Well, I’ve been digging through the ammunition I’ve accumulated and I found an interesting find. That’s a few packs of Hornady .17 Mach 2 ammo. Looks like I was looking to purchase a gun with that caliber. It’s not a popular caliber from what I can see. Hornady and CCI are the only ammo makers that stock it. Here’s the particulars on the .17Mach 2:

And

And as comparison the .22 Win Mag:

The Win Mag in Federal is quite a bit slower, but has considerably better stopping power. So it works well with larger game. Whereas the .17 Mach 2 would probably work best with Prarie Dog sized game. And from what I can remember about the .17 Mach 2, the trajectory is a lot flatter, partly due to the higher velocity.

Savage is the only brand to make guns in that caliber. Here’s one sample website that carries Savage:

Not a bad price. Though, since leaving New Mexico, I haven’t gone Prairie Dog hunting. Don’t even know if there’s prairie dogs in Nevada. And would probably need a scope for these little buggers. I can feel a purchase going on. Maybe pay a visit to that rancher Iknow in New Mexico. Road trip!

Edit: Did some research, and deciding between the A17 and the Mark II FV. If the Mark II had 10 round capability, it would be a shoe-in.

Getting the itch to go out and shoot off some rounds. The problem is is that the public shooting range around here isn’t that great and it’s 22 miles away, a 45-60 minute drive. A pain if you’re going to be finished shooting in less than an hour. And a big negative is the obnoxious clientele the place attracts. Rude, uncouth rednecks and their hopped-up, small dick, raised pickups. And lots of .50 caliber Barrett’s. So lots of noise, even with ear protection. And the place, even though it’s relatively new, has lousy upkeep, and poorly maintained and marked lanes.

I might instead go take some handguns down to the gun ranges near the Strip, it’s a half hour jaunt and not too expensive. Here’s info on the two I frequented in the past:

I think both places will allow smaller caliber rifles, no Barretts. Although I’m pretty sure that Range 702 rents out machine guns, if you’re into that. Problem with these places is the targets are closer than what’s available at the range above, where you can do targets at 100 yards, maybe more.

I have a few muti-tools and a swiss army knive that I use almost daily. The swiss army I carry constantly and I also misplace them regularly, so, over 60 years or so or carrying them, I ‘ve owned about 10. I dunno which model it is, it’s the one with the tweezers and toothpick. I only gripe I have with the toothpick is that I wish it was made of a sturdier material, as I use it as a tiny pry bar.

The two multi-tools I’ll cover are the Leatherman Rev and the Perwin PMT01SR-15, both of which I bought on Amazon.

The Leatherman I’ve had for at least 10 years, I think. The Rev has 13 or 14 tools depending on who’s counting. The site https://activegearreview.com says 13 and those are: needle nose pliers, regular pliers, hard-wire cutters, wire cutters, a 2.6” stainless steel knife, package opener, 1.5-inch ruler, can opener, bottle opener, metal/wood file, Phillips screwdriver, flathead screwdriver, and small screwdriver. I concur with the tools available. The locking mechanisms for the tools aren’t the greatest, but if you’re careful about putting pressure on the tools, it’s serviceable. The pliers aren’t spring loaded, as I wish they were as sometimes various fingers get pinched because you have to manually open and close them, a minor annoyance. It also has a clip to attach to your belt, but I always pocket it. Overall, the tool is small and light enough to be the tool I carry almost as much as the swiss army knife.

Heftier and more full featured is the Perwin multi-tool. No clip, but it’s got a case. For the feature list, I’ll show the brief manual instead:

Oh well, that mostly unreadable, so here goes: needlenose pliers, regular pliers, heavy duty wire cutters, philips screwdriver, threading needle, saw, scissors, knife, file, 2 slotted screwdrivers (medium and small), ruler, wire stripper, can opener, separate bottle opener and rope (or string ) cutter. the scissors come handy a lot more frequently than you might expect, just like the ones in the swiss army knife. I use the rope cutter like the package opener on the Leatherman and just use the scissors to cut string or light rope.

The locking mechanisms are much studier on the Perwin and the pliers have a spring opening. The wire cutters are clamped on the tool and appear to be made of a different metal. They cut easier than the Leatherman’s does. The file is much more serviceable than the Leatherman’s and the saw has proved to be useful, if small. The ruler is actually useful, not the joke that the Leatherman has.

If you get the felling that the Perwin, that I just bought recently is a better deal, then congratulations. As of May 2026, the Perwin is priced at $24.95 and the Leatherman Rev is priced at $44.95. Go for the name brand or go for the cheaper, better tool, your choice.