28 February 2018

Hey Floridians!

Florida Urgent Now! Senate to take up Gun Control Bill TOMORROW
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2018

DATE: February 28, 2018
TO:

USF & NRA Member and Friends
FROM: Marion P. Hammer
USF Executive Director
NRA Past President

Tomorrow, March 1, 2018, the Florida Senate will take up SB-7026, a bill that punishes gun owners.

Senators are being bullied into voting for gratuitous gun control measures in order to be able to vote on school safety.

Senate leadership is trying to force Senators to vote for gun control if they want to vote to harden schools, to put armed security in schools and to keep guns out of the hands of dangerously mentally ill people.

These are the Gun Control measures contained in the Senate bill:

1. Makes it a felony for any person under 21 to purchase any firearm either privately or from a dealer. Exemption for active duty military & law enforcement only.

2. Minimum 3-Day Waiting Period on ALL FIREARMS. Exempts CW license holders and persons who have completed the Florida FWC Hunter Safety course.

3. Every year it confiscates 10% of the license fees paid by CW license holders to pay for the care of victims of mass shootings.

4. Bans the sale and transfer of Bump Stocks.

Please EMAIL members of the Florida Senate IMMEDIATELY and tell them to VOTE NO ON GUN CONTROL.

Urge them to provide armed security in schools and tighten mental health laws to keep guns out of the hands of those who are a danger to themselves or others BUT LEAVE THE RIGHTS OF LAW-ABIDING GUN OWNERS ALONE.

IN THE SUBJECT LINE PUT: VOTE NO ON GUN CONTROL– Vote Against SB-7026

(To send your message to all just Block and Copy All email addresses into the "Send To" box)

baxley.dennis@flsenate.gov,
bean.aaron@flsenate.gov,
benacquisto.lizbeth@flsenate.gov,
bradley.rob@flsenate.gov,
brandes.jeff@flsenate.gov,
broxson.doug@flsenate.gov,
flores.anitere@flsenate.gov,
gainer.george@flsenate.gov,
galvano.bill@flsenate.gov,
garcia.rene@flsenate.gov,
grimsley.denise@flsenate.gov,
hukill.dorothy@flsenate.gov,
hutson.travis@flsenate.gov,
lee.tom@flsenate.gov,
mayfield.debbie@flsenate.gov,
negron.joe@flsenate.gov,
passidomo.kathleen@flsenate.gov,
perry.keith@flsenate.gov,
simmons.david@flsenate.gov,
simpson.wilton@flsenate.gov,
stargel.kelli@flsenate.gov,
steube.greg@flsenate.gov,
young.dana@flsenate.gov,

T2K NATO

5.56x45mm NATO is based on the Belgian SS109 ball and L110 tracer.

It's got various designations.

Belgium: SS109 ball and L110 tracer
Canada: C77 ball
Germany: DM11 ball and DM21 tracer
United Kingdom: L2A2 ball and L1A2 tracer
United States: M855 ball and M856 tracer

Prior to its NATO standardization with STANAG 4172 5.56x45mm was a US standard only.

United Kingdom: L2A1 ball and L1A1 tracer
United States: M193 ball and M196 tracer

7.62x51mm NATO has been the rifle standard since the organization's inception.

Belgium: SS77/1 ball
                L78 tracer.
Canada:
Denmark:
Germany: DM41 ball
                 DM111 enhanced performance ball.
United Kingdom: L2A2 ball
                             L5A3 tracer
                             L1A1 grenade blank.
United States: M61 armor piercing
                        M62 tracer
                        M64 grenade blank
                        M80 ball
                        M118 match grade
                        M948 SLAP armor piercing discarding sabot

What's interesting is there's no EPB rounds for most of NATO when the Warsaw Pact had forged ground on stuff that qualified.

There are types not listed because I couldn't find their native designation.  Germany, for example, issues tracer and armor piercing ammo.

T2K Ammo Notes

5.45x39mm comes in several varieties just like other rounds.

The original ball ammunition with a mild steel core is 7N6, it was introduced in 1974 with the AK-74.

7N6M, introduced in 1987, changes the core to hardened steel but it's still ball ammunition in GURPS terms.

7N10, introduced in 1992, qualifies for my enhanced performance ball stats.

7N22 and 7N24 armor piercing rounds wouldn't be available in Twilight 2000.

7.62x39mm variations:

57-N-231 (Type P), introduced in 1943, is normal lead core ball ammunition.

57-BZ-231 (Type BZ), introduced in 1943, is an armor piercing incendiary round, it was discontinued in the early sixties so it would be rare in T2K.

57-N-231P, introduced in 1944, is a green tracer round.

57-N-231PM1, introduced in ???, is a delayed ignition, green tracer round.

57-N-231S (Type PS), introduced in 1944, is a lead and steel cored ball round.

57-N-231SL (Type PS), introduced in 1962, is the same bullet in a lacquered steel case.

Sometime after the introduction of SL, all Type PS ball ammunition became designated 57-N-231.

57-N-231U (Type US), introduced in 1962, is subsonic ball ammunition.

7N23 is introduced early in T2K in 1997, it's enhanced performance ball.

7.62x54mmR

57-N-323S (Type LPS), introduced in 1953, normal steel core ball.

57-BZ-323 (TypeB-32M), introduced in 1954, API.

7BZ3 (Type BZ), introduced in 1954, armor piercing incendiary.

7N1 (Type PS), introduced in 1967, sniper ball, match grade in GURPS terms.
57-N-323ST (Type ST-M2), introduced in 1988,  light ball, steel core.

7BT1 (Type BT), introduced in 1990, AP green tracer

7T2 (Type T-46M1) introduced in 1990, green tracer.

7N14 (Type SNB), introduced in 1995, match grade AP.

7N13 (Type PP), introduced in 1995, enhanced performance ball.

Variety

5.45x39mm Left to right:

Hornady 60gr V-Max
TulAmmo 60gr FMJ
Wolf Military Classic Mil-Spec 70gr FMJ
Lugansk 7N6 53gr mild steel core ball.

Farb

The Plum MOE AK stock I have that's left over from converting Mollie Bean to the Zhukov folder will fit fine on the Tantal, and it will even look pretty good.

The angle of the first pic doesn't show how different the length of pull really is.


It's even an easy swap.  A few screws is all.  No cutting, filing, welding, riveting or hammering.

Do I want form or function?

Yes!

Oh, wait, it's mutually exclusive here, isn't it?

The folding wire stock from the kit is 1 lb. 1.1 oz.

The MOE AK is 12.9 oz.

Saves over a quarter pound from the weight of the gun and is more comfortable...

It just isn't period correct.

Since this is a Twilight: 2000 inspired gun, then swapping the folder for a different AK stock is allowed, but I think it should be limited to an AK stock that would have existed in the game universe and Magpul doesn't even start making their titular product, Mag Pulls until years after the war began... so I doubt they're making MOE AK stocks in the T2K 'verse.

Plus putting the MOE AK stock on the gun loses me a Feinstein tear generator.

Since the swapping is easy, I will wait to shoot it first.

Did Facebook Break For You Too?

I went to post something to Facebook and the dialog loads for a second, then the screen grays out and the text entry field disappears.

The behavior strongly resembles an ad that fails to load.

Clearing the cache and cookies changed nothing.

Changing browsers changed nothing.

Changing OS changed nothing.

It's borked.

It's A Mystery

Why do I think that the Democrat party wants to ban all guns and take mine away?

Because every time there's an atrocity like Parkland, they try to ban all guns and take mine away.

27 February 2018

John Ringo Can Turn A Phrase

JDAM Arclight.

It bring a tear to my eyes.  It's beautiful.

Pounding On My Knob


Got it apart!  Scope mount is a go!


New pin is a bit too long, but that can be trimmed.

Mass Mock Up

All up the Tantal with a scope rail, loaded with a PMAG-30 AK-74 MOE should be 8.9 lb.  Plus 0.4 lb. for the bipod.  Plus 0.7 lb. for the bayonet.

8.4 lb. without the scope rail.


The only thing missing in this mock-up is the rivets.  (...are the rivets?  ...is the rivets?)

Can you tell I'm excited?

I quipped to Willard that this is dangerously close to being a Galil.  AK based, bipod, .22ish caliber...

Missing about 3 pounds from being a real Galil though...  Must be because I don't have a bottle opener.

Best of/Worst of Florida Senate s Gun Control Hearing

If we lose against this...



Show your friends the opposition.

Liberty

Freedom is like revenue on a Laffer curve.
No rules at all ends up with zero freedom just as too many rules does.

They're Right

Readen Zie!

A pistol is completely useless against a rifle.  I am convinced by MSNBC's "logic".

Time to up arm the teachers to rifles then.  Nothing else for it will do.

That means we're going to finally allow open carry too.  Aww gee darn!

Thanks MSNBC!  You guys rock!

SQUEEEEEEEEEE It Glows

OK.

No, it doesn't glow.  But it will.

The rear sight on a Tantal has an embedded tritium capsule.

There's a front sight that clips on so you have two dots to align in the dark to shoot.

It's not precision shooting, but I think the idea was you're not going to be seeing all that far in the dark, so the sights don't need to be match grade.

Both sights are supposed to use a 2.2x5mm vial.  2x6mm has been working for folks.

All I need now is for Apex to fix their AVS mismatch error so I can get a front sight.

Then it's off to some Godless foreign nation for the vials.  Seems like I've done this before...

26 February 2018

I'm Mocking You


Did another mock-up to get the feel of it.

As suspected, that stock is going to be... suboptimal.  Period correct though!

I clamped things together and checked the magazine latch for fit and it appears good to go.

The wait is all.

That's Good News For A Change

Someone has found their spines that were hidden in a broom closet somewhere.

The FL Senate rejected adding an assault weapon ban on cosmetic features amendment to S 7026 today.

It's not a great bill otherwise, but it would have been MUCH worse with an BoCF.

Plus the grabbers cried when the news reached them.

Well, That Didn't Work

That roll pin in the selector ain't budgin'!

If I could order a spare I'd just have at it with the drill press and if I ruined one, I could fall back with the other.

As things stand, I will cowardly just put the rail kit in the parts bin until a spare selector can be obtained.

On the plus side, this will make the rifle a half a pound lighter.

Interference Fit

This is the, now, decorative selector switch on my Tantal build.


To remove it normally, you rotate it past 'S' and a post on the shaft aligns with a keyway on the receiver.


Today I noticed a slight problem while mocking up the scope rail.


With the rail in the way, that selector ain't coming out of there with the shaft attached.  Not even if I remove the rail from its base.


Two things prevent normal removal.  First the cut-out in the base prevents the selector from rotating all the way so the keyway is aligned.  Second the flange around the base of the switch is captive under the base.  Note that diagonal cut, it comes up in a second.

Shit!

Since this thing is riveted on and the selector shaft retains the plate that retains the hammer and trigger pins... There has to be a way to get the shaft off the switch.


That is a roll pin holding the switch to the shaft!  That diagonal cut in the base you can see above?  That's aligned with the hole for the pin with the selector in 'C'.  You punch out the pin from below and it goes into that cut and falls out to be lost in the carpet forever allow you to remove the shaft out the safety's hole on the other side of the gun.

A huge pain in the ass that one hopes one only has to do once in our entire lives.

Double Stakeholder

I have been informed that I oppose "common sense" restrictions on firearms ownership entirely because I own guns that "common sense" says that I shouldn't be allowed to own.

True, I do object to and oppose gun control on that basis.

But it's not the only basis for my objections.

First, any safety measure proposed must actually work before I endorse it.  Gun control has a proven track record of failing to provide any safety at all.  See Chicago and Los Angeles for the classic examples.

Second, any safety measure proposed must be Hitler/Stalin/Mao/Pot/Castro proof!

Not one gun control proposal passes both tests, and I am not sure of any which pass even one.

Things that I know work:

Arming teachers works.  Israel has retired the trophy on this win.

Letting people carry in the target areas works.  I can remember at least two church shootings that were stopped dead when a parishioner had their gun with them.  I can think of a prominent one where the flock was forbade their guns and it took outside assistance (with an AR no less) to get the shooter to break and run.

The arrival of good guys with guns who actually shoot back stops these massacres in their tracks.

Knowing that there are good guys with guns who will shoot back prevents them from starting.

Did you notice that mall shootings kind of stopped once CCW people started shooting back at the nuts?  That's not a coincidence.

The nuts aren't stupid, they're nuts.  They don't get their moment in the sun by getting preemptively killed back.  That's why they don't shoot up gun ranges or police stations.  The odds of perforation before accomplishing their goals approaches certainty.

Making Progress

Tapco G2 trigger is now modified for the stupid trigger return spring the Poles decided to use instead of having the hammer spring do both jobs.



Also evident is the lack of Evol select fire bitsies.

I learned today that the trigger return spring is carefully sized to go around the trigger pin and not a fraction of a millimeter more.

If you put it around the Tapco installation sleeve for easy assembly you've created an impossible to assemble situation.  Now that I know that, I can not make the mistake again.

Also USCG Advisory and NOTAM for the Gulf of Mexico from the blue cloud of profanity while I wrestled with figuring out that wee little clearance issue.

25 February 2018

Compliance Rates Are Already Low

There's no reason to think that they're going to soar today.

But Does It Go With My Shoes?

I got an accessory for the Tantal.

An ammo pouch.


This is the pouch I mentioned before that holds three magazines, four clips, a cleaning kit, bipod and charger guide.

I think the Poles intended their infantry to be frugal types who hung onto their mags and empty chargers.

Look inside!  Genuine Polish magazines are a little out of budget right now so you have to settle for Magpul's AK-74 PMAG-30.


There's little pockets so you can save your chargers for later.


You can even use the charger pocket to hold an extra magazine if you want.


The little side pocket carries your sundries, like your cleaning kit, charger guide and oiler.


The big pocket holds the bipod.  This shows a clear philosophical difference between late 1980's Poland and early 1960's US Army.  Their bipod is issued with the rifle and every ammo pouch has provision to carry it.

The US M3 bipod's case included pockets for the cleaning kit, but was an afterthought as well.

All things considered, they are very similar bipods.  wz.88 on the left and M3 on the right.

Open Letter To Governor Scott And The Florida Congress From A Former LEO

I urge you to provide armed security in schools and tighten mental health laws to keep guns out of the hands of those who are a danger to themselves or others BUT LEAVE THE RIGHTS OF LAW-ABIDING GUN OWNERS ALONE.

I vehemently oppose :

1. A three day waiting period (3-Day Wait) on the purchase of all firearms. There is no way a 3-day waiting period would have stopped the Parkland murderer. He bought his gun many months before committing a planned, premeditated murder of 17 high school students and teachers. Proponents of a 3-day waiting period claim the waiting period is supposed to stop a person from running out in the heat of passion and buying a gun to kill someone. But they ignore the fact that mass shootings have all been planned in advance.

2. Ban on Bump Stocks. This was pulled out of the air to add more gun control to appease anti-gun groups. The regulation of Bump Stocks is currently being addressed by the U.S. Department of Justice. Banning something that is being worked on at the federal level is just an excuse to add another gun-ban-type item to the list. It had nothing to do with the Parkland shooting.

3. Raise the age limit to purchase rifles and shotguns from 18 to 21. 18 year-olds can vote, purchase a car, sign a legal contract, become a law enforcement officer, join the military and go overseas and die for our country but they shouldn't be able to buy a rifle or shotgun for self-defense, hunting or target shooting? This is a punitive, misguided and failed approach. The result is that a 20-year-old man or woman would not be able to purchase ANY firearm for self-defense, hunting or any other lawful purpose.

If raising the age to purchase a long gun would have stopped the Parkland killer from purchasing a gun legally how could it have stopped him from purchasing one illegally?

We must address BEHAVIOR -- and that is not accomplished with gun control. Punishing law-abiding gun owners for the acts of a criminal, instead of focusing on the abject failures of the FBI, Broward Sheriff's office, Dept. of Children and Families, and a Deputy Sheriff who wouldn't go into the school and stop the shooter is the wrong way to deal with this situation. We can do better.

Steven Bass
Former LEO
Former State Licensed Security & Firearms Instructor.
Lawful Firearms Owner
Registered Voter
Tallahassee Florida

Polish Basic Load

One magazine in the rifle.

One ammo pouch.

3 30 round magazines in the pouch.
4 15 round stripper clips in the pouch.
Magazine loader.
Cleaning kit.
Oil bottle.
Bipod.

120 rounds ready, 180 total.

Sometimes I'm Too Subtle

Here's a response to the gun banners and the politicians they've conned:


Blackjack!

No rights until you're 21!

Just like gun laws don't affect a celebrity with an armed security detail, I'm staring 50 in the teeth so this won't affect me!

No free speech until you're 21.  That's gonna kill Youtube, and Twitter; but it's going to be so damn peaceful afterwards.

I think guns have been covered adequately.

Open up the door, you're a barracks now!  This is going to save the DoD some coin.  Don't forget you have to feed them while they're there.

Leave the door open, the cops need to be able to check out where you live whenever they want.  Warrant?  Warrants are for adults!

Speaking of the cops, better not get arrested because you can now be forced to testify against yourself.  Were you acquitted?  Well, we'll just try again until you're convicted!  And don't get attached to your stuff, when we want some of it we'll send a agent to come get it.  Compensate you?  Do you think you're an adult now?

That trial we keep sending you to, over and over?  You're guilty because we say.  You want a lawyer?  Nah.  Sucks to be you, shouldn't have been young and guilty when you came in here for the seventh time for the same crime.  Extra penalties for wasting the court's time by convincing the jury you were innocent those other six times.

Did I say jury?  Yeah, that's another grown-up thing.  Well, we're not making that mistake again; off you go.

Those extra penalties are going to be kicking in now.  Your cell will be ankle deep in freezing water and no furniture will be provided.  One weeks food to be supplied each monday and it must last you all week.  It's also water soluble and wrapped in tissue for officer safety.

You don't have any rights, so it doesn't matter how many there might be.

You don't have any power either.

Won't it be great when you turn 21?  If you make it, that is.

To Colin From Facebook

Colin works at a Best Buy in the Boston area.  He thinks he works for sales for Magnolia Audio Video, but since that's a Best Buy brand and all of their outlets are inside Best Buy's...  He works for Best Buy.

Colin, like many liberals, is short on Econ 101.

I mentioned just a little bit ago that gun owners hold grudges against businesses. Even against gun companies who decide to get political.
 
Now there's about a dozen companies who are cancelling their discount programs.
 
There's five million NRA members who're going to shop someplace else for those services, likely forever.

Were there five million non-NRA customers boycotting because of these discounts?

I'm more that willing to bet that hardly an NRA member joined for the discounts. Or for the magazine. The loss of these discounts meant nothing to them.

Until now. Not just NRA members, but gun owners are noticing these virtue signals. About 1/3 of the nation, possibly much more, own guns. How many are never going to do business with these companies again?

NRA members are also noticing how people are blaming them for something they had no hand in. When you're blaming them on Facebook, they might just check your profile, they might notice that you listed where you work, they might just stop shopping there.

Something you have to grasp about a lot of gun owners is they've got a lot of money to not do business with your employer any more. It's not predominately a collective of poor white trash and rednecks.

But you had to get political and blame the innocent for the crimes of others. You had to ignore that it was the government you want more of that failed to do one of its core duties. And failed in a corrupt and systematic way.

A Thought Occurs

I think that the car rental places, hotels and airlines have missed something VERY important about The American Gunowner.

The American Gunowner can fucking NURSE a grudge.

It took Bill Ruger dying to get many gunowners to relent and consider buying a new Ruger again.  For some, even that wasn't enough!  They still won't touch one, not even a used one.

There's still hate leveled at Smith and Wesson over a deal made with the Clintons that was two owners ago.

It doesn't matter that they've repented.

And these are companies that make the products that let you say, "I'm a gun owner!" part of the very identity of gun ownership is owning what they make!

These service industry businesses are going to find they've lost the gun owner business forever.  Forgiveness is not in the gunnie nature, it seems.

Flying in cramped seats with ever more limited amenities and increasing prices lacks appeal on its own, and most people only endure it because they must.  Why endure it from someone who up front says, "Shop somewhere else"?  Can do, assholes.

Hotels are nearly fungible, do they think it really matters to us to say we're staying at their chain or another that doesn't hate us?

Renting a car?  Same deal.

24 February 2018

I Don't Think It's Going To Have The Effect They Think

With all the businesses severing ties with the NRA, I think they're missing something.

I don't think there's more than a few people who are NRA members because of the perks of saving on airfare, hotel rental or car rentals.

Offering those discounts isn't to get more people to join the NRA.  Those discounts were to get the business of the NRA members for the airlines, hotels and car rental places.

Marketing.

What they have managed to do is insure that no NRA member will use them if there's any alternative at all.  That's a lot of people, honestly.

It's likely to bite them from other angles as well.  Lots of people who've no dog in the gun-control fight are fed the fuck up with all manner of virtue signalling.

This strikes the same chord as forcing a Christian baker to make a cake for a gay wedding did with people who didn't care about God or homosexuals.


Irony Meter Pegged

Am I the only person who detects the irony in companies who rent cars, which are responsible for far more deaths than firearms in the US, severing their relationship with the NRA because they represent people who own guns on the grounds that guns kill people?

I Am Going To Do This

I just know it.


I can see me doing this in response to any comparison to the US gun situation and other nations.

America really IS different, so even if the solution was ideal for the other nation and worked well (which by the way isn't true in Australia) it's not going to work in The US.

We also find, over and over, that the gun control successes in other nations often rely on flat out falsifying the statistics.

Another Letter To The Tallahassee Hive Of Scum And Villiany

As more information comes to light about how the Broward County Public Schools and the Broward County Sheriff's Department systematically ignored the ticking time bomb in their midst...

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article201216104.html (h/t Miguel)

I again wonder, why is the NRA being blamed for this atrocity?
I wonder why new laws are thought to be necessary when there are ample laws to address the shooter's exhibited behavior which should have led to a conviction where he would have been ineligible to own any kind of firearm regardless of his age.

I wonder why a new law concerning restraining orders is needed when he'd have been ineligible from his conviction and that he was never put under a such an order prior to buying a firearm or breaking the existing laws about possession of a firearm on school property, firing a firearm on school property and murder.

More laws will help in what way?

"The law failed, so the solution is more law?"  That's wishful thinking at best.

Angus McThag and Family

Batteries Are Nearly Done!

Figuring out everyday, common batteries for GURPS: Twilight 2000 was a bit of a pain.

I decided to figure out what they'd be rated in kWs, which is the standard GURPS: Vehicles way to note stored energy.

The reason I did this is normal cells have different capacities depending on their chemistry.  Same size, similar voltage, very different life.

But it's not that hard with Wikipedia.

The difficulty comes from figuring out ancient batteries that nobody makes anymore.  Looking up the devices they powered often gives you instructions on how to use modern batteries.

But I dug and dug.

I am confident that I've got a workable list now!

Hurray me!

23 February 2018

On Like Donkey Kong

It only took about three more email exchanges to get Jim at DNS to learn to speak Thag.

Now that he understands my Paleolithic grunts and finger painted cave art...

Next week is the time!

Status to come.

Funding

I have noticed that when C&Rsenal talks about how much money they get from Patreon that a whole lot of folks are watching on the funding provided for others.

94,361 subscribers.

About $6k a month in Patreon.

We complain that our voices aren't being widely heard, but we can't put up a couple of bucks a month to help those who make content that entertains and informs?  Even for our own selfish reasons of wanting to watch it?

Shame!

In Range TV subsists entirely on Patreon.  4,549 people are supporting a channel with 138,515 subscribers?

We all love Gun Jesus, but he's only got 6,579 people carrying 664,814 subscribers.

You can spare a few bucks, can't you?

Heroism Revisited

It's been mentioned to me that the police are under no obligation to protect any of us.

That is correct.

Standing behind that isn't courage or heroism.

We heap more honor on the hero who doesn't have to do it.  The person who could have walked away in perfect safety; but instead charged into danger to save lives.

Contrast our Broward County SRO with the disarmed by law coach Aaron Feis.

He did not hesitate to protect his charges, even though it cost him his life.

A teacher.  Someone we don't expect to show such courage or expect to perform such an act.

There's the bar.  Yes, it's set very high, Officer, Deputy, Trooper, but you get to bring your guns.

Marion Located!

 I was getting worried about her.  Better late to the party than absent.
Marion P. Hammer

USF Executive Director

NRA Past President

In the wake of an atrocious act of premeditated murder, an organized effort to bully legislators into passing legislation to hijack your Second Amendment rights is underway.

The gun control faction is out in full force, determined to use the senseless murder of the students and adults at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as an excuse to promote their gun ban agenda.

Numerous gun control proposals that have been mentioned include:

1.) Waiting periods on long guns
2.) Raising age limits on the purchase of long guns
3.) Age limits on possession of semi-automatic rifles
4.) Ban of so-called "assault weapons"
5.) Ban of "bump-stocks"
6.) Removing the exemption for concealed weapons license holders from the existing waiting period on handguns

Please email or call your legislators IMMEDIATELY and ask them to focus on fixing our broken mental health system and improving school security, not punishing law-abiding gun owners because of the act of a deranged criminal.

Please EMAIL the following members of the Legislature IMMEDIATELY and tell them NO GUN CONTROL. Urge them to provide armed security in schools and tighten mental health laws to keep guns out of the hands of those who are a danger to themselves or others.

IN THE SUBJECT LINE PUT: GUN CONTROL Won't Protect our Children

(To send your message to all just Block and Copy All email addresses into the "Send To" box)

SENATE

baxley.dennis@flsenate.gov,
bean.aaron@flsenate.gov,
benacquisto.lizbeth@flsenate.gov,
bradley.rob@flsenate.gov,
brandes.jeff@flsenate.gov,
broxson.doug@flsenate.gov,
flores.anitere@flsenate.gov,
gainer.george@flsenate.gov,
galvano.bill@flsenate.gov,
garcia.rene@flsenate.gov,
grimsley.denise@flsenate.gov,
hukill.dorothy@flsenate.gov,
hutson.travis@flsenate.gov,
lee.tom@flsenate.gov,
mayfield.debbie@flsenate.gov,
negron.joe@flsenate.gov,
passidomo.kathleen@flsenate.gov,
perry.keith@flsenate.gov,
simmons.david@flsenate.gov,
simpson.wilton@flsenate.gov,
stargel.kelli@flsenate.gov,
steube.greg@flsenate.gov,
young.dana@flsenate.gov,

HOUSE

larry.ahern@myfloridahouse.gov,
ben.albritton@myfloridahouse.gov,
Thad.Altman@myfloridahouse.gov
Bryan.Avila@myfloridahouse.gov,
Halsey.Beshears@myfloridahouse.gov,
michael.bileca@myfloridahouse.gov,
jim.boyd@myfloridahouse.gov,
jason.brodeur@myfloridahouse.gov,
danny.burgess@myfloridahouse.gov,
Colleen.Burton@myfloridahouse.gov,
cord.byrd@myfloridahouse.gov,
matt.caldwell@myfloridahouse.gov,
Chuck.Clemons@myfloridahouse.gov,
neil.combee@myfloridahouse.gov,
richard.corcoran@myfloridahouse.gov,
Bob.Cortes@myfloridahouse.gov,
travis.cummings@myfloridahouse.gov,
jose.diaz@myfloridahouse.gov,
Manny.Diaz@myfloridahouse.gov,
Byron.Donalds@myfloridahouse.gov,
brad.drake@myfloridahouse.gov,
Dane.Eagle@myfloridahouse.gov,
Jay.Fant@myfloridahouse.gov,
Randy.Fine@myfloridahouse.gov,
Jason.Fischer@myfloridahouse.gov,
Heather.Fitzenhagen@myfloridahouse.gov,
Julio.Gonzalez@myfloridahouse.gov,
tom.goodson@myfloridahouse.gov,
Erin.Grall@myfloridahouse.gov,
james.grant@myfloridahouse.gov,
Michael.Grant@myfloridahouse.gov,
Joe.Gruters@myfloridahouse.gov,
bill.hager@myfloridahouse.gov,
Don.Hahnfeldt@myfloridahouse.gov,
gayle.harrell@myfloridahouse.gov,
shawn.harrison@myfloridahouse.gov,
Blaise.Ingoglia@myfloridahouse.gov,
clay.ingram@myfloridahouse.gov,
Sam.Killebrew@myfloridahouse.gov,
Mike.LaRosa@myfloridahouse.gov,
Chris.Latvala@myfloridahouse.gov,
Tom.Leek@myfloridahouse.gov,
MaryLynn.Magar@myfloridahouse.gov,
Amber.Mariano@myfloridahouse.gov,
Ralph.Massullo@myfloridahouse.gov,
Stan.McClain@myfloridahouse.gov,
Lawrence.McClure@myfloridahouse.gov,
larry.metz@myfloridahouse.gov,
Alex.Miller@myfloridahouse.gov,
Mike.Miller@myfloridahouse.gov,
george.moraitis@myfloridahouse.gov,
jeanette.nunez@myfloridahouse.gov,
jose.oliva@myfloridahouse.gov,
Bobby.Olszewski@myfloridahouse.gov,
Daniel.Perez@myfloridahouse.gov,
bobby.payne@myfloridahouse.gov,
Kathleen.Peters@myfloridahouse.gov,
Cary.Pigman@myfloridahouse.gov,
Scott.Plakon@myfloridahouse.gov,
Rene.Plasencia@myfloridahouse.gov,
mel.ponder@myfloridahouse.gov,
elizabeth.porter@myfloridahouse.gov,
Jake.Raburn@myfloridahouse.gov,
Holly.Raschein@myfloridahouse.gov,
Paul.Renner@myfloridahouse.gov,
Ray.Rodrigues@myfloridahouse.gov,
Bob.Rommel@myfloridahouse.gov,
Rick.Roth@myfloridahouse.gov,
david.santiago@myfloridahouse.gov,
ross.spano@myfloridahouse.gov,
Chris.Sprowls@myfloridahouse.gov,
cyndi.stevenson@myfloridahouse.gov,
Charlie.Stone@myfloridahouse.gov,
Jennifer.Sullivan@myfloridahouse.gov,
Jackie.Toledo@myfloridahouse.gov,
carlos.trujillo@myfloridahouse.gov,
Jay.Trumbull@myfloridahouse.gov,
frank.white@myfloridahouse.gov,
jayer.williamson@myfloridahouse.gov,
clay.yarborough@myfloridahouse.gov,

Contact!

I am contacting you today because I am one of millions of gun owners who didn't do anything wrong.

I did not break any laws.

I did not hurt anyone.

I did not threaten to hurt anyone.

Nothing I did caused the heinous crime which occurred in Parkland, FL last week.

However, I notice that there are several proposals in response to this vicious attack which seek to punish me for an act I had no hand in.

Proposals which seek to rob me of my property.

Proposals which seek to place prior restraint on my activities.

Proposals which seek to invade my privacy and cause me to no longer be secure in my home.

Proposals which seek to register me with State agencies where I have committed no crime, in the same manner as if I'd been convicted of molesting a child.

In short, proposals which seek to violate several counts of The Bill of Rights.

Proposals which would have not prevented the shooting or save a single life.

Proposals which create an onerous burden to the lives of people whom are no danger to anyone.  Millions of people in Florida innocently and harmlessly own all manner of firearms and use them in accordance with the current laws peacefully and without harming a soul.

Proposals which would make it nearly impossible to use a firearm to defend oneself against the very sort of "person" these proposals don't address.

Proposals which are always proposed whenever an atrocity like this occurs, which do nothing to prevent them where Enacted.

Please don't fall prey to the pressures to do the wrong thing in response to this atrocity.

Thank you for you and your staff's time.

Decorative Box Of Parts

This whole project is on the verge of unraveling and I am not happy about it.

I'm trying to coordinate with DNS Guns and Suppressors for an appointment to attend the build class.

I mentioned the scope mount I want to add along with suggesting a time.

He's asked three questions about the scope mount and doesn't seem to understand what it is we're talking about since he keeps asking about a different part each time and it's not what I'm talking about at all.

He's also not mentioned if the date I suggested is good or not, despite my asking in every reply.

Looks like instead of $150 for build class I have to find $500 for tools.

Tools I will never use again.

Sounds Like More Fun Than It Is

When I first got to Basic there was a huge map of Fort Knox on the wall of the barracks.

In several places there were places labeled "Tank Park".

"Park" did not mean what I thought it did.

Going To Hell Just For Spreading This Picture Around


Back When

I remember when PayPal and Ebay decided "no more gun stuff".

I've often felt we need a protection of legal commerce law/amendment.

With the steep legal barriers to entry to become a bank, they've become something of a branch of government themselves.

I propose that if the commerce is legal, then a bank or other financial institution MUST do business with the entities involved in that commerce, without regard to political considerations.

Today there's a couple banks who're shitting on the NRA.

Tomorrow it could be, oh, Planned Parenthood or Southern Poverty Law Center.

Doing business in the public square for a while means that you have to do business with people whom you don't like much.

Blacks.
Homosexuals.
Women.
Jews.

You think that gunowner is different from those others?  Perhaps because there's no law at present specifically protecting gun owners from discrimination in the market place.

It's still discrimination.

It's thrice damned because you can't just go found yourself a pro-gun bank.  The barriers are too steep.

Something Else To Consider

If Broward schools had not had their diversionary program, the shooter would almost have certainly been charged with and convicted of a felony one or two years ago.

With that felony conviction he would have been unable to pass the background check at the gun shop.

Diversionary programs are a liberal thing, not a conservative thing.

It's not MY chicken coming home to roost, so stop blaming me for your stupid ideas that I said were stupid when you hatched them.

Reasons

Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?

Wait.  Wrong intro.

I am a Twilight: 2000, or T2K, junkie.

I've updated the T2K 1.0 ruleset to GURPS no less than three times.  Twice for 3e and ongoing for 4e.

The scenario laid out in the game made enough sense that it influenced what branch of the Army I joined.

I've played it long enough that it's gone from speculative fiction to alternate history.

My M16A2 clone is a double nostalgia trip.  The tank was issued one and it's still the primary weapon of the US Army in T2K.


That photo is a recreation of one of the game's book covers!

The nostalgia trip to make an AK-74 stems from this game too.

The original scenario of the game begins with the last big battle of a big war where the opposing forces are essentially and finally spent against each other near Kalisz, Poland.

The next five adventure modules are set in Poland as well.

The Poles went their own way on weapons design so the Kbk wz.88 is distinctively Polish, and appropriately period for the game.

The M16A2 project is also my first foray into more serious hobby gunsmithing.  She started out as an 80% receiver because I wanted a specific markings and serial numbers.

Building the wz.88 from a parts-kit continues the tradition.

But He Made It Home Safe

Deputy at the school shooting didn't do his job.

I'll keep repeating this:  If you want the respect of heroes you have to do heroic deeds.

That means running towards the sound of gunfire.  Even though you might get shot yourself.

It means getting between the danger and those you're supposed to be protecting.  Even though you might get shot yourself.

It means taking a moment to sort out the good guys from the bad guys, so you don't shoot the wrong person.  Even though you might get shot yourself.

It means doing something immediately to save lives other than your own by following procedures that exist only to sanctify institutional cowardice.

The only way to be a hero is to be heroic.

Where Are You Marion?

So far I've heard from "some person on a forum", Gun Owners of America and Florida Carry about what's going on up in Tallahassee.

I've got one dismissive statement from Marion Hammer that she's not been officially informed of the content of a bill which text is available online.

If we pull a win while you're silent during the fight, don't come out after and claim a share of the victory.

Part of this is to be SEEN doing stuff for us.  Back room wheeling and dealing is how we get shit like the Hughes Amendment and 922r.

22 February 2018

Parts Kit Joy

The rear trunnion and the safety stop were still attached to small sections of the original gun's receiver.

This meant getting the rivets out.

The four short rivets on the safety stop were already missing heads from the removal of the trigger guard.  They were relatively easy.

The two long rivets for the rear trunnion...  Completely intact.

Ground off the heads flush with the sidewall.

Hammer with 5/32" punch.  Nothing.

Drill out the center of the rivet with a 1/8" drill bit.

Hammer with a 5/32" punch.  Something, but it stopped moving and wouldn't go any further.

But now I have a nice "countersunk" hole to start the 5/32" drill!

ZING!  Done.

Well almost.  Broke the bit right at the end of the second hole (Edit: this is why you wear eye protection in the shop!).  Happily, this had loosened up the rivet enough to tap out with the 1/8" punch.



As soon as I have a Tapco trigger group, I am ready to make my build class appointment!  Huzzah!

You Can't Make This Up

"Inserting politics into a national tragedy is beyond the pale & disgusting." Anthony Brindisi, Democrat.

He'd better check his party affiliation again, because every national tragedy has a Democrat inserting their politics into it.

Interestingly, he's got a bit of reputation for being a relatively pro-gun candidate.

Guilt By Disassociation

Things that I've heard about the Parkland shooter.

Registered Democrat.

Pictures of him supporting Antifa.

Lots of rumors.

With the usual anti-gun groups doing their usual thing of not wasting a crisis and proposing the same ineffective and tyrannical edicts while blaming the NRA for the murders, I noticed something.

Nobody has claimed the shooter was an NRA member.

If he wasn't part of the NRA, how can the NRA be associated with him?

21 February 2018

This Is Bothersome

The sudden realization that the fastest car ever made is a Tesla Roadster.

It's going faster than any other car in history.

That's just wrong.

A Plum Of A Follower


The Magpul AK-74 PMAG follower is plum.

Otherwise known as...






HIgh Capacity Ammo Clip

No, really!


The kit came with three clips and a charger guide.  Each clip holds 15 rounds, enough to qualify as a high-capacity ammunition feed device under the 1994 Assault Weapon Ban.

15 round clips make a lot of sense with the AK-74 pattern.  The rifle magazine holds 30 rounds and the RPK holds 45; both multiples of 15.

This has got to be the nicest modern clip I've ever played with!

One end is completely blocked off to keep the rounds from coming out that end:


The other end has a little flat spring gate:

The rounds are held in the clip very securely.

The gate also blocks you from loading loose rounds into the clip.  Because this clip is only for loading detachable magazines, having it be "ended" isn't near the disadvantage it could otherwise be.


So, how does one open the gate?

The charger guide!


It works like any other magazine loader.


You attach the charger guide to the magazine...

Then insert the clip into the guide, then shove the ammo down into the magazine.

Karabinek Kit

A box of parts emitted from a large brown truck this afternoon.

Put on the scale, the loaded rifle should come to 8.8 lb. loaded.  8.3 lb. if I skipped the side rail.

Still waiting on the Tapco trigger.

Pics to come!

Pics!


All mocked up and no place to go!  The sharp eyed will note that the front trunnion isn't all the way back.  That's because the gap between the bottom of the trunnion and the floor of the receiver is too narrow for the handguard.  Easy fix with a file taken to the handguard.

With her much newer, but older, yet newer... sister Mollie Bean.

They're Panicking

Despite the danger that they might succeed, I think that the mass of amendments added to that FL Senate bill yesterday that it's a panic induced reaction.

A hail Mary.

The mass was too much all at once.

Every gun grabber wet dream item was there.

Universal background checks, safe-storage, registration, AWB...

If they can't manage to make it stick now, there's a strong chance that they won't be able to get it done ever.

In short, they overplayed the hand.

They've lost the narrative.  People I know are asking, "where the fuck was the FBI?" and "what the Hell is a 'high school diversionary' program?" and "how many calls to the cops in how short a time?"

They're not talking about the gun he used, they're asking about the person who did the shooting and why the studious ignoring of all the warning signs and red flags.

We're still winning, but this is the analog to the Battle of the Bulge.

Have the courage to reply, "Nuts!" to their demand we surrender!

Unconditional

Yesterday, when I picked up my NDS-2T, I passed the background check unconditionally.

This is a welcome change from September when I got a conditional non-approval stemming from my legal drama.

As predicted, FDLE updated their records to show that I had, in fact, been exonerated of the charges against me.

Appearance Of Safety

At first nod, the idea of banning guns from a place seems to make sense.

No guns, no shooting.  No shooting, nobody can get shot!

But then you look at it harder in application.

Other than a sign, what's keeping the guns out of most of these zones?

When I go to the courthouse, there's armed deputies and a metal detector.  And a long tedious line.

When I go to a school, there's nothing actually stopping a person with a gun, or anyone checking for them.

What happens when a shooter ignores the sign?

People get shot, but there's something else.

The police show up and then will do nothing to stop the shooter for an extended time, if they do anything at all.

The vast majority of these mass shootings end with the shooter deciding they'd done enough; not with the police actually stopping them.

But don't worry, the police officers are very safe in their cordon.  They're all going to make it home.

Armed spectators they are, in the name of officer safety and procedures.

Proof Of My Law Abiding Nature

I'm building an AK variant from a parts kit.

I'm scrupulously following the law and making sure the 922r parts count is correct.

Hell, I spent $200 more than once to have a barrel that's just a little shorter than 16" legally.  For looks.

Criminals who're going to use their rifle to shoot up schools don't do that.

I suspect they also don't brag much about building a "ghost gun" either.

Not that my Karabinek is much of a ghost gun, what with the receiver being a real, serialized firearm and my filling out a 4473 to get it.

If I were really trying to hide my build and stay under the radar I'd have been paying cash at gun shows for parts kits and receiver flats.

There's videos on how to DIY things without the $450 of Cadillac grade tools.  You can make an AK without even once showing that you're doing it on the internet or your bank knowing where the money went past the ATM.

And I know this.

Yet I am documenting the build on my very public blog, showing pictures, buying the correct parts for the project regardless of FFL's, background checks or even cost.  I am doing this right and that includes obeying the law.

Because if I were to decide that I had to break the law, it'd be select fire from day one.  I know how to do that.  It's not really that hard; it's merely illegal.

At present, the illegal part is a deterrent because there's a wide corridor where I can get what I want completely legally.  I don't even much want a machine gun.

But if the difference between a machine gun and a semi-auto that looks like one is legally negligible; and I'm a criminal either way?  What have I to lose by making the gun a real assault rifle?

I'm not the only person with the gunsmithing know-how to do this either.

Likewise, if the difference between a semi-auto clone and the real deal is legally negligible and it's not criminal, I'd prolly have the fun switch on all my guns.  And they'd sit in my locked rack in my locked closet in my locked bedroom... just like the semi-auto clones do now.

Parkland Shooting Survivor Speaks

At MSN no less. "Florida school shooting survivor: Media using tragedy to push gun control."


Another Rub

A problem of directing the Attorney General to create regulation banning bump stocks is they really do reside in a loophole in the law.

Regulation is supposed to support the enforcement of the law, but these stocks don't break it.

It's also low fruit.

How many people do you know whom have a bump stock?  Easy to attack a subgroup of a subgroup.

Kind of like how the NFA got passed in the first place.  It didn't affect the majority of gun owners in the slightest.

That's also how the assault weapon ban made it in 1994.  I remember that people thought I was strange for being into the kinds of guns I was into back then.  The owner of the local shop even called it Thagifying when someone converted their Mini-14 like I had.

It was expected that the sub group of gun owners could be screwed over and the Fudds, being unaffected, would tell us to shut up.

While I was part of the outcry, I am still surprised that we managed to get it sunsetted and that the AR is the most popular firearm in the US.  Not just rifle, firearm!

On The Plus Side

My state representative voted against the FL House AWB thing today.

Marv's too.

On the whole that's a good thing, an AWB would have to pass both houses and the house is generally more sensitive to the notion that metaphorical pitchforks, torches, tar and feathers are not so difficult to come by.

Congress weasels ain't as dumb as they look.

20 February 2018

Gotta Watch 'Em Like Hawks

The Guns in Churches Bill, SB1048 got a couple amendments added to it today.

750932 is universal background checks.

405836 says that your guns have to be under lock and key whenever there's someone 16 or younger who could gain access to them.  This is mostly by removing the portion of the existing law that allows for positive adult control.

171530 eliminates the prohibition on firearms registration in Florida.

532180 is a complete prohibition on so-called assault weapons.  Banning sale, transfer and possession.

Write your congress weasel.  I had to write the Senate president because I am unrepresented here in FL Senate District 16.  Our Senator resigned in disgrace and the governor didn't think a special election was worth the effort.

The companion FL House bill, HB1419 remains unmolested.

PS, way to support us, Marion; ""We cannot take a position on a piece of legislation that we have not seen,  We have not seen a draft. We have not been told officially and, until we know, we cannot take a position."

Bitch, please.

I knew what my position was on this before I read it.

How hard is it for you to say, "we oppose ANY restriction on firearms owners rights, regardless of what they are"?

Get on our side Marion.

¡Interesante!

According to this post, a stripped AR lower is 8.4 oz.

A stripped NDS-2T Tantal receiver is 8.5 oz.

This is interesting because a 16" AR trips the scales at 7.8 lb. loaded.

I expect the Kbk wz.88 clone with a 16-5/8" barrel to tare at 8.9 lb. loaded.

5.56x45mm gets 4d+2 pi with 750/2,900 range.
5.45x39mm gets 4d+2 pi with 440/3,000 range.

Where's your overmatch now Commie?

Baby Pics

It's a gun!

An NDS-2T receiver for a Tantal!

I didn't expect to have the center support already installed.  Sadly, I think that I have to remove that rivet to install the side-rail.

19 February 2018

Learn How People Work

The human brain is associative.

It will pull, seemingly, unrelated things together because in the synapses, they are associated.

This is why, quite often, when a given topic is mentioned, people talk about something tangentially related to it.

Especially when the original topic isn't all that interesting to them, despite the topic being recommended by others.

It's Chinatown, you're not going to change it.

I Don't See Anyone Stopping You

Cut the check, Bill.

There's a line on your forms that allows you to pay more taxes than you owe.

As much as you want!

You could empty your bank account into that line.

Without forcing anyone else to adhere to your generous nature.

Put up or shut up, Bill, cut the check.

Just excuse me if I don't join you in throwing my money into the black hole of Government where my money does little good and much harm.

Litmus Test

From now on I think I'm just going to assume that any politician who can't show me their personally owned AR or AK is anti-gun.

Bonus points if they show up at a range and do some shooting, but they've got to own an example of the most popular guns in America.

That gets them marked gun neutral.

To be considered pro-gun, they've got to show me a collection that rivals mine or Willard and should include at least ONE item that's on the NFA.

The Perils Of Alternate History

The factory coded Circle 11, in Radom, Poland...

It was founded as the Archer Metal Works or Zakłady Metalowe Łucznik in 1922.

After World War 2, when it became "Circle 11" it was actually Zakłady Metalowe im. gen. Waltera or The General Walter Metal Works.

In 1990 it went back to being Zakłady Metalowe Łucznik.

In 2000 it became Fabryka Broni Łucznik -Radom or Archer Arms Factory, Radom.

The name change in 1990 was because Communism failed in 1989.

Twilight: 2000 assumes that Communism didn't fall.

So the company would remain Zakłady Metalowe im. gen. Waltera; wouldn't it?

Time to go editing...

Again...

7k

Still trucking along.

No sign of corrosion from the battery either!


Disappointed But Not Surprised


Have I mentioned that I loathe buck-horn sights?

Well this is my group with the teeny-tiny buck-horns on the Krag.  At 25 yards.  Aiming at the center of the circle.

Time to get on that peep sight, huh?

18 February 2018

Gamer Logic

In GURPS terms changing from 7.62x39mm to 5.45x39mm is a bad plan.

Damage goes from 5d+1 pi to 4d+2 pi.
Range goes from 500/3,100 to 440/3,000.
Weight goes from 8.7 lb. to 9.1 lb.!
Loaded magazines go from 1.8 to 1.2.
RoF foes from 10 to 11.
Price goes from $450/$30 to $400/$28

Same number of shots, same ST, same bulk, same recoil.

The weight on the AK-74 is better than it seems.

Gun plus 4 mags for the AKM is 15.9 lb.
Gun plus 4 mags for the AK-74 is 13.9 lb.

I know gamers.

They're going to go comparison shopping and they're going to take the AKM because moar dice, moar range!

Actually the weight argument will probably win.  Players, when you enforce the encumbrance rules are unknowingly disciples of S.L.A. Marshall.  Same shots for less weight means MOAR DAKKA!

Fate

The karabinek wzór 1988, otherwise known as a Tantal was originally manufactured by a company known for their marking code.

Circle 11.

This is often expressed as either being Łucznik or Radom.

The full name of the company is Fabryka Broni Radom or Zakłady Metalowe "Łucznik".

Fabryka Broni...


Kopyto uderza w moich kolegów Bronie w Polsce!

I Really Think So

Gun banners who are advocating that we use the Japanese model for gun control a missing a couple of things.

First, it only works in Japan for the same reason that Switzerland is awash in guns and has a low crime rate.

They're culturally different from us.

The level of everyday control on so many things in Japan would never be tolerated here, but it's considered a civic virtue there.

The Japanese model would include severe restrictions on 1st, 4th and 5th Amendment rights we take for granted.

The Japanese model wouldn't necessarily save any lives.  They've a suicide problem over there.  It's just they don't use firearms.  Aokigahara is famous from this suicide rate.

I realized that we've got a culture in the US that can be trusted with guns, any kind of gun, and isn't murdering anyone "despite" the lack of gun control laws in this country.

Neither Gun Culture 1.0 or 2.0 are a problem.

Yet, there is a cultural problem going on here.

I've said many times that America had a culture.  We did assemble it from the rendered and flayed parts of the cultures of the peoples who immigrated here; but it worked.  The crucible of the melting pot.  Slag disposed, we had a culture that was an analog to hybrid vigor.

But there's been a concerted and steady effort to destroy that culture and with it, actively preventing people from being exposed to and joining the gun culture.

With our basic freedoms still existing in damaged form, people from a damaged and murderous culture can still buy guns.  Then they go out and murder people because their culture has no respect for life.

It's an inferior culture and should be eradicated.

How do I know the gun culture is superior?  I know and am friends with stone killers.  People who've killed in the military and sleep soundly at night; but whom own so many guns you'd need a semi to move them all.  Yet they've never murdered single person once removed from the military and war.

So, let's try something new.  Since guns aren't going away, not even "evil black guns" why don't we inculcate our children into the gun culture and reject the victim culture which has no respect for life or property?

Ask And Ye Shall Receive

Here you are J. Kb.


Some of us, especially people who do amateur astronomy, had lost respect for Tyson while he stayed in his professional lane.

His branching out into things he knew nothing about instead of a bit didn't really surprise once you'd seen how he was.

h/t to Erin's Facebook page.

Getting Blamed When It's Not My Fault

It's really starting to piss me off.

My name is not Patrick Purdy.

My name is not Dylan Klebold or Eric Harris.

My name is not Adam Lanza.

My name is not Omar Mateen.

My name is not Nikolas Cruz.

Yet, it is I who must bear the punishment for the crimes of these scum?

No.

I say no.

Because for 29 plus years I've been hearing about the evils of "assault weapons" and school shootings.

For ten years they got their wish and we had some pretty severe gun control on those evil guns.

I started trying to count up how many shootings had occurred.  Most of them don't seem to have a fatality.  I keep noticing that the list has a lot of shootings in places with the kind of laws that the gun banners have wet-dreams over.

I have a suggestion:

Why don't we do something different?

Because I noticed something reading this huge list.  There aren't many school shootings before 1934.  There aren't many between 1934 and 1968.

But we sure have a ton since 1990 when the first try at a Federal gun-free zone was passed.

We sure have a ton since the news cycle went 24/7.

The most prominent murderers, especially lately, were ignored by every level of law enforcement whose attention it was brought to.

Why don't we repeal the gun free zones?

Do you know why I ask?

Because on February 15, 2018; 136,272,972 people didn't shoot up a school.

Because on February 15, 2018; 136,272,924 people didn't murder anyone.

Who are these people?  Gun owners.

Not all of those murders were with a gun either.

42% of the country has a gun.  The AR-15 is the most popular firearm in the US.  The sheer numbers are staggering about how many of them are out there and that's just one kind of military lookin' gun.

If gun owners and their guns were a real problem, you wouldn't need politicians and celebrities to tell you about it.  You wouldn't be able to escape it or ignore it.

So, since we've established that gun owners aren't the problem, can we talk about finding the actual root cause here?

I know what I think is wrong, but I'd like to keep an open mind to suggestions now that gun-control is off the table.

I'd also like to remind everyone that even if it was dead-lock certain that the type of gun was at fault I would oppose the banning of them.

Why?

Because even with our murder rate and school shootings we don't even begin to dent the numbers that governments have racked up.  Racked up on their own, conveniently disarmed, people.

I will take Stockton, Columbine, Sandy Hook, Pulse and Parkland over the alternatives.

RINO Money Tap Drying Up?

Al Hoffman Jr says no more money to Republicans until new AWB is passed.

Well, bye Felicia.

There's no polite way to say, "Go fuck yourself, Al!"

So...

GO FUCK YOURSELF AL!

17 February 2018

Law Abiding Citizen Of The Federation

In an attempt to avoid the best outcome being to be buried in secrecy so my grave doesn't get violated...

I am paying close attention to the 922r compliance parts.

If ever there was a more chickenshit law passed, I'm not aware of it.

To get the imported parts count down you've got to toss perfectly good parts.

You have to carefully avoid some combinations of parts.

Some parts are easy.

The serialized receiver is a given.

The barrel comes with the parts kit.

The hammer trigger and disconnector are sold in a pack.  But the trigger will need a notch cut for a spring because Tantal.  A pre-modified trigger is available from Apex, but I don't think I need it.

Magazines count for three parts with the body, follower and baseplate.

All of the above get's the Godless-Furriner-Parts-That-Matter® down to 8.  Anything 10 or below is Kosher.

The rub happens when you want to use a nostalgically pleasing and photogenic Hecho en Polska magazine.  That ups the parts count to 11.

One solution is to find US made followers for your magazines.  That solves the photogenic part of the issue, but might introduce function problems from tossing a perfectly good follower made to the same specifications as the magazine by the same manufacturer.

Replacement floor plates are also a solution. 

The use-any-magazine solution is to replace the gas piston.

This is pain-in-the-ass territory.  The gas piston is threaded and riveted to the bolt-carrier on an AK pattern gun.  Drill out the rivet.  Screw out the perfectly good old piston.  Toss it.  Screw in new piston.  Drill a hole in it to match the holes in the bolt carrier.  Hammer in a new piston.  File/sand/grind the rivet heads flush with the contour of the bolt carrier.

All for compliance with a law that apparently is never checked or applied until you run afoul of the cops in some other way.  Where you're burned for the primary charge so the add-on 922r violations are just a dusting of sprinkles on top of the going-to-prison sundae.

Serious!  Look for someone who isn't some form of licensed manufacturer getting in trouble for just having too many 922r parts.

Looking around at my fellow shooters at the range; there's a lot of non compliant SKS's out there.

Ever More Fun

Tweaking on my Twilight: 2000 conversion.

I was looking for the designations assigned by various nations to their licensed made Soviet stuff.

For example, the East German designation for the AK-74 is MPi-AK74-N.

In the process I learned that Poland never adopted the RPK or RPK-74.

Hungary never changed over from 7.62x39 to 5.45x39.  Neither did Czechoslovakia, but I knew that from knowing that they never adopted the SKS or AK.

Speaking of the SKS, Poland never adopted it.  They kept making Mosin-Nagant M-44 carbines until the AKM was available for licensed production.

A prime example that you never stop learning.  I've been playing Twilight: 2000 since its first publication in 1984 and have had all manner of research books, but I just took the weapons table's word that some nations adopted certain guns.

All better now!

It's interesting to look back at my memories of The Army and how the Warsaw Pact was presented to us as this uniform and monolithic block of nations doing everything the same way as their Soviet masters dictated.

Seeing all the variety shows that they're were as uniform as NATO in a lot of ways where small arms are concerned with national pride and costs being factors.

16 February 2018

No Recovery

The FBI has apparently never recovered from its transformation into a simulacrum of the Arkansas State Police.

That transformation was in 1992-2000.

Saber Rattling

A couple of opinion pieces I've read recently have talked about how President Trump is wanting to give North Korea a bloody nose with some sort of military action, but not enough to actually start a war.

That's a rough row to hoe.

I've a suggestion though.

Drop a 2,000 lb. JDAM from something suitably stealthy down the stack of Pueblo.

We've never struck her from the register, so legally she's still our ship and we're free to dispose of her however we like.

Keeping Up

Recently I've been adding all kinds of optics to my GURPS 4e conversion of Twilight: 2000 1e.

We just didn't seem to know about the glass the Soviet Pact nations were issuing at the time.

Different Kind Of Mag Dump

In theory you can just dump a handful of five cartridges into the open magazine of a Krag-Jørgensen and be golden.

In reality, you increase the risk of getting rimlock on the first two rounds.

Let's GURPS it!

Reload time is 3i for loading rounds individually.  This reflects opening the action, grabbing each round individually and inserting them into the magazine.

Loading a clip into a Mauser is 3, and takes care of all five rounds.  The Krag ain't no Mauser.

So I figure, open the gate, grab the rounds, drop, close.  5 or 6.  Let's say 6.

6 is faster than the 15 loading carefully will take, but you incur a penalty!  The Malf will be 16 from dump loading.

Paint?

The correct passivation process for the Kbk wz.88 is to PAINT IT?!?!

You're kidding.

Checks notes.

Yup.  Semi-gloss black is what they did.  No bluing.  No parkerization.  Just painted it.

Alumahyde semi-gloss black is apparently a near perfect match.

Bulgarian 5.56 AK-74 Build Video

It's a bit long, but it's entertaining.




PS: Hoofbump!

Today I Learned Something

"Black Oxide Finish" is just another way to say "blued".

Black parkerization is manganese.

Gray parkerization is zinc.

Everyone else knew this, I am sure.

I knew the parkerization thing once, but forgot it.

Initial Impressions

Marv is a tinkering with his SUB-2000 Gen 2 (I sure hope that was Gatorade in his cup and not what I think it was).

The iron sights that came with the gun are teh suxxor.

Part of the pile of stuff he ordered from M-Carbo was an improved rear sight.

The new rear peep is just slightly taller than the OEM and that makes it so much easier to get your fat jowls down on the gun and use the irons.

He also replaced the front sight post with a Hiviz unit.  The post is a bit clearer, and the light tube about invisible under indoor lighting, but very clear if someone shines a flashlight down on it.  Still, overall better than the standard AR post that came with the gun.

Of course, we forgot to take picture one.

When You See It


How can I tell I'm in The South?