Could Have Been Worse. Could Have Been Whoopee Cushions.

I think I would last about 10 minutes at Wilson. Just looking at the deadened faces of these employees is depressing. Watching this makes me wonder if these utterly repetitious manufacturing jobs are really the best use of the abilities of human beings, or if there couldn’t be machines doing every one of these steps. My guess is the people are still cheaper.

Pretty much the only things made in US America these days are Balls and Guns.

I can hardly wait to see what 2011 will bring. I know it will be thrilling and challenging in all kinds of ways. I am filled with hope and resolve.

@Benedick:
go lie down, darling.

@ManchuCandidate: +1

@ManchuCandidate: Speaking of which, I’m pretty excited about the new single stack compact 9mm Ruger that comes out next month. It’s $100 cheaper and slimmer than a Glock 26, plus it has a manual safety that the Glock lacks.

http://www.downrange.tv/blog/ruger-introduces-lc9-lightweight-compact-9mm-pistol/7966/

@redmanlaw: What’s the useful range of that Ruger?

@Dodgerblue: Most pistols are not long range weapons, although some people use larger caliber revolvers in .357, .41 , .44 or .45 cal. and up for shooting up to 100 yards. I’ve shot targets with my .22 revolver, a Ruger Single Six with a 5 1/2 in. barrel, out to 75 yards.

A small pistol like that Ruger 9mm or the Ruger SP 101 .38 special/.357 magnum snub nose revolver that is my current carry piece and bedside gun (I alternate with my 9 mm Glock 19, which holds up to 15 rounds) are designed to be used at what are called “defensive ranges” or about 7 to 10 yards. That’s the range I practice at with my snubby and my Glock. The short 2 1/4 in. barrel of the little Ruger means that it’s less accurate at longer ranges than a pistol with a longer barrel would be, such as my Ruger GP 100 with a 4 in barrel. The SP 101 also holds only five rounds due to its size. I’ve shot my Glock out to 25 yards, and it did OK and my big revolver did pretty well also. I should go out to the range to check out how the snub nose would do at that distance. I also need to adjust the laser sight on the little revolver. Still, it’s not something you could really depend on in a desert gunfight across a canyon with stagecoach robbers.

Here’s a great primer on the snub nose revolver:
http://www.snubnose.info/docs/Theory.htm

Info on the Ruger SP 101, which is legal in Cali:
http://www.snubnose.info/docs/sp101_2.htm

@redmanlaw: Interesting, thanks.

@Dodgerblue: Yeah, “useful range” is an interesting thing to think about with handguns. Theoretically, they’re good for decently long range (ie, RML’s 75 yard shots), but in any practical sense (particularly under the stress of firing at another human who intends you immediate harm), most pistols are useful to about 5 yards. Stories you may have heard about someone unloading a magazine at an assailant and missing with every single shot are likely to be true, for instance. It takes a lot of practice and steely nerves.

I personally suck balls with handguns. Careful aim and 5 yards, and I get a group the size of a cantaloupe (not good), particularly with anything larger than a .22 (which is to say, I can’t shoot anything that might be useful for self-defense). Under stress, I’d probably be one of those guys who misses with every shot, reason #367 why I don’t and probably never will carry or own a pistol. With a .22 rifle and a bench rest, on the other hand (the diametrical opposite of self-defense), I can put 5 shots through a dime at 50 yards.

@Dave H: @ManchuCandidate: There are some things that must remain in the hands of US workers, like footballs and baseball rubbing mud.

Put some John Facenda narration to that Wilson video, along with a few clips of snow covered Lambeau field or Franco’s immaculate reception, and you can bet that Tina and her progeny will be lacing up balls for a couple more decades.

@IanJ: Group the size of a cantaloupe within center of body mass would do the trick.

tj/ Hitting the road on short notice. I just got pulled in on a tribal election dispute at one of the Pueblos so it’s time to saddle up the palomino. The staff at the Hampton Inn in Gallup will know me by sight pretty soon.

@redmanlaw: Yeah, but I can only pull that off while carefully aiming at a completely non-threatening paper target. Get me all hopped up on adrenaline and I’d pull so hard against recoil that the pavement in front of the bad guy would regret ever having been pulled from its safe haven under the earth, and the passing robin would wonder at the shockwave passing by.