The Satuit Nimrod

Nominations for the Executive Board were closed at our September 3rd meeting. As all the positions were unopposed, the Chairman of the Nominating Committee cast the one vote necessary to elect the slate at our Annual Meeting held on September 16th.

The officers for FY2025 are:

President: Mike Kinahan

Vice President: Ken Crowell

Secretary: Richard Martin

Treasurer: Mike Fechter

Executive Officer: Dave Glancy

Membership Secretary: Mark Baker

Directors: John Hatherley, Arty Johannesen, Phil Lennon, Ron Rice, Mike Sheehan

As usual, our Annual Meeting was well attended, mainly because that meeting is also known at Key Night as the annual changing of the locks occurs that night. The price of keys has been increased to $5.00 to cover the cost of having them cut. Keys are available to those who are current with their dues and can be obtained any time there is a club event or weekdays between 3:00 pm and 4:30 pm. 

Thanks to Our Beloved Governor🤮, the October Safety Course had a record number of citizens sign-up. So many that we planned to divide the group into two classes; one to be taught in the clubhouse, the other in the Pavilion. However, we had a handful of no shows and managed to squeeze all 27 of the students into the clubhouse.

Kid's Pumpkin Drop

As a run-up to Halloween, a  Pumpkin Drop for kids will be held on Saturday, October 19th at 1:00pm. This will be the third year we have held this event thanks to Dave Glancy and his crane. The WHUMP! as the pumpkins hit the ground and break open to expose their sweet cargo is impressive.

Pistol

The Pistol Committee held a .22  Rimfire Plate Match featuring our new 22RF Texas Star pistol on Saturday, September 21st that attracted 12 shooters including two Juniors. The day was dark, cool and wet; the Scots have a word that perfectly describes the conditions, dreich. Click the link to hear how you too can  pronounce  this word and amaze your friends😄. The match was won by Ed Hunnifeld, with multiple members tying for the second and third place positions.

The next Pistol Match will be the Big Boy version of the  .22RF Steel Match using center fire pistols and larger targets placed slightly further down range on Saturday, October 19th, starting at 10:00 am. 

Skeet and Trap

Skeet has revived shooting on Wednesday evenings — 5 pm to 7 pm —  in addition to Sundays. Trap will continue shooting on Saturday mornings only at this time as they have lost a couple of committee members and are looking to replace them before reviving Tuesday evenings.

The Skeet Committee will hold a pre-Thanksgiving soiree on November 20th before Skeet starting at 5:00 pm. Appetizers will be supplied; bring your own libation.

Cowboy Action Shooting

The next match will be a combined Cowboy Action and Wild Bunch Match and is scheduled for Sunday, October 20th, starting a 9:00 am. The number of rounds available to Wild Bunch shooters will be adjusted to match the number available to Cowboy shooters.

Turkey Shoot

Our annual Turkey Shoot is scheduled for Sunday, November 24th from noon until 4:00 pm. Hopefully, we will not have to adjust the format to comply with the onerous provisions of Chapter 130😠. We will hold a Cleanup Day to get our grounds and clubhouse spick and span on Saturday, November 16th from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm — rain date is Saturday,  November 23rd.

The Return Of The Blued Python

by Kevin McPherson, in the NRA American Rifleman. Posted on August 26, 2024. 

The original Colt Python revolver was introduced in 1955 and quickly achieved favor with police officers, competitors and handgun hunters. It remained popular throughout its 50-year production and earned the “iconic” adjective that is often applied to it. The last Pythons had trickled out of Hartford by 2006 after Colt leadership decided it was time for the curtain call.

Its reputation grew in absentia, as did its status as a collector’s item, and the market soon drove Python prices to levels far beyond the budget of the average revolver shooter. The original guns were a reminder of another time; the first Pythons were basically hand-built by the postwar craftsmen employed by Colt in the 1950s. With their applied talent, Pythons became some of the finest revolvers ever produced. While the fitting and polish of those guns approached perfection, the artisans were working with an action that dated to the late 1800s.

It was built predominantly for single-action fire with the low-pressure cartridges of that day, like the fledgling .38 Special. Using the same action in a revolver chambered for the .357 Magnum and meant for double-action operation exposed some weaknesses. The guns were certainly strong enough to handle the pressure, but firing thousands of magnum rounds tended to send Pythons out of time. The double-action trigger also stacked at the end of its travel and made it harder to produce a truly smooth-feeling pull. Back in the day, there were plenty of gunsmiths who could rejuvenate Pythons that had been ridden hard, but, as the years passed, the number of ’smiths working on Colt double-actions dwindled, like the artists who had built them.

Colt returned to the double-action-revolver business with the release of the new Cobra in 2017 and followed up with the King Cobra in 2019. The new guns were well-received, and, by 2020, Colt was ready to put Pythons back into the hands of the faithful. The production team at Colt had fully committed to the project; engineers had studied the shortcomings of the original action and succeeded in both strengthening and simplifying it. The new gun maintained the classic appearance of the Python but came with some major upgrades. The enhanced action was built with fewer components, making it easier and less expensive to produce. The leaf mainspring was maintained, but it was much larger, and its geometry was tweaked. The new gun featured a “cylinder stop” reminiscent of a Smith & Wesson part. The improved lockwork was much stronger and less likely to go out of time; it also gave a superior feeling double-action trigger pull. Action parts (including the hammer, trigger and cylinder release) were machined from bar stock steel.

The complete article can be read here.