Why you need a gun

2016

That first ammo run

A few years back.

I bought it for a sawbuck.  The gunstore owner looks like he got it at K-Mart for $6.97.  K-Mart still sold ammo and used price-guns.

Oops

Forgot to do a post today.  I think I am getting a migraine.  Maybe something later.

Garand Gunsmithing

I mentioned I restored my Navy Garand to the condition it was in when I bought it.

It had been a while previous to that since I had touched that rifle.  In the meantime I have taken too many gunsmith classes and things I leaned there are now things I look for on all firearms, not just 1911s.

No there is no commonality between the pistol and the rifle.  But there both have parts that rub together, no?  And both have a certain way they function and there are things you know you should see and not see.  I am now more sensitive to that, for better or for worse.

Like... binding during the cycle of operation.  That can't be good.   The Garand binds a little as the bolt and op rod travel to the rear, about halfway through, said operation.

Op rods are famous for being an issue on the Garand, so, there are things to do to test it.  Like the 60 degree test.  Take the operating rod spring out and re-assemble.  If you hold the rifle up 60 degrees gravity should work the action and the bolt should slide to it's rear position of its own accord.  Then tilt it 60 degrees forward and the bolt should fall into battery.

The rifle passes this test, but there is still binding.  Binding that ISN'T present if the trigger group isn't in place and hold the lock to the stock under tension.   It's not much binding of I'd have noticed it before.  And it might not even be the operating rod being bent that is causing the trouble.  I can't quite locate the trouble area.

Also, the front handguard wiggles and rattle a bit.  That might be in spec, but I can't imagine it helps accuracy.

Also, the operating rod will sometime jump out of the track in the receiver it rides in, opposite the charging handle.  Great.

Also, the muzzle has a visible ding in the crown.  I've seen dings before and been told that while a dings crown can be very bad, some dings are an issue and others are not.  Either way, someone more experienced than me would have to make that call.

Maybe I should take it to Fulton.  It's practically a neighbor.  Great.  More money.  But I do like the guns I have to be in good working order.  Or check with Hatfield.  I know both, but have more contact with Hatfield.  Garands are cool, but not his specialty.

Training Tam

Tam is a gunnie-world treasure, and you all know I hold her in high regard.  A true highlight of the gun blogging world.

And she holds that high ground even though 'blogs are dead' and she has downshifted a bit from her blog to put her writing chops to use on higher paying gigs.  But Tam phoning it in is better than me on my best day.

Tam has also been to lots of training courses for shooting.  Especially recently.  You can tell she finds that experience the bees knees.  In a way, she is living the dream.  And her target posts from range sessions shows that all that training is rubbing off on her.  Dang!  I wish I shot half as well.  Half as good?  Half as well?  What's the grammar for that.

Anyway, the only thing she doesn't share is what she learned.  "Learned lots of stuff and now I am much better at shooting after just that one weekend.  That trainer has it wired down."

What stuff?  Share!  I wish she'd share more.  But that's on my selfishness, not on her.

Ah, she might not, I imagine, because she isn't a trainer.  So anything she divulges might not come over as well as someone that trains others for a living and also know what they are about.  And if she was a trainer she'd want to see you in person.  So as to see if she is leading you down the wrong path, if some training tip might make you worse instead of better.  You want training?  Find a trainer?  Maybe go to that trainer she just talked about, and liked.  She, personally, isn't responsible to make you a better shooter.  That's on you.

Or me.

But things leak through.  Tips.

Grip harder.  Harder still.  That is one that has come down from her.  Her and lots of folks.  One contrary to my current training regime.  Which grips lighter.  But that lighter grip is to fix me.  Make me a better shot before making me a better shooter.  My training promises to tighten up that grip, but only after me, personally, have mastered a trigger pull.  One without flinching or heeling or jerking or pushing or thumbing.

I caught another one she shared.  And it applies to ME, and what I am doing now.  Pinning the trigger to the rear, before reset.  More importantly, avoid: shoot, pin, reacquire target in sights, reset, prep, shoot.  It's shoot, pin, reset, prep, reacquiring, shoot.  Or just slap that trigger.  Looking for a reset is a fine motor skill and it might actually slow you down.

Fortunately for me, I don't do this bad habit,  That I know of.     But what I am sure of and what Hatfield sees when I shoot are often two different things... I do have some live fire training with him this weekend...

Well, I HAVE been clicking for pin and reset, but that's in tuning up my accuracy, where I am purposely going slow.   In timed evolutions I am lucky to press decent and all else goes out the window. The goal there is to always press decent.

Anyway, find this guy and maybe take a course with him, too:

Range Trip

Yeah.  In a rut.  Another contributor is I am burning through some cheapy Remington bulk pack .22.

I have enough bulk .22lr.  This was an open container.  The other will stay sealed, and I will shoot CCI mini-max.  I like that better.

But let's not rely on the crutch of bad ammo and say this is on me.  Live fire training on Saturday, maybe I will tune it up.

Airbag Might not Deploy

In your Dodge.  

So?

I wear the seatbelt.

Better than the Japanese types that does deploy and sprays you with deadly shrapnel.

I didn't want them things in my car anyway.  If anything the Feds should pay ME for all the airbags I was forced to buy because they forces the auto companies to include them.  Hate them.

A Hi-Point, again?

Dude!

Protester Arrested At Panther’s Game In Charlotte With Loaded, Concealed Gun

Use some of that Soros money to get a better piece/

Unless you WANTED to be caught with and arrested with a gun... Then I guess a throw away pistol is prolly best.  Why lose your good gatt.

I did not know that

I knew that deer population took a huge hit, but I didn't know the estimate was down to half a million animals.

I also didn't know it was all the way up past 30 million now.  And this AFTER the invention and production of a bajillion cars.

That's mind boggling.

Why?  Well, yes, the excise tax on guns and ammo and the efforts of outdoorsmen to pay for, preserve, and manage large areas for deer.  The retirement of sub-nominal farmland far enough from urban areas to not be suburbified.  Plus restrictions on market hunting.  You want to make a species extinct?  Give a population a disease they have no immunity to and make the animals not belong to anyone but still have a monetary value when harvested.  Around Maryland we did what we could to kill off many species of waterfowl, for example.  Out west, buffalo.  Pennsylvania and upstate New York did its part for whitetail.  And you know about the horn poachers of Africa, today.  

This looks made up

A CCW hero shoots a rampage shooter with her "Kimber Ultra Raptor" in Bradford's in Virginia.

Lisa Harris, hero
Matthew Collingsworth, Chief of Police
Randall Pierce, bad guy

The store is 'threatening legal action' against Ms. Harris, because they have no guns sign on their stores.  (Virginia is one of those states that says you are trespassing if carrying and they don't want you to.  I imagine she is no longer on the premises.)

Seems so... made up.   Common names. The Boston Tribune?  Never heard of it.  The ads are all clickbait and pretty pervy.  Reporters don't put down the weapon model like an advertisement for Kimber either.  No town is mentioned.  And is there still a Bradford's?  A legal complaint that will never hold water.  All too good to be true.

If only I had some powerful research tool to verify the veracity.  Wait!  I DO!  To the Internetz!

Yup.  Sketchy fake news.  To start, try searching for the Boston Tribune.

Amish Books

On Kindle.

Let that sink in.

Yup.

But...

You shoulda had your self-defense firearm before the riots.

Charlotte Riots

"Spark self defense gun buying spree"

Well, of course they do.  Near Charlotte and also elsewhere.  Might be a slightly higher rate the closer to the action.

1968 got my dad, a man not too excited about guns and people having guns, to buy a gun.  There was a run in 1993.  Even late unpleasantness in France and Germany has people doing as much as they can to arm up, there.

It happens.

But what will it do apart from put money in FFL registers?  Will it impact the election?  Will it hurt Hillary's chances in that swing state of North Carolina, since she is pretty feckless on the topic?  Will the new gun owner vote for the person that wants to abolish the Second Amendment and take their guns?  (Hillary keeps saying she doesn't want to do that, when clearly she said she does.)

We can only hope.  If Trump wins and the Left starts reflecting and going "ya know being against guns killed us AGAIN, for the third time in 25 years, maybe we wait 40 years before bringing this up again.  Bloomberg is gonna run out of money someday soon, so...  " then there will be hope for us on this issue.

Their post game won't be that, I am thinking.  It will be ''we need to moderate, we went too far crazy-eye Left.  Gun control is fine, but we should tamp that down and concentrate on middle of the road stuff like Bill did.''

Where did this come from?

I've heard it many times for a long time, from many sources.  It feels older than gun fora.  As common as "stopping power" and "combat accuracy" and calling a magazine a clip.

How long have folks been losing their gun collection is boating accidents?

Yes yes, I get it, something to defy the ATF with when they want to register all your guns and you tell them you ain't got none.  Is it older than the ATF?  1968?

Guns of Nam

Summer of 66.  Guns Magazine,

The war is just starting and the magazine has taken notice before this but it is getting more prominent exposure now.  It made the cover.  The guns of Viet Nam.

The AR-15 was considered controversial, already.  But it was used at the Ia Drang valley 8 months prior to this publication. three four weapons the US forces use are the M60 machine gun, M14, M1/2 Carbine, and that AR-15 thing.


---

Also in this edition, there is worry that new federal regs will eliminate gun shows.   The more things change...

Oh, my!

I don't like Hillary at all, but jeez, this hurts.  What is wrong with her?  Something serious is a matter.  So much so I am actually worried about her health and have empathy for her.  She's not shrill, she's sick.

One other thing

I shouldered the Garand after fixing it.

You know how n00bies lean back because of the heavy rifle?  The end wavers a bit.  Shooting offhand is hard.  And this posture looks bad.

Well, I am no stronger now that I was when I bought the rifle, but for some reason I do not lean back anymore.   The tip of the barrels doesn't wobble around nearly as much as it used to.

I have no idea why.  I am not practicing or training that stance to improvement.

Ecological Disaster

Feral cats are an ecological disaster and all cats should be locked up indoors?

Or... maybe... cats fill an important role since we eliminated normal, wild, predators from civilization centuries ago.  If only housecats could take down whitetail deer, too, but without preying on any smaller humans.

I think worrying about it one way or another is standard buttinsky control-everything-impulse, histrionics.   Lighten up, Francis.

"Kill all stray cats and keep the rest indoors" 

Maybe we should kill all stray busybodies and keep the rest indoors?

Scout Garand

It's been a while since I showed the Garand any love.

Now, about me, for you new people.  When I started this blog, Jeff Cooper was only recently dead.  And before I started writing this I was reading stuff.  So I was an Art of the Rifle sold-on-the-concept true believer about Scout Rifles.  Made sense to me, instantly.  Some folks still don't get it, and that's fine.

It's also one of few firearm concepts I haven't discarded as I got more experienced.  I still like the long eye relief help for my old eyes.  And you can put a red dot on that forward rail, too, if you want.  The only rifle I had to convert to a scout-style was the Garand, so I did.  It's really the best way to put glass on a Garand design.  M1 or M14 or M1A.  Scope mounts on the reciever have never satisfied me,  It's just an aluminum rail sold by Fulton Armory.  Plus a Leupold scope.

When I did this I felt a little funny.  It's one thing to swap out stuff on 1990s era M1A made in Illinoise for schlubs like me, it's another thing to change a piece of history by bolting on ticky tacky.  Well, I got that M1A and set it up ticky tacky with a scout rail.  And this week I cleaned and oiled the Garand, built in 1944 and converted to 7.62x51 by the Navy, later in it's life.  I also took off the Ching Sling and restored the rear hand guard to it's original format.   Seems more right.

Voila.