The Nuge!

This photo was take just seconds before The Nuge looked up, sniffed the air, held up his hand, and then leapt to the top of the table while simultaneously pulling his bow from underneath and bulls eyed a rat near the concession stand. Amazing!! I head him snicker and say. Yea I'm having that sucker mounted. ;)

Fun At the NRA Convention

Wow Pittsburgh sucks. It's mostly just the lack of preparedness for over 70k people descending on the city like a swarm of locusts. I think they haven't prepared for this at all. Traffic routing is terrible. I think the city government needs to read more prepper blogs. At least call the last city and ask them what happened there last year.

The Convention is great! I haven't sniffed a whiff of con-funk, but I lost count of the safari/tactical vests around 638.

The people have been very nice. Howdy's and excuse me's all around. Say what you will about the NRA members, at least we're polite.

I know it's early, but I'll hand it to the booth workers. I haven't even been kicked out of a single one even after my. incessant questioning like a 5 yr old.

Last night I met many strange and wonderful internet denizens. Although the names fly by so fast I cant remember them all. A good bunch. (psst. they like to drink)

I had 2 hot, famous, blogger chicks in my room last night. How's you're convention going?

So far mines a blast. :)

Now, for the 9mm handguns.

I'll list them by the recommendations made in this post.

1 - Beretta PX4 Storm.
This is a BIG contender.  It felt very, very nice.  They had a range simulator set up so people could check recoil, accuracy, trigger feel, and the like without live ammo - the ammo was gas-filled, and still cycled the slide correctly.  Note to self, find out who makes those rounds. they're neat!

2 - M&P9
No, no, no.  Weird trigger means I don't want it.

3 - Ruger SR9
I wanted to like this.  I really did.  I didn't, however.  It just didn't feel comfortable.

4 - XD/XDM
Nooooooo.  No me gusta.

5 - FNX/FNP
It was WAY too blocky...I couldn't really get a comfortable grip on it at all, even when the booth-sitter decided I wasn't holding it right (hurr durr, DO YOU NOT SEE THE CAMERA HANGING OFF MY WRIST?)...He then went on to attempt to push the Five Seven, which I told him I absolutely didn't want.  Insisted every woman who shot them wanted them.  Insisted I would like it better than anything else I already own.  Insisted I didn't know what I was talking about.  Sorry, FN, but when your booth-sitter behaves this way you've guaranteed I will not recommend your guns.

6 - I'll still look at the P99 - assuming they have one at the Walther booth.  We didn't get that far before the building closed for the day, so it's a possibility right now until I see it.  Will update this tomorrow or Sunday.

7 - Firestorm/Thunder 9
This was a neat little pistol.  A little rough around the edges, but if I were recommending a cheap compact 9mm to someone, this would PROBABLY be it.  The MSRP was in the $500 range but I'm certain it can be had for less than that.

8 - Tanfoglio/EA Witness Compact
Holy damn no.  Trigger felt like tin.


So far, I've got a great idea of what's out there.  At Caleb's suggestion I visited the Sig booth to see the P250, and I definitely like that one.  I also looked at the offerings at the CZ booth, and I like the compact 75.  I don't know that I liked it as much as the Beretta, though.  So as of right now I have three to check out at a range.  Thanks for all your suggestions, folks - I appreciate it!


Update 5/3:  After handling the Beretta, CZ, and Bersa one after the other the CZ75 Compact wins it.  I'll be ordering it later this year.  I also like the Beretta enough to put that on the list for a later purchase.

Thoughts from the first 26 hours.

1 - Pittsburgh has some RIDICULOUS traffic.  For serious.  Also, thank goodness for GPS.

2 - Our hotel is nice enough, but the beds are HORRIBLE and the maids cannot read and comprehend notes when they're paired with money.  We're still short a wash cloth (and they stole the stack of towels I requested last night) and didn't leave an extra comforter like we requested.

3 - The hotel restaurant is nice.  Their burgers are huge and they have an alright alcohol suggestion - at least, they had everything people asked for.  Their eggs are pretty good, too.

4 - OMG SO MANY BLOGGERS.  O. M. G.  I met entirely too many people to remember last night.  Finally met Breda after YEARS of talking with her online. Woo!


5 - The people AT the convention?  Very polite - they even say "excuse me" when shoving you out of the way!  My fellow nerds aren't that polite.  C'mon guys, step up the politeness at places like Comic-Con.


6 - TRAFFIC HOLY DAMN.  How is Baltimore on the top list of worst traffic in the US?  How is Pittsburgh NOT on this list?


7 - Vendors are nice.  They're especially nice when they see MEDIA on my badge...heh.


8 - The hotel did NOT plan the shuttle well.  Standing in the bus on the way back?  NOT ACCEPTABLE.


9 - Now nursing my feetses, as they are sore and I am tired.  Much longer day ahead tomorrow.

This thread is worth reading.

Thanks to RobertaX I found this thread.

I'm still reading through it...it's amazing what the internet can do for people, if used for the powers of good.  Really.

Friends, I have found a Thing...

and this Thing transcends all other Delicious Things.

It is: DUCK BACON.

Thick-cut, baked to perfection, it comes out tasting more like a sweet jerky than bacon, but holy wow is it good.


While on that site, look up duck dogs.  They're equally tasty.  Don't bother with the buffalo dogs, though - too dry.

More on Mr. Heyl.

Apparently he's caught the attention of the NRA in the past.  So glad to see he's been a dick for at least the past 4 years.

H/T to Joe Huffman.

My new custom holster

I decided that I needed a holster for the Bulldog so I contacted Michael at Theholstersite.com
and we discussed what kind of holster I wanted. He is very easy to deal with and is a wealth of information for someone new to choosing a holster.  He's exceedingly knowledgeable about types, style, angles, carry position, etc.

After a few emails back and forth where he answered my plethora of questions, I decided on what I wanted. He quoted me a price that included a custom holster from scratch with custom color dye and finishing. I told him I was not in a hurry, and he said that was good because he did not have a dummy gun for my fairly uncommon pistol. After we discussed relative sizes of similar guns he was certain he could work the fit out; if I wasn't happy with that, he gave me the option to wait and he would purchase a new dummy gun to custom fit it. Confident in his ability - based on his other work that I have seen - and not wanting him to have to buy a new dummy gun for a pistol he would rarely make holsters for, I told him to go ahead and start it. He had some others to do so he added mine to the batch and kept me updated via email the entire time about color and the way it was turning out.

A few weeks later my holster arrived. It looked fantastic. It is made of high quality, thick, stiff leather and the color is exactly what I wanted. The workmanship is impressive - the stitching and molding are excellent. I can see a lot of time and skill went into it. Now for the the moment of truth: did the Bulldog fit?

I'm happy to say the fit is absolutely perfect. It's snug for good retention, but it does not effect the draw negatively. I suspect that since it's a leather holster it will fit even better as it wears in a little. To be honest, though, I think that won't be for a while as the leather and construction are very high quality and look like it will last a long time. I am completely happy with my Bulldog's new home.

Oh, misogyny...

I know everyone else has had their say, but I've gotta add to the dogpile.

Eric Heyl is a misogynistic jackass.  I'm also quite happy to be proving him wrong by merely...existing.  Way to fail, Heyl...way to fail.

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

I'm going to the Gunnie Prom and I'm SO VERY EXCITED OMG.