November 25, 2020

  • Not a whisper, but still soothingly quiet

    If anyone is reading this other than Cyrus, I will let you know that I still have hope in the law school league because Cyrus let me beat his crew this week. The high school league has left me in the dust thanks to a man named Thielen in Minnesota. The last thing he did before getting quarantined for Covid was to hang 30 fantasy points on me, turning my certain win into a standings pummeling.

    I received my $200 tax stamp as required by the National Firearms Act of 1934 ("NFA"), allowing me to take possession of the Rugged brand suppressor ("can") I bought back in the late spring. The can had been in NFA jail at a local gun store since arriving there in June. The check that accompanied my paperwork was cashed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives ("ATF") on June 15th. Based on the average wait times then, I calculated that I would not get to put any rounds through it until sometime mid-January. I do not know what is behind it, but it appears the ATF has found another gear for processing stamp apps. I took possession of my can last Saturday. Next step was to try it out.

    Today, I found my opportunity. Tommy P is a blueberry farmer now. The farm has a nice dune that works as a shooting backstop. We grabbed some pumpkins off the Halloween leftovers pile for targets. My initial test used plain 230 grain .45 ACP FMJ round-nose. Those pumpkins were made into grim reminders of what would happen if a self-defense need is met with that firearm. I could have put some hollow points through, but I did not think the pumpkin had enough substance to get those tips to open before exiting the back side. The round-nose were devastating enough.

    I was super happy on the performance of the can. After one shot, I took my ear protection off. I could run that gun comfortably outdoors without any discomfort. Tommy P thought the echo from a treeline ~100 yrds to our right seemed louder than the original report from my handgun. I was also really happy that the can did not change the trajectory of my unsuppressed barrel, as can happen in some situations. The shots we took were dead nuts on. Also, with that extra front end weight, it felt like my recovery time between shots was cut down because the gun wasn't jumping around as much as it normally wants to when naked. Here is what my little friend looks like with his new attachment:

    Quieter2

    I am excited to see how it works with my .22 pistol. I already have the correct adapter, but I need the threaded barrel. That is why we have Christmas lists. The can worked so well today, I now contemplating turning my unfinished AR lower into .300 Blackout instead of a 5.56 Nato or .223 Wylde rig. Rugged claims I can use this model with .45 ACP, 9mm Luger, .22 lr, and .300 Blackout. I assume calibers like .380 Auto or .32 ACP aren't listed because they might not generate enough energy to cycle the firearm with a piston set up. The .22 lr will work because that pistol is a fixed barrel that doesn't cycle with the action. In fact, I need a spacer to put where the spring normally goes on the piston when I put it on the .22 lr. I can get that at the hardware store (copper pipe fitting).

    I took a six-week "season" break from Monday night poker a few weeks ago. I had a general foreboding regarding the upsurge of Covid. Also, with the holidays, I know the season would be chopped up, and I would be missing some weeks anyway. Three days after I skipped the first Monday of the season, the poker host suspended the season because he caught a proper case of Covid. He is recovered now, but poker remains on hold. Thanks, gut instinct!

    Hey, there was an election recently. Does anyone out there know how it turned out?