I've streamlined the tags (to the left) for the blog entries. Having a gazillion different tags was neat, but it was a pain just to remember which tags I had, let alone how to actually categorize any one article! The consolidation, I hope, will leave everyone a bit less confused.

I've also alphabetized the tags, with the exception of the first two, for easier scanning. That's something I should have done a long time ago, and thanks to the reader who pointed out the issue.

Also, another reader suggested that I put pictures of recent work in the blog. I do have a page for "Recent Projects" on the site, but it's a pretty formal page and updating it takes considerable time and effort. A blog, on the other hand, is supposed to be sort of a "right now" affair, and it makes sense to put some quick pics and notes about recent projects here. Why I didn't make that connection myself will remain a mystery, but thanks for spurring me to action!

-=[ Grant ]=-

Somewhere out there, someone is disappointed that the title does not refer to scandalous pictures!

I had a long weekend, working as an assistant instructor in a rifle class. A very small class compared to others, but it still occupied a couple days of productive time. I'm back in the office today to catch up on a ton of paperwork.

Not to worry, though, because I've got a great link to a Dark Roasted Blend story. Normally we see their content in the FRIDAY SURPRISE, but today they've provided something that is more-or-less on topic: guns. Really big guns. Guns where the powder is measured in barrels, not grains.

Have a look.

-=[ Grant ]=-

I don't usually post on Tuesdays, but I couldn't resist: I think I'm on some spammer/scammer list.

Roughly every week for the past couple of months, I've received an email inquiring about the feasibility of "building" a rather odd gun. I just got the second one of the week.

The details vary a bit from email to email, but they have several things in common: they all want a custom made top-break revolver in a large caliber, they all are from foreign countries, and they all have a gmail return address.

The first couple I actually responded to; after noting the repeating pattern, I've elected to round file subsequent occurrences.

On the off chance that someone is truly, legitimately interested in having such a gun made, here are a few things to consider before contacting any gunsmith:

1) If you're not in the U.S., you can pretty much forget it. Don't even ask.
2) Having a custom top-break revolver made will cost money. Lots of it. Yes, more than the "$5,000 US Dollars" one such email offered.
3) I'm not the guy to be asking. In fact, I can't imagine who would attempt such a job, so please don't ask me that, either.

-=[ Grant ]=-

I've added a link to my "Stopping Power" series to the Library. I have no idea why I didn't think of doing so earlier!

-=[ Grant ]=-

It's always good to find a fresh face in the gun blogging world. Say Uncle, who is becoming to gun bloggers what Johnny Carson was to new performers, recently came up with another: Politics, Guns, & Beer.

Now I know what you're thinking: you're thinking the author of that title must resemble Larry The Cable Guy. Boy, are you wrong! It's written (quite well, I might add) by a 20-something gal named Laurel. She's from Idaho, is a staunch libertarian ("small-L", as she's careful to remind us), likes guns and beer (duh!), eats organic food, uses a Mac, and is cute as the dickens.

(I'm sure that last comment would probably be labeled as "sexist" by a certain segment of society. Hey, I calls 'em as I sees 'em, folks!)

She takes a less aggressive approach to gunblogging, and her topics are more eclectic than most. Check her blog out - it's worth reading.

-=[ Grant ]=-

So, ParaOrdnance (Para USA, as they prefer to be known) has a contest wherein they'll send your favorite gunblogger to Blackwater for a class with Todd Jarrett.

Very cool. Of course, if you look at the list of candidates you'll notice one name conspicuously absent.

Not that I'm surprised, of course. I mean, why would Para USA want to reward someone who is completely unlikely to ever use their product?

Still, it would've been nice to have at least been mentioned. The only thing worse than being talked about, is NOT being talked about.

Sigh. Now I know how Ron Paul must feel.

(Yes, I voted. No, I won't tell.)

-=[ Grant ]=-

For those not "in the loop", last week the lead article in my "Self Defense, Stopping Power, and Caliber" series was reprinted in the U.S. Concealed Carry Association's newsletter. It generated a lot of interest, and some very nice comments from people as diverse as career police officers and ER physicians. Thanks, folks, for the kind words!

For those USCCA members who have visited, I hope you'll find the Revolver Liberation Alliance interesting enough to put on your reading list. This blog is updated just about every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I generally try to keep things on topic (revolvers, shooting in general), but on Fridays I go a bit further afield - concentrating on non-related things I like, things I find interesting, or things that just annoy me. (If you prefer an RSS feed, you'll see a link for that option in the left-hand panel.)

Of course, please feel free to use the comment and voting options for each of the blog posts. Also, check out the archives (on the left) and some of my more important articles in The Library.

Thanks again for stopping by!

-=[ Grant ]=-

Sorry to be a bit tardy...I've spent the last 3 days down for the count with "food poisoning" (norovirus.) I'll spare you the gory details, but if you've ever had it you know it isn't pleasant. If you haven't had the pleasure, trust me - it sucks. I'm glad it's (pretty much) over with.

I'm still a little weak, though, and am told I won't be 100% for a few days yet. Compared to the last few days, however, it's paradise!

-=[ Grant ]=-

Well, I've been right here - frustrated that the blog host once again rejected my login for several days in a row!

It's working now, and it had better keep working or someone is going to get a stern talking-to!

-=[ Grant ]=-

I finally figured out what was wrong with the planned last post in the "Self defense, stopping power, and caliber" series - it wasn't the last post! I realized that there was still important information to be shared, and thus I needed to write a whole new article.

Sorry to keep stringing you along, but look for the next installment sometime this evening. I'm writing as fast as my hunt-and-peck technique will allow!

-=[ Grant ]=-

+++
I managed to finish the last post on my "Self defense, stopping power, and caliber" series last night. When I re-read it this morning, prior to uploading, I decided I didn't like it. Oh, the informational aspect was fine - it was the writing. For whatever reason, it wasn't as clear as I had thought. I'm re-writing it, and will post on Wednesday.

Today, you get the quick-and-dirty, all-linky-and-no-thinky post.

+++
From the No Quarters blog, a graphic example of why one should never allow a member of the media anywhere near a firearm. (I have my own story of a media person being handed a gun, but forces over which I have no control demand that I never tell the tale. More's the pity, as it's at least as good as this one.)

+++
This article - from the Wall Street Journal, no less - has been getting tons of play in the blogosphere. Michael Bane's corner of the web was the first place I saw it, so he gets the tip o' the hat.

(Yes, I am as well. Thanks for asking!)

+++
Finally, this has nothing to do with anything at all, but it was just so...odd that I just knew I had to bring it to you. (Leave it to Tam to find stuff like this...)

Yuck.

-=[ Grant ]=-

Yesterday's post didn't happen because, for some reason, the server wouldn't accept my login. No login, no update.

It's obviously working now. I have no idea why, but here is what should have been yesterday's thrilling installment. Thank your favorite deity for small miracles1

-=[ Grant ]=-

I can't come up with anything to say today. Perhaps I'll think of something by this afternoon.

(In the meantime, look at the primary results and be afraid. Very afraid.)

-=[ Grant ]=-

Sorry for the very, very bad pun. My defense? It's Monday!

Quite a while back, I told you of the difficulty an agency in California was having finding a suitable gun oil. I made the recommendations in that article, and my contact indicated that he would make a decision and follow up with the results.

I talked to him last week, and he indicated that they decided to go with a medium-weight Lubriplate FMO-AW series oil versus a light grease, primarily for application ease. He reports that the food grade lubricant easily passed muster with the ultra-picky worker safety people in his agency, which was a big concern.

How about performance? In a word, they're "delighted" with the oil. It lubricates superbly, doesn't run, and seems unaffected by the alkaline environment in which it is being used. That they can choose exactly the right viscosity for their application is "icing on the cake."

He says that it has worked out so well, he's using the stuff on his personal guns, and says that it's better than any "gun" oil he (or his agency) has ever used.

(Maybe I should get a Lubriplate distributorship...!)

-=[ Grant ]=-

One reader has chastised me regarding my characterization of the on-air abilities of Garry James and David Fortier. His taunt to me was "and I suppose you could do better?"

That, of course, isn't the point. The point is that they're awful on camera, no matter how talented they are as writers. If Outdoor Channel wants their reputations to enhance the show, team them up with someone who does come across in video.

That's the secret to Mythbusters; Jamie would be awful by himself, but teaming him with the uninhibited Adam negates his introversion and makes for good television. (Of course, having Kari on the show doesn't hurt!)

Then again, I'm not a television producer - nor have I ever played one on TV!

-=[ Grant ]=-

Yes, I know this post was supposed to be up this morning. Hey, I'm usually on time, and let's face it - at the time I'm posting this, it is still Wednesday and thus I'm technically on time. So there! (Hey - no one gives Tam a hard time when her posts are late!)

Anyhow, this has been a busy, busy week. On top of everything else, we had a visit from our friendly local satellite TV installer (Dish, for those terminally curious types out there.) The reason we finally "bit the bullet" was because we wanted to see all the great shooting shows on the Outdoor channel. (Yes, Michael Bane - I wanted to see your show too. Are you happy now?!?)

I used to catch Jim Scoutten's "American Shooter" show on cable, but it bounced from channel to channel and ultimately disappeared. With all of the recreational shooters out there, it would seem a "no-brainer" to have shows that cater to their interests, but it would appear political correctness actually trumps the profit motive. Who knew?

(I've always thought it odd that ESPN considers poker to be a "sport", but not IPSC...or PPC...or CMP...or Sporting Clays...or SASS...you get the idea.)

So this evening my wife and I got to tune into a number of shooting shows for the first time. That Bane character is pretty good, but whose Idea was it to have Garry James and David Fortier host a show? Between the wooden expressions and stilted dialogue it actually made those poker tournaments look attractive!

James and Fortier are both great writers (I enjoy reading their work), but being a good TV host is a different skill set. Someone at the Outdoor channel has yet to figure that out...

-=[ Grant ]=-

I usually don't get into politics in this blog (I don't feel it's appropriate to the subject matter I cover.) But, since the future occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue will have a direct impact on 2nd Amendment issues, I'd like to address the upcoming primaries, both "D" and "R". I keep hearing that this election is about "change." Call me a curmudgeon, but I just don't see where shifting from one overspending, big-government candidate to another overspending, big-government candidate is "change."

---

Here in the Pacific Northwest, it seems that those who want to "protect and serve" don't handle firearms very well. Just the other day a former Marine and aspiring police officer shot and killed himself at a New Year's Eve party. Though the news accounts played up the "alcohol is involved" angle, in a television interview his girlfriend said that he simply believed that he had unloaded the pistol, and wanted to assuage his guest's fears by putting the gun to his head and pulling the trigger.

Sound familiar? Once again, the problem is that people treat guns they believe to be unloaded differently than those they don't.

---

I've been installing Bowen "Rough Country" rear sights on Ruger GP100s for a while, and the clients are very happy with them. The stock Ruger front sight, though, is very indistinct - rounded corners, irregular serrations, and sometimes uneven top surfaces. The Bowen front sight is a great alternative, though pricey - it is an expensive part, and has to be fitted and machined to desired shape. However, if you want the best sight picture possible on a Ruger, it is the way to go.

---

It's a new year, and still no Dan Wesson .357 revolvers from CZ-USA. I'm wondering if they're going to show the shop-worn prototype at the SHOT show next month, and once again claim that they're "coming real soon now!"?

-=[ Grant ]=-

Well, I enjoyed my little vacation. While I was out, the emails and snail mails piled up - it's going to take the rest of the week to get through everything!

In my post-vacation hyperactivity, I've decided to rearrange my shop's layout to make it a little more efficient. My parts cabinet, for instance, has always been across the room from my workbench. That's an oversight that has annoyed me for years. It's not a trivial task to fix the problem, as a) the cabinet is quite heavy, and b) lots of other things need to be moved to make the appropriate space. I'm doing it anyway.

In gun news, I found this expose on one of CeaseFire Pennsylvania's board members. I've always marveled at the difference in mental attitudes between pro- and anti-Second Amendment people, wherein the latter tend to focus on hyperbole and emotion, and the former tend to cite facts and scholarship. It comes as no surprise, then, that one of "their own" believes in such non-rational things as crop circles and extra-terrestrials. This is the "mainstream support" they're always bleating about?

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go answer the mail. I anticipate some long keyboard sessions!

-=[ Grant ]=-

On Wednesday I managed to ship out all of the work I'd promised for Christmas. It was the largest FedEx shipment I've done, measured in both units and dollars. Lots and lots of dollars.

Somewhere in the ivory tower of FedEx management there is rejoicing: "new LandRovers for everyone!"

Now I'm going to begin a short vacation. I may (or may not, depending on my mood) make blog posts during the next couple of weeks.

-=[ Grant ]=-

...because I'm desperately trying to get all of the work promised for Xmas out the door. Apologies in advance if I'm not around as much as usual.

Oh, by the way: I'm going to take a short vacation after this is all over! Don't expect many (if any at all) blog entries from the 22nd 'til after New Year's. If you send an email during that time, expect to wait a while for a reply.

-=[ Grant ]=-

Bad storms battering western Oregon today; peak wind gusts of 129mph on our coasts, and inland the power is flickering. I'll post more when the electricity is flowing reliably again!

-=[ Grant ]=-

Sorry for the light blogging as of late, but I'm working my tail off to get a whole bunch of jobs out the door in time for Christmas.

Now, back to work!

-=[ Grant ]=-

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!

The problem with this holiday is not the surfeit of food, but rather the Friday after. No, I'm not talking about shopping crowds (my wife and I don't participate in that frenzy), but rather the fact that everything not retail is closed that day!

Every year I sit down on Friday morning to get what I hope to be a normal amount of work finished, only to find that the people I need to contact are out shopping. You'd think I'd figure this out by now.

The upshot is that this morning is twice as hectic as normal, which means today's blog entry is correspondingly short.

Gotta go...the FedEx guy needs my signature. Boy, does he look overworked!

-=[ Grant ]=-

I've gotten a number of emails and calls regarding the waiting list closure, and I appreciate the positive thoughts! I didn't think I'd ever get to the point that I had to do that, and I hope that when the list opens again people will still remember me!

(The only thing worse than being talked about, is NOT being talked about!)

Now I have to get back to work; the last couple of weeks of injury-related work slowdown have left me even further behind than I already was!

-=[ Grant ]=-

P.S.: I thought about starting up a collection to buy Tam a Python, just so she'd have a non-flat Colt. Then I thought "hey, what am I thinking? If I'm going to solicit contributions for a Python for someone, that someone is gonna be ME! I'm my own favorite charity! If she wants one, she can buy it for herself!" I then cackled maniacally until my wife hit me with a frying pan. I'm recovering nicely, thank you.

Anyhow, Tam, I just hope you're not too disappointed...about the Python, I mean.

Thanks to the many people who have entrusted me with their guns, I am enjoying a surplus of requests for work. In fact, for reasons that are not entirely clear the requests keep increasing, especially in the last number of weeks. This is both gratifying and concerning.

Up until this point, I've taken everyone's name and put them on a waiting list. This worked nicely when I was only a month or two backlogged, but now I'm up to a year behind - and the list keeps growing with no end in sight. The management of the list (answering inquiries, etc.) has now become a time-consuming endeavor unto itself.

To tell you the truth, when I first started in this endeavor I sort of harbored the dream of being able to casually say "oh, I'm so-many-years backlogged", accompanied by a flippant wave of the hand. Now that I'm at that point, it's not as pleasant as I thought it would be, because I'm more concerned with the positions of my clients than with my own. I have so much work to do that guns anticipated for holiday gifts won't make the date, and mostly not even the season - and that bothers me.

I'm sure that some other 'smiths are in the same situation, but I've come to the conclusion that it is unconscionable to continue to accept "reservations" which are so far out, I can't possibly predict whether or not I'll be able to make the date. I'm acutely aware that my skills at time estimation are not as good as they should be, and I find my chronological errors growing in scope as the length of the list increases. That's not fair to you, my clients and prospective clients.

So, as of today I am no longer accepting new clients until I've worked the waiting list down to a more reasonable level. Those who are on the list are, of course, still on the list - I just won't be adding to that list for a while.

If you have wanted to have me work on your guns, but are not on the list, I apologize for my unavailability. As soon as the list has shrunk to the point that I feel comfortable putting people on it, I'll make an announcement and open the list for new work.

Of course, the Blog will still be here to amuse and - hopefully - inform you.

-=[ Grant ]=-

Just a few tidbits today, then back to work:

- I got an email from a fellow who referred to me as having an "influential position" in the industry. Huh?? Since when? Does he know something I don't? Apparently I didn't get that memo...and neither did anyone at Ruger, Dan Wesson, or Colt. (I notice that I have yet to be invited to any industry junkets - I hear about them from AFGWWWTRA. It's probably because I don't have a big enough audience here at the Revolver Liberation Alliance. Guess I'll have to get a regular column in one of the magazines, then I'll get invited to all the "right" parties!)

- Thanks to all who expressed sympathy for my tendonitis. It's healing, slowly, but improvement has been noticed. I managed to get in a fairly normal work schedule last week, though I still can't lift anything that is moderately heavy and requires a strong grip - say, a quart of milk out of a grocery sack on the floor. I hate this whole aging process; I honestly thought that I could somehow avoid it. Silly me.

- Someone emailed a query regarding a rumor he'd heard: that Colt had sold the rights and plans for the Python to Wilson Combat, who were to begin producing them "soon." I don't know where to start with this one, but suffice it to say that it is far more suited for April 1st than November 1st. (Should you ever be involved in a game of "gunsmith trivia", both Bill Wilson and I started out in life as watchmakers. True story.)

- Finally, Tam recently posted another in her "Sunday Smith" series: the Model 15. I just wish she'd show equal love to the Colts in her collection. (Uhh, Tam, you DO have non-reciprocating Colts in your safe, don't you? Tam? Hello??)

-=[ Grant ]=-

Working on an important project today; hope to make an announcement in the next week or so. Stay tuned!

-=[ Grant ]=-

I'd just uploaded today's entry, only to find that Tam scooped me by 21 minutes.

(She's probably still sore about that whole geek thing...)

-=[ Grant ]=-

If you've hung around here for any length of time, you've noticed that on Mondays and Wednesdays I try to keep the blog somewhat on the topic of firearms, preferably on revolvers.

Today is not going to be one of those days.

Why? I was so busy over the weekend I didn't even get a chance to think about the blog, let alone write anything! Well, that - and the fact that my elbow hurts like heck!

As you may recall, I'm suffering from a very painful occurrence of tendonitis in my right elbow. So painful, in fact, that it hurts to type! As I mentioned last week I took it fairly easy for several days, and was feeling vast improvement until I did something so innocuous that I am startled at the outcome. It involved a Junkyard Dog.

No, not the kind you're thinking of - this kind of Junkyard Dog.

As it happens I live equidistant from the knife companies of Kershaw and Benchmade (and, by extension, the firms of Gerber, Leatherman, and Lone Wolf Knives. I guess you could call this "Edged Alley"!) Over the years I've bought many Benchmade knives, and generally avoided the Kershaw brand. Kershaw just didn't have the quality of blade that I desire in my knives, and despite having met Pete Kershaw himself I was never persuaded to carry one of his products.

When Kershaw moved a lot of their production from overseas to right here in my own stompin' grounds they got my interest, but not enough to make me want to put one of their products in my pocket every day. It was when I found that they were transitioning from the use of cheap 440A and 440C steels to Sandvik steels that I became truly interested.

(Bear with me - this does eventually get back to my tendonitis!)

I have quite a bit of experience with Sandvik blades, particularly with their 12C27 steel as used in the famous Swedish Mora knives. It is, in my estimation, one of the better 'all around' steels that one could use on a general purpose knife. It holds an edge well, is very resistant to breakage, and is easy to sharpen. The fact that there were almost no folders made out of that superb yet underrated steel annoyed me greatly, and I was left to console myself with my Moras.

It was when I found out that Kershaw had gone to Sandvik steel (13C26, a very close relative of 12C27) that I decided I had to have one. The Junkyard Dog II had gotten rave reviews over at Bladeforums, so I decided that I was to get one.

(Luckily my wife intervened, and got one for me as a gift, thus saving me from the guilt of buying it for myself!)

It arrived at the end of last week, and from the start I was smitten with it. Fit and finish is quite good, easily up to the Benchmades that I own, and at the price point it is astounding. I haven't gotten a chance to resharpen the edge and really test it yet (any factory edge is downright primitive compared to what a few minutes with a set of stones can achieve), but I expect great things.

The trouble is that the blade is really quite heavy, and flicking it open delivers a solid "whack" to one's muscles. I was absentmindedly doing that while watching television the other night: opening and closing it repeatedly, just because it's fun to do. After about a half-hour of such foolishness I found that my elbow was as sore as it ever was, and then some!

So now you have, as Paul Harvey would say, "the rest of the story."

-=[ Grant ]=-

Light blogging today, owing to a nasty recurrence of the tendonitis in my right arm. A combination of hard work and shooting way too many lightweight, heavy recoil revolvers is starting to take its toll!

It hurts to type or hold tools firmly, and work in the shop has slowed to a crawl in the last few days. I've decided to take it easy the rest of the week, which (in my experience) should allow enough healing to enable me to "hit it hard" again next week.

Sigh.

I never thought I'd get old enough to complain about getting old enough to complain!

-=[ Grant ]=-

I just can't think of anything to say today. This is beyond writer's block - my mind is simply blank.

I'd thought of commenting on an email I received that was critical of my position in the article On Safety, but it seems like beating a dead horse.

Tam put up an interesting post on the S&W Model 53, but a simple link is hardly sufficient for a whole blog post.

A tragic shooting in small-town America shows just how ridiculous it is to insist that only the police and military have guns. I could comment, but I think the story is self-explanatory.

I guess I'll just fall back on this: it's stupid to make pets out of wild animals. Especially heavily-armed wild animals.

-=[ Grant ]=-

Oh man....

When I started this blog I installed a comment system. I've got it set up so that it sends me an email whenever anyone makes a comment, so that I can moderate the exchanges. It won't show a comment unless I've approved it, which is a guard not against dissension but against malicious spamming.

At first I got a few comments, all of which I approved, then nothing. For many months there has been nothing. I figured that no one was reading, or perhaps no one really cared to make their voice heard. After all, I'm not a muckraker like Michael Bane, nor a practiced curmudgeon like Tam, nor even a philosopher like Marko. I'm just a guy who likes to talk about revolvers!

So it came as a surprise to get an email today, that essentially said "I've made a bunch of comments, and I know others have, and we never see them. Is something wrong?"

Yes, in fact, there was something wrong: the comment system wasn't sending me notifications that anyone had commented! This prompted me to log into the commentary site (HaloScan, for those in the know) and guess what I found? Seven pages of comments patiently awaiting my judgement!

If you've made a comment, and wondered where it was, I've probably got it somewhere in this pile. I'll be going through all the comments and posting them over the next few days, so if there's an article that you left feedback for go back and check it - unless you're promoting a porn site, chances are it'll show up shortly!

If you asked a question that I didn't answer, my sincere apologies. I'll be correcting that as well, although it may take a bit longer - I don't type terribly fast!

-=[ Grant ]=-

I've been working on an important blog post regarding gun safety, but I've run out of daylight and still have things to say!

With any luck it'll get posted tonight, possibly tomorrow morning. Stay tuned, because my take on the subject is - as usual - a bit different than what you're used to hearing.

-=[ Grant ]=-

Monday's post, a design analysis of the Colt Python, generated a number of interesting emails - no doubt in part to a mention at The View From The Porch.

The general gist of my inbox was of the "I don't think the Python is the best looking/I think the XXX is better looking" type. I suspect this is because readers were "coming in late" and hadn't read Part One and Part Two of the series.

This series of articles isn't about what I (or anyone else) likes, or what we prefer to own. The idea is to study design with regard to the revolver; to learn about the aesthetics of industrial design so that we can appreciate what goes into it, even if we don't happen to like it.

Yes, I like Pythons; I also like the old skinny-barrel S&W "K" frames, and for different reasons. I appreciate the skill that went into the design of the Python, a design that could have very easily (the S&W 686 springs to mind) turned out to be less graceful than it did. One can admire the skill of the designer, even if one doesn't care to have an example for him or her self. This can only happen if one is conversant with the qualities of good design.

What we like isn't always what's good; this is an important concept to understand. For instance, the S&W "Bodyguard" series of "J" frames is - by just about any measure - an unsuccessful design from a styling standpoint. From any angle, it's an ugly gun. That doesn't stop me from liking the little things, in the same way that I like bulldogs - they're so ugly, they're cute!

On the other hand, one can appreciate guns that one doesn't actually like. I'm not a fan of autoloaders, but that doesn't stop me from admiring the Ferrari-like lines of the Benelli B-76 (I consider it to be the best looking autoloader ever made, which is a little like contending that one has the best deck chair on the Titanic.) My feelings about Taurus revolvers are almost infamous, yet I have to admit that the 4" Tracker series is a good styling exercise (even given the inelegant shape of their triggers.)

Regular readers will have their ability to differentiate between feeling and appreciation sorely tested in a couple of weeks, when I present the final article in the series. I suspect than more than a few of you will be put off by some of the conclusions in it, but with an open mind - and the background in this series - I think you will find it challenging, compelling, and perhaps more than a little instructive. You may still not like what you see, but (hopefully) you'll understand a bit about why the designers did what they did.

Stay tuned, and keep those cards and letters coming!

-=[ Grant ]=-

You may be looking for the latest installment of the "On Revolver Aesthetics" series. Well, it's not coming today. I can only plead for mercy on the basis that I had a VERY busy weekend, and frankly just didn't get around to finishing this week's article.

Saturday had me making a trek up to Firearms Academy of Seattle (FAS), where I was slated to give a talk about the technical aspects of personal high-performance flashlights. It was a good trip, though it's a bit of a drive up and back - very tiring for me (I hate sitting still for more than 15 minutes at a time!)

Of course that took all day, and on Sunday I was engaged in yet another joy of home ownership: finishing a remodel of my bathroom. (Yes, I just remodeled the kitchen, now it's the bath. This is getting old in a hurry.)

I should explain that these projects aren't "remodeling" in the sense that we're updating things. You see, our house is a circa-1930 bungalow, and what we're doing is ripping out the various "improvements" that were added during the '60s and '70s. We're bringing the rooms back to the general look and feel of the originals, but we're not doing an obsessive restoration.

For instance, in the kitchen we put in a sink and faucet that bear a resemblance to what might have been there originally, but definitely aren't original or even reproductions thereof. We're leaving as much original as what we can, though - in the bathroom we left the original tub and got a sink that matches its lines. The sink is reminiscent of the designs that were in use in 1930, but not an exact copy.

The net result is that I had no time for my "regular" job dealing with gunsmithing topics. After all, I have to get a day off occasionally, right?

-=[ Grant ]=-

You've probably noticed that there wasn't a Friday Surprise waiting for you this morning. Well, it's not my fault!

The company that hosts www.grantcunningham.com had an outage, which lasted from roughly 9pm PDT Thursday to about 1:pm PDT today (Friday.) During that time, I couldn't post anything to the site, you couldn't get to the site, and no emails got through.

So, if you sent an email during that time period, I didn't get it - and it looks like I never will. Please resend, and I'll respond as soon as possible.

Thanks!

-=[ Grant ]=-

This has been a bad week for me, internet-wise. The mail servers at the company that hosts grantcunningham.com have been experiencing slowdowns and failures, and my own internet connection (comcast.com) has been on-again, off-again all week. I'm typing this on Thursday evening, about 11:00pm Pacific time, and the connection just came back on. It has been off all day, except for a few hours this morning.

So, if you've emailed me and haven't gotten a reply, that's why. I just downloaded a whole pile of emails, and I'll try to get through them in the next couple of days.

Thanks for your patience!

-=[ Grant ]=-

Apparently Monday's post, featuring the "b-word", was enough to put me over the top!


This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

• gun (15x)
• shoot (6x)
• bitch (2x)
• hurt (1x)

-=[ Grant ]=-

So, let's see if I've got this right: a blog called the "Revolver Liberation Alliance", whose sole purpose is to talk about guns (and the occasional rebellious squirrel), only rates a PG-13? What gives? Most other gun blogs get at least an "R", and good ol' TamaraK rates a well-deserved NC-17.


This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

• gun (11x)
• shoot (3x)
• hell (1x)

I even took a look at the rating for Michael Bane's blog. Michael - clean cut, smilin' Mike, the Ward Cleaver of gun bloggers - got an "R"! A frickin' "R"!

As near as I can tell, he got his rating because he had one occurrence of the word "bitch". I don't know if I need to use the word bitch in context, but here's to hoping my rating goes up a point!

(Hey, at least I'm not trying to raise my rating the way SayUncle is trying to raise his...)

-=[ Grant ]=-

Sorry, but there's no Friday Surprise this week...the surprise, instead, is the site remodel! (Hey, I remodeled my kitchen - why not my website??)

I've never been totally happy with the layout of either this blog or the website; they just didn't look like what I'd envisioned. This new layout is much closer to what I wanted, and introduces some new features as well.

You'll notice that the main site is now better organized, more logically laid out, and easier to navigate. (I hope that you'll think it's better looking, too!)

The Blog, aside from having the new layout, now has many more categories (on the left) so you can read more of what you're interested in. The date archives have returned as well, in case you're a chronological kind of reader.

Have a look around the redesigned grantcunningham.com. If you find something that doesn't work, or doesn't seem to display properly, please email me so that the problem can be fixed!

-=[ Grant ]=-

It's not that I don't want to blog today, but a combination of fatigue and a full calendar conspire against me.

Last night - late last night - I finished a major task: a remodel of our kitchen. I've been at this nearly every evening and weekend for a month, and last night I drove the final nail. The only things left are paint (my wife's task) and a new floor covering. This morning, I decided on a bit of well-earned extra sleep!

Sadly, the workday beckons...

-=[ Grant ]=-

No blogging today...dealing with a broken water supply main at home. ARRRGGGGHHH!

(Why don't these things happen when you have nothing better to do?)

-=[ Grant ]=-

Back from serving as assistant teacher in a rifle class this weekend, and am just beat. My back hurts; my chiropractor has been making a mint off me for the last few months, as I seem to injure myself with greater regularity as I age!

Students reported that ammunition (this class required 700 rounds) was extremely difficult to find, particularly in .223 (5.56mm, if you prefer.) It wasn't so much the price - although ammo prices are high, and getting higher by the minute. No, the major stumbling block was availability; they almost couldn't find what they needed in sufficient quantity for the course.

As a result, we saw a lot of "second tier" ammunition in this class: Fiocchi, Sellier & Bellot, and Wolf.

Luckily, no major ammunition problems presented themselves. In the past, S&B .223 has shown a disturbing tendency to lose the primer cups during ejection. Invariably, those little things would work themselves into the trigger mechanism, and tie up the action. This time we saw none of that. Perhaps S&B has gotten their act together (again)?

Fiocchi seemed to work fine, and the Wolf steel cased is....well, Wolf. I'd personally restrict its use to those guns (Communist-bloc) designed for steel cased ammunition, as the steel is rough on extractors designed for a diet of brass cases. If you insist on using it I'd recommend you keep a spare extractor on hand.

After working these classes for the past several years, and seeing all kinds of autoloading rifles used to shoot large amounts of ammunition over a weekend, I've come to a conclusion guaranteed to raise hackles amongst rifle debaters: the AK-47 series of rifles have proved to me that they aren't as reliable as scuttlebutt makes them out to be, and the AR-15 series of rifles aren't as fragile as that same scuttlebutt says they are. This particular class proved that again: two AKs experienced problems while all of the ARs ran flawlessly.

Boy, am I gonna get hate mail for that one!

(Final thought: if you have a Ruger Mini-14, use only Ruger magazines. Period. Nothing else will be reliable in that model. This opinion is validated in nearly every class, as it was again this time. Yeah, I know Ruger only makes 20-rounders; if you want more, get a different rifle!)

-=[ Grant ]=-

It's one of those days: I can't come up with a decent topic. It's a combination of a lack of creative urge, coupled with a ton of "real" work to be done. The two conspire to give me keyboard constipation.

(Speaking of work - what's with all of the 9mm revolvers that are coming in lately? I've had a half-dozen in the last 4 months, with several more to come! And to think - I don't own one of my own. One of these days I'll have to look into remedying that oversight.)

Back to the non-topic: since I can't seem to do any "thinky", I'll do some "linky": Tam finally puts a revolver in her blog. Is the world as we know it coming to an end?

-=[ Grant ]=-

Yes, I'm aware that I didn't have a blog entry on Friday. I just spaced out - I thought I'd already posted, and went merrily on my way.

On the plus side, I had a fun day. Hope you did too!

-=[ Grant ]=-

Every so often I'll come up with an idea that makes absolutely no sense, and I'm not smart enough to see it.

The other day a client was kind enough to send me an email exclaiming his delight with the work I'd done for him. In it, he said that he owned another example of the same model which he'd had tuned by a very famous gunsmith. (He went so far as to name the other gunsmith, and the word "famous" is most assuredly proper.) After directly comparing the two guns, his opinion was that my work was superior in every way to the other guy's!

Everyone like those kinds of ego strokes, and I'm no different. Since I'm preparing a new customer testimonial section for the website, I wanted to use his quote. No problem, I'll just get permission and I'm good to go!

A moral dilemma immediately presented itself: I actually entertained the idea of publishing the quote unedited, leaving in the name of the famous gunsmith. After all, my flawed reasoning went, at least one other gunsmith does it, so why shouldn't I cash in on the notoriety too? Why should I hide my light in an ammo can?

Luckily I decided to run this idea past my "alter ego" - a person I trust to give me unbiased, unvarnished opinions. This person is famous in the industry as well, and anyone who has been around the shooting game for any length of time would recognize the name. (I won't tell you who it is, because I don't have permission and even if I did, I wouldn't want to ruin a good friendship.)

We exchanged emails, wherein I expressed my reluctance to name the gunsmith in question, but also my concern that I was passing up a grand promotional opportunity. I had the imaginary angel on one shoulder telling me not to, but a little devil on my other shoulder (who, as I mentioned in the email, sounded like a cross between Jackie Mason and Sam Kinison) was telling me to give in to the temptation. What to do? What to do?

Luckily my friend had no compunction in telling me that I was full of it. Well, actually, it wasn't that harsh, but it did bring me back to the proper frame of mind. The recommendation was to listen to my conscience, because it's there for a reason, and that I should "go to [my] strengths, not their weaknesses." How come I never say such profound things?

It's good advice that I plan to take. Whew - that was close!

-=[ Grant ]=-

A regular reader sent me a note that, essentially, asked if I weren't a little daffy for talking about (promoting) other gunsmiths.

Quick answer: I don't think so.

In any endeavor, there are people who stand out from the crowd, whose peers agree are worthy of recognition and serve as inspirations to others. Gunsmithing is no exception, and those who do high grade work deserve a bit of fanfare.

The tone of the email suggested that I would be cutting my own throat (in an economic sense) by giving another gunsmith free publicity. While it's a possibility, I suppose, I'm not all that worried; after all, I refer people to other gunsmiths on a regular basis when I can't provide what they seek. In the case of Hamilton Bowen, if someone needs the kind of service he specializes in I'm happy to make a connection for them!

In what can sometimes be a contentious, egotistical business maybe I can do my part to civilize things, if only a little bit. Call it my small contribution to the field!

-=[ Grant ]=-

...too busy. Seriously. I know my legions (all 3 of you) of loyal fans will be disappointed, but sometimes other things take precedence!

-=[ Grant ]=-

I realize that I've been a bit off-topic the last couple of weeks, posting more general interest topics than revolver-centric items. It's not that I've been lazy, just busy and suffering from a bit of writers block.

When I started this blog, I made a promise to myself to update it at least three times a week; a blog that doesn't have new material on a regular basis is pretty boring, and I don't like to read boring things. So, I've been posting things that simply caught my eye, rather than taking the time to sit down and bang out an original article.

I'll try harder, I promise!

-=[ Grant ]=-