Oppose any expansion of the conditions of being a ‘prohibited person’ under the GCA by including individuals on the so-called Terrorist Watch List.
Don’t oppose it because you are a gunnie, and you instinctively fight any incremental encroachment on gun rights, viewing it as another step down a slippery slope to tyranny.
Oppose it because it goes against the very foundation of our political and legal system, enshrining the rule of man over the rule of law.
Look, the Gun Control Act of 1968 had a few parts to it. One of those parts was statutorily listing who can and who cannot be denied the right to possess or own a firearm. It is one of the actual bits of gun control that most gun rights enthusiasts agree with. It is ACTUALLY, in fact, reasonable. It’s the law that listed prohibited persons. No felons or serious criminals, no adjudicated crazy people, no people that have officially renounced their citizenship. A person is denied their rights for a reason and there is a long legal process involved to besure this denial is not taken lightly.
People like Bloomberg want to add to this list and prohibit anyone on Terrorist Watch List.
The problem with the Terrorist Watch List is many fold (and Uncle said it succinctly, much better than I can...). It is secret, there is no way to know who is or is not on it unless you are a member of an anointed federal agency. If someone is too dangerous to be allowed to fly and own a gun, why are they being allowed to walk around people unaware of their status, too? But, mainly, the BIGGEST problem, is that that List is outside the rule of law. No due process was conducted on listees. No judge, or jury. No way to defend yourself from being put on it, it is secret after all. No way to adjudicate getting yourself OFF the list once you are put on for whatever reason (mistake, maliciously added to the list by some busybody, converted to a religion that doesn’t jihad folks to death, etc.)
Your rights are denied to you when you are placed on this list and they want to expand number and type of rights denied to listees. Denied without due process. THAT is a violation of the Rule of Law. You wouldn’t stand for an American citizen denied their liberty, thrown in jail for an indeterminate amount of time at the say so of some bureaucrat. That has happened in the history of this country on some occasions, but it was always wrong to do so. All of the items that currently on the list have to go through an open, legal, process (even the renunciation of citizenship part.)
Why? Why, you ask, would these people like MAIG’s Mayor Bloomberg want to do this? Well, the nefarious reasons: They think they can expand the watch list, perhaps. Include an expansion of domestic terrist criteria to include Ron Paul supporters, people that have said a nice word about Appleseed (they sound like they like REVOLUTION!!! At least to the hoplophobes) or Voters of Their Opponents. If not, it’s another increment, and one they can get away with under the color of addressing public safety. One more notch of control against the People, and one more notch toward making gun ownership so rare it is an anachronism. Once an anachronism it is politically easier to take the last bit of folks guns away. See: Lesser Britain.
Less nefarious reason (aka incompetence)? They really believe that denying a right and liberty will make people safer. It’s a fallacy. I know. But that’s what incompetence and ignorance begets.
[My opinion of the Watch List is what are folks to dangerous to be allowed on airplanes without scrutiny allowed to walk around? If they are a threat, arrest them for making threats, if they are not a threat why are they on a secret list? If they have committed a crime arrest them and send them to trial. Same with people on the regular GCA prohibited list. If folks need a custodian 24/7 give them a trial and a custodian 24/7. If not, let them buy a gun to protect themselves if they want one.]
{And yeah, yeah, this was covered elsewhere earlier in the blogs. Wanted to get my 2 pennies in and had pretty much dashed this off when it was current, but it landed on this day in the posting scedule. Happens.}
Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Comedian
or Gun Safe...
Who saw the movie The Watchmen? Read the graphic novel?
You remember that closet the Comedian had and was shown near the beginning. He kept his secret stuff in there, and the cops didn’t find it after he was murdered. Rorshach had to find it, after.
The closet had a false back. And when the secret button was found the panel moved aside revealing all the Comedian’s secret identity stuff, like his super hero costume and his various weapons and tools of the trade.
Nifty.
Good burglar prevention, too.
You can have the best gun vault in the world, a determined thief CAN get inside. Or remove it entirely and take his time breaking into it back at his Burglar Lair.
But if he never finds the vault, he can’t burgle it.
Let’s just say I think this is a good idea. Just saying. No reason. Having a panel where you push a button and it slides aside, revealing stuff. Don't you think that would be nifty?
And that’s for boomsticks and bug out bags you WANT to be able to access regularly. There might be some stuff you want to only access in an emergency. For these, a void in the drywall that you wallpaper over is good place for a loaded shotgun. For slower access, but deeper concealment, a pistol in a heating duct is a thought. Then there are those that store stuff in sealed and nested PVC pipes, buried in the yard or elsewhere. (Use 2 PVC pipes, one inside the other, with the greased rifle and ammo and cleaning kit in the inside pipe, and bury it vertically.) But there is a saying, “if it’s time to start burying rifles, then that is really the time to start digging them up,” so I don’t necessarily recommend that.
You might not want to store every boomstick in a concealed room. Leave some in a separate area that a burglar is more likely to find. A burglar that SAW you bring a gun case in from your car is gonna expect to find at least one when he tosses your abode.
Who saw the movie The Watchmen? Read the graphic novel?
You remember that closet the Comedian had and was shown near the beginning. He kept his secret stuff in there, and the cops didn’t find it after he was murdered. Rorshach had to find it, after.
The closet had a false back. And when the secret button was found the panel moved aside revealing all the Comedian’s secret identity stuff, like his super hero costume and his various weapons and tools of the trade.
Nifty.
Good burglar prevention, too.
You can have the best gun vault in the world, a determined thief CAN get inside. Or remove it entirely and take his time breaking into it back at his Burglar Lair.
But if he never finds the vault, he can’t burgle it.
Let’s just say I think this is a good idea. Just saying. No reason. Having a panel where you push a button and it slides aside, revealing stuff. Don't you think that would be nifty?
And that’s for boomsticks and bug out bags you WANT to be able to access regularly. There might be some stuff you want to only access in an emergency. For these, a void in the drywall that you wallpaper over is good place for a loaded shotgun. For slower access, but deeper concealment, a pistol in a heating duct is a thought. Then there are those that store stuff in sealed and nested PVC pipes, buried in the yard or elsewhere. (Use 2 PVC pipes, one inside the other, with the greased rifle and ammo and cleaning kit in the inside pipe, and bury it vertically.) But there is a saying, “if it’s time to start burying rifles, then that is really the time to start digging them up,” so I don’t necessarily recommend that.
You might not want to store every boomstick in a concealed room. Leave some in a separate area that a burglar is more likely to find. A burglar that SAW you bring a gun case in from your car is gonna expect to find at least one when he tosses your abode.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Omar comin'
When you go deer hunting, whistle this:
It'll bring you luck. Maybe.
nsfw, for language.
A hunting we will go, a hunting we will go
Hi-ho, the derry-o, a hunting we will go
The cheese stands alone, the cheese stands alone
Hi-ho, the derry-o, the cheese stands alone
It'll bring you luck. Maybe.
nsfw, for language.
Sim Zed
Found this great zombie outbreak simulator. You can control the number of zombie, civilian, how accurate a shot the civvies are, and how many are armed. Then you watch to see what happens over time as the horde spreads into a section of NE DC about 7 miles from my house down the Red Line.
Even zombi have to be thankful for a feast. (there is still discussion on the proper pluralization of the word...)
Hope you had a good Thanksgiving.
Even zombi have to be thankful for a feast. (there is still discussion on the proper pluralization of the word...)
Hope you had a good Thanksgiving.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Buckshot
So I shot that deer at a pretty close distance. It was about maximum distance, from me, as it is possible to be in a house.
I hit it on the kinda high and forward part of the flank, pretty much on the upper part of the shoulder blade.
When we got the skin off of the deer we found 8 holes in the meat on the deer's left side, and two hole in the meet on the right side that went through.
We didn't find any pellets.
There were 9 pellets in the 2.75" Remington shot shell. 00 Buckshot is .33 inches in diameter. And it leaves the barrel going more than 1200 feet per second.
I don't know where the ninth pellet went, or if I just missed the ninth hole.
I could cover the pattern on the deer's shoulder with my hand. Range, less than 25 yards, remember. The tube of my shotgun has no choke, and it's 22" or 24" long.
Upon butchering, we found the ball joint of the deer's left shoulder to be cracked in half.
It was a pretty devastating hit, obviously. Note: It did NOT blow a fist sized hole in said critter like you see in some movies.
Now expand that for self defense. It's NOT bird shot. I am shooting the same model shotgun but with a 16.25" barrel [correction in comments: 18.25"]. The pattern will widen, but the range will lessen, in my house. There is no front sight, so I should point at the belly button since it will naturally guide a bit high. It's NOT BIRD SHOT. If I have the works properly lubed, I have 5 shells ready to go. No need for long or magnum loads. I might go as low as number 4 buckshot, which is .24 inches in diameter, but there are 27 pellets. If you want the effect of buckshot with a bajillion pellets, go with that. Number 4.
[I was thinking on this subject because to the deer I successfully shot with buckshot 2 weekends ago.]
I hit it on the kinda high and forward part of the flank, pretty much on the upper part of the shoulder blade.
When we got the skin off of the deer we found 8 holes in the meat on the deer's left side, and two hole in the meet on the right side that went through.
We didn't find any pellets.
There were 9 pellets in the 2.75" Remington shot shell. 00 Buckshot is .33 inches in diameter. And it leaves the barrel going more than 1200 feet per second.
I don't know where the ninth pellet went, or if I just missed the ninth hole.
I could cover the pattern on the deer's shoulder with my hand. Range, less than 25 yards, remember. The tube of my shotgun has no choke, and it's 22" or 24" long.
Upon butchering, we found the ball joint of the deer's left shoulder to be cracked in half.
It was a pretty devastating hit, obviously. Note: It did NOT blow a fist sized hole in said critter like you see in some movies.
Now expand that for self defense. It's NOT bird shot. I am shooting the same model shotgun but with a 16.25" barrel [correction in comments: 18.25"]. The pattern will widen, but the range will lessen, in my house. There is no front sight, so I should point at the belly button since it will naturally guide a bit high. It's NOT BIRD SHOT. If I have the works properly lubed, I have 5 shells ready to go. No need for long or magnum loads. I might go as low as number 4 buckshot, which is .24 inches in diameter, but there are 27 pellets. If you want the effect of buckshot with a bajillion pellets, go with that. Number 4.
[I was thinking on this subject because to the deer I successfully shot with buckshot 2 weekends ago.]
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Reasonable
To give the majority of anti-gun folks the benefit of the doubt... They only want reasonable gun control measures.
To give the majority of pro-gun folks the benefit of doubt... They agree with that policy.
The pro-gun people just know that there is enough reasonable gun control already on the books, and quite a bit of the unreasonable. All the gun rights enthusiasts want, really, is not to add unreasonable restrictions and to strip some[most] that is already there.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Idjits
HA!
Idiot Terrists have been listening to the Leftist Mainstream Media and maybe actually think that gunshows and gunnuts are a good source for to purchase machine guns and Stinger missiles. This, if true, makes it easier for the Gendarmes to sweep them up.
Idiot Terrists have been listening to the Leftist Mainstream Media and maybe actually think that gunshows and gunnuts are a good source for to purchase machine guns and Stinger missiles. This, if true, makes it easier for the Gendarmes to sweep them up.
Safety Follow Up
Of a theme with that previous post. (Read the linked article...)
I don't like mechanical safeties on handguns. The most important and only reliable 'safety' is the one between your ears. But they have their place, especially with single action pistols with hair triggers. But.
One thing I only rarely consider with regard to safeties... They aren't there to prevent a negligent discharge. They can prevent someone that disarms you from smoothly using your gun against you. If the bad guy is unfamiliar with that model. YOU presumably are very familiar with your pistol so it shouldn't be a handicap for you.
This slight delay by a bad guy can be lifesaving in the event he takes your weapon and tries to use it against you. A circumstance especially relevent to police and Open Carriers.
This line of thinking also give a point to the magazine disconnect safety. Say you manage to eject the magazine while wrestling for control of the gun... It can't be used against you! (I know. A rare event. But there isn't much nice to say about magazine disconnect safeties. THAT is one thing that can be said for it.)
It's not like I am going to be wrestling for control of a handgun anytime soon, admittedly. But you never know. I am scrood, however, as my pistols do not have mag-disconnect safeties.
[As an aside... Good advice.]
I don't like mechanical safeties on handguns. The most important and only reliable 'safety' is the one between your ears. But they have their place, especially with single action pistols with hair triggers. But.
One thing I only rarely consider with regard to safeties... They aren't there to prevent a negligent discharge. They can prevent someone that disarms you from smoothly using your gun against you. If the bad guy is unfamiliar with that model. YOU presumably are very familiar with your pistol so it shouldn't be a handicap for you.
This slight delay by a bad guy can be lifesaving in the event he takes your weapon and tries to use it against you. A circumstance especially relevent to police and Open Carriers.
This line of thinking also give a point to the magazine disconnect safety. Say you manage to eject the magazine while wrestling for control of the gun... It can't be used against you! (I know. A rare event. But there isn't much nice to say about magazine disconnect safeties. THAT is one thing that can be said for it.)
It's not like I am going to be wrestling for control of a handgun anytime soon, admittedly. But you never know. I am scrood, however, as my pistols do not have mag-disconnect safeties.
[As an aside... Good advice.]
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Firearms Training: Police
h/t Alphecca. I was reading an article he linked to by Steve Denny.
After discussing the occasional NDs police experienced with cocked revolvers, he went on to note police looked to semi-autos for a solution to perceived under-gunned police. Money quote:
If I could walk into any police academy class, with no instructors listening in, I would tell them that quote. Then:
Anyway, THAT’s what I’d tell police recruits.
And you know what? All that applies to us ‘civilians’ gun owners, too. Except we don’t get the free training the cops do.
And I need to get off my lazy inertia-filled butt and sign up for more advanced training AND do more dry fire, and other, drills. Always more.
After discussing the occasional NDs police experienced with cocked revolvers, he went on to note police looked to semi-autos for a solution to perceived under-gunned police. Money quote:
“While Condition One was a good way to carry the pistol [Colt 1911] in combat, it somehow just didn't look right in polite society and nervous police administrators realized that once the gun was drawn and the safeties deactivated, they were back to that very light trigger pull that caused so much trouble with the revolvers. In order to use a gun like this safely, training would be much more complicated and expensive.” [emphasis added]
If I could walk into any police academy class, with no instructors listening in, I would tell them that quote. Then:
The most significant part of a police career, in the event it happens, is to discharge your pistol in the line of duty. Critical decision making skills, honed by training, and the pressure from the glare of scrutiny after, all go toward making this rare event very important to get right. The way to improve the chances of success for the police officer (and all others concerned, really) is training. And the local government finds it NOT in their interest to train a young police officer much past a basic level of competence. The .gov doesn’t WANT complicated and expensive. They want cheap and easy, lowest-bidder style. They wouldn’t train you in firearms at all if they thought they could escape repercussions from lawsuit exposure or the hue of public (or Union) outcry. Think about it. The powers that be have to consider how to most efficiently dispense funds for training. They have to. The resources aren’t unlimited. And firearm discharges by police are so rare and really good training so involved that this area can be scrimped on, a little bit.
And remember; inertia on behalf of the police recruit, then police officer, is to do the mere minimum as well. Chances are, he or she will never have to pull a trigger for real in their careers, anyway. Even the thought process can be one of ‘Why train that intensely? It’s not our job to go around shooting folks like soldiers in a battle. We’re cops.’
Anyway, THAT’s what I’d tell police recruits.
And you know what? All that applies to us ‘civilians’ gun owners, too. Except we don’t get the free training the cops do.
And I need to get off my lazy inertia-filled butt and sign up for more advanced training AND do more dry fire, and other, drills. Always more.
Monday, November 23, 2009
What is good?
To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women!
Blog Meet
Kudos to Newbius!
Looks like he had the gumption to arrange a Blogmeet in Sterling VA on the 5th:
I hope to be there. I hope Denise and Yosemite see this.
Looks like he had the gumption to arrange a Blogmeet in Sterling VA on the 5th:
Sweetwater Tavern in Sterling (not Centreville) at 6:00 PM on 12/5/09. So far, it looks like 12-15 people....
I hope to be there. I hope Denise and Yosemite see this.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Guns N Gardens
Guns and Gardens zombie apocalypse survival tips. A nice little video-media instructional. There is an annoying little commercial, but they have to pay the bills. Bullets aren't cheap...
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Back from the FUN Show!
Ok, ammo is MUCH cheaper at the Fun Show compared to my local gun store. And I went a little overboard...
Got a coupla cans of pistol ammo. Yeah. Cans. As in hundreds of loose cartridges. I'm ok for range ammo for a while. Oh, and a battle pack of South African 7.62x51 followed me home, too. I've always had good luck with that. You know. For plinking. And a very nice lensatic compass. If it's real, and it seems to be, it's a NATO quality land nav compass that retails north of $150. It was $25
I looked at M1 Carbines, but saw none worth getting at less than $800. If I have to pay that I might as well buy a Mini-14 for my lightweight carbine and shoot ammo that is easier to find. I'd pay a lot LESS than that for a Mini-14, actually. A decent M1 Carbine is gonna have to be around $300 to tempt me, at this point.
Now I'm gonna go rethink my Master List...
But now I have plenty of ammo for range time throughout the next year, and enough for an intense training session.
Oh, and I'd re-organized the 'gun room.'
Got a coupla cans of pistol ammo. Yeah. Cans. As in hundreds of loose cartridges. I'm ok for range ammo for a while. Oh, and a battle pack of South African 7.62x51 followed me home, too. I've always had good luck with that. You know. For plinking. And a very nice lensatic compass. If it's real, and it seems to be, it's a NATO quality land nav compass that retails north of $150. It was $25
I looked at M1 Carbines, but saw none worth getting at less than $800. If I have to pay that I might as well buy a Mini-14 for my lightweight carbine and shoot ammo that is easier to find. I'd pay a lot LESS than that for a Mini-14, actually. A decent M1 Carbine is gonna have to be around $300 to tempt me, at this point.
Now I'm gonna go rethink my Master List...
But now I have plenty of ammo for range time throughout the next year, and enough for an intense training session.
Oh, and I'd re-organized the 'gun room.'
Friday, November 20, 2009
Registration leads to Confiscation
So, no. No one will register their guns, even if AG Holder gets some registration scheme through or around Congress.
I forsee Canada-like problems with a registry. With few honest people voluntarily complying. I forsee a lot of FFL dealers having fires in their offices destrying 4473 forms, and them getting out of the business thereafter. I forsee honest people going to illegal lengths on unregistered weapons, and THAT being the only illegal thing they do, ever. I forsee a lot of anger and confrontations.
And for that reason, I don't think Holder ideas will see the light of day. Ever. With this, and the transfer of KSM to civilian court, I'm beginning to think the current Attorney General is some kind of power-hungry nincompoop. The poor thing. Bless his heart.
If such a registration monstrosity were to come to pass, I don't know what I'd do. My heart if with the "not one step further down that road" and, of course, I push for roll backs of similar travesties in various localities (Maryland's registration stuff, for instance).
h/t Alphecca
I forsee Canada-like problems with a registry. With few honest people voluntarily complying. I forsee a lot of FFL dealers having fires in their offices destrying 4473 forms, and them getting out of the business thereafter. I forsee honest people going to illegal lengths on unregistered weapons, and THAT being the only illegal thing they do, ever. I forsee a lot of anger and confrontations.
And for that reason, I don't think Holder ideas will see the light of day. Ever. With this, and the transfer of KSM to civilian court, I'm beginning to think the current Attorney General is some kind of power-hungry nincompoop. The poor thing. Bless his heart.
If such a registration monstrosity were to come to pass, I don't know what I'd do. My heart if with the "not one step further down that road" and, of course, I push for roll backs of similar travesties in various localities (Maryland's registration stuff, for instance).
h/t Alphecca
Ammo Day
I got:
Well, the 2 boxes of ammo in the bottom center of the photo. The other stuff is just stuff that happened to arrive lately from Midway.
It's one box of cheap .40 and one of .45. $60. This time last year it would be slightly better quality ammo for $40. This is ridiculous.
The gossip, for what its worth, at my local gunstore is: You still can't get ammo. He's lucky to have this, and its priced accordingly. SIG P238s are now legal in MD, as is the SIG 556 pistol (amazingly! apparently MD is much better on approvals than MA is, JayG). He's sold 30 238s in a month. And he doesn't expect more for a while, as SIG is back ordered on those 8 months. You can't get a 686 from S&W right now, and the gun store guy blames Smith, that they are working too hard on recalls and not manufacturing anything right now.
Anyhoo...
What did you get for Buy Ammo Day ?
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Skinning knives
I’m a traditionalist. If things were good enough for hundreds of years, there was a reason they were good enough.
Something new might be better, but I insist on decades of testing before I’ll relent. Then it’s not so new anymore, anyway. But if it is still around and not faded away in faddish fashion, THEN I’ll adopt it.
With firearms, I like 75 years of field testing. It’s why I prefer the Garands and 1911s and revolvers. The AR pattern is coming along, but it still too new-fangled for me. Oh I may get something newer for myself on occasion, (like a SIG,) but my heart is with the old stuff.
When it comes to knives, I need a few more decades/centuries to be happy. The ideal knife, for me is just carbon steel. None of the fancy alloys, thank you. Vanadium, chromium, and molybdenum? Might as well carry a plastic gun.
And forging? Coal, please. Coal has been around long enough that I don’t insist on charcoal forges. None of those propane forges for me. There is just something wrong about them.
Damascus steel blades warm my cockles, aesthetically. Pairing metals for the binary Damascus knife I’ll go with 1095 carbon steel as the primary, and wrought iron for the secondary. If I am feeling modern and adventurous I’ll go with L-6 steel for the secondary. It’s a nickel-steel used in bandsaw blades. It’s been around a while. And it looks handsome in a Damascus blade. It is my preference. And I know this West Virginian blacksmith with a coal forge that makes GREAT knives…
That’s for knives. For chisels of plane blade or wood-carving, the standard O-1 is fine. Damascus chisels are a bit over done. To me. And the Japanese prefer them, which is another reason to eschew Damascus chisels. Nothing personal, Japan, but you killed my grandfather at Peleliu.
No one makes plain Jane carbon steel knives anymore. That’s what Grandma had in her knife drawer and they are black with oxidation if well cared for. Brown with rust if not. The O1 steels are easy to sharpen, but they dull easy too. They take a finer edge than the stainless varieties, but that quality of edge offered by stainless might be all you need. Stainless is tougher, it’ll hold what edge it has longer, but is much harder to sharpen when you need to do that. And you will need to do that.
If you are whittling with a Swiss Army Knife, switching to carbon steel knife is often an epiphany.
There is a new steel out that the knifemakers are hot on. S30V. It’s supposed to be the ideal new cutlery steel, and it requires some fancy production techniques to make the raw blanks. FANCY. (And knifemakers are cuh-razy! Crazy in a good way. Absolutely obsessed in their pursuit of the ideal knife.) It’s stainless with some very good wear/abrasion resistance. And tough. It’s the Glock of knife steel. Perhaps a revolutionary jump forward. But, like Glocks, I’ll need a century of field testing before I get enthused enough to buy one for myself. I don’t think S30V is making much headway in the wood working tool steel world, but I also don’t think it was ever intended to. I have problems enough with HSS and W2 steels in THAT world…
(I'd dread sharpening that S30V. With wear resistance that good it will be tough to get the edge back. O1 steel, plain carbon steel, dull faster, but are easier to resharpen than stainless. And you can get a better edge with carbon steel. But this S30V stuff has a trick up it's sleeve on grain size to get a fine sharper edge than is typical, so that is good.)
And that is just a sample of steel types used for cutting tools. Oh the plethora of metal varieties and variety of fabrication techniques. The mind will boggle.
What does this mean when the rubber hits the road and I am selecting a skinning knife? Well… I can’t afford the fancies right now. I don’t hunt extensively and successfully to justify a knife much north of $100. So when I am helping MBtGE clean a deer (or cutting my thumb bad enough to need stitches) I am probably using an unknown metal-content skinning knife with a Browning label on it. It is almost certainly a stainless variety, and not expensive. I forget the exact price but I'm sure I wouldn't have popped for more than $60 or so. It’s better than the $10 made in China knife MBtGE has with a big ding in the edge, and it won’t get that ding. The Chinese cheapy had it’s place though. It is used to spit the rib cage of a deer at the sternum, and you don’t care what happens to the knife if you mess up. And if it is sharp and all your other knives are dull, you will reach for it, certainly.
If rich I’d get a Damascus skinner and might spend $300+ on it. And my amateurish hunting pursuits would mean I’d have much more knife than I’d need. I would get $300 worth of value out of it. But I’d like it! I better like it, as I’d have to care for it the day after any use of it to keep the corrosion down and to touch up the edge. I could shave with it. The guy with the S30V skinner could rinse off his blade and maybe think about sharpening it in a season or two. He might not (or he might, I’m not super familiar with the metal) be able to shave with it, but this is his skinner. He has a razor for shaving with, after all.
I did sharpen MBtGE’s knives last year for him. They needed it. He comes from a farm background and many farmers are notorious for the poor way they treat their handtools, knives included. A typical farmer doesn’t oil up his chisel and put them away in a fitted spot in a handmade wooden tool chest in a climate controlled indoors like a cabinet maker will. That chisel gets left in the barn, where it rusts. If it needs sharpening a quick touch up on the belt sander with 100 grit paper does the edge up. And that’ll work. After a fashion. The same treatment for knives.
Let’s see, what else do we use on deer cleaning duty? Little disposable utility knives, like box cutters, with a razor blade type strip of metal. It get’s the job done, but no points for style.
So my knife snobbery is not perfect, by any means. But remember, like gun snobbery, the arguments on the knife forums can be as epic as the ones on gun forums. Fun, but trying after a while. And there are MUCH better knife people out there than me. I bet Tam knows as much about knives in comparison to me as she knows about guns.
Something new might be better, but I insist on decades of testing before I’ll relent. Then it’s not so new anymore, anyway. But if it is still around and not faded away in faddish fashion, THEN I’ll adopt it.
With firearms, I like 75 years of field testing. It’s why I prefer the Garands and 1911s and revolvers. The AR pattern is coming along, but it still too new-fangled for me. Oh I may get something newer for myself on occasion, (like a SIG,) but my heart is with the old stuff.
When it comes to knives, I need a few more decades/centuries to be happy. The ideal knife, for me is just carbon steel. None of the fancy alloys, thank you. Vanadium, chromium, and molybdenum? Might as well carry a plastic gun.
And forging? Coal, please. Coal has been around long enough that I don’t insist on charcoal forges. None of those propane forges for me. There is just something wrong about them.
Damascus steel blades warm my cockles, aesthetically. Pairing metals for the binary Damascus knife I’ll go with 1095 carbon steel as the primary, and wrought iron for the secondary. If I am feeling modern and adventurous I’ll go with L-6 steel for the secondary. It’s a nickel-steel used in bandsaw blades. It’s been around a while. And it looks handsome in a Damascus blade. It is my preference. And I know this West Virginian blacksmith with a coal forge that makes GREAT knives…
That’s for knives. For chisels of plane blade or wood-carving, the standard O-1 is fine. Damascus chisels are a bit over done. To me. And the Japanese prefer them, which is another reason to eschew Damascus chisels. Nothing personal, Japan, but you killed my grandfather at Peleliu.
No one makes plain Jane carbon steel knives anymore. That’s what Grandma had in her knife drawer and they are black with oxidation if well cared for. Brown with rust if not. The O1 steels are easy to sharpen, but they dull easy too. They take a finer edge than the stainless varieties, but that quality of edge offered by stainless might be all you need. Stainless is tougher, it’ll hold what edge it has longer, but is much harder to sharpen when you need to do that. And you will need to do that.
If you are whittling with a Swiss Army Knife, switching to carbon steel knife is often an epiphany.
There is a new steel out that the knifemakers are hot on. S30V. It’s supposed to be the ideal new cutlery steel, and it requires some fancy production techniques to make the raw blanks. FANCY. (And knifemakers are cuh-razy! Crazy in a good way. Absolutely obsessed in their pursuit of the ideal knife.) It’s stainless with some very good wear/abrasion resistance. And tough. It’s the Glock of knife steel. Perhaps a revolutionary jump forward. But, like Glocks, I’ll need a century of field testing before I get enthused enough to buy one for myself. I don’t think S30V is making much headway in the wood working tool steel world, but I also don’t think it was ever intended to. I have problems enough with HSS and W2 steels in THAT world…
(I'd dread sharpening that S30V. With wear resistance that good it will be tough to get the edge back. O1 steel, plain carbon steel, dull faster, but are easier to resharpen than stainless. And you can get a better edge with carbon steel. But this S30V stuff has a trick up it's sleeve on grain size to get a fine sharper edge than is typical, so that is good.)
And that is just a sample of steel types used for cutting tools. Oh the plethora of metal varieties and variety of fabrication techniques. The mind will boggle.
What does this mean when the rubber hits the road and I am selecting a skinning knife? Well… I can’t afford the fancies right now. I don’t hunt extensively and successfully to justify a knife much north of $100. So when I am helping MBtGE clean a deer (or cutting my thumb bad enough to need stitches) I am probably using an unknown metal-content skinning knife with a Browning label on it. It is almost certainly a stainless variety, and not expensive. I forget the exact price but I'm sure I wouldn't have popped for more than $60 or so. It’s better than the $10 made in China knife MBtGE has with a big ding in the edge, and it won’t get that ding. The Chinese cheapy had it’s place though. It is used to spit the rib cage of a deer at the sternum, and you don’t care what happens to the knife if you mess up. And if it is sharp and all your other knives are dull, you will reach for it, certainly.
If rich I’d get a Damascus skinner and might spend $300+ on it. And my amateurish hunting pursuits would mean I’d have much more knife than I’d need. I would get $300 worth of value out of it. But I’d like it! I better like it, as I’d have to care for it the day after any use of it to keep the corrosion down and to touch up the edge. I could shave with it. The guy with the S30V skinner could rinse off his blade and maybe think about sharpening it in a season or two. He might not (or he might, I’m not super familiar with the metal) be able to shave with it, but this is his skinner. He has a razor for shaving with, after all.
I did sharpen MBtGE’s knives last year for him. They needed it. He comes from a farm background and many farmers are notorious for the poor way they treat their handtools, knives included. A typical farmer doesn’t oil up his chisel and put them away in a fitted spot in a handmade wooden tool chest in a climate controlled indoors like a cabinet maker will. That chisel gets left in the barn, where it rusts. If it needs sharpening a quick touch up on the belt sander with 100 grit paper does the edge up. And that’ll work. After a fashion. The same treatment for knives.
Let’s see, what else do we use on deer cleaning duty? Little disposable utility knives, like box cutters, with a razor blade type strip of metal. It get’s the job done, but no points for style.
So my knife snobbery is not perfect, by any means. But remember, like gun snobbery, the arguments on the knife forums can be as epic as the ones on gun forums. Fun, but trying after a while. And there are MUCH better knife people out there than me. I bet Tam knows as much about knives in comparison to me as she knows about guns.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
G36
JayG was reviewing full size .45s, comparing the smallish Glock and a Scandium 1911. He mentioned the single stack Glock in passing, the G36.
I knew OF the G36 but hadn’t applied the head juice to it that I did after reading Jay’s post.
Glocks are notorious to being bricks in the hand, necessitated by the double stack magazine. They, and SIGs (the two double-stack varieties I have the most experience shooting), ARE fat in the grips. Almost too fat. Fatter than a baseball bat. Jeff Cooper lamented this, and it was one of his beefs with the 2 non-1911 varieties (the other was the trigger types being inadequate to his needs and his doctrine… but that’s another story.) A fat grip is hard to get your hand around to fire it to best effect. Especially if you have smallish hands. And Cooper, would argue, why do you need all those bullets if you can hit your target?
Anyway… the other problem with fat grips is the difficulty to conceal the bulk and carry the extra weight on your belt.
The G36 goes a way toward this by providing a compact single stack Glock for your carrying needs. It sports 6 rounds of .45 ACP goodness in the arguably more reliable and definitely slimmer single stack magazine.
I’m not a Glock person, but Glocks are CERTAINLY an adequate shooting platform, to say the least, if they are for you.
My Buddy the Gun Enthusiast is a mixed architecture sort of shooter. He loves Glocks, but lately he has been liking 1911s too. His full size Glock is carried in a Man-Purse or Turse or fanny-pack type arrangement. But he also likes the Commander size 1911 in an IWB holster at 2 o’clock. I wonder if he has considered the G36?
The scuttlebutt I have heard and read about double stack magazines is occasional feed reliability problems. That’s old scuttlebutt though. Has the double stack magazine of today addressed the problems of yesteryear and that’s why you don’t hear FTF (failure to feed) stories anymore? If so, that is a good development. This scuttlebutt, incidentally, is why I avoid cheaper magazines and whenever possible stick to more expensice factory or premium mags.
~~~
I knew OF the G36 but hadn’t applied the head juice to it that I did after reading Jay’s post.
Glocks are notorious to being bricks in the hand, necessitated by the double stack magazine. They, and SIGs (the two double-stack varieties I have the most experience shooting), ARE fat in the grips. Almost too fat. Fatter than a baseball bat. Jeff Cooper lamented this, and it was one of his beefs with the 2 non-1911 varieties (the other was the trigger types being inadequate to his needs and his doctrine… but that’s another story.) A fat grip is hard to get your hand around to fire it to best effect. Especially if you have smallish hands. And Cooper, would argue, why do you need all those bullets if you can hit your target?
Anyway… the other problem with fat grips is the difficulty to conceal the bulk and carry the extra weight on your belt.
The G36 goes a way toward this by providing a compact single stack Glock for your carrying needs. It sports 6 rounds of .45 ACP goodness in the arguably more reliable and definitely slimmer single stack magazine.
I’m not a Glock person, but Glocks are CERTAINLY an adequate shooting platform, to say the least, if they are for you.
My Buddy the Gun Enthusiast is a mixed architecture sort of shooter. He loves Glocks, but lately he has been liking 1911s too. His full size Glock is carried in a Man-Purse or Turse or fanny-pack type arrangement. But he also likes the Commander size 1911 in an IWB holster at 2 o’clock. I wonder if he has considered the G36?
The scuttlebutt I have heard and read about double stack magazines is occasional feed reliability problems. That’s old scuttlebutt though. Has the double stack magazine of today addressed the problems of yesteryear and that’s why you don’t hear FTF (failure to feed) stories anymore? If so, that is a good development. This scuttlebutt, incidentally, is why I avoid cheaper magazines and whenever possible stick to more expensice factory or premium mags.
~~~
The OTHER G36 is a way cool gun to have when playing Call Of Duty Modern Warfare. It totally pwns the n00bs.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
The Snub Search
So, my search for a Smith & Wesson 640 Centennial, pre-lock, begins. I am trolling the auction site GunBroker.
Just looking. Purchase is still a ways away. January probably. But I want to know what they are running, price wise.
Sigh.
Now, lots of 640s are available. They have the lighter frames, generally, and only are rated for .38. I’d prefer the full underlug type that can shoot .357. Not that I’ll shoot much .357 through it, it’s just my preference.
The hassle of getting a won auction sent to a local FFL, paying the fees and shipping, makes the effort daunting. But I just may do it anyway. Depends on how much I value a no-lock version. Do I value it $100 above normal retail? Maybe. Maybe I do.
The other option is to get a deal on the lighter .38 only 640 revolvers. Decisions, decisions.
In an ideal world I’d get a NIB 640, with no lock, from the factory direct to my gunstore. When it comes time to buy I’ll ask them to see if they can find one, but experience tells me that may be a nigh impossible hope.
And in this case I may travel further afield and check the display cases of OTHER gunstores. I like to give my business to my local, but, in this case I may make an exception. For that I’ll let my fingers do the walking and phone a few stores like Bart’s and Gun Connection. Maybe even Atlantic.
Just looking. Purchase is still a ways away. January probably. But I want to know what they are running, price wise.
Sigh.
Now, lots of 640s are available. They have the lighter frames, generally, and only are rated for .38. I’d prefer the full underlug type that can shoot .357. Not that I’ll shoot much .357 through it, it’s just my preference.
The hassle of getting a won auction sent to a local FFL, paying the fees and shipping, makes the effort daunting. But I just may do it anyway. Depends on how much I value a no-lock version. Do I value it $100 above normal retail? Maybe. Maybe I do.
The other option is to get a deal on the lighter .38 only 640 revolvers. Decisions, decisions.
In an ideal world I’d get a NIB 640, with no lock, from the factory direct to my gunstore. When it comes time to buy I’ll ask them to see if they can find one, but experience tells me that may be a nigh impossible hope.
And in this case I may travel further afield and check the display cases of OTHER gunstores. I like to give my business to my local, but, in this case I may make an exception. For that I’ll let my fingers do the walking and phone a few stores like Bart’s and Gun Connection. Maybe even Atlantic.
Monday, November 16, 2009
My 1st Deer, EVAH
We got up at 4:45 AM. Too early. And considering when we set up the deer stands it was 11AM and deer were just wandering around us like we weren't there. I thought that was a civilized time to hunt. AFTER breakfast... Especially if the local deer oblige by wandering around then.
But no. O'Dark Thirty. My Buddy the Gun Enthusiast has to be somewhere at 10.
All my hunting has been done at MBtGE's Sister's farm. 24 acres with an adjoining national park. You can't hunt the park so there is a huge population of deer that can spill over.
They are farmers and have pretty much switched to Nursery work, so any deer we kill is fewer deer to eat their baby trees. But this year was different. This year, MBtGE's brother in law wanted to maybe let the local buck get a season bigger. So the hammer came down. Don't shoot anything with antlers.
Dangit! But, oh well. I figured I didn't want to peeve the landowner and sour him on me hunting there. And if a buck showed up it would be nice to have him in my sights AND let him go.
So I settle in in the dark. Camp chair. It's still spitting rain from Hurricane Ida, but not enough to need a poncho. The temperature is 48ish and was forecasted to go up as the sky cleared that day. I wasn't going to freeze this day, at least, though my feet for soaked from the sloppy ground. I wore noise canceling earphones for several reasons. One; they kept my ears warm. Two; if I made a shot they would protect my hearing. Three; they magnify quiet noises, so I could hear the woods in all its glory. (Squirrels sound like bull elephants approaching.) The wind is coming from behind me and 2 the right, so no deer will approach me, probably, from my front-left. Fine. I am left handed and I want front-right shots.
And I wait. And it gets light. And I hear opening day booms all around. Must have been 5 guys that got their deer that day at all points on the compass.
Around 7 I see something at the skyline on the ridge through the trees at my 2 o'clock. 200 yards away. And it's getting closer. It's easy to pick our a deer against the sky. I was thinking doe from the shape, but I wasn't sure. No way I'd shoot with buckshot until I could make sure about antlers anyway. ESPECIALLY with it silhouetted against the sky. I don't want shot heading out over the ridge to who knows where. I'd wait until there was ground behind it. The deer stopped at my 3 o'clock behind a clump of brush and a big tree. And it stayed there. Browsing. 75 yards? If it had been completely clear I might have taken a shot, but not with the no-antler restriction and not in the underbrush. After 15 minutes it ran off. Its tail wasn't up it just decided it had to go somewhere at half speed, behind me, and out of sight.
I waited some more.
Another 15 minutes and it is back. Or a deer about the same size, in the same browsing place. The head glimpses I get show no horns, I think. Then the deer starts making it's way toward me. Directly toward me, straight on. The shotgun is shouldered and the safety is off. At 40 yards or so the deer stops and looks me in the eye. Simultaneously 2 mammals have a similar thought. The deer thinks, "Is that a human?" And I think, "Is that an antler?" And both our suspicions are correct. The deer runs off, but not in a panic. And I settle in again. To wait.
This session was my 5th time hunting and that was the first deer I could see, walking around. I could have shot and killed it, but straight on is not my preference. Besides, I would have gotten in trouble for violating the land owner's rules. Fine. It had been a great day out, even with nothing to show for it. It was turning into a very pretty morning. And 3 squirrels were having a hell of a nice time near me and they kept me occupied.
Then, after a few, a surprise. Here comes a deer. It's at my 1 o'clock and very close. When I see it it's 40 yards away and crossing in front of me, and closing range, slowly. It doesn't see me. DAMN it seems small. Much smaller than the not THAT big 1 antler buck I just had a moment with. I'm thinking of letting it pass it is so small and cute. It seems chihuahua size to me. Po' widdle ting. But no. The land owner makes it clear that other than horned bucks, ALL other deer are toast, and we are directed to shoot on sight. It's it's brown, it's down. Kill the varmints! And this one certainly had no horn I can see. It's a doe or a yearling buck.
And I shoot it. I don't even feel bad about once I made the decision to go. Tufts of fur fly, and it drops where it stands. A coupla kicks and it is still. It's a little after 8 AM, and the deer was closer than 25 yards.
That's my first deer.
And it was a yearling buck. Myabe 40 pounds soaking wet. I wasn't gonna get cross-threaded with my host for this because it was so young.
I get on the radio to summon MBtGE to get the golf cart to haul this little thing out of here. But, first... Field dressing.
I make 2 mistakes. I nick the stomach a tiny bit on the incision. No problem, it wasn't too bad and I quickly got the offending portion out and away. Then I REALLY messed up. I am cutting away the diaphragm and make a nasty slice on my right thumb. It's bad enough that that hand is done for the day. I didn't think it would stop bleeding, and I was right. Luckily, MBtGE was there to help me. He got the little bit there was left to do on the gut pile and we got out of there in time to get home, and the thing quartered and in a cooler, for MBtGE to make his 10AM appointment. He went there. I went to the Urgent Care facility. No waiting when you leak! 3 stitches and an antibiotic script later, and I back home in time a nap, then I get to watch MBtGE finish the butchering into 3 types... Back straps, roasts, and stew/chili meat. My freezer is full.
If you want to see some of the field dress photos, go here. They are a bit gory, so fair warning.
A good day, all and all. Even with the cut. Damn, my skinning knife is SHARP. Stupid, that.
And I got my first deer. Even if it is tiny.
I shot it with a Remington Model 11, 12 gauge, and 00 buckshot. I have the shell casing, mainly because the shotgun didn't cycle, which is a whole new and different problem...
[update: When I went to the Urgent Care Place, the nurse said, "You didn't shoot yourself in the leg with a .357 did you? Because my father shot himself in the leg with his .357 hunting last week." How do you compete with THAT? Jeez!]
But no. O'Dark Thirty. My Buddy the Gun Enthusiast has to be somewhere at 10.
All my hunting has been done at MBtGE's Sister's farm. 24 acres with an adjoining national park. You can't hunt the park so there is a huge population of deer that can spill over.
They are farmers and have pretty much switched to Nursery work, so any deer we kill is fewer deer to eat their baby trees. But this year was different. This year, MBtGE's brother in law wanted to maybe let the local buck get a season bigger. So the hammer came down. Don't shoot anything with antlers.
Dangit! But, oh well. I figured I didn't want to peeve the landowner and sour him on me hunting there. And if a buck showed up it would be nice to have him in my sights AND let him go.
So I settle in in the dark. Camp chair. It's still spitting rain from Hurricane Ida, but not enough to need a poncho. The temperature is 48ish and was forecasted to go up as the sky cleared that day. I wasn't going to freeze this day, at least, though my feet for soaked from the sloppy ground. I wore noise canceling earphones for several reasons. One; they kept my ears warm. Two; if I made a shot they would protect my hearing. Three; they magnify quiet noises, so I could hear the woods in all its glory. (Squirrels sound like bull elephants approaching.) The wind is coming from behind me and 2 the right, so no deer will approach me, probably, from my front-left. Fine. I am left handed and I want front-right shots.
And I wait. And it gets light. And I hear opening day booms all around. Must have been 5 guys that got their deer that day at all points on the compass.
Around 7 I see something at the skyline on the ridge through the trees at my 2 o'clock. 200 yards away. And it's getting closer. It's easy to pick our a deer against the sky. I was thinking doe from the shape, but I wasn't sure. No way I'd shoot with buckshot until I could make sure about antlers anyway. ESPECIALLY with it silhouetted against the sky. I don't want shot heading out over the ridge to who knows where. I'd wait until there was ground behind it. The deer stopped at my 3 o'clock behind a clump of brush and a big tree. And it stayed there. Browsing. 75 yards? If it had been completely clear I might have taken a shot, but not with the no-antler restriction and not in the underbrush. After 15 minutes it ran off. Its tail wasn't up it just decided it had to go somewhere at half speed, behind me, and out of sight.
I waited some more.
Another 15 minutes and it is back. Or a deer about the same size, in the same browsing place. The head glimpses I get show no horns, I think. Then the deer starts making it's way toward me. Directly toward me, straight on. The shotgun is shouldered and the safety is off. At 40 yards or so the deer stops and looks me in the eye. Simultaneously 2 mammals have a similar thought. The deer thinks, "Is that a human?" And I think, "Is that an antler?" And both our suspicions are correct. The deer runs off, but not in a panic. And I settle in again. To wait.
This session was my 5th time hunting and that was the first deer I could see, walking around. I could have shot and killed it, but straight on is not my preference. Besides, I would have gotten in trouble for violating the land owner's rules. Fine. It had been a great day out, even with nothing to show for it. It was turning into a very pretty morning. And 3 squirrels were having a hell of a nice time near me and they kept me occupied.
Then, after a few, a surprise. Here comes a deer. It's at my 1 o'clock and very close. When I see it it's 40 yards away and crossing in front of me, and closing range, slowly. It doesn't see me. DAMN it seems small. Much smaller than the not THAT big 1 antler buck I just had a moment with. I'm thinking of letting it pass it is so small and cute. It seems chihuahua size to me. Po' widdle ting. But no. The land owner makes it clear that other than horned bucks, ALL other deer are toast, and we are directed to shoot on sight. It's it's brown, it's down. Kill the varmints! And this one certainly had no horn I can see. It's a doe or a yearling buck.
And I shoot it. I don't even feel bad about once I made the decision to go. Tufts of fur fly, and it drops where it stands. A coupla kicks and it is still. It's a little after 8 AM, and the deer was closer than 25 yards.
That's my first deer.
And it was a yearling buck. Myabe 40 pounds soaking wet. I wasn't gonna get cross-threaded with my host for this because it was so young.
I get on the radio to summon MBtGE to get the golf cart to haul this little thing out of here. But, first... Field dressing.
I make 2 mistakes. I nick the stomach a tiny bit on the incision. No problem, it wasn't too bad and I quickly got the offending portion out and away. Then I REALLY messed up. I am cutting away the diaphragm and make a nasty slice on my right thumb. It's bad enough that that hand is done for the day. I didn't think it would stop bleeding, and I was right. Luckily, MBtGE was there to help me. He got the little bit there was left to do on the gut pile and we got out of there in time to get home, and the thing quartered and in a cooler, for MBtGE to make his 10AM appointment. He went there. I went to the Urgent Care facility. No waiting when you leak! 3 stitches and an antibiotic script later, and I back home in time a nap, then I get to watch MBtGE finish the butchering into 3 types... Back straps, roasts, and stew/chili meat. My freezer is full.
If you want to see some of the field dress photos, go here. They are a bit gory, so fair warning.
A good day, all and all. Even with the cut. Damn, my skinning knife is SHARP. Stupid, that.
And I got my first deer. Even if it is tiny.
I shot it with a Remington Model 11, 12 gauge, and 00 buckshot. I have the shell casing, mainly because the shotgun didn't cycle, which is a whole new and different problem...
[update: When I went to the Urgent Care Place, the nurse said, "You didn't shoot yourself in the leg with a .357 did you? Because my father shot himself in the leg with his .357 hunting last week." How do you compete with THAT? Jeez!]
Sunday, November 15, 2009
1000
One Thousandth Post! That last one was #1000. This is #1001
See what happens when you do at least a post a day?
Dammit, I shoulda wrote a book.
See what happens when you do at least a post a day?
Dammit, I shoulda wrote a book.
First Earth Battalion
I am NOT Looking for their recruitment offices.
But they DID have a Field Manual on how to be this new kind of Warrior Monk. It doesn't work too well with Adobe Reader 9, so... The hippy-dippy teachings aren't fully revealed to me. From what I can decipher is SOUNDS great.
Brought to you by Lieutenant Colonel Jim Channon, United States Army. The movie The Men That Stare at Goats brought LTC Channon to the fore, again, I think, on Al Gore's intart00bz.
(Gun content? Hey, it's a possible .mil type organization.)
But they DID have a Field Manual on how to be this new kind of Warrior Monk. It doesn't work too well with Adobe Reader 9, so... The hippy-dippy teachings aren't fully revealed to me. From what I can decipher is SOUNDS great.
Brought to you by Lieutenant Colonel Jim Channon, United States Army. The movie The Men That Stare at Goats brought LTC Channon to the fore, again, I think, on Al Gore's intart00bz.
(Gun content? Hey, it's a possible .mil type organization.)
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Deer
Got my deer. More later.
I will say this.
The land owner said "does only." He want to see if the buck around there will grow another year. Of course I obliged, as I wants to come back next year. But when you are forbidden to shoot bucks on a property, that guarantees that a big ol' 14 point Boone and Crocket barrel-chested MONSTER will come up to you in your stand and nuzzle up to you and lick your face for the salt in your sweat and tears. No matter how much you cuss.
Now I need to take my anti-biotics for the 3 stitches I collected in the course of the day. More on that later, too.
I will say this.
The land owner said "does only." He want to see if the buck around there will grow another year. Of course I obliged, as I wants to come back next year. But when you are forbidden to shoot bucks on a property, that guarantees that a big ol' 14 point Boone and Crocket barrel-chested MONSTER will come up to you in your stand and nuzzle up to you and lick your face for the salt in your sweat and tears. No matter how much you cuss.
Now I need to take my anti-biotics for the 3 stitches I collected in the course of the day. More on that later, too.
Gone Huntin'
And, with any luck, I am cleaning a deer, that I shot, right now. I'll report my possible success (and probable failure) when I get back home.
Bunny
Here is a book review to something I haven't read, yet it intrigues.
It's a Choose Your Own Adventure book, about a pink plush Rabbit and how it survives a Zombie Apocalypse, titled: Zombacalyspe Now.
It's a Choose Your Own Adventure book, about a pink plush Rabbit and how it survives a Zombie Apocalypse, titled: Zombacalyspe Now.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Versus
I forget who commented so, but I remember, during one of the unending but entertaining gun discussions over .223 vs. .308, someone piped up at this argument was ever thus through history.
They mentioned folks griped going from .30-06 to .308 and that the .308 would be too underpowered compared to a REAL round like the .30-06.
Conjecture was then made that there was almost certainly those that were wistful for the .45-70 when the Army switched to .30-06 in 1906.
I don’t know about that…
There were certainly serving soldiers in the Army that had fired the .45-70 in battle, but I don’t know if they’d be wistful for its return.
First of all, the .30-06 was a step UP from the issued .30 caliber Army, aka .30-40. The issue rifle was the Krag, and it chambered this cartridge. The consensus of contemporary reports (at least in the History books I read) was that the .30-40 and Krag weren’t as good as the Mausers fielded by the enemy in the Spanish American war. And Mauser envy by the Army led to Mauser ‘stealing’ by Army Ordinance, getting US forces a more powerful .30-03 and then .30-06 3 years later on the new rifle platform. Old Timers would think that a step back in the right direction, but as good as the .45-70?
Again, I say yes. The Krag was an improvement in it’s day because of the new-fangled smokeless powder. Old Timers that fired the .45-70 could see that utility, I bet.
Plus the trajectory for the .45-70 was parabolic at range. You could hit a lot further out with the .30-06 with it’s flatter trajectory. The wallop a .45-70 might dish out was beside the point if you couldn’t hit the enemy easily because you had to hold over on your aim by 6 feet and your second shot was obscured by smoke anyway, all while the enemy was shooting back, and hitting, from further away that you thought practical.
No. If the blogosphere was around in 1910, we wouldn’t have the contention of .45-70 vs .30-06 like we do with the .223 vs .308.
They mentioned folks griped going from .30-06 to .308 and that the .308 would be too underpowered compared to a REAL round like the .30-06.
Conjecture was then made that there was almost certainly those that were wistful for the .45-70 when the Army switched to .30-06 in 1906.
I don’t know about that…
There were certainly serving soldiers in the Army that had fired the .45-70 in battle, but I don’t know if they’d be wistful for its return.
First of all, the .30-06 was a step UP from the issued .30 caliber Army, aka .30-40. The issue rifle was the Krag, and it chambered this cartridge. The consensus of contemporary reports (at least in the History books I read) was that the .30-40 and Krag weren’t as good as the Mausers fielded by the enemy in the Spanish American war. And Mauser envy by the Army led to Mauser ‘stealing’ by Army Ordinance, getting US forces a more powerful .30-03 and then .30-06 3 years later on the new rifle platform. Old Timers would think that a step back in the right direction, but as good as the .45-70?
Again, I say yes. The Krag was an improvement in it’s day because of the new-fangled smokeless powder. Old Timers that fired the .45-70 could see that utility, I bet.
Plus the trajectory for the .45-70 was parabolic at range. You could hit a lot further out with the .30-06 with it’s flatter trajectory. The wallop a .45-70 might dish out was beside the point if you couldn’t hit the enemy easily because you had to hold over on your aim by 6 feet and your second shot was obscured by smoke anyway, all while the enemy was shooting back, and hitting, from further away that you thought practical.
No. If the blogosphere was around in 1910, we wouldn’t have the contention of .45-70 vs .30-06 like we do with the .223 vs .308.
At least that’s what I think. And I’m sticking to it.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Bore Patch Post
Bore Patch has a post up from a couple days ago about strategic weakness in the West in this war against Islamic Extremists. RTWT.
buy ammo
Remember:
Buy Ammo Day is 1 week from today. 100 rounds of centerfire, or 500 rounds of .22 to be purchase by you. Yes you. Why? To confuse the anti-gunnies and support ammo makers and vendors to keep them in business. And you can't have enough ammo. Maybe with a bit more ammo you can maybe practice a bit with it. Never hurts.
[this is also a reminder for me, as I'd TOTALLY forget, otherwise, without reminders.]
Buy Ammo Day is 1 week from today. 100 rounds of centerfire, or 500 rounds of .22 to be purchase by you. Yes you. Why? To confuse the anti-gunnies and support ammo makers and vendors to keep them in business. And you can't have enough ammo. Maybe with a bit more ammo you can maybe practice a bit with it. Never hurts.
[this is also a reminder for me, as I'd TOTALLY forget, otherwise, without reminders.]
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Vet
by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army :
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Rush to Metro
Hey, look. Rush has a bit on guns.
Rush is another ostensible MetroCon. He lives in the city and doesn't come into contact with firearms much anymore. But gun rights get's on his radar when something like Ft Hood comes up and he can't ignore it.
Limbaugh's conservative instincts puts him decidedly or 'our side' of the issue. He just doesn't obscess over it like some of us Gun Rights Enthusiasts. I never thought he should. It'd be nice if various MetroCons threw us a bit more than the occasional bone, but the paucity of posts on their part does not make them the enemy. Some very extreme Gun Rights Enthusiast seem to be of the opinion that if you don't share their enthusiasm then you are a traitor to the cause and will eventually fall into the 'enemy's' camp. Fortunately, there are less of these than there used to be, I think. And that is a good thing.
(I may be a neophyte WRT shooting, but I have observed the gun rights movement from a political interest all my life. Before I started shooting regularly I was almost a MetroCon, after all.)
h/t Alphecca.
Rush is another ostensible MetroCon. He lives in the city and doesn't come into contact with firearms much anymore. But gun rights get's on his radar when something like Ft Hood comes up and he can't ignore it.
Limbaugh's conservative instincts puts him decidedly or 'our side' of the issue. He just doesn't obscess over it like some of us Gun Rights Enthusiasts. I never thought he should. It'd be nice if various MetroCons threw us a bit more than the occasional bone, but the paucity of posts on their part does not make them the enemy. Some very extreme Gun Rights Enthusiast seem to be of the opinion that if you don't share their enthusiasm then you are a traitor to the cause and will eventually fall into the 'enemy's' camp. Fortunately, there are less of these than there used to be, I think. And that is a good thing.
(I may be a neophyte WRT shooting, but I have observed the gun rights movement from a political interest all my life. Before I started shooting regularly I was almost a MetroCon, after all.)
h/t Alphecca.
Arming the Military
Military bases are gun-free zones. Very few people are authorized to carry a weapon with bullets on a military installation. That's why the Ft. Hood shooter had some time to do damage before law enforcement arrived.
The argument against letting qualified people carry a personal defense weapon on base is that a plethora of firearms means a plethora of firearm accidents.
Well, overseas, in Iraq and Afghanistan, EVERYONE carries a loaded weapon. The infantry soldiers, naturally. But also support folks, and even civilian contractors. Most everyone has a pistol and a bit of training in firing it before deployment. As areas get pacified the brass will tighten down restrictions. I know of contractors that won't sign up to deploy anymore because the area they are going to used to allow carry, and now does not. Generally speaking, if your installation is getting mortared with regularity, then you probably have at least an M9 on your hip. I knew people that didn't leave the Green Zone, totally surrounded by security, except to go to an from the airport on their first and last day that were holstered up 24/7. At least before 2007. Sometimes the rule was Condition 3 or 4, but the means was there.
I wonder what the firearm accident rate is over there in the combat zones with universal open carry? If it's zero or near zero can we maybe consider allowing CCW qualified individual to open or conceal carry on some federal installations?
Just asking.
The argument against letting qualified people carry a personal defense weapon on base is that a plethora of firearms means a plethora of firearm accidents.
Well, overseas, in Iraq and Afghanistan, EVERYONE carries a loaded weapon. The infantry soldiers, naturally. But also support folks, and even civilian contractors. Most everyone has a pistol and a bit of training in firing it before deployment. As areas get pacified the brass will tighten down restrictions. I know of contractors that won't sign up to deploy anymore because the area they are going to used to allow carry, and now does not. Generally speaking, if your installation is getting mortared with regularity, then you probably have at least an M9 on your hip. I knew people that didn't leave the Green Zone, totally surrounded by security, except to go to an from the airport on their first and last day that were holstered up 24/7. At least before 2007. Sometimes the rule was Condition 3 or 4, but the means was there.
I wonder what the firearm accident rate is over there in the combat zones with universal open carry? If it's zero or near zero can we maybe consider allowing CCW qualified individual to open or conceal carry on some federal installations?
Just asking.
Monday, November 9, 2009
CNN Transcript
Money quote from the CNN transcript of a soldier injured at Ft Hood:
The perception of being SAFER in Afghanistan...
(h/t Jay Nordlinger)
CNN's ROBERTS: And you're still scheduled for deployment in January, there, Joe. Has this affected at all your thoughts about going to Afghanistan?
Private Joseph FOSTER: I'm still a soldier day in and day out. I'll do my job.
ROBERTS: And, Mandy, how are you feeling about that?
Mandy FOSTER: At least he's safe there and he can fire back, right?
ROBERTS: At least he'll be able to do that if somebody comes after him.
Private Foster, Mandy Foster, it's so good to talk to you this morning. Again, our condolences. We're glad to hear that you're on the mend and take care of yourselves.
M. FOSTER: Thank you.
J. FOSTER: Thank you, sir.
The perception of being SAFER in Afghanistan...
(h/t Jay Nordlinger)
Order via Catalog
I ordered some stuff.
I needed a parts kit for the P229. You know. Just in case. Springs and spares. Plus it comes with flathead grip screws to swap out those horrible Torx screws. I'll put those Torx in the spares bin. I don't want to carry around THAT funny screw driver in my range bag.
(Ooo, dammit, I forgot to get the appropriate LocTite. The thread sealer I have now is for coarser screws. What type do I get, anyway?)
Since I was already on the Midway website I got a few more odds and ends. Some Sig factory mags, some Chip McCormick 1911 mags, and a cheapy pocket holster for a snub revolver. I've re-ordered my Master List, and I think the Snubbie is now in the running as a primary pickup.
And I took a chance on an Auto-5 friction ring/brake for my Remington Model 11. It's only $4 something. If it doesn't fit right I'll can it.
I needed a parts kit for the P229. You know. Just in case. Springs and spares. Plus it comes with flathead grip screws to swap out those horrible Torx screws. I'll put those Torx in the spares bin. I don't want to carry around THAT funny screw driver in my range bag.
(Ooo, dammit, I forgot to get the appropriate LocTite. The thread sealer I have now is for coarser screws. What type do I get, anyway?)
Since I was already on the Midway website I got a few more odds and ends. Some Sig factory mags, some Chip McCormick 1911 mags, and a cheapy pocket holster for a snub revolver. I've re-ordered my Master List, and I think the Snubbie is now in the running as a primary pickup.
And I took a chance on an Auto-5 friction ring/brake for my Remington Model 11. It's only $4 something. If it doesn't fit right I'll can it.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Handy Guide
Extensive Zombacalypse reaction instruction, in cartoon form, in "HOW everything goes to hell during a Zombie Apocalypse".
(Also, some facts about bacon and how it is better than true love)
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Rumor Control
I want to quash some rumors I’ve been hear right now. This Ft. Hood shooter was NOT a part of RoMERO.
Word was going around some circles that the 12 dead were zombies this Hasan character heroically took out and simply got hurt in the exchange. That is not the case. Initial reports that this was a wacko on spree are more likely. We’ll get real details of the incident over time (the initial press reports are true to form… panicky and unreliable) but this wasn’t a Zed Op.
The Zed Op Thurdsay was in Camaroon and no uninfected were hurt. I was not in on that operation.
Word was going around some circles that the 12 dead were zombies this Hasan character heroically took out and simply got hurt in the exchange. That is not the case. Initial reports that this was a wacko on spree are more likely. We’ll get real details of the incident over time (the initial press reports are true to form… panicky and unreliable) but this wasn’t a Zed Op.
The Zed Op Thurdsay was in Camaroon and no uninfected were hurt. I was not in on that operation.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Alma Mater
This shooter dirtbag went to the same University as me and he is a year younger, so I must have rubbed elbows with him 20 years ago. But with 20,000 students, it's hard to say.
I don't remember him.
He wasn't in the Corps of Cadets, and you have to be to be an ROTC member. So I don't think the media has given us the full details. I'd have remembered a Hasan in the Cadet Corps, I think. Especially in my Battalion.
I don't remember him.
He wasn't in the Corps of Cadets, and you have to be to be an ROTC member. So I don't think the media has given us the full details. I'd have remembered a Hasan in the Cadet Corps, I think. Especially in my Battalion.
WFB's Organization
Remember when I posted about MetroCons? And how National Review rarely mentions gun issues because it is generally below their radar? They are on our side, but don't think about the the Second Amendment stuff much.
Well the Ft. Hood shooting get's self-defense on their radar in a positive light for at least a short while.
Well the Ft. Hood shooting get's self-defense on their radar in a positive light for at least a short while.
State omission
In my ranking of the States, I forgot to include Delaware. I heard they are pretty bad, too.
Oh, an I'd rank them:
California
New Jersey
Illinois
Hawaii
New York
Massachusetts
Maryland
Connecticut
Rhode Island
Delaware
Wisconsin
All have a good point or two, somewhere. If you look. Well, maybe not the first 2. But Illinois? Good hunting culture in the south, I'm told. Yeah.
Oh, an I'd rank them:
California
New Jersey
Illinois
Hawaii
New York
Massachusetts
Maryland
Connecticut
Rhode Island
Delaware
Wisconsin
All have a good point or two, somewhere. If you look. Well, maybe not the first 2. But Illinois? Good hunting culture in the south, I'm told. Yeah.
Too Small
Thinking on Caleb's mugging incident and the handiness of really small CCW guns.
There is such a thing as TOO small. The grip on a Kel Tec isn't just short, it's THIN. Which is great for concealment, not so great for shooting well.
Look at old snubbie grips vs new.
Old (top) is teenier. New addresses the teeniness. Even those old style grips had little after market add-ons to make it bigger in the hand.
Look at 1903 grips. They seem to bulge a bit, those rubber panels. More than they'd have to. Maybe that was intentional. Thank you JMB pbuh
I'm not a fan of double stack, but I do have that one. The biggest peeve of mine is the fat grip. If given a choice I'd choose a slimmer version of the 229 in single stack if the option had been there... like the P239, but not. (SIG making a narrow grip? HA! Like that would happen.)
The more guns I try the more I like the grip size of 1911s. I even read spots where Cooper thought the 1911 grips TOO big for some hands. It's one of the easiest grips out there. I need to find someone with tiny hands and lots of variety in shooting experience to see if they feel like Cooper did wrt 1911s.
(I'll probably rail about fat grips again...)
There is such a thing as TOO small. The grip on a Kel Tec isn't just short, it's THIN. Which is great for concealment, not so great for shooting well.
Look at old snubbie grips vs new.
Old (top) is teenier. New addresses the teeniness. Even those old style grips had little after market add-ons to make it bigger in the hand.
Look at 1903 grips. They seem to bulge a bit, those rubber panels. More than they'd have to. Maybe that was intentional. Thank you JMB pbuh
I'm not a fan of double stack, but I do have that one. The biggest peeve of mine is the fat grip. If given a choice I'd choose a slimmer version of the 229 in single stack if the option had been there... like the P239, but not. (SIG making a narrow grip? HA! Like that would happen.)
The more guns I try the more I like the grip size of 1911s. I even read spots where Cooper thought the 1911 grips TOO big for some hands. It's one of the easiest grips out there. I need to find someone with tiny hands and lots of variety in shooting experience to see if they feel like Cooper did wrt 1911s.
(I'll probably rail about fat grips again...)
This is Why
THIS is why we have .40 S&W ammo today. After two FBI agent were killed in a gunfight in Miami, 1986, the FBI got serious about upgrading their firearms to something a little better than S&W revolvers loaded with .38+P and S&W Mod 459 9mm handguns. They did a LOT of study on the problem.
After the fight, all agents were allowed to carry the 9mm. And double action .45 S&W and Sig220s were also authorized, while the problem was worked.
They hit upon 10mm semi-auto, but thought the recoil a bit too severe to be be ideal. Dialed back, that 10mm becomes the .40 we have today. And why 10mm pistols were EVERYWHERE 20 years ago, but are hard to find now. Pistols in .40 are everywhere, and appear to be here to stay for a while.
It's why self-defense pistol ammo manufacturers test their ammo against FBI penetration standards. Because of this gunfight, there ARE standards.
I'm sure Jeff Cooper would (and probably DID) recommend .45ACP as the answer to the problem and specifically the single action 1911.
THIS gunfight is why your local cop has a semi-auto, often BIGGER than 9mm, on his belt instead of a .38, though.
We have better self-defense bullets now, but NOTHING is ideal. There is no magic bullet. No one brand is best. That doesn't mean you should go for budget ammo for self-defense. Go with a named brand is my recommendation. And be sure it works in your firearm.
After the fight, all agents were allowed to carry the 9mm. And double action .45 S&W and Sig220s were also authorized, while the problem was worked.
They hit upon 10mm semi-auto, but thought the recoil a bit too severe to be be ideal. Dialed back, that 10mm becomes the .40 we have today. And why 10mm pistols were EVERYWHERE 20 years ago, but are hard to find now. Pistols in .40 are everywhere, and appear to be here to stay for a while.
It's why self-defense pistol ammo manufacturers test their ammo against FBI penetration standards. Because of this gunfight, there ARE standards.
I'm sure Jeff Cooper would (and probably DID) recommend .45ACP as the answer to the problem and specifically the single action 1911.
THIS gunfight is why your local cop has a semi-auto, often BIGGER than 9mm, on his belt instead of a .38, though.
We have better self-defense bullets now, but NOTHING is ideal. There is no magic bullet. No one brand is best. That doesn't mean you should go for budget ammo for self-defense. Go with a named brand is my recommendation. And be sure it works in your firearm.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Kablooie
(sorta 2 posts in one)
Does anyone know of a catastrophic failure, where a modern gun blew up in someone's hand that DOESN'T include a variation of the phrase "so I was taking my reloads to the range to try them out..."
You see it on the blogs and in the forums. A picture of a revolvers cylinder blow apart, or the chamber of semi-auto bulging out in an ugly matter with a deformed mag well adding to their woes. They always seem to have a hot load in there. Even squib problems don't have catastrophic failures, that I've seen. I even remember a Ruger revolver with MULTIPLE bullets stuck in the barrel because the first was a squib. The barrel looked fine, except they sliced it down the middle to show the problem. If they had dug out the lead it might have worked fine.
And I've seen OLD photos of failed 1911. From 80 years ago. That might be a metallurgy limitation.
But has anyone confirmed a failed modern gun blowing up using (presumably faulty) modern factory ammo? (there are a precious few.)
Of course you could get a blowed up and ruined gun with an out of battery failure. The round isn't seated and supported in the chamber and the bolt isn't fully locked when it goes up. That's more a fault of the gun and not a ammo problem. But you DO see very broken guns when it happens. So that counts, I guess, and could apply to just about any semi-auto.
Bad things could happen with a revolver that is used enough that it doesn't lock up tight and isn't centered on the barrel when the hammer comes down.
It's called bullet set-back or setback.
You go to the range with your CCW for practice. You don't want to shoot your expensive self-defense ammo, so you remove your magazine and the chambered round and use ball ammo. After the session is over you replace the self-defense round that was in the pipe into your magazine and then reload the mag and set your gun to Condition One, with a round ready to go in the chamber. Next month you do the same thing again at the range. And the next month. After a year, that one bullet has been replaced back in the mag and shoved back into your gun's chamber TWELVE times. More if you go to the range more. Presumably you haven't shot at bad guys in the intervening year. I have to do this procedure at home on range day because I live in Maryland, but the principle is the same
Why is this a problem? Well, the feed ramp on your pistol pushes a little bit against the front of your first bullet. This may cause the bullet to bet shoved a little further back into the brass cartridge full of powder. This may compact the powder into a tighter space and it might jam that bullet into the brass so it sticks a little harder. When you go to shoot the round at a bad guy the compressed powder and/or stuck bullet could cause an excess amount of pressure that can burst the chamber.
This is the definition of BAD! Bullet setback of perfectly fine factory ammo fired out of a modern firearm can destroy a gun and maybe hurt you.
And I was blissfully unaware of this in anything but briefest glimpse of the theory reading in the margins on the intarwebz.
Then I saw reports of police ranges where it happened, and dug around a bit and learned what I just told you.
If you keep reloading that top round in the mag into your semi-auto it can explode. All because of something you did that you didn't have to do.
Apparently, some guns are worse for causing this situation than others. Some ammos are too. Which ammo? My ammo? Which guns? Any of mine? I don't know!
Why didn't I hear about this from all the bloggers I read? I may have heard Tam mention it but didn't bring two and two together. Why didn't my CCW trainer mention this? Why does this happen to cops, presumably they have had a few hours of firearms training. I know infantry type people and they never mention it, but they tend to not unload reload as much, maybe. I had to dig around internet gun failure reports for a while to learn about this type of problem.
What of the New Saturnian Thunderclap neophyte shooter that was getting into guns back in 1975? With fewer books and no internet and learning from his grandfather in the passed-down knowledge tradition we all used to learn from would leave him woefully unprepared.
I'm still learning about setback, and you should educate yourself, too, if this is news to you. Yes, it seems that reloads tend to do this setback thing more than factory ammo, going back to my original point of 'do you know a gun exploding using factory ammo' at the beginning of this post. But factory ammo is not immune. Most of the examples I see are Glocks, but 1911s are not immune, either. Nor is whatever you are shooting.
I even see the failure referred to as 'KB' or 'kB'. I guess that stands for KABOOM! (Though one form of kB may be Glock specific and refer to a case failure near the base. The effect from setback or case failure for the user are the same. Ow.)
And now it has scared the hell out of me.
I don't know yet how I am going to change my procedure, other than shooting off self-defense ammo more frequently and inspecting ammo before putting it back into battery for carry.
One thing I might do is have a box of the same brand self-defense ammo and when I strip out a round replacing it with a brand new round each time.
Ideally, you just put the round in a magazine one, then fire it down range, never putting a round back in the mag. Ideally.
Setback can't be TOO bad or it would happen more often on just that one time the bullet tip touches the feed ramp on its way into the chamber then down range.
Some brass cases are crimped around a groove or ridge in the bullet when made at the factory or at home. Is my ammo crimped like this? I don't know. Can reloading weaken the brass so this crimp fails to hold bullet where it belongs? Probably.
This can happen with revolvers, too. Another thing I think I remember Tam mentioning in conjunction with uncrimped .45 ACP brass in a 625 style revolver. Then the bullet can move forward out of the case as well as back. And forward or back, that can't be a good thing.
Does anyone know of a catastrophic failure, where a modern gun blew up in someone's hand that DOESN'T include a variation of the phrase "so I was taking my reloads to the range to try them out..."
You see it on the blogs and in the forums. A picture of a revolvers cylinder blow apart, or the chamber of semi-auto bulging out in an ugly matter with a deformed mag well adding to their woes. They always seem to have a hot load in there. Even squib problems don't have catastrophic failures, that I've seen. I even remember a Ruger revolver with MULTIPLE bullets stuck in the barrel because the first was a squib. The barrel looked fine, except they sliced it down the middle to show the problem. If they had dug out the lead it might have worked fine.
And I've seen OLD photos of failed 1911. From 80 years ago. That might be a metallurgy limitation.
But has anyone confirmed a failed modern gun blowing up using (presumably faulty) modern factory ammo? (there are a precious few.)
Of course you could get a blowed up and ruined gun with an out of battery failure. The round isn't seated and supported in the chamber and the bolt isn't fully locked when it goes up. That's more a fault of the gun and not a ammo problem. But you DO see very broken guns when it happens. So that counts, I guess, and could apply to just about any semi-auto.
Bad things could happen with a revolver that is used enough that it doesn't lock up tight and isn't centered on the barrel when the hammer comes down.
But to get really spectacular failure, where your handgun doesn it's best impression of a hand grenade, you need to reload. Though I have been looking for exceptions to that rule.
~~~ !!! ~~~
It's called bullet set-back or setback.
You go to the range with your CCW for practice. You don't want to shoot your expensive self-defense ammo, so you remove your magazine and the chambered round and use ball ammo. After the session is over you replace the self-defense round that was in the pipe into your magazine and then reload the mag and set your gun to Condition One, with a round ready to go in the chamber. Next month you do the same thing again at the range. And the next month. After a year, that one bullet has been replaced back in the mag and shoved back into your gun's chamber TWELVE times. More if you go to the range more. Presumably you haven't shot at bad guys in the intervening year. I have to do this procedure at home on range day because I live in Maryland, but the principle is the same
Why is this a problem? Well, the feed ramp on your pistol pushes a little bit against the front of your first bullet. This may cause the bullet to bet shoved a little further back into the brass cartridge full of powder. This may compact the powder into a tighter space and it might jam that bullet into the brass so it sticks a little harder. When you go to shoot the round at a bad guy the compressed powder and/or stuck bullet could cause an excess amount of pressure that can burst the chamber.
This is the definition of BAD! Bullet setback of perfectly fine factory ammo fired out of a modern firearm can destroy a gun and maybe hurt you.
And I was blissfully unaware of this in anything but briefest glimpse of the theory reading in the margins on the intarwebz.
Then I saw reports of police ranges where it happened, and dug around a bit and learned what I just told you.
If you keep reloading that top round in the mag into your semi-auto it can explode. All because of something you did that you didn't have to do.
Apparently, some guns are worse for causing this situation than others. Some ammos are too. Which ammo? My ammo? Which guns? Any of mine? I don't know!
Why didn't I hear about this from all the bloggers I read? I may have heard Tam mention it but didn't bring two and two together. Why didn't my CCW trainer mention this? Why does this happen to cops, presumably they have had a few hours of firearms training. I know infantry type people and they never mention it, but they tend to not unload reload as much, maybe. I had to dig around internet gun failure reports for a while to learn about this type of problem.
What of the New Saturnian Thunderclap neophyte shooter that was getting into guns back in 1975? With fewer books and no internet and learning from his grandfather in the passed-down knowledge tradition we all used to learn from would leave him woefully unprepared.
I'm still learning about setback, and you should educate yourself, too, if this is news to you. Yes, it seems that reloads tend to do this setback thing more than factory ammo, going back to my original point of 'do you know a gun exploding using factory ammo' at the beginning of this post. But factory ammo is not immune. Most of the examples I see are Glocks, but 1911s are not immune, either. Nor is whatever you are shooting.
I even see the failure referred to as 'KB' or 'kB'. I guess that stands for KABOOM! (Though one form of kB may be Glock specific and refer to a case failure near the base. The effect from setback or case failure for the user are the same. Ow.)
And now it has scared the hell out of me.
I don't know yet how I am going to change my procedure, other than shooting off self-defense ammo more frequently and inspecting ammo before putting it back into battery for carry.
One thing I might do is have a box of the same brand self-defense ammo and when I strip out a round replacing it with a brand new round each time.
Ideally, you just put the round in a magazine one, then fire it down range, never putting a round back in the mag. Ideally.
Setback can't be TOO bad or it would happen more often on just that one time the bullet tip touches the feed ramp on its way into the chamber then down range.
Some brass cases are crimped around a groove or ridge in the bullet when made at the factory or at home. Is my ammo crimped like this? I don't know. Can reloading weaken the brass so this crimp fails to hold bullet where it belongs? Probably.
This can happen with revolvers, too. Another thing I think I remember Tam mentioning in conjunction with uncrimped .45 ACP brass in a 625 style revolver. Then the bullet can move forward out of the case as well as back. And forward or back, that can't be a good thing.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Ammo Availability Status
The drought isn't over. Not by a long shot. When bulk .45 is available in big stacks on the ends of ammo aisles in boxes of 250, THEN it will be over.
I don't buy from Wal Mart, but reports are they just have shotgun stuff now. That may be because of the ammo shortage or it may be because of Wal Mart getting away from boomstick sales in order to make Mayor Bloomberg happy and finally get a Wal Mart store opened in Manhattan. In other news Sam Walton is still spinning in his grave. So fast that even had they wound a copper wire around him he's be going too fast to generate reliable electricity.
My local gunstore has ammo in decent quantity, but the price is up to keep it from flying off the shelves.
The local Bass Pro is still cheap, and still sparse. Not as bad as 8 months ago.
I went to gun stores in Virginia a couple weeks ago. The shelves aren't groaning under the weight, but the variety is there, and the price hasn't gone up. They restrict you to 2 boxes per customer. I was able to get 4 thanks to MbtGE standing in line behind me with my cash.
So I have a few more session of blasting ammo to use at the range.
I don't buy from Wal Mart, but reports are they just have shotgun stuff now. That may be because of the ammo shortage or it may be because of Wal Mart getting away from boomstick sales in order to make Mayor Bloomberg happy and finally get a Wal Mart store opened in Manhattan. In other news Sam Walton is still spinning in his grave. So fast that even had they wound a copper wire around him he's be going too fast to generate reliable electricity.
My local gunstore has ammo in decent quantity, but the price is up to keep it from flying off the shelves.
The local Bass Pro is still cheap, and still sparse. Not as bad as 8 months ago.
I went to gun stores in Virginia a couple weeks ago. The shelves aren't groaning under the weight, but the variety is there, and the price hasn't gone up. They restrict you to 2 boxes per customer. I was able to get 4 thanks to MbtGE standing in line behind me with my cash.
So I have a few more session of blasting ammo to use at the range.
Monday, November 2, 2009
imfdb
Look what i found on Neatorama.
A link to the Internet Movie Firearm Database. Cool!
A link to the Internet Movie Firearm Database. Cool!
"If you’ve ever watched a movie and wondered what kind of gun that is, or if you have argued with a friend about movie weapons, here’s the perfect resource. The Internet Movie Firearms Database (imfdb) has the answers! You can look up movies by title, actors, television shows, the weapons themselves, and even video games."
Goals Recap
To be confident and competent enough with a rifle to be able to hit anything I can see in a Jovian Thunderbolt kind of way.
The standard I am measuring myself against here is set by Jeff Cooper. He beamed over his daughter going on safari with him in Africa, and he had trained her to be able to “Hit anything she could see” with a sporterized Springfield 1903 (.30-06 is fine for Africa on game smaller than Buffalo, so says the Colonel). When Cooper lamented the unavailability of 4 or 6 power fixed magnification scopes, he said you didn’t need more than that to “hit anything you can see” and that more magnification than that was superfluous for far targets and WAY too much for something close by. (I agree with this sentiment, and would love to get just a Leupold 6x scope for a future lefty Remington 700… But there ain’t no such animal. They are all 3-12x variable… More stuff to break and extraneous stuff to pump the price up.) If I need a binoculars just to SEE a target, then I have no business trying to shoot it. Though there are some shooters out there that CAN. I am in awe of them. Those types can realize the improvement switching from a 1.5 MOA rifle to a 1 MOA. I will almost certainly never reach that level of skill, and that is not my goal. Hmmm… I could score Expert on a Marine course, I think I could check off this box. Arranging that could be difficult.
Anyway… When I wrote those lines for the Goals, I had a Garand that I had fired a few boxes of ammo out of, and that was the most used rifle. I have added a Scout scope to the Garand (low power, fixed, and long eye relief mounted ahead of the receiver,) and I have acquired a M1A. I have shot quite a few more rounds, too. I love them both and would shoot every weekend if ammo was cheaper and a range was closer. I was shocked, over time, on how easy it is to hit Minute of Deer, even for a novice, with a rifle at pretty decent ranges. I’m not truly satisfied with my skill, but I am pleased that 100 yards away, paper targets tremble in fear. Not just the white part, but the 9 and 10 ring black center, too. I kept one target, after getting the elevation dialed in, I went to the fresh paper and hit the X ring, about half inch from dead center. The paper is otherwise free of holes. A bit of luck, but still pleasing. AND confidence building.
Before my eyes go with age, I want to try a bunch more at a 200 yard target with iron sights. If I scare the black part of the paper then, then I think I am getting close to where I want to be with this goal. After that it’s just tightening the groups so deer 100 yards away can get hit in the heart rather than merely the heart and lung ‘area.’
To be able to defend myself with a handgun.
You saw my range report. I can hit center mass reliably at 25 feet. Certainly closer than that. I took a training course with a great instructor and that got me a Utah CCW. I carry where I can. I have pistols for this purpose. I have pistols instantly available to me in my home. I am looking to get one more to fill one last niche. Maybe one or two after that for fun, but also to make some redundancies.
I need to get OFF my BUTT and get more training. More range time wouldn’t hurt either. More dry fire and draw practice is good, too. Progress towards this goal continues apace.
I have not been tested for real. Thank the Lord. I’d rather go my whole long life dying peacefully in my sleep at that advanced age, without that test.
To perhaps harvest some tasty venison with either a rifle or a shotgun, any skin or antler is just a nice bonus, here.
I’ve gone afield in two separate seasons and got a hunting license. I’ve sat in the cold for hours. I’ve had deer around me in no-shoot situations so they got away. I’ve cleaned and butchered someone else’s kill. All that’s left is to get one myself.
And, if necessary: To Defend the Ramparts of Democracy from a Level 4 Zombie Outbreak or against the Jacobin, Rampaging, Godless, Red-Commie Hordes (or their modern equivalent.)
A few more cans of baked beans, a better backpack to didi-mau with, always more ammo and a few more mags are needed. Don’t need any more guns for this goal. 5 gallon containers filled with water, and a few of rice required. A decent wireless communication device and a dead microwave to hide it in (someone in range to talk to is another matter…). I need boots. But all in all, I am further along on this goal that 95% of the population when it comes to Jacobins. 98% when it comes to zombies.
The standard I am measuring myself against here is set by Jeff Cooper. He beamed over his daughter going on safari with him in Africa, and he had trained her to be able to “Hit anything she could see” with a sporterized Springfield 1903 (.30-06 is fine for Africa on game smaller than Buffalo, so says the Colonel). When Cooper lamented the unavailability of 4 or 6 power fixed magnification scopes, he said you didn’t need more than that to “hit anything you can see” and that more magnification than that was superfluous for far targets and WAY too much for something close by. (I agree with this sentiment, and would love to get just a Leupold 6x scope for a future lefty Remington 700… But there ain’t no such animal. They are all 3-12x variable… More stuff to break and extraneous stuff to pump the price up.) If I need a binoculars just to SEE a target, then I have no business trying to shoot it. Though there are some shooters out there that CAN. I am in awe of them. Those types can realize the improvement switching from a 1.5 MOA rifle to a 1 MOA. I will almost certainly never reach that level of skill, and that is not my goal. Hmmm… I could score Expert on a Marine course, I think I could check off this box. Arranging that could be difficult.
Anyway… When I wrote those lines for the Goals, I had a Garand that I had fired a few boxes of ammo out of, and that was the most used rifle. I have added a Scout scope to the Garand (low power, fixed, and long eye relief mounted ahead of the receiver,) and I have acquired a M1A. I have shot quite a few more rounds, too. I love them both and would shoot every weekend if ammo was cheaper and a range was closer. I was shocked, over time, on how easy it is to hit Minute of Deer, even for a novice, with a rifle at pretty decent ranges. I’m not truly satisfied with my skill, but I am pleased that 100 yards away, paper targets tremble in fear. Not just the white part, but the 9 and 10 ring black center, too. I kept one target, after getting the elevation dialed in, I went to the fresh paper and hit the X ring, about half inch from dead center. The paper is otherwise free of holes. A bit of luck, but still pleasing. AND confidence building.
Before my eyes go with age, I want to try a bunch more at a 200 yard target with iron sights. If I scare the black part of the paper then, then I think I am getting close to where I want to be with this goal. After that it’s just tightening the groups so deer 100 yards away can get hit in the heart rather than merely the heart and lung ‘area.’
To be able to defend myself with a handgun.
You saw my range report. I can hit center mass reliably at 25 feet. Certainly closer than that. I took a training course with a great instructor and that got me a Utah CCW. I carry where I can. I have pistols for this purpose. I have pistols instantly available to me in my home. I am looking to get one more to fill one last niche. Maybe one or two after that for fun, but also to make some redundancies.
I need to get OFF my BUTT and get more training. More range time wouldn’t hurt either. More dry fire and draw practice is good, too. Progress towards this goal continues apace.
I have not been tested for real. Thank the Lord. I’d rather go my whole long life dying peacefully in my sleep at that advanced age, without that test.
To perhaps harvest some tasty venison with either a rifle or a shotgun, any skin or antler is just a nice bonus, here.
I’ve gone afield in two separate seasons and got a hunting license. I’ve sat in the cold for hours. I’ve had deer around me in no-shoot situations so they got away. I’ve cleaned and butchered someone else’s kill. All that’s left is to get one myself.
And, if necessary: To Defend the Ramparts of Democracy from a Level 4 Zombie Outbreak or against the Jacobin, Rampaging, Godless, Red-Commie Hordes (or their modern equivalent.)
A few more cans of baked beans, a better backpack to didi-mau with, always more ammo and a few more mags are needed. Don’t need any more guns for this goal. 5 gallon containers filled with water, and a few of rice required. A decent wireless communication device and a dead microwave to hide it in (someone in range to talk to is another matter…). I need boots. But all in all, I am further along on this goal that 95% of the population when it comes to Jacobins. 98% when it comes to zombies.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Mag Cleaning
So, I admit, I have never cleaned a magazine.
I check for bends at the feed lip, but I don't even wipe off carbon that dusts the follower a little bit.
How often SHOULD I clean and how? Magazines are 'disposable,' should I even monkey around with trying to take off the baseplate? I'd think I'd have a better chance to mung it up rendering the mag LESS reliable.
I check for bends at the feed lip, but I don't even wipe off carbon that dusts the follower a little bit.
How often SHOULD I clean and how? Magazines are 'disposable,' should I even monkey around with trying to take off the baseplate? I'd think I'd have a better chance to mung it up rendering the mag LESS reliable.