31 July 2009

Idle Hands Are The Devil's Gunsmithy

I ordered an M4 side sling mount for Kevina while Harvey was deciding what sling system she preferred.

Since I now have an M4 barrel on Kaylee, it seems appropriate to change the swivel.


30 July 2009

Free Gun

It's a 1972 Colt Detective Special, .38 Special.


How it compares to a S&W 640-3.


Only one little catch. It's really a defective special. That's a hammer mounted firing pin and the tip is broken off. This is not a hard fix, but parts can be hard to find. The D-Frame is a very common gun, so something should be available.


Special thanks to Garry for not even trying to fix it. Extra special thanks to his son for dry firing it enough to break the pin.

29 July 2009

I Am Home

After the longest vacation I have ever taken I have safely arrived back here at home.

Thanks to Tim for his endless hospitality!

That drive sure seems to get longer and longer each time I make it.

I had a lot of fun, but it's good to be home.

24 July 2009

Middle Class Paying For Health Care

I read that the current plan is to increase taxes on the middle class for the health care plan they are working on.

They are saying that health care cannot be paid for unless the middle class helps pay for it.

Hey, Mr President, Congress: the middle class is already paying for it. If that's how you're going to be, why don't you leave it alone?

20 July 2009

What The Gubmint Does

My position on government involvement is this: The government is already doing all it is supposed to do. Government is also doing a great deal that it shouldn't.

This also means that I don't think that the government should do any more than it already is, in fact, I think it should do a good deal less. It does not mean that I think it should do nothing.

Decision Time

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g8-DEMtAE9q4i4ySQ0eV_qZefmRQD99H6VHO0

One of the core tenants of both the Hague and Geneva conventions is reciprocity. We will follow these rules if you do. We certainly have been. Here is a chance for the Taliban to do so as well.

I fear they will not.

I also fear that we will not do the proper thing when they murder this man and cry "Havoc!"

If they murder our soldier, we should set loose the legions, leave no building standing, no stone unturned, no living thing alive and make the moon appear to be a green oasis by comparison. Leave marble markers in ten languages telling all who see the devastation that it was US who did it and that we did it for ONE MAN!

All for one, one for all.

Update

Alternative plan. We cry havoc NOW and inform them we will keep killing until our man is returned alive. If he's no longer alive, we don't stop until there is no building standing, no stone unturned, no living thing alive and make the moon appear to be a green oasis by comparison, and marble markers in ten languages telling all who see the devastation that it was US who did it and that we did it for ONE MAN are all that is left to say there was ever a human who set foot there!

18 July 2009

Things That Make You Go Hmmmmmmmmm

It comes from here: http://www.stevefielding.com.au/climate_change/

If the data that creates this chart is correct then we are past the point of max effect for CO2 concentration and Global Warming®™ and Anthropogenic Global Climate Change®™ are lies.

Some Good Some Bad

Tim's neighbor has decided that today would be a splendid day to tear out his deck. The deck that's just outside the guest room's window.

Being up, I went through the range pictures and noticed something about one of the pics.


You can see the spent case in mid-ejection. There's also still some light from the muzzle flash illuminating me.

15 July 2009

Grumble

When the 5500 mAh battery in your laptop says that its full charge capacity is 4471 mAh and the charge remaining at 100% is 4341 mAh, you can bet that's the reason your machine shuts off suddenly rather than warning you that your nearing low battery.

Firearm Photography Is Dangerous


Look at the top of the frame, that spent case nailed me right in the forehead. Got a teeny amount of blood too.
Right after I said, "Owwww!" Tim reminded me that his camera had a zoom lens on it and that I didn't need to sit so close to get the shots.

Also notice that Tim took his advice to himself and has his eyes open.

A Day At The Range

We took Tim's AR to the range to get it zeroed. I also popped some 6.8 downrange.


Tim is the photographer here. He caught the flash from the muzzle!


Hey, is that bolt locked to the rear?



Hmmmm, must be...


Tim caught the bolt opening, just before it ejects the round.


After zeroing and starting to enjoy the shooting.


"Don't close your eyes, Tim, it's not helping." Tim Menzel, July 14, 2009.



We're shooting at the close targets (50 yards). You can see the puff of dust from the berm and the round in the air.

SEALs In Nigeria

I recreated the story from "Tears of the Sun" and put it in February 1968.

Tim and FuzzyGeff used their characters from my last trip up and we had a new addition, Justin. He'd never played GURPS before, but picked it up right quick. He is also a good fit with the small group we have.

Things were a little rocky Sunday night for our first session. Tim and I were rusty from lack of gaming and Justin is kinda new to it. Everyone but FuzzyGeff had barely played the 4th edition rules, and even he has not played it extensively.

I missed telling the players a couple of plot points and they missed me telling them some that mattered.

By last night though, I was doing much better and everyone was more into their characters.

All in all, I am happy with how things turned out.

There's even a chance we'll play again before I head home.

PS I also need to remember to call Eric.

PPS And charge my damn phone so I can.

11 July 2009

This Is Me In Iowa

The joys of being mildly bi-polar and on the road.

I have arrived.

Yippie.

Not sure how long I wanna stay.

Tomorrow is fix Tim's front sight and zero his rifle.



It's as much a FrankenAR as any I've seen. He bought it assembled from a vendor at a gun show. The barrel appears to be a chromoly (not chrome lined) Del-Ton 16" M4 profile 1:9; upper is the ubiquitous Cardinal Forge flat-top, lower is a Superior Arms S-15, the rest is common commercial M4 stuff. The hole for the front sight base is super tight and the original assembler of the barrel group appears to have ground the flange of the front sight off so much it was wobbly in the hole and would not engage the front sight detent. We have one on order at Jacobsen's that should be there sometime today.


Here he is enjoying his new toy.

10 July 2009

Well I Don't Think I Will Bother With This Again

It no longer feels like home in any way.

Long drive to find out.

Going home ASAP.

05 July 2009

This Is Where The Party Ends...

I feel like a hypocrite, talking to youuuuuu and OUR racist friend.


Hey, Phil, say CENSORED. One. More. Time.

Tell us how them CENSORED are the ones on welfare.

Tell us how them CENSORED are all drug dealers.

Tell us about our CENSORED president.

GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY DAMN LIFE NOW!

It's not just black people on welfare sponging us to death.

It's not just black people dealing drugs.

You didn't even bother to vote.

04 July 2009

What Have You Made

Something hit me today about several of my ex-friends.

They've never built anything. There is nothing on this earth that is here because they made it.

I built a swing-set, from lumber.

I've built several rifles from their component parts.

I've designed water and sewer treatment systems that provide clean water. Sometimes the water going out the sewer treatment outflow is cleaner than the water going in the water treatment's inflow.

What have you built?

What Do You Think

Kaylee is a "what-if".

There are four possible configurations for her that are appropriate. The late M4 stock is an anachronism for Twilight 2000 because it was not developed until 2002 in our timeline.

M4 handguards with late M4 stock.


M4 handguards with fiberlite stock.


CAR handguards with late M4 stock.


CAR handguards with fiberlite stock.


I am soliciting opinions, please comment on what one you like best.

03 July 2009

Jupiter By Jove



The tripod for my spotting scope is the same threads as the mount on my camera! So I took a pic of Jupiter with the camera mounted on it.

The spotting scope could see three moons and banding. I think I saw the red spot, bottom center, but that might have been my imagination running. Who knows for sure out there in blog reader land?

02 July 2009

Kaylee Is Back From The Range

Got her zeroed.

Improved battlesight zero at 50 yards.



50 yards, 30 rounds, 15 seconds. She's a shooter. I think this barrel is better than the HBAR that she came with.

01 July 2009

Carbine Barrel Comparison

Bare barrels. Top is a Del-Ton 16" HBAR, 1:9, chrome-lined. Bottom is a Del-Ton 16" M4 profile, 1:9, chrome-lined. The M4 profile is a half pound lighter than the HBAR. This tracks with the weight difference between the gov't profile M16A2 barrel and the 20" HBAR; the difference there is a full pound.


Mounted. Top is the old HBAR mounted in a slick-side upper, beginnings of Brunhilda! Bottom is Kaylee's C7 upper with her new M4 barrel. Using the 5" slip-over flash hider gives back 5 ounces of the weight difference between the barrels compared to using an M16A2 flash hider, but since she had that hider before, I am still half a pound lighter!


Nose to tail:

Brunhilda: M16A2 flash-hider, 16" 1:9 chrome-lined HBAR barrel, flat slip-ring, M16 upper receiver with A2 ejection port cover.

Kaylee: 5" slip-over flash-hider, 16" 1"9 chrome-lined M4 barrel, delta slip-ring, C7 upper receiver.

Comments!