The Wandering Minstrel

I sent the CCW holster I was using with my 9mm Glock 26, “Little Boy,” back to the factory to fix the broken plastic belt clip. Since I still want to be able to CCW in Arizona, I needed an alternate carry holster. I decided to order IWB holsters with metal belt clips for both Glocks.

Clickable image - Fat Man in the new Don Hume H715-M leather holster for Glock 30

The holster for “Fat Man,” the Glock 30, .45 caliber pistol, came in the mail on Monday. I have been breaking it in since then. Break-in seemed easier this time. I guess that could be due to the holster not having a strap over the butt of the gun. Insertion and removal from the holster now seem nominal. The gun is snug in the holster but can be withdrawn with a smooth pull.

I’m also surprised at how little a difference there is carrying Fat Man compared to Little Boy. Both guns feel the same in the waistband and the latter has the advantage of extra stopping power by virtue of the 230 grain Hornady +P hollow-point ammo in the 10 round magazine.

Unsurprisingly, gun sales and shooting range activity are on the rise in the wake of Arizona’s new Constitutional Carry Law. Arizonans who wish to carry concealed are now allowed to, providing they are 21 years of age and have no felony criminal record. Shooting, guns and ammo remain as booming businesses in spite of the Obamination’s double-dipping recession.

Via NRA-ILA:

From the Daily News Sun:

Gun sales rise following new weapons law

Firearms have been a hot topic in Arizona in recent months as several laws loosening gun regulations were recently enacted.

And while it is too early to discern whether those laws, particularly SB 1108, which makes it legal for citizens 21 and older to carry a concealed weapon without a permit, will make things more difficult or dangerous from a law enforcement standpoint, Arizona Game and Fish officials said shooting training is on the rise.

Ben Avery Shooting Range, which is on the border of north Peoria and Phoenix and is the largest outdoor range in the Valley and one of the largest in the country. It had perhaps its best statistical year ever in the 2009-2010 fiscal year, said Doug Burt, a public information officer for Arizona Game and Fish.

The range experienced more “shooting days,” which measure the number of individual visits to the range, not the number of different visitors, last fiscal year than any previous year. About 200,000 shooting days were recorded, marking a 5-10 percent increase from the previous fiscal year.

[more]

The article is pretty good except for a minor undertone about law enforcement having ‘concerns’ about citizens carrying. The last three paragraphs are attributed to a police information officer whining about not performing background checks for CCW and ‘officer safety.’ What about citizen safety?

Just after the conclusion of our latest excursion to Arizona, the belt clip on my Don Hume IWB Strike Holster failed. The Kydex thermoplastic belt clip fractured at the top of the loop where it fits over the top of my belt.

I like the holster, so I contacted the manufacturer to inquire about returning it for repair. They promptly got back to me in an email this morning with instructions for mailing it back. I dropped into our mail service store and shipped the holster back to them this morning. They should have the item by Thursday.

I decided that the tuckable feature for this holster will not generally be needed, so I ordered another IWB holster with a metal clip for “Little Boy,” my Glock 26. I also ordered the same model for “Fat Man,” my Glock 30.

Since the new holsters do not have the strap that holds the gun in, it should be easier to get the gun out of the holster. I visited a website a while back that recommended that IWB holsters should not have the strap. I’ll give it a try.

Back in 2007, I posted about carrying a small safe while camping or staying at a hotel. At the time, I used a small cooler made from fabric, fiberboard and plastic insulation. It worked for a while, but eventually, the safe (and firearms) proved to be too heavy and the fiberboard liner under the cooler failed.

Last week, we saw a rigid cooler by Coleman on sale for $20, so I picked it up. Today, I outfitted it with the little safe, some ammo and I used some gun cleaning rags to pad around and underneath the safe. Both the Better Half and I lifted the loaded safe, ammo and cooler and found it to be no heavier than a cooler packed with ice and beverages. Intuitively, it seems that this is the solution to carrying a concealed safe while traveling or camping.

Clickable image courtesy of the Better Half.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department sponsors a program developed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation in conjunction with the firearms industry. It’s good to see that kids in our new town will have a chance to get proper firearms training from NRA certified instructors.

From Wickenburg Sportsmen’s Club:

Kids win. Parents win. Coaches win.

That’s really what we’re shooting for!

The Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) is a team-based youth development that uses the shotgun sports as to instill discipline, safety, teamwork, ethics, self-confidence and other life values. Team members can participate in any or all of three clay target disciplines: trap, skeet, and sporting clays.

SCTP was developed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation in conjunction with the firearms industry and shotgun shooting governing bodies and is now nationally governed by the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation to provide team participation to youth in the shotgun shooting sports.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department sponsors the program in Arizona and invites students from age 9 thorough graduation of high school to an opportunity to learn about firearms, safety, and teamwork in a safe environment by certified shotgun coaches. [more]

The Better Half’s Para Warthog .45 ACP pistol, nicknamed “Miss Piggy,” posed for this artsy photo in November of 2007. The magazine in the gun extends the grip for larger hands. She doesn’t need it, but when I shoot Miss Piggy it gives me a more comfortable grip than with a standard magazine. Clickable image by The Better Half.

Since last week, we have been cleaning out the various closets and places that have accumulated our “stuff” over the years. We need to get it all rounded up and distributed to family or recycle or shred, etc. I discovered some old CD ROMs with photo files I thought had been lost. There’s always a treasure among the trash, or so it would seem.

Yesterday, The Better Half and I barbecued on the patio. It was a pleasant day so we relaxed on the patio swing and read in between sessions at the grill. I got up at one point to attend to grill matters and The Better Half snapped this photo of the stuff I left on the swing.

Clickable image - shooters.

In addition to a book that I am reading, you can see my shooters. An airsoft pistol is used to fend off squirrels and pigeons freeloading at the songbird feeder. A digital Canon 710 IS is used for the occasional photo op and a 9mm Glock, “Little Boy,” is used for larger varmints should they come calling.

I was watching the history Channel this morning. The program was about various weapons systems. I was impressed by this Sako TRG-22. It’s a highly accurate competition/sniper/hunting rifle chambered in .308 made in Finland. Shown here without the optional folding bipod.