Fast answers to fast questions

Some Q&A that's occurred on the blog over the last few months:

1 - Why .32 Magnum in a snub for a carry gun?

Several reasons. First, I wanted a little extra capacity. Second, I'd studied up on the round itself and was rather impressed with it's capabilities (as far as a .312 bullet goes). The load I carry should be capable of pushing a 100gr hollowpoint to 1000fps, even with the tiny littel barrel. Third, followup shots are faster, since the recoil is less. When I first started carrying it, I proved this to myself by unloading the revolver full of Federal's 85gr load into a 4" circle at 7 yards in about 15 seconds. Could have been faster, but the accuracy would have suffered... but a human target at 7 yards would have accepted a lot of suffering and still been suffering. Fourthly... it's a little odd, perfect for Doc Strangegun :)

2 - "Now for a question that ties this and an earlier post together. Any recommendations on a scope for a Marlin 1894 in .357?" Well, if I'd had my druthers I'd have a 2x20 or 2x30 fixed power with the same ballistics marked reticle on the .444. I'm not big into optics, yet... but from what I gather, a 2x or 3x fixed is just about perfect for hundred yard shooting, and that's what most .357 is going to be. Any more power, and the field of view is going to suffer, as well as light levels. That said, there's a compact 4x30 coming in the mail which will live on top os my NEF .357. That's slightly overkill; but what I wanted foremost was a nice big aperture for light collection, and the fact that the scope was well reviewed and only $25 helped it along.

3 - "Please do as much testing as you can with your new .357 handi-rifle and publish the results." Ok, not really a question, but the rifle is in the shop, and I've already shot it... and it has impressively negligible recoil and an alright trigger for a cheap out-of-the-box smokepole.

4 - "What's the provenance on that upper? It's got a lot of...character." (In reference to November, AR15 assembled with A1 upper) Well, I'm not sure how to check, but it's supposed to be a vintage original A1 upper. If someone could clue me in on how to check, I'd be grateful.

5 - "What's the PPSh kit for? Building a semi conversion somehow?" Yes. Unfortunately, "somehow" is operative, as apparently I'm ahead of the curve on this one and may be sitting on it for a while until an "easy" receiver and barrel kit roll along.

Christ, I went back to May, and that's it? You people need to ask more questions :)