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Good News for a change! Hard Nosed Folks Both Good & Bad Manly Stuff Stand & Deliver This great Nation & Its People

John Wayne Speaks to Americans of 2020

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A Victory! I am so grateful!! Some Red Hot Gospel there! Stand & Deliver Well I thought it was neat!

One of the Xmas Songs that I have ever heard, I hope that you like it also!

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Cops Stand & Deliver

‘This Is How Americans Should Act’: Citizen Asserts Right to Self Defense After Shooting Burglar Dead by Adan Salazar

Would-be thieves find out too late they’ve broken into wrong house.

‘It kind of goes back to your rights. I have the right to carry, and I have the right to protect myself, and I have the right to protect my property.’

Would-be thieves find out too late they’ve broken into wrong house.

‘It kind of goes back to your rights. I have the right to carry, and I have the right to protect myself, and I have the right to protect my property.’

I have a right to protect myself': Spanaway homeowner shoots, kills  suspected burglar | king5.com

A fast-acting Washington resident and his family are alive after he thwarted a burglary at his residence by shooting one would-be thief dead.

Spanaway resident Jerahme Smith, who’s lived with his wife and children at his leased home for three years, grabbed his firearm after he heard someone kick down his door Thursday around 4:20 a.m.

“The homeowner told police he shot at the suspects as they kicked in his back door,” according to Fox 13. “The intruders then ran into the front yard where deputies later found one of the suspects dead. The other suspect ran off.”

Speaking to reporters, Smith said he took a few moments to assess the situation and calm his nerves before he “took action,” resulting in a 24-year-old suspected thief being shot dead during the attempted break-in.

“When everything first started, the first thing I had to do was take a few breaths and calm myself down because I knew it could have gone one of two ways.”

“I didn’t know who they were, I didn’t know what they had, but the first thing I did–and it’s the honest to God truth–is I took a few breaths to myself. That way I knew I was calm enough to make a proper judgment decision,” Smith told Fox 13.

Relieved he survived the home invasion, Smith asserted his right to defend his family and his property, saying, “It kind of goes back to your rights. I have the right to carry and I have the right to protect myself and I have the right to protect my property.”

Smith acknowledged it’s unfortunate the incident led to a loss of life, but said choosing between his life or the thief’s was an easy decision.

“We practice, but you never want to put it into action because it’s still a human life,” he said. “But my life is more important to me than theirs is, and me going home to my family and kids is more important than theirs is. I don’t know what they wanted out of this house. I don’t know what they were doing, but I don’t care.”

“Protect yourself. That doesn’t mean go looking for it, that means just be ready,” he added.

Discussing the robbery attempt with King 5 News, Smith insisted he wouldn’t re-locate his family, and encouraged other Americans to stand their ground if faced with similar circumstances.

“He says that he won’t be scared away by this one situation and he hopes that it becomes known that this is how Americans should act and that they should protect themselves,” reported King 5‘s Lionel Donovan.

The Daily Mail reports police took about 10 minutes to arrive at Smith’s home, located roughly 45 miles south of Seattle.

One neighbor told Fox 13 there’s been an uptick in crime in the neighborhood in recent weeks.

Police say the second robbery suspect is still at large and that the incident is still being assessed by Pierce County sheriff’s department investigators.


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A fast-acting Washington resident and his family are alive after he thwarted a burglary at his residence by shooting one would-be thief dead.

Spanaway resident Jerahme Smith, who’s lived with his wife and children at his leased home for three years, grabbed his firearm after he heard someone kick down his door Thursday around 4:20 a.m.

“The homeowner told police he shot at the suspects as they kicked in his back door,” according to Fox 13. “The intruders then ran into the front yard where deputies later found one of the suspects dead. The other suspect ran off.”

Speaking to reporters, Smith said he took a few moments to assess the situation and calm his nerves before he “took action,” resulting in a 24-year-old suspected thief being shot dead during the attempted break-in.

“When everything first started, the first thing I had to do was take a few breaths and calm myself down because I knew it could have gone one of two ways.”

“I didn’t know who they were, I didn’t know what they had, but the first thing I did–and it’s the honest to God truth–is I took a few breaths to myself. That way I knew I was calm enough to make a proper judgment decision,” Smith told Fox 13.

Relieved he survived the home invasion, Smith asserted his right to defend his family and his property, saying, “It kind of goes back to your rights. I have the right to carry and I have the right to protect myself and I have the right to protect my property.”

Smith acknowledged it’s unfortunate the incident led to a loss of life, but said choosing between his life or the thief’s was an easy decision.

“We practice, but you never want to put it into action because it’s still a human life,” he said. “But my life is more important to me than theirs is, and me going home to my family and kids is more important than theirs is. I don’t know what they wanted out of this house. I don’t know what they were doing, but I don’t care.”

“Protect yourself. That doesn’t mean go looking for it, that means just be ready,” he added.

Discussing the robbery attempt with King 5 News, Smith insisted he wouldn’t re-locate his family, and encouraged other Americans to stand their ground if faced with similar circumstances.

“He says that he won’t be scared away by this one situation and he hopes that it becomes known that this is how Americans should act and that they should protect themselves,” reported King 5‘s Lionel Donovan.

The Daily Mail reports police took about 10 minutes to arrive at Smith’s home, located roughly 45 miles south of Seattle.

One neighbor told Fox 13 there’s been an uptick in crime in the neighborhood in recent weeks.

Police say the second robbery suspect is still at large and that the incident is still being assessed by Pierce County sheriff’s department investigators.


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Stand & Deliver War

A Bear Charged Me – Epic Story of Self Defense in the Field by JAMES NASH

Bears get aggressive when defending a kill, especially in the fall.

Let me start from the beginning. The date is August 31, 2021. My client has been with me since the opening day of archery season and has hunted with a bow a long time. He was born in 1947 and has never killed a big bull elk— we are working on making that happen. Over the past couple of days, he has had some good opportunities but hasn’t let an arrow off its leash— waiting for the perfect shot.

On this morning, he is sitting a stand over a wallow by himself. The wind stays steady and elk come through the wallow in small groups until a mature six-point hits the water alone. The bow is drawn and the arrow released. My client texts me on his Garmin InReach and tells me he’s shot and it was a good hit. As soon as I get the message I start gearing up.

My tracking kit includes two GPS’s, a radio, flagging, binoculars, some hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle, and a gun. Back in 2017 in this same part of the woods, an elderly client was following his guide who was blood trailing an elk when the hunter felt something was behind him. He turned to see a bear also following the blood trail and was able to get an arrow knocked, drawn, and fired into the bear. While mountain lions, bears, and wayward humans are not a common threat, I still consider it a responsibility to carry a gun while in the woods. I might need to shoot something.

Typically I bring a Marlin 45-70 with 400-grain hard cast gas checks. The rifle has a ghost ring peep sight and a section of rail attached to the side of the barrel near the end of the magazine tube where I have a 400-lumen Streamlight attached. The light is positioned in a way that it illuminates my front sight post in its halo, so if I have to shoot in the dark I at least know which way the gun is pointing.

But, I am not immune to making comfort-based decisions. Guiding early-season includes brutal hours. I am up by 0330 to prep gear, make coffee, wake up clients and get into the field well before shooting light. Evening hunts are followed by dinner and clean-up, and I’m not done until 2300 at night, even later if we kill an elk in the evening and need to get him packed out and hanging. As it happened, we had killed a big 6 point bull the night before and I was running on little sleep.

As I’m lacing up my boots I look at the gun options on the bench near the door of the lodge. I refer to them as casual, business, and emergency. Casual is my Sig P365 9mm. It is the standard P365 slide on the XL frame with a 12 round magazine. Emergency is the 45-70. Business is a P220 hunter in 10mm. Mine is a bit of a frankengun. The frame is finished in Kryptek while the slide is finished in First Lite. I wanted a slide that was cut for the new Romeo 2 red dot and this was the only one available. The Romeo2 is the only reflex sight from Sig that is enclosed and can survive the beating issued from the recoil of the 10mm. The enclosure makes it possible for outdoorsmen to actually use this sight, otherwise, a single drop of rain or a pine needle can block the red dot, making it useless.

Based on the information I have at the moment, a good shot has been made by an experienced hunter and I should just be going to recover an elk that didn’t go very far. So I choose my 10mm and head out the door.

Twenty yards from the wallow I find a single drop of blood mixed with the tracks of 100 head of elk. No arrow. No more blood. My apprentice guide, Aaron, the hunter, and I begin gridding. We find lung blood 200 yards later and start working hard on hands and knees, picking up a drop or two of blood every fifty yards or so. Mostly we track the bull by the extra weight he puts on his front right hoof.

This is the kind of blood I like to find, from the bull killed on August 30th.

Three hours into the trail I hear a raven and leave Aaron to work the trail while I go to investigate, hoping to get lucky. As I get closer I hear more ravens calling and start to pick up the sound of their wing beats and then smell the unmistakable odor of death.

I know this isn’t the bull I’ve been after, this is old stinky death. I still want to know what it was, and as I work my way into the wind I see the bear.

It’s hard to describe how it was moving. To begin with, it was popping up and down in a gallop and as it did so it appeared to be making up its mind to charge flat out. I drew my pistol and as soon as I saw the red dot with brown hair behind it I pulled the trigger. The bear stopped, roared, and spun as I fired again. At the impact of the second shot, it fell flat dead. The 180 grain V Crown had punched a hole through its heart.

Sig V Crown 180grain 10mm vs bear heart

I immediately started looking around for cubs or other threats as the adrenaline flooded. My breathing got heavy and my hands shook. I dead-checked the bear then went into the brush where it had come from and discovered a dead mature 5×6 bull elk with some of his velvet still on. My guess is he had died about 10 days earlier.

I had a fall bear tag in my pocket so I punched it. I called Aaron on the radio to let him know what was going on and we backed off the bull we had been tracking to give him more time. A few hours later we came back and found the elk who had been hit in one lung and died roughly 1/4 mile from where he had been shot. A beautiful 6×6 that was as full of character as the hunter who had killed him.

My thoughts on carrying a gun while bow hunting or guiding haven’t changed much since this bear charge, but rather have reinforced them.

First, carry a damn gun.

Secondly, there is a phrase in motorcycle riding regarding gear— “dress for the wreck.” This applies to backcountry carry as well. The gun you pick has to be convenient enough that you will bring it with you, but it also has to be capable of doing the job. The P365 has unmatched convenience, but once you are in a gunfight with a bear, do you want to have that or the heavier full-framed 10mm? I’m team 10mil on that one. Hindsight being what it is, I would still choose the 10mil over my 45-70 carbine for speed, and in this case, speed mattered. This bear died 8 yards away from me. They cover that distance in less than a second.

Third, get trained and keep training. I draw my pistol a lot. I have the same ammo struggles as everyone else so I can’t stand on the range and bang steel all day. The standard I train to is to be able to see a target, draw and have a good grip on the gun with the dot on the target in about 1 second. I practice that a couple of times every time I put the gun on. I owe a lot to Daniel Horner, who taught me grip and stance in a way that kept that bear from getting any closer.

Lastly, in selecting your carry pistol for hunting I suggest some additional criteria. Get a gun with a grip angle that matches your body. Carry it in a way you can access it quickly. Chest holsters are a great option when you are carrying a pack. If it’s inside your pack it might as well be a rock. Don’t stress about magazine capacity, it’s going to be over with before you get to the bottom of a single stack, one way or another. Carry the gun with a round in the chamber. I didn’t have time to rack the slide.

Stay vigilant out there folks. These animals aren’t civilized.

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Allies Leadership of the highest kind Soldiering Stand & Deliver

2nd Lt. (Cornet) Winston Churchill , 4th Queens Hussars after graduation from Sandhurst

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A Victory! Hard Nosed Folks Both Good & Bad I am so grateful!! Manly Stuff One Hell of a Good Fight Our Great Kids Stand & Deliver This great Nation & Its People

Makes one proud to be an American!

Todd Beamer – A true American hero if ever there was one.

 

This is the word-for-word transcript of Todd’s phone call reporting the hijacking of Flight 93.

Todd: Hello… Operator…listen to me…I can’t speak very loud. – This is an emergency. I’m a passenger on a United flight to San Francisco..  We have a situation here….Our plane has been hijacked…..can you understand me?

Lisa: (exhaling a deep breath to herself) I understand… Can the hijackers see you talking on the phone?

Todd: No

Lisa: Can you tell me how many hijackers are on the plane?

Todd: There are three that we know of.

Lisa: Can you see any weapons? What kind of weapons do they have?

Todd: Yes…. they don’t have guns….they have knives – they took over the plane with knives.

Lisa: Do you mean…like steak knives?

Todd: No, these are razor knives…like box cutters.

Lisa: Can you tell what country these people are from?

Todd: No…..I don’t know. They sound like they’re from the mid-east.

Lisa: Have they said what they want?

Todd: Someone announced from the cockpit that there was a bomb on board.  He said he was the captain and to stay in our seats and stay quiet.

He said that they were meeting these men’s demands and returning to the airport… It was very broken English, and… I’m telling you…it sounded fake!

Lisa: Ok sir, please give me your name.

Todd: My name is Todd Beamer.

Lisa: Ok Todd….my name is Lisa…Do you know your flight number? If you can’t remember, it’s on your ticket.

Todd: It’s United Flight 93.

Lisa: Now Todd, can you try to tell me exactly what happened?

Todd: Two of the hijackers were sitting in first class near the cockpit.  A third one was sitting near the back of the coach section. The two up. front got into the cockpit somehow; there was shouting. The third hijacker said he had a bomb. It looks like a bomb. He’s got it tied to his waist with a red belt of some kind.

Lisa: So is the door to the cockpit open?

Todd: No, the hijackers shut it behind them.

Lisa: Has anyone been injured?

Todd: Yes, ..they…they killed one passenger sitting in first class. There’s been lots of shouting. We don’t know if the pilots are dead or alive. A flight attendant told me that the pilot and copilot had been forced from the cockpit and may have been wounded.

Lisa: Where is the 3rd hijacker now Todd?

Todd: He’s near the back of the plane. They forced most of the passengers into first class. There are fourteen of us here in the back. Five are flight attendants. He hasn’t noticed that I slipped into this pantry to get the phone. The guy with the bomb ordered us to sit on the floor in the rear of the plane……….oh Jesus.. Help!

Lisa: Todd….are you ok? Tell me what’s happening!

Todd: Hello…..We’re going down….I think we’re going to crash……Wait – wait a minute. No, we’re leveling off….we’re ok. I think we may be turning around…..That’s it – we changed directions.  Do you hear me….we’re flying east again.

Lisa: Ok Todd…. What’s going on with the other passengers?

Todd: Everyone is… really scared. A few passengers with cell phones have made calls to relatives. A guy, Jeremy, was talking to his wife just before the hijacking started. She told him that hijackers had crashed two planes into the World Trade Center……Lisa is that true??

Lisa: Todd…..I have to tell you the truth…..it’s very bad.  The World Trade Center is gone. Both of the towers have been destroyed.

Todd: Oh God —help us!

Lisa: A third plane was taken over by terrorists. It crashed into the Pentagon in Washington DC. Our country is under attack….and I’m afraid that your plane may be part of their plan.

Todd: Oh dear God. Dear God…….Lisa, will you do something for me?

Lisa: I’ll try….if I can….Yes.

Todd: I want you to call my wife and my kids for me and tell them what’s happened. Promise me you’ll call..

Lisa: I promise – I’ll call.

Todd: Our home number is 201 353-***3…….You have the same name as my wife…Lisa….We’ve been married for 10 years. She’s pregnant with our 3rd child. Tell her that I love her…….(choking up)..I’ll always love her..(clearing throat) We have two boys.. David, he’s 3 and Andrew, he’s 1…..Tell them……(choking) tell them that their daddy loves them and that he is so proud of them. (clearing throat again) Our baby is due January 12th…..I saw an ultra sound…..it was great….we still don’t know if it’s a girl or a boy………Lisa?

Lisa: (barely able to speak) I’ll tell them, I promise Todd.

Todd: I’m going back to the group—if I can get back I will…

Lisa: Todd, leave this line open…are you still there?……

Lisa: (dials the phone..) Hello, FBI, my name is Lisa Jefferson, I’m a telephone supervisor for GTE. I need to report a terrorist hijacking of a United Airlines Flight 93….Yes I’ll hold.

Goodwin: Hello, this is Agent Goodwin.. I understand you have a hijacking situation?

Lisa: Yes sir, I’ve been talking with a passenger, a Todd Beamer, on Flight 93 who managed to get to an air phone unnoticed.

Goodwin: Where did this flight originate, and what was its destination?

Lisa: The flight left Newark New Jersey at 8 A.M. departing for San Francisco. The hijackers took over the plane shortly after takeoff, and several minutes later the plane changed course – it is now flying east.

Goodwin: Ms. Jefferson…I need to talk to someone aboard that plane. Can you get me thru to the planes phone?

Lisa: I still have that line open sir, I can patch you through on a conference call…hold a mo…..

Todd: Hello Lisa, Lisa are you there?

Lisa: Yes, I’m here. Todd, I made a call to the FBI, Agent Goodwin is on the line and will be talking to you as well.

Todd: The others all know that this isn’t your normal hijacking. Jeremy called his wife again on his cell phone. She told him more about the World Trade Center and all.

Goodwin: Hello Todd. This is Agent Goodwin with the FBI. We have been monitoring your flight. Your plane is on a course for Washington, DC. These terrorists sent two planes into the World Trade Center and one plane into the Pentagon. Our best guess is that they plan to fly your plane into either the White House or the United States Capital Building.

Todd: I understand…hold on……I’ll…….I’ll be back..

Lisa: Mr. Goodwin, how much time do they have before they get to Washington?

Goodwin: Not long ma’am. They changed course over Cleveland; they’re approaching Pittsburgh now. Washington may be twenty minutes away.

Todd: (breathing a little heavier) The plane seems to be changing directions just a little. It’s getting pretty rough up here. The plane is flying real erratic….We’re not going to make it out of here. Listen to me….I want you to hear this….I have talked with the others….we have decided we would not be pawns in these hijackers suicidal plot.

Lisa: Todd, what are you going to do?

Todd: We’ve hatched a plan. Four of us are going to rush the hijacker with the bomb. After we take him out, we’ll break into the cockpit. A stewardess is getting some boiling water to throw on the hijackers at the controls. We’ll get them….and we’ll take them out. Lisa, …..will you do one last thing for me?

Lisa: Yes…What is it?

Todd: Would you pray with me?

They pray: Our father which art in Heaven

Hallowed be thy name,

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our trespasses

As we forgive our trespassers,

And lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory

Forever…..Amen

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…

He makes me to lie down in green pastures

He leads me beside the still waters

He restores my soul

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for His name’s sake

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

I will fear no evil, for thou art with me…..

Todd: (softer) God help me…Jesus help me….(clears throat and louder)

Are you guys ready?……..

Let’s Roll.

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A Victory! Good News for a change! I am so grateful!! Leadership of the highest kind Some Red Hot Gospel there! Stand & Deliver This great Nation & Its People

Sing it Brother!

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A Victory! All About Guns Stand & Deliver War

One of the US Navy’s Wildest Brawls – The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal 1942 – Animated

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All About Guns Allies California Stand & Deliver This great Nation & Its People

The Handguns of James W. Hoag By David Tong

Hoag Longslide Hi-power pistol
A Hoag modified Browning Hi-Power with 5″, 6″ and 7″ slide/barrel assemblies.

As an example of a fine human being in all respects, and my first employer over thirty years ago, this article is dedicated to Jim Hoag.
James Hoag is a pistolsmith. While he is now more of a general gunsmith, his abiding passion was to create highly and tastefully modified service pistols.
Before he was involved with firearms, Jim Hoag was an aircraft armorer in the U.S. Navy. He served aboard the carrier USS Bonhomme Richard with the Navy’s first squadron of Douglas A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft.
After his stint serving Uncle Sam, Jim became a tool and die maker, before deciding to become a gunsmith specializing in handguns. In the late 1950s, he became acquainted with a certain Mr. Jeff Cooper, a retired WWII lieutenant colonel of some notoriety and the foremost proponent of the Model 1911 pistol and its .45 ACP cartridge.
Jim participated in the genesis of the “Modern Technique,” the use of the two-handed Weaver Stance, named after Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Jack Weaver. Weaver could famously place center hits on a silhouette target at 100 yards with his six inch Smith & Wesson K-38 revolver.
Col. Cooper started a shooting club in Big Bear, California, called the Bear Valley Gunslingers. At first this was a group of guys interested in fast draw and point shooting, but Cooper developed other ideas. He believed, correctly as it turned out, that shooting a pistol most accurately required a two-hand hold for both steadiness and recoil control.
Not long after this, Cooper started writing a long-lasting column for Guns & Ammo magazine, called “Cooper on Handguns.” He was a historian, an opinionated raconteur and, the few times I met him, a consummate gentleman.
Outgrowing the developing Big Bear City, Cooper then moved his range operations to Wes Thompson’s Juniper Tree Range, outside of Saugus and near the current Highway 14. It was there the techniques he developed found many adherents and the Southwest Pistol League was born.
This group was dedicated to the use of the pistol in rapid fire, on multiple targets, including movement and reloads. If one mastered these things, Cooper reasoned, he or she could be reasonably assured of prevailing in a personal defense situation.
Jim Hoag and Col. Cooper, among other notables including Ray Chapman, Thell Reed and Ron Lerch, saw the international interest in such training and together formed the beginnings of the I.P.S.C., the International Practical Shooting Confederation. While this organization has rather lost its way, attracting gamers and becoming a “race gun” league, it remains to this day one of the largest groups of people dedicated to understanding the service pistol in rapid fire.
Jeff Cooper moved his training facility to Paulden, Arizona and named it “Gunsite Raven.” Cooper passed away in 2010 and, while some of his techniques are no longer popular, his tutelage moved defensive handgun training away from one-handed target stances on static bullseyes to the type of “practical” shooting done today by hundreds of thousands of shooters around the world.
While they have not seen each other for years, Mrs. Janelle Cooper remembers Jim Hoag fondly. Jim spent time at their home for dinner on many occasions.
Jim worked for a time at now defunct King’s Gun Works of Glendale, California, before striking out on his own in 1972. His shop at 8523 Canoga Ave., Suite C, Canoga Park, CA remains at this location to this day (2016).
He became, primarily, a student of the 1911 pistol, understanding its mechanical advantages and correcting its issues. At first building pistols for his own use in competition, he later decided there was enough demand for him to go into business building them for other competitors and his business flourished.
He was featured in the Guns & Ammo cover story several times, showing his “long slide” 1911 pistols (6″, 8″, and 11″ barrels). In addition, Jim’s standard and long slide Browning Hi-Power pistols (standard-length, 6″ and 7″ barrels) have been featured.
Jim will also build custom, bull-barreled Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Mag. revolvers into superb target revolvers. These receive a Douglas barrel, hooded front sight and action work.
During the short period of my tenure there, Jim was building 1911s for Mickey Fowler, Mike Dalton and Ron Lerch. These men were three of the founding members of the Southwest Pistol League.
Mickey Fowler was the IPSC international champion for several years in the 1980s. He was a very good shot. On one occasion he came into the shop to show us a target with a hand held, 50 yard, 5-shot group from his 6″ Hoag Master Grade pistol measuring just 3/4″.
Jim still builds his 1911 pistols for all budgets and levels of experience. The base model is the “Police Special,” and it is a good starting point. The barrel is fitted to the slide and a new barrel bushing is fitted. Link lugs are fitted to the slide stop pin, high-visibility fixed sights are fitted, the front sight is made of precision ground tool steel and silver-soldered into a Woodruff key cut. The barrel is lightly throated and the extractor tension and hook are adjusted for reliability. Finally, the trigger pull is reduced to a crisp 4.5 pounds.
The second model is the “Class B.” All of the features of the Police Model are included, along with extra niceties. These include a low mounted Smith & Wesson adjustable sight and hand checkering of the frame and mainspring housing at either twenty or thirty lines per inch. Twenty lines is better for a secure hold, but thirty is less abrasive if you have tender hands. The length of the trigger blade is optional and an over-travel stop is fitted.
The third model is the “Class A” pistol. This is a further refined Class B gun. Formerly, a Bo-Mar low mounted adjustable sight was fitted. An equivalent sight is now used, as the Bo-Mar company is no longer in business. The top of the slide is given fine serrations to help reduce reflections. A one-piece steel recoil spring guide rod of Jim’s manufacture is fitted, while additional internal polishing is done to all operating surfaces to ensure smoothness and reliability. A wide grip safety of Jim’s conservative design is installed to help prevent hammer bite with the spurred hammers preferred by many. An extended, single-sided thumb safety of Jim’s design is fitted.
The fourth model is the “Master Grade.” This is the top model and no expense or time is spared. The price is on application. The slide is fitted to the frame for a free-running, yet tight and slop-free fit. This actually makes the pistol more reliable, so long as it is not used in a military context, as the slide, cartridge pickup and barrel location relative to the frame are all in closer and consistent proximity.
A match grade Kart stainless steel barrel is provided. These barrels have additional metal on them that require careful fitting to ensure precise alignment of the barrel within the locking lug recesses and standing breech, the bushing and link lugs and the position of the primer relative to the firing pin. These pistols are tight as delivered and several hundred rounds should be fired to adequately determine their reliability. This said, most of them run just fine right from the shop.
Additional features of the Master Grade include 50 line per inch hand checkering of the rear of the slide, extractor, ejector and magazine latch thumb piece. The buyer has the option of a standard (rounded) trigger guard checkered at 30 lpi, or a similarly checkered squared trigger guard. While most folks do not use the square guard anymore, it is a viable option for those who do. An ambidextrous safety lever is fitted per customer selection.
Finally, additional work is performed to make the pistol look better and work smoother. A stock Colt pistol usually comes with its machined curve lines around the trigger guard and forward dust cover area looking pretty wobbly. Using Dykem solution, scribe lines and very well-practiced eyes and hands, Jim uses files and increasingly fine grades of sandpaper to make these lines dead horizontal and smooth.
Your choice of trigger blade length and width is also fitted. The trigger pull weight is approximately 3.5 pounds and absolutely clean. All functioning machine cuts, including the trigger stirrup and magazine chute, are hand polished to perfection.
Master Grade pistols can be (expensively) modified into “Longslide” versions, with 6″ or 8″ barrels and slides. Jim has made two 11″ Longslide 1911s and these featured barrel locking lugs personally hand cut by Mr. Hoag.
These pistols have a slide shortened to the standard barrel bushing retaining lug slot. Then, a section of 4140 steel is precision bored and reamed to match and welded onto the slide.
The Longslides are annealed to make them easier to machine. A “shaper” is used to cut the basic contour of the slide and then both horizontal and vertical mills are used to bring the steel surfaces down to a few thousands proud of the original slide.
Then, the REAL work begins! A process of draw filing, using fine “mill bastard” files, reduces the Longslide to the original slide dimensions, resulting in a perfect blend to the original part. I have done one of these 8″ slides myself and I can say, without doubt, that I spent well over thirty hours time getting those lines dead straight and flats level.
The Master Grade is also subject to meticulous hand polishing of the flats of both slide and frame. Increasingly fine aluminum oxide paper backed with a 12″ file is used, down to worn-out 600 grit wet with polishing oil. A buffing wheel is nowhere to be found in this process, which takes the better part of a full day to complete on just the two parts.
All parts are then hot blued in house, to maintain complete control of the finishing process. A thorough function and safety check are performed after reassembly and Master Grade guns are test fired to ensure function and accuracy.
The Browning Hi-Power is Jim’s other favorite semi-automatic pistol, as it shares the same single-action trigger pull, manual of arms, all steel construction and fine balance. These days he mostly builds Police Special practical carry pistols or full-house Master Grade Hi-Powers.
One difference between a top drawer Hoag Hi-Power and that of others is Jim manufactures his own screw-removable barrel bushing, to ensure tight tolerance and accuracy of the fitted barrel. He also builds a special order long-slide Hi-Power now and then, although this is rare these days.
My personal experience with Jim’s work includes a Class A 1911, Master Grade Colt Delta Elite 10mm Auto and an almost full-house Browning Hi-Power. I have also shot a 6″ long-slide and that thing tracked silhouette targets during rapid fire like it was radar guided.
Mr. Hoag is now in his eighties. He is probably the last of the “old masters,” the only one who remains a one man shop and the only one I know of who has a Jeff Cooper connection. Those ranks once included the late Armand Swenson and Frank Pachmayr, both from Southern California.
I plan to have Jim Hoag build me one more bespoke 1911 before he retires. If you love this pistol as much as I do, so should you.
ADDENDUM
March 28, 2017 – It is with great sadness that I must let the readers know that Jim has retired after 44 years at his Canoga Park shop. The business is closed, his machines have all been sold and none of his family members were interested in keeping it going. I last visited him in March 2016 and he seemed about as enthusiastic as ever, but after having a stroke three years ago, plus the increasing amount of regulation and scrutiny in the city of Los Angeles and the state of California, he decided it was time to hang it up.
I hope that those of you who were fortunate enough to have Jim build a pistol for you will not immediately relegate it to a safe, but get out and shoot it. That is what he built them for: competition, personal protection and general target shooting. They are all fine instruments that deserve to see the light of day.

 

 I was lucky enough to have met the Old Boy once. He seemed to be to me at least to be a good man. I am just sorry that I did not have the time & money to have him work on some of my guns. Grumpy

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