E v. W

A tale of two coasts over a long weekend.

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

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

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

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

Range 24 May

Been a LOOOOONG time since I practiced with .45.

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

I only shot 3 mags.  Baby steps.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

They came back

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

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

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

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

Coulda done worse.

Consequential

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

From a steely-eyed grandpa

Enjoy your Memorial Day.

YOU'VE GOT TO CLOSE THE BEACHES, CHIEF

We're gonna need a bigger boat.

I know the historic reasoning behind it

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

Gear solution instead of a training solution.

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

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

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

Same goes for range bounce back

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

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

Even then, it was a different time. 

random?

no it MUST be a hit job!

Aimin' to Misbehave, huh?

 A little Irish Democracy?

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

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

Anywho:
 

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

I do that with guns!

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

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

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

Did I sling 6 shots

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

Ancient Slingshot Was as Deadly as a .44 Magnum.

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

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

THIS old story

And again.

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

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

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

The Traitor Manning

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

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

I'll tell you if I see him.

Trigger

Trigger Press. Trigger Squeeze. Surprise break.

Whatever!

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

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

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

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

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

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

"MAKE TRIGGER GO GOOD!"

Range Report 16 May 2017

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

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

Ok, this isn't bad.  Do it again.

Bah.  Slipping. Got a flier there.

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

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

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

This is me

If I started a Youtube channel.  Jingles.

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

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

Uh huh.  Correct.

Also World War Z discussion.

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

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

You see...

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

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

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

Sorry

Thought I had one queued for today.

NRA BETTER WORRY!

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

Oh noes!

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

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

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

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

Health Update

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

Good. 

I still hate getting old.

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