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Post by mbaneacp on Mar 17, 2010 12:56:45 GMT -5
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Post by mbaneacp on Mar 16, 2010 13:16:31 GMT -5
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Post by mbaneacp on Mar 14, 2010 19:33:05 GMT -5
Sigh...Grasshopper has much to learn...back to catching flies with chopsticks...
Michael B
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Post by mbaneacp on Mar 14, 2010 19:30:34 GMT -5
We;re doing another GUNSITE Single Action Self-Defense class first week of May...there are still a couple of places open n the class!
Michael B
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Post by mbaneacp on Mar 13, 2010 12:52:29 GMT -5
My chest holster is from Survival Sheath Systems: www.survivalsheath.com/main/home.htmThere may be a timing issue on your trip. A high crossdraw like the Sourdough Pancake works for motorcycles.. Michael B
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Post by mbaneacp on Mar 12, 2010 21:11:09 GMT -5
Man, I picked up the Bowen Vaquero today! Breathtaking! Looks a heck of a lot like the picture of the TLA birdshead I sent Hamilton...I'll try to get pictures up this weekend...
Michael B
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Post by mbaneacp on Mar 8, 2010 20:45:23 GMT -5
Trying to get the .327 off to Dave Clements tomorrow...he wants to see the gun before we finalize the mods to be made. I suspect there's at least a shorter barrel, Bowen rear sights, a new front sight, and custom grips in its future. I'm probably going to have Dave beadblast the gun, maybe leave the cylinder bright stainless...I saw a setup like that I really liked. Got the Dillon all stoked up to start cranking out .327s with Cast Performance 113-grainers.
Michael B
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Post by mbaneacp on Mar 4, 2010 21:31:31 GMT -5
Darn, Axe! I ran into Raj last week in Arizona, and he was asking whether I had Sambar stag grips on any of my guns...I said not yet...ohhhhhh, that looks good!
Michael B
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Post by mbaneacp on Mar 3, 2010 18:46:44 GMT -5
Hamilton called today to tell me that my birdshead .44 Magnum Vaquero, styled like the TLA Border Special, is coming home this week! I'll get some pictures and post them here and on the blog when it arrives.
I also sucked it up and ordered 2 Taylor's Model 3 Break-Tops 3 1/2-inch barrel in .44 Russian (they happened to get a couple in and I hate to let them slip away). Tammy Loy at Taylor told me the chambers were cut for .44 Special even through the guns were marked .44 Russian...again, I'll keep you guys in the loop.
I shot Winter Range midpack but clean, BTW...used my match .357 Anniversary Blackhawks from C&S and Black Hills Cowboy ammo.
Michael B
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Post by mbaneacp on Feb 28, 2010 20:40:27 GMT -5
The Cor-Bons were pretty cool rounds....I've still got a couple of boxes...
Michael B
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Post by mbaneacp on Feb 28, 2010 20:37:17 GMT -5
I looked at a pair of Taylor Firearms 3 1/2-inch .44 Russian Schofields at Winter Range last weekend, and I think I'm going to make the leap as part of my .44 Russian Cowboy Initiative...I'll keep you guys in the loop...
Michael B
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Post by mbaneacp on Feb 20, 2010 21:39:23 GMT -5
BTW, have decided to send my .327 Blackhawk to Dave Clements for some basic slicking (and I'm halfway thinking a shorter barrel). Dave says he needs to see it before we can figure out how to wring the best out of it. I'll keep you guys informed as we move through the process...have already talked to Cary C about a nice set of grips...am sort of thinking light wood for the stainless gun...thoughts?
Michael B
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Post by mbaneacp on Feb 20, 2010 16:13:07 GMT -5
Last week I took the 3-day John Bianchi SECRETS OF ADVANCED HOLSTER MAKERS class in Wickenburg, AZ...I wanted to let you all know that this was maybe the single best class I've ever taken! It was all hands-on with John and his partner in Frontier Gunleather, Matt Whitaker, so you get two masters for the price of one! You decide in advance which holster out of their catalog you'd like to make, and then John and Matt step you through it. They never just show you how to do something; rather they make sure you understand why you need to do it. They only allow 12 in the class and it's only held once a year...I've already signed up for next year. Here's the link to this year's class: iilg.org/tmp/LCSJ/bianchi2010.pdfHere's the link to my blog pictures of my finished project, a Mexican loop rig for the 1911 Wild Bunch matches: michaelbane.blogspot.com/2010/02/finished-rig.htmlWhile most of the people in the class were experienced leather workers, the last leather thing I made was a wallet when I was about 9 years old, and it fell apart! Matt loaned me his tools to do the class, as I had none. John T., this is your fault! I was re-reading the SINGLE-ACTION SIXGUNS book and I got to thinking that I really knew nothing about holsters and holster-making except for buying them and using them up, so I set out to remedy that problem...up to about $600 in tools so far...don't you feel the least bit guilty??? Michael B
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Post by mbaneacp on Feb 20, 2010 14:36:28 GMT -5
As the guy who is writing a book titled THE NEW SURVIVAL GUNS — Firearms, Gear and Tactics for Uncertain Times, not to mention being the executive producer of THE BEST DEFENSE/SURVIVAL (we start filming season 2 as soon as I get back from filming at Winter Range next week) and a firearms "expert" on The History Channel's AFTER ARMAGEDDON, I probably spend FAR TOO MUCH time thinking about this very question! Given the scenario set up by Buck in the first post, I'd have to agree with him — a 6-inch stainless .22 revolver would be a powerful survival tool. The .22 Magnum cylinder would be a bonus, especially for self-defense. Growing up in Tennessee in the 1950s, I knew of an awful lot of whitetails that went down to .22 LR headshots.
In terms of a better package, I sort of come down on the 2 handguns and a rifle and/or shotgun package, depending on the scenario. What I'm suggesting int eh book as an "ideal" handgun package would be a Glock 17/19 backed up with a .44 Magnum revolver. Why? The 9mm Glock is arguably the most debugged firearm in existence...they are amazingly reliable, can be maintained and repaired by reasonably intelligent cocker spaniels (after all, I'm a Glock armorer, and I trail a cocker spaniel by a couple of IQ points!), have plenty of spare parts available, use magazines that are cheap, almost indestructable and everywhere, including the 33-round 9mm mags designed for the Glock 18 and the 9mm cartridge is one of the most common cartridges on earth. The .44 revolver would serve multiple functions as a hunting gun and with heavy penetrating loads something with more juice than the 9mm if needed. You could make an equal argument for a heavy frame .357 revolver. Again, depending on the scenario, you could make a case for a .22 revolver as the second gun. Depends on whether it's a long term "The Road" scenario or a short term "dislocation" like a mega-Katrina or an EMP event.
For the long gun, a 12-gauge pump is hard to argue with in terms of versatility and sheer firepower — Remington or Mossberg, take your pick. I like the old Remington 870 Police versions, which had less plasric than the current editions, and the Mossberg 590 "Special Purpose" shotguns. My favorite is the 590 NYPD 14-inch gun, which is unfortunately a controlled weapon. I've shot it with slugs at 50 yards in addition to shot and it's great. Riflewise, c'mon...there are the AR clones and then there's everything else. Lot to be said for "common" and "readily available."
BTW, I don't particularly believe the world as we know it is headed to a bad end, but I do think we're in a period of increased natural and unnatural (read: terrorism) social dislocations. I am reminded of a particularly creepy quote from W. H. Auden: "I smell blood and an era of prominent madmen."
Michael "MR. CHEERY" B.
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Post by mbaneacp on Feb 9, 2010 21:59:30 GMT -5
I have a Hamilton Bowen-built .44 Special SS Mountain Gun...great packing pistol!
Michael B
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