Now for something really important…BBQ!

Just returned from a meal out with the family at a chain bbq joint. I stayed with the ribs, not bad, since the pulled pork left me unimpressed on the last visit. The this got me thinking about one of those hole-in-the-wall joints I found while working out of town.

Ridgewood BBQ, located near Bristol,TN, isn’t much to look at from the outside. But that’s the way it should be, spend the money on the meat! The best BBQ joints are almost always dives. Decor is strictly greasy spoon/honky tonk that is about 20 years overdue for a facelift…Perfect!

On to the food, they smoke pork hams in a little smokehouse at the corner of the parking lot. The hams are sliced thin, not shredded, and tossed on the grill for a few seconds with some sauce just to warm it up. Of course the sauce is their own secret recipe. It is as close to a perfect combination of sweet, tangy and spicy I have ever found. The beans are some of the best ever too, with little shredded pieces of the ham floating around. French fries are big, greasy and lots of ‘em, as it should be.

If you want to try some of the sauce, here is a mock/clone recipe. I have made it, but the real thing is much better. Still, a good recipe that will beat 99% of your store bought sauces.

Concealed Carry Anyone?

For anyone considering a license for concealed carry of hangun, check out packing.org for discussion forums and a listing of laws in all 50 states (if CA, IL, NY & NJ are even considered states.. police states maybe). Quite a few states offer reciprocity to license holders from neighboring (or not so close) states.

How (Gun) Stuff Works

Since I had revolvers on the brain today, here’s a cool link.

How Stuff Works has tons of neat information with lots of pics and cool animations. Follow the link and scroll down to the cut-away revolver diagram….click the trigger and enjoy!

The Original M&P

Since the new S&W M&P 40 will become more popular in the years to come, I thought it might be nice to show a much earlier "M&P" for the teens and Gen-X'ers that seem to populate my local range with their Glizz-ocks & SIG's.

The original "Military & Police", a 6 shot revolver in .38 S&W Special, goes all the way back to 1899 and is still manufactured as the Model 10 today.

This specimen is a post-WWII 2" model (circa. 1946-47) known as a "Pre-Model 10". Smith & Wesson didn't began using model numbers until 1957. This is also considered a "Transitional" gun because it uses a pre-war frame with the "long action" hammer action. Post-war guns had a redesigned shorter hammer action and added a 4 line address where the pre-war frame was marked "MADE IN U.S.A" on a single line.

New S&W M&P40

Being a sucker for anything S&W, I put my dealer on notice that I wanted the first one he got in back in November. Fast forward to late February, I finally got one.

The M&P has a polymer frame that is stiffened by a stainless steel internal chassis. After shooting , it really feels closer to a steel framed pistol than any other polymer gun I've fired. The trigger will remind you of the earlier Sigma in appearance only. It is much lighter and crisper in actual use. S&W lists it at 6.5lb and I would guess that's about right. It is smooth with a short reset and is easier for me to shoot more accurately than most pistols outside of a 1911. Speaking of 1911's, the grip angle of the M&P is a lot closer to the John Moses Browning design than the obvious market rival of this new pistol..the Glock.

Here is a detail pic of the slide, some machining marks are visible, but they are even and not noticeable unless closely examined:

The 15 round magazines are very nice and have functioned flawlessly through the first 250 rds or so, using every kind of ammo I had on hand. They are marked for .357 Sig also :

Field stripping the pistol is straight-forward and addresses the issue of sear deactivation in a manner other than pulling the trigger. This will most likely appeal to PD's as a way of preventing ND's (negligent discharges).

First, lock the slide back and remove magazine, then depress the takedown lever, flip the yellow sear deactivation lever down to the position shown and release slide from frame. The recoil spring/guide lifts out and the barrel will slide out of the frame.All pretty standard stuff except for the sear deactivation.

To change the grip panels, remove magazine, turn grip tool 90 deg (either way) and remove, slide grip panel down and off, install new panel and reverse steps :

In closing, the M&P is ergonomic, well-made, points and shoots as well as any polymer gun I've tried and holds 15 rounds in a package than can be tailored to a wide range of hands. Assuming long term durability is good, S&W should sell a boat load of these. It would be great to see a large percentage of PD's go back to an American made service gun, and considering the Army's M9 is probably on the way out, the stakes may be even higher.

AR-15 Goodness

AR-15’s (aka EBR’s…Evil Black Rifles) should begin the first round of treatment in any recoil therapy regimen. If the subject doesn’t immediately break into their best imitation of a Calvin & Hobbes-esque maniacal grin, more intense treatment will be needed. For most of us, running through 5 or 6 soothing 30 round mags of 5.56mm on a Saturday afternoon will erase any memory of the shit sandwiches that were served at the office all week.

Here is my first build…it’s a 16″ Bushmaster Dissipator Upper on a DoubleStar lower. The stock is a ACE ARFX. Props to MidwayUSA who had them for around $55. The Bushie upper is a post-ban with a pressed on AK style break. It’s really reduces muzzle flip, but is a bitch if your on the next bench beside it.

Total price for the build was ~$575, much more palatable than the >$800 that a factory assembled rifle runs. These guns can be a little pricey when you have 2.3 crumb munchers, a mortgage or two and are trying to keep the SUV filled up with Middle-East Meth. Building one (assembling really, only minimal tools and talent are needed) is really the way to go. Check out AR15.com for way more info than you will ever need