Solarex Solara

I had an odd dream, sorta on topic for a blog post...

It was '82, and I was in college.  And my class was being sent to the Falklands War.  And were all dressed in our Chicago Maroon and Burnt Orange sweaters and whatnot, with VPI written on everything.

The twist?  The Falklands War in my dreams was the same we remembered, except it was 1882.  Complete with a Victorian Era Maggie Thatcher able to call up a 'fighting' unit from the States in the form of a bunch of college maggots from a southwest Virginian Cow College.  We weren't known as Virginia Tech then.  Or even VPI, Virginia Polytechnic Institute so much.  THAT name wouldn't be official until 1944.  But that's what my subconscious mind made up.

Everything panned out the way it would actually do 100 years later, 'we' just did it with 1882 equipment.  I don't know how 1882 versions of low flying Argentine A4s would have worked against Brit pre-dreadnaughts.  Hell, PRE-pre-dreadnaughts.

Hey, that whole thing make an interesting alternate history story.  Not novel length, tho.  It's not that interesting.

Sorry

I thought I had a post queued up for this morning.  Now, I got nuthin...

Ummm...  I'm thinking of selling the Sig .40.  It's sorta the odd man out.  I only have the one pistol in that caliber.  It just doesn't DO much.

And I have nightmares about a single .40 getting in among the .45....

Virginia CHP

Guess what came in the mail this week?  My VA non-resident CCW permit.  Unlike MBtGE's, it came prelaminated, and with a picture.

I am not legal in one other state, I think.  New Mexico?  I'll look it up if I ever take a trip.

Scope Question

If someone told me to go out and buy a riflescope I'd go shopping at Leupold first thing.  They are fine scopes and some are even priced such that you won't swallow your gum when you see it.

But they mostly seem to be variable magnification.  I'm kinda thinking something simpler in 6X or less and fixed is more my style.

Like these. 

Why am I stupid for wanting that and need to be talked down off that ledge?  Or am I sorta heading in the right direction?  4x or 6x?

Cleaning tip

Here is a gun cleaning tip from an ex-Army guy I know.  If you know you are gonna be cleaning guns when you get home from the range, give em a spritz of you favorite gun cleaning/lubing solvent while there, still at the range.  While the barrels are still warm from shooting.  Not too much.  Don't be sloppy. 

During the ride home the mist of cleaner has time to soak into the warm carbon-fouled innards. It makes cleanup at the bench with fresh spray and brushes and patches a snap. 

Or, that is the theory.  I haven't yet found myself at the range with the foresight to have a can with me and be thinking on this tip.  Or I will, but think "I have no time to get to the cleaning later, better not spritz and forget about it for weeks in case I spray too much, and it gets places I don't want it to."

Ex-Army had LOTS of gummint issued M16s to clean on range day and anything that made his life easier and the guns super clean was fine by him.  But we'd be cleaning out own guns, not feds'.

Has anyone tried this in reality, already, on their own and can recommend it or speak on it?

Doesn't even NEED a CCW

Here.

"I'm 52 and working in a convenience store. I wouldn't even give you correct change to avoid that bullet, son."

"Nice air-soft pistol! My kid has one of those."

"Tom, I know it's you. Go home and tell mom I'll be home after dinner to whip your ass."

"If my knowledge of idiots with guns is correct, which it is, you are about to slink out the door to make sure you have bullets in the gun. When you realize you forgot to load it, you will be too ashamed to come back in."

Some friends got this, and quotes, to me.

Andy-ification of SWAT

Let's conjecture some more.

Let's say there is general uprising in the voting public.  They are sick of the police screwing up SWAT raids.  And the outraged public manage to convince the politicians to pass laws and regulations banning the militarization of Five-Oh.

On this imaginary day in the future the cops have been ordered to go Sheriff Andy Taylor instead of John Rambo.  No more ARs, with or without a fun switch.  No pistol that the ordinary public can't buy.  No more urban Armored Vehicle.  No more masked men.  Search warrants really tamped down to avoid abuses.

Well, just because SWAT type raids are frowned upon, and the symbols that made them excessive have been 'forbidden' that doesn't mean Barn and Andy don't sometimes need to go inside houses to get bad guys.  Sometimes a North Hollywood shootout happens.

So, what do they do?

Well, they have a pistol and a pump shotgun just like they used to.  Would they go house clearing with a lever action .30-30?  Naw.  Just stick to the scattergun, door kickers.  Makes more sense.  But have the Marlin in the cruiser's trunk, in case North Hollywood happens again 

Flaw in my Plan

So, I stick mulishly to the 1911.  And the bad guys manage to legislatively keep a mag size restriction and get it past SCOTUS.  Time marches on.  And, for some reason, I want to switch to something else.

Well, damn, all the magazines are gimped in the future.  Would that I had the forethought to buy magazines back in 2014 to insure against this eventuality. 

Yeah, right.  What mags would I buy on spec now to prepare for 20 years from now?  I don't know what model of pistol I'd prefer.  And what mags used 20 years ago would work today?   Say, if I bought a mess before the Brady Ban came around.

Glock, maybe.  There was no M&P in the world.  XDs were something else and I bet the mags aren't usuable.  But it's a fools errand.  Unless... I buy a half dozen now and look to trade later?  Meh.  It's too complicated to get in a twist over.

Gunsmith classes

In the 'get off my rear and DO something about it' department, I signed up for the 1911 basic armorer class here.  It's in April.  Should probably go ahead and sign up for the intermediate armorer course in May, too.

Some gave me the basic set of 1911 specific tools from Brownells.  Nothing too fancy.  No plunger tube staking jig or something to help stone sears.  Punches and nylon faced hammers, that sorta thing.  Still, they are good tools.  Not budget Taiwanese Habor Freight punches and bits and whatnot.  I learned long ago about scrimping on tools. 

I'm a ways from buying a frame and building a good gun around it, naturally.  But that is sort of the goal. 

Upgrade Kit includes: (1) #81 Magna-Tip® Solid Handle - 1-1⁄4" (3.2cm) dia., 8" (20.3cm) long overall. (1) 3⁄32" Allen Bit - Steel, heat treated. Fits Brownells 1911 Auto and Ruger MkI/MkII grip screws. (1) #240-5 Slotted Bit - Steel, heat treated. Fits Brownells 1911 Auto and Ruger MkI/MkII grip screws. (1) T15 Torx Bit - Steel, heat treated. Fits Brownells 1911 Auto and Ruger MkI/MkII grip screws. (1) Magna-Tip .45 Bushing Driver Bit 19⁄16" (3.9cm) overall length, 1⁄4" (6.35mm) O.D. (1) 1911 Auto Anodized Bushing Wrench - Aluminum, red anodized. 5-1⁄2" (14cm) long, 1-1⁄4" wide, 1⁄4" (6.35mm) thick. (1) 1911 Auto Safety Detent Depressor - Steel shaft, plastic handle, 5" (12.7cm) long. (1) Mainspring Housing Pin Pusher - Approx. 3" (7.6cm). RC50 steel shank, plastic handle. (1) 1" Nylon/Brass Hammer Combo - 1" (2.5cm) dia. faces. 11-1⁄2" (29.2cm) hickory handle. Weighs approximately 6 oz. (170.1g). (3) Nylon Front Sight Punches - 4" (10.2cm) long. 5⁄16" (7.9mm) dia. Polyenco Nylon. (1) 1911 Auto Extractor Removal Tool - Steel, blue, matte finish. 6" (15.2cm) long, 3⁄8" (9.4mm) dia. handle, .150" (3.7mm) dia. lever. (1) #120-3 Bit - Steel. .120" (3.1mm) shank dia., .03" (.76mm) blade thickness. (1) #185-00 Hex-Head Bit - Steel. 1" long, 1⁄16" (1.6mm) thick. (1) .120" Brass Alignment & Push Punch - Plastic handle, brass shank, 360 alloy shaft. 4-3⁄4" (12cm) long. Shank - 3-1⁄4" (8.2cm) long. .120" (3.05mm) dia. (1) .092" Brass Alignment & Push Punch - Plastic handle, brass shank, 360 alloy shaft. 43⁄4" long. Shank - 3-1⁄4" long. .092" (2.3mm) dia.

1911 2

So, WHY am I sticking with the 1911 at this time?   I mean besides the anachronistic, and mag size,  reasons I mentioned yesterday.  (what you pick is up to you, these are my reasons for the preference)

Weight doesn't bother me in the holster.  Reasonable weight.  And if it doesn't matter, a heavier pistol is preferable to a light one, so the lightweight plastic construction of other pistols isn't the selling point for me.  A 5 pound 1911 might be too much, but, that isn't at issue. 

Apart from my mag reason (Maryland might have ccw and severe mag size limits at the same time), the 1911 is slimmer.  While weight doesn't bug me, bulkiness does.  If anything a Commander size 1911 might be better as that 3/4 inch length savings helps save a bit of poking into a buttock and aggravating my sciatica when carrying IWB.  I'm on the fence here.  A government size is indeed preferable for function.

I've already got more than one, and I am improving with it, so now isn't the midstream point to switch horses.  When I am a better shot it might be easier to switch platforms.  I shoot the Glock miserably.  I shoot the XD marginally better than the 1911 generally, but then I have an XD on my hip.  I am still not super confident of that platforms overall success. 

If I am sorta pushed toward smaller magazines by legislative policy, I might as well have a few shots of .45 since I am forced to have only the same number of 9mm, so the switch to 9 has less appeal that way.

No one says anything bad about the 1911 trigger.  In fact it is the one thing that fans of other platforms usually concede.

JMB (pbuh) nuff said.

Aw, geez Tam

I cannot believe the amount of pearl-clutching, butthurt, and ignorance unleashed by that Hilton Yam "No Mo' 1911s 4 Me" piece...

— Tamara K. (@TamSlick) March 8, 2014

It's not butthurt, below, so much.

1911

Even the 1911 gurus are starting to put it down.

If Colonel Cooper was still alive, and miraculously younger, I wonder how long before he would have swiched...

And he has some good reasons against it, also, for people considering taking up the 1911 in their police department or tactical unit

 Let me copy their list about a mental exercise with mystery gun model XYZ5000.

1. My XYZ5000 runs great, but not with modern +P JHP service ammo.
2. My XYZ5000 actually does not run some JHP ammo at all unless I get some gunsmithing done to it.
3. The magazines for my XYZ5000 only last about a year if I leave them loaded and reload from slide lock a lot.
4. The factory magazines for my XYZ5000 are actually very low quality, and I must search for the correct aftermarket magazine to use with it.
5. XYZ5000 works better if I only use ball ammo.
6. The best mags for the XYZ5000 are the ones which have a 13% lower capacity. It’s just how you have to roll with it.
7. My XYZ5000 costs at least 2 times more than other common pistols on the market, and it really needs the equivalent of its retail price in gunsmithing, then it is ready to go.
8. My XYZ5000 should really only be worked on by someone who specializes in it, even for minor repairs, since it has so many idiosyncrasies.
9. I would not realistically be able to perform any upgrades or repairs to my own XYZ5000 without extensive training and numerous specialized tools.
10. I own 3 XYZ5000′s, but almost none of the parts interchange with one another.  In fact, when I order XYZ5000 parts from Brownells, most of them do not even fit into the gun.

Pretty damning, eh? (XYZ5000 is a 1911 for other slow heads like me)  But not all apply to me.  I'm crotchety and an anachronistic throwback.  Odd for a child of the 80s and a man that works fixing computer systems. 

1, 2, and 5 are the same reason.  Ammo considerations

3 and 4 are the same issue, too.  Magazine consideration

I don't mind 6.  I don't think of it as having 13% less, but sometime you get 14% more.

7 isn't an issue, now.  Cost.  I am not selecting my only 2 pistols (main and a spare) to go through the rest of my gunnie life, now, am I.  I've incurred the cost at this point.

8 and 9 are the same reason. 10, too, sorta.  1911 requires being on top of it, maintenance-wise, and also gunsmithing considerations.


But I think this could spread, and applies to #6 above.  In which case people will think about 1911s again, maybe.  There is also a foreseeable future in my state where possession of an 11 round magazine could get problematic (i just can't buy them here, now) but CCW will be perfectly permissible and widespread. 

There is something I need to consider.  1911 gunsmithing classes.  See item  #8, 9, and 10, on the list above.  But I'd LOVE to learn more.    I'd like to master the extractor.  And to understand more of the gives and takes of design.  Identifying and fixing an ejector would be good to know.  Groking the give and take between the recoil spring and the hammer spring would satisfy the desire to know how things work.  I'd like to detail strip and reassemble blindfolded, just cuz.  I'm already kinda handy. 

New MD Law

So, it's an election year, and, even in Democrat dominated Maryland, gun bill are controversial.  There is little chance of any laws passing, either way, fer us or agin us.

But there is an interesting one being contemplated.

There is a computer database where all the guns Maryland considers BAD-bad are on a registry.  Pistols and ARs and such. 

There is a computer database maintained by the state of people that are prohibitted from owning guns.  Our own state version of NICS.

The databases can't talk to each other.  So there is no way to compare the two.  A law is proposed to make those db's compatible, and it will cost $300,000 to do so. 

I don't know what I think of that.  I am reflexively anti-new-restrictions, of course, but is that law really something to get my man-panties in a wad over?  I think not.  The existence of the registry is bad, and I oppose that, but if you are going to have a registry it'd be nice to know that some newly minted felon that bought a Glock years ago before turning to a life of crime...  Well you might want to investigate the current status of that Glock.  Enforcing the laws that are on the books.

Of course, if this does go through, I imagine they will be able to determine who is a felon with a registered pistol and then proceed... to do nothing about it.  It is the way of this state.

Revolutionary

Been thinking and expanding.

Have you been watching all the revolution stuff on the news.  Ukraine.  Venezuela.  The nigh entire Muslim world.

Some have guns, some don't because the country they started in was all gun grabby ahead of time.


What do many of them have in common when things go from mass demonstration to all kinetic and stuff and The Man starts to push back?

Young.  Men.

Young men are the ones that are all violent on the revolutionary side.  Give a 19 year old a bottle, a brickbat, a gun... and give him a beef and no direct authority to focus him and you get bursts of violence.  Good or bad.

Now, think about here in this country.  The Occupy Wall Street type.  Pooping in the streets, and requiring rape-free tents to be set up.  19 year olds with no guiding authority.

There is another movement.  The Tea Party types.  Rather than public pooping, this group of revolutionaries pick up litter.  They aren't, generally, 19 year olds full of beans.  Lots of them are 39 year olds, with jobs and family.

Now think back again.  To 1987 when Conceal Carry became a 'thing.'  Remember the predictions?  Shootouts were supposed to happen.  Slap leather over a disputed parking space.  That didn't happen.  Why was that?

A big reason was the people jumping through the hoops weren't young men, full of beans.  Full of piss and vinegar (ick, that's a horrible bean recipe...)  It was, in the main, those older guys, with jobs and family.  Or at least maturity.  Yes, men.  Lots of women CCW, but it's still mostly men.  And the maturity level or either gender with a CCW preclude that Dodge City atmosphere so expected.

The hotheads that have a shootout over a parking space or over road rage already had a gun on their persons.  Didn't care about no steenkin permit.  So... no bump in violence happened.  The gun on the hip didn't turn law abiding, self-aware, secure in themselves, citizens into violent yahoos looking to exert themselves.

One of the things about the military is you need a lot of young men.  Men.  Young men.  This demo has a preponderance to be all violent and stuff.  It's of value, when directed toward military goals.  Men at the peak of their physical prime and wanting to prove themselves and enjoy the outburst of violence.  Like demonstrators in Ukraine.  Or college students in Venezuela.  The difference?  The Sergeants with them.  Older, mature, men.  People, now, in many cases, not just men.  Sergeants even out the vicissitudes and energy of violent youth.  To discipline and direct.  It's a symbiotic relationship vital to the success of any fighting force, anywhere.

CCW carriers aren't platoons of soldiers.  They are individual 'Sergeants' of either sex.  Because of permit requirement of Shall Issue, the rash and young and immature are filtered out some.  And we now have millions of armed responsible people ready to defend themselves but praying they'll never have to.  Because they are 'Sergeants' of a sort.  Often publicly engaged and thoughtful people.

What do you do with a nation full of millions of these invisible shottists?  Nothing.  It's the way it should be.  But, man, I don't know if it is a good idea to rile them.  To make them feel dubious of the way things are being run by any 'ruling elite.'  It's why I don't think Kiev could happen here.  The elite knows how many guns are out there, and how many gun owners are the mature Sergeant types.  Demonstration by them are polite and clean and orderly and on holidays and weekends because they gotta get to work the next day.  And they are polite for a long long time.  But what happens when you push them over the line?...

True Detective

I've been watching the HBO miniseries True Detective and reading the 1895 collection of short stories, The King In Yellow.  I won't give anything away other than it has adult themes, ritualistic 20 year old murder cases and is as creepy as dammit!  T-Bolt says check it out.

But I suffer from pedantic gunnie syndrome, just like many of you.  In this latest episode, this week, The Matt McConaughey character asks the Woodie Harrelson character what he is carrying.    The answer is 'just a .38...'

Now wait a second.  I often think 1911s in the movies look small and I guess they are the slightly similar Colt Pocket Hammerless?  Am I now inflating the size of revolvers I see on the screen?  I mean it looks big and honking.

Anyway, so I have to check the imfdb.  It's a .44.  629.  Phew, I'm not crazy.  Woody sorta plays and older school style detective.  On homicide in 1995, so he entered the force, what?  Mid 80s?  Earlier?  If you want to keep consistent fiction with real life, and the progression from the academy to the murder police.  So I can see him being a bit of a throwback.  Conservative lawman (little 'c'), I don't think I've seen the character with any other weapon. 

You've come a long way from tending bar in the 1980s, Woody.

So he just called it a .38 out of ignorance of him or the writer, Nic Pizzolatto.  Probably the latter.  And more of a cross threading between the writer's vision and what the prop guys provided.    


---

Another aside.  I'm sure many of you use Project Gutenburg.  Free ebooks in public domain!  Well, they give stats on how many times a book is downloaded.  Things like Tarzan and Mark Twain's stuff and Sherlock Holmes get's downloaded a lot.  10's of thousands.  The King in Yellow, this time a year ago probably had a coupla hundred at the most.  Well, it leads the pack now at 52,000+ all because of HBO. It's a good read, too.  It doesn't 'read' like 1895.  The language isn't as stilted as it can be coming from that far back.  And it inspired H P Lovecraft... 


---

Update.  Ima idjit.  N-frame 627.  Insufficient rigor in my reading comprehension.  Big and honkin', but not a .44.

WTF?

You people WANT a national gun registry.

Range Trip Addendum

One thing I have noticed about Range Trips and experience.  As I go and sorta, well the word isn't 'master'... get better at one part of the shooting skills, I can move on to another point to fine tune.  I'm a bit of a slow-head I guess, as it only seems to work one at a time.

For instance, stance.  My stance was crappy at first.  I consciously worked on it, now it just seems to happen without thinking about it.  Good.  Then a better grip.  Good.  Front sight.  Ok.  Lately my trigger pull break has improved, and I am shooting better.

Next up...  work on the finger position so that trigger pull is straighter.  Also on the list, grip TIGHTER.  Much more noticeable snap with the +P Federal HSTs I was trying out.  It'll almost certainly help my accuracy and make a second shot be possible sooner in a self-defense type situation.

Gotta think on these things.  Or range trips just become a time to make noise.  While that is fun, I want something more out of my ammo budget than mere noise makings.

The other problem, when a problem is identified and focused on it seems to take an exorbinantly long time on some of them.   Probably the slow-head thing again.

Range Trip

Went to the range with Saucy Trollop to try out some new ammo.  That Federal HST stuff.  Had a couple problems.  Failure to lockback after the last round once, and failure to feed on the last round another time.  Both attributed to the magazine.  Colt factory mags don't work as well as Chip McCormick. 

It's been a while but I still did pretty ok.  I guess you have to shoot a pistol 10,000 times before you get decent at it. 

I'm the targets on the right.  Top is 1911, the bottom is various revolvers, .38s and a .44.  Looks like I may have the trigger pull down ok but need to work on my finger placement.  Shootin' real good is hard.  If I shift that group to the left a bit I would be unspoppable.

Youngins

Folks took Alphecca to task about his position that maybe 21 year olds should be the lowest age that CCW permits are issued.

I sort of sympathize.  Commenters come back with "they let me carry an M16 rifle when I was 19 and in teh Marines and things were just fine."

Well, they were also in a unit, shepharded by a Sergeant and iron bound to discipline.  The 19 year old is part of a discipline unit.  He is not an individual, he is part of a larger whole.

Can a 19 year old be mature enough to go it alone, outside the Platoon?  Yes.  But is it the safe way to bet?

215 with a .45

Pff.   I've done 230 with a .40