Good luck to all who are suffering the current record cold snap. Hiding out from winter in north Florida, we still had icicles on the cars and power outages when ice weighed down the power lines.  No “bomb cyclones,” though, and therefore no sniveling here.

My significant other, the Evil Princess, has completed her photo studio more or less. Here’s an example: the somewhat fancified .45 I carried through the holidays because, well, it was The Holidays.

I will now segue into carrying the guns I’m testing for articles during my teaching sabbatical, since “how they carry” is part of the test: Wilson Combat enhancement of the Glock 19, Nighthawk Custom 9mm Dominator with double stack magazine, and Ruger’s new Security-9.  Yes, we cover the waterfront on price range.

We are supposed to be living up to our New Year’s Resolutions.  As a card-carrying Old Fart, I’ve learned to be more reasonable than optimistic about that.  My resolution WOULD have been to shoot more matches…but the schedule got in the way of that.  I shot four Glock matches at the beginning of last year, winning three guns and some cash, which gave me warm fuzzies.  This year, I’m going to be able to make only two.  I recently discovered that one in Florida was in conflict with a CLE class and a MAG-20 class “up Nawth” that will kick off my 2018 teaching season.  Solution to resolution: I’m gonna try to apply the time I’d have spent in competition to personal skill-building on my own range.  On the bright side, there’s at least one IDPA match I’ll be able to hit.

New Year’s Resolutions tend toward absolution for personal vices.  Very well.  I hereby resolve to drink only the finest alcoholic beverages, consume only the choicest tobacco, eat only the most delicious food, and sleep with only the most wonderful woman.

(A key to success is only making resolutions you might actually keep.)

But, enough about me – what are YOUR New Year’s Resolutions…and what do you think are your actual chances of carrying them out?

23 COMMENTS

  1. Ruger’s new Security-9 seems to portend a return to the era of concealed hammer single action pistols. Much like the 1908 Colt pistol, the Security-9 has a thumb safety and an additional passive safety, abeit on the trigger face rather than on the grip. If so, then once again “past is prologue” in the handgun market!

    I suspect many purchasers who readily accept a concealed hammer single action, would be hesitant to buy an exposed hammer single action design.
    “Out of sight, out of mind.”

  3. Thanks so much for what you do for all of us. 2017 brought my wife and I the opportunity to buy our dream property here in TN. 2018 resolution/goal is to build a barn and shooting range. The thought of being able to walk out my own door and shoot gives me chills. No wait, that’s this cold snap. Be well, be safe.

  4. [Mas sed~~> New Year’s Resolutions tend toward absolution for personal vices. Very well. I hereby resolve to drink only the finest alcoholic beverages (quality beer), consume only the choicest tobacco (organically grown), eat only the most delicious food (in moderation), and sleep with only the most wonderful woman; my best friend and wife. <~~with my edits]

    Yes the brutal cold hit Maryland a little more than your refuge in sunny FLA. I hope we don't get a snow storm in the near future as that would put a damper on my flying to Texas for your upcoming course. As for RESOLUTIONS? We don't need no stinking resolutions!

  5. Happy New Year Mas, too bad you aren’t going to be at the Wyoming Antelope Club this weekend for the machine gun shoot. How about testing the new Sccy .380 semi-auto. I see their ads but can’t find any gun shop that has one. Do they have a problem and are not releasing any for sale.
    Always love your articles, never retire,

  6. Hey Mas, no optics on your carry gun? I’m still running iron sights but they ain’t as clear as the use to be and you being an old fart and all I figured you might have gone over.

    LFI 1,2,3, and more.

  7. New Year’s Greetings Mas! Here’s hoping all is well with you and yours. In one of your previous blogs I read where you said that your gun hand is being crippled by Arthritis. Please don’t feel alone as the same thing is happening to me. Presently I am shooting a Gun 4 Block SubCompact in 40 caliber. Have been having some thoughts of returning to the Revolver namely the Ruger SP 101 with a 3 inch barrel in 357 caliber. Am going to think on it for a couple of months while I try to lose about 20 pounds of holiday cheer. Will reply in a future blog and let you know what i decided.

    • Great “thoughts” Jon. With a full stable, I returned to a Model 60 3″ .357 well over a decade ago – never looked back. Versatile, easy to carry with an appetite for a load of ammo options, whether in the woods/back-country, on the nightstand or simply EDC. I’ve never understood the firepower argument as a civilian, in my environment and love the feel and performance of a good revolver. While perhaps laughable to many, I also religiously carry a .22 mag by NAA; it is always with me. Don’t misunderstand – I enjoy the pistols too. Just don’t carry them as “preferred”. Having carried for going on 50 years, I have been fortunate to have yet been forced into a situation – awareness and avoidance. Wildlife has presented more challenges ie; the Model 60 … I do live in the back-country.

      What has you “having some thoughts …”?

  8. Mas, Sorry about my spelling, don’t know what is going on but my present gun is a Glock Gen 4 subcompact in 40 caliber.

  9. As I sit here and write this my German Shepherd is laying on the floor next to me moaning over the fact that he cant go out today and herd sheep. It’s cold and rainy here in Northern California. It’s a great day for a duck! I was going to shoot today but all shooting lanes are totally filled. I guess people got new and used pistols, revolvers, and rifles for Christmas. Sales on Ammo are over. Can’t buy on-line anymore with out paying a hefty fee for shipping to the range and then paying through the nose again for a range handing fee. This gun stuff is getting much too expensive.

  11. I resolve to show my wife how much I love and appreciate her in ways I have not done before. Part of this will entail escorting her to my range and introducing her to the sport/addiction of pistol shooting. Once she crosses over to the bright side, we will continue the appreciation process in my reloading room. Oh, crap! I just re-read your “key to success”. I’m screwed.

  13. Mas, what is the grip material on the fancy .45? It looks like metal, but if it is isn’t it slick? (And, yes, believe it or not, I’m actually asking a gun question.)

    • It’s pewter, Dave. Bought it many years ago through Colt Collectors Association. Had my initials engraved on it at a local jewelry store.

  14. Just retired from teaching in June and I resolve to do more of the activities I already enjoy. More time fishing with my grandkids. More time hunting. More time plinking at the range. Way more time for; reading, hobbies, plucking the guitar, baking crazy good pies, helping out at church, trying not to be a PITA for my wife, smiling not only at the end, but at the start and middle of each day. Happy New Year.

  15. Mas – your resolution works for me!

    I’d like to thank you for your influence on a lady friend I pressured into taking your Mag 40 last July. Scorching wx aside, she finally got it: self defense discipline is not a hobby! I have intended to take your course for many years; however, business always precluded the opportunity. One day yet.

    You and the Evil One enjoy a Healthy, Happy New Year!

  16. I retired last year. Therefore, now that I have the free time available, my resolution is to begin to attack the items on my “Bucket List”.

    When I was 9 years old, I read a short story about an hunter who was treed by an African Cape Buffalo. That story really installed a deep-seated interest in buffalo hunting. For years (decades), I have read everything that I could find on buffalo hunting. Needless to say, a Cape Buffalo Hunt is the top item on “the List”.

    I have just returned from attending the Annual Convention of the Dallas Safari Club. I was able to gather quit a bit of information on the current safari situation and costs.

    Therefore, my resolution for 2018 is to go on my very first African Safari with the African Cape Buffalo being the primary focus of the hunt. It is only in the early planning stages now but, with luck, I can pull it off in either 2018 or 2019.

    • Good luck, bro.

      Was that “treed by a Cape Buffalo story by any chance Elgin Gates’ account? If I recall correctly, he killed the buff shooting down from the three with his Smith & Wesson Highway Patrolman .357 Magnum, loaded with an “armor-piercing” round (about right for Cape Buffalo skulls).

      • @ Mas – No, I don’t believe it was the Elgin Gates’ account but the story did depend upon shooting the buffalo with a handgun. I don’t remember the name of the story or the author (too many decades ago) but, in it, a hunter was treed when charged (without provocation) by a buffalo and the hunter’s gun-bearer took to his heels with the rifle. The hunter was forced up a tree.

        The buffalo did not show any signs of leaving. So, the hunter rigged a “scarecrow” using his shirt, pants and tree leaves. This was used to decoy the buffalo into making a series of charges under the tree. The hunter had a handgun (maybe a 1911?) and kept shooting down into the buffalo’s back as it passed underneath. Some of the slugs went into the lungs and the buffalo eventually bleed out and died which finally allow the hunter to come out of the tree.

        I am thinking that the story was fiction rather than a true account. Nevertheless, it sparked a lifelong interest in the African Cape Buffalo on my part.

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