29 November 2008

FuzzyGeff's Gun In Full Non-Compliance

Better iron sights for the purpose at hand and a bayonet lug.



Stock "Folded."


Ready for my drive-by bayonetting! You also need to get your own sticker and stop borrowing mine.


Scoped.


FuzzyGeff had commented: Yes, that will do nicely.

28 November 2008

M16 30-Round Magazine Follower Conversion

Top to bottom, front of follower to the right:
Magpul Anti-Tilt
USGI current issue.
USGI original issue.


Same followers from the bottom.


The legs on the ends prevent the follower from rotating, or tilting, inside the magazine body. The spike in the center of the USGI followers is supposed to prevent overfilling the magazine. Magpul's longer legs serve that function as well as preventing tilt.

Welcome Anglave

We extend a hearty welcome to Anglave, now a member of The Hive.

One of us!
One of us!
One of us!
One of us!
One of us!

Thag's Incoherent Political Wish List

No gun control. Make ATF the tax collectors they are supposed to be. Building an illegal machinegun should be tax evasion not possession of a forbidden device. Letting the tinkering types tinker on the problem with machineguns gave us Browning (pbuh), Gatling, Lewis and Maxim. Since trying out an idea is so tightly regulated, you have to get a prohibitively expensive license before you can even begin to see if your idea works, that many otherwise talented gun designers have focused their energy elsewhere. Our three main machineguns we issue to the troops are the M2HB, M240 and M249. One is over 60 years old, the other two are from Belgium.

End victim classes. Are you people or not? Are you my equal or not? No more affirmative action. No more "hostile work places". You demanded entry into this world, play as an equal or admit you can't compete and go home. If I am expected to have only my merits to work with, so shall you. Give as good as you get. And making the prior victims equal does not mean punitive awards against the former oppressors. Especially since many of us in the "oppressor class" didn't do it. Lots of us came to America after slavery ended. Lots of us do not think of women as objects or baby factories. Reversing the roles is not going to do what you think it will. Run the reversal long enough and we now have a victim claim against you. And if we never can claim it, then you aren't talking about justice at all. Vengeance is not justice.

Once there are no victim classes, there's no more hate crime. And let's face it, someone getting beat up because they are gay is not being beaten by someone who like them. Assault is a hate crime regardless of the identity of the victim. This would not even be on the list except a group of black people can murder a white guy and get manslaughter. A group of white guys beat the stuffing out of a black guy, who makes a full recovery, gets many, many years in jail. The laws must be equal. All people must be treated the same or it's not equal.

I can't ban your church if your religion offends me. You don't get to use your church to ban the things that offend you if you can merely stay home and never see the offensive material. This means places like adult bookstores and titty bars. This means TV shows. If you don't wanna see nekkid people, don't go into the store. If you don't like the show on TV, change the channel! If I hire porn actors to fuck on your alter, you have a case. To get freedom, you must grant freedom.

The market is better at deciding what something should cost than the government; get them out of the economy as much as possible. The recent example of people whose income was smaller than their mortgage payment receiving loans because the were in a victim class illustrates what is wrong with government interfering with business and having victim classes.

Free trade, to a point. Comparative advantage is real, but we do have to think about home. Recall, I said get the government out of the economy as much as possible. There are some legitimate economic functions for the government in the economy. Think along the lines of "governs least, governs best".

Deunionization. Quick news flash about unions, when the company you are striking against can find enough non-union labor to fill all the jobs, you've lost your bargaining position. All of the unions started out from skilled trades, people of extra-ordinary training or skill. People who could not be replaced by just anyone walking in off the street. To put it another way; when the janitor makes $27 an hour the manufacturer deserves to fail.

Excessive executive compensation. Not strictly a political item, but if a CEO screws the pooch, he should not have a reward coming. It's like putting an ejection seat in a 747, "No matter how bad this gets, I'm safe!" I want the pilot to share my fate if he's going to make a lawn dart.

Energy. Since the last 1% of any tech development costs 90% of total development, we should really start thinking about stopping at 99%. The main problem in energy now is we're at 99% on not making pollution. 100% perfect combustion is CO2 and water. If you ban making CO2, you are banning burning.

Military. We need one and it needs to be strong enough to defend our interests where ever they happen to be. That does cost money, but we are spending too much because there's a distinct lack of competition in the defense industry. There were once thirty companies making military aircraft, there are now three (2.5 really). A 90% reduction in competition that came about from the government interfering with the economy. We don't design our own guns because of interference with designers. We're having trouble making enough ships for our Navy because we have killed our shipyards with environmental laws that don't do anything but kill off industry. We are killing our aviation industry because we let Congress Critters leave Congress and begin lobbying for the defense contractors.

26 November 2008

I Am An Enabler

Much to FuzzyGeff's distress, his rifle had only one AWB evil feature, a flash hider.

He wanted to add a collapsible stock, but it was very important to him that the forearm match the grip and stock color. This was a problem since the stock he wanted to use is out of stock in black. Luckily for him, I had the stock and grip he wanted in black and was willing to change to another color to facilitate the change.

He gets my old black stuff, I get his newly bought OD green stuff.

His gun:


He's got a bayonet lug gas block coming so that he can be in full non-compliance.

My gun:


To my shame, Dottie is not in full non compliance. That's a muzzle brake, not a flash hider.

Abortion

To my Religious Right buddies,

I will grant, for the sake of argument, that once the sperm enters the egg that is now a human being and that killing it is murder.

Given #1. Abortion is murder.

Happy?

Do you know how many people voted for Obama because of the abortion issue? Do you know how many times I spoke to someone about his positions and they agreed that everything bad I had to say about him was likely true, but they didn't want to see abortions banned.

They are far more afraid of the Republicans owing the religious fundamentalists favors than most anything else.

How many abortions in the USA every year? CDC claims about 1.3 million a year (A lot more than I thought there would be!). OK, religious types, if this is indeed 1.3 million murders a year, that's a holocaust, and why are you sitting there doing, essentially, nothing? Isn't God on your side enough for a bloody revolution?

Well, you did manage to do one thing. You managed to get a Republican who couldn't get elected nominated and once he was in place, you got out the vote for his opponent.

I pray for the day when the Religious Right is recognized as the liability that it most certainly is.

I seek a return to a constitutionally limited democratic republic. I will not get that when I have socialist on the left screwing me on the 2nd amendment and religious fanatics on the right aiming at my 1st amendment rights by going for a theocracy!

The whole "when is it human?" question is a religious one. I'm of the opinion that it's not a human until it can live exposed in the atmosphere. Some say it's not human until it starts paying more than it's using (I know some rather old folks who fail this test of humanity).

If the rate of abortions is what's really the issue, I have a couple of things that would likely help. Some of it would be pleasing to the religious too.

Morality. Bringing a common code that society enforces outside of the law would go a long way towards reducing the number of pregnancies that someone wants to be rid of. The trick with such a moral code is not making a theocracy out of it. This would require some fundamental changes in US law as well because at the moment we cannot refuse to associate with someone we find repugnant because of discrimination laws.

Affluence. I am aware of at least one abortion where the parents simply had too much on their plate to add another child to the mix. If they'd been more wealthy, they would have had a larger plate. Has anyone done a serious study comparing wealth and abortion? I'm going to guess that the really poor and really rich don't have them. I think that the really poor see that child as a means of getting financial aid and the really rich are not substantially burdened with a child. I'm going to guess that the middle is where most of the abortions are happening, and because the addition of a child to their lives is ruinous. Loss of at least one income. Increase in expenses. Extra stress at home. And this assumes a 100% healthy child.

Gun Owners Are The Only Ones Doing Their Patriotic Duty

Guns are selling.
Ammo is selling.
Gun accessories are selling.

Us gun folks are single handedly keeping the economy going!

25 November 2008

Creative Nostalgia

In 1988, Game Designer's Workshop released this book for their Twilight 2000 line:


Today, I recreated the scene.



First Attempt.


Bwah hahahahahahahahaha!

20 November 2008

AR15 Barrel Profile Comparison

16" Carbine profiles from top to bottom.

Lightweight with Troy Medieval flash-hider.
Heavy with DPMS 5.5" Slip-Over flash-hider.
M4 with YHM folding front sight and M16A2 flash-hider.


20" Military Profile from top to bottom.
M16A2 without a flash-hider.
M16/M16A1 with M16A1 flash-hider.


16" Heavy and 20" HBAR.
Top: HBAR with YHM folding sight and DPMS 5.5" Slip-Over flash-hider.
Bottom: Heavy with DPMS 5.5" Slip-Over flash-hider.


The M16A2 barrel is only heavier than the M16/M16A1 barrel from the front sight to the muzzle threads. This change was made because of soldiers using their rifles as pry-bars.

The M4 has the same basic profile as the M16A2, but 5.5" shorter in the mil-spec version (4" as shown here). The narrow section between the muzzle and the front sight is for mounting an M203 grenade launcher.

The heavy barrels were developed for National Match target shooting. In the 20", the HBAR is 1.5 pounds heavier than the M16A2; in 16" the HB is 1 pound heavier than the lightweight.

18 November 2008

This Is Why I Don't Think The Government Can Handle It

The Boy is home again today.

The school, with a staff, facility, equipment, training and budget cannot accomplish what little old me can.

Gods but I wish I could just call someone when I don't feel like doing my job anymore and have them take over. Someone who I can have arrested for failing to come take over when I no longer feel like working.

For you to convince me that handing the government the power to control all the things it keeps trying to control, you're going to have to show me that you can handle the job. Start in the schools, where you've got the level of autonomy you claim is required to "get things done."

15 November 2008

Just Got Back From The ERLHGS* In Lakeland

*Evil Racist Loop-Hole Gun Show

The place was packed! Most people were buying ammo. There was not a single round of M855, XM855 or SS109 to be had. M16 magazines with USGI green followers were still $20 each, and most people were buying them by the six-pack.

A couple of places still had lower receivers. One vendor had assembled CMMG lowers with mil-spec M4 stocks for $260. He had stripped DPMS for $160.

Spike's Tactical and Shoot Straight get the gouger award. Spike's went from $110 to $179 for their stripped lowers. Shoot Straight added $1,000 to the price of 7.62x51mm and $600 to the price of anything that took an M16 magazine. I know, supply and demand and all, but damn.

I feel like I have enough EBRs to make it for a while, so I bought some .50 cal cans to organize the ammo a bit better. I should really get about five more cans to do it right. A while back I got a nifty Dymo label-maker to mark what's in the ammo cans too. Since they are all OD green and the same size...

14 November 2008

Wildlife In The Back Yard

Today we have a Possum.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opossum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Opossum


The tires we were saving for landscaping/planter duty have become habitat!


It was doing its best to scare me off while I dismantled the stack of tires.


After most of the cover was gone it calmed down a lot and seemed resigned to me taking away its hiding place.



After we had it in the last tire, I lifted the tire onto its tread and then the possum ran off.

We think that Shi Shu had chased it into the tires. He was certainly right there with us until we locked him inside to take the tires down.

12 November 2008

The Oddities Of ATF Regulation

For fun I have been researching what it would cost to make an accurate look-alike of an XM177E2.

This is a Vietnam era short barrel version of the M16.

Any barrel on a rifle shorter than 16" make it a Class III short barrel rifle and at 11.5" the XM177E2 qualifies.

To go all in, it would cost about $1,300.

There is a way to make this without paying the $200 tax and filling out an ATF Form 1. The flash hider on these things are 4.5" long. There are a couple of vendors that make the 11.5" barrel with the flash hider permanently attached. Some dimensions are stretched a little bit to get to 16" overall, but unless you set it next to an SBR, you can't tell. By not paying the $200 tax and the $70 engraving fee, it comes to $1,200.

Avoid spending $270 to save $100!

Grrrrrrr!

By accepting some further anachronisms, one can get the price down to $900 on the non-SBR. What you really have to hope for is to find a complete M16A1 upper for a song, that can save $200-$300.

Kipling Corner

Tommy; Rudyard Kipling:

I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.

You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!

11 November 2008

Quick Breakdown

Memorial Day - Dead Soldiers.
Armed Forces Day - Live, Active Soldiers.
Veteran's Day - Live, Former Soldiers.

Soldier in this case means any member of the military, be it Soldier, Sailor, Coastie or Marine. Hell, I'll even be generous and allow for Airmen! ;)

Veteran's Day

Take one to dinner.
Get one laid. Lay one!
Say thanks to the people between the horrors of war and home's fires.

10 November 2008

It's That Time Again

And the hull broke open
And they all drowned like rats
As their lungs filled
With Wat ERRRRRR

07 November 2008

It's So Obvious

A training tool that really gets you ready for the apoxyclips!

http://www.zombietargets.net/

A Selfish Request For The President Elect

Mr Obama, please swear in as Barack Hussein Obama. If only to spare us years of the blogosphere screeching that you are not legally president because you took the oath of office under an assumed name.

Thanks!

06 November 2008

Dreadfully Snarky

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are


On Lead

There seems to be a lot of confusion from the media, and thus it translates down to the populace, about lead.

One of the noteworthy things about elemental lead is its lack of reactivity. Lead alloys do not change this property at all.

What is dangerous to consume is lead compounds. The lead compounds are reactive and often leave the lead in a reactive form, the new lead compound can be absorbed by the body and cause lead poisoning. Lead-Oxide, is not one of these compounds, and it's the most common form of lead found at a shooting range after the unreacted elemental lead. The digestive tract is not powerful enough to steal lead from oxygen.

Lead pellets that are consumed with meat are harmless and pass through without harming the diner. It's a bit odd to hear them hit the porcelain though.

Lead at a shooting range just sits there, where the bullet landed. The lead-oxide is a crust around the elemental lead and it's not water soluble.

Remember what I said about our digestive system being not strong enough to liberate lead from oxygen? Birds have an even less powerful system than we do.

Basically the lead scares associated with hunting are the environmentalists lying. Again. Remember, you can't spell environmentalist without mental!

Tremble In Awe Puny Mortals

For I have purchased a Barrett!


Barrett magazine for Dottie, that is.

Full 30 round capacity, just a bit longer than the C-Products 25 rounders. Highly recommended by the "serious operators".

And just plain purty!


The blue tape is so we can tell the 5.56 mags apart from the 6.8, even in the dark.

05 November 2008

Election Results

I am only finding the election results for fifty states. What about the other seven?

04 November 2008

It's Wrong I'll Tell You What

Got a phone call yesterday from the state LGBT org. Asking me to come to the polls to support Obama because he'll support "our" rights (assuming this means gay rights), fix the economy and reduce crime with reasonable restrictions on gun ownership. Way to torpedo an ally with a phone call.

Those who know me personally know I am a supporter of gay rights. Lots of friends who are gay and so forth. The Pink Pistols have received funds from us.

What I hate are the LGBA groups who seem to think that promoting gay rights means they have to oppose gun-rights. What the hell does one position have to do with the other?

Today I voted for this, (One-Man One-Woman Marriage Amendment) I do not agree with it. But the national orgs support for people who will take my guns away has forced me to oppose this stuff.

I don't get my rights because of you, then you will not get yours because of me.

I believe in liberty for everyone, not your liberty at the expense of mine. So, I have voted against you this time. Perhaps you will reconsider your position next time around. Lots of gay gun-owners out there. http://www.alphecca.com/ Jeff is a gay gun-owning blogger. Not the stereotype at all. Does the stereotype even exist?

01 November 2008

Linguistic History

Chickenshit is not a synonym for coward. It means worthless.

It was coined by the fine members of the US military before they began their groundbreaking work with the word 'fuck'.