The Wandering Minstrel

It’s nice to see that Wyoming may soon be joining Vermont, Alaska and Arizona where Constitutional Carry laws restore our second amendment right to carry our loaded firearms. After the Wyoming House and Governor Mead (R) approve the measure, it will go into effect. Kudos to the Wyoming Senate for finally passing the bill.

Clickable image “Town and Country Magazines” courtesy of The Better Half

Speaking of Constitutional Carry, The Better Half and I usually carry our guns when we go outside of our home. We live in a low-crime area but carry around the house because of snakes, coyotes and javelina, all of which frequent our semi-rural neighborhood.

Her revolver is always loaded with .38 special +P ammo while I change the magazine depending on where we plan to be. If we’re at home, I insert the shot shell magazine in my 9mm Glock. If we’re heading to the Phoenix Metro area, I load the magazine with 9mm +P HP ammo. You might say four-legged and two-legged varmint ammo, respectively.

The good news is that the Fresno Superior Court ruled today that California’s new ammunition regulation law (AB 962) is unconstitutional, and blocked further enforcement.

Congratulations to the NRA, CRPA and others that worked hard and fought for Californian’s rights.

The bad news is that today two students were shot by a negligent discharge from another student’s gun at Gardena High School. The gun, which was in a backpack went off when the student plopped it down when entering the classroom.

But wait! Why didn’t three laws - prohibiting guns on campus, possession of guns by minors and carrying a concealed firearm - keep this from happening?

Anti-gunners, don’t hurt your brains trying to figure it out.

Hat tip: The Survival Spot

The Better Half and I went shopping for some western (as in the old wild west) furniture for the new house today and spotted this novel string of Christmas lights. According to the label, this is a string of 35 recycled shotgun shells (12 gauge by my reckoning) 18 feet end to end, indoor and outdoor. I know that Christmas is a long way off, but these were on sale and I just had to have them. In fact, at The Better Half’s suggestion, I’m going to go back and get another couple of strings tomorrow since they are on sale.

Just as soon as we got back from the store, I plugged the string into an outlet by the kitchen counter to light them up just to see how they looked (clickable image). Who says that recycled shotgun shells can’t make a festive Christmas decoration?

I discovered this image while (as usual) I was looking for something entirely unrelated: a penetrating pachyderm.

Our new house sits on a lot a little over a half acre (~24,000 ft²) and is mostly covered with local vegetation that could be shelter to rats or snakes or whatever vermin that lives there. I haven’t seen any vermin on our visits to the new place, just some cottontails, quail and other small fuzzy things. In case there are any snakes and such, I figure that a magazine with some of these would be the preferred load around the house.

I see these in both .45 and 9mm on the internet. Here’s the specs:

.45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol), CCI Shotshell, 117 Grains of #9 shot.
9mm Luger (9×19mm), CCI Shotshell, 64 Grains of #12 shot.

• Rigid plastic shot capsules that breaks on the rifling.
• Flexible base wad prevents gas blow-by.
• Reliable CCI primers.
• Residue removes with normal cleaning methods.

I’m pretty sure that this ammo would be illegal in Antigunifornia. I deduce this because of their absurd attitude that the Taurus Judge, which can shoot 410 gauge shotgun shells, is considered a “short barreled shotgun.” This ammo would convert your .45 or 9mm pistol to a “short barreled shotgun.” Ridiculous.

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.