I want the government and organizations that represent government workers banned from lobbying.
Government is supposed to be working for us on the jobs that we the people decide we want done.
They are not supposed to be dictating to us what jobs they will do or not or how.
That's our decision.
We decide what we want done.
We decide how we want it done.
We decide how much we'll pay to have it done.
It's time to remind them who's in charge, but I don't know how.
The petty little protest boycott of gun and gun accessory makers might do it. Let them know that they're in it with us.
Sadly, it's the passive electorate that let this state of affairs take root and who does nothing to fix it. It's made all the harder that the same sort or people we want to be rid of pick who we get to vote for for the most part. It's always the lesser of two evils never a choice between good and bad.
28 February 2013
Fix Stock
Tabitha does not care for a normal carbine buffer. The rifle buffer was fine, so I have put it back on.
While that drops me a '94 AWB feature she's still non-compliant under the proposed '13 AWB so it's all good.
While that drops me a '94 AWB feature she's still non-compliant under the proposed '13 AWB so it's all good.
More Wonderment
I shipped a parcel to a nice gentleman in Pennsylvania on Monday.
The tracking said it expected to be delivered on Wednesday.
It was at his sorting facility Wednesday.
It's back at MY sorting facility now.
Way to go USPS!
<slow clap>
The tracking said it expected to be delivered on Wednesday.
It was at his sorting facility Wednesday.
It's back at MY sorting facility now.
Way to go USPS!
<slow clap>
27 February 2013
Processing
I am a bit surprised at this.
Both Amazon and Midway claimed to have the parts I ordered from them in stock.
More than 24 hours later both are still showing the order status as "processing" or "in progress".
Neither has changed the expected arrival time, so no worries, but this is the longest I've ever seen for something in stock to take to be kicked out the door.
Both Amazon and Midway claimed to have the parts I ordered from them in stock.
More than 24 hours later both are still showing the order status as "processing" or "in progress".
Neither has changed the expected arrival time, so no worries, but this is the longest I've ever seen for something in stock to take to be kicked out the door.
Last Time Was 21%
You are 16% hippie.
16%
Ok, you conservative soul. Do you even believe in global warming? Loosen that necktie a little, and try some organic food. It actually does taste better. And go to a farmer's market--they're fun.
Are you a hippie?
Are you a hippie?
I am getting better!
Two Edge
It's a meme.
"They aren't enforcing the gun laws that are on the books now."
Do we want them to?
Sure, everyone means they aren't prosecuting felon in possession, but there's scads of other malum prohibitum laws being ignored that don't affect anyone but us normal folks. Bet you thought you weren't breaking the law, didn't you?
We shouldn't be attacking this from the "but you're not enforcing the laws we have now" angle but should be presenting, "if it's not going to be enforced, let's remove it from the books."
"They aren't enforcing the gun laws that are on the books now."
Do we want them to?
Sure, everyone means they aren't prosecuting felon in possession, but there's scads of other malum prohibitum laws being ignored that don't affect anyone but us normal folks. Bet you thought you weren't breaking the law, didn't you?
We shouldn't be attacking this from the "but you're not enforcing the laws we have now" angle but should be presenting, "if it's not going to be enforced, let's remove it from the books."
Idea
Chatting with Anglave last night/this morning.
We came up with a GREAT idea.
An idea that's potentially worth a ton of money.
Now I have to get clear of him as hard and fast as I can so that he can capitalize on that idea and make that money.
If I'm involved, or in line to be rewarded in any way the idea will turn to shit.
Such is my fate.
Good luck!
We came up with a GREAT idea.
An idea that's potentially worth a ton of money.
Now I have to get clear of him as hard and fast as I can so that he can capitalize on that idea and make that money.
If I'm involved, or in line to be rewarded in any way the idea will turn to shit.
Such is my fate.
Good luck!
26 February 2013
Restricted Items
When I buy beer, I must prove that I am older than 21. My driver's license suffices and the government is not informed that I bought beer.
When I buy cigars, I must prove that I am older than 18. My driver's license suffices and the government is not informed that I bought cigars.
When I have a prescription filled for pain-killers I must show photo ID. My driver's license suffices and the government is not informed that I bought drugs.
When I buy a gun, I have to show that I am either 18 or 21 (depending on the type of firearm). I must attest that I am really buying the gun and that I am allowed to. My driver's license and word aren't enough and a government agency must verify that I am allowed.
But my rights will be violated if I am required to show ID to vote? I do have to show such ID in Florida to vote in person, but not with all of the various and sundry remote voting methods.
The idea is one person, one vote. Why is proving that one person only voted the one time such a threat?
Oh yeah...
I'm also in favor of making election day a holiday and that you vote in person. The only exceptions to that would be military and diplomatic corps. If you can't take time off one day every two years to do what is literally your most important duty as a citizen... Are you a citizen at all?
I'd also make you trundle your butt to the county seat to register to vote and require that you'd done so no sooner than a year before the election. I'd also require you do this at least once every four years. You will have to prove who you are and that you are eligible to vote.
I'd make it FREE, and your voter ID card will be official gov't issue ID. Genuine proof of citizenship.
When I buy cigars, I must prove that I am older than 18. My driver's license suffices and the government is not informed that I bought cigars.
When I have a prescription filled for pain-killers I must show photo ID. My driver's license suffices and the government is not informed that I bought drugs.
When I buy a gun, I have to show that I am either 18 or 21 (depending on the type of firearm). I must attest that I am really buying the gun and that I am allowed to. My driver's license and word aren't enough and a government agency must verify that I am allowed.
But my rights will be violated if I am required to show ID to vote? I do have to show such ID in Florida to vote in person, but not with all of the various and sundry remote voting methods.
The idea is one person, one vote. Why is proving that one person only voted the one time such a threat?
Oh yeah...
I'm also in favor of making election day a holiday and that you vote in person. The only exceptions to that would be military and diplomatic corps. If you can't take time off one day every two years to do what is literally your most important duty as a citizen... Are you a citizen at all?
I'd also make you trundle your butt to the county seat to register to vote and require that you'd done so no sooner than a year before the election. I'd also require you do this at least once every four years. You will have to prove who you are and that you are eligible to vote.
I'd make it FREE, and your voter ID card will be official gov't issue ID. Genuine proof of citizenship.
Backorder
Ordered the furniture from Midway. The CTR stock was "Out of Stock, Backorder OK, Expected 2/25/13"
It didn't come in as expected.
That changed to overdue then to 4/10/13.
I am sure it's not their fault, but I don't want to wait a month and a half and pay shipping twice.
So I cancelled the order on the stock and searched for "foliage green ctr" on Bing.
Amazon is the first hit.
They have 85 in stock and free shipping for about the same time frame as the $6 shipping from Midway. Sweet!
Wait, didn't I just hear that Amazon was anti-gun and refuses to sell "assault weapon related parts"? Um. I just bought an AR buttstock straight from them, not one of their associated vendors...
PS: I knew that Amazon stocked the parts I wanted all along. I went with Midway because they specialize in my gun habit and are vocally part of the NYFS boycott. I like to support the places that support me. I'll throw some business at Amazon too, because it encourages them to continue to carry this sort of thing.
It didn't come in as expected.
That changed to overdue then to 4/10/13.
I am sure it's not their fault, but I don't want to wait a month and a half and pay shipping twice.
So I cancelled the order on the stock and searched for "foliage green ctr" on Bing.
Amazon is the first hit.
They have 85 in stock and free shipping for about the same time frame as the $6 shipping from Midway. Sweet!
Wait, didn't I just hear that Amazon was anti-gun and refuses to sell "assault weapon related parts"? Um. I just bought an AR buttstock straight from them, not one of their associated vendors...
PS: I knew that Amazon stocked the parts I wanted all along. I went with Midway because they specialize in my gun habit and are vocally part of the NYFS boycott. I like to support the places that support me. I'll throw some business at Amazon too, because it encourages them to continue to carry this sort of thing.
25 February 2013
Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) Speaks
Dear Mr. McThag:
Thank you for contacting me about policy proposals that seek to reduce gun violence in the wake of the tragedy in Newtown.
I am a hunter and have always owned guns, and I support the Second Amendment.
But assault weapons such as AK 47s are intended for killing, not hunting.
Solutions for reducing gun violence must address many areas, from protecting law enforcement and keeping weapons out of the hands of criminals, to school safety, access to mental health services, and confronting a culture that sometimes glorifies violence.
I support reinstating the assault weapons ban and restoring the 10-round limit for ammunition magazines. And, I support universal background checks so that we can know if person buying a weapon has a criminal record.
I appreciate hearing your views on this very important issue, and I will keep them in mind. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future.
Sincerely, Bill NelsonAnd he's not up for reelection until 2018. Joy.
He's a gun owner, but...
I've gotten a "we got your message and will get right with you" from Rubio.
Upgrading
I've decided that I like the Magpul stuff on Dottie so much that I am going to do the same to Kaylee, except in foliage green instead of OD.
Today I attempted to give the local guys a chance.
What a mistake.
Only two places were happy to talk to me about it.
Both told me that they just don't get enough demand for the foliage green they never stock that color, and someplace like Midway or Brownell's would be faster.
One was just too busy for me to get my question asked.
One played so cute and coy I just left. Nyquil furniture? Ha ha. A chase lounger? How droll, wanna try being serious for a second? No? Try this; "No sale."
The other four places I stopped in at were actively hostile about my wanting to see if they had such things. Buhwhuh?
Sir, I am a potential customer, I would like to give you money in exchange for goods. A specific good, to be sure, but it should be a mutually beneficial arrangement. Why are you mad at me for asking if you have something in stock?
Well, Midway carries what I want and has more of it in stock than anybody else, so they get the money.
Today I attempted to give the local guys a chance.
What a mistake.
Only two places were happy to talk to me about it.
Both told me that they just don't get enough demand for the foliage green they never stock that color, and someplace like Midway or Brownell's would be faster.
One was just too busy for me to get my question asked.
One played so cute and coy I just left. Nyquil furniture? Ha ha. A chase lounger? How droll, wanna try being serious for a second? No? Try this; "No sale."
The other four places I stopped in at were actively hostile about my wanting to see if they had such things. Buhwhuh?
Sir, I am a potential customer, I would like to give you money in exchange for goods. A specific good, to be sure, but it should be a mutually beneficial arrangement. Why are you mad at me for asking if you have something in stock?
Well, Midway carries what I want and has more of it in stock than anybody else, so they get the money.
Donation!
Fuzzygeff's got a scoped AR.
The free-float is a YHM tube that has threaded holes in it that you can use to attach sections of P-rail. This same sort of rail section is what the bipod is attached to. There is also a sling swivel hole up front, but it's flimsy.
All up this rifle is near 12 pounds.
Attaching a section of rail to the side of the tube and using one of the left-over Sling Things in my parts bin gives a much more secure front sling attachment point.
The free-float is a YHM tube that has threaded holes in it that you can use to attach sections of P-rail. This same sort of rail section is what the bipod is attached to. There is also a sling swivel hole up front, but it's flimsy.
All up this rifle is near 12 pounds.
Attaching a section of rail to the side of the tube and using one of the left-over Sling Things in my parts bin gives a much more secure front sling attachment point.
A Little Late
Hey, Baruch, you're about 52 years late on complaining about SS and Chevy.
The first SS from Chevy was an Impala in 1961. It's been used nearly continuously since then.
It stands for Super Sport, not Schutzstaffel and the letters are not even in a similar font (and never have been).
If you go looking for things to offend you, it's pretty likely you'll succeed.
The first SS from Chevy was an Impala in 1961. It's been used nearly continuously since then.
It stands for Super Sport, not Schutzstaffel and the letters are not even in a similar font (and never have been).
If you go looking for things to offend you, it's pretty likely you'll succeed.
24 February 2013
I'm Shot!
Sitting next to that unfired round of .45 ACP hollow point is a spent armor piercing .50 BMG bullet.
I was hit by that bullet in late 1988.
Hit me 5" below my right nipple.
After I got my breath back, I was fine. I'm Superman!
Actually it was a ricochet from a nearby range at Grafenwöhr, Germany. It spanged off some range, skipped off the turret deck and into my PASGT vest. I was standing in the loader's hatch and it knocked the breath right out of me, I fell down to the turret floor and was quite confused about what had happened to me.
I found the above bullet in the weave of my vest. I'm the only person I know to fill out the Natick forms from the pocket of a flak vest!
That'd Be You
A cop acquaintance asked me what was the deal with the NYFS boycott.
"Who decided that this had to be us against you?"
That'd be you, buddy.
When I lobbied to be able to carry concealed, it was your professional organizations standing at the vanguard against me.
When I lost the ability to buy a machine gun made after 1986, I notice that your organizations didn't object because your departments were made exempt.
After decades of demonstrating that I can be trusted with a concealed gun, I lobbied to be able to carry openly. Guess who I saw at the capital? Guess who was saying the exact same things in opposition to open carry as concealed?
I didn't declare war on cop, cop declared war on me.
"Who decided that this had to be us against you?"
That'd be you, buddy.
When I lobbied to be able to carry concealed, it was your professional organizations standing at the vanguard against me.
When I lost the ability to buy a machine gun made after 1986, I notice that your organizations didn't object because your departments were made exempt.
After decades of demonstrating that I can be trusted with a concealed gun, I lobbied to be able to carry openly. Guess who I saw at the capital? Guess who was saying the exact same things in opposition to open carry as concealed?
I didn't declare war on cop, cop declared war on me.
Return Of The Sling Thing
The Magpul Illumination Kit came with a short 3-slot section of rail.
I got curious about what use I could put it to and decided to see if mounting a GG&G Sling Thing there would be comfortable.
It is!
The sling location is similar to where I had a QD socket on the LaRue 4-rail.
Links to Midway USA because they're in the NYFS boycott.
Update:
Nope, don't like it. I keep using the sling mount as a thumb rest and that puts my hand no place near the controls of the light.
I got curious about what use I could put it to and decided to see if mounting a GG&G Sling Thing there would be comfortable.
It is!
The sling location is similar to where I had a QD socket on the LaRue 4-rail.
Links to Midway USA because they're in the NYFS boycott.
Update:
Nope, don't like it. I keep using the sling mount as a thumb rest and that puts my hand no place near the controls of the light.
Price Gouging
What's the difference between gouging and market rate?
The number of vendors that change their prices.
Supply and demand and inexorable. Less supply, more demand, prices go up because the demand is willing to pay more.
This is price signaling. The sellers are being offered more than the previous market rate for the good in question.
It can go the other way, the seller raises the price and sees if demand slacks off. Higher prices do tend to reduce demand. It's tough to strike a balance with this one, price things too high and your customers scream gouging and stop buying from you.
In most cases of "gouging" there's a disruption in the supply and a sudden uptick in demand from people who abruptly realized they needed the good in question. Generator sets after a hurricane, for example. Once the supply is restored, prices drop right back to normal.
Gouging accusations also follow the pricing of items which have volatile pricing. Gasoline, for example. The price at the pump is usually what the station owner expects to have to pay to replace his stock, not what it cost him.
Which brings us to magazines.
The demand was pretty steady and the supply was balanced against it. A shortage was created by increased demand by government interference in the demand curve. Suddenly people were willing to pay $100 for a $15 magazine. I watched it happen on Gunbroker.
I watched Cheaper Than Dirt make $99 their normal price for a Magpul PMAG. Demand sure signaled that was the going rate. The problem with CTD is Magpul didn't raise their prices. Magpul was very vocal about it too. Brownells didn't raise their prices. Midway didn't raise their prices...
Oops, CTD. People remembered the previous panic when you raised prices BEFORE demand started to impact the supply in 2008. (Spikes Tactical did too) Once bitten, twice shy guys. It's a PR problem and emotion is involved and you guys suck at PR.
Good luck.
The number of vendors that change their prices.
Supply and demand and inexorable. Less supply, more demand, prices go up because the demand is willing to pay more.
This is price signaling. The sellers are being offered more than the previous market rate for the good in question.
It can go the other way, the seller raises the price and sees if demand slacks off. Higher prices do tend to reduce demand. It's tough to strike a balance with this one, price things too high and your customers scream gouging and stop buying from you.
In most cases of "gouging" there's a disruption in the supply and a sudden uptick in demand from people who abruptly realized they needed the good in question. Generator sets after a hurricane, for example. Once the supply is restored, prices drop right back to normal.
Gouging accusations also follow the pricing of items which have volatile pricing. Gasoline, for example. The price at the pump is usually what the station owner expects to have to pay to replace his stock, not what it cost him.
Which brings us to magazines.
The demand was pretty steady and the supply was balanced against it. A shortage was created by increased demand by government interference in the demand curve. Suddenly people were willing to pay $100 for a $15 magazine. I watched it happen on Gunbroker.
I watched Cheaper Than Dirt make $99 their normal price for a Magpul PMAG. Demand sure signaled that was the going rate. The problem with CTD is Magpul didn't raise their prices. Magpul was very vocal about it too. Brownells didn't raise their prices. Midway didn't raise their prices...
Oops, CTD. People remembered the previous panic when you raised prices BEFORE demand started to impact the supply in 2008. (Spikes Tactical did too) Once bitten, twice shy guys. It's a PR problem and emotion is involved and you guys suck at PR.
Good luck.
23 February 2013
22 February 2013
No Webcam
When I get drunk and sing along to the iTunes, it's good there's no webcam or mic.
Just sayin'
Just sayin'
Sad Day Or Happy Day
Depending on how you look at it, it's a sad happy day.
I'm packing the Colt Gov't Model in .38 Super instead of the Springfield GI in .45.
This is the first time since I started packing that my full size pistol wasn't .45 ACP.
.38 Super JHP from Cor-Bon should do it, the extra two round per mag doesn't hurt (me) either.
I'm packing the Colt Gov't Model in .38 Super instead of the Springfield GI in .45.
This is the first time since I started packing that my full size pistol wasn't .45 ACP.
.38 Super JHP from Cor-Bon should do it, the extra two round per mag doesn't hurt (me) either.
What's A Brony To Do
Hasbro finally noticed that someone was posting the MLP FIM episodes and issued a take-down for at least season 2.
Dangit.
Dangit.
Fuck The Cold War Guys!
My leg is getting worse.
I took the several days of repeated visits to the VA clinic to see what may be done.
Have I tried ibuprofen?
GRRRRR
What the VA seems to have forgotten is they all day waits to be seen give me ample time to talk to my fellow veterans.
I found out that a similar disability level if I were a Vietnam era, Desert Storm era or War on Noun era veteran that I'd be up for far better care and service. In fact, I watch them come in after me and get called before me.
I've had a doctor say, twice now, "I shouldn't admit this but..." Pain management meds, they aren't allowed to write scrips for non-war era vets under 75% disability.
Did you know that service connected disabilities that get worse are routinely bumped to a higher percentage if you're war era? But not if you're cold-war.
Why might this be? I guarantee you I was not doing anything in Germany during my service that someone in Germany between August 5, 1964 and May 7, 1975 didn't.
I think the huge difference in my service and theirs is we Cold War schmucks don't have The American Legion or VFW lobbying for us. We're not even supposed to be able to join those organizations.
I've yet to meet a vet that felt that the war era veterans deserved a better standard than non-war for the same conditions, so why don't those organizations lobby for ALL veterans?
I took the several days of repeated visits to the VA clinic to see what may be done.
Have I tried ibuprofen?
GRRRRR
What the VA seems to have forgotten is they all day waits to be seen give me ample time to talk to my fellow veterans.
I found out that a similar disability level if I were a Vietnam era, Desert Storm era or War on Noun era veteran that I'd be up for far better care and service. In fact, I watch them come in after me and get called before me.
I've had a doctor say, twice now, "I shouldn't admit this but..." Pain management meds, they aren't allowed to write scrips for non-war era vets under 75% disability.
Did you know that service connected disabilities that get worse are routinely bumped to a higher percentage if you're war era? But not if you're cold-war.
Why might this be? I guarantee you I was not doing anything in Germany during my service that someone in Germany between August 5, 1964 and May 7, 1975 didn't.
I think the huge difference in my service and theirs is we Cold War schmucks don't have The American Legion or VFW lobbying for us. We're not even supposed to be able to join those organizations.
I've yet to meet a vet that felt that the war era veterans deserved a better standard than non-war for the same conditions, so why don't those organizations lobby for ALL veterans?
21 February 2013
Judo
Listening to the Squirrel Report for the very first time.
They're talking about the suggestion to use judo against a rapist.
My karate instructor once told us, after he was asked, "what is this stuff good for in a REAL fight?"
He replied, "You use this to get distance on your assailant. Enough distance to get a weapon out."
"What kind of weapon?"
"I'd use a gun."
They're talking about the suggestion to use judo against a rapist.
My karate instructor once told us, after he was asked, "what is this stuff good for in a REAL fight?"
He replied, "You use this to get distance on your assailant. Enough distance to get a weapon out."
"What kind of weapon?"
"I'd use a gun."
Impossible
Liberals have a problem with the idea that something is impossible.
They've an even bigger problem with making something impossible.
Let's walk possible backwards.
Rounding up everyone and making death camps. Possible when only the government has guns.
Confiscating up all the guns. Possible only when the government knows where all the guns are.
Find all the guns. Possible when the only legal means of owning a firearm or getting ammo are tied to registering them.
Three steps between me and the death camps and by keeping registration from happening, we make it impossible to have them.
I am not saying that registration guarantees confiscation. I am not saying that confiscation guarantees death camps.
I am saying that both those things make death camps POSSIBLE; and that death camps are scary enough that we should do nothing that makes it possible to have them.
This is coupled with a very cynical observation.
What do governments do? Anything they can. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but eventually.
If they can register the guns, they probably will.
If they can confiscate the guns, they probably will.
If they can make death camps...
I may be mocked because the possible is unlikely. I am reminded of a paper I read in college. People were polled about "the Jewish question" in Europe and America. The place people considered most likely to do something like what Hitler later did was the United States, Germany was a long ways down that list. I doubt that it was considered unlikely ten years earlier was much consolation to those people stuffed into the train cars.
They've an even bigger problem with making something impossible.
Let's walk possible backwards.
Rounding up everyone and making death camps. Possible when only the government has guns.
Confiscating up all the guns. Possible only when the government knows where all the guns are.
Find all the guns. Possible when the only legal means of owning a firearm or getting ammo are tied to registering them.
Three steps between me and the death camps and by keeping registration from happening, we make it impossible to have them.
I am not saying that registration guarantees confiscation. I am not saying that confiscation guarantees death camps.
I am saying that both those things make death camps POSSIBLE; and that death camps are scary enough that we should do nothing that makes it possible to have them.
This is coupled with a very cynical observation.
What do governments do? Anything they can. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but eventually.
If they can register the guns, they probably will.
If they can confiscate the guns, they probably will.
If they can make death camps...
I may be mocked because the possible is unlikely. I am reminded of a paper I read in college. People were polled about "the Jewish question" in Europe and America. The place people considered most likely to do something like what Hitler later did was the United States, Germany was a long ways down that list. I doubt that it was considered unlikely ten years earlier was much consolation to those people stuffed into the train cars.
20 February 2013
Hollywood
The film makers insist that their product has no effect on crime.
They're forgetting something.
Gangster films in the 20's and 30's and The Godfather had a noticeable effect on the Mafia.
They began dressing like the film characters and adopted the mannerisms from those roles.
One wonders what else changed that was depicted on screen that was added to their repertoire.
They're forgetting something.
Gangster films in the 20's and 30's and The Godfather had a noticeable effect on the Mafia.
They began dressing like the film characters and adopted the mannerisms from those roles.
One wonders what else changed that was depicted on screen that was added to their repertoire.
Post MOE Illumination
Got the Magpul MOE Illumination Kit from Brownell's in today.
This little piece of P-Railreplaces covers one of the slots in the handguard.
My Surefire X300 Weaponlight clicks right onto it.
Zero loss of functionality over the 4-rail, still six ounces lighter. Actually the light is slightly better placed now than before.
This little piece of P-Rail
My Surefire X300 Weaponlight clicks right onto it.
Zero loss of functionality over the 4-rail, still six ounces lighter. Actually the light is slightly better placed now than before.
Gotta Love Being A Packrat
The cost of my furniture upgrade to Dottie was entirely compensated for by selling her original YHM 4-rail handguard.
That means I get the bonus round of selling the LaRue!
Base profit!
Bwahahahahahaha!
That means I get the bonus round of selling the LaRue!
Base profit!
Bwahahahahahaha!
The Post Office
I've read lots and lots about how the USPS needs to go away because it loses money.
One of the few things the government does that's actually authorized by The Constitution and people want it gone?
Because it doesn't turn a profit?
Which government agency besides the IRS does?
To FedEx and UPS, whom I think were instrumental in the push to privatize the post office, you decided to compete with them knowing they were government backed, you've no right to complain it's not working out because you were wrong about your ability to compete with them.
One of the few things the government does that's actually authorized by The Constitution and people want it gone?
Because it doesn't turn a profit?
Which government agency besides the IRS does?
To FedEx and UPS, whom I think were instrumental in the push to privatize the post office, you decided to compete with them knowing they were government backed, you've no right to complain it's not working out because you were wrong about your ability to compete with them.
19 February 2013
Pollution
One area of pollution reduction I don't think the automakers get enough credit for is how cars no longer routinely drip oil out of every seam.
I was watching old episodes of Miami Vice and you see the black path in the center of every lane.
A path that's not on the roads down here any more.
I was watching old episodes of Miami Vice and you see the black path in the center of every lane.
A path that's not on the roads down here any more.
Gone
I was updating my OCD list of AR mods and noticed that a fair number of the vendors I've used since I started with the AR in 2007 simply don't exist anymore.
Surprising considering the growth of the market.
Well, not really. The biggest hurdle in any small business is growth. You figure you're going to sell ten a week and get orders for 100...
Or a supplier screws you.
Or hundreds of things.
Surprising considering the growth of the market.
Well, not really. The biggest hurdle in any small business is growth. You figure you're going to sell ten a week and get orders for 100...
Or a supplier screws you.
Or hundreds of things.
New Clothes For Dottie
Replaced the LaRue LT15-9 with a Magpul MOE handguard today. (Like I said I would).
Before:
After:
It's astonishing how taking those 6 ounces off the front make it feel like it weighs nothing up front.
Nekkid:
With bayonet:
Before:
After:
It's astonishing how taking those 6 ounces off the front make it feel like it weighs nothing up front.
Nekkid:
With bayonet:
Won't Work
Via Breibart.
Yet if someone indeed runs as a third-party candidate in 2016, that would be a bombshell, because depending on one’s point of view, it would a) doom the GOP’s hopes to regain the White House, or b) teach the Republican Establishment a lesson.
It's A. They either refuse to learn or cannot be taught.
Put The Heat On
Read this first (dead link).
It's only-ones banding together.
Update October 19, 2016: You can't read it because when only-ones band together they also lock out the common citizen from seeing it. Way to build transparancy and trust!
I can't have, cop can't have, Mr Westrom.
I don't care who bought the guns the people violating my rights carry. I do care who sold them though.
You have a chance to draw a line in the sand FOR the people you swore to protect, Mr Former Cop Westrom.
But you don't care. Your response boiled down to, "we sell to anyone it is legal to sell to; and if there's a large block of people who can't, so what?"
So what?
York Arms is so what.
Spikes Tactical is so what.
They make ARs too.
Well, Mr Westrom, I remember when your company was Eagle Arms. You bought the Armalite name. I suspect it may soon be for sale again. I hope so. For the template about how this works, just ask Ruger and S&W about how gun owners will vote with their wallets.
Pay attention to the answer, unlike Ruger and S&W you don't make a product that is unique.
You may also pay attention to Colt. Colt did some serious pandering to avoid the legal axes and ended up in bankruptcy over it. Look how close to death they always are because their life-blood is government contracts and not commercial sales. Look at the panic in their eyes now that the TDP for the M16 and M4 is available to Remington and FN without paying them their blood money.
Wait, you don't have an open ended contract like they do, do you?
I'll have fries with my order, Mark.
h/t NC Gunblog
It's only-ones banding together.
Update October 19, 2016: You can't read it because when only-ones band together they also lock out the common citizen from seeing it. Way to build transparancy and trust!
I can't have, cop can't have, Mr Westrom.
I don't care who bought the guns the people violating my rights carry. I do care who sold them though.
You have a chance to draw a line in the sand FOR the people you swore to protect, Mr Former Cop Westrom.
But you don't care. Your response boiled down to, "we sell to anyone it is legal to sell to; and if there's a large block of people who can't, so what?"
So what?
York Arms is so what.
Spikes Tactical is so what.
They make ARs too.
Well, Mr Westrom, I remember when your company was Eagle Arms. You bought the Armalite name. I suspect it may soon be for sale again. I hope so. For the template about how this works, just ask Ruger and S&W about how gun owners will vote with their wallets.
Pay attention to the answer, unlike Ruger and S&W you don't make a product that is unique.
You may also pay attention to Colt. Colt did some serious pandering to avoid the legal axes and ended up in bankruptcy over it. Look how close to death they always are because their life-blood is government contracts and not commercial sales. Look at the panic in their eyes now that the TDP for the M16 and M4 is available to Remington and FN without paying them their blood money.
Wait, you don't have an open ended contract like they do, do you?
I'll have fries with my order, Mark.
h/t NC Gunblog
Things That Don't Cost More
I order a lot online.
I get a lot of tracking numbers.
I've noticed something.
The five day shipping takes exactly the same amount of time and follows the exact same route as the overnight shipping, if you remove the time where the package just sits at one location.
What that really means is actually costs MORE to deliver it "ground" because they have to pay to warehouse it for a couple of days instead of just keeping it moving.
They are most certainly using the same vehicles to transport both packages.
Am I pissed about this? Absolutely not. I'm just amused that the cheaper service is delayed deliberately rather than the method of transportation being slower.
I get a lot of tracking numbers.
I've noticed something.
The five day shipping takes exactly the same amount of time and follows the exact same route as the overnight shipping, if you remove the time where the package just sits at one location.
What that really means is actually costs MORE to deliver it "ground" because they have to pay to warehouse it for a couple of days instead of just keeping it moving.
They are most certainly using the same vehicles to transport both packages.
Am I pissed about this? Absolutely not. I'm just amused that the cheaper service is delayed deliberately rather than the method of transportation being slower.
Darn It
The purple stocks are only available in commercial diameter.
All of my receiver extensions are mil-spec diameter.
I guess we'll just wait until the next time they make another batch and see if they make some mil.
Of course, this is liable to end up being a complete gun if we wait long enough.
All of my receiver extensions are mil-spec diameter.
I guess we'll just wait until the next time they make another batch and see if they make some mil.
Of course, this is liable to end up being a complete gun if we wait long enough.
Truism
A lynching is where a large group of people murders.
When a large group of people steals, it's a taxing.
When a large group of people steals, it's a taxing.
18 February 2013
I Have Been Challenged!
Tabitha is one of my AR's with a MLP roll mark.
I have been challenged to put this furniture set on her.
Here's a link to the parts.
I will accept this challenge; you buy 'em, I'll mount them and leave them on for a least a year. Milspec stock, tapered mid-length handguards. I will make the purchase if money for them is sent.
There's a side motive, purple is The Boy's favorite color. He's never going to own a gun, being severely retarded, but he'd be delighted to see one of Daddy's guns in his favorite color.
Loadout
Remember that 266 rounds in a minute with a StG.44?
The Germans issued seven 30-round magazines per gun, for a basic load of 210 rounds. Which is 13.2 pounds of loaded gun and an additional 12 pounds of ammo. Every extra magazine adds another two pounds. It adds up fast.
If you spray and pray you're out of ammo in less than a minute.
The Germans issued seven 30-round magazines per gun, for a basic load of 210 rounds. Which is 13.2 pounds of loaded gun and an additional 12 pounds of ammo. Every extra magazine adds another two pounds. It adds up fast.
If you spray and pray you're out of ammo in less than a minute.
At A Loss
How the hell do you explain something to someone who, when they are called a "yankee", is proud of it?
High Capacity Assault Weapons
Let's dial up the way back engine, shall we?
Let's talk about the FIRST high capacity, rapid fire gun. We'll just the GURPS numbers for RoF and reload times.
It happened almost as soon as there were guns. Someone added extra barrels. Heck, on a wheel-lock that meant adding a whole extra gun, lock and all to a single stock.
Then they developed means to load shots one behind another and have multiple locks firing the muzzle-most charge first. This didn't work very well, but shoot more shots faster has been part of gun development since the beginning.
The pepper box is our next stop on this journey. Many of them are even double action!
Colt's revolver is simply a very refined pepperbox.
Let's look at it. If you're really good at it and have paper cartridges ready it takes about 20 seconds to reload a muzzle loading pistol. So you get less than three shots a minute (2.86).
A pepperbox will take about the same amount of time per barrel to load, but you can empty it in about two seconds! It's a slight reduction in rate because the loading is more fiddly, just less than two rounds per minute (1.98), but you get a flurry of six right off the bat! And you have to carry a single 1.8 lb gun instead of six THREE pound guns to get that flurry.
A caplock revolver takes less time to reload per cylinder because the rammer is built into the gun. A single action gun is slower to fire than a double action pepperbox, but almost six shots a minute now (5.45)!
Now we introduce cartridges.
A gate loaded revolver like a Colt Peacemaker can get about 10 rounds a minute. Break-open guns like a Schofield can get 15.
There were two goals in the development of the ammunition from matchlock to wheellock to flintlock to caplock to cartridge. First was improving reliability second was improving rate of fire. And since a gun that doesn't go bang has a rate of zero, reliability has an effect on rate.
The next big change comes when we start harnessing the wasted energy of the shot to perform functions that muscles used to do.
That's how we can get a 1911 with about 78 shots per minute (78.75).
All of the above are NY legal.
A Glock 17 ups the rate to just under 118 rounds per minute (117.69).
Now, let's talk about rifles.
The same pattern evolves here.
The muzzle loading guns pretty much parallel pistols.
A Brown Bess can put less than one round a minute down-range (0.68).
A P.1853 can get almost 4 (3.75).
But then we get theGerman Prussian Zündnadelgewehr in 1841. This is our first bolt action gun and it could sling 15 shots per minute. This increase in firepower is why the French lost that war. But it was a single shot gun firing paper cartridges.
Then we get metallic cartridges. A Spencer carbine upped it slightly to 18 or so (18.26) and had seven on tap before you needed to reload.
Remember the French? They came up with the Kropatschek which got the same 15 shots per minute as the Prussian gun, but had 8 shots in 8 seconds before you had to start loading.
Not to be outdone the Germans came up with clips to speed up the reloading process. A five shot Mauser can get off 37.5 shots per minute.
Then we harness the waste energy and get the Garand which can propel almost 85 rounds per minute (84.71). But the Garand isn't NY legal... OK, how about a Remington Model 8? It's a five shot, clip loaded, magazine fed semi-auto: 64.29 shots per minute.
With the advent and adoption of detachable box magazines for rifles we get guns like the FAL which were almost always shipped as semi-automatic only and can get a rate of fire around 124 rounds per minute (124.14).
It's not until we back off the "effectiveness" of the cartridge that we can get a rifle that can utilize automatic fire and the StG.44 can get 266 1/3 rounds per minute.
It seems like I am making the gun-grabber's point here, doesn't it?
What these numbers are is pulling the trigger as fast as you can and stuffing in new rounds as quickly as possible. This is not aimed fire! Hardly any of the 266 rounds your SturmGewehr sprays will hit what you were looking at. If I slow down and AIM with that Remington, I am down to 23 shots a minute, but I am also up to very close to 23 HITS. Spraying with an assault rifle is less than half as likely to hit a person at 50 yards per second of fire and is dumping eight rounds a second in their general vicinity. Basically 32 times as many shots per hit.
Slowing down and carefully aiming with our StG.44 like with our Remington? 28 shots per minute. Despite having SIX TIMES the ammunition capacity!
That's why the size of the magazine doesn't matter. Especially since there's fewer than 10,000 assault rifles registered in civilian hands.
Let's talk about the FIRST high capacity, rapid fire gun. We'll just the GURPS numbers for RoF and reload times.
It happened almost as soon as there were guns. Someone added extra barrels. Heck, on a wheel-lock that meant adding a whole extra gun, lock and all to a single stock.
Then they developed means to load shots one behind another and have multiple locks firing the muzzle-most charge first. This didn't work very well, but shoot more shots faster has been part of gun development since the beginning.
The pepper box is our next stop on this journey. Many of them are even double action!
Colt's revolver is simply a very refined pepperbox.
Let's look at it. If you're really good at it and have paper cartridges ready it takes about 20 seconds to reload a muzzle loading pistol. So you get less than three shots a minute (2.86).
A pepperbox will take about the same amount of time per barrel to load, but you can empty it in about two seconds! It's a slight reduction in rate because the loading is more fiddly, just less than two rounds per minute (1.98), but you get a flurry of six right off the bat! And you have to carry a single 1.8 lb gun instead of six THREE pound guns to get that flurry.
A caplock revolver takes less time to reload per cylinder because the rammer is built into the gun. A single action gun is slower to fire than a double action pepperbox, but almost six shots a minute now (5.45)!
Now we introduce cartridges.
A gate loaded revolver like a Colt Peacemaker can get about 10 rounds a minute. Break-open guns like a Schofield can get 15.
There were two goals in the development of the ammunition from matchlock to wheellock to flintlock to caplock to cartridge. First was improving reliability second was improving rate of fire. And since a gun that doesn't go bang has a rate of zero, reliability has an effect on rate.
The next big change comes when we start harnessing the wasted energy of the shot to perform functions that muscles used to do.
That's how we can get a 1911 with about 78 shots per minute (78.75).
All of the above are NY legal.
A Glock 17 ups the rate to just under 118 rounds per minute (117.69).
Now, let's talk about rifles.
The same pattern evolves here.
The muzzle loading guns pretty much parallel pistols.
A Brown Bess can put less than one round a minute down-range (0.68).
A P.1853 can get almost 4 (3.75).
But then we get the
Then we get metallic cartridges. A Spencer carbine upped it slightly to 18 or so (18.26) and had seven on tap before you needed to reload.
Remember the French? They came up with the Kropatschek which got the same 15 shots per minute as the Prussian gun, but had 8 shots in 8 seconds before you had to start loading.
Not to be outdone the Germans came up with clips to speed up the reloading process. A five shot Mauser can get off 37.5 shots per minute.
Then we harness the waste energy and get the Garand which can propel almost 85 rounds per minute (84.71). But the Garand isn't NY legal... OK, how about a Remington Model 8? It's a five shot, clip loaded, magazine fed semi-auto: 64.29 shots per minute.
With the advent and adoption of detachable box magazines for rifles we get guns like the FAL which were almost always shipped as semi-automatic only and can get a rate of fire around 124 rounds per minute (124.14).
It's not until we back off the "effectiveness" of the cartridge that we can get a rifle that can utilize automatic fire and the StG.44 can get 266 1/3 rounds per minute.
It seems like I am making the gun-grabber's point here, doesn't it?
What these numbers are is pulling the trigger as fast as you can and stuffing in new rounds as quickly as possible. This is not aimed fire! Hardly any of the 266 rounds your SturmGewehr sprays will hit what you were looking at. If I slow down and AIM with that Remington, I am down to 23 shots a minute, but I am also up to very close to 23 HITS. Spraying with an assault rifle is less than half as likely to hit a person at 50 yards per second of fire and is dumping eight rounds a second in their general vicinity. Basically 32 times as many shots per hit.
Slowing down and carefully aiming with our StG.44 like with our Remington? 28 shots per minute. Despite having SIX TIMES the ammunition capacity!
That's why the size of the magazine doesn't matter. Especially since there's fewer than 10,000 assault rifles registered in civilian hands.
17 February 2013
Supplies
Got new Boresnakes for 5.56 and 6.8. Copper solvents dissolve bronze bristles and storing the snake wet in a tight coil just gives the solvent more contact area...
Got a Boresnake for Fuzzy Geff's .243 because I was buying Boresnakes...
They should be here Tuesday along with the MOE handguard conversion for Dottie.
Went to the gun show in Plant City just for laughs and that's what I got! Marv got some .22LR ammo, $85 for a brick of 500 Eley Match rounds.
A vendor surprised me by having all the parts I would have needed for the MOE conversion, in the OD I prefer too! If I had known that there was a vendor with those parts and known I was going to the show, I would have saved myself the shipping charges.
C'est la vie.
Got a Boresnake for Fuzzy Geff's .243 because I was buying Boresnakes...
They should be here Tuesday along with the MOE handguard conversion for Dottie.
Went to the gun show in Plant City just for laughs and that's what I got! Marv got some .22LR ammo, $85 for a brick of 500 Eley Match rounds.
A vendor surprised me by having all the parts I would have needed for the MOE conversion, in the OD I prefer too! If I had known that there was a vendor with those parts and known I was going to the show, I would have saved myself the shipping charges.
C'est la vie.
DIY Gun Project
What you need is a fine point Sharpie, some zip-ties, AR magazines and ammo.
Put a round in the mag, slide the zip tie in the back of the mag, make a mark on the zip tie along the top of the round. Add a round, make a mark, lather, rinse, repeat until you're at the listed capacity of the mag.
I saw this on Arfcom and Marv made a couple sets, one each of 5.56 and 6.8 for the both of us.
Works on green follower USGI and 'Nam era 20 rounders in 5.56. Doesn't work on a Gen 2 PMAG because the zip ties Marv chose are too wide.
Works on C-Products 25 rounders and Barrett 30 rounders in 6.8.
Put a round in the mag, slide the zip tie in the back of the mag, make a mark on the zip tie along the top of the round. Add a round, make a mark, lather, rinse, repeat until you're at the listed capacity of the mag.
I saw this on Arfcom and Marv made a couple sets, one each of 5.56 and 6.8 for the both of us.
Works on green follower USGI and 'Nam era 20 rounders in 5.56. Doesn't work on a Gen 2 PMAG because the zip ties Marv chose are too wide.
Works on C-Products 25 rounders and Barrett 30 rounders in 6.8.
Pax Americana
There's going to be a lot of really upset people when they discover that Pax Americana is over and that there are bellicose people out there who will no longer be cowed because we've departed the area.
We could likely have gotten by with a much smaller military and stepped on many fewer toes in the process had our "allies" actually paid for some military of their own that could do the duty. Well, we broke ourselves on it.
Next war of conquest in Europe is going to mean we're only going to have one embassy in DC to deal with instead of a memorial.
We could likely have gotten by with a much smaller military and stepped on many fewer toes in the process had our "allies" actually paid for some military of their own that could do the duty. Well, we broke ourselves on it.
Next war of conquest in Europe is going to mean we're only going to have one embassy in DC to deal with instead of a memorial.
Local Variation
I lost the tab I had open to give credit, if someone knows where I got this, leave me a comment so I can give it.
Gun rights are civil rights. I just read (paraphrasing) we didn't worry about local variations and traditions when we were talking about the civil rights of blacks, did we? We went national with that!
Particularly since the main problem was precisely one of regional tradition.
I recall that a fellow gun blogger was chastising us because we weren't Rosa Parks and gun-owners weren't near so bad off as the victims of racism?
I have to admit that's true, I don't think I've heard of any lynchings of gun owners. That violence thing is kinda contraindicated by the whole victim having a gun, ain't it. Proves one of our points too.
But we do have all manner of things that are similar to the separate but equal bullshit.
How many places is it OK to be for everyone BUT someone legally carrying?
How many places is it virtually impossible to buy a gun even if it's not outright banned?
We're not allowed on the bus at all. There was at least someplace for Rosa to sit legally, wasn't there? In that respect we're worse off. I notice that I don't see many folks taking the position that because she could have moved to the back of the bus that she shouldn't have made her stand (no pun intended).
I do get this attitude from other gun owners. Especially about the very idea of open carry.
So, let's boil this down and be simplistic.
I have a right to own a gun; the keep part of the 2nd.
I have a right to carry a gun; the bear part of the 2nd.
They can't tell me what kind of gun; the 9th.
The states have to let me; the 14th.
We sort that out and we'll be much more free.
Gun rights are civil rights. I just read (paraphrasing) we didn't worry about local variations and traditions when we were talking about the civil rights of blacks, did we? We went national with that!
Particularly since the main problem was precisely one of regional tradition.
I recall that a fellow gun blogger was chastising us because we weren't Rosa Parks and gun-owners weren't near so bad off as the victims of racism?
I have to admit that's true, I don't think I've heard of any lynchings of gun owners. That violence thing is kinda contraindicated by the whole victim having a gun, ain't it. Proves one of our points too.
But we do have all manner of things that are similar to the separate but equal bullshit.
How many places is it OK to be for everyone BUT someone legally carrying?
How many places is it virtually impossible to buy a gun even if it's not outright banned?
We're not allowed on the bus at all. There was at least someplace for Rosa to sit legally, wasn't there? In that respect we're worse off. I notice that I don't see many folks taking the position that because she could have moved to the back of the bus that she shouldn't have made her stand (no pun intended).
I do get this attitude from other gun owners. Especially about the very idea of open carry.
So, let's boil this down and be simplistic.
I have a right to own a gun; the keep part of the 2nd.
I have a right to carry a gun; the bear part of the 2nd.
They can't tell me what kind of gun; the 9th.
The states have to let me; the 14th.
We sort that out and we'll be much more free.
Trivia
I've been seeing a lot of places describing all 1911's made before the Series 80 as Series 70.
That's not right. The series 70 did have some changes from the original Gov't Model.
The barrel bushing with the collet fingers is the main change. That bushing was continued into the first part of Series 80 production as well.
Current "Series 70" guns from Colt don't have it. Go figure.
I am also bemused that hardly anyone kept the arched mainspring housing and short trigger of the M1911A1 but did keep all of the other changes.
The winds of fashion blow and we must bend or we will break. And go broke keeping in style!
That's not right. The series 70 did have some changes from the original Gov't Model.
The barrel bushing with the collet fingers is the main change. That bushing was continued into the first part of Series 80 production as well.
Current "Series 70" guns from Colt don't have it. Go figure.
I am also bemused that hardly anyone kept the arched mainspring housing and short trigger of the M1911A1 but did keep all of the other changes.
The winds of fashion blow and we must bend or we will break. And go broke keeping in style!
16 February 2013
Ruger Anecdotes
Marv has come to agree with me that the 6" barrel is better looking.
Magazines for pre-71 Ruger standards are very rare. He bought two new ones that are convertible between the Mk I and Mk II. They don't feed because they don't present the round high enough for the slide.
When we took the pictures comparing our purchases his is loaded with one of those magazines. After we took the last pic he snagged my gun and said, "Cool, were done!" I replied that he'd left me the gun with bullets in it. "So what, those magazines don't work!" Bastard!
Magazines for pre-71 Ruger standards are very rare. He bought two new ones that are convertible between the Mk I and Mk II. They don't feed because they don't present the round high enough for the slide.
When we took the pictures comparing our purchases his is loaded with one of those magazines. After we took the last pic he snagged my gun and said, "Cool, were done!" I replied that he'd left me the gun with bullets in it. "So what, those magazines don't work!" Bastard!
Helping Out
Sean is compiling the list of manufacturers and suppliers who are treating the cops like people.
Supporting those companies might be a nice thing too.
Supporting those companies might be a nice thing too.
Load
I have had house rules for changing between 1:12 ammo and 1:7 ammo for a long time for GURPS.
Previously it had been:
Previously it had been:
5.56x45mm and .223 Remington weapons are listed with the rifling pitch listed with their ammunition, for example 5.56x45mm 1:12 has a 1:12 barrel. 1:8 is treated as 1:7 and 1:10 is treated as 1:9.
1:7 barrel, M193 Ammo. -1 Acc.
1:7 barrel, NATO, Mk262 or 69gr SMK Ammo. No effect.
1:9 barrel, M193 or 69gr SMK Ammo. No effect.
1:9 barrel, Mk262 Ammo. -2 Acc. If the temperature is 15°F or lower, then halve ranges, -5 Acc.
1:9 barrel, NATO Ammo. No effect unless using tracer ammunition or the temperature is 10°F or lower, then halve ranges, -4 Acc.
1:12 barrel, M193 Ammo. No effect.
1:12 barrel, Mk262 or 69gr SMK Ammo. Quarter ranges, -4 Acc.
1:12 barrel, NATO Ammo. Quarter ranges, -4 Acc, change to pi-.
An additional penalty of -1 to Acc if changing between loads without zeroing the weapon.
Based on this report I think I shall change my rule to:
Ammunition 62gr or heavier will give a -5 penalty in 1:12 barrels. Ammunition 75gr or heavier will give a -3 penalty in 1:9 barrels. There is a -2 penalty to changing ammunition weight without zeroing the weapon. If the temperature is below 10˚ F add 5gr to the effective weight of the bullet. -2 if you change loads without rezeroing with the exception of matched ball/tracer combinations; M193 and M196 are identical in 1:12 weapons and M855 and M856 are identical in 1:7 weapons.
M193 ball and M196 tracer are 55gr. M855 ball and M856 tracer are long for their weight so are treated as 69 and 72 grain respectively. Mk 262 is 77gr.
15 February 2013
Grrrrrrrr
One of the reasons I really came to loathe the NRA was the constant hitting me up for more money.
I now have the renewal packets for our less than a month old memberships.
We haven't even gotten the "welcome" letters or our first issue of the magazine.
No, I don't want to renew 11 months early. You'd know I wanted to do that by selecting the "two year" membership option. Which I didn't.
Grumble.
I now have the renewal packets for our less than a month old memberships.
We haven't even gotten the "welcome" letters or our first issue of the magazine.
No, I don't want to renew 11 months early. You'd know I wanted to do that by selecting the "two year" membership option. Which I didn't.
Grumble.
Selling!
Soon I will have a LaRue middy rail for sale.
Much of the advantage of a 4-rail system is theoretical for me. The extra mass is reality. Saving about 6.5 ounces doesn't seem like much, but it's a real savings.
On the bonus side, the MOE handguards can add rail sections where I need them and am actually using them. In addition to the flexibility, they are also about an ounce lighter than standard middy handguards!
Review and photos will be posted!
Update:
Here's the break-down.
So far I've had three different rail forends for Dottie.
Original was a YHM-9634, but it was like gripping a coffee can.
Then came a YHM-5004A, but it got a bit too warm to me.
Then the present LaRue LT15-9, but it's a lot heavier than the 5004 once you add up all the rail covers. 0.28 lb. in rail covers!
Soon will be the MOE handguards.
Weight, complete gun, loaded magazine, no optics, no lights, with rail covers if any.
YHM-9634, 8.1 lb.
YHM-5004A, 8.0 lb.
LaRue LT15-9, 8.4 lb.
Magpul MOE, 8.0 lb.
Standard Middy Handguards, 8.1 lb.
It looks like most of my weight savings will be in getting rid of the rail covers, but every ounce counts!
Much of the advantage of a 4-rail system is theoretical for me. The extra mass is reality. Saving about 6.5 ounces doesn't seem like much, but it's a real savings.
On the bonus side, the MOE handguards can add rail sections where I need them and am actually using them. In addition to the flexibility, they are also about an ounce lighter than standard middy handguards!
Review and photos will be posted!
Update:
Here's the break-down.
So far I've had three different rail forends for Dottie.
Original was a YHM-9634, but it was like gripping a coffee can.
Then came a YHM-5004A, but it got a bit too warm to me.
Then the present LaRue LT15-9, but it's a lot heavier than the 5004 once you add up all the rail covers. 0.28 lb. in rail covers!
Soon will be the MOE handguards.
Weight, complete gun, loaded magazine, no optics, no lights, with rail covers if any.
YHM-9634, 8.1 lb.
YHM-5004A, 8.0 lb.
LaRue LT15-9, 8.4 lb.
Magpul MOE, 8.0 lb.
Standard Middy Handguards, 8.1 lb.
It looks like most of my weight savings will be in getting rid of the rail covers, but every ounce counts!
14 February 2013
Banned In NY
I've posted this pic before.
The Colt Government Model is a banned assault weapon in NY.
The Springfield Armory 1911-A1 is not.
It's because the .38 Super holds 9+1 rounds and the .45 holds 7+1. This is even though the .45 has a military feature the .38 lacks.
A lanyard loop.
It's also done up in military style parkerization and is chambered in a military issued cartridge.
It's not how the gun operates, it's not the finish, it's not the chambering (directly), it's not the manufacturer, it's not the date of manufacture or date of design. It's the number of rounds it holds.
Threat
A character says, "Tell me what I want to know and I'll let you walk out of here with your spine in one piece."
Um...
The spine is naturally SEVERAL pieces!
I tell him what he wants to know, he's going to cripple me!
Um...
The spine is naturally SEVERAL pieces!
I tell him what he wants to know, he's going to cripple me!
Police Militarization
Hey, cops!
You wanna be soldiers?
Really?
Well you dress like them, you're armed like them and you put on the airs.
Soldiers can be and are ordered to go die.
Soldiers don't get to say, "I'm not assaulting that beach, I'll get shot!" See you at your Courts Martial, private.
Would I have wanted to be the first guy through the door of Dorner's last stand? No. I would not have wanted to be Guy #1 in Boat #1 in Wave #1 at Normandy on D-Day either.
What's the difference, Officer?
It rhymes with, "Get in the boat, hit the beach, shut up and soldier."
Officer safety is becoming synonymous with laziness and cowardice and I am getting sick to death of hearing excuses made for them.
You wanna be soldiers?
Really?
Well you dress like them, you're armed like them and you put on the airs.
Soldiers can be and are ordered to go die.
Soldiers don't get to say, "I'm not assaulting that beach, I'll get shot!" See you at your Courts Martial, private.
Would I have wanted to be the first guy through the door of Dorner's last stand? No. I would not have wanted to be Guy #1 in Boat #1 in Wave #1 at Normandy on D-Day either.
What's the difference, Officer?
It rhymes with, "Get in the boat, hit the beach, shut up and soldier."
Officer safety is becoming synonymous with laziness and cowardice and I am getting sick to death of hearing excuses made for them.
Standard Comparison
Putting Marv's 1968 model 4 5/8" barrel Mark I next to my 1957 model 6".
It doesn't show very well, but Marv's grips are wood! They are just really heavily used and spent literally decades in the gun cabinet of a friend whose man-cave is also his smoking room.
Personally I think the longer barrel looks better, but your mileage may vary. Of note is the angle of the logo. Apparently mine is the original angle, which looked right to Bill Ruger. Marv's is the later angle which was changed due to customer comments. Not sure that's true or not, but I heard it at a gun shop.
It doesn't show very well, but Marv's grips are wood! They are just really heavily used and spent literally decades in the gun cabinet of a friend whose man-cave is also his smoking room.
Personally I think the longer barrel looks better, but your mileage may vary. Of note is the angle of the logo. Apparently mine is the original angle, which looked right to Bill Ruger. Marv's is the later angle which was changed due to customer comments. Not sure that's true or not, but I heard it at a gun shop.
13 February 2013
No I Am NOT OK With That
Lighting the building a SUSPECT has barricaded himself into on fire is not an appropriate law enforcement response.
Surround and contain and starve him out, but you don't light the place on fire.
It was CONVENIENT to let him burn. Officer safety, AGAIN. Can't send a SWAT team in, because he's dangerous.
Can't just wait him out because WE HAVE TO SOMETHING, AND BURNING HIM ALIVE IS SOMETHING, WE MUST DO THAT!
I am disgusted by the pro rights people who are cheering the Waco-like conclusion to this story.
If we discard our rights because it's expeditious to officer safety, they are not rights at all.
So many of you are so damn familiar with the 1st and 2nd amendments you've seem to have forgotten the 6th and 8th. For shame.
For shame.
Update!
It's nice to see I am not alone.
Robb.
Alan.
Linoge.
Surround and contain and starve him out, but you don't light the place on fire.
It was CONVENIENT to let him burn. Officer safety, AGAIN. Can't send a SWAT team in, because he's dangerous.
Can't just wait him out because WE HAVE TO SOMETHING, AND BURNING HIM ALIVE IS SOMETHING, WE MUST DO THAT!
I am disgusted by the pro rights people who are cheering the Waco-like conclusion to this story.
If we discard our rights because it's expeditious to officer safety, they are not rights at all.
So many of you are so damn familiar with the 1st and 2nd amendments you've seem to have forgotten the 6th and 8th. For shame.
For shame.
Update!
It's nice to see I am not alone.
Robb.
Alan.
Linoge.
Kill Ratio
He seems to have shot himself.
Two cops dead, then him.
2:1, plus two non-combatents.
Remember the math?
To win the gun owners merely have to achieve a 1:1 ratio and there will still be 77.5 million gun owners.
And this fucker was insane!
Don't push the rational past their limits, they're better because their though processes aren't compromised.
You want to be on my side, officer, deputy, trooper.
Custer had better odds.
Two cops dead, then him.
2:1, plus two non-combatents.
Remember the math?
To win the gun owners merely have to achieve a 1:1 ratio and there will still be 77.5 million gun owners.
And this fucker was insane!
Don't push the rational past their limits, they're better because their though processes aren't compromised.
You want to be on my side, officer, deputy, trooper.
Custer had better odds.
12 February 2013
Oh Lord
Orson Scott Card is a Mormon.
He doesn't like gay marriage.
Those two items are consistent with each other and one sort of falls from the other.
He's writing for a Superman comic and because he's anti-gay-marriage he MUST BE FIRED!
Um... no.
It's especially ironic in he's called the press for gay marriage as the "death of democracy" and gay rights advocates (militant types, one each) are demanding he be fired, summarily. Don't like the author, don't buy the book and if there's enough of that the situation clears itself.
OK, ACLU, where are you defending Mr Card's right to freedom of religion? He didn't turn the job into a soapbox for his views, he expressed them personally not professionally.
Oh right, I forgot, you don't do religious freedom for those WITH religion...
PS: I've actually read what Mr Card has to say about gay marriage and it's not as bad as has been made out. He's got an opinion about the source of homosexuality and describes it in a manner that's clinically abrasive. The science about it is not decisive, so he may yet be proven right about it. The rest of his rant is about the systematic destruction of family by government and how gay marriage advocates seem to be on the vanguard of that movement. The things he cites as being corrosive to families are certainly being pushed by the persons he identifies.
That's his opinion and he's welcome to it.
Marriage is broken in America already and whether we let gay people marry is not going to make it worse, or better.
He doesn't like gay marriage.
Those two items are consistent with each other and one sort of falls from the other.
He's writing for a Superman comic and because he's anti-gay-marriage he MUST BE FIRED!
Um... no.
It's especially ironic in he's called the press for gay marriage as the "death of democracy" and gay rights advocates (militant types, one each) are demanding he be fired, summarily. Don't like the author, don't buy the book and if there's enough of that the situation clears itself.
OK, ACLU, where are you defending Mr Card's right to freedom of religion? He didn't turn the job into a soapbox for his views, he expressed them personally not professionally.
Oh right, I forgot, you don't do religious freedom for those WITH religion...
PS: I've actually read what Mr Card has to say about gay marriage and it's not as bad as has been made out. He's got an opinion about the source of homosexuality and describes it in a manner that's clinically abrasive. The science about it is not decisive, so he may yet be proven right about it. The rest of his rant is about the systematic destruction of family by government and how gay marriage advocates seem to be on the vanguard of that movement. The things he cites as being corrosive to families are certainly being pushed by the persons he identifies.
That's his opinion and he's welcome to it.
Marriage is broken in America already and whether we let gay people marry is not going to make it worse, or better.
Influence
I posted two days ago...
Now that line of thought is in the comments all over the place.
I'm taking credit.
[grin]
Now that line of thought is in the comments all over the place.
I'm taking credit.
[grin]
Fixing Links
Ugh.
With the death of Webshots, I've lost a lot of the linked photos here.
Fixing that now and putting links to Flickr. What a pain.
With the death of Webshots, I've lost a lot of the linked photos here.
Fixing that now and putting links to Flickr. What a pain.
Sympathy
Rewatching Babylon 5.
I have new sympathy for Londo Mollari.
Must be from being twenty years older than the first time I'd seen the episodes.
I have new sympathy for Londo Mollari.
Must be from being twenty years older than the first time I'd seen the episodes.
Obvious
Another DUH moment in language.
Why is a penknife called a PENknife?
Because you used it to sharpen your quill pen.
Staring me in the face for decades.
Why is a penknife called a PENknife?
Because you used it to sharpen your quill pen.
Staring me in the face for decades.
Gritty Trigger
You read about trigger pull being "gritty".
I'd just never expected it to be literally true.
There's a plunger on the back of the trigger on a Ruger Mk I, it pushes up on the disconnector.
The oil that I'd put on that plunger had turned very gray since the cleaning I gave it a few weeks ago with lots of dry firing but no rounds down range.
So I applied a lot of LSA to the spot and starting working the plunger up and down wiping out BLACK lubricant now and adding fresh until the LSA stayed its normal semen color. (You just knew there'd be a sex reference with talk of plungers and lube, right?)
So, after a bunch more cleaning, I put it back together and pull the trigger. CLICK.
Where did the little gritty feeling go?
I have so many old, cheap guns with gravel-like triggers that I didn't really notice the grit until it was gone.
All in all, it's nice when you fix something and it didn't cost anything and you were already happy with it being "broken".
I'd just never expected it to be literally true.
There's a plunger on the back of the trigger on a Ruger Mk I, it pushes up on the disconnector.
The oil that I'd put on that plunger had turned very gray since the cleaning I gave it a few weeks ago with lots of dry firing but no rounds down range.
So I applied a lot of LSA to the spot and starting working the plunger up and down wiping out BLACK lubricant now and adding fresh until the LSA stayed its normal semen color. (You just knew there'd be a sex reference with talk of plungers and lube, right?)
So, after a bunch more cleaning, I put it back together and pull the trigger. CLICK.
Where did the little gritty feeling go?
I have so many old, cheap guns with gravel-like triggers that I didn't really notice the grit until it was gone.
All in all, it's nice when you fix something and it didn't cost anything and you were already happy with it being "broken".
11 February 2013
Vigilantism
"Taking the law into our own hands."
The western genre has giving this something of a bad name.
There's little difference in my delivering a suspect to the jailhouse where they will then stand trial and a cop doing it.
My arresting and bringing to jail, or holding a suspect until the police finally arrive, is not even the same league as executing said suspect on the spot.
That's called lynching.
If the people are to once again assume their role as unpaid keepers of the peace we must not be forbidden to detain those we catch in the act.
In a tangentially related topic. Look around you and note all the things that are illegal that you'd never call the police about. We should strive to eliminate those laws from the books because they simply don't matter. If they did, you'd call the cops.
The western genre has giving this something of a bad name.
There's little difference in my delivering a suspect to the jailhouse where they will then stand trial and a cop doing it.
My arresting and bringing to jail, or holding a suspect until the police finally arrive, is not even the same league as executing said suspect on the spot.
That's called lynching.
If the people are to once again assume their role as unpaid keepers of the peace we must not be forbidden to detain those we catch in the act.
In a tangentially related topic. Look around you and note all the things that are illegal that you'd never call the police about. We should strive to eliminate those laws from the books because they simply don't matter. If they did, you'd call the cops.
10 February 2013
Rules Frustration
TL1 is bronze age.
I want to buy some light scale armor for my character and because he's TL1 that means there's no iron armor.
That means using bronze.
There's a rule about bronze armor being more expensive than iron. What they don't tell me is if that rule applies to pre-iron armors.
It probably does.
That changes the price of the armor considerably. From $528 to $2,112.
Leather, you say?
I want to buy some light scale armor for my character and because he's TL1 that means there's no iron armor.
That means using bronze.
There's a rule about bronze armor being more expensive than iron. What they don't tell me is if that rule applies to pre-iron armors.
It probably does.
That changes the price of the armor considerably. From $528 to $2,112.
Leather, you say?
TL 1
He's a dispossessed farmer!
Because crop failure and debt were so damn common in bronze age (archaic) Greece he's become a mercenary/thug for the Aristoi.
Gotta pick a good year for it, but this should serve.
Still owns his land and has a family back home to support.
Gotta concept, now off to character generation!
I've placed him right at the beginning of the Greek Dark Ages. He's from Mycenae or thereabouts. He was wealthy as things began to fall apart, but he's still managing to hold things together.
Because there's been some war going on he's become rather skilled at fighting, but longs for his fields and family.
TL 0 is here.
TL 2 is here.
TL 3 is here.
TL 4 is here.
TL 5 is here.
TL 6 is here.
TL 7 is here.
TL 8 is here.
Gotta pick a good year for it, but this should serve.
Still owns his land and has a family back home to support.
Gotta concept, now off to character generation!
I've placed him right at the beginning of the Greek Dark Ages. He's from Mycenae or thereabouts. He was wealthy as things began to fall apart, but he's still managing to hold things together.
Because there's been some war going on he's become rather skilled at fighting, but longs for his fields and family.
TL 0 is here.
TL 2 is here.
TL 3 is here.
TL 4 is here.
TL 5 is here.
TL 6 is here.
TL 7 is here.
TL 8 is here.
Police Exemption
Robert Peel's famous Principles of Policing.
Number seven in particular.
Number seven in particular.
"Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent upon every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence."
It occurs to me that thanks to police exemptions and 922(o) (aka the Hughes Amendment) that I am no longer the police and the police are no longer the public.
Not to mention how the various police organizations have been monopolizing all manner of powers and rights that properly belong to us all, such as arrest.
It has been asked, since AR-15's are "weapons of war", who are the police at war with?
They may reply that they are at war with the criminals.
OK, I'll grant that; if only for discussion.
Mr Policeman, you work here. I FUCKING LIVE HERE!
If you need a machine gun to drive past, what do you think it's going to take to stay put 2/3 of the day?
No more exemptions for law enforcement! They are us, time to remind them.
I can't have it, cop can't have it.
PS: Officer, your safety is SECONDARY to the public's. You job is to protect society at large and preserve the peace. That could mean you stand between the criminal and an innocent and take the barrage for them. That's being a hero.
Lighting up two old ladies because they are driving the same type of vehicle as a suspect is cowardice.
And I can't do that, so you shouldn't be able to either.
Rediscover honor; and suddenly my higher standard won't seem so onerous or difficult.
TL 0 Complete!
What a slog!
Even though I bought a copy of GURPS: Ice Age when it first came out, I don't think I'd ever completed a character.
There are some oddities in how the equipment is priced. It's a percentage of your cost of living. That makes sense.
What doesn't is the cost of living is the same for all tech levels.
$600 a month for a caveman with a starting wealth of $250.
$600 a month for a Greek hoplite with a starting wealth of $500.
$600 a month for a cop in Atlanta in 2013 with a starting wealth of $20,000.
Rent sure has gotten cheaper since 10000 BC, ain't it?
Even though I bought a copy of GURPS: Ice Age when it first came out, I don't think I'd ever completed a character.
There are some oddities in how the equipment is priced. It's a percentage of your cost of living. That makes sense.
What doesn't is the cost of living is the same for all tech levels.
$600 a month for a caveman with a starting wealth of $250.
$600 a month for a Greek hoplite with a starting wealth of $500.
$600 a month for a cop in Atlanta in 2013 with a starting wealth of $20,000.
Rent sure has gotten cheaper since 10000 BC, ain't it?
09 February 2013
Ever Notice
I have noticed that some of the nastiest comments come from people who have no space of their own to express their opinion.
They've made Blogger accounts, but no posts.
They've made Blogger accounts, but no posts.
Funny Thing...
A few short years ago I would never have put wooden stocks on a pistol of mine.
Pachmayr made more than a couple of bucks off my and my preference for non-natural materials.
I am not sure what changed in me.
The Springfield 1911 might have been the turning point. It came with what I think are the vilest set of wooden stocks I have ever felt in my palms. Just, yuck.
So I went to my parts box dug out my USGI plastic ones that came off my Dad's old Rem-Rand. They never looked right on the pistol because they were well worn and the gun was new.
Then The Lovely Harvey while accompanying me at a gun show saw "The Grip Guy's" display and wonder what I thought of those pretty rosewood stocks and didn't I have a gun they fit on?
I admitted they were pretty and all but... Too late, she was negotiating with the seller.
Five minutes later and after answering questions from the vendor through Harvey, I had a set.
They ARE pretty and feel great in the hand. And they've been on my .45 except for a photo here and there ever since.
Now I find I actually like wood. It's warm, it's attractive... and now I prefer it.
Pachmayr made more than a couple of bucks off my and my preference for non-natural materials.
I am not sure what changed in me.
The Springfield 1911 might have been the turning point. It came with what I think are the vilest set of wooden stocks I have ever felt in my palms. Just, yuck.
So I went to my parts box dug out my USGI plastic ones that came off my Dad's old Rem-Rand. They never looked right on the pistol because they were well worn and the gun was new.
Then The Lovely Harvey while accompanying me at a gun show saw "The Grip Guy's" display and wonder what I thought of those pretty rosewood stocks and didn't I have a gun they fit on?
I admitted they were pretty and all but... Too late, she was negotiating with the seller.
Five minutes later and after answering questions from the vendor through Harvey, I had a set.
They ARE pretty and feel great in the hand. And they've been on my .45 except for a photo here and there ever since.
Now I find I actually like wood. It's warm, it's attractive... and now I prefer it.
08 February 2013
Gotta Agree QOTD
I want to carry a gun to protect myself from criminals, they want to ban guns to protect themselves from friends and neighbors. But I'm the one that's paranoid.
From Commenter Larry at Smallest Minority
Only One
Via Weapons Man
Guess how many pickups with innocent people inside MY AR shot up today.
Zero.
Same as yesterday, and the day before and the day before and the day before...
McThag, safer with "weapons of war" [sic] than the LAPD.
Guess how many pickups with innocent people inside MY AR shot up today.
Zero.
Same as yesterday, and the day before and the day before and the day before...
McThag, safer with "weapons of war" [sic] than the LAPD.
Phaux Ivory Delete
Let's hear it for Numrich and their seemingly inexhaustible supply of the bits I need. At quite reasonable prices too!
Quite the change from when I brought it home.
Named Storm
Gentle Breeze Stephanie hit the west coast of Florida today causing untold destruction.
Why untold?
Because there wasn't any to speak of!
It's a gentle breeze! What did you expect? SNOW?
Naming winter storms up in Yankeefrozenhell is like naming the pleasant weather here, it's too routine and you run out of names and cheapen the branding for when it's important.
Why untold?
Because there wasn't any to speak of!
It's a gentle breeze! What did you expect? SNOW?
Naming winter storms up in Yankeefrozenhell is like naming the pleasant weather here, it's too routine and you run out of names and cheapen the branding for when it's important.
07 February 2013
Well Hey There
Some miscreant was loose in my neighborhood this evening.
Lots of deputies cruising around and helo circling.
The house behind me is vacant and I let the deputies idling at the corner know.
They thanked me and I went out back to watch the helicopter circle.
A bit later two deputies and a dog came into the vacant house's back yard.
With the excitement, I'd grabbed Dottie and had her slung while I was back there.
All the deputies said when the shined their lights on me was, "nice AR! Have a good night."
And off they went!
I love Florida sometimes.
Lots of deputies cruising around and helo circling.
The house behind me is vacant and I let the deputies idling at the corner know.
They thanked me and I went out back to watch the helicopter circle.
A bit later two deputies and a dog came into the vacant house's back yard.
With the excitement, I'd grabbed Dottie and had her slung while I was back there.
All the deputies said when the shined their lights on me was, "nice AR! Have a good night."
And off they went!
I love Florida sometimes.
TL 0
My TL 0 character is beginning to take form.
He's not an outcast, rather he's solitary.
He's a valuable member of the tribe, but not of any particular clan.
He's an expert tool-maker and knows what medicine there is to know at his tech level.
I'm picturing someone who travels between the clans of a tribe and keeps them informed of the goings on outside their immediate area.
Kinda like a wandering minstrel or postman with a traveling doctor component thrown in.
He tells tales, tends wounds, delivers messages and such.
There is absolutely no historical or anthropological basis for this character at all.
TL 1 is here.
TL 2 is here.
TL 3 is here.
TL 4 is here.
TL 5 is here.
TL 6 is here.
TL 7 is here.
TL 8 is here.
He's not an outcast, rather he's solitary.
He's a valuable member of the tribe, but not of any particular clan.
He's an expert tool-maker and knows what medicine there is to know at his tech level.
I'm picturing someone who travels between the clans of a tribe and keeps them informed of the goings on outside their immediate area.
Kinda like a wandering minstrel or postman with a traveling doctor component thrown in.
He tells tales, tends wounds, delivers messages and such.
There is absolutely no historical or anthropological basis for this character at all.
TL 1 is here.
TL 2 is here.
TL 3 is here.
TL 4 is here.
TL 5 is here.
TL 6 is here.
TL 7 is here.
TL 8 is here.
06 February 2013
Not Settled
I've mentioned before that the Civil War was not about slavery, it was about states rights.
If it had been about slavery, that issue was certainly settled, and honestly that's mostly why The North fought.
The 13th Amendment clearly shows that's the war they were fighting.
But the issue was the federal government telling the states what they could and could not do, in this case about slaves.
Notice there's no amendment changing the roles and status of the relationship between the federal government and the states?
While The North may have won on the battlefield they did not fix the problem in the victory conditions.
This may be why The South has kept on about rising again this last century and a half.
"OK, Yankee, you won, do what you will!"
"Free the slaves, Johnny Reb."
"And?"
"Give the blacks rights and the vote?"
"And"
"That's it."
"Uh, ok?"
And it's getting ready to come to a head again.
And it's not just a single issue any more.
If it had been about slavery, that issue was certainly settled, and honestly that's mostly why The North fought.
The 13th Amendment clearly shows that's the war they were fighting.
But the issue was the federal government telling the states what they could and could not do, in this case about slaves.
Notice there's no amendment changing the roles and status of the relationship between the federal government and the states?
While The North may have won on the battlefield they did not fix the problem in the victory conditions.
This may be why The South has kept on about rising again this last century and a half.
"OK, Yankee, you won, do what you will!"
"Free the slaves, Johnny Reb."
"And?"
"Give the blacks rights and the vote?"
"And"
"That's it."
"Uh, ok?"
And it's getting ready to come to a head again.
And it's not just a single issue any more.
05 February 2013
Ten Pound Mini
I know someone will wonder, "how did you make a ten pound Mini-14?"
How does one get from 6.4 lb. to 10 lb.?
First thing you do is swap out the 0.25 lb. 5-round magazine for a 1.1 lb. 30-rounder.
Up to 7.2 lb.
Then you swap out the wooden stock for a plastic one with a pistol grip and metal folding stock and rip off the front sight and replace it with a combination front sight, flash-hider and bayonet lug.
We're now at 8.4 lb.
Then add an Aimpoint 1000 in a B-Square see-through mount.
9.2 lb.
Now add a Harris bipod.
Ten pounds!
Add another 0.4 lb if you count the sling.
It looked vicious! And it had a wandering zero, was balanced poorly and the scope was mounted too high for a good cheek-weld. A learning experience to be sure.
There were aspects of this gun that I assumed were just part of this type of gun until I got better guns. The Daewoo was far better in almost all respects, not to mention 0.6 lb. lighter, but I didn't notice any accuracy improvement because the front sight on the Daewoo is almost 3/8" wide. The Daewoo brought three huge improvements for me. Lighter, took the far more common AR magazine and it stayed zeroed!
PS: I bought the DR-200 in 1995 and it was a post-ban gun. I had absolutely no problem obtaining 30-round USGI magazines for it.
How does one get from 6.4 lb. to 10 lb.?
First thing you do is swap out the 0.25 lb. 5-round magazine for a 1.1 lb. 30-rounder.
Up to 7.2 lb.
Then you swap out the wooden stock for a plastic one with a pistol grip and metal folding stock and rip off the front sight and replace it with a combination front sight, flash-hider and bayonet lug.
We're now at 8.4 lb.
Then add an Aimpoint 1000 in a B-Square see-through mount.
9.2 lb.
Now add a Harris bipod.
Ten pounds!
Add another 0.4 lb if you count the sling.
It looked vicious! And it had a wandering zero, was balanced poorly and the scope was mounted too high for a good cheek-weld. A learning experience to be sure.
There were aspects of this gun that I assumed were just part of this type of gun until I got better guns. The Daewoo was far better in almost all respects, not to mention 0.6 lb. lighter, but I didn't notice any accuracy improvement because the front sight on the Daewoo is almost 3/8" wide. The Daewoo brought three huge improvements for me. Lighter, took the far more common AR magazine and it stayed zeroed!
PS: I bought the DR-200 in 1995 and it was a post-ban gun. I had absolutely no problem obtaining 30-round USGI magazines for it.
Ammo
I dimly recall being called an idiot for buying an AR in 6.8 because the ammunition was so expensive compared to the more normal 5.56.
Well, boot's on the other foot!
When you can find it, bog standard 55gr FMJ 5.56x45mm is now more expensive than 6.8.
Allow me to say ha HA!
I don't expect this situation to last.
Well, boot's on the other foot!
When you can find it, bog standard 55gr FMJ 5.56x45mm is now more expensive than 6.8.
Allow me to say ha HA!
I don't expect this situation to last.
Safety
My gun collection moved past my self defense needs years ago.
My initial interest in guns wasn't even about defense and I couldn't tell you the difference between the 2nd and 3rd amendments back then.
Guns are machines and machines have always fascinated me.
I am not absolutely certain when guns became the machine that fascinated me more than other started. At one time it was airplanes and I think that Dad buying me books on military stuff because they included airplanes is what started it.
I'm a hands-on learner and physically handling the guns really helps me understand how they work.
I'd read book after book and looked at diagram after diagram and didn't grok "gas operated" until I was cleaning an M240 in the Army and seeing how the parts interacted.
I was astonished when I got out of the Army that I could just go to a gun shop and buy an example to play with until I understood it. There was a lot of rotation in my collection then as I sampled.
Guns were for punching holes in paper to me at that point. I didn't hunt and I lived in an odd sense of security.
What knocked me out of it?
Rodney King. More to the point, the riots.
Suddenly my Mini-14 and the 30-round mags I'd bought had an application beyond wasting money. I also realized how poor my ten pound Mini-14 was for the task.
That led to it being replaced by a post-ban Daewoo DR-200 and the Daewoo being replaced with AR's.
Still, there are guns in the cabinet with little practical use.
Like all the .25 ACP guns. Like my grampa's .32 revolvers. Like all the milsurp bolt guns.
No gun is completely useless for defense, but some are better than others.
Defense just doesn't drive my purchases.
The XM177E2 clone and the tax stamp that goes with it were driven by a game. I had a character who had that carbine, so I wanted to make one to play with.
The 870 and the Garand are on my list of guns that a person should have, not because I really lusted for them. In fact that 870 hasn't been to the range in nearly twenty years.
Occasionally my collecting leads me to a gun that's got some use. The 1908 Pocket Hammerless in .380 is one such. It rode in my pocket for about a year before being replaced by a smaller .380. But I didn't buy it for defense, I bought it because it appeared to be an upscaled version of the .25 ACP 1908 Vest Pocket I had. That and Tam talking about them.
I had that relationship wrong, it turns out. Browning (PBUH) scaled down the 1903 Pocket Hammerless to .25 then later came back and noticed that the original design would take .380 handily.
All of that is a wordy way to say, I don't buy guns because I am afraid.
I don't buy guns to compensate for my small penis.
I buy guns because they are interesting. I have guns that are FOR protecting me and mine but that's a very small portion of the collection.
My initial interest in guns wasn't even about defense and I couldn't tell you the difference between the 2nd and 3rd amendments back then.
Guns are machines and machines have always fascinated me.
I am not absolutely certain when guns became the machine that fascinated me more than other started. At one time it was airplanes and I think that Dad buying me books on military stuff because they included airplanes is what started it.
I'm a hands-on learner and physically handling the guns really helps me understand how they work.
I'd read book after book and looked at diagram after diagram and didn't grok "gas operated" until I was cleaning an M240 in the Army and seeing how the parts interacted.
I was astonished when I got out of the Army that I could just go to a gun shop and buy an example to play with until I understood it. There was a lot of rotation in my collection then as I sampled.
Guns were for punching holes in paper to me at that point. I didn't hunt and I lived in an odd sense of security.
What knocked me out of it?
Rodney King. More to the point, the riots.
Suddenly my Mini-14 and the 30-round mags I'd bought had an application beyond wasting money. I also realized how poor my ten pound Mini-14 was for the task.
That led to it being replaced by a post-ban Daewoo DR-200 and the Daewoo being replaced with AR's.
Still, there are guns in the cabinet with little practical use.
Like all the .25 ACP guns. Like my grampa's .32 revolvers. Like all the milsurp bolt guns.
No gun is completely useless for defense, but some are better than others.
Defense just doesn't drive my purchases.
The XM177E2 clone and the tax stamp that goes with it were driven by a game. I had a character who had that carbine, so I wanted to make one to play with.
The 870 and the Garand are on my list of guns that a person should have, not because I really lusted for them. In fact that 870 hasn't been to the range in nearly twenty years.
Occasionally my collecting leads me to a gun that's got some use. The 1908 Pocket Hammerless in .380 is one such. It rode in my pocket for about a year before being replaced by a smaller .380. But I didn't buy it for defense, I bought it because it appeared to be an upscaled version of the .25 ACP 1908 Vest Pocket I had. That and Tam talking about them.
I had that relationship wrong, it turns out. Browning (PBUH) scaled down the 1903 Pocket Hammerless to .25 then later came back and noticed that the original design would take .380 handily.
All of that is a wordy way to say, I don't buy guns because I am afraid.
I don't buy guns to compensate for my small penis.
I buy guns because they are interesting. I have guns that are FOR protecting me and mine but that's a very small portion of the collection.
04 February 2013
Slur
You may notice in the header when you leave a comment:
Try to remember you are a guest here when you comment.
Inappropriate comments will be deleted without mention.
You shit on the rug and I will kick your ass to the curb.
This is not your soapbox to vent anti-semitism racism, sexism, homophobia, pederasty or marxism.
Likewise, I don't seek the approval of such narrow minded haters even if I have an unrelated overlapping interest.
In fact, your disapproval is a badge of honor!
Gaming Project
Since I don't have anything constructive to do of late, I've decided that I am going to make a 150 point GURPS 4e character for each TL from 0-8.
Should be interesting.
I also need to hit the copy place for more character sheets.
The TL break-down for the curious:
TL 0 Stone Age
TL 1 Bronze Age (3500 BC+)
TL 2 Iron Age (1200 BC+)
TL 3 Medieval (600 AD+)
TL 4 Age of Sail (1450 AD+)
TL 5 Industrial Revolution (1730 AD+)
TL 6 Mechanized Age (1880 AD+)
TL 7 Nuclear Age (1940 AD+)
TL 8 Digital Age (1980 AD+)
Some of these span a rather large historical timeframe. TL5 in particular sits astride some gigantic changes in technology.
I am thinking of:
TL 0an outcast shaman. A traveling shaman
TL 1 something Greek. Mycenaean in fact!
TL 2Roman. Parthian horse archer cum tin merchant.
TL 3 A Viking slaver.
TL 4Romantic highwayman. Italian duelist and master swordsman.
TL 5 American colonial.
TL 6 Jade prospector.
TL 7 Drug smuggling pilot.
TL 8 Police detective.
Got some thinking to do. Coming up with something adventury is a challenge. I also need to decide if magic or psi is appropriate and fun.
Should be interesting.
I also need to hit the copy place for more character sheets.
The TL break-down for the curious:
TL 0 Stone Age
TL 1 Bronze Age (3500 BC+)
TL 2 Iron Age (1200 BC+)
TL 3 Medieval (600 AD+)
TL 4 Age of Sail (1450 AD+)
TL 5 Industrial Revolution (1730 AD+)
TL 6 Mechanized Age (1880 AD+)
TL 7 Nuclear Age (1940 AD+)
TL 8 Digital Age (1980 AD+)
Some of these span a rather large historical timeframe. TL5 in particular sits astride some gigantic changes in technology.
I am thinking of:
TL 0
TL 1 something Greek. Mycenaean in fact!
TL 2
TL 3 A Viking slaver.
TL 4
TL 5 American colonial.
TL 6 Jade prospector.
TL 7 Drug smuggling pilot.
TL 8 Police detective.
Got some thinking to do. Coming up with something adventury is a challenge. I also need to decide if magic or psi is appropriate and fun.
Letters To My Senators
Please oppose this foolish attempt to throttle the capacity of magazines at some arbitrarily determined size.
A quick glance at historical trends in the murder rate says a great deal about how well it would work.
In 1926 magazines that held more than seven rounds in a handgun were a rarity. The murder rate in Chicago is barely different now despite a defacto ban on the entire handgun, let alone the magazine. You could mail order machine guns back then too, yet the rate is slightly higher today than it was then.
In contrast the Tampa area's murder rate has dropped from 67.6 murders per 100,000 people to just 8! EIGHT! And that's with shall issue conceal carry and virtually no state level restrictions on the type of firearms that the common citizen may own.
It seems to me that the winning solution for crime reduction is obvious.
Thanks for you and your staffers time!
We'll see what we get by way of reply.
Safer!
In 1926 you could mail-order a Thompson SMG or a Colt Monitor with the only delay being the post office for your check and shipping time to your door. Full auto, no background check, no registration.
In 1926 Al Capone was in charge of much of the crime in Chicago.
26 murders in 1926. That's 16.7 per 100k.
In 2012 you cannot mail order any kind of firearm and owning a machinegun requires both registration and a background check. None of that matters because you can't own one in Chicago and most regular firearms are very tightly regulated.
Al Capone is long dead.
532 murders in 2012. That's 19.7 per 100k.
Yup, gun control is working alright.
By way of comparison.
In 1926 Jacksonville the murder rate was 76.9 per 100,000 people!
In 2012 Jacksonville, FL had 108 murders, a rate of 13.1 per 100k.
In 1926 Tampa, FL had a murder rate of 67.6 per 100,000 people and last year it was 8.1!
Since the mid eighties Florida has made it much easier to buy and carry a firearm and to use one at need.
When you start talking about making the streets safer, make sure you check to see what actually works.
These statistics were far too easy to find online, so the gun control people are either willfully ignorant or lying about the purposes of their laws.
After watching them closely for the past 20 years, I think they are not ignorant.
In 1926 Al Capone was in charge of much of the crime in Chicago.
26 murders in 1926. That's 16.7 per 100k.
In 2012 you cannot mail order any kind of firearm and owning a machinegun requires both registration and a background check. None of that matters because you can't own one in Chicago and most regular firearms are very tightly regulated.
Al Capone is long dead.
532 murders in 2012. That's 19.7 per 100k.
Yup, gun control is working alright.
By way of comparison.
In 1926 Jacksonville the murder rate was 76.9 per 100,000 people!
In 2012 Jacksonville, FL had 108 murders, a rate of 13.1 per 100k.
In 1926 Tampa, FL had a murder rate of 67.6 per 100,000 people and last year it was 8.1!
Since the mid eighties Florida has made it much easier to buy and carry a firearm and to use one at need.
When you start talking about making the streets safer, make sure you check to see what actually works.
These statistics were far too easy to find online, so the gun control people are either willfully ignorant or lying about the purposes of their laws.
After watching them closely for the past 20 years, I think they are not ignorant.
Essential Truth
If you cannot say what you mean; you can never mean what you say.
The details are everything.
The details are everything.
03 February 2013
Perspective
I just realized...
Atlas Shrugged is a Diesel-Punk novel.
I should take longer to say it, in honor of the source, but...
Atlas Shrugged is a Diesel-Punk novel.
I should take longer to say it, in honor of the source, but...
02 February 2013
Good Job!
Mr Bloomberg, you should follow Mr Koch's fine example.
Borrow a gun from your security detail if you can't find yours.
You're doing a great job now Ed, if only every mayor of NYFC could be like you are now.
Borrow a gun from your security detail if you can't find yours.
You're doing a great job now Ed, if only every mayor of NYFC could be like you are now.
01 February 2013
Sense Of Scale
The figure is armed with the same carbine he's standing on.
I got interested in the XM177E2 during the playtest for GURPS: SEAL's in Vietnam. The figure is of the character I generated for the playtest. The actual gun was inspired by character.
PS:
That there is a fully registered short barrel rifle. Sabrina is a 95% clone of an XM177E2. The 11.5" barrel and mock-moderator is just barely shorter than a 14.5" barrel and normal flash-hider. Lots of retro-heads use a 12.7" barrel and pin and weld the moderator on to make a Title 1 version; it's actually a very subtle difference.
I got interested in the XM177E2 during the playtest for GURPS: SEAL's in Vietnam. The figure is of the character I generated for the playtest. The actual gun was inspired by character.
PS:
That there is a fully registered short barrel rifle. Sabrina is a 95% clone of an XM177E2. The 11.5" barrel and mock-moderator is just barely shorter than a 14.5" barrel and normal flash-hider. Lots of retro-heads use a 12.7" barrel and pin and weld the moderator on to make a Title 1 version; it's actually a very subtle difference.
Home Repair
In the recent spate of home repair stories...
Am I the only one who's fixed something and stood back and wondered, "that was too simple"?
Then fretted for weeks while it remained fixed?
Am I the only one who's fixed something and stood back and wondered, "that was too simple"?
Then fretted for weeks while it remained fixed?
I'm The Problem?
I beg to differ!
Yes, there's a massive ammo shortage going on because of demand.
Yes, I'd like to buy a couple of boxes of 5.56.
What I did not do is hover over ten ammo sites and buy 500 rounds and then when a buddy called about availability, buy 500 more.
That's 1,000 rounds that someone who has none can't order and you ordered just to show you could for a magazine article.
And you blame me and others like me for cranking up the demand and prices?
Really?
REALLY?
I just want 40 rounds to go shooting for fun.
I'll admit, I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to ammo. I tend to buy one more box than I need every time I go to the range and that extra box accumulates. I HAVE ammo, so I'm not adding to the panic; but I'll be wanting some before too terribly long.
Yes, there's a massive ammo shortage going on because of demand.
Yes, I'd like to buy a couple of boxes of 5.56.
What I did not do is hover over ten ammo sites and buy 500 rounds and then when a buddy called about availability, buy 500 more.
That's 1,000 rounds that someone who has none can't order and you ordered just to show you could for a magazine article.
And you blame me and others like me for cranking up the demand and prices?
Really?
REALLY?
I just want 40 rounds to go shooting for fun.
I'll admit, I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to ammo. I tend to buy one more box than I need every time I go to the range and that extra box accumulates. I HAVE ammo, so I'm not adding to the panic; but I'll be wanting some before too terribly long.