Today's Long Island Reptile Expo

ReptileExpo.com held its Long Island Reptile Expo today at the Hilton in Melville, NY. I volunteered to help out, at the Long Island Herpetological Society table. The table was graciously given (as in for free) to the LIHS by Bruce L., the event organizer. I got there somewhat later than I planned, maybe about 8:35 this morning instead of 8:00. Since the show opens its doors to the public, I like to be at this and similar events at least an hour early but it did not matter much. There was very little to set up for our society table, just the LIHS sign and frame on which to hang it and a bunch of fliers for the upcoming LIHS show, membership applications and info sheets on the herpetofauna of NY State.

When I got there the LIHS sign was already up and Rich M. and Ann were already there setting up the papers. Rich H. was also there along with John H (all board members with the exception of Ann and myself). Vin R. the LIHS president had the next table over for his business, Cutting Edge Herp. The animals he sells live up to the name, they are definitely ‘cutting edge’. He mostly sells high end boas and ball pythons and his leucistic Ball Pythons are exceptional!

The doors opened to the public at 9, or were supposed to have opened then. I am pretty sure they opened a bit earlier than that and the crowd started to make its way inside. Truthfully it was not all that crowded once the doors opened, it actually about a half hour or so for it to achieve a pretty full condition. Once it reached that stage, it did not begin to thin out until about 2:30 in the afternoon, about a half hour before the doors were scheduled to close. For most of the day the place was packed with buyers and gawkers. While most of the people who come to herp (reptile  amphibian) shows come to buy, there is always a good amount of folks who come just to look at all the critters for sale. There is almost always enough variety of scaled and slimy creatures to rival the reptile house at any zoo. Today’s offering were no exception. 

 

A Lot of Variety On One Table

There were snakes - a lot of scaly, squirming, super-cool snakes. They ranged in price anywhere from about $15 up t several thousand dollars depending on species and morph (genetic color variety). These included Boa Constrictors, Rainbow Boas,  Green Tree Boas, Ball Pythons, Womas Pythons, Children’s Pythons, Green Tree Pythons , Corn Snakes of virtually every variety (and there are a lot of them), other rat snakes, Mexican Milk Snakes, Gray Banded Kingsnakes, Florida Kingsnakes, Puget Sound Garter Snakes, Western Hognose Snakes, and on and on.


Crested Gecko (source Wikipedia)

Then there were the lizards from: the gecko Rhacodactylus leachianus (a few varieties) to: Crested Geckos, Giant Day Geckos, Leopard Geckos, Gargoyle Geckos to: Green Iguanas, Mali Uromastyx, Argentine Tegus, Bearded Dragons and on and on. Bearded dragons are one of the most popular pet lizards and actually make a good pet in the traditional sense of the word. They are almost always calm, can be handled with a fair amount of frequency and like to be petted. Crested Geckos make great lizards for the reptile fancier as well but are not as much a traditional pet in the sense they do not like to be handled. 

 

My Female Hermann's Tortoise
from a few years back.

Of course, there were the chelonians that rounded out the reptiles at the show. Among them were tortoises such as: Hermann’s Tortoises (one I was displaying and only one for sale and I waited too long; it was gone when I checked on it with an idea of buying it if a male), Asian Box Turtles, Hingeback Tortoises, Russian Tortoises, an Indian Star Tortoise, and Redfoot Tortoises. There were also turtles including an Alligator Snapping. I have to say, I do not recall seeing many water turtles there today. There were a few but I think not any Red Eared Sliders which are usually at these shows in good number.

 

Blue Poison Dart Frogs (source Wikipedia)

As far as amphibians went, there were an awful lot of frogs such as the Blue Poison Dart Frog, a large number of Red Eyed Tree Frogs , also a lot of Argentine Horned Frogs and quite a few others. Too bad, I did not see even one salamander or newt. For some reason, they are not all that common at herp shows in this area although they are interesting animals and many are easy to keep for the herp enthusiast.

 

Ann and Rich M. at the LIHS table.

I helped man the LIHS table but Rich M and Ann took over most of those duties . I made sure to do some good for the society too though - I proactively handed out LIHS Show fliers to folks who were passing by our table and to those who stopped there for information. As for those people who stop at the LIHS table, We always are happy to answer questions that attendees have about things like: how good a pet a certain reptile or amphibian might be, how easy or difficult to care for a certain animal will prove, care tips, and so on. We had a good number of folks visit the table seeking just that kind of info. As for the fliers, I am guessing I handed out a couple of hundred of them. I also went around to the vendor tables, concurrently with Rich M, to hand out vendor packets for the upcoming Long Island HerpetologicalSociety’s 23rd Annual Herp Show (we have been at it for a long time as a herp society). Rich started on one side of the room and I n the other. We got a lot of positive feedback from vendors, hopefully a good number of them will attend our show. We don’t hold a purely commercial herp expo. Our show is slowly changing to being geared more toward educational exhibits but it still includes a judged reptile/amphibian competition and vendor sales. It will be held on Saturday, November 10^th, at SUNY Farmingdale in Roosevelt Hall just off of Route 110 in Melville, NY.

I did mention, didn't I, that I could not go to a herp show without buying something. I am pretty much well passed the stage of buying herps on impulse and did not buy any today. I did see that Hermann’s Tortoise, I mentioned above, in which I had an interest. Too bad I did not check to see if the dealer would offer me a dealer price (one advantage of volunteering is having a vendor badge to wear, the other is getting into the expo for free). I figured I would ask at the end of the show if he still had it but it was gone about an hour before then! I am not even sure I would have purchased it but when I arrived at the show I was sure I wanted to buy a male Hermann’s Tortoise to replace the one I had that disappeared from my yard this past June. While sitting at the LIHS table, I became somewhat uncertain as to whether or not I wanted to buy a male all that much. The Hermann’s Tortoise I had on display was always believed by me to very probably be a female since the egg from which it hatched was incubated at temperatures that should have virtually assured it to hatch out female (sex can be determined in tortoises by egg incubation temperatures). Well, while showing it off to folks at the LIHS table and allowing kids to pet it under its chin while Ann or I held it out to the kids, it apparently peed a few times. Normally tortoises do not pass much liquid urine, it is usually more of a white chalky clump. Today though, the little booger squirted out liquid about four or five times. Then it looked as if it was pooping. As I put it down, I noticed that it was not poop sticking out of its cloaca (the single opening shared for urination, emptying the bowels and for reproduction) but was its tally-whacker (yes, as in male sexual organ). I guess it wasn’t urine!

I had just mentioned to Ann, a bit earlier, that this tortoise seemed to have a pretty wide tail for one that  thought would turn out a female. It is only about 1 year and 4 months old and I would have thought it too young to be sexed but there is no doubt after seeing it’s wiener, females just don’t have em. I now have to wonder if the other one, incubated along with this one but from the second clutch of eggs that my adult female laid, is also a male when I thought for sure it would be a female. I will give a look at its tail. If as wide as the now proven male, I will assume it is also a male. If its tail is much narrower, there is a good chance it will be a female but it also still could be a male that is maturing slower. Time will tell. While the little newly realized male (only just over 4 inches long) will probably not be mature enough to breed by next spring, there is a chance it will be able to do so by Spring 2014. Missing a year of them breeding will not be a big deal for me. Thus I was not all that anxious about checking on the Hermann’s Tortoise that was for sale at the show.

As I said though, it being a herp show, I had to buy something. I got a bag of Keeper's Choice red cypress substrate (used for substrate in the tortoise enclosure) and some tortoise food pellets (used as a supplement for the Hermann’s Tortoises’ vegetarian diet and for my sole Redfoot Tortoise’s omnivorous diet). In addition I picked up a couple of Exo Terra, Solar Glo, mercury vapor bulbs which I use to assure the tortoises get UVA and UVB radiation in their lighting (necessary for their well-being) and enough heat in their enclosures. I also bought a piece of cork bark to add to my Crested Gecko enclosure. This one basically forms a snug (for a crested gecko) hollow tube and they will love using it as a hiding place during the daylight hours; there are nocturnal. Oh, I actually did buy some animals but not any herps. I picked up a box of 500 small crickets for the three crested geckos and one small toad that I keep. I had best attend to them now and get a tank set up for them. They should last me a month or more if care for them right. The lizards will each eat several a day. The toad will eat them while they stay fairly small and will gobble down as many or more, in a day, than each lizard will eat. All in all I spent about $110. Had I sold the Hermann’s Tortoise, and I had plenty of people asking if  would sell it, I would have wound up with a net profit of $15 to $40 for the day dependent on a sale price. As it was, I figured I would keep him for now and anyway, sales from the LIHS table are frowned upon, a bit, since it is a society table and not really a vendor table. If I do decide to sell it, I will offer it up at the LIHS show next month (that is if I can attend, right now I am scheduled to work that day but I am looking to trade days with someone).

Well, that was the Long Island Reptile Expo, October 2012, in a tortoise  shell.

 All the best,

Glenn B

 

What Is Up With The 5.56X45 62 Grain Ammo Shortage?

Sure there is plenty of .223 at 55 grains out there, but there is hardly any 5.56 62 grain NATO spec (or even close to it) available. What is available out there has gone up in price at least $40 - $50 per case over the past several months. The best price I have found, on a 1,000 round case of 62 grain 5.56X45 ammo has been $399.00 shipped.

Is this due to huge government purchases like some other calibers that DHS purchased? (I would doubt it since even foreign made brands are in short supply.) Is it because people are fearful of what I wrote about in my post immediately prior to this one, stuff like the upcoming presidential election and fear that Obama will get a second term, or worries about the Mayan calendar ending in December, or people just getting silly and preparing for a Zombie Apocalypse? (Considering the face eater in FL a couple of months back - maybe they are onto something!)

I mean - come on now folks - the sky is not falling is it - why in Hades is this ammo unavailable except for the little bit of it that is out there at these inflated prices????

Oh yeah, I forgot - maybe it is because gasoline prices are up there at well over $4 per gallon for regular. Then again, that would only explain higher prices and does not go at all to explain the shortage of this particular type of ammo.

Oh well, life under Obama sucks and I suppose that folks are preparing for another possible scary 4 years of him.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Rapture, The End of The World, The End Of Time Itself...

...may all be rapidly approaching and be much closer than most of us are willing to accept. Haven't we been getting enough clues both from ancient religions and cultures and from modern culture itself. Religion tells us of the rapture or the resurrection of Christ and the dead. It is not going to be pretty or so it has been proclaimed for this is when Christ will choose those to ascend to Heaven with him and leave others, including the risen dead, behind in great and horrible suffering. We also have a religious and cultural warning of the end of time in the form of the Mayan calendar - or so some believe (mostly they who are not Mayans). The Mayan calendar ends on December 21, 2012. Does it signify the end of time? Has time run out. Are there any modern indications? We have had tremendous earthquakes over the past couple of years, droughts that last years, invasions of insects by the millions (one currently taking place in Utah now), economic failures worldwide, countries full of religious zealots bent on the destruction of other nations ad eagerly trying to acquire 'the bomb'. We even have warnings in the forms of entertainment we enjoy - from death defying pranks, to reality TV dare shows, to the biggest sensation of them all Zombie mania. If all of that were not enough, we have the 2012 presidential elections coming up in the United States of America and we have the most incompetent president ever running for reelection. Yes, he is even less competent than was Jimmy (The Failure) Carter. His agenda, disarming Americans to subjugate them, then charge them higher taxes, higher costs for electricity, higher costs for fuel, higher costs for medical insurance with less care, and to in general enslave a nation and then...who knows.

We most assuredly are headed toward the End of Days but we have the ability to change course and to delay that end and live good lives in between now and then. All we need do, as a first step, is to vote against Obama. Well, maybe we had best arm ourselves before then, and stockpile ammo and food and water and other necessary supplies because the pundits are saying if he is voted out rioting will take place because funding for the welfare state will be drastically reduced. While most of the Apocalypse stuff may be bunk and the dead are probably not about to rise and walk among us once again, with an appetite for human flesh this time round, the pundits could actually have something there, about those riots so, I am preparing just in case. I guess that means I am an optimist in more ways than one - thinking I could survive difficult times like that AND thinking those times are headed our way because Obama will be voted out! Oh happy days!

All the best,
Glenn B

Another Friggin Hermann's Tortoise

A while back, my female Hermann's Tortoise laid 4 eggs in our yard, then a couple of weeks or so later she laid two more in her tank inside the house. Most were infertile which was not surprising since my male had been either abducted by scoundrels or borne off with by a raccoon or other creature of the night (maybe an opossum) quite sometime before she laid them. Thus, he was not around to - how shall I say it... I guess - to have wild chelonian sex with her in the sultry aura of a summertime afternoon under the sweltering hot sun (then again maybe they would do it in the shade). Well anyway, either he got to her before he was taken away from our yard or she retained sperm from the previous time she was gravid. Sperm retention happens in female snakes but I do not know if turtles or tortoises can do it. Out of 6 eggs, only two were fertile, and one may be weak and dying, so I am guessing it was because of sperm retention (which would quite possibly produce fewer fertile and or weaker eggs) as her previous clutches were fully fertile and those were induced, so to speak, while he was still in attendance of her.

Oh what the heck, one tortoise hatched out today and one other egg may still be viable but I doubt it.

No breeding in the near future - at least until I get a new male. One may be on the agenda for this weekend as there is an upcoming herp show here in my neck of the woods.

Later 4 U-All,
GB

Third Piece of Good News I Heard Today

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/10/19/fox-news-poll-romney-now-ahead-in-florida/

See previous two posts for good news 1 and good news 2 of today.

All the best (especially to you Mitt Romney),
Glenn B

Second Piece of Good News I Heard Today

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/10/19/fox-news-poll-support-for-obama-dips-in-ohio/

Frak Obama! So say we all!

All the best (but not to you BHO),
Glenn B

First Good News I Heard Today

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/10/19/fidel-castro-reportedly-suffers-stroke-cannot-recognize-people/

All the best (well, not to you Fidel),
Glenn B

Help Me Fight Cancer & Throw Myself a Retirement and Kicked Cancer's Arse Party At The Same Time

No, I am not asking for donations. I am hopeful that my readers will help me raise money to fight cancer but again, I am not asking you to donate. Here is the deal:

I have put my retirement watch up for auction on Ebay. It was given to me upon my retirement from my 32 plus years of government service in Federal Law Enforcement. What I am hoping is to do two things. First off, I want to donate 75% of the funds I get for the watch, divided evenly between Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (the folks who saved my life) and to the American Cancer Society. Then, I want to take 25% of the sale price, $100 up to $500, and throw myself a retirement / kicked cancer's arse party. (Note that if the sale price is less than $400 I will not keep any for a party and I will donate all of the proceeds, after Ebay and PayPal fees, to the the two named organizations - if the sale price is more than $2,000, I will keep only $500 for the party and donate the additional remaining funds along with the 75% to the two above named organizations.) 

As you may or may not be aware, I retired at the height of my misery during my cancer treatments last November. I never had a retirement party and sure would like to have one for which I can pick the date, time and bar and invite folks from work whom I liked, and me pay for it instead of having them pay for it. Maybe that is wishful thinking but so too is my plea to Donald Trump, et al, in my auction.

What I would hope you guys can do for me is spread the word. Put it on your Facebook account, tweet it on Twitter, list it on your blogs, let the world know about my auction. Especially tell any rich folks you know and if you don't know any then tell any reporters you know or even any groups you know of who might get there memberships together to chip in to make a bid. I am sheltered, I know neither and do not have a Twitter or Facebook account.

If you want to read about the watch and a brief history of my career and about my battle with cancer, go here to the auction at Ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=321005721049.

This may be a crazy idea, but if it works, who knows, maybe we will help defeat a dreaded disease and throw me a decent retirement / kicked cancer's arse party while we are at it. I am going to invite the high bidder to the party if there is one, even if it is only he or she and me for a few beers (at there own travel expense, of course, and remember Donald Trump is a local).

Thanks for any help you can give in getting the word about this auction out there. Who knows, maybe Donald Trump will hear about it and make a bid that out trumps them all!

All the best,
Glenn B

A 2 Shot Pistol For Self Defense - I Think Not!

I recently visited The Firearm Blog, where I read an article about the DoubleTap pistol production being halted. It seems that manufacture of this much anticipated pistol has been put on hold, not due to any fault in the pistol's design but due to problems with the manufacturing company reportedly being unable to get the job done. The DoubleTap is, as the name implies, a 2 shot pistol. Besides the round in each barrel, it also holds two rounds, in the grip, for a single full reload. It has a titanium frame, ported interchangeable barrels and it is slated to become available in both 9mm and .45 ACP. It is, as far as I see it, a new age, high tech, double barreled Derringer.

Seeing that article at The Firearm Blog got me to thinking - why would anyone want to carry a two shot pistol. While these little pistols look neat and as if they would be fun to shoot, I see major disadvantages with relying on a 2 shot pistol of any make or model for self-defense and I think there are better options available. In fact, I would rather be armed with a semi-automatic pistol in .22LR, like a Beretta 21A Bobcat, than a two shot 9mm or .45 Auto. Before you call me crazy and before you tell me what a great man-stopper is the .45 ACP and how inadequate is the .22LR, allow me to tell you why I would prefer such. Then, after I am done with that, let me offer some higher caliber alternatives than the .22LR - all that beat out a two shot pistol for self-defense in my estimation.  

First of all, think about why you want a 2 shot pistol. My guess would be that you want it as a last ditch back-up gun or as a very concealable self-defense piece. In each of those cases, self-defense is the issue. If you want one because it looks cool, or because it looks like fun, or because it is something different - that would be another issue and maybe this post will bore you to tears. If you want it for self-defense read on. Now think about self-defense. Preferably, you would be carrying around a rifle or shotgun as a primary self-defense weapon with a pistol as backup for that application. In most populated areas though, carrying a rifle is impractical and often illegal. So you choose a pistol. Maybe you have a need to have it be very concealable; you want something small. Could be it is a back-up for your regular handgun or it could be your only handgun although I would hope not. A 2 shot pistol possibly would seem to fit the bill nicely. Remember though, I said think about self-defense. So, think about the type of situations in which you may find yourself needing to defend yourself or family (or other innocents). Then consider whether two shots would be the best way to face your assailants in those situations. Think about that not only if your 2 shot would be your primary handgun but also if it was a back-up, since once you have to go for the back-up you are drawing your then primary but albeit two shot gun. Really – take a few moments at least, maybe even minutes, to think about a bad situation in which you may need to defend yourself and you having only a 2 shot pistol or a 2 shot as a back-up and you need that back-up now! 

What have you come up with in your thoughts? Did you realize that a 2 shot pistol would be woefully inadequate in many, maybe even most, situations in which you may be confronted by armed criminals who are ready, willing and able to do serious harm to you or your loved ones? Most criminals do not act alone. They usually have accomplices or so my Law Enforcement training and experience had always taught me. Even my off duty experience taught me likewise when I was assailed by two armed robbers one night long ago. I have been the target of criminals several times - both while on the job and while on the job and almost every time I was targeted by multiple bad guys. Such instances, before I carried a firearm included having a knife held to my throat during what amounted to a riot in a subway car, once having a crazed junkie attack me with a knife, twice being followed by thugs who obviously were thinking of robbing me (no I am not a mind reader but could read the signs they gave). After I started carrying a gun on the job, the amount of encounters I had with evil doers intent on harming me rose markedly, that was a hazard of that type of work. These incidents included: an illegal alien grabbing (but not getting) my pistol and trying to shoot me with it (but leaving a bite scar on my left bicep), a group of at least a half dozen illegal aliens beating me while helping a prisoner escape my custody, with one trying to disarm me and one calling for at least 20 to 30 others to beat me to death (I am still here but suffered bruises and a fractured sternum at the time), two dirtbags attempting to mug me in an armed encounter, and Heaven knows how many encounters of teams of bad guys who were armed or who resisted during raids and other such operations. By now I guess you have noted that almost every time, there were multiple assailants and in the instances where there was only one, the situation was such that I might not have been able to have assured the best accuracy had I needed to fire my weapon. Indeed, I fired in at least a couple of those situations. Once as a warning shot (never will do that again) and once I hit the bad guy. Granted, I only fired two shots in that particular encounter but had they not fled the scene, I would definitely have needed more. I know of too many others who have been involved in incident where they had to shoot in self defense and they had to fire many more than two shots. So, while I am very willing to bet my bottom dollar that the majority of cases in which you may need to defend yourself against bad guys will involve more than one criminal, I am not willing to bet that I or you would be so lucky as to need only one or two shots (in the gun) in any such an encounter. I certainly would not want to face down multiple assailants with only two rounds in my gun and then find out I needed more when it was too late. Thus the reason I would prefer 8 rounds of .22LR over only two of 9mm or .45 Auto or any other caliber. If that is not enough reason for you to realize that a 2 shot pistol is lacking, then allow me to give a few more reasons why I think that way.  

Beside the facts that criminals usually work in groups of two or more and often target lone individuals, putting their victims at a tactical disadvantage, there are other reasons to prefer an 8 shot small caliber pistol over a two shot large caliber pistol? Indeed there are several! I will cover a few of them here to give you an idea. To begin with, let's think about you at the time of an armed encounter with a bad guy or three. What is your condition likely to be and how would that effect whether or not you would be better armed with a 2 shot .45 or an 8 shot 22LR pistol (or something else I will discuss later on)? Chances are that the criminals will have targeted you for a variety of reasons. The reasons could be valid or invalid, you may seem weak or tired or inattentive or otherwise an easy mark but you can rest assured that in the great majority of cases you were not merely picked at random. Criminals usually look you over first, they do what you should do, they assess the situation, before trying to rob you or assault you. Be it you out for a late night walk all alone, or it being late at night and all your house lights out, no dogs barking, all quiet when they approach, or the factors of your age, your apparent physical condition, if you just used an ATM or came out of a bank, you seem lost, you are inebriated - the bad guys are opportunists. They look for opportunity that gives them an advantage. Maybe you have thought of having the upper hand too and you wisely went out, armed yourself and learned how to shoot and defend yourself in a bad situation. The surprise, you may think, will be the bad guys instead of on you.

Regardless of the scenario, in the majority of cases you will be somewhat surprised if a criminal attacks you or threatens you with violence. Even if not surprised, even if you saw it coming for a week, certain physical things will take place that will change how you react in such an instance once it begins. If you are fairly normal condition: your heart will beat faster, adrenalin will be pumped into your system, your breathing rate will increase, you will tense up, you may tremble, you will be afraid, your mind will race making events seem to slow down, your hearing may become impaired, you may (in fact likely will) develop tunnel vision even if only briefly, you may begin to perspire profusely, and you may get dizzy or lightheaded as your blood pressure changes and as adrenalin floods your system. That is just with you realizing that a bad guy is coming at you with the intent to harm you. Imagine what happens when he starts shooting. All of the above to a higher degree plus maybe some other things like loss of control of bodily functions. The pucker factor may come into play, the muscles controlling your bladder or sphincter may simply fail to pucker. (Yes, I mean you may wet or dirty your draws or both.) You also may start to cry, hallucinate and see the weapon in the thugs hands turn into something benign (this happened to me, once, but that was too many times). Remember too, the fight or flight reaction. It really is not that simple. I see it as the fight or flight or freeze or comply reaction in such an encounter. You may comply and give in to the demands of the bad guys and essentially be at their mercy (if they have any), or freeze in fear like a deer in the headlights and again put yourself at their mercy, or you may run away and hopefully escape if you are faster than the bad guys (but what about your ten year old daughter who was by your side), or you may engage in combat in an attempt to protect yourself and hopefully come out the winner.

If you decide to do the latter, to engage your assailant(s) and fight back - would you really be willing to do so with a 2 shot gun. Not me, not if I had had the opportunity to better arm myself before such a confrontation. That goes for my primary pistol as well as for my back-up. I see no reason to give the bad guys any advantage, especially the benefit of me not having enough ammo to engage more than one or two of them before needing to reload. Add to that the fact that you may well be suffering from all of the above physical reactions and now think about how well you would be able to shoot at multiple attackers, or even one, while your mind and body are in that state. Being al hyped up on adrenalin, trembling with fear or rage or maybe just from the adrenalin, knowing your life or your loved ones’ lives depend on what you do next, these are not what you are subjected to while you shoot at the range , are they? Are those mere two rounds of man-stopper .45 ACP, or any caliber, still sounding like sufficient firepower to you? Maybe those 8 rounds of .22LR suddenly begin to have a certain allure? 

Does the little 22LR really have an advantage in such a situation? Well, for sheer number of rounds in the gun, over a two shot pistol- the answer is yes. I, or you, potentially could double-tap four bad guys, or could shoot two bad guys four times each, before needing to reload. As for the power of the rounds, they certainly lack what a .45 has to offer but they offer many more shots with the potential for more well placed shots being in the group and that may give you a much greater lifesaving advantage. Yes, I said better placed multiple shots after I just talked about all those physical effect that may throw off your accuracy. Here we go again, let’s use our little gray cells. Think about it before reading on. Really, take a minute or two and think about what I am getting at. 

What did you come up with? Here is what I think: Even with only two assailants, I think you would be better off with the eight round 22 pistol than the two shot 45. Have you ever tried to shoot immediately after even a brief run of maybe 100 yards, or after doing some other physical exertion that gets your heart beat up and you breathing just a bit heavily? Try it sometime (do not do this if you are in poor health without first consulting with a doctor as to what type of activity you can do). Go to the range. Ask permission to do the following: Stand behind the line, a good distance from it so as not to disturb other shooters and do 15 pushups, or as many as you can in a half a minute or minute (make sure you exert yourself enough to get your heart and breathing rates sped up a bit). Then immediately walk to the line, pick up your pistol and shoot at multiple targets (make sure the line is hot and not in a state of a ‘cease fire’ and that no one is down range and that you are at the firing line before even touching your pistol). Then shoot at your target set at 7 yards. If you can, shoot at moving multiple targets. Did I forget to mention above that bad guys often move when they see you pointing a gun at them; it is rare for them to pose for a shot as they would for a Kodak moment (Google it if you do not understand it). You may also want to shoot as you move (if allowed on your range) and shoot from both behind cover and while in the open and from many different positions. Try the man down position if your range allows it (you on the ground as if wounded since you may not be so lucky as to get off the first shot and may be hurt badly by the time you finally realize what is happening). See how accurate you are as opposed to say just going to shoot at the range, and shooting from the bench or the line, without having done any of what I just mentioned. Chances are great that your accuracy will suffer somewhat if you try this.

Which way will it likely happen on the street? Yes, you may have an armed encounter someday, when you are just standing there and a bad guy walks right up in front of you, say 7 yards away and he stops, stands there, pulls out a gun and tries to rob you and you stand there, assume a shooting position while you draw your pistol and then you get off the first shot, stop him with that one shot, and come out of it unscathed– but I tend to doubt it. So, while you can train and arm yourself with a 2 shot pistol for that last scenario – the one like you were shooting a paper target at the range - I will keep on training and arming myself as if I were preparing for a wide variety of situations that might take place, some more likely than others, in which I would be much better prepared for any of them if I had a pistol with more than 2 shots. I know that conditions may have the bad guy or me moving, I know that there may or may not be cover, I realize I may be surprised, I know that I may be shot before I even know what is happening or have time to act, I know there may be multiple bad guys, I know I am going to be thinking at the speed of lightning or faster and will have thoughts like holy moly these guys are really trying to kill me, I know I may tremble with fear, I know I may be scared, I realize I know that there may actually be a warm wet feeling down my pants, and I know all of that can affect how I shoot and therefore I would prefer more rounds than two, even if only in .22LR and even if there was only a sole attacker let alone multiple assailants.

Still not convinced that a pistol with 8 shots of .22LR, and a spare magazine or two fully loaded (don’t ever forget to carry at least one full reload) can be better to carry than a larger caliber pistol with only two shots loaded and two in reserve, then let me mention a couple of other things. Accuracy may also suffer due to physical characteristics of your firearm and how those characteristics affect your shooting ability. This would likely be on subsequent shots, after the initial one, due to the fact you may be shooting a very small framed but large caliber pistol like a 45 Derringer and the recoil makes firing this gun less controllable for follow-up shots. That recoil, in such a small pistol, will almost assuredly affect your grip after each shot. If your grip is affected, it could affect your accuracy in a negative way. A round with less recoil is much easier to get back on target for follow up shots - especially in a very small framed pistol with small grips. Thus you are more likely to have better placed follow-up hits on target with a smaller caliber than with the much larger round in a similarly sized small gun. 

The last thing that I will cover are reloads. I just mentioned above, you should always make sure you have at least one full reload available for your handgun. Okay, use those little gray cells again and give that a bit of thought. Would you be better off with 7 rounds to reload (an 8 shot semi-auto pistol would have a magazine with 7 round capacity considering the 8th round would be in the chamber) and a two shot pistol would have two shots available. Which could you reload more quickly? Think about reloading the two shot 45. You probably would do it by grabbing one bullet at a time and placing them into each barrel. If you had some decent small amount of training, you would grab both bullets at once and place both into the barrels simultaneously. Seems easy, try it under even moderate stress. Then try to reload the semi-automatic pistol with a magazine containing a full complement of rounds. That would be seven rounds in the 22 auto I have been using as an example. If you were the average shooter, you could reload and have another 7 round in your pistol, ready to shoot, as fast as or likely faster than you could reload two rounds into that 45 caliber two shot pistol. Thus you could reassess the situation, reacquire the target (if you lost sight of it while reloading) and fire again if need be faster with the 8 round semi-auto pistol. Remember - multiple assailants, remember accuracy maybe not quite good enough for a mere two shots, remember the pucker factor may have failed you and your pants are drooping, and remember you want to hit each assailant multiple times, if need be, to get them to stop being a threat of serious bodily injury or to your life. Sure that 45 is supposedly a one shot man-stopper - just tell that to the third or fourth or fifth bad guy when you have a 2 shot gun. 

So you are not convinced yet that an 8 shot semi-automatic pistol in .22LR would be a better choice than a two shot 45 pistol. Okay, I'll grant you that a .22LR round is much less powerful than a 45 Auto. (Please note, if you have not figured it out yet, this is not a 45 Auto versus any other caliber round debate, this is a post about the merits of a magazine fed small semi-auto compared to a large caliber 2 shot pistol.) So what other options are there when a very small pistol is what you need. Why not consider something in .32 Auto, .380 ACP or even in 9mm. There are many small pistols in those larger calibers on the market today. Some are right around the same size as a .45 ACP caliber 2 shot pistol and hold more 3 to 4 times as much ammunition when loaded. They would all be worth serious consideration as primary or back-up handguns, for all the same reasons as would be a pistol chambered in .22LR, plus they are larger and more powerful than the .22LR. So, if your overwhelming need is for a very compact pistol for self-defense and you were considering, or currently carry, a 2 shot pistol of any caliber for that purpose, why not reconsider and think about getting yourself a high quality, small framed, semi-automatic pistol. It may tilt the odds in your favor someday and have you coming out as the winner in a gunfight as opposed to you running out of ammo and being carried out in a body bag. 

The bottom line for me: I may someday get myself a two shot pistol for shooting fun but I am not about to carry one in any caliber, as either a primary or backup piece when something that I think is better is available to me.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

Man On The Street Question: Who Won Last Night's Debate (asked hours ahead of actual debate)

It is truly scary to believe that Americans are so darned clueless; yet, those same Americans will probably flock to the polls to vote. My bet would be that most of them, at least the ones in the embedded video, will vote for Obama. You will note that not one said Romney won 'the debate'. Maybe that is because it has got to be a stronghold of liberalism where the man on the street interviews took place in which the reporter asked passers by whom they thought won last night's debate.

The clinker was that there had not been a debate the night before, the actual second debate between Romney and Obama was scheduled for, a few hours later, on the evening of the day on which the questions were asked. Just listen to the answers given and you will immediately understand the meanings of the words stupid, clueless, ignorant, moronic, self-important, egotistical, dishonest, Californian (as Wirecutter would says, it has got to be California again), and so on. 

Then again, there is the last guy. He is the best by far and is unlike any of the others. He is asked the question and seems almost shocked. Then he honestly professes his ignorance. My guess, he is either a Republican or a Libertarian!

Hat tip to Peter Q for sending me that one.

All the best,
Glenn B

There Are Monsters Among Us - Some Closer Than We Think

I just finished reading an article in the Miami Sun Sentinel. It is about Anthony Mangione, a former Special Agent in Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement  in Florida and a former Customs Agent. As you are probably aware, I retired from Homeland Security Investigations last November. HSI was formerly known as ICE. ICE was an agency formed in part by combining the investigative branches of U.S. Customs and the Immigration and Naturalization Service under DHS back in 2003.

There is a good chance that I worked with this guy sometime in my career, or under him on a temporary assignment. It makes me sick to think such might have been the case. He does look familiar, very familiar and looked that way the first time I saw his face plastered all over the news last year.
 

He is, in my opinion, a monster. He was indeed very close, a lot closer that I thought such a despicable and heinous man could be just in that he worked for the same agencies as me. It makes me ashamed to have worked for those same agencies even though I doubt the agencies ever even had a hint that he was a child pornographer. He was supposed to protect kids instead of exploiting them. Heaven, and he know what other criminal acts he may have done involving children.

For more info, see: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/fl-anthony-mangione-child-porn-20121013%2c0%2c7813574.story 

I can only hope that they give him the maximum allowable sentence.

All the best,

Glenn B

Stay Jobless - Vote Obama

That says it well. Hat tip to Bob C for sending me this one.

All the best,
Glenn B

Vote Against A Gun Ban - Vote For Romney

Last night, at the 2nd debate against Mitt Romney, the Obamessiah said he would try to reimplement the Assault Weapons Ban AND also said he would look into sources of other violence after saying his hometown of Chicago is plagued with violence by criminals using cheap handguns.

"But I also share your belief that weapons that were designed for soldiers in war theaters don’t belong on our streets. And so what I’m trying to do is to get a broader conversation about how do we reduce the violence generally. Part of it is seeing if we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced. But part of it is also looking at other sources of the violence. Because frankly, in my home town of Chicago, there’s an awful lot of violence and they’re not using AK-47s. They’re using cheap hand guns."  Source: http://www.examiner.com/article/in-debate-obama-abandons-under-the-radar-path-to-forcible-citizen-disamament.

Folks, it is plain to me and should be to you - he has just declared war on supporters of the 2nd Amendment and has said it pretty plainly that he is against weapons from those manufactured for the military to inexpensive handguns. That could cover almost all of them out there when you give it some thought. It sure as heck covers a huge number of firearms now legally owned by citizens and legal resident aliens within the USA. If you vote for this guy Obama and not for Mitt Romney, I think you may as well consider yourself a traitor to our rights as Americans. I almost certainly would think of  you that way!

All the best,
Glenn B

The Hessney Rod & Gun Auction, October 2012

As I already mentioned, in one of my recent posts, I took a drive up to Geneva, NY this past weekend to attend the Hessney Auction Company Rod and Gun Auction on Saturday. I headed out on the road at about 1:45 in the afternoon. Nope, I was not an early starter, I had things to do before I left. They included some chores in the house, going to the local county police department to pick up a purchase document for a pistol (I had one already but wanted another just in case) and some other few things that needed doing.

I was hoping that my departure hour would have been early enough to avoid Friday afternoon rush hour traffic but as you can see from the pics, both on the highway and on the city streets I had to drive through in the Bronx to get from one highway to another, I hit heavy traffic. It took me about 6 hours and 45 minutes to get to Horseheads, NY, and that was about 50 miles short of my final destination on a trip of 302 or so miles total. I decided to stay overnight at Horseheads because they have a motel 6 in that town. I see no reason to cough up big bucks just to sleep in a place that is fancier. They even had free Wi-Fi so that kept me busy making some last minute checks on the auction catalog to see if I had missed anything on which I might want to bid.

Come Saturday morning, I was out of bed at about 0530. I showered up and packed my stuff, then headed outside to the car. It was dark outside and cold too. I did not stay outside long. I packed my stuff into the trunk and started the car up, left it running and ran back inside because the thermometer on my dash said it was only 26 degrees outside. I waited about 10 minutes before heading out and by then the heat was just starting to blow nicely. That is a good thing about small cars, they heat up quickly. I stopped at a McDonald's, grabbed an OJ, a coffee and a couple of sausage biscuits, the absolutely greasiest ones I have ever gotten but I wolfed them down nonetheless. The I was off, headed north at about 0630.

I guess I got to the auction house at about 0730 or so. There was one guy there ahead of me waiting outside. There were also a few folks inside, setting up and two people in a roach coach (they have pretty good food and are really pretty clean) setting up right outside the entrance to the auction house. Shortly after that others started to arrive. I met Joe Hessney, he runs the show, reintroduced myself to him (I had met him in April or May at a previous auction there) and asked when they would open the doors. he said at about 0815 -once all his staff had arrived. he was right on the money because that is right about when they opened. I went in and registered and was assigned number 87; last time I was there I had 77. Then I took a look around at what was being offered up for bids. Too bad I did not drive all the way up on Friday, in that case I would have been able to attend a preview on Friday night. It would up okay for me though, I had enough time to see all of the guns on which I planned to bid, many other guns too and some other firearms related and non-firearms related items.

I also took a quick spin outside the auction house where they had a tent set up with 4 old cars under it. There was a 1950 Ford, a 1938 Chevy, a 1940 Business Coupe (I think a Chevy) and a 1954 Buick with a claimed 12,000 original miles on it. Too bad, I did not see them get auctioned off, I was busy inside doing my preview of the guns. I also missed a good deal of auctioning of hunting and fishing and some shooting gear that was auctioned off first beginning at 0930 The cars went up for bids at 1000. These were some pretty nice cars. Sadly, the one I liked best is the one of which I got the lousiest pictures, it was still covered with frost when I started to snap away.

After taking the photos of the cars, I headed back inside and it was time to start bidding on guns at about 1030. I had a seat in the second row, center, so I would hear everything the auctioneer said (even when his mike would fail which it did a few times for a few seconds each time) and I would get another fairly close look at anything I wanted to bid on.

The first item up for bids, in this portion of the auction was. a Ruger No.1 in 45-70 Government, with was a Weaver 4x scope sling. Bidding, in the early stages of these auctions may seem swift to those who have not attended a few similar auctions before but to me it seemed to drag on a bit. I guess that was for a couple of reasons. First off, I would not be bidding until item #8 came up. Secondly, and probably the thing that had most to do with making it seem slow to me, was the fact that the auctioneer, at this point of the auction, gave more time for bidding or at least kept hawking longer trying to get higher bids for each item offered. This could be, in part, due to the fact that virtually all of the firearms offered early in the auction are in very good to shape. Later on, when the auctioneer speeds up his spiel and gives the bidders less time many of the items up for sale by that point are often less in less desirable condition than those in the beginning of the auction. Of course, he gets faster as time runs out, so it would make sense to them to have the less desirable things go when they cannot devote enough time to them to try and get the bids a little higher. Such was the case at this auction as with other I have attended. Not complaining - just saying.

When item #8 came up for bids, I was ready to bid. It was a Savage Model 99R in .358 Remington, It was in excellent condition as I had seen during the auction preview. I was ready to bid up to a certain amount but the bidding on it was very swift and the amount up to which I had decided to bid was surpassed rapidly so I wound up not placing a bid on it. It sold for $775, which was about $350 more than I had planned on bidding. I did not bid again until item #20 came up. It was a Sig Sauer P-220 in .45 ACP, as new in the box. For some reason, this semi-auto pistol was listed, in the auction catalog, as a double action revolver; brain farts happen. It was also listed “as new in box’. I must say that that part of the description was spot on. I bid on it but the bidding surpassed my top bid of about $450 by a single bid. It sold for $475.

The next few items up for bidding, that were of interest to me, were all Savage Axis rifles in various calibers.. There were five of these rifles all with stainless steel barrels and black synthetic stocks and all had scope already , mounted. They were all in like new condition and were all listed in the catalog as being unfired. A quick look at each during the preview showed that to be a bunch of hooey. Each and every one of them had fouling in the barrel and a quick swab of the muzzle or breech on each, with the finger tip of the white cloth gloves I had been wearing during the preview, showed a good amount of carbon fouling. Nope, I do not normally wear white cloth gloves, it was a requirement for anyone handling the firearms during the auction preview and the gloves were supplied by the auction house. When you realize that some of the guns auctioned off were originally bought for as much as $15,000 to $20,000, you can understand why.

As for those savage rifles, despite previously having been fired as far as I could tell, they were in excellent to virtually new condition. I was willing to bid up to $250 on the first one up for bids. It was in .308 caliber and would make a fine hunting rifle. I based all of my bid limits on information I had gleaned from the 2012 Standard Catalog of Firearms. The Savage Axis in .308 sold for $300. I was disappointed. The next two of the Savage Axis rifles also sold for $300 each. The fourth one up for bidding, in .22-250 sold for $350. The fifth and final one up for bidding was in 30-06 Springfield. It too came with the 3x9 scope. It too seemed to have been fired before but was also in almost new condition. Like the others it came with the original box and papers. The bidding had stalled at $275 for a moment. So, I bid $300 on it, fifty more than I had planned. (I bid higher than I wanted to spend as a calculated risk, to try to get the bidding up so someone would spend then and not on other items I wanted later.) Right after I bid, the bidding picked up again, there were another four bids and it sold at the highest price of all of them - $450. The final price would also include a 10% (on cash sales) or 13% (on credit or payments by check) buyer’s premium (that is how the auction house makes money) plus sales tax of 7.50%. The total would be: $532.13. These rifles sell for less than that brand new, at an online dealer. ‘Buy It Now’  prices at GunBroker.com are at about $400 to $425. Granted, you would have to pay an FFL and shipping, which would probably add about another $25 for the FFL and $25 for shipping; so say - $475 on the high end. And that is for a brand new rifle.

A note on the items listed as “unfired" that seemed to me to have  been fired before. When I saw them at the preview, I noted all of those so listed (that I examined) to be in excellent condition but also noted that, in my opinion, some of them had definitely been fired before. My guess is that maybe when some of these come into the auction house, they are indeed unfired, but that someone who works there takes them out to either test them or have some fun with them. I think the latter because I think the owner of the auction house must not know about it. Otherwise, I doubt very much he would list them as unfired and then leave obvious evidence, in the way of fouling, in the barrels and actions. It  is beyond reason for them to list guns as “unfired” when fouling is evident . They would be putting their reputation, and thus their business, on the line. Yes, they do indeed have an excellent reputation. As for the fouling, when it is there, and it is not always in every gun listed as “unfired – some are clean as a whistle - it always appears, to me, to be very fresh. Sometimes there is a bit of oil mixed in with it. So, it seems the guns have been cleaned, or still had gunk from the factory in them, then fired and left dirty. This really makes me suspect that someone, who is an employee of the auction house, is firing them unknown to the owner of the auction house. I could be wrong but that is my theory right now.

A few really interesting shotguns were auctioned off shortly after those Savage rifles. They were both Kriegoff K-80 12 gauges. One of them had Suhi scroll engraving work and a 32” CT/CT, T/S barrel and a 34”Uns CT/TS barrel with titanium choke tubes. The gun also had an adjustable comb and an aluminum hard case. The auctioneer had the original receipt for this piece. New, it had been purchased for $15,000. This one was in excellent condition. The bidding on it was pretty fast and steady right from the outset. It shot up quickly and sold for $7,250. It must be nice to have money to invest or just spend like that because that shotgun certainly was either an investment or a rich man’s toy.

The next item on which I had wanted to bid was #45, a Colt Detective Special. It sold for $350. I never bid on it and I think that the top bid was way too high. While examining it during the preview, I noted that there was a large patch in the barrel that seemed to be pitted by rust. Although otherwise nice, it was not the gun for me. The very next item up for bid was a Smith & Wesson Model 19-2, chromed .357 revolver, with a 2.5” barrel. It was listed “as new”. It was in truly excellent condition but was probably not new, at least as I saw it. There was an obvious cylinder ring; otherwise though, it looked almost new. I wanted that one and had planned on bidding up to $450. I wound up going as high as $500 on it but a guy, who I am pretty sure was a dealer, outbid me at $525. I only bid as high as I did, again hoping to bid him up. Had I gotten the high bid though, I would have been happy paying the $500 plus the 10% buyer’s premium and sales tax; it was a  very nice piece. I have been looking for a revolver to add to my collection and that could have been it had the bidding stopped there. As luck would have it, I do not have it. After bidding on the S&W, I waited through another 19 auctions until item #65 came up before I bid again.
 

 

That item was a Marlin XS7 rifle in .308 caliber. It was listed as unfired in the box. As I said above, not all of the firearms they list as “unfired” appear to have been fired. This one actually looked unfired. It was in excellent condition, virtually new and in the box but without papers (there may have been a manual too but these thing sometimes have a way of getting stuck to the fingers of previewers). Well, I decided to bid on it. It also seemed that one of the same people, who had bid on the Savage Axis rifles and who had the high bid on at least two and I think three of them, also decided to bid on it. I realized it was the same person because of her rather distinctive voice. I started the bidding at $100, someone else bid $125 and the same lady, who had bid of the Savage Axis rifles, came in with a bid of $150. I think that after the first three bids, it was down to just she and I bidding on it. I started the bidding at $100 and it quickly went up in increments of $25. As it turned out, I fell in with a bid of $225, thus when she placed the next bid she was at $250. It was decision time again, should I go another $25. I did and that is where the bidding ended, at $275. That was good for me because while I had wanted one of these rifles for a while now, I certainly was not willing to bid any higher on this one. I wound up paying $325.19, in total, with the buyer’s premium and sales tax added. That was not great but not terrible either when you consider these are selling for between $320 and $399 new (through online dealers) and I would have to add at least $25 for shipping and $25 for an FFL fee plus whatever would be the cost of shipping insurance, probably a few bucks more. Working at the low end of that range, a new one would have cost me around $375 a $50.19 difference over the one I bid on. So, while not a super great buy, it was okay. At least I did not pay more than it was worth retail as some had done with the Savage Axis rifles and I am happy the lady bidding against me on the Marlin had not decided to overbid again like she had on those others.

I bid on several other firearms. I am not going to detail the condition of each or tell how the bidding went on each; that would add pages to this already long blog post. I will write in detail about the one more gun that I bought but as for the others on which I bid, I will simply list them all and the amount for which they sold; suffice it to say that I did not have the high bid on any of those. I bid: $500 on #91, a Bushmaster XM-15 E2S carbine, it sold for $775; $400 on #118 a Winchester 71 Deluxe rifle in .348 Win caliber, it sold for $1,900; $350 for a Winchester 9422 XTR in .22 S, L & LR, it sold for $525; $150 for #140 a Mauser Model 1910 pocket pistol in 6.35mm (25 Auto) and it sold for $200; $250 n #150 a Savage-Anschutz Match 64 in 22LR that sold for $425; $325 for #152 a Remington 513T Matchmaster that sold for $350 (to the same guy who got the S&W model 19-2 that I had bid on earlier). I have been kicking myself in the butt over not going higher on that one, it was in pristine condition but I had set a limit of $350 for my bid on it and the other guy happened to wind up at that amount as the bidding went on. I also bid: $250 on #186 a Remington Gamemaster, model 141, in .35 Rem, it went for $450; $150 on #227 a Mitchell Mauser48, 8mm Mauser, with the complete kit, it went for $500. Soon after that, the bidding got to the rifles on the left side of the room as you faced forward. Al the others, so far had either been up front or on the right side. We were now getting to a mixture of those that were in pretty rough to very good condition whereas the ones that had come before were mostly in good to excellent condition. Among those, I bid: $125 on a Remington 581-S, it sold for $150; $225 on a Norinco Type 56 SKS that sold for $275.

 

 

I then placed a few bids on item #313. It was a Winchester Model 37, 12 gauge, shotgun. The dealer tried to start the bidding at $150 but he dropped it down, rapidly (bidding was in high gear by then), to an asking bid of $25 but had no takers. He asked if anyone had any interest. I blurted out "ten dollars"! Too bad that as soon as I bid, a few others joined in where none had shown interest before then. Maybe shills, maybe not, probably just others thinking, 'hey - he bid, that gun must be worth something so we have to bid now too'. I wound up with the high bid at $80 and that was a fair price. This is an old piece, no serial number, that is pitted all over the exterior of the receiver and near the breech end of the barrel. The bores are clean, no rust at all that I could see and the action operates. Total cost, with buyer’s premium and tax: $94.60. I saw one selling on GunBroker.com for $399.99 (in much better condition) and saw a quote, from The Blue Book of Gun Values, listing them at $80 in 60% condition (this one is better than that but maybe not by much). It probably would have cost me about $130 had I purchased it online with shipping and FFL transfer fee included. I am going to see if it shoots and if so I will have some fun with it not caring about the surface pitting on the barrel and receiver. That was it for bidding on firearms for me and close to the end for everyone because the last firearm up for bids was #351.

After the guns, there were still a large number of lots to auction off. These things included items like duck and goose decoys, wildlife prints, mounted whitetail deer and moose heads, militaria – including a sword cataloged as a Tiffany Saber that sold for $1,500 (and in my estimation was not an original Tiffany because the pommel was brass and not iron - but I am no sword expert by a longshot), and lots of ammunition and firearms accessories like scopes.

I bid on: a hand colored set of three numbered and signed duck prints on which I had the high bid of $25; a pair of sun/wind/rain goggles, with two lenses - one green and one dark gray like sunglasses - with ballistic protection, in the box, at $10;  a French made pillow case, circa WWI, showing both the US and French flags on which I had the high bid of $10; several boxes of ammunition that I did not have the high bids on; two post ban (yes NYS still has a hi-cap mag ban) Beretta magazines for 92 series 9mm pistols at only $29.56 total for both, tax and premium included. (They were a steal for factory made Italian Beretta magazines that look as if they were never used.).y last bid was for a box of 50 rounds of PMC .45 Auto that I got for $17.73 (an average price online for inexpensive 45 ammo without shipping added). That last one for me was item #690 out of 707 although the bidding stopped at #699B. That was because items listed in the catalog after that were all of the vehicles that had been auctioned off earlier in the day.  I stayed right up until the last item was sold.

 

Somewhere in all of that, I took a couple of breaks. Once or twice to stretch and to grab a bottle of water out of my car and once to grab something to eat from the truck outside the auction house entrance. I put down a pretty good Italian sausage on a long roll, smothered with raw onion and mustard. Not bad at all.

Once the auction had ended, I paid up at the counter, paying in cash to avoid the extra 3% for credit card and check purchases. I loaded up all the non-firearms items into my car; they had been handed to me right after I bid on each. Then went back inside, to a side room where they had the guns waiting for the buyers, and gave my receipt to one of the ladies handling the paperwork and NICS checks. I filled out the required ATF paperwork and had to wait about 10 to 15 minutes for my NICS check to be completed. I passed the check, brought my receipt to another person, got my guns, checked the serial number of the Marlin to make sure it was correct, looked for a serial number on the Winchester just to make sure they did not miss one, and then loaded the guns into my trunk. I was about to hop into my car when I saw Joe Hessney come outside I walked over to shake his hand and say goodbye until the next time I can get up that way. He is a gentleman and a nice guy; I hope to get to know him better – maybe over a cold beer someday. We talked for a little bit and then it was time for me to get going. The trip home was overly long, overly tiring and broken up by two stops. One for me to grab a quick bit to eat and the other for me to make a quick stop at a Wal-Mart in Middletown, NY to pick up a couple of boxes of .308 ammo for my new Marlin XS7. I have not fired it yet, I need to get a scope for it. That should be soon as I am thinking of taking this gun on my deer hunt in November. More on that in a future post.

 

All in all, it was one heck of a fun trip. I love the auction thing and this time, as opposed to the first time I attended a Hessney Rod & Gun auction, last spring, I stayed away from making impulse bids on items I had not previewed. I also spent a lot less than when at that other auction although I had about 2K with me, this time, and was willing to spend every penny of it had the prices been right on items I had in my sights. As it was, I was outbid on several of them but I am happy with what I got.

By the way, in case you are interested, their next auction is on Saturday, Octber 27. It is an estate auction. They have another Rod & Gun Auction coming up on Saturday December 8th and there are a few other auctions between those two. I wish they were not so far from my home, I would be a frequent bidder.

All the best,
Glenn B