RIP Mr Allston

Aaron Allston has shuffled off this mortal coil.

I own several of the games and supplements listed in his biography.

Autoduel Champions is one we played and enjoyed immensely.

Damn.

A Terr'ble Rift

Tam pointed out the non-humans in several role playing games were the living embodiment of the planet of hats trope.

Ayup.

It's been a problem in my gaming before.  The hats are comfortable for the players.  Warm too.

I nationalized the cultures and languages in one fantasy world.  The players actively rebelled.  They wanted their character to speak "elvish".  There were two elf dominated nations, but everyone from those nations spoke their respective languages...

That world did not end racism, notice the racially domination thing?  One of the Orc nations was racist-egalitarian.  Since being Orc was the pinnacle, the only thing that could beat an Orc was another Orc.  Hilarity ensued when FuzzyGeff made a racially elvish, culturally orcish character (not really orcish but the nationish, but I can't remember the national names).  Calling him an elf was fighting words!

The players hated it.

They hated the idea that an Aslan, born and raised in the Third Imperium, would not have most of the "racial" characteristics associated with being Aslan.  That most of the racial tendencies of the race were cultural really bothered the players.  Luckily, in this case, there are enclaves of Aslan who are still culturally of their Heirate clan.  They are second class citizens in the Imperium and it became comedic when the same player who complained attempted to get out of playing those traits when they were disadvantageous.

SIGH.

At the other end of the spectrum is the players being Americans when attempting the bog-standard fantasy world.  Yes, an American will wonder why we're committing what amounts to genocide on the Orcs.  A human from Xanadar is not going to doubt the righteousness of the cause for even a second.

By far my biggest mind-fuck of the players was in a alt-history set in Zaire.  One player, thinking he was clever, made his character African-American.  To be presented with the locals hating him for the American part and ignoring his skin color really upset him.  He complained, "but my character's BLACK!"  And they know that, Dave (not his real name).  They also know you're an American and they hate Americans; almost as much as Belgians here.

You can't win for losing as a gamemaster.

Creating Crime

There's a trend in law enforcement.

They create the situation where someone can break the law, then arrest the person for breaking that law.

The DEA will make a situation where someone will offer to buy or sell drugs.

The FBI will provide (fake) bomb materials to wannabe terrorists.

The BATFE will buy from and sell to felons at prices that would tempt anyone.

I wonder if we remove the feds from the equation if the criminals in question would be able to commit the crime in question.

If I wanted to buy a kilo of heroin, I am not certain I could.  I think I know someone who knows someone... but I don't know for sure.  Nor do I know how much it would cost.

I know how to make a bomb.  This is one place where I don't need the FBI for most of the materials.  Ironically it was the US Government that taught me how to make bombs, and it wasn't the Army.  It was the department of agriculture.  They used to give away pamphlets explaining to farmers how to remove stumps using diesel and fertilizer mixtures.  I have no clue where to get a blasting cap though.  Grampa had a padded box with about ten of them.  He sold those with the farm as far as I know.

If someone offered to buy my $1,500 SBR for $5,000 it'd sure be tempting.  But it'd also set off alarm bells.  That alarm would become deafening if it became clear that they were didn't intend to file a Form 4.  So far not one person I know has ever asked to buy ANY of my guns let alone attempted to bypass the NFA.

And what keeps me from committing crime?  Personal integrity!  That and sheer terror of prison.  I am deterred.

The only personal use I can think of for a kilo of heroin is to commit suicide.  Gee, the guns work just as well here, don't they?

I enjoy explosions, they're entertaining.  I don't have anything I want to blow up or a place to blow them up.  Being a responsible citizen, I don't want to hurt anyone for my entertainment.  If Joe Huffman ever had me over to shoot boomers I'd likely giggle my way to another plane of existence!

Selling guns?  For the right price I'd sell the entire contents of the gun safe.  But there'd be all sorts of checking up on the buyer.  Photocopies of ID and bills of sale; and now that I am a cruffler, logging in the bound book.  Buying guns?  They just don't make cases around the kinds of guns I would unthinkingly snap up at a suspiciously low price.  The only way those guns would be an illegal sale is if they're stolen and if the seller TELLS me they're stolen I do believe I'd call the cops myself.

And that makes me wonder...

Even with the feds enticing me, I'd not commit the crimes.  That creates an uncomfortable to me grey zone about entrapment.  The people who they seem to be catching aren't criminals until given opportunity; but they sure don't shy from the chance when it's presented.

Ruggedness

What is a "real world condition" for Joe Civilian...? You mean like if it starts raining on the range or something?

In an Arfcom discussion about which rifle "won".  Robinson XCR, Bushmaster ACR or FN SCAR.

We do get full of ourselves when we get all tacticool.

I've been there.

I have a standing offer with a couple of friends about optics.  I'll offer to toss my rifle, Aimpoint M4S and all, into the deep end of the pool and we'll see where the extra money I spent went.

Aimpoint guarantees the thing to well beyond swimming pool depths for waterproofing.  I like the idea that my red-dot can take loads of moisture since that's a possible where hurricanes can appear.

That and my Aimpoint 1000 is still running after more than 20 years of shooting.

I don't expect to ever go over the beach from the sea like a frogman.

The worst case is really Hurricane Andrew here.

Non Player Character

Agent J in MiB3 is an NPC.

If he were a PC he'd have taken the Arknet device, fired up his time machine, gone back to December 6, 1968 and placed it during CSM-107's integrated systems testing at North American Aviation.

Then he could have kept K from going to Florida.

Of course, a real PC finds out what day and time Boris emerges from HIS time jump at the top of the Chrysler building and shoots him in the back.  He knew enough to time his jump for a day prior, didn't he?  Sitting there waiting is boring, but it's effective.

Why Can't I Hit Consistently

It's a common refrain.

Sometimes it's you.

Sometimes it's because something that should be tight is loose.

Sometimes it's because we were an egg and didn't know what we were doing.

Yeah, you were inconsistent because you trusted me to mount that scope and I did it wrong.  You couldn't have set your cheek on that stock the same place twice after working the bolt.

Fixed now!  Front and back matter as much as level.  Who knew?  Someone besides me, that's for sure.

Sorry about that.

Gaming Guilds Classes And Unions

And it's not a diatribe!

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons rules made party creation simpler.  The class abilities were complimentary and exclusive.  Magic Users sucked at melee, but fighters couldn't cast spells.  Both Clerics and Magic Users could use spells, but they were different spells.

So your party needed one of each of the basic classes (fighter, magic user and cleric minimum plus a thief er archer) and could be enhanced with the variant classes (you NEEDED a Magic User, and could probably use an Illusionist).

Playing GURPS in a fantasy setting broke that.  A fully armored knight in the service of God could also be a powerful wizard.  At least if the GM gave out enough points...  Then there was a lack of distinction between spell casters.  If you cast spells, you are a mage.  No distinction between Clerics, Magic Users, Illusionists, Druids or even Rangers and Paladins.

No distinction in the rules at least.  You can recreate them easily during character creation.

The old AD&D party roles don't go away running GURPS.  You still need someone who can swing a melee weapon, you need an offensive spellcaster and a support spellcaster.

Since the rules don't force the distinction, and players being what they are, what I ended up with in GURPS fantasy settings was amazingly homogenous characters.  Every one was essentially a fighter/magic user/cleric.  Because your points were limited, what we ended up with was party of Jacks of All Trades who were all underpowered for the points invested.  Specializing would have helped the party as a whole.  Player squabbles definitely come to play here, when you've been left hanging because you can't convince "the mage" to come help you tend to make your next character as self-sufficient as you can.

I've thought about it a lot and I think I've found a solution to the "problem".  Guilds.

It's even nominally realistic!

Guild membership determines what skills, tools and spells you have access to.  And since they are colluding and jealous of each other's spheres of influence, the rules are rigidly applied.  Worse for the players is the guilds are multi-national.

This forces the old dichotomy back on character creation, even if it does demand a lot of preparation by the GM.

Then, since adventurer is a valid profession in a fantasy setting, there's The Union of Adventurers to deal with.  To join you have to be in one of the guilds and you're subject to the union rules.  (5 points to the person who comes up with the best MPAA/RIAA type acronym for it).

"Mr Dalf, is that a SWORD?  Aren't you a member of the Mage's Guild?  Don't guild rules of both the Mage's and Fighter's guilds prohibit you from using that at all?  Your fine is forfeiting your share.  The rest of the party shall be fined a half share each for not enforcing guild rules while engaged in a Union approved adventure.  Mr Baggins, metal armor?  As a member of the thieves' er ARCHER'S guild you should know better.  Quarter share fine and don't let us catch you wearing it again, perhaps your nephew could use it."

Guild membership is a social advantage costing points.  Since multiclassing was possible in the AD&D rules you can be a member of more than one guild, if you can afford the prerequisites of all of them.  Remember, this is an ARTIFICIAL means of forcing specialization on the party where the rules don't do it for the GM.

Someday I will have to actually write down what the actual prerequisites are for each guild.  I came up with this idea long after I'd GM'd my last fantasy game.  That one challenged the player's preconceptions so badly I've never gone back.  It was simple.  Make languages nationally based instead of racial and eliminate "common".  I think it would have been better to declare myself a Jewish witch in inquisition Spain based on the player response...

Update:

It just occurred to me that this also creates some adventure seeds.  The Clerical guild is the keeper of the healing and necromantic colleges; with necromantic spells being tightly controlled.  A necromancer would be outside the guild and the union and they'd commission parties to eliminate unlicensed use.

Common Use

Basing a large part of our argument on "common use" scares the snot out of me.

It essentially precludes advancing beyond the present.

Gauss rifles are not in common use today are they?  Nor are lasers.

There's large classes of firearms that are presently heavily restricted and not in common use because of that heavy restriction.  Basically anything NFA comes to mind.

I know only one other person personally who has anything NFA.  Me and one guy among a large group of gun owning people.  And it's short barreled guns not something really cool like a machine gun or suppressor.

I'd feel better about it if, perhaps, we got an amnesty.  The law allows for periodic amnesties, and there has been exactly one.  It ended before I was born, in fact.  Getting the amnesty and enough "new" guns registered to change NFA items to common use would suit me.  Then we can use that to nuke the whole concept of NFA item completely.

Just a thought.

Light Bulb

I started doing some round comparisons for alternate history purposes.

A thing that comes up a couple times for soldiers loads is the 10kg ammo load.

The first thing I noticed was that the basic load of 210 rounds for a US Army infantryman is nowhere near 10kg.  It's more like 3.2kg.

Why isn't the basic load the full 10kg?

The answer kind of lays with the Browning Automatic Rifle, M1918 type.  The 13 magazine basic load for a BAR gunner is very nearly ten kilograms (9.43kg).

It then occurred to me that the 10kg limit is the basic load plus the ammo everybody carries to feed the squad gun.

Hey, grunts, chime in here.

Blogroll

Over on the right is the ever common blogroll.

I've noticed that some people's are quite extensive.

Too extensive.

It makes me wonder if they ever actually read the whole thing even once a week.

I try to make it to the end of mine everyday.  One of the reasons I have it set to sort by most recent post with a teaser is so I can see if someone's updated recently.

There are a couple of daily reads that don't appear over there because they don't show as updating via whatever system Blogger is using.

There are a few who are gone from the list as well when I lost interest in what they were posting.  I know it's traditional to have a delinking ceremony, but I just didn't want the drama.  Extra drama.  I do manage to ride the llama enough all on my own.

Still I wonder about those huge lists.

It's Possible That This Might Work!

Bulk Ammo is giving away some cartridges.

All you have to do is tell them you're sharing the information.

This is me, sharing!

Because Remake

This scene never fails to get me grinning.

In Lieu Of Content

Let's buzz the tower again.

Shots Fired

Or fireworks.

At midnight I heard two pops.

The timing seemed off for a couple of firecrackers, and a bit loud.

The noises did not repeat so I went back to bed.

It occurs to me, now, that a murderer can get one hell of a head start on law enforcement merely by being a good shot and not firing many rounds.  People hear a noise and if it's not repeated, tend to go back to what they were doing before.

I grabbed a gun and checked my doors and peered out the windows.  I sure hope I still have a neighbor.

If not, I want to mention, before I forget, that a rusty white Taurus wagon with New York plates was there yesterday and had not been there previously.

Everything Old Is New Again

Erin's magazine extension for her Mosin-Sporter?

Pic stolen from her post linked above.

Yeah, Finland beat you to it by almost a hundred years.

Kiv/27 with magazine extension.
Pic from the Finnish section of Mosin-Nagant dot net.

Except theirs held 20 rounds.

Rollin' & Tumblin'

I love me some blues.



Enjoy.

A Box My Kingdom For A Box

A C7 upper does not fit in a small flat rate box.  An A1 upper does, a slick sided one does as well.

The C7 has the carry handle, forward assist and the brass deflector.

Combined, they conspire to keep it from fitting.

So a much larger box was needed.

Wal Mart was out.

The medium flat rate box would work, but the flat rate is more than priority mail for that size box if you can find one at a store.

Staples had it, and that's a six mile drive from my house.

SIGH.

Ping

I walked onto the bridge.

On a Lightning Class frontier merchant there are five acceleration couches in the bridge.  Pilot and navigator facing forward.  Comms and sensors aft of them on the port side, facing out.  The captain's "command couch" was starboard facing out next to the hatch.

The command couch was really just a seat for the captain to bark orders from with a few repeater displays but no real controls.  Unless Hamilton was giving the utility grav systems a workout, Capt Harris tended to stand behind pilot and navigator stations and look out the windscreen.

The sensor station deserves a bit more detail.  It's against the aft bridge bulkhead and there's a physical curtain that can be pulled around the station.  Mike the Sensor Operator almost never had that curtain open; and only when the systems were completely shut down.

I get no end of amusement from the secrecy.  Both Captain Harris and Mike the Sensor Operator are under the impression that a "diplomat" cannot be cleared to know the ELINT capabilities of a Lightning.

Where was I?

I walked onto the bridge, Mike behind his curtain saying, "We've got a Gashidda doing customs picket work at 245 by 30 and a couple of merchants near that bearing..."

Capt Harris interrupts at this point, "Mike, we're not alone."  Mike shuts up.  I sometimes think that he believes that when he's behind his curtain and not talking that I no longer perceive his existence.

Sigh.

Just another day on the Terran Merchant Ship English Electric.  Someday I am going to have to get our British captain to explain how he came up with that name.

A Bit Of A Snag

The STEN project has hit a snag.

I do not possess a high school metal shop.

There's a scarcity of rental machine shops for some reason.

There's an abundance of machine ships I can hire to do work, but damn few (none) that will let me use the machines.  My closest friend with the tooling is in North Carolina.

Then there's the parkerization tank.

About the only thing I have available locally is the welder.

I has the sads about this project because it's going to cost a lot to buy the tools to make the tools to make the parts.

That kind of makes it less viable than (yet) another AR.

Done With 'Em

I've mentioned that I often make connections before other people that I am unable to relate to them at the time, but they come to realize I was right.

I've noticed a similar pattern with me being done with someone.

They say something, that's enough for me to say, "done."  And everyone at the time says I'm overreacting.

Then in a few months, they're telling me about how they're done with that asshole too.

This skill HAS to be marketable.  I just need to figure out how.

Yousef It Is Time To Buzz The Tower

Wing Commander Kalid Zandi, 1st Royal Dhimar Fighter Squadron, buzzing the tower at over 500 knots!  I'm flying a Godless Infidel manufactured McDonnell Douglas F-4C.

One of the maps you can use in Strike Fighters 2 is the "Desert".  Campaigns set here are two fictitious middle eastern nations The Kingdom of Dhimar and The Empire of Paran having a bit of a spat about their border.  The Dhimari are US allies and the stock campaigns have you flying as an American or a mercenary.  The campaign editor can be convinced to change the mercenary campaign to a normal campaign using Royal Dhimari Air Force planes.

Working On It

Took the pdf drawings of the STEN and entered them into AutoCAD.

Started taking measurements there.

I stand by my position that there's nothing on a STEN that cannot be made in a high school metal shop.

I modify that position with... this is not a real STEN if it's semi-auto.

Converting it to closed bolt semi-automatic operation might take a bit more doing, especially keeping an eye on making sure it cannot take any full-auto parts.

If ATF didn't consider open bolt, fixed firing pin guns illegal machine guns, then this would be simple. Lock the selector in the semi position and drive on!

The next nut to consider is that while I am certainly allowed to make my own gun for personal use without telling the ATF (or any other government entity in Florida) there might be a bit of sticky wicket concerning design approval.  I am still researching that.  It could merely be something that you need to do if you're making a gun from a parts kit that used to be an MG rather than entirely from scratch.

And there's nothing in making one from scratch that requires I don't use Indianapolis Ordnance's semi-kit if I am faithful with the other dimensions.

Plus...  Since this will have to have a 16" barrel, I think that the handguard should be extended out to the muzzle so that it looks like the suppressor from a STEN Mk IIS.  That'd be cool, wouldn't it?

I think it might also be a good idea to look at the dimensions for a Colt 9mm AR magazine, since they're a lot more available than STEN and generally regarded as more reliable.

Cured

I stand cured of my lust for the Ghost lower from Aero Precision.

What allowed me to recover was attempting to explain why it was delightful.

"A state senator from California, you've probably never heard of him..."

Yes, boys and girls; the Ghost Lower is a HIPSTER JOKE.

Damn.

The Other Side

If you don't want to have children, don't have vaginal sex.

It's really that simple.

Use your hands, mouth or ass.

Hell, use anything that causes friction, just do not insert into ONE particular hole.

Not even a little bit.  Not even if they promise to pull out.

Use protection anyway!

People who say they cannot use protection and or get abortions because of some form of Christian faith.  That had better be your wife you've knocked up.  Another Dumbass Fuckwad Shitheel example!  Can't use protection because Catholic, yet is seemingly free to be an adulterer.  HEADDESK

You see, if you don't get pregnant or get someone pregnant, there's no debate about abortion at all!

And a great deal of this falls right down to, "why yes, you have rights; but every right comes with responsibilities."

You have a right to fuck.  You are also responsible for the consequences of fucking.  If you cannot or will not be responsible, then stop fucking.

Where's my right to not be responsible for your actions?  Because when you pawn your spawn off on any of the various government assistance programs you are most assuredly making me financially responsible via taxation.

And if I have responsibilities, I get rights.  I get a say.  But that's another topic.

Abortion is the, bar none, stupidest method of birth control ever devised.  It is not a zero risk procedure.  It is not taking responsibility for the consequences of having sex, it is evading them.  Evading them in a morally questionable manner; definitely a sinful manner if you self identify as any of the three major monotheisms.  Also a sin, sex out of wedlock.  (If you self identify as a Christian, for example, there's a book that comes with your Faith that explains all this.  Try reading it.)

It is immoral to force people to force people, via government, to pay for something they have religious objections to.  There's that 1st Amendment again.  Government is forbidden to force me to obey YOUR religious prohibitions and is likewise forbidden from forcing you violate yours. (Yes, I know this is ignored).

Remember rights come with responsibility; forcing a Christian to pay for abortions means they have a right to demand the procedure be conducted in a way that maximizes the discomfort of the subject.  To demand that each procedure be accompanied by mandatory lectures on moral turpitude.

You really want a right to an abortion, assume the responsibility for the whole thing without subsidy.  It's fascinating to me that this right derived from a penumbra of the 4th Amendment requires government assistance where the 1st Amendment doesn't compel the government to subsidize a printing press or broadcast tower for my personal use.  The 2nd Amendment, by this rationale, should mandate that I be given a government financed firearm and training in its use.

I am an Atheist who does not mock or fear Judeo/Christian values.  They are were the backbone of what was the basis for American exceptionalism.  Those values did form the framework that is American culture.  One thing I rail against is people who wish to have the benefits of this exceptional culture without participating in it.  If you don't want to be a member of this culture, go away and find a different one.  What you are doing is breaking a successful culture.  This too is another topic (and pro-choice is not alone in its attempts to make wholesale changes without considering what the long term effects of the change are).

Starz Original Programming

If you are a writer or producer for a show on Starz, no matter how soon they renewed you for a second season; be sure you don't plan more than two seasons.

That's all you'll get.

There are only two series out of 13 that have gone past two seasons.  Not a good record.

The sad part is that much of it is quite good.

And, HBO, before you start clucking too loud; three seasons seems to be your cut-off.

Be Weer'd

Coefficient

Blah!

I say again BLAH!

Ballistic coefficients are based on a bullet form factor.

The traditional form is known as the G1.

A newer form that more accurately reflects the shape of modern boat-tail bullets is G7.

In general, if you see an unlabeled BC you are looking at the G1 number.

A problem arises when the bullet maker uses what I'm going to call a G1 proxy.  The stated BC doesn't calculate to either G1 or G7 value, but if the proxy is entered into a ballistics calculator instead of G1 the trajectory matches measured empirical data.

I'm looking at YOU Barnes.

If you enter their BC number in the G1 spot in the calculator, you get an accurate trajectory that's confirmed by people actually going to the range and shooting.  It does not match the G1 as calculated and any G7 derived from thinking the published BC is the G1 is wrong.  Way wrong.

Hat-Tip to Phil for borrowing his aero-E calculus rocket-scientist brain.  When I'm a zombie, I'm eating his brain first!

Got It

I've watched several vids that were featured on a few blogs lately.

They're nominally about something else, that was the hook that got me to click on the link and start watching.

Notice I say "nominally"?

Every last one of them turned into a video about abortion.

Guns... abortion.

Black history month... abortion.

Economic freedom... abortion.

NSA spying... abortion.

I Grok now!  Conservative = Pro-Life to the exclusion of all other issues and what lip service is paid to those issues is merely a ploy to get people to sit still long enough to begin lecturing them on the topic.

I hate bait and switch.

Fanatic: won't shut up and won't change the topic.

Hopping On The Bandwagon

Displaced Louisiana Guy has issued a challenge.  Post a pic of the everyday carry and link back.

Dan was forced by Blogger and in turn I was compelled to add.  It might not be blue steel and wood, but who else is man enough to carry a pink stocked J-Frame?

That's my Colt .38 Super 1911,S&W 640-3 with my "Save The Tatas" Hogue Monogrip, two reloads for each, the camo Zippo that's been all over the world with me and my Kershaw.

This is the winter loadout.

Court Strikes Down "May Issue"

Woo hoo!

Indeed a victory!

Wait... WHERE?

CALIFORNIA?!?!

OK, it must have been a local court decision then, San Diego is generally less liberal than the other cities because of the veterans and military in the area.

WHAT?!?

The NINTH CIRCUIT COURT?  Also known as the 9th Circus Court?  The hands down most liberal circuit of them all?

Hawaii is now pucker factor "what happened to the seat cushion?"!

hat-tip just about everyone.

This creates a circuit split between the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 7th Circuits too.  Virtually destined to be appealed to the Supreme Court which will be put in the awkward position of contradicting themselves if they rule against it.

Quote Of The Day

The biggest joke is that the “problems” that people bring up that would exist without a coercive, violent government are generally so much less than the “problems” we face as a result of our coercive, violent government that I just can’t even put it in words.

From here.

Midwesternism

I caught Marv flat footed with my quaint midwestern speech patterns.

I used "he's".

It's a contraction of he is or he has.

Apparently in use since 1588 and much hated by journalists and english teachers.  Double win!

Forgiveness

To be forgiven you have to first admit you've done wrong.  Then you have to say you're sorry.

Then it's up to me to forgive.

Without the first two steps it's not being forgiven, it's getting away with doing wrong.

It's why I have a lot of problems with a couple of politicians.  They failed to say they were sorry or admit what they were doing was wrong.

We're Not Going To Panic

Oh, lookie, 9mm is now acceptable as a self defense round.

Good!

And it's real, 9x19mm performance has improved dramatically since I was young.

What I am not going to do is run out and replace any guns with a 9x19mm because the wind is blowing from a different quarter.  I can't afford to keep up!

More shots is better than fewer, but what's missed in a couple of these debates is that rounds like .40 and .45 still work.  So don't panic!  Your gun still works!

My daily carry is a .38 Super 1911.  A 9mm with a bit more zip, in other words.  The technological advances that make 9x19 a good choice have been applied to .38 Super as well.  Yes, I am giving up 8 shots per magazine compared to an M&P 9; but I already own the 1911 and I shoot it very well.

Those two reasons are enough to stand pat and see if money rolls in for a conversion to a plastic fantastic like an M&P or Glock.

I own a 9mm, The Hi-Power, but I didn't get it for carry.  I guess I could, if I wanted to...

Or go Stage 10 and just carry the J-Frame.

Something Just Occurred

The Son Tay raid was Army Special Forces for the ground component.

They used the GAU-5A instead of the XM177E2.  The only difference between the two is the forward assist, but the XM177E2 was the Army gun and the GAU-5A was the Air Force gun...

I'll bet budgets were involved somehow.

Anyone got WeaponsMan's email?  I'll bet he knows!

Oooooh Burn

I found this article.

Via The Firearm Blog.

It's very interesting reading.

I've got two rifles in 6.8x43mm SPC II.  My investment is small compared to what an Army would have to plunk down to change over.

It mirrors a debate I'd mentioned before.

Edit:

There are several assumptions in his blog that bear mentioning.  He's looking at military application of these rounds and not social or hunting.  The Hague Convention and Judge Advocate General Corps place limitations on bullet design and construction that don't apply to a civilian or civilian agency; so more effective bullets can be used outside the mil.  This is one area where the "bigger is better" advocates are on firmer ground because the expansion designs work better on the bigger rifle rounds.

On item where I think he's slightly unfair of my pet round is limiting it to commercial ammo that's intentionally loaded to be safe in the legacy SAAMI chamber and rifling.  That's a quibble.  But if 6.8 were adopted by the mil in the SPC II format then ammo would be made specifically to THAT spec and wouldn't be concerned about liability or interchangeability with the older standard.

And that quibble amounts to a whopping 15 fps. in Silver State Armory's 110gr Pro-Hunter line! 2,585 fps. for normal load and 2,600 for the tactical load.

Gun Broker

I'm selling a couple of things to cull the parts bin.

If I don't sell those things, they can sit in that bin until the heat death of the universe and I will not really be adversely affected.

I set the reserves a bit below the new value because they are well cared for used parts.

Starting bids were well below the reserve because that seems to get people bidding better than setting them at the reserve.

Buy it now was set to exorbitant because if someone is in a hurry, they'll pay way too much.

An here I am getting messages about "what's your bottom line" on them?

Bid and find out!  Bid what you're willing to pay.  The most it will charge you is the reserve if you overbid all alone.

If I wanted to negotiate directly over the price I'd post it to arfcom or even HERE.

Pirate Cannon

Actually, it's age of sail guns.

Gun on HMS Warrior.  Photo by rebmilc.

Have a look at that gun.  It's a much larger cannon than was common during the great ages of piracy, but it's mounting is essentially the same.

The large wooden carriage is just for aiming the thing.  Traverse is adjusted with the blocks and tackle on the sides of the gun carriage; although in most cases they were simply run out flat against the bulkhead and the ship maneuvered to provide lateral aim.  Elevation is accomplished with the wedge under the rear of the gun (labeled with a 13 here).

The block and tackle are also used to run the gun out to firing position, and are disconnected from the mount before firing.  A ring on the base of the carriage, below the elevation wedge, is used to drag the gun in if, for some reason, it isn't fired.

Recoil is absorbed and arrested with the big hawser running through the ring on the back of the gun.  In this case, there is also friction against the deck from the rear of the carriage.

Still Junk

In the way-back days just prior to the AWB I bought two +2 magazine extensions for my Glock 21.

Good news!  They will, indeed, allow you to insert 15 rounds into what was previously a 13 round magazine.

Bad news!  As long as you don't mind that now only 11 rounds will feed before it jams, they're great!

They are effectively -2 extensions.

They behaved this way when I first got them, but I'd written it off to "old springs" since the springs in my magazines were a whopping two years old and had a couple of hundred rounds through them.  So I took them off and tossed them in my big box o gun bits.

My brand new Glock brand magazines with 11 rounds through them have failed in this manner now.  I should throw them away, but for some reason they're back in the box...

Edited to add a pic of the offending item.  The thing it's sitting on is the latch base that goes between the spring and the base.  It's got a post that sticks out the hole in the base.

Not This Again...

Note: this is a free-form rant/vocalization not a mission statement or manifesto.  Actual position on this topic might be more fluid/flexible than it may appear.

I get that abortion is a hot button issue.

No denying it.

Here's something the pro-life side might consider...

Tone down the murderer rhetoric.  Screaming, "ABORTION IS MURDER!  YOU ARE A MURDERER AND MUST BE PUNISHED!" is not a winning argument.

Convince, not force.

You know, like you believe and advocate about any other position?

The reason the whole murderer thing is an actual line in the sand item for people who were pro-choice but may now come to agree with you is brutally simple.

It's entirely possible that a pro-choice person has had or has paid for an abortion.

If you manage to successfully legislate abortion as murder; murder has no statute of limitation.  Your "burn the witch" fervor on the topic definitely convinces them that once it's declared murder then what's a medical procedure now will be declared a methodology of homicide and the doctor's records will be used to prosecute them.

Stop scaring them!  You might find a more receptive audience if your approach includes some forgiveness.

While we're equivocating:  The core assumption with many pro-life arguments is the embedded embryo has the potential to become a person.  Ignoring that it is not yet, and will not be, a person for quite a while (and the moment of personhood is a VERY subjective event).  I'm familiar with the "potentiality" lines of thought for banning an activity.  I learned it from gun control.  Because my AR has the POTENTIAL to do some very nasty things, we must ban them.  You don't accept this rationale with guns, why do you use this logic with babies?  Don't even fucking try to say, "but this is different!"  Just don't.

I'll even come out and say it.  Abortion is wrong.  It is at the least, a waste.  Abortions are a solution akin to closing the barn door once the horse has already fled.  The actual problem is that people who don't want to have children are having sex.  Fix that and the abortion question becomes meaningless.

There's another fly in the ointment here too.  A prominent portion of the people who are pro-life are also very much against children learning anything at all about sex.  Since the age where "children" reach sexual maturity is well before they reach legal adulthood; we have a problem.  Biological imperatives are difficult to suppress and near impossible without sure knowledge that denying them is for the greater good.  Just saying that sex is wrong will probably not get you there, kids ask "why?" and "God says so" or "you're not ready to" isn't going to be strong enough.

Never mind that there's lots of sex that can't lead to pregnancy that could be going on that slakes the urges; isn't that preferable to unwanted babies?

Never mind that the blanket pro-life position assumes that these people are worth saving.  My oft repeated Shitheel example(s) lead me to think that some abortion, and straight up execution, would do the world a great deal of good.  Preventing Dumbass Fuckwad Shitheel having his first three children would have saved us from three counts of welfare from cradle to 18 then fifteen MORE counts of welfare...  Guess what his grandspawn are learning...  They are not learning to be people, they are learning to be parasites.  Killing them in the womb would have been CHEAPER.

But you never know...  One of them POTENTIALLY could break out of the cycle and become a model citizen, so I suppose we have to give them the chance.

The pro-life plan has to include a prevent Shitheel clause.  They always cite their Catholicism as the reason for not using birth control or having an abortion.

In Perfect World™ there are no unwanted children and every baby is born into a loving, welcoming home.  In real world there are unwanted children.  Which is actually better?  Dying before you are born or spending your entire childhood being raised by people who don't like you and wish you'd never been born?  In the latter case it's a pretty miserable existence, because my Dad didn't want me to be born and resented my existence right up until the State stopped garnishing his wages for child support.  I, in turn, will resent his treatment of me until the day he dies.  Should be soon.

Is that enough sharing for everyone?

Try This At Home

Take a five pound pack of chicken thighs and put them in a crock pot.

Add a jug of Pace Medium Picante Sauce and a cup of black beans.

Cook overnight.

The results are surprising and good!

The character is a lot more like barbecue or a sloppy joe than anything southwestern.

Mozzarella cheese and a soft tortilla complete the handmeal.

NOM NOM NOM

Omega Alpha

Comparison between clones.  Top is an M16A2, bottom is an XM16E1.  Being the last and first M16's issued by the US Army.  The XM16E1 replaced the M14; the M16A2 was replaced by the M4.  Between them is the M16A1, which I don't have a clone of handy.

Edit:

The evolution from EXM16E1 to M16A2 has many changes you can see here.  The stock gets longer by about 5/8", pistol grip changes contour, handguards change shape; all the furniture is made from better, more durable materials.  The rear sling swivel is relocated and made fixed.  The front swivel is retained by a rivet instead of a roll pin.  A brass deflector is added behind the ejection port.  The ejection port door gets a different pad on it that prevents it from binding on the lower when the action is opened up on the front pivot pin.  The magazine release gets a fence put around it.  Several areas of the lower receiver are beefed up.  The shape of the forward assist changes.  The rear sight goes from a simple two position flip to a 300-900 national match ready unit.  The flash hider goes from a three prong to a partial bird-cage that's solid on the bottom.  The barrel is of an increased diameter from the handguards forward.  On genuine military guns the full auto setting is changed to a three round burst.

It also goes from being a 6.8 lb. rifle to a 7.2 lb. one without magazines.  20 rounders add 0.6 lb. and 30 rounders add 1 lb.  Nearly all of that 0.4 lb. is out front and it makes the rifle considerably less handy.

Good News Bad News

Good News!

If you bothered to get a carry permit, you are very unlikely to be the kind of person who breaks the law thus generating a search warrant for your house.

Bad News!

If you are one of the teeny minority that does get searched, it'll be a no-knock-shoot-the-dog style warrant service.

SIGH

I look at this from the perspective of someone who has both a carry permit, and has had the cops serve a warrant twice since getting the permit.

Thank you Dumbass Shitheel!

He hit his wife and absconded the first time.  The wife thought, perhaps, that he'd run to my place since he was (WAS) a long time friend of The Lovely Harvey.  I had just gotten up to take a leak and saw someone in the back yard.  I was on the way back to the bedroom for a light, phone and a gun when the cops knocked.  There was a bit of comedy since they didn't actually HAVE a warrant to search OUR property.  I insisted that they get one before they came in, and would they like some of the coffee we're brewing since we're all up now?  It took all of ten minutes for a real warrant to show up at my door with Dumbass' name on it and my address.  By that time the cops were damn sure he wasn't there anyway and before the search really got started, they'd found him at his girlfriend's house (the reason Mr and Mrs Shitheel were fighting in the first place).  The cops, deputies really, were understanding about the need for the warrant and polite to us.

This was his first arrest for hitting his wife.  Not his last.  Several more arrests, convictions, time served, parole/probation, divorce.  She bailed back to Iowa, and he followed her without permission from his probation officer.  This led to a bench warrant for his arrest being issued.  A traffic stop in Iowa revealed two things; first he had no license, second the warrant.  Further, we found out that neither Iowa or Florida is willing to spend a penny to process such a warrant and send the fugitive back here.

A bit later...  Things seem to have been patched up between everyone.  Dumbass and Harvey are talking again and we're assured that this whole warrant thing is taken care of, all legal and shit.  He and his new bride plan a trip down here to see a Buccaneers game and visit his grandkids from Son One's Ex Wife One.

Things were going well until the fourth night...  I have irregular sleeping hours so I am up trying to get an Apple AirPort Extreme to stop blinking "PROBLEM"...  Knock on the door at 3am...

Yeah, that arrest warrant that was all taken care of?  Nope.  He took the refusal to extradite as meaning it was expunged; you know, without checking with a lawyer or anything.

So they knock, I say, "who's there?"  They say, "Sheriff's Office with a warrant for Dumbass Shitheel."  Me, after seeing the warrant, "he's in the spare bedroom, c'mon on in."  Dumbass, to this day, is convinced Harvey dropped a dime on him.  He's stopped speaking to us, and I am fine with that because without contact from him, I stopped being contacted by the Sheriff in the wee hours of the day.

But notice that not once did the cops need to break down my door or shoot my dog?  There is assuredly more than a gun here.  Heck, we even looked up the laws about locking them all up when we had a felon visiting.

Something I Hate

I am the person that many of my friends go to with gun questions.

That also makes me the first stop when someone wants to sell a gun.  Quite often I am offered quite a deal because they're desperate for money NOW.

That I don't mind.

What I hate is when I'm a good friend and put them together with another friend who only sees the profits from the deal being offered.  They save $400 on that FAL?  Off to Gunbroker to get $300 more than they paid!

The seller is happy since they got the price they asked.  The buyer is happy, they made money.

Thanks, asshole, for cutting me in.

Two things chafe my hide here.  The first is the profiteering without even offering me a share for arranging the deal.  The second is the conversation was, "I've always wanted one of those..."  But then you turn around and sell it within hours?  That liquid down my back isn't rain, is it?

Clearing The Parts Bin

Click here to see if you might be interested in something.

Sabrina Gets Around

Way back in 2009 when the tax stamp was still wet from the Ted Cutter's saliva...

She was in GAU-5A configuration.

And I took that photo to show her off.

I did a good enough job of cloning a GAU-5A that someone used my picture to show what one looked like!

Click here for the story of Son Tay

I am very pleased I decided to revert back to this configuration from XM177E2 now.

Shifting Sands

Charlotte and Sabrina swapped uppers.

This changes Charlotte from an M16 (early R604) to an XM16E1 (R603) and Sabrina from an XM177E2 (R629) to a GAU-5A (R630).

A tenth of a pound is swapped with the forward assist.

I really never set out to make an R604.  I really much prefer the XM16E1.

The R604 is an Air Force gun and except for some very limited exposure, they just didn't get out much.

The GAU-5A went to Son Tay.  If you're going to have a USAF pedigree, that's one to have!

OR...

Sabrina stays a GAU-5A.  Charlotte swaps lowers with Tabitha and becomes an M16A1 with the addition of a birdcage flash-hider.  The type D stock is more fitting for the pseudo-R652 Tabitha is anyways.  The Purple furniture she used to wear is going to be on a soon to begin flat-top middy in .300blk or 5.56 depending on the whim of The Lovely Harvey who has taken over the project.

On The Cusp

I like to toss up some glimpses of the Traveller universe c.2170 on Tuesdays to compliment Erin's Traveller Tuesday posts.

I have an almost story...

The skeleton is prancing through my imagination.

Part of me is wondering if anyone will notice the change in my minds eye of the ship.

Originally my little crew was in a Crockett class 100dTon Picket Ship.  Lately my imagination has them in a Lightning class 400dTon Frontier Merchant.

My unnamed POV person is a low level diplomat.  For trade missions deep in Vilani space he's really a requirement.

Dahveeie is a retread of a navigator I've used in my Traveller gaming before.  In the 3rd Imperium settings she's from a conservative Vilani family.  In Interstellar Wars, she's what is known as a Terrani, or a person of mixed Terran and Vilani heritage who's a Terran citizen.  Her home world is Nusku.

Hamilton is a Terran.  He's from the United States, and is one of many Americans who chafe at the loss of prestige that came with the unifying world government.  He also chafes at what he perceives as the losses of basic freedoms as the world became so much more "Europeon" in the way it was governed.

There will be more.  I like this universe and I kinda dig the fan-fic aspect of writing some fiction in this setting.

I Know The Feeling

FuzzyGeff links to the story about Michael Marones.

Mr Marones was being bullied for being a Brony.

This bullying lead him to try to kill himself.

At eleven years old, he tried to kill himself.

He tried to kill himself.

At eleven.

Because some useless and doubtlessly unpunished waste of oxygen thinks it's OK to attack someone for being a Brony?

Hey, Miguel; are you proud of your people now?

I look at the total they've raised and I can't help but think that $35k would hire the mafia.

In Order

Thanks to Dan, I am compelled to list my packing order.

My first concealed carry gun was an FIE Titan .25 ACP.  I carried illegally since Iowa was may issue and I lived in no-issue Story County.  It was carried in a ratty nylon Uncle Mike's holster in whatever pocket was handy.

A Glock 17 or Glock 21 illegally resided inside the inside pocket of my flight helmet bag I carried my gaming stuff and or books in.  Yes, Iowa State, on campus too.

At the time conceal carry without was a misdemeanor that usually yielded loss of gun and small fine.  The risks seemed smaller than the rewards, so I took them.

Florida assigns a felony to ccw/o and is more than willing to give time to violators (even if it's not true, the change to felony and the shall issue nature made getting one a no brainer).

The Glock 21 was promoted to IWB carry in a Galco Summer Comfort holster.  I am not quite certain that I actually carried the Glock 21 as my first legal carry though.

That honor, I think, goes to my Grampa's Harrington and Richardson .32 S&W Long "Automatic" revolver.  I carried that cross draw IWB in a nylon holster with the hammer down between the rims and all six chambers loaded.

The Glock proved too big and the H&R was wrong for so many reasons.

Back to .25 ACP and a Colt Junior!  Carried loose in my pocket.

A Springfield Armory 1911-A1 GI model in a Ross IWB holster took over.  This combination went everywhere with me, including Colorado to say, "Bye," to Mom and drive my inherited car home.

Then I got the Vette.  The C6 Corvette is the most conceal carry unfriendly car I've ever owned.  The spot where your IWB wants to sit is occupied by the seat belt latch, which moves with the seat.

Thinking that, perhaps a smaller gun carried IWB would suffice we went through A SIG-Sauer P232, and S&W 640 learning that there just isn't room.  I even tried OWB with a longer shirt.  That was better, and helped fill the holster box.

Then I got a Galco Executive shoulder holster for the P232.  This was VERY comfortable!  As long as it was cool enough to wear some sort of over-shirt I went this route.  Unfortunately, I live in Florida and it's not cool enough to wear a shirt over your shirt at least three months a year.

Because I was OK with .380 and read Tam talking about how you could just toss a Pocket Hammerless in your pocket and not worry about it, since they're not rare collectors pieces.  Into the pocket went the 1908 and for the first time, so did a spare magazine.  This is why I insist on pants with watch pockets.

The "Oh SHINY" caused me to change over to a SIG-Sauer P-238; in a Don Hume pocket holster with spare mag in the watch pocket.

Then I remembered that I liked shoulder holsters and then my 1911 returned to use in the cooler months along with two spare magazines.  Galco Miami Classic II, very appropriate for Florida!

The Springfield has given way to a Colt in .38 Super.

The P-238 has given way to a pocket carried .357 J-Frame hammerless (with pink grips!)  Speed loaders for spare ammo.

I long for open carry for summers!

Necked

On the right: 5.56x45mm M193.
On the left: .22 Spitfire.

It's a necked down .30 Carbine cartridge.  Performance with a 50gr bullet from a 1:14 16" barrel is remarkably similar to 5.56x45mm NATO from a 1:7 14.5" barrel.

Willard happened to have one in his pocket.  He's up to something.

Three Point Five

That is the number of complete sets of triangular M16 handguards it takes to find a matching pair if the right handguard that came with the surplus upper was damaged beyond use.

What I am left with is two complete sets and a slightly damaged right that don't line up correctly on my particular M16 clone.

Interestingly, one set lined up PERFECTLY with each other on Willard's AR (which he traded for a set of A2 handguards) and they have a 1/32" gap in the palm on my gun.

Tolerance stack-up, thou art a bitch!

Happy Birthday!

Today, in 1969, is the day I was projected to be born!

I jumped the gun by almost two months.

A running joke with my mom was that I looked out, saw no shadow and decided there wouldn't be two more months of pregnancy.

I note that the Super Bowl is to start in a few moments.  I'm not a fan of any sports really; so this is just another day.  Since it's televised on Fox, it doesn't even interfere with my TV plans!

Often I'd watch to catch the commercials.  Last year I discovered that YouTube would let me see those without the burden of having to watch millionaires chase a oblate spheroid back and forth down a waste of a perfectly good known distance rifle range.

It's a disinterest where the blame lays firmly at the feet of my father.  He was a pivotal member of a successful high school team according to his stories.  He wanted his son to be interested in sports and there was a lot of pressure.  Pressure that increased when it was discovered I had no aptitude with any sport.

The fact that the bullies in Junior High and High school were all football players did nothing to make the game look enticing to me.

The rabid fans I encounter as an adult do nothing to elevate the game to anything I want to participate in lest I be counted among their number.