Interesting point of view from an "outsider"
Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2004 5:03 pm
I had a friend stop by the field trial on Saturday. This friend is involved heavily with one of my other hobbies which is handguns and defensive shooting competitions. He is a writer for a gun magazine and runs his own website. www.magogre.com is full of stories from his lifes travels, political thoughts, and his own journal or "weblog".
I explained how the trials work, and a little about my dog. He looked around a little and we chatted for a couple of hours. He knows me from an internet forum similar to this ( www.thehighroad.org )where I use the the same name of 12 Volt Man. Myself along with my Brother in Law are JackAsh Custom Shop ( www.jackashcustom.com ) This should help you understand better some of the other things he writes about in this post.
Anyway here is what he wrote in his Blog about seeing the trial. I thought some of it was funny and interesting.
I explained how the trials work, and a little about my dog. He looked around a little and we chatted for a couple of hours. He knows me from an internet forum similar to this ( www.thehighroad.org )where I use the the same name of 12 Volt Man. Myself along with my Brother in Law are JackAsh Custom Shop ( www.jackashcustom.com ) This should help you understand better some of the other things he writes about in this post.
Anyway here is what he wrote in his Blog about seeing the trial. I thought some of it was funny and interesting.
8:30PM MST: Shotguns and dogs: I went out and paid a visit to 12 Volt Man, the cat at JackAsh Custom who makes custom 1911 grips and CZ guide rods. He was in the middle of a competition (in Roosevelt) that I didn't even knew existed. He mentioned it before, but I didn't know what it was. It's a bird dog hunting competition. It's a shooting sport and it's a dog trainer's sport together. I saw some very nice shotguns out there, and some "bleep" fine dogs. 12 Volt's dog “Cooper” was a handsome one. I was impressed. Bird dogs are some very smart dogs. Almost makes me wish I got that German Short Hair when I had the chance. Looks like a fun sport, but one I do not have the time nor money to invest in. I saw trucks with specialized custom trailers and bed kits... not just for dogs, but for hunting dogs. Built in gun vaults and all that jazz. Let me publish my 4th or 5th book before I start thinking about something like that. Because you would have to have a nice set up to enjoy the sport. Because the sport involves standing around in cold, damp, miserable weather. I want a truck with an auxilary heater and a hot chocolate maker before I take to that game. 12Vm was doing the game from his car with his dog riding in the back seat. The only car there other than one contestant who's wife showed up to watch. But he was doing well in the standings... so bravo! It's hard enough just shooting well when you are shivering, let alone doing so while running your dog and having your dog okay and do everything as it is supposed to. I don't even want to think about what Ranger would do out there. 12Vm showed me three things that I really liked.
The first one is a CZ 40P. This is a CZ 40 slide on a P-01 Frame. The resulting frankenpistol is awesome. Love it! For 300 or less, put me down for one! Seriously. The gun felt great as can be expected considering the frame its on. Pointed perfectly of course. That's a fine handgun there. He didn't want to sell it.
The second one was a Springfield 1911 Loaded model with some customizations. Stainless and beautiful, with a nice ambi-safety, mag well funnel, and gorgeous wood grips. Very nice example of the 1911 breed. Very nice indeed.
Then he shows me gun #3. A gun I sold off like a total dumbass. "bleep". He took the grips and thinned them down and smoothed them off. The effect is a gun that interfaces perfectly in the hand, feels svelte and lean... and points flawlessly. If the gun felt like that when I had it, I wouldn't have sold it. I've said these guns are on the same level as a SIG P220... I was wrong about that. Let me say this just once... They are, with some work done, better than the SIG P220. The only thing it lacks in my opinion is a decocker. If it did, the CZ-97B would make the P220 a second class citizen. It's an accurate piece thanks in part with the gun's amazing trigger. He refused to sell it too. 12Vm is a cruel and heartless man! (kidding) I'm glad to see such a worthy weapon in the care of a worthy man. Excellent matching. And from photos of his shooting with it, he is capable of extracting the gun's potential. Bravo! Now put me down for another CZ-97B, so I can have him do the grips like that. It was awesome. Next one will be polished and blued. This gun I sold to MiniZ and MiniZ sold it to 12Vm. This gun came to me via The Gun Fairy, Larry Correia. So this is Utah CZ... massive amounts of bad karma will befall anyone selling it or taking it out of Utah.
12Vm told me about how me makes those guide rods of his. They are flawlessly and meticulously made by hand. It's a time consuming process. Each one is a work of art and well worth the price. You don't find gun parts made like this anymore. Now days they are all injection molded or stamped.
The competition is a two day event. Standing out in the wet and cold like that for two days with your dog, and then trying to get your dog to perform on command? Brutal. He's tougher than I am. If I was to have to do that, it would have to be for killing something more threatening than a quail, that's for "bleep" sure. Saddam, Bin Laden, Kim Jong-Il or Chirac... but a little bird? I don't have the patience. Here's what I'd do after standing out there for just a couple hours. Say “"bleep" it” put my dog back in the truck, hit the grocery store, buy a dozen Cornish Game Hens, a big freaking hot chocolate and go home and sit by a fire, reading with my dog at my feet, and the hens roasting in the oven. There you go.