I had been trying to get my son, Jesse, to take up handgun hunting with me. He just turned 21, and has been reluctant. He's not been reluctant to hunt, of course, but was not convinced to try it with a handgun. Those of you that have known me on here for a long time may remember I was down to one .44 magnum, an unmodified Blackhawk 3-screw that is a beauty. Well, that became the draw, and in the end, he wound up with it, based on his agreement to start hunting with me with it. He went out today and burned up another 100 rounds of ammo on the range, and is completely punching out a 4" hole through the center of the target at 40 yards. He's getting stoked.

In the mean time, I finally sold my cabin in Alaska, and my wonderful wife encouraged (I did not say allowed, but actually strongly encouraged) me to take some of the money and replace what I had sold to move the family down here to Kansas.

I went to a local, small gun show and scored a brand new FA 83 Field Grade .454 with a .45acp spare cylinder for a great price. It has the millet rear site, which I am unfamiliar with. But the .45acp cylinder is turning out to be a perfect low cost - low recoil way to not only practice but also to teach my 13 yr old son hand gunning.

The crazy thing is, before I found that FA at the gunshow, I had bid on one on gun broker.com. It was at the start of a long auction and I bid low, so when I found the one at the gunshow and bought it, I figured to let the other one bid out and let someone else win it. It didn't bid out.

So I also won a FA83 Premier .454, 7 1/2" magna ported bbl, mounted Leupold scope, with both the black micarta and the rosewood grips and jeweled trigger and hammer for $1600.00. I have such a cool wife. She thought is was a terrific turn of events, and celebrated with me!

So, Jesse has a 3-screw Blackhawk in .44 mag he's doing great with, I have a FA 83 Field Grade in .454 and .45acp for William to use and learn on that he is loving, and I have a scoped FA83 Premier Grade in .454 for the old man with the tired eyes. For less than the cost of one new FA83 Premier from the company.

I believe sometimes God just lets a little trickle of goodness come down on us wretched ol' sinners 'cause he loves us and sees that we are trying.

The three of us want to go hog hunting with handguns in Texas this coming November. Kansas requires a hunting safety course, but sure don't make it easy to get it, and we missed it this year. Looks like no deer this year, but the hogs will be there.

Anyhow, I just wanted to share my good fortune with you guys. I love my family, and I'm pretty stoked.

AWESOME MAN

That is good to hear Briarhopper. Self sacrifice and devotion have paid off for you and your famiy .Sounds like you have an understanding [wife best friend] and a loving family .You are truly blessed.

Thanks for the testimony and what some may call "luck" or "good fortune" those with the eye of faith see as God's grace gift. Enjoy some truly great family time...and kudos to your wife.

Congrats. It's amazing how God takes care of us.

Briarhopper, that's awesome. I hope y'all have a good time going after those hogs together.

Nice score!

Congratulations on the new shooting irons, and looking forward to the family results!

Congratulations!!!! We all are looking forward to success stories.