Shooting on a budget

Yesterday in the concealed class one of the participants was trying to decide what to purchase for home protection and concealed carry. My response was to think about the abundance and cost of the ammo. While a well placed .22 shot would certainly be effective, and economical, it may not be the best round for home protection and concealed carry. .22 caliber can be purchased in bulk for an extremely low-cost and can provide hours of fun at the range.

Typically 9 mm is the least expensive round you can purchase. WalMart has 100 round packs of Federal for $20 and at times you can find ammo for even less. Now for carry I would suggest hollow point defensive ammo, but for the range, as long as the gun will function properly use what is affordable. Next comes .40S&W comes in second as an economical round and the 100 round pack is $27 at Wallyworld. On occasion .380 Auto can be found for a reasonable amount, I just found a rogue box hanging out at a Dick’s for $10.97. Generally .380 Auto and .45 ACP are about the same cost. Wally has the 100 round Federal in .45 ACP for $30.

In the case of this student I would suggest a 9 mm would be a good economical cartridge to select for concealed and home protection. If a revolver is more your style opt for a .357 magnum and you can shoot mostly .38 special at the range and carry .357 magnum cartridges and practice with .357 on occasion.

North Carolina Brewers’ Cup Judging Today

Today the NC Brewers’ Cup judging is taking place. Unfortunately the timing conflicts with a concealed class I am giving in less than 2 hours so I will not be participating. Good luck to all the entrants, both homebrew and commercial. Last I heard the competition had 166 total entries and the judging was to style, but as a best beer competition only determining first, second and third place winners.

I think next year the competition will move earlier in the late summer/early fall to not conflict with beer events like the Charlotte Oktoberfest.

EDIT: News and Observer Coverage of the judging.

Mistakes Beer Drinkers Make

Today I’m going to give the floor to the 2009 Beer Drinker of the Year, Cody Christman.  Mistakes Beer Drinkers Make was Cody’s blog post yesterday and it is certainly worth sharing. So please take the time today to read Cody’s wise words and you’ll never have beer mistakes again. 😉

Yeah, I make stuff up like that

Yesterday I was pointed to this video on the web which says a .22 beats a .45 for self-defense. I watched it and the points are well made in the video, but I decided to dig a little deeper in the well and check out the data presented in the video. The link was only there for a short time, but thanks to the interwebs I was able to push pause and grab the link.

The article is by Greg Ellifritz and does not quite reach the same conclusions as the video. Greg gathered data from everywhere he could get it for use in the article and it has some interesting results, one being it takes about two rounds to incapacitate. The author states in many cases he believes the assailant stops after being hit because they give up from a desire to not be shot again. I can certainly believe that.

Let’s look at the chart I believe the video used for their analysis.

I just don’t see it the way it was presented in the video. It looks like based on Greg’s data the .32 would be the best caliber followed by the .380 and then .357 and next comes .22. Greg says in the article he believes he needs more data from some calibers and I can believe that as well. If someone is hit with a .44 magnum I suspect they would lie down and cry uncle. What is really interesting is the efficacy of a shotgun. I’ve always advocated a shotgun for home defense and this would say that is good advice.

So if you happen upon an internet video, don’t immediately believe what you see and hear. Sometimes the videographer might be making stuff up, or at least stretching the truth to the breaking point. On the other hand, some well placed shots with a .22 would certainly be tons better than throwing rocks like a caveman!

Gander Mountain firearms warehouse

Last week I went into the new Cary Gander location and put up a blog post about their massive selection of firearms. Yesterday I found myself in Roanoke and decided to stop into their Gander location and they have remodeled the firearms section and it now rivals what I saw in Cary. The store personnel indicated this happened over the past two weeks. Seems like a new direction for Gander, but I wonder if it will pay off based on their pricing strategy. I suspect they will get some sales from unknowing customers, but with a 20-30% higher price than other gun stores it may turn out to be a loosing proposition. I will say they have the largest selection of Sigs I have ever seen in my life. I know there are some Sig devotees out there and they will absolutely love going into Gander.

If they will deal, then Gander might be the new destination. Think about it, they don’t need a cash price, a CC is fine, and if you can get a coupon or a discount for using a store credit card you might just happen across a deal at Gander. Throw out a price match, use the coupon, score one for the team!

Don’t call it a lager if it’s an ale!

So I’m at one of my favorite restaurants for smoked chicken wings last night and it just happens to be a brewpub, imagine that. Generally the beers are solid, nothing to go crazy about, but always with a nod to style and tasty. So the seasonal of choice is an Oktoberfest and I sit there waiting for it to arrive with visions of Oompah music running through my head. As I bring the fruity beer to my lips and taste it’s hoppy goodness I realize this is not a lager, it’s an ale, or a lager fermented way too warm. So my nice Oktoberfest turns out to be an Amber and disappointment ensues. For anyone who owns a brewery or brewpub, please do not call something a particular style unless it was brewed to that style. You could call the beer a Mocktoberfest or Bob of whatever, but a true Ofest would be clean and malty and while it may have some spicy hop character that would not be overdone.

So I switched gears for the next brew and grabbed their IPA which came out cloudy. The taste was fine, but I suspect they are pushing things out the door right now before their time. The wings were as tasty as ever, but after an Oktoberfest that wasn’t and an IPA served to early I decided to call it an evening. I’ll give them another shot, everyone can have an off day, besides, their smoked wings with spicy garlic sauce are amazing!

New drink, I think so!

Last night I created something which was quite refreshing. I had a bottle of commercial mead by a now defunct North Carolina meadery which was just ok, but good enough that I did not want to pour it out. The mead was a dry blackberry mead which had become a bit to alcoholic for my tastes. I took the mead, added some cranberry juice purchased from Costco which was quite tart and then gave it a couple of shakes of bitters. That didn’t quite cut the mustard so a packet of splenda and a new drink was created. Not sure what you call a non-sparking blackberry mead and cranberry juice concoction, but I found it quite tasty and refreshing! I’ll bet it would have been stellar served with an orange garnish or a twist of orange peel. I may have to try some new incantations before the bottle runs out.

 

1911 purchase d-E-cision

Back in May I mentioned I was Jones’in for a S&W E-Series Scandium 1911, and much to my amazement recently one came up for private sale on a forum I frequent. After tossing and turning over the purchase I decided to pull the trigger and bring another firearm into the fold. It wasn’t an inexpensive proposition, but it was much better than trying to find one at a decent price and finding one at all has proven to be difficult.

I had actually forgotten the gun came with night sites until I was taking a better look at it last night. It was barely used and while it does have a couple of small handling blemishes is still a beautiful addition to the collection. The photo off the S&W site just doesn’t do it justice, this is one handsome piece of scandium and stainless. And the fish scaling is ultra cool. If it shoots half as good as it looks it will surely be truly awesome!

Road Show

Teaching my first “on the road” concealed class today as well as my first class with a co-instructor. My assistant has just become a pistol instructor so they are interested in seeing a First Steps class since I teach concealed as First Steps and then include the laws on deadly force. In reality it is almost a Basic Pistol course since NC requires you to teach revolver and semi-automatic, but at the range they are firing their own gun instead of 22’s as in Basic so it doesn’t quite make the Basic Pistol course outline.

There is not much difference between a local class and a road show except you overnight in a hotel and teach in unfamiliar surroundings. I am confident the class will be awesome. Only 20% female this time, but I’ve never had a class which was all male. It’s gonna be a great day!

Olde Hickory Tap Room

Once upon a time there was a taproom in Hickory which served local Olde Hickory beer and guest taps to patrons. It seemed somewhat busy, but often there were plenty of empty seats. That was 10+ years ago, fast forward to last night and while no one was waiting for long, some were waiting and on the weekend the wait can be lengthy. I happened to snag a high top in the bar area and was glad I arrived when I did.

The Olde Hickory Tap Room is located on Union Square in Hickory and lately the square appears to have undergone a bit of a renovation with stages covered by artistic canopies. Best I can tell the Tap Room was established in 1995 as a restaurant to showcase the Olde Hickory beer. The food is generally good to excellent and the specials are always great. I didn’t count how many beers were on draft total, but they had at least 12 OHB brews to choose from and then a nice selection of guest taps.

If you find yourself in Hickory, be sure to stop in. I almost forgot to mention they do a mean Sunday brunch!