Friday, August 30, 2013

Hi Standard Sentinel .22 Revolver

A new pistol came to join the family today. it's not exactly something that I had been looking for, but still, I certainly couldn't turn it down. It is a Hi Standard Sentinel nine shot 22 long rifle revolver. looking it over carefully, it's condition appears to be essentially new and unused. I already own a very similar revolver to this one, also built by Hi Standard but sold through Sears and Roebuck as a JC Higgins model 88. the Sears revolver is also chrome plated.

The finish on this revolver is also a bit questionable, as it seems to scratch very easily, and appears to be not far removed from satin finish spray paint. The barrel, however, appears to be very high quality with excellent bluing. The barrel does not look like it came from the same factory that produced the rest of the gun!



The rear sight is drift adjustable for windage, but it is not adjustable for elevation. At close range it seems to shoot about 2 inches high. I wish it had an adjustable rear sight for elevation.


The trigger pull is heavy and crunchy, but not that much worse than what is now found on a lot of production guns. A bit of gunsmithing and a trigger job may make a lot of difference. With the heavy trigger pull and heavy hammer spring, this little revolver practically crushes the rim of the cartridge. I've fired close to 100 rounds of older Remington Golden bullet ammunition and did not have a single round fail to fire. Of course, being a revolver, failure to feed is not an issue!

I have to admit that shooting this little revolver was a lot of fun, even if I wasn't very accurate. With my eyesight, of course, and iron sights, my expectations are never very high anyway. The grip on the gun is quite small even for my relatively small hands. I think I would do better shooting this revolver if the grip was a bit larger. Even so, it was still lots of fun to shoot. A bit of a trigger job, and it will probably be even more fun yet!

When you consider that these revolvers are readily available and very inexpensive used, if you come across one of these you may just want to add it to your collection, just like I did!

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Ruger .357 - Win Me At The Gun Blogger Rendezvous

As if there weren't a lot of reasons to attend this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous, here's even one more, a Ruger Single Action .357 Magnum revolver. I think I managed to wipe all of the drool off of the pistol before, taking the picture, but it wasn't easy! It is even nicer looking in person. This picture doesn't do it justice.

Some lucky Gun Blogger Rendezvous attendee will be the proud owner of this beautiful Ruger. It COULD be you! You must buy a raffle ticket at the Rendezvous, and be present to win. Of course, if you cannot legally own it, you can't win it, but you knew that already, I hope!


There is STILL time to register for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous and book your room at the Silver Legacy in Reno, but you have to do it RIGHT NOW. The Gun Blogger Rendezvous starts officially on September 5th, which is next Thursday. There is still room, but you have to get on it ASAP!

Go to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous website to see the event schedule and to get the details to register for the Rendezvous and book your room.


Wednesday, August 28, 2013

A social worker from a big city in Massachusetts recently transferred to the mountains of West Virginia and was on the first tour of her new territory when she came upon the tiniest cabin she had ever seen in her life. Intrigued, she went up and knocked on the door.

"Anybody home?" she asked.

"Yep," came a kid's voice through the door.

"Is your father there?"
asked the social worker.

"Pa? Nope, he left afore Ma came in,"
said the kid.

"Well, is your mother there?"
persisted the social worker.

"Ma? Nope, she left just afore I got here,
" said the kid.

"But," protested the social worker, (thinking that surely she will need to intervene in this situation) "are you never together as a family?"

"Sure, but not here," said the kid through the door. "This is the outhouse!"

Hat Tip to Marilyn on FB!

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

A Hot Steamy Night, But No Fun!

The week before the Ephrata match I had driven my Honda Civic to Yakima hoping to save a bit of gasoline, and to stay at my friend Larry's place. The plan was to drive over to Yakima on Friday, help set up the match, staying at Larry's for Friday night, shoot the match on Saturday, and comfortably drive home Saturday night after the match. The only part of that entire weekend that went according to plan was shooting the match.

The Honda blew a radiator hose near the summit of Snoqualmie Pass, and I was just barely able to limp off the freeway to perform repairs and refill water. the radiator hose had split right near one end, so I was able to trim off the end of the hose push it farther on and re tighten the hose clamp. after refilling the water, I got back on the road. It was still running a little warm, so I stopped again and made sure the water was completely full. Even so, it still was running a little bit too hot. By now I was more than halfway to my destination, so the plan was to press on as best I could, and perform what ever additional repairs were necessary once I got to Larry's place. The engine continued to run on the hot side, but it seemed to be working well enough that if I drove it carefully I should be able to reach Larry's. Unfortunately, it did not work that way. There were three more passes to cross, and it was well over 90°. At the top of the third pass, perhaps 15 miles from Larry's place, it sounded like a hand grenade exploded under the hood. The explosion was strong enough that I was able to see the hood bow upwards from the concussion. The upper radiator hose had exploded totally. I telephoned Larry, and he stopped at an auto parts store and picked up new coolant hoses for every close listed in the book. By the time Larry arrived the engine had cooled off, and I changed the exploded hose and also one other hose that looked suspicious. I filled it up with water one more time, and limped the rest of the way to Larry's. It was still running too hot. I parked the Honda at Larry's, and we rode out to the range and got everything set up for the next mornings match.

Saturday morning I rode with Larry to the match, shot the match, and had a grand time. On the way home from the match we stopped at the auto parts store and I purchased a new thermostat. If the thermostat was sticking, that could possibly be causing my overheating problems. The thermostat on the Honda Civic in 1987 is not very easy to get to, and it took a couple of hours to get it changed. Once again we filled it up with water, and I drove it for about 15 miles to test it, and it did not seem to overheat at all. I decided to roll the dice, and head for home. I was able to cross the first three passes in the near 100° weather with no problem. As I approached the east side of Snoqualmie Pass, the temperature needle slowly started to climb.

 I figured if I drove it carefully and could get across the pass to Western Washington it would be much cooler and probably raining so I should be able to limp my way home. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Even before I reached the summit it was obvious that I still had a serious overheating problem. I stopped for about an hour and let it cool off. I refilled the water yet again, and got back on the road, only to go a few miles before it started to overheat again. It seemed that the water was disappearing, causing the overheating. However, I could not find where the water was going to. The engine was idling smoothly, was not showing any steam out the exhaust, and did not appear to have any leaks in the cooling system anywhere. Yet, the water was disappearing.

I continued this pattern of letting it cool off, refilling the water, and limping on for a few more miles, several times. Each time that I stopped I would open the hood and further examine the engine trying to find where the coolant was going. By the time I reached North Bend, it was nearly 1 AM. I disconnected the heater hose from the heater and routed it directly back onto the engine block, bypassing any possibility of leakage in the heating system. This did not help either.

I limped on a few more miles to the next exit, which was the town of Snoqualmie. I pulled into a parking lot that had bright lights, and continued trying to find where the coolant was going to. This time, I got a bit lucky ! When I opened the hood I saw a very small puff of steam back behind the carburetor and under the intake manifold next to the firewall. I disconnected the air filter and removed it and with a flashlight in my mouth was able to see a very small rubber hose in a nearly inaccessible location. The hose looked like a vacuum line and was no larger in diameter than a ballpoint pen. It had a very small pinhole on the backside of the hose near the firewall. As pressure would build in the cooling system it would spray out the coolant down and under the firewall. By the time I was able to get off the road and get the good open the pressure had dropped sufficiently that it was no longer squirting out that hole, and there was no way to tell that the leak was there.

 I was able to loosen the hose clamps and remove the tiny hose. Unfortunately, it was too short to be able to cut it off and slip it back on. I needed a longer hose to be able to get back on the road. Unfortunately also, I had no hose of that size nor was there any place open where I could buy a piece of hose for a replacement. Scrounging around through the Honda, the only thing that I could find was a Bic ballpoint pen. I cut off the hose, took the guts out of the ballpoint pen, and slipped it into the middle of the hose, making the hose now long enough to reach each end. The thin plastic of the ballpoint pen body would probably not contain any pressure once there was hot water going through it, so I very carefully wrapped wire around the outside of the ballpoint pen body to reinforce it. I put the car back together with the new hose installed, refilled the water, and got back on the road. The engine had now been overheated so many times that the head gasket was now leaking and drawing water into one cylinder. When I fired up the motor I would disappear in a cloud of steam coming out of the exhaust. The steam cleared out in a minute or so, and everything seemed to be running just fine.

With the tiny hose patched, the Honda we cruise down the road without problem for 30 to 40 miles before enough water had been consumed by the cylinder and leaking head gasket that it would start to overheat. Even so, 30 to 40 miles between stops was way better than 2 miles between stops. Stopping every 30 or 40 miles for water I was able to drive all the way home. Since it was now three  in the morning the ferry system to Whidbey Island was now shut down for the night, so I had to drive an additional two hours to the north end of the island where there is a bridge.

When I finally arrived home it was 5 AM, and I had been on the road for approximately 13 hours. At least I was finally home where I have the resources to make whatever repairs are needed.therein lies yet another story, but not for this post!


Too Busy doin' Stuff to Blog About It!

Wow, it seems like it was only a couple of weeks ago that I was getting all geared up and set up for the upcoming shooting season. I cannot believe how fast the time has been flying by. I have been running a steel match on the fourth Saturday and another steel match on the fourth Sunday every month since last October. The first Saturday of the month usually finds me in Yakima, Washington both lending a hand and shooting in their steel matches. The second Saturday of the month I will usually be shooting a match in Bremerton Washington at the Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club's range. due to the unreliable ferry service from Whidbey Island that I must deal with in getting to Bremerton, I usually take our mini-RV and go to the range on Friday, the day before the match. This way, I am able to help with setting up the targets stands shooters boxes and so forth, and take some of the work off of the folks who set up the match. In July on the third Saturday, Keewee and I took the RV to northern Idaho for their big annual steel match. Keewee did a write up on that match on her blog here.

Two weeks ago, Saturday, August 10, was the Washington state steel championships in  Ephrata, Washington. for this match we also went on Friday, but we stayed in a motel rather than taking the RV, as the RV does not have air conditioning and the weather forecast was for temperatures in the 100° range. That's way too hot to sleep comfortably in a un-air-conditioned RV!

I have also been really busy getting things all put together for this year's Gun blogger Rendezvous.  The amount of work that is required for an event like this is surprising! If you have never put on an event, you have no idea! This year's GBR is going to be amazing!

I have also been working on another big project (Very BIG) which will be formally announced at the Rendezvous.

Revised Gun Blogger Rendezvous Schedule



2013 Gun Blogger Rendezvous Schedule of Events
Updated 08/21/2013
(Subject to change as things are added or moved around)

Wednesday, September 4th.

6:15 Pm. For those arriving on Wednesday, KeeWee and I and some of the other early arrivers are planning on having dinner at the El Dorado Buffet Restaurant. The El Dorado is part of the same giant casino complex as the Silver Legacy and the Circus Circus. The El Dorado Buffet is at one end of the complex. The Silver Legacy is in the middle, and the Circus Circus is on the opposite end.

Thursday, September 5th

8:30 am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality Room for one of the restaurants for breakfast.
 

9:15 am. Leave the Hospitality Room to car pool to Cabela’s.

9:45 am – 11:15 am. Guided tour Cabela’s and browsing/shopping. Buy ammo? Pick up munchies and soft drinks.Leave for the Roop County Cowboy Shooter's Range in Fernley.

Noon  - 4:30pm. Cowboy action shooting and demonstrations at the range.

6:00 pm. Leave the Hospitality Room to go to dinner. Location to be determined later.
Thursday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Friday, September 6th.

8:00 am. NRA Sponsored breakfast in our Hospitality room. NRA representative will be speaking to us over breakfast.
9:00 am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, the Pyramid range for rifle and pistol target shooting out to 900 yards.
9:45 am – 2:00pm. At the range.
4:00 pm. – 5:45pm. Show-N-Tell at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Manufacturers and show new stuff, and attendees show neat things too!
6:00 pm. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to go to  Dos Gecko’s Mexican Restaurant for dinner sponsored by Gunlawsbystate.com and Brian Ciyou.
7:15 pm. (Approx) Ray Carter from the Second Amendment Foundation and  Brian Ciyou from Gunlawsbystate.com, will talk to us, and other industry, shooting sports, and legal aspect folks will follow.
7:45 pm. Double Elimination Pistol competition in Hospitality Room using the Optical Computer Aided Training Simulator from Outwest systems, using real guns shooting lasers instead of bullets. An OCAT System will be awarded to one of the competitors by random drawing!

Friday Evening until midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.
Saturday, September 7th.

8:00 am. Gunauctions.com sponsored Breakfast in the Silver Legacy Hospitality room.
9:00 am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out to the Washoe County Shooting Facility, Western Nevada Pistol League Action Pistol bays at the Pyramid range for an introduction to Steel Challenge Action Pistol shooting, a demonstration of the live fire version of the OCAT system, and more.
9:45 am – 2:00 pm. At the range.
5:00 pm – 6 pm.
Short presentation by the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
6:00 pm. NSSF all you can eat pizza feed at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. After dinner will be the fund raiser raffle for Project Valour-IT and the drawings for the door prizes.
Saturday Evening until Midnight: Refreshments and conversation at the Silver Legacy Hospitality room. Bring your own refreshments and munchies.

Sunday, September 8th.

8:00 am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room for one of the restaurants for breakfast
9:00 am. Leave the Silver Legacy Hospitality room to car pool up and head out for some fun with the Black Powder bowling Ball Mortar from Gunauctions.com, and some other surprises you won’t want to miss! Range location to be announced at the Rendezvous.
9:45 am – 1:00pm. At the range.

Please note that times and events may change at the last minute, so be sure to check the schedule posted in the Hospitality room regularly.

Monday, August 05, 2013

Rendezvous Registration Now On Line

Thanks to the hard work and generosity of David from http://gunauction.com and http://gunnews.com you can now fill out and pay for your registration for this year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous on line!

Check out:

http://www.gunnews.com/gun-blogger-rendezvous-registration-page/

You can now fill out the registration and mail it in, or fill it out and pay on line, whichever works easiest for you.

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