Winchester Model 12 Pump Shotgun Review

Above, the Winchester Model 12 shotgun after I first brought it home. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The only gun I bought this year was the Winchester Model 12 shotgun. It was manufactured in 1919, but age hasn't caused any problems with shooting it (since I had Loeffler's Guns Etc. in Grants, New Mexico coached me on its workings). I had to buy it in April as New Mexico started imposing a 5-day waiting period in May.

I shot it last month and it worked great. It hit what I was aiming at (an old political yard sign). Not bad for a shotgun over 100 years old.

Before buying it, I was on the lookout for a shotgun best suited for trap shooting. I bought a Remington Model 870 Express last year, but that wasn't suited for trap shooting. I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn when we went trap shooting in Lake Havasu, Arizona. I did much better with a borrowed shotgun during a previous trap shoot. Still, I like the Remington for regular target plinking.

Guns.com (where I bought the Winchester Model 12) posted a review of the Model 12 and it begins with:

The Model 12 is a pump-action 12-gauge shotgun that is iconic in that it has the classic features that make a pump gun so appealing. It may not be the first, but it certainly trained generations how to shoot airborne game among many other things. The Model 12 was also used by the U.S. military, with roots going back to before World War I.

My father grew up shooting an old Model 12, and he was barely a teenager when it was given to him by my grandfather. He used it for hunting pheasants and ducks in the marshy wetlands beyond grandpa’s pasture. As a child, I remember seeing dad tinker with it amongst his other guns.

The Model 12 uses traditional wooden furniture, with an easily identifying ribbed front grip. A shallow rib runs the length of the barrel, with a targeting bead on the muzzle end. The barrel itself is 30 inches long and has a 3-inch magnum chamber. It features a familiar safety at the front of the trigger guard and an action release just behind it. The tubular magazine holds six 2.75-inch shot shells, and it is clamped to the barrel at the front of the tube.

I looked up the serial number and, if the internet is to be believed, this gun was manufactured in 1917, making it 105 years old.

To read more, go here. 

Democrats Seek To Abolish The First Amendment

The Democrats and their media and social media toadies (think Mark Zuckerberg) have been hell-bent on censoring or "fact-checking" viewpoints contrary to theirs.

They are not even trying to hide it.

They are determined to undermine or, perhaps, destroy the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  

The Washington Examiner has posted an article on how the radical Left is seeking to abolish the First Amendment.

It begins with:

When a political movement’s only guiding principle is an insatiable lust for power, the free exchange of ideas becomes public enemy No. 1. It should come as no surprise that the party that booed God at its national convention and has largely replaced faith with the perverse worship of the state feels that the ends always justify the means.

From author Fran Lebowitz suggesting that President Joe Biden should dissolve the Supreme Court to regime journalists openly calling for the destruction of the U.S. Constitution, Democrats have become increasingly comfortable with publicly displaying their radicalism. In their minds, the enemy is not poverty, inflation, or threats by foreign enemies but freedom itself. As the Left attempts to remake America into a totalitarian, multicultural nightmare, the first two amendments to the Constitution are the only bulwarks standing in its way.

Democrats have been thoroughly defeated on the Second Amendment front. A majority of people can now legally defend their families without a permission slip from the state, and the tens of millions of AR-15, AR-10, and AK-47-style rifles in civilian hands all but guarantee that the gun confiscation plans of authoritarian Democrats are doomed to fail. 

For a variety of reasons, the First Amendment is more difficult to defend. The public has grown accustomed to censorship by the state. Democrats successfully used a coordinated, unconstitutional censorship campaign to win the 2020 presidential election, and they view the continued perversion of the First Amendment, or its outright elimination, as the path forward toward achieving their communistic goals. 

It is imperative that the voters must vote out of office as many radical Democrats as they can and defeat Kamala Harris this November.

To read more, go here. 

2024 JWCF Ridgway Photos

Above, the first aid station area before set-up. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The John Wayne Cancer Foundation's Ridgway, Colorado Grit Series marathons for this year are now history.

The official website has posted photos of the run along in several categories. The categories are: Highlights, Start-Finish Area, On Course - Start & Final Stretch and Miscellaneous.

I volunteered again this year and worked the first aid station at the True Grit Ross Family ranch movie location. We had around 200 runners participate.

To see the photos, go here. 

VP Debate Tonight

Well, we have some entertainment viewing tonight on CBS.

The vice presidential debate between Sen. J D Vance and Gov. Tom Walz will be on this evening at 9:00 PM Eastern Time (7:00 PM Mountain Time).

Grab some popcorn and enjoy the show!

Dollar In ¥144 Range

Now that we're in a new month and the fall season should entice more Americans to visit Japan thanks to cooler weather, it is time to take a peek at how the U.S. dollar is faring against the Japanese yen.

According to the Mainichi Shimbun:

The U.S. dollar rose to lower 144 yen range in Tokyo on buying after Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank is not in a rush to cut interest rates, fueling expectations that the U.S. and Japanese rate differential would remain wide, dealers said.

At 5 p.m., the dollar fetched 144.16-19 yen compared with 143.57-67 yen in New York and 142.37-39 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Monday.

To read more, go here.