Over the Weekend...

Amy and I watched the Illusionist, I went shooting with a bunch of people from Delaware Open Carry, and we had Easter dinner at my parents place.

The Illusionist is quite good. It is a dramatic romance involving a duchess, a stage magician, the chief police inspector of Vienna, and the crown prince of Austria-Hungary (based largely on Crown Prince Rudolf). I can't write too much because the plot is fairly twisty and the story isn't told in a simple linear fashion. But it's good. I also love the setting. You just don't see a lot of movies set in Europe between the Napoleonic Wars and the Great War. When you do find one, it is usually set in the British Empire. Seeing the Austro-Hungarian Empire was kind of a treat and makes me wonder about the history of that part of Europe.

Shooting with the folks at Delaware Open Carry at Ommelanden on Saturday morning was also a treat. I tried out one person's XD9 and another's Bersa Thunder 380. The XD was pleasant to shoot with a nice grip geometry, good sights, and trigger safety that doesn't stab your finger (unlike every Glock I've ever shot). The trigger is kind of squishy which took some adjustment because all of my guns are crisp single actions. The Thunder is reliable with a nice trigger but small sights. The recoil was also lot snappier than I expected. The slap into the web of my hand after every shot was unpleasant.

Over all, I really wouldn't mind owning an XD9 or XD45. Since at least three people in the group were carrying them, I'm guess the group shares that opinion. I thought about buying a Thunder, but now I'm definitely going to reexamine that. I'm looking forward to our next trip because hopefully I'll be able to glean some rifle marksmanship pointers from the military and ex-military folks in the group.