English Ghost Names

There are other names for apparitions, including “shellycoats” and “scrags”, “fetches” and “mum-pokers”, “spoorns” and “melch-dicks”, “larrs”, “ouphs” and “old-shocks”. There are “swathes” and “scar-bugs”, “bolls” and “gringes”, “nickies” and “freits”, “chittifaces” and “clabbernappers”.

Boo!

7 Zombie Weapons

That can get you killed, from Cracked.  Listed:

1. Shotgun (finally!  someone is listening...)
2. Flamethrower
3. Lawnmower
4. Tesla Ball (?!)
5. Kung Fu
6. Katana (pick something that has utility beyond head lopping.  Like a Kabar Kukri)
7. Chainsaw

What else to add...

Sorry

I know I've been hard on The Walking Dead.  And I'm going to pile on now.  But I am only hard because I was hoping for Breaking Bad quality programming and so wanted a zombie series to do well.  I like the genre, in case you haven't guessed.  Though, really, I'm not fanatical about it.  Honest!

Ok, I've talked about how idiotic the characters actions are.  They seem to have a decision tree that searches around for the worst things to do, and then they do that.  But you can forgive that a little bit.  Making mistakes putting people in peril is good for a dramatic thread.  Overcoming such errors makes for a good story.  And these people we are following on the show are super discombobulated.  The world has been turned upside down and anyone would be a little frantic and prone to stupidity.  I can forgive idiocy.  Not everyone would have their head screwed on properly like I think I would in that same situation.

No, the problem is, NONE of the characters are likeable.  None.  I am not rooting for any of these people.  If they get eaten?  Oh well.  The closest to a likable main character is Rick Grimes, the sheriff.  Dale, the old RV owner was sympathetic for a while, but lately he has slipped.  Glenn, the Asian kid has potential but they haven't been centered on him.  Darrel is interesting, and while not entirely sympathetic, being a mean cuss, has potential too.  His brother Merle, the one-handed is even less likable, but that actor is very good, and would have been a joy to watch.  I don't think he is coming back.

The only likable character, to me, has been Morgan.  The guy from the first 2 eps of season one, the one that Rick Grimes broadcasts to on occasion, but never hears back from.  Maybe he will come back to the story.

I got sick of the TV show and just went ahead and bought the first 3 graphic novels.

[update:  and after watching tonite's episode, I like one of the characters even less than I thought possible.]

Interesting Take

This is an interesting take on the gun control movement.  It theorizes that the terrorist attacks had a negative impact on gun control attitudes.  People realized that leading a harmless non-violent life, living and let live, doesn't guarantee reciprocity from that that would cause harm, is the theory.  Not just from fanatic murdering foreigners, but people could rationally extrapolate to domestic victimizers, too.  And taking control of one's self-defense made more sense to more people.

It takes all kinds of gunnie critters

To make a Shooting Community's fritters.

It's interesting what adults, on their own, making money, with little outside influnce, will select forthemselves when they look to acquire a handful of firearms for themselves.  People will even sorta pick a 3gun system all on their own without every laying eyes on a survivalist blog.

A quasi-hipster co-worker has:
Sig P250 9mm
Sig 556 Swat
Saiga 12g with a red dot, 20 rd drum, and a folding stock.

I wonder how much he has shot that Saiga?

He wants 2 more items.  A Deagle and a Barrett M82A1.  Both .50, in their own way.  And he may never get around to that.  So those 3 will do for a long long time for him. They aren't that shabby. 

I wouldn't pick that list, but that's mere personal preference.

Pajamas Zombie Defense

Via the Zombie Research Society.

Waiting One A Month

The Beard keeps teasing me with his gun shopping of "Ima gunna git"  X Y and Z.   In his case, a Mosin Nagant, a S&W M&P .45 and the Ruger LCP. 

Then I broke some bad news to him.  Besides a one week waiting period, there is a one gun a month rule in Maryland.  So, let's say he plops down the money for all 3 boomsticks.  It's, what?  $1200 or so?  Maybe less?  And he does it on November 1st at his favorite gunstore. 

Now the Mosin is a rifle, not subject to the waiting period rule.  He takes that right home from the store.  Then, I am pretty sure, (correct me if I am wrong) even with a rifle purchase he has to wait 31 days in my state.  Because FFL like to err on the side of caution, I notice they always add and extra day on there.  so 32 days later.  Then the M&P is on deck.  NICS check is run on December 2.  Now the waiting period starts.  Again, FFL adds a day for padding a lot of the time.  So The Beard gets that gun on the 10th of December.  The one month clock ticks on again.  On January 11th another NICS check is run, and the pickup for the Ruger is January 19th.  For a gun he paid for on November 1st.

I've never bought a rifle and 2 pistols at once in MD.  Is that how it works for folks?  That is my understanding based on what my FFL told me long ago.  The Beard was unaware of the hassles.  He shook his head ruefully.

He's gonna get that M&P first and wait the rest out as they come, BTW. 

----

Oh, and I reminded him to get a good holster for his pistols, too.  He never intends to carry, but I figure better to have a holster and never need it, than to need it and then shoot yourself in the groin area for carrying a gatt Mexican style in NYGiants sweatpants.

I usually tell new shooters to get some kind of gunsafe before buying a gun.  You can order the holster during the 1 week waiting period.

Wildlife

Great.  If true, this guy passed me by and went 6 miles deeper into even MORE densely populated areas, to take up housekeeping in the Nation's Capital.  What caliber for Mountain Lion?  Doesn't matter, neither I, in Maryland, or folks in DC can legally carry.  You never hear about Lions and Bears and Super-Coyotes in Arlington or Alexandria or Arlandria Virginia.  They can carry there.  Dangerous wildlife isn't stupid. 

I'll try to look really big and intimidating if I see one.  Plus, I may scare a Mountain Lion off with my high pitched screams reminiscent of a frightened 8 year old girl.

Silly History Channel

That zombie special on the History Channel?

For a zombie weapon, they recommend shotguns...  ~sigh~ 

They say the M4geries are 'good, too' but the ammo may be hard to find... 

?!

How many places have you gone to that had shotgun ammo but not .223?  Sure, Bass Pro has a LOT more 12 gauge in stacks, but 90% of that is clay busting ammo and not ideal for Zed heads.  And even non-gunnies know to look in the abandoned National Guard vehicles for. 223 ammo.

At least they tip their hat to the ARs.  Probably the most ideal zombie gun/round out there.

---

You never select a shotgun as your primary anti-zombie firearm. It's great for onesy twosey, but zombies travel in hordes. The reload time is onerous, and the ammo, while effective, is heavy and bulky.


---

Pfff, birdshot on Zombies.  Dick Cheney made a headshot on a lawyer with birdshot and the guy was in a press conference talking about how unfortunate that was THAT week!  He might not have spent the night in a hospital, I don't remember.  Still.  If the VP was going after zombies with birdshot how many more hits to the head would he have had to make?!

Lotsa Lessons

A lot of lessons to be learned from this story of a self defense shooting referenced at Tam's.  One important one is the tried and true warning:

"Never let a bad guy take you from the primary crime scene to the secondary crime scene if you can help it at ALL.  Nothing good ever happens to the good guys at the secondary crime scene."

In the linked example, the primary crime scene is on the stoop outside the building.  The secondary crime scene is the conference room Mr Sumdood with the revolver walked everyone back to.

Primary scene:  At the cash register of the Burger Czar (where the burgers are).  Secondary:  The freezer at the back.  (You and the robber aren't gonna be sharing an ice cream sammich back there...)

Primary:  By the elevators where the bad guy orders: "Don't scream lady, or I'll cut you!"  Secondary:  The stairwell off to the side.  Sticky things happen there.

Primary:  The sidewalk of a sketchy part of town where the driver tells you to "Get in the car!"  Secondary:  The warehouse the car drives to 3 miles from where you got in.

Hey, I googled Secondary Crime Scene and found this!  Neat.  I knew I had seen it somewhere relatively recently.  James Rummel's blog.  Avoid the secondary crime scene like your life depends on it.  It does.

---

I think people willingly walk right into that secondary situation despite knowing that nothing good can happen if I walk into that freezer for many reasons: 

• I'm boned... There is a chance the bad guy is merciful and I have otherwise relinquished control, and I will come out of this without extra holes.  Please be a nice evil monster, Mr. Monster.
• I'm boned... I need more time.  With time an opening may present itself that will allow me to extricate myself from this bad situation.  I'll wish in one hand for more time, and poop in the other and see which one fills up first.
• I'm boned... and in condition white and just can't believe this is happening.  It's a bad dream.  I'm in shock.   This isn't civilized and I am programmed to be civilized.  Does not compute.  Wake me when it's all over.  Hopefully I won't be dead when it's all over, but I'm not thinking rationally enough to consider that. 

None of these coruses of action/inaction are really a good idea when you sit back and consider it.  So, think about it ahead of time.  You try to not be in Condition White?  Try to remember to be in Condition Yellow?  Well also try to remember that you don't willingly go to the secondary crime scene.

Cravings

I really need a cigarette right now. 

Graph

I love this Gallup poll graph from here:

Should NOT be controlled via handgun ban.  36% to 73% since the Eisenhower admin.  SHOULD be a ban?  60% drops to 26%.  Wow.

2nd A Thoughts

Someone asked me, "Where does the right to bear arms end?"

I responded, "It doesn't"

You should be able to put any Joe Public, strapped with his carry piece and spare mags, in a room with all 5 living US Presidents and their immediate families, plus all the Veeps, PLUS Michael Moore and Janeane Garafolo, inside a locked room with NO Secret Service detail.  The pistol shouldn't even come up in conversation.  Presumably, none in that group would make themselves a physical threat to anyone else in the room maybe requiring a pistol being brought into play, and none would say, 'hey Joe, how bout you let me hold the gun from now on'.  As it should be.  As it probably is for north of 99% of the law abiding tax paying public that can buy a gun.

What is magical about that gun?  I'm a big guy and can probably snap Jimmy Carter with one hand at this point.  And I really REALLY dislike the man.  But, would I?  Even if guaranteed I would face no legal ramifications for ushering Jimmy Carter into his own personal Camp David in the sky I wouldn't.  And neither would the vast majority, north of 90% perhaps north of 99% of average folks that also dislike Carter.  Add a gun to the equation changes nothing.

And there is so much that a gun does BEYOND that magical presidential room.  And there is a reason it is an enumerated right and a place outside the political process thereby.  

And it doesn't really matter WHAT the arm is, either.  I am just the same with a 1911, an operating Sherman tank, at the turret of an 8" Naval gun or in control of a B53 warhead.  Though if gifted these last 2 I might need help moving them around.  And the nuke might be too much of a headache to keep in the basement or what have you, so I might sell that to the DoD.

We Taught Robuts to KILL!

Because we were afraid to teach them how to love.

Discombobulated

I got nuthin.  Or very little.

Hey can anyone recommend a decent quality double barrel 12 gauge with exposed, external hammers?  I don't trust those internal ones.  It just doesn't seem safe.

If no one makes a decent double barrel for a reasonable price these days, what's a manufacturer I can look for on the used market.  I know you can get some OLD stuff out there that you might not want to use with modern loadings, and that's not what I'm looking for.  

Premiers tonite, History Channel

Home Brewed

There have been lots of stuff, lately, about 3D printers to make receivers and magazines and smallish milling machine coupled with available CAD/CAM software.  Here is the latest I've seen.

I, like many gunnie type people, am a bit of a contrarian.  I have also dabbled in various industrial arts as a hobby.  Combine them both and I am liable to spend $20,000 on a machinery set up to roll my own $500 receiver for a 1911, or a M14, or a what have you.

Not a good return on my investment, but think of the blog fodder!

"I am relatively handy with tools and such, but nothing to write home about.  But I spent N and bought X Y and Z and a piece of metal and made THIS gun.  I made a buncha mistakes like A B and C and if you don't do that, you can save some of that money and minimize N.  If you only want to make parts for gun X you can save even more money..."

Heh

A Libtard compatriot sent me this:

Figured you could use the entertainment, so I post.

DEATH VALLEY

Why had I not heard of this TV program?!!!!!

Walking Dead Ep 2

We were 45 minutes into a show about zombies before we saw our first zombie.

~sigh~

At least Deputy Shane and his trusty new sidekick Otis are in a good spot.  "Go out the back of the school, you two, while the Zed try to get at you through the door at the front.  They Zed aren't that bright."  Either are Shane and Otis, apparently.  But they are upset.  It's understandable. Give em a sec to shake off the shock of a narrow escape.

Little Tongue

I talked about how I didn't like the S&W M&P trigger.  But there is one thing I'll grant it.  It doesn't have the little tongue on it.  I despise that little trigger safety.  Well, maybe despise is too strong a word.  Disdain?  Dislike?  I'd prefer they didn't exist.

I disdain Glocks as much as I disdain M&Ps.  One reason is I shoot Glocks poorly.  Another is it has that little tongue on the trigger.

I like the Springfield XD, ok.  Mainly because I shoot them relatively well, but there is that dang annoying tongue on the trigger that I wish wasn't there.

Recoil from firing can make that little tongue abrade your finger tip over time.  Owie.

Maybe the stupid little tongue is the reason Larry Vickers recommends HK or M&P if you want a .45 pistol.

I have no idea

I have no idea who took this picture so I can't credit them.  I thought the visual of the shock wave was interesting.  He hasn't even recoiled yet, which seems odd, but...

One shockwave propagating in a circle around the breech (it seems) and one as the muzzle, and a little wave around the projectile.

The Problems with Walking Dead

The show is losing me.  So many reasons. 

Why?

There is this.  Also...

He's right.  These people are SO stupid.  SO many obvious things they could/should be doing.   Ok, I cut them some slack.  SOME slack.  They are still a bit freaked out and and floundering for a place to hole up.  First was the CDC building.  Which could have been awesome, if it hadn't blown up.  Not they want an Army base.  They are a bit frantic while they are rootless.  But still...

Dump the Winnebego!  It's known to be unreliable, and of limited real utility.

It's a 100 mile quest you are on.  Scrounge 4x4s.  Even military vehicles.  Everyone that can drive, drives.

Put a slow guy with a map at the front.  Put a fast guy at the back sweeping up the stragglers.  Have a prearranged signal so the guy at the back can stop the guy at the front.  Have a prearranged signal where everyone one floors it.  Have a prearranged signal where everyone scatters and makes their way to a prearranged rally point A and rally point B.

When you stop to scrounge for gas, water, food, clothes, guns and 'other', vehicles in a laager, security goes out to watch for trouble, scroungers quickly work through the stuff.  Society has crumbled.  That may be the last can of lima beans del Monte ever makes.  GRAB it.  Kids stay in the cars.  It's a 100 mile quest, averaging 25 miles an hour. Stay the hell in the car, kids, except to poop.  It's only 4 dang hours! 

We've seen lots of military vehicles, but only one military sidearm.  Where are the M16s?  Zombies drop what they are carrying.  They leave their guns behind in or near their vehicles when they get killed. 

And, grown-ups: STOP having sex with each other until you re-secure good shower/bath water.  Worry about repop later after things have settled a bit.  How even the horniest teenager type could get in the mood with all that BO on top of the corpse smell of a million or so Georgians in a 50 mile radius is beyond me.

This Sunday's ep better knock my socks off or I am writing this show OFF.

Mag Pouches

Do you have lotsa magazines for your primary rifle?  Of course you do.  So do I.

Do you keep a lot of them loaded in case of a Zombacalypse or a GOOD situation?  I bet a lot of you do that, too.  I know I do.

Hey, are those mags just sitting on a shelf, stacked neatly?  Well what good is that?

I have a personal policy, that I kinda recommend:  Keep your mags in something that is easy to tote.  Like in an ammo can.  Or in mag pouches, might be an even better idea.  Every M14 mag I own that works is in a pouch.  Well, except the one in the rifle.

You don't have to do as I do, it's just my opinion of what I think is a good idea.  I like the Michigan Tactical Supply pouches, and bought a few, because they are relatively cheap, they work just fine, and they fit my .308 size mags.  Those with AR15 rifles have even more choices out there.  Bandoleers are relatively easy.  They just have to not fall apart.  Not a lot of stress put on them.  The old vintage M1 Garand enbloc bandoleers were practically rags right out of the crate.  When I go shooting, I just grab the pouch that hasn't 'been' to the range for a while and shoot up the ammo in those to keep circulating the ammo and testing mag function.

Hippies

In a way, this whole Occupy Public Parks, Use Them For Terlets movement is a good thing.  A lot of younger colleagues didn't understand my disdain for hippies.  They didn't remember the 70s.  Then THIS happens and they are reminded, for the first time, what hippies are...

I stood up on my desk at work and shouted to the cube farm, "You youngins... Pay attention to the hippie protests!  I've seen you look askance at me before.  Talking about me behind my back.  'Why does Old Man T-Bolt hate hippies so much?'  Well NOW you see!  You see what it was like back in the day.  It'll get worse, too.  They'll get even dirtier.  CRAZIER.  But we need the hippies to act out like this every now and then so a new generation will understand the horror!"

-----

Hmm.  There was a spike in crime in the late 60s, early 70s.  Hippies!  There was another spike in the mid 80s, early 90s.  Sons of Hippies!  Hippies cause crime.  Joe Biden is right.  There is a crime spike coming.  

I learned that SCIENCE!tific conclusion from Bore Patch.  His patented: "How to win an argument using and ancient Roman fool proof technique.  Ergo Proc Hock Aster Procon.  Or something.  Boil it down, you win your argument with logic because correlation equals causation.  70% of the time it works every time."

Holy crud!

Google is featuring RobertaX's doppleganger today.

Intriguing

This is interesting.  Saw it on Alphecca first.  But lots of bloggers have reported on it since then.

It's the removal of the requirement that you can only buy a pistol in your home state.  Which made sense in 1968, as folks in Nevada wouldn't know or have access to police records in Maryland to know if you are a choir boy, or an ex-con bank robber dressed up like a choir boy.  Nowaday, NICS checks makes that superfluous

So I'd be able to go to the gun show in Virginia and actually BUY something and not have a lot hassle?  Or I could save a lot of money on gun transfers by just driving 2 hours to a gunbroker.com dealer in PA and doing the NICS check at that dealers shop instead of having it shipped it to my local FFL and paying shipping and $75 transfer fee?

Cuz, you know, when I want a pistol I want a very specific model.  And I might have to go far afield to find it.

Talk about common sense gun laws!

Range Report

Well, I said I was gonna.

Took the Colt Commander down to the range.  Shot off about 100 rounds.

Now, LAST time went shooting, my lil' epiphany was, "Hey, no foolin'.  Really really REALLY concentrate on that trigger squeeze."

So, after I shook the rust off, I really concentrated on that.  How?  Slowing down and squeeze so imperceptibly that the pistol seems to go off of it's own volition.  The so-called surprise break.  Grip really hard and the only finger NOT trying to strangle the pistol is the independent trigger finger.  Hold your breath, get a sight picture on the front sight, and that whole squeeeeeeeeeeeeze thing.  We all know about this.  I'm just more reliably DOING it.  When I do manage it, I still hit to the right and lowish, but it's MUCH closer to the bullseye.

I am so jealous of people that always hit the bull or around it with their carry pistol.  I can't tell you how frustrating it is not to be able to do that naturally. 

And I know this super slow concentrated trigger would be totally out the window in a self-defense situation or under the stress of something like a IDPA type competition.  I'll be back to "get the sight picture, make the gun go bang" manual at arms.  ANd the holes will be low and right.  How do people train that out of themselves?  I have no idea.  At least my sight picture is not a problem.

You know, when I cheat and aim high and left, the bullets STILL fall in the low and right area?  I try not to compensate like that, often.  For one, it doesn't help.  And what if I actually do hit what I am aiming at someday?

Another fun little wrinkle.  Some of the ammo I broke out this time WEREN'T simple hardball .45ACP FLJ.  They happened to be 230 grain SWC.  Semi-wadcutter.  There is a little ridge around the copper clad bullet near the case.  This helps make sharper wholes in the target paper.  It's also something that can hang up on the feed ramp on 1911s that are finicky about what they eat. And since I didn't know if MY 1911 was finicky, I was looking forward to finding out.  No problems.  One less thing to worry about.

LISTEN UP MAGGOTS!

I am Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your senior knitting instructor, and from now on you will knit only when instructed to, and the first and last words out of your filthy sewers will be "knit one purl two," do you maggots understand me!

!

Back Scratcher

Zombie Back Scratcher

For scratching YOUR back.  Not a zombie's back.  Why would you want to scratch a zombie's back?  Sheesh.  Sometimes you people aren't too clear on the concept...

Search Engines

One of the terms that get people to this site is "Double Barrel Revolver."  WhaHUHHH?

Did I mistype and string those word together at some point?  Well, a lot of the google links here are to derringers as one of my most popular entries was about a mythical .44 MAGNUM Derringer. 

But there is the LaFaucheux.  A French 20 round revolver that had two barrels.  It strikes me as something Hell In A Handbasket, James Rummel, would have written about, too.  He likes this kind of stuff.

And now I'll get MORE hits for .44 Magnum Derringers and double barrel shotguns.

Do I have this right?

Distilled down, the Tea Party and the Occupy Wall Street are complaining about the same stuff but with one major difference about what do about it.

Tea Party:  "Boo, Corporatist Gummint types and rent seeking Companies and Firms!  Stop taking our stuff and leave us alone!"

OWS:  "Boo, Corporatist Gummint types and rent seeking Companies and Firms!  Give us free stuff and take care of us in loco parentis!"

Did I get that right?  Am I missing some angle?  Is that the brass tacks?  Obviously I'm giving the soap-dodgers a lot of credit.  They talk a big game; socialist revolution this, chop off the heads of the greedy bankers that...  But I will give them a HUGE benefit of the doubt and call that part of their faction mere cranks for the sake of this argument.  If they are given free Gummint Cheese and a promise to be taken care of they'd melt away without their revolution or any heads on pikes, methinks.

Same with the Tea Party.  They'd never march again if their tax burdens were lessened and gov't types got out of their faces so that they, the Tea Partiers, could go back to working and living out their lives as they saw fit.  Never marching again would be a mistake.  If you take your eye off a bureaucrat he'll just go about trying to find a way to harm you and then you have to pay attention to him again.  Your best bet is to keep him afraid of you.  If a bureaucrat is scared of you he does less harm.  As opposed when he is just scared.  Then he can cause a lot of mischief trying to protect himself.

[Ha!  And Pajamas Media has a bit on the difference, too, Between the Tea Party and Fleabaggers.  Money quote:  "How does one start from the same basic objection and reach the polar opposite prescription? The answer is a lack of maturity."]

They Shot Themselves in the Foot

With me.  Probably for all time.  I will never buy an M&P.  Why?  When I tried them, I shot them poorly compared to other guns.  This is mainly because of the HORRID trigger.  I'm not alone in this assessment.

Money quote by Gunbot!  "I can’t imagine Smith and Wesson selling a product with such a crappy trigger, when the fix is so simple."

I'm glad he solved a problem, but when I shop for firearms I avoid known problem guns.  One of his problems was the weight of the trigger pull.  That's less an issue for a non-race-gun Me, as long as it isn't too light or too firm.  But the grittiness and just the feel of it.  That's why, for me, S&W M&Ps are in this cubby hole, semi-permanently.  I will say that I like that they don't have that little tongue of a trigger safety like you find on Glocks or XD.  Never a fan of that on high round count practice sessions.  Other than that, BOOOOO, Smith and Wesson.

Same with revolvers with zit trigger-locks on them.  Booo.   I'd buy more new revolvers from them if not for the zit.  I did buy the zitted up 617, but that's merely for practice.  Come to think of it, of my S&W revolvers, that's the only one where I am the first owner.  Revolvers are expensive.  That scares people off.  Not me.  But to purposely make your revolvers less nice?  It's even an added expense for them.  I just don't understand the thinking at the post-Clinton S&W.  Who wants any of these bad features?  How does it sell them more guns at less cost to them?  It makes no sense.   

Walking Dead PSH

Oh, good, the self-appointed "authorities" are deciding which people in their little group are "allowed" to carry a gun in Ep 1 Season 2.

The end of civilization and they are still arguing who deserves to effectively defend themselves.

"I'm a deputy!  I'm trained to use firearms.  That's why I have one and you don't."

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

Hey, the church bell over the speaker is on a timer.  So that means that little country church still has electricity...

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

That ending!  OH!

Et tu, Oleg?

Shotgun?  For zombies?  ~sigh~



"You never select a shotgun as your primary anti-zombie firearm.  It's great for onesy twosey, but zombies travel in hordes.  The reload time is onerous, and the ammo, while effective, is heavy and bulky."

For the SEXY Zombacalyspe

Eew.  Yes, a little bit eew, that such a thing exists.

• Kit contains: 3 lubricated condoms, 2 packets of lubrication, 4 wet wipes, 4 compressed towels, and one disposal bag
• Comes with zippered waterproof bag

Not .40, but how bout...

The .357 Sig...

I HAVE a Sig P229.  I could really get into an ammo cost issue and just get the .357 Sig barrel for it.  I tried someone's .357 Sig and was expecting more recoil, reminiscent of the .357 magnum revolver.  To tell the truth,  couldn't perceive a difference between it at a .40.

The .40, ballistically, isn't THAT much better than a 9mm.  But a .357 Sig has quite a bit more to it. 

Speer Gold Dot, fer instance, the data looks like:

.357 Sig       125 GR    1350 fps      505 ft.lbs
.40 SW        180 GR     1025 fps     420 ft.lbs.
9mm           147 GR     985 fps        316 ft.lbs.
.38 +P         125 GR     945 fps       248 ft.lbs.

And I am most likely to be carrying the .38+P equivalent.  To switch to a .357 Sig, I'd have a bit more in holster.  With not much more felt recoil.  Can that be right?  Bah!  I grow weary of my own spouting at this point and must ground myself.

Power of the cartridge is not the be all end all, of course.  Of course.  If I may quote:

"Way more important than caliber, even more important than readiness condition of your sidearm (with the caveat that if you're carrying for self-defense, it should be ready), is if you are ready."

 Trudat.  What she said.

My First Car

Was NOT a zombocalypse vehicle.  Sorry Borepatch.

It was a 1982 Chevy Celebrity I got in '89, and it cost me $100.  Gray with a blue interior, it sported the standard GM headliner failure.  It had lived by the Chesapeake Bay and the rear chrome bumper was held together with silver spray paint.  It went away after I got T-boned in the driver in a blind intersection by some SUV.  Glass window everywhere like thousands of diamonds. 

But that model was known for its safety rating if not much else and I was unhurt.  The roof had a wrinkle in it, indicative of a bent frame.  It drove me 50 miles home, with me sitting 12 inches further right, without a problem.

It looked like this:

But I didn't have the snazzy hubcaps on mine.

It was ALMOST something like this, but Dad got offered too much on the trade in when I was 15 and he was shopping for a new car:

1978 Pontiac Bonneville.  I wish it had been that car...

I had slammed my thumb in the door a year before.  Those doors are HEAVY.  Lost the nail.

Beware!

Here come... The Walken Dead!

.40 Utility

When looking to scratch an itch for a new gun, like I was doing last week with that .40 idea that got stuck in my head, briefly, I must recommend Gun Finder. 

It's a pretty neat interface that will help you research what is out there for sale.  In this case, I put in '.40 caliber' and got 167 different pistols to choose from.

It's not perfect.  For instance, I don't see Sig on there, and it could use a mouse-over labeling system, but it's still a good way to get your head around what is available out there.

And it's not just for pistols.  Let's say you are a lefty and want a .308 rifle...  Ok, ok, I'm kidding.  They don't have a search term criteria for lefties...  but maybe someday... HINT! HINT! 

All of them LOOK like lefties because they arrange the photos that way.

Zombies and Shotguns

It's been my bugaboo, my particular blog-row to hoe.

I've said it before:

"You never select a shotgun as your primary anti-zombie firearm.  It's great for onesy twosey, but zombies travel in hordes.  The reload time is onerous, and the ammo, while effective, is heavy and bulky."

But the advice to grab a scattergun when Zed rears his undead head is widespread and I feel I'm rowing against the tide (to mix some metaphors, and I'm probably not done.)

We are going to lose a lot of folks if we don't nip this old wives' tale in the bud. (Phew!)

Sure, readers of this blog tend to know a thing or two about firearms.  It's the more casual shooter that JUST has the shottie.  Maybe 2 boxes of shells for 50 rounds of ammo.  And those are probably #8 shot because #8 is cheap and plentiful and come in boxes of 25 at the retail emporium.  They'd be better off with grandpa's .30-30.  Same reload time, but .30-30 is more effective at ranges greater than 10 feet.  Compared to birdie shot.  With improper ammo selection and otherwise very effective short range shamblor-retirer becomes as long range as a halberd.  In other words, clutching-distance.  Remember, a zombie won't say, "Ouch, my chest and abdomen has been filled with 60 teeny tiny pellets.  I think I'll flee now."

I'm gonna have to rely on YOU to help spread the word, dear Reader.  All both of you.  Zombie defense often comes up in bar conversation these days.  Especially after a few adult beverages down at the pub.  Please please please try to insert:

"You never select a shotgun as your primary anti-zombie firearm.  It's great for onesy twosey, but zombies travel in hordes.  The reload time is onerous, and the ammo, while effective, is heavy and bulky." 

into the conversation. 

The life you save may be your own.  The sooner an outbreak is effectively opposed the sooner humanity can claw it's way back to the top of the food chain. 

But, hey, THIS is kinda cool.

Friendly

Mo' Foh-tay

And on that note...  Does anyone make a 1911 that shoots .40?  Hmmm.  I don't mean like the ultra compact Springfield EMP type.  But a full sized one.

I've seen very nice 1911s shoot .38 Super.  And this one shoots 9mm.  Sweet

The mags wouldn't be the same as a 1911, interchangeability wise.  Naturally.  And you'd get, what?  An extra round in a single stack mag?  Not much point at that.  Unless you REALLY loved the .40.  I'm in LIKE with the .40, not in LOVE. 

But for some reason, this thought intrigues me.  An all-metal, single-stack, not quite duty-sized, .40 of some flavor has for a while.  Kahr has a version, yes.  Word is, Springfield dropped them from their lineup a while back.

I don't know why I'm not satisfied.  Probably subconsciously looking for a hardware solution to a software problem.  At least I'm looking for hen's teeth.  If I was looking for something a little more common I'd be 'wasting' money on guns that turn out not to be magic when I get them

That's how I ended up with the Sig P229 DAK.  When I borrowed one I just shot those 2 magazines so darn well.  When I bought it, I didn't shoot it as well.  Such is life.  But I still shoot it ok, and would love to carry it more, but the thing IS a bit bulky.  I can't imagine carrying something that thick all the time.  If it was as thin as the 1911, but that smooth and that operating system...

Zombie Hornady

Oh good Lor... HEADSHOTS, people! Headshots!

Has Romero been speaking to a brick wall for 43 years? Sheesh.

ZS PSA 2

Bug Out Bag.

.40

Lots of hate on for the .40.  Well, not hate, per se.  Says Uncle, I think, summarizes it as something like, “10% more effective than the 9mm, but 50% more cost.”

Yeah?  So?  This is America.  The .40 is OUR Europellet.  Without the Europe.  More expensive?  Yes, but in THIS country we drive gas guzzling SUVs no matter what the cost of fuel.

Besides, I’d hate to think of Jeff Cooper’s zombie looking on me with quiet disdain if I armed myself with a 9mm willingly.  It’s bad enough I have the .40.  Instead of the superior .45ACP

Seriously, though.  I've heard, essentially:

"But with a 9mm, I can carry a pistol with 19 in the magazine.  And since that Miami FBI shooting shows that sometimes it takes more than 12 rounds of 9mm to stop a fight, you're gonna want that many.  Or in case you are flash-mobbed.  You'll be sorry with only 5 or 7 or 12 rounds, even if they are better bullets like .357, .45, or .40."

Really?  There is a difference between what schmoes like us will have to deal with in using a pistol in self-defense against a criminal/s and what the FBI had to deal with in the Miami shootout, you know.  When a single bad guy or a mob picks you in their victim selection process they are on offense, you are on defense.  They are looking to score, you are looking at fight or flight.  When the FBI chose that bad guy THEY were on offense, and HE was fight or flight.  I don't want to say the FBI had an issue with its 'victim' selection process, because that bad guy was no victim, but fight or flight was definitely in the bad guy's court.

If a mob presses an attack against a victim that starts resisting with a firearm to the point that magazine capacity becomes an issue how is the 19th round in the magazine of 9mm really gonna help?  I really don't see the help.  1911 with a reload mag, and don't use the pistol to provide covering fire like you were in a rifle squad with the USMC.  If you find yourself needing that 15th round of .45ACP then you would probably have needed the 39th round of 9mm with some other gun, assuming similar hit percentages.  No?

But if you are really worried about magazine capacity...  Split the difference and get a 12 shot .40.

"What do you carry, usually, T-Bolt, when you can?"

Uh... 5 shots of .38 +P in a revolver? But I WANT to carry 7 shots of .45ACP.  Or at least 7 shots of .40.

(ya know, blogger doesn't copy/past well over from MSWord.  Always hated that.)

And FINALLY

Brownells is opening their eyes in the preparation field for the greatest menace mankind faces.  I highly suggest you chec...

WAIT!  THEY RECOMMEND A SHOTUN?!

NEVER!

You never select a shotgun as your primary anti-zombie firearm!  It's great for onesy twosey, but zombies travel in hordes.  The reload time is murder and the ammo, while effective, is heavy and bulky.

Zombie Preparedness Center

Like it says.  For humans AND for zombies

h/t JayG

Zombie Squad PSA

Yeah...

Old NFO's SCAR was pretty sweet, wasn't it?  Gave me a serious case of the I Want Its.

I'll be interested to see it get more widely adopted by the DoD.  Perhaps as a Designated Marksman rifle with the 7.62x51 SCAR-H.  But I give up trying to predict future procurement practices of the military.

Old NFO...  You had the 7.62 version at Northcoast?  I would not have guessed that.  I assumed it was .223.  It didn't FEEL like 7.62 recoil...  

Price be damned, I'd already own one if the mags were the same as the M14.  M14 mags you have to rock into place.  SCAR .308 mags are like M16 .223 mags.  They go straight up and in to a mag well.  Which makes sense since this is FN, maker of the FAL, and not some US gummint armory in Springfield.  Anyway, the mags I have are not compatible.

My Zombie Fambly

If only it was this easy to identify zombies.

Window stickers.

WWZ update

Little setback for the World War Z film production involving their firearms. 

They ran a bit afoul of Hungarian gun laws and hit a snag with local law enforcement.

I guess the SIR (Standard Infantry Rifle) invented, in the future, to kill Zeds, has been pre-banned in some jurisdictions.

GoW

It's on DVD now.  My VHS tape was getting tired.  It's synergy of many of my interests that I was first exposed to at age 14 on 16mm film.  Blacksmithing, old handtool woodworking, guns, history, and puffy shirts.  All stuff that says 'me.'

The Gunsmith of Williamsburg.

T-Bolt sez check it out.

Ah, smoking...

Self Defense

Getting Rusty

I must plan a range trip for this week coming.  I'm getting too rusty.  I want more time with my Commander, anyway.  The only thing I don't like about it is the trigger is a little firm (but breaks well) and my low skill.  I can maybe get the trigger worked on, or just give it time and use to see what happens with it.  And low skill is remedied with more practice.  Maybe.  I'd love to get like Breda.  Skillwise.

3D Zombie Targets

I better post about this.  Lots of other blogs have, but I need to keep my zombie coverage as complete as possible.

3D Zombie Targets.  That bleed.

Which is odd, because Zombies don't bleed.  Leak maybe...

Titanium

One of those, "I like the idea of it, but when you think about it it just seems unnecessary."

Titanium guns.  A product of the 90s when the Soviet Union dissolved and Russian titanium commodity metal came online for the rest of the world.

You think, "lighter?  that's a good idea, right?"  Well, yes and no.  You get diminishing returns with the added recoil associated with less mass.  Plus the cost is higher than the composites now available. 

I guess if you insist on lighter metals, the titanium would probably be more durable than a scandium or aluminum gun, but the few connoisseurs that insist on that, is that enough to justify the higher cost?

It didn't help the case for titanium that Taurus was the company that jumped on that bandwagon.  Other unrelated quality issues would cast the material in an ill light.

I think these are reason that Ti was a flash in the pan.  For all I know there were other issues.  Like brittleness or somesuch.  But cost is enough to kill anything.

Werewolves

There was a TV episode a while ago that was looking to cast silver bullets.  As a precaution, for obvious reasons.  Or Lone Ranger work.

It was done on Mythbusters.  Poorly.  And all their fault.

The problem was the bullet shrank a bit in the mold.  Metal shrinks.  You'd think they'd know that.  It also undoubtedly had air bubbles in it as if not melted in a oxygen free atmosphere, silver will suck O2 into itself.  But casting isn't my strong point.  I do know that Mythbusters is behind me on the casting power curve.

I was thinking, because of misshapen and shrunken end result, that casting a bullet oversize and turning it down to proper size on a small lathe would have done the trick.  I wonder why Mythbusters didn't think this?  Maybe they had but there are only so much time and resources to devote to a episode's project.

Other bloggers have had better luck.

But sheesh, a little machinist work and you'd have a great bullet, Hollywood.

Occupy Wall Street's 99%

You're not part of the 99%.  But you soap dodging parasites are part of the 49% that me and the 51% (or is it 53%?)subsidize with our hard earned money taken from us in the form of taxes by a wasteful bloated federal bureaucracy that skims their cut before distributing it to things like sidewalks, that I kinda like, and to undeserving hippies.  You're making the more decent members of the 49% look bad.

That said, I'd rather the Police didn't pepper-spray you.  Febreezing you would be better.

Get a job and pay your student loans.  Stop costing people money.  Take a bath, it'll help with your ringworm.  Become responsible grown ups.  I know it sucks, and isn't 'fair' but that's the way life is.  Tell folks younger than you to concentrate on Math and avoid anything that says Arts or [blank]-Studies.  Unless they LIKE janitorial work. Try to think beyond stage one and you'll stop making boneheaded political demands.

Dang Baby Boomers.  They spread this attitude.  Lotsa Baby Boomers that didn't act like fools were way too patient and indulgent with their more idiotic compatriots when it would have been more compassionate to straighten out the dope smoking long hairs in their midst. 

 Like Fred! said:  "Kill the terrorists.  Protect the border.  Balance the budget.  Lower the taxes.  Shrink the government.  Punch the hippies."

/ JayG-Mode-Off

You see, what it is, they voted in what they thought was a nigh ideal president and had a Congress on the same track.  By THIS point in his term, the economy should have been much better, the US would be esteemed in the world, unemployment would be below 3%, and everyone would be happy with their healthcare system.  But that didn't happen.  That COULDN'T happen.  'Unicorns' aren't real.  It's their principles that were wrong.  Good intentions aren't enough.  But they can't admit that the problem was them and their philosophical outlook.  So they can't blame the guy they voted for.  They need another scapegoat.  To them that's the "Greedy bankers and looted the people's piggy banks and control all the money."  Talk about a dangerous turn onto thin ice...  I hope I don't really recognize this tune.


[update:  Professional protesters funded by George Soros, a plethora of Unions, and want the useful idiots want to re-elect Obama, top contributors to whom were the Wall Street firms they are protesting.  I thought hypocrisy was the biggest sin you could commit in the liberal faith?]

Why Is CBS News

Why is CBS News yanking the only MSM reporter doing any reporting about Fast and Furious?  Did the Whitehouse do to CBS as they did to Ford after Ford had anti-bailout commercials, and make a phone call to the high muckity mucks?

"This is an awful nice Network you got here.   Be a shame if anything were to happen to it..."

Smell like part of a cover up to me here.   And I ran over a skunk with my truck and can't smell THAT, my nose is so stuffy.  It stinks that bad

[hey, I might have scooped Mike on this report... He'll have better details, I'm sure.]

[Big news night, this, Steve Jobs, Sarah Palin, one after the other.]

[another update:  Mike is on it.  Cautions not to Panic.  CNS is not squelching reporter.]

More Beard

The BEARD, a work buddy, is thinking on another gun purchase.  Last time he bought a Mossberg.  He had a Mark III already.  He is thinking pistol.

A .45 M&P or the small Ruger 9mm are on the top of his list, but he's not married to them.  He doesn't want to CCW, even if Maryland went all Vermont-Carry tomorrow, so a compact Ruger might not be the best choice, I told him.  That said, I recommended he get off his butt and rent a buncha plastic .45s and any 9mm he wants to try to see what fell comfy and what he shot best.  It's not ideal advice, but the best at hand.  Ideal advice is 2 weeks of 8 hour day training with a really good professional instructor on a variety of platforms.  But he's not going to be doing that.

But I think he has teased me with this wish list before... Yes, he had!

He is keeping relatively consistent from last spring.  Which means he may still be on the LCP .380 for his '9mm' or the LC9.  Both fine for what they are, but I don't know as I'd advise him to go that way next. 

He has a range trip planned with a separate buddy to Hap Baker, where he will try an S&W M&P .40.  Good good.  Decide how how he likes the feel of the M&P.  

GENIUS!

Medusa

I was jazzed about the Medusa Revolver years ago.  See?  2008.

Then Tam referred to a nice little vignette.  Yeah, probably a good idea I didn't seek one out for myself.

The thought, then, was that I could shoot 9mm out of my revolver.  Cuz it was cheaper.  Look like what sounds good in theory only goes so far in execution.   
 

.

Williams Update

Halbrook's case will not be heard by the Supreme Court.  Dang.

Let's see if the SAF case goes through. (Woolard case.  Or is it spelled Woollard?)

Refresher:  The Williams was a guy carrying his Glock in a backpack from one house to another when he panicked when a cop came by.  The cops saw him dump the gun.  The guy, Williams, now faces 3 years in jail.

"You Didn't Move the Bodies"

Tam's snippet about the movie Poltergeist reminded me of something.

I went a coupla dates with a nice woman.  She was renting a house that used to be the caretaker's house of a cemetery.  The cemetery was in Rockville and hadn't had any new 'additions' in decades and was pretty much going defunct.  It's amazing how quickly that happens.  Anyway, there was no real need for a live in caretaker but there was a perfectly good house there, so it went up for rent.

This girlfriend also had a doberman.  Which is a good thing as cemeteries get dark at night, and a big stone garden full of pre-war granite markers, an era where they KNEW how to mark the final resting place of their loved ones with elaborate stuff, well that sorta place attracts emo and goth kids.

Well, a defunct cemetery attracts critters, too.  Deer.  Groundhogs.  You know... groundhogs dig burrows...

It's really creepy when the doberman comes back after chasing away dope smoking or canoodling teenage couples and brings with it a recognizable human rib bone that some fat rodent brought to the surface. 

~shudder~

I've been spelling cemetery cemetary my entire life, dangit!

Generations

I've talked about the father being a hoplophobe,  But was/is he?

My grandfather was born in 1906.  He didn't hesitate to take a 20 gauge to rabbits in the yard.  He didn't like to ace rabbits, certainly.  But they were pests.  Eating his garden.  And he like his garden.  He certainly knew how to shoot.  So did my father.

If my father was into gardening for food I know he wouldn't live trap rabbits and have them spayed.  He'd think, 'what would be the point?'  He's borrow back the 20 gauge and do what had to me done.  And he has raccoons, locally.  Much cuter than rabbits.

And Dad, while in Air Force did indeed go rabbit hunting in New Mexico.  It was more pest abatement than hunting.

I just think Dad came to a point in his adult life, post military service, where he may have decided that no, he is not going to take the life of another human being.  Not so much a fear of firearms but your standard civilized human reaction to the taking of life.   It's just a guess, but that's my impression of the matter when I think on it and him.  I just don't see an angry bone in his body.  Or at least one angry enough.  And the denoument after a defensive shooting is not something that's easy, by any means, for most anyone, to have to process.  I know I certainly don't want to ever have to see the other side of that, living the rest of ones life with that on your conscience, no matter how justified, is a burden undoubtedly.

Kilt

THIS pleased me over much...  If I hadn't already picked JayG to devote my Kilted to Kick Cancer pledge money to, it would have certainly put me over the top.

Garlic Tip

How to Peel a Head of Garlic in Less Than 10 Seconds from SAVEUR.com on Vimeo.

Lots of gunnies are food types...

Up and..

ATOM!!