So... any of our members here have an interest in firearms?

To all, please indulge me. I had a bad night last night. I live close enough to Parkland High School, not real close, but close enough that alot of what's going on is talk here and hitting close to home. The video released yesterday of the sheriffs deputy staying outside is so horrible to me that I have been losing sleep. To think that the people that we trust most (our "finest" as they say) could simply wait and not take action to save schoolchildren, is so incredibly appalling to me, its hard for me to absorb. I'm an older guy, I'll admit, and some would say my generation grew up in a different time, a better time (though I don't think the fight for civil rights, Vietnam war, gas crisis, watergate, etc was such a bag of fun) but it some ways it was better. I walked to school from 6yrs old through high school. Neighborhoods were close knit, everyone watched out for each other, took action when necessary, and with good judgement. I got spanked a few times at a neighbors home, you bet. Back then as a kid you were guilty until proven innocent, and rightly so. Things are certainly different today, but still no parent wants their child harmed. And due to new societal norms, we must trust our public servants even more as both parents work to pay for a home that years ago a father could afford alone, along with two cars and two kids and a savings account. But to see a coward school cop, fat and weak, do nothing, is a betrayal of our moral fabric.

Why did this happen? Mindset. We have a career law enforcement officer that allowed himself to get sloppy, no longer having the will to do his job effectively. This guy actually won a "Student Favorite" award in 2012. You know how to get that? By being a nice guy to the students, by being their pal. Back in high school our enforcement officer wasn't even a cop. He was a retired prison guard that struck fear in all because he was ready to address our BS every day. Nothing got by. I had the pleasure exactly once to meet him, and about pee'd my shoes standing in his office, because I knew he was willing to do whatever it took to get me back in line. And man did it work. I was a straight up arrow from that point forward. He would give me the knowing nod when he saw me in the halls, to note that he was watching. Chills.

So back to mindset, there is controversy about whether he was ordered to stand down or not. A right mindset cop would have done what he needed, what was right at the moment, which was save those kids at the risk of his own life. But our Supreme Court has said that's not necessary, not required of a police officer. You don't have to endanger yourself to save a life. In fact, you may be fired for it and the dept sued if you do. But if not you, then who will save defenseless children?

If he was told to stand down, the mindset of moral right still says go in. If it was procedure to go in, well I hope the mental torment follows him the rest of his days.

I won't even go into how every facet of society failed the kid that committed this act. Is he responsible? Absolutely. Did he need help with mental issues, you bet...way before he acted out this way. In my neighborhood it would have been so OBVIOUS the parents would have found a way to help him. Every one knew the disadvantaged kids. Everyone knew the slow kids. Everyone PAYED attention.

I weep for a world that only brings attention to the after affects of an act like this, with special interest groups manipulating the parents, schools, and students to act on their behalf with rallies and protests. These kids haven't even had the chance to grieve and they're being corralled to represent someone else's agenda. How do you think these events were created so quickly? Professional organizers, ready to act with the money and resources at just such an opportunity. The recent country wide protests and vigils were organized by the same people that organized the women's march in Washington DC last year. A liberal political group with gobs of money. You think the parents or schools paid for these kids to travel and supply everything so fast? Not a chance. The schools are broke and so are most parents.

Bottom line, I don't know how parents protect and educate their children these days. The exposure to the real world starts at such a young age now, and that's a shame. For only a few years does a parent really have the opportunity to influence the lives of their children. But even there, the mindset to prepare your children against expected risks is a great challenge when you're never home to do it.

So yeah, I've been losing sleep over this along with a lot of folks.

In understand they are sad, upset, pissed and lost at what to do. That's normal, and incredibly heartbreaking. The difference is when you have buses lining up to take these vulnerable kids to political protests organized by known special interests. To me that's predatory to all involved, and appalling. You may have noticed that the whole discussion has taken an immediate turn from its proper path on mental health and police procedure, to focus on the tool used....and the great evil, the NRA(whose whole history has been to support self reliance, safety, and constitutional rights). That's intentional. That's by design. You can't legislate morality, but you CAN take the toys away from the naughty boys and claim success, and then run for re-election.

As you can see from my avatar I do like guns. This are my current favorite guns on my safe right now:
Rem 700 Ti
Manners Elite Hunter Stock
Interchangeable Barrels.
28 Nosler Bartlein sendero Fluted
6.5 Gap 4S Proof research
Khales 624i

My Latest acquisition is a custom made 7mm rem mag
Weatherby Mark V
Bartlein 3b Fluted
B&C stock.


And my deer Gun is a Custom made 6.5 Creedmoor
Tikka T3 melonited
18" Benchmark melonited barrel
CTR stock and DBM
Swarovski Z3


My competition Gun
Stiller Tac 30 6.5 Creedmoor
Bartlein medium palma 28"
Manners T4
M5 DBM
Khales 624i

Some awesome hardware there, Prieto!

I am most interested in your last picture...that shooting stand looks like it is supported by chains? How are you able to remain stable when you shoot?

I have one of those Mk5s in 30-378 Weatherby. It has a bit of recoil.😎

When I were a lad, competition shooting didn’t involve bipods. 😉

Great rifles & optics along with a nice buck

Great Buck 😀

This is the pride and joy of my Old West collection....1878 Colt Single Action in 45 Colt. I acquired it from a man who had it in his family since the 1890s. It is the very definition of Old West law and romance.

This is what the prior owner told me....his grandfather(Johnny) was a rancher from Kansas, who made his way west, ultimately to California where he also became a rancher. He acquired the Colt from a retired Arizona Territory Sheriff’s Deputy in the early 1890s named Carlos Vasquez. In 1921 Johnny served on the jury of a local outlaw who was convicted and sent to jail. The outlaw swore to the jury he would kill all of them. He later broke out of jail, spotted Johnny later on, and while Johnny was taking a drink from a water trough, the outlaw grabbed the Colt from the holster hanging on Johnny's wagon and shot him dead.

Romantic old west story, eh? The beauty of the story is that it is mostly true. I was able to independently confirm that a Carlos Hernandez Vasquez worked as a Deputy for the Pima County Arizona(Tucson) Sheriff's office from 1884-1888. On top of that, I found the newspaper article on Johnny's death at the hands of the outlaw in 1922. Minor details differ in the newspaper account but he WAS murdered by the man he sent to jail, being shot by his own gun in a scuffle in the town hardware store, not at the water trough. It actually mentions this old single action as the gun he had("his custom six-shooter"), and that the outlaw called him out for sending him to jail and goaded him into the fight. The witnesses say of the event that the outlaw, upon seeing Johnny, cursed at him and said "I am going to shoot you!". The only bummer part is that although Johnny was threatened outright, the article suggested that the gun going off was accidental as they were fighting over it when it fired, though I think the intention was clear. It even published Johnny's last words as..."He's got me!"

So not only is it a real 1870s Colt(and 100% functional), it served in one of most famous Towns of the Old West, worn by a bonafide old west Arizona lawman, and was subsequently used for murder by an outlaw. I honestly don't know how the story could get any better, except maybe a shootout at high noon?

Except for maybe it ended up belonging to me, that would be much better.

Awesome history and revolver. Thanks for sharing.

So how could the story get any better...well how about some pictures?

Here is the only known picture of Carlos Vasquez, Pima County Arizona(Tucson) Sheriff's Deputy(man circled).
Picture was taken outside the Pima County Courthouse in Tucson circa 1886, and is of the Sheriff (lower left) and his deputies.

As a side note...pretty fancy clothes, eh? I found that being a lawman in the old west was paid handsomely. Wyatt Earp (yes that one) was a Pima County Deputy in 1879/1880. He went on to become Sheriff of Tombstone, which was part of Pima County until 1881(FYI..the Gunfight at OK Corral occurred Oct 1881). Earp was paid as Tombstone Sheriff the equivalent of ~1million dollars in today's money. Law enforcement had a price back in the day, and he was probably the best of them. After his brothers were killed as retribution after the OK Corral gunfight, he gave up his Sheriff's role to become a US Marshall which gave him the authority to chase down the rest of the Clanton Gang.


Here is the Pima County Sheriff's Office, which was located inside the Pima County Courthouse in Tuscon (taken late 1880s)


Here is the badge Mr Vasquez likely wore while on duty, originating in 1865. They used this badge until about 1890. The 'A.T.' stands for Arizona Territory. Arizona didn't become a state until 1912.


Headline for Johnny's Murder. Earlimart was a small town outside Tulare,CA where Johnny lived (about 135 miles north of Los Angeles)

IMHO, skip the front sight. With a shotgun shell its point and shoot.👍

A small Black Bear, adolescent perhaps 90 lb , took a swipe at my face when I walked up on him in poor light digging in a trash can. I had thought it to be a large dog, perhaps a Newfoundland which can grow even larger than this young bear.
His claws missed my nose by an inch and he stood there on his hind legs for a moment then scampered off.

I was charged by a 300+ pounder when a kid threw a watermelon rind at its head while I was trying to snap a photo of it. If I'd had a gun I might have shot the punk kid rather than the bear.
There was a small stream between me and the bear, only a few feet wide, but as soon as his front paws touched the water the bear stopped cold. I've seen videos of similar charges where a bear stopped cold as soon as he stepped in a puddle or stream.

A 160 pound bear walked through my backyard late one night and was caught sleeping in a tree nearby the next morning. I rebuilt my back fence that weekend with extra thick fence panels.

Were it mine I'd have made some brass shot shells from trimmed .45-70 shells and when I wished to use a bullet I'd seat it flush like a wadcutter.. Might even be more accurate that way with no chamber throat to jump.

Good that you found a good replacement cylinder. Back in the 60's you could mail order a replacement cylinder and barrel for these in .357 Magnum. Probably a few original cylinders from those conversions still floating around.

Trivia day! First one to identify gets a star on their forehead.

Heavily modified Lungman or Egyptian copy of the Lungman?