing bothers us since The Better Half’s Remington 870 “Junior” is 20 ga. Maybe Trulock will offer a 20 gauge version later. The Better Half thinks this would look awesome sticking out the front of our 870s.

Free 9mm Ammo

M.D. Creekmore at The Survivalist Blog – a survival blog dedicated to helping others prepare for and survive disaster – with articles on bug out bag contents, survival knife choices and a wealth of other survival information is giving away a 1,000 round case of 9mm – 124 Grain FMJ (a $200 value – donated by LuckyGunner)! To enter, you just have to post about it on your blog. This is my entry. Visit The Survivalist Blog for the details.

Busy day today. My only offering is courtesy of the artistic eye of the Better Half. Her photo of seven seven-round H.K.S. speed loaders invokes both symmetry and a Fibonacci-esque natural progression at the same time. Clickable image.

All rounds are Remington 125 grain .357 magnum HP except for the seven Speer 158 grain .357 magnum HP loads center stage. The firearm for dispensing these loads would be the S&W 686.

We stopped today at one of our local gun and ammunition stores hoping to find some 20 gauge slug cartridges. The man behind the counter had only two boxes of five rounds left, so I bought them. For as much as I paid for the goddamn slug rounds, I could have bought two 25-round boxes of target loads.

The reason for buying the more expensive loads is due to new rules at the range where we shoot, to wit: slugs or double ought buckshot only and limited to a specific three out of the sixteen lanes. The reason for the rule is that after extensive revamping of the range and the backdrop, small birdshot can ricochet back to the shooters. Not a good thing.

We have been members at the range for several years, and are disappointed in the performance of the current owners with respect to customer service. Customer service? Hah! Picture George Carlin doing pelvic thrusts as he comically describes “customer service.”

Our membership at this range is up in July and we have decided not to renew. The combination of lousy target hangers and pellet-reflecting backdrop gives us pause. Our planned departure from the Southern California area seals the decision.

Last time out to the range, I shot about 50 rounds of reloaded ammo that I bought from the gun shop there. The reason I say ‘about’ is that one of the rounds failed to discharge. Buying reloads seemed to be the thing to do, what with the price of ammo these days, but it comes with some drawbacks.

Photo credit - The Better Half. Clickable image.

I bought a couple of bags of .45 ACP for about $22 per bag (remember when factory ammo was that cheap?). I shot them using “Fat Man,” my Glock 30. In addition to the failed round, the ammo seemed especially ‘dirty’ to me, leaving more than the usual spent powder deposits near the muzzle.

Fat Man cleaned up OK - I use a CLP product, “Strike Hold,” which does a pretty good job of cleaning and lubrication. Everything got wiped down and a couple drops on the slide rails is all the lube that this gun seems to need.

We’ve been busy for a couple of months, so we finally got our ass in gear today. We packed up our stuff and headed to the range for some target practice. We brought our .45 caliber guns - “Fat Man,” my Glock 30 and “Miss Piggy,” the Better Half’s stainless Para Warthog. As usual, we brought our 12 and 20 gauge Remington 870 shotguns.

As we were just about ready to head into the range, the range officer told us that if we wanted to use our shotguns we could only shoot double-ought buckshot or slug rounds. He advised that smaller shot target loads had been bouncing off of the back stop toward the shooters. The range officer explained that the heavier mass rounds would stick and the lighter weight ones would bounce. Apparently, the recent ‘improvements’ to the range introduced this new phenomenon. Since we only brought target load cartridges, we had to buy some slug rounds for over a buck per cartridge. Moreover, they only had 12 gauge rounds, so the 20 gauge gun didn’t get used. I bought a couple of five round boxes.

This is the first time we’ve shot slug rounds. We put up a target and sent it down range at the seven yard mark and let “silhouette dude” have the few rounds we bought today. The video shows us shooting and the target after we finished with it. In several places, the slugs made some nice clean holes.

Assembly Bill 962, the bill to restrict ammunition sales and to require fingerprinting purchasers, was approved by Schwarzenegger after being passed by the State Legislature in 2009. Assemblyman Curt Hagman, whose response to my email I published in a comment, has introduced AB 373, which repeals AB 962.

CRPA and the NRA have set up an on-line petition that Californians can sign, in support of AB 373. As a Californian, you can also copy the text of the petition and send it to your local assembly member. We’re going to do both. You can click here and enter your zip code to find your Assembly Member’s contact information.

Anti-AB 962 image egregiously lifted from the petition website.

As a citizen of the State of California, I hereby voice my strongest opposition to the passage of Assembly Bill 962 (Deleon) [Restrictions on ammunition sales] by the California Legislature and Governor in 2009.

This action was an attack on common sense and an insult to law-abiding firearms owners throughout the State. Furthermore, AB962, taking effect on February 1, 2011, mandates individuals purchasing ammunition to be fingerprinted and registered at the time of sale and outlaws mail order ammunition purchases. AB 962 also requires dealers to maintain these records for at least five years and make them available for inspection by the California Department of Justice. As an additional burden, ammunition retailers are also required to store ammunition away from purchasers.

This scheme to register firearms owners as if they were common criminals must not be allowed to be implemented! Therefore, I respectfully urge the passage of Assembly Bill 373 (Hagman) [Repeal of AB962].

If passed, AB373 would return a level of sanity to the issue of obtaining firearms ammunition by law-abiding citizens. Since it is well-known that most criminals don’t purchase their firearms and ammunition from lawful sources, AB373 would allow our already over-burdened law enforcement agencies to focus on catching criminals instead of turning them into paper-chasing clerks attempting to implement the ill-advised scheme that is AB962.

It is for these, and many more reasons, that I must respectfully but strongly urge legislative support for Assembly Bill 373.