Sanctuary State

In shocking turn from the brink, the president of the Maryland Senate, the second most powerful man in the state, has stated unequivocally that the Sanctuary Bill passed by the house of delegates won't get through the Senate.  Period.

The GOP governor Hogan was going to veto it, but the Dems control so much of the legislature they can override most anything they really want to.  Thanks to Senator Miller it won't come to that. 

I dunno if Miller is just a sane man or realizes the optics would look very very wrong right now what with the Rockville High School rape by illegal aliens receiving national attention.

But... but...

Rosie O'Donnel told me beam jet can't steel fuel melts!

I mean jet fuel can't melt steel beams!

Overheard at Work

Co-workers were noting that Oklahoma home invasion where a 23 year old dirt-napped three bad guy teens with an AR.  They were noticing internet comments sections were histrionic, commenters calling the victim defending himself a murderer.  Thought that was silly.

They went on...  More noticing.  You often hear about the dead bad guys family bemoaning that the victim didn't have to kill the bad guy.  But you never hear from the shooter.  Even with a good shoot fully justified, they still ended the life of 3 people.  No matter how deserving that will stay in the nightmares of most folks.  But nary a peep is heard.

Well, good guy, if smart, is keeping his trap shut, often under orders from an attorney.  Unless you are acquitted at trial months and months down the road, you don't want to give the DA an excuse, after promising no charges were forthcoming, to change his mind and renege.  And by the time a body is clear to talk about a shooting, the news media isn't interested.  It's News media, not ancient history media, after all.

Health Update

Pinched nerve in the neck.  Cervical radiculopathy is the name for it, apparently.  The disks are herniating a little bit.  When it was pain and numbness, I didn't care, but went to the doctor when it manifested as weakness in my support hand. Especially when I raise my arm higher than my adam's apple.  Getting a pistol up to eye level is more difficult, now, while this flare up is in effect.

Pain is one thing, but the weakness concerned me.

Treated with medicines.  Muscle relaxers, steroidal anti inflammatory, then NSAIDS.

In physical therapy now.  First session was yesterday.  Now that was nice.  I have some stretches to get the muscles in my back and neck more balanced against themselves, and there is the neck stretcher machine that feels glorious.

I've slowed down my training, temporarily.  Worst case scenario, this issue gets no better I will train around the weakness and get used to it.  Practice more strong hand only shooting.  But let's see if I can make it better, first, before giving up on the right arm.  It still works, just not as well. 

Been Failing the Interviews

The neighborhood is flooded with bilingual hucksters of late. 

Our local Electricity Emporium no longer generates the juice, just delivers.  And we, the customer, get to decide which supplier we want to use.  So they are all out greening each other, trying to sell the most environmentally 'sustainable' source that we should totally sign up with.

They are failing their marketing with me.  I'd choose the coaliest supplier.  Cheap and reliable.  Though coal/nuke would be even better.  That isn't the choices.  The choices are GreenCo.  Supa-Green, and Greenier & GreenGreen LLC.  Electricity is fungible, why is this even a thing?

Also getting the "we are in the neighborhood, refinishing driveways for you neighbor would you like us to do your and your roof and replace your windows, too?" pitchmen.  It is the season

The huckster go door to door, ringing bells.  I have a porch door, and it is locked, so they don't get that close, and during the day I will come to the door and tell them to pound sand.  You are coming to me and asking for money?  You wouldn't give ME money if I walked up to you and asked you.

At night I don't answer the door.  I am there, of course, watching unseen.  Don't answer the door at night unless you can see the cop lights on the street outside.

But the day walker hustlers, just selling or maybe scamming... I am not doing the interview well.  These aren't crooks, just salesmen.  But I should still be alert for the one in a hundred crook, looking for a victim.  And I want to deter that one in a hundred.

They are outside the airlock.  That is good.  But I am not watching their hands.  I am engaging them in conversation, however brief.  My guard gets too far down.  Colonel Cooper would say I should be Condition Orange, maybe?  I just want to be a brighter Yellow.  Yet another thing to be mindful of.    

Right Arm

Hurts to type.  And mouse.

Range Day 23 March

Revolvers.

Took the 617 and 640 out for a spin.  My neck it still bothering me so I figured it's just be a few shots and done.

Well that was embarrassing.

Things I learned.  Pausing the DA trigger squeeze is doable.  A viable for me method. When I got it down right I get groups like this at 25 feet.

Practice at the range and DRY FIRE will improve this.  Note the hole at 4 o'clock?  That was supposed to go in the target below.  It was +P.

Which makes me think...  Prowler busting in at 3AM, with +P ammo already in the gun... anticipatory missed because of recoil and no hearing protection...  Not good.

There is a spare .22 in there, too.  Dunno where/when that came into play.  Grrr.  Amateur.

Ugh, revolver through me for a loop, all that training on the 1911 platform and Glock simulations.

Here is some more .22 after I was warmed up with the DA.

Firing a little high.  Even for me.  The 617 has adjustable sights.  I may adjust.



And some more snubbie work.

Snub sights suck.  I don't need to tell you that.  I am sure the lower right two are anticipatory.  Old bad habits.  Still in the paint at least.  A serviceable group, but I am not satisfied with it.

All my revolvers are timed fine, now that the 686 is fixed.  And all have a similar smoothness to the trigger pull.  (The 617 might be a little lighter.) So no radical difference between guns.  Which is mostly due to consistencies at S&W, I'll wager. 

Future live fire plans...  Bring the 686 in lieu of the 617 next time, to really get to work on this trigger pull.  Also, get a better neck so you don't flag as easily and get more rounds down range.  I think I can tighten that up with just a bit more practice.  If I consistently get snubbie shots in that circle at 25 feet?  Boy, howdy. 

Everyone knows

"Diversity is good."

How?

No one can explain that to me, properly.

They usually start out with 'think of the great restaurants!' and peter out after that.  And it's possible to have a vibrant food selection in an otherwise monocultural environment.

So, keep food out of it.  Why is diversity an objective good, as some people keep insisting as tho it were fact?

BAG day.

Hey Kim du Toit is back to blogging.  And he sorta invented BAG Day.  Buy a Gun Day.  It's comin.  April 15th.  Now is the time to start shopping for yours.

I bought enough gun.  So I may skip this year.  Heck I SOLD two to cover last year's gun.  I'm in deficit of quantity, but trying to bump the quality.

But I am getting low on my practice ammo.

I haven't shot the 9mm enough to know what it likes best, bullet weight wise.  But the .22 stock is low.

Rockville Rapists

"Hey T-Bolt, is that Rockville High School where them illegal aliens outraged that little girl anywhere near where you live?"

Yes.  It is less than 3 miles from my house, as the crow flies.  And we only know the 18 year freshman was an illegal alien.  The other man is 17, so, still technically a minor, and they won't share as much about him out of policy.  Just like they'll never print the poor victim's name, because she was a victim and is also a minor.   

"Are there a lot of illegal aliens around you?" 

Sure!  You bet.

"When you gonna move?"

Hmph.
 

Still Low on Brains

Definitely gonna hit the range.  This time, revolvers, tho.  I got something I want to try with the DA trigger.  Two staging it.  If I can.  Line up on target, draw quite a bit out of the trigger pull.  Tiny Pause, finish the draw for the break. 

See if I can apply something Sam showed me.  I'll prolly mess it up, but let's see.

Outta Gas

A lil blog bupkis goin on.  Ennui from the neck and shoulder pain?  Just yer generally existential ennui?  I dunno.  But it's here.

I saw that accidental firearm deaths was at the lowest number, not just percentage, but number, in 2015 than it has been since 1903.  Keep up the good work.  Lucky Strikes Means Fine Tobacco.

LS: Loaded, Stupid!
M:  Muzzle
F:   Finger
T:   Target

Vote and Miscellania

Well, NRA ballots are due before the 9th of April.  I better hop to.  Who to vote for?  I know some folks have put up posts with suggestions and collections of endorsements.  Anyone have any others?

---

My neck is feeling better after a trip to the doctor.  Just anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxers.  We'll see.  I can easily lift a half gallon of milk from the counter and put it on the table with the impacted right arm, but it is difficult to get it higher than that.  Say, if I wanted put something that heavy on top of the fridge.  I can do that, but it feels noticeably weaker.  Holding a pistol at eyeball height falls in this range of weakness.  I could shoot down groundhog holes easily with both hands. 

But like I said, it is getting better.  Gonna try to hit the range.  If it is bad I won't reinforce failure and either cut short the session or do some one handed practice.

Holster

I am sorta stuck with this custom gun.  I have few holster options.  It's like an STI 2011, but there are subtle differences.  For instance the slide near the muzzle isn't radiused the same.  That alone keeps me from being able to buy a 2011 holster off the shelf.  I got mine custom made.  $65.  Not bad.  We'll see how they do.  The gun doesn't fall out when you hold the holster upside down and shake it.  Good start.  Rekkr Custom Kydex

I could prolly use a competition holster, off the shelf, because it only 'grabs' on the open muzzle and trigger guard.  Like this.

But that's not practical for day to day.

Tam posted some holster makers.

Raven, Keepers Concealment, Custom Carry Concepts, Dark Star Gear, JMCK, PHLster

None of them carry 2011 holsters that I can find.  Wait JM Custom has one.  But believe all of them will make a custom holster for you and your custome gun.  If they are taking appointments.  The trick of that is you have to go there with your gun.  If you have a Glock and can find a dealer nearby you might get one of their holster right now for your ownself.

"So why did you take the trouble to get all those links preserved, T-Bolt, Mr. Fancy-Pants Custom Gun snob?"

Because I might get a Glock or M&P or summat someday and I want a list of reputable makers.  And is Maryland goes CCW I'd prolly not carry that 2011 much anyway, and many of those makers DO have 1911 version I could avail myself of.  (I already have a nice Milt Sparks 1911 holster though)

A 2011

"I dunno, T-Bolt... a 2011?  A double stack 1911?  Those don't have a reputation of reliability."

No, they do NOT.  The model's biggest hangup is magazine issues.  Quality, expensive, mags still hang up the gun like CRAZY.  I knew this before I saw it on the shelf.

"So why did you risk it?"

Well, unlike most double stack 2011 buyers, I bought this from a good gunsmith.  One willing to help with them magazines.  The magazine need smithing as much as the rest of the gun. 

A big issue is the follower.  You have to tune that so it doesn't catch the slide release tab and lock the slide back on the last round, like I have experienced.  But there are other things to tune that I hope to learn for myself.  If the magazines ever come in from the supplier.

Oh, and I can't have them shipped to me.  10 round limit in Maryland.  These can hold 19 or 21.

"Are you regretting getting it at all?  You could have bout a P320, a G19, and an M&P9 with less money."

Not regretting even a little bit.  I really really like it.

Get your money back.

I heard a rumor.

Because the hearing protection act might be coming soon people are putting off getting a suppressor.  Save $200 that way.

This has adversely impacted sales, now, today.

So some companies promise if you buy a can from them after a certain date, already past, they will cut you a check to cover the tax stamp when the law goes into effect.

For the life of me I can't confirm this rumor.  But it sounds like it might be true, don't it?

Huh

So New Mexico, some politicians at least, want to deploy Step 1 in a gun confiscation scheme and start a gun registry.  I hope the forces of freedom fend that off.  You don't want to be like Maryland, New Mexico.  Pity.

Saw that in this article.

But what caught my eye was that rancher in the picture with the ranch rifle.

That looks like a Ruger Mini-14.  Decent enough gun.  Ok.  Retails for less than a grand.  And that's recently when the prices went up.  You can get one used for $500.  Less.

But the optics.

It looks like a Trijicon ACOG with a reflex sight on top.  THAT retails for $2000.  Very nice glass.  Phew.  That's almost like putting a Chistian Dior Gown on a pig.  A very nice pig granted.  It's not like he mounted that on the dust cover of a SKS.  And the fellow is obviously near sighted.  I'd want a decent 4x scope too, ifn I was that nearsighted.   I can understand his desire.  If that were me I'd have put a Scout type scope on it.  But that is my preference.  $300 for the scope, and $100 for the hardware.  Ooo, forgot rings. 

And maybe that is a knockoff of the ACOG.  Not the $100 Chinese knockoff, but the slightly better $600 knockoff.  That'd be fine by me.

Not that I am truly criticizing the man's choices.  Do what you want with what you got.  And besides, chances are the guy can shoot circles around me.

I do love shady spot in New Mexico, tho.

Sahara

Rewatched this classic WWII movie.  Starring Humphrey Bogart.  There is a baby faced Lloyd Bridges who is trying to do a Brit accent and rarely is 'gasping for air.'


But the real star of the show is the M3 Lee tank that Bogie is in charge of.  Lulubelle.

Gosh I love that tank.  Recognized as having limited capability even before it first rolled off the assembly line, by the time of the movie's filming in 1943 the Army could afford to loan one to Hollywood.  They had M4 Shermans they were concentrating on sending to Britain.

Tall, and ungainly looking, it had that offset 75 mm gun in a sponson with limited traverse.  Above that a 37mm turreted gun with a .30 cal co-axial.  That turret would have done well against Panzer IIs in France of 1940 if the French had a couple thousand of them.  On top of THAT turret was... another turret.  DANG!  With a M2 .50 cal.  At least in the movie.  That .50 (I think it is... no wait, it's prolly a .30 M1919) in that configuration in this movie doesn't seem typical.  This guy doesn't have one:

 
So, what do you do with a few thousand tanks that are obsolete before the paint dries?  I mean besides put them in a movie.  You chop off the top and make it an open top vehicle with a 105 mm howitzer.  Call it the M7 Priest.  Now THAT is a useful thing.  Coupla dozen of those in a battalion behind the front edge of a push?  That's a lotta rain.  And then, displace to a new area.  As long as the enemy has no planes to strafe you with that is a recipe for mobile success.

It was a revelation when I learned this

And that not too long ago.

The sight moving all around the target when you are aiming due to natural fluctuations in your body do not matter.  Or matter much. The axis of the barrel is still is line with what you want to hit it is going to hit very near to what you want to hit.

I never thought about it, but it makes sense and you can see, also, that gross sight alignment is the same thing.  



What matters, and what gets you misses is when you yank the axis off that line.  Usually with a trigger pull of some kind of recoil anticipating.  Instead of the axis of the pistol being in line you are making a 'cone'.  You might as well swivel your wrist.

All these movement are teeny tiny, too.  The ok ones and the bad ones.

I want to go shooting.  As soon as my neck is better.

Hooray!

Bath time!

That's where I get to play Navy SEAL!

Grocery Coffee

My local store always runs out of the Kona. 

Can anyone recommend a whole bean, medium roast, delicious coffee that can be delivered to my door without raping me on the shipping?

I'd try Black Rifle, but it's $8 to ship a bag of $12 coffee.  It's $12 to ship two bags.

"You buy them supa-spensive pistols, T-Bolt, why go chintzy on this?"

Yeah yeah.  I just wish they'd keep the Kona stocked locally.  I'll prolly fold, eventually.

Now, if you said your coffee recommendation was WORTH the $8, that'd be a whole nother story...

I Hurt

I went for some live fire training with Sam on the 11th.  My C5-C6 or what-have-you disk in my spine is acting up.  My right arm has tremors, and pain, and feels weaker right now.  Plus the neck pain.  I can almost get the gun up to my sight line without issue.

The first few rounds were ok.  Smooth and in the bullseye, but the fatigue set in very very fast, so we quit rather than train through pain and failure.  32 rounds, 147 gr AE.  1 round FTF because it nosed down, mag #2, bears watching.  Didn't bother saving the target.

I need to go back to the doc again, methinks.  Thursday.  Now I need pie.

I treat it with Aleve, and heating pads, and booze, but that's not good.  The doc, last time, in 2013, gave out fancier NSAIDs and steroids.  And I got an MRI that no one but me has seen the DVD of, so now we have something to compare. 

The good news I got my holsters made and my gun back! The bottom holster the gun is in is IWB, the other is of OWB and can accomadate the light.

Bad Guy #2

"Axe-Wielding Maniac Goes On a Rampage In the Dusseldorf Train Station. Possible Accomplice Still On the Loose."

Current event from last week.

But you get that a lot in the initial reports from some act of carnage.  Where the police are looking for a second shooter or second suspect.  It's common.  Also common is for this second person to be a phantom, and the original criminal acted alone.  Seems it's that way more often than not.

It's like a real life Trope at this point, played out on the news instead of my major network sitcom.

"SWAT combs neighboring parking garage looking for a second shooter"

"Police advise people to avoid the area and to shelter in place as they search for the second perpetrator that shot up the Discovery Building"

Now I don't blame the police for chasing after ghosts.  They are doing it out of an abundance of caution.  All they have to go on is what excited witnesses on the confused scene tell them.  "I heard shots from over there (where victims and maybe the suicided body of the murderer is) but I also think I heard shot from over THERE (maybe an echo or even the brain playing adrenaline tricks on them)"  And off the cops go looking for #2...  Or is it #1?  It's confusing.  But that reporter nearby that over heard the action on the scanner reported what happened as it happened, mebbe

In the rare occasion there is a second dirt bag, if the cops DIDN'T go after rumors of one and look, and that second guy caused more mayhem, the cops would be raked over the coals for it.

But going off on wild goose chases in a high pressure situation because of the tricks the brain plays on unreliable witnesses is just a condition of being human

4 years ago

This May, I quit smoking.  For the last time. Most quitters quit lots of times. It's the second easiest thing for a smoker to do.

Apparently I was done smoking then, and that helped. Surprisingly, I am not even tempted anymore. I figured I would be.

But if I found 1951 Camels, Luckys, or Chesterfields, I'd be sore tempted to smoke them ALL.

Spring Forward

Paint it

"What's expected in return?"

"That's right. I like to know what crops I'm planting."

"When l get dead drunk, fall in a muddy street, I expect you to come get me, Cos l don't want to die muddy drunk. If I owe a man money, stand good for me. And if I get melancholy, which can happen, I expect you to be my companion and solace me.”

Don't Go Back to Rockville

  I remember seeing this new store opening in nearby Rockville Maryland and might have even blogged about needing to check it out, but... Haven't been to that store.  And now it's been robbed.

Most store I know of around here either have vault doors to the gun room or take the guns out of the display case and put them in a vault.  Multiple layers of security for the shooting irons.  So a quick smash and grab after hours isn't practical.  Slow down the thieves while the alarm systems summons the constabulary.

I have no idea of this new place's set up but it doesn't sound robust.

I haven't visited it because I have another store for any transfer I might need and I really haven't bought anything for years and years.  Well, except a hunting rifle.  And some 1911 frames for the gunsmithing.  And that 9mm.  Practically nothing

7 MAR 17 Range

Well, that didn't work as well as I'd hoped.

The 1, 2, 3  is more of a Ooooooooooooooone... twothree.  Squeeeeeeeeze... reset-prep.  Which I like.  But didn't magically give me tight groups doing it.  Until the last target on the lower right.  The best target was the final target, just like last time.

Nuh uh.  I can't leave, again, thinking I am better than ever on the last target, so I drew the extra black dots to shoot at.

So, now the only good ones are #4 and #8, and #10 is...  marginally better.

Hmph.

But when I am doing better than the '1' in the cadence count is done extra careful, extra zen.  Not necessarily extra slow.  Just extra zen. Gonna get some training Saturday.

108 rounds shot, and logged..

Run Forrest, run

Yes, we properly condemn him.  The man was a slave trade auctioneer, 'founded' the Klan, and fought on the wrong side of the second American revolution.  Thrice damned.

Also, he may have been a tactical military genius.  One of the best produced.  Ever.  Put aside his evil stuff (which was also complicated') and look to what he can teach us.

Nathan Beford Forrest

Maybe the best cavalryman since Genghis Khan.  Enjoyed a lively reputation, recognized by both side. 

'"Get thar fustest with the mostest".  Is attributed to him.  Which sound like a bumpkin but distills the problem down to its essence.   My history professor translated it as "get to the battle first and with the most men."  But it's so much more than that.

Let's break it down

Get:  to move.  Maneuver.  Critical in battle.  Don't stand on the X.  You are a fighting force, not a static fortress.  And Forrest was a horse soldier.  Movement was life, and they were intimately familiar with it. 
Thar:  a place.  The place of battle.  The decisive location.  The place your maneuvering to to meet the adversary.  A focal point.  The Schwerpunkt?  Yes, I believe that's the term for it.  Not that Forrest would know the term, as it hadn't been coined by some Junker in Prussia just yet.
Fustest:  First.  Before the other guy.  A point in time, and inside the other guy's OODA loop.  You have the initiative.  Or surprise.
With:  assembled.  A coherent group. Disciplined.  All together.  Teamed.  Already trained.
The Mostest: not just the most men.  But also material.  Weapons, bullets, rations.  Logistics.  Sufficient stuff to have enough weight to overcome the adversary at the point of decision and exert your will over them.  Also Force Multipliers.  Forrest used force multipliers if he didn't know the term we used for it in the 20th C.

Crams a lot of meaning into that ignorant bumpkin sentence.  And it was instinctive.  The guy didn't study military theory like Patton or McMaster.  He didn't break down that sentence like I did.  Deep down, he was no bumpkin.  His shrewd business acumen made him quite wealthy before the war.  Perhaps he cultivated that talk to lull his adversaries, the more easy to prey upon them.

Anyway.  Example of Forrest's principles:


Stalingrad.  The Germans wanted a city and went.  Got Thar.  Soviet forces hadn't concentrated and needed more time.  Germans were Fustest with the Mostest.  Germans won the town.  The Soviets traded men's lives for time.  That part isn't very nice, and not too Forrest like.  But it did keep the German's Thar...  The Soviets gathered their Mostest, then surround the Germans cutting them off, denying the Germans their Mostest and Getting Thar With at a time of their choosing.  Moved the goalposts on the Fustest


Battle of Bulge.  Concentrating on a Thar, a schwerpunkt in the Ardennes that worked before.  Germany concetrated forces (With the Mostest).  The intention was to Get through that spot, wreak havoc behind the lines, Fustest.   Also, pick bad weather to counter Allied air power, to add to the German Mostest.  Coulda worked, too, if not for Patton's flexibility and the 101st selling their spot of Thar (inconvenient to the Germans Fustest, that crossroads...) dearly.
  

Vigilantes

The problem with vigilantism is that once the can of worms is opened it's hard to get that toothpaste back in the box.  Even if the goal is to restore Rule of Law by going against the Rule of Law.  Power corrupts, see?

Such an interesting article about the Bald Knobbers, but they touch on other flavors.  Not all Hooded Vigilantes were the execrable Klan, clearly. 

It made me think...  There aren't many instances of 'good' vigilantism that didn't descend into corruption and became the evil thing they were originally opposing.  Those kinds get a lot less press, for one. 

• Battle of Athens
• The killing of a Town Bully
• Maybe even the Guardian Angels?  Not really vigilantes, them.  
• The called Bernie Goetz the Subway Vigilante, but that was more narrative building or media laziness.  I think the details more likely point to self-defense with a gun the law said he wasn't allowed to have.  We've had THIS conversation before

1 2 3

Range Day, on the 2nd.  Should brought more ammo. 

Target #5 I was messing up and started concentrating to self-correct.  #6 is better.  Then...

Something happened on the last target.  I started counting cadence on #6 I think, and definitely on #7. 

1, 2, 3.   That's a different procedure for me.

1. One is press the trigger to pin  (the loud noise happens at this step)
2. Two is reset during recoil, because I suck.
3. Three is prep the trigger and align the sights to the target.

IN out in.  IN out in. IN out in...  Capital "IN" because of the noise.  It's the usual gentle attempt at achieving surprise. 

Seems to work for me.

Yes it's out of order.  You have to be in the middle of the string to start.  It more of a 3, 1, 2 if you start from cold.  But so what?  If this keeps working, and I get similar results, repeating, I'll fine tune after I dial it in. 

I don't know why.  Counting concentrates the mind on the trigger fundamentals?  Or does counting distract the mind so it forgets to flinch, and singing a Bee Gees tune would have done the same thing?  (Hmmm, what if the song is in 3/4 time...)

"Why not make it a 4 count?"

Hmmm, maybe.  But instinctively I want to keep it simple.  And three is less complicated than four.  Maybe I can figure out a 2-count (in out).  But first, I need to repeat the results on a subsequent range trip.  And a buncha times.      

Nananananana, Batman.

James Lileks reflects on batman movies past before going to see lego batman

"Back up for context: when the first Keaton Batman came out, the idea of Gotham in decay, crappy cars, ugliness all around - it made sense, in a thrilling sort of way. I’ve seen the future, and man it’s rough, as the Prince song heard for 1.7 seconds on the soundtrack put it. Why, at the end of the 80s, did we think this? What evidence of dystopia did we see around us? Was it the lingering effect of the ’87 crash, the feeling that feral elements great and mean, large and small, were about to swamp the deck?"

When the Keaton Batman came out, the wide world still knew batman as a campy 1960s kid show.  The more gritty batman became a thing in the 70s culminating before this movie with Frank Millers Return of the Dark Knight.

Looking back today the Keaton/Burton movie seems kinda goofy, but at the time it was light years ahead in realism compared to what we had on the big screen batman world. 

But that's not the thing.  The thing is Lileks doesn't remember why the feeling of dystopia was there in the late 1980s.  I guess the intervening years and hindsight make it hard to put himself in his own skin back then and look around.  The crime wave and decrepitude was unabated.  There was still a direct line from the squallor of all those crime movies of the 70s:  Death Wish, Warriors, Taxi Driver, The Taking of Pelham 123.  The Reagan years might have made the economy a bit better but as soon as another economic contraction happened it'd be the 1970s all over again.  But now with Crack cocaine and wilding super-predators, as all the media told us to worry about and was worse than what came before.

And the murder rate was still climbing, unabated.  People saw a person murdered daily in the Nation's Capitol.   One a day.  And they could project out into the future, "When will it be 2 a day?  3?" with parallels in every jurisdiction, nationwide.  Swamp the deck, indeed. 

It was so bad and there was no conceivable end to it.  No visible chance of a course change.  By 2017 crime and murder would be on the straight line path heading up, and the Soviet Union would be just as menacing behind the iron curtain.

But that did change.  And here we are.  Unable to remember.  Lileks gets close, but not quite there.

And after the 89 movie Batman descended into goofiness again.  Took Nolan/Bale to correct the course and do it even better. 

That's not humane!

The usual suspect on my own personal social media are sharing a story about Texas and feral hogs and poisoning same with the anticoagulant Warfarin. 

"Oh the poor things!  How is this sporting?  Inhumane!"

For those that don't know, Warfarin is prescribe to people to keep blood clots from forming in your capillaries, thus helping to head off a heart attack or stroke.  If you get cut on Warfarin it may take some time to get the bleeding controlled.  If you overdose, you get what happens to rats or feral hogs that eat baited Warfarin.  You internal organ bleed.

I include rats and hogs together because they are the same thing.  Pests to be eradicated.  This isn't hunting.  No need or call to be sporting.  That's not Wilbur from Charlotte's Web.  Rats only edge Pigs in destructiveness because Rats helped spread Plague. 

Typewriter Repair Manual

I don't remember where I saw the link.  Probably something Roberta clicked me to from something she said...

There is a book from the 40s and before called the Typewriter Repair Manual.  It got reprinted a lot.  But it is spendy.  But lulu.com has the Typewriter Repair Bible.    Looks like a print on demand job.  Spiral bound.  More reasonable price.  I decided to take a chance on it.  Whoa momma, this is the stuff.  Lots of diagrams.  Ima like this, methinks.  Just got it, maybe I'll have more later.  The bible could be better than the manual.

Python

I wanted a Colt Python stainless when I first became aware of them, mid-80s in Soldier of Fortune magazine. 

Shoulda bought one back then.

Pinning

Tam keeps hitting this point again and again.  "I wish I'd learned this in '95 or '05 instead of '15..." How pinning the trigger, then lining up the sights on target, then resetting the trigger, then going through the trigger press again...  She wished she hadn't trained that habit because now she wants to untrain it, like Ernest Langdon says.


Now, my guy is training me that way. But that's not what I am doing. Because I am a poor student and a not actually doing it with this method. I do pin it. My shots got better, more accurate when I did. But I am the impatient type. I rush things. Anyone that reads this and know how I shoot (besides poorly) knows that I cut corners already. It's a bad habit. But I am resetting long before the the gun is down after recoil and the trigger is prepped.

Is Sam gonna yell at me when he figures out that is what I am doing? Perhaps. Is that what one of his teachers does, Max Michel? I dunno. In my laziness am I by happenstance doing something better? You tell me.

(Finally, sucking at something works out for me in a very narrow instance...)

This is my favorite axe

I like it so much I always repair it when something breaks.  I've had to replace the handle seven times and the axe head twice.  But it is my favorite axe, regardless.

Wee Kimber

Shooting Illustrated has a lovely little cover gun and a review inside.  A Kimber wee 9mm.

From the glossy pictures the fit and finish makes the gun look better than standard run of the mill, and it's a rather handsome Officer size 1911 style, with ambi-safeties.  Look at the machining on the back of that guide rod.  I am impresses with the styling, the aesthetics.  I am a sucker for that chainlink 'checkering.'  Solid trigger body is nice.  I find skeletonized to be getting a little dated myself. 

The single coil recoil spring concerns me a little bit.  Not a lotta length to the slide operation, nor a lotta mass so these little guns ask a lot of that spring.  I've heard folks say not to expect more than 200 rounds out of one before needing to replace it.  Who knows.  I do now that if I were to get a pistol like this I'd go in knowing that that was a distinct possibility, and plan accordingly.  Maybe I'd be pleasantly surprised with the spring performance and have less to worry about.

What did pique my curiosity was this:

What is that roll pin in the frame above the trigger for?  There is another one back by the thumb safety but I have a half an idea what is does.  Interesting.

Whelp

It's a S&W M&P.  Not a 1911.

Sear modified, so maybe a similar issue, but I have no way of knowing since I know nothing of the inner working of the M&P.

Ah well.  Guessed wrong.  Probably.

But now we know if you mess with the sear geometry of a 1911, bad things can happen, and if you mess with the sear geometry of a 1911, bad things can happen.


I know 1911s.  I have spent thousands of dollars learning 1911 gunsmithing.  From a very good gunsmith.  and I barely can even SEE when a 1911 has a similar flaw.  If you handed me an unloaded 1911 with this problem to test for this there is a slight chance I could catch it.  (You take out the thumb safety and watch for the issue thought that kidney shaped window.  The trick is doing the trigger pull right.)  So be a gunsmith better than me to avoid something that happened to Ms. Eisenzimmer from happening to you.

Also, at the  Army Marksmanship Unit, they have the best 1911 gunsmiths in the world working as their armorers and the guns are very well tuned.  They tell some the best and most talent shooters in the world to never go into the gun and make alterations on their own.  They can even ORDER them to never go in and make alterations, as the shooters are soldiers with a chain of command over them.  Some AMU shooters still go in and make unauthorized alterations.  Yikes. 

Be careful out there.

Mishap

I'm about to watch this.  An amateur gunsmith made a modification to her pistol and it went off in her holster.  That's all I know as of this moment. 

But I bet I know what it is. 

My guess is, 1911, and the hammer and sear engagment.  It was done in such a way that the sear was on the hammer hook, but when pressure was taken off the trigger, it didn't go back into a 'rest' state.  On of the hardest thing to test for. And a slight jar will let it go. Bang in the holster.

Let's see, back in 10:

Qui Bono?

Everytown wonders...

.

Who benefits from the loosening of restrictions on gun silencers?

Only the companies that sell them https://t.co/R91tjZzMzL

— Everytown (@Everytown) February 27, 2017

The Suppressor Manufacturers, that's who.  That's who benefits from loosened restrictions of 'gun silencers'

I dunno, gun-banners...

It's something I want.  A little bit.  I mean, I could have jumped through the hoops and gotten one or more suppressor by now if it was really a personal priority.  It's just a hassle, not hard.  With less hassle there is a greater chance I will go ahead and get one.  So I benefit in that a desire (if a mild one) is fulfilled.

I also benefit in that I don't have to pay the expensive tax stamp.

The manufacturers will benefit for a little while as the initial rush ramps up sales, then the competition will heat up and the prices will come down, so after a while, they benefit less and we consumers benefit more as quality either goes up or the wallet load decreases.

You know who WILL benefit?  Barrel makers.  Lots of pistols will need a spare barrel retrofit to be able to fire suppressed out of your favorite 1911 or G21.

And holster makers!  I'll need some sort of weird rig to carry this thing around.

You might think the Federal Treasury won't benefit, because they will no longer get $200 from the ATF tax stamp, but if suppressor sales go up like man, the revenue gained from a plethora of 10% Pittman-Robertson excise tax revenue may overtake what is lost from the tax stamp NFA stuffs.

The question shouldn't be "who is the only one that benefits from this law we hate" the question is who DOESN'T benefit! Everyone is a winner. Not you. So I guess you. You don't win, Everytown. Good.

Gonna gave to call you on that statement of "Only the companies that sell them," Everytown. That is Fake News. Fact Check says 3 Pants on Fire.