Yet another new member in Kentucky

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Greetings to all! :newhere:

My long-time friend, who I think goes by Hiker hereabouts, pointed me in the direction of this group.

Thank you, Hiker!

I guess this is where we talk about ourselves to the boredom of others, right?

Well, then, here goes:

I shot some in high school, this was in the dark ages when a high school ROTC program could get away with having a firing range in the school building. My mother was against me having guns at home, to the point that even toy guns were not allowed (since guns are NOT toys). Life was such that I had the privilege of not feeling like I needed to have a gun, and since I didn't have lots of money to spend on yet another expensive hobby, I didn't pick up any guns until recently.

Over the last several years, the socio-political environment (or at least my awareness of same) has changed to the point that having tools for self-defense makes more sense to me than before. Being very much an education guy, I made a point of taking a basics class at the nearby gun store--that store chosen in large part because a Black man I know had been treated well there and looked at askance in other stores. Non-liberal gun guys are often overt racists. It's shocking/not shocking.

Anyway, I wanted to learn from the instructor, even if some of what was covered was a refresher for me. It was money well spent. I am much less apprehensive (but still respectful) about handling a gun, even a gun that is not familiar to me.

And with the gajillions of videos on YouTube, one gets to pick out which are made by people who actually know something and those who are just blowing gunsmoke.

And, because some will wonder, the screen name originates with a Chiropractor I used to know. The first time she and I met, we shook hands, and she dubbed me BearPaws because when I shop for gloves, I start with XXL.

Re: Yet another new member in Kentucky

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So far, I have a small assortment of pistols, all purchased new during the pandemic, so I probably paid a little more than I might otherwise have paid. The first one I bought is a CZ P10F, because it fits my *ahem* BearPaws. A friend of my wife's met us at the gun store to discuss features and calibers and other stuff neophytes need to consider.

The end goal was to eventually be comfortable with concealed carry for defense. The plan developed from that discussion became "buy a couple guns on this short list, see which one suits my wife better, and use the other one myself." Wound up with a SIg Sauer P365XL and a CZ P10S. Reviews I've seen since suggest that the list our friend gave me was well-informed.

Since buying those three, I got caught in the n+1 trap, and bought an M&P 9 M2.0 because it felt pretty good in my hand and I liked the trigger feel.

If you aren't familiar with the N+1 trap, it's described as "the correct number of (x) in one's collection is N+1, where N is the current number of (x) in one's collection."

The gun shop and range I favor is the local iteration of the Shoot Point Blank chain, for the reasons mentioned above. The mid-grade membership there made sense to me, for an assortment of reasons: Free range time without time limits, my wife can shoot with me (without paying for a second membership--she doesn't have any interest in range time without me being there so far), nominal discount on ammo purchases, and so on.

Of course, I get periodic emails from SPB regarding promo deals, and the SECOND "n+1" gun was an M&P Shield 9 package that included five magazines at very little more than the MSRP on the pistol with two magazines, plus a cute little shoulder bag and about fifty cents worth of first aid supplies and a S&W face mask.

I also have a Stag Arms AR-platform rifle, and my wife has a Ruger AR-platform rifle, both chambered in 5.56 to deal with the somewhat higher pressures compared to the .223 Remington, which I understand works just fine in these rifles.

And, of course, I have a safe in which the guns are stored when not worn, and another safe for the ammunition, and a small-but-growing collection of holsters in the pursuit of finding holsters that work for us.

Re: Yet another new member in Kentucky

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wings wrote: Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:06 pm o/

We are all familiar with the n+1 trap. :lol: Lots of CZ fans here. You should consider a wheelgun. You know, when things are less - handwavy
The last wheel gun I handled belonged to a coworker, and I don't remember what caliber or model it was. It was most assuredly NOT a piece one would conceal easily. Before that, I held an Eli Whitney that was made in the 1860s, and last fired in that period. It was/is an heirloom, passed to my father by his grandmother, whose uncle served under John Mosby and stole this particular pistol from a Union officer (or so family lore had it). My great-grandmother wished that the gun never be fired again, referring to the war in which it had been used as something she wanted us to never experience. That was a gorgeous pistol, and while I wish I had it, I don't know that my father--who had it when last I saw it--would will it to me at this point, or if he even has it any more.

That said, I have nothing against wheel guns other than lack of familiarity. That could be overcome with proper research and consultations (and money).

Re: Yet another new member in Kentucky

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lurker wrote: Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:55 pm you plainly need a 1911. need.
The "Lurker 1911 Bot" strikes again! :lol: :laugh: :roflmao:

I'm a little confused, Bearpaws: Kentucky was one of the 3 (or was it 4?) slave states that remained loyal to Union. Did an ancestor leave to fight for the rebels?

Also I'm fascinated by the idea of an 1860 Eli Whitney revolver. Whitney, of course, developed the first mass-produced firearms with interchangeable parts, but I had no idea about a wheel gun--Whitney died in 1824. In fact, I just picked up my 2nd revolver today, a Taurus 692 convertible in .357/.38, and 9mm.
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: Yet another new member in Kentucky

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lurker wrote: Wed Feb 24, 2021 10:31 pm plantation culture with its wealth and consequent slave-owning social elites was important to the secession question, but it did not thrive in rocky mountainous soil such as western virginia or much of kentucky.
Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware all remained loyal. Western Virginia deeply opposed secession, and "seceded" from Virginia, which is why it became a state during the middle of the Civil War in 1863.
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: Yet another new member in Kentucky

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YankeeTarheel wrote: Wed Feb 24, 2021 10:11 pm
lurker wrote: Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:55 pm you plainly need a 1911. need.
The "Lurker 1911 Bot" strikes again! :lol: :laugh: :roflmao:

I'm a little confused, Bearpaws: Kentucky was one of the 3 (or was it 4?) slave states that remained loyal to Union. Did an ancestor leave to fight for the rebels?

Also I'm fascinated by the idea of an 1860 Eli Whitney revolver. Whitney, of course, developed the first mass-produced firearms with interchangeable parts, but I had no idea about a wheel gun--Whitney died in 1824. In fact, I just picked up my 2nd revolver today, a Taurus 692 convertible in .357/.38, and 9mm.
The great-grandmother was raised in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the upper Piedmont area of Virginia. My paternal grandparents were raised there, as well. All three (and a host of other relatives) are buried in Woodville, just east/southeast of Sperryville, on the road toward Scrabble, Virginia.

I would very much like to get my hands back on that pistol. I don't have contact with my bio father, for reasons that are not germane here, and he was the last one I knew to have possession. It's been forty-plus years since I handled it, but I remember it being of cap and ball loading style. When I last saw it, it was in good condition.

Re: Yet another new member in Kentucky

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lurker wrote: Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:55 pm you plainly need a 1911. need.
One hopes that one never truly *needs* a firearm for self-defense, the primary reason for buying them in my own case.

That said, I fired an Army-owned 1911 (or probably two separate ones) during the two times I went to AJROTC summer camp in the mid-1970s, for "familiarization." We got three rounds each time, if memory serves.

I lack the resources to succumb to many more n+1 trips to the gun lockers, and have decided to stay with one pistol caliber for now, to simplify inventory. That may change if I come into a windfall of money, of course... I recognize that there are 1911-format guns in 9x19, but at the moment, I'm satisfied to stick with single-action box-magazine stuff.

Re: Yet another new member in Kentucky

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BearPaws wrote: Thu Feb 25, 2021 10:11 am
YankeeTarheel wrote: Wed Feb 24, 2021 10:11 pm
lurker wrote: Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:55 pm you plainly need a 1911. need.
The "Lurker 1911 Bot" strikes again! :lol: :laugh: :roflmao:

I'm a little confused, Bearpaws: Kentucky was one of the 3 (or was it 4?) slave states that remained loyal to Union. Did an ancestor leave to fight for the rebels?

Also I'm fascinated by the idea of an 1860 Eli Whitney revolver. Whitney, of course, developed the first mass-produced firearms with interchangeable parts, but I had no idea about a wheel gun--Whitney died in 1824. In fact, I just picked up my 2nd revolver today, a Taurus 692 convertible in .357/.38, and 9mm.
The great-grandmother was raised in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the upper Piedmont area of Virginia. My paternal grandparents were raised there, as well. All three (and a host of other relatives) are buried in Woodville, just east/southeast of Sperryville, on the road toward Scrabble, Virginia.

I would very much like to get my hands back on that pistol. I don't have contact with my bio father, for reasons that are not germane here, and he was the last one I knew to have possession. It's been forty-plus years since I handled it, but I remember it being of cap and ball loading style. When I last saw it, it was in good condition.
From what quickie research I did it sounds like it was one of the first Navy Revolvers or a Pocket Pistol, both cap & ball.
It's unclear if it was Eli Whitney's son, or his grand-nephew Eli Whitney Blake, Jr. who was running the company prior to and during the Civil War. The interesting part is that Colt was on the brink of going out of business when he met up with Whitney, or Blake, which allowed him to go off again to success. Colt's revolver mechanism was patented and everyone else's wasn't as good, but in 1857 his patent expired...
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: Yet another new member in Kentucky

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sikacz wrote: Wed Feb 24, 2021 6:51 pm Welcome! Post pics!
One of my enduring displeasures with forums like this is that photographs don't upload to the forum comments, but are hot-linked to another site like Photobucket (as a perhaps-outdated example).

I had a fair-sized pile of pictures on photobucket for a long time, but I haven't seen fit to give them the annual shekels to get back what is mine.

It's one thing to pay membership dues to keep a forum like this afloat--I suspect there is a lot of knowledge (and some chaff to separate from the wheat) here from which I can draw. I get that Photobucket costs someone money to maintain, but it's also irritating that I have to pay to maintain a library of photos just so I can post links to those photos on one or two forums.

Rational? Perhaps not. Certainly a "first world problem," and I might get the heck over it and find a site I can use as a repository.
Eventually I'll figure out this signature thing and decide what I want to put here.

Re: Yet another new member in Kentucky

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If you would like to post photos without Photobucket or similar, click the little link at the bottom labeled "Full editor & Preview", then at the bottom of your comment, just below "save draft," "preview" etc. there's a couple of tabs labeled options and attachments. Click attachments, and you'll get some options to upload directly to our servers. Then we'll have sweet sweet pics of your hardware aawwww gargle gargle

Sorry. I was overcome.

Re: Yet another new member in Kentucky

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I don't even know what Photobucket is. Usually I can "save image as.." without a problem. If there is a problem, I can use a free tool called "Snipping Tool" to capture the image and save it on my hard drive. Then I can attach it to my post through the "attachments" tool here.
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: Yet another new member in Kentucky

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On y'all's advice, I'll try the drag and drop thing. I had looked to the buttons across the top, here, seen the image icon, and recognized the type from other forums I've been on over the last twenty years.

If it shows up, the image is of a Garrison-sized U.S. Flag I used to see on the commute to a former place of employment. As the Flag is a symbol, I found the rent flag a more powerful symbol at the time. When I first posted this picture online, it was about the time of that year's general elections, probably the mid-term during the first of Obama's terms in office. I commented at the time that ours was a nation increasingly divided.

Little did I know how much more symbolic it would become in the ten or eleven years since I took the picture.
Eventually I'll figure out this signature thing and decide what I want to put here.
Attachments
torn flag.jpg
torn flag.jpg (8.95 KiB) Viewed 5394 times

Re: Yet another new member in Kentucky

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Back to the discussion of the heirloom pistol:

By happenstance, I received this picture from my sister recently. Apparently my father (from whom I am estranged, for reasons not relevant here) sent it to her to pass along to me. On the mantel behind us is a spur of uncertain origins--perhaps of the time when the Whitney Navy revolver holding a place of honor on the mantel.

The two kids pictured grew to be quite liberal in their outlook, their father's efforts to the contrary notwithstanding.
Eventually I'll figure out this signature thing and decide what I want to put here.
Attachments
batman.jpg

Re: Yet another new member in Kentucky

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Here it is, about fourteen months since I started this thread. I've learned a fair bit from folks here, and for that I Thank You very much!

I STILL wish I could get my hands on that Whitney Navy Revolver my father has. I have an album from The Smithsonian Collection of Duke Ellington recordings that I never gave back, and another album titled "Satchmo at Symphony Hall" that he "lost" many years ago, why didn't he "lose" that pistol in a place where I'd "find" it?

It's been quite a journey, to be sure. My "modern era" started with a CZ P10F, as I noted in my original posting. It would probably be a good idea to record pictures of the small collection for insurance purposes. I don't have many pictures of my firearms--yet.

For some weird reason, I was rereading old posts, and thought about some of the folks on here who have posted in the "new members" section but who I've not seen active otherwise. I really think I would enjoy meeting some of the nearer folks at an outdoor range at some point, now that we know a little more about how the nasty virus that so changed the world gets from one person to another...
Eventually I'll figure out this signature thing and decide what I want to put here.

Re: Yet another new member in Kentucky

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It's been a scary couple of years with the virus. Before it, folks would meet. Heck, I've only been to the range twice since March 2020. Cue the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive." The numbers in our county are really good, like four in hospital and forty seven cases in the whole county. Might have to hit the range on Tuesday.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

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