Saturday, December 31, 2011

New Years A'Comin'

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. 

Friday, December 30, 2011

Hard Core

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.

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?

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Guns are the New Yoga

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...

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Another Crappy Dream Post

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.'

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

People that survived the 70s

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

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.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Optics Query

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.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas!

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.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Dear Smith and Wesson

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

"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...

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

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

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...

Friday, December 23, 2011

Festivus

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

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...)

Thursday, December 22, 2011

We're Winning

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...

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

DA .45s

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.]

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Why Not?

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.]

Monday, December 19, 2011

DC gun laws

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

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.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Star Wars 1942

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

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.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Giving the Gift of Boom

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.

Friday, December 16, 2011

The same for'ard and baggard

Tonight's Palindrome for you!



A MAN-APE ON A CANOE: PANAMA!

What?!

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.

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.]

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Another Data Point

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.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

I Like Grip Safeties

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.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

How Come

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.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Shifting Attitudes

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

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.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Gun Shop Employees

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."

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Tomorrowland

HT: RobertaX

What wonders our future holds.

What are you, a girl?!

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.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Excessive Hoarding

Shame on you Holder

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!

[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.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

My Alma Mater

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...

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

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Glowball Warmening

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

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

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.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Camp Corpse Crawler

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.
 

Monday, December 5, 2011

Blogshoot

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.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

I know the feeling

 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.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

No time to chat

Shooting.

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

Friday, December 2, 2011

Yikes

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.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Oh, Mitt...

 "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...

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!