It's True

"When you study history you realize people have been this stupid for thousands of years."
—Old Vaquero Saying

Taken from Bob Boze's site. 

While I Enjoy Them

While I enjoy a good conspiracy theory, I don't indulge in them.

I also don't much tolerate the theorists either.

I will smile politely while they spew, occasionally grunting or nodding, but mostly I'm waiting for them to run down and talk to someone else for a while.

It has been so for me since I discovered Occam's Razor.

So, using the barometer of "the simplest explanation that fits all of the known facts is likely the truth."

The holocaust happened.

Lee Harvey Oswald, working alone, shot and killed president Kennedy.

The United States, in six separate missions, landed 12 men on the moon and returned them safely to earth.

The white cloud behind an airplane at high altitude is just the water vapor from the exhaust freezing.

All helicopters are black under the paint.

Every train full of armored vehicles is on a rail line that leads to or from a depot or training center. 

Not every time US and Israeli interests align means that Israel controls Washington DC.

It's almost never "The Jews."  Antisemitic conspiracy theories have their own section in many lists.  I've covered USS Liberty before.

Near as I can tell, enthusiasts for such theories don't read history or pay much attention to politics.

I Can't Be The Only One

Am I the only person who's a little disappointed that Jimmy Carter didn't live to see Iran toppled?

I am pleased to see that Obama did. 

I Know Why

 

Why didn't POTUS tell Congress?

So they wouldn't tell Iran the exact moment it was going to start.

But, OK, Tom, the president needs Congress to approve of a war.  What are you waiting for?  Tehran to get nukes and make a parking lot out of NYC?

Iran has been pushing for this fight for nearly 40 years, where have you been on stopping it?

Go on, Tom, tell me you would have authorized these strikes if you'd been asked.

But we both know better, don't we?

You've a stated position that the US should do nothing militarily until Congress votes.  Regardless of how timely that vote might be.

I read your bill.

The bill that failed.

Stop acting like it passed and was signed into law. 

A Little Nervous

 Tampa is the home of MacDill Air Force Base.

MacDill is the home of CENTCOM, which is the command that's responsible for the Middle East and, therefore, Iran.

I worry that, thanks to some idiots on the blue side of the aisle, we've let in cells of sappers and saboteurs who will attack the base and its surrounds.

Controlling the border is important.

Getting Mexico to stop being a sieve for every foreign national on the planet looking to get into America would be good too. 

It's On

Israel and the US are attacking Iran as I type this.

Ain't really sure how I want to feel, but I do feel that we've owed them a couple since they attacked our embassy.

It'd be great if the Iranian people got rid of their theocracy and resumed being our friends.

Chasing The Zero

Went shooting with The Lovely Harvey today.

We did rifles again and she's learning where to put the stock into her RoboShoulder® on her AR and her groups are about half what they were last time we took out her AR.

Huzzah!

I decided to bring Dottie to get the SPARC AR zeroed.

It seemed as if I'd done so at 25 yards, but it was massively high and left at 50 yards.

No problem, just dial the knobs a bit...

I then proceeded to send the group back and forth past the point of aim for another 20 rounds.

The adjustment on the SPARC is coarser than I thought and I was cranking the knobs too far.

The last ten rounds actually went where I wanted, but I was getting irritated and I vertically string when I'm irritated.

It's a known problem and I'm working on it.  Most of the time, I'm successful.

It Was The Bulb!

My OG MX-991/U flashlight wasn't working right.

It sure appeared to be the switch, and that would mean it's dead.

There's no access to the guts of the switch to fix it because of rivets and waterproofing.

I was somewhat inconsolable about this, especially after electrical wizard Marv wasn't able to improve its functioning.

While expressing my sadness to FuzzyGeff, I decided that if it wasn't going to work, it was time to toss it.

Noticing that it had a replacement LED bulb in it, I decided to swap it out for an incandescent in one of the brand new examples I bought.

The new light now has a switch problem.

This, troubleshooters, is what we call an indicator.

So I put an incandescent bulb into the old light and, viola!  It works fine.

So I try an LED bulb from a, different, physically broken example I've been saving for parts...  Works fine.

Happy dance!

The LED module in the bulb on the OG light appears to have failed in a way that mimics a bad switch.

Said It Before

Being free of the shackles of USGI issue cleaning gear makes owning an AR so much more fun.

Break-Free CLP and paper towels just doesn't do the job efficiently.

Yes, I need both a solvent AND a lubricant, but...

Oh, and I really prefer a boresnake to a cleaning rod.

How's This For An Exonym

Ever since known Canadian Sean "Kromm" Punch ticked me off toeing the Party line of inclusion and fairy dust at SJG Forums, particularly about exonyms...

Then all the bitching about getting silver in Hockey...

"Syrupean."

This handily takes the place of "Snow Mexican."

Going Dutch

Again, you can't go too far wrong saying, $35, 3 lb.; DR 4 for any 20th century steel helmet.

The Dutch M34 is a decent example.  It's 2.8 lb. (2.2 to 3.3 lb. depending on the size, actually).

There's about five versions of almost the same steel with different means of sitting it on your noggin.

In GURPS terms... all the same!

The M34 ($35, 2.8 lb.; DR 4 skull) is an M23/27 ($30, 2.8 lb.; DR 4 skull) with different suspension and later versions have no crest.

The M38 KNIL is the tropical version of the M34 with a leather nape drape ($40, 3.4 lb.; DR 4 skull, DR 2* head and neck (rear)).

Romania bought the M34 as the md.39.

In 1953 The Dutch adopted the US M1 helmet with fiberglass liner as the M53.

Things Are Going Swimmingly

 

I am not going to say, one way or the other, but the YouTube recommended channels that are covering the war in Ukraine are sure upbeat that the end is near for Russia and Putin.

Call me cynical, but I seem to remember this kind of upbeat messaging before.

But this time there's an interesting side thread from the guys who are keeping track of Russia's tank storage depots.  They're getting pretty damn empty.

Production of new tanks, recovery and repair of damaged tanks and refurbishment of stored tanks isn't keeping up with losses, it seems.

And it isn't just tanks disappearing from these depots.  Infantry combat vehicles and self propelled guns are being consumed as well.

It's a war of attrition and Russia seems to be suffering more attrition, or at least looks to be running out of stuff fast enough that they will run out before Ukraine does.

This will be really bad for Russia, they have more than one enemy across their vast borders who might just take advantage of their inability to defend them. 

Or it's Ukrainian propaganda... 

Need A Better Way To Say It

If you're rolling on the random hit location, the head is divided into two hit locations.

If you roll 3-4, that's the skull and you use the special rules for the damage.

If you roll a 5, that's the head and it's not much different from a hit to the body.

The front of area 5 is the face.  The back is...

"Head (rear)"?  "Back of the head"?  "Head not face"?

I'd like a short way to say it for the helmet table because a lot of modern helmets protect the back of the head and the nape of the neck.

It kind of amuses me that, technically, I can buy head protection that doesn't protect the CPU. 

It's Already On The Gun

When I was dithering about buying a retro set of handguards for Dottie, I had put them in the cart then closed the window.

This triggered Brownell's to start sending me emails asking if I was still interested in the item.

Obviously, I was because...

I checked out, paid, waited for shipping, and installed them.

I'm still getting emails asking if I am still interested and to hurry because stock is getting low.

Glitch in their matrix. 

Blurring Together

You will not go far wrong saying that a 20th century steel helmet is about 3 lb and gives DR 4.

But...

GURPS normally likes to put stuff in chronological order, alphabetical is better for when you're getting it organized.

I'm not sure how many more I need.

But I've found some interesting things.  The British Helmet, Combat, General Service, Mk 6 is not made from Kevlar.  It's made from ballistic nylon and barely gives better protection than an M1 steel pot from the same era.  It's barely lighter, but a lot more comfortable.

There's no "comfort" stat in GURPS. 

I am also finding that many GURPS books simply got the weights wrong.  I noticed this when I weighed my Finnish M1916 helmet.  Now that I'm actively checking, I'm finding lots of disparities.

But some of these books predate the internet.  Nerds and geeks are weighing their militaria and putting their measurements online now!

Even so, I have averaged a couple weights because they come in several sizes...

Armour

You get a bonus 'u' in the title for armor because so many of my reference books are British!

I've got a little project going where I'm trying to make GURPS stats for armor from the early 20th century to today.

I decided to do this because of my "Steel Helmet" listing in my T2K conversion.

While the stats are, generally, the same between all steel helmets, they are not all the same.

Just like the only difference between 9mm pistols in GURPS is the number of shots and the weight.

Should be fun, and repetitive.

Probably going to limit to major versions and not sweat the minutia like the differences in the rim on M1 helmets. 

I will also endeavor to use brigandine correctly and not let spell checker trick me into saying brigantine again. 

Gun Shopping

A buddy of mine has, mostly, decided to get his first gun.

He's got a degenerative neurological disorder, so his grip strength can vary a lot.

So I suggested the S&W M&P 2.0 Shield EZ in 380.

It's got several features that are designed to make it easier to operate and load.

We found one in stock for $500 at the store that has one of those handgun "petting zoos" where you can rack the slide and pull the triggers on guns that have been defanged and are tethered to a display.

He felt that was a bit much, so I suggested the store I normally shoot at.

They had it for $450 and he almost dropped the money on the counter.

A major snag was the stupid waiting period.  If he'd bought Tuesday, he'd have had to schlep back down here from Ocala on Saturday to get it.

This might be a blessing in disguise!

Marv has found several on Gunbroker for $400 buy it now and a few even lower.

The problem is shipping and the transfer fee.  It's easy to add the money you saved right back onto the purchase.

PLUS!  He's a first time buyer who's not familiar with how us long-time owners do things.  Though, he's a wheeler-dealer with other things, he's prolly familiar enough with how it works in a different context that he wouldn't be totally confused by it.

The FFL closest to him wants $40.  That means that shipping would have to beat $10 to be better than my local range.  Or the price needs to be lower than $400...

I can see him shopping hard and bidding on the cheaper guns until he got lucky.

I Was Today Years Old

Today I learned that the M88 tank recovery vehicle is based on the M48, not off the M60 as I'd assumed.

It's an easy mistake to make, I think.  Especially with the M88A1 that got a lot of stuff from the M60 series, like the M48A3 did.

Wikipedia makes the same error.

PASGT v ISAPO v 6B3 v OTV

The PASGT vest is DR 10/5*.  It's flexible armor where you get better protection against pi and cut.  It's 9 lb.

The ISAPO adds a DR 25 ceramic plate to the front and back, making it DR 35.  It's 25.5 lb. total.

The 6B3TM is DR 23/12* flexible armor that gives better protection against pi and cut.  If you get get hit from the front or back, the titanium plates make it DR 40.  It's 26.9 lb.

The 6B3TM-01 is an improved version has thinner rear plates, giving just DR 26.  So DR 40 from the front, 26 from the rear and 23/12* from the sides.  It's 18.1 lb.

The OTV (Interceptor) is a 12/5* flexible vest that you can add ceramic plates to.  DR 35 with SAPI plates installed.  8.4 lb. by itself.  12.4 lb. with just the front plate, 16.4 lb, with front and back plates, 25.6 lb with front, back and side plates (but DR 35 all around!).

E-SAPI plates make the DR 47 with one level of hardened which drops the armor divisor one step, but there's no side plate.  So 13.9 with just the front plate, 19.4 lb. with front and back and 28.6 lb. with E-SAPI front and back and SAPI sides.  17.9 lb, with E-SAPI in front and SAPI in back...  Modular armor is tedious!

Body Armor

I've got notes about GURPS armor all over the place.

I'm getting it compiled.

Getting all the liners for the M1 helmet in a file rather than on this blog is a good idea I think.

It's resulting in, further, changes to my T2K conversion.

Isn't it odd that research always results in changes?

The 6BZT is replaced by the 6B2 and supplemented with the 6B3T and 6BTM-01.

Got to really have a think about a, relatively, thick aramid vest with titanium plates.

It's kinda brigandine in construction.  <-- Fixed.  Spell checker thinks I meant ships.

Nail Biter

Damn, that was a Hell of a game!

Glad I managed to avoid seeing who'd won before I watched the rebroadcast.

U!

S!

A!

Happy hockey dance!

Cooling

At our last AC service I asked what speed the air handler's fan was set to and they told me "Medium."

They'd moved it down from "High" when they installed our spiffy new non-leaking ducts and the main bedroom has had abysmal air flow ever since.

This has pissed us off since the install because, despite dumping half the cooled air into the attic, the bedroom was never uncomfortable with the old duct work.  Even with the door closed

The manager/owner's only suggestion was to leave the door open or to get an additional air return installed in the bedroom.

I don't see where they'd put it, and I'm not rearranging the stuff I have against the walls to suit this additional charge to fix what I feel they broke.

In the meantime, I have baby gates over the bedroom door to keep Beeper and Shadow separated.

I've also had a fan on the floor blowing into the bedroom, hoping to pull the correct temperature air from the rest of the house into the bedroom.  Which does work, but the bedroom is always closer to the outside temp than the rest of the house.  Usually warmer.

Today, thinking about that air return idea, I turned the fan around.

That little extra flow out of the room has really helped air come out of the duct and keep it at the proper temp.  Though I fretted a but because that triggered the AC to run more often for a little while as things in the bedroom shed heat.

Eyes crossed that this will work. 

0800 EST

Team USA and Team Canada will be playing for the gold medal in men's hockey this morning at 0800EST.

I will not be getting up to watch it.

I don't get over the air NBC and I'm not paying for the Peacock channel.

USA, which we do get, is rebroadcasting the game at 1630.

I will have my head buried in the sand until then so the outcome of the game isn't spoiled.

We are somewhat conflicted about whom to root for.

Team Canada is being coached by the coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Team USA is the HOME TEAM.

We like coach Cooper a lot, but...

I think we will be rooting for USA.

Old Ass Guns

My Colt Pocket-Hammerless .380 turns 100 this year.  I carried it, appropriately, in my pocket for a couple of years.  It's still a perfectly viable option.

It's not the oldest gun I've ever carried.  That honor goes to my Grampa's old H&R revolver, which is 135 years old this year.  It's obsolete, but I still wouldn't want to get shot with it.

I think this also underscores a huge problem with gun control.

Guns don't really have an expiration date.

If they miss even one 100 year old pistol, someone could put the idea behind the old Liberator or Deer Gun into practice.

More Lancer L5 AWM30 Information

Internally it's a constant curve design.

Accepts USGI stripper clip spoons and any compatible system (like a StripLULA). 

The spring is a bog-standard USGI spring.*

The baseplate comes off to the rear, which means that if the gun lands on it; it is not forced forward off the gun, like PMAG Gen M2 MOE and earlier.

While it does not drop free from any aluminum lower I own, it does drop freely from a KP-15 lower. 

It's got an excellent set of grippy nubbins along the bottom half that helps you get and keep a hold on the magazine should it not fall free. 

You read how many rounds are left by looking at the round that's next to the number instead of a painted section of the spring.

25 rounds lines up with a rib between the 20 and 30 marks.

Compare with the markings and photos of the TMAG-30 in this post.

How it compares to the TMAG-30.

 * It should be noted that the current USGI spring is not the bog-standard USGI spring.  With the tan and blue followers they changed the top loop of the spring and where it passes through the follower.  See this post for details.

Breaking News

This is an epic backpedal!

 DAYUM!

And It's Tommy This And Tommy That

Thanks Obama Trump!

In the ever expanding web of, "how can we break promises and fuck over veterans," traditions of the VA, your disability will be rated on how well treatment is working instead of how bad you're broken.

This is going to set off another round of veterans avoiding care so as to keep their disability ratings.

Even worse is the, apparently, illegal skipping of the comment period before implementation.

Get on the phone to your local congress creature.  Especially the ones who keep telling you they're for the vets. 

Update: The American Legion has found the comment site.

Link: https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/VA-2026-VBA-0067-0001

A Brief History Of .38 Super

 

Not That Shocked

Reason magazine reporting on ATF's back door gun registry made from digitizing out of business FFL's 4473's.

The only way to keep ATF, or others, from accumulating the information and making a registration database from it is to outlaw the collecting of it in the first place.

They'll NEVER do that. 

Department Of Redundancy Department

I've been posting about things I'm doing and updating and bringing forward old posts that relate to the things I've been doing...

Which puts two very similar posts right next to each other...

For now.

Many of them will be updated again and brought forward, putting distance between the posts later.

I makes me wonder how many of my readers delved into the archive from the beginning.

I look back from time to time and see that my position has changed on a couple things, and not at all on others.

Some things without changes have gotten new posts where I try to better mean what I am saying.  Sometimes I do a better job with successive iterations.  Other times... 

History of Dottie

Dottie has seen almost as many changes as Kaylee.

Dottie's name derives from a line in the movie, "Armageddon". The amateur astronomer who discovers the planet killing asteroid wants to be able to name it after his wife, Dottie, because she's a life sucking bitch from which there is no escape.

Dottie is a "franken AR", her parts are from everywhere. The lower is Spike's Tactical, the lower parts kit is CMMG. The upper is a mid-length Dissipator upper from Palmetto State Armory.  Handguards are Brownell's Retro.  Optic is a Vortex SPARC AR.

SPARCly

It would appear that Vortex is either discontinuing the SPARC AR or is getting ready to replace it in the lineup.

Either way Palmetto State had them marked down from $270 to $70.

I already had an American Defense mount that's compatible with it laying around, so...

Dottie gets a red dot!

That, of course, means the fixed rear sight needed replaced with a Magpul MBUS3.

Still quite handy at 9 lb. with the optic.

USGI 30-Round M16 Series Magazine Comparo Part One

51 years of magazine history here.

Left to Right:

Colt p/n 62667 gray aluminum body, emerald green 62665A follower
NSN 1005-00-921-5004 gray aluminum body, black follower
NSN 1005-00-921-5004 gray aluminum body, light green follower
NSN 1005-00-561-7200 gray aluminum body, tan follower
NSN 1005-01-615-5169 black, windowed PMAG-30 M3
NSN 1005-01-630-9508 tan aluminum body, sky-blue follower
NSN 1005-01-659-7086 medium coyote tan, windowed PMAG-30 M3

As you can see, the Colt design from 1967 is really still in service.

The original has a plain steel spring and a very dark green follower.

62665A follower on left.

It's stamped with Colt's part number.

The first 30-rounder to rate a National NATO Stock Number (NSN), in 1972, is very much the same magazine as the Colt 62667.  The coating changes from a plain, clear anodizing to a light-gray anodizing with a dry-film lubricant both inside and out.

The, now black, follower is virtually identical to the dark green Colt.

NSN 1005-00-921-5004 on right.

The spring was changed from plain steel to a coated/plated steel:

Colt on left, black-follower on right.

Desert Storm showed there was something wrong with our magazines.  There are several theories as to what exactly was the reason for failure, but the Army decided that it was because the black follower allowed too much tilt and that allowed it to bind up inside the magazine.

So the light green follower was issued under the same NSN.

Service in Iraq and Afghanistan show that the green follower wasn't fully solving the problem.

A teeny start-up in Colorado, Magpul, adds a product to their line-up in 2004.  A replacement follower that fits in a standard USGI 30-rounder and uses the standard spring.  It's use is both banned or grudgingly accepted (sometimes both) depending on unit and commands.

Magpul enters the magazine market in 2007.  Their original PMAG was marketed as a cheap, training magazine and not sold as a "bet your life on it" service magazine.  Many of them find their way into Soldier's and Marines' ammo pouches.  The troops appear to love them.  Several models of PMAG are given an NSN, but none are actually considered issue.  The NSN simply allows unit funds to make purchases without breaking regulations.  Despite the sanctifying NSN, the use of Magpul's baby is banned more than once by various levels of command, and these bans are rescinded several times as well.

The popularity of the plastic magazines from Magpul and a strong feeling of "Not Invented Here!" along with noting that the Self-Leveling-Followers appeared to fix the problems with 1005-00-921-5004 causes the Army to adopt NSN 1005-00-561-7200 in 2009.

The big change is a tan follower with stronger anti-tilt features.

They changed which side the stagger starts on too.

The new tan follower has a very strong resemblance to Magpul's...

The spring is also changed because it goes through the follower nearer the center.

Light Green on left, Tan on right.

Magpul keeps updating and upgrading their PMAG as well, resulting in the Gen M3 in 2013.  This magazine, depending on color and features, is also issued an NSN.

Citing problems with the new M855A1 ammunition's steel tip striking the aluminum lower portion of the feed ramps, yet another change to the magazine is made in 2016, given NSN 1005-01-630-9508 and dubbed the "Enhanced Performance Magazine" or EPM.

The body changes color from an anodized gray to a painted tan.  It appears, to me, that this paint is applied over the top of gray anodizing...  The mouth of the magazine is altered slightly to present the noses of the rounds slightly higher so they miss the aluminum below the steel barrel extension.

The follower appears to be the same as before, but now in sky-blue.

The EPM did not prove to be the panacea it was hoped to be.  Some troops complained it didn't really work any better than the old tan-follower mags, it was just easier on the guns.

Several sources noted that the new feed angle was identical to what Magpul had been using since 2007!  Magpul's goal was similar, avoid hitting the aluminum below the barrel extension; but for a different reason.  The M4 carbine had introduced extended feed ramps that went down into the aluminum of the upper receiver because the bolt-speed of the M4 was causing the noses of the rounds to hit the front of the receiver.  Magpul was trying to make a reliable magazine for a market which had not fully embraced the so-called M4 feed ramp.

The EPM caused problems in particular with the Marines' M27 IAR.

So they adopted the PMAG Gen M3, with maglevel window, in both black and medium coyote tan using NSN 1005-01-615-5169 and 1005-01-659-7086 respectively.  They reportedly would have been happy to keep using the green or tan follower magazines, but orders made under those NSN's would start receiving EPM magazines as soon as stocks of the older magazines had been depleted.

The PMAG uses the same spring as the old NSN 1005-00-921-5004 and its follower has no relation to any aluminum body magazine.

EPM on left, Gen M3 on right.

This is because the PMAG doesn't have a curved to straight transition inside, it's a constant curve the entire length.  Colt tried to do a constant curve as early as 1965 but was confounded by their own sloppy dimensional tolerances in the M16's magazine well.

At the time of this writing, it appears that The Army might even be considering following in the USMC's footsteps and adopting the PMAG.  Stay tuned!

USGI 30-Round M16 Series Magazine Comparo Part Two

Now for some measuring.

We're going to check the tilt, and if we can jam up the follower.

We're going to measure from a known point on the gun to the tip of a bullet to see if the feed angles are different.  With four rounds loaded, from the top of the lower to the center of the round with the magazine hanging naturally seems fair.

We're going to assume that the vintage magazines are in good enough shape to get honest measurements.

Kaylee has a typical magwell for a modern AR.  Sabrina is known to be tight.

Colt p/n 62667 gray aluminum body, emerald green 62665A follower
Measures 0.214"
Falls free from both test guns.
Readily tilts and binds.

NSN 1005-00-921-5004 gray aluminum body, black follower
Measures 0.249"
Falls free from both test guns.
Readily tilts and binds.

NSN 1005-00-921-5004 gray aluminum body, light green follower
Measures 0.263"
Falls free from both test guns.
Readily tilts but difficult to bind.

NSN 1005-00-921-5004 gray aluminum body, with light green follower replaced with Gen II Magpul Self Leveling Follower
Measures 0.222"
Falls free from both test guns.
Cannot be made to tilt or bind.

NSN 1005-00-561-7200 gray aluminum body, tan follower
Measures 0.227"
Falls free from both test guns.
Cannot be made to tilt or bind.

NSN 1005-01-615-5169 black, windowed PMAG-30 M3
Measures 0.260"
Falls free from both test guns.
Cannot be made to tilt or bind.

NSN 1005-01-630-9508 tan aluminum body, sky-blue follower "Enhanced Performance Magazine"
Measures 0.327".
Falls free from Kaylee, not from Sabrina.
Cannot be made to tilt or bind.

NSN 1005-01-659-7086 medium coyote tan, windowed PMAG-30 M3
Measures 0.260"
Falls free from both test guns.
Cannot be made to tilt or bind.

Based on tilt and binding issues, Magpul had the problem solved in 2004.  I wonder if it was royalties or not-invented-here that caused the Army to spend taxpayer money recreating the Magpul follower's performance.

UPDATE 18Feb26: I'm consolidating some commercial magazines below from future posts.

Lancer L5 AWM30
Measures 0.265" 
Doesn't fall free from either gun.
Cannot be made to tilt or bind.  Pushing down on the back of the follower will bind going down, but not going up so we're just going to note that and keep an eye on it.

Magpul TMAG-30
Measures 0.262"
Falls free from both test guns.
Cannot be made to tilt or bind. 

Orlite 30-round magazine
Measures 0.210"
Falls free from neither test gun.
Readily tilts and binds.

2012 made Thermold 30-round magazine
Measures 0.159"
Falls free from neither test gun.
Readily tilts and binds.

Brownell's 20-round Retro Steel Waffle Magazine
Measures 0.265"
Falls free from both test guns.
Readily tilts and binds.

Brownell's 25-round Retro Steel Magazine
Measures 0.315"
Falls free from Kaylee, not from Sabrina.
Readily tilts and binds. 

 

 

Bravo

Remember this post?

Based on weight, Bravo is the Lancer L5.

Make your plans for use accordingly. 

Plastic See Thru Magazine

Picked up a Lancer L5 30-rounder today.

Holds 30 rounds?  Yes.

Weighs 3.8 oz. empty and 16.6 oz. loaded with ADI F1A1 ball.

It's got marks so you can see how many rounds you have left.

Plus it's in eye catching translucent green that glows under a black light!

This might be the perfect Zombie Apocalypse™ magazine!

Using the same measuring criteria from this post:

Measures 0.265" 

Doesn't fall free from either gun.

Can't be made to tilt or bind.  Pushing down on the back of the follower will bind going down, but not going up so we're just going to note that and keep an eye on it.

Prolly Quite Warm Where He Is

Depending on the model you use for Hell, Reverend Jackson might be quite warm now.

Though in the Dante model he might be VERY cold because his self enrichment while representing other causes might be considered a betrayal of the public trust and he's frozen in Lake Cocytus.

Still time to repent, Al. 

Deep Stacking

While I don't have the proverbial "ammo fort" made from crates and ammo-boxes, I do have a fair amount of ammo here.

Some of it is from the wild variety of chamberings in the safe.

A thread about the prices of 5.45x39mm made me think about how deep one should stack their ammo supply.

I am happy with how I am doing it.

For the seldom shot guns, a couple of boxes gets me by.

The stuff we shoot a lot, we stock more.

And run out of more...

And it is segregated into what I, jokingly, call training and warshot.

For 9mm the price difference between the carry ammo and the practice ammo is significant.

So we don't shoot that carry ammo as often, just blast through the ammo we'd been carrying occasionally and replace it with fresh.  Not that it's mattered to get fresh ammo, the lint stained stuff has always fired. 

But I would say that if the news were to report on all the ammo here, they'd call it an arsenal or something of the sort. 

There Goes My Vacation Plan

Nepal is poised to pass legislation putting some experience requirements up before someone can tackle Mount Everest.

Apparently, the place is overrun with people who want to climb the mountain, regardless of whether they are able to make it to the top.

The crowds have kept people from making the summit who otherwise would have made it...  easily?  Handily?  I don't know the correct adverb here.

This is news that doesn't affect me a whit.

Despite the lack of crowds, I don't think I can summit Florida's highest peak.

Britton Hill is a lofty 105m above mean sea level and nearly 50 feet from the base camp (the parking lot).

Someday!  Someday... 

"Tanker" Guns

I've seen several "tanker" versions of otherwise normal firearms.

Not a single one, so far, has actually been issued to tank crews.

The primary tanker small arm is a pistol.

In my short few years as a tanker that was an M1911A1 and an M9 (with a sidetrack to Glock 17).

The tank might also have some extra guns too, but they're not special versions.

I learned how to shoot the M3A1 "greasegun" on the off chance I was assigned to a unit that still had M60's because that tank was issued a couple for the crew.

The loader was assigned an M16 in the Abrams.  Trained on the M16A1 in OSUT and issued an M16A2 in Germany.

Lots of photos of M48A3's in Vietnam show greaseguns and M16's laying on top of the turret near the hatches.

I am not sure if Thompsons were issued to tank crews in WW2, but the grease gun was issued both there and Korea.

But all of the weapons you find with tankers from WW2 on have been something issue and nothing created special for armored crew use.