Back to Skool Daze

Wonder what we will do this class weekend? If I had to bet it will be marrying the slide to the frame. We ruined the slide last week, time to ruin our frames.

Though we have to ruin the barrel in there somewhere. Then the sear/trigger/disconnector/grip-safety/leaf spring butchery. So that covers 3 weekends worth of learning.

Now I'm Sad

M855 ban

So, what's to stop President Perry from rescinding the ATF regulation in January 2017?  Anyone?

U Shaped Pistols

I mean, why not?  The stuff of SciFi, but they are certainly doable.   Go one step further with the Rhino, and Jason Bourne, and the trend is toward optics for your pistol.

Picture something like this, but the bullets come out of the bottom side, and the top side is scope, maybe something ACOG like, with a longer eye relief.  To load, you shove a mag in from the top.  Recoil would be down, so it's steady on a rest and doesn't flip in from of your target when shooting offhand.

Crazy talk, and too weird to take off, but, you never know.  I can't think of any reason why the concept wouldn't work.  Of course that doesn't mean it would work.  It's a limitation here, between the ears, mebbe.

Walking Dead

Haven't watched this show since they pissed me off and drove me away early on, but here is a gun safety tip from the main character:

Oh, ffs.  "Huh, it doesn't look loaded..."

Microstamp

So it looks like  S&W and Ruger are gonna stop selling guns in California rather than do the silly microstamp thing there.  Pity it's such a large state.  People on the coast have so far to drive to get to a border state and buy their Smith under the soon to be real (crossed fingers) Mance v Holder purchasing regime.

I wonder if you could get in trouble with California law is you moved there to live NOW with brand new but not microstamped pistols?

In other news, the gunsmith I'm taking that class with is also an FFL, but his business isn't gunsales, per se.  He is not prepared to run an out of state purchase just yet. 

Class After Action

"So it was 2 days of learning so you musta covered a lotta stuff, T-Bolt!"

No... we just did the slide rails.  That's a it.  Disassemble, clean, review a few things we already checked and corrected in a previous class, then on to the slide rails.  And nothing but.

(the back end of the slide, pic from here.)

First you make a buncha measurements for reference for the built.  Inner and outer rail width, and most importantly the rail height.  Calipers for the first two and a very expensive micrometer for that last one.  8 measurement up one side, and 8 down the other.  The littlest number was .1131.  The biggest was .1162.  My job was to to take a file and make the slide flat and straight and smooth... and all be .1130.  +/- .0001.  But it's better to just be right on the money.  Yes, just hit 1/10,000th of an inch please.  (Kuhnhausen usually said +/- .0005.  Most people end up doing +/-.0015)

If my lowest number was .1151 then I would have filed down to .1150 all around.  If the lowest number was .1125 in a critical area around lockup then I'd need a new slide because .1120 was too much off.

And since the file has to contact and ride both sides to stay flat and true, and one side might be .1148 and the other .1132, well, you see the English you gotta put into your file strokes.  And it's slow going.  3 or 6 passes of the file, cleaning off the shavings and re-measure.  It took all weekend.  And it was supposed to.

What else?  Knocked the front sight off.  It was pinned in place, and I will get a dovetail cut here during class one of these 8 sessions.  Also, when buying a 1911 used, rack the slide back and look at that little disconnector divot.  If there is a drilled out hole in the middle of it, run away. 

In fact, look there, feel the trigger on a dry fire, look at the ejector end for weird banged up wear, and check the feed ramp and transition to the barrel ramp and know what that gap should be by eye and what a healthy ramp should look like.  That inspection should take all of 6 seconds once you know how and will get you far on the road of the 'is this gun worth maybe plunking down money for?' question.

Class report

Class was good.  Short.  Got out early to get ahead of the weather.

Then it took me 7 hours to get 30 miles home.

Which had a good side.  The snow was all rain when I got home so I could at least shovel the 8 inches of it.

Not to go puke out a diseased lung.

You'd think

With all this time off recuperating I'd have more blog fodder or weird dreams or something.

Good news:  No fever since Thursday noon, so I can go to my saturday gunsmith class.  I may not be the most energetic but I am assured I won't be contagious.  So, good.  It's a six day class.  Maybe the other weekends I'll be more perky.

Guns Break

Not my Hi-Point!  Maybe that's the codeine talking.  I don't even own a hi-point....

Notice Uncle has alleviated his risk by having a spare and a spare.  One is none, two is one, and three just makes good common sense.

I'll go one step further.  You should be able to detail strip you three guns, jumble it all up in a bin, and reassemble three guns and have them all work GOOD, without a hiccup.  No matter how tight the original tolerances.

Quite a trick if I could pull that off with 1911's...

You know, that might be a good bet with those m&p's.  More proportion of parts requiring less fitting is my guess. 

Vietnam in HD

Been watching this documentary on on-demand.  Lots of in country footage.  And now that I know more about the history of the M14 I notice them more in the films.  Surprisingly large. Number of them being toted along with M16.  Sometimes they are in parity.

And the ARVN soldiers are still sport various version of the M1 carbine even into the 70's.  I just found these details interesting.

Another item.  On a brown wart navy patrol boat they had a grenade launcher.  It had a big hopper and the operator turned a crank on the side like an Olde Timey movie camera.  With every revolution, bloop, crank, bloop, crank, bloop, another grenade would spit out.  And it was pretty compact looking.  Never seen one before.

(Ed: originally the title read 'Vietnam Nam'.  Gah!  Nam nam?  Idiot.)

Cold

Midnight tonite will be the high for tomorrow.  My house was built in 1952.  The only insulation in is what I put up there myself.

My mom has gotten into quilting in her retirement.   I am using two of those.

Rx

Levofloxacin and Codeine

Ugh

I'm staying home.  Relapse.  And I got class this Saturday, too, dammit.  Going to doctor.

I am one of....

THOSE people.  I just bought .223 in the ensuing panic over the green tip surplus ammo ban.

Yeah yeah, I know.  I have an AR, but I'm not enamored by it.  But I have shot up most of the original can of 440 odd rounds.  And if the irrational panic spreads, I want some 7 mags of plinking ammo for any range sessions.  Do it today before the cupboard is bare next week.

But that means I am adding to the problem with my $90 worth.

But I did need more .45 anyway so threw a passel of that in there.

But I still feel a bit chagrined to be on the bandwagon.

Don't worry, I have plenty of 7.62x51.  

Usual Monday Deficit

I did see Archie this weekend.  Crotchety old former neighbor now nursing home occupant.  We had lunch.  His memory is worse.  Though not as bad as he laments.

Things I learned from him this weekend.

The favorite plane he liked seeing taking off from an aircraft carrier was the Vought F4U.  He liked the gull wings.  Aesthetically pleasing.

Unmeltable chocolate in the K-Rations?  There was a reason it was so easy to steal.  People were more possessive of week old cigarette butts.

If you put a new started on your boat's motor, well, if that is the Opposite Rotating prop you don't have the right starter if you got if from your local auto parts dealer. 

Well that's useless for me.

In MY backwards, bigotted, Gun Crow state of Maryland.  Free State, my Aunt Fanny.

The Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act would allow gun owners who have a concealed carry permit in their home state to bring their firearms in any other state with concealed-carry laws.

I got a Virgina CHL, a Utah CCW.... Not covered.

Fine for YOU tho.

Hunting Tip

When I DO go deer hunting.  I think my biggest problem is...   I look around too much.  I bet I should keep my head still. just move my eyes and move not a bit...  Let my ears do most of the work.  I'm not good enough to be doing any shooting except for the 45 degree arc in front of me.

Just sit down and shut up.  Like it says.  Not a shuffle.

Next year maybe.  Kinda hungerin for bacon wrapped back strap from a smoker.

Militia!

Have you noticed that Hoplophobes still bring up the tired old "But but but... it says MILITIA! It's a Militia right! It only applies to the National Guard, not individuals" argument? Eye-rolling displays of ignorance on an issue that the courts, all over, have just gone ahead and dispensed with and consider settled.

Lesser courts can read and grok the Heller opinion if these Gun-Ban Hippies cannot.

Now, you can easily shut down this argument with little effort because it is already sorted, but maybe we don't want to.

Maybe our side SHOULD engage them as if today was 2006, and hash through the old arguments. It's easy to do, we already know them all, the stakes are kinda low, and it keeps them spinning their wheels on a point that they cannot win. And THAT makes for good entertainment. And it's a little bit of Judo, using their own weight against them. Channelling the Gun Banners into areas they cannot win is always a good idea.

Hold Over

So what to do if you are shooting at something far away and have to hold over a target so much that the barrel actually covers the target?

Easy T-Bolt, just adjust the elevation by twisting the knob properly on your scope or iron sights, then hold on bull.

But what if you have no scope and can't adjust the sights.  Wouldn't it be nice to hold three feet over the target's ' head' and still was able to see what you are shooting at.  Well I have a solution.  Instead of putting the sights on the top of the barrel, put em on the bottom and aim from down there?

What?

Ok, for a little help, how about just the front post, hang THAT from the ceiling.  Upside down lollipop sight picture.

No, really this could be more practical.  Inside a sight hood pointing down is doable.  Then you could see the enemy soldiers belt buckle, but not his face, at closer ranges, but could guesstimate and see him clearer, for a time at longer ranges when you have to be over hasty with you shooting and can't spin any elevation knobs.

No?   I'm still sickish.  Maybe hallucinating.

The News Does Excite, Though

Don't it? 

Piffle

Don't listen to him!

Rush the gate before it closes.  Buy guns out of state even if you don't have to.  If you live in Pensacola, buy a gun in Mobile tomorrow, if you can.  If in Erie, go to Cleveland.  Cincinnati and Louisville. 

But Sebastian has a better take on approved handgun rosters in that post than I have in my head.  And better nuance on person to person transfer laws.  Neither of us are lawyers.  And he's prolly right.  I bet FFLs don't sell you to you out of staters.  Out of an abundance of caution.  Yet.  

Mance v Holder

Welly welly well.  This is interesting.

And I like it when Eric Holder's name is in a civil rights case where he is against the civil rights.  Sweet irony.  It's the last vestiges of Jim Crow, Gen. Holder...


So, the "Ban on FFL handguns sales to nonresidents struck down"  Lovely.

Now, suppose, just suppose...  Someone with a non -resident CCW permit from Virginia were to find him or herself in Virginia some weekend.  You know there is no limit on number of guns you can buy per month there, right?  And CCW holders don't have a waiting period for pistols, correct, it's cash and carry?  I guess this ruling, until there in an injunction granted waiting upon appeal, I guess this out of state person, if the person wandered into a gun store with some cash, could walk out with 3 pistols after passing a NICS check and filling out all that paperwork.  A REALLY conscientious gun dealer might be hinky about selling a gun to a person from out of state if the state bans that model of gun.  For example, those silly TEC9 pistol things are sorta verboten in a few states.  Maryland is one.  California.  But if this hypothetical Marylander or Californian were buying a something simpler and less scary and low capacity and not forbidden, like a SIG238 and a Ruger LCP, and a S&W Model 60 revolver, all in one go.... those models are perfectly fine and the gun dealer can have a quiet conscience accepting the buyer's money, provided he or she has enough of it.  Purely a though excercise, of course. 

And the home state of that person would be none the wiser for a time.  All laws would be followed after the purchase, of course.

And private parties.  Trading a gun for a gun in another state would be perfectly legitimate.  Just like it is in Virginia now between two Virginians  But now an Ohioan could trade a gun with a Virginian in Virginia.   And vice versa.  As long as all parties are legally eligible to possess and own a firearm.  There would no whisper of any law being even bent at all at that point, Virginia and Ohio both are pretty civilized.  And some poor soul from New Jersey could hock his grand daddy's old police revolver on a visit to Broad Ripple Indianapolis, provided he thought the pawn shops would give him a good price.

Or Tam could sell ME her spare Colt Pocket Hammerless, if she so desired.  Period.  Like the world was the year before I was born. 

Very interesting indeed.

Glowball Warmening

You ever hear some Swampy Hairshirt talk about running cars on a Waster Engine, or Fuel Cells, or Fusion?  This Hippy likes to end this pitch extolling 'the only thing that comes out of the tail pipe is harmless water vapor...'

Like it's a good thing!  In 25 years it will be a hate crime to tout water vapor as harmless when man made water vapor is actually the worst pollutant we produce.  CO2 isn't the most dangerous CAGW gas we make, it's WATER VAPOR!

Have you seen pictures from the mid 19th Century in Washington DC?  People wore double breasted wool suits with a waistcoat.  In the summer.  Nowadays they wear Birkenstock sandals and an open collar cotton short sleeve shirt.  You know why?  It wasn't humid back then.  It's sure humid now!  Global Warming.  Plus humidity.  All because you want clock radios and a HiFi and a Teevee, and daily showers, so you industrialized.  You need to get back to nature.  And stop driving machines.  Get a horse.  No pollutants come out the tail pipe of a horse.  I think.

I think I'll try to go to work tomorrow

The pain from coughing in the diaphragm area is lessening.  Slightly fewer buzzing sounds coming from deep in my chest.  Yes, I must be on the mend.  Instead of running at 3/4 speed, it's more 9/10ths.

Got nuthin

Nada.  I was lucky to have that WWI thing yesterday. 

That 1899 of Tam's is pretty dang cool.  I'd like to field strip that pistol, looks like 2 pins and you are off the races, but there is more I wanna see on the innards and how they work.  Not many more models of .32s to add to Tam's prewar .32 autos collection. 

Still sick.  Managed to leave the house.  Needed to buy more soup and OJ.  Needed other things, too, but just not feelin it. Sunday was the worst.  Improvement Monday.  My diaphragm feels like it's been kicked by angry Youth clad in Doc Marten boots shouting 'Oy' a lot.

Safety tip.  When you see a giant explosion miles away, GET AWAY FROM THE WINDOWS.

Dub Dub Won

What woulda happened if the American people had prevented Wilson from getting us into WWI?

An intriguing version here

Stockman seems to think that with the US entry it would have ended... somehow... with both side quitting and going home.  This is a bit of hand-waving to me.  And, after that happens the 20th Century would have been vastly different.  No argument from me on that point. 

But I am thinkng the war couldn't just end by a sputter out.  And if it had limped to a different inglorious end how would that end be much different.  Obviously there is no way to know that the peace we imposed on Germany in actual history would have been much different than any conjectural end to that great abattoir of a conflict.  Both sides weren't gonna say "my bad..." and then walk away and be hunky dory.

First of all, there is no guarantee the French and British could have won in the end. The final German offensive, with 50 divisions worth of additional forces freed up from the Eastern Front, was pretty good and only barely stopped. A lot of that stoppage was aided by American men (who were more backstop than participants), and, probably more importantly, American materiel. The the morale boost of a large and fresh new ally arriving on the scene should not be discounted either.

No Americans, no 100 Day Offensive later in the summer of 1918.  In the event the allies did hold on in the spring of 1918 without us.

But they wouldn't have been without us, even if Wilson's stroke had happened in spring of 1917, say, kiboshing out entry while his wife and doctor ran the country til 1920.  We were selling food to France and England.  The Germans still had to eat.  And they weren't gonna get a lotta grub from the East after the Russians dropped out. But no matter.

So, what does the world, a Century, look like with the Germans, nigh exhausted, manage a break through of even more exhausted (morally if not materially) allies in 1918, and a capitulation occurs that way instead of the other way? With the US on the sidelines. Nobody could really dictate terms like at Versailles.

So I think David Stockman is wrong about how the 20th Century would have turned out if not for that asshat Wilson, but he's not that far off.

Theater

Now this is theater.  A dem bill to ban high cap mags in a GOP majority?  It'll never see the light of day.  Nor will Honda's body armor ban bill.

But I'm wondering why 'our' side didn't tout up bills like these when they were in the minority?  Nationwide reciprocity of CCW, for example, in 2009.

Or is my memory just faulty and I don't recall examples?  Where is the gun related symbolism over substance in the halls of the Capitol?

Feverish Hallucination

Are you confused by expanding garden hoses?  Well worry no more.

Still Sick

A notion occurs...   What if some criminal busted my door down now, in my weakened state.  Well, the same thing would happen as if he did it when I wasn't sick.  I'd just be slower.  And oh my aching head if I had to shoot him...

The thought of even going to a range with full earpro right not does not appeal.

I got a fever....

Croup

I got the Croup.  Low on gas.  Ice Cream truck no go.  Maybe later.  Ugh.

Pistol Optics

So, look around at the rifle range. What is the big differences you see now, compared to 25 years ago?

A lot more ARs, yes.

But a lot more 'red dot' optics. A veritable revolution is reflex sights. Their adaption was surely coming, but only accelerated by the .mil usage in the WoT. They're more rugged, and have longer 'battery' than anyone though possible. People were looking around for a replace rifle, when they got replacement sights.

It's not at the point of ubiquity, where you'll see em at every pistol range session like you do with rifles, but just wait a minute.

And, more and more, I've been seeing lil mini red dot pop up for pistols. Ok, ok, race guns. I can see they being huge for race guns. But they are starting to trickle to the CCW world now too. People asking around, "Hey is there a IWB holster for my gatt with onboard Trijicon and rail light?"

In 20 years will iron sight usage seem onld fashioned on pistols, too? I don't wanna see my 1911 with a mini ACOG up top...

Happy Birthday

George.

Kinfolk said

TBolt, move away for there!
Tarrant County is the place you oughta be,
Where folks are reasonable, and gun friendly.

Well, then you run across one of the more unreasonable people in the Great State of Texas and you figure in 10 years they will retrograde into a Blue State if this is the loudest gun rights voice down there.

I thought you confined wackos more to the Austin area, Texas?  Or is that just the patchouli-smellin' long-haired wackos there?

Herd Immunity

 The article has reference to actual data.  (ok, it's the mere germ of an idea so far, but from tiny acorns...)

The country is conducting an experiment in Illinois. The cops haven't adjusted their behavior. And there is a dividing line on the calendar. Before this day crime is X. After this, crime is Y. And 'crime' has appeared to have dropped at a greater rate than the general downward trend nationwide. And the dividing line? Restrictive gun laws and no CCW turns into less restrictive gun laws and legit CCW.  Well, interesting.

Why.

Up until this it has been proven time and again that More Guns =/ More Crime.  More guns does not lead to more crime.  According to math.  Instead of how some Democrat 'feels.'   But now there is actual statistical indicators that indeed More Guns == Less Crime. So this is kind of a big deal.  If it continues to pan out.  So to do as you wish with your pistol in what lawful manner you choose unencumbered by prior restraint isn't just a matter of your Natural Right.  It's also sound public safety policy with regard to law and order.

Toddler Shoots

Seems like a lot of accidental shoots happening lately, perpetrated by toddlers.

What a horrible thing to have happen. An order of magnitude worse when there is a fatality along with the accident. And the blood dancers LOVE it when it happens. They can spin that to make it sound like you have a 75% chance of being popped by a kid still in diapers if you have a gun and there is a small child within 200 feet of you RIGHT NOW.

God, to LIVE like that. Where it is good news to your cause when this happens and you get to gleefully crow about, if only internally.

'Seems' is the word to concentrate on.  I doubt there is an actual statistically significant increase.  The media may be paying more attention lately, and they certainly don't report when there is a long lull period with such tragic happenings.  If the actual statistics showed a meaningful uptick the bad guys would cite it, even if it was only close to an uptick, they'd try to scam the numbers to make it appear so. 

But damn.  Please keep an eye on your weapon. 

Deadly Wildlife Encounter

This is just a new cover up.  Packs of Willoughby Kodiaks have been rampaging along the eastern bank of the Cuyahoga.  Dozens of people have been eaten.  The media lies to you.  Plus this particularly aggressive Bruin doesn't leave witnesses.



Pff.  They wish it was just a Black Bear. Wonder what caliber for 12 foot tall rampaging bear?

In other news, the temperature looks quite temperate at the Northcoast.  Unseasonable, even.

Catch a Charge

They pass a lotta gun control laws. Just to be a thorn in our side.

How do you even get found guilty of making a straw purchase? You'd have to leave an abnormal amount of evidence around. A wide swath. Bragging on video that your did it and posted it to facebook. Or doing it for a wired ATF informer.

No, the laws aren't passed to be enforced. Even with BAD bad guy baddies. Occasionally prosecute an otherwise innocent person that made an honest mistake with no mens rhea, and publicize THAT to make the rest of the decent folk in the country afraid of the government and to think "it's not worth it to own a gun."

An associate, not a close one was getting a pistol from an aunt.  An heirloom.  Wanted to know how he should get the pistol registered because: Maryland.  I told him not to bother.  As long as you don't confess to the whole thing how are they going to prove anything?  What if you bought it your ownself in another state?  There are SO many factors the DA has to prove after the unlikely event they 'catch' you with the pistol.   You aren't a criminal getting search warrants on your house every month, right?   You know not to incriminate yourself by flapping your gums to the po-po, right?  You can legally possess a gun now, correct?  Then don't worry about it. 

Then he told me it was a pre1895 Schofield.  I told him if true it isn't even a pistol.  It's an antique.  Even less reason to worry.

Wad

Ya know, I have never, to my knowledge, seen .38 special wadcutter for sale in the wild.  Prolly passed over them, ignorant, though, because I wasn't looking for them.  Must haunt more gun stores and gun show with that in mind. 

Of course if I had to own wadcutter this week, it's a simple 15 minute online commerce search.