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. 

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?

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...

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.'

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.

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.

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.

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...

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...)

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...

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.]

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.]

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.