Back in 1979, a couple of the guys who founded IPSC/Manitoba and I were doing a trip through the U.S. with our guns. We ended up down on the Mexican border in El Paso and had some excitement down in Mamacita's in Cuidad Juarez, as well as an exciting time "under the bridge" on the way back to El Paso. It was a good thing our guns were in the trunk of my dad's car that we had used to drive ourselves there. So we got out of El Paso intact without hurting anybody too much (except for maybe their pride and self-esteem) and went over to Demming, New Mexico where the then MMC sight company was in business. I had just had my nickled 1911 throated up at Ron Peterson's Guns in Albuquerque, NM by the gunsmith Smokey Ill.* I had wanted some nice sights installed but he told me that was a job he could not do "as we wait" and suggested we go down to Demming to the MMC Sight company and they'd install some of the new Bar-Cross sights jiffy quick. In spite of the stop-off to visit Juarez, that's where we were headed now.
At MMC, we met the staff and they took my 1911 and told me it would be done the next morning. We got to see a S&W Model 59 that gunwriter Skeeter Skelton, who lived close-by, was shooting 10,000 rounds of ammo through for a Shooting Times article he was writing. Skeeter lived in Demming, but handling that Model 59 was the closest I ever got to him. In the meantime, some "of the guys" from MMC were having a get-together that evening to celebrate something or other, and would we like to come? Of course, we accepted that invitation.
That party was a beerfest I will remember I guess until I die. Some of us -- maybe all of us -- "switched parts" in our respective 1911's to remember each other by, and a former helicopter door-gunner regaled us with tales of derring-do back in the 'Nam, which was only half-a-decade old for him at the time. Then our host regaled us with a couple of "Skeeter tales". The best one was: "So, Skeeter is down in the local bank. He's there to deposit a cheque, and the bank manager walks up to him. Skeeter often carries a Peacemaker with the loading gate open, Mexican-style just stuck in his pants but on this day he's got his 1911. So, the manager gets up close to him, and in his kindest customer-service voice says: 'Mister Skelton....your gun is cocked!'. At which point Skeeter squints at the bank manager, and in a low gruff voice says: 'I know, boy!' Now, to you Canadians, that's probably not an insult. But down here, well, it really is."
Fast forward to one week ago. My wife and I are driving down to Leavenworth, Washington to stay a night in that little Bavarian town with my wife's niece from Mexico who was visiting. I was hoping to walk into the gun store North 40 in Omak and at least get a glimpse of the S&W 1911 Model 108482 which I have decided I must have just as soon as we can buy handguns again in Canada. (And if not Canada, then I'll get one anyway somewhere else.) We stopped for breakfast around 9:30 AM in a little diner in Tonasket, Washington. We had just gotten seated when a second trio walked in. The lead fellow was dressed in jeans, with a Yaqui slide-type holster sporting exactly a S&W Model 108482. He walked up to our table, stopped and turned around to look at other tables giving us a great close-up of the 1911, and then walked off to a table closer to the front of the room.
My wife commented in Spanish: "Nice looking pistol. Is it like the one you want?" I replied with a nod of my head: "Yes, but it's exactly the one I want." My wife is familiar with the 1911, we had one in Mexico. She commented to her niece that the customer using open carry "...keeps it cocked, like my husband would." When she said that in a subdued voice, she made me proud. None of the "Mr. Skelton, your gun is cocked...." innocence. We saw several instances of open carry during our short trip, and I liked it. Much better than leaving your heater someplace it could be stolen while you stroll about town. I did get to see a nice gunshop, where the clerk -- knowing I was Canadian because he has been at my own gun-counter -- was kind enough to show me (and let me snap) several interesting pieces like: a 3-inch Stainless Python, the new Kimber snubbies in both a 2-inch and 3-inch model, as well as handle a new S&W 638. The shop did not have a Model 108482 in stock, so I haughtily overlooked whatever 1911's they had. I'm already sold on that one.
Getting to see handguns again, and physically handle some of interest, was a breath of friggin' FREEDOM!!!
Photo from the Smith & Wesson website of 108482. I'm sure some members of this forum own one. I covet one.
*Ron Peterson's Guns still exists in Albuquerque, and I swear that right beside it is the little diner that Walt and Jesse spent so much time in during Breaking Bad. Maybe I'm wrong, but the two different trips our little group made down there in 1979 to see Smokey, we spent a lot of time in the diner next door to the gunshop. And I think it's the same diner. I could be wrong.
At MMC, we met the staff and they took my 1911 and told me it would be done the next morning. We got to see a S&W Model 59 that gunwriter Skeeter Skelton, who lived close-by, was shooting 10,000 rounds of ammo through for a Shooting Times article he was writing. Skeeter lived in Demming, but handling that Model 59 was the closest I ever got to him. In the meantime, some "of the guys" from MMC were having a get-together that evening to celebrate something or other, and would we like to come? Of course, we accepted that invitation.
That party was a beerfest I will remember I guess until I die. Some of us -- maybe all of us -- "switched parts" in our respective 1911's to remember each other by, and a former helicopter door-gunner regaled us with tales of derring-do back in the 'Nam, which was only half-a-decade old for him at the time. Then our host regaled us with a couple of "Skeeter tales". The best one was: "So, Skeeter is down in the local bank. He's there to deposit a cheque, and the bank manager walks up to him. Skeeter often carries a Peacemaker with the loading gate open, Mexican-style just stuck in his pants but on this day he's got his 1911. So, the manager gets up close to him, and in his kindest customer-service voice says: 'Mister Skelton....your gun is cocked!'. At which point Skeeter squints at the bank manager, and in a low gruff voice says: 'I know, boy!' Now, to you Canadians, that's probably not an insult. But down here, well, it really is."
Fast forward to one week ago. My wife and I are driving down to Leavenworth, Washington to stay a night in that little Bavarian town with my wife's niece from Mexico who was visiting. I was hoping to walk into the gun store North 40 in Omak and at least get a glimpse of the S&W 1911 Model 108482 which I have decided I must have just as soon as we can buy handguns again in Canada. (And if not Canada, then I'll get one anyway somewhere else.) We stopped for breakfast around 9:30 AM in a little diner in Tonasket, Washington. We had just gotten seated when a second trio walked in. The lead fellow was dressed in jeans, with a Yaqui slide-type holster sporting exactly a S&W Model 108482. He walked up to our table, stopped and turned around to look at other tables giving us a great close-up of the 1911, and then walked off to a table closer to the front of the room.
My wife commented in Spanish: "Nice looking pistol. Is it like the one you want?" I replied with a nod of my head: "Yes, but it's exactly the one I want." My wife is familiar with the 1911, we had one in Mexico. She commented to her niece that the customer using open carry "...keeps it cocked, like my husband would." When she said that in a subdued voice, she made me proud. None of the "Mr. Skelton, your gun is cocked...." innocence. We saw several instances of open carry during our short trip, and I liked it. Much better than leaving your heater someplace it could be stolen while you stroll about town. I did get to see a nice gunshop, where the clerk -- knowing I was Canadian because he has been at my own gun-counter -- was kind enough to show me (and let me snap) several interesting pieces like: a 3-inch Stainless Python, the new Kimber snubbies in both a 2-inch and 3-inch model, as well as handle a new S&W 638. The shop did not have a Model 108482 in stock, so I haughtily overlooked whatever 1911's they had. I'm already sold on that one.
Getting to see handguns again, and physically handle some of interest, was a breath of friggin' FREEDOM!!!
Photo from the Smith & Wesson website of 108482. I'm sure some members of this forum own one. I covet one.
*Ron Peterson's Guns still exists in Albuquerque, and I swear that right beside it is the little diner that Walt and Jesse spent so much time in during Breaking Bad. Maybe I'm wrong, but the two different trips our little group made down there in 1979 to see Smokey, we spent a lot of time in the diner next door to the gunshop. And I think it's the same diner. I could be wrong.
