I paid a visit to my favorite gun store today, hoping to fill a void in my soul. (I haven't bought a gun in over a year, and that makes me weepy.) It's a little out of my way, but usually worth the drive. It's a family run shop, good prices, and generally pretty well stocked.

Of course, I've heard all the recent chatter about how busy gun shops are, but wanted to take society's temperature for myself. As expect, this place was wall to wall bodies. I couldn't drool on the glass counters for lack of a standing room. Not that that mattered, since when I could get up to them, they were near empty for this shop. They easily had only one third the quantity of the pistols they usually keep stocked.

Their rifle racks were still pretty full, although they stock a lot of high-end bolt guns and over/under shotguns. I did count about a dozen EBRs waiting for adoption, although I didn't get a look at the prices. Ammo stores were a little depleted. I witnesses no less than 5 people writing on yellow paper in the 20 minutes I milled about.

Needless to say, my void remains unfilled.

A while ago I discussed the upgrades I had planned for my Ruger 10/22 rifle. I finally got around to ordering a TacSol threaded barrel from Cabela's, which I installed this evening.

First impressions are good. This barrel is nice and light, and shorter than the factory barrel. It measures right at 16.5". It makes the rifle handle very nicely. It almost looks like a kid's gun. I may sight it in this weekend, or in a couple of weeks when a friend is joining me for range time.

Now this gun is just missing one thing.... Sshhhhhhhhhh!

When we last left our never-ending bedroom remodel, I had hung some drywall. This past week, I had a drywall contractor come in to "mud" the room. Two guys, three and a half hours, less than $300, and the room was paint ready, with all of my beginner mistakes corrected. I had to do a little clean up, then I was able to get two coats of paint on walls and ceiling this weekend.

Next weekend will involve a random-orbit floor sander and a gallon of polyurethane.

=====================

In anticipation of my upcoming Force-on-Force class, I acquired an Airsoft G23, which bears a striking resemblance to my carry gun. Can you tell which is which?

This is a gas-blowback model, which means it uses a refillable cartridge of compressed gas (propane!) to discharge the pellet and cycle the slide. This functions just like a real pistol, except that it shoots a small plastic pellet around 300fps instead of a lead bullet.

In the couple quick test shots I took with it, I'm pretty impressed. It puts the pellets out as fast as I could pull the trigger, with just a little bit of recoil (from the slide cycle), and acceptable accuracy. It sunk the pellets pretty good into the towel I was using as a backstop, so I know getting shot with one of these is going to suck. But, better this in training than lead on the streets!

Too damn funny not to share... Perfectly safe for work.

Montana Pole Dancing

H/T to LawDog.

Saw this linked from SurvivalBlog.

It's a report ranking the states in terms of economic and personal freedom. Very interesting reading for people considering relocation.

Download the PDF: Freedom in the 50 States: Index of Personal and Economic Freedom

New Jersey and Maryland are in the bottom five. JR & JK, time to get the hell out!

Finished hanging drywall this past weekend...