The Guns of Johnny Sakko

And his Flying Robut.

When I was a kid, there was Ultraman, and there was Johnny Sakko.  Johnny Sakko was known after for being extremely violent for a kids show, but flew under the scolds' radar.  Kids shot guns at grownups.  People died.

I hadn't seen an ep since the 70s, but through the magic of modernity, they can be rewatched now.

I went to that well for blog fodder because I remember the guns being so realistic looking.  To my young eyes.  I wanted to go back and confirm if they were Browning Hi Powers or not.

Not.  They were starter pistol revolvers and rubber duck semi autos and kluged together plastic submachineguns.  Occasionally I think I see a glimpse of what looks like a M1 Carbine or a real Colt revolver.  Probably the rest were all prop guns in mid 1960s Japan.

Though every now and then I think I see a real semi auto.  I think they only had the one as when it is out no one else has that model. It's looks small, but I think all guns on the screen look small.

Anyway, One of the sub machine gun models is this:

Look closely.  That's a bypod on there.  You'd need it too if that bulky thing was all steel.

And this one looks like someone had sticky fingers and stole it from the Man From UNCLE set:

Fun Show Results

Only saw one Winchester Model 88 at the Nation's Gun Show.  It was NIB, from 1967ish, and cost $1200.   Not what I was looking for.  Than, on the way out I saw another!  But it was .243, not .308.  Dang.

I did get to see MBtGE who is recovering well from his back surgery.  And OldNFO came!  He gave me his challenge coin.  It's a poker chip style.  Very nice.  FO is starting to look like a salty grizzly bear.  I offered to help either gentleman shop for a straight razor.  They really aren't that hard to use without injury.

The show wasn't as crowded.  You could look at both sides of the aisle and there was less jockeying about to get past sections.  A coupla Marlin Camp Carbines in 9mm were seen.  A SBS KelTec KSG was seen.  A coupla Kriss Carbines.   A Colt revolver caught NFO's eye but didn't snag his money.  Odds and ends for MBtGE.  I think he bought a nice reflex sight with his phone DURING the show.  I love living in the future sometimes.

I didn't come away empty handed.  Sweet and Smoky Beef Jerky from Dakota Trail, and some Mini Mag for $20 just because it was there.

Yes, the metric system DOES suck

THANK you, Sean.

If I hear another Leftist Democrat complain, "Oh we are so backward.  Only Liberia and the United States still use the old system of weights and measures!"

Don't worry.  We'll start adding more countries to the list. 

You know how I know the metric system is an abomination unto Nuggan?  This came out during the Carter administration. 



I can base any policy decision on passing this simple test:  "If Jimmy Carter is for it, I'm agin it."  There are exceptions to every rule.  HIS exception is signing a law allowing beer brewing in the home that lead the microbrewery renaissance in this country.  Other than that, I would cross the street to spit on Jimmah if he was on FIRE.

The FRENCH invented it. Along with redoing all the months and whatnot in the madness of their revoultion. In the late 19th Century there was 2 big revolution. Ours and theirs. One was the right way to apply the principles of the Enlightenment, the other... Are you going to follow the French's lead? It was a shame when Auld Blighty went the wrong way.

And get off my lawn.

WTF?!!!

So now some audio for an ad AUTO plays on my blogsite.  It's not in any Youtube windows.  This REALLY fries my hash.

Violins on TV

If Lee Marvin says so then it must be true.  Are you gonna contradict him? 

What did YOU get for Christmas?

Mine was light on the gun supplies front.  Just a coupla speed loaders.  Which is great and all, but, I still feel like sumthin is missing...

Maybe I'll hit the Fun Show tomorrow.  Get some exercise.  Spend some money.  Maybe MBtGE and JayG will be there.

What do I want from there?  Nuthin really.  A rifle.  A hunting rifle.  For lefties.  It's really the only hole in my set.  I have perfectly serviceable deer killing rifles, but they are all milsurp types.  And my eyes are older now.  I may need something I can mount glass on someday soon.

Use my Christmas money to buy a Christmas pre-64 Winchester.

Wait, didn't I say that the last time the Circus was in town?  Well, it's more likely for me to go this time.  Instead of 50/50, like...  98%?  99 even.  I have been checking my gun cash of late...

They Look So Small

So, I catch a part of a movie the other day.  Just out of boredom.  The Mummy.  I noticed a pistol.  It looked like a 1911, but it was too small, seemingly.  Could it be a Colt Pocket Hammerless?  And why?  What an odd model pistol to put in the hands or a Brit character in the Egyptian desert.  The hammerless, I mean.  A 1911 makes sense.  More than a pocket pistol in an action movie.

I checked resources, and yup, it was a 1911.

This is not the first time.  Why, on the big screen, does a full size pistol look three quarter size to me?  Odd.  It's not like Hollywood is full of big actors.  It's not like I haven't handled a 1911.

Merry Christmas

Zombie 4.0

PJMedia had a thing on zombies. 

Summarized:

1.0 is Voodoo zombies, big in the 1930s movies.

2.0 is Romero style shamblors.  Bleak and inexorable.  Late 60's 70's and early 80's

3.0 is now.  Even bleaker.  Often sprinters and wall crawlers.

But the zombie meme is played out for the most part.  Until 4.0 comes around.  Oh boy, look out for them.  Prolly be nothing but Leftist Progressives.  They'll eat your brains and tax your assets and waste the money with nothing to show and expect you to thank them for it.

I had something for today...

Dangit!  Monday bupkis is back.

Just rewatched a buncha Miculek videos and that probably erased my blog idea for today.

Was with my Brother and his fambly.  Early Christmas.  The idea came up then.  Prolly zombacalypse related.

After seeing this article on Carteach, and had some Safariland speedloaders added to my wish list back then.  Scored them this weekend.  Merry Christmas.  I wanted to try them out.  Dad was semi-appalled that I'd need to reload a revolver fast, but he usually turns around on such subjects when he thinks on them.

Speaking of Purdey

I wish they'd come out with a self-defense pistol.  Something plastic, and striker fired, with a double stack magazine that comes in 9mm, .40, and .45.

But with classic styling!

Blend this

with this.

That'd look sharp.

And speaking of Purdey, here is a little blurb on the Holland & Holland shop in tony London Towne

Allan and the Holy Flower

An H Rider Haggard offering in the Allan Quatermain line, published in 1915. Allan and the Holy Flower.

Everyone praises Haggard for his racial attitudes with the caveat 'for them olden times.' Sorta damning with faint praise. "The Hottentots were ugly drunkards and the Zulus unenlightened Kaffir savages, but they were loyal and brave fighters and often had a wisdom Europeans should give them more credit for."  Meh.  I just enjoy the books for what they are and shut off the over-sensitive 21st C. sensibilities that society inculcates into all of us.  

It's a free book.  As are most all of Haggard's stuff.   Being old and stuff and in the public domain.

Not much gun content.  A muzzle loading Purdey with percussion caps takes center stage.  There is still an African slave trade in this book, being discouraged by the Royal Navy, but no year is given.  Mid 19th Century.  

The Holy Flower is an exceptionally large orchid in deepest darkest, in the territory of polite cannibals, and Allan leads an expedition to try to retrieve.  Because that's what British clients do.  Months long deadly expeditions far from civilization through territories of known hostiles amoungst disease carrying tsetse flies and malaria mosquitoes.  Did your shaving nick get infected?  Guaranteed to go septic.  Better amputate...  

Wire of Death

Gott in Himmel but them Bosch sure were hard on the Belgians.  And electric fence that killed THOUSANDS of people separated the conquered country from the Netherlands.

Them Germans sure were tone deaf in the Great War.  The shabby way they treated the Belgians, first for invading the neutral country, and then for treating them like crap was a big reason the US had their sympathies aligned a bit against Kaiser even before the Lusitania and the Zimmerman (JUSTICE FOR TRAYVON) Letter.  But this hundred plus mile long 2000 volt killer actually got the Dutch to warm up to the British.  Which was hard to do because the Dutch were miffed about the Boer War and the shabby treatment John Bull handed out down there, inventing the concentration camp and all for that dust up.

I did not know about this.

Winter Weather Panic

Is this an actual thing?  Do people in other states with less onerous gun laws (we couldn't do this in Maryland so much) actually clear out the shelves of their local guns n' ammo purveyors like it was so much eggs, milk, bread and terlet paper at the market, just because of a forcasted blizzard?

Tell me if you've noticed it!  That would be kinda awesome.

Where do you get to shoot these firearms after the ice storm hits?  You can't get to the range.  You are busy shovelling or hauling in firewood because the power it out.  If you are lucky enough to have a range at home, fine, but if that is you, you prolly already have a few guns and plenty of ammo in the home.  If this is someone's first firearm purchase, it still seems kinda unwise to be stampeded into such a big purchase because of a sever weather event. Admittedly, that last storm, it might have been a little rash of me to buy the 96 roll TP package, but I'll get around to using them up eventually.   And I remember dragging my feet to get a new, unbusted, snow shovel until too late that one time and the shelves were bare, but...  A pistol?  A shotgun?  It's not the first thing that comes to mind.  Being snowed in without breakfast food, yes.  Being snowed in without a gun?  Do a lotta home invasions pickup when the streets are unplowed?

 

John Ringo

I heard John Ringo wrote a zombie book. Or two.  Shotguns, I hear, figure prominently.

~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 and short ranged." 

I'll give him a break. His zombies, depicted, don't seem to be standard shamblors.  The infection is airborne, I believe.  Meaning your few isolated survival partners could turn.  Fewer hordes like that.  A bite driven infection is a solid bubble of spreading infection on a map spreading from transportation hubs.  Airborne, you could see scattered outbreaks jumping barriers.   

Must read the book and report back.

110

Years ago.

NRA is controlled by the firearms industry

I know this is true because the gun controllers and the pretty people talking to me on the news programs tell me it is.

Wait, is that IT coming from corporate donors?  Just FIVE companies donate more than a million and the biggest one is Midway where a mess of the money comes from the customers dumping their change into the virtual equivalent of a Leave A Penny / Take A Penny tray by the cash register?

Now I am a bit perturbed the gun makers AREN'T donating a bit more.  Kinda.

But lets do some maths.  Lets pretend that in each category they donated the full mount of that category

Midway = $10M

4 companies at $5M (Beretta, Springfield, &c..,)

Lessee, carry the 2... The absolute maximum that could have been donated is... $50 million.  Half what the minimum membership donation is.  The companies are the junior partner.

300 Blackout

Because I wasn't an AR guy, I didn't know much about .300 Blackout.  I knew it was a .223 cartridge with the neck enlarged to hold a .30 caliber bullet, but could still function in the guts (boltface, mags... &c.) of an AR operating system.  But that's it. 

So.  What's it good for?  Is it comparable to Commie 7.62?  Thutty-Thutty?  .30 Carbine?  Is it subsonic?

To wikipedia!  Learn, T-Bolt!

Looks like an improvement on the wildcat .300 Whisper.  And this would be the 'official' SAAMI round.

Subsonic?  Sure, put a heavy bullet in there, like 220 gr.  Done.  Good.  Your choice, light and fastish and regular, or slow and heavy and subsonic, seem to be the flavors.  Some folks like subsonic for suppressed pig hunting action.

The 'bottle' is smaller than with the 5.56x45mm NATO round. 

It's on the low side of the energy curve for deer hunting.  And really it is about the same at the M1 Carbine, on paper.  Interesting.  The 'standard' .300 round being 10 grains heavier and 300 ft/s faster.  So... a negligible difference.

Another Leftist...

... crap weasel.

Best Hunting Movie

Holy wa. Just south of heaven, Escanada in da Moonlight

He's the DEVIL!

Zombie Swag

For your gift giving needs.

Another Terrist

"Recent convert, acting alone, planned to blow up a truck bomb"

Well, he was alone if you don't count those FBI agents that gave him the bomb.

Single Stack

Everytime I have been in an area where I could CCW, and was also carrying IWB a semi auto, I found I didn't care for the thicker gripped firearms.  Double stacks just aren't comfortable enough for me.  And baseball bat gripped SIGs?  Gah.

So I was happy to see single stack .45s start to get developed more by gun makers.  It gives me other options than the venerable 1911.


But this article showed me a new detail I didn't know.  5 round magazines are standard.  Hmmm.  Hadn't considered the possibility.  Yeah yeah, the extended magazine is available but I guess I assumed they could cram more bullets into a single stack.  It's not a deal breaker, by any means, it just makes me go 'Hmmm.'

But I do like the occasionally put-upon XD line of pistols.  Mainly because I shoot them better than glocks or M&Ps.  But my pistol accuracy is improving with the 1911 a bit, and I trust that platform more now, so my casting a wary eye about may be solution looking for a problem.  I mean, I can have 5 .357 rounds in a Back Up Gun in a pocket holster. 

Guns in School

So a dude in liberal MARYLAND, extra liberal Montgomery County, brings a .50 caliber S&W revolver to his work at the tony and exclusive Georgetown Preparatory School.  Intent on mayhem?  No, just not that bright, and figured he'd be able to take the gun to the gunsmith after work and what is the harm as it is unloaded and he didn't want to just leave it in the car.  That sort of thing.

PANIC!

Thing is, the law in Maryland just applies to public schools.  No guns allowed there.  Private schools, it's not a crime.  So prosecutors dropped the gun charge.  He had some drug paraphernalia on him and they threw that on the charge list, but that is minor charge.  So instead of a 3 year felony he will get probation for the crack pipe or whatever it was.  Justice in MoCo.  Huh.  Whoda thunk.

Dual Wield?

No, dual residency!

I wonder how many gunnies in restrictive states establish residency in whole nother state as a means to get around unconstitutional and or onerous gun laws back in the 'home' state? Say, a New York resident with a condo in Florida. Said New Yorker lives in NY 45 weeks of the year, but has that address down in more friendly Florida.

Or a Baltimorean with a mail drop in Texas. Get a TX drivers license, a mail drop, you don't have to worry about income taxes there, and be sure not to vote in both places. I can own an M1A in Maryland, for instance, and possess it, I can just no longer legally buy one. If I stay in Maryland I am done buying M1As.

And I wonder how expensive that would be...  Would a POBox be enough...

Range Trip

Hitted the range with MBtGE.  He had a .300 blackout upper he wanted to test out, I had further function test of my own AR before I put the carbine away for zombie emergencies and switch back to using real rifles full time again.

Next to us was an older gentleman.  Based on his accent I'd guess was a Hmong immigrant.  He was zeroing in his new-to-him Monte Carlo stocked 10/22 with a Luepold scope, and doing quite well with it. We gifted him a few .22 rounds because there was none to be had otherwise. 

MBtGE new upper was bone dry and that was a problem.  It cycled, properly, almost not at all that way, but it did eject cases, so it wasn't the gas tube.  A little oil helped.  Some.  He might need to tweak the buffer tube spring.  And EOTech took a gross adjustments to zero.  It wasn't even close to paper initially.

Last range trip I was gentle with my AR, this time I put it through the full paces and it ran flawlessly.  So that is good.  I was able to concentrate on the trigger.  It's not the best in the world.  There is noticeable creep to it.  But the trigger reset is very nice.  The results are below, the top, the 5.56 rounds are the 3 near the bull at 25 yards.  The other holes are from MBtGE suppressed and scoped 10/22.  I was aiming at those spots so as not to hide the original sight in holes.  The bottom target is at 50 yards.  A little left, huh?  That's the shooter as MBtGE's hits with my gun on his target tended to the right.

And we played with handguns, some, just to round out the day with my snubbie, a 1911, and a mag of his Glock 17 at my target here.

Posted Elsewhere, about Drones

I posted this on RobertaX's comments, and everyone is posting on the Amazon drones the last couple weeks.  Her topic is how hijacking a remote drone is still a felony, and she is completely right about that.

"I don't want domestic drone normalization.  People get used to seeing commercial drones they'll have less issue with government drones.  When a cop shoots you, you have a man there.  When a drone shoots you he is totally anonymous.  And that individual was playing a fancy video game.

Just because they can doesn't mean they should."

I kinda have a problem with this, but I am still thinking on it.  Our cops could end up being faceless, t-shirt and jeans wearing, untanned Gamerz.  Someone that may have texted in a similar situation in Call Of Duty, "OMG!  Totally pwned that n00b!!!!1!!11!!!eleven"

'Who shot this guy?'  'That policeman!'
'Who shot this guy?'  'Some robot.  I'm sure the gov't will tell us the operator's name if we ask.  They'd never hide that would they?  It was really a team of technicians.' 

In some weaselly cases there is no way to really know who decided to pull that trigger, so not only is the gov't employee safe from physical consequences at the time of the action, they are another layer removed from other legal consequences by retaining anonymity. 

Bad guys have already tried using drones in an offensive and abusive manner.  I don't want bad guys with the limitless wallet of gov't doing it, too.  I want the gov't to protect me from such.

Drones being common is another ratchet of the faceless surveillance state, corporate or government, that we are conditioned to grow accustomed to.  Red light cameras, then license plate scanners, then a plethora of armed drone minders, all for our protection.

Sometimes I don't like living in the Future, and want to be left alone.

Other than Brains?

Pearl

Recycling

When I worked at the brewery we had a lot of carboard trash to dump.  Another brewery had gone broke and we got their cases full of empty bottles.  We had to put these in OUR cases and there was no use for thousands of cartons of a defunct boxes.  So we got a green dumpster to up the paper products in to be properly recycled. 

Hooray!  Helping the environment.  And the rental on the green dumpster was 10 bucks less than the regular garbage dumpster.

Well, I got to work at 4AM every other morning.  I had to filter the beer into a bright beer tank and carbonate it before the rest of the crew arrived to bottle it at 9.  That was early enough to see the trash truck come to dump our bins.  First they'd grab the nasty brown dumpster and tip it back into the truck, back out of that, then dump the carboard into the same dumpster.  It was all going to the same place.  And that place was the landfill.  Suckers.  When we ran out of cardboard to throw out we got rid of a dumpster we had them take the brown one so we'd save some money.

Anyhow, this reminded me of that: 

Scroo you, planet Earth!

Hot Metrocon Action

Saw this from Sebastian.  A column about the dangers and evils of gun confiscation got lots of attention.   Halbrook wrote a column about confiscation of firearms before Kristallnack and was promoting his book,  Gun Control in the Third Reich: Disarming the Jews and "Enemies ofthe State"

Can you imagine the outcry if the US gov't decided to confiscate all the guns of African-Americans or registered Republicans that they'd been tracking through NICS?  Boy, howdy.  Messy.  I think the gun banners aren't THAT stupid, and want to cover that by confiscating ALL the guns, even if they'd prefer to pick and choose where they took them from.  Sorta makes Grandpa's Arisaka bring-home that the authorities doesn't know about more valuable, huh?  Have ammo for your odd-balls. 

Cheers!

I need a drink!

It's the 80th anniversary of the ratification of the 21st Amendment, today.

Buy Ammo

I failed to secure some ammo on Buy Ammo Day, so I decided to have a lookie loo at the local smoke pole purveyor in case they had anything in stock.  They did.  Got the last box of bulk .22.  Only $34.  Gah.  Never thought I'd say that.  Only.  Here, nestled in some post-apoc headgear:

I think this is the last bulk purchase I'll do for a while.  I want to concentrate on stocking up on higher quality .22 instead.  I'll just have to wait though.  Save the plinking for my Barter-Trade ammo in the coming Hard Times.  Prolly get a big sack of potatoes, a gallon of cooking oil, and a bag of rice for this.  Maybe 50 multi-vitamins.

I found out my gunstore knows and keeps an eye out for some former co-workers I've blogged about in the past.  Corky and Chuckles.  Knows their full names and what they drive and everything.

Lots of guns in stock now.  ARs in heavy barrel configurations, and AR10s are still kosher (though M1As are not) in Maryland.  Pah!  A Colt Commander for just over a grand semi-tempted me but I tamped down that urge effectively.  Dammit.

Also, my Durango did this coming home from Thanksgiving.  I got it with 35,000 already on it, so I want to at least keep it til I personally put 200,000 on it before I even think about shopping for a new one.  It's been a good trouble free vehicle:

Gun and Run

We, the gun-blogosphere 'we', have discussed what you grab in a SHTF scenario.  15 minutes or less to grab the Go Bag, your best rifle, your CCW pistol, and out the door.  Jeff Cooper would have grabbed his Scout Rifle (he'd already have had the 1911 on his hip...)

What if you have more time, and a safe full of guns.  Like a day.  The slow moving magma from the Hawaiian volcano is coming to your neighborhood, say.  You can load the car but there is no time to get a trailer or moving van.  You are leaving your house 'forever'.  And you can't take everything in your gun safe.  You gotta choose a subset.  And this is after the valuable, important papers, photos, and favorite family heirlooms that are portable.  Great Grandpa's gorgeous roll top desk might not make the cut.  Not because you don't want to save it badly, but because you just can't fit it in the trunk of the Grand Marquis.

What got me thinking on this was JayG and his travails moving his household goods to Virginia.  And also where he is crashing, MBtGE's house.

Now, MBtGE has a big and full safe.  Like JayG.  But some of those guns are better than others.  MBtGE has a Hi-Point, for example. Other Saturday Night Special wannabes.

He'd leave that Hi-Point behind.  He'd prolly choose ARs over Mini-14s.  The Ruger revolver would come, but the Taurus?  No.  MAYBE the ancient family double barrel shotty, but maybe not.  Maybe NONE of the shotguns would make it, or only one.  12 gauge shotguns and ammunition are still plentiful and cheap.  Certainly anything with NFA cache would come.  Mainly for the expense, but also the utility.  I don't see him leaving many Glocks (he has dozens) behind because they are small, but onesy twosy things like a FiveSeveN or knockoff Single Action Army that really is less fun to shoot because of the reload times and the rarer caliber... Bye.  Miss you... 

You'd also might think "commonality".  Anything that takes a glock magazine, anything that takes an AR magazine.  Or you may think to leave some of the less expensive magazines behind and take the guns and mags that cost the most.  A whole class of caliber may be abandoned.  Sorry .40 stuff, I already have 9mm and .45 in the case.  A pile of ammo would get left, but definitely some would come for the ride beyond the already loaded.  But NONE of the cheaper stuff would have a spot on the lifeboat, is my guess.  Poor .32 Iver Johnsons...  Poor .270 bolty....

For me, my safe isn't as big.  I'd leave behind pump .22, and lever .357 and all shotties.  Take at least 2 or 3 1911 (gah, I have more than 2!  Can't believe that...)  No 1903.  Sadly.  No SIG.  All the revolvers (.22 and .357s) and a 10/22.  Half the loaded magazines.  Maybe less.  The Garand?  I dunno....  It has a scope...  Maybe just the scope.  Damn, that would depress me.  The M1A and the AR definitely.

The next thing is... why do you have those guns that you'd abandoned?  Well, I have them because they are neat.

I bet if Tam had this exercise she'd take the "User" guns and spares, and leave all but the cream of the "Collecter" guns.  But she is less sentimental about it.

Middleman

Flowers for Algernon!

Breda introduced me to THIS TV series.  Only one season (like Firefly) but it is right in my wheelhouse

It's about a guy, milk drinker, Ike Jacket wearer, and one man problem solver in a secret agency that fights against the forces of evil. The secret agency is so secret that no one knows who or what it is. He's just the middleman. And he recruits an apprentice the first episode. Wendy Watson, aka Dub-dub, aka Dubby. The front end is run by the matronly yet cantankerous Ida, who doesn't trust reefer smoking hophead 'hippies.' Or 'people under the age of 35.'

Ep 5 is about fish zombies.  Instead of brains, they crave trout.

It's got gorillas shotting Tommy Guns.

T-Bolt says to check it out.

Italian Zombie Movies

I didn't even know this was a thing! 

Apparently after the Italians were done making westerns they made a buncha zombie movies in the 70s and 80s.  And I had no idea until this weekend.  Now I have a lot of catching up to do...

This set of clips is a bit gory:

Don't have much...

Here is an instructional film on how to be a steam locomotive engineer.

The Goggles, they do NOTHING!

Standard eye pro at the range is for suckers.  Not when you can sport THESE and look cool.  Only 15 bucks.

Now I won't look like a dork.  AND I'll be ready for Steampunk cosplay or a Mad Max style dusty colander wearing apocalypse.  Done and done.

And get a good hurricane lamp while you are at.  NOT 15 smackers....

It's Not A Proper Nickel Heist

At the mint if there isn't a lady with a baby carriage nearby.



Click to embiggenate.

No Blog Today

Today it's Turkey Day.  Gonna take a blog day off.

Run, Fat Kid!

The American Heart Association reports that kids today are more likely to be eaten by Zombies:

• Around the globe, children are about 15 percent less fit than their parents were when they were young.
• In the United States, kids’ cardiovascular endurance performance declined about 6 percent per decade between 1970 and 2000.

Kids are too damn slow. 90 seconds slower than their parents. And I bet kids use proper clothing when they take em out for a run at recess to test this. When I ran the mile in elementary school 30 some years ago we ran it in corduroys and buster brown earth sandals.  So unless the youth of today is saddled with that tragic beltless pants problem I've seen, lately, they should be faster.  No.  Too much pie.  Snack for the undead now.

Twit

What’s a “tactical flashlight”? Does that mean you use it to kill people? http://t.co/066Q7lmneh

— Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias) November 26, 2013

Vintage Range

Why can't indoor ranges be like this nowadays?

That's from here, a pre-1925 range.

It's less claustrophobic with that high ceiling.  Sure, it's probably not THAT well lit, here, what with no windows [heh!], but with that height you can get some better light sources. 

The best range I've been to is the one at NRA headquarters.  Good lighting there, certainly, but I'd love to see a ceiling this high with all the other pluses NRA HQ offers. Plus better options there for prone and sitting position shooting

Dem Bones

I'm thinking of registering as a Democrat.  No, I didn't get a lobotomy...

I'm in Maryland.  It'd give me creds with the the local ruling class.  I can vote in THEIR primaries and such, since one of them is gonna win anyway.  And I can say on forums, "I'm a registered Democrat, but.... we really should open up Shall Issue in Maryland."

What do you think?

Watch Out for Snakes

25 years ago...

knock out

All this talk of the Knockout Game that seems to be in vogue again in the news is the usual histrionics from the media.  I know of people in Maryland talking a big game:  "Ima carry my CCW piece even without a Maryland permit and just take the risk."

Well, you don't really NEED to.  This falls into the the whole not going to stupid places to do stupid things with stupid people.  That and lack of awareness of your surroundings.  More than 2 or 3 young men with no accompanying women?  Warning sign.  Males that were conversing that stop when you come into range.  Flags should go up.

I haven't placed myself into a situation where the knockout game was an option against me in a long long time.  And don't be fooled, this is not really a new thing.  There is nothing new under the sun.  The media is just paying attention to it again.  There will be all sorts of hand wringing, I'm sure.  And just because it is a ginned up controversy doesn't mean it isn't serious.  You just gotta not go around in Condition White, no matter if you are CCWing or not.  Awareness.  Stay alert, stay alive.

A new Metrocon

I complain about the Metrocon Fortnightly, but I first heard this pro-gun Michigan news from them.  So, GOOD for them with the scoop.

 That's a new pro-gun contributor on me, over there.  Sterling Beard.  GREAT name. He's been around but I don't remember seeing him before now. 

50 Years Ago Tomorrow

The premiere of Doctor Who... Something happened today, too, 50 years ago.

Has anyone mentioned either of these events?  I posted this back in the Spring of 2012.

Everyone wants to be cremated these days

Not me.  Bury me.

But if you insist on cremating me, put my ashes in an ammo can and lob my powder into the Chesapeake.

Just like this guy is getting within his favorite holler in West, by God, Virginia. That's a good and tidy way to take care of bidness if you are a gunnie.  Are you listening, Brother?  I'll prolly kick it before you.

Boo.

Buy ammo day was yesterday.  I bought nuthin.  Hadn't failed at that in a while.

Big Nation's Fun Show is this weekend.  Prolly won't go.

Maybe I should.  I am kinda looking for a hunting rifle...  Guess what kind?  Go on!   Here's a hint, it was developed to shoot .308.

If I go to the show I bet I could make up my ammo issue from yesterday.

That was nice.

I had something for a Monday, but not a Tuesday.  Bupkis on Blog-fodder.

There has been a funk in the gunblogosphere of late.  Heck, the whole blogosphere, too, but I only care about the stuff near my corner.  Been doing so for a while.  Sadly, we'd be even more of a shadow of our former selves if it weren't for that surge thanks to a passle of gun control laws almost a year ago.  Why does it take a big ol' tragedy and crisis to glue us closer together?  Why can't a happy time be as sticky?

Are we gonna be gone from the scene in a few years when the next assault of civil rights come roaring down from those that would consider themselves out masters?  Bloggers, I mean.  Gunnies are just as big or bigger and not fading.  Heck, if anything there are TOO many gunnies now.  (I can say that, having climbed onto the wagon a whole 6 years ago.  Berate the newcomers...)  Buying up all the ammo, taking up all the lanes at the range...

I did find a new-to-me gunblogger.  One with a navy tie in.  Guns, Aviation, and Blue-Water.  What's not to like? 

I yam what I yam?

Well, not really.

I use a nom de plume.  My name isn't really Jovian.  Not because I want to be anonymously rude to folks and get away with it.  Not because I don't stand by my statement 100%.  Not because I am worried that in the future something I wrote in 2007 will come back to haunt me.

No, I do it because there are ignorant people out there.  Ones that will take 2 plus 2 on my blog here (that I stand by 100%) and come up with a sum of 43.  Just one HR person that is a hoplophobe could kibosh my employment because they have an irrational fear.

That's why I don't use my real name.  It's not because I am ashamed of anything.

Another reason?  With my real name a burglar that knows I have a firearm or two could do a cursory search to find my home address.  Also less than an optimal situation, no?

Forget burglars, I don't want some of my more worshipful groupies camping out on my lawn waiting for a chance to get a glimpse of me.

Selling Out

My first banner ad.  Click to embiggen.

This made me think of RobertaX

Since she is constantly climbing 5000 foot radio antennas to fix em...

You blew it up!

Video Games

Updated versions of first person shooters are out in time for the holiday.  I like shooty games and would play a lot more if it weren't for my lumbago.

Those 2 franchises originally came out at WWII games.  That was a HUGE fad for a time10 years ago or so.  The fad faded, which is sort of a shame.  Now it's more modern stuff.  Another war came along to capture the imagination.  And jungles are hard to play video games in so Pacific wars were less doable.

I am glad I went through that era of video games.  It was fun shooting Nazis.  

Dispelling the Myth

One shooter at a time.

So, I was at the range with a buddy and his mom.  I mentioned that previously.   Serendipitously, we were able to hit the pistol range.  Also serendipitously, I had my snubbie.

Buddy's Mom and known conventional wisdom in my group were under the impression that the J-Frame was the perfect pistol for ladies.  I opined it would be the last on my list of recommendations from a brand new shooter of either sex.  But proof was in the pudding.  Buddy and Buddy's Mom shot it and sorta understood, then...  And the fact they liked the heavier 1911 and shot it better also helped convince that maybe the J-Frame lil revolver might not be a first choice.

Yay!  T-bolt did good.

I recommended, if they LIKED the revolver, to maybe think about something like more 'regular size'.  Since this was to be a home defense weapon at any rate. 

Subbies

When I was a kid, pre-1986 the neato thing in firearms was the submachine gun.  The Uzi, originally, but then the things BETTER than the Uzi.  (Uzi was the standard to judge the others.)

Did we really know anything?  Of course not, we were kids.

"The Mac-10 is faster [cyclic rate to my young understanding] than the Uzi!  That's the gun you want"

And, with a primary research informational resource of 'television,' these subbies seemed to be able to shoot 100 rounds out of a 20 round magazine.

Toward the very end of the submachine gun pop culture craze, an Arnold Schwarzeneggar movie came out.  I remember it being the most violent movie I had seen up to that time.  Total Recall.  More violent than RoboCop, even.

But the futuristic Total Recall was a great showcase for subbies.  It's The Future!  What kind of subbies would I be shooting in The Future?  Wow, listen to them fire.  Zzzzzzip.  Fast ROF. 

Now that I'm older and thank to the internet I can look up the guns and be properly disappointed.  They were just gussied up 1980s stuff.  But the one I like the best was the cosmetically gussied up Micro Uzi.  It just looked neato to my younger eyes.  And check out their faces!  Grr!

Gun Safety

From a PROFESSIONAL.

Blog Trend

Amoungst the Metrocons Fortnightly

They are getting harder to read on the Corner.  They are offering no opinion, no analysis.  OR they are showing a video of themselves I am not going to watch because I am at work.  They just quote some ridiculous story and then let it stand.  Zero commentary.  Make it harder to monitor them because that is boring.  If I wand a news feed I can go elsewhere.  They are there to develop thought.  Or they were.

TYPE something, fools.  You are conservatives.  Conservatives still know how to READ.

Biologists remove arrow

From deer's head.  Why?  Just eat it!  It's a deer, eat it!  They aren't rare. 

Cripes, ohnoes! that poor lobster is missing one of it's hind claws. Well, give it to T-Bolt. I'll give it a nice steam bath and then rub an oil substance onto the soft tissue. After, I bet I pronounce that lobster 'all good'.

THIS IS WHERE I HAD VIDEO BUT I REMOVED IT BECAUSE OF THE ANNOYING AUTO PLAY

Range

Went to the range this past weekend.  Yay.

A buddy's mom wants to get a gun.  She wants a shotgun.  My buddie only has a 12 gauge and he thought I had a 20 gauge.  Well, I DO, but I gotta dig it out, but for somebody's mom, sure!

This buddy is a former Marine and he has a buddy who is a member of Peacemaker range, so...  Good to know, and we all trundled out to West Virginia.

Hey, this gave me an opportunity to air out the M1A and test the M4gery.  The good news?  I am still able to ring the gong at 230 yards pretty handily with the .308.  I can't quite SEE the gong at 300...  Some surplus ammo is better than others... Also, adjustments made to my AR now has it shooting semi-auto!

Ok, the bad news.  My Marine buddy was appalled at my AR's bolt.  I don't know ARs and appreciated his input and his demo on how to get that thing sloppy wet.  It's still a bit stiff.  Also...  before lubing it up good, I got slam fires.  AFTER lubing it up I am still dimpling the next rounds primer.  Good thing they weren't federal or I'd have many more slams.  Any ideas on fixing this?

Buddy's mom got to try out the 20 like she wanted but she was game to shoot everything you sat her down with.  Even 12 gauge slugs twice.  Luckily, I accidentally brought a couple 1911s and a buncha magazines.  The Marines had never fired the 1911.

You heard me.  Never.  Marines.  What is this world coming to?  They liked the M1A, too.  I need to bring the Garand for them next time.

Anyway, a navy guy and a coupla marines.  They called me a squid and whatnot and I acted surprised that they could read.  A good Veteran's days type outing.

Brits in WWII

Immigration

UC Berkley bans the term Illegal Immigrant.

Fine!  How bout:  Foreign Trespasser?   No?  Alien Interloper?  Spy For Overseas Powers?  Uninvited Public Resources Utilizers?

Aaaaah?

Now I'm Hungry

And also thirsty for Victory Gin!

History

About half the people wore spurs.  Folks preferred pistol in similar proportions to dentists, today, preferring sugar free gum.   And either there were more lefties back then than now, or folks liked carrying 2 pistols so as to dual wield themselves out of a tough scrape.

Behold this historical document:

Dammit!

Bloggers!  Readers of this blog!  If you are invited to be interviewed by a major media outlet about guns to be broadcast on TV then record every second of the process with a hidden camera.

LBJ

I loathe LBJ. What a shite-bird. Except for this one time... When he told Secretary of State Dean Rusk to ask Charles DeGaulle what the French wanted us to do with our cemeteries. DeGaulle wanted out of NATO and for all of NATO to get out of France in February 1966:

"President Johnson asked Rusk to seek further clarification from President de Gaulle by asking whether the bodies of buried American soldiers must leave France as well. Rusk recorded in his autobiography that de Gaulle did not respond when asked, 'Does your order include the bodies of American soldiers in France's cemeteries?'"

-

Verdict of History

It's been 40 years.  Verdict of Nixon:

"Meh.  He was no worse than the previous two arse-holes it turns out.  Too bad he wasn't more like Goldwater."

and.... SCENE.

Plus this:

Parsley

Tam and Roberta recommended chimichurri on my beef.  Said it really made it taste good.  I found some, finally and tried it.

Tam and Roberta lied to me!

Ok, that's over-harsh.  It wasn't to my liking.  I'd have preferred horseradish or A1 on run of the mill beef.  It is store bought jar of chimichurri, so...  Might not be up to homemade snuff.

Last night I made beef stew and the recipe called for parsley.  Hey wait a minnit, I don't have parsley flakes but I do have that stuff...  And it's mostly parsley...

Hey!  A big ol' dollop worked a charm in that!

Duel, 9mm v .45

Raped by the police and hospital doctors?

Because he clenched his butt cheeks?

What the...

This HAS to be a poorly time April Fools Prank.

Or some tax scheme at Guns&Ammo in order to kill the publication in order to write off the failure on somebody's taxes.

Another Zumbo?

I mean it's not like gunnies ever withhold their money from folks when they feel they are against their rights.

Lee Harvey

I'm low on fodder, and had planned this one for the future, but heck the "50 years ago..." thingies are already coming out on this.

From the back of my mind, a question nagged, but is quickly dismissed.

Why did former US Marine Lee Oswald buy a crappy Aye-Tie Carcano through the mail order supply house?  There was plenty of surplus rifles on the market.  Even what he trained with, the M1 Garand.  You'd think almost anything else would be a better choice for his intended plan.

So, without looking it up online, I considered...  Well, he's a commie with a low paying city-gov't job, and Garands are cheap but there is much cheaper in the 1962 milsurp options.  And if he wanted to use a scope, well, the Garand isn't set up for scope.  Oh, and I assumed he trained on a Garand since the M14 wasn't really online til 1960 or so, and I didn't think he'd have been in the USMC at that late date.  So the questions that remain are things like: are there cheaper but better scopable rifles available for Lee and if so, why did he choose what many consider the worst option?

Lemme see what wiki says about Oswald...  No insight as to why except maybe a Carcano could be easier to conceal.

[Wait a second...  This is just like that movie I reviewed.  Oswald used a revolver to kill Officer Tippit and they found cases at the scene.  "Numerous witnesses heard the shots and saw Oswald flee the scene holding a revolver, nine positively identified him as the man who shot Tippit and fled. Four cartridge cases found at the scene were identified by expert witnesses."  Who the hell dumps shells at a crime scene?  Gah!  No wonder there are so many conspiracy theories.]

Anyway, it was reported that Oswald liked prerusing shooting magazines, and bought the Italian carbine in March of 1963.  Here is a copy of the 1963 Guns Magazine issue that Oswald might have read when making up his mind what to get from a sporting goods store and.. WHAT ho, on page 7 is an ad for Klein's Sporting goods, the very same catalog house.  Well, a .30-06 US Model 1917 rifle costs $29.88.  A 4x scope costs $19.88 separately.  You can buy that rifle with the scope already mounted for $39.88.   A much better rifle than the one he bought.

But... on the same page you can buy the Carcano 6.5mm with the scope mounted, for only $19.95.  And this is probably the same ad copy Lee Harvey saw and ordered from.  Wow.  I feel all historian-sleuthy.  I'm sure Klein's sent duplicate ads to all the gun magazines they advertised in, so it may not have have been Guns Magazine that the assassin used.  But it was almost certainly a facsimile of the ad on page 7.  Hey, I'm right.  His magazine was American Rifleman, tho.  According to wikipedia.

So it was cost, probably, that informed his selection.  Has there been a wealthy wack job assassin since Boothe?  If Oswald was looking to buy a rifle today for nefarious purposes...  I guess he'd get a Mosin.  That would appeal to the commie inside him.

[oh, and the whole 'revolver cartridges found at the scene' canard, like they were ejected when he shot the policeman?  That was wikipedia getting it wrong.  Or fuzzy, at least.  The testimony in the Warren Report don't make it sound like that at all.]

It turned into winter

Just now, I mean.

2 hours ago, I come in from work... not winter.

Take the trash out now... WINTER.

Range Trip

Went with the Saucy Trollop to the Hap Baker range a week ago yesterday.  It's nice to have a break and shoot pistols at the outdoor lanes.

I am getting good enough with my trigger control that the area I used to pepper with 'flinch fliers' I can no use as a separate target area.

Most all the .45 I shot at the right shoot-n-see is on the black, if right of center.  There are 3 .44 magnums in the 10 ring, and I shot a magazine of XD40 at the empty white space below my target.  ANd there are double action .38s all over the place.  THAT I have to work on more.

Fever Dream

But gun related.

Sick

Got a bit of a chest cold so the blog well is dry.  More tomorrow with luck.

Get yo ho ready

Watch

You wanna watch that will survive the zombie apocalypse?   Well then you probably want a Maratac.  Simple.  EMP proof.  Rugged.  About the cheapest mechanical movement you can get that has jeweled bearings and a sapphire crystal face.

Almost as good, but much cheaper, but not glow in the dark is the Chinese made like this.

Plenty of cheap quartz out there.  As long as you think EMP won't be an issue.