Went to the fun show, saw nothing of import, and drank bourbon. Also, School House Rock.

Chris and I, with MikeW in tow, headed souf to Virginny on Saturday for the Nation's fun show and subsequent blogmeet. I was on the hunt for 8mm Mauser surplus ammo and stripper clips (I only have 5, and I need to remedy that). I also hoped to get my mitts on the re-release of the Savage Model 42 as well as check out prices on SBR uppers for funsies.

Chris, I believe, was simply there to look for things he doesn't normally see as well as shop for ammo. Mike was also ammohunting.

Before heading around the show, we met up with MSgt B, The Miller, TBolt, and Broken Andy. I don't know if other folks showed up before we all dispersed.

What we found was...disappointing, at best. Gun prices were average-to-high. I saw NO SBR uppers whatsoever for sale by the time we got there (though someone I know got lucky), no surplus 8mm, and no stripper clips whatsoever. I bought a dog-related item from a guy with patches and DVDs and some meat from this guy. Dude's meat is out of this world. A++ will buy again and all that. Also, he's super nice and practically begged us to stick around and let him continue to feed us jerky bits. Who am I to say no to free chunks of meat? :D ANYWAY, Chris DID get to see/handle a Seecamp .32, which was pretty neat, and a CZ 52, which he likes for the art deco look. I checked out the aforementioned Savage ($400 at a gun show, might be less at a shop) and not much else. The people at this show were far nicer than the folks at the Maryland show and there were a lot more pistols than at the York, PA show, but still...meh. Chris brought home a box of that cheap Mexican ammo to try as well as a couple of mags for an heirloom pistol in his collection. And Mike also bought meat and a couple bags of reloads. The car smelled faintly of jerky on the way home...

From there we went to dinner at some place around the corner from the expo center with The Miller, TBolt, Broken Andy, and Stretch (and wife). Dinner was...alright, not spectacular. Service sucked. The place was not that crowded for drinks to lack refills unless requested. Conversation was as expected: constant, entertaining, and full of stories. From there, almost everyone (minus MSgt B) headed back to The Miller's for bourbon, more stories, and School House Rock. And a drunk Laura eating Chris's head, zombie-style. Also, kitties (both living and taxidermied) begged for pettins, Marty's lovely wife provided us with a fantastic breakfast, and we came home tired. And my ribs hurt from laughing all evening. TBolt is a funny individual. All in all the weekend was a good one, and I'm thoroughly grateful for such fantastic hospitality from The Miller and his lady.

The Big Bang!

So I finally got my new hotness to the range. A matte stainless Charter Arms Bulldog in .44 special. In lieu of another long winded post by me here's the short and sweet.

1.) It's AWESOME!
2.) Reasonably priced
3.) Build quality is excellent. Looks as good as any new S&W I've seen
4.) It's accurate. Single action 2" group at 25ft. double action 4" (That's mostly me)
5.) 5 rounds of 44 special weigh almost what the gun does.
6.) Bigger than a J frame smaller than a K frame. About the size of an sp-101
7.) It's fun. Flash and smoke and bang!
8.) It's manageable.
9.) It looks intimidating.
10.) See number 1