New Jovian Thunderbolt

Letterpress

2012-01-27T17:31:00.002-05:00

Upside Down, Left To Right: A Letterpress Film from Danny Cooke on Vimeo.

Falkirk

2012-01-27T15:13:00.000-05:00

Here is something that is right in RobertaX's wheelhouse. The Falkirk Wheel, what for moving the canal barges. Up. And down.

The New Zombie

2012-01-27T05:23:00.023-05:00

Ok, Zombies jumped the shark. What should we gunnies prep for, now? What is the threat?

More importantly what do I prep for. Zombies are listed in my goals...

I say it's My Little Pony! And this meme can never ever jump the shark.

Stupid Bronies...

So this last goal will read:

"And, if necessary: To Defend the Ramparts of Democracy from a Level 4 My Little Pony Outbreak or against the Jacobin, Rampaging, Godless, Red-Commie Bronies (or their modern equivalent.)"

What caliber for cartoon, pastel, equine monstrosities? I still say 7.62x51. To be sure.

Guns and D&D

2012-01-26T06:15:00.001-05:00

I played D&D back in the day. Dungeons and Dragons. Yeah, I was cool like that. Lot's of guys were back then.

Well they are coming out with a new version to try to fuse the community back together. There have been schisms over which rules version is the One True Version. Arguments over Canon are legendary across the internetz.

Well, there is a common problem. The game is swords and arrows and magic. But there is always some munchkin of a player that wands to mix sulphur, charcoal, and saltpetre and thus have a gun. With this invention he can leapfrog up to USS Iowa and Sherman Tanks, and take over the world, thereby 'winning' Dungeons and Dragons for all time.

How to deal with such shennanigans?

Easy! Let em have it! Give them all of it. Plenty of powder making materials and a 'hand gonne'. Inform them that while it will do marginally more damage as their crossbow, but at one third the rate of fire. Plus it's heavier.

They usually respond with, "Well, I invent a Ma Deuce next!" Fine. Describe even the fundamental of how to construct a Ma Deuce. Satisfy a Dungeon Master with that and you only have to wait 200 years of constant study and effort in a single minded industrial pursuit to get the technology up to mere Gatling level. Sheesh.

Buffalo Bill's Needle Gun

2012-01-25T07:00:00.001-05:00

In a continuation of my reports from William Cody's autobiography, and the firearms therein, he used to hunt Buffalo in the late 1860s with a Needle Gun he named Lucretia Borgia because it laid low so many or summat.

He described it as a .50 caliber, and he would ride up on the head of a herd of buffalo so as to turn them, and thusly get the group to circle. Then he could ride along side dropping bison in a relatively small area rather than picking them off from the rear and dropping the carcasses in a 3 mile long line. All to provide meat for the Kansas Pacific.

A needle gun, eh? Interesting. Now, what KIND of needle gun are we talking about here? The Dreyse, or Chassepot? Well, quotes from the book:

I took the harness from Brigham, mounted him bareback and started after the game, being armed with my new buffalo killer which I had named "Lucretia Borgia," an improved breech-loading needle-gun which I had obtained from the Government.

and:

I was using what was known at the time as a needle-gun, a breech-loading Springfield rifle, caliber .50. This was "Lucretia," the weapon of which I have already told you. Comstock's Henry rifle, though it could fire more rapidly than mine, did not, I felt certain, carry powder and lead enough to equal my weapon in execution.

Well, what kind of creature IS this that Buffalo Bill has in 1868? Seems neither fish now fowl. What had Erskine Allin wrought, if indeed Cody has his facts straight? My guess is that this rifle is just one of the Allin Conversion guns. Falling block single shot touches off a .50-70 centerfire cartridge. "Needle Gun" was just the fashionable name at them for such, maybe. I don't see Buffalo Bill getting a Chassepot with paper cartridges from the US Army.

{Wait, is that floppy top hatch thing really a falling block type? That doesn't seem like the proper term for the 'trapdoor' mechanism.}

No Beer

2012-01-24T19:47:00.000-05:00

It's almost 8, and the house is out of beer. Too late to get more, plus I don't feel like it.

Waituhminnit. Some submariner gifted me a fifth of bourbon.

That'll do.

Tickety-boo.

Ahhhhhhh.

Thanks again Les.

Ugh

2012-01-24T06:51:00.004-05:00

Is this Tuesday? Bit of a funk. I am so rusty on my pistol shooting it is probably embarassing. I should go today. I hope I remember which end the bullets come out of really fast.

My range is a gunstore. I always do a peak around. There is another gunstore not 3 miles away I still haven't checked out. I think I will hit the range and stop by that one after. I need an alternate if my primary store is going to be so recalcitrant. At least until they see the light. Or go out of bidness. Whichever.

Oh No...

2012-01-23T17:51:00.000-05:00

Looks like Theresa has been getting a little rough with Senator Kerry.

I told the police that too, when the missus was beating on me. "I'm clumsy, I ran into the door." "I got these fist sized bruises playing hockey." Uh huh.

MIA no more

2012-01-23T06:38:00.002-05:00

I thought Kenn Blanchard had quit gun blogging, so I never clicked on his blog link anymore. Or that he rarely posted, at the most. Apparently I was mistaken. He is still there and quite active.

He is also a Marylander. Like me. And FALFenix.

Anyway, I added Rev. Blanchard back to the list. Deleted Progun Progressive, Other Side of Kim, and Free Market Fairy Tales because they are inactive and pretty much gone, sadly. Trying to keep the link list semi static. Lemme know if there are dead-dead links on here and you are of a mind to hep. I don't wanna just lead folks astray to link farms.

Thanks.

Rail

2012-01-22T06:55:00.002-05:00

Running on a blog-fodder fumes. So I went ahead and bought the rail for my M1A.

Get that mounted on the rifle. My Luepold scout scope can work on it. but the purpose if for a future red dot optic.

Prez

2012-01-21T13:20:00.004-05:00

Paul, Romney, Gingrich, Santorum. Four! Easy to keep track in your head.

Of those? Which would I choose. Gah! Hard to vote for any of the four.

Which is worst for second amendment issues?

Worst is Paul, methinks. He'd eliminate all Federal Laws, which he can't (idiocy), and send it to the states, ignoring the 14th and 2nd Amendments and his duty as president to both. He's said the Federal Government should take no part in gun laws. Fine. That I like. But he'd also do nothing about what states pass, it not being the Federal government's job, in his eyes, to stick its nose in that either. A bunch of states would pass draconian anti-gun stuff. There would be roadblocks on rt 81 between Virginia and Pennsylvania, and lots of out of staters would go to MD jail. "C'mon vote for Paul, TBolt. It'll be a fun four years." No. No it won't. I'd campaign for and vote for Obama ahead of Paul. For this and many other issues. He's all for people being armed but he'd kill the right in his ineffectual ignorance. Wish his son was most seasoned and running in his place.

Next worst is Romney. Mr. Assault Weapons Ban his own self. A choice between a statist liberal Democrat that hates individual freedom and Obama? I'll vote lower down the ticket and leave the top blank.

Santorum? Joke. Sorry pal, you are forever a sex-act residue. Plus your primary purpose in life is "Go Team Jesus" and you concentrate on gonadal politics too much. Smaller gov't, less taxes, controlled borders, punched hippies, fewer regulations... THEN consider the social issues. I really don't give a hang for what you care oh so deeply about.

Newt? Talks the best game on the 2nd Amendment, but I know Newt. When he is good he is very very good and when he is bad he is horrid. And you never know which Newt you will get, day to day, minute to minute.

Perry was best on the 2nd Amendment, but bad on everything else aside from being Governor of the largest and most successful state in the Union. (I don't count california anymore until is creeps back into 'not a basket case' territory.) And Perry is gone.

Gah. Where is Fred Thompson when you need him?

But I think Bore Patch is right, even with the MSM in his corner working his campaign Obama could be beaten by Mussolini's corpse, dodge Italian birth certificate and all. Even that whole "being dead 66 years" thing. But just because Mussolini's corpse can beat Obama doesn't mean we need to RUN Mussolini's corpse against him. And yet, the GOP is. Yay.

My prediction? Romney takes the Oath in January. Not happy about it.

The Walking Dead

2012-01-21T06:56:00.003-05:00

On AMC...

I think the purpose of the show was to kill off the latest zombie fad once and for all. By being a HORRIBLE television show. About Zombies. One decent episode in 7 doesn't absolve them of their sins for making a deodorant free soap opera.

Have you noticed less zombie content of late? The show sucked all the oxygen out of the room and smothered it. Now we have a room of asphyxiated zombie-fan corpses. Or summat...

Panic Buying

2012-01-20T20:13:00.001-05:00

here

Shotguns

2012-01-20T06:42:00.004-05:00

While I don't like to use them against Zombies, I do like them for semi suburban deer hunting.

This is kinda odd... I own several Remington Model 11's all of a sudden. They'd grown steadily, at $200 a pop or less. I get one as a parts gun, then another falls in my lap, then another. I'm not trying to get just this one type, it just worked out that way.

Thus... The only shotgun I own is a 12 gauge Model 11, and lots of backups.

I was thinking of getting a pump gun, but I have so MANY Model 11s, what's the point?

They are like commodities around here. Like salt shakers. Everyone has a bunch of those. So many they might lost track of what they have.

I am middling in it's use. I'm not rubbish, but I don't write home about my mad clay busting skills. I'd do more of it if there was a skeet/trap center nearer by, and thus be better at it. My Boy Scout meetings as a kid were at a IWLA where we'd arrive and 6 folks would be powdering orange disks for another half hour under the lights. Looked fun but that place is a bit outside my driving range these days.

Yager

2012-01-20T06:11:00.000-05:00

So I am reading the autobiography of Buffalo Bill Cody. And I've already stumbled upon interesting gun content, and it's not even 1860, and Bill is not even 18 years old.

He hired on on ox wagon trains and they occasionally had to fight off Indians or Mormons. To do this they were armed with Colt pistols (often 2 each) and a Mississippi Yager that fired a ball and two buck shot.

A HA! Something to look into. I figured Yager was the Americanization of the German word Jaeger (Jäger). A word I knew as 'Hunter'. So I figured it was a rifle. With that in mind I found the entry for the M1841 Mississippi Rifle, made at Harper's Ferry. It was a percussion cap front stuffer. It was named Mississippi after a colonel of a Mississippi Militia put his regiment to good use armed with these rifles in the Mexican war.

The colonel, if you didn't click the link, was Jeff Davis. Yes THAT Jeff Davis.

"The Mississippi Rifle was sometimes referred to as a "yagger" rifle, due to its smaller size and its similarity to the German Jäger rifles."

I don't know what Cody and his compatriots hoped to achieve with a ball and 2 shot loaded. A perception of greater lethality, at the least. Sorta like the Taurus Judge. Or maybe there is some advantage I don't see.

Of COURSE this intrigues

2012-01-19T05:24:00.004-05:00

I already like XDs, I've been hankering for a single stack polymer I'd like, and then Springfield comes out with this: XDS. It's not even up on the Springfield website, yet (as of Monday night).

This gun is right in my wheelhouse. .45ACP goodness, even.

Thanks SHOT Show reporters.

It's like they read my mind. Of course I'll have to try it first.

The only thing that would have made it perfect would be a 1911 magazine. But it won't be that, certainly. Another detail is, I'd rather have 7+1 than 5+1 magazines, but that's not as big a deal to me as for most.

It all depends on how I shoot it, how it feels to me. We shall see.

Damn Hippies

2012-01-18T11:52:00.000-05:00

Ok, maybe SOME content...

SOPA-PIPA? No.

2012-01-18T00:03:00.015-05:00

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/English_Wikipedia_anti-SOPA_blackout

No content for you today. Don't let power hungry gummint types break the internet with the misnamed "Stop Online Piracy Act" or "Protect IP Act". Tell yer Congresscritter that they need to not just DO something, sit there!

They will tell you, "oh we killed that bill, and it wasn't what you thought" Doesn't matter. Shouldn't be sticking your nose in it anyway, petty tinpot potentates. So. We don't need any Zombie bill coming back from the dead. Kill it, dismember it, burn the parts in widely separate locations, then scatter the ashes in the lava shadow of active volcanoes.

Corruption and Racism

2012-01-17T06:17:00.001-05:00

So, all gun control is based on political cronyism and racism? Ok. That's probably something we should remember and remind Leftist types that to support gun control is to commit their religion's biggest sin: hypocrisy.

The grandaddy of them all, New York's Sullivan Act. Remember Gun Control isn't about guns, it's about control. And that control is usually over country hillbillies and swarthy types. 'Threats' to good upstanding city folk...

Zombie Prom

2012-01-16T05:38:00.007-05:00

A librarian I know sent me a link to Zombie Prom Dress.

I'm looking closely at the pattern and the zombies are all pinup or nose art quality. Plus the B-17 outline. So it's WWII era aviation zombie prom party dress. Jitterbuggable.

Ok...

2012-01-15T05:24:00.002-05:00

I can see the inspirations on this propgun, but how is that supposed to, you know, work? You can prolly embiggenate by clicking.

I can see the AK peeking though. Is that part of an M60 dust cover over the bass ackward AK dust cover? It's supposed to be from Waterworld, maybe? But gun is not in the IMFDB entry.

What a Peach

2012-01-14T06:21:00.005-05:00

Truly an angelic woman.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz is STILL linking the Tea Party with scizophrenic Tuscon murderer Jared Lochner. Have you no shame, lady? At long last, have you no shame. How dare you.

Mental game for you Debbie. Let's say he hadn't gotten all murder crazy but stepped back from that abyss. Lochner is still him, just not in a killing mood. What is the most likely scenario? What do you picture someone with his mental problems, youth, and known presonality doing? Would he:

A) Go to town hall meetings, raise his voice, and make politiicans like yourself uncomfortable like the Tea Partiers did?

or...

B) He'd bum money off his parents, travel to Manhattan, live in a nasty tent in a public park with people just like him, get a nasty case of scabies, and poop on police cars?

Also, which would you rather be associated with, A or B?

Hush Debbie. You're acting moronical.

[Link from Alphecca.]

Average Person

2012-01-13T16:09:00.002-05:00

Think this will annoy...

2012-01-13T05:50:00.001-05:00

Think this will annoy...the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave?

Approaching this from the conservative libertarian angle, with an eye toward 2nd Amendment rights, (it's a gun blog) Mittens is no great shakes. He supports none of those things. He is no Fred! Thompson. He won't shrink Federal bloat, get the fiscal house in order, cut regulations, or try to simplify taxes. He'll sign any bill that sticks it's nose into my bidness, and any gun control law that comes across his desk, is my guess. I could not give a hang about his religion or much of a hang over what flavor of gonadal politics he favors. I count on Mitt to nominate a succession of Souters.

But, like Borepatch, I think Benito Mussolini, dodgy Italian birth certificate, execrable politics, and being a, ya know, corpse and all... Il Duce could beat Obama in November. But I don't like it. I have the luxury of not voting for anyone. Mitt could carry 400+ electoral votes. None of those will be from Maryland. At least 66% of the popular vote will go with Barry here.

Best Back Handed Compliment

2012-01-12T08:32:00.001-05:00

"Romney will be better than Dole or McCain if they had won."

~sigh~

here

Speaking of the Old Empire

2012-01-12T06:46:00.002-05:00

Upon which the sun never set. When Britain used to be known as GREAT Britain...

There is a new comic book coming out, set in Britain at the beginning of the 20th Century. Most of the lower classes have been infected with zombism, and the upper crust better are willingly becoming vampires to avoid the 'poor person's disease.'

Yick. Class warfare. Tedious.

Anyway it's called the New Deadwardians.

Heh! Get it?

Officer Harless

2012-01-11T15:57:00.002-05:00

The feloniously abusive Canton OH police officer has been finally fired. Next stop, if there is any justice: Jail. After that: HELL!

Quatermain

2012-01-11T06:04:00.012-05:00

Reading my new Kindle stuff...

What gun does Allan Quatermain shoot?

Why an 8 bore double, of course. It took 3 shots with it to take down a Rhino. One was a botch miss by another party member.

He also totes along others, of course. Every white hunter in the party has at least one long gun. Something big and often a level action repeater of Winchester persuasion. A revolver, too. He mentions a .500 Nitro Express (this may be the 8-bore... I dunno... I doubt it because the .500 shoots a 450ish gr projectile and an 8-bore should be an eight of a point... mid 800 grain weight), there is a 4-bore (!) for a party member larger than him as Quatermain only weighs 140 pounds or so, and a bunch of Martinis. For funsies, I guess.

For dramatic effect, he likes to load all the ammo in one package, so when a donkey or hapless porter is swept away in a river torrent he has only the ammo on him, making for more drama in the story. 700 miles from the coast in the middle of Deepest Darkest, and only the ammo on him in his pockets.

If you are a porter, be sure that Allan knows your name. If you are referred to as "one of the bearers from Such-n-such tribe," you might as well be Ensign Rickie in the Federation red uniform blouse going with the away team down to the strange planet's surface with Kirk, Bones, and Spock. You are not going to see how Quatermain's story ends. Or anything else for that matter.

I prefer it when the story doesn't diverge to the fantastical. Taking on a bunch of Masai in a krall is one thing, but shooting down an underground river for miles to emerge in a hidden lake with giant crabs and a lost tribe of white natives is a bit of a stretch.

[And I saw a commercial for the Kindle Fire on TV for the first time last night. Neat. I'm glad I got the e-ink kind, instead, tho.]

Sculpture

2012-01-10T09:40:00.001-05:00

Some of the gun sculpture on THIS website are pretty neato.

Undergunned Bushwa

2012-01-10T06:56:00.001-05:00

I tune out cops in the media stories that states stuff like, "Oh noes! Cops are undergunned by the crooks!"

Either the complainant is living in a fantasy world where every gangbanger has an UZI and an AK-47, full auto, or they are thinking about North Hollywood Shootout, where the regular patrol cops were lacking in a simple trunk gun .30-30.

Cops have never needed tanks or .50 cals. Or select fire anything, for that matter.

Cops need TRAINING, I'll go with. Know how to shoot and deploy that lever gun, that revolver, and that pump scattergun. I defy Diane Sawyer to cite a circumstance where a police officer that knew what they were doing needed more than that, ever

What is WRONG with my gunstore?

2012-01-09T06:57:00.001-05:00

They have a new policy. People have apparently been directing Gunbroker purchases to them for transfer without telling the store this is happening. This asshattery perturbs them, and I am totally on board with their peevishness. If you do that, you have to pay a higher transfer fee or they reserve the right to refuse to do that all together. $100 if you surprise them, $75 normally. I am on board with that. I'd even charge MORE than $100, were I them. $150 or $200 will put a stop to such rudeness with a quickness, and be profitable in the meantime. Way to antagonize a vital gunstore FFL resource, boneheads.

The policy is not the problem. It's the sign they have up announcing it. It says the policy, then "We are not the internet. GFY." I assume GFY means Go F*ck Yourself. Well, THAT'S classy. Sure to boost sales.

I don't begrudge them the policy, but the internet sales are going to grow, not shrink. There are gunstores in MD that still charge a $25 fee and welcome the little business AND the foot traffic. I know I buy stuff whenever I go into the store, even a box of ammo. But this is the second time in a month I've been in there and felt an unfriendly vibe. I started frequenting that shop BECAUSE they were the only one that treated me like a customer, not an annoyance. "Wait on that guy, he buys something every time he comes in here." I overheard a story while in there over a year ago about an attempted gunstore robbery. The bad guy handed them a note, like in a bank holdup. So I did something similar, right then, in response. I handed the guy a note that read "Sell me something..." But I knew them well enough to have fun like that. I don't think the current crew would 'get' that kind of joke from me.

The owner was also absent, again. But he isn't the only one there that knows me on sight.

What to do? I don't want to presume to tell him his business. And I understand why he is upset, of course. But still. I wish the situation was different. I want my old gunstore experience back, but am helpless to make it so and have no known local alternatives. Many gunstores are crotchety in their own way.

Candle

2012-01-08T11:06:00.000-05:00

Lighting a candle to prevent violence against guns.

A candle to illuminate my civil right. A candle to light the way to a world people don't willing sacrifice themselves to evil men.

I need to dust better.

I Wish

2012-01-08T05:16:00.001-05:00

Remember when hoplophobes got their britches in a twist when Glock got popular because they assumed a polymer gun meant that it would sail through metal detectors? THEN it got popular with non LEO types, too.

Remember when the Assault Weapons Ban was enacted and ARs all of a sudden got popular because they were semi-verboten semi-auto rifles?

Of course the histrionics were unfounded, but still... there is a pattern of behavior here. Glocks and ARs are as plentiful old gum on a city sidewalk now.

I hope the gun banners get hysterical over another cool class of weapon again soon.

"Oh NOES! KRISS carbine and the SCAR Heavy are extra deadly!" or somesuch. It could be anything.

Then sales spike, production ramps up to meet demand, then prices drop. And I'll buy something cool. I wish they'd do that.

Examples

2012-01-07T06:10:00.002-05:00

You hear stories about cops shooting at a badguy 34 times and one bullet actually meets the meat. If the cop is lucky. I don't want news stories of that.

You hear stories of a bad guy absorbing 6 rounds of .38 Special and sitting back down to finish his breakfast before going to the doc to get his new holes looked at. Same with 15 rounds of 9mm (maybe exaggerating...). I once saw a story where a guy took on some .40 and seemed unaffected.

Has anyone seen stuff where the holes were made by a .45 and the punctured individual shrugged it off for a good time? Like walk to the ambulance in cuffs? Links, maybe?

I've never seen those stories. Doesn't mean they don't exist.

Homicide

2012-01-06T15:54:00.000-05:00

National Review

2012-01-06T10:09:00.003-05:00

The most gun friendly writer, Kevin Williamson, on metrocon National Review wrote a ditty on Meredith Grave, the Tennessee woman that tried to check her CCW firearm in NYC.

"I am Merdith Graves."

And another article from the much more normally metro Rich Lowry.

And more from David French.

Hmmmm, I wonder if Romney supporter Ann Coulter is a metrocon when it comes to guns?

Well, I did it.

2012-01-06T06:19:00.000-05:00

Pulled the trigger on a Kindle. I got the book kind, not the poor-man's iPad kind. Now to fill it. Luckily, there are LOTS of free things I want.

John Buchan's Greenmantle and Thirty Nine Steps
Rudyard Kipling has some stuff I haven't read, but would re-read a bunch
H. Rider Haggard's Allan Quartermain stuff
Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan and Mars stuff
L Frank Baum Wizard of Oz stuff
Erle Stanley Gardner did more than Perry Mason, but I don't think the copyrights have lapsed yet.
Ring Lardner

I've had a bellyful of John O'Hara already and can dismiss him.

I've read a bit of H G Wells, Jules Verne, and Jack London, but not all of it. I've read all the Sherlock stuff of Gotta check on Baen, see if they have anything. But my focus will be on discovering postwar-prewar stuff. it'd be nice to have a Kindle with 1000 free books, all that I haven't read and want to read. And I would be obliged if anyone has some gems of free stuff out there for me to look into. Pulpy stuff is a plus. Cowboys. African Safari. Sea Tales. Old Skool Sci Fi. Doc Savage. That sort of thing.

Gutenberg Project doesn't have everything, but any PDF can be converted over to Kindle, but links to other sources will be appreciated. But just look at the titles on this page alone! Can anyone give me a 'must read' of Winston Churchill? If anything I will need wheat to seek out so as not lose it in all the chaff.

[gun content... almost none. I guess there is a lot of gun content in my reading list, yes.]

Sheesh...

2012-01-05T17:51:00.003-05:00

My Springfield 1911 worked right out of the box. Didn't have to do all that aftermarket upgrades and fiddling to get it working like you do with Glocks or M&Ps.

Oh wait. I did replace the grips. For aesthetic reasons.

Metrocon Kudo

2012-01-05T14:34:00.005-05:00

With Sarah Palin. Regarding that ~~Colorado~~ Oklahoma mother that called 911, barricaded herself in her home, was advised to do what she can to protect her baby by the dispatcher, then ended the knife wielding goblin when he smashed through the her bedroom door. Also.

So About that Zit

2012-01-05T07:08:00.000-05:00

As a follow on to my S&W lamentation bout the onboard trigger locks on S&W revolvers, Windy asks: "Windy Wilson said...So, I can swap out parts on the S&W, too, and eliminate the possibility the zit will lock up at an inopportune time (as has been documented)? Who would tell me what parts to swap out, or is it a case of if I have to ask it is beyond my capabilities?"

What exactly do you have to do to get rid of the redundant lock work under that revolver zit? Is there an online resource that could help me, and Windy, out? I've been kinda intimidated to try to take the sideplate off on a revolver, myself...

Uncle Milty

2012-01-04T04:39:00.006-05:00

Well, in accordance with my New Years resolution, I have placed and order for a Milt Sparks Versa Max 2, IWB holster. All black horsehide. No sharkskin this time. I got the shark with my last VM2 and wanted the holster to look different at a glance, avoid confusion.

I went with Milt Sparks because I already had one and liked it a lot. But there are a plethora of good holster makers out there.

Now, belt shopping. This one I'm wearing is good but getting tired. Oh, and another ammo carrier for the spare mag.

Work Question

2012-01-03T06:05:00.008-05:00

Asked at work: "What gun would you buy 3 of to stash in various places of your house, and where?"

Already asked that quesdtion of myself...

Well, one option is, if you have a few police turn-ins of .38 revolvers... Those are nice to salt all about. Cheap, simple. I'd store one in the kitchen and in the bathrooms. Maybe next to the easy chair I sit in most. Some homeinvaders like to lock people in the bathroom so they can do their dirty work with you contained. One guy watches the door while the others cart out your stuff. And the bathroom is often windowless so you can't call for help. Be nice to have a gun in there, hidden, in a ziploc plastic bag to keep corrosion down. But then you have a gun a nosy guest might find, so...

Option 2, for me, is exposed hammer double barrel shotguns on hooks over doors.

But I have done neither. I don't have many guest, and NO kids, but it just seems... odd. Better to just have your CCW gun on you. Even if you are like me and can only carry at home.

Metrocon Getting Zumbo-ed

2012-01-02T10:57:00.002-05:00

Nominally, VerBruggan is on our side, but there is a metrocon line he doesn't want to cross with regards to the Tennessee woman that peaceably carried in Manhattan . He seems to be of a mind that while it is a civil right, this 2nd Amendment thingy, just not in certain states. Perhaps it's not in places he pictures himself being? I dunno. He is fine with punishing this woman who failed to remember than NYC is not in America, just not TOO severely. SHE BROKE THE LAW, after all. Broke the law and... harmed... uh... no one and nothing.

His commenters take him to task on his slip up, and do a pretty good job of it. Except for the confusing one about this guy who had a friend that 'was a gun collector, attending a show in NYC'. That detail befuddled more than just me.

Great Great Great Grandpa

2012-01-02T06:35:00.004-05:00

Well, howdy! By Jove! Here is a story about an old relative of mine. Used to hunt the Big Shaggys in the big open spaces in the middle of the country a century and half a go. A few other colorful habits. But you see where I got the name. And the love of alcoholic beverages. Benjamin C. Black. AKA 'Thunderbolt.'

I have the bottle he used to store his Bay Rum aftershave.

Who am I kidding. It was Rye whiskey, stored in that crystal stoppered bottle. Thunderbolt never used aftershave, and rarely cut back the whiskers. ANY bottle, it was rumored, in GrGrGrGrandads presence, didn't contain what it was intended or what was written on the label, but had some rot gut beverage or whatnot, therein instead.

I like Bay Rum, myself, but never use the aftershave, anyway. I don't take much to Rye, and prefer Bourbon, personally. So we're not completely alike. But, I've been known, my ownself, to make and sell alcoholic beverages in order to pay my mortgage and whatnot. It was just a little 600 gallon unit. Hardly anything. Fambly tradition. I'm not nearly the dead-eye shot, but this might explain my naturally preferring a revolver to a semi-auto.

I can also put to rest that horrible slanderous lie about "Thunderbolt's Bloomer-Busting Lager". It was most definitely NOT made from my great great great grand-daddy's urine. ('do I have to drink my own urine? No, but it's sterile, and I like the taste.') It was made from another part of him. Now let's never speak on this subject ever again.

Here is a contemporary rendering of GrGrGrGrandpa Ben:

I Wonder

2012-01-01T12:09:00.001-05:00

I wonder how many people think they set a post to publish ahead of time for today, but they forgot to set the year to 2012 and now their blog has a fresh January 1 post up 'a year ago'?

I Hear Stories

2012-01-01T06:35:00.001-05:00

In my quest for more blog fodder, I hear stories. Friends of friends, you know. 3rd or 4th hand accounts.

"So and so got a gun..."

"Uh huh?"

"Says it can shoot .410 and .45!"

Oh dear.

Well, at least .45 Long Colt has a further lease on life. What with the cowboy shooters getting more popular and now the Taurus Judge and Judge-clones sucking a bit of oxygen in the room up. I figure people that get the Judge probably buy ONE box of .45LC if they find it. Just to see. Or maybe not, the ammo costs .65 a round, generally. Not super expensive, but not cheap either.

You know, I've never heard a bad thing about those new long cylinder revolvers. Oh sure, performance stuff, I don't mean that. I mean, it hasn't featured yet as the 'villain' deodand in a junk-onna-bunk video by the police. No one has said, "the perpetrator used the especially deadly Judge, that fires shotgun and .45 rounds. Simultaneously. In the presence of kittens." or anything.

I wonder where city and suburban types take their Judge to try it out? Most indoor ranges around here are a bit hinky about shotgun use. And some of the outdoor ones, too. Load up your revolver with primo 00 buck shot shells and never know what it felt like to fire it and THAT is their home defense plan.

Uh...

2012-01-01T00:01:00.000-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

New Years A'Comin'

2011-12-31T06:07:00.000-05:00

And I need blog fodder.

The following is sort of a New Years Resolution. But not really. It's "Stuff that is firearm related I intend to spend money on or tend to in 2012."

I need to get off my duff and get more training.
Prolly some sort of EOTech for the M1A gonna happen.
Holster for the Commander. IWB.
Need to get back in the habit I had for range time pistol practice.
I sorta wanted that carbine and suppressor... but the gun store made me sad, didn't want to take my money, and I walked out. Maybe later.
I've been thinking about a conventional scope for the 1894c. It's a fun little lever action, perfectly acceptable for hunting in many jurisdictions, and certainly survival situations... Let's make that rifle funner.

Hard Core

2011-12-30T08:10:00.000-05:00

Saw this on Rummel's site:

Marine Veteran Shot in Craigslist Robbery Used Fingers to Plug Bullet Wounds

That's pretty hard core! And hard corps! (whichever is the accepted spelling, I never did get that right) I didn't read the linked article, but I'm going to leap to conclusions, here, and I'll have to remember that detail if I am ever found in a defense situation where gun fire was exchanged:

"If, after you have dispatched the bad guy to his reward, you find that said bad guy had the unremitting GALL to shoot at you and that you are actually wounded... Use your CRKT Delegate to sever as many of the goblin's fingers as you require. Shove those fingers in your bullet wounds to staunch the bleeding. Like a cork! With the prevalence of hand sanitizer in the 21st C, you probably have little to worry about with regard to possible infection."

Yeah, I dunno if I'd be 'Marine-Tough' enough in that situation.

It's not just Nowadays.

2011-12-30T06:32:00.002-05:00

Lot of pop culture type in the movies and on TeeVee and what not get the whole gun thing wrong. Poor gun handling skills. Unrealistic portrayals. Grist for the entertainment mill.

Reading all these old pulp stories from the 30s? You can tell that some of these writers have never SEEN a gun in a person, much less held one in their hand or shot one. They are sparse on details but even with the paucity of information you know they have no clue. You know. There are almost too many examples to detail... Guns called .45 Automatics going click click click when empty. Revolvers with 'safety catches' that are not the rare kind of revolver that actually HAS a safety. People that have a reputation of being deadly with their .32 mouse gun at long ranges. And these are the NICE examples.

Sure, some writers clearly know their stuff. Or know enough to not be obvious about their ignorance. Same with today. If anything today's Hollywood types are consciously trying to get much better at the gun handling. But it's hard to resist a shotgun blast punching a bad guy through plate glass window for the visual spectacle, no?

Guns are the New Yoga

2011-12-29T04:30:00.004-05:00

That does it.

If guns are the new yoga then this shooting hobby has jumped the shark, nuked the fridge even, and is officially too trendy. I gotta sell off all my stuff and get a new past time. Anyone want a couple shipping containers full of MREs? They're up at my zombie bunker.

Zen my Aunt Fanny. Ok, maybe...

Another Crappy Dream Post

2011-12-28T06:19:00.005-05:00

Blog posts about dreams are crappy. The dream was good.

I coined a new term. I was talking to a father with young kids, in dreamland. He wanted to be a good example and instill an ethic in his kids through his example, and he coined a term for it.

"Datch and Do"

I wasn't sure on the pronunciation

Datch was a combination of Dash and Watch. Move with a purpose, and with hustle when going about your day, and be alert and aware of your surroundings, and engage your brain. Do, is constantly be doing something. Don't just move like you have a purpose, but actually have a purpose. Pick up crap, straighten a picture, get a project done, vacuum, exercise.

Dream-dad figured it would rub off if he constantly had this attitude and conducted himself accordingly. A good work ethic.

That's how I think my crotchety old neighbor Archie has conducted himself. The man still putters about constantly. Nothing is left alone. Lawnmowers, clothes washers, door knobs. EVERYTHING get's customized. He has a solenoid on every door. He can open them remotely.

But Datch part of Datch and Do? Move with a purpose and be alert? Good advice for those that carry. Stay out of 'White.'

People that survived the 70s

2011-12-27T10:04:00.004-05:00

Are embarrassed about their Disco dancing and their lapels. Bell bottoms looked silly. Wish those images could disappear down the memory hole...

Millennials in 25 years will cringe at all their duck-lip photos out there. And for good reason.

One at a time

2011-12-27T06:56:00.003-05:00

Former Marine work buddy, I'll call him Mr. Tentacles, because he is an untoppable Eldritch Force in the same vein as Cthullu. No really. He's 6 foot 7, 300 pounds and lethal*. Anyway, his missus is, "simply afraid of guns. The thought of handling them makes her sweaty."

She was watching a cooking show. On the TeeVee. Not sure of the name. Pioneer Woman or Frontier Woman or summat. Anyway, after the feast of grilled meats they blew off steam skeet shooting. The wife beat the husband in a friendly competition. And then they showed all the kids going up and taking their turn busting clays. One of the kids looked as young as 10.

Mr. Tentacles asked the missus "how watching that made her feel and she actually said is made feel better and MORE comfortable to see the parents were comfortable supervising their kids with their shotguns."

One hoplophobe at a time is being converted. Because of a TV show. This is how our side wins.

Optics Query

2011-12-26T06:33:00.001-05:00

I know the big name trusted brands of 'red-dot' optics. Get a trijicon or an EOTech or an Aimpoint. These are priced on the high side, of course.

I know of cheap knockoffs that will disappoint me at a much lower sub-$100 price point that will fail more often than it works.

Is there a red dot scope model out there that falls in between? I'm thinking for a 'fun' gun. Like a 10/22. Not something I'm going to rely on for so-called serious application. I want something that will work, or at least not constantly fail and be a source of frustration, and not break the bank.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T06:37:00.004-05:00

Though I say Happy Holidays at work. For all holidays. Even for Halloween and 4th of July. Cinco De Mayo. Groundhog Day.... People look at me funny. Better safe than sorry, tho.

Dear Smith and Wesson

2011-12-24T11:19:00.001-05:00

What she said. And on that note.

Dear S&W,

Remember when the company was bought for $112 million back in '87? Then you bribed that alligator Clinton to eat you last and your customers noticed and didn't like the new changes your new boyfriend made you put up? He made you do things, things that seemed like a good idea at the time, but were really just self destructive. (That couldn't have been that good a business decision, otherwise you'd have sold for more than $15 million in 2001.) It was a bit dysfunctional, your relationship with that Slick Willie dude, and like a lotta wives going back to their abusive husbands all we could do was watch and hope you wised up and got the hell out of that pairing. And we gave you the silent treatment...

Then you did! Yay! You got out. You've denounced all those horrible things you said and did. AND, you've done a good job, bidness-wise, in the past 10 years than you did in the 15 before that, and I'm rooting for you, and the success of that polymer M&P is great even if it isn't my cuppa tea. I bet ou'd sell for more than $15 million now! Look at you!

But... one thing....

You wanna know how to cut production costs AND make your customers happier? Get rid of that little zit of a lock on the side. It's a revolver, not a handcuff. The only people that like it are those folks that were trying to destroy the entire firearms industry back in 1997. Just say it was an ill-conceived British innovation that doesn't add any value, and after all what do the Brits know about firearms anymore anyway?

Sincerely,
Your Friend,
T-Bolt

Mencken

2011-12-24T10:29:00.004-05:00

"I am often wrong. My prejudices are innumerable, and often idiotic. My aim is not to determine facts, but to function freely and pleasantly."

----

"Science, at bottom, is really anti-intellectual. It always distrusts pure reason, and demands the production of objective fact."

----

"Misogynist: A man who hates women as much as women hate one another."

-- H.L. Mencken, Bawlmer, Murlyn, hon.

In a mood...

2011-12-24T10:21:00.002-05:00

First, I must meditate…armor my mind against the madness of Western thinking. And now…I BAKE!

The battle is a short one. I weave a lethal net of baked goods that few can escape.

Cards

2011-12-24T06:44:00.001-05:00

Just noticed... I don't get many Christmas cards any more. I guess that's a result of me being unlovable. Fine! FINE!

I'm going back to bed.

blog post total

2011-12-24T05:16:00.005-05:00

FA LA LA LA LA! ~hic~ LA LA LA LA!

Yer Prohibihibihibition shkills sherved you well, Paw Paw. Thash shome good hoochsh. Happy New Year! I mean. Merry Chrishtmush!

Oh, I'm gonna pay for thish later...

Festivus

2011-12-23T11:42:00.000-05:00

Airing of the grievances, stuff that cheeses me off:

Jimmy Carter, and his refusal to either join the human race, or shuffle off this mortal coil
Hippies
Bedbugs
Union leadership thugs
plumbing proects (but it's when I do my best cussing)

Murder

2011-12-23T06:58:00.005-05:00

Only three shots here. And it was a successful self defense situation. A snubbie could have done that. Lotta missing.

Opening up the High Cap mag scab against, just pick pick pickin at it...

If someone wants to murder you, they are going to do it. Relying on them to be stupid about it and give you a chance, and your 55 rounds of 9mm in the gun and on your person to fend them off comes into play, well, you are gonna have to be lucky that they give you that chance. But a murderer with any brains will do you in without you even knowing what happened, no matter how alert you are or how good your training or how fast your reflexes.

Does that mean your choice of carry is illegitimate? No. Does it mean mine is? No. Does it mean there can't be a situation, however unlikely, where you might actually need 55 rounds and me with 5-10 or 7-14 rounds is gonna be sorry he doesn't have a few more? Perhaps. Does it mean you shouldn't even carry at all and be able to have a some chance to defend yourself from someone, because, after all, what is the point? Of course not. Most murders aren't blind side ambuscades that are well planned out ahead of time to kill you. Most flash mobs act like mobs and individuals in that mob rethink their participation when a new factor arises, like a victim that resists effectively.

If flash mob murder sprees, where 20 attackers descend on some unlucky sod in an unlikely location to do that victim in, start to become more prevalent I will rethink my carry options. I'll probably bring rifles and friends in that world. Until then, I am carrying what is comfortable and legal. I heartily recommend you carry what you are comfortable with, too. If different from my loadout, that is in no way wrong.

Ooo, one thing about changing my carry options in a world full of flashmob murder sprees? I'd already have my BUG and pocket holster for it. (What's a BUG? Back Up Gun. New York Reload.)

Admittedly, if everyone that reads this blog banded together against battalion sized flash mob murder groups, I don't care if we have everything we own on us. Our chances are still pretty slim. Lets hope it doesn't come to that.

(yeah, i made you think about your own murder. what is WRONG with me? it's the dang Christmas season! i know what will fix me. Grandpa's SPECIAL eggnog. posting may be light for 2 weeks...)

We're Winning

2011-12-22T06:14:00.001-05:00

I did not know I could buy Chip McCormick and other 1911 magazines, through Amazon. Also, optics and reloading supplies, etc. Not too much ammo, yet...

DA .45s

2011-12-21T06:23:00.004-05:00

I do well with DA revolvers. Hmmm, what about... DA semi in .45ACP that takes my 1911 mags? The Colt New Agent that I thought on back in March? Or, hey, Para makes a similar one called the Carry Safe.

I seem to have revisited the subject again. Yes.

I would have one already except for a comment by Tam. I trust her judgement, especially because of her gun store experience. If she noticed a lot of folks buy DA 1911 types, then sending them back for service, or buying them and getting them sold back to her a year later because it wasn't all that for the owner...

But here, these are Tam's words:

"If you ever listen to one piece of advice from me, let it be this one:

It you want a DA pistol, buy an actual DA pistol, not some half-assed attempt to retrofit DA or DA-style lockwork into a 1911 frame.

Seriously, there's not a one of those things worth the acetylene it would take to torch-cut the receivers to BATF specs."

Yikes, I need to keep finding this post and rereading it before I start fondling my credit card with stars in my eyes. A strong opinion on the subject from someone I trust and someone not trying to sell me a gun.

But what .45 pistol (preferably that takes 1911 mags and is thus thin in the grip) is DA only out there? A little more to the DA trigger pull than your normal striker fired polymers. My guess is: None.

There is very little for me to go on to make my own judgement, flying in the face of Tam's advice. I have no idea what the guts of the trigger on these DA pistols use and whether they are any good.

"So, why the harping on the subject, T-Bolt, in the light of such a hearty anti-endorsement?" I am not like other shooters. Most people shoot SA pistols better than they shoot DA. Not me, not yet. So it's a nearly unique subject applying to me. Evidence it is unique is the lack of known decent products to fill the niche, so the niche is probably rare. There might be someone else out there with the same issue as me. I doubt they read this blog, but... I can hope maybe to help myself and maybe some other.

I'm probably just 'broken'.

[Hey, wait! New York cops have striker fired guns with a heavy trigger pull. Not because they are better shots but because they are poorly trained and supposedly used to DA revolvers and too many city cops were shooting themselves in the ass on the draw. Hmm...]

[Original reasoning in my search for DA .45? I wanted a gun with a bit more oomph for IWB carry, but also had a similar trigger profile/experience as the snubbie for the times I couldn't have a holstered pistol but could have a pocket option. Sure, they load differently, but if I could get a semi and a revolver to feel the same in the trigger every shot, I thought that might be useful, for consistency. Then I'd stick to those two. Get spares of both in case they break. Sell off or safequeen the others.]

Why Not?

2011-12-20T06:47:00.004-05:00

In numerous threads of discussion, both online and in person, a topic comes up that ends with "Why not just get a Kel Tec Boomenshooter model #2746.3b mod II?"

Well, I've never SEEN a Kel Tec anything in the wild apart from the ubiquitous P3AT .380. Seen lots of those. It was the model that brought Kel Tec into the big leagues and they sold a bajillion of them while other companies designed clones to meet the consumer demand for such a thing.

Yeah, they can ride the success of that little pistol to design new guns and expand production to keep up with demand.

Well, they have come up with intriguing designs, like that Bullpupish .308 and the KSG and a .22 magnum semi pistol, but, as most everyone realizes now, they sorta dropped the ball on expanding production. Which is good, as I would have bought a few things. Now the novelty has worn off and I've reconsidered for more prudent options.

Some models of Kel Tec, I think they have like a dozen made TOTAL. And 2 or 3 of those live in Oleg's safe.

[update: fixed one grammatical nightmare in the opening sentence. yeesh.]

DC gun laws

2011-12-19T18:01:00.000-05:00

It's very hard to buy a pistol in DC, to you know, defend yourself, in your own home only, but it's apparently no big deal to buy grenades and a rocket launcher! You just have to choose your purveyor differently.

I can't wait for the Junk-On-The-Bunk pics from this bust.

CCW Pistol Instrospection

2011-12-19T06:04:00.003-05:00

Ok, I've been doing this regular shooting and this blog thing (and they about coincided in time) for 400,000 hits and 4 and a half years... Let's do some introspection. Specifically on Tam's advice, "Carry a gun that works. Carry the gun you trust and that you shoot best," as it applies to me and pistols. What do I have, what do I shoot best.

I have 3 'real' pistols. A revolver (more than one, but let's concentrate on the snubbie over the bigger 686. I shoot them about the same DA) that predates the blog that I got because I knew how a revolver operated. A 1911 I got because of Jeff Cooper and because it is a 1911. And the Sig P229 that I picked up after trying Chuckle's.

I shoot the revolver ok, actually. VERY good at single action, but that's not what I'd use in a CCW situation. I don't know why. My trigger habit is to commit to the pull through and do so with authoirty when ready to shoot and this dovetails well with my admittedly poor natural trigger pull habits otherwise. I came to this realization over time.

The Sig I shoot ok. Maybe a little bit better than the revolver, but nothing like I shoot SA stuff when I am 'on'. I bought because I DID shoot it as well as a SA gun the first time I got my hands on a borrowed one. So you can see why I wanted it. Double Action Kellerman and a an over fat grip, but I shoot it nigh perfectly? I'll get beyond the negatives to carry a gun like that. But the initial performance was beginner's luck. I hadn't figured the trigger at the beginning and now I know it so it doesn't surprise me as much and the groups opened up. So, with a drop off in my performance with it (still decent) it's negatives came back to the fore. If I had a time machine I'd go back and tell myself not to bother.

The 1911 I shoot horribly. When I concentrate and really feather in that trigger pull and surprise myself I am pleased with the results, but I am no where near consistent. When that good kind of trigger pull gets more consistent and natural, then I will be a "nothing but" 1911 type dude. But will that happen? We shall see. I am getting better. No quantum leaps in performance, which I'd prefer, but it wishes were horses... Improvement are attributed to effort and practice working on the trigger pull.

And that is also the current order I select for carry. Primarily the snubbie, the Sig when wardrobe permits sometimes, and the 1911 on the horizon. I am still not equippend with a holster for the 1911 that I really like, but I'm in less of a hurry to correct that.

Star Wars 1942

2011-12-18T15:55:00.000-05:00

Just like I said.

Here is Lt. Chuck Backer:

Han uses the same gun in both versions, but here it's just a C96. Capt. Han Solowski:

Threshold

2011-12-18T06:21:00.004-05:00

Today I hit the 400,000 visits mark. If it was 4,000,000 you would have seen ads on this site long before. So, good job restraining yourselves. Because of your self discipline, and ability to delay gratification before reading me, my blog is much less cluttered. Thank you for your support. Good job, readers!

I should have a party in 2017 when I hit the 1 million mark.

Giving the Gift of Boom

2011-12-17T06:28:00.000-05:00

So Alphecca had a post about black Friday gun sales and he wondered about the whole legality of it all, and I must say I was of the same mind. If I buy a pistol with the intent of giving it to my straight laced fully eligible and definitely not prohibited brother, that, to my mind, was a straw purchase. Now I'm not so sure. (And don't get your hopes up, bro, this is just an example...)

First, it's hard to prove a straw purchase. If I buy a gun and then have buyer's remorse after shooting it, and I already detailed that it isn't easy to return or sell a gun at many local gunstores, what do I do? I sell it or give it away. That's not a straw purchase. That's just me getting rid of a gun I don't want or need.

I can have buyers remorse an hour after purchase.

A commenter, George, clarifies, "a 'straw purchase' is when someone else directs you to purchase a gun and, normally, gives you the money for it." And that's certainly not the case with a gift or me unloading a gun to person/associate I know is not a prohibited person. Say, another Maryland gunnie at a blogshoot, where I see he clearly already HAS lots of firearms. If he is prohibited, then there are bigger problems at heart that go way beyond my transaction with him (or her.)

So I am good, right? No.

Ok, that's Federal law there. There is specific statutes in Maryland law forbidding such transfer. MBtGE may be able to gift another Virginian, but I can't gift another Marylander. (Marylandanian? Marylandfolk?)

The law says: "A person who is not a regulated firearms dealer may not sell, rent, transfer, or purchase any regulated firearm without going through a regulated firearms dealer."

Regulated firearms are pistols, and, since the 1990s, rifles that look scary. ARs and AKs and the like.

Which is why the gun shows in Maryland really suck.

But THIS is the so-called gun show loophole that my state has closed.

So I can gift a Springfield '03 or a Remington Model 11 12 gauge to my brother, but not a Ruger MkIII .22 target pistol to take care of a racoon problem on his palatial multi-acre estate in the middle of nowhere.

~~~

Also: Here is a unrelated thing I didn't know. If your firearm is stolen or destroyed in a fire or whatnot, and you have a police report, and you consider it essential that your firearm is replaced immediately, you can short circuit the waiting period of 1 week or 30 days depending on what waiting period you are up against. Interesting. Then you get the contradictory clause: "In no case, however, may the handgun be delivered before seven days, even if the application is approved earlier." So which is it, Maryland? If I were an FFL and a gun owner that lost his pistol in a fire presented me with police report to short circuit the waiting period because having a gun was essential to him. AND I had an affadavit from the State Po-po, the local police Chief and the State and County DA's I STILL wouldn't sell a gun to him without waiting out the waiting period. Because of that badly worded set of gun laws.

~~~

Due not that the last revision to that MD Firearms Laws website was in 2003. I need to check for a later compilation somewhere online.

The same for'ard and baggard

2011-12-16T22:23:00.000-05:00

Tonight's Palindrome for you!

A MAN-APE ON A CANOE: PANAMA!

What?!

2011-12-16T20:23:00.000-05:00

You use a 9mm or .38? Are you some troglodyte that doesn't believe in science? I bet you are an evil Glowball Warmening skeptic too. Everyone knows that .45 is the way to go. That's "more than 11mm" to you people that still wish Carter won in 1980. Pfff.

Ammo capacity.

2011-12-16T06:44:00.007-05:00

Another thing about the 9mm argument redux making the rounds. "You want that ammo capacity a 9mm semi gives you!"

Why?

To predict the future we only have example from the past that may repeat themselves in a similar way in our presence and may call for us to defend ourselves with a firearm.

Virginia Tech recent shooting
Luby's
VT a few years back
Flash Mob robberies (did these really happen the way they were reported?)
Bombay terrists

Ok, what are the attributes of these events? Well in some, it is a single, semi-determined shooter with a group of targets they are attempting to murder. Low capacity pistols and good shooting and a 5 shot snubbie would have been all you'd need in a Luby or VT situation. So obviously the "you want that ammo capacity! 18+1 and 2 reload mags are a START!" argument doesn't apply there.

Another is a ambush. Even the most alert and trained person can be bushwhacked. Like that officer in VT the other week. It can happen. And it would suck if it happened to you. Again, if you had a .22 derringer or a Thompson sub machine gun with 4 extra drums with you, it isn't going to matter. Ammo cap is irrelevent in that scenario, too.

The others is group of assailants, going after a single good target or a group of targets. It doesn't really matter which if you fall inside the Venn circle as 'target' (like a flash mob) and are alone or are one of very many (like in Mumbai)

I'm not a cop. I'm not an infantryman. Chances are if you are CCWing you are not either. There is no duty to 'get' the bad guy, save the day, rescue the kitten, put out the fire in the orphanage, and take on evil single handedly. While it is often very nice when such a heroic circumstance occurs that is not your responsibility. You carry CCW for defense, not offense. Your pistol is for getting your butt out of a jam that has been initiated by someone else. Regroup. Get a rifle if the situation warrants going on offense. But offense is also beyond the scope of this post.

The hypothetical circumstance a high capacity magazine address is a group of armed or unarmed assailant targetting you alone or you and a bunch of other people, but you are the only one that thought to tote a pistol.

Let's stipulate first, right off, if a group of armed assailants wants you dead your future outlook is not so good. Your chances aren't GREAT with a group of unarmed assailants either, but obviously better.

So what do you have when going against a group? The group might not be expecting you to be armed. The introduction of ANY firearm, regardless of capacity, might be the only edge you need. You'd alter THEIR decision making process in many circumstances. In that case a capacity of "3" may be all the bullets you need. Only "1" as long as the bad guys don't know that that is all you have. 20 unarmed assailants and one of them takes 2 rounds from your 5 shot snubbie? You can only shoot about 3 more, or so at that point. 16 assailants will be unscathed! You're doomed! Except none of ad guys wants to be numbers 17 18 and 19. Many cases, they will run away.

The same COULD apply to AK wielding terrists at the mall. 2 shots from a snubbie and they start to wonder, "yeah, that guy has just snubbie, but this is a big mall and who knows how many more guys like him there are... Better withdrawal, regroup, and rethink this."

Ok, no really support yet for high capacity magazines yet.

Now for the really dark scenarios. You are against a group of unarmed hoodlums (let's dispense with the mall terrists at this point, you're gonna have to be lucky AND a good shot, AND fleet of foot against that kind of evil doers...) and the unarmed hoodlums aren't dissuaded by the surprise presesence of a pistol in your hand, aren't detterred by the VERY loud bangs of a round or two, and they don't care that one of their group just had his gray matter introduced

This is the meat of the high cap argument. THis is the snubbie carrier's Kobiashi Maru, the supposedly unwinnable scenario. This is where T-Bolt thinks, "Man I wish I had Glock 17, instead, right now." And the high cap people win the argument and everyone get's a double stack carry piece, right?

Not necessarily. The scenarios can ALL be ratcheted up. You can add more adversaries to the mix so that the Glock guy with 55 9mm rounds ready to go says, "Gee, I really wish I had my AR, and a buncha friends with ARs, today, and a few hunder 30 round mags. This is a hairy situation!"

The only REAL histoical scenario where the high cap mag is vital is the unarmed flash mob assault. And those aren't prevalent as yet. It's up there with "killed by meteor" chances. Some might armor their roof. My risk assessment is... The advanatage a high cap 9mm gives me is not so big a jump as to justify the extra hassle and inconvenience.

With those 18+1 and 2 spare magazines... Your gunfight will be over before you get one quarter of the way through that first magazine in non meteor hitting your head probability cases.

When carrying a semi... it is worth the hassle and inconvenience, to me, to have a spare magazine because of the point of failure inherent in a single magazine. But those 2 magazines could carry 5 rounds, for all I care.

If a gun fight comes to me, I hope to have the biggest quantum leap in requirements. A gun. "The important thing about a gunfight is to have a gun." That improvement from nothing to something is a much bigger jump than 5 rounds to 55 rounds. That gun, nowadays, is a 5 round snubbie. One day will be a 8 round 1911. Even that 5 rounder is rare, of course, because of my state of residence. But that's an old familiar story round here.

[Update:
Ooops. Tam summed up my post much more succinctly in a comment:

"GENERALIZED RANT TO THE ENTIRE GUNTERNET:

Here’s a secret: .38 Spl +P 158gr LSWCHP will reliably expand to .6″ and shoot purt near clean through a man no matter which angle you shoot him from. Anything beyond that is just whistling past the graveyard.

I carry a 1911 because it works, and because I shoot it the best. I carry it in .45 because that’s the caliber that is most reliable in the gun.

Caliber itself is bullshit. Capacity is bullshit. All this “mine holds 18″ rounds stuff is just as much pointless wanking as the “Europellet” nonsense and you all know it as well as I do. This isn’t Mogadishu, and if it were, I’d be carrying a fucking carbine anyway.

Carry a gun that works. Carry the gun you trust and that you shoot best. Period fucking dot.

Jesus. Wept. But I have so lost all my tolerance for the silly gun forum/gun shoppe counter “Glunk” and “Europellet” and so forth pointless chest-beating about make, model, and caliber… Shouldn’t you people be off training someplace?"

I'm carrying the set up that doesn't pull my pants down. With the pistol I reliably hit stuff with. With a single set of reloads for the just in case factor. When the Wildings or Zombies get prevalent I'm carrying the M14 and bringing friends. If my JOB becomes chasing bad guys, that snubbie I'd prefer to carry might be innappropriate. Until then.]

[Update 2: No one ever says. "All I had was the one mag of for my 1911, and it wasn't enough" outside a battlefield, have you noticed? Cops run out of revolver bullets, and 9mm, but never complain that they didn't have enough for the 1911. Is it because the 1911 cops panic less and miss less because they train more?]

[Update 3: From here, "If you carry, be prepared to shoot. Some folks carry around a pistol like a talisman to ward off evil. They figure if they ever need to draw, they will not need to shoot. That thinking may get you killed. You might NOT have to shoot, which is fine, but don’t assume that to be the default." Oh, it is most definitely not a talisman.]

Another Data Point

2011-12-15T06:10:00.001-05:00

Another data point against my "single stack .40 CCW idea." That .40 is snappy, apparently. Now I want the all steel K40 version, not the polymers shown here, and that weight would help some, but still. Better test it before I plunk down money. It might hurt me more than Breda's Bersa.

"Why don't you just breakdown and get a 9mm, T-Bolt?" Because I have no ammo for a 9mm. I do have ammo for .40. Arsenal simplicity and ammo commonality is a big thing for me. It's why I didn't immediately buy a lefty Ruger Scout. They are nigh ideal except the magazine is not M14, like I already have.

I Like Grip Safeties

2011-12-14T06:40:00.007-05:00

I really do. This goes against the Conventional Wisdom.

The biggest ding people have against them is that if you grip your gun wrong or high you won't engage the grip safety and your gun won't go BANG when you want it to. But I haven't had an issue with that since 1990 when I first fired a 1911 pistol. Nowadays I can't NOT engage the safety. Even with a high thumbs forward type grip, even with a 1911 without that bump on the back of the safety, even shooting it one handed with my non-dominant hand.

There was no re-learning a grip for the XD varieties. I did have to think about it very briefly the first shot when shooting the Pocket Hammerless, but then never again, and the grip was so odd for me on the FN1922 that I had think about the safety the entire time I shot it.

I have never tried a Lemon-Squeezer revolver, however.

A grip safety is more endearing to me than that little tongue on the trigger face on most striker-fired polymer pistols.

How Come

2011-12-13T06:48:00.006-05:00

Everyone is getting a 9 lately. It's the 'in' thing to do right now. Cheap practice gun, and a compact carry piece that is batter, ballistically, than the .380 (aka 9mm short) and the .38 Special.

Why is it better than the .38 Special, though? The case is smaller looking side by side. 9mm is better than .38+P even. The projectile is essentially the same, the bottle the .38 has to store propellent is larger, how did this Luger Parabellum fella get more oomph in his cartridge 110 years ago?

The case on a .38 is a whole centimeter longer! And it has, generally, half the foot pounds of force compared to the 9mm.

I suspect the .38 standard was because the parent casing was developed off of black powder catridges. While it COULD be stuff with more powder that would be bad for guns not designed for that force. So the standard stays what it was originally. Just like the 9mm stays the same. The .38 Special was only developed 3 years earlier than the 9mm parabellum.

And .38 WAS ramped up to the .357 Magnum. MUCH more oomph than .38 or 9mm. They made a longer case for the .357 to keep the round from fitting in a .38 pistol. That whole gun-explodey thing was the worry, I understand. But perceived recoil is much more severe in the .357.

What I'm saying is, why wasn't the .38+P done up to match the teeny weeny 9mm? Does the fact that the 9mm is for a semi-automatic help? That 9mm was specced to accept a LOT of pressure, too. More than any of the .38/9mm projectile cartridges save the .357 Sig.

Shifting Attitudes

2011-12-12T12:38:00.000-05:00

Does this mean that the bitter-clingers are now the hoplophobe gun banner types, now, since self defense is now mainstream and people contradicting that notion are the ones behind the curve?

Tam Stole

2011-12-12T08:18:00.001-05:00

Tam stole the Xmas gift idea I had for my nephews and nieces. Well, the older ones. I intend to give the blighters a small lil pocket knife (one that has a decent chance of not giving folks the vapors), a small lil flashlight, and a matchsafe for basic survival 'dump em in the jacket pocket or glove compartment' kit. All can be clipped together.

What else should go along with such a basic set up? Things like paracord, a spork, a cup, a water bottle, and a poncho. Maybe a crowbar. You know, for the zombies.

Gun Shop Employees

2011-12-11T04:51:00.006-05:00

Me: "I want to buy a new carbine on the market made by JR Carbines."

Emplyees: "What do you want me to do about it."

Me: "Ok..." Looks around and Ted, the owner, isn't in.

Not the first time I've had this kind of conversation. Left out of the conversation because of the abrupt end: "... and I'm willing to put a deposit down on it, and I'm gonna need gunsmith services on it, and on services to fit a new threaded barrel in my 1911, and I'm gonna need advice on which of these fine suppressors you have in this display case that will fit on both and work the best." So that's a $700 gun, a $700 suppressor, and work for the gunsmith over there munching on a whopper and bs'ing with another employee, both of whom also too distracted to help me right then.

Why don't gunstores like to sell people stuff and provide a service that they essentially have a monopoly on? Oh, right, that 'monopoly' word. Well, this isn't the only gunstore in Maryland that can sell me a suppressor. I know they'd rather sell me an item they have in stock right then, but still. Money is money. I thought everyone liked money. That's why they call it "money."

Tomorrowland

2011-12-10T13:55:00.000-05:00

HT: RobertaX

What wonders our future holds.

What are you, a girl?!

2011-12-10T06:45:00.001-05:00

I thought I was onto some blogfodder. A workgroup I associate with at my office has a dozen people. 3 of them are women. I found out one has a Beretta 92, the other has a Mossberg 930, and was checking with the 3rd. If she had possessed a firearm (she would have no qualms over her personal ownership, likes the Sig P238, but her roommate is anti-gun, so...) that would make 100% of the females, but less than 50% of the males. Then the initial reaction is the rib the males over, "Sheesh, the WOMEN have guns but YOU can't, fellas? Whaswrongwitchu?"

But that is ALL wrong, and I am ashamed to admit this first impulse. Owning or desiring to possess, or carrying, or knowing how to use a firearm is a not exclusivity manly trait. It's not a demonstration of masculinity.

That sort of thinking leads to the weiner jokes that gun-banner love to deploy. It's simpleton thinking. And I need to alter my thought process.

Firearms are an equalizer tool that facilitate effective individual defense for most anyone. Self Defense is a human right, not relegated to a specific gender. When I am advocating for shooter's rights I should never hinge it on any masculinity argument.

Excessive Hoarding

2011-12-09T16:26:00.002-05:00

Shame on you Holder

2011-12-09T08:35:00.001-05:00

Oh my goodness the transcript from Representative Hoy I saw at the bottom of this article is satisfying.

I should add, Rep. Hoy is a fictional character. Sadly.

"Hundreds are dead as a direct result of actions undertaken by your subordinates and you wish to shame Congress?

Mr. Attorney General, if you had any integrity. If you had any honor, you would fire those most responsible for this travesty and then resign yourself.

The only person in this committee room who should be feeling shame is you and what you allowed—either by design or by neglect—to happen in Operation Fast and Furious."

Satisfying, and the sentiment is dead on correct.

Place Holder Title, gone all wrong!

2011-12-09T06:44:00.006-05:00

[sorry about the title, but lets just go with it]

You know, I have pined for a single stack .40 for a CCW. Something smaller than a 1911 Commander (hence the .40) but used like the Sig P229. It's the vaporware in my head. The closest thing to it is a Kahr K40

But if trends continue and the pocket 9s become pocket 40s, giving me a plethora of choices, I better check myself before plunking down the plastic. I need to try the pistol first. Lightweight pistols are not my preference, for shooting-comfort reasons. If the pocket 40s come, most all will be polymer guns. I bet they'll hurt. Kick like mules. I don't even like the Bersa .380! All metal guns, I am sweet on them. I need to find a rental case with the Kahr in it to test.

Another reason to stick to the tried and true and surprisingly slim and concealable Commander.

My Alma Mater

2011-12-08T13:10:00.008-05:00

Virginia Tech. Another shooter, now.

"VaTech is on lockdown," wrote one poster on Twitter. "Hoping we don't have repeat of the past. What part of no guns at school is apparently hard to get."

Sigh. What part of "criminals and crazies don't follow the rules" is so hard for YOU to get. Also: Now you know where my horrible grammar and sentence structure comes from.

I hope the people shot aren't seriously injured and the shooter is brought to justice.

"Police says the suspect is carrying a pistol or a 'long gun.'"

Well that narrows it down....

[2PM update: Reports that the police officer shot was killed. Well damn. I was hoping for no fatalities. Thoughts and prayers for the officer and his/her family.]

[2:14: Now 2 are reported dead.]

[5:40 Looks like a murder suicide, now, and all over.]

The Further Adventures...

2011-12-08T06:35:00.008-05:00

Of The Beard.

So, the week waiting period is up today and yesterday he asked if I had a trigger lock for his M&P .45. Yeah, in Maryland you are not supposed to leave the store unless you have an approved trigger lock. Or if the gun has an onboard locking system, like what for that little zit on the newer S&W revolvers that RUINED THEM.

I have lots of locks. I bet there is a long cable lock that comes with the M&P. NONE of them will work for him because my state requires a chamber lock. And I didn't get one with my .45s.

For those in free-er states than Maryland (or Cali) what it is is a little cartridge size doohickey in the same caliber as your pistol. You chamber it. Then you stick a wrench down the muzzle and it expands the part, locking it in the chamber. They can even grab hold of the extractor, making it impossible to pull back the slide. VERY safe, if by safe you mean, "make the pistol near impossible to function." No one is going to take a pair of bolt cutters and get that bad boy out. Or even swap barrels.

The lock is only required on new guns. Springfield 1911s have that little key to turn that locks the mainspring down in the mainspring housing and you can swap out with a standard ping or new mainspring housing assembly. Some auto's have a keyway on the slide somewhere. Well, the police don't trust those locks and won't have them on their guns, so the M&P has no lock, hence the quandry for The Beard today. He'll end up having to buy one from the gun shop.

I have a lock I used to get my P229 .40 home. Someone forgot to sell me one on the Colt Commander. That's happened for some people, the gunshop says "Don't forget to bring your State approved locking mechanism when you pick this up in 8 days!" then forget to check it when you come back.

The only reason to keep a lock like this is if you have kids and never intend to use the pistol to defend your house and have no safe to secure the pistol in. A really angry DA might prosecute you if your 6 year old manages to crack your safe and shoots off your gun in some tragedy because you didn't have the lock in place anywhere that wasn't inside a shooting range. Sorta defeats the purpose of a home defense weapon. Even Gunny Ermey uses a pistol safe with a Glock that sounds like he stores is at Condition 3

Glowball Warmening

2011-12-07T19:50:00.000-05:00

You know, you can do the same thing with Catastrophic Anthropogenic Greenhouse Warmening

1) Conclude we need to institute worldwide socialism with us smart politician calling the shots...
2) Hunt around for a dire reason to institute it... I know! Enviromental apocalypse! The sheep will eat that up. They LOVE fuzzy-cute macro-fauna. We'll say global warming or an ice age or the ozone hole. Pick one. They all require top down economic direction.

I have a feeling that is not the sentiment the cartoonist wanted me to come away with...

Pearl Harbor Day, at 70

2011-12-07T08:45:00.011-05:00

My crotchety neighbor, Archie, got to Pearl Harbor for the first time in early 1945. There were still cleaning up after the 1941 attack, then. Remember the price of complacency.

When he got to Leyte, months after the battle, he went up on deck (his station was below the waterline) and asked why there were all those trees growing up out of the ocean. It wasn't trees he saw. It was ship's mast from sunken vessels.

His ship went to Bikini Atoll for a scientific test called Crossroads in 1946, with the Demon Core, but he managed to finagle his way out of making that trip, avoiding health worries from that later in life.

Map

2011-12-07T06:38:00.000-05:00

You know there is a lot local to that new range at the Peacemaker Training Center of interest to a gunnie with a taste for history.

At A the range, B is the Antietam Civil War battlefield, and at C is Harper's Ferry with it's armory. All about half an hour drive through scenic roads. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal is along the Maryland side of the river and a splendid area for hiking and camping. I hiked the entire length of it, over time, as a Boy Scout. North to South, of course, as that is downhill.

Camp Corpse Crawler

2011-12-06T06:02:00.005-05:00

A reader from Oregon gave me the heads usp to this place. Zombie Survival Camp. You know, for the Kids! Won't anyone think of the children? Children are our future! Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty zombies possess inside. Their heads. When you crack open the undead noggin like a walnut.

Kids are also useful spotters for us older farts. Their eyes are generally better. Kids will be great for daytime perimeter watches, just give em a varmint rifle and bribe them with a bounty per zed.

Would that the rest of the nation take after the Pacific Northwest in this critical emergency preparation training.

Blogshoot

2011-12-05T06:10:00.052-05:00

Let's get the preliminaries out of the way Attending the event at the Peacemaker Range was our host Lagniappe, OldNFO, MBtGE, and Tempestuous Sea. Plus some new bloggers I hadn't met before. AnotherDayAnother and Proud Hillbilly. Plus some frequent Commenters like A, and Stretch and Bubblehead Les.

Great fun was had by all.

There was discussion on what to call this. First annual Mid-Atlantic Blogshoot? Great Eastern Panhandle Shoot?

First off, this range is brand new. Opened in September. And it had the best view of any range I'd ever been to. West Virginian hollers and ridgelines and open sky. I'm used to dense wooded areas or the back end of the County Dump when I shoot long guns. So that was pretty nice. The point of this place is to make a goto training facility where 3 gun competitions can be held. It has a fully electronicified (it's a perfectly cromulent word.... electronicified) 1000 yard range. You shoot, and a camera connected to the internet is looking at your target and displays your results. So you and the rest of the world can see that 10 ring shot you just made.

The long range is restricted to members at this point. $500 initially, $400 to renew.

And it's only an hour and a half from MBtGE's house.

Their intention is to host as many training evolution there as possible.

Open to us, and the public is a pistol range pit, a shotgun area for skeet, and a rifle area. The primary berm is 100 yards out with decent concrete and shaded shooting benches. But they also have a 250 yard berm and are planning a 400 yard berm. So, finally a place to do relatively serious rifle work available to the DC area general public.

At the 250 berm there was a steel gong target and this was the only item to shoot at. It was the big hit of the party.

OldNFO had one of his sniper setups that he let me try. He had zeroed it for the gong, so when I got my chance the thing was practically set on Easy-Button. Put the cross hairs on the steel, barely touch his trigger, and wait for the the sound of the 'ding' to get back to your ears. It was 100%.

Then the fun began. My M1A with iron sights rings the bell more often than not, but it's a well set up and made rifle. MBtGE was shooting 100% with THAT. My first shot hit the support post, low, so I adjusted my point of aim from the 'chest' to the 'neck' on the plate and started hitting.

MBtGE had his Beretta CX4 storm that shoots .40 cal pistol ammo. After using OldNFO's spotting scope to help MBtGE walk in a shot to learn the point of aim on his EOTech optic, he gave me a try. I dinged it on my second attempt after a simple point of aim adjustment was called. MBtGE later was using his 10/22 to ring the gong with iffy ammo. The immediate feedback of a steel plate was one of the most satisfying shooting experiences I have had, ever. I was just pleased my M1A was set up where I wanted it and the proof was in the gong-y pudding.

Effective range for a pistol caliber carbine is now 250 yards, too. Sweet.

Also had fun trying out the new Ruger mags in my 10/22, but this was more a function test of those mags than marksmanship. They worked great, and my shooting wasn't that bad, either. Bubblehead Les was good to his word to trade me a M1 Carbine type sling to attach to it, too. Thanks Les! I have it adjusted for length to be a hasty sling, now.

At the pistol area, I shot Proud Hillbilly's FN1922 (serendipity from Tam's post) and her airweight j-frame. That FN has odd grips, narrow in the front-to-back orientation. My trigger finger has to curl way back toward me to get to the bang switch. Euro types must have teeny hands 90 years ago. And the super lightweight revolver was a handful even with regular .38 special. I like getting the chance every now and then to shoot these lightweights as it reinforces my decision to get the all steel versions. It's just not a pleasant gun to shoot. I'd rather it be pleasant to shoot for .0001% of the time than light to carry 99%+ of the time for this type of weapon. Size, not weight, is my bugaboo. I'm a BIG fan of the j-frames. And I LOATHE the airweights.

There was Arisaka rifles present that Lagniappe reloads .30-06 down to and he has a Ruger .44 rifle with a integral suppressor that was also a hoot to listen to.

An entirely enjoyable day of shooting. And JT's (I like the initials...) had really good prime rib sammiches. Eat there, but don't trust your GPS. The GPS lead us to a strip joint called Vixens.

Below is a couple of Dirty Bird targets. My last, as I prefer the sticky and yellow of the Shoot N See. The left is 50 yards, right is 100 yard. Looks like I may need another notch or two of windage for the .22. You can see 2 .308 in there, too. My .308 may need a notch or two of elevation. But that's a solo range trip to work on that, not a fun range trip like a blogshoot. I want to be a little higher on 100 yards. Ugh, the only trigger worse than my 10/22 is the CX4 carbine. Still, not too much to complain about for a journeyman effort.

I know the feeling

2011-12-04T06:58:00.029-05:00

The soul of 100 year old manufactured goods. Nice.

It applies, for me, to light-alloy revolvers too. Plastic gun can certainly be the bees knees in function, but there is that certain somthing that is missing.

I apply this to other areas of my life. I LIKE the Singer sewing machine that is treadle powered. I LIKE the Disston handsaw made 130 years ago and works better than a modern handsaw (double tapered blade, you know). I LIKE the 1942 typerwriter built like a Sherman tank.

Sure, buying shirts at Target is easier and cheaper, Cutting plywood to width with the Ryobi circular saw is faster and hurts my muscles less, and the computer I am typing on gets to publishing lickety split and the keys 'punch' fast and easy, but there is something about those things that lasts in my marrow. I don't know why it appeals. Am I a nostalgic, is that what causes it? Why am I looking backward? Why did I choose History when college Engineering Calculus kicked my ass? I like the way things work, and the stories from the past, I guess.

Of course the same applies to guns. The Colt Pocket Hammerless is heavier and bigger than an LCP. Costs USED twice as much, and if they made it new it would cost 4-5 times as much with all that nice machining, I'm betting. But if they made it to the same standard I'd give up getting a free LCP for a 2011 Colt Pocket Hammerless. Wouldn't even have to think about it. $2400, and it's not even custom.

Hey if I'd pay that for a beYOOtiful retro .380 why haven't I bought a custom 1911? Hmmm, better save my pennies, maybe? Or am I blowing smoke on the $2400 .380 and would just be happy living in a world where such a thing is still made? I admit, knowing there is a guy in Japan that makes samurai swords the way his forefathers made 700 years ago, appeals. And I'm not shopping for swords.

No time to chat

2011-12-03T07:07:00.001-05:00

Shooting.

Hopefully I am right now on my way to a WVa blogshoot. Will report back later...

Yikes

2011-12-02T06:19:00.004-05:00

I almost forgot to renew my range membership. Yeesh, that would have been expensive. Renewal is much less than an initial membership.

Oh and The Beard, guy at work, put his paper work in for his 2nd gun in his 3 month odyssey of acquisition. One gun a month, ya know. He got the Mossberg shottie last month, this time it's the S&W .45, next month the LCP. So proud...

Just hoping his multi-purchase doesn't alert the bad guys. It shouldn't.

Oh, Mitt...

2011-12-01T22:22:00.000-05:00

"Romney visits former President George H.W. Bush"

Bless Bush the Elder. He meant well, was competent, and a patriot, but he was a bit Patrician, que? Plus, he lost one.

Probably not the way to buffer your chances at winning, Mitt. You are running second to a series of Not-Mitts because you are not Tea Party-ish and the GOP is right now more Tea Party-ish. They don't want a seasoned gov't technocrat to fix what's wrong with government. They want someone that will reduce the impact of government on their lives. Less reglation, less taxes, less TSA probulating, less Patriot Act snooping. Less less less. They don't want to hear about the Federal anything for a while. And they want to not hear because they don't NEED to hear. If the big bureaucracy was less damaging they could take their eyes off of it and trust that when they glance back that way there won't be a reason to panic at the out of control mess it made.

You'd win easily if you could capture the, "Elect me cause I know how to get the Feds from sniffing around you and yours and get back to post roads and minting coins. Elect me because the Tea Party has the right idea and I can implement those principles better than anyone and repair all this damage and turn back the tide of gov't intrusion."

Now That's What I'm Talking About...

2011-12-01T04:48:00.011-05:00

The carbine designed for me.

New ARish patterned .45ACP Carbine that takes 1911 mags. Only out a month. It's not perfect, but it may be close enough. It can even be converted to throw brass to the left for me.

I'm weak, WEAK I say!

History of English Language

2011-11-30T10:52:00.008-05:00

I thought this video interesting, but not gun related.

My quibbles, 'Merger' with an etymology in the 1980s? I knew that was wrong and used historically with railroad companies over 100 years ago, so I looked it up. Huh. 1926 for common usage. I guess that was why I double noticed it in a short story written in 1930s. Detective fiction, naturally. Maybe merger only came to England's shores in the 80's

The same story used 'bozo'. I had thought that was based on the clown famous on television so it couldn't predate TV, so... 50's at the earliest? Nope, the clown predates TV in the 40s, and the word predates both back to the teens.

Novel

2011-11-30T06:27:00.032-05:00

Well, the National Novel Writing month wasn't a complete bust for me, but I didn't hit 50,000 words. Close to half that, sadly.

Things I learned:

Major video game manufacturers release new stuff in November. Skyrim was no help at all.

It is really a novella. Comes from reading short stories of pulp detective novel for a couple months before November. The kernel of a story idea that jumped into a 1 page 20 bullet outline practically fully formed and started me on this madness by serendipity was really short form fiction.

It's not about finishing in 30 days. It's about writing with abandon with no internal editor and no deletions. Save that for rewrite. It's about getting a big chunk down. So you finish 50k in February or something, in my, and others', case. November gave you the impetus. Markos lamented on Twitter the other day about the author that opens a scifi novel on a faraway planet with a harvest festival chapter among the colonists and then spends 67 pages describing the menu of the feast. The problem isn't really the writing of those 67 pages, it's the publishing of the 67 pages when it should have been pared down to 167 words, in rewrite, methinks.

Big breaks in writing makes you lose the narrative a little bit. Write every day. Just like blogging. Even half an hour. I need to work on this. Easier without video games. August through October nothing was distracting me, why couldn't this month have been then?

Shoulda introduced the zombies sooner.

The flow is better than I expected, but a little off. The first chapter flew off my fingers and somehow was chockablock with sexual tension. Wasn't expecting THAT.

Planned pair of chapters can combine into one, sadly. Turning 20 chapters into 10. More of that short form 'disease'.

Keep plugging, it’s amazing what you think up while doing so.

Getting it all down in a stream is a good way to remember past details and not step all over them. Pausing and thinking out the problems of motivations and fleshing out details is good too, but they can slow you down and hurt the stream. Hard to find the middle road here for the pace of the rough draft.

Prewar and postwar detective pulp stories have a distinctive style and flair and differentiates. Mine is set prewar, but I am amalgamating or muddling with postwar.

At Chapter 10 already. But I feel there is another place this novel might take me for 10 more I hadn’t even considered yet. Holy crap I can see how these things can get a mind of their own.

I picture this, what I have, as a Rough Rough draft. It won't be ready to share until it is a Polished Rough draft, where I try to hit the typos, misspellings, tense shifts and what not. Then I'd wait a bit and come back to it later. Then a First Rewrite where you fill in the holes in the story. Then Second Rewrite where you cut unmercifully and align the pacing. Eventually a Final will come out.

New Stock

2011-11-29T06:54:00.001-05:00

I bought the 10/22 for a possible Appleseed shoot months ago. Why not? It's dirt cheap. Three bills for the gun, a Tech-Sight peep sight, and a coupla 25 round Ruger factory mags. Ooo, and some sling swivels. I never intended to tart it up beyond that, desiring to keep the expenditure low.

But MBtGE prefers the M4gery style adjustable butt stocks on his numerous 10/22s and just gave me a folding Choate stock, so what the heck. Now my 10/22 is backpack size.

Here is one issue: The swivels I mounted on the original wooden stock, and the Choate's are narrower than full size .mil swivels. The only sling that fits it is a knock off .mil-standard leather job I have that is pretty tired, and even that is still pretty wide. I want to be able to sling up properly. What are my options for old school slings in a new school narrow offerings? Maybe an M1 Carbine style is narrower, but not having one in my hands to compare to... Plus I don't know if you can sling up with those. The ones you can sling up look either too slick or too wide. Anyone out there solve this problem?

If I give up on slinging up then the sling is pretty much just a way to tote the rifle and there are plenty of options out there for that.

The only disadvantage is a pretty tight fit in the mag well. It makes removing the empty, flush-mounted 10 round mags problematic. Not an issue with larger mags.