Maybe it shoots 45-3-1/4, aka 45-120. 500+ grain slug moving at 1400+ fps? Grumpy
Category: All About Guns
These geese look pretty placid. However, they are
actually blood-thirsty, homicidal monsters.
If you’ve ever watched the news, you’ve undoubtedly noticed that human beings are uniformly horrible. As I sit typing these words, I have just wrapped up my daily news dump.
The highlights include a horrible terrorist attack in Moscow by ISIS, a horrible story about a sex cult, another horrible story about a school shooter, and then a story about the Iranians making cheap explosive drones to export all over the world and murder innocent people, which is also obviously horrible. Just what is wrong with us?
I’ll answer that for you. Nothing is wrong with us. We just live on Planet Earth alongside every other horrible thing God saw fit to put here. For the dispassionate observer, we human beings are just not all that special in the horrible department.
Wet and Wild
I have a little lake for a backyard. Many years ago, when I finally finished medical school, we took the last of the savings my wife had scraped up from my time in the Army and used it to build a dam across a small creek that runs through the secluded stand of Mississippi timber we call home. The resulting modest body of water helped raise my kids.
We were some of those homeschool freaks. Most days, when it was pretty and warm, my kids would go swimming in the lake. They turned the canoe over and used it like a submarine, strategically placed a water hose on a hillside to create a mudslide, and just generally had a good time being miniature unwashed redneck lunatics. I joined them for a while but called it a day when the fish wouldn’t stop nipping at my leg hair.
The lake has been a nexus for some of the most fascinating creatures. My kids would wade out into the water with lunch meat and feed the bass by hand.
The water moccasins reproduced like bunnies, spawning an existential battle for extermination that persists to this very day. Over the years, we’ve had beavers, otters, kingfishers, salamanders, ospreys and bald eagles. And then there were the Canadian geese.
Backyard Bedlam
I’ve always wanted to own my own island. Ideally, it would be around 1,100 acres with ample fresh water and an airstrip somewhere off the coast of Belize. However, as I will never be able to afford that, I settled for building my own in the lake behind the house.
Our private island sports a diameter of maybe fifteen feet and is dominated by a single willow tree. We call it Australia (the island, not the tree. A willow tree called Australia would be stupid.) Our island is also apparently some seriously prime real estate for migrating Canadian geese.
Come springtime every year the Canadian geese invade the place like it is Dieppe in 1942. They are attractive enough creatures. However, they make for simply ghastly B&B guests.
Rare is the day during goose season that those blasted monsters don’t ring in the morning at 0500 with their cacophonous honking. It’s not a lack of resources that drives that train. They just can’t seem to share.
The lake is plenty big to support a dozen or more of these big feathery monsters. However, there precipitates every year this massive battle for supremacy to see which mating pair earns the title to the island. It’s like the epic movie “The Highlander.” Apparently, there can be only one.
One morning, instead of just quietly hating them, I dragged my laptop out onto the back porch to watch. I had never done that before. Wow. Roman arena blood sports have got nothing on these guys.
The momma geese sit off to the side and wisely just spectate. The dads fight literally to the death, honking madly throughout. They smack into each other, flap their wings to pummel their opponents, and then go in for the kill.
The kill shot is to grab the opponent by the neck and then hold their heads underwater until they drown. Over the years we have awakened to find dead geese floating in the lake a couple of times.
Animals would have nuclear bombs, too, if only they had opposable thumbs.
Embrace the Darkness
And that brings me to my point. Everything is horrible. All these stupid geese need to do is get along. There’s plenty of room and likely strength in numbers, but they just can’t bring themselves to do so. And it turns out that absolutely everything in the world is like that.
That adorable little puppy who is gleefully gnawing on his high-pitched squeaky toy? In his precious little mind, he is actually ripping the very life out of some helpless creature.
The fluffy little kitten pouncing on the laser spot? In his imagination, he’s killing stuff, too. Leave two painfully cute human babies together for a couple of minutes, and one of them will invariably hit the other in the head with a big plastic toy telephone. Koala bears, field mice, frogs, lizards and amoebas — everything is frankly horrible. We just live in a fallen world. To imagine otherwise is simply magical thinking.
So, enjoy your life. There’s plenty of good, safe fun to be found amidst all that bedlam. However, face it with your eyes open. In the immortal words of Ronald Reagan, trust but verify.
That’s why I carry a gun whenever I’m not asleep or in the shower. Whether it is wilderness survival, business, interpersonal relationships or politics, never forget that absolutely everything is horrible.
As a part of the National Defense Act in 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt helped create the Office of the Director of Civilian Marksmanship, or DCM. President Roosevelt witnessed firsthand how unprepared U.S. soldiers were for marksmanship in combat during the Spanish-American War and sought a solution to increase marksmanship training for future generations.
The DCM was created to promote the lessons and values of marksmanship to younger generations of Americans, so that they would already know the basics of marksmanship if they joined the military. 
The sign at the front of the CMP’s headquarters in Anniston, Ala.
Along with teaching youth marksmanship, the DCM could also sell surplus military firearms to the public further promote the learning of marksmanship skills. The DCM remained unchanged from 1903 to 1996, until the U.S. Government sought to downsize spending. A push was made in the government to end the DCM, since it was a federally funded program. At the same time, some members of the U.S. Congress did not want to see the program ended entirely and sought a way for the program and its values to continue without federal funding.
Thus, in 1996 the DCM was privatized and turned into the Corporation for the Promotion of Rifle Practice and Firearms Safety, also known as the Civilian Marksmanship Program or CMP. The CMP was given the staff from Camp Perry, Ohio, a half-year budget of federal funding for the first year of operation and access to the surplus of U.S. .30- and .22-cal. rifles.
A CMP armorer inspecting the components of a surplus M1 Garand rifle.
Based in Anniston, Ala., the CMP continues to sell surplus U.S. military rifles to the public as a means to fund and to promote marksmanship training. However, the CMP now offers more than surplus U.S. rifles for sale. As a part of the Defense Authorization Act, the CMP is authorized to sell surplus M1911 and M1911A1 .45 ACP pistols transferred from the U.S. Army reserve stocks at the Anniston Army Depot.
In the first batch, the CMP was transferred 8,000 M1911 and M1911A1 pistols from the U.S. Army. Stored in a specially designed vault and processing facility at its headquarters in Anniston, Ala., the CMP sorts these pistols for the eventual sale to qualified members of the public. These pistols come in a variety of grades in both the M1911 and M1911A1 models.
A look inside one of the army crates containing M1911 pistols.
Many of these pistols, especially of the M1911A1 variety, were rearsnaled within last 40 years before being put back into storage. These rearsenaled pistols were reworked and refinished by the U.S. Ordnance Department before being greased, wrapped and boxed for eventual reissue. These pistols are essentially in like-new condition, and bear rebuild marks from the rearsenal process, mostly dating from the late 1970s. Other examples still bear their original finish and wear from decades of use by the U.S. Military.
A rearsenaled M1911A1 pistol fresh inside the wrapper and box.
The pistols are divided into several grades based on condition and are priced accordingly. The rearsenaled examples, listed as condition code “A” in the army system, were ready to be reissued by the U.S. Army and have the highest grade in the CMP’s grading system, service grade. Other worn and unchanged examples are divided between the field and rack grades, and are priced accordingly. The CMP goes through all the different grades of M1911 and M1911A1 pistols to certify that the parts are within specifications before making them ready for purchase.
In the mix of pistols sent by the U.S. Army, there are a variety of features that can be found. As previously mentioned, the rearsenaled examples bear a fresh parkerized finish and reworked parts, along with new, brown plastic grips. Other examples will include older, original finishes as well as same earlier features like wood grips. These will exhibit wear from decades of use while in circulation, and sometimes even rack marking from when they were issued. 
The rebuild markings visible on the frame of a rearsenaled M1911A1 pistol.
Many different manufacturer marks can be found in the mix, including those from World War I-era production. A variety of parts from different manufacturers can be found on these pistols, with the slides and frames being from different, or at times the same, manufacturers depending on the specific pistols. Some of the M1911 examples can include earlier features, while others will have various later features from different rebuild programs while in circulation.
A arsenal rebuild and refinished service grade M1911A1 pistol out of the box and wrapper.
Despite offering these pistols for to the public, the CMP is not focused on firearm sales. Rather, the sale of these surplus pistols is aimed to support the CMP’s core mission of teaching and promoting marksmanship to the public. The sale of rifles and pistols serves to help the CMP fund its teaching programs and operational expenses.
Along with the authorization for the CMP to sell the pistols came further restrictions mandated by the U.S. Congress. As a part of these restrictions, the CMP must follow a slightly different series of guidelines for pistol sales than it does with rifle sales.
A M1911 pistol with World War I-era Remington UMC slide.
In order to purchase a M1911 or M1911A1 pistol from the CMP, potential buyers must fill out an order form packet and mail it to the CMP’s specific 1911 division, which is seperate from the CMP’s normal operations and sales. Buyers must follow the specific steps and requirements outlined in the order form packet to be eligible to purchase one of the pistols, which is available on the CMP website. These include providing proof of identity, membership in a CMP affiliated club or organization, proof of marksmanship training, passing a NICS background check and providing FFL information for transfer.
Another view inside a crate containing M1911 pistols in the CMP 1911 vault.
Buyers are only allowed to purchase only one 1911 pistol from the CMP, and applicants that meet the requirements will be entered into a random number generated lottery system for a slot to purchase a pistol. Anyone who has already purchased a 1911 from the CMP is not eligible to buy another. This is due to the limited quantity of pistols in the CMP’s inventory and the regulations that the CMP must follow in order to be allowed to sell the 1911 pistols to the public.
Currently, the CMP is accepting mailed-in order form packets for the second round of its 1911 sales program. Applicants must follow the specific instructions on the order packet, provide the required information and have the packet delivered by mail to the CMP 1911 division no later than the end of the business day, March 4, 2021, in order to be considered. For more information on the CMP and the second round of the 1911 sales program, please visit the CMP’s website at thecmp.org.
Democrats’ sweeping election victories could produce an equally dramatic response at America’s gun counters.
That is the prediction from the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, which expects gun and ammunition sales to climb as buyers prepare for another round of gun-control proposals.
Democrats secured control of both the House and Senate in Tuesday’s midterm elections, setting up two years of divided government in Washington. The party also made substantial gains in gubernatorial and state legislative races.
CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb believes those results could send Americans rushing to purchase firearms before the newly elected lawmakers take office.
“We may be about to witness a surge in gun buying not seen since 2020,” Gottlieb said. “We also anticipate a flood of new, anti-Second Amendment legislation designed to further restrict the rights of law-abiding citizens.”
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A Familiar Political Pattern
This would not be the first time the threat of new restrictions drove firearm demand.
Gun sales and background checks have historically climbed during periods of political uncertainty, civil unrest and renewed calls for bans. Buyers who were previously undecided often move quickly when they believe a firearm, magazine or ammunition may soon become restricted.
Gottlieb expects semiautomatic rifles and pistols to receive particular attention from lawmakers.
“The gun control crowd may attempt to pass legislation relating to modern semiautomatic rifles and pistols in anticipation of the Supreme Court ruling on whether these firearms are protected by the Second Amendment,” he said.
“That could easily ignite a semi-auto buying surge, so nobody should be surprised when that happens. When you tell Americans they can’t have something, they rush to buy whatever it is.”
Democratic control of Congress does not guarantee that sweeping federal gun legislation will become law. President Donald Trump would retain veto power, and the Senate’s procedural rules could still make passing controversial measures difficult.
The picture may be different at the state level. Democrats gained several governorships and made major advances in state legislatures, potentially opening new paths for firearm restrictions in states where the party will control both the legislative and executive branches.
Demand Was Already Rising
The election arrived as firearm-market activity was already showing signs of growth.
NSSF reported 1,402,422 adjusted firearm background checks during October 2026. That was a 7.9% increase over October 2025.
Adjusted NICS checks are not a direct count of firearms sold. One check can cover multiple firearms, and some legal transfers do not require a new NICS check. Still, the numbers provide a useful look at activity inside licensed gun stores.
If CCRKBA is right, October’s increase may be only the beginning.
Gottlieb also expects the election results to boost memberships and donations for national gun-rights organizations preparing for new legislative and courtroom battles.
“Watch the gun prohibition movement to once again be unintentionally responsible for surging gun and ammunition sales,” he said, “and for renewed and energized support for groups fighting to defend the American heritage and Bill of Rights.”
The first real indication will arrive with November’s adjusted NICS report. Until then, the predicted post-election surge remains exactly that: a prediction.