Buffalo Bore and the .380 Auto

It seems to me that folks who own a .380 caliber pistol do so for pretty much one reason, concealed carry for self defense.

I mean seriously. The little .380's aren't the most fun to shoot out at the range and are not going to impress anyone with their 25 yard accuracy. The only thing they are good for is that last ditch, up close and personal, effort to defend yourself and your family. Some would argue that they are only marginally effective at that even.

With this in mind, it is nice to see an ammunition manufacturer directly address this issue right from the get-g0.

The folks over at Buffalo Bore are never ones to mince words:

The 380 auto inhabits a valuable and useful place in our society, mostly because of the easily concealable, tiny pistols chambered for it. HOWEVER, because of the very limited size of the cartridge, it is plagued with limited power and therefore most of the existing ammo in 380 auto suffers from not being reliable as a man-stopper. We've studied and played with nearly all of the existing available 380 ammo and find it wanting as a reliable means of self defense, especially against a large, insane, drugged up/pain free, determined attacker.

Here's the problem. The current 380 auto frangible ammo delivers a large amount of surface trauma, but lacks serious penetration. For example, if you shot me or another sane man in the face with modern frangible 380 ammo, it would blow off a big portion of my cheek and send a few teeth down my throat, I would undoubtedly fall to the ground in shock and pain, but I would be very much alive and functional if I could get past the shock and pain as that frangible bullet would have stopped some where inside my face, never making it to my brain. However, if you shot a drugged up maniac in the face with that same frangible 380 ammo and blew half his cheek off, he would keep right on coming because he is insane and is not thinking like you or I. Plus, he is likely pain free and fear free and wont know that half his cheek is missing and if he did know, he would not care. So whatever 380 ammo you shoot him in the face with, had better go through his face and blow his brain stem out the back of his head, because only a CNS (central nervous system) hit with a 380 is going to stop him. Likewise, a torso hit to the sternum needs to penetrate deep enough to blow all the way through his spine in order to shut him down spontaneously. If you fail to shut him down instantly, you and your loved ones are going to have to find a way to survive while you wait for him to bleed out and pass out. The best chance of survival for you and your family is to shut down the attacker instantly. So, we've designed a few 380 auto +P loads to keep you and your loved ones alive under the worst of scenarios...

I like the Buffalo Bore .45-70 cartridges and carry the Low Recoil, Low Flash .357 Magnum ammunition in my SP-101. So who knows, if I were to pick up a new Micro Desert Eagle this week, it might be worth my while to grab a few boxes of the Buffalo Bore .380 Auto +P ammunition to shake it out with.

Taking Shape for Life - Goals Met

Wednesday Morning, September 30th, I reached my weight loss goal!

I weighed 190.5 on Monday morning so I weighed myself again on Wednesday and found that I weight 189 pounds. I started the day after Memorial Day and lost a total of 84 pounds in 120 days! I am ecstatic.

I am also 100 pounds lighter than I was when the image in the header with Todd Jarrett was taken.

As a reminder, here is what I looked like on May 26th of this year:

Here is what I look like now:

I am trying to find the words to describe how happy I am to have gotten rid of that fat suit, they just have not come to me yet. I bought size 32/32 pants today. It has literally been decades since I have been able to wear size 32 pants.

From being labled severly obese to having a healthy Body Mass Index in 120 Days. How cool is that? If you want information on how I lost this weight, just head over here.

A New Gun Show This Weekend

Well, new to me anyway.

This Sunday I will be working a table at the Texas Gun and Guitar Show in Hillsboro. From all accounts, this is a pretty nice show. Heck, they even put on a Saturday Night Party and Jam

I will be there on Sunday helping to increase the membership of the Texas State Rifle Association and the NRA. I think I'll bring along the Gun Blog .45 and maybe my AR (A Mixmaster Dissipator) to attract folks to the table and get them interested in joining.

Click here for directions. Hope to see you there.

Taking Shape for Life - an Update

It has been three weeks since I last updated you on my weigh loss progress. At that time I weighed 204.5 pounds. I now weigh 193! An 11 pound loss over three weeks this far into a weight loss program is just plain awesome. That is pretty much the only way I can describe it.

I have lost 80 pounds since Memorial Day, that is Memorial Day of this year. I am very happy with my progress and excited about this weight loss. V's kinda excited about the new me also.

I am just 3 pounds shy of my goal weight of 190 lbs. At my goal weight I will have a healthy Body Mass Index for the first time since my time in the Navy. I will no longer be counted amongst the obese or overweight of America.

If you are interested in losing weight, in achieving the same success as I have achieved, shoot me an email (address is in the profile) or head on over here.

Yes, this is for real. And yes, you can do this.

It Has Been A While...

...since I was over at the Blackhawk! web site. Since I've lost all this weight, I have a few things that I need to replace. One is a duty belt that can now go around me and one of my grand kids. My Instructors Gun Belt is also too large as are my old 5.11 pants, shorts and various concealment shirts. It is time to start on my new wardrobe.

Blackhawk! is doing something super cool now that will save me some big money as I replace my now too small other brand pants. They have a Trade Up Program where you can trade in your non-Blackhawk! pants for a 50% credit on a new pair of Blackhawk! pants and shorts. I may have seen this promotion before, but now it hits home. I can save some money (this makes V extra happy)!

Another cool thing I found on the Blackhawk! site is the Serpa Quick Disconnect System. This video with Chuck Buis demonstrates the system:

I still think Chuck has the best possible name for someone in this industry. Oh by the way, Hey Chuck! If you end up reading this, V wants to know when you guys are going to make a Serpa for her Hi Power?

Blackhawk! has a lot of cool stuff, more than ever. If you haven't been to the web site in a bit, now is as good a time as any to head on over.

Take Shape for LIfe - Week 14

This past Monday marked my 14th week on my weight loss program. During this 14th week I lost another 4 pounds for a total of 68 1/2 pounds. I am getting just a little bit closer to a healthy BMI every day.

At the gun show last weekend a close friend of mine who I had not seen in a while walked past me. It hadn't registered it was me he was walking past until I lightly punched him in the shoulder. I just look that much different without my fat suit on.

I am nearing the end of the weight loss phase of this journey, and I am ready to move on. I am losing the weight much faster than I had anticipated and I am getting more and more excited about my next step in becoming healthy and fit. 14 1/2 more pounds to go (as of last Monday). Of course, these are going to be the most tenacious pounds to get rid of, they aren't going to be leaving easily, but leave they will.

The Texas State Rifle Association Has...

...a new Executive Director.

Texas State Rifle Association Names new Executive Director

AUSTIN - The Texas State Rifle Association has officially relocated from Addison to Austin. As the state affiliate of the NRA celebrates its 90th anniversary, forty thousand registered members from across the state have two major developments to follow. Not only has our headquarters traveled south on I-35 from the metroplex to the Capital of Texas, but a new Executive Director has also been named to take the association forward.

So who is this new Executive Director of the Texas State Rifle Association? Mr. Charles Cotton. Charles is a civil trial attorney who has been working with the TSRA on legislative matters since 1985. He is the Vice Chair of the TSRA Legislative Committee, proprietor of a very active Texas CHL related gun board, and NRA Board Member. I am acquainted with Charles having met him at Friends of NRA and TSRA Foundation banquets, legislative committee meetings in Austin, and over drinks with James Dark at the NRA Annual Meetings in Louisville.

Charles is a very strong supporter of our Rights to Keep and Bear Arms. His knowledge of the legislative process here in Texas and the relationships he has developed with gun owners and legislators alike will make for a strong foundation supporting him through his tenure as Executive Director. The TSRA made an excellent choice for this leadership position.

Right now the Texas State Rifle Association is 40,000 members strong. It should be triple that by the next legislative session. If you are a Texas Gun Owner, you really should be a member of the Texas State Rifle Association.

Republicans in the 12th Congressional District...

...of Texas have a chance to make a change during this next primary season. Representative Kay Granger has some competition this go around, and her competition looks promising. Sam Finley is throwing his hat into the ring and seems to be working hard to get the 12th district Republican vote.


If you have been disappointed in some of Kay Granger's recent votes, and would like to see a different Republican representing your district, it is worth your while to give Same Finley a good hard look.


Sam will be formally announcing his candidacy during a town hall style meeting tomorrow evening (Sept. 2) at the "Ol" South Pancake House on University Ave in Fort Worth. The meeting starts at 6:30PM. Sam will also be speaking at the 912 Project Common Sense March and Rally in Fort Worth on Saturday, September 12.

Day at the Gun Show

It is a beautiful, cool, North Texas late Summer day. I had to make a decision this morning, do yard work or head out to the Original Fort Worth Gun Show. Heading out to the gun show won.

It seems that the attendance surge brought on my the Obama election and the Eric Holder confirmation has settled down a bit. I arrived a little after 10:00 and there was not much in the way of a line to get in. I was at the show for over three hours and the crowd did build up, but not near the mass of people who were at the shows earlier in the year.

It looked like business was brisk, lots of firearms being sold at the larger dealer tables and the gun safe vendors appeared to be keeping pretty busy.

I had the opportunity to meet up with the NRA-ILA Election Volunteer Coordinator (EVC) for Texas Congressional District 12 (Kay Granger's district) and spent a good while talking guns and politics with him. If you are in District 12, and you want to help elect pro 2A candidates, let me know and I will get you his contact information.

Speaking of Kay Granger, it seems she may have a bit of a fight ahead of her during the next primary season. Sam Finley is throwing his hat in the race as a Republican Candidate for the 12th Congressional District. I spent some time talking with the folks at his table at the show and with his campaign manager. I had to leave before Sam got there, but there is another opportunity to meet him that I will talk about in another post.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Steve Moses of the Bluff Dale Firearms Academy had set up a table at the show. V and I trained with Steve a couple years ago with another couple and I have to say that Steve did an outstanding job of working with us. It is good to see them getting some exposure.

I did pick up a couple of items from the show, and AR-15 parts kit (can never have too many spare parts) and a D-Fender Extractor Enhancer for an AR-15. I have had a couple extraction issues of late and if this fixes them, it is well worth the price. I've been wanting a Center of Mass Car Safe for a good while now, and there was a vendor at the show who had them at what looked like a good price, so I brought one of those home with me also. Something I did not buy was ammo. Some of these folks are still way to proud of their ammo. I saw 100 round Winchester White Box marked at $60.00, other tables had it as low as $45.00 and everywhere in between. There is ammo in stock, but the prices on pistol ammo is still ridiculous. Rifle ammo was a bit better, but still inflated.

I went to the show looking for a Magnum Research Micro Desert Eagle. I need something that I can slip into a pair of gym shorts and just wanted to check out the Magnum Research entry in the .380 market. No luck this time. There was a Sig P232 that felt pretty good in the hand for such a small firearm.

All in all a good day at the gun show. Tim and Michelle have done a great job of building this gun show into an even well worth attending. One of the better shows in North Texas. Seeing as how we have a gun show near every weekend, that is saying a lot.