Episode 43: I get by with a little help from my friends

I realized that between the render time for the episode and the upload and processing time on YouTube/Full30 I actually have some time to write a few notes. So let’s see if I can develop a pattern here.

Episode 43 been uniquely difficult. The New Army revolver isn’t exactly rare or terribly expensive but finding one in good running condition can be a small chore. The research material, however, was pretty hard to come by. Robert Best’s book is just about the only thing written in any detail on the topic of these guns and there is a lot of nuance in the “Colt New Army” family of revolvers. So thank you dear patrons for giving us the budget to track down the tome. Hopefully by skimming its surface we’ve saved some of you a great sum.

Filming indoors has become, almost, a science. It may be time to upgrade the lighting and I’d like to blow out a wall to give us more camera room, but overall it’s locked in tight. Outdoors has always been a challenge for us but I’m happy to say this episode was done in terrible, harsh winter light. I think we’ve mastered the delicate balance of positioning ourselves and the reflector. But having said that I bet the next one is a mess of crying. It doesn’t help that we film pistols from the left and rifles from the right, guaranteeing we always have a bad direction.

Our regular range space has been a bit difficult to coordinate with and also required a measure of outdoor insurance, but no one seems to be offering up the required details so it’s a complete mess that remains sadly unsorted. I’m very thankful to have a backup option. It certainly came in handy this time. 

I had sworn we had filmed the New Army but instead we had just test fired a dozen rounds around another shoot. We all remembered the gun clearly, because it had been slightly out of time, causing some rounds to shave. After filming everything else and editing up most of the visuals, on Saturday evening, I went to reach for the live fire footage and found… nothing. 

I am obsessed with never missing an episode. For one, regularity is the key to YouTube success, period. Our two week rotation already hurts us, so being late seems suicidal. Reason two? You guys pay actual money on this project. The least I can do is fulfill my side of that loose contract. There are a number of serial fiction podcasts I enjoy but I’m always weirded out by their short seasons and long breaks. I shouldn’t poke at others’ work ethic but it feels like I’m always on a dead run to keep up with this show and I’ve never considered just taking a month, let alone two, off. So much momentum would be lost.

So, I panicked. Mae and Suzie talked me down and started chorusing various options until we lit on our best chances and made the calls. Mark and Triana came through for a place but something was nagging at me. We had a few shaves on that revolver and I remembered one snag. I couldn’t risk experimenting with one day until the show was live. So I took an hour to hit the range at C&S, who always let me steal some time for free in exchange for a few rounds out of something unusual. So I packed an Italian Chamelot for the owner, Taylor, and made tracks. Suzie thought I was insane, wasting time and ammo to spend fraternizing mid crisis. Since I was filming the next morning I needed to be up all night editing as well. Why stop for this?

Well I told Taylor about the gun and that he should stop by the range, and then went to test the Colt. Sure enough, it was locking up. Something had indeed gone wrong on those last few shots on the range months back. I pulled it apart and found a snapped hand spring. By now it was 8pm and I was fretting testing the limits of my friendship with Mark. Then Taylor showed up to try the Chamelot and after a few rounds asked what I was up to. Turns out he had a 1901 in his office, just happened into it. We ran it, cried a bit, and promised to get it back in two days.

So that’s it. My horrific oversight could have finally cost us a release day. But luckily I always make time for my friends and in the end they had just what I needed. I love this community.