Thanks a bunch, Tam.

Because of Tam's post about umami, I haven't stopped thinking about steak and eggs.

Guess what's for dinner at my house tonite, now?

Wow

I actually saw a Maryland license plate on my commute this morning that said "NOOBAMA."

It was a Crown Vic, with no other stickers on it.

This state is 66% Democrat. And the GOP types are to the west and on the Eastern Shore. Between Baltimore and DC it is probably 75% Democrat. And a big employer in the DC region is, obviously, the federal gummint. It's a Company Town.

I don't remember THIS much hostility for that idjit Carter ~spit!~

I think the President's numbers may be worse than the polls and MSM suggests. Poor guy. What do you think he'll do to occupy his time in 2013?

Rifle Range

Sorry about the late report. I meant to have this out by Tuesday, but crap got in the way of the picture taking. Alternately, I hope to see Saucy Trollop on Saturday for some buddy-buddy range time action. Aw, yeah... The fire may be extinguished, but we still have OnTarget range time. How many of YOU can say that? "I operate firearms around my ex. While she operates her own firearm. And we hardly ever shoot at each other."

I gotta trust my elevation setting from the previous session. There was a REASON it was set at 14 clicks and not the presumed 9.

Hold type is also important to remember. When I shot initially I was holding lollipop. Partly because I forgot that that was not my preference, but also partly to see where the shots hit. They hit low. The rest of the session was adjusting my hold to bisect the circle and getting my elevation set back.

If a deer appears within 25 yards, it is toast.

At 50, it’s still toast (there is some .22 in there).

Initially at 100 yards, that deer has a chance. Some of these were OFF the paper and below.

But that chance went down quite a bit after some practice. And I am less embarrassed.

And the final 6 shot are circled, and they went off in pairs, the ones at 12 o'clock first, then the left 2 and then the right 2. There is a mix of early and late shots on this target.

And I'm happy it shoots a little high at 100 and on at 25. It means I'm probably on bull at 200 or so. My skill is approaching volley-fire anyway at ranges much more than that, without more practice. Practice is the remedy. If I want to hit anything I can see. I could 'see' better with a scope, but shooting better is a matter of trigger time at the rifle range. About the only skill I've honed at pistols that helps at the rifle range is concentration, especially on breath and trigger control.

Of course, I didn’t try any actual hunting ammo. This is all shooting with South African milsurp. That will be the next course of action. Actually BUYING some primo hunting ammo and testing THAT. Probably should get something in the 150 grain range, a similar weight as this milsurp (147gr). An excuse to shop at Bass Pro. Maybe get some long johns, too.

Another thing… People that hunt with iron sights at targets 100+ yards away? These people are pretty good at shooting, I’ve come to appreciate them and that skill. And I mean when they shoot and hit the vitals, not merely hit somewhere. I can see a groundhog 100 yards away… Can I hit it? Maybe. Every time? Maybe. I’d want more practice…

Which means I need to expend more rifle ammo at the range. Get THAT habit a rolling. THIS is why I want property in the country. An acre would be more than enough, as long as the property was only 40 feet wide.

I did have an old epiphany. The elevation knob for Garand, M1As etc can be adjusted one you are happy with the number of clicks. The 'book' tells you to set it on '2' I always wondered by 2 and not '0' for your zero. Now I sorta know. You want to be on zero at 200 yards, and that mean your are a wee bit high at 100, a wee bit low at 300, and doing relatively fine and expedient for the whole gambit from 300 down. I finally put two and two together on this concept recently. I know. I'm a slowhead.

Also, I tested a 5 round magazine, and one of my 20 round magazines failed. Setting it aside to permanently mark it so I will never use it again. It's problem? Wouldn't push the next round up into place at the feed lips so the cycling bold wouldn't grab it. A bang on the bottom of the magazine might get it up, or might not. Regardless, if you DID get the next round to feed, the round after it ALSO didn't pop up high enough.

Noted

I figured this covered some interests of my fellow bloggers.


Manliness and bacon are 2 things Breda and Brigid, and a whole buncha us, kinda likes, if I'm not mistaken. I think the only thing missing is beer. (Well, I'm not saying that I like Manliness the exact same way as Breda or Brigid...)


This is what touched me the most:


“I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage with my books, my family and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occupy the most splendid post, which any human power can give.” -Thomas Jefferson



Well TJ, I GOT that. I'm wealthy enough to have the cottage, bacon, and books, and I choose which friends to spend time with, with few outside demands on my time. It's not that bad, Tommy. Not at all.

It might make a body a touch complacent at times, but so would needing to work 12 hours a day to get the crop in and the cows milked. At least complacent on what happens apart from your immediate vicinity.

Reading accounts of rations in the US War of Rebellion, the Confederates were reduced to "parched corn and fat back" during lean times, and this was considered a bad thing. Bacon and cornbread to eat? That couldn't have been an issue. Maybe they just didn't have ENOUGH? More likely.


Gun Content? Near zero. Reference to a war... the survival value of cured pig meat and cornmeal... self-reliant manliness... Forgive me, I was out late after work.

==========

Ooo, another bit of trivia about Tho. Jefferson? His second vice president was George Clinton.

sigh

Even very Liberal columnist Richard Cohen is wishing we could have grown-ups in charge of the reins of gummint again.

Welcome to the club.

RONI carbine

More carbine...

Long readers and followers of this blog know of my hankering for a carbine, but not finding one that fits my requirements. I was ruined when I learned of the existence of the Camp Carbine only to have my hopes dashed when I found out it's not a common design motif or in current production.

The Firearm Blog points to something pops up every now and again. The RONI Tactical yada yada slap a pistol onto a carbine frame, but now fitting XDs instead of just Glocks. And their is a previous solution with the 1911 with the Mechtech.



I am blinded by my desire for a carbine that I can't see the flaws. Or hear a lot of my fellow gunnies snickering behind me. I kinda want this and I kinda really don't. Back to the drawing board.

=====

In other carbine news, the Beretta CX4 now comes in .45. So that is something...



Seruously, it's interesting the way some carbine are perceived:

M1 Carbine: honorable piece of history
AR in .223: most popular rifle in the country
Camp Carbine: old school oddity, a bit on the cheap side, and no longer made
Kel Tec: innovative plastic, even cheaper
Hi-Point: Cheap! Cheapcheapcheap. And fugly.
CX4: Battlestar Galactica!
RONI: ~titter!~
DeLisle: a what?

Hooray for Bloomberg

Heard this on the radio this morning and saw it on Alphecca.

Mayor Bloomberg and MAIG (Illegal Mayors Against Guns, because, you know, about half of them are under felony indictment) is complaining about guns again.

Wonderful!

Why? Well, there is no real reason for gun owners to get worked up about the election in November. Since the proposed lead ammo ban was quickly quashed by Obama's team there is little concrete anti-civil-rights proposals that gunnies could point to. Is it because this crop of Leftists aren't anti-gun? I'm sure that's not the case. They are just afraid to rile a motivated block of voters unfriendly to their tyrannical candidates. THAT's why Obama's people nip in the bud anything that smacks of gun control. They want their team to get re-elected in 2012.

They wanted to win in 2010, too, but a wild card in the form of the Mayor of New York , someone they CAN'T control, just made a bleak prospect bleaker by merely TALKING and lying about gun control. To what end? Does he want to enlist the legions of gun-banners to vote in 2010? There aren't any legions. Apart for a few eligible unindicted co-conpirators in MAIG and the 4 dues paying members of the Brady Campaign, the votes can be counted on ones physical digits and still have some toes left over. The pro-freedom crowd, however, has a few millions of advocates that now have confirmation that Leftist are unfriendly to the Second Amendment. Probably all the other Amendments, too. Bloomberg is trying to wake an unfriendly (to him) giant for some reason.

Even the SMART guys on the anti-gun side are pretty stupid.

Gettin the Definition Straight

I got to thinking. I can't be the only guy that came up with a term like MetroCon. So I let my Google fingers do the walking and BING! Nope, lots of people pre-date my usage.

Wait.

Conservatives don't manscape! They use soap. Not conditioners and other 'product'. A man shouldn't smell like that. That Old Spice guy should have taught you that. A man should smell like Vitalis, Aqua Velva, tobacco, sweat, bourbon, and occasionally... methane.

Anyway. My reference is to a conservative that grew up in the city or suburbs and have less contact with rural ideas or issues. Their boy scout camping trips involved a tent on the baseball field of the high school 4 blocks up the street. George Will, David Brooks, and Jonah Goldberg types. Though Jonah DOES vacation in Alaska. I believe his wife is from there. So he gets bonus credit.

Metrocons can (emphasis on the maybe) be hostile to or merely apathetic to 2nd Amendment rights, but usually because of lack of exposure to firearms. Or that is my theory at least.

Finally

I finally got some rifle range time. I feel a bit better. I will post a report later this week.

I know I packed wet wipes with the range bag. I wonder where they went...

And you know what? I am not that good a shot. Deer within 25 yards? No problem. 100 yards? Not without 40 practice shots it seems.

Still sorta searching

For blog material. Nothing is really 'popping' you know. I think I'll drive up to Ohio and look around.

Multi-Tool

So gun types are often knife types too. I have a few knives

I have a few multi-tools too. Like Swiss Army knives. But a few years back Leatherman doubled down on the Swiss gadgets with more capable gadgets. REAL pliers being the biggest deal. I have various of these. I think my preferred model is the Blast. It has a blade, screwdriver, scissors, bottle/can opener, along with the pliers.

MBtGE showed me the new Skeletool. It’s more compact and looks kinda cool. And it is near perfect in its simplicity. Aside from the standard pliers it has 4 screw driver heads, a blade, and a nifty bottle opener as part of its carabiner clip. I really like it.

The only thing I’ll truly miss is the scissors. Maybe they’ll figure out a way to cram those onto this package someday and produce the Skeletool II.

Also, what might be missed, is the can opener. Multi-tool can openers are weak sauce and not really effective, and cans come with pop off lids a lit these days. But dangit, when you NEED a can opener you really need it and even the gimped jackknife type opener is better than nothing. Better salt your Bug Out Bag with P-38s or the equivalent if you go the skeletool router.

As for scissor, I kinda like the SMALL Swiss Army knives. Plus they also come with tweezers.

So, for multi-tool routine carry, I'm going with the Skeletool. But I'm strategically placing the bulkier multitools and mini-Swiss in various places, too, so they are conveniently gotten to, but not on my person.

BRAAAAAAAAAAAHHMMMMMMM!!!

"This is our Rendevous with Destiny, we'll preserve this last best hope for man on earth, or we'll sentence our children to take the last steps into 1000 years of darkness."

Jump In!

Barbie girl dj mix. by tomfastandfurious

Parallel Duty

Imagine this is a parallel universe, just as a thinking exercise.

Imagine that in this universe someone thinks it’s a good idea to actually hire T-Bolt as a Law Enforcement Officer type. There would be all the requisite training and what not. And I would have to interact with the public in my day to day work, and not just hide in an office behind a desk. So the whole 1-Adam-12 get up with uniform, badge, gunbelt, radio and what not.

Now imagine that the firearm policy in this department is: “We carry Glocks but they make some exceptions and allow people that ask to carry S&W M&Ps. There are no other exceptions.”

Well, ick. I don’t like either of those choices. And not just because they are plastic guns. I truly detest the trigger feel on the S&W and I don’t like how the Glocks fit my hand. I shoot neither well (relative to how I do with other models). I do ok with the XD flavors, though, oddly.

I guess I’d carry the Glock as a duty weapon, as I hate those less, and I’d have a chance to train and practice with it long before I graduated training, but I sure wouldn’t be happy about the whole deal.

What WOULD I like to carry? The 1911? Perhaps. I think I might prefer a modern revolver on my duty belt, really. 8 shots of .38 +P. Yes. Either of those over a plastic gun of any flavor, or any SIG I've shot.

But I, truly, wouldn’t be happy in my law enforcement career in this parallel universe unless parts of my personality changed too. Interacting with people, and a lot of those people kinda sketchy, is not my cuppa. And I don’t enjoy banging heads enough for that whole ‘maintain order’ aspect. I think to be a good cop you have to at least not mind getting into scraps and establishing a physical pecking order out there. And that’s not me.

Are You Ready?

Coming this Halloween to AMC...




Lotta gunplay, huh? With that whole 28 Day Later setup vibe at the beginning.

Awful waste of a GTO too.

Civil Discourse

Sebastian at Snowflakes in Hell is having an internet discussion with a Brady member, and it is very well done. He says pretty much everything that I would say if I was half as good as him in expressing myself in writing. So if you would know my mind... One of those Read The Whole Thing instances. Git!

9 Myths

Plenty of other bloggers have covered this ground before me. Debunking 9 Classic Myths and Whoppers... But you know us gun-culture types... we love to hash over our contentious issues. Let me sum and see how far off base this guys is...

And I need fodder.

Myth #1 – Caliber Matters
Ok I can understand that. It the whole "if you find yourself in a gunfight, it's a good idea to have a gun." And since I got a .38 snubbie for the same reason RSKTKR carries a .22, I can't fault him too much there.

Myth #2 – Firearms Experts
Gun shop guys are often attributed more firearm knowledge than they probably deserve? Ok, I'll agree to this.

Myth #3 – Dryfiring Damages Weapons
I'll go along with this too. I like his example "The Marine Corps has made dry firing an art form with a week of Boot camp devoted to it." Heh.

Myth #4 – “I’m a Great Shot!”
This is the whole 'good on a square range, a shambles in a real situation' thing. Yeah, he's right about the people (myself included) that are a bit too confident in their untested abilities.

Myth #5 – “A (insert gun here) isn’t very accurate”
Pfff. True.

Myth #6 – “I know how to shoot I’m a Police officer, Marine..(Fill in the Blank)”
I don't know how to shoot and I was in the military, so proof positive it's a myth here.

Myth #7 – “Kneeling/Modern Isosceles/Monica/(insert technique here) isn’t comfortable.”
He concentrates on gun-fighting, the pudding-proof therein.

Myth #8 – “I can’t shoot a (insert gun here) because of the grip angle.”
True. You may not PREFER a gun's configuration, but... Pah! This is more gun fighting reference. In a fight, if you stumbled over a 19th Century French Pepperbox, loaded, you'd shoot it.

Myth #9 – “Guns need to be cleaned every time they are fired.”
I like to clean mine, but I don't always. Especially if I'm going to shoot it again in a week. And there are plenty of example on the internet of people consciously NOT cleaning their range gun to see how reliable it remains. And people have been doing that test BEFORE the invention of the internet, too.

===================

So... Near no contention at all on these 9 myths. At least from me. In fact, I can't think of another gunnie that holds to any of the Whoppers. Or if they do, it's just one. About the only one I even look askance at is #1 used in the extreme. I, personally, would not feel comfortable with a .22 as my carry piece. Unless I needed something SO small that this was the only thing I could carry:

But those myths sure ARE out there. If they are prevalent anywhere it is among the more casual shooter. The once or twice a year type that doesn't want to know much more about it than he or she knows right now. Just no interest. Is it worth working hard to correct them?

21 September

Bust

The rifle range was a bust. Crowded and I didn't get there soon enough. Never go to the range and have plans for something in the early afternoon. New rule. I had to bail (bale?) before I got a turn. So that makes me kinda salty.

What did I have to do that afternoon? The crotchety neighbor Archie was expecting his grandsons, and they wanted to a little show and tell with the firearms. Me with mine, and the eight year old with his. The boy is 8 and makes relatively realistic replica firearms out of paper. He's shooting for something like this, and it was pretty neato! Made up for missing out on the shooty shooty a little bit. He may have used this tutorial:

Leonard Skinner

Perhaps THE most influential gym teacher of all time, namesake of Lynyrd Skynyrd, has met his reward. Requiescant in pace

Police Forums

I should read more of the police forums online. I'm sure they can't make me MORE aggravated than I am now at "Stupid-Cop-Shennanigans" that I can pick up from non-police media sources. Sometimes, the only really positive outlook I have of any police officers is from Law Dog and Cowtown. The forums might make aggravated, but hopefully there is some positive stuff there too. So I don't fume over this:

PSA

Some other gun bloggers asked me what a 'hipster' was. This is a music video about them that will explain it all. It is Not Safe For Work.

Deer Stand

Brigid talked about the Zen of the Deer Stand.

The property where we hunt has a deer stand up. But there are problems. So I doubt I can replicate her experience.

For one, the burlap hanging by it is FULL OF CHIGGERS. Sure sure, by hunting season a frost will have ameliorated those.

For another, this metal stand has been out there for years, rusting. It's probably in great shape, but one day it won't be...

The seat is on upside down. And the nylon straps will rot away some day too. So it is wobbly and uncomfortable up there.

It's up high, in the wind, on a cold day. Meh. More comfort issues. This is HUNTING from a stand, TBolt, not napping in a hammock.

But the biggest thing that keeps me out of it? I don't have a sling on my shotgun, nor a place to attach one. I am not climbing the ladder WHILE I am toting a gun in one hand. Sort of a deal breaker right there. If you MADE me hunt in the stand? I'd take the shorter barrel on the Model 11 and the scabbard.

I didn't know they made a video

of the squirrel beer.

The End of History from BrewDog on Vimeo.

Damn Germans.

repost

Repost of RobertaX's job

Magnum Force

So I'm watching Magnum Force, the Dirty Harry flick/sequel. The one with Hal Holbrook and dirty cops going vigilante on bad guys.

You know the one, I don't need to tell you and this isn't a full review.

And I'm not here about the gun content. I'm here about the explosives content.

Now the bad guys are special forces Viet Nam vets that are not SFPD. Things come to a head and they need to ice Harry and his partner by putting a bomb in the mailbox. Harry notices it, and instead of using the key to open his apartment mail slot, he unscrews the faceplate. Once off, you can tell 2 wires are attached to lock mechanism, and presumably turning the key will square the circuit and... boom. Instead, Harry pushes a button and the bomb is disarmed and the story goes on.

Ok, ok. This is 1970s Hollywood... But I have some questions.

First, there is a stopwatch attached to the bomb. I guess it's there to make it look like a bomb. Maybe its a multi purpose unit and you can set the trigger or set the timer. Still...

The 'plastic explosive' looks like black painted wood with wires, the stopwatch, a button, and 4 AA batteries attached. It's as light as pine, too. Probably because it actually was...

How does Harry know how to disarm a bomb? Presumably it's a homemade job. I can see the SPECOPS guys managing that. But Harry is, what? Korean war vet, at most? (He DOES know that Tyne Daly shouldn't stand directly behind a LAWS rocket when it's fired in another Dirty Harry movie) How does he know that pushing that button with the light is the way to turn it off and render it safe? Harry's a cop. In the late 60s. A good cop, but he's no bomb expert, presumably...

Also, the upstairs neighbor comes to bug him while he's disarming it and Harry downstairs girlfriend is right next to him during the whole disarming procedure. If Harry makes a mistake, he won't care, but the 2 innocent bystanders may want to hide someplace and maybe Harry should mention that...

I know. Hollywood. And really, what do I know about IEDs anyway? Forget I said anything.

And Son

Quincy Jones - Sanford and Son Theme by bookyisawooky

WE the People

Happy Constitution Day!

Pah.

Old NFO recommended shooting up some blog fodder.

That’s the thing! I’ve been to the range twice and not posted a proper report. Not much new to discuss. The groups are loose, but tighten up once I get the groove back. And always the anticipatory/flinchy/jerky-trigger work that puts my holes low and right. So little help there for the fodder.

There’s a problem I wish I could get a better handle on. If I could get more centered I might be able to shoot a bowling pin competition and be in the middle of the pack.

But that’s not what I want to talk about. It’s the Springfield Loaded 1911 I’ve been taking to the range. That gun is really growing on me. I’ve always liked it. I just felt that I should like it MORE. With the addition of the snubbie, and having the Sig with Double Action Kellerman, that 1911 trigger has become a very real pleasure. I know its foibles now. It’s broken in. Its good features I’ve always known are matching up with features I had no idea it had

What are the known good stuff? Well, the .45 ACP is one. It’s tough. It’s metal. That trigger feels good.

What are the unknown til now good stuff? It’s a lot smaller than people make out. Well, trim is a better word. It’s a surprisingly pretty simple mechanism for such a complex task. Elegant. There is no wasted fluff on it. And that trigger? It’s not just good. It was hard for me to fully appreciate at first. I can see I don’t fully appreciate it NOW, but I can also see where this road is taking me. It looks like a nice trip. So to speak.

Anyone know anything...

about this:

Fascinating

Scientifically, it is Inevitable

Look what...

RobertaX does for a living.





Oh HELL no.

"If a storm comes, there is no quick way down."

Well I, for one, can think of a very fast way down. It's because of this very thought that watching this video makes my upper-thigh/lower-abdomen feel really funny.

Robb Allen...

Is a newsreader For Channel 24?







(sharp as a marble)

ten ten ten

A buddy of mine on the other side of the continent is concerned with the Paul Copeland case, and the subject has been broached on other blogs.

The story is: a great injustice has been done. Mr. Copeland sold a firearm to a man with a valid gov’t issued ID, a Texas Drivers License. The thing is, the buyer was an illegal alien. He shouldn’t have been able to keep the DL, but that’s beside the point. Mr. Copeland is in trouble with the law for accepting a valid ID, and the illegal alien is not in trouble. Presumably so he can be a witness against Mr. Copeland? Anyway, Copeland is now in trouble because the State made a mistake.

That’s the story. For some reason my Spidey-sense is tingling. Like there is more to it. Like some detail was left out. I certainly don’t trust sparse news sources. I kinda doubt they got the parties to the incident’s names spelled right. (and haven't i been suspicious of my fellow man, lately?)

But definitely, if this IS the whole story, a great injustice is being perpetrated against an innocent party. And that injustice touches upon our gun laws. And there is going to be a protest to support Mr. Copeland at various state capitols and state government buildings, including the one in Boise, where my buddy is. This is occurring on the 10th of October 2010 (10-10-10). Want information on this? It's on Facebook. I'm not linking Facebook. Search there for Free Paul Copeland if you are interested.

AHHH!

Still nuthin in the ol brainpan to post.

I'm reduced to ephemera.

Lessee... I have a dentist appointment. Then I have to vote in the primaries.

Might have a gunsmith project to post. A buddy got a cheap single-shot 20 gauge shotgun from his father in law. It looks like it was left in the barn for 30 years. But it's a good practice gun to test one's restoration powers. We'll probably address that problem the same way I do old tools. Start with the least intrusive clean up technique and escalate from there.

I'm thinking on hitting the rifle range this Saturday or Sunday. You never know, I could get rifle opportunity for hunting this season. I should have something I can shoot and zeroed in. And I want to go rifle shooting solo. Just me. No one else to worry about. It's fun sharing, but I need some me time.

SAF

I donated to the 2nd Amendment Foundation. I figure it’s the least I can do, what with them working on restoring freedom in Maryland. A BIG victory for liberty, if it happens, in THIS state, “The Free State” is saying a lot. Let SAF sue in the courts, and let the NRA/ILA lobby legislators. Everyone has a niche.

I have no idea, btw, why Maryland has the nickname of The Free State. Perhaps it has something to our status in the War of 1812 resisting (but not too well) the New British Tyranny. It’s not for the state’s poor record on chattel slavery. About half the black population in Maryland was free before the War of Rebellion. But since Pennsylvania across the Mason-Dixon line was 100% free… half ain’t so good.

Now the states politics are dominated by the two major population centers, Baltimore and DC-Metro. One is an old Union dominated rust belt city, the other owes its success to catering to the other 'Company Town' where the dominant 'industry' is Government Work. If the Federal Government packed up and moved to Lawrence Kansas this whole place would look like Detroit, from Philly to Richmond.

Anyway. SAF. Good people. If they can help redeem this region they will be doing the world a huge favor.

My Old LIfe

You want to have a little taste of what my life was like before I got this job retiring zombies? Well here you go. It was like this:

Books

What I’m reading.

Well I finished 1635 Bavarian Crisis. Not the best of the series. There are some serious dry portions. I think I prefer Virginia DeMarce in the shorter works and Eric Flint alone in the novels.

I finished Canticle for Liebowitz. I had never read that one before. There are as many women in that story as there are in a Sylvester Stallone movie.

Still reading the Churchill biography. I had set it aside just as WWII started. I figured that would be the best part and I wanted to come to it fresh.

Finished up the last of Terry Pratchett this summer. I don’t think there are any Discworld novels extant I have not read at least once. And that’s a shame.

On deck are Riverworld and and Politically Incorrect Guide to the Vietnam War. I figure the last will be a good rejoinder to About Face. I'm not a HUGE fan of the Polically Incorrect guide format, but the book came free, so...

90s

One thing about the 90's We could still pretend that whole hordes of Islamists were not at war with us, then.

90s Videos

Remember the 90’s? MTV used to play music videos with some regularity. (For my younger readers, MTV was a cable channel that was supposed to be like broadcast radio (ok, an MP3 player) but on your TV. You wouldn’t just hear your favorite music, but see your favorite bands performing said music. Often with special effects or some other sort of visual vignette. Now you know MTV because of some social-disease laden, alcoholic, Eastern, beach bums with bad nicknames and no impulse control. But it was half like that in the 90’s too, so don’t feel so depressed.)

Gun control in the US was at its zenith. And any reference to firearms in an MTV video was bleeped out like it was profanity. Like the very existence of firearms was an obscenity. Like ‘they’ were trying to influence the culture into seeing an object as some sort of unacceptable independent moral actor. Like Britain. When Der Spiegel says the US has to stop trying to be like Europe, we REALLY need to stop trying to emulate Europe.

Oddly, Uncle mentioned 80s music a few ago.


Yeah, I'm probably making too much of it. MTV censored a lot of stuff. Drug references, fire references, knife references, butt references. And they weren't even consistent with their censorship. So perhaps I am being too oversensitive with my observations.

MTV did go from this:




to this, with 'barrel of a .45' editted out on broadcast:


back to heavy rotation of this, with 'barrel of a gun' included.

All in a mere 5 years.

What am I?

Right said fred-too sexy by swep



Unhear that earworm!

Rehash

Low on blog fodder. Yes still. Haven’t really shaken those late summer doldrums.

I have friend that sends over fodder in the form of links. And these I really appreciate. But it’s hard as the links have often been hashed over by other bloggers and there is little room for me to inject something new.

For example, the story about how the Obama EPA was thinking on banning ammo, or how the administration has put the kibosh on importing US surplus rifles back from Korea.

I have to get my own angle. I can’t just link to the link like it was news as SaysUncle and others did that a week and a half ago.

What’s my angle? Well I was kinda hoping to get a CMP M1 Carbine if a glut of them camp into Camp Perry. I thought it might drive prices down to a level I couldn’t refuse. I even got a subscription to membership in the Garand Collectors Association partly in anticipation of the Korean rifles. So I am cheesed. A little salty. This was not the Hope and Change I was looking for. I was hoping to get a nice rifle from CMP and spending very little of my spare change on it.

college

So now multiple colleges are offering a course on Zombie Study. Including one kinda local to me in Baltimore.

English 333.

No markmanship training, no improvised weapon work, no preparation for how to mentally confront the necessity of 'friendship's final duty'...

This will all end in tears, I am sure. It's like car repair learned from a book, and no hands-on work. Tsk.

GUN CONTROL!

Uh oh! The Senate Judiciary Committee is gonna try to ram through gun control legislation as lame ducks before they become a minority party. This tyranny MUST NOT STAND!

Or something. Not a lot of detail. Maybe the Senators are thinking they want to repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce Act or something? No use getting too excited yet. Not til we know. Heck it might be PRO gun stuff to save their miserable hides from the voter tsunami.

Update: Well raise my rent...

Get Gas

How to siphon gas, survival skill.



Yes, perhaps this is a good Zombacalypse tip, but my initial impression was to think it a bit dubious.

I don’t know why I feel that way. Learning how to get gas from abandoned cars isn’t really a precursor to stealing gas from folks BEFORE the zombacalypse any more than learning to retire zombies with a shot to the forehead is a precursor to going on a killing spree of uninfected people before the dead walk the earth.

I guess the site just caught me in a mood. Not their fault. So I apologize for my first impressing.

Aside from my irrational aversion, it also omits important details. How do you defeat the little flap on your gas lid? Well it goes into it in the video, but can it hurt to put up some text/diagrams, too? What, too picky? Ok. How do you pump out of underground storage tanks where you can’t get the receiving receptacle lower than the tank? How do you rig a surplus fuel pump from a junkyard to do this for you with a car battery? (though the drill-pump is kinda cool...) Do you need to worry about pump cavitaion with that flammable/explosive material that is gasoline? All vital bits...

Vital AFTER the zombies come. Not because gas got up to $5 and your neighbor doesn't hide his car in the garage.

Anti-Vaccine

Oh look an anti-vaccine animated rap video. With zombies. See, when you get a vaccination, it turns you into a shamblor. Or something. Because the pharmaceuticals are pulling down crazy insane profits on. Or something. Oh dear. I wonder if Marko the Munchkin Wrangler has seen this. He's a big fan of the anti-vaxers.

There are gems all through that website. I wouldn't use it for Zombacalypse prep, though.

Re-Evaluating Zed Caliber

I've always advocated the .22 LR as a good Zombie Round. They aren't moving fast, and it is easy to hit things with a .22. You can carry a LOT of ammunition on your person And it can penetrate a zombie skull, and that's all you need to do.

But maybe not...


5 years ago some Polish Guy thought he got punched in the head at a New Years Party. He had a lump for aday or two that went away. No harm, no foul. But the lump came back recently and the doctor found a bullet in the man's scalp. It had been stopped by the bone, and the victim barely noticed getting shot.

Maybe the .22 is not a good Zed round or, like BorePatch says, maybe booze makes your skull harder, and the lesson is: don't shoot drunk zombies with a .22.

Now we don't know if this was .22 LR or .22 Short or .22 BB. It could have been .223 for all we know from the story, though I doubt it.

I'm not ready to give up on .22LR. Despite this anecdotal evidence, .22 CAN go through a skull. On some zombies you may need to shoot them twice. The compactness of the ammunition in quantity is too great an advantage to throw it overboard in our battle with the hordes of undead. If you have to move around, especially on foot, you want the mobility the round offers. Now if I had my duruthers I'd be holed up in an above ground fortification with years of supplies stashed away. In that case, you can use something a little more sure. Save the .22LR in case you have to evacuate. Use up the stock of 100,000 .308 you packed away.

What? You mean you DON'T have 100,000 major caliber rifle rounds? Tsk, tsk... Jeff Cooper would be so disappointed if he were alive today.

Well Dang

My training money just went to a $1700 car repair. So, I might have to put off the class til winter or spring rather than try something before hunting season.

Dag Nabbit.

But the list of possibles includes:

Maryland Firearms Training Group in Southern MD,
FPF Training in Culpepper VA, Advanced Conceal Carry Tactics *
Practical Firearms Training in West Virginia, Defensive Handgun II

When I get a little better and faster I want to try Aim Fast Hit Fast. You have to be able to do this, tho:

Prerequisites: This is a fast-paced class suited to shooters who have already achieved proficiency with a handgun. At a minimum, prospective students should be capable of performing the following drill(s) on demand:

• Fire and hit a 3×5 card at 5 yards on demand
• Draw, fire 1, reload, fire 2 (3 hits on 8″ circle) at 7 yards in eight seconds

And I don't think I can always hit that 3x5, and I have no idea on the 8 second thing. Not with my flaw. And drawing from the Serpa holster, the only time I've been timed, has been around 3 seconds.

Q&A

Hat tip to Joe Huffman.


Joe refers to a Paul Helmke, speaking for the Brady Campaign, quote:

"Can we get together and do what's right? Can we agree that too many people are shot to death in our country? Can we agree that some common sense laws make sense and won't affect those who are law abiding and want to own their guns and carry their guns? Can we agree that there are actually a few places where we don't actually need guns? Can we agree that gun violence is a public safety and public health problem? Can we agree that stopping the injuries and deaths caused by guns is a social justice issue?"

Allow me, in the spirit of compromise, to respond to Mr Helmke…

Can we get together and do what's right? Sure!

Can we agree that too many people are shot to death in our country? It’s a damn shame our culture is like that, but we are Americans. You sometimes get some bad with all the good.

Can we agree that some common sense laws make sense and won't affect those who are law abiding and want to own their guns and carry their guns? Happy to think on this. I’ll even grant you that there are a few laws of this kind. I assume by your question that you think there are gun laws that make no sense and all they do is burden the law abiding? Tell you what, while I think on common sense gun laws, YOU think of some gun laws on the books that need to be repealed. That would go a long way to showing you’re serious about this line of questioning and seeking of common ground, if you came out for some repeals. Here is my concession to you. "People that need a custodian 24/7 (violent criminals, the dangerously insane, that sort) should not be permitted firearms." I'm gonna take some flak from my side, I'm sure, for that position.

For some reason, until recently, human rights advocates on our side have compomised with anti-gun folk. Either in the spirit of goodwill and cooperation or because they felt that advocation of rights was somehow worthy of guilt. Compromise involved hearing an anti's proposal, then fighting to cut that proposal in half. Only half a restriction. And our side thought that was a victory. It's like negotiating for only half a plate of poison for dinner, instead of a full plate. I can assure you, no one wants any poison with their meal anymore. I'm sure you can agree with that.

Can we agree that there are actually a few places where we don't actually need guns? Need has nothing to do with it, but I sorta see where you are going with this. Hmmm. This is a toughy. Where I am, I usually have my wallet, and if I have my wallet I should be carrying my pistol. Scuba diving? I might not have a holstered hog leg then. In surgery? So it looks like we agree.

Can we agree that gun violence is a public safety and public health problem? Public health? No. MAYBE public safety. Let's not bring the CDC or WHO into this mess. Does this mean you are coming out and trying to help keep violent felons behind bars longer? After you help us, Britain could use some support too. Those people banned guns and still felons/ex-cons are killing innocent people left and right.

Can we agree that stopping the injuries and deaths caused by guns is a social justice issue? No. Stop right there. ‘Social Justice’ is used by way too many collectivists as a code word for getting their particular brand of evil 'utopia' instigated. That route is as frought with landmines as Eugenicists that just want to ‘discourage the breeding of the unfit.’ It’s a foot in the door. No. Drop the word ‘social’ and we can continue this conversation. Until then, good day, sir.

I said Good Day!

WWZD

What would Tam do? Heck, What Would a ZOMBIE Do?!

Social Good?

One of the things about the Discovery Channel nutter.

I heard some slow talking caller to a local AM radio program go into the standard, “if people were allowed to carry guns in this state… this may never have happened” argument. We’ve all heard it before. Many of us have used that argument. This guy spoke so slowly his message got stepped all over and they transitioned to traffic and weather, but let’s assume it’s an argument that is only promulgated by the smooth and well spoken.

Is that really the argument we want to use to expand CCW rights? “It’s a social good, as lots of folks with a concealed weapon salted among the people will put down wackos before they get too far.”

Maybe. Maybe not. I’m thinking carrying your gatt is good for YOU and yours. I don’t know if I cotton onto the claim it’s good for society. It's certainly secondary, not a primary argument. (Like the 2nd Amendment. It'll protect you, and as a secondary good, having a gun will give you the means to hunt, and that's fun!) Good for me is good enough. Self defense is an individual right. No need to bring a collective societal good into it apart from the good for individual. And that societal-good argument may bite us in the butt someday. Some CCW person may get carried away with the hero aspect and shoot uninvolved parties, and the anti-gun forces will use that negative PR to advance their particular brand of tyranny.

And I don’t know if I am THAT responsible to society as a whole. Or, if I am responsible, if eagerness and ignorance in a fast-moving situation would just make that situation worse or more complicated.

I am the most important individual I know. Just as YOU are the most important individual YOU know. Carrying the best self defense tool available does not spring up as some right to be a hero and save people from the next Virginia Tech or Ft Hood type shooter.

Just because you have a CCW permit, or carry CCW in free places with Vermont-style carry, doesn’t mean you have a license to actively hunt down human varmints that cross your path.

I think us gunnies think too much about the hero aspect. It’s a fine and noble aspiration, but perhaps one we should leave to the young and idealistic. Carrying a concealed weapon is a responsibility that should mature you well past that phase into adulthood, leaving your heroic fantasies to the younger version of you. At least that’s what I think. Maybe you won’t wrap your head to the same conclusion, but nothing will hurt you to consider all the angles.

Our arguments for defense are good enough, is what I'm saying, without relying on a possible societal good.

You know what I like?

Sales/beggar calls these days. Because they all use auto-dialers. If there is a pause or delay before someone talks I can hang up without listening to a shpiel. Ain't technology grand?

Not many sales calls because of Do Not Call lists, but people that want spare clothes call every other week. I have spare clothes to give every other year, so...

Prep for Class

Well, if I am serious about taking a training class, I want to prepare. It’ll be embarrassing enough when I am at the top of my game.

What does that mean? I need to ramp up dry fire practice at home. (NO AMMO! This is the living room, not the range…) Not just for trigger pull refinements, but finger strength by pulling a DA trigger a bajillion times real fast like. I need to draw from the holster with my primary training gun, and the backup gun if the regular one decides to break DURING the class. While drawing I need to work on making the movement smooth, safe, and proper. Fast would be good too.

I think I’ll take the Sig and the 1911 and primary/backup for training. Miltsparks holster for the Sig, a Galco paddle holster for the 1911. I have the Serpa retention holsters, but some trainers ban them for certain gun models in class. Some class members are forgetting Rule 3 is my guess and putting the finger on the trigger as well as the retention release button.

That‘s one of my flaws. That’s 2 different calibers. Most classes I am looking at say to bring at least 300 rounds. One says 1000. So I’d need to bring 2000 rounds with me to be truly prepared. I have the 300 of both, but not necessarily the 1000…

Ooo, magazines. I will bring ALL of them. That’s 9 for each gun. I may even buy a couple more. I will also preload them before I go.

What else? The class will say specifically what they require. Like a hat and knee pads and sunscreen and water. But what stuff beyond that? Tape for my fingertips and hands. Don’t want the distraction of a painful blister. More water. Maybe buy some shooting gloves and test them out at the range before class.

Discovery Channel

So I got this crazed dude holding hostages nearby. As of this writing, it is late afternoon, and the drama is ongoing. Apparently he is mad at Discovery Channel for their program selection. Not enviromentalist enough. Also not human and civilization extinction enough (sounds like a zero population type). He has hostages, a pistol, and a possible bomb. No word on the type of pistol... What? This is a gun blog.

A work buddy said, "He's probably angry that they killed off his favorite character on Deadliest Catch..."

I said, "Too soon, work buddy, too soon."

I hope this ends with no one hurt. Not even the crazy guy. I don't KNOW, but the feel is he is doing this for attention and isn't planning a blaze of glory at the end. I hope my hunch is right.

The only people I know that are near there is the Saucy Trollop's daughter, and they closed down the Metro station, I believe, so she can't get to her job. And my favorite Diner is near there, but it's a coupla blocks away.

It didn't impact traffic on the highway. This part of Silver Spring is a good 2 miles from 495.


One of the things on his online list of demands, he wants no wars. I guess all the excess mouths he wants to get rid of are just gonna have to starve to death or make their own gas chamber or something.

I know Breda is going, "Great, another Obama supporter snaps. Typical."


UPDATE: Well crap. Not everyone left the scene uninjured. At least the hostages were unhurt.

myth

We need to come up with an acronym for these 5 Myths.

Cracked.com loves these lists, and so do gun bloggers. This one is actually pretty good, unlike some of their woefully innaccurate zombie lists.

So the standard Hollywood movie misinformation boils down to:

1. Silencers/Suppressors are so quiet the assassination won't wake the missus sleeping right next to the target.
   


2. Machine Guns are death-machines
   


3. Bulletproof Vests are as good as a full body force field
   
   
4. You gotta constantly, Gratuitously, Cock your weapon for dramatic effect
   
   
5. Bullets make things for all Es-plodey

So what does that spell, acronym-wise? S MG BV GC BE

Maybe just use Vest, and drop the Gratuitously, and substitute Machine Gun with Automatic Weapons....

S AW V C BE

BE S AW V C

BE the SAW ViCe

as in: Be the Saw Vice! The Hollywood gun myth phenomena will forever be known as "Be the saw vice." As in, Ripley really Saw-Viced those extraterrestrials in Aliens.

Yes? No? It's spelled vise? Dang!