kindlyoldcoach

"Yesterday's technology tomorrow." Both are Bianchi. The holster's a Chapman Hi-Ride. Bought them a few years ago, off a guy who'd gone over to one of those newfangled Safariland 007s. My magazine pouches (not pictured) are by Ernie Hill, labelled as "Leatham Enos" models. I guess I'm an IPSC re-enactor.

Yes, it's a Colt. Built in 1958, and slowly optimized over the past ten years. It looks box-stock, but it ain't. Bar-Sto match barrel, 45ACP. Briley spherical bushing. Millett adjustable rear sight. Wilson or EGW sear (not sure any more.) Dlask Custom extra-short 52mm NM trigger, made to order. Took me four hours to fit. Worth the effort. Ed Brown competition mainspring. S&A stainless magazine funnel. Yes, I know, it looks funny. It's what they had in stock. Wolff reduced-power mag catch spring. Full-length guide rod, 16lb recoil spring. Ahrends S&A- cut cocobolo stocks. Skateboard tape on the frontstrap. Trigger's about four pounds. The pistol groups very well, and I use it primarily for bullseye. Apart from a couple of TMJs porpoising, the only malfs I can remember seem to have been due to fat handloads. Now, I chamber-check every round (barrel out, of course.) The funnel and lightened mag catch spring are all it really needed for casual holster sports, though I've thought about beavertailing it. But I've never had a hammer bite problem with 1911s, and I'm a bit hesitant to start cutting on the frame. A fun pistol to shoot, and one I have enormous confidence in. Taking a page from Mr. Anderson, I've decided to pick this one and practice. Might get my El Presidentes down under twelve seconds someday.

I have seen a variation of this scenario actually happen, in a rifle discipline I used to coach. It used to be exclusively shot with .22LR, and then air rifles were introduced in a parallel program, to "allow increased participation". Surprise! It's now officially 100% air rifle, nationwide. The .22s are GONE. Only took ten years. Dilution is irreversible.

30. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go weigh my socks.

Bugger. You've gone and made me dig Dirt out from behind Audioslave, Beth Orton, and Toots Thielemans. Them Bones.

You may wish to read this.

Winchester 231 is, along with Hercules's (now Alliant) Bullseye, one of the two benchmark powders for accuracy work in .38 Special and .45 ACP creampuff target loads. Has been this way for years. We bullseye shooters think of them as staple food products. Another analogy would be to mention Ford and Chevrolet small-block V8s. Always been there, and always will be, in some capacity. 231 is one of the fastest-burning powders, meters well, and can be dirty in some loads. I know NOTHING about what an IPSC .40 needs to work properly and not blow up. However, for quality and accuracy potential in proven loads, 231 is beyond reproach. If you can find reliable, applicable 231 load data that meets your velocity requirements, do not hesitate to load with this powder.

Yup. Click here.

Thank you both. Glad to hear he's still around, and hopefully still taking work. I have a trigger in need of de-creeping, and it just so happens that I'll be visiting CTVSP this fall.

Hello. Almost ten years ago, I handed a Canadian pistolsmith named Paul Barrette a Colt Series '70 frame and a pile of best-quality aftermarket 1911 parts, and asked him to build me a 5" 9mm out of them. He agreed with commendable grace, quoted me a very reasonable price, and asked me to wait about two weeks. (!) What I got back was analogous to a MiG-29; cosmetics took a back seat to function. It was fitted-up tighter than a brick wall. The first mag through the pistol was a little friggy, but it has not had a single malf since then. Paul seems to have dropped off the face of the earth around 1996 or '97. Rumors (faint ones, from outside his immediate circle) variously had him involved in a local movie prop-gun outfit; said that he'd returned to the Springfield Custom Shop (where he told me that he'd spent a year prior to 1993), or opined he'd had to take a mundane non-firearms related job. As I recall, he was also a keen IPSC competitior here in Canada, and a decent shot. At the time, he did a great deal of his work on 1911s in 9x25, and on CZ-75 clones. If (by some slim chance) anyone out there knows Paul and has an e-mail address for him, feel free to send him a link to my post. I'd like him to know that the pistol he built for me is still a "go-to" gun. 'coach

Thank you both.

Hello. I figure you folks oughta know, if anyone does. Maybe ten years ago, I bought some very well-made, thick-jacketed 135gr RN 9mm FMJs from CP Bullets in Warminster, Pennsylvania. Damned good product; made up an alarmingly accurate load. (CP 135gr RN Elite, 3.7 grains of Bullseye, Starline case, WSP primer, OAL 1.125". Shoots very small groups out of my Bar-Sto Colt 9x19 mm.) I am almost out of them,and CP Bullets doesn't seem to have a website. Before I drag myself to an actual telephone (ick) and start playing voicemail tag, does anyone know if this outfit is still in business? Or are they just so old-school as to eschew computerization? Thanks for your time.