Colt Country | Home of The Almighty Colt

I haven't been around much lately. My wife has been diagnosed with cancer. She's doing well, and the outlook is good right now.

However, life changes, and so do priorities. I am sorting out my gun collection, and most of it is going to help with expenses. I'll be keeping a few pieces I can't part with. The rest is going to be sold. I'll be posting here when I'm ready.

Anything special going on. We're doing a neighborhood cookout. Prepping ribs/chicken for the smoker. BBQ sauce is simmering on the stove. Have to make salad and peach cobbler tomorrow.

Been taking a break from the internet for a while. Still on break, truth be told, but wanted to post this one.

Picked it up at my LGS for a price that didn't make me feel guilty for buying it. It is, of course, one of the Belgian 1860 pistols. The stories are all over the place, and arguments about them seem to abound. However...






The finish on this one is almost pristine. There are a couple of dings in the grips, and a small circular drag mark on the loading lever, a barely visible drag mark on the cylinder, and the nipples have no wear at all. I examined it inside and out. I don't think it has ever been fired. It is tight and perfectly in time.

Made in Belgium mark on butt...




Markings on the frame. New Model Army, but has what appears to be some sort of naval scene on the cylinder. It has the Centaure mark which is, oddly enough, double struck.

]

It was 11F this morning...

I bought this rifle about 15 years ago. I had it for a short while, then sold it to a shooting buddy. He had it for some years, then couldn't shoot it due to medical problems. It, apparently, changed hands at least twice more. I got it back yesterday in a three-way deal to get my buddy's widow a mobility scooter.

It was originally sold to me as a military 03A3 action, refinished, with a commercial barrel, no rear sight, and mounting a Realist Camputer auto-ranging scope, with the proper mount and cam for 30-06. I can attest that it was plenty accurate the last time I owned it. For whatever reason, this stock setup kicks the dog mess outta my shoulder, one of the reasons I sold it to begin with. I had a Weatherby Vanguard in .300 Weatherby that didn't kick as bad as this rifle.

Anyway, here it is...

Picked this up at my favorite LGS today. it is .31 caliber, no markings, in rough shape. I have two different opinions on it from shops that have sold one. One thinks it is late -1830's, patterned after an Ethan Allen. The other thinks it is circa 1850, and likely Belgian. In either case they sold for considerably more than the $20 I paid for it.

Last week's grilled chicken. Brined in salt and sugar, rubbed with a prime rib rub mix.



Dinner prep the other night. broccoli and potatoes pressure cooked for one minute, salmon salted peppered and sprinkled with dill and seared with duck fat.

My recipe for baguettes. Uses 4 ingredients, bread flour, water, salt, and active yeast.



A poolish put together the night before. It consists of 300g of water, 200g of bread flour, and 1/2 tsp of active yeast. Mix it all together, cover and let sit for 12-24 hours.







The next day, weigh out 500g of bread flour.





To the bread flour, whisk in 1 tsp salt.







Weigh out 220g of water.







Move poolish to a large mixing bowl. Mix the water into the poolish.







Mix the flour/salt into the poolish. You'll get a shaggy mass. Now it's time to do a slap and fold. Wet the surface, and your hands (keep a bowl of water handy to keep everything wet.) Slap and fold the dough ten times.






This is what the dough should look like after the first slap and fold. Put the dough back into the mixing bowl, cover and set aside for 45 minutes. You'll be doing an additional 3 slap and folds (total of 4), each followed by a 45 minute rise.







This is the dough after the first rise.







After a total of 4 slap and folds followed by a 45 minute rise, the dough is taut, firm and sticky







Now the dough is cut into four equal pieces, formed into balls and set aside to relax for 15 minutes. Cover them with a piece of oiled plastic wrap.







Now is a good time to prep you baker's couche. You do have a baker's couche, right? Anyway, lay it out and flour it. If you have no couche, you can lay the shaped loaves out on a greased baguette pan. You do have a baguette pan, right? If not, you can use a greased cookie sheet. The shape of the loaves will not be the same without the couche and baguette pan, though.







All balls of dough formed into loaves and placed on couche to raise for 30 minutes. Cover with oiled plastic wrap.







Greased, perforated baguette pan for 4 loaves.







Loaves on baguette pan to raise for 30 minutes. Cover with oiled plastic wrap. While loaves raise, heat oven to 450 degrees. place a pan in the bottom of the oven. Boil some water on the stove.

When oven is at temp, and loaves are raised, place baguette pan in oven. Pour hot water into pan and close door. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until loaves are golden brown.







Turn loaves onto rack to cool. I did miss one step before putting loaves in oven. Normally, I'd cut 3 or 4 diagonal slashes into the top of the loaves. I got distracted by visitors, and missed the slashes.