Indonesia: Part 2

By Mike Huber

It took about a week to get to Flores, Indonesia from Bali, as it is over 1,000 kilometers away. This was accomplished via three ferries and finally, a 4-day cruise.  The cruise was a blast, but once aboard I realized it was a one-way cruise and I would have to find a ferry back (which could take up to 36 hours) or book a return flight to Bali.  Normally this would alarm most people, but I had time to kill and quickly learned Flores was an Indonesian scuba diving mecca.  Some of the most beautiful wildlife could be seen diving here.  This was not a bad place to have a several-day layover.

It didn’t take long to find a scuba company.  It had only been a few days since my prior dive and I was already itching to get back underwater. I chose a dive center based on its three-dives-in-one-day regimen. Most the other dive centers only offered two dives in one day.  This would help rack up my dive numbers (and my experience, as I would soon learn).

Diving the Komodo Islands is just amazing on so many levels.  The biggest draw is the wildlife.  The second draw is the strength of the underwater currents.  On an average dive we would float with the current for close to an hour and travel several kilometers during the dive. The current was a constant underwater river that was at times overwhelming, depending on the direction it was taking you.

If you got caught in a side current it would feel like you were on the Space Station and someone just cut your tether and you were floating off into nothingness.  Feelings of anxiety emerged when this happened, and this caused me to go through more of my air and shorten my dive.  It was always important to remain calm, move slowly, and not over-react.  That’s easier said than done.

The cool part about these currents is when I was in a “controlled” area I could just watch the beautiful corals go by.  The downside was if I saw a turtle or another cool species of wildlife, I really couldn’t get to it as I was swept along with the current.  We were told, if possible, to get low to the ocean floor and grab a large rock as an anchor so we could enjoy the wildlife.

I took this rock grabbing suggestion as I happened upon three beautiful manta rays. They were huge, about 12 feet in width. While blowing by them in the current it was like they were in an underwater thermal hovering in place motionless unaffected by the strong currents. It was like watching a stealth fighter Jet hover. Meanwhile I was doing my best to slow down to try to remain close to them. As I descended to the ocean floor seeking refuge from the currents behind a large piece of coral, I grabbed a rock.   I instantly felt something sharp on my fingers.  I had accidently grabbed a sea urchin and the spines were in all my fingers to include deep under my fingernail. Almost instantly a large gushing of green fluid began pouring out of my fingers.  This is when I learned you bleed green when you are deep under water.

Realizing there was nothing I could do about the bleeding until I surfaced, my focus was on watching the manta rays flying by as the current pulled me just underneath them.  During this time, I religiously checked my air levels on my respirator.  Once I hit 60 bar (25%) it would be time to slowly return to the surface.

We began our ascent to a 3-minute safety stop at 5 meters below the surface to allow our bodies to adjust to the pressure.  At around 10 meters and still being abused by the strong currents I went to breathe in and there was nothing there. It was as though I was breathing through a straw and then suddenly someone put their finger over the end.  I was out of air. This was a good time to see how much of the training I actually retained and how much of I ignored while being distracted by the beautiful scuba instructor in Australia.

More epic adventures are here!

A Garand Day At The Range

By Joe Berk

I had the Garand out a couple of weeks ago and I had a blast.  I was on the range by 7:00 a.m., I had the place to myself, and the sun was at my back.  In those early morning sessions with the sun directly behind me and low in the sky, the front sight is sharp and at just the right distance from my aging eyes.   I can focus on it, and when you’re shooting any firearm with iron sights, that’s the only place you want to be focused.

The might M1 Garand.

My Garand is nothing fancy; in fact, it’s sort of a mutt.  I bought it several years ago from a small shop in Corona, and it’s a kluge of parts.  The receiver is from CAI (which is supposed to be one that’s not very good, but my rifle doesn’t know that), the trigger group is from Beretta (they made a Garand-based rifle years ago), and the rest of the parts are a “who knows?” collection.  My Garand wouldn’t cycle reliably when I bought it, so I bought a new gas cylinder (new to me; it was a well used part but it met spec)  from SARCO in Philadelphia and that fixed the problem.

I ran into another issue, and that was the first shot always going significantly low left (about 10 inches at 100 yards).  I couldn’t find what was causing that problem, and then one day I took the rear sight apart when it felt a little loose.  I greased everything, adjusted it to where I wanted it to be, and then tightened the elevation adjustment screw to remove any play.  That did it:  The low left first round issue went away.

Fresh .30 06 reloads for the Garand.

I’ve experimented with a few different loads, and I found what everyone else has found:  The secret sauce is 47.0 grains of IMR 4064 and either the Sierra 168-grain jacketed hollowpoint boattail Matchking bullet, or its clone from Speer.  My rifle is more accurate with the Sierra bullets, but their price is nearly twice what Speer gets for their bullets.  The ammo you see here used the last of my Speer bullets; my next loads will be with Sierra Matchkings.

Reloaded Garand ammo on the bench at the range.

I’m not scaring any National Match competitors, but for an old dude with weak eyesight, I can still do okay.  “Okay” is a relative term, I know.  Here’s what 20 shots at 100 yards look like from that day on the range.

20 shots at 100 yards.  Speer 168 gr FMJBT, 47.0 gr IMR 4064, a cartridge overall length of 3.295 inches, and Winchester primers at 100 yards. Close enough for government work, as our soldiers found out in World War II and Korea.  I used mixed brass from PMC and PPU; the group would have been better had I used only one brand.

Here’s the Garmin chronograph data for the above 20 shots:

The Garmin is well worth the money. I am enjoying mine.

I love military rifles, and I love shooting the Garand.  I shoot mine regularly.  My daughter once got a shot of me on the range and she caught the brass case in midair (it’s the photo you see at the top of this blog).  We have other stories on the Garand as well as other military surplus rifles (see our Tales of the Gun page).  If you have a Garand (or any military surplus rifle you enjoy shooting), we’d love to hear about it.  Please leave a comment below.

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Indonesia: Part 1

Mike Huber

My visa was nearing expiration in Australia (I had 90 days left), and my speeding tickets were exceeding $1700 Australian.  The speeding tickets were from cameras.  In the United States, the Constitution protects us (you can fight and win those tickets 100% of the time in the USA, but not in Australia).  It was time to choose a new country to visit, at least for a short while. To me it made sense to leave my beloved Oceania and head north.  Looking at the map, Southeast Asia beckoned.

Indonesia, in particular, seemed to be the best choice, and it would be my next destination.  Bali, to be exact.  This would provide a less westernized culture than the previous countries I had visited.  Another advantage was it appealed to my new interest.  I kept hearing how magnificent the scuba diving was there.  So that would be incorporated into my adventures.

After the whirlwind trip through Australia, the first three days in Bali (except for some morning surfing) were spent resting in my hotel room.  I needed the time to recharge and just sit back and pretend I was on vacation.  Yes, I know I am sort of always on vacation, but even with this laid-back lifestyle the constant moving becomes a fulltime job.

Once rested it was time to book several ferries and boats out to Komodo National Park (it isn’t easy to get to).  Visiting this epic National Park would provide me with the chance to see Komodo dragons, the largest lizard on Earth, as well as plenty of opportunities to hone my new skills as a diver. This was an experience that I could not miss while visiting Indonesia.

The day trip to Komodo Island was fantastic.  What made it most memorable was actually seeing a few of these giant reptiles in the wild, as up close and personal as I was comfortable with.  That distance happened to be  about 6 feet for me I soon learned. Even though being in a tour group of 20 people when the Komodo dragon chose a path, our group was instructed to let it through.  The crowd parted like the Red Sea and the giant reptile chose the direction it wanted, and it moved with a purpose!

These giants can move up to 12 miles per hour.  Some weigh as much as 150 pounds.  They can take down local deer and they have no natural enemies.  This meant we were guests on their island and without a stick or other type of weapon we were not on the top of the food chain. It’s always a humbling moment when you realize this.

After a day exploring Komodo National Park with large sticks in hand, I found myself in Flores, Indonesia.  It’s a small island about an hour’s boat ride from Komodo National Park.  Little did I realize how much of a scuba diving mecca this was (see any of my previous articles about my lack of planning).  There were literally dive shops and tours every three to four buildings.  It was that densely populated with the scuba community.  It was perfect.  This would be a great home base for a week or so to dive and continue catching up on rest from the Australia travels. It now was time to book a scuba adventure in Bali, Indonesia.

More epic adventures are here!

Scuba: Part 2

By Mike Huber

It was 0700 and the location was a pier in Cairns Australia as 30 of us were boarding a live-aboard boat to perform 9 scuba dives over the next 3 days and 2 nights. There were only 3 of us that had never performed an open water scuba dive before, and I was one of them. It would take 5 dives while completing our drills for us to obtain our PADI open water certification.  We were ready.

It took the boat about 3 hours to get out to the reef for our first dive. 27 of the others were seasoned divers, so as the newbies we felt privileged they’d help us gear up and make jokes about our fumbling around prior to getting into the water.

Others may disagree with me and that is fine, but I have sky dived and to me, nothing felt closer to jumping out of an airplane as a paratrooper than scuba diving.  You suit up, perform checks on your gear and your scuba buddy’s gear, shuffle to the edge of the boat, give an OK to the dive master who checks your air is on (I always stuck my hand out and yelled “ALL OK JUMPMASTER!” just to get into the moment a bit more), and jump off the boat into the water. I understand the two experiences are almost polar opposites, but what isn’t is the comradery and the procedures prior to diving (or jumping out of an airplane).

As soon as I hit the ocean waters of the Great Barrier Reef in full scuba gear I felt two things: A brief moment of anxiety, just as I felt in the pool during onshore training, and when we signaled to go down.  This was a moment of bliss and freedom as you leave the world you know and enter a realm of tranquility beneath the ocean.  It was so similar to exiting an aircraft as you leave the chaos and perform the 4-second count prior to your parachute opening.  Both are moments when you have a quick chat with the big guy upstairs and are alone in the world.  There are few experiences in life that compare to these.  I was instantly hooked on scuba diving.

Our first five dives were work.  They encompassed the same drills over and over that we performed in the pool.  The objective was to review the same emergency procedures for a multitude of issues that you can face while underwater, and how to calmly overcome them.  This was another similarity to being a paratrooper.  The only big difference is there was less yelling for your mistakes, but the instructor did have a whiteboard to correct any errors you were making while on the dive.  Another reason I knew my instructor was great was when she wrote my mistakes on her whiteboard for, I literally could hear her stern voice in my head just as clear and loud as if we were above water.

Upon all three of us successfully meeting the criteria we were now PADI Certified Open Water Scuba Divers.  Now it was time to begin having fun and enjoying the benefits of diving.  We were on The Great Barrier Reef after all and the coral and wildlife we saw over the next 3 days was magical.  We were literally in God’s aquarium.  Each of the dive sites we experienced had something unique to offer, from schools of colorful fish, to sea turtles, to even a couple nurse and reef sharks.  If I wasn’t hooked before on this new hobby, I surely was now.

The remainder of the days were passed with dives, delicious food, and wonderful new friends.  The beauty of this live aboard boat were absolutely the people I was surrounded by.  We each had different experience levels in diving, and were from countries all around the World, yet we all bonded over this one passion, scuba diving. Once the evening festivities died down instead of returning to the tight quarters below deck a few of us decided to sleep on the open upper deck of the vessel.  This was the perfect way to wind down.  We would tell a few jokes while staring at the Southern Cross as it slowly made its way across the sky until we fell asleep, and in the morning awaking to the sunrise hitting this spectacular part of the World and lighting up the Australian Flag as the sun rose.  A feeling of accomplishment washed across me each day and evening of this trip.  It may have been the most rewarding time along my travels to this day, and for good reason. I had found a new way to add even further adventure to my travels.

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Scuba: Part 1

By Mike Huber

As I had begun to enter my 5th month of travel, not knowing where I would be sleeping the next night became routine.  My mentality was “Future Mike will figure this one out, he always does.” And I always did.  That mindset isn’t wrong, as crazy as it felt. However, as time pushed on and the countries began to be more in my rearview mirror something was missing.  A way to deeply experience a country, more than most experience it.  Similar to my past life with living off the BMW GS1200.  The bike added a much-needed color to my adventures whereas most were just doing these adventures in a van or car.  The BMW gave me that extra level of depth that awakened my senses and really allowed me to meet some wonderful people I wouldn’t have otherwise.

Realizing I needed to experience something new (besides circling the globe solo).  I needed something thrilling but something I had never done.  I was two months into driving through Australia and about to board a flight from Sydney to Cairns.  When I asked others in my hostel what was worth doing up there, one reply was always consistent:  Scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef.  That was it! I would become a certified scuba diver and head for the Great Barrier Reef.

I registered for the dates I would be in Northern Australia for a 5-day Open Water PADI Scuba Certification Class. This class would include two days of classroom/pool training and three days and two nights on a live-aboard boat in the Great Barrier Reef. Upon filling out the school course paperwork it seems that due to my ripe old age of 51 I would require a physical.  Not a big deal; there was a clinic across the street from my hostel. I am sure they would rubber stamp me through this, so I booked an appointment.  Upon being called into see the doctor I noticed his clothing apparel seemed a bit…off. It wasn’t until I went into his exam room I noticed posters of Elvis all over the walls.  Now his butterfly collar, gold glasses, slicked back hair made sense. He was an Elvis impersonator, or a big fan at the least.  Once reviewing the physical requirements with him he explained the physical entailed much more than I expected, including chest x-rays, hearing tests, vision test, drug test, etc.

So I am not saying I cheated on this physical, nor am I disclosing if I did cheat how I would complete such an act. What I am saying is I passed the physical with flying colors. Sweet. I sent the paperwork off to the diving school and was formally accepted into the program.  I was still smiling as I boarded my flight from Sydney to Cairns in Australia (which was one of the northern-most points of this mind-blowing continent).

Arriving on time to class (15 minutes prior to its scheduled start) I learned the class would be small.  Myself, a young man from France and an American female from San Diego. Our instructor was from Pittsburgh.  Normally I would hold that against her, but she was beyond stunning so it was easy to let that go as we began our class instruction on the equipment and different emergency protocols, hand signals, and a tutorial of almost any underwater emergency we could possibly encounter.  This was the first half of the day and post lunch it was time to put these lessons to use, using our scuba gear in an enclosed 12-foot deep pool.

The first thing in the pool we performed even before learning about our gear was a swim test. This consisted of treading water for 10 minutes in place and a 300-meter swim.  Upon successfully passing this, it was time to learn about all our gear.  This included the air tank, BCD, respirator, fins, mask and snorkel, and how to successfully connect it all together.

It was now time to put on the scuba gear and go underwater in the pool for the first time.  I will admit this caused a bit of anxiety for the first few minutes, even though we were just a few feet under.  It was a new experience for me and the others, so that was normal.  In no time we were nailing the different drills, such as mask removal and replacement while underwater, and buoyancy control. We also performed drills in the event we ran out of air and how to signal and use your buddy’s secondary air supply (I of course made sure I was paired with the instructor). Little did I know at the time, but paying attention to this lesson would prove to be lifesaving in just a few weeks in Indonesia.

Upon successfully completing the classroom, pool sessions, and passing a written exam, we were ready to take our skills into the ocean.  The next day we were scheduled to meet at 0700 at the boat launch where we would be on a live-aboard boat for the next three days.  The remainder of our training and honing our skills would be performed in the open waters of The Great Barrier Reef in Australia. This is where we hopefully would pass and become Open Water Certified Divers.  Bad ass!

More epic adventures are here!

Three Movie Reviews

By Joe Berk

Man, as a blogger on a site that sometimes offers movie reviews, I am flat on my butt.  No excuses, folks.  I’ve been having too much fun doing other things.   This is a catchup blog on three shows I’ve watched recently.  Two were excellent; the third was a unmitigated flop.  With that an as intro, here we go.

First Man

The story here is about Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon.  I really enjoyed this one.  In a word, it’s outstanding.  Maybe outstanding is too weak an adjective.  I was a teenager during the Apollo program years, and this movie hit home for me.

First Man is running on Netflix, and I’m giving it two thumbs up only because I don’t have three thumbs.  If you have a Netflix subscription, this is one you might consider viewing.

As an aside, I almost got to meet Neil Armstrong.  He was a regular at the former Nieuport 17 restaurant in Tustin, California (I wrote about it in our blog about Admiral Gordon Smith).  I knew the owners there, who would have introduced me if the real First Man had been in the restaurant.  It just never worked out that we were both there at the same time, much to my regret.

Horizon

I was hoping this Max film would be an epic work, but it was a real bust.  I want anticipating something like another Lonesome Dove, but Mr. Costner appears to have lost his touch.

Costner’s presence notwithstanding, it’s not Dances with Wolves.  If you want to urinate away three hours of your life you’ll never get back, this wandering, mumbling, constantly moving back and forth in time, difficult to follow, and plot-free show is for you.  My advice is to take a pass.  I wish I did.  But having said that, I noticed in the photo above that this is to be a “two-part theatrical event.”  For me, Part II will be like driving past a bad motor vehicle accident.  You know you don’t want to look, but you do.  I’ll give Part II 15 minutes, and if it’s a snoozefest like Part I, I’m outta there.

Bad Education

Bad Education is an outstanding movie.  It’s about a school system superintendent and his administrator convincing a Long Island, New York, community that their school system was outstanding in every regard while simultaneously embezzling something north of $10 million over a multi-year period.  It’s a true story, which makes what happens on screen even harder to believe.

I don’t want to spoil it for you, so I won’t tell you too much more other than what I’ve written above.  You can tell a movie is good when it seems like it’s over in 20 minutes.  I enjoyed it and I think you will, too.  Bad Education can be seen on Netflix.

More Reviews are here!

Cambodia

By Mike Huber

Guys, I apologize (again) for the long gap without writing.  I have a massive backlog that I am attempting to catch up on and really have just been constantly doing too much to complete even a short blog.  It has been a busy but productive time for me.  I’m currently in my 6th country and I’m 8 months into a 1-year journey.  I’m in Cambodia.

Cambodia is yet another country that wasn’t on my radar but having been semi-obsessed with experiencing all 7 Wonders of The World I really wanted to see Angkor Wat.  I know, I know. It isn’t on the list of 7 Wonders now but that list seems to be ever changing and I didn’t want to miss out in the event it was added again. That, and the other reason is I was about to overstay my visa limit in Thailand (running my visas out seems to be a new talent of mine).

Originally, I booked a flight to Phnom Penh as a forward journey requirement for Thailand entry.  As the time got closer to my travel I linked up with a driver in Cambodia who would take me around to see the many Temples.  However, upon sending him my flight itinerary he quickly replied “Dude, you are flying into the other side of the Cambodia, Angkor Wat is 360 kilometers from that city.”  After 8 months this was really my first error of any consequence.  There were two options, a 6-hour bus ride, or just eat the $80 and book a new flight.  I chose the latter to save time.

Upon arrival and a minor hiccup going through immigration (I didn’t bring $30 for a visa so I had to “borrow” it from an immigration officer who included a hefty “tip”).  It was part of the game and another lesson learned from my poor planning.  I can’t complain. Once through customs I met my driver, Kong, outside the airport. And we were off to my hotel in Seim Reap.

The first thing I noticed in Cambodia (beside the fact that they drive on the right side of the road…it has been 8 months since I have been in a country that drives on the right) was the heavy humidity. It was brutal, even though I was in high humidity places over the past three months.  This was next level and there just was no reprieve, even in the early morning and evening.  Along the drive we discussed my objectives while in Cambodia and the main one was to see Angkor Wat.  With the heat and humidity being so oppressive, Kong recommended we start at 0430 the next morning in order to see sunrise at the Temple.  This would provide for a magnificent way to begin the day and allow us to get a head start on the heat.

We arrived at Angkor Wat at around 0530 and walked through the darkness and over the moat that guards this UNESCO treasure.  All the while the mountainous sandstone silhouette was gaining in color and depth as our path led toward a meeting point between us and the rising sun.  Even during off season there was quite the crowd at the reflection pool, at sunrise, to try to get that perfect photo of this stunning homage to Hinduism. It didn’t take long for the heat to follow.  This was our queue to seek out shade deep within the Temple to avoid more heat and more crowds, and begin exploring the hidden Temple chambers.

The depth and detail on the Temple was more than impressive.  Even with the destruction from past wars and an occasional bullet hole in the sandstone, the overall structure hadn’t lost its mystical feeling.  The mysticism was unavoidable as we walked through the Temple’s many chambers.

Of the many experiences along my journey, I think Angkor Wat is one of the best things worth seeing, touching, and experiencing.  Whether included in the 7 Wonders of the World or not, it makes little difference in my appreciation of this stunning structure.  Even as a massive tourist attraction, this Temple sets the criteria for what an ancient wonder should be.  Experiencing it was well worth the trip to Cambodia.

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Three .243 Ruger No. 1 Loads

By Joe Berk

This story is about finding a decent load for my .243 200th Year Ruger No. 1 rifle.  The rifle is 48 years old now, but the old girl can still get it on.  I didn’t think my Ruger was particularly accurate at first, but wow, it’s a shooter.

Good wood, a good looking 200th Year Ruger No.1A, and a day on the range. Life is good.

I’ve tried a lot of loads in this rifle and I probably would have given up except for what I saw happen with another shooter.  He had a .243 No. 1 in the 1B configuration (that’s the one with no iron sights, a 26-inch barrel, and a beavertail forearm), and he didn’t like it at all.  To me, not liking a Ruger No. 1 is a crime against nature, but that guy was frustrated with his .243 and he had given up on it.  He spent good money (Ruger No. 1 rifles sell for around $2,000 today) and it just seemed like a shame.  When I first tried my .243 No. 1 it wasn’t very accurate, but I decided I wasn’t going to be that other guy.  I was confident I could find a good load.  Actually, I found three, and they are listed below by bullet weight.  They are all of comparable accuracy in my rifle.

Accuracy Load No. 1

Nosler 55-grain .243 bullets. It’s the lightest bullet available for the .243.
Bullets, loaded ammo, and XBR 8208 propellant.

My first accuracy load for this rifle is the 55-grain Nosler Varmegeddon flat base bullet with 40.0 grains of XBR 8208 propellant.  I seated the bullets to a cartridge overall length of 2.606 inches without a crimp, but I haven’t experimented with bullet seating depth or crimping.  I used Fiocchi large rifle primers because at the time, primers were scarce and I bought 1500 of the Fiocchis when I could.

Accuracy Load No. 2

Hornady 58-grain VMax bullets. Hornady makes a good-looking bullet.
I shot all the rounds I loaded with this bullet, so this picture will have to do.

Another excellent load is the 58-grain Hornady VMax bullet with 42.0 grains of IMR 3031 propellant.  I ordinarily wouldn’t use IMR 3031 in the .243, but I had a tiny bit of it left from some development work on another cartridge and good buddy Kevin told me IMR 3031 was his powder of choice for the .243. It was a good recommendation.  I set these rounds up with a cartridge overall length of 2.620 inches.   Like the load above, I have not tried different seating depths or crimping.

Accuracy Load No. 3

Cavernous hollowpoints in the 75-grain Speer varmint bullets. These shoot exceptionally well.
I found IMR 4895 works well with the Speer 75-grain bullets.

My third accuracy load is the 75-grain Speer Varmint hollowpoint bullet with 39.0 grains of IMR 4895 propellant.   I loaded this round to an overall length of 2.620 inches, and like the others above, I have not experimented with overall length or crimping.

What I Haven’t Tried and What Didn’t Work (for me)

I have a couple of boxes of 65-grain Hornady V-Max bullets and I’ve only tried them with a few powders.  So far, nothing gave me acceptable accuracy with these bullets.

.243 ammo loaded with PRVI 100-grain bullets. I couldn’t find the secret sauce to make this bullet accurate. Hornady 100-grain bullets weren’t any better.

I also have a bunch of 100-grain bullets (from Hornady and PRVI).  Neither of these 100-grain bullets grouped well.  They stabilized (no target key holing), but the groups just weren’t very good.  That’s okay; I’m not going to use the .243 on pigs or deer.  But if I ever took it varmint hunting, the accuracy loads listed above would get the job done.

The Bottom Line

Typical results with the accuracy loads listed above.

Any of the above loads will shoot a three-shot group at or below 0.75 inches at 100 yards.  The groups would be tighter with a more skilled rifleman. For me, getting the old .243 to group into three quarters of an inch is good enough.  I’ll call it a day with load development on this rifle and stick with the loads above.  On to the next rifle.  Stay tuned.

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Shoemaker Holsters

By Joe Berk

Back in the 1970s I was a falling plate competitor. That competition involved knocking over a set of steel plates at a relatively short distance, usually with something in .38 Special or .45 ACP.  In those days, nobody competed with a 9mm; the 9mm pistols had not made the inroads they enjoy today. A lot of guys competed with 1911s or modified K-frame S&Ws; I was a bit of an oddball and I used an N-frame Smith and Wesson .44 Magnum (with light .44 Specials, as the shot-to-shot recovery was faster and the .44 Special easily knocked the plates down). We shot from the ready position, with the gun held at an angle to the ground.  The video below gives you an idea what the falling plate game looks like:

There were variations of this competition. The most exciting one was a bowling pin competition, which involved clearing a half dozen bowling pins from a table. In that one, you needed a .44 or a .45; the .38 Special didn’t have the energy to clear a bowling pin off the table.  Both competitions were all about speed; whoever knocked all the plates over (or blew away all of the bowling pins) in the shortest time won.

Other similar competitions involved drawing the gun from a holster, and I wanted to shoot my AMT Long Slide Hardballer, a really cool 7-inch-barreled 1911. It’s the one Arnold Schwarzenegger used in Terminator.

An AMT (Arcadia Machine and Tool) Long Slide Hardballer. The story on it is here.

I needed a holster long enough to hold the Long Slide AMT 1911, and at that time there were none on the market. Other holsters could hold either 5-inch or 4 ¼-inch 1911s, but nobody had anything for the 7-inch AMT.  Hold that thought. I’ll come back to it shortly.

I’ve written about good buddy Mike here on the blog before. Mike and I have been buddies since junior high school. He went on to become Chief of the New Brunswick Police Department. We still talk every week. Mike deputized me a couple of times when he attended the International Association of Chiefs of Police conventions. I’d always ask for a gun, and the answer was always no.  But we had a lot of fun at those conventions.

The Director at the International Association of Chiefs of Police 2023 convention. I was his administrative assistant on that adventure. That story is here.

Mike called me last week. He was pumped up. He found his old New Brunswick Police Department duty holster from the days when they carried Heckler & Koch P7M8 9mm squeeze cocker semi-autos. That was the gun the New Jersey State Troopers adopted back in the ‘80s.

A New Jersey State Trooper Heckler & Koch P7M8 and its Tex Shoemaker holster.
The NJSP emblem embossed on the Tex Shoemaker holster.

The New Jersey State Police had custom holsters crafted for their handguns by the Tex Shoemaker company, a legend in the holster business. They also had Shoemaker emboss the NJSP emblem in the leather. Not to be outdone, the New Brunswick Police Department also adopted the Heckler & Koch P7M8 9mm semi-auto, and they, too went to Tex Shoemaker for holsters embossed with the NBPD emblem. Mike had one when he served, and it was this holster he recently found. The Tex Shoemaker H&K police duty holsters have become collectible items, with this particular model appearing on Ebay for $300. Mike is going to donate his to the New Brunswick Police Department Headquarters display case. I think that’s pretty cool.

Good buddy Mike’s Heckler & Koch P7M8 Tex Shoemaker holster.
The Heckler & Koch P7M8 holster with an embossed New Brunswick Police department emblem.

So I was thinking about this story and Mike’s holster and then I remembered: Hey, I have a Tex Shoemaker holster, and mine is brand new. The Tex Shoemaker company was located in San Dimas, which is not very far from my home. They closed up shop in 2019 (I’m assuming it fell victim to the pandemic, the move toward plastic holsters, and competition from the plastic holster manufacturers).  Whatever the reason, it’s a pity.  Shoemaker’s was an old line holster manufacturer started by Tex Shoemaker, a former lawman who started out making holsters in his garage.  Their quality was unsurpassed.

When I needed a quick draw holster for my anticipated pistol competition (as described at the beginning of this blog), I couldn’t find anyone in the ‘80s who was making a holster for the AMT Long Slide Hardballer. I searched the yellow pages for holster companies (this was all pre-Internet), and that’s when I learned that the Tex Shoemaker company was nearby. I called them and explained what I wanted. I spoke with a nice guy who told me he didn’t know of anybody making a holster for the Long Slide 1911, but Shoemaker was experimenting with a new break-front holster that would handle all 1911 barrel lengths. He explained that it wasn’t on the market yet, but I could swing by and take a look at it.

My AMT Long Slide in it’s Tex Shoemaker experimental holster.
The Tex Shoemaker logo.

Sue and I rode over to Shoemaker’s that day.  It was a factory and they didn’t have a retail facility, so I walked up to the loading dock, looked up at a guy standing above me, and explained why I was there. A minute later that same nice guy I had spoken with on the phone appeared with the holster he told me about on the phone. I had my Long Slide with me and we tried the big 1911 in it; the fit was perfect. He also had two magazine holders (together they could hold four magazines).  The holster was just what the doctor ordered, and I told him that even though it wasn’t commercially available yet, I’d like to buy it.  He smiled, gave all three items to me, and told me there was no charge.

The Tex Shoemaker holster is adjustable for draw angle. It’s a cool feature.
For normal carry, the pistol is secured with a cross strap.
For quick draw work, the cross strap is removed. The holster has a strong clamp spring inside the leather that secures the pistol. When drawn, the pistol can be snapped forward without withdrawing upward from the holster.
The Long Slide Hardballer, the Tex Shoemaker holster, and two Tex Shoemaker magazine holders.
The Tex Shoemaker logo on the back of a magazine holder.

I was shocked when that nice man told me there was no charge, and then I realized I didn’t even know who he was.  I introduced myself, and as we shook hands, he told me his name: Randy Shoemaker.  Randy Shoemaker was Tex Shoemaker’s son.

I never pursued quick draw competition.  I had visions of shooting myself in the foot, and it just wasn’t something I wanted to do.  But I sure enjoy owning my Tex Shoemaker leather.   Maybe someday, I’ll enter the Quick Draw McGraw games.   In the meantime, here’s an unashamedly doctored video of me playing around a few years ago at the West End Gun Club.

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Speaking of ExhaustNotes…

By Bob Orabona

Well….we’ve been having a little heat wave here in SoCal and I have been hanging around the house too much, so it was time to take the Harley Low Rider out for a little run.

My Low Rider when it was at the dealership in Minneapolis. I bought it about 4 years ago with 4,000 miles on the odometer.

I couldn’t do my usual run around the Palos Verdes peninsula due to the highway being closed to two-wheeled traffic. So I instead went the short way across the peninsula and then through the beach cities where it was nice and cool compared to the rest of Los Angeles.

I got through them all and was coming out of El Segundo and towards the airport and Westchester. On Sepulveda there’s a tunnel that goes under a runway at LAX and we call it, of course, the airport tunnel.

Some guys on bikes think of it as a tunnel and some think of it as a concert hall. Well, I kinda go both ways on that. But every time I get near it, I harken back to a memory of New Year’s Eve in 1972.  I was a teenager at the time and my best bud Dave Reimer called me at home and told me he was at a great party in El Segundo.  He offered to come by and pick me up (I had no wheels at that time). Dave showed up at my pad on a BSA 650 motorcycle he had borrowed from a friend. I jumped on and we headed out.

As we approached the tunnel from the Westchester side going to El Segundo Dave yelled back to me to hang on. He kicked it down a gear into 3rd and hit the throttle hard. We entered the tunnel going about 60mph and he banged 4th and hit the throttle hard and we were flying. The support columns just turned into a blur. There was a lot of great engine noise too. We came out the other end doing about 110mph!

What a kick! The things you do and get away with when you are young can be amazing. It was a great party and it is a favorite memory.

Today, in honor of my buddy Dave who left us about 15 years ago, I entered the tunnel in 3rd and laid down a little sweet Harley music with lots of throttle.   It was about as much as I could get away with considering traffic.

So, Dave, wherever you are just wanted to let you know I was thinking about you.

Thanks, Bob.  That’s a great story and we enjoyed reading it.  Remind me never to lend my motorcycle to any of your friends!

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