Waco AAR

Hey, I haven't heard...  How many of those nine Outlaw Biker Thugs that died, some shot to death, at Twin Peaks in Waco were shot by gun toting bikers, killed by other weapons by bikers, or shot by police?  

Stories on these details have been sparse and OBE.

It's official

The former governor of Baltimore, Gov. Little Finger, is running for preznit.

Top 700k

According to this I am still in the top 700,000 blogs in the US.  So proud.

To compare, Tam is in the top 60,000.  But she is better at this, and casts a wider net that way. 

No matter.  I still introduce myself with, "You might not recognize me right now, but I am a pretty big deal on the internet..."

They aren't stupid

They are evil.

They know what they are doing.  They are just lying to us.  To the public.  They think other people are stupid and will swallow their lies.

Who?  Mom's Demand types.  "The thing in Waco happened because of the recently passed Open Carry law in Texas!  We TOLD you!"

We point and laugh because OC, while passed, isn't in effect yet.   Ha ha!  They are SO dumb.

They aren't dumb.  They are counting on this message getting to low information voters that don't know either way and assume it is true.  And it reinforces their allies that already want to ban guns with another talking point and will use the lie over and over again as a buttress to their argument.  And this little blog point out their perfidy is just a push broom trying to keep back the tide. But sweep away, I do.

I am gonna stop pretending the other side is simply dumb and just recognize them as evil, more, tho.

(They are the 3 Ds.  Dumb Dishonest or Delusional.  Or a combination.)

Texas

Is Texas gonna pass Open Carry or aren't they?

Embarrassing if they don't.  And it looked like they were gonna purposely screw it up and not expect repercussions.

From Alan:

"How is it that a bill that is overwhelmingly passed in the house and the senate still manages to not go to the governor?" Political shenanigans, that's how. The fix was in from the start. A classic political move that allowed some politicians to get a yes vote recorded while knowing all along the bill would never see the governor's desk.

Murder Capital!

So you are 45% more likely to be murdered in Manhattan now with the Socialist running the show?  Sure sure. 

People keep talking like the city is going back to 1975 levels.  Stuff that inspired Warriors, Death Wish, and Escape From New York.  Naw.  It took decades of mismanagement to get to that low level.  DeBlasio will be long gone by then.  He, at worst, will get it to 1985 levels.  Not so bad, huh?

There are a lot of folks that plunked down a million on their condo that don't want to see 1975 again.  It was easier to flee when you only rented.  When you own, not so much.

And besides, in a few years NYC will be a Shall Issue district.

We Lost

Hang it up everyone, we've lost the argument.

The experts say we are wrong.  Well a majority of experts.  A majority of experts found by this one reporter at a fringe west coast publication.  Guest writer, not staff.

How can you counter such a strong position?

NEVER read the comments

"im happy that vitname won u stupid yank u think u win evrything but u didint win any world wars u were late and the russian won the war"

"Churchill was Druid and a Freemason. Fraternities that are both the sworn enemy of Christianity. "

"Unlike Hitler, Churchill [nor Roosevelt or Stalin] never even served a day in combat. Jews brainwashed you to adore Churchill and despise Hitler, because Churchill was born, bred, raised and mentored to secure the Jewish agenda for the 20th century, and Hitler came closest to spoiling it all."

Gunsmith School Calendar

New course calendar is up.

I was expecting this class in happy anticipation:

CUSTOM 1911 FULL BUILD COURSE - OCTOBER 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25, 31 & NOV 1

But it wouldn't hurt to take the AR course.

AR15 ARMORERS COURSE - JULY 11 & 12

I've tinkered successfully with an AR, but it's a mere weekend of time and I bet I still learn something. 

But this class is new:

S&W REVOLVER 101 - AUGUST 22, 23, 29 (30TH TENTATIVELY)

Huh.  That could be cool.  Expand my abilities beyond mere spring replacement therapies.

Gold Dot

Yes, but WHY Gold Dot?  Gold Dot for everything or just the .38? 

Hydro Shocks!

I used to be that guy.  Tam talks about it.

I'd STILL be that guy if it weren't for blogs and folks like Tam and me keeping my ears and mind open.

You know there are better options out there, T-Bolt?

Oh?  Go on.

I'd love a link to a no-BS piece on the various manufacturers and styles of self-defense ammo by someone more knowledgeable on it than me that isn't trying to sell me something.

Well, T-Bolt, you could always google 'what is the best self defense round' and get a good answer, right?

Do that.  I dare you.  I double dare you.


And what of the lowly .38+P?  Federal HST doesn't come in that flavor.  Been loading Buffalo Bore 158gr SWCHPs in the cylinder with Hydra Shok in the speed strip because they are copper clad and don't get mussed in the pocket like lead.  But I am not married to that harebrained scheme.

Are you sure it isn't 'hair brained' T-Bolt?

Yeah, pretty sure.

And what the heck is the difference in the Federal HST boxes.  One comes in 20 round packs that are clear plastic and fancy like they were selling you an engagement ring almost.  And you can get a 50 round box sometimes that says HST and costs a lot less per round...  What gives?

CCW in PA

The latest regime in Pennsylvania no longer accepts CCW non-resident permits.  In other words, if you live in Maryland, you can only carry in PA if you have a Maryland CCW.  I have a Virginia non-resident permit.  So, no conceal carry for me north of the border anymore.

The word is, PA officials think folks are getting rejected from getting a Penn. permit and are getting a Florida or Utah one instead.  As if it is easier to get those permits than it is to get a Pennsylvania permit.  It isn't.  If you can't get a Penn permit as a Penn resident good luck getting a permit anywhere else. 

Anyhoo, MBtGE has a Virgina resident permit.   And there is no restriction on him carrying TWO pistols in Pennsylvania.  And if I am going a trip with him to PA and one of his extra pistols finds his way into my separate hotel room while we try to sleep in a sketchy Super 8 motel on the crystal meth and hooker side of town... that's ok.  As long as I don't carry it outside of the room. 

Movie Fad Purchase

When a cowboy movie was a big hit, there were runs on Colt SAA guns.  When Dirty Harry came out, everyone had to have a .44 Magnum.  Lethal Weapon in the 80s, Berettas became popular.

Fad Guns.

What movie, since the 80s, has inspired a run on the gun stores for a specific model?

Nothing from the Matrix.

Nothing from the Expendables.

Maybe a mare's leg because Firefly.  But not THAT big a run on them.  It wasn't a blockbuster show but a fan segment show.  Not enough audience to make a run on the gunstores like a ban proposal from the president could do.  Eastwood emptied out the stores of .44 magnums.

What comes close today?

Quality

Quality is suffering around here.  My already loose attention to detail is getting looser.  Not spending as much time per post.  Maybe it's just a phase.  Maybe it's a brain tumor.

It's notta tumah, T-Bolt!

Ok, ok.

Saw an interesting .38.  It was an old blue S&W model 10 turn in from some police agency.  The gunsmith cut it down and put a ball detent, in frame to lock the yoke in, above that serial number.  So a snubbie is made but with a full length ejector rod.  Which is nice.  One of the flaws of the snubbie.  A 2 inch barrel means less shell ejection capability.  Addressed with this scheme.  A dovetail was cut for the sight, too, and, of course, a trigger tune up.  It was nice.  The custom work made it a bit expensive for the average snubbie buyer, yet...

Yes

Yes, this. 

I've noticed this.  Non sequitir out of nowhere, people that aren't gunnies professing to speak for gunnies, know their mind, and say Whites don't think Blacks have 2nd Amendment rights?

Huh?!

Where is THAT coming from?  It's not in my experience.  Even the few racists I've run into don't profess the Amendments are a whites-only proposition.  It's not like they'd hide that idea either, if they are willing to be openly racist what would stop them from voicing this detail? 

Personally, I don't think black people should have a gun.  I think they should have three. A rifle a shotgun and a pistol.  Yer typical 3 gun system.  Well, 6.  A 3 gun system and a spare backup.  Not counting .22s.  Which should be as common as pepper shakers.  Ok, 4.  A 2 gun system and a spare, handgun and something long.   Wait.   Not everyone has been as fortunate as me with work.  2.  A gun and a spare.  Not necessarily a duplicate either.  Plus maybe a .22.  If you can afford 1, you are pretty close to affording a spare.  So my final answer is 2.  Applies to all people, too.

I don't think white criminals should have guns any more than I think black criminals should have guns, true.  White thug crank dealers with felony records in the exurbs are prohibitted people.  Just like urban African American street retailers of unofficial pharmaceuticals with felony records are prohibitted people.   (After full adjudication of course.)

[ Fix the criminal justice system maybe.  Make people that are now prohibited NOT be prohibited if they served their time, paid their debt and aren't what they once were, but that's a whole 'nother conversation. ]

An opportunity was wasted by the so called black community.  They had the chance to ally with a big faction of the Right over police doctrine/dogma reform.  Gun owning conservative libertarians aren't happy with high handed police tactics and the proliferation of dynamic warrant service either.  No one wants to eliminate for truly dangerous perpetrators and hostage situation, but c'mon...  dial it back from 11 to less than 1.  And post detention physical abuse of detainees makes us uncomfortable, too.   The two disparate groups could have come together and maybe got something done on this.  It would have been good for both sides.  They chose a more familiar groove.  So be it.  Maybe next time.

---

Wait.   Maybe there ARE white people that think the Amendments don't apply to black folks.  For real.  Now that I think about it.  And those white people are Democrats in Gun Crow states.  That makes more sense.   And the assumption is if the white Democrats think the 2nd isn't for black people, then all white people think that.   It's the wrong assumption with large swaths on the right side of the political aisle, I can assure you.

Ima Lefty, but

Yer standard "I vote Democrat but I have a gun of my own" article.  You get these now and again.  I guess 'blue' readers find it edgy.  Better than coming out as a Petting Zoo Flasher. 

It's nice to see the 'but' in the other chair, sometimes.  As in, Ima Obama voter, but... I have a gun.  It's usually I'm a gun owner, but...

Why is she a liberal AND a gun owner?  She doesn't live in the best part of Dallas, her place has been burglarized multiple times.

With one thing that confused me in the article:

Here’s the truth about guns that no one, on either side of the debate, wants to tell you: shooting them is fun. I’m a bleeding-hearted, left-leaning liberal and I get a cheap, easy thrill out of shooting my little .38 caliber pistol.

What are you talking about?  NO ONE on our side, the right side, of the debate talks about enjoying shooting?  Heck I like to shoot and I end up spending a lot of time telling other shooters, ''enough already!  I get it!  Shooting is hella fun!  I understood your enthusiasm 3 hours ago, affirmed my enjoyment and agree.  You won the case Perry Mason, let the jury go to lunch!  Change the subject, Reverend, the rest of the congregation came here to sing hymms and hear you talk about the the Lord, not your tack driver.''  Try getting em to shut up, Lefty.

Our side of the debate watches OTHER people shoot on television, like it was golf or fishing shows.

She doesn't quite grok the whole defend yourself thing, fully, though, does she.  I'm not saying it is wrong for her to have a gun.  No.  That's her bidness.  But reading her confession here makes me want to offer advice, if asked, that she think through the problem a little bit more.  I know where her head is at, my head was sorta there at one time, maybe ponder through a few more steps about mindset and whatnot.

There.

You can't tell ME what to do, T-Bolt!





Alright, alright.  Do as you will.

Now for more unsolicitted advice and criticism and observation.  

• She has the "give the little lady a .38 snub revolver" and set her loose scenario. Meh, it's a gunstore trope and there are lots of minuses associated with it, but there are some pluses too.  It's butt simple to run. 
• Now the most valuable thing she leaves in the house is the pistol.  
• The burglars know where that hiding place is, too.
• Probably not a good idea to get a gun because of fear or anger.  Well that can be a start but like i mentioned keep thinking the problem through.
• Unloaded gun not much use.  Especially since it sounds like you live alone with no rugrats about.
• You and me both need to train and practice more, Lady.
• Don't shoot the drunken roommate coming home at 2AM in your new place.

DC CCW

DC is 'Shall Issue' CCW.  Again.

You don't need a reason to carry a gun.  You just need to not be a dirtbag in the eyes of the law and fill out the forms and submit the fee.

I still never thought DC would be Shall Issue while Maryland next door was still May Issue.  Crazy world.  Soon.  Soon Maryland will get yoked kicking and screaming into dumping their old anti-civil-rights regime.  I am confident. 

Hopefully we'll get it before you people elect O'Malley president, now that Hillary is imploding.  O'Malley HAS to be preznit, he has the best abs of the group. 

---

And:  Thank you Alan Gura.  

Snub Guts

One thing I noticed when I was in the guts of the 2 snubbies of mine.  One had more of a MIM hint to it.

What do you mean, MIM hint?  T-Bolt?

Well, as you know Metal Injection Molding is cheaper way to go about making gun parts.  More expensive ways are forging then machining, or cutting the part from bar stock...

This is not a dig on MIM stuff.  MIM is perfectly fine for whole bunches of parts and still make a great gun.  And can be used with more and other gun parts to still make a decent gun.  Metallurgists can tell you the nitty gritty.

If they are the same, T-Bolt, then why bring it up?  

Well... it's not the same.  A forged frame has had its molecules messed with.  Aligned.  By the smashing while near molten.  It's a stronger part.  Hands down.  But do you need, say, an adamantium fountain pen when a Bic will do?  Or even a golf pencil?  And do you want to PAY for the adamantium pen?  S&W revolvers are expensive enough without doubling the price insisting on 1930s build methods.

So, how could you tell you had MIM parts, T-Bolt? 

The hammer and the rebound slide had hollows in them.  And mold lines in non critical areas that don't contact other parts.  With hollow there is less machining to do (unless you HAVE to cut the hollows in with the mill or trip hammer, of course, then it's a lot more work).  And you save a trivial amount of metal.  And lighten the parts a bit, but not much.  If you machine off less metal, you heat the part less with the tooling, and you get less warpage, too, when it cools off.  It's kinda a cool way to make stuff out of metal.  When it's done right.  And from what my little mind can tell, they did it right.
re
The trigger looks the same with both.  And looks case hardened.  Case hardening makes a finish that is attractive to some folks' sensibilities and does some things good for the part, but that's another kettle of fish... 

So, despite being made slightly different, is there really any true difference between your two identical models from slightly different generations, T-Bolt?

Naw.  None that I can tell.  And none that matters, really.

So what was the point in sharing this then, huh?

I just found it fascinating!

Bigger Idea

"Bernie Sanders's big idea: Make college free for everyone"

Ho hum.  This old chestnut?  I got a more intriguing, and, dare I say, BIGGER idea... Charge people to attend High School.  BAM!

Gotta admit you don't hear that one every day.  And it would make a HS diploma more valuable.  By definition.  People will want the best one they can get for their money.  Like the best smartphone for the money. 

Just a thought.

Stoning Fixture

Apparently there is a set of instruction that come with this jig, but didn't come with mine.  Been looking for a copy of em online.  No luck. Will end up calling the company or Brownells I think.  I am sure one or the other or both will be helpful.

I'm not too excited because the class instructor demonstrated the few things we needed for the 1911, but I am curious what else it can do, or alternative ways of doing things.

For instance, the fixture can be used on the hammer hooks, but a feeler gage and a vise works as well.

Here is some other helpful info.

How Guns are Made, 1969

I know I've posted this video in the past. But I just like it. And the year is dear to me, since it was the year I was born.

I'd like to see the wall of benches of final assembly men doing their thing at Colt or Smith & Wesson in 1939, were that to exist.

I learned something

A reason to carry your rifle on your shoulder while holding the barrel.  When on walk about.  In dangerous bush. Tradition.  And it causes no more harm than other methods if you know what you are about, apparently.

Range time

So I got to the range to try out the new snubbie triggers.  They are marginally better, yes.  A definite perceptive improvement.  I, on the other hand, need more practice.  Front sight, commit to the DA trigger, go.  Seems to work best.  If I am screwing up the shot be sure my finger isn't all over the place on the trigger placement. 

The target is embarrassing... 

One thing I noticed.  Lot of couples at the range.  Fun there in sort of a non-date date, I think.  Having fun.  Of the 8 open lanes at the range on a Monday afternoon, 4 of them had male-female shooting pairs.  The other lanes were solo middle aged dudes like me. 

And this isn't the only time.  It seems to be a long term trend. 

Trigger Job, what it's like

Talking back to the work we did on the last 1911 gunsmith school day...

OH MY GAWD, my eyes seem old.  I can't see the variation that the instructor sees, after filing on the trigger bits.  I am not sure I would with an magnifying light.

The imperceptible pressures you apply to the stone to favor one side over the other is so finicky.  The fact the pin hole through the hammer or sear could be just a hair off square or the holes in the frame they go into can be...  Now you gotta stone the parts to compensate for that, again with imperceptible pressures favoring one side over the other.

Ok, you do a job like that on the hammer hooks.  Before assembly you need to bevel the edge to eliminate any wire burr.  A single light swipe.  No look at this new facet.  It must not be thicker on one end over the other or you favored one side over the other and it isn't even.  The problem is that bevel is thinner than the finest human hair.  Much thinner.  And my eyes are old and tired in a room lit with fluorescents.

Gun Casing

And Maryland's 'spent case reporting provision on new gun sales' is no more.  Good.  It was silly.  Make the state Shall Issue and have Mance v Holder proceed and succeed and we will be copacetic here.

"The reason for the scrapping of the system, according to an analysis by the Maryland General Assembly presented to lawmakers, was that it just didn’t work."

Shazam!

Snubbie trigger springs.

 First problem... hey, where is the tiny firing pin spring.  Here it is, inside the hammer spring.  Tricky.   Pay attention, T-Bolt.  The punch is pointing at it.

Remember how I said youtube videos can be dubious?  The hard part is separating the wheat from the chaff.  And I couldn't have done the job without the manufacturers posted videos

First you take everything out, then you put in the new springs and re-assemble.  Easy enough, if the springs don't get away from you.  Here it is with all the parts out.

What's the stone for?  I dressed the rebound slide.  The green arrow is point at it.   As you are looking at the pistol frame, the slide contacts the 'bottom' and 'back' wall.  Just a few passes on the stone to knock off the high points.  I don't want to grind away or polish it down.  I have no idea if that would mess with the dimensions enough to mess up the action.  Just some.

Be careful.  Don't lose any spring or parts that can spring away.  Don't mung up the screws with ill fitting drivers or pry at the side plate.  Watch the video. 

I was smart at did one gun and was able to compare it's new action with the OEM action of the other gun.  Marginally but noticeably better.  Not too light, though, and I didn't want it too light.  Can't wait to try it out.

1911: How it's made...

Youtube is a great source of knowledge.  It's a great source of... other things... too.  But the comments?  Gah!  Some samples of comments:

There's nothing "ultra premium" looking about these.  "See the file marks" no, on a 2k minimum gun I don't want to see the god damn file marks.  We get it, you make all your shit too big so you can make it smaller by hand.  No sale.

I don't believe a human hand out performs a precision CNC machine. It doesn't make sense at all to oversize build all the parts and hand file down. Simple task, hand draw a straight line and see if it's flatter than one done by a machine. Not worth the price tag in my opinion. All I hear is over size and file.

so a week of work and 900$ in parts equals 5,000$?

Hone, Lap and polish-- NOT FILE.......I have fit many slides for comp. shooters. HONE, LAP AND POLISH. Very rare to file for fit-----No go for this 1911

Still filing? I would think we would be able to write a computer program for the machinist. Too much pretty cosmetics on his guns. $2000 still reasonable I paid in OZ $500 for a Gold Cup around 1980.

You should probably never read the comments on youtube.


---

Some better comments.  Or at least commenters that sorta understand the question.

I was not impressed!   Not at all.   No mention about lower barrel lug lockup or how he does it.   No mention about equal contact on sear face from hammer hooks,, just he calibrates it at 3 lbs,   So what he flat tops a slide, that's not custom work!   So what he fits the thumb safety and grip safety!   That's expected!!!!    Even from a low budget factory gun! Custom gun my ass....   

Can your pistols shoot 1 inch groups at 50 yards?

Still not worth it to read the comments

My original 1911

It has some flaws.  It could use a new barrel, and the slide can't be tightened down.

The frame is fine.  It'd make a good base from there.

Or I could just leave my .22 conversion kit on it full time.  It fits it just fine.  At least until I get around to mating a new frame and barrel to the slide.

If I did that, I'd love to match the parkerized finish.  At least somewhat.  I like that finish.  If the gun isn't stainless, I'd want parkerized.  Why?  Low maintenance on a user pistol.  A really nicely blued or case hardened finish is pretty, but I'd worry about mussing up either.

How hard can parkerizing be?  Do I really need to sand/bead blast the parts to fully degrease them?

Gonna need to so a LOT more research on that before daring to put a slide I worked hard on in an acid bath....

Organic

Good point.  Plastic is Organic.  It's got carbon in it.

Therefore your Glock is organic.

What are you, some kinda soap dodgin' HIPPY?  A a swampy commune-dwelling tree hugger?  Get a gun made from mined materials.

Wait... oh crap.  The grips are made from wood.  That's organic.  What about micarta?  Lots of organic materials in there, you'd have to have a lot more sourcing control to eliminate tree based products, or coal or oil based carbon materials in the resin or fibers.

Dang.  That makes me a dirty hippy, too, I guess....

OH CRAP!  Steel has carbon in it.  It's organic too.

Magnets!

How do they work?

Well they coulda done a lot more

We stopped about 50 shy of a goodly number. 

They're just robots!

It's ok to shoot em!



You have no idea what prison is like here!

VE

On V E Day he wept and prayed.

.

On V J Day he wept and prayed again.

Mind Blown

Wait, Charles C. W. Cooke was born in 1985?!

Huh.

Never would have thought that.

Everyone at the metrocon fortnightly, to me, to my mind, we either William F Buckley's age.  Or my age like Jonah Goldberg.  Now I have to wrap my mind around this..

Glorious People's Revolution

And a safe full of Guns.

Slate comments on Bernie Sanders and how, being a Vermonter, is more gun friendly that most Red Commie bastards.

The part that attracted my attention?  "But before liberal Democrats flock to Sanders, they should remember that the Vermont senator stands firmly to Clinton’s right on one issue of overwhelming importance to the Democratic base: gun control."

Huh?  Is that true?  'Overwhelming importance'?  Does gun control really motivate a sizable proportion of the base?  Does that statement even pass the smell test among reliable Democrat voters that do have gun control on their personal radar?

I'd think, based on my own observations, that gun control isn't even as high as a secondary priority on the Liberal Political Punch List when it comes to what policies they want to concentrate on.

Slate is stealing a march.   But I guess you do what you have to at your media outlet when the Hillary Campaign calls and orders you to.   It doesn't have to make sense or even reflect reality.  I'm sure they will be richly rewarded.

.45 v 9mm

The Terrists in Garland Texas were dispatched to the hereafter by a .45 caliber Glock.  Glock 21?

It would have been over sooner if he had used a 1911.  When you have a lotta ammo in the magazine, you get in a gunfight and go, "Whelp.  Might as well keep shooting since I have the bullets." And you get all those superfluous shell casings at the scene.   With a 1911 you just take care of bidness.

The cop would still be firing if they were armed with 9mm.  We all know the .45 is like the thunderbolt of God.

Saw a picture of a conscious man with a wound over his right eyebrow.  There were stitches around it.  He had stepped into the hall and raise a pistol at a SWAT stick.  Got shot in the head with a MP5.  9mm out of a 16 inch barrel.  His head jerked back, recovered, and he started to aim at the cops again when the guy in front with the shield rammed into him, ending the fight.

The stitches on his forehead are from the bullet splash.  Fragments that burst from the point of impact on his skull.  It didn't actually penetrate the skull.

He didn't look old enough to be a Nam vet with a steel plate in his head.

A 9mm at room distances out of an unsuppressed 16 inch barrel and nigh perfect shot placement.  Bupkis.  Sheesh!

You never see that with .45ACP.

But seriously, I am sure the .45 can and has done something similar.  (Aside from that one cop that ran into a bullet sponge, so now he is switching to 9mm.  The thinking:  if they are gonna be a sponge might as well get em really wet.)  Not hearing about shaken off .45-to-the-head stores is probably a factor of the round not being as prevalent as the 9mm.  If most MP5s were in .45 there would be guys like Armor-Head with pictures circulating among gunnies and the call for "We need something smaller and faster like a 9mm to drill through the thicker bad guy skulls!" resonating throughout the land.

And 1911 shooters only seem more economical with their rounds in action because they have to be.  At least that is my theory.  The fight is over by the time some old fashioned old timer like me can reload after 7.  Plus we don't have the wind we did at 24 years of age.  Naw, let's take our time and use what we have.

Guys that carry just the J-Frame would have to be downright glacial...

The purpose of gun control

Is for Democrats to deny rights to black people.  Gun Crow instead of Jim Crow.  Always has been.

See?

The people suing have a chance as the Dems don't have the lock on Illinois that they used to.  Now if they were Maryland residents...  Not so much.

KSG

The combination of Valkyrie replaying on the Teevee and people get their hands done blowed off by their bullpup 12 gauge.

Well, now you can play Stauffenberg in your WWII historical recreation cosplay group.  Be the bad guy Germans by also being one of the good guy Germans.

They show some pistol technique, on film, in that movie.  How to cock a semi auto Walther PPK when you only got one hand.  So double gun content.  I'd show a clip, but there are none from the movie and youtube has a lot of...  not Tom Cruise showing the technique.  It's simple enough.  Push the slide up by the muzzle against the corner of the desk but without interfering with the barrel itself.  There is a picture still of the procedure from the movie here.  IMFDB

Damascus

Isn't that pretty?  Damascus slides from Caspian.



Damascus is just the welding together of two dissimilar steels.  The idea is one steel is hard as glass and takes a great edge.  The other is tough and flexible.  Put together you get the best properties from both and ameliorate the negative properties.  Like the fact one is brittle and can chip and shatter and the other is soft.

Now, on a gun?  The Damascus patterning just looks pretty.  And is hard to gunsmith.  And pricy.

The only thing crazier than gun people are knife people.  They get way into the weeds on steel metallurgies, and it is glorious and wonderful to watch them debate.  As an outsider.  You think 1911 v Glock arguments are heated?  The knifesmiths go at each other even more, hammer and tongs.  Literally. 

Hey you know what would be fun metals to pattern weld together to make a knife?  1095 carbon steel and Plutonium.

Gunsmith School AAR, Final?

Class was supposed to be complete.  But yet another bonus class is coming up.  One.  More.  Class.

So, my frame was corrected and ready to accept an ejector when I got to class.  Still not gotten the cuts for the sights on the frame.  But you don't need those to make a functioning pistol.

Glued the new ejector into place and into the hot box for curing.

So, then, we set up our jigs and found them to vary between each.  Surprise.  Sort that out.  Now we stone the sear face.  And the hammer hooks.  Then partial assembly to check for fitment using a sharpie as the 'smoke' from a smoke lamp.  Dry fire the gun.  Disassemble, check contact, restone the hammer or the sear, reassemble, run the gun, disassemble, rinse repeat. 

Trimmed and shaped the ejector when it was ready.

The new hammer contacted the grip safety, so the safety has to be relieved a little to get a proper fit. 

One guy in the class is a machinist IRL and initially wondered why the tooling process couldn't have done all this right in the first place.  He was convinced after all the fitment processes and the tolerance stacking, &c....  Each gun is different.  And all you need to make the WHOLE thing different is to drill a pin hole in the frame just a little off square.  And that can happen from metal expansion from the heat of the drilling.

If you wanted to build something easy you should just make a Glock. 

Anyhoo, after a lot of back to the drawing boards...  I ended up with a functioning gun.  The brass all arcs in a uniform rainbow to 4 o'clock, too. 

I can't lie, I did a little happy dance.

So what will happen in the next class?  Fine tuning.  Maybe adjust the leaf spring for a different trigger break.  Hey, the ejector sticks out the back and looks ugly, we can shape that in the next class. 

And we ordered Caspian frames Saturday.  For the next class.  In the fall.  With my very own serial number...  001.  I figure there is no way I'll make New Jovian Thunderbolt branded 1911s past 999, so....

twitter

So much for my reports.  Folks have gotten shot during the Bawlmer Unpleasantness.  But these may be incidental shootings of a street retail pharamacologice nature and not necessarily related to the anti-police riots.  Most aren't in the designated riot areas.  Not rioters shooting non rioters or cops.  Maybe taking advantage of the police focusing attention elsewhere to deal with their own business matters and competition.

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Also Michael Moore

He wants my gun confiscated and now he wants the prisons emptied and all the cops disarmed too...  Hmmmmm.  Why do you think this is...

HOT Damn!

According to this, glowball warmening may make my house beach front property.

I feel like Mr. Luthor.

Riot deaths

Hey, didja notice not so many people have died in this generational outburst of rioting?

Every coupla dozen years or so there seem to be riots.  Look at the Rodney King stuff a generation ago, and the '68 riots a generation before that.

The current dust up might not be complete yet, but so far... Not as many people got dead compared to the 90s.  And that dust up wasn't as rough as the 60s.

Homicide IS trending down.  All over.  And we can't take credit for that by saying "because CCW!"

I wonder why...  Change in cop culture and the pols that control them tolerate less head bashing?  Fewer Bolshi agitators willing to use murder to promote revolution?

What about the generation before 68?  What were the riots like then.  Buddy the whole world was rioting.  That was WWII and Korea.

Workweek Complete

If you don't want to kill some kid

"For having a pocketknife in his pocket, then don't make it illegal for him to have a pocketknife in his pocket."

This.

Or bit of white powder, or ground up plant leaves.

Speaking of plant leaves, the way things are going, eventually someone is going to die in police custody because someone pass a law about tobacco and its possession.

Sure police are rough and mean and yada yada at times, but the blame goes on the people that passed the law.   Politicians.  And the people that voted for them.  Us.

You gotta be careful, how you vote.  And hit more lawmakers in the nose with a rolled up newspaper.   And I'm not talking about shouting at the 'other' side's pols.  They expect you to yell at them.  You gotta correct your friends.   YOUR side.