Addition to the armory

I went shooting last week with one of the trainers from HGR Firearms. He was interested in testing out the 1911 style of pistols. He's a Glock shooter, and a damn good one at that. I took out my Kimber Ultra Raptor and my Kimber Pro CDP shown here with her new Kimber magwell for faster reloads


The Ultra series from Kimber is their ultra short 3 inch series, the Pro series are the 4 inch or Commander style of 1911. I tried the Ultra series for concealed carry, but I like using a 230 grain load. A nice big heavy show bullet. That round coming out of a 3 inch 1911 is...snappy is the only word I can use to describe it. By the end of the session, both of us agreed that a 3 inch 1911 isn't for us, so it went into the "trade in" file. We went back to the retail area and I started looking. I was interested in a railed 1911 for home defense. If you've got a pistol setup with a light, that's one less thing you've go to grab if something goes bump in the night. I looked at a HK USP Tactical model with ambidextrous controls, a Sig Sauer Elite P220 and a Springfield Operator. Al in .45 all railed pistols. Now, I've owned HK,s Sigs and Springfields before so they're all good pieces. I couldn't make up mind to save my life...so I left empty handed. I thought about it all night, but couldn't make a decision.

I went back out Friday and ran a few service calls...then back to the shop to make up my mind. Guns and Leather in Greenbriar TN is also a authorized dealer for Nighthawk Customs; a manufacturer of HIGH END custom 1911s. I walked in the door and what do I see but a used Nighthawk Customs Talon II 1911. Someone had ordered it with a bobtail, custom diamond black finish, and a ambidextrous safety. The previous owner took it home, put her in the safe and never touched her again until he traded it in for a Browning over and under shotgun. she had never been fired;so to me it was new as new can be. They have had it for a while, but I never thought about buying it..until Friday. the only thing it was missing was the rail...butr my HK is railed..so that requirement was already filled. i quickly filled out the forms, paid for her and waited for the TBI to do their magic..and waited...and waited. Tennessee has what they call the Instant Check system. It works very well...when the servers aren't overheating. We got all that figured out and down to the range again.


For those who don't shoot; it's a great stress release. No matter what kind of day I've had, a good session of punching holes in paper makes it better. Doing that with a custom 1911 makes it that much more relaxing. 100 rounds out of a new pistol is usually OK, nothing to brag about. I expected it to be a bit worse than usual actually seeing as the new piece was a bobtail. I've never shot a bobtailed pistol before. It feels completely different in hand. I expected this to be a hindrance; it wasn't. The bobtail makes a 1911 point even more naturally for me. Right out of the holster, right on target without trying. I am not a bullseye shooter. I don't try to put all my rounds in a single hole. If the groups are too tight, then you're shooting too slow. I go for COM (center of mass) shots. If they're all COM on the target I'm happy. with the Nighthawk COM double taps are almost too easy. The trigger reset is quick and easy to feel; the steel frame is a bit beefier than the CDP but not too bad. I've been carrying her all day today around the house with no real problems. I didn't pay sticker for her, but I could have bought two Kimbers for what I paid for her. But...she's as close to affordable 1911 perfection that I've found so far.

32 Failures of gun control

I've been following the VT tragedy pretty much since the start. The more I heard about what had happened the more pissed I became. Not just at the shooter, he's a piece of trash coward who merits no more mercy than a rabid skunk. No, my anger is directed at those close minded people who like high on their ivory towers surrounded by gates and armed guards who decide that THEY know better than the common man and push for more gun control. The senseless killing of 31 VT students shows yet again the complete failure of gun control laws. The brady bunch and their ilk sit back attempting to use each and every incident like this to push for more bullshit gun control. IT DOESN’T WORK! When will people wake up to this simple friggin fact of life. If you make it known that there are no guns legally in a place…that place will be much easier to do bad things in. The bad guys don’t really CARE that VT was a “gun free zone” It became a slaughterhouse. Anyone who thinks guns are the problem is pretty much deluded. The problem isn’t the fact that we as American citizens have access to guns. The problem is the anti gun crowd has a faster moving PC machine. All the hand wringing and calls for swift action to play on raw emotion is their stand operating procedure. They push and push for more gun control.

The VT campus was the world the anti gunners was ALL of us to live in. Free of guns..well..except for the one welded by evil. The law abiding students and faculty were left defenseless, waiting on the campus police to come and save them cowering in rooms, waiting to be slaughtered.

In 2006, Virginia had the chance to change the law..it was killed in committee. And I quote

Jan 21, 2006
HB 1572, which would have allowed handguns on college campuses, died in subcommittee.
By Greg Esposito 381-1675

A bill that would have given college students and employees the right to carry handguns on campus died with nary a shot being fired in the General Assembly.
House Bill 1572 didn't get through the House Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety. It died Monday in the subcommittee stage, the first of several hurdles bills must overcome before becoming laws.
The bill was proposed by Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah County, on behalf of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. Gilbert was unavailable Monday and spokesman Gary Frink would not comment on the bill's defeat other than to say the issue was dead for this General Assembly session.
Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker was happy to hear the bill was defeated. "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."
Del. Dave Nutter, R-Christiansburg, would not comment Monday because he was not part of the subcommittee that discussed the bill.
Most universities in Virginia require students and employees, other than police, to check their guns with police or campus security upon entering campus. The legislation was designed to prohibit public universities from making "rules or regulations limiting or abridging the ability of a student who possesses a valid concealed handgun permit ... from lawfully carrying a concealed handgun."
The legislation allowed for exceptions for participants in athletic events, storage of guns in residence halls and military training programs.
Last spring a Virginia Tech student was disciplined for bringing a handgun to class, despite having a concealed handgun permit. Some gun owners questioned the university's authority, while the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police came out against the presence of guns on campus.
In June, Tech's governing board approved a violence prevention policy reiterating its ban on students or employees carrying guns and prohibiting visitors from bringing them into campus facilities.

They had a chance to give those students a fighting chance…and they failed. They let their innate fear of guns over ride common sense, and now they must live with those decisions.

The blood of those 31 students rests squarely on the hands of those who took away their right to self protection