Played dress-up with a 43x this week. I'll know more after it gets a work-out, but I'm pleased with the aesthetics.
I should have wiped the oil smudges off, first. Sorry for any offense to your eyes.
Guns. That's what's happening.
- JimVH
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Guns. That's what's happening.
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"The days that I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations, well, I have really good days."
-- Ray Wylie Hubbard
-- Ray Wylie Hubbard
- JimVH
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Guns. That's what's happening.
Got some range time in yesterday. My brother, nephew, grandson, and I went to a new indoor range to check it out. Nice place, but pretty pricy. We all shared and had had a great time. The highlight for me was shooting my mom’s old S&W .38. Mom was a better shot with it, btw. I took a lot of pride in that realization.
My grandson brought his .500 S&W mag. What a ridiculous (in a badass way) hunk of steel. My nephew’s eyes got as big as pie plates when my grandson offered him a few rounds with it. This is a kid that never shot anything but .38 and 9mm. I wish I had a photo of his face when that first shockwave rocked him back on his feet. A truly great moment.
From a technical perspective, my day was less than stellar. The 43x project I posted a few entries back was a tremendous disappointment. The upgraded barrel would not feed. At all. Everything worked fine with the factory barrel. There’s a lesson there. The red dot was fun and I’ll keep tinkering with it. Two other builds tested okay, but not well enough to carry. They’ll be good after some more tweaking.
The pure shooting joy of the day was shooting an FN 502 Tactical .22lr. Fun, reliable, and consistent. I put a cheap red dot on it out of curiosity and it turned out to be a real joy to shoot. It’s a keeper.
I’m still not sure how I feel about red dots on handguns. I don’t have a whole lot of experience, yet, but so far, I do not see any major improvement in target acquisition time (maybe even a little slower), but my accuracy does improve modestly at longer ranges.
Fun day.
My grandson brought his .500 S&W mag. What a ridiculous (in a badass way) hunk of steel. My nephew’s eyes got as big as pie plates when my grandson offered him a few rounds with it. This is a kid that never shot anything but .38 and 9mm. I wish I had a photo of his face when that first shockwave rocked him back on his feet. A truly great moment.
From a technical perspective, my day was less than stellar. The 43x project I posted a few entries back was a tremendous disappointment. The upgraded barrel would not feed. At all. Everything worked fine with the factory barrel. There’s a lesson there. The red dot was fun and I’ll keep tinkering with it. Two other builds tested okay, but not well enough to carry. They’ll be good after some more tweaking.
The pure shooting joy of the day was shooting an FN 502 Tactical .22lr. Fun, reliable, and consistent. I put a cheap red dot on it out of curiosity and it turned out to be a real joy to shoot. It’s a keeper.
I’m still not sure how I feel about red dots on handguns. I don’t have a whole lot of experience, yet, but so far, I do not see any major improvement in target acquisition time (maybe even a little slower), but my accuracy does improve modestly at longer ranges.
Fun day.
"The days that I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations, well, I have really good days."
-- Ray Wylie Hubbard
-- Ray Wylie Hubbard
- Bloodhound
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Guns. That's what's happening.
Jim sounds like a fun trip to the range. Sorry your Glock build didn't work out. The good news is that you still have the factory Glock parts and it will likely shoot well with them.
Do Justice...
Love Mercy...
Walk Humbly with your GOD
Kyrie Eleison
Love Mercy...
Walk Humbly with your GOD
Kyrie Eleison
- JimVH
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Guns. That's what's happening.
Indeed. I already shifted one back to factory (a G17 I didn't mention), less an upgraded trigger. I'm not giving up on the other.Bloodhound wrote: 06 Jan 2025, 08:01 Jim sounds like a fun trip to the range. Sorry your Glock build didn't work out. The good news is that you still have the factory Glock parts and it will likely shoot well with them.
"The days that I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations, well, I have really good days."
-- Ray Wylie Hubbard
-- Ray Wylie Hubbard
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Guns. That's what's happening.
So an update on the High Standard Project...
I have been looking for videos and working on replacing the take down lever assembly on this pistol, without much luck. I have taken it to the range several times and it shoots well and is accurate and is a strong contender for a total refinish. That is beyond my skill set, heck I can't even get the take down lever swapped out. I talked to a local gunsmith school that takes on projects, but not 1946 High Standard HD Military (Too big of a risk as parts are hard to find...well that means I for sure won't be tackling this myself).
So found a gunsmith locally and he agreed to take it on, but he stood me up for the appointment to talk about the project the next day and didn't return my message...
The company that owns the High Standard name is in Texas, and they seem to be doing some good work in restoration and such, but I keep hearing horror stories about lost guns in the mail and long turnarounds...I have talked to them a couple of times about this gun, but my gut keeps telling me don't do it.
Well I found a smith that works out of a local gun club/shop/store and on his website, he shows before and after pics of his work on an even older High Standard Model B. I found some guys at my gun club that he has done work for and they all had good things to say. So I will be making the trip tomorrow afternoon to see him and get his idea about bringing this old soldier back to better look, to match the way it shoots.


I have been looking for videos and working on replacing the take down lever assembly on this pistol, without much luck. I have taken it to the range several times and it shoots well and is accurate and is a strong contender for a total refinish. That is beyond my skill set, heck I can't even get the take down lever swapped out. I talked to a local gunsmith school that takes on projects, but not 1946 High Standard HD Military (Too big of a risk as parts are hard to find...well that means I for sure won't be tackling this myself).
So found a gunsmith locally and he agreed to take it on, but he stood me up for the appointment to talk about the project the next day and didn't return my message...
The company that owns the High Standard name is in Texas, and they seem to be doing some good work in restoration and such, but I keep hearing horror stories about lost guns in the mail and long turnarounds...I have talked to them a couple of times about this gun, but my gut keeps telling me don't do it.
Well I found a smith that works out of a local gun club/shop/store and on his website, he shows before and after pics of his work on an even older High Standard Model B. I found some guys at my gun club that he has done work for and they all had good things to say. So I will be making the trip tomorrow afternoon to see him and get his idea about bringing this old soldier back to better look, to match the way it shoots.


Do Justice...
Love Mercy...
Walk Humbly with your GOD
Kyrie Eleison
Love Mercy...
Walk Humbly with your GOD
Kyrie Eleison
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- Usher
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Guns. That's what's happening.
My B-I-L is a police chaplain, and the chaplaincy is putting on a Skeet shoot.
I'm going for it.
I'm going for it.
"Prov'dence don't fire no blank ca'tridges, boys."
--- Mark Twain in Roughing It
--- Mark Twain in Roughing It
- FredS
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Guns. That's what's happening.
This looks like bloodhound when he was telling why LEO's don't use red dots.
If we ever get to heaven boys, it ain't because we ain't done nothin' wrong. - Kris Kristofferson