Safety Goggles

Hmmm, anyone use Horisuns? Do you recommend? -

That time of year again

Based on years of experience, tonite is the night wise TBolts' hole up in the basement with hearing protection and a disconnected door bell.  I would want a repeat of previous incidents that have embarrassed me and inconvenienced others in the past.

Boy was my face red.  Had to call in a few favors for that one.  

More Zed

Thanks Bob, these are AWESOME ve-hicles.

Zombie News

20 million Facebook people are dead.  I TOLD you the zombie apocalypse was coming!  20,000,000 is WAY past the tipping point.  It'll be 2 billion in a week or two.

I wonder how many of those 20 million got infected from drinking this beer?

C'mon people!  Use your head!   You know better than that.  I can't believe the zombie meme is fading when clearly the education of the populace is nowhere near complete.

Wild Bunch

So I mentioned the Wild Bunch, a Sam Peckinpah movie, in a recent post.  Thing is, I hadn't seen that movie.  So I wanted to correct it.

Manly men doing manly things with other men.  In other words, a Peckinpah movie.   You gotta wait until John Carpenter's Thing to do as well.

But the main thing was to watch it with my gun-blogger eyes.  See where a nit picker might get disappointed with the gun content!

Yup, 1903A3 rifles in circa 1915.  Boo!  (the peep sight visible in a closeup gives it away) Also, the trash in the movie have 03s.  (Not all the 03s were A1s tho.)   How many surplus stores were unloading those rifles, then? 

They made a point by having the German arms expert character note that the 1911s the Bunch carries would be difficult for civilians to purchase (they stole them, natch.)

AND there was a tripod mounted Browning M1917 stolen from the army, too.  A bit early for that to appear, but I'll allow it.  ;-)  It was used without water cooling, so...  disappointed, again!

But what did movie goes know about guns in 1969, huh?

LOTS of blood from gun wounds.  Lots of hero absorbing bullets like a sponge and still carrying on fighting, while bad guys with a single wound fall down.  And lie still. 

All in all, I liked Peckinpah's Cross of Iron better.  Better gun minutiae in that movie, too.

JayG

I'm gonna miss JayG.  Sure he is now going to be living in commuting distance.  And he is going to be a really big deal down at NRAHQ, sorta like their J. Jonah Jameson, that he's going to be able to let me into the museum after hours to personally handle the exhibits (heck he'll probably let me borrow items for as long as I want)  But he won't be blogging anymore. 

Not about guns at least. 

Everyone else can write for the major publication AND blog at the same time, but not Jay, apparently.  It's probably because he'll be too busy trying to unmask Spiderman. 

Gonna miss him.  We started at about the same time.  I never thought I'd still be here blogging about gun after he stopped.

It's like he's died, yet he's closer.

Coal Tar

Tam highlighted some WWI era soldier's comics.  I love this stuff.  I feel sorta melancholy that many people know no real detail of the Great War.  Some know nothing at all.  I mean that it even happened.   It takes history geeks to really think on it. 

They'll still wear poppies in November on the BBC for a good while, I bet. 

Anyhoo... these old comics and other non-Master of Fine Arts quality literacture from 100 years ago have advertisements in them.  I notice that about older publications.  The first Boy Scout manual had a plethora of them.  I guess that faded over time.  Commercials moved to Radio then TV then the Internet and your Kindle.  The media isn't in the business of telling stories or reporting the facts.  They are in the business of selling soap, so they say. At the end of the first Fragments from France, there was a soap ad.

Ah, coal tar soap.  It's good stuff.  I recommend you at least try.  Old Grandads is a Pine Tar variety and is available through online purveyors if your local People's Drug doesn't stock it.  There are other varieties, too.  It can be a bit spendy...  Now.  Back then it was 3 three for a shilling.

But, seriously, where are you gonna get your soap?  You need grease, a base, and perfumes to make soap.  And you don't really need perfume.  Maybe some gylcerine, but what is that?  More fat, really.  And where do you get an oil?  From the meat packers, and drilled from the ground and distilled from wood.  Or, from liposuction clinics.  I should make my own, save the money.  Mmm, out of BACON grease!  I'd have to set up a barb wire perimeter around my house to keep back the female admirers.

Garbage Disposal

I won't have one in my house.  Do you know how many people have been stumpified or finger-mangled by sticking their hand down there to retrieve a wayward wedding ring or a particularly tasty olive only to have the local equivalent of Dennis the Menace flip the switch on you, just for kicks.  This is also why I leave the gas stove running all the time.  So the grate above the burner is hot enough to press Dennis' face against.  Haha!  THAT'll show the lil crumb catching blighter.  Bet he stays offa my lawn from then on, too.

I never understood how the original Dennis lasted as long as he did.  He shoulda ended up, mysteriously, face down in Mr. Wilson's septic tank by the 4th episode.  That's if Wilson had the patience of a Saint.

I have a horrible and embarassing confession to make...

I'm a sucker for Wes Anderson movies. I don't know why, it's just some that is.

This one looks to have gun content. 

It's set in Budapest, so I thought of Bubblehead Les...

Pockistahn

I see...

1. Ban hunting near the capitol, and poison the pests instead.  Gunfire was confused with bad men.
2. Ban the poison, as it was killing non-pests
3. Be totally overrun with wild boars.

Washington DC is the same way.  We don't have the pigs yet, but give it time.  We have bear sighting, coyotes, maybe a Catamount seen.  Won't be long before pigs or wolves sneak into downtown via Rock Creek Park and break into the National Zoo for food.

My solution?  Same as for bed bugs.  Dump them in the Senate cloak room and pest control by hunters and/or DDT will be legal as hell.

Especially when the DC feral hog get kinda biggish.  Talk about pork-barrel spending!

The Trick

The trick isn't for everyone to move to a gun-friendly state (Hi, Texas!).  The trick is to make New Jersey as gun friendly as Texas.  If folks are afraid to vote for gun banning policies in Jersey, then people in Texas can worry not at all.

That should be our goal.  And we are getting there.  How many CCW states are there now?  How many in 1993?  How many in 1973?  See?  Winning.  Keep it up.  Fight the good fight where you stand.

But I do like horizons.  I hear they have those in Texas...  Can't afford a horizon in the East, and many of the neighbors are execrable.  

McCain 2016!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHahahahahahahaha!

Big Jake

I caught a John Wayne movie I had never heard of or seen.   Big Jake

1971 movie.  A movie era where the Westerns all seem to have some sort of wonder for the new finagled contraptions coming in the 20th Century.  You see the trend in this movie, in The Shootist, The Wild Bunch.   Others.  It's the hippies and Post Modernist all coming up and thinking that they were ushering a new age, and discarding ALL the out-moded ways of the past.  Starting with a clean slate.  A cultural revolution and a great leap forward.  Age or Aquarius and whatnot.  Fortunately the rest of the 70s put paid to that idea.

Anyhoo, the new fangled item that the old outmoded John Wayne didn't see any use for was the semi-auto carried by his son.  He called it a Bergman 1911, and Big Jake McCandles noted it was only 1909.  The pistol was gonna be big and widely issued in 1911, according to the boy.  He then went to demonstrate the pistol and it shot all over like a machine gun.   You know, like all semi-automatics do even today. 

Now the pistol in the movie wasn't a real Bergman.  In 1971 Bergmans were rarish and it was easier to get a Walther to stand in as a prop gun.

"Early in the movie, Michael McCandles (Chris Mitchum) shows up sporting a revolutionary for the time period, Bergman automatic pistol, but proves to be dangerously inept in its handling. Thereafter, the weapon is carried by the more handgun adept James McCandles (Patrick Wayne). Bergman was indeed one of the earliest commercial manufacturers of aut copies are rare and quite valuable. Consequentially, the weapon shown in the movie is actually a circa 1940s Walther P-38 modified by prop-masters to resemblomatic pistols but they were produced in relatively small numbers so survivinge the much earlier Bergman pistol. This same prop weapon is seen again in the 1973 film, Black Caesar."

Ten Reasons to Write Your Novel

during NaNoWriMo!!!

Well I'll give you one reason NOT to and to never go back to that dreck.  They never sent me my swag 2 years ago!   Scroo them!

Sikh Higher Office

So the son of the Sikh man killed by that asshole in Wisconsin is going to challenge Paul Ryan's seat in Congress.

I wonder if he is anti Second Amendment.  The Sikh man.  Presumably, since he is a Dem/Prog/Lib he has to at least give a nod to gun restriction policies.  Add to the fact that his father was murdered in a mass shooting.

But I don't know.

How does a Sikh reconcile being against self defense especially when a family member died because he couldn't defend himself adequately by law?  That's not how I understand the religion and someone more knowledgeable will have to explain it to me.

My understand is that Sikh are almost natural allies in self defense policy.  And to be allied with a Sikh is as good as being allied with a Gurkha or a US Marine.  Fierce and brave and forthright.  

Natural, allies, but maybe not here.  It bears watching.  I hope I am mistaken.

MD Training

There is now a training requirement in Maryland.  You have to take a class and shoot a pistol.  One round.  ONE. 

And people are noticing there aren't that many ranges in Maryland.  Some counties are bereft.

Though they include Howard County on that list.  My range is in Jessup, and Jessup is in Howard....  Admittedly, on the edge of the county.

The more you know...

Dougie!

So, our state attourney general wants to be governor.  He is a gun banner from the top of his pointy head down to his fungal toes.  (So is his opponent, the Lt Governor, but AG Doug Gansler is loathed a bit more, I think.)

He got in a little hot water.  The Maryland State Po-po let out that he liked to run the siren and lights and go fast fast fast when riding with his state provided motorcade, and at every opportunity.  Prolly made him feel important.  "This extremely irresponsibly behavior is nonstop and occurs on a daily basis."

First he apologized, then he backed down and said there was no truth to it and that the LT (Ardolini) that dropped a dime on him was a 'henchman' or summat, of the governor and Lt. Gov., then he comes out in full support of the State Police and has nothing but respect.  The story would have been dead and buried but he kept digging it back up.

So I have Schadenfreude, whether this is a red on red battle or just Gansler shooting himself in the foot, either way.

Best Quote on the Internet

Eeriest, too...

“Do you know what people are?  They are nothing more than bags of meat with screams inside!”

Well, THAT can't be good.

-

-

DAMMIT!

Dammit!

Dammit dammit dammit dammit dammit.

Now what?

What is the Second Amendment Foundation sending up next?  Do we have to wait until the 9th Circuit chimes in on this dealie before SCOTUS hears it?

AR adjustments

So... the barrel of an AR (at least my AR) has a shoulder about 9/32nd of an inch from the center of the gas port.  and that's the same distance with the sight block port.  Maybe when tightening everything down the sight block crept forward a bit and that was why it only shooting semi.

I reassembled, paying close attention I didn't knock the sight any, and wanted to hit Hap Baker with Saucy Trollop, to test.  You gotta get there more than 10 minutes early if you want a lane anywhere.  Maybe next weekend.

If it doesn't cycle then, then I will have to go back to the drawing board.

He Walks By Night

James Lileks said there was gun play in that 1948 movie, so, what the heck.  I watched it.  Richard Basehart, what's not to like?  A noir gun movie.  Good.  Lessee if they get the details right.

It's a police procedural, and a proto Dragnet.  "This is Los Angeles" voice over and "the names have been changed to protect the innocent" and everything. Jack Webb is in it and pretty much got the idea for his series from this movie, undoubtedly. 

It opens with a police officer getting shot. At the crime scene, some cartridge casings are found.  One problem:  the bad guy and cop both exchanged fire with revolvers.  I rewound a couple times to be sure.  Yup.  Revolvers.

And those found cartridge casings are important to solving the crime.  Oh well, so much for getting it right in 1948.

Definitely a revolver, Model 10, I'd guess.  Long barrel, prominent front sight.  They show another unrelated crook with a Luger, so that made me doubt, but I could see the front of the cylinder yoke when I rewound.

Later, the bad guy DOES have an automatic.  And when lab tech Jack Webb is comparing extractor mark similarity from different crimes, the caliber is shown as .380.  The gun in the Basehart's hand looks too big for a pocket hammerless, plus that was a prominent hammer.   Longer than a 1911, too, tho the character is a WWII signal corps veteran.  It LOOKS most like a Colt M1900.   Except in .380, somehow...  Imfdb seems convinced it was a 1911, but I'm not so sure

But later there is definitely a shot of a 1911.  And it is nothing like the longer semi that looks like a 1900.  He shoves that condition 1 1911 into his pants and checks the Model 10 in his dresser.  Later there is a shotgun fight in the LA sewers.  Oh, my ears.  The dozen cops chasing him would be stone deaf and on disability after this case. 

Nice scene in the sewers.  The battle laterns are REALLY bright.  I guess they'd have to be for some of the better shots.  Nice B&W effect.  You can see the cords from these ostensibly battery operated lights drag behind if you look closely.

Decent movie, tho.   Plenty of guns and gunplay as you'd expect from this era.  Go see it.

MWCOG

Like Sebastian, I was only dimly aware of this body's existence.  And I was certainly unaware of these shenannigans.

Without reading beyond the headline, my first thought was "Thank God for Virginia."

Because we have 3 jurisdictions lying cheek by jowl with one another, it makes sense to get together on stuff that impacts everyone.  Some faction wanted to make gun banning a priority, but the presence of Virginia and the fact that gun control is not a political 'winner' for anyone kiboshed that idea.

Now get back to your silly ideas about light rail and Lexus lanes for the beltway.  You do enough damage with those, but at least it only steals valuable resources from the taxpayers rather than deny them natural rights.

Gyurza

That's a new one on me.  9mm Gyurza.  Never heard of that round.

And there is a plethora of 9mm pistol round variations out there.  From the 9mm Kurz to the 9mm Corto to the .380ACP (.38 inches is about 9mm.).

I've blogged about this before, I think.

And, truth be told, those 3 examples are the same round.   So there are dozens of different 9mm cartridge types, times 3 in monikers.

But when you think about it, that's not to strange.  I mean you could say the same about .3 inch rounds on various bottles, and .45 inch rounds.  7mm.  There is only so many increments, I guess. 

But I had never heard of Gyurza.  Now I want a 1911 chambered in 9mm Gyurza.  I'll start looking.  Except the ammo might be hard to find, being designed to defeat body armor in a pistol caliber package.

Cheap Fuel Cells

Maybe soon.  Local (Fulton Maryland) company Reddox has an intriguing new fuel cell design that may be coming down the pike.  You can hook it up to diesel, propane, or your natural gas line. 

Nifty.

Crap

Got nuthin.

Uh, I gotta get the AR in shape.  Maybe make it semi-auto this time.

Uh... I Cleveland, if the bar is posted, then no guns. If not, no drinking.

MD HQL requirements

Here are the training requirements for the Handgun Qualification License:

• Have completed a Maryland State Police (MSP) approved certified firearms safety course
• Have completed a course of instruction and been issued a certificate of competency in firearms and hunter safety from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources
• Is currently a qualified handgun instructor
• Is an honorably discharged member of the armed forces of the United States or National Guard.
• Is an employee of an armored car company who has a valid Wear and Carry Permit issued by MSP.
• Lawfully owns a regulated firearm.  If you own a regulated firearm prior to October 1, 2013, you are not required to complete the training and may apply for the Handgun Qualification License.
   

I get in on the highlighted areas.  I still need to get the fingerprints, but I don't have to take the training class.  So that makes it cheaper for me to go ahead and do it.  And the same with Saucy Trollop.  Retired or active military don't even need the HQL.  Just their .mil ID.  So my brother (in for 20 years now) would have no issue if he so desired to get a heater.

I got the fingerprints once already when it looked like the CCW was opening up to Shall Issue down here.  Not yet.  Soon... 

Old Timey Zombies

On the radio

Not to step on Alphecca's toes too much, but Old Time Radio is having a Zombie sale.  Buy $10 worth of other stuff and get the zombie stuff for a penny, if you enter coupon code halloween2.

For the other stuff I like the SciFi or the Detective shows.

Monday on a Tuesday

i got nuthin...

But the X-15 holster made me think of this X-15.

I've been close enough to reach out and touch it at the Air and Space Museum downtown (closed now.)

Mach 6.7 and 50 miles up.  Sweet ride...

Holster, Shoulder, Leather, Left

I wanted a shoulder holster and remembered one from when I was a kid.  It was leather and held the pistol in place with a leaf spring inside the leather.  Because of this, it can hold a plethora of pistol types.

Ah, it was a bianchi x-15. 

Left handed, of course.

There is one issue that gives me pause for semi-autos.  See if you can see it:

A little to easy to get stuff up into that trigger area.  Sure, the thumb safety would have to be off, and the grip safety depressed to have an 'incident' with clothes of a pocket pen or pencil touching the trigger, but I still don't like that. 

Fine for my big revolver, however. 

That's what I get for trying to save a buck.  A less than ideal setup.

Shoulder Holster

I haven't worn one, often, but I like the comfort of a shoulder holster.

Less than ideal in the summer t-shirt weather, but still...

And I prefer a vertical aligned pistol.  I don't point it at people behind me in a line that way.

Not too many options out there.  The fashion leans toward belt style at this time.  But I guess the gold standard would be Galco VHS.  All leather, and mag holder options are nice.

And you can swap out the just the holster, if desired.  Get it for your 1911 AND you revolver, say.  

I dunno if there are straps that can extend down to your belt on one or both sides to help keep the rig from flopping around.  And, additionally, act as 'suspenders' to keep your pants up, suspenders-and-a-belt style.  Looks like it may have such on the holster side.  And you can sacrifice the mag holder to get a hitch on the other side.

New 'Un

So, in mid September I wandered into the gunstore, just in case.  I was half of a mind to get this revolver.  It was gone.  But there was a nice Springfield 1911 in there for a very decent price.  What the heck.  In 2 weeks it would be a PITA to get anything in Maryland.  Then, on September 30th, I waited in line 2 hours to pick it up.  Here it is perched in some Zombacalypse protective head gear.

-


I wanted a Series 70 project gun I could work on.  Thoughts of gunsmithing classes dancing in my head.  Just a bare bones stainless GI series.  Most everything a fella could want.

YOU are responsible

You are responsible for your own safety.  The cops have no compunction.  They never have.  In fact they might BE among your assailants.  Carry your guns where you can.  Maybe you might wanna carry them when you can't?

He say's HE won't negotiate

This reminded me.

Obama was on NPR during the first day of the shutdown getting interviewed. He was talking about the debt limit, full faith and credit, yada yada yada.

(Hmmm, funny how NPR is still running since the federal money spigot was turned off. I guess they don't need the money and can run on their own. Time to cut the cord, there.)

Anyway, Barry brings up a big point. If the situation were reversed the GOP wouldn't like it is a Dem congress was doing this sort of thing to a GOP president. Then he gave examples of things he and Dems would like to do. Top of the list items. Items the GOP wouldn't like.

They could refuse to raise the debt limit unless the president signed a 'universal gun background check' bill. We, of all people, KNOW the Leftists want this. It's not news. It's to expose all firearms to the national gun registry they aren't supposed to have but probably do.

But that's not what I want to talk about.

He gave a SECOND example of pressure a Dem Congress that he'd sympathised with would want to pressure a GOP President to do.

"If you had a Republican president in here and a Democratic speaker said, "We're not going to raise the debt ceiling unless you pass background checks on guns. We're not going to pass the debt ceiling unless you raise the corporate income tax by 30 percent," you know, that Republican president would find him- or herself in a similar position. That's not how our Constitution was designed. Raising the debt ceiling is not raising the debt; it is simply saying Congress is authorizing the Treasury to pay for those things that Congress has already approved."

THIRTY?! Sheesh, you really want that? Wow. That's the bigger news. The economy is bad enough under you, but now we know you would prefer to make it MUCH worse?

DC Shooting

By DC area law enforcement.

How in HELL are the Jacobins blaming the NRA for this shooting?  Well they are...

Zed Prep

Zombie survival prep in the news.  One is more worried about bath salt zombies and assorted bad buys, the other is a new store devoted to the object. 

You can never be too prepared to face the level 4 outbreak.  I bet Matt Damon, during the crisis in this movie, wished he was more prepared.



And a noted Meth Kingpin is the head of CDC!

RUMINT

SO there was a rumor going around that the MD AG was refusing to let any pistol be delivered.

"@EmilyMiller Just came from On Target. Heard 2nd hand they were told today by MD State Atty to not release ANY handguns. Total ban in effect"

Hey!  OnTarget is my range.  Well, I was working late and I went to a gunstore a few miles away.  My guy there was featured quite entertainingly here.

Well, 2A Sales and Supplies said they were still delivering pistols and had heard no stop order from on high.

Also, a training establishment opened 2 doors down that will fulfill the training requirement to get an Handgun Qualification License that you will need to buy pistols in the future in this state.  Get their cert, get fingerprinted, fill out the forms and you can buy again.  So there is progress on that front. 

I'm not in a hurry to get the HQL as I'm not sure I want to play Maryland's reindeer games. 

Archie News

Archie, the crotchety old WWII salt that is my neighbor, had a bad turn.  Wednesday night was normal but he woke up up chucking.  His daughter came down and with help from paramedics dragged him out to the car and off the doc.  The doc said to take him to the ER.  He was acting more confused than normal.  That symptom got the nurses thinking, "Hmmm, I bet he has a bladder infection..."  Sure enough, he did.

He spend a couple days in the hospital and is on the mend.  But he was weak as a kitten.  So he will be convalescing up at her house where they can keep an eye on him and get him some physical therapy.  So, no beer nights for me for a bit.

He's a tough old 86 year old.  He'll bounce back.

Too Late

We are suing Maryland for their onerous new gun laws.

MD AG Dougy Gansler, heir apparent to the Governor's mansion, said we waited too long.  So he is moving to have it thrown out.

Oh?  I'm not a lawyer, but...  We don't really have standing until the law comes into effect, today, now do we?  A law has to burden someone before it is generally recognized by the courts.  Segregation was Democrat enacted settled law in Maryland and elsewhere before Brown v Board finally knocked it down.  Is Gansler saying you have only a week or two after the bill is signed into law?  That's not the way I understand things.

Today, I have to have a Handgun Qualification License to purchase a revolver or pistol.  Thing is, there is no way to get a HQL, so this legislation is a defacto ban on me, or anyone else, being able to purchase the best means to protect myself from aggressors.  It infringes on an established Constitutional right.