The View From Under The Desk

I've Been Frocked!

2012-02-28T17:05:00.000-05:00

Larry has given me this award. Scoundrel!

As with every award, there are terms and conditions.

1. Copy and paste award on your blog.
2. Link back to the blogger who gave you the award.
3. Pick your five favorite blogs with less than 200 followers and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received an award.
4. Hope that the five blogs chosen will keep spreading the love and pass it on to five more blogs.

Who to name in return?

Here's the problem: I'm pretty sure everyone on my list who has fewer than 200 followers has also been named.

1. Have to mention Jennifer. She sticks in my head (pun!) because she emailed me to thank me for a positive comment on her blog.

2. Erin because she rekindled my interest in my dusty GURPS books enough to actually do some work with them. Sadly, the Tampa area seems devoid of GURPS players. Yet I shall endeavor to persevere!

3. Jeff who doesn't seem to have any followers at all. I don't know why, but he reminds me a bit of Acidman and I hope that he has a happier future than Rob. I also hope his rough times end soon.

4. Blue. A fellow Iowan and veteran (even though he walked instead of rode).

And 5? I give this to ALL the little bloggers out there! We're not the cool kids and we're not the big names. Occasionally we have something wry or snarky to add that gets some thoughts flowing. I especially want to point out those who are using Livejournal as their blog because that's where a few of us started and your journal is every bit a blog.

Compensating

2012-02-28T02:11:00.000-05:00

Compensating for my little wieners. Get it?

Dont Talk to Police

2012-02-27T17:39:00.000-05:00

Atheism

2012-02-27T07:13:00.001-05:00

I don't find evidence of a divine being.

I remain open that there may be such evidence and that there may be such a being.

I don't find this openness in many self-styled atheists.

That could be embarrassing someday. Or not.

EDIT:

I did some research. Atheism is the correct term. A case could be made for my belief being a pragmatic (or apathetic) agnostic: "The view that there is no proof of either the existence or nonexistence of any deity, but since any deity that may exist appears unconcerned for the universe or the welfare of its inhabitants, the question is largely academic."

Asking For It

2012-02-26T20:31:00.000-05:00

Jaguar is going to make an electric car?

Isn't that like dividing by zero?

Watch Out Fred!

2012-02-26T15:18:00.000-05:00

http://news.yahoo.com/penn-judge-muslims-allowed-attack-people-insulting-mohammad-210000330.html

We may now attack people for insulting our beliefs! Fred Phelps had better start watching his back!

Your faith has rendered you incapable of being impartial and unbiased. You should be removed from office.

By the way, Atheists, IT WAS NOT A CHRISTIAN WHO ATTACKED HERE; AGAIN.

Cue the "What About Islam?" dancers in 3...2...1...

Drill

2012-02-26T14:33:00.000-05:00

We keep saying drill.

They keep saying that there will not be results for 5-10 years.

There's no drilling.

5-10 years later, we say drill.

They say there won't be any new oil for 5-10 years.

How about we drill this time? It has the novelty of having not being tried before.

Help, Hinder or Harm?

2012-02-26T04:17:00.000-05:00

There's four things to ask about anything having to do with the military.

Does this help?

Does this hinder?

Does this harm?

Does this matter?

If it helps, do it!

It it hinders or harms, don't do it!

If it doesn't matter, don't spend any money to provide or prevent it.

There will be a lot of politically incorrect things happening if these four questions get asked about any and every policy.

It might mean no women on submarines. It might mean banning homosexuals from the military. It might mean female fighter pilots. It might mean segregated units.

Remember, the military is there to kill people and break shit. Does the politically correct goal serve those needs? Anything that impedes the primary tasks of killing people and breaking shit is a hinderance or harm. I don't care whose feelings get hurt either.

Kipling Corner

2012-02-26T04:09:00.000-05:00

The Grave of the Hundred Head; Rudyard Kipling

There's a widow in sleepy Chester
Who weeps for her only son;
There's a grave on the Pabeng River,
A grave that the Burmans shun,
And there's Subadar Prag Tewarri
Who tells how the work was done.

A Snider squibbed in the jungle,
Somebody laughed and fled,
And the men of the First Shikaris
Picked up their Subaltern dead,
With a big blue mark in his forehead
And the back blown out of his head.

Subadar Prag Tewarri,
Jemadar Hira Lal,
Took command of the party,
Twenty rifles in all,
Marched them down to the river
As the day was beginning to fall.

They buried the boy by the river,
A blanket over his face--
They wept for their dead Lieutenant,
The men of an alien race--
They made a samadh in his honor,
A mark for his resting-place.

For they swore by the Holy Water,
They swore by the salt they ate,
That the soul of Lieutenant Eshmitt Sahib
Should go to his God in state;
With fifty file of Burman
To open him Heaven's gate.

The men of the First Shikaris
Marched till the break of day,
Till they came to the rebel village,
The village of Pabengmay--
A jingal covered the clearing,
Calthrops hampered the way.

Subadar Prag Tewarri,
Bidding them load with ball,
Halted a dozen rifles
Under the village wall;
Sent out a flanking-party
With Jemadar Hira Lal.

The men of the First Shikaris
Shouted and smote and slew,
Turning the grinning jingal
On to the howling crew.
The Jemadar's flanking-party
Butchered the folk who flew.

Long was the morn of slaughter,
Long was the list of slain,
Five score heads were taken,
Five score heads and twain;
And the men of the First Shikaris
Went back to their grave again,

Each man bearing a basket
Red as his palms that day,
Red as the blazing village--
The village of Pabengmay,
And the "drip-drip-drip" from the baskets
Reddened the grass by the way.

They made a pile of their trophies
High as a tall man's chin,
Head upon head distorted,
Set in a sightless grin,
Anger and pain and terror
Stamped on the smoke-scorched skin.

Subadar Prag Tewarri
Put the head of the Boh
On the top of the mound of triumph,
The head of his son below,
With the sword and the peacock-banner
That the world might behold and know.

Thus the samadh was perfect,
Thus was the lesson plain
Of the wrath of the First Shikaris--
The price of a white man slain;
And the men of the First Shikaris
Went back into camp again.

Then a silence came to the river,
A hush fell over the shore,
And Bohs that were brave departed,
And Sniders squibbed no more;
For the Burmans said
That a kullah's head
Must be paid for with heads five score.

There's a widow in sleepy Chester
Who weeps for her only son;
There's a grave on the Pabeng River,
A grave that the Burmans shun,
And there's Subadar Prag Tewarri
Who tells how the work was done.

I Admit, I Don't Get It

2012-02-25T16:23:00.002-05:00

Why is Steve McQueen regarded as a great actor?

Why are his movies likewise considered great?

Can someone share some insight?

The World Has Changed

2012-02-25T15:19:00.002-05:00

I figure the Republican candidate for president is a shoe in.

Wendy's has a burger called the "W" and there aren't protests.

Driving in Texas...

2012-02-25T14:06:00.001-05:00

Just a brief anecdote.

Last time I was out in Texas I spotted no less than three DPS cars who punched it hard to get on the road and come after me.

When they got close enough to see the plate, they all gave up.

I think they were doing front license plate enforcement, which Florida doesn't have.

Same trip I got a couple people pulled over when I was going the limit. You see, in the eyes of the police doing traffic enforcement, THE VETTE IS FELONY SPEEDING. If you're going faster than the Vette, you are a dangerous madman. I suspect what happened was the Vette caught the cop's eye and the SUV blasting past at about five over sealed their fate.

The RIght Tool For The Job

2012-02-25T13:55:00.002-05:00

If a Dodge Caravan is the correct tool for the job, perhaps the job isn't worth doing.

Choke and Smother

2012-02-25T13:48:00.000-05:00

Seems they are a false flag for the anti-gunners.

Spread the word.

h/t Weer'd. Who led me to SnarkyBytes, who links to Uncle.

Getting Involved

2012-02-24T16:33:00.001-05:00

Two threads about the relationship of the police to the community.

In the original thread's comments, someone mentioned Sir Robert Peel. There's a follow up on a commenter's own blog.

Robert Peel's Principles are what's lacking in today's law enforcement. The police are merely people paid to do this job, not the only people who can.

It's simple delegation of power. We people have delegated some powers to the government in certain, restricted, circumstances. The catch is we cannot delegate a power which is not ours by right. What that boils down to is the police, literally, cannot do anything a citizen may not.

Note my use of the word "powers" and not the word "rights". Governments do not have rights, they have powers. Citizens have rights. The People have rights.

I find that government at all levels, but especially police, do not like to be reminded that they are the creation of the people rather than their masters.

I differ with the attitude that an officers life is worth more than a common citizen's and deserves special protections. When you put on a uniform, any uniform, you become an extension of The State. A very small extension. So small that your spontaneous combustion into base elements will not harm the health of the state even one iota. Sacrificial and interchangeable; to the state. You are The State, you are the instrument of The State's powers. Remember, The State has no rights! That means you, as an agent of The State also have no rights while you wield its powers.

The scratchy part is cops are people as well as citizens. This is where the theory and the practice diverge. To me it is simple, the individual officers get the same rights as I have. No more, no less. If I shoot a bad guy in self defense, I am on my own hook for all the legal repercussions, aren't I? I have to hire my own lawyer, take time off work and my life and liberty hang in the balance.

Can many police say the same thing when they've shot someone?

I've long been an advocate of when a cop shoots someone, they are unemployed by any government agency for at least 6 months. That proves to me it was serious enough for The State to take a citizen's life. Remember, officer, when you shoot someone wearing that uniform, YOU ARE THE STATE. The State can spare you. Because I am compassionate, I will let you defend your life in my service, but you must show that it was the only thing you could have done.

In cases like Canton, Ohio the punishments for police should be more severe than an individual performing the same act. Remember, it's not officer Harless violating the motorist's rights, but The State. The government of Canton, Ohio; through officer Harless committed assault. The State of Ohio though incorporation of The City of Canton committed assault. Harless should be punished severely and criminally for what he did in that video, because most assuredly I would be in jail for identical activities. If the department covers for such officers, we have such laws as RICO. Punish up the stream until you meet someone pushing back down with charges! By the way, the citizenry clamoring for justice here, is a top down demand not a bottom up request. That's another topic entirely about the servants forgetting their place and who is really in charge here.

As I hear over and over from law enforcement, if you don't want to get into trouble, obey the law. You first; you too: Officer.

This is harsh because The State or Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.

Didja Ever Wonder?

2012-02-24T15:21:00.000-05:00

Did you ever wonder if there are some gun shops that remain open simply because it's illegal to get a gun mail-order?

Wisdom

2012-02-24T12:21:00.001-05:00

I don't remember where I first heard this, or if I've already posted it here: But it bears repeating, often.

"In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is."

Poor Damn Customer Service.

2012-02-24T01:56:00.000-05:00

I got a $20 credit for my inconvenience when DSA recalled the trigger housing on my FAL.

I've been desperately trying to find something, anything, to buy from them to use that up.

First I tried to get a Harris bipod adaptor. Back ordered for four months. Cancelled the order.

Next I tried to get a double hump buttstock, I prefer the looks over the Austrian pattern that's standard.

I called ahead to make sure it's in stock. First time it was, "call back in a couple of weeks, we're expecting an order."

So I waited a couple of weeks and called again. The guy on the phone said they had them. So I ordered one.

Confirmation email says it's backordered!

So I called back, and complained that I had called to make sure it was in stock. He said he'd expedite the order because he knew they had them. My order status on their web page has not changed. It's still showing backordered.

I'll give them a week for it to show up or to tell me it's on the way.

Then I cancel the order and never do business with DSA again.

Chink in the Armor

2012-02-23T15:56:00.000-05:00

David Brock used the term "Chink in the Armor" and there's a Chinese player on the team described.

People are all up in arms about how racist it was.

Idiots.

Welcome to English.

Here's an example of one word having different meanings.

Not Safe For Work. I mean it. Don't say you weren't warned. Not Kidding.

Cock

Cock

Those three images are not the same thing, but the same word can be used for all of them.

To Hell With SPORTS

2012-02-22T18:04:00.000-05:00

This is a good write up about what's wrong with the Slap Pull Observe Release Tap Squeeze drill.

Related to my ramblings in the comments to this post.

Tools. Time. Thag. Trouble.

2012-02-22T16:39:00.000-05:00

I have described AR's as a manly confluence of Barbie® and Lego®.

I have the tools to build just about any combination.

I have the parts to make just about any combination.

I'd just have to take apart existing guns and swap parts around.

I am thinking about taking Sabrina's barrel and putting it on Kaylee. This would make the XM177E3 I'd sort of imagined at the start.

The barrel from Kaylee would move to Sabrina. If I steal Charlotte's upper, I can make Sabrina into an Air Force R654.

With Sabrina's upper on Charlotte I could remake her into a late M16A1.

This would also put all three of my 5.56 guns down until I could get to the range and zero.

Stop me. Someone. Anyone.

Or encourage me. Your call.

Or provide me with your parts to assemble.

To Mr Jay Z

2012-02-22T15:36:00.000-05:00

In 2006; when Frederic Rouzaud was asked if rappers and hip-hop people drinking his champagne would hurt the brand, Cristal, he was displaying contempt, not "patronizing disrespect".

There's a difference, particularly in that the former is earned.

And you earned it, didn't you?

Smoke and Thunder

2012-02-22T10:35:00.000-05:00

If you see my name on an account there, it's not me.

If I intend to endorse something you will see that endorsement here and I will provide a link.

Another clue is that I don't use the McThag monicker to register on forums or social sites with a very few exceptions.

McThag is my blogger and commenter nom de plume. I am certain it's shockingly easy to get my real name. Luckily, it's a nom de plume and not an attempt to hide my identity.

Think of it as a screen name. After all, who'd see a movie starring Bernard Schwarz?

PS: Gunbloggers! STOP LINKING TO THEM! Links feed the trolls!

Just an FYI

2012-02-21T19:04:00.000-05:00

Telling me what I think right after telling you that's not what I think will not endear you to my heart.

50 Years...

2012-02-20T18:11:00.000-05:00

50 years ago they fired a Marine into space.

Oddly, they also returned him safely to earth.

So close... So very close...

;)

Reconsider

2012-02-20T17:58:00.000-05:00

When all of your justifications for continuing or ending a policy come out as racist or sexist; it may be time to reconsider your position.

Gentleman Feminist

2012-02-20T12:26:00.000-05:00

I believe, as a gentleman that a man should render assistance to a woman.

As a feminist, I believe that a woman is capable of helping herself.

Combined: I'll get that for you when you can't; when you can, I have your back.

An Observation

2012-02-17T19:06:00.000-05:00

I tend to carry a 1911 in a shoulder holster.

I wonder how much of the comfort in this is derived from being a tank crewman and carrying a 1911 in a shoulder holster when we went to the field.

It's pure familiarity I am sure.

Logistics Follow-Up

2012-02-17T15:05:00.001-05:00

Jake in comments to this post asked about chambering the wrong ammo.

Here's the result of 5.56 into a 6.8 chamber. Notice it's not locked up? Firing pin can't reach the primer like this.

Here's 6.8 into a 5.56 chamber. It's even less locked up!

Kipling Corner

2012-02-17T13:20:00.000-05:00

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

- Rudyard Kipling

h/t ACE

Abortion Is A Big Issue This Cycle?

2012-02-17T13:15:00.000-05:00

Really?

Purity about abortion is the make or break issue again?

Got a clue for you, Holmes; lots and lots of women voted for Obama because of how they perceive Republicans on abortion.

Woman who otherwise hate everything about him.

As gun owners we should understand the single issue voter viscerally.

Clue number two.

What happened to unwanted babies before surgical abortion?

It's called exposure.

That's what Moses' mom was doing to him when she sent him on his rafting adventure.

That's what dumping baby in the dumpster or toilet at the prom is.

Yes, the ultimate ivory tower solution is to stop fucking if you cannot afford or do not want children. Get back to me when you can make that work without murdering someone.

Clue three. Driving people to empower the likes of Obama over the abortion issue is going to return the world to an agrarian medieval society. The kind of world where there's no entertainment other than fucking and it's expose Jr or someone starves; someone who works. Buhbye Jr...

This is known as a pyrrhic victory. Notice that it doesn't end up saving babies in the long run?

In The Immortal Words of the Great Western Philosopher Nelson Muntz

2012-02-17T12:33:00.001-05:00

Ha HAW!

31 states don't get above 10 points.

8 more are under 25.

5 more are under 50.

Only five score between 50 and 75 and only ONE scores 75 or more.

Brady's Page of Shame.

From their score card. The Mode is 4. The Median is 6.5. The Mean is 16.4.

Not winning, won.

Damn Muse...

2012-02-16T09:58:00.000-05:00

I have a great line. It'd fit nicely in a bit of exposition.

"Magic? Magic is just the science of the impossible, dear."

Of course, my Muse doesn't give anything else but a glimpse of a feeling of a setting.

Gun Safety Tip

2012-02-15T16:59:00.001-05:00

When you have LSA on your hands; don't rub your eyes.

Thanks!

Living In The Future

2012-02-15T16:52:00.000-05:00

Living in the future is neat.

Earlier I took a picture with my Android phone.

I emailed it to a friend all the way across the country.

She made it her desktop background and took a picture of it.

I posted her picture on my blog.

When I was a child taking a photo would have required developing the film. Sending that photo to Seattle would have required physically transporting either a negative or a print. There would have been no making it a computer background. To show the picture in her office would have required the same process of taking a picture, developing film and physically mailing it to Tampa for me to see it.

We did this in less than a day.

When I rage about how the world is going to Hell, I have to stop and look around and recapture the wonder of living with commonplace items that were too outlandish to consider even as science fiction even as late as high school. How do I know? None of it is accounted for in Traveller, Star Frontiers or 2300 AD.

Here's to living in a science fiction setting!

A pity it's got lots of dystopian characteristics, huh?

Horsepower Therapy

2012-02-15T14:25:00.001-05:00

I was feeling a bit down today.

So I took the top off and headed out for a drive!

Stopped at Howard Park in Tarpon Springs to snap a pic for the people in Seattle.

Update:

The people in Seattle have made it their desktop!

Starbucks Buycott

2012-02-14T12:18:00.001-05:00

Here's my purchase.

This is Kaylee.

2012-02-13T14:59:00.004-05:00

Kaylee is my first AR-15. She started life as an attempt to make a clone of an XM177E2. Unfortunately, I didn't know much about XM177E2's when I started; in fact I thought CAR-15 was the proper designation. I later made a much more faithful clone of an XM177E2, and then I decided to make Kayee more of an Israeli carbine.

This Israeli carbine, in fact.

What we have here is a Del-Ton carbine kit that I have modified. The 16" HBAR barrel that came with the kit was replaced with a 14.5" chrome lined pencil profile from J&T. The lower receiver came from Anvil Arms, who are no longer in business. The handguards are Israeli contract. The pistol grip is standard M16A2. The stock is a vintage Colt Fiberlite on a Bravo Company mil-spec receiver extension. The Izzy accessories, sling elastic wraps and magazine holder, come from Zahal. The scope is a British L2A2 Sight Unit Infantry Trilux, which was also used by the IDF.

I went with the A2 pistol grip so I can build a spare M4 upper now that this lower is registered as an SBR.

Complete history after the fold. There have been a lot of starts and stops along the way while I figured out what I wanted to do with her. And yes, I give my rifle's girl's names.

She is named after Kaylee from "Firefly". She's the second one I built all by myself and the third I had a hand in. Dave's pile of Bushmaster parts was the first one I helped with. Geff's Moose was the first one I built alone because I wanted to take detailed pics of Kaylee's build.

Kaylee, as I mentioned before was supposed to be as close to an XM177E2 as I could make without going NFA. Since I knew that I couldn't get it exact, I dubbed her XM177E3, a "what-if" the carbine program had not resulted in the M4. My making of Sabrina, a very accurate clone of an XM177E2 and Harvey's making of Cheyenne, a 90% clone of an R653 made me decide to drop the facade of retro from her and make her into something of a late R723 ~~full M4A1~~ clone (with a 16" barrel). I never really wanted an M4gery so I have settled on the Israeli configuration.

16MAR07.
Her baby pictures. The lower and the parts kit. Interestingly, these are the only parts to have never been replaced (except for the pistol grip).

Freshly assembled. Complete Del-Ton 16" heavy barrel carbine kit, Anvil Arms lower and a DPMS slip-over flash suppressor. The M4 style stock here is commercial diameter. The upper receiver is known as a C7 model. When Canada adopted the M16, they retained many of the features of the M16A1 and combined them with features from the M16A2; in the case of the upper, they kept the simpler rear sight of the A1 and added the brass deflector bump from the A2.

22MAR07.
It did not take me long to start making changes as suited me. I swapped the small round forward assist for a retro tear-drop unit.

The first real pic of the whole gun.

08APR07.
Vintage pistol grip to replace the A2 style. These are called "A1" grips, but are also present on A-Nothing M16s. Also a vintage Colt 20-round magazine.

23JAN08.
Insanity breaks out! I succumb to the fashions of Arfcom and replace my A1 grip with a Magpul MIAD and the C7 upper with a flat-top. The optic is an L3 EOTech 552.A65/1, the back-up iron sights (BUIS) are Knight's 600m.

14SEP08.
Because the optics and BUIS went onto my 6.8x43mm build, Dottie, keeping the flat-top seemed silly, so I put the C7 upper back on. The flat-top was recycled into the carbine that became Kevina.

18JAN09.
The MIAD went to Dottie and I changed the commercial M4A1 style stock to a mil-spec early M4 style. Commercial receiver extensions are about an inch longer than mil-spec and I was sick of setting the stock back a click when I extended it. I figure that these things really have two positions, closed and all the way open to the stop because you will not have time for fidgeting when the SHTF. The A2 grip is back because I used the A1 grip on Bubba's AR.

21FEB09
The return of the A1 pistol grip! This also marks my realization that the SBR I am making has supplanted the retro aspects of Kaylee.

10JUN09.
I changed the early pattern stock to a late pattern M4. There are ~~three~~ two M4 carbine patterns. The early is smaller and more closely resembles the original aluminum stock from the XM177 series, these are also known as "fiberlite" stocks. ~~The middle design has a longer butt and a sling loop in the toe (the commercial stock that came with the kit is this style)~~. The late pattern has a revised sling loop, slightly more pull and better reinforcement along the extension. I changed the conventional carbine handguards for the oval M4A1 style.

At this point, she is ~~truly~~ almost the what-if I set out to make. What if in the course of carbine development the special forces community had insisted that the M16A2 rear sight was needlessly complicated? What if they had lengthened the barrel to 13.5" and retained the moderator instead of going for 14.5" and normal flash-hider so they could use a bayonet? What if the moderator had been made into an effective sound suppressor? What if the use of optics and development of the flat-top upper had died in the womb? What if they had continued the previous designation scheme? So here we have an XM177E3, this is the carbine that Twilight 2000 would have in its original timeline.

I would like to point out that the XM177 series had no bayonet lug because the moderator was both too large a diameter and too short for the M7 bayonet. The lug is retained here just to have all the features banned by the Clinton Assault Rifle Ban.

01JUL09
~~Final change~~, M4 profile barrel. The Army was very keen back on the change from XM177E1 to XM177E2 to be able to equip the carbines with M203 grenade launchers, but not to make a special version of the M203 for carbines. On the M4 (and here) this resulted in a small area of the barrel in front of the front sight base to be rebated for the barrel clamp of the M203. This change also drops a full eight ounces of weight from the front of the gun, where it's most noticeable.

UPDATE

GURPS stats for my Twilight 2000 conversion. Since it is finally adopted, the X is dropped from the designation and the E is changed to a nothing for the first issue. Remember, the original timeline did not include Desert Storm, so the impetus to create the M4 carbine was not present, especially with the military budget firmly committed to a war against the Soviet Union as opposed to counter insurgency. There was a special forces requirement for a carbine that had been festering since the Vietnam war, however.

Guns/TL8 (Rifle)
TL Weapon Damage Acc Range Weight RoF Shots ST Bulk Rcl Cost LC Notes
8 Colt M177 (5.56x45mm 1:7) 4d+2 pi 4 750/2900 7.4/1 13 30+1(3) 9† -4 2 $729 2

The Colt M177 is a shortened M16A1 upgraded with many features of the M16A2 specially tailored to the needs of Special Forces troops in the US military and based on experience from the IDF. The 13.5" barrel is rifled for NATO ammunition and is equipped with a threaded detachable TL7 baffle sound suppressor (High Tech, p. 158-159) giving -2 to hearing.

31JUL09
I changed the front sling swivel over the the current USGI side sling mount. I had originally bought it for Harvey while she was deciding what sling would suit her best for Kevina. The main reason I decided to use it is that I was not happy with how the sling swivel rivet I set had come out. It was solid, but cosmetically ugly.

04AUG09
I ditched the heavy barrel with the express purpose of shedding weight. Weight that I seem to have added right back on with the late M4 stock, side sling adaptor. What made me realize this was recycling the heavy barrel into Brunhilda and having her come out lighter than Kaylee! So I have deleted the slip-over flash-hider in favor of a standard M16A2 unit. It ruins my what-if story but makes the her so much handier and shootable. In accordance with the modernization I put a small round forward assist back on her. Talk about a cosmetic part! I have never had to use one operationally.

15SEP09
Changed the furniture over to Colt stuff. Also changed the sling to a lightweight M4 item. The colt stock fits this tube better and the handguards are the double heatshield style.

I wonder if I am done this time. There's always a temptation to spend the $200 on registering her as an SBR and cutting the barrel back to 14.5" and putting a flat-top and optic to replace the C7 upper.

30Nov09
The double heat shield handguards don't fit well. They don't engage the teeth on the barrel nut very well and will rotate a small amount. That makes the gun unpleasant to hold and affects my consistency. So I have replaced them with a set of Israeli contract 6-hole CAR type handguards. The M4 stock doesn't look right with the narrow grips, so I used my Colt fiberlite. At this point she very much resembles a late production R723.

04DEC09
Changed the flash-hider to a birdcage and the pitsol grip back to an A1. It's looking more like an Israeli parts gun every day. Makes me want to get the elastic handguard covers and sling the Isrealis use. Like these.

01MAR10
Kaylee and Cheyenne looked entirely too much like each other. Far be it from me to mash on Harvey's toes; I have been accumulating M4 parts for a while. Kaylee is now an M4gery, complete with flat-top and genuine Colt detachable carry handle. Bravo Company's double heat shield handguards fit better than the Colt too!

The next step is an optic. I am torn between an Aimpoint Comp ML3 (2 MOA) in a La Rue mount or a Comp M4. The ML3 is cheaper, but the M4 uses the far more common AA size battery instead of a DL1/3N. With the optic do I keep the carry handle as a spare and swap it for the optic should something go wrong or get a dedicated folding backup iron sight (BUIS). The Marines swap the handle. The Army uses a BUIS from Matech. It's known to be fragile and expensive. Troy makes an excellent rear sight, as does Knight's Armament. Decisions, decisions!

29JUN10
Or I could just put her back into the R723 configuration. Honestly, I am more comfortable with things this way than as an M4gry. I don't care for the look of the detachable handle and I have never been a big fan of the A2 rear sight.

Maybe there's space in my heart for an M4 or M16A4 clone; but Kaylee is not one.

19JUL10
She's now wearing genuine IDF accessories! Eventually, she will be Form 1'd and I'll get a 14.5" pencil barrel on her. This is honestly the happiest I have been about how she's been dressed since the very first day I put her together.

The magazine holder is because Israeli citizens and troops outside of a combat area are not allowed to have a loaded mag in the gun, and this is a handy way to have one nearly ready.

13FEB12
A little more genuine! Got the tax stamp and added a 14.5" pencil barrel. The Trilux is a bonus addition.

GURPS 4e Note

2012-02-13T10:57:00.003-05:00

The rules for single skill talent for a racial skill bonus is on p. 453 of the Basic Set (Campaigns).

The same section has the rules for racially innate spells THAT FOR SOME GODSFORSAKEN REASON THEY COULDN'T MENTION IN THE MAGIC SECTION, MAGIC BOOK OR POWERS BOOK! OR MENTION IN THE BESOTTED INDEX!

For the record, innate spells work just like they did for 3e except you have to buy a -40% limited magery (innate spells only) if the race has no magery listed.

174th TFS

2012-02-12T00:33:00.000-05:00

That F-16C that I made tail art for in Falcon 4.0?

It's not the only time this squadron has come up in a flight sim.

Strike Fighters 2: Europe has them in the F-100C, and A-7D.

F-100C in 1962.

A-7D(75) in 1979

WECSOG

2012-02-11T16:58:00.000-05:00

I bought a carry-handle mount for my Trilux scope. The mounting nut is retained to the mount by a piece of monofilament. Monofilament that promptly broke.

Today I repaired the lanyard by replacing the monofilament with some stainless steel fishing lead wire. The crimped things holding the loops together are known as lead sleeves.

I also have enough material to do this fix a hundred more times.

The original part.

The repaired mount on a carry handle.

The scope on the mount. Cheek weld? What's that? Are you making up words again?

Not So Very Long Ago

2012-02-11T12:14:00.025-05:00

I think I was almost mugged.

I was at a Wal Mart seeing if they had any .308. They didn't.

I tend to park the Vette in the middle of the parking lot as it's down hill from there in all directions. It keeps the shopping carts from rolling into her tender paint. I also selected the cart corral to be next to the driver's side.

When I parked there I was all alone. When I came out of the store there was a truck with two very alert people standing near the back of it. Another person was heading our general direction from off to my right (car and truck being on the left side of the aisle).

I gimped a little faster and got to my car before the third guy could get up to me. I had the door open, but couldn't get inside before he would be on me so I turned around and waited. This slowed him down a lot. The other two had disappeared behind the truck.

The single starts to ask me if I have some spare money. I glance behind me (I have my door to my back and it's against the corral). The double is looking at me over the hood of the truck now.

I tell the single I have no cash, just dropping someone off. But I have my hand in my pocket on my little SIG. His eyes were working the angles and seeing the double couldn't get around to me before I could maybe draw a gun. He muttered something like thanks and the other two evaporated.

I got into my car and skedaddled.

Things I realize now.

There's no subtle way to put your hand on your 1911 in a shoulder holster; that's why I was limbering my pocket gun.

I should have stopped being subtle. Being unsubtle is rude, but so's begging in the Wal Mart parking lot.

I am not SURE they were up to something by the hair on the back of my neck was all tingly.

Ayup

2012-02-11T10:11:00.000-05:00

Taking Stock

2012-02-11T10:00:00.000-05:00

This is sort of a companion piece to my earlier post on upper receivers.

What we have here are the major variants that Colt issued to the US Military.

Carbines first.

This is the R607 stock. It's Colt's first attempt at making a stock that can be shortened. The design of the AR recoil system prevents the use of a more traditional folding stock. It was heavy, awkward to change position and expensive. It did not last long. (Picture taken from this thread in the Arfcom retro sticky on carbines)

This is the first major production collapsible carbine stock. The receiver extension that is still in production was introduced with this model (although the number of positions has changed). It is aluminum covered in vinyl acetate. The first weapon it appeared on was the XM177E2 "submachine gun". This is actually the second version of this design, the original was merely anodized the same color as the receivers; that appeared on the XM177 and XM177E1. The vinyl coated one was in production from the late sixties to the early eighties.

The aluminum proved to be a bit expensive and could break if dropped in the butt. So Colt introduced the "fiberlite" stock. This stock was made from the late eighties into the early 2000's. The early versions of the M4 and M4A1 carried this stock.

The modern M4 stock! It has a bit more butt area and a sling swivel to match a standard rifle.

Now to rifles.

This is an M16 stock as would be found on early R603 and R604 models. This is called a "type D" stock by us retro AR types because there are three earlier variations for the R601 and R602 rifles. All Air Force M16 (R604) use this stock and it was standard on the XM16E1 and M16A1 until around 1971.

The Type E or M16A1 stock. The sling swivel no longer swivels and a trap-door was added to the butt for storing a cleaning kit. It's a bit heavier than the Type D too.

The M16A2 stock. It's similar in design to the Type E, but is made from different materials and is about 5/8" longer.

Of course we must mention the aftermarket. This is a MagPul CTR.

OK, He's Not A Vampire...

2012-02-10T15:59:00.000-05:00

Nicholas Cage isn't a vampire.

But is he biding his time waiting for The Gathering?

Two Things...

2012-02-10T12:49:00.000-05:00

Mr Lucas.

Two things you cannot change no matter how hard you try to eradicate them.

Han shot first.

The Star Wars Christmas Special exists.

...About That.

2012-02-10T10:22:00.000-05:00

I guess there's a boycott of Guns America because the owner is an asshat.

I'd love to participate, but I was already de-facto boycotting.

Way back when I tried to purchase a firearm listed on the site. I was informed by the seller that the item listed was no longer available.

After the fourth time of getting that response from sellers there, I stopped bothering with the site.

This was years ago...

Logistics

2012-02-10T08:42:00.001-05:00

I am a staunch advocate of 6.8x43mm SPC II. It outperforms 5.56 in every meaningful way and most 7.62x39 loads as well.

It will never be adopted by the military.

Why?

Logistics.

Let's look at my AR in 6.8 compared to one in 5.56.

Which one is 5.56? This is problem one. When the transition begins, there will be weapons of both calibers in the system.

The 6.8 (the green one by the way) takes a different magazine than the 5.56. But you can insert the wrong magazine into either gun! I've taken to marking my 6.8 mags with electrical tape around the base for a visual and tactile indicator. Knowing what gun takes those mags is up to my memory.

The logistics problem is getting the right ammo and magazines to the troops with the new rifle. This is not insurmountable; but the Army no doubt remembers the early 1980's. That's when the M16A2 began to be issued along with its new M855 ammo. Lots of commands had units with the old gun and units with the new gun. When I arrived in Germany in 1988, my unit had the M16A2. During the orientation zeroing lots of the people there had M16A1's. The range had to have both M193 and M855 on hand so we could zero our weapons.

At least the magazines were the same.

More than once we went to the range and the crated ammo was M193 and we couldn't shoot. I can imagine that the reverse happened as well. In a pinch, though, we could have fired the old ammo. That will not be true of a transition to 6.8.

This was peace time. It gets a lot more complicated in war.

This is just where the fun begins! What about optics? An ACOG with a bullet drop compensator is marked wrong for 6.8. Now you have to replace the scope along with the rifle. Although this could be a blessing to a civilian shooter as all of those fine optics are dumped as surplus!

What we have is a rifle that looks just like the old one. A magazine that can be inserted, but not fired from the wrong model and ammunition with the same issue. It's a logistics nightmare.

Exemption!

2012-02-10T06:59:00.002-05:00

Looks like Florida, along with nine (maybe ten) other states, is going to be exempted from No Child ~~Gets Ahead~~ Left Behind.

I do love President Obama's statement about it though: "What might work in Minnesota might not work in Kentucky."

Really? Can we get this new attitude applied to other federal encroaches into federalism? Like say, for example, health care? Environmentalism? Energy?

Yeah, didn't think so. This is taking apart something Bush did.

However, the stopped clock is right twice a day. The blinking VCR once.

EDIT:

Bonus fun!

There's no provision in the law for the president to make exemptions or issue waivers.

My Writing Style

2012-02-09T08:14:00.000-05:00

I need to work on it.

I'm a college graduate for Heaven's sake!

I know how to do this, but I don't really frame what I am going to say before I start.

What I end up posting is more of a stream of consciousness.

I should really work on making my posts more along the lines of introduction/body/conclusion.

M855A1

2012-02-09T07:33:00.001-05:00

M855A1 is the Army's new "green" ammunition. It's NATO spec and replaces the old lead core with steel penetrator M855.

The M855's copper jacket comepletely encases the steel portion and there's a lead plug behind that.

Pic sourced from here.

The new M855A1 round has no lead and the steel part is exposed at the tip.

Pic sourced from here.

Look Ma! No lead! Same 62gr bullet weight, slightly longer projectile. Lots and lots of information touting its superior performance in penetrating armor and barriers. It can penetrate a 3/8" steel plate at 300m where the old M855 and 7.62x51mm M80 cannot! What I am not seeing is how it performs in people. The entire point of an infantry round is killing people after all.

This might be another example of the non-emotional approach GURPS took to ammunition performance may be prescient. M855A1 behaves very much like AP. AP ammo gets to divide the DR by 2, but it will also be one stage less wounding. Ball is pi, AP of the same type is pi- after penetration. Or half damage.

It's a means of saying that an AP round will make a nice .22 caliber hole without expanding. This is a problem that M855 has as well. Especially in very thin people where the fragmentation that 5.56 is famous for occurs just behind them.

The more I learn about wound ballistics the more convinced I become that the old fashioned M193 was the best 5.56 round we issued in terms of tissue damage and NATO's chasing the ability for the 5.56 round to penetrate body armor and light barriers has compromised its ability to perform its primary function, stop bad-guys.

The 5.56's ability to penetrate armor was basically to convince NATO members to drop their 7.62x51mm guns and change over to the new 5.56x45mm. Recall that SS109 (which M855 is) was developed by FN-Herstal; and who benefits most from an army changing to a new rifle? Gee, could it be a gun maker? Pity the FNC didn't take off, huh? Gang oft aglave.

This also wouldn't have been an issue for NATO if we 'Mercans hadn't bailed on the entire idea of a 7.62x51mm service rifle. Yeah, that made NATO happy. You may recall that NATO was considering the German 7.92x33 Kurz and .280 British when we declared that we'd not accept a round that wasn't identical to .30-06 in performance. Hell, M59 (7.62x51mm) ball uses the same bullet as M2 (.30-06)! Then just a couple of years after shoving our pet round down their throats we chuck it in the waste basket.

What nobody doubts is that 7.62x51mm is effective at distances, effective against barriers and is lethal. It is also much heavier than 5.56x45mm and so are the guns that fire it. Note my FAL and it's 10.4 lb. tare compared to a 14.5" barreled AR at 6.6 lbs. 20 rounds of FAL ammo in its magazine is 1.7 lbs. compared to 30 rounds for an AR for 1 lb. That's hard to work around.

This is why I am a proponent of 6.8x43mm. Due to the mass of the bullet, it's better on barriers than 5.56. Hogs and deer make a good stand in for people, and 6.8 is snuffing them and how. The weapons are the same mass as a 5.56 gun, the draw back is the ammo weighs more; 1.7 lb. for 30 rounds in an AR type magazine. For a typical combat load we've added almost five pounds to our poor grunt.

But we gain a lot. By the way, most any argument for 6.8 will also work for 6.5 Grendel. In the long run though, 6.8 would be better once we started talking about needing belt fed guns. The case design comes into play here.

Today's AWWWWWWW Post

2012-02-09T07:05:00.000-05:00

Shi Shu is such a tired home defense dog.

Is It 1995 Again?

2012-02-08T05:41:00.000-05:00

"After the setbacks the party has suffered, the Tea Party is finally dying down, and people are getting fed up with the Republicans in Congress."

I said it in 1995-96 when the contract with America didn't materialize.

The reason people get fed up with the Republicans after they wrest control back from the Democrats is that they don't get done what they were sent to do.

For example. The Assault Weapon Ban and Brady Act were what I voted on in '94. The candidates brought it up often and the NRA hit me up for cash to get them repealed, touting the candidates who were running.

Why is it that they were never repealed? The AWB had to expire and the Brady Act is still law.

In 2000 we had a majority in both houses and a Republican president, perfect time to act. Nothing.

The supreme court, whom I don't get to vote for, has done more to recover my rights than any creature running for office I have voted for.

So, Republicans, I challenge you do DO something. Put the healthcare repeal in EVERY SINGLE BILL. Put the damn thing in quorum calls! This is what your opponents did with countless anti-gun items; including the Hughes amendment.

The Great War Has Passed From Living Memory

2012-02-08T05:16:00.002-05:00

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/02/07/last-known-wwi-veteran-dies-at-110/?test=latestnews

Odd Convergence

2012-02-06T17:24:00.000-05:00

Blue posted a picture.

I have a history with that plane!

Screenshot from Falcon 4.0. I changed the stock skin by manipulating it one pixel at a time in MS Paint. I used a 1/72 model I'd built to get the art right.

What Is Worse?

2012-02-06T15:05:00.002-05:00

What's worst?

Never knowing something.

No longer knowing something.

No longer knowing something, but remembering you used to know it.

Common Sense Over Aesthetics

2012-02-06T07:21:00.000-05:00

I love how the Romat looks!

What I don't like is how the wood makes the gun a pound heavier. Beech is dense stuff!

As it shipped from DSA it was a 9.9 lb. loaded weapon.

Adding the Romat furniture made it a 10.9 lb. gun. Changing the aluminum trigger housing made it an 11.4 lb. gun.

The L in FAL stands for léger or light. 11.4 lb. is too much.

So I've decided to give up on the Israeli narrative and embrace the more generic right arm of the free world configuration. And have a 10.4 lb. loaded rifle.

The things wrong with my Romat were almost legion. The lower was entirely wrong. The gas block, rear sights and muzzle were also wrong; with the barrel and gas block being the hardest part to correct.

Hey!

2012-02-05T20:51:00.000-05:00

Why am I reading this? I ask.

I don't enjoy this, why do I come here just to get angry?

Then I realize, I don't have to!

Damn habits.

Morons, I've got morons on my team.

2012-02-05T02:30:00.001-05:00

A.K.A flying off into a pedantic rage.

Words mean something.

Using the wrong word changes the whole meaning.

When someone corrects you, don't double down and declare victory because "lots of other people are wrong too!" The whole herd being wrong doesn't make it right; it makes it tragic and sad.

Shelley Rae is simply wrong, but like Charlie Sheen; she thinks she's right and she's winning. Sad.

Assault rifles are select fire. That means there's a lever or switch that allows the user to choose between semi-automatic and some form of automatic fire (full auto or bursts). It's part of the very definition! Select-fire, detachable box magazine, intermediate cartridge.

Assault weapon is a term that the anti-gun people latched onto in order to scare people about semi-auto guns that look like select-fire guns.

Caleb's "defense" that, "'Assault rifle' is the term for these guns with the mainstream public," doesn't work.

By gently correcting and explaining the difference in the terms people are starting to understand that an M16 is not the same thing as an AR-15. EDIT: The explanation also shows them how dishonest the anti-gunners are about this. To give in to their terminology eliminates the opportunity to inform.

The response from Gun Nuts Media has been a petulant, "we know we're wrong but we don't care." It makes me wonder what else they've been wrong about. Can I trust their recommendations? Is what they're saying actually true or is it just their uninformed bias? When they say 9x19 do they mean 9x18? When they say .380 ACP did they really mean .38 ACP? Surely those are the same thing; right? Or is getting that right being pedantic?

Pedantic is how people get when they talk to people who respond like children. They use small words because they don't think you can understand big ones after making such an elementary error.

You got caught being wrong and insulted the people trying to let you know.

Respect and contempt are earned, plus you can trade one for another.

Weight

2012-02-04T01:11:00.000-05:00

Nothing makes you appreciate your "heavy" 6.8 AR isn't really all that heavy like a day with the FAL and Garand.

John C and the Dude were talented engineers, but they made heavy guns.

Of course, they are chambered for real-live full power rifle rounds not some upstart intermediate.

Black History Month

2012-02-01T08:46:00.000-05:00

Something is different this year.

I'm looking at the TV schedule and there isn't show after show scheduled about black history.

Almost as if the meaning has finally been lost.

I've long maintained that the history they rammed down our throats every year for an entire month was merely U.S. history.

And to be truly honest about black history we'd have to bring up Africa. Lots of failure there, huh?

It's hard not to draw some racist conclusions when viewing nation after nation fail to thrive once their colonial governments left.

I was reading about the history of Rhodesia. Part of the problem about its independence was majority rule. There was a strong contention that the average citizen of Rhodesia was not prepared to be a voter after being colonial subjects their entire lives. The policies of slowly bringing the populace up to speed was called racist, or worse.

How's things in Zimbabwe nowadays?

Is it still racist if it's the truth?

From what I read, the policies in place in Rhodesia were, on the surface, racist. They would also have, by now, have lead to an educated and empowered populace.

The true tragedy is the colonial powers washed their hands of their colonies and basically said, "fuck it, we're outta here; you're on your own; good luck!"

Why?

2012-01-31T21:48:00.000-05:00

Why do the crisis' in my life seem to occur when my social support network is unavailable to support?

Republican Presidential Primary Today

2012-01-31T07:03:00.000-05:00

Don't blame ME. I voted for Kodos!

Aborted Post

2012-01-30T07:24:00.000-05:00

I had a post where I was going to talk about religion.

I am glad I read it before I posted it.

You would have been offended. All of you would have been.

Bill Jenkins?

2012-01-29T19:57:00.002-05:00

Bill Jenkins is the name of a character I played in one of Geff's worlds!

Bill was an orc from an alternate Earth where the Confederate States of America had prevailed against the United State's cowardly war of aggression.

Here's a pic I drew of the character in 1995.

In the alternate history, the slaves (orcs) were freed during the War of Mexican Annexation of 1892. Bill is a corporal in the Georgian Marines (each state having their own military). He carries a Tredregar made clone of an SMLE Mk III rifle and a Broomhandle Mauser in .455 Browning.

Bill, in Geff's world (a TL3 fantasy setting), was on a campaign to rid it of slavery altogether. His methods were a "kill them all, God will know his own" sort.

I am very amused that some anti-gunner some place carries the same name as a cold-blooded fanatical killer.

UPDATE:

The character was originally made with GURPS 3rd Edition (Revised); anything with stats can be made into a character.

The Rifle is a Tredregar M-1907 in .303 British.

The Pistol is an H&R M-1896A2 in .455 Browning. .455 Browning is identical to .45 ACP in our world. It's a legacy of the political alliance with Deseret just after WW1 where some attempt was made at commonality.

I am kinda stunned at how much background I put together for this character. The setting allowed us to have a character who was not from the world. The character background didn't matter so much; but I detailed it anyways.

Utah (and some surrounds) is Deseret. The CSA includes New Mexico and Mexico and a bit of Colorado. The US became aligned with French interests after the civil war and the CSA with British. A bit of reconciliation happened between them during WW1 because they both fought against the Germans.

The handgun Bill carries is not the standard issue pistol for CSA troops. Each state issues it's own sidearms in .455 Browning (mostly designs from the SLC Arsenal of Deseret). The Mauser was adopted nearly universally for issue to Orc troops as an NCO test. The prospective NCO is issued their Broomhandle when promoted to corporal. If it's still in working order at the end of a year they keep their rank and are eligible for further promotion. A complicated design was a feature.

The world Bill is from contains the standard D&D races, human, elf, dwarf, orc... With orcs taking on the oppressed minority role wherever it shows and elves assuming the elite job. So blacks, chinese and irish in North America are played by Orcs. People like the Vanderbilts and Roosevelts (and royal families) are played by elves. Important inventors and scientists are almost all dwarves.

It's overly simplistic, but it's a character background not a developed world setting.

Remember when?

2012-01-29T18:39:00.000-05:00

Fisking was new and inventive?

I used to enjoy them.

Now I would prefer a nice concise refutation or rebuttal after giving a complete quote than the jarring, context destroying point by point dissection.

ADD powers DEactivate!

Sight Unit Infantry Trilux L2A2 Cleaning Completed

2012-01-27T23:45:00.000-05:00

Sanded, primed and painted the dust cover.

Took some of my automotive cleaning products and detailing stuff after the optic.

All in all I am satisfied with how it all turned out.

Thanks Mr Forknobulaxx for finding it and sending it down. Dinner's on me next time we're in the same space.

PICS!

It is really hard to get a good pic of the illuminator working on the sight post.

Those Five Dream Guns...

2012-01-27T18:36:00.000-05:00

At about #2.5 should be a Thompson of some sort.

Definitely an NFA gun no matter what.

Does one go for the SBR or the MG when price is no object? I think that answers itself.

If one is paying for it realistically, the SBR option is best.

This is one of the "why, oh why?" guns in semi.

Heavier than a Garand, pistol caliber, and crappy ergonomics.

Goyle Gat

2012-01-27T17:55:00.000-05:00

Looks like the lovely Harvey will be getting a 1911 before too long.

SIG finally makes one that makes her antennae twitch.

She was an early adopter of .357 SIG.

She kind of got forced into it, in the beginning.

When we started looking around for her first gun I had her handle every single gun at the gun show. What fit her hand best was a Smith and Wesson Sigma. Unfortunately, when we had the money together a couple of weeks later, we couldn't find one anywhere in 9mm or .40. Except at one vendor who only had them in .357 SIG; a round I had never heard of.

We rolled the dice and bought it figuring that we could drop in a .40 barrel later if the round died in the crib.

We never bought that .40 barrel and the round has hung around.

What I noticed about it compared to a 9x19mm is it shoots VERY flat and the report is much sharper.

She has discovered that she just plain likes the round.

I'm thrilled at her interest in the new gun because I want to get myself a .38 Super 1911. We can do a side by side comparison some day!

Five Guns

2012-01-26T15:44:00.000-05:00

From Robb: What five guns would you get if cost and practicality were no obstacle?

#5: Colt 1911 in .38 Super.

#4: S&W Model 500ES with survival kit. The .460 model is also acceptable.

#3: Mint condition Deutsche Waffen und Munition Fabrik am Neckar Brazilian M-1908 in 7x57mm Mauser.

#2: Holland and Holland double rifle. .600 Nitro Express is traditional, but it's just as sexy in other calibers.

#1: M2HB, the real holy grail of price is no object firearms. Insanely rare and expensive, check. Expensive ammo, check. Impractically large and heavy, check. JMB (PBUH), check. Probulation, check. Does Mother Deuce love you? Yes. Yes she does.

This list changes as I get older.

I restricted myself to real guns. If I were to delve into the theoretical...

A modernized Le Mat revolver. Break open and cartridge fed.

1908 Pocket Hammerless with a locking barrel in 9x19mm.

Stainless steel Luger in .45 ACP.

Ayup...

2012-01-26T09:24:00.000-05:00

My buddy, Marv, is notorious for being cheap about gun stuff, especially optics and their mounts.

I tend to spend the big bucks on the name brands.

He was giving me shit about it so I replied;

"When the Zombie Apocalypse©®™ comes, and your stuff breaks, don't come crawling to me asking for 'BRAAAAAAAAAAINS!'"

Conversion

2012-01-26T05:10:00.000-05:00

I've been a GURPS player since Man-To-Man.

I've owned all four editions of the game, but the most volume is by far is the third edition stuff. Lots of goodness there.

Fourth edition changed a lot of things and is, overall, a better designed system.

Since 3rd edition was the standard for 16 years ('88-'04) there's a lot of habit to unlearn when using the new rules.

One way I have been learning the 4th edition is to convert racial templates from 3e to 4e.

Last night I started on Technomancer.

I have the Chimera and Halflings done. The Atomic Lich is next. The changes in edition gives some interesting changes to the point values. The 4e version are MUCH cheaper.

I may even get inspired to pick my work on converting the old 3e Fantasy Bestiary.

If that proceeds well, I might even convert my old AD&D Monster Manual!

I've had Twilight 2000 converted for a while now.

Glad I Skipped It...

2012-01-25T10:15:00.001-05:00

Apparently, I watched it last year...

h/t Ace

Better Yet...

2012-01-24T20:58:00.002-05:00

I was going to live blog the state of the union address while drinking.

I decided to just drink without watching.

Only Ones and "Gun Violence"

2012-01-24T18:43:00.000-05:00

Read up!

Turns out former detectives from New York are just people like the rest of us.

Except for the threating our spouses with a knife, attempted rape, beating them with a hammer then dousing in gasoline and lighting them on fire.

Just like us, only better.

English needs a sarcasm font.

Those Tactical Lever Guns

2012-01-24T09:34:00.000-05:00

I was looking at the pictures again.

Notice one place where there isn't a rail?

The top. You know, where you want one for a scope?

Perhaps we're supposed to mount the scope on one of the side rails for gangsta levah gat action!

Nuclear Energy

2012-01-23T21:08:00.000-05:00

Build nuke plants, build them now.

Bypass the environmentalists by declaring the plants "vital national defense" items.

Notice that environmental bullshit doesn't stop the Navy from getting new subs and carriers? Notice that the greenies don't even slow down the manufacture of nuclear warheads?

They're barred from suing by the national defense exceptions.

Heck, I'll even propose we make all these new plants property of the US Navy, they've got an excellent safety record.

Put the Marines on the fence line and hang, "Use of Deadly Force Has Been Authorized" signs on it.

Edjamakashun

2012-01-23T21:04:00.000-05:00

I have a modest proposal to, if not fix, alter education so that we the people have a fighting chance at fixing it.

To receive federal funds, you must be a federal school. All employees become federal employees. That means no unions, just like air traffic controllers.

If you want to retain all the "local", like the union, you have to go without federal education dollars.

Ain't that a pickle?

Dropping to local control means the local voters will damn sure take it. It will be ironic to watch the teachers decide between their union or the federal teat. Bet they fight to remain union and then get clotheslined by the local school board.

The federal school is not really too different from what we've got today, but deunionizing it can't have too negative an effect on the students.

Intolerance

2012-01-22T22:48:00.000-05:00

Today I was accused of being a fascist because I intensely dislike the constant, idiotic prattle about professional sports.

Let me illuminate why this accusation causes my blood to boil and the red curtain descend.

My great grandfather fled Italy to America, literally steps ahead of the Fascisti police. He left behind his parents, five brothers, six sisters and three children. He never saw any of them again.

Granpa was a labor organizer. The best he was able to find out was they were all murdered for his escape.

I learned a lot from Granpa that didn't gel until long after he'd died. I remember him talking to my father and uncle about it and how to spot it.

To be called a fascist when my Great Grandfather had lost so much saving his wife and four other children? It's a good thing I am a non-violent person by nature.

Goodbye Facebook

2012-01-22T21:37:00.001-05:00

I deleted my Facebook account today. I feel sad and liberated.

Gunwalker T-Shirt Outside The Local Branch...

2012-01-22T04:25:00.000-05:00

Doing the weekly cruise around Tampa and we decided to see if the downtown location of Taco Bus was open.

It's not.

Lo and behold what's just a block away?

The building where the local BATFE branch sits!

So I had Marv take a picture. We took a nice wide shot so you could see the address; assuming that everyone knows what the shirt looks like by now. You should buy one while they're still available.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Tampa Field Division
400 North Tampa Street, Suite 2100

Tampa, Florida 33602 USA

Special thanks to Sean D Sorrentino for selling the shirts!

PS: It's 0130 EST so we weren't going inside. The signs on the doors indicate that the Tampa St. entrance is closed and to please use the Madison St. entrance. Bet that's where the metal detectors are.

My God; It's Full Of Stars!

2012-01-21T00:29:00.000-05:00

I took the L2A2 outside to show off the illuminator to Harvey.

On a whim I looked at Betelgeuse. Because it's merely a four power optic, I didn't expect a lot.

Holy snot!

Whoever ground the glass for the Brits didn't rip them off! This little thing can sure pull in light.

I'd read that it was developed to help Brit soldiers in low light, low contrast conditions that were all to common in Northern Ireland. Light gathering was a requirement.

They succeeded.

I could even make out a couple of moons near Jupiter.

Initial Cleaning

2012-01-19T16:47:00.001-05:00

The Brits used paint on the dust cover instead of blue or parkerization to protect the metal. Brake cleaner takes that paint right off.

TJIC Related Gun Activity

2012-01-19T14:41:00.000-05:00

I'm going to be buying materials to return this L2A2 Sight Unit Infantry Trilux to service.

Here are the "before" pictures.

I was worried that it was going to be a lot worse than it is. I'll be posting pics as I work on cleaning up the rust.

SOPA/PIPA

2012-01-18T09:48:00.000-05:00

Trying to read my web comics this morning.

Lots of protest posted. Lots of urgings to write my congress critters.

Lots of unawareness that SOPA got shelved.

I realize that for lots of people those notices are their first notice that there's anything afoot.

I wrote my "representation" a while ago, weeks ago, and discovered that both of my senators were sponsors. Dunno where my representative stood, he didn't send a specific reply.

However, I am not going to gag myself to make a point.

Today I urge you to declare war on the bastards who wrote this bill. Hollywood, RIAA and MPAA.

Hoist the jolly-roger and get to downloading! Remember, if you're paying for content, you're funding the lobbyists who are petitioning to have you censored!

Stop renting, buying and attending! Don't give them one more dime at the very least, stealing from them has attained the moral high-ground in the same way that killing does when someone's broken into your house.

Projects

2012-01-18T00:13:00.000-05:00

My friend Forknobulaxx (two 'x's because that's cooler) once bought an L1A1 from me.

Included was an L2A2 Sight Unit Infantry Trilux.

He sold the FAL but didn't sell the scope.

I asked him to keep an eye out for it and he did eventually find it.

It had been in the box, in the basement, when said basement flooded.

Through much whining and cajoling, he agreed to send it down to me, and it's presently somewhere between Des Moines and Jacksonville.

I am looking forward to this challenge!

There's an LED illuminator for the sight post, dunno if it survived being submerged. However its eminent arrival has me firing up the CAD program and drawing up a replacement unit with a receptacle for a tritium vial. I am excited!

Silly Guns

2012-01-17T19:20:00.002-05:00

I find the allure of the S&W Governor nearly irresistible.

It's bloody useless, like The Judge that inspired it; but I can't help wanting one.

It will be the perfect companion piece to one of these:

EDIT:
As suggested, I think I am ready for WTF Three Gun Action!

Then I will have to get a cowboy action ensemble together.

Think along the lines of a time traveller thinking that Buffalo Bob was historically accurate in how cowboys dressed... And then rolled an 18 on his Research/TL 11 roll anyways...

I am off to make a character, I think.

UPDATE:

I was just gripped with terror about my idea. What if it catches on? A Howdy Doody Class in SASS?

Cop Or Soldier?

2012-01-17T15:44:00.000-05:00

Cop or Soldier? » Create A Quiz @ProProfs

I did pretty good. Found in Jennifer's head.

Violence And Responses To It

2012-01-17T03:12:00.002-05:00

Joan, Jami...

Following your fine example I assume the mantle of victim.

I mentioned it here.

I was the victim of physical abuse at the hands of my fellow students in 5th through 11th grade. In Nevada, Iowa; Ames, Iowa; and Blaine, Minnesota.

That's more than five years of being verbally and physically assaulted, nearly always by someone who was bigger and stronger than me. The school administration(s) did nothing to prevent the attacks or punish my tormentors until I fought back, then we were punished together.

As I mentioned the abuse stopped once I made it painful for the bully.

I didn't discover some odd event that only worked in one place. I found the cure in Nevada, just as I moved to Ames. I found the cure again in Blaine, just as I moved back to Ames. The cure worked again in Ames.

Not just once. Every time. I only won one of those fights. My last one in Blaine. But it moved me from the prey category the bullies prefer. I may have only been promoted from rabbit to porcupine, but I was no longer victimized.

I've been assaulted by jocks from Iowa State University for wearing the wrong kind of shirt in "their" bar. I've watched the campus and city police do everything in their power to avoid actually punishing the athlete and thus destroying their hopes at a professional career. I was threatened with prosecution if I made an issue of it and pressed charges (particularly since I gave better than I got in that fight).

Every experience with being the victim of violence has convinced me that I am on my own. That the only way to stop the attack is to make the attacker unable to continue.

I have also noticed that once is seldom enough, you have to prove you will fight back every time.

What really changed for me since high school is I am perfectly willing to teach the lesson once, and finally now. Attacking me and my loved ones carries a death sentence now.

My wife is also a victim. Her story is not mine to tell. I do know that the nightmares stopped shortly after she bought her first firearm.

2012-01-16T17:13:00.002-05:00

New background. The view from under my desk.

Branches of the Military

2012-01-16T16:44:00.000-05:00

I'm mocking someone on Facebook about whether service in the Air Force is military service. Their panties are in a bunch because they are taking offense for someone whom they like who was in the USAF.

Funny thing is, I tend to get Air Force vets on my side of this argument. It's one of the classic jokes we veterans tell ourselves. Right up there with Marines being stupid and sailors being a bit light in the step.

That got me to looking up what the branches of the military really were.

Originally there were five in the US.

Army
Navy
Coast Guard
Coastal Artillery
Lighthouse Service

Two of those no longer exist.

By World War Two the Lighthouse Service had become part of the Coast Guard and Coastal Artillery had been absorbed by the Army (with some installations becoming Navy).

World War Two era had

Army
Navy
Coast Guard

Today we have

Army
Navy
Air Force
Coast Guard (Maybe since they aren't DoD but fall under Navy command in time of war)

Notice the Marines don't get mentioned? They're part of the Navy the same way that the US Army Air Corps was. That Corps designation is no accident.

All the jokes aside, I know of damn few veterans who don't mock the other services. I know even fewer veterans who have no respect for the other services when they indulge in the mockery. Most of us will also treat the Marines as if they are their own branch because culturally they sure as hell aren't Navy.

The View From...

2012-01-16T03:49:00.000-05:00

Two bloggers I read have "The View From..." as part of their title.

Tam's is The View From The Porch.

Joe Huffman is The View From North Central Idaho.

My blog title is not very catchy.

Should I change it to honor Joe and Tam while also mocking Colin Goddard?

The View From Under The Desk?

Anyone?

Honestly I thought of it while I was rerouting the rat's nest of cables for my desktop then realized there was some mockery in it.

WW2 Films...

2012-01-15T22:49:00.000-05:00

I do not wish to belittle the accomplishments of 332nd Fighter Group during World War Two. The Tuskegee Airmen and Red Tails are certainly good films to tell their tales. I am not certain it needed to be told twice (with some of the same actors no less).

I've only seen one mention of the 442nd Infantry Regiment in film. I think it deserves better than a mention-in-passing in a pop-culture popcorn film.

The 92nd and 93rd Infantry Divisions deserve better mention than Spike Lee's abominable Miracle at St Anna. If you're going to tell their story, try to tell it in a locale where they were actually at! The 92nd was in Italy during WW2 and the nazis massacred a bunch of people at St Anna are just about the only facts to survive filming, the book was only slightly better.

There are stories of valor untold with all of these units. Stories that could be told better than Lucas, Spielberg or Lee can.

Impossibility

2012-01-15T16:05:00.000-05:00

This thought burbles up every time I think about things like the Holocaust.

I want it to be impossible for the government to violate my rights, not merely forbid it or make it irritating to them.

For example: gun registration. If there is no list of guns, the government cannot print it and go seize the guns from the registered owners. That makes confiscation an iffy exercise.

I want it to be impossible.

Citizens being killed for defending themselves from the police breaking down the door? That becomes impossible if we eliminate the no knock search warrant.

Prohibition II is why we have those searches.

The crime associated with drugs is real. It was bad enough that people wanted something done about it. We've crossed the line to where enforcing the laws concerning drugs has become worse for us than the drugs and crimes associated with them combined.

Do you worry more about the cops getting the wrong address in a drug raid or a junky mugging you?

I have laws that protect me if I do something about a mugger, I have nothing to protect me from police incompetence. Except the police themselves. Unfortunately they've shown they are unreliable about punishing their "bad apples". Officer Roid Rage from Canton, Ohio will likely face no sanction to further employment as a police officer, let alone face charges of assault. It appears likely that he would still be employed as a cop in Canton except the city council fears personal liability for lawsuits that are sure to come.

My attitude is not helped even the slightest by the most common interaction a citizen has with the police. Traffic stops. Odds are you have been pulled over for doing something everyone else was doing at the same time and had done every day for years. Except now it's a crime, here's your fine. The cops enforcing traffic laws and serving fines have become tax collectors.

Red light cameras are often presented as being "for safety" but every mention of them after installation is about revenue. Speaking of those abominations. Farmer's Insurance is out $3,000 because the brakes on a 2008 Corvette will stop a car for a yellow light in a light rain whereas the brakes on a 1991 Tercel will not. But I didn't have to pay a fine. It would have been safer for me to continue on through the yellow, even it was tinged a bit red. Instead I got a new rear fascia and some poor guy will get his rates increased.

I hesitate to hand the government at any level any power. Once they have power, power will be abused. Perhaps not right away, but eventually. Power, once attained, is extremely difficult to remove.

Meme Clarification and Going Godwin

2012-01-15T14:57:00.000-05:00

Weer'd is continuing the "debate" with Joan Peterson about how callous we were about our candles and guns. I'd like to explain why I included the above photo with my series.

It's grainy but something stands out very quickly. Who has guns? There are none evident in this picture. The two nazi officers are probably carrying sidearms. When the populace is disarmed it only takes two handguns to make many more do what they're told.

When I read about the Holocaust I was shocked. Literally amazed.

I took the time while I was a solider to go to the memorials made from the death camps. Dachau in Germany and Auschwitz in Poland. The two locations are significant. If the Holocaust had not occurred, one side or the other in the Cold War had a vested interest in revealing the sham of the other side. Both Poland and West Germany had memorials. Large memorials.

My candle and "assault rifle" are symbolic of my intent to violently resist government violence and murder not the more mundane criminal violence my carry guns are for.

I say mundane, but it's actually far less common than government murder.

Hobbies...

2012-01-14T03:06:00.001-05:00

One of my hobbies is flight sims.

My favorite is Thirdwire's Strike Fighter 2 series.

A neat thing about the series is there's no DRM and you can make mods to do things like add planes and play "what-if" scenarios.

F-104A of 9 Squadron; Royal Jordanian Air Force during the Six Day War.

F-104A of 9 Squadron; Royal Jordanian Air Force during the Yom Kippur War.

This is actually an F-104G that's standing in for the F-104A because I don't have a model for the A. Close enough for "what if" work! The Jordanians did not use their F-104s during either the Six Day War or Yom Kippur War historically. In 1967 they hadn't taken full delivery and the US told them to move what they had to Turkey or no more support. In 1973 Jordan actually warned Israel of the impending war.

What if #2 for this plane and squadron is going to HAVE to be playing the Six Day War campaign AGAINST Israel and then Yom Kippur on Israel's side.

The F-104 is kind of a Holy Grail plane with this series. It was originally part of the first release of Strike Fighters way back when (2000) and has been sorely missed since it was removed from the game in later releases.

I have four versions of the Starfighter available to me that are acceptable. F-104G and three variations of the CF-104. I have files to add cruder versions of the F-104A (early variation without the gun) and F-104C. They are direct ports from SF1 and are very clunky.

Quiz Time!

2012-01-13T12:12:00.000-05:00

Click Me

How'd you do? I missed two.

Hat-Tip: Smallest Minority

Thank You!

2012-01-12T19:00:00.000-05:00

Read this (if you haven't already seen it).

I read it a few days ago. I didn't know what to say.

I've found something to say now.

Thank you for welcoming US into YOUR life!

Zits

2012-01-12T13:03:00.000-05:00

I have been studying my 640-3 pictures and I think I've spotted the mechanism for the failure when it occurs.

The lug on the flag that I ground off lays in a track in the hammer. That groove has a detent in it. When the locking cam pushes the flag to the locked position, the lug engages in that detent.

When you rotate the cam to unlocked a small spring pulls the flag back down and returns the lug to the track. This small spring is the only thing keeping the flag in the unlocked position.

I think what may be the mode of failure is that teeny little spring coming unseated and letting the lug pop up where it's not intended to go. The angles are such that the flag has to be moving around a bit every shot and heavy hitting rounds will make it move more. Because its intended to have enough mechanical advantage to keep the hammer from moving while locked, if it gets to where its not supposed to be, it will lock it up.

I would be curious to see how many revisions of this feature there are and the drawing histories at S&W to see if they've been quietly addressing it or ignoring it.

Uneducated?

2012-01-11T14:17:00.001-05:00

Jami Regs, what have you done?

I hold an associates degrees in Mechanical Drafting (with certificate) and Machine Design. I have a bachelors degree in Business Administration.

What have you done?

I've laid out and drawn up water purification systems that allow tens of thousands of people in the US, Canada and Mexico to have clean, safe tap water.

I've participated in the design of waste water treatment plants that save the lives of, literally, millions of people by preventing disease and pollution of the water supply.

I've designed bulk materials handling systems that move flour from silos and into mixers so that people may eat. Systems that have to operate continuously and safely.

I've helped design dispensing machines that provide milk to poverty stricken mothers in Mexico.

I helped with a manifold that allows pilots to breathe at 15,000 plus feet.

I've helped with manifold designs that are in several life-saving medical devices in use around the world.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, JAMI?

My beer guzzling, uneducated hillbilly ass has a lot of accomplishments that I am damned proud of and that not just anyone can do.

Before you decide to play the misogynist card here. I am presently a stay-at-home dad of a mentally challenged boy. My wife is the sole bread winner here and her degrees, education and accomplishments far exceed my own.

That's just my professional life, Jami.

My hobbies are all pretty involved as well. Autodidactic Polymath is a phrase you should learn, Miss. It applies to a lot of gun-owning, RPG playing, hot-rodding, science fiction writing geeks. "Specialization is for insects," R. Heinlein.