Expanding My Horizons

In January, while at SHOTShow, I played with throwing knives and tomahawks and had a blast.  I thought it would be fun to learn to do.

 I also played with a crossbow and had a ton of fun. 

 I knew that eventually I'd have to own all of those fun toys.

Jay was hemming and hawing about my Christmas present and complaining that he didn't know what to get me.  I saw my opportunity and started in on him about throwing knives and tomahawks.  He emphatically told me he wasn't getting those for me for Christmas.  So I helpfully pointed out that we live on enough property to set up a nice tree round for practice and it wouldn't be a problem.  And he still said no.  Ever helpful and optimistic, I suggested that we would have a good time learning to throw from horseback. He stood his ground and I started to get mad.  After all, he was the one complaining that he didn't know what to get me for Christmas and I was giving him perfectly reasonable suggestions. 

Fast-forward to Christmas morning:

Guess he figured out what to get me.

Yes that is my very own crossbow.  It has no practical application in a defensive sense, but it certainly will be a lot of fun.  It's too cold and snowy to take it out for practice, not to mention we don't have an appropriate target/backstop, but that doesn't stop me from getting my Daryl Dixon on and walking around the house with it.

I almost forgot that I was mad about the throwing knives and started making plans to pick up a big 3x3x8 bale of straw while we were driving to the in-laws for Christmas morning.  I couldn't stop myself from mentioning that I thought we'd be buying a tree round instead of a bale of straw, even though I was thrilled with my present.

So imagine my surprise when I opened my gift from my in-laws and found SOG throwing knives and a tomahawk!  No wonder Jay was so adamant about not buying me a set for Christmas.  Again, hardly practical in a defensive sense, but so much fun.

I must have made it very clear, loudly and often, that I wanted throwing knives, because that afternoon, at my family's Christmas gathering, I opened another set of knives.

I wonder what I'll try out at SHOTShow 2015 that I can add to my list of "fun things" I must own?

Review: Swab-its

As much fun as the shooting sports are, once the fun is over you need to take care of your equipment.  This includes cleaning your firearms.  Contrary to popular belief, your firearms do need to be cleaned and lubed to maintain proper function and accuracy. 

Everyone is familiar with the standard cleaning kit consisting of cleaning rod, brass bore brush and cotton patches.  These have worked well for many decades.  But they do have their own disadvantages.  A traditional patch does not conform to the round shape of the bore and you end up using numerous patches to obtain a clean bore.  A bore patch does not reach into the nooks and crannies of modern semi-auto firearms.  You could use old-fashioned Q-tips, but they are made of cotton which leaves cotton fuzz everywhere, they are short and don’t have flexible shafts.  Finally, you end up with a pile of trash to be thrown away. 

Now there is something better to help clean your firearms.  Bore-tips and Gun-tips by Swab-its (Swab-its).  Both of these items use a lint-free synthetic material that is washable and reusable.  No more throwing away piles of cotton patches or Q-tips. 

Gun-tips:

Gun-tips are simply a synthetic Q-tip with a plastic, flexible shaft.  They are great for getting into the nooks and crannies of modern firearms.  They come in various sizes and lengths and do an excellent job of cleaning the junk out of your firearm.  Another great use is to help apply lubrication.  You can put the lubrication where you want it instead of spraying lube everywhere and hoping it goes to the right lubrication points.  Just pick the one you need to help with your cleaning. 

Sample of Gun-tips

Use Gun-tips to clean into deep pockets. 

Great for applying lube where you want it

Bore-tips:

Bore-tips are a caliber specific combination of cleaning jag, bore mop and cleaning patch in one.  Bore-tips thread onto a standard cleaning rod and can be used to apply cleaning solution to the bore as well as removing loose particulates (just like a cloth cleaning patch or cleaning jag) once the brass brush has been run through several times.  Due to being round in shape and conforming to the shape of the bore the Bore-tip is more efficient than traditional cleaning patches.  They are also great for applying a uniform coat of oil to the inside of the bore for long-term storage.  

Sample Bore-tips

Bore-tip replaces cleaning jag, bore mop and cleaning patch

Use as cleaning jag, bore mop and cleaning patch

 Conclusion:

I like both of these products from Swab-its and think they will be a useful addition to your cleaning kit.

They may seem expensive but they are washable and reusable.  In the long run you should save money and reduce waste going to the landfill and more efficiently clean your firearms.

-Mez

11/13/2014

Barrett .50 BMG

When dead just isn't good enough.

HUNTED LYON is Free Today

Want to rile up Momma Bear?  Threaten her family.

I know today is almost over, but there are still almost eight hours to take advantage of my free promotion on Amazon today.

Boogie Man Book Giveaway Extravaganza!

The wonderful Kathryn Loving is giving our readers the chance to win all three of her Boogie Man books:  The Boogie Man is My Friend, The Rookies, and Behind the Shield.

If you've ever read her blog, The Boogie Man is My Friend, you know that she's a straight shooter with a bit of a quirky personality which shines through in these books.

Her first book, The Boogie Man is My Friend, deals with issues she has seen in her career and is, in my opinion, a great parenting book.  She talks about issues that no one wants to acknowledge and just when it gets to be too much, breaks up the tension with her signature humor.

The Rookies takes a break from the seriousness of dealing with the Boogie Man and takes a look at the lighter side of cop work, from her time as a rookie to her time as an FTO.  It's a light-hearted look at the folks who are trying their best to keep society safe.

Behind The Shield is a continuation of stories, drawn from her extensive journals.  Readers of her blog will "recognize" some of the people and stories she discusses.  I'm currently about half-way through her newest book and am enjoying it immensely.


So what do you have to do to be entered to win autographed copies of all three books?  It's pretty easy, just follow the prompts in the Rafflecopter below.  The giveaway will end at midnight (Mountain time) on October 16th.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Gun Blogger Family Loses a Child

At GunDiva's request, I am cross posting this here.

Brigid at Home on the Range sent email yesterday asking to spread the word. Brigid's email is copied below:

"The loss was expected given the deformity found in vitro but they insisted on carrying to term to give her even a little love here on earth.

Peter Grant ways it better than I. His link (with links) is below. Spread the news if you can.

http://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2014/09/a-tragedy-death-and-plea-for-help.html"

I have to give the family a lot of credit for having the courage to see the pregnancy through. That had to be a tough decision. One that I can't fathom. My thoughts and prayers are with them. Follow the links and do what you can even if it's just a moment of silence in remembrance. 

Exploding Soup

Had a good time at my friend's place over Labor Day weekend playing with my new toy: a Marlin 1894 .44 Magnum. My buddy was holding the phone shooting the video and was the unfortunate backstop (or front stop if you will) for several globs of soup. The video is in slow motion, but it did rain soup and can parts for several seconds in real time.

Full review of the Marlin one of these days.