Djay3

When it comes to pre-lock S&Ws I personally am sometimes willing to pay "a bit much". The old saw "you didn't pay too much you just bought a little early" can sometimes sorta make sense. Run across a pre-lock, buttery action, low mileage barrel, pristine blueing and a bank vault lockup ... BANG! Any lingering tightwad tendencies go right out the door! : /

*#%^*#\%*# Okay I get it. Today's world is a really off the wall nightmare and I just haven't woken up yet. Right?

Belatedly finished Reading your Colt saga. Fantastic deal on what has proved to be a fine .45 based on your report! Your Colt should serve you and yours well for years whether you leave it totally stock or get the tweaking bug. Years ago I purchased a 1991A Colt Officer. When I came upon it at the Nashville Fairgrounds gun show, it was a Novaks tweaked model sold in that form by Colt based upon the box. It has a Birdsong type black finish, Novak sights, Novak trigger work and an Ed Brown grip safety. The grip safety has the finest fitment that I have ever encountered. The remaining plastic parts are the trigger and the main spring housing. They blend in so well I have yet to feel the need to change out either. I did replace the spring assembly with an Ed Brown reverse plug and spring system that was fitted by Jeff Walle (now at Guns & Leather). This is a mod that is only a good idea for the Officer size setup. Jeff did a free throat polish as well! He also installed a Wilson Bullet Proof extractor. Your full size will likely not require any of these tweaks, but I guess my long winded post is just pointing out your 1991A has "solid bones" that will serve you well in any configuration. You made a solid choice! And you got a great price! Congratulations on a new family heirloom!

API - "St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said the 18-year-old had a considerable criminal record in the less than two years since he turned 17, with three assault charges, armed robbery, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon." "Some protesters questioned why the officer couldn't use pepper spray or a stun gun. "Frankly, that's unreasonable," Belmar said. "When we had somebody pointing a gun at a police officer, there's not a lot of time." Pepper Spray versus a drawn 9mm? Duh. Fact finding and reasoned thought is playing no role amongst a certain element of "protestors".

The book "Unbroken" is an incredibly powererful account of Mr. Zamperini's inner strength to survive and his ability to inspire others. A two hour or so length movie will hopefully wet viewers appetite to sit down with the greater depth that the book will provide. I saw a special many months ago featuring Mr. Zamperini that included an appearance by Angelina Joelie (sp?). She managed to give the impression she was the one who brought his story to light. No reference to Laura Hildebrand the book's author at all. 😡

Yep. Bushmaster did pay an out of court settlement in the past according to today's UPI article on this newly announced Newtown related suit ... "In a lawsuit over the .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle used in the Washington, D.C.-area sniper shootings that killed 10 people in 2002, Bushmaster and a gun dealer agreed to pay $2.5 million to two survivors and six families in a 2004 settlement. It was the first time a gun manufacturer had agreed to pay damages to settle claims of negligent distribution of weapons, according to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. In that settlement, Bushmaster paid $550,000 and the Washington state gun dealer, where the sniper's rifle came from, paid $2 million."

"Reminded me of the first barbershop I visited as a kid in the atmosphere of men sitting around talking " ... Spots ... sigh ... oh for the days of the old fashioned barbershop. Barbers that had been in the same shop for years. Wood paneling with mounted fish on the walls. Barber chairs that were built like tanks. The magazines were 6 year old "Field & Streams". The old fellow over in the corner that could do a hell of a "Spit Shine" ... sigh ...

^^^ Bet this hits the "nail on the head"! Sig first rolled out the .380 Sig 238 then followed up with the somewhat larger 9mm Sig 938.

The things we have to do in the name of Science! ; ) Nice work assignment! I am not surprised how well the 4Rs bottling faired. Mr. Jimmy Rutledge their Master Distiller deserves his Hall of Fame membership for sure! Here's a solid interview with him about his 45 years in the business ... http://imbibemagazine.com/QA-With-Jim-Rutledge-of-Four-Roses-Bourbon

THIS! An ENT can actually inject a cortisone-like anti inflammatory through the ear drum. I've had it done and it sounds much more uncomfortable than it is! Audiologists can read a person's audiogram and instantly recognize from the profile if that person has been exposed to gun fire. I am down to only one ear (the right one) and it has significant impairment requiring a hearing aid. I also suffer from constant tinnitus (ringing and roaring) in both ears. Some folks are unable to adjust to tinnitus and surprisingly suicides have been one "solution". Doubling up (ear plugs & muffs) is the only wise thing to do. Also a good idea to stay well away from indoor shooting ranges.

I think there are a lot of folks that simply enjoy the fit and finish of that level of 1911. I also don't think all of those owners necessarily go out of their way to "brag" about owning one. Many also would not claim their shooting is necessarily enhanced. They simply appreciate the inherent quality of the materials and the overall fitment and attention to detail. If you visit the 1911 Forum you'll discover a lot of Ed Brown, Wilson Combat, etc owners are not particularly "well healed" "showing off" moneyed folk. A lot of folks discover something they perceive as being of special build quality and they decide to spend their money on it. An upscale motorcycle, a finely built automobile, etc, etc. Good for them.

Emily Miller's book, "Emily Gets Her Gun" goes into great detail about all of the road blocks to gun ownership in DC. She sure does her homework and footnotes galor add huge credibility to her book that documents the threats to the remnants of the 2nd Ammendment in our country.

AMEN! About a decade ago, ORVW was readily available and the 10 and 15 yr old was a solid year round choice for folks that prefer wheated bourbon and were okay with paying "a bit more". Its limited supply status and escalated pricing fostered it's "cult" status & thrill of the chase cachet. I guess the craziest extreme bourbon cult nowadays are the idiots in Manhattan that currently pay $600 a shot for the original A.H. Hirsch pot stilled. Maybe a dozen years ago it was $65 a bottle at Red Dog in Franklin! I've got one bottle left and now I can't bear to open it and drink it! : ( BOURBON CRAZINESS!

Sig P245

Enjoyable solid report! Isn't it a shock how some of the garden variety 7.62x39 can perform with some barrels! It's a round that deserves more respect than it sometimes gets.

Congrat's on locating your dog thanks to your smart use of the internet! Personally, I would be so happy to get my pet back, I would not risk "rocking the boat" over a possible fee. Only after getting him home would I pursue a protest if things seemed fishy. Like you said the fee may even be waived under the circumstances. Securing his tags and implanting a microchip will give you some extra peace of mind. Bottom line, you are getting your fishing buddy back! : )

Maybe the gold stoppers weren't strictly Japan? Here's a 2012 article link with photos of "Blanton's Gold Edition Bourbon". It is the "B". http://drinkingmadeeasy.com/blog/blair-phillips/surviving-a-bear-attack-with-blantons-gold-edition-bourbon/

Several folks do apparently. One comes to mind ... Give Julian VanWinkle a call. ; )

As far back as '04, I was amazed at the number of Japanese that flew in to the Bardstown Bourbon Festival! No telling the Japan market growth in the last 10 years! On that trip we toured the Buffalo Trace distillery. Our tour guide slipped us a couple of "Japanese Market Only" gold plated Blanton's stoppers. They must pay a heck of a premium to merit such fancy Blanton's stoppers! The value of gold since then may have stopped this Japan perk? Japan stopper on the right. Sure enjoy your posts Mike.357!

Another ETL "two thumbs up!" With the noise level building like it is, it will be the next "VanWinkle-like" scavenger hunt! ; )

Glad you handled it the right way, managed to keep your cool and not drop down to that "manager's" level. It seems like one has to trade nowadays with the more and more rare Mom & Pop operations to be treated courteously. Of course there are even exceptions to that ... cough ... Franklin Gun Shop ... cough, cough ... : /

No doubt! I was fortunate to visit the South Store (Anniston, Al) well before the Newtown tragedy. The racks were full and me and even my wife was in Hog Heaven! Leon had time to give me a personal tour of what all was available. Here is ole Leon helping some other customers ... Here's my selection after some stock fitting and finishing ...early 1950s Springfield. Called a Service Grade Special i.e. original hardware with new CMP stock. The CMP received a batch of unstocked all correct metal parts rifles so I bit the bullet at $950 but thankfully my Financial Comptroller (the wifey) was there! :)

Success! Thanks everyone for your solid information.   It turns out I may have corrupted my copy of the Safari Web browser perhaps due to my using a hard drive "file cleaning" software program to create some extra disc space. Got to be careful using those.   Thanks again!   ps - My first photo posting was in the General Chat section whiskey & spirits thread!   :yum:

With all the good reports of Elmer T. Lee, I'll be on the lookout. I've got an older bottling (Bardstown Bourbon Festival) but it has got the late Mr. Lee's signature attached to the back. Trying to keep that one unopened. Posting a couple of pics - especially since I've overcome some technical glitches with photo posting : )

Cool! Also, I trust this still passes mustard, but I used my CCW permit as proof and it was accepted.