It was just a busy week, with the Dole Institute panel discussion, and several other evening events, plus I'm working a new task that is just sucking up the brain cells as I get up to speed as the powerlifter running with the gazelles...
So, yesterday I joined two of my good Rotary buddies, Beau and Jim, to set up a WWI-themed table at the Fort Leavenworth Militaria show yesterday.
The young gent on the left is Beau. Ladies and gents - meet a guy with more stuff than I have. Beau's coolest contribution to our table was his collection of rare M1911's. As in - he has an M1911 .45 that was made by the Canadian company North American Arms... one of 100 they made before the war ended and the contract was cancelled. Oddly enough, I was too excited about all the other stuff to take a picture... Beau also had his Pedersen Device...
...complete with holster, transit case, magazine and boxes of ammo...
My contribution was the Castle's Auld Vick, the corrugated water jacket version of the Vickers Medium Machine Gun, in a WWI configuration.
Since I had both Gunner's kits, the platoon parts chest and other stuff out for the display, I went through and did an inventory of the parts I had - and found I actually did have the spares I needed to bring both guns up to full (legal) spec, and to get the WWII smooth-jacketed gun into WWII indirect fire condition, and the WWI into a more complete Great War config.
So I spent this afternoon swapping parts, replacing parts, and in general playing... Armorer...
Life is good - at least until the Nanny State decides that even deactivated guns are too dangerous for mere mortals. Even ones they trusted with nuclear weapons..
I really was having fun - even if that pic up top looks like I was contemplating the horror of another Clinton Presidency with a Democratic House and Senate to run roughshod over everybody and everything... which I say because I don't trust the Republicans to fight as hard as the Dems do when they're out of power...
Hey! How'd politics sneak inta here?
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