Guns, Fun, Food and More

Taurus Curve – an “out of the box” Review

I love it when the majority of manufacturers talk “innovation”. There are some interesting design features on several firearm platforms – innovation?? – really?? Well let’s take a look at something that is innovative . . .

Of course we all know the box is curved – but it’s almost obligatory to point that out

inside the box is where the fun begins

The usual suspects – manuals,spare magazine,trigger guard, and of course your key for the firearm lock or ie the Hillary hole.

and now we start stepping out of the box – both with the firearm and innovation. The curve is quite apparent – and tucks against your hip very comfortably. The manual sights consist of the white lines centered on the bore of the pistol and do work well – with practice. The stippling on the back of the grip actually does quite well.

as does the stippling on the front of the grip

left side

completely smooth – no slide stop – magazine release – nothing to snag

right side

belt clip,nice index point for your finger and the on – off – and mode switch for the laser.

With 7 rounds of Hornady Critical Defense.

I highly recommend either critical duty or critical defense as a carry ammunition. In fact I carry one or the other in every pistol I rotate through except my 10 mm Glock 20 – steady diet of Buffalo Bore 180 grain jacketed hollow points – there is just something about that large of a round at almost 1400 feet per second that appeals to me.

top to bottom – Keltec P3AT – Taurus Curve – Walther PK380

left to right – P3AT – Curve – PK380

left to right – P3AT – Curve – PK380 – one more picture and then some thoughts . . .

What has Taurus done ? They have made a complete package for the masses. Most people are not enthusiasts when it comes to firearms. They really don’t want to have to buy a firearm – and a holster – then a laser – then a different holster – then a laser light combo – then a different holster – all of a sudden that 300 or 400 dollar gun is now 800 or more plus training and practice costs plus licensing fees plus- plus – plus. . . .

Taurus has taken most of that and gotten rid of it. Loop the lanyard on a belt loop – put the trigger guard on the pistol – clip inside your pants – good to go. Drawing and presentation is easy enough with practice. Scoop the pistol from the outside of your pants – get your thumb behind it and get a grip – continue vertically out of your pants until clear – maintain vertical and bring the gun forward and the lanyard will strip the trigger guard – index your finger and bring it around in front and get your support hand on it – pop the laser on and you are at low ready. Now practice that set of motions 4 or 5 hundred times. Go to the range and put 4 or 5 hundred rounds through the pistol both with and without using the laser. practice – practice – practice !!

LASERLYTE Corp did a great job designing the light/laser module. No problem with daylight visibility at 21 feet. The trigger pull, although long, is smooth and breaks good. Again, that P word gets in the way – PRACTICE! For a relatively light pistol, perceived recoil is very minimal – shape and weight distribution has a lot to do with that. Taurus spent some time and effort getting the ergonomics of the pistol as right as possible.

Things I would like to see offered:

a barrel chambered in 32 N.A.A. ( a cartridge designed by North American Arms – A bottle necked 380 – An incredible mouse gun round since Hornady started making it in Critical Defense)
Upsize the platform to a 9mm (but then your starting to go backwards – adding size – weight – thickness etc.)

I am not an “operational operator operating operationally” nor am I a “mall ninja” – I am just a guy that has used firearms in a professional and personal fashion for over 30 years. I quit counting handguns rounds downrange when I got to 100,000 plus. I cannot emphasize this enough – PRACTICE.

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

The 80’s – What a Time !!

So many things in the 80’s were not just neat or cool they became icons –

MTV

Phil Collins

Miami Vice

Phil Collins on Miami Vice and the theme from Miami Vice on MTV

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and pink flamingos

Even today pink flamingos in your yard (the plastic ones not the real ones) are still really cool.

Smith & Wesson Model 4566 – still an icon today

The 4566 was an instant hit when Smith brought it out in 1988. It was very popular with the Bowling Pin Crowd – The gun was so over built people were loading 45 ACP to 45 super pressures and spending their Saturday afternoons bowling. 230 grain hardball at 1200 fps will really clear pins off a table. The 4566 was a mid-size pistol – at 46 oz! Very mild recoil, very smooth to shoot even at high pressures. Wolff Springs still sells the recoil springs for the pistol. (over pressure shooting with the gun required a special recoil spring)

The 4566 was a double action/single action – the double action was as smooth as any of their revolvers and the single action breaks clean at 3-4 pounds.

Breakdown is straight forward, line up the notch,pull the pin,off comes the slide.

Disassembly of the slide components is very simple. Remember the guide rod is not captured and it will go further than you can ever imagine.

Smith & Wesson still sells the nice stainless steel mags; 8+1 in the pipe = 9 rounds total.

Does it shoot? HELL YES!

8 rounds – in 3 seconds -at 21 feet. Right side of the 8 ring that hole is 3 rounds. Not bad for an old fart – me and the gun.

If you can find one in good shape and your willing to pay the money you should buy it. The gun shoots great and is really an icon of the 80’s. This particular gun was purchased at 3G Pawn on South 132nd here in Omaha. Great place to shop, good assortment of firearms and wonderful people to deal with. Now I just need to buy that Model 59 that I’m looking at, but my wife says if I do I won’t see her for the next 2 weeks because that’s how long it will take for the swelling to go down.

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

Sar Arms B6P – An “Out of the Box” Review

The Sar B6P is a polymer frame CZ 75 B copy.

Of course it comes with all of the usual suspects.

Cleaning rod – patch rod – one mag is also included – comes with a nice case

Break-down is pretty straight forward – back on the slide a hair, pop the pin and the slide comes right off.

Just as simple as that.

And again a word to the wise, NOT a captured recoil spring, guide rods really have a habit of disappearing. It only takes 2 hours and 10 minutes to clean a gun but 2 hours of that is finding the guide rod. DAMN

Good view of the inside of the slide and the lugs on the barrel and the matching recesses on the slide. And a view of the firing pin block which allows you to then call it a CZ 75B copy. And it keeps all the lawyers happy.

Shown here with the hammer on half cock with the safety off. From page 11 of the owners manual (a DANGER Will Robinson moment) “WARNING ! Your pistol has a resting position or notch on the hammer. This notch is not to be used as a half cock position. This notch’s sole purpose is an additional notch on the hammer so as to allow the sear a chance to engage the hammer if the trigger id not pulled fully to the rear. In order to lower the hammer, first move the safety to the “off” or “fire” position. Grasp the hammer very firmly and put a finger between the hammer and the firing pin. Then pull the trigger and slowly let the hammer move forward past the resting position. RELEASE THE TRIGGER. Gently let the hammer rear of the slide.”

Folks, the pistol has a firing pin block, however, it does not have a decocker. Yes it’s perfectly safe to carry at half cock, great trigger pull from that position. However you really should not carry it that way as without a lot of practice you could really “screw up” lowering it to a half cock position. I am not a lawyer nor do I play one on television. My legal advice is worth exactly what you pay for it. NOTHING!!

Full cock safety on. If you don’t mind a manual safety on a carry pistol, this is the way to go, and it has a really nice single action trigger pull.

Comes with one magazine marked 15 rounds, however it will hold 16 rounds which gives you a total capacity of 16+1 or 17 rounds.

Here you can see how the slide sits inside the frame which gives it a lower bore axis. This really helps with recoil.

Empty weight comes in at 1 pound 11.7 ounces – just under 28 ounces.

These were all rapid fire. The three I have circled I knew they were gone when I let the shots off. The lower bore axis in conjunction with the polymer frame (helps soak up recoil) makes for one very soft and smooth shooting 9mm pistol. Very accurate at defensive handgun ranges. Looking forward to warm weather to get it outside and really stretch it out.

The Sar B6P is one great value. Generally available from internet retailers at under 300 dollars. It is well worth the money.

This particular firearm was purchased from DE Guns in Lincoln Nebraska – DEGuns.net – not over the internet but from the retail shop – great folks to deal with and hard to believe the amount of “stuff” that they have in their little shop. Give them a look – highly recommend them.

Have Fun ! – Run the Gun ! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap !!

Just in case you don’t feel old enough today . . .

Just in case you don’t feel your age today . . .

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Thirty three years ago the movie Top Gun was released. Keep smiling!! ( it scares the fuck out of people – LMAO )

Have Fun ! – Run the Gun ! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap !!

Good Stuff Alert – Shrimp Mac & Cheese

Stumbling In and around

the internet – 2 1/2 – 3 hours later – no clue whatsoever it was I started looking for I ran across this site – Honest Food dot Net

and this recipe for Shrimp Mac and Cheese – so I grabbed the stuff I needed – with one substitution I did this for dinner.

Fresh out of the oven – still bubbling!!!!

Oh My My – Oh Hell Yes !! Baby put on that party dress – Just damn near went face down in the plate – real comfy food !!

Here ’tis as written . . .

Shrimp Mac and Cheese

This is an easy dinner that is a great riff of the classic lobster mac and cheese. It keeps well in the fridge for a few days, but doesn’t freeze well. Prep Time20 mins Cook Time30 mins Course: Main Course, Pasta Cuisine: American Keyword: comfort food, shrimp Servings: 6 people Calories: 1091kcal Author: Hank Shaw

Ingredients

1 pound elbows or other short pasta, cooked and drained
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small hot green chile (serrano), minced (optional)
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups cream
2 cups shredded gruyere cheese, loosely packed
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar, loosely packed
1/2 cup grated pecorino or parmesan cheese
Salt and black pepper
12 ounces shrimp, peeled
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
4 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

Heat the butter in a large pan over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add the onion and saute, stirring often, until soft and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the chile and garlic and saute another minute. Preheat the oven to 350F.
Add the flour to the pan and mix it in well. Cook this, stirring often, for 5 minutes, until it browns a bit. Pour in the cream about 1/2 cup at a time, mixing after each time so that it’s fully incorporated.
Do the same with all the cheeses, adding about 1/2 cup at a time, and stirring it in before adding more. Add salt and black pepper to taste, then mix in the cooked pasta and shrimp.
Move all this to a casserole dish; I like to grease mine with butter, but this is not strictly necessary. Pat the mac and cheese into the casserole and sprinkle the breadcrumbs and parsley over it all. If you feel like adding some other seasonings, like Cajun or Cavender’s or somesuch, sprinkle maybe a teaspoon or two over everything now.
Bake uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, until the top browns. Remove and let it sit 5 minutes before serving.

Notes

NOTE: If you are using large shrimp, cut them into small pieces.

Nutrition

Calories: 1091kcal | Carbohydrates: 73g | Protein: 48g | Fat: 67g | Saturated Fat: 40g | Cholesterol: 363mg | Sodium: 968mg | Potassium: 410mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 2427IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 916mg | Iron: 3mg As I cooked it – Substituted shredded Quesu Quesadilla cheese for the Gruyvere – I really like Queso for cooking – and I couldn’t find the other – LOL . . . Use raw shrimp !! – it will be cooked just right buy the time you are ready to plate it – precooked shrimp will totally over cook and have the texture of little chopped up pieces of “sole of tennis shoe” – and almost as much flavor – Don’t ask me how I know this – I have actually screwed up several recipes over the years doing just that – just pop the tails off the shrimp – chop it up and use it!! Used an oven safe skillet rather than a casserole dish – just makes sense to me – it is already warm from cooking “the stuff” – just slip it in the oven and it continues on its merry way to your plate . . . The website I got this off of looks like it has not been updated in about 7 years – you would be amazed how many “abandoned” web sites I stumble across . . .

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! and remember – Fish Heads Are Cheap!! – Damn – Now I’m wondering if maybe I should have substituted fish heads for the shrimp????

Out of the Closet – S&W 22A-1

Smith made these until springtime of 2015 – considered by many to by a “poor man’s” Model 41. The Model 41 is a full up competition gun – pricey at $1599 – “semi” mass produced but hand fitted – essentially what would be considered a performance center gun and Smith holds to incredibly tight tolerances with the Model 41 – with the correct ammo ( Ely match grade or better @ $15.00 for 50 – Damn! )- if you’re not putting everything into one hole in the paper at 25 plus yards it is not the pistols fault!

A gently used Model 41 – priced north of 1200 dollars!! – from S&W’s website the current production Model 41 – ” The Smith & Wesson Model 41 is the top of the line in rimfire pistols. Used by national level competitors for acute precision in competition . . . ” Folks I don’t believe we will ever have one of these ” found in a closet ” and reviewed on the site – LMAO!! The Model 41 is an all carbon steel gun – weighs more out of the box – by over six oumces – than my RIA 1911 !! Talk about a stable platform for 22 rim fire . . .

And if you aren’t happy with just an ordinary, mediocre Model 41 – S&W does make a Performance Center Model 41 – now if anyone out here simply can’t decide what little trinket to grab me for Christmas . . . .

Back to reality . . .

Smith went in a little different direction with the model 22A-1. A really decent price point and very acceptable accuracy – not a true target or competition pistol – I will show you the mag release and mag well in a minute and you will understand why – but a really good plinker!! When they stopped production the MSRP was around $329 dollars and the used market has a bunch out there and they tend to run in the $200 to $300 range.

Simple to breakdown – lock the slide back – push the button in that’s in front of the trigger guard and the barrel comes right off.

Hammer fired – alloy frame – the steel barrel – chamber end in top pic – steel barrel in an alloy “housing” – complete with rail – ready for a red dot or scope if the target sights don’t float your boat.

Another look at the sights

A peek under the slide . . .

Let’s take a look at the mag well and the magazine . . .

No tapered magazine – no beveled mag well – changing magazines in a real hurry – gotta shave .048 seconds- hurry hurry / quick quick – is time consuming at best – but S&W did put a button on the side of the magazine to make it a lot easier to load those itty bitty 22 shells . . .

The other issue concerning “competition use ” is the location of the magazine release – if you really get a grip on it – you can inadvertently drop the magazine – oops!!

Shown here with a Ruger 22/45 to give you an idea of size

So Bruce, do you think I should pick one up if I ran across one in decent shape and reasonably priced?

Absolutely – they are just fun little guns to shoot – S&W made them in several different finishes ( 5?) and a 4 inch, 5.5 inch, and a 7.5 inch and by the ten of thousands – they are out there and not anything you would consider rare or collectable – but really neat- me personally I would start getting twitchy at anything over $150 or so – I am not a cheap bastard! – I am fiscally conservative! – so don’t even go there !!! – LOL

And the more things change – sometimes it seems the more they remain the same

Type 14 Nambu pistol from the TokyoKokura Arsenal

I think these grips from Altamont would look pretty good on a Model22A-1 . . .

As always . . .

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

Out of the Closet – JC Higgins Model 60

This is kind of a neat one this time – it gives you quite a range of stuff – from marketing to to field to table!

First off – J.C. Higgins was an actual person – not just a created pesona or some dreg of humanity with a pretty face ( hoolywood – lower case and misspelling intentional – star ) for you folks in Rio Linda CA ) hawking a bunch of over priced crap.

Here is a link to wiki for a blurb on him and there is quite a bit out there on the web if you want to get totally lost and snap back to reality in about 5 hours or so trying to figure out why you are watching cat videos on youtube – I actually found a PDF file of one of the inserts that came in the box with the shotgun – just click here jchiggins_model60shotgun

I apologize in advance for some of the pics – long guns are more difficult to get good pics of –

and the rest of it –

The Model 60 came in 3 main variants – plain barrel – vent rib – vent rib with a “poly choke” – and each variant came in two basic versions – a plain or field grade – and a fancy or deluxe grade – as seen here.

High gloss finish – checkering – jeweled bolt and shell lifter – really nice stuff considering this was in 1952 or so and from Sears as a house brand made by High Standard . . .

some light surface rust – considering years ( decades even ! ) of being ignored in a corner of a closet it is in quite good shape . . .

And of course you could engrave your initials on the plate !!

It came to me with a failure to eject issue – basically it was a singe shot – took the gas piston system apart and cleaned all the bits of melted , fused plastic gunk out of it – and that really sucked – did that to it about 7 or 8 years ago so sorry no pics – but I believe you can use your imagination to “hear” the running commentary that went with that task – OMFG !!

This time around – a little cleaning and a look at the “gas cup” that the piston goes in to check for dust bunnies and such. . .

Front stock off – aluminum gas shield still in place . . .

Aluminum shield off . . .

How does it know if you are shooting light loads or magnums or field loads ???

That stack of springs regulates the amount of gas – pretty much any gas the gun does not need to cycle compresses the springs and the excess bleeds off into the forearm – thus the reason for the aluminum shield.

Fire control group – mounted in a machined aluminum housing . . .

If it needs to be cleaned I can’t recommend taking it all apart – just drop it in an ultrasonic cleaner – blow it dry and put drops of CLP on the pivot points with a precision oiler – a whole lot easier than taking it apart!!

Looking up from the bottom – bolt forward . . .

Bolt to the rear – or retracted . . .

So Bruce – How can you tell if the “gas system” is plugged and needs more cleaning or not by looking at it?? How the hell do you even see anything???

Technology – Ain’t it some kinda wonderful??

A bore scope of course – the next series of pics will show you screen captures of the ports that dump gas onto the piston!!

Cool ain’t it ??? If you run up on one – and you have the time and patience to fuss and fart around with it – they are really neat old guns – Worth anything on the used market ?? If you are selling ?? Sadly not much – way to many produced for it to be rare or collectible – but if you are buying ?? – It is definitely a buyers market – I would start with an offer of $75 to $100 – stop cold at $125 – if in decent shape and it fills in a spot for me – you see them in pawn shops in the $200 – $300 dollar range – realistically they are over priced at that amount – I really am not going to go into pawn shop pricing – remember the “secret” – buy low – sell high – merchandising – suffice to say every time I have been told that I am low balling someone – well Bruce you are trying to rip me off!! – they take their “stuff” to a pawn shop and come right back to me wanting to take my money now – Please?? LOL!!

I hope to take this particular gun pheasant hunting – but the time element this year does not look like that’s going to happen – before you know it we will be eating corn beef while trying to shoot the Easter bunny cause he won’t stop with all the noisy fire works . . .

To paraphrase a popular commercial – What’s in your closet??

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

Good Stuff Alert – Sipping Stuff !!

The regional chain grocery store that we frequent has a decent “liquor department” and they have “tastings” – these cute young girls work for the different distributors and give you sips of various carbonated and non-carbonated adult beverages . . .

Makes grocery shopping fun !! I don’t remember HOW long ago I grabbed this – found it under the cupboard looking for something else and broke it out for after dinner on Thanksgiving. Really GOOD flavor – tends to burn a little on the way down – but damn nice flavor and taste !!

After a closer look at the label I can wrap my head around the burn – 61.7% by volume – that is 123.4 proof – OH MY GOODNESS – but it sure is good!! – LOL

Enjoy the Holiday Season – Stay Safe – and TRY to stay relatively sane !!

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

A Special Shout Out to my younger readers!!

Now kids I will admit that this adult shit ain’t ALL burritos and strippers BUT one of the neat things ( besides having your favorite burner on the stove ) is making your own sandwiches. . .

Crunchy peanut butter – honey – bacon – banana – and nutella on whole grain bread – God Bless America!!

Another really neat thing – Naughty?? / Nice?? If your concerned about Santa NOT hooking you up – go buy your own gifts – the only downside to that is you have to wrap them – LOL!!

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

A Henry for Christmas ?? – You’ll shoot your eye out!!

I went to look for an adult sized Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas – ( yes – I know – be careful or I’ll shoot my eye out!! ) and this followed me home. One of several nice things about being an adult is having a favorite burner on the stove – another is buying your own Christmas gift. And you don’t have to wrap it up if you don’t want to be bothered with worrying about making it look good and you’re not too worried if it doesn’t – LOL

The furniture on this is real nice – the pictures don’t do it justice.

As soon as I saw the wood I told the guy “Here – take my money” a real good looker!!

And in a real caliber . . .

A variety of ammunition is available for the 45-70 , HSM makes “original” loads – using smokeless powder they essentially duplicate the 70 grain black powder loads and sure makes clean up a lot easier. This loading will work for just about anything you care to shoot – this is roughly the same load the buffalo hunters used. A 45 caliber 405 grain bullet moving 1300 FPS with 1520 ft. lbs. of muzzle energy with good shot placement will work for any game animal on the North American continent. You can shoot these rounds in just about any 45-70 as long as it is in shooting condition. Old trapdoor Springfields – old highwalls – minimal recoil in a light weight rifle like the Henry and almost none in an old trapdoor.

HSM also makes a “bear load” which takes the energy level up quite a bit – A hard cast bullet with a gas check weighing 430 grain moving at 1801 FPS with 3098 ft. lbs. of muzzle energy. Not too shabby – a bear is something different than most other game – really large, mean, plumb full of teeth and claws and considers you a food source.

Why that pistol is a real hand full – 46-70 the cartridge is damn near a hand full !! – Gotta love it . . .

Another good source of factory ammo for the 45-70 is Buffalo Bore – Their take on the 430 grain hard cast really steps out – 1925 FPS and a real impressive 3537 ft. lbs. of muzzle energy.

Factory loads for the 45-70 pretty much covers the whole spectrum = 250 through 430 grains – light through hell for stout loadings.

Well Bruce that’s all nice but what if I’m attacked by something really large and dangerous – say a rabid oak tree? Well then you can just roll your own . . .

You can get some incredible stuff – Beartooth Bullets has their 525 grain pile driver bullet – “The absolute last word in EXTREME penetration for the 45-70 Gov’t. – I foresee some future posts about reloading using the Lee manual reloading kit coming !!

Between schedules and weather will more than likely be spring before I get a chance to wring this out – 25 yards on an indoor range – Meh – 50 to 100 yards outside – Sweet!

Look out Bambi !!

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!