More Rangey Timey

On 25 August.

I may be onto something here.  Like I took things to the next level. Something has definitely improved, but I never noticed the heavens opening up, or heard any fanfare.  But I'll take it.

40 rounds.  No malfs.  Forearms a bit tired because of Saturday's trigger time so I eased with only 4 sets this time out.  And all four were good.  As you can see below.

Groups are tighter and more centered.  Let's keep this up, shall we?  I felt a little impatient on number three so I tried to settle down and relax again and it came back in number four.

Inventory

Do you have an inventory of all your firearms? 

Is it a hard copy?

Where do you keep it?

If you house is burgled and they get your guns did they also get that inventory list? 

What if your house burns down?

I've been thinking on ways to improve my inventory list and need ideas.

Thumb Placement

Thumb placement for my other-strong-hand.

I had a low placement touching the trigger guard for years and years.  I settled there because I was touching the little 'button' of the slide stop on the right side of any 1911 and occasionally pushing the slide stop out of position while shooting.  One of the hazards of being left handed.  I figured one good advantage of shifting it down there was there was no chance that thumb would brush the frame and cause a malfunction that way.

But my thumb down low was doing something during the trigger pull, Sam noticed.

We changed it up to the traditional thumbs forward spot and got better shooting results immediately. 

I put my thumb here:

I am gonna shift to this spot:

(Interesting Springfield, btw.)

Also, I will probably relieve that button a little bit.  I won't relieve the hole it rides in like you see on some custom guns.  I want as much meat of metal around it.  Also, a little notch/groove where the detent from the plunger tube helps keep the slide stop in place.  Suspenders AND a belt. 

Naked City, The

I had caught bits and pieces of this movie over the years, but now I have finally watched it end to end, soup to nuts.

It stars Barry Fitzgerald of The Quiet Man patty-fingers fame.

The Naked City.

His young partner is a young Don Taylor, and the character is capable if inexperienced at detective work.  Also a veteran of the war, two years past.  He carries his revolver in a WWII style shoulder rig, and it's a handsome set up.

See?

I thought it was a S&W M1917, mainly because I seem to have a problem seeing the proper scale of a gun in a movie.  A 1917 would make some sense for a recent veteran.  But it's a Colt.  Police Positive Special.  More sense.

But...  Is that trigger guard uncovered?!

Another thing.  Inexperienced detective guy here goes after the bad guy without backup and gets that pistol taken away from him.  When he comes to, woozy from a blow to the head, he meets up with his older partner and is IMMEDIATELY given a replacement from the glove compartment.  Then points the muzzle at everyone's crotch.

No, "you lost your gun?  that's a whole lot of problem and you will probably be suspended, go back to the precinct house." No, "go to the hospital and get that head wound looked at." It's rub some dirt on it and get back in the game, matter of Hollywood routine. 

Well, Hollywood filmed on location in the city. 

Hey don't shoot a co-worker in the junk, Joe Concussion!

Mountain House Reduc

Anyone ever buy the big #10 cans of Mountain House freeze dried food?

How do they work?  Is it just "Take a dry measure of a cup and a half and put it a pan that already has X ounces of hot water and cover, let sit for 10 minutes." Or are there individual baggies of food in the can or what?

...

Nevermind, there is an instructional video.  I did this blog post for nothing.




Gonna have to assume I can figure out partial batches.

Has SAF turned on us?!!!!!!!

Well, no.  No it hasn't.  That's hyperbole.

I dunno how i feel. 

In my life, I am not trying to pick a fight.  That's not why I carry.  When you carry AT someone in a controversial setting it feels to me like you are trying to provoke folks.  Pick a fight.  Dare someone to start something so you can end it. 

I support the Second Amendment Foundation, obviously, and have met and chatted with Alan Gottlieb.  I do think he is a bit squishy but I am not ready to use that against him.  The positives way outweigh the negatives. 

If me avoiding political rallies and especially avoiding open carrying at said political rally makes me a sheep, well, I don't think that's what sheep are. 

And I never want to put myself in a place that makes the pro-right movement look bad for some chuckleheaded mistake or move I made that then gets publicized. 

Got nuffin

So, some recaps from other places.

Kolbe v Hogan in Maryland is trying to get heard by SCOTUS.  It's a challenge to the Maryland AWB from 2013.  I hope it wins but would rather the CCW challenges advance sooner.  I'll take a win, and Alan Gura is trying to get in on the action.  Good.

I found out there hasn't been a Surface Warface Officer school since 2003.  Maybe that is why ships are bumping into things.  Oh ffs.  I am appalled.

Got some simulator training at Hatfields this weekend.  Fun. 

Something has happened...

One more time with the .22.  70 rounds, two duds.

I was calming down on #3, then look at target #4. I never shoot like that.  And it was pretty fast, too.  5, 6, and 7 are almost as good. 

I felt pretty relaxed.  Part of that was I had the range to myself the whole time.  I even put my ear pro away before leaving the line, and that was kinda refreshing to do. 

But I attribute it to being relaxed.  My holy trinity the last few months.

1. relax
2. focus on the front sight
3. make trigger go good

Man, that was pleasing.

One thing about the duds....  I better clean this gun.  The extractor isn't grabbing the rim.  I thing the only reason the round are ejecting is the blowback action helps them out.  With a dud it sometimes leaves the round in the chamber, which almost certainly is fouled some.

Play stupid games...

Protester kicks smoke bomb at police, gets hit in the gonads with non-lethal round (bean bag not rubber bullet) #azfamily #TrumpRallyPhoenix pic.twitter.com/x8BS1g4TQS

— Derek Staahl (@DerekStaahl) August 23, 2017

Win stupid prizes.

Rangy

Did I forget to post this back in July?

I had been shooting .45 and was developing a flinch and went back to .22.  Got much better target to target and only one left the paint.  One FTE.

Then I came back and shot this on the 17th

 
Even better.  And, deja vu, only one left the paint and one FTE.  2446 since cleaned according to the logs. 

Noticing my tendency to favor the right half is less?  Good good.  Putting extra finger pad on the trigger face.  That might help.  Less weakness in my weak hand, now, too.

Maybe take the .45 back out next time.  Check on the status of my 9mm.  That second target is good shooting for a month break from it.  For me. 

String those paint happy bastards up by their Buster Browns!

Old Rations

This one is...  bad.

He reviews a C-Ration a month older than me, and inedible.


I don't understand.  I am that old and you can still eat me just fine.  I bet I am succulent.

So, the moral of this story is to stockpile that Mountain House freeze dried stuff.  Stuff from 1981 was as good as the day it was made.  If I buy it now, 35 years from now, I'll be dead from old age and someone else can rehydrate my stews and such.

Only one problem.  Mountain House doesn't package stuff now like they did in 1981.

versus

Would you eat an MRE from 1981?  Heck I have problems with MREs from 2016.

MY EYES!

MY PRECIOUS EYES!  I'M BLIND!  THE GOGGLES, THEY DO NOTHING!

The bottom of the septic tank

Yeah, one side is skinny jeans neo-nazis with a corner on the tiki torch market, and the other are laid off barista commies that worry their dreadlocks might be culturally insensitive and whether there is still space for another tribal tattoo at the small of their back. 

Yeah I don't tell this group of chuckleheads anything.  To tell either side anything is to climb down into the septic tank with them. 

Also. Avoid mobs.  You carry, but you don't wanna hafta. 

The only reason I generally dislike commies more is that there are still millions of them, while there are only thousands of nazis (the world killed a bunch 75 years ago.)

It all started with them dang Jacobins 250 years ago.  THEMS are the WORST.

Eclipse is a comin'!

I got my welders goggles, I am ready.

I didn't buy them, years ago, for welding.  I got them in case of finding myself in a post apocalyptic wasteland. 

MY BODY IS CHROME!



Also, they made great gifts, for $16, for nephews or nieces interested in Steam Punk stuffs.

They are German, so I can't tell what the lenses are rated.  I'm sure I will be ok.

Lawyer

Ok, so I found a lawyer that can get me a Maryland CCW.  A buddy that trains Marylanders in the mandatory CCW course knows someone that will get regular peeps that aren't carrying cash for work, or are threatened on the daily in documented form, the toter's permit.

100% success rate.

Only will cost me $3000.

Hmph.

Maybe hold off for now.

NPR sez

On the radio yesterday the NPR talking head said the cops in Charlottesville were intimidated and scared to weigh in because a whole bunch of people on both sides looked like dangerous thugs and were open carrying AUTOMATIC weapons. 

No.

This tells us two things.  One, NPR people are morons on this stuff and don't know the difference between a Barrett and a Blunderbus.  And, TWO, gunnies are particular law abiding for some reason.  Down to the core.  Even if there is a shooting by an open carrier at some future rally-riot the fact there none at this one then despite folks wailing away at each other with baseball bats shows an incredible level of restraint baked into people that carry.  That is something.  Amazing.  Considering one side has black masks over the faces.  Masks are a total bad guy thing.  Gets my hackles up.  I avoid those types because I don't want to get on the news my ownself.   

That said, I worry if/when shots are fired at one of these.  That is not gonna help us.  Us normals folks. 

Back to automatic weapons.  What is it, maybe 2 people in a thousand have a brrrrrp gun?  So certainly a machine gun owner or two were present at that scrum.  But if you are that type of person that goes to a rally, and carry, I think you automatically (heh!) leave your machine gun at home.  Why?  YOU COULD LOSE IT!  You know how much them things cost?  Even the the cheap ones.  The cops would have gotten a wild hair and just detained everybody before that thing even kicked off.  Then bye bye expensive noise-fun.  Even if you are released in half an hour with no charges, good luck getting it back, ever.  That's a gun that cost more than cars.  Nice cars.  You don't bring your purty BBQ gun to a crowded political rally either.   You never know what might happen.

Washington Post

Advocates violence against those that, I dunno, aren't just like them?  Oh dear.

Harlem Gunnery

So, while relaxing last week I fell down a hard-boiled detective rabbit hole.  But one a little different.  Unusual for some white-boy find himself engrossed in.

Chester Himes' Harlem Detectives series. 

It's about 2 black detectives in Harlem in the 1950s.  And Himes can write.  It's not just genre fiction, read because it is good for the in group in the same way you eat you broccoli.  It's just good.  You know how I know it is good?  One way:  There are few white characters in the book.  You know how a white writer can have a single black character and it just feels... bad.  Wrong.  The dialect is all wrong.  Like a note off key.  Well, I realized a few books that Himes white characters just flow.  The note is in Harmony. 

But it's not just that example. 

And, I like the time capsule microcosm when I read 60 year old fiction of any sort, and this has it. 

As mentioned, the setting is Harlem.  But nothing in Chester Himes' online biographical sketch indicates he ever lived there.  Born in Missouri, lived in Cleveland, Columbus, and LA...  Later Europe.  I wonder if he made up those details without ever experiencing them.  At least experiencing them there, specifically. 

Anyway, the stories.  The protagonists are Coffin Ed and Gravedigger Jones.  Toughest plain clothesmen in Harlem.  And there is gun content. 

They have duplicate revolvers in their oil shoulder holsters.  Chrome plated long barreled .38s built on a .44 frame.  Custom.  Big and flashy so the crowd can better see them  when they take control of a scenet.  Big also for quick pistol whips.  They are described as purposely left with the one chamber empty so they won't go off during such clubbing work.  Which makes gunnies a little leery in fictional accounts, as that should hardly be necessary with modern revolvers and modern hammer block safeties.  Himes wasn't a policeman (quite the contrary) and certainly not in the weeds about firearm design like people that read this blog might be.  And it's a common enough fictional trope with revolvers. 

But there is one other scene in Cotton Comes to Harlem.  Where he describes a rifle is fine detail with a couple other nitpicks for me to mine for fodder.  (a non gun enthusiast getting the details wrong in a work of fiction?  T-Bolt must SPRING into pedantic action!)  More importantly, I am trying to figure out which model he refers to, after you get beyond the nitpicks.  Here is the passage:

"They had .303 automatic Savage rifles loaded with .190-point brass nosed shells, equipped with telescopic sights."

Now that .190 number is probably referring to a 190 grain projectile.  That's believable for a .30 caliber.  .303 round?  I dunno about that.  .308 maybe.  That would be available in the 50s.  But a semi-auto Savage in any .30 caliber chambering?  That should be easy to pinpoint, right?  I am guessing the gun in his head is prolly a Model 99 lever gun?  Dunno.  And I can't ask him.  He's been dead since the Reagan administration.

In reality I am just mildly bemused by flubs in gun minutiae like this.  If it weren't for the blog I would have already forgotten the gun flub. 

Oh crap

Now i have to blog something...

Uhhhhhh.

Buddy at work has a kid obscessed with Call of Duty, and loves to categorize things to the littlest detail.  He asks his dad lots of questions, and dad is not a gunnie so I field some. 

His favoritest gun is the P90 and he calls it a bullpup.

But wait... hmmm, ya know... I guess that is a bullpup.  Threw me for a loop.  The magazine not being on the bottom, but, heck... the chamber is aft of the trigger.  By that definition, bullpup.

He wanted to know why the US didn't ever mess with them.  I said we did, but gave it up as bad juju.

I need to get him to document all this in an excel spreadsheet and drift over to ammunition next.

Back to Work

Do right!  By Curtis Wright!

Old Timey Songs

I know this next one because it was an oldie when Van Johnson sang it in Battleground. Mark Twain liked it.

Nucular

I wish they still did above ground bomb tests.  I'd love to see one.



"But T-Bolt!  Isn't that super dangerous?!"

Nah.  Well, don't stand 100 yards from ground zero.  If you see a guy named Feynman, stand next to him. 

And I didn't say I wanted to see ALL of them.

Running out of blog post ideas

Fine.  I'll say it.  I have never like James Cagney's performances.  In anything.  I thought him overrated as an actor.  There, I said it.

Never big on Spencer Tracy or Laurence Olivier.  Just left me cold.  But Meryl Streep is the worst of all.

Let's say....

Let's say the Maryland gun ban is heard at the Supreme Court (I am not optimistic it will get cert).  And let's say it is overturned root and branch (unlikely).

What gun should I get?

Another M1A or AR15 is kinda boring.  Ho hum.

Now a Calico or Tec-9 or Skorpion is interesting, in that they've been on the ban list for decades!

There is only one problem.  After I bring a Calico or Tec-9 or Skorpion home, I then have a Calico or Tec-9 or Skorpion.

They really aren't all that practical.  After the thumb in the eye to Maryland Democrats it has served its purpose.  Here is the list, tho.

Lightninging

Far Out Music, and the OV-10 Bronco

Told you I liked it.

In some other timeline

I was a machinist.  I hope.

Maybe machining and repairing linotype machine parts like my great grandpa.

That would make a good commuter vehicle

Rick and Morty

Best show on television right now.  Yes, better than that one, too.

Another kind of Pony

OV-10 Bronco

I always liked this aircraft.

Hustle Now

I've talked about the B-58 before.  It figures prominently in the movie Fail Safe, a Dom DeLuise vehicle.  And you might recognize the narrator as a small town Build & Loan manager

Since a kid, I always found the Hustler kinda ugly.  No style.  Personal taste.  Some planes' lines appealed to me, other left me cold.  My dad worked on F-100s.  I didn't like em otherwise.  Most everything in the Navy inventory since WWII except maybe the Corsair I never warmed to.  Not until the F-14.  And even that... 

Now the F-86, that was a handsome looking airframe.

The Mustang and Lightning I like.  Who doesn't?

The only radial I really liked was the FW190.  The Milk Jug was rugged but ugly.  I like that one better now.

The F-4 Phantom grew on my eventually.   The empannage did it.

Few bombers appealed.  Maybe the B1?  The B-36 just for the monstrosity of it.  But this is the B-58

Springs!

Oh, Coily...





This is Coily

That old Navy plane too old for you?

How bout an FJ2 Fury?



Didn't know the navy had a Sabre variant.

My grandparents lived in the shadow of Patuxent Naval Air Test Station, where lots of this was filmed. Their house was 200 yards from a Theodolite Station at Point No Point.