Single Issue Voter

Are they?  Are there many?  Single issue voters that only vote for gun banners that want to take our guns away from us? 

Doubt there are more than handful. I'll bet it's not even the most important issue for Shannon Watts, head of 'Mom says guns are bad'. She'd vote for Bernie Sanders, I'd wager, over a much more recently anti-gun candidate like Ben Carson. Sanders is arguably more pro-gun than the good doctor. Why? Well, Sander is Liberal and Carson is conservative. And 'Liberal', I've found, is a more important criteria to people that support gun bans. For other reasons. But Shannon, the former Monsanto lobbyist, has never been known for her self awareness. I guess I could be wrong.

I'M A SINGLE ISSUE VOTER AND PROUD #Gunsense all day long #WhateverItTakes @MomsDemand #momsvote pic.twitter.com/O6qL7ucmkj

— Shannon (@shannonrwatts) August 30, 2015

Now there are THOUSANDS of single issue voters on our side, the side of freedom. Maybe millions.

Revolver AAR 2

In revolver class, two of the students are using the gunsmith's revolvers to learn on.  He wanted some modifications on his revolvers, so the students had the fun of doing them.

A ball detent for the cylinder crane.  Like you see here.

Instead of locking the cylinder closed with the catch on the underlug, a hole is drilled into the crane.  Into this is set a spring and a ball bearing what just fit the #30 bit sized hole.  A simple peening with the special enclosed punch and the ball stay in place.  Then you mark and dremel out a corresponding hole under the barrel.

Why do this?  As it is the normal catch at the end of the ejector rod can bend the rod over time.  If you disable this catch and rely on the ball detent catch you won't have this bending problem.  So if that is a concern, consider this.

I didn't do this on mine.  Just my preference.

The danger is you drill too far into the crane and come out somewhere else.  Bad.  Hard to get S&W to send you replacement cranes without sending them your gun and have them install it.  Parts for revolvers are difficult to procure, but they are out there.

Colt parts?  Gah!  I don't know.  Lots of 'sold out' signs...

Gah!

What a man.

Well, he has to live with himself, the poor irresponsible bastard. 

The good reaction to the MIA article (again, sorry) is here.

Revolver class

Continues today.   Cross your fingers I get the timing sorted.

Just a Reminder

Maryland's murder rate was trending down.  Then Maryland passed more gun laws.  Not Maryland's murder rate is trending up.  And the answer the Dems have is more gun control for Maryland to battle this upward trend.

Hmmmmmm.... 

AAR Revlover 1.2

Now I need to take a class in some sort of shotgun. 

Before classes, the insides of the boomstick in question is magic smoke and gnostic voodoo, beyond my ken.

After classes... well that was easy and now I know too much and can only just get into deep deep trouble at this point. 

Pump and semi-auto shotguns, lever guns...  Scared to take them apart now, but I am confident they will be just as easy.

Also, THIS is why institutions switch to striker fired ugly black plastic pistols.  The special tool you need for them is a punch, and the fitting process is 'get a new replacement part... go.' And that's it.  A 1911 I'd be fitting a part all day.  One day.  A Glock at $2000 per unit is cheaper than a 1911 at $1200 a unit when you factor in Armorer costs.  Same with revolvers.  And Glocks don't cost $2000, do they?  I don't care how much more superior the 1911 is to shoot, look at the COST, man!

Reminds me of Archie

Walmart

Not gonna sell AR15s no mo.

But this isn't political.  It's because of poor sales.  Honest.

Because if there is ONE thing that has gone downhill since 2009 it's gun sales...

Yet another reason for me not to shop at Walmart.  The grocery section is sketchy, the people are... 'the people of Walmart' they scan you up and down when you enter and the checkout lines make me want to cut a fool.   So, 5 strikes and you are out.

And this is at good Walmart location.  The ones around me are below average already.  For Walmart.   I'm talking Amish Walmart.  That's a good Walmart.  But that's like being the nicest discount chain store in prison.

AAR pt 1.1

One of the gunsmith store staff had 2 Iver Johnson break action revolvers from the 1920s or before.  A .38 S&W and an .32 S&W.

The .32 was SO cute.  Look how short that cylinder is?!  People used to defend themselves with this.  It's smaller than a J-Frame.   Oh, that was neat.  Both in functioning condition.  Perfect pocket gun.  Well, for some levels of 'perfect.'

Also, I imagine I should mention this.  It's a Smith and Wesson Revolver class.  Not Ruger.  Not Colt.  Not Chiappa Rhino.  Them others are different to various levels of different.  For instance, timing with a Colt is different.  It doesn't even have to do with the direction the wheel turns.  And the inside of a Chiappa gives me night terrors.

Revolver Class AAR

Ok, so the complex inner workings of the revolver aren't nearly so mysterious for me..  Stuff I learned:

1. First, you need to remove the sideplate without prying on it or munging it up.
2. Then, the hammer string is outted, so you can now remove the other parts, in order.
3. Hammer next.  You have to pull the trigger part way to clear some spots.
4. The rebound.  Careful, that spring is strong and will zip across the room.
5. The trigger and hand is next.  Removing the hand is simple, and easy to reinstall when you know the trick
6. The cylinder stop is next.  Another spring.
7. Do you need to remove the cylinder release and bolt?  Another spring and plunger to watch for.

Before all this, the inspection to see if the gun is even worth saving.  Yes, you might find something and go "Hmmm, not even worth going further" before removing a single sideplate screw.  You learn the proper way to check timing if you've been unclear on it up til now.

At first peak it looks more complicated than the 1911, but after playing with it, it seems simpler, in a way.  Again once you know.

---

So, I found out what was causing the broken revolver issue.

Someone has been inside the gun and files on the sear part of the trigger.  Nice sharp edge on it.  With ended up wearing a groove in the part that meets with the hammer.  A groove.  Yeah, stay out of the inside of your guns, people, if you don't know what you are doing and aren't being supervised by a grown up.

Anyway, this will be hard to mess with because it needs a new hammer and trigger in order to make it safe.

---

Now, MY gun, the good gun.  It got worse as I went along.  Timed well initially, now it can't time well.  I found a pin that was too proud and binding up the gun.  It wasn't binding up the gun before.  The center pin inside the extractor wasn't pushing out enough, opening the cylinder was sticky.  Easy fix on that by filing down the tip of the extractor rod.  Working on time will take more than an oversize hand, so an ejector is on order for next week.  Ugh.  Crossing my fingers.

Gun

A movie starring 50 Cent and Val Kilmer.  Man Kilmer really let himself go.

The usual Hollywood misconception about firearm and what they can do.  A S&W .500 can knock you off your feet, a PS90 can shoot through body armor, machine guns are easy to procure and desirable.

Kind of a forgettable movie after that. 

What are you gonna do

In the Post-Trumpocalypse.  The Apocalypse that arrives after Trump defeats Martin O'Malley in the general election and thus ushers in a new dark age, where the rivers run with blood and the sun is as sack cloth.

Apart from using a colander as a helmet and bits of tires as shoulder epaulet armor.  Naturally, there will be plenty of that.  Of course.

All this time I worried about the zombie horde only to come a cropper because of The Donald.  Still, he's better than Jeb.

The inauguration party didn't finish before cannibalism was rampant through NW Washington DC.  The rest of the world broke down into violent gangs, reminiscent of barbarian tribes and seemingly based on hazy generational memories of the Before Times.  The Loser ruled locally, and claimed to have been named by the great T-Man himself, and they worshiped him as a god.   Around the filth Chesapeake, the Monopoly Men ruled from atop their own tower.  Never look them in the monocle if you value your life.

Before Grampy was killed, he used to talk about the time before The Wall.  We laughed at him, the old fool!.  So hard to believe there ever could have been an era when the wall didn't exist, when every able-bodied man wasn't put to work building, repairing, and guarding the wall.  Rumor has it it started as only a wall along the Pecos river, but it extended along and encompassed first the borders between the states, then sections inside the states.

The wall prove prescient when giant monsters started emerging from the seas.

Gun Skool

3 day class.  On revolvers this time.   Yesterday, today, and next Saturday.

I asked him should I bring the GOOD revolver to work on or the know BROKE revolver to work on.  He said bring both!  Will talk about how the class was later.

Also, got to put up some cash for my Caspian frames I ordered.  S/N # 001 and 002.   That way I can make 999 custom 1911s before I die.  Figure that is enough wiggle room.

DC again

I'm glad someone with more visibility than me noticed DC Police Chief's Lanier silliness about 10 round magazine causing DC homicide.

Emily Miller in the hizzouse.  "I asked police chief Lanier how she tracks "high capacity" guns that she says cause of homicides. She couldn't answer." — Emily Miller

Released felons with homicide beefs are back on the streets coming up behind business competitors and putting 2 behind their ear.  Could do that with a 5 shot revolver, slick.

How bout when you have depraved killers going about you target them, law enforcement, and leave the law abiding folks alone.  I know it is much easier to roust John Q. Public than to try to cuff up a stone cold killer, but, that latter seems to be the job and the former is denying civil rights under color of law. 

---

Crime is spike in Baltimore.  Pols are calling for more gun laws there too.

Look, you passed a whole bunch of new gun laws after Newtown and crime went UP.  It makes just as much logical sense to repeal those to see if that impacts the trend, huh?

They are searching bags for outside food

But...  There is a work around.

CoC

When I was a kid this game came out.

A game based on the world imagined by H. P. Lovecraft, born 125 years ago yesterday.

I was into other games and had a limited RPG budget, so I never got into it.  But I like the subject matter then and now, so I checked it out out of academic interest.

You are an investigator.  It's a simple mechanic, relying on the suspenseful story.  But what stereotypically happens is, player character find an old book.  The read the old book.  A monster is summoned.  Half the party is eaten and the other half go insane.

It's much more fun than that sounds but it's a good one-nighter game for experienced players with very little needed to be done to familiarize yourself with the mechanics.

There are generally 3 eras you can play in.  1890ish.  1920ish.  And Modern Times.

In the game forums a lot of people don't like playing in the modern era because access to firearms is too easy.  Or so they say.

Huh?

Silly.

Mail order a Tommy Gun or pick up a BAR at the hardware store in the 1920s.  Try that now. 

Not that is matters to a good referee.  First, the monsters are mostly impervious to ANY firepower you could get your hands on.  If you brought back a Marine Platoon from modern times to protect you from harm in the 1920s with a time machine... it isn't going to matter.  Only their human cultist minions are generally susceptible.   And it's not a combat game.  So, who cares?  One of the scary things about it is the very good chance your artillery is not going to help you.  And that's the fun.    

You'll Never Believe the Seven Crazy-Sexy Things Women Did with Semi-Automatic Pistols

Still got nuffin...

Uhhh, American Rifleman had and article about revolver magnums of the 80s that gave me flashbacks. 

I remember being aware of them, back then, because of Soldier of Fortune and Dirty Harry and Death Wish movie.  I remember thinking, even then, that that would be a good way to simplify your ammo inventory.  Get a semi that shoots the same thing as you real gun.  Your revolver.  At the time I figured the semi-auto stuff was just a fad. 

I was in Junior High, give me a break.

W@W, Look at these Child Stars all Grown Up with their Favorite Firearms.

Well, I am low on blog fodder so I figured clickbait will help out.  I don't actually know of grown up child stars and their favorite firearms.  Well, this guy.

and this firearm.

On this day

On this day, 70 years ago, the last American casualty of WWII was killed in action.  Sergeant Anthony Marchione, of Pottstown PA.

He was in a B-32 Dominator reconnaissance flight flying over the Japanese capitol to confirm that the enemy was complying with its surrender statements.  There were still some bushido warrior hardliners in the enemy military and they went up to oppose any encroachment on sacred Nippon until brought to heel by the Emperor's loyalists.

But we didn't know that at the time.  All the USA knew was that and American had been killed by the Japanese after the stated acceptance of surrender terms.  What to do?  Well, a surrender delegation was due the next day in Manilla.  If they failed to arrive that would be telling.  They came, and hostilities did not need to be renewed.

---

In other news.  I have been a military aviation all my life, and I had never HEARD of the B-32 until yesterday.  It was a parallel design to the B-29 Superfortress in case that project was an unworkable fiasco.  It looks like they kluged the B-17 and B-24 together and then kicked that up a notch.   Only 118 were built. 

The Other City Near Me.

Washington DC, like Baltimore, also has had a spike in murders recently.  Also since the riots.  The police chief blames high capacity gun ammunition magazines (!), and recidivism.  10 of the murders this year were done by folks that already had caught a homicide charge in the past.

Well there is your problem right there.  The city is run by simpletons that think the size of the magazine has something to do with it and they are letting murderers out of prison.  Early, I guess.

When people complain that the jails are overcrowded and that we should release folks with lesser charges to make room they aren't thinking HOMICIDE is one of the lesser crimes.

But really?  Extra high capacity magazines are contributing to the spike in homicide rates?   That's goofy.

Snitches

Get stitches.

Buddy Asks

"I have an AR, and I am thinking of getting a spare 5.56 rifle.  I am leaning toward a Mini-14.  What do you think?"

Mehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

Not a spare AR?

7+1

So I did the 8 + 1 test with McCormack magazines.  It failed.  And I want to test 7 + 1.

But I gotta be careful.  Gotta load 7 in a mag and 1 in another and 'Barney' the single into the chamber first, then my regular full magazine, so as not to squanch up the follower and run into hangups on the final cartridge.

Wow there is a lot specialized jargon in that last paragraph.

For those unfamiliar...  To 'Barney' is the load a single round in a magazine (Deputy Barney Fife of the Mayberry Police Department was only permitted a single bullet).  You use this magazine to fill the chamber because, assumably your regular magazine is topped off.  Or, in my case, at a more-reliable 7 rounds.

If the testing works, maybe we'll make 7 + 1 my standard operating procedure when carrying a 1911.  Which I still don't do.  Because Maryland.  In the old days I didn't do that because Maryland AND because I wasn't yet comfortable with a 1911. 

So this means "Get thee to a Rangery, T-Bolt!"

Test after this?   Get me some Wilson mags...

Hooray Bawlmer

Hit 200 homicides for the year.   In the city that invented Homicide.  Yaphet Kotto is probably spinning in his own grave over the grave condition the city is in.  Or he would be if he was dead.

211 total last year.  Probably beat that by Labor Day.

I bet the city cops are hassling Mr Sumdood a lot less since the riots.  Leaving them room to conduct bidness.   That's the other side of the coin:
"Cops are too abusive of folks!"
"Fine, we'll dial them back."
"Now crime is up!"
"Make up your mind.  Do you want more Order or want more Freedom?"
"I want BOTH!"
"Well, that is a very tough nut to crack, to get that balance.  In the meantime, be less crimey."

Search Result

Saw the word polypragmatoi online.  Meaning busybody.  Coined by Jeff Cooper.  I did a good search on it because Cooper coined a lot of words that then never got used by anybody else and the first result is... Me.  From 2008.  So much for fresh blog fodder.

What Caliber For...

Leaf-blower wielding maniac?

Seriously?  That's the best you can come up with, buddy?  Maybe next time stickup a liquor store with a Kitchen Aid mixer?

Away Game

My brain is still in away-game mode, so the fresh blog fodder is light.  So I will fall back on old standbys.

While gone I only heard snippets of current events news.  I heard Roddy Piper died.  I head there were like 8 or 9 theater shootings so I figured guns would be banned when I returned.  What's up with that? 

I also have been reading John Grimes books.  A series by A. Bertram Chandler

I love space opera stuff, and this is interesting because the author was writing for just Australian readers in the 70s, so the cultural references were all Aussie.  Kinda fun to see.  Would be like watching Turkish Star Trek.

His space ships were all classic 1950s era rockets that landed on the back fins.   Pointy tower things that looked like German V-2s.  And the FTL drive ran on clock work.

He started it out as a space faring Horatio Hornblower series, apparently, that eventually morphed into something else.  Lots on 1970s era fornication, too.   Though not pornographic.  Just that sort of sensibility.  

It feels like the RPG Traveller listed some of his flavor, which I also welcome

This is why 1911

This is why I like metal guns.  I knew it!  Leave a gun without 75 years of testing in your car in the summer and you get Gumby.

Old Timers

One of the great things about the internet is that it arrived before all the WWII vets completely doddered off into the sunset.  SO we have captures, in simple 15 year old webpages, now, a lot of valuable historical anecdotes.

You know what I am talking about.  Simple HTML pages where a vet data dumped a lot of interesting facts and experiences, with the help of a grandson.  Neither of them had to work, might as well.

The way my life should have looked

At LEAST this cool.  It was this cool when I was born.  I should have a cooler looking firebird.  And a space plane.  That will get me to my job on the Moon Base.  Where I am a bartender.  Making space Daiquiris.  With earth tone decor about.

dead

Straight up

Been shaving with a straight razor for a while now.  Usually at least once a weekend.  So, time for a review.

The stubble from a cutthroat razor feels different.  Like each individual hair is slices off at a different pokier angle than with other types of razors. 

Using a stone may be better than strop.  I'm not so good at the strop, skillwise, maybe.  And Ultra Fine ceramic wasn't around before safety razors got popular.  I wonder if old timer 125 years ago would eschew the strop if they had access to always flat ultra fine ceramics? 

It's slower shaving this way than with the safety razor, and that is slower than a 3+ bladed disposable cartridge.  And to tell you the truth the closeness of shave matches the speed.  I shave my head with a Mach 3, and might never have done this experiment with my face if I shaved my upper lip still and had access to decent Trac II cartridges 10 years ago.  So why stick with something slower and less effective?  Good question.  It's fun, to tell you the truth.  To train myself to use old tech like a razor.  And if the balloon goes up I will be able to shave longer than folks that need blades from Peoples Drugstore.

Oh, and the worst razor burn I've ever gotten has been from electric shavers.  Second worse from cartridge razors I had to use for 2 weeks.  Then straight razor.  But a splash of Old Spice aftershave fixes it right up. 

A New Beginning

How could this guy be a disaster?  Seems so nice.



You know, I rag on the 1970's, but there was an underlying sense of optimism, apart from whatever happened in federal gov't. Muddle through, but with a smile, maybe? And earthtones. Lots of earthtones.

Not Tested

Guys, then, in their 20s.  Young enough to be full of beans, old enough to know it takes more than beans



Not tested, WANT to be tested.  Haven't yet.  They have the introspection to wonder.  They'll do ok.

Of course they are in their 40s now, at least. Prolly fathers, some of em. Older and wiser, and know who they are, and are less bothered about passing any tests. And some may have been tested once or twice. And either succeeded or were found wanting. Whichever, life goes on.

Dazzling

I've always liked this 100 year old trick to try to fool sub commanders and mess up their targeting aspect.  I don't know how effective it was in foiling attacks, but it sure is pretty.

And Speaking of Kipling

Do you LIKE Kipling, madam?

This has a meaning

For certain members of my generation.  It meant "SNOOPY IS ON!"  Or Rankin and Bass.  Or Riki Tiki Tavi.  Whichever.  I always loved it.

Sentimental

Why am I getting MORE sentimental as I age?  Movies I NEVER would have gotten choked up affect me now.  It's a Wonderful Life?  That beginning scene where everyone is praying for George Bailey.  Every.  Time.  Star Trek II?  Fuhgeddaboutit.

Even songs.  About a damn turtle!



Good luck with your Lady Tortoise friend on that island in the sky, Lonesome George.

Dunno what causes this. The over sentimentality. Maybe it's always been there and I just care less about tamping it down now that I'm old.