Grip upgrade for those old revolvers

Older Colts and S&W revolvers, those vintage 38’s, are excellent pieces as spares and to loan.

They are cheap ( or at least used to be), I can still find them around for 150 USD or so.
They fire 38 special which with good ammo is still a respectable caliber, and most importantly, being revolvers they are excellent for giving to people that need to defend themselves but aren’t very gun savvy.

Shot with DSC-P41

Many prepers and survivalists have a few of these old 38s around, maybe buried somewhere with a box of shells, a roll of bucks or some precious metal coins.

If you just started prepping and you are in a tight budget, you can sometimes find one of these Colts or S&W 38s ( 357 magnum would be even better) if you look around gun shops or pawn shops for a while.
It’s not ideal in my opinion, but a 38 revolver is still a weapon to be respected, and light years away from being unarmed when someone is trying to hurt you or your family.

Problem is, in spite of their good mechanical construction and overall good trigger pull, their ergonomics are awful. Bad enough to be a problem when point aiming during a stressful situation and for the follow up shots.

I don’t know what was wrong with people’s hands in the 50’s and 60’s, but these grips are too thin, the fingers go too high for a comfortable grip.

Replacement grips aren’t always available for the model, they are hard to find, and in my case, they are more expensive than the weapon itself.

A few days ago a friend of mine phoned me, telling me that he moved permanently to his farm and needed a gun.

We went to a gunshop and he picked a Bersa Super 380 ACP. It’s a 15+1 version of the single stack 7+1 version, popular in USA these days.

It has adjustable sights and mate nickel finish.

I tried to convince him of something better, perhaps a Bersa 9mm which is what cops here are being issued these days, but he fell for the little Bersa.

Problem is, it will take nearly a month before he gets his gun, and he needs one now.

He already heard noises many times at night, and some cows got stolen.

So again, he sheepishly asked “Can you loan me a gun until I get mine?”

Which brings us finally to the point of this post: Good old guns that are perfect for those with little skill but that have bad grips.

Self-Soldering Rubber.



What I used here is something called self soldering rubber in tape configuration.

In case you are not familiar with the material. This is NOT regular tape, electric tape, or tape of any kind. It’s just what the name says, a long band of rubber that solders onto itself when in contact.

This tape has no glue, just a thin film that separates the roll and avoids contact, otherwise it would solder forming a rubber disk.

This material is used to create a rubber cover on high tension electric bars.


You start rolling it around the surface, applying a bit of tension so it stretches ( and thins) overlapping it a mm or two.

Once you apply the volume or rubber you want it forms a solid mass that cannot be undone, you’ll have to cut the grip to remove it because it solders into a uniform piece of rubber.

Making the grip.

I wanted to make a shape kind of similar to the Tyler-T adapters. Something that fills the huge gap behind the trigger guard (keeping the finger from going too high) and one finger grove for a better grip.

First, you apply 2 layers of fully stretched rubber where you’ll be working(maximum point before it actually brakes, a thin layer).
I did only half but you can try covering it all.

This will he the foundation of the rest of your work.

Once these layers are done, I started filling up the gap behind the trigger guard, going all around the grip with the tape, stretching it on the back for minimum girth, and barely stretching it at all, with minimum tension, when going behind the trigger guard so as to fill that space up without getting to thick behind. You can also add some small pieces of rubber to fill it up more.

Now the finger grove.
I cut 3 small pieces of rubber, the size of the grove. Removed the film and pressed them together for a few seconds. Then I placed it on the grip and covered it with some layers of thin (stretched) rubber, shaping the final form of the grip.

That’s it. In a few minutes the grip solders completely.

The material is durable but bore cleaner softens it and makes it sticky, so its better to be careful not to get to much cleaner on the grip. I cover the grip with a rag when cleaning the gun.

That’s it folks. It’s really easy and it does improve the grip significantly, which translated in better accuracy and quicker follow up shots.
The self soldering rubber tape is available in hardware stores and it’s a great material to have around.

I use it a lot. For guns, for making rubber rings on plumbing, along with many other uses.

I kept 4 rolls of this stuff and already used it all up.

Need to buy some more. Take care and happy Labor day.

FerFAL

Making money during the crisis .

One poster at Glocktalk forums was curious as to how money can be made during periods of difficulty like the one developing now in USA these days.

It may seem hard, even impossible, to make money, even get rich, thanks to the crisis but it is possible and some people did in fact get VERY rich.

Many saw the opportunities created by the crisis and made money out of it.
As the infrastructure starts having difficulties, there’s a market to be satisfied.

FIVE BUSINESS IDEAS

1)Public schools have been going steadily down in quality? There’s a market for cheap or medium priced private schools that offer a batter education and safety environment.

I know two persons that started with daycare centers some years ago ( mommy now has to work too!!) and today own a school that takes half a block.
It takes little investment, you can start in your own house.

2)High Crime? There’s an entire industry there. Home security, private guards, bodyguards, private neighborhood security.

3)Public Health sucks? Some people are willing to pay for things they consider important, staying alive is one of them.

4)Private health companies made lots of money, even the small ones that started out with just a small building, minimum equipment and a handful of doctors.

5)You don’t have that kind of money?

Look at gas prices. Do you think people can afford that much longer? Even if they could, Saving money and still traveling comfortably is a nice idea.

Some people have gotten filthy rich offering charter services from the suburbs to downtown. Picking office workers during the morning and taking them back home at 6 PM.
They started out with just one van, and now have entire fleets and they are completely booked, people have to wait months to get a seat.

Use your head people.

FerFAL

People’s mentality and the cell like behavior of a country.

This is a comment made by an anonymous reader in a previous post:

Hello - I was just down there a few weeks ago with some others who live in BA and their experiences vary greatly from yours. I messaged them the other day concerned things might be bad and they didn't share any of the same concerns.

I was curious if it's maybe the area they live in? Most live directly in downtown BA (Recoleta, Palermo, etc). Curious to hear your thoughts...

First thing to be said here, is that people have different points of view.

Many of us love this country in spite of it’s many problems and everyday injustices.
The problem is that some people are just blind to the reality around them.
Most of the people I know simply choose to stay here because of family, or because they have no means of leaving.
Very few will tell you a different version.

An architect I work with was so frustrated with our current presidents, she commented that she would love to see some wacko put a bullet into her head. She said and I quote, ( because I remember the words clearly) “Isn’t there anyone out there dying of cancer that knows how to shoot a rifle? Why not do everyone and favor and shoot that bitch?”)
One of the owners of the company that I work for calmly explained the other day that according to his experience we have a few months until another important crisis, but not to worry , because little will change until there’s a civil war.

These are not my words, but the words of the people I work with. People with education, professionals and business owners.
And this pretty much reflects the view you hear people express on the streets, conversations you overhear in the subway or in a bar.

Some (few in my opinion) people prefer to go into denial and say that everything is ok. But the majority don’t fool themselves.

Don’t kid yourself for a second: This situation we are in right now, with our current president, the wife of our previous president, is nothing short of a dictatorship.
Keep in mind that a few days ago the president used tattoo covered, ex con THUGS to beat up people that were peacefully protesting against the government.
This is no invention of mine, everyone saw it LIVE on TV. The days after that few comments were made about the incident, but it still happened.

They created a so called “Media monitoring department against discrimination” that bans and edits information on radio, printed press and TV that they consider “hateful” , or in other words anything they consider that goes against our current administration.
http://www.justiceinitiative.org/db/resource2?res_id=103046

So there’s no freedom of speech here, and every now and then a reporter admits on TV that they get “calls” concerning what they should or shouldn’t say on TV or on the papers.
As far as I know none got killed, but many got fired, which is still pretty serious.

Back to the original post, Recoleta and Palermo are indeed two of the richest neighborhoods in the entire country.

While the rest of the country is dangerous, with many places being “ no man’s land” , called “zonas liberadas”, and you rarely see a cop patrolling the streets, in Recoleta you may find up to 4 cops covering a single block side.
The reason for this is that crime in general is so bad, that to ensure safety in the “good” neighborhoods, the ones where rich people live and where tourists visit, you need that much police.
You see, as the country went down into 3rd worldly status, it concentrates it’s efforts to sustain it’s core, in this case Buenos Aires and a few other cities.

Efforts are made to ensure as much as possible that these places don’t suffer power shortages, high crime rates, lack of food, etc.

The rest of the country, most suburbs and surroundings, are in some cases sacrificed to ensure the well being of the core, just like in any living organism.

Still, even with cops posted every 25 meters, people are still desperate enough that you hear about robberies occurring, sometimes ending up in shootings.

But people there have more money, they are better dressed, you can see them pleasantly chatting and going to their resto-bars or after-offices. :) Trying to pretend that things are different.

That’s the truth. In spite of all the glamour you may find in Recoleta, it is still Argentina and people do get robbed and killed. It’s not as common but it does happen, and anyone that says otherwise is full of shit.

I suppose that’s the thing about this country, you can’t escape it’s reality even if you try.

The smoke that covered most of the province for nearly two weeks a few days ago, including Buenos Aires city, affected rich and poor alike.

Inflation and food shortages too, affect everyone.

To the anonymous poster;
Your friends weren’t concerned with the farmers strike that left supermarkets without meat, milk and vegetables?

They weren’t concerned that they had a hard time breathing because of the out of control fires up north? Which had they occurred in any serious country, they would have evacuated half the city?

Aren’t they concerned that the farmers are two days away from striking again?
How about our minister of economy resigning yesterday? That doesn’t concern them either I guess.

This can all be veryfied with a quick google search.
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200804/20080420/article_356555.htm
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080425/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/argentina_economy_minister
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/11/09/TRGVD2PEPF1.DTL
It’s one thing to come here on vacations for a couple of days , and its another thing to live here.
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_8789141?source=rss

Certain people enjoy going to Brazil, Africa or Cuba, but I doubt many would actually enjoy living there or understand what it’s like to do so.

FerFAL

Children and how they deal with the new reality.

Someone asked this when I first started with the blog.
It’s been on my mind ever since, and it made me notice a few observations and attitudes my son has.

For example, my son is now scared of the “bad men” outside.
When I asked about that he said “like the men that robbed mommy”(my wife got mugged by some armed kids , age 10 or 12 , some months ago)
According to him we should go looking for them and kill them. (wish it could be that simple)

He understands that daddy has guns precisely to protect us from people like that.
I’m not sure if kids in other places have this attitude. I try to protect him from all this stuff but sometimes it’s impossible. It’s on the news, it happens to you, it’s the reality you live with.
I insist that he has to finish his food because I explain to him there are lots of kids that have nothing to eat.

I suppose many parents tell similar things to their children, the difference after the crisis is that your kid actually sees those hungry, bare footed kids on the sidewalk, begging for some coins or something to eat.
Last week I explained to him what the reporter was talking about, the lack of food supply in supermarkets.
The following day when I came back from work he ran to me and said “ Daddy! Daddy! Remember the guy on tv last night? He was right! We went to the supermarket today with mommy and there was no meat, fruits or milk!”

Does this help to build up character? To bring up more healthy minded, down to earth kids?
I don’t know, but I think that my son is too young to be worrying about these things, so I try to shelter him from all this.

One day we’ll be living in a civilized, 1st world country, and all this will be left behind, thank God. But I don’t think he’ll ever forget what it’s like when things don’t work as they are supposed to.

Maybe it’s not such a bad thing.

FerFAL

Jewelry gold, on field test (Update)

Almost 1 AM here.

Wish I had more time to write, guess I could write all day, specially with the ongoing situation, the way food prices soared recently up to 150 % in some cases, most going up “just” 50% or so.

Even though the farm strike is over, it doesn’t reflect on the prices. At least we do have food now on the supermarkets, and they took away the “3 item of the same maximum” signs which were pretty unnerving.

Hey, remember the little gold research I did some time ago in Libertad street, where all the jewelry and gold dealers can be found in the capital district?
Seems that they are getting hit pretty hard by criminals these days.
A couple days ago a shop owner got killed by a robber, and a cop that tried to stop it got wounded pretty bad, think he’s still in the hospital.

According to the news, these days in Argentina it is a MUCH better deal for criminals to rob one of these gold dealer and jewelry shops than a BANK! Go figure.
They say that these places have an average of 100.000 USD worth of gold merchandize, due to current gold prices.
It was kind of weird to learn that a dealer got killed on the same street I visited just a few days ago.
But that’s life, at least here.

People may be getting killed on the next block and you don’t even notice, or even care after it happens enough times.