The girls have gone out with me before, but today was Abi's first hunt as a shooter.  She turned 12 this year and got her license last week.  It was a beautiful fall morning.  My buddy is breaking in a new dog who did really well and my daughter was able to pick up her first pheasant.

It was pretty darned funny.  The dog flushed the bird, Abi took a shot and then the bird smacked a hickory tree and fell stone dead.  I'm not sure if she even hit it, but she's claiming it!

Next Saturday is opening day of rifle season for Junior Hunters.  She told me where she wanted her blind and we are all set set up and ready to go.

(I came home with 2, so I did alright also. But who cares about that  )

I picked up a Triple K Three-Piece Shoulder Holster for my Beretta 92FS last year.   It fit nice, but the leather was so stiff I couldn't get the magazines into the magazine holder which made wearing it feel a bit lopsided.  I stuck magazines in ziplock bags and jammed them in the mag holders and stuck it back in the closet. (per the suggestion in their paperwork)
I pulled it out again this week and started wearing it.  The mags are really hard to get in or out of the holder, but I guess I just need to get them worn in.

I noticed that every time I took my pistol out of the holster the safety was off.  When I looked closer, it was because the strap that goes over the hammer has a snap that sits right on the safety/decocking lever.  By snapping the pistol in the holder, I inadvertently am knocking off the safety.  Even when I try very carefully to snap with the safety on, just wearing the  holster for a little while knocks the safety off.    I know a lot of guys prefer pistols without safeties, but I like to be able to make my own decision.

So I went on to their website and got their contact info.  I expressed my concern that the snap sits right on the safety.  I was kind of annoyed by the response I got.  I was very polite in my email and even said how much I like the quality of the holster.  I sent a picture of the problem to illustrate. The response from the Vice President of Sales & Marketing was "If you are not feeling comfortable with your holster, I would suggest returning to retailer for an option beyond a traditional shoulder holster.  Most holster options (shoulder and waist carry) will allow leather or body contact with the de-cock on 92FS and similar models.    You may be more comfortable with an open top waist carry, however your body and holster will still have contact with the de-cock. " 

Am I wrong for being annoyed at this response?  Basically most holsters will turn off your safety?  Fact is, none of the holster I've ever owned had this issue.  I have a cheap Uncle Mikes shoulder holster for my Beretta that has never caused me problems but it is just not comfortable or good quality.  I have holsters for my other pistols and have never had this issue.  I responded back and said pretty much the same thing, but I guess they don't want to hear from me. 

Oh well, I tried a new company and I'm not happy with the results and they don't seem to care.   I no longer have the packaging so I can't return it. Such is life.

So I noticed recently that some of the bigger stores are not carrying much Weatherby ammo.

My local Cabelas only seems to stock .257wby and has some 'leftovers' of the heavier Weatherby Calibers.  Yes I can order online, but I can't just go pick up a box of any other Weatherby caliber.  I bought a .240Wby recently and was looking to stock up. 

So I went on my yearly trip to Maine.  On my trip I hit Kittery Trading Post and LL Bean.  Neither store stocked any Weatherby calibers other than .257Wby.  I mean there isn't even a place on the shelf where they are missing or marked 'out of stock.'  I even asked and was told they just don't carry it. The guy at LL Bean even said they don't carry .240Wby because it was such a 'rare' caliber. 

Anybody else notice a shortage of Weatherby ammo or retailers not stocking it?  I have enough trouble getting it shipped to this state.

I popped over to Cabelas this morning to pick up a new scope and to grab some .240 Weatherby ammo as long as they had 10% off for veterans and first responders.  They were out of it when I picked up my rifle a couple weeks ago.  They were out of it again today.  I asked the guy at the ammo counter when they were going to get some in. Apparently they don't carry it in the store anymore.  There was no empty place on the shelf for it.  I asked if he could order some for me, and he said they can't order it special for me and I'd have to order it myself online.

Guess what?  CT laws don't allow me to order ammo online.  Cabelas won't ship it to my home and they won't even do a ship to store like I did with my scope.  So I can't use my cabelas points to buy weatherby ammo anymore.  I'm all stocked up with .257Wby, so that's not a problem.  Seems all cabelas carries in my store is .300Wby.  My other LGS was out of .240ammo but it guess I'll have to ask them to order it for me even though they are a bit more pricey.

My summer quest will now be to come back from vacation in other states with a stock of ammo.  A couple years ago it was .380 handgun ammo, last year it was .22lr, this year the quest is for .240 WBY.  Yeah, moving out of CT in on the list, but we are stuck for 10 more years til the wife is eligible to collect her pension.

I was gearing up for rifle season in 3 weeks and hit the range just make sure my rifles were all good to go.  Then it hit me, I have a old model Vanguard in .257Wby that I never fired.  The past couple years have been crazy busy and I have not been able to get much range time in.  I DID manage to give the tupperware stock a custom paint job and I hung a Burris Fullfield 2 on it.  I bought the darned thing the year the S2s came out because Cabelas were clearing out the old models.  What the heck is wrong with me!! (please don't answer that)

So after verifying that my .30-06 was still as good a shooter as ever, I put my very first Weatherby caliber through the test.  It's so hard when you have a favorite.....  I loved my .30-06 until I shot my .243... now I shot my .257.. Yeah, I think I'm hunting it this year!!  Man what a dummy I am for not doing this sooner.  I put 3 shots in an inch with almost no effort.  I'm shooting factory loaded 100gr spire points because brass is about just as expensive as buying the "cheap" weatherby loads.  I already have the dies, powder and bullets for reloads, so this looks like the start of a beautiful friendship. 

I came across this video today in a discussion on another site about ammo in house fires.  I apologize if this was previously posted and I missed it.  I thought it was some cool info on how ammo outside a firearm is not that dangerous.  This video, listed as being published Nov 2012, also seems to answer an account of the shortage of ammo!!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SlOXowwC4c

I came across this article on the newsfeed about Washington State's Gun Control Initiative 594.  Midway in the article it reads "Then along comes Jameson Parker!"  It's a good read about ridiculous legislation and Jameson writes a good piece on the anti-democratic process of millionaires buying legislation in states they don't reside in.  Of course this article isn't in the mainstream media, but here is a link. 

http://www.examiner.com/article/two-well-known-names-unload-on-anti-gun-billionaires

The article also references Jameson's blog which is also very good reading.  You can see that at

http://www.readjamesonparker.com/archives/2180#comments

Thank you Jameson for your great articles.