Happy Ending

 

There are many like it, but this one is mine.

Once upon a time, early in the COVIDification of Operation Enduring Clusterf**k, Sumdood paid in full with cash money for a brand new pistol. A marvel of Swiss attention to ergonomics, firing a proper pistol cartridge, of which even Jeff Cooper would approve. Had it shipped to his local FFL. 

And then, probably, died. We'll never know, because no one ever showed up to claim it. Crazy, right? No wild idea who purchased it. Zip. Nada. Zilch. No e-mails. No phone calls. Maybe they went for a harbor tour with first mate Willie Gilligan and Capt. Jonas Grumby.

The truth is a mystery for the ages.

Two years and more later, long-suffering FFL decides to put it in the counter as unclaimed property. (Storage fees alone made that a done deal months and months prior, but the guy has a heart, and it's been a rough couple of years for everyone.) 

At any rate, we couldn't leave it at the pound all by itself, so it followed us home. Adding us to the tally of over 100M background checks processed since 1/1/2020.

Just because. Wasn't on our list. Not Wish, not Want, not Would Be Nice. Just "Was there - grab it!" But random factors (co-efficient of feels good, points right, great price, here now, wad of cash available for said purchase, etc.) aligned to alter its destiny, and conjoin it with our own.

BONUS: Local establishments - plural - once again have case-lot quantities of ammunition in popular calibers available for immediate purchase.

Faster than you could say "C-notes", some of that precious metal landed in the trunk next to the new pistola.

Now we get to try it out, and sooner, rather than later.

Come to think of it, there are a fair number of bits of ordnance on the "waiting for field testing" list of Things To Shoot laying around FOB Califrutopia, and now that a range trip means buying more ammunition rather than expending any of our painstakingly gathered precious hoard, we may be making the range a regular visit for a while. Which is great, because we haven't shot anything out in the great outdoors but an azimuth for some good stretch of time.

Probably after an earnest SAR mission to find all the other prodigal toys.

We sense a list in the offing.

BTW, SIG: $60 for spare mags? Srsly? Without a cuddle and kiss? Ouch. So maybe three mags, rather than the usual ten-plus. For now.

I think I see a Sure-Fire WML and a quality red dot on the slide, in its near future, followed by  taking the long-serving  .357 wheelgun to the safe, for a long and quiet retirement from Bump In The Night status. Nothing at all wrong with it, but "rear sight and target blurry" is something I can now do without even trying, whenever I wake up and open my eyes. I haven't measured, but my working theory is that my arms have gotten shorter since my 20s. 

Regardless: Did someone say Range Day?

Just kidding. There are way more than that. We need more trucks.

We salute you, Mr. COVID random MIA.
We're doing this because you cannot.