E v. W

A tale of two coasts over a long weekend.

Out west some badguys chose an off duty out of uniform Border Patrol officer to try to try to rob.  Poor victim selection, that.  They didn't expect a guy out of uniform to be armed.

The next day, east coast, local to me, Bawlmer.  Plain clothes ATF agents were doing... ATF stuff, when the same sorta thing happened to them.

They weren't wearing uniforms so that means they don't have guns, take their phones and wallets.

Gee, I wish more people not wearing cop clothes could turn the tables on bad guys in Maryland and California.  But regular people are just little people and not afforded such defend-yourself privileges.  You know, if regular people were sometime armed the word would get out to maybe be a crook some other way, and fewer bad guys would end up sticking up fewer folks.  Concentrate on the drug dealing, instead.

Range 24 May

Been a LOOOOONG time since I practiced with .45.

It was a good short session.  Not that I shot great.  I didn't.  But I shot some good, and some bad, and knew when and how I was doing both, and correcting more often than not.

I only shot 3 mags.  Baby steps.

Before the first shot I thought "I bet I do ok with number 1 and flinch on number 2," and that is what I did.  It took the rest of the magazine to settle down again, and shifted to the other side.

Two more mags, Second mag lower right.  Third mag is the left side.

When the shot are decent that is am T-bolt "Make Trigger Go Good" and those are in the paint or better.  When I slip too far right I am in "Make Trigger Go NOW" mode which hurries the squeeze and produces unsatisfactory results.  And one more plain old jerk to keep my head from getting too big.  I hope I have some warm up shots when a bad guy home invader busts in to hurt me and take my stuff.

But like I mentioned, I knew what was good and what was bad and why before I even looked at where the hole was.  And for the bad I knew what to do to fix it before I even looked.  For me, that awareness is huge. 

As you can see even the good one favor the right side.  And that's with me trying to draw the trigger in a way to pull it more left.  Watch, I'll improve even more and start land rounds in a group that can be covered with a half dollar and they will still be slightly right. 

But hey, since I went on the training vision quest I've been using mainly three 1911 styles on my live fire days.  A Springfield from the factory trigger with a Ceiner .22 conversion kit.  A 9mm double stack with a sweet trigger done by Sam, and my rebuilt Springfield .45 with a trigger done by me with heavy supervision by Sam.  All are different, with the .22 least satisfactory, yet still usable for what it is.  Different triggers but same shooter.  Same flaws.

I am pondering my next training step.  It will have to be someone as patient as Sam.  But different.  I want to learning new different tiny little details and improvements.

 

They came back

The males in my family, going way back, more often than not served in the military, when called.  I think my brother and I are the only ones that joined up without having been asked or needed or duty bound, but there was plenty of asking through the centuries.

There are Revolutionary war type.  Four greats great grandpa T-Bolt was rounded up by the French and he walked to Moscow with Napoleon.  Lots of relatives in upstate New York fought in the Civil War.  One grandpa was too old to join up in WWII, but he did anyway and ran a PX the whole time.  His sons, uncle and dad, joined up rather than be drafted.

All these people joined the military, served the time and came home, to later die, or be destined to die, in their beds.  They came back home, lived their lives.  Most often long ones. 

All accept the grandpa you see below.  Just him.  Forever 22.  Frozen in EGA amber.  He enjoyed working in a greenhouse in Michigan as a civilian, he managed to help bring my mother into being, and he died at Peleliu with other Marines.  Three things.  Just three things.  Defining a whole short life.

Coulda done worse.

Consequential

So many important events have been put in motion by men sitting inside a canvas tent.

From a steely-eyed grandpa

Enjoy your Memorial Day.

YOU'VE GOT TO CLOSE THE BEACHES, CHIEF

We're gonna need a bigger boat.

I know the historic reasoning behind it

That New York likes excessively high trigger pull weights on pistols for 'safety'.

Gear solution instead of a training solution.

First to solve a cop problem, and now to solve a free-people problem.

My quizzical nature wonder why it doesn't spread outside of New York.  Goodness knows, folks have tried.  Lemon squeezers are 130 years old.

I guess it's like it's hard to find Scrapple! served much beyond Pennsylvania or Maryland.  Or those crazy pork tenderloin sammiches too far from Indy.  Just a regional, quirk I guess.

Same goes for range bounce back

In the 80s, our boy scout troop met at an Isaak Walton.  When we got there there was usually nightime well lit skeet shooting going on.  Never had ear protection or goggles.  Some old guys had their glasses on, but they need them to see.

Now it was outside.  And there was only so much low down concrete bits for stuff to hit and bounce. But still.

Even then, it was a different time. 

random?

no it MUST be a hit job!

Aimin' to Misbehave, huh?

 A little Irish Democracy?

Teaching your kids about busy bodies railing agin Demon Rum, 1855-1933.  Then morphing into other types of Puritans.  Against drugs or drink-driving or littering or exhaling CO2 or eating bacon with eggs and and coffee.

I like the libertarian friend I have that want to smoke the doobie AND force me to only drive electric cars because our local coal plant is out of sight unlike our local gas station.  Worst.  Libertarian.  Ever.  Well, second worse.  Another wanted to bring back black chattel slavery.  Seriously.  People-owning Libertarians.  Because... liberty?   Glad that guy left the state and my industry.

Anywho:
 

"Irish democracy, the phenomenon by which the general members of a polity resist the mandates of their would-be rulers by simply refusing to comply with them."

I do that with guns!

No I don't smuggle guns into the country.  Or arm escaped felons.  Or manufacture machinegun bits.  But, for instance, I get big magazines from out of state.  Maryland doesn't like that.

"But T-Bolt, that's not illegal."

Shut up!  I know.  It is sorta against the SPIRIT of the law, tho.  Totally counts.  FIGHT THE POWER!  I recommend doing that whenever possible.

Did I sling 6 shots

"Or only 5?  Well, seeing how this is a Scipio & Virgil .44 slingshot and can blow your head clean off, you got ask yourself...  Do I feel felix?..."

Ancient Slingshot Was as Deadly as a .44 Magnum.

It's the 'stopping power', you see.

Seriously, a sling wound is pretty nasty.  Those lead bullets from a sling will go right into soft tissue just like a modern bullet.  Not as fast, but so what?  50 gram sling projectile is like getting hit by a 750 grain bullet.  A Minie ball from the civil war was 500 grains.  Hit your pate with one they'll be digging the lead out of your brains.   Go through your collar bone and come to rest against the inside of your shoulder blade.  Ick.

THIS old story

And again.

The elusive .270 I've chewed over many times.

I'll believe it when I see it universally deployed throughout every part of the War Department.  Er, DoD.

And when that happens peeps will whine "we can't achieve fire superiority over time because we can't carry enough rounds"

The Traitor Manning

He-she is thinking of moving back to Maryland.  To be near family.  Gonna stay in the military, instead of getting a dishonorable discharge.  Great.  Tricare and PX privileges.  Instead of a firing squad.

But now I might run into the crep weasel at the local Harris Tweeter.   Game Stop.  Cheesecak Factory.  Farmer's Market.  Squeezing the potato bread, testing for freshness.

I'll tell you if I see him.

Trigger

Trigger Press. Trigger Squeeze. Surprise break.

Whatever!

A good trigger pull is hard to describe in words.  You can convey the concept to a rank beginner.  A person can also understand what it is academically.  But doing one?

Even early on you get a good trigger pull you know you got it.  Even if rare and one in fifty.

I've been doing this awhile now.  Consistent trigger pull success is getting there.  Oh no, not every time!  No, no no no.  But I can pretty much call one up.  Better than half the time?  Gawd I hope.

There are all sorts of tricks to try to summon one.  Then there aren't tricks, there is just do.  (thank you Yoda)

But what to call... that.   The good trigger thingy happening go but don't go take your time.  How to describe what that action is in words.  "Trigger Press. Trigger Squeeze. Surprise break." just don't feel right to me.

And that bugs me.  For some reason.  I'm an idiot. 

"MAKE TRIGGER GO GOOD!"

Range Report 16 May 2017

The last two training sessions.  When I shot well I looked at the front sight, relaxed, and did a good trigger pull.   Glock or 1911.  When I didn't shoot well it was because I dropped one of those things and replaced it with something else.  Prairie dogging, looking over the front sight to the holes in the target.  Tensing up, hunching my shoulders, or getting stiff from fatigue and pain.  And anticipation of recoil or rushing the squeeze to send it sooner.

So, range day.  Those three things.  Concentrate on your breathing when you load your mags.  Deep breaths.  Bound to help you relax.

Ok, this isn't bad.  Do it again.

Bah.  Slipping. Got a flier there.

BAH!  You are RUSHING it dummy.  You lost the vibe.  Just pack it up and go home.  Don't REINFORCE your awful failure!  STUPID!  STUPID!  Just put all this crap away.

No, wait.  Get 10 more rounds. Take a break.  Deep breaths.  Slow down.  Once more  Sight, relax, trigger.

Ok, NOW you can go home.  This range is as hot as bawlz.

This is me

If I started a Youtube channel.  Jingles.

He's British tho, but a Navy veteran. About my age.  He's a video game enthusiast, with an interest in firearmns.  I'm the other way round.

And I post this because he went into Brit gun law.  "But pistols are for killing people."

Uh huh.  Correct.

Also World War Z discussion.

He did lots of Airsoft, instead of shooting, because, what else are you gonna do in the UK?  Shot stuff in the Navy, of course.  And he might might own a pump shotgun.

I watch a lot of his channel because I like his narration style.  He got me to try World of Warships.  And he still makes me want to try World of Tanks, too.  But low tier stuff.  I find the weaker tanks more interesting.

You see...

You see, they blocked blogger at work, I can't really check until I get home in the afternoon.  And this was a day.

"Keeping bankers hours, are you, T-Bolt."

"I'm sorry, Tom, I was heading to my physical therapy.  I've been in since 6AM.  Hey, why don't you eat a Bag of Richards, Mama Jama."

Sorry

Thought I had one queued for today.

NRA BETTER WORRY!

The NRA is in denial about slowing gun sales!  From the HuffPost.

Oh noes!

But wait...  the NRA isn't a trade organization.  The ebb and flow of gun sales isn't their baliwick.  They're raisin de ick tree isn't seller support.  It's customer support. 

Sure gun makers and sellers are tickled with gun customers are happy or in an buying mood, but they the purveyors are just along for the ride, Bubbha. 

The lion's share of money the NRA gets is from individuals paying membership dues.  SO it's not a wonder the NRA is most concerned about that group.

And besides, the slump might not even be as bad as you gun banners hope it is.  We could use a gun glut for a little while.  

Health Update

And all of a sudden I can bring my arm up higher than my shoulder.  In other words, to my sight line.  Still numbness in finger and thumb, but it's LESS numbness.  When there was pain I NEVER forgot to take the NSAID when it was due to take the next dose.  Now I am going a day or two between Vitamin I administration.

Good. 

I still hate getting old.

But I may be able to shoot again.  Well, after a fashion.

Impeach Yet Again!

Two scoops of ice cream when everyone else gets but one?!!!

MADNESS!!!

Going DOWN, Donny!

Impeach Him Again!

You know if Trump broke his promise to name Ted Cruz to the Vice Presidency because The Donald found out Lying Ted really was the Zodiac Killer... that's a breach of a verbal contract, a misdemeanor, and an impeachable offense.

Totally should grant Senator Cruz immunity for all those killings if he will testify against the President.

Impeach Him!

You know if all these stories about the 11 homeless men Donald Trump killed with a hammer back in February turn out to be true, then that is probably an impeachable offense.

Stoopid Birds

They decided the bottom 2 inches of my window screens make great nesting material.  PITA.  I guess I need to think about aluminum screen instead of... nylon?  Is this nylon?

I don't  have the energy for home repairs.

How disruptive is new replacement windows?

What If Korea

What if MacArthur had been a bit more reflective, a bit less arrogant.  And had shored up perimeters Around Pyongyan in the west and Hungnam in the east?  Either before OR after the CHICOMs entered the conflict.  Maybe the current border would be much further north.  Though the difficulty of linking east to west would be challenging over the spine of those north south mountains. 

Woulda coulda shoulda.

I don't think the will existed later, or the prudence prior, to make that possible.

The world would look different today, certainly.  A very different cold war.  All by having the border more near the 39th parallel than the 38th.  Seoul would be safer, sure.

"Truman shoulda let MacArthur nuke the Chinese!"

Nuke what?  What target destruction would have deterred Mao?

Koh-rea

Another 'forgotten' war.  Like WWI.  Forgotten as in, "why did it turn out the way it did?"

I had a better handle on this as a bald faced boy than I did the Great War.  But because M*A*S*H was on it felt like the war probably took forever, too.  Not really.  Three years.  And all the action was in the first 6 months.  Fast fast.

June 1950, the NORKS come down the peninsula, and allied forces (mostly US) are forced down to the southern tip.  Pusan Perimeter.

July 1950, UN says ok.  Mess of folks head on over in boats.

September 1950, landing and Inchon, the Norks are on their heels.  Steadily the allies push and take northern territory.

October 1950, the CHICOMS start sneaking across the Yalu.

November 1950, forces pushed back by about a bajillion Chinese.  Battle for Chosin Reservoir

December 1950, the Marines and some Army guys have pulled back to Hungnum harbor on the east coast.  And are evacuated.  Sorta like Dunkirk, but the Marines took all their stuff back with them.  A long hard slog.

January 1950, things sorta start to settle around the original border.  There is static trench warfare for two and a half years where folks just suffer and die for no visable result.  Then both sides quit fighting for 65 years.  So far.

But as you can see, just 6 months of dynamic action.

I told all that because I've been watching this, and thought it interesting.



Michael Caine fought in Korea. If you haven't seen him in Zulu then I don't know if we can still be friends.

Dammit

National CCW?

Nawww.

Hmph.

If I was a sore loser SOB I'd wish that the Hearing Protection Act would fail now, but, why be that kind of petty?  If I can't have the win, I'll settle for a win.

And put my hopes in the courts like with Peruta.  I wish the retirement rumors were for Ginsberg instead of Kennedy.  I'd love a Thomas clone in for her.  n

THEN the Dems would be all for a national reciprocity law.  Maybe they can stem the damage to the gun confiscator if they have a say in how full USA CCW goes down. 

Uh Oh

Saw this and thought 'blog fodder'!   Then EVERYONE jumped on it.  Dirty laundry aired about Shannon Watts at Moms Demand Gun Confiscations and Everytown Gets a Gun Ban.  Ah well.

Maybe Soros isn't happy with his creature?  So this was leaked.  Too much talk about her maybe making a run for Congress in Colorado?


We don't use that term for loyal toadie any more.  'Creature.'  One that is the servile dependent or tool of another

Huma would be Hillary's creature.

Peter Pettigrew would be Voldemorts (Read another book!)

Shannon is Soros'.  And you don't want your lessers trying to rise above their station, so you, George.

Could be. Could be.

"She's a horrible person, Tbolt!  That's why she is on the outs."

Well, yes, but she's ALWAYS been horrible.  Why is she on the outs now?

They say she is an unpaid volunteer?  Pull the other one, it has bells on it.  Someone is keeping her.

But the fact we are hearing this has deeper meaning.  It's signalling other things happening in the enemy camps.

Hey Kid!

Wait.

I can't tell corn from oats...

Commies ain't cool!

PROOF!

Child abuse

Ugh, brainwashed little wee bairn.  Who is sure he ain't brainwashed by his parents.  Well, maybe not his parents.... Ok, it's just his dad.  Gross.

Hope you are among the elite after the revolution.  The ones that aren't put up against the wall.  You'll need to be to eat as much as you are accustomed.

Speaking of washing...

Good luck washing the blood off your hands, Lil Che.  Be sure to tell the illegal immigrants what Che said:  "Mexicans are a rabble of illiterate Indians."  But that's not a Che shirt he is wearing at least.  It's Puma. Running dog capitalist lackeys, they.

WWTD, training

What Would Tam Do?

I appreciate Tam, occasionally, on other media forms even apart from her blog, goes, "Yo!  Training opportunity, you might consider."

Thanks Tam.

Now you gotta put that in proper context.  Tempered expectations. Does that mean you take that class and you shoot better than Jeff Cooper, Doc Holiday, and John Preston put together?  No.  It means that class is probably above average, not a fools errand, could very well be worth the money, and you might learn something.  You could do much worse.

The latest one is this.

Do it.  Or do something else, training wise.  It's fun.

Was gonna go to the range

Not really... feeling it.  Yesterday.

So, poor blogging.

The only good news is I may be regaining some feeling in the right thumb and forefinger.  So that's good, right?  Nerves take forever to heal.  Maybe I have turned a corner.

Constantly agitated by this is not helping my mood any.  And for that I am sorry. 

---

Here is a fact I did not know until yesterday.

Mr. Clean.  The cleanser mascot?  His first name is Veritably.

Sim is back up

Went on Saturday.  Hatfields simulator training.

Relax.  Front sight.  Squeeze the trigger.

Three simple things.

How come I never remember them when I go to a training session?  It's like it's my first rodeo.  EVERY time.  But if I DO get around to remembering them...  things go much better.

Anyway, the sim has been down a while, but I got into the groove pretty quick.  Well, eventually.  Found some new limits because of my radiculopathy.  And my support hand thumbs forward is messing me up.  Unreliable placement because that hand is so numb.

High Screwel

Hey, remember the other day when I told you about Albert Einstein High School nearby?

Somebody stole an AR from a cop car, stole a car, then drove it to his high school.  Car/Gun Thief was arrested.

Well, my County released him.  Because ICE wants to deport him.  The dude is a bad dude.  Not just a choir boy that made a big mistake.

Hey, if I was going to the range, but stopped at the local school and a cop noticed my range bag in the car as I conducted normal business in the school office...  Would I ever see the sun for at least 5 years?  Of course not.  Because I am a normal legal gun owner.  Not an illegal alien grand theft suspect with multiple other arrests.

Luckily, ICE swooped in before Montgomery County could hail a cab for him.  Now he is in that jail that that guy escaped from and was hiding in the woods for 6 days.  Different Country, tho

There were only 5 pistols to choose from.

Before the 80s there were few pistol varieties.  Now stay with me!

If you wanted a .45, there was Colt and...  that's it.  Sure there were knockoff in Spain or whatever, but THE .45 was a Colt M1911A1

If you wanted a 9mm there was the Browning Hi-Power or that new up and comer from S&W, the model 39.  Sure there were Lugers from the war, and some other things, but those 2 were the go-to.  And Smith made various flavor with different model numbers descending down from that 39, but they don't count, do there?

If you wanted a revolver there was Smith or Colt.  Yes, buncha others, budget brands, imports, various... but the choice was really just those 2.

And there was other thing that also don't really count.  Just stuff used by questionable foppy ferreners or girls.

The 80s came and there was an explosion of 9s.  Beretta, then Glock, and whole SLEW of others, SIG, HK, and on and on and on, but before that... just those 5 handguns.  Iconic.  And you might dismiss the Model 39.



And now?  There is sorta only the one handgun.  Glock.  In 9mm.    Maybe Glocks 'and a few dinosaurs that still insist on using an M1911A1 type, but they are dying out.'

---

Yes yes, you can be pedantic and knock down my premise easily.  Hell, I can do that.  You have to squint real hard to see this train of thought the same way.  But you can tell that's a great big train rumbling by even with your eyes full closed.  And I've been desperate for blog fodder, clearly.

OH MA GAH

I always wanted to know the order of operations for machining a forged billet for a frame of a 1911.

This tells me.





They are using broaches to get some of those interior squared off sections! Ah ha.

And this.

High School

If you pay attention you notice that High Schools seem to be packed in like sardines around my house.  High density, chockablock, public schools.  Even after the mass closures in the 1980s when the Boomers grew up and left.  I live next to one.  The third closest is Rockville, where I posted about a bit ago, and has an update today.  The second closest high school is Albert Einstein.  I took an SAT there back in 1982 when I was in Junior High.

Today, the news at Einstein is they found a stolen car in the parking lot.  Inside it was an AR stolen from a police cruiser.  Dun dun dunnnnnnn...  That extra attention drew police there and they eventually notices another stolen car.  With a shotgun stolen from the same prowler-car.  Curiouser and curiouser.  Car thieves caught.  High school kids.  I'm sure their parents are proud.

Keeping an eye out for Kennedy, the fourth closest high school.  All within a 5 mile circle.  You can tell they are old.  New High Schools have to be named after gay female racial minorities, for balance and such.

You want old, fuddy duddy white males you gotta go further south into the city.  This was all farmland here in 1950, so we get new wave white males.  10 miles further north and they name schools after that teacher that died on the Challenger and Senator Mikulski.

Cince De Quatro

The Stuttering Chowderhead Incompetent Failure that said that is no longer president. 

The Brain-Damaged Felonious Harridan didn't replace him.

Half the whole world has lost their mind about it, and the other half are almost there.  More than ever happened in my memory.

And Cheeto Grabby Orangutan Mogul has very slightly exceeded my very low expectations for him.

Reason enough to celebrate Mexico beating the French, by my lights

Is it just me?

Or is it harder to find shoes that fit these days?

Used to be, 20 years ago, I go to the store or risk a catalog buy.  Get size 11 shoes for my size 11 feet.  Nine times out of ten, they fit a treat.

Today, I order online or go to the store, I am lucky to get 1 in 3.

Is Chinese QC just crap now?

My feet haven't changed.  I thought that they might have, but they measure the same. 

Is this a trick of aging I hadn't considered?

---

You know, with my aches and pains, it is harder to project myself into an age appropriate fictional character when I read.  The protagonists my age can still use a cast iron frying pan, and it isn't too heavy for that one hand.  And he can feel his finger tips.  At least he doesn't whine about it on the page.

AR

Buddies at work that got their ARs way back during the 2013 rush? (Or was it the 2009 rush?)

They are getting itchy now.  Unsatisfied.  "It rattles.  Do I just get a new lower?  Is my lower all worn out?"  They've had less than 200 rounds through it.

They want something better.  Less bare bones.  "Hey what would it take to put a silencer on it?"

Looking to trade up. "I can't see though the scope unless my head is in just the right position."



---

I say:

• You don't need a new lower, probably.  Wait, is it polymer?  Meh, Just go with it.
• There are gun shows in Virginia that will sell you uppers.
• Get a Magpul catalog and buy everything in it.  Magazines in Virginia
• Upgrade the optics to some that actually costs more than a C-Note

That's the standard advice you see, right?  Meh, won't cause any harm.  Prolly.  Find a place to shoot what you got already a bit more just to see.  If it's reliable, maybe leave it.  If you wanna do something different well, that can be done.

What's the AAR

After Action Report of the NRAAM?

From what I gathered, casually paying attention, Springfield released a DAO gun that no one likes, and they also screwed over the gun owners in their own state.  Or something.  Bad month for Genseo.

Tom Selleck won the most votes.  Gunnery Sergeant Hartman came in third.

Trump reaffirmed he appreciates us and wants to do more for us.  Besides talk, he has had a few actions in our favor.  Replace Gisnberg with a Thomas clone and Kennedy with a Thomas clone and I'd be ecstatic.

We're all supposed to buy insurance from NRA now.

What else?

Health update

Since the gunblog muse is flighty again, you are gonna get the health whinge.

Losts less pain.  A week ago some neck muscle got super tight, but that worked it's way past.  PT is effective, with constant improvements, just very slow.  Getting old sucks.  This could be the new normal, is always in the back of my mind.  Goal for this... to be able to handle cast iron pans again

The current wierdness.  A when the neck muscles loosened (this may be unrelated) the tip of my index finger and especially the thumb went totally numb.  And that has been constant.  Usually something goes funny then that comes back and another spot goes funny.  This has been a week of numb.  It plays hell with my fine motor tasks on my non-dominant hand.

You are always surprised the things you do with that hand, noticing only when it is difficult?  Buttoning a shirt cuff, zipping up my pants and buttoning them, clipping your nails.  Annoying.