steve1

Thanks for the tip Winsor. Maybe there is a way to change fixed sights. I did some instinctive shooting, with my brother once. He taught firearms training at the police academy. You'd bring the pistol part way up and just concentrate on what you were trying to hit. No sights at all to mess with.....It worked fairly well, at close range. This pistol shooting may be a lot of fun. I've even got the wife talked into getting a new pistol or two. She doesn't really know how much they cost though. I figure I'll surprise her on that...It's not always easy to get the Commander and Chief on board with what I want to do....

So, the question is, what is considered acceptable accuracy? I've shot pistols for fifty or more years. Long enough to know there is a big difference in pistols. If all gun fights were at ten feet, maybe it wouldn't matter. I remember shooting a wore-out 45 one day. The silhouette was only about five yards away. It was hard to hit that silhouette anywhere, let alone in a vital area....No, matter how carefully you aimed or squeezed the trigger....I don't want a gun like that. At point blank range, it might save your bacon, but there are better pistols available. My daughters both have snub nosed 38 revolvers. Actually my youngest daughter has two 38 revolvers. One is a full sized pistol with about a four inch barrel. I was very impressed with my older daughters snubby. It was much more accurate than I expected. My youngest daughter took her snub nosed 38 and shot at a target about six yards away. Not only were the groups big, but they were definitely grouping to the left. It has fixed sights, and there is no way to adjust them. My daughter knew immediately, that something was wrong. She'd shot her full sized pistol enough to know this was not even close to what her bigger pistol would shoot. If that pistol shot a little high or low, a person could live with that, but I told her to trade this gun off on one that shot better. It's good to know that GLOCK pistol sights can be adjusted, even if they are fixed. Maybe I can live with that. I've never had trouble with a dove tail sight moving, but I suppose it could happen. Low profile sights make sense. I suppose it would be smart to wait on that GLOCK 19, GEN 4, to make sure the bugs are worked out. I'm anxious to try one out. At any rate, I appreciate all the input on this. I'm anxious to buy another pistol or two....

I quit jumping three years ago. Back in 75 I quit for twenty years, before returning to the sport. Both times I was losing interest. It just wasn't much fun any more....I keep hoping I can get that back. The right people, and vibes are definitely needed. After my first break of twenty years, it took a reunion of old jumpers to get me in the air again. It was wonderful. I fell base for a formation. I loved every second of it, and I was hooked all over again. Ten years later, I have mostly lost interest. I'm going to look up some old friends this summer, and I hope to get back in the air. I truly miss this sport. The passion is just gone! It's good to talk to other old jumpers who understand.

Things are different now. The expense of skydiving today, is a big factor. It holds a lot of people back from going on to becoming an experienced skydiver. In the old days, even a starving college kid, like myself, was able to scrape together the money to jump. A first jump course in the 70's was only $50. Jumps after that were $3.50. Even if you figure in the rate of inflation that was cheap....Most all of our jumpers were college age jumpers back then. Brutal landings, under round canopies, was a reason for that, but young people could afford to jump. Our old college jump club is still in existence. There are literally no college students in it. Many people (of all ages) come out to make a tandem, but that's usually their last jump. A few older jumpers (with money) end up sticking with it. Things were cheap in the old days, but jumping (even then) was not for everybody. Very few stuck with it, to make ten or more jumps. I'd venture to say that the retention rate was higher back then....I think that the affordability of skydiving then had a lot to do with that. The price of a hospital visit was cheap too. In the 70's I rodeo'd and skydived, both without medical insurance. I made more than one emergency room visit and hospital stay, and even one ambulance ride. None of that cost much, back then. That's all changed. I also wonder about the young "whipper-snappers" these days. It seems that many would rather play video games, than to risk life or limb jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. When I was young I wanted to be an "Outdoorsman". Now days, many kids seem to want to be "Indoorsmen". Maybe that too has an effect on the number of people who go on to become jumpers.

I sure like the looks of that GLOCK 19, Gen 4, 9mm. Do they all come with fixed sights??? If I can't find one with adjustable sights, I won't buy one. Someone talked me into buying a short barreled 38 revolver for my daughter. It's a nice little gun....It has fixed sights. It definitely shoots off, and there is no way to adjust those sights. I hate a gun that shoots that far off. I know the argument is that at really close range, it won't matter....My daughter is a good shot. She could stop a threat before it was in her lap, with a good shooting pistol. But maybe not with a gun that shoots way off. I think she may trade this gun for something else...

Sure, if it's in a firearm that is in the fire, and the firearm is pointing at the dog. But I don't think you can say that the bullet which killed the dog came from loose ammo. I don't want to go into detail too much due to HIPAA, but there were no firearms in the house, just left over ammo that was in a big bowl of stuff. I imagine that the one that killed the dog was one that cooked off at the bottom and was compressed / tightly wrapped so the gasses had no choice but to push the bullet out fast. Anyway, my point wasnt so much that 1 loose round is super dangerous, but rounds outside of firearms in the right circumstances that cook off can be. I wonder if this is even true....Did you read this story in the newspaper or hear it on the evening news. The media distorts the truth so much, at times, that I'd be willing to bet something else killed that dog....

You can put a large caliber cartridge on a hot plate, and wait for it to cook off. If you cover this with a card board box, it is unlikely that anything will even penetrate that cardboard box. The case will blow up, when the powder ignites. (There is no rifle chamber to keep it together). The bullet will have little pressure behind it. In other words there isn't a lot to worry about. The media doesn't know that. They assume that bullets are going to be whizzing at dangerous speeds everywhere. It just isn't true.... The media also likes to make a big thing out of something that isn't big. That way they can sell more newspapers.....It would be nice to hear the whole truth on something, rather than fabricated B.S.....

For a very long time, it was hard to find anybody who had actually made a combat jump. After WWII combat jumps were seldom made. I talked with one army S.F. soldier who made one combat jump in the Middle East. It was a static line jump from low altitude. So, it sounds like this means of delivering troops is being used more often.

I'm terrible with names, and I think I have Alpheimers. (Yep, I'm a terrible speller too). But I do recall some nick-names from the early 70's in Montana... Jock LaStrap....was a colorful, crazy Canadian. His name was Jaque something. I think he may still jump at Lost Prairie. Ferd....Fred Sands once wore that nick-name. He and Tousey were the first Montanians to break the 1,000 jump mark, for Montana. Tom T-bow....jumped a thunderbow canopy at Kalispell. Fuzzy....was Rich's nickname. He was later busted for dope, and spent some time in the big house. The Shadow....was my nick-name for a while. I had a black jump suit, and was kind of quiet (to the point of being wierd). Bob Murray painted that on my helmet one day, and I was stuck with it.... Total....was a girl who was so weak, that she couldn't pull her ripcord, and even had a heck of a time with her reserve. She never quit jumping though....she just got an easier rig to open. Pig Pen....I never did get that name figured out. Maybe somebody from Kalispell can remember. Sully....I think his last name was Sullivan. He later burned in at Athol, Idaho. A malfunction, too low to the ground. His cut-away didn't work. Stinky....had a long last name. It started with Stein...something. Stinky was easier to remember. Stinky is one of my favorite people from the past....an all around good guy. I wish I could remember....there were so many other nick names....

When I started Special Forces Training, back in 1970, I was barely twenty years old, and right off the farm. A lot of the guys I trained with at a tour or two in Vietnam. A lot of these guys had some really scarey war stories. And most of them were true. I remember one older guy. (He seemed fairly normal.) We asked him why he was re-upping, and he said, because, it's the only way I can kill legally....Whoa!....that even scared me, a little! Some of our S.F. instructors were even scarier than that. Many of them had been in the highlands of Vietnam with only an A-team and a bunch of Mountain-yards, running missions against NVA troops. Some of them had kind of a different out-look on life, (to say the least). I don't remember ever seeing one with a bible. Every month or so we'd make a jump. Sometimes it was part of our training, sometimes it was just to stay current. Shortly after I got to Bragg, we went up to make an equipment jump. Like I said, I was right out of High School, fresh off the farm, and I'd never been around real killers....ever! We got up to jump altitude, and our jump master starts going through his hand signals, and commands. Finally, he comes to where he is supposed to say, "Stand in the door!" But instead.....he says..."F--- God, and stand in the door!" Oh golly! At that point, we all knew we were going to die.....or get struck by lightning, or something bad was going to happen. But you know, nobody even got hurt. The Lord must not have been listening that day.

I was wondering how this team parachuted in. Did they HALO, HIHO, or static line jump? I'm just curious. I'm glad to see these special operations were successful. I can recall some that weren't, in the past. In 1970 or so, there was a prison camp rescue attempt, in Vietnam, that didn't work. Seal and Army S.F. teams went into an enemy camp, that had been abandoned. The prisoners had been moved. Poor intelligence was at fault. During Jimmy Carter's era there was another rescue attempt in Iran, that failed miserably, (by Seals and Army Special Forces). I'm glad that they are getting it right, with these current rescue missions. Possibly better training, better intelligence, and equipment are the key in all this.

I don't think I told this story here. It kind of shows my sick sense of humor. Back in the early 70's I was static line jumping with the army. Some of the guys I jumped with truly hated it. Since I was an army jumpmaster and skydiver, I used to tease others who might be scared to jump. Maybe I am a bully at heart. Hell, in the army, you were supposed to be a brave bastard, even if you had to fake it. At any rate, I had a friend named Melvin. Melvin was a great guy, but he hated to jump. You had to give him credit though, every time he got in the door, he'd jump. We had a night jump coming up, that would be full equipment, up in the mountains of Utah. I could tell that Melvin was getting real worried about this jump. I figured it was time to have some fun. "Melvin", I said. "I keep having this dream every night. I see this guy jumping out of a plane, and he keeps falling and falling, then whack, he hits the ground. I run over there, and turn him over, and it's you Melvin.....I wonder if that dream means anything?" Everyone got a big laugh out of that, but I could tell this really bothered Melvin.....I finally had to quit. Melvin jumped just fine that night. It was just hard for him to do it....

That's a funny one. We went up to jump one day. Our pilot had a cute little thing sitting at his side, next to the door, with a rig on. She asked me about the coming jump. I jokingly said, "You know we're taking you with us." At that point her eyes got really big. She didn't want to talk after that.... When we finally openned the door, she had a big frown, and a death grip on her boyfriend's seat. She wasn't taking any chances. I guess I have a twisted sense of humor....

This is true....I am a big believer in training. Soldiers and police rely on this when they are scared. Their training is what kicks in and keeps them alive in a life and death conflict. But it's also important to train at something that will work when you need it. Maybe I was a little harsh, when I said that karate was a bunch of phooey, that is next to useless. Actually there are some elbow strikes, head butts, and a kick or two, that might actually work. It is great exercise, and does keep you very limber....but I truly feel that most martial arts would be a waist of time when trying to subdue and armed attacker. Practicing how to disarm an armed perp, or someone with a knife, is probably going to get you shot or stabbed when you tried that in the real world. You'd be smarter to just run... My brother took karate for a lot longer than I did. One day a local tough, cleaned his clock, in a bar fight. I asked him why he didn't he use his karate. He said there wasn't time for that. Another time, the same thing happened....He came home with a big black eye. How in the world is practicing karate going to save your bacon when you are facing an armed criminal?.... If it won't work against someone who is unarmed, how are supposed to be able to take someone's weapon away? My brother had years, of karate practice. You can buy a gun, and get some practice, and training, that same day.....This kind of training will work when the chips are down. You don't have to be a victim.

I took Korean and Japanese Karate for a couple years. I used to read all the Black Belt Magazines. My favorite movie back then was "Kung Fu". Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee were my heroes. After a while it all almost seemed real.... We never made contact when we sparred in Karate. Many many of the moves were fakey and unrealistic. Maybe full contact karate would be different...but I truly feel that a lot of the karate that is taught would be good for nothing but getting you in trouble. I watched a guy let out a scary holler once. He put himself into his best karate stance. The other guy then proceeded to pummel the hell out of him. His karate didn't work. I'd like to see an 80 year old woman take on a young buck. We need to get real here.... Now this ground fighting that the cops do.The cage match wrestling, and jujitsu...Their is nothing fake about that. I wouldn't mind learning some of that. But for a woman, or an old fart, or even most people, a gun would be a much better defense.

A twenty man star, back in the mid 70's, was big doings... We used to really look up to the jumpers in Elsinore and other parts of California. Most of us didn't really know what we were doing, back in Montana. We had some big aircraft to jump, but none of us had much experience. We built a state record of 15 in 74. B.J. and others were telling people to sit up, in those stars, to help keep it round and hopefully fly right. I don't think any of us knew much about how to keep it level. The only grippers you had, back then, was a handful of material....Sitting up put a lot of tension on grips. That is a good point though...most people have probably forgotten how hard it is to fly a star... The young "Whipper Snappers" may not even know what a "Star" is....

Nope... I miss those days too. Relative work was more layed back...if you messed up...well, that was to be expected. When you left, the plane, the star was often hard to even see. Some of those exits were really strung out. About all you had to remember, was to look for something round, and get in....

Thanks Wolfriverjoe... I've learned a lot about pistols from you. I'll make sure the wife and I get further training. They found a body of a guy, who was beaten to death, a few days ago. His body was dumped a few miles out of town. This sort of thing has never happened here....This is small town USA. I think a 9mm, would be big enough for my wife. I like mine...it sure is easy to shoot and hit with. I know many people feel that it is too small, but being able to hit what you are aiming at is important. In about 73 or so, we had an SF, A-team, give our National Guard unit some training. I still remember the following story. One of these guys had been on guard duty late at night. He was in a base camp in Vietnam. He was standing in trench, and it was darker than dark. Out of nowhere a NVA soldier jumped in the trench with him. The guy had an AK-47 with a bayonet. This enemy soldier had the element of surprise working in his favor. He could have shot this American soldier, but he chose to stick him with his bayonet. But this SF soldier was prepared....He whipped out his 9mm pistol, and shot the bad guy twice in the chest. That put him down for good. I imagine he was using full jacketed ammo. I would think that hollow pts. would have worked better....9 mm. pistols were not issued to troops back then, but apparently some carried them. I sometimes wonder why more of those soldiers didn't suffer from PTSD.

That was my first thought when I read that, too: even if it was concurrent sentences (i.e., 10 years total for all), there's definitely a lot more to that story than we're getting fourth-hand. Nope, that was his sentence. Thirty years total. Maybe there was more to that story. Yes, it makes a big difference who your judge is, and where you are tried for murder. A friend of mine was killed by his wife. She came into his office one morning and blew away most of his groin area with a 357. She got less than twenty years. I knew another guy, actually he was once a student of mine, who kidnapped another man, then cut his throat with a dull knife....he was out after 18 years. Luckily they sent him back. Then there's O.J. who killed two people with a knife, and then he got off scott free because he was rich. So much for justice in America....

I guess the guy had been drinking...this undoubtedly affected his judgment. He had a clean thirty year record as a parole officer and policeman. The good news is that he got out early. My brother said he looked very old and unhealthy when he saw him. I guess prison would do that to you....

I take it, that pulling a gun is okay, as long as you don't point it at someone. We were antelope hunting, several years back. Another guy, myself, and our wives were hunting. We pulled down into a valley to camp for the night. There were no signs up saying that we couldn't go down there. We probably should have checked better. Sometimes it's hard to tell where public land ends and private starts. At any rate, a jeep followed us down into this drainage. It had an open top with roll bars, and a canvas tarp covering the back. It pulled up with the canvas tarp facing us. Next thing you know, this idiot throws open the canvas. He's sitting there with the butt of his AR-15 on his hip, with the muzzle pointing in the air. John Wayne couldn't have done this any better. Another guy was driving. There sat, a stupid looking kid, with his finger on the trigger. You could tell he was loving every second of this....I felt like grabbing him out of the back of that jeep, and giving him a good thrashing.... Supposedly, we were on private land, and they were kicking us off. We took our ass chewing and left...

Any suggestions on how to best to carry a medium sized auto that is concealed. Would a shoulder holster be the best. I imagine this too is something a person would have to experiment with. It seems like those belt, fanny packs, have a zipper to fool with. I wonder how fast you could get a weapon out when you have gloves or mittens on. When the element of surprise is with the attacker. I was also wondering when you could legally point a gun at someone. My brother told me a story of how a retired police officer pulled out a gun in Oregon. He was out camping, and had three guys give him a hard time. He felt threatened by three men, who he was arguing with. He pulled out his weapon. He got ten years for each guy he pointed his pistol at. So, here's this retired police officer in prison, hoping noone finds out he was once a policeman. So that noone will kill him in the Pen. I don't want to spend my retirement like that. What a nightmare! Can you legally pull a gun on someone who is trying to rough you up. My brother taught shoot, don't shoot scenarios in the police academy. I'll have to have him give me some training, next time I see him.... I tried to pen my brother down with this question once....He said it depends a lot on your sex, age, health, and situation. Probably too what state you live in, and their laws. So, I'm still wondering on that.... One last question....Is there a good solvent for removing lead. I imagine the standard Hoppes isn't much good. I sometimes use a copper solvent, and wire brush, on my rifles. I wonder how that would work on lead fouling....

I did buy some lead, cast bullets. The guy I bought them from, said that lead fouling is a real problem, (if you load them full power). He said at slower velocities the problem is less of a factor. But from the sound of things they may not cycle through a GLock 19, (if they are under loaded). I guess I could shoot them in my other 9mm. They seem to feed okay, in that.

That's a funny one Airtwardo! That reminds me of a rodeo, I was at, years ago. I was behind the chutes working some rosin into my rigging, and getting ready to get on my bronc. Along comes Billy the Bull Rider. This guy owned a bar nearby. He wasn't riding our circuit, but he was able to enter as a home town cowboy. Old Billy had probably been on a bull or two, but you could see the fear in his face. He had a whole herd of people with him. They'd all come to see Billy get on his bull. The bull pen was right behind the chutes. He'd come to look at the bull he had drawn. Billy's passel of friends were in the way. Old Tornado stood there looking at Billy and all his buds. This was a big bull, with a big hump on his shoulders. His horns were sawed off at the tip. Heck, I even got a little scared looking at that bull. All of Billy's friends got a kick out of all this. Some of them were giggling with excitement. Billy wasn't laughing though....he stared for some time, at this mean looking bull. "I know you can ride him, Billy," one piped up. "He's a mean looking, son-of-bitch, isn't he Bill," another added. A few seconds later, old Billy said, in a weak voice, "I didn't know he had horns. I don't like riding bulls with horns." When the Bull riding finally rolled around, Billy was nowhere to be found. I'd be willing to bet, that old Bill was back at the bar, riding his bar stool....

I read a bunch of reviews on that Glock 19, Gen 4. It sounds like the problem with ejection may be too stiff of a recoil spring. It would shoot well with high power loads, but sometimes fail with low power loads. One guy said the stiffer spring helped slightly with recoil, and he liked it since he only planned to shoot hi-power ammo. Then a new spring came out, to solve the ejection problem. One review was by a 1911 fan, who also worked as a policeman. He said he hated Glocks, because his double stack, service revolver, felt like he was trying to hold onto a large balony sausage. He tried the model 19, and loved it. He even retired his old 1911....I'll have to try one out. I read most of that Kathy Jackson article. There's some good info. there. Maybe the wife will like that Glock 19 too. She's been shooting ever since I married her thirty years ago. One day, many years ago, I came home, and there was the wife with a neighbor lady. There on the kitchen table, lay a couple of hunting rifles, and a couple of pistols. Over coffee they were talking guns. The wife was showing her friend the guns she shot. Early one morning, I helped the wife get her rifle, ammo, and hunting stuff ready. She was going hunting with her new friend. I had to stay home and take care of the kids. Women are not only social animals, but they are tough. I remember lots of hunts when I felt like complaining, but the wife was still hanging in there. I have no doubt that she could handle a bigger pistol. I haven't done a ton of reloading for pistols. It seems like it takes too much time, when I can often buy 9 mm ammo reasonably. My reloads do seem to cycle just fine through my gun....but I haven't really tested it with much ammo. It makes sense to only use hi-power, factory, defense loads, for self defense. There aren't many scantily clad joggers around here, during the winter. This morning it was ten below, when I came to work. I know cold is a big factor with automatics. I imagine that if an automatic will shoot well dirty, it will probably work okay in cold weather. I don't use any oil on the working areas of my hunting rifles. Even a bolt action rifle, will freeze up, in really cold weather, if you aren't careful....