Power Distribution

I cannot find, in my service manual, which fuses are only hot in run.

The 2008 Y-Body manual is very frustrating in this regard.

Update:

I did finally find the wiring diagrams I needed.

Worst.  Index.  Ever. 

Once Upon A Time

During the run-up to the election where Bobdole got whumped by Bill Clinton...

The Ames Issac Walton League had a sporting clays tournament for the Iowa Straw Poll.

I was a member in good standing and had done the sporting clays thing before, so I was invited to attend and shoot.

The candidates were cool about things and pressing the flesh.

The Secret Service in attendance were... twitchy.

Especially since my shotgun looked like:

Safe gun handling all around, but lots of people, lots of guns, lots of media.

But never once did the Secret Service demand that Ike's run things differently than any other sporting clays event.  Contrast that with how they're doing the NRA Annual Meeting.

I didn't win.  I came in solidly mid-field in the "field" shotgun class.  I am not even totally certain of what the rules were anymore.

There's Your Problem

The hammer fall on Andrea felt wrong, light.

The hammer spring felt weak compared to other AR's in the rack.

I had the spring in upside down.  The legs are supposed to come out the bottom of the coil, not the top.

All better now.

The wonder is that it worked fine, but dry fire practice detected the issue.

Cry Closet

This is a meme running on Facebook now.

It reminds me of a particular day...  Actually two days.

In OSUT.

The first time was in our camping trip field exercise.  We were hanging out in the tent and discussing things we'd heard about such exercises and I volunteered that the drill sergeants would sometimes toss CS grenades into the tent and the only way we'd avoid such a fate would be to tie up our drill to his cot.  I made this bold statement with our company commander in the doorway to the tent listening.

OOOOOPS!

With a laugh in his voice he reminded all of us (particularly me) that tying up our drill sergeant was a court martial type offense.  I was suitably subdued by this.

A bit later our senior drill sergeant came in and called me out and informed me that I would have the
"honor" of being the first 'cruit into the gas chamber on NBC confidence day.

The second day is the NBC gas chamber day.

I was, indeed, the first private into the chamber.  I did the required drill, opened my mask, cleared my mask, removed my mask, got exposed to CS for reals.

And I dropped my helmet liner.

I was in such a hurry to get the fuck out of the CS that I didn't notice until it was pointed out by a gleeful drill sergeant.

So, back into the CS I had to go to retrieve my helmet liner; without I might add, my mask.

I was supposed to walk around and air myself out and shout, "My eyes are open, my arms are flapping," what I managed was to barely not puke and squeak, "my arms are open, my eyes are flapping."

Innocent Obliteration

It's illegal to remove or deface the serial number on your firearm.

What's the procedure for when something happens that obliterates the serial number without criminal intent?

Like if a boss broke off and the serial number gets wiped out by the weld to reattach it?

Or some idiotic accident nails it.

It occurs to me to ask because Marv welded up the boss that lets the trigger guard pivot for disassemble on an FÉG PA-63 and that weld is VERY close to the serial number.

It didn't intrude on the number, but if his weld fails, he's going to have to cut into that area to fix it.

I also, recently dropped my angle grinder behind my bench.  It gouged up a transmission tail-snout pretty good before I fished it back out.  Gouged enough that if there'd been a serial number in there, it'd be gone.

The location of the serial on a Browning Hi-Power is such that it might just get worn off from handling... if you handle it a lot.

There must be something to allow you to fix a damaged serial number.

It's Your Culture Too

Reading this.

Mr Chinese American... if you wore that dress you too would be culturally appropriating it.

Why?

Because you're an American!  You're not actually Chinese.

Just like I am not actually Scottish.

We can celebrate and be proud of our ancestry, but at the end of the day we are not actually members of the culture our ancestors.

No Right Answers

Dear Liberals,

If everything I do is wrong and I will be punished for doing anything (and nothing)...

Why on Earth would I do what you say you want me to do?

You're going to punish me anyway.

Though I think someday we're going to be playing Cowboys and Liberals.

Except at the end of the game Indians will be sitting on their reservations saying, "I believe we got off light."

Felony Used To Be More Serious

[A]t the time of the founding, English common-law felonies consisted of murder, rape, manslaughter, robbery, sodomy, larceny, arson, mayhem,and burglary.

These are also crimes what got capitol consideration.

Aquavit Sunday Night

Linie for me!

I Don't Wanna Grow Up

Because I am a Toy's R Us kid!

But We Be Toyz 'n Shit is going away.

I can recall the highlight of the bi-weekly trip to the mall in far away metropolitan Ames was the toy department in JCPenny's.

Then one day, JCPenny's didn't have toys.

Then Sears...

Montgomery Wards had a toy department when they closed forever, taking their excellent cafeteria with it.

I've been watching toy sections disappearing for a long time.

I lived in what was the heyday of toys, apparently.

When we lived in Bolingbrook, we had Toy's R Us and Dispensa's Castle of Toys.

Both are now gone.

I am sad.

Like Being Young Almost

To help with the on-going attempt to learn how to checker gunstocks...

I got a magnifying visor.

It's so very nice to be able to see what I am doing again!

Getting old and blind sucks.

Mad Thag's Camera Repair

The Lovely Harvey generally has bad luck with electronics.

This includes cameras most especially.

I got her a Canon Powershot SX120IS when it was a new camera back in 2009.

Just in time for Special Olympics season 2016, it started changing modes at random, often defaulting to the AUTO shooting mode instead of the preferred Program or Sports modes.

At the time there weren't reliable instructions for how to take it apart, but no matter there weren't parts available.

After my legal drama and The Boy's frequent elopements in 2017, there wasn't much call for a better camera than was on Harvey's phone.

Fast forward:

There was a bit of grousing about how I got a new camera when MY camera broke...

So a cabal of me and my friends pooled our resources to get her a NEW and IMPROVED! camera in the form of a purple Canon Powershot ELPH360HS.  It's officially her birthday present, but I gave it to her early so she could Grok it in its fullness before Special Olympics starts in earnest.

While she likes it, it's a very small little thing and she'd still like one more like the old 120 for knock-around use.

I figure, "it's a switch, how hard can this be to replace?"  So I searched for disassembly guides and found a decent complete tear down on YouTube.

"That's EASY!" I cry and I proceed to take the SX120 apart.

Know what the problem was?

There are four little metal fingers in the dial, they drag across a series of concentric traces on a circuit-board.  There were lots of little tobacco fragments up inside that area of the camera.  The dial is right above the battery compartment and I think some tobacco from Harvey's cigarettes was floating around her purse and infiltrated through the battery compartment.

I cleaned out the switch area really good and made sure all eight fingers were equally proud of the dial and making good contact with the traces then put it all back together.

Et voila!  She is working again!

I think that while the SX120 is a capable camera with a comfortable form factor, the far superior capabilities of the ELPH360 are going to win out.  Plus! it's as cute as the Dickens in purple, you can't help but love it!

Is This Something?

This sure looks like something. (pdf warning).

I've long held that if someone is safe to be out of prison, they're safe to do anything I can do.

I've also long held that too many crimes are felonies.

I welcome a decision to let felons own guns!

Remember, felons could own firearms until the 1968 Gun Control Act went into effect and the ban on felon possession did nothing to lower crime rates...

ø95mm Solar Filter

Thanks to the generosity of FuzzyGeff I have a ø95mm solar filter.

Since the "native" filter adapter for the SX20 IS is for ø67mm, I got a ø67mm to ø95mm step-up adapter for it.

No tripod this time!  I am not sure if there's no sunspots or if my camera is set wrong to see them.

North Korea Invades South Korea!

The Government of North Korea moved south of the 38th parallel today in a move not opposed by the military forces of either the US or Republic of Korea.

Wrong Tech Level

A problem I've grappled with as I learn more about ancient technologies is what we tend to think of as "medieval" is actually from a much later time period.

The knights in plate armor comes along after the gun starts to become more common.

In GURPS terms medieval is TL3 and what we think of for knights and swords and sorcery is actually TL4!

Artwork for Dungeons and Dragons and the like doesn't help much here, not that a Fantasy world needs be historically accurate.

Historical accuracy aside, if more advanced forms of armor is around, more advanced forms of weapons should start appearing.  Armor is, after all, a countermeasure to arms and improved arms are a counter-countermeasure... and so on.

What GURPS calls a broadsword's blade gets more tapered, pointier and longer.  This is because armor gets better and better at resisting cuts and a narrower point is better able to find the chinks.  The Estoc exemplifies the trend in having no edge to speak of.

GURPS: Low Tech has some optional rules for how armor behaves and makes the later weapons make more sense when the later armors are available.

But the players will cry.  They've a preconceived notion of what is correct and how it works.

Everything has a style and fashion...

If you really want to see perplexed looks of vexation on little player faces, restrict them to TL3 in a Fantasy game and keep them from the best armor.  Heck, just using the Low Tech rules for armor is enough to drive many of them insane.  Especially when they notice how little armor advanced from TL2 to TL3.  And the costs...  No steel plate at TL3.  You want plate, you're using bronze (or copper!) and you're paying a butt-load for it.

There just isn't iron plate.  Plain iron just isn't suitable for making big plates.

Steel works great for plates, but making steel in sheets is a TL4 technology.

Bronze will cost 4x as much, but you can get it at TL2!  Copper costs list price but loses one DR point.

The problem with TL4 armors is the tech to support its manufacture stems from and implies other technologies.  Which removes the world from the medieval romantic fantasy because guns rear their ugly matchlocked heads.

Unoriginal

It would appear that nobody reinvented the wheel when they made bayonets for their AKs.

Which is a little odd considering how many of them made changes to the gun itself.

Romania copied the Soviet/Russian 6X3 (aka AKM Type I), made their own frog/scabbard and called it good.

AK bayonet fun fact!  AK and AKM bayonets will not fit AK-74 style rifles because the bayonet lug is on the front sight base and the large muzzle brake interferes with the wings near the latch.

Kudoes Oklahoma!

Oklahoma has passed Constitutional Carry!

Congratulations Sooners!

And Why Was It Yesterday?

Why was ANZAC day yesterday?

Because in 1915, April 25 was the beginning of Gallipoli.

Gallipoli appears to have been a British attempt to completely eliminate the entire ANZAC force as quickly as possible by letting the Turks Ottomans shoot them.

65,000 Australian and New Zealand troops are present; 26,111 become casualties, including 8,141 dead in almost a year of fruitless fighting.

ANZAC Day

I know a couple of people from down-under.

My hat's off to them.

Play Stupid Games

Win Stupid Prizes.

Theory Against Reality

Most people know the Monty Hall Problem.

There's lots of ways to express how the math works and that changing your answer improves your odds.

But it doesn't change a niggling practical bit.

If the prize is, indeed, behind Door Number 1 and you picked door number 1...

Changing your answer means you lose.

Improving your odds doesn't guarantee a win.

Try this at a party.  You will see some really pissed off people who lose despite doubling their odds.

Looks Like I'm Going To Live

Just got back from seeing my primary care physician at the VA.

I'm pushing the upper limit of 'good' on several things, but nothing is over.

The only scary thing is a critical vitamin D deficiency.  This is despite eating more of the foods with it and getting more outdoors time.  The doctor says this is very rare for pasty white boys.  Getting a huge supplement for that to see if it helps.  If it don't... dunno.

The B12 deficiency has been corrected with a multi-vitamin.  We're happy to see that.

Diet and exercise didn't move my weight even an ounce.  But we're really just starting on the exercise thing again.

I renewed my complaints that my legs fucking hurt and that it affects my mobility.  I declined gabapentin again.

Getting new orthotic inserts too!

It Explains Much

The NRA doesn't spend any money in Florida.

At least not on candidates.

These self-same candidate, whom got nothing from the NRA return the favor by giving nothing back.

It makes a lot of sense, all we do is threaten them with the stick, and offer no carrots.

I cannot help but notice that the advancement of gun rights stops dead in Tallahassee just about the same time the NRA/ILA stops funding candidates.

It might not be a causal relationship, but it's a heck of a coincidence if not.

Blame It On The Moon

 My previous best with the S5:

 New best with the SX20.  Kind of cool I managed to catch the moon at nearly the same phase, huh?

This is with an amount of digital zoom.  I want to say 60x.

Zoomed in and compared (Click for much larger):

At 1x it sure is a tiny moon!

I Know Why I'm Still Here

But I admit, I'm surprised that so many others are too.

Yesterday was The Rapture, in case you missed it.

Fresh M3 M4 Pic

Kaylee, an M4gry, with an M3 bipod holding her up using the rebate in the barrel.

I should have taken this pic yesterday, but I wanted to play with the camera in mostly cloudy conditions.

Chon Moses Blowning

One of the local pawn shops has a Chinese made clone of an Ithaca model 37.

Marked at a quite reasonable price, but just enough to keep me from checking the couch.

I admit I've wanted an Ithaca for a while.

I want one in the same way as I've wanted a Browning Auto-5.

Just slightly less than the current owner wants to sell it.

My problem with getting more shotguns is I've got two already.  I don't use them for anything.

I have the 870 because I think every gun owner should have a pump or auto shotgun at minimum.

The Model 12 Heavy Duck came to me via Willard for fixing it.  He had the same look on his face when I figured out the problem in a couple minutes that I do when my buddy JT, calmly, explains a simple fix to a computer problem to me.

The model 12 is iconic and interesting!  It's a neat gun to take apart and Grok in fullness.

The Ithaca has the same appeal.  Assuming the Chinese didn't change all but how it looks.

Bigger Chore

Dusting all the AR's is a small chore compared to dusting all the Mosins...

I swear they breed.

I hear them in there.

Grumbling in Finnish, Russian and Chinese.

Full-On Puttering

Dusted the AR's.

All of them.

There was once a time when I would have called you crazy to suggest that I'd even own one.

Now I'm edging into needing a second M12 rack.

I know I'm not the only one in this position.

Since I had them out, I took the opportunity to rearrange things somewhat.

FuzzyGeff's are now much less accessible and mine are more...

This should save some cussing getting at my M16 clone.  His only move when he comes to visit, which is annual at best.  It's been too long.

I think storage for my guns is at capacity.  It doesn't slake the thirst for more guns.  I just might have to get more creative with storage and display.

Countin' rifles on the wall... that don't bother me at all...

"Heart Attack" Update

Now that I'm done panicking, I can tell where the pain is actually originating from.

The cartilage of my sternum is really sore.  My back between my shoulder blades likewise.

I did some stretching, reaching and bending and got some epic cracks and pops from my back and it feels a ton better.

With my back all twisted up like that, it's no wonder I didn't sleep for crap last night.

For bonus panic attack fun!  When I laid on my side, exhaling would cause a twinge of pain from my sternum and fire off the fear response all over again; but only if I was just if I was on the edge of falling asleep.

Edit to add:

I also have two other recurring problems which makes it hard to tell if something is seriously wrong. 

I get heartburn at random; I just can't handle the diet that cures that! BLECH!

I also have an allergy induced inflammation of my chest wall.  So I get symptoms in the spring most often, this irritation makes me sit and move at odd angles to seek relief which tosses out my back, causing more pain and more contortion to find relief.

I recently saw a meme where they asked you if you'd like to be 10 with everything you know now or 45 with a huge sum of money.

I pick 10.  Knowing the roadmap of all my mistakes means I could have the huge pile of money by the time I made 45 again.  Never mind that I'd be getting a full ride scholarship to college for to become an officer rather than enlisting.

Am I Having A Heart Attack?

No, but here's a panic attack to make your heartburn and twinged back more fun!

I was moving things around to take the bipod pic and after I bent over from getting the M3 bipod out for the M16A2 pics I had a sudden numbness in both arms, but mostly in the left.

That was alarming, and the alarmed response made me feel dizzy too and fluttery and...

Well, panic attack!

The Lovely Harvey had come home early for pierogi casserole and being a former CNA took my blood pressure and heart rate.

BP good, heart rate fine.

Heart was still POUNDING from being afraid, but the rate was way down from peak panic.

So I took a nice, hot, relaxing shower and laid down for an hour or so.

I'm feeling a ton better.

Knowing you're having a panic attack and doing something with that knowledge are not within my sphere of influence.

PS:  Make that recipe!  It's very good.  I recommend heating up the cream cheese and getting it good and blended with the chicken broth before you get it going.  Also disperse the cheddar cheese well within the pot, stirring at the halfway mark ruptures the half-cooked pierogis and robs it of some if the presentation value; but not the flavor.

Incompatible

The M3 bipod doesn't work with the heavier barrel profile of the M16A2.

It can't open all the way and is a precarious perch for when you're looking for some support.

I can't recall ever seeing a clamp-on bipod for the A2.

Interestingly, the M3 bipod works with the M4 thanks to the rebate for the M203.

Clamp On Bipod Comparison

The Poles basically copied the M3 bipod that was, briefly, issued to US troops with the M16A1.

Looks almost the same, works the same.

wz.88 on Left, M3 on Right.

M3 on Top, wz.88 on Bottom.  They're spring loaded so you have to hold them closed somehow.

The M3 bipod came along after the M16 rifle, so it was designed to fit an existing place on the front sight base.  The wz.88 was designed with the rifle, so a space was built into the rifle to fit it.

There's a rim forward of the gas-block.  The bipod fits between that rim and the cleaning rod lug.

The wz.88 bipod even has a wedge cut out of it to allow some swivel with the cleaning rod attached.  The M3 bipod doesn't have this because the M16 never required cleaning and thus has no cleaning rod cleaning kit, including a multi-piece rod, are stored in a pouch or in the buttstock.

New Camera New Bag

My old bag didn't quite fit the new camera.

So I got new one.

I am not sure if this little pocket is telling me that this its maximum capacity or not.

By The Numbers

The weregeld is set at $13,346,225,100,000.00.

The non-hispanic black population of the USA is 37,144,530.

That means that, thanks to Mr Shabazz refusing the generous gifts of emancipation and freedom every black person is now on the hook for $359,305.26.

Staggering what is owed, isn't it?

Not Sure If Good Or Bad

I've been using Flickr to host my pictures that I hotlink to on the Blog for 11 years!

I've been paying for Flickr Pro for the past seven.

Prior to that I'd been using Webshots until they were acquired by some other company who wanted real money to host my pics.

Today I am informed that Flickr, was bought by someone called SmugMug.

The sale of Flickr to Yahoo! then Verizon was painless and no changes happened, so I have hope that all of my links will remain.

No idea what their firearm pic policies are, but guns aren't specifically mentioned in their terms of service.

Fingers crossed.  I really don't wanna sort out 13gb of picture links over 13 years of blogging.

Dear Mr Shabazz

Not one square inch of Florida was stolen from you or your people.

Your solution to your distant, African, ancestors being sold into slavery by another African people is reparations in the form of handing you Florida in its entire exclusively for blacks.

Since you bring up reparations, OK, let's have them.
You and your kind owe 360,222 lives to us white people.

Those people died to emancipate your ancestors from slavery.

They paid the ultimate price to give you the precious gift of freedom.

What are you doing with that gift, you ingrate?

Demanding more?

Are you saying The South didn't pay?

The history of Reconstruction says otherwise.

But the idea of creating a homeland for black people where they can live and thrive without the influence of Evol Whitey has been done before.

It's called Liberia.

But let us return to your bill, Mr Shabazz.

Using the national average of $37,050,000.00 for a wrongful death settlement times the number of lives sacrificed we get $13,346,225,100,000.00.

Yes, Mr Shabazz, that's more than thirteen trillion US dollars.  Got that on you?

I will even be FAIR about it and not even apply 153 years of compound interest to the equation.

So until you've paid off the weregeld on 360,222 Union soldiers lives, you can just go fuck off about demanding anything from anyone else.

Urf Dae

Just for Earth Day, I made dozens of little trips to get small things which could have been done in a single trip.  I drove my gas-guzzling 436hp two-seater and didn't even bother using the overdrive gears.

I bought an Aquavit which is shipped from Norway, all the way around the world, and back to Norway just to age it; then to the US. 

The beer pictured above is made in München, Deutschland.  It's shipped to the US too.

For Example!

New Camera has a flash slow-synchro mode.

Natural light:

Normal flash;

Slow-synchro flash:

Slow-synchro is supposed to leave the shutter open a bit longer to let more background light fill in.  Not seeing it here, but testing and experimentation continues apace.

Been Taking Pictures

Lots and lots of wasted electrons learning the ways of the Canon SX20IS.

It's similar to the dear departed S5IS that I think they're the same, but they're not.

Learning is fun!

But it's also time away from the computer where the blogging happens.

Not Her Fault

100 years ago, today, Manfred Albrecht Feriherr von Richthofen was shot down and killed.

I mentioned this to The Lovely Harvey and she exclaimed, "He was a real person?!"

She'd just thought he was a character from Peanuts or the song by The Royal Guardsman.

It's not her fault.

They don't teach much history in schools any more.  You nearly have to be an aviation or history buff to know of him nowadays.

At least she didn't say, "I thought that was just a frozen pizza brand."

I Am Led To Believe That This Did Not Happen

School shooting in Ocala, Florida.

It could not have happened because we passed a totally and completely NOT gun-control gun-control law back in March.

The shooter, being younger than 21 could not have bought the weapon.

The shooter did not use a bump stock, so nobody could have gotten hurt.

The school is a designated gun-free zone, so the shooter could not have brought the gun onto school grounds.

All schools in Florida, as a matter of policy, require non-students to register with the office and get a visitor's pass before entering school grounds.  The shooter was not a student of this school, so he must have gotten such a pass before he realized that he couldn't take his gun into a gun-free zone.

No word on if the shooter was wearing a clear backpack while he lugged a "sawed off" shotgun inside an unsearched and unexamined guitar case.

If the weapons turns out to actually be a "sawed off" shotgun, that too is impossible because you cannot even possess, let alone own an NFA firearm without being at least 21.  Never mind that it would have been impossible for him to make such a shotgun because he wasn't old enough to apply for the Form 1 to get permission.

Back

Yesterday the internet unceremoniously went down at 1114.

I did the normal troubleshooting check of rebooting the router.

No dice.

So I called my provider and reset the router a couple more times and waited while they reset the ONT and another switch remotely.

No dice.

An appointment is scheduled for today, 0800 to 1200.

To my shock, I got a call from a tech right at 1630 yesterday.  He was in the driveway and wondering if he could come and look at it.

Sure!  Says I.

He checks the router.  He checks the ONT.  He checks the wires going from the fiberoptic to the ONT and from the ONT to the router.

All check fine.

He replaces the router anyway.

He replaces the ONT, just in case.

No dice!

He calls his field service center (FSC) and, warming my heart, gets the same hold music I get when I call.

They do several checks.

No dice.

The FSC admits, after a bit of circling, that there was a major outage in my area and I was part of it.

The tech sighs.  Admits there's nothing more he can do, but it's an open ticket.  He gives me his business card and says to call him if we're not back up by 1000.

We weren't.  I cannot find the card.

I call customer service to see if they can forward to the tech that we're not up and would be glad to see him again.

Customer service tells me that there WAS an outage, but that was fixed.  I say, "No, the outage is just smaller now."  She laughed.

She does the same resets as the first person did yesterday and the light on the router changes from red to white!  We're back!

HUZZAH!

SILENCE!!

The intertubes is be down at Casa de  Mcthag.

Got an appointment with the tech tomorrow.

Racism Test

A decent test to see if what that manager did at Starbucks is racism or not is whether he'd have allowed white people use the restroom or loiter without buying anything.

Should be simple enough to find out.

It's hard to discuss this without coming across as racist, but...  here we go.

My culture, lily white that it is, sees "restroom for customers only" and buys something.

When asked to leave, we leave.

For a long time we've been cultivating this stupid multi-cultural bullshit.  This is, unfortunately, reaping what was sown.

The two people who were "discriminated" against don't seem to be aware of how the cultural assumptions in play were supposed to work.

From what I've read, they asked to use the restroom, were denied its use then turned around and hung out for a period of time that was long enough for the manager to stick his neck out and ask if they intended to make a purchase.

They declined to make that purchase.

The manager, following Starbuck's procedures, called the cops and had them "trespassed".

Again, in my culture it would never have escalated to the manager having to ask me if I was going to buy anything.  There'd have been a charcoal flavored coffee beverage at my hand already before I sat down to socialize with my friend.

This is not a case of racism, this is a clash of cultures.

The ultimate cure, really, is to educate these subcultures what the larger culture expects of them with regards to behavior.  The ideal solution is a single culture... no wait, monoculture trends to stagnation.

I don't consider my ultimate cure as racism, because I am damn sure expected to be aware of what all of these subcultures find offensive and make great pains to avoid giving offense.

The time has come where they need to learn what offends me and start avoiding it.

And Willard Was There

1980 – The Republic of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) comes into being, with Canaan Banana (a clear candidate for The Name Game) as the country’s first President and Robert Mugabe as (more powerful) Prime Minister. Freed of the shackles imposed by the white European interlopers, Zimbabwe soars to new heights of prosperity.

Much Tougher Camera

This is the chimera we were chasing that killed the S5IS.

SX20IS is tougher.  Is Warsaw Pact tough!

In color too, because we have the technology!

Nothing Better To Do

Than to play with my camera.

The Loving Embrace Of Baker Act

The Boy has earned himself another trip.

I hate calling when he runs off.

If the cops can't talk him down he's off for 72 hours and the trip doesn't help even the slightest in the long term.

I Wholeheartedly Endorse This Event And Or Product

Give generously!

Only you can provide Miguel with the lavish lifestyle tools and funds required of the no-nonsense, zero-compromise advocate of the repeal of the NFA and Hughes amendment to The FOPA.

Only your generous and non-tax-deductible contribution will allow the gravy train to slosh over and overflow my outstretched cup him to hire the skilled assistance required to achieve victory!

It is my rightful share of the graft!

He will need someone to help his tireless efforts!

Back From The Dead

This is my mom's old Minolta XG-A 35mm SLR.

I'd thought it dead and just couldn't bear to toss it because I remember telling me how expensive it was.

Turns out the death was from the silver cell batteries in her bag all being well past their use-by dates.

The MS76 battery turns out to be the ever popular 357 batt, and the camera actually powered up!

It doesn't need much power to run, but it needs SOME power to run.

I got some 35mm Kodak Gold 400 film and we shot up half a roll in wholly inadequate light.  Mom's flash having been eaten by leaking batteries when I'd inherited the bag.

It's got three lenses total, one being telephoto from her birdwatching days.  JCPenny/Pentax brand made just for Minolta cameras.  Kinda neat!

ISO

I misremembered which was the better ISO setting for my camera.

Low is less noisy.

Setting it to 80 instead of 1600 sure takes care of that!

I was getting concerned my new camera wasn't as good the dead one.

I also couldn't compare since you can't get past the "Lens Error" to see what the settings were.

Got some accessories coming so I don't lose my investment in filters.

Pitchur Taychür

The glory that is ebay!

The Canon S5IS is dead.  Long live the Canon SX20IS!

Phone versus camera...  FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!

Ian And Karl Talk To VICE

The first segment is NSFW.  Don't say I didn't warn you away from the ICK if you rewind to the beginning.

From The Desk Of Alex Garland

Dave, remember back in film school when were talking about shots we were going to do?  You know, that whole shots that really belong in another genre discussion we had?

You, owe me a coke!

I just got my "shot through a glass of water on table focused on two lover's hands," into a FUCKING SCIENCE FICTION MOVIE!

And the best part, Dave, is the rest of the movie is pretentious twaddle!  You compare this to 2001 and Kubrick seems like a documentarian explaining how to get to Saturn Jupiter!

Hell, his ending makes more sense!

The monkeys at the beginning of 2001 are more likeable and have more emotional range than I let my actresses get away with.  Oh, and you've seen them in other projects.  You know they can actually act, I DID NOT LET THEM!

I'm totally going to get an Oscar for this, and you owe me a coke.

--Alex

What Dick's

Apparently Dick's Sporting Goods is planning on destroying their stocks of snowflake melting rifles; rather than returning them to the manufacturers for credit/refund.

The announcement did wonders for their stock value, losing 5.52% of value per share as it dropped from $34.97 (opening price and high price of the day) to $32.86 at closing Friday.

Even more "good" news for DKS shareholders is the stock is down from $52.31 in April last year.

They're not doing well overall and keep alienating a core constituency.

Something they need to start teaching in business schools is how to determine if the people complaining about your business and products you sell are actually customers or not.

Threats of boycotts from people who aren't customers matter little.  Threats of boycotts from people whom aren't even potential customers matter not at all.

Telling customers they're wrong for wanting to buy something from you?  Yeah, that matters.

Wells Fargo and Bank of America should probably take some notes.  Delta and Citibank are contributing examples as well.

The NFL could not be reached as they were protesting something or other.

PS:  The decision to destroy stock rather than return it is the maximum financial damage they can do to themselves here.  They've paid for the rifles and now are going to pay more to have them destroyed.

PPS:  While Dick's refusal to sell in the future affects future sales, their refusal to do the returns has the minimum damage to the gun makers.  They got paid for those guns, or they will be paid if Dick's doesn't exercise it's no-sale return clause.

Trite

It's an old, trite, expression.

In theory, there's no difference between practice and theory.  In practice, there is.

Which is another way of saying that reality gets a vote.  Reality also has veto powers.

I have a commenter who's taken the absolutist position that if I don't support complete "any weapon I can think of" rights then I am a gun banner.

Because I stated that I wasn't certain that the founding fathers meant artillery.

While also saying that privately owned cannon and warships were around when The Constitution and Bill of Rights were drafted.

I'm of an engineering bent, so certain means something different from when a political science student says it.

The framers of The Bill of Rights certainly meant small arms.  We know this because they wrote extensively about it.  We know from laws of the time that a personal rifle of the same type the standing army used was mandated, and that the citizen was required to bring it and a requisite amount of ammunition with them to their periodic militia muster.

We don't have similar conversations or laws on cannons or mortars.

I looked it up.

But from reading what these people left behind I do think that we probably have a right to heavier weapons.  They certainly did not condemn the ownership of cannon or warships.

We can infer that we've a right to own a warship because Congress has the power to issue Letters of Marque and Reprisal.  You don't write those for a standing navy, there's no need.  Warships need to be better armed than a small-arms locker.

It stands to reason, but is not proven.

Part of the commenters' position is that our anti-gun laws only work because we betray each other.  The way he's phrased it, I think he's accusing me of turning someone it...  I can't really make it out.

I ask this:  Are you obeying those laws, g1335361?  If so, why?

I know why I don't own an M256 smoothbore.  First off, I can't afford the mount.  Secondly, there's none for sale.  Every company that makes this gun doesn't sell to civilians.  It's perfectly legal for me to own one too.  Just plunk down the cash, fill out a Form 4 for a destructive device, pay the tax and wait for the approval process (and grumble about having to pay $200 and wait when my right to such things is encumbered with the reality of the process).

But it doesn't matter since nobody sells them, with or without the M1A1 that I'd definitely want to go with it.

Did you know that the companies who make tank guns and tanks aren't prohibited by any law from selling to me?  They've made that decision on their own.

So having a right to own something that's also legal to own doesn't guarantee I will own it.

He mentioned owning nukes.  The favorite anarchist pro-gun reductio ad absurdum.

Since he's taking the position of any weapon I ask, "what about any person?"

You OK with a felon owning a nuke after their release from prison?

Someone who's mentally incompetent?  Someone who cannot understand what the shiny red button does?

Reality is stickier than theory.  Practice must bow to reality in ways theory never does.

If admitting there's more going on than a simple theory makes me a gun banner; fuck off bitch!

Admitting that there might be a practical upper limit to what a citizen should own for weaponry doesn't mean I demand the banning of small arms.

But then, I am what the Anarchist/Libertarians call a "statist"...  A statist, JUST LIKE THE FOUNDING FATHERS WHO FOUNDED A STATE WITH THE CONSTITUTION.

We Don't Really Have A High Horse Here

We, ourselves, used to call semi-automatic rifles what looked like select-fire military issue guns "assault rifles."

© MCMLXXXVI (aka 1986)

Hoisted by our own petard, we are.

Jack was still calling these guns assault rifles as late as 2004.

The thing is, it doesn't matter what they're called.

We could call them 28" Black Rubber Cocks and it would change neither what they are or that we have a right to have them.

It's not a matter of labels, it's a matter of rights.

Fine, it's an assault rifle, so?

And?

Semi-Auto military pattern rifle.
Modern Sporting Rifle.
Assault Weapon.
Assault Rifle.

Machts Nichts!

Hummer.
Blow-Job.
Fellatio.

Pick a synonym.  It doesn't change what it is or what's going on.

The NFA should never been passed.  The GCA should never have been passed.  Without those we'd have never needed the FOPA and gotten the Hughes amendment to it.

It's all unconstitutional.  A violation of our rights.

We've a right to own any small arm.  We've probably got a right to artillery too, privately owned cannon and warships were a thing in 1789.

We've a right to have arms.  For numerous reasons, or no reason at all.

PS: While we're getting pissy about nomenclature.

The first "assault rifle" the US adopted is properly referred to as "Rifle, 5.56mm, M16 (NSN: 1005-856-6885)" or "Rifle, 5.56mm, M16A1 (NSN: 1005-073-9421).

The earlier M14, which was an "assault weapon" in its M1A form, is still just "Rifle, 7.62mm, M14 (NSN: 1005-589-1271).

Real live MACHINE GUNS are just "rifle" when you talk to the military about it.

Not Just Gun-Free

Public schools are also self-defense free zones too!

I've mentioned before that I was bullied.

Once I learned the lesson that the way out of being bullied was to fight back I also encountered the policy of punishing everyone in the fight.

Equally.

The bully was used to detention, so water off a duck's back.

Me?  I felt it was an injustice to be punished for merely defending myself.

One instance of fighting back is never enough to convince the bully.  You have to show them the power structure change is permanent.

Knowing that I would be punished for fighting back meant the the launch codes were entered and the keys were turned to the left.

It took all the restraints off my response to the bully.

I've literally seen the red curtain of rage and come back to myself with TWO teachers pulling me off my bully.  Me, with one arm wrapped back around his head, teeth bared, going literally for the throat.

Explain to me, again, Liberal Education Person, how your anti-violence, anti-bully policies and programs prevent the people of a violent nature from driving a person who embraces the willow strategy over the oak to mindless rage and violence.

I didn't snap that day from the first instance of abuse.

School policy indicated, to me, that they weren't going to do anything to stop it and I was left to my own devices to find a solution.

Come to think on it, once it had gotten around that Thag was actually dangerous, Thag got left alone by the predators who'd just noticed that the apex was a bit uphill from where they stalked.

Cause Effect

Things like Parkland are happening because of the policies put in place, not in spite of them.

It's a simple line to throw back at someone saying we must do something!

In every mass shooting we have common factors.  Reasons that the shooter chose that place and that time.

Reasons which are encoded into the laws, and are not addressed when we do SOMETHING!

The Picture That Killed My Camera

I bought a WBP laminated stock for Tonya.

I was trying to recreate this picture:

I don't think I did to bad recreating the scene, the problem is that the color pic was taken with my phone.

I set my camera on the nearby bench to set up the subject.  Then when I picked up the camera, the strap snagged on the edge of the bench and snatched it right out of my hands.  SMASH!

That's not an optical illusion, it's really at an angle.

Let us mourn the loss of a beloved camera.  The Canon S5IS.

I wanted an excuse to buy a camera with replaceable lenses...  Bet I can't afford it.  Anyone got a Canon EOS 60D they don't want?

More Granularity

The original Twilight: 2000 has all of the Warsaw Pact nations using the AK-74.  It was surprising considering it went to the effort of getting all of the NATO nations rifles right.

In point of fact, only The Soviet Union (AK-74) and East Germany (license manufactured as the MPi-AK74-N) had made the change of the nations listed in the default setting.

Poland sort of adopted the AK-74 in the form of the Tantal.

Czechoslovakia never even adopted the AK!  Their adoption of 7.62x39 went with the natively designed vz.58.

Hungary stuck with an AKM variation designated AMM.

Of the nations not covered in the original game:

Bulgaria adopted and licensed manufactured the AK-74.
Romania adopted the Pușcă Automată model 1986 (PA md. 86) which, like Poland, is a sort-of AK-74.

Well, not all of NATO is mentioned...

The USA was given the, then new, M16A2.  I've made the M16A4 and M4 available.

Canada was given the M16A2, I've changed that to the proper C7A1.

The UK was correct with the L85, I just updated the variant with L85A2.

West Germany was given the G11 and G3.  I added the G41.

Not mentioned in default setting...

Austria should have the Steyr StG.77 (AUG).

Belgium should have the FN FNC.

Denmark should have the Diemaco Gevær M/95 (C7A1)

Greece would have both the H&K G3 and FN FAL.

Iceland uses the H&K G3 and Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk AG-3 (a Danish G3).

Italy uses the Beretta AR70/90.

Netherlands should have the Diemaco C7 and C7A1.

Norway bought Danish licensed built the G3 as the Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk AG-3.

Portugal would have the H&K G3 as the m/961 and the FN FAL as the m/962.

Spain would be limping their native CETME L along.

Turkey license manufactures the H&K G3.

France didn't rejoin NATO in the T2K timeline but is mentioned as rocking the St. Étienne GIAT FAMAS F1.

Not AKM-R

Upon further consideration, Willard's not-Tantal isn't an AKM-R; it is a PMKM-Z.

Z for zregenrowany or re-manufactured.

The main difference between an AKM made into an AKM-R and one made into a PMKM-Z is the front sight and muzzle device.

The AKM-R keeps the same front sight and muzzle device the parent rifle came with.

The PMKM-Z gets a new front sight and the muzzle is threaded for and equipped with the same muzzle-brake / grenade launcher as the Tantal.

My Twilight: 2000 world gets finer grained all the time.

There Is A Limit To The Abuse Someone Will Take

You probably know this couple.

She's a raging bitch.  Constantly verbally berating her husband.

It goes on for years and he hits her.

He goes to jail for domestic abuse.

The only person surprised that she got punched is HER.

Was he right to hit her?  No.

But do we understand why he did?  Yes.  There's a dissonance between someone asking for something and getting what they were asking for because replying to verbal abuse with physical abuse isn't proportionate.

I fear that we're going down a similar road with guns.

The pro-gun side has been quietly sucking it up for decades now.

The anti-gun side's abuse has gotten ever more vile and shrill.

Baseless accusations and seeking to punish the innocent, and often succeeding in getting people who've done no wrong punished.

Sooner or later the abused is going to retaliate.  It will be disproportionate to the actual harm done.

It will not be pretty.

As final as that response might be for the people slinging abuse, you wonder why they are asking for it so damn hard.

Disproportionate

Earlier I stated that it's -2 to hit the "skull" or brain on a T-Rex.

That's because the "skull" hit location that gives the x4 damage for hitting the brain is normally a -7 to hit and a T-Rex is a big critter with a +5 to hit it.

The rules as written appear to have proportions as a constant built into them.

The thing is, despite being a LOT bigger than a human, its brain is just about the same size.  Proportionately, it's much smaller.  They're probably not as smart because a bigger critter does need a bigger brain just for housekeeping, so it's still a teeny brain.  Though it might be smarter than thought just a few years ago because we're learning that avians have a different neuro-density and structure than mammals.

Because the speed/size/range table is in absolute sizes rather than relative sizes, it should be a -7 to tag a Rex in the computer.  You'd also have to have learned where in the ginormous noggin the brain was located too.





Thanks Internet!

That animation also shows why an eye shot doesn't do the bypass skull DR to hit the brain too.

Where Do You Bank?

Is it Bank of America?

You might want to reconsider that.

Telling The Wrong Story Again

"The newly signed law is clearly proving its worth to law enforcement and the public," Broward Sheriff Scott Israel said Monday after the announcement of Smith’s arrest. "We are thankful to have this valuable tool at our disposal to help keep deadly weapons out of the hands of individuals who demonstrate an obvious threat to themselves or others."

If it's coming from Should-Be-Unemployed-Not-Sheriff Scott Israel, then I am suspicious of the need.

But since it is coming from this worthless parasite.

Broward deputies sought the order in Smith’s case after he was arrested March 29 on an attempted murder charge for allegedly firing six shots into the back of a car being driving by his best friend, Jackon Lavon, 34.

Did you know before that stupid law was passed that someone who was under indictment for a violent felony is barred from possessing firearms?  It's almost certainly part of the conditions of his bond.

They didn't need the new law to get a warrant and seize his guns.

Another thing, as they breathlessly report seizing "hundreds of rounds of ammuntion,"

Lego Minifig and dollar bill for scale.

That tiny little box contains "hundreds of rounds" and represents an investment of just under $50.

If they came to most any gun-blogger's house that would read "thousands of rounds" and it's just not that many rounds when you think of how many shots get fired at a typical bowling pin match.

Heck, isn't hundreds of rounds what Tam shoots while she waits for her coffee to brew?

Non shooters think that's a lot of ammo.

The Gnomes Return What Was Stolen

It must have fallen off my desk and got caught by the chair.

This has been driving me nuts for weeks!

Consequences

Glenn Reynolds via Erin.

I, for one, am sick of living in a world where the powers that be have forbidden me to protect myself and those that I love in so many places...

...assuming the mantle of being the only ones allowed to offer that protection...

...then refusing to provide that protection.

You can add in the courts who have created a doctrine that the people who've declared the monopoly of protective services cannot even be sued for failing to do the job they demand be solely theirs.

Not A Tantal

 From my GURPS: Twilight 2000 conversion:

 Tulamash AKM-R (5.45x39mm): As the AK-74 supplanted the AKM in service, and the expanding war with China increased weapon losses, large numbers of AKMs were rebarreled and modified to fire the AK-74's 5.45mm cartridge to maintain standardization of supply while taking advantage of a mountain of surplussed rifles.

Willard's gun is an AKM-R!

It's got a receiver that's more AKM than Tantal or AK-74.  His stock and handguard are AKM pattern.

This is a fine example of an AKM-R made in a Polish arsenal.

I'll bet Willard thought he was safe from being sucked into my T2K silliness too!

Six More Years You Say

There's several political seats where the incumbent is utterly despised.

Despised enough that you're just certain that they will be disposed next election.

Then you see whom the other party picks to run against them and you think, "well, they may be despicable, but they're sure better than Newguy™."  And you watch this happen election after election.

I don't find many people who actually like Senator Nelson (D-FL), but I don't think Governor Scott (RINO) is going to unseat him.

Especially since I don't think the Republican party in Florida has really fully absorbed how pissed off gun owners are about our new gun control law.

Do You Own A Kel-Tec SUB-2000 2nd Gen?

Was is made in 2017?

Don't know when it was made?

Click this link and enter your serial number.

ATTENTION

IMPORTANT SUB-2000 SAFETY RECALL NOTICE

We have recently identified an issue with the heat treatment of certain steel tubes received from a third‐party supplier from which the barrels for a limited number of Kel‐Tec SUB‐2000 rifles were manufactured. This could potentially cause the barrel to rupture when a cartridge is fired and could result in serious personal injury. The safety of our customers is our primary concern, so Kel‐Tec has voluntarily initiated this recall because of the possibility of a barrel rupturing.
This recall only affects a portion of SUB‐2000s that were manufactured in 2017.
All costs associated with the recall of your firearm shall be covered by Kel‐Tec.
To check if your firearm would need to be sent in for barrel replacement enter your serial number into the provided field below. Refer to the image at the bottom of this page to help locate your serial number. In addition, if you would like to view a list of all affected serial numbers, Click Here

Bullet Gnomes Are Real

The mint vintage 20-round M16 magazine I use for pictures disappeared some time between Friday afternoon when I took a picture of it and this evening.

It wasn't in its place on the shelf.

I showed Harvey that it wasn't in its place.

I tore up the bedroom looking for it.

While cleaning up, I moved something around in the closet and there it was, in its place on the shelf.

Things like this really make me believe in the supernatural.

The gnomes were trying to load someone's AR with my magazine.

CHECK YOUR GUN!

Pinch Is Back!

His old blog went down, but he appears back.

With lazers and shit!

Or something.

Is .600 Nitro Enough Medicine?

If you're hunting Tyrannosaurus Rex?

.600 Nitro-Express does a shoulder punishing 5dx2 pi++

A T-rex is an 18,600 lb. critter.  That gives a ST of 2*((18,600)^(1/3)) or a "mere" 53.

HP = ST so 53 hit points.

Rex has DR of 2.

Minimum damage from a .600 Nitro-Express on the body is 16.  Average damage is 66 (consciousness roll).  Maximum damage is 116 (1 death roll).

With a HT of 15, it's likely going to keep making those rolls to stay awake and alive, but it's hurt.

The Tyrannosaur's closest living relative is Gallus Gallus Domesticus, so if one is familiar with chicken innards, one should be able to nail the vitals.  It's a net +2 to hit them thanks to the large size.

Minimum damage to the vitals is 24.  Average damage is 99 (still no death rolls).  Maximum damage is 174 (2 death rolls).

The brain is the kill shot, but it's a -2 to hit.

Minimum damage, through the skull is 24.  Average damage is 124 (death roll!).  Maximum damage is 224 (3 death rolls).

The structure of the skull doesn't allow for an eye hit to bypass DR and strike the brain.

Yes, they're tough.  But take heart, Troubleshooter!  An elephant has 45 hit points and DR 4 and .600 Nitro just about cleared the continent of them.

An Issue With What If

If I were to put a conventional Polish AKM stock on Tonya, she'd lose that iconic Tantal look.  She'd start looking like just another AK-74; just look at Willard's.

But...

The wire stock is less than ideal, and she's supposed to be a Twilight: 2000 gun.

It's certainly within the realm of possibility for a person from that timeline to swap in a laminated wood stock for the wire folder for any number of reasons, including comfort.

The character from T2K would be getting a stock from a damaged and deadlined AKM or AK-74, essentially for free, rather than hitting the intertubes and buying one.

On the plus side, it's a readily reversible change in appearance.  A couple of screws is all.

Stay tuned!

Wiring Woes

The Precious is equipped with side airbags which reside in the outward facing side of the seat back.

The wiring for this feature appears to have developed an intermittent open where the wiring leaves the car's harness and enters the seat harness on the driver's side.

The light comes on, the light goes off.  Seemingly at random.

I've found the four wires that it MUST be.  Two for the airbag and two for the seatbelt pre-tensioner.

Now comes the fun of wiggling them in isolation until we find the portion of a wire that consistently causes and cures the open circuit.

Happily, these systems only fire when their two wires are shorted to each other rather than when the circuit is broken.

Embarrassing Oversight

Summer carry is coming.

No more wearing clothes that cover a real gun for us Floridians, so smaller fare is in order.

I go to my ammo cans and I don't have a single round of .380 suitable for self defense from my P-238.

That has been rectified!

Interesting Story About E Gary Gygax

Linky.

I know, from my own experience, that role playing games saved my life.

It offered inclusion into a group and some escape from being the other of a new kid in school.

I'd have gone down a much rougher road without it.

Gaming distorted my choices to some degree.  Twilight: 2000 colored why I wanted to be a tanker, for example.

Gaming got me interested in math like no other thing.  Not just probabilities which are the core of any rules system, but into the math that solves many science questions.

I know how to calculate a transfer orbit, for example.  I learned that to answer a question at the gaming table.

I learned about Faraday cages.

That faster than light travel could be a time machine.

The difference between a spear, partisan and glaive.

I learned so much history!

I learned of cultures both real and imaginary (and imaginary made from the real).

I learned the difference between morality and ethics.

I made lifelong friends from gaming.

Gaming fueled my interest in guns and sorting the possible from the impossible with their employment and usage.

It showed me the perspective, via the encumbrance rules, to recognize that SLA Marshall was a genius!

It gave me experience in making an OK decision right away is often better than a perfect decision delayed.

It made me comfortable with making a decision and sticking to it, no matter where it led.

The Agony Of 'What If'

That is the only known picture of a genuine Polish Karabinek wzór 1988 with a fixed stock.  Pic stolen from Ian.

The story of the Tantal is a long and torturous one, tantalian you could say...

What we know is every wz.88 that was actually made came with the abominable wire stock.  We also know that it was replaced by the 5.56x45mm NATO Karabinek wzór 1996 "Beryl" before much production had occurred, around 25,000 guns over five years.

What if production had continued until that fateful Thanksgiving in 1997?

Would a fixed stock version have been standardized and widely issued?  It's possible that the folding stock version got initial priority because motor-rifle units got the first issues with other units getting their guns later?  Non-motorized units didn't need the folding capability.

Of course, every Beryl is a folder, so...

The Beryl came out in 1996, in time for the war, so the first model stock for the wz.96 could have replaced the abominable wire stock in T2K just before the war went nuclear.

I love the agony!

Update:

AK-Builder sells the appropriate laminated wood. 

The original non-telescopic Beryl stock is thin on the ground in the USA.

Ring Of Truth

They found my MEPS questionnaire.

Clearly We Need More Gun Control

A Tampa man was stabbed to death in a road rage incident.

The police promptly found the assailant and are charging him with 2nd degree murder.

Again, it's not the guns.

Notice the part of the story, "[Assailant] has prior arrests for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment and battery.

Clearly he was never convicted, or that would be mentioned, but we had someone with a clear temper problem out there.  It makes you wonder if the prosecutor should have tried harder when arrest became arrests for his violent nature.

Stopping this kind of thing is damnably difficult, if not impossible, while retaining freedoms we cherish.  I think I'll take the risk to retain those cherished freedoms.

I'd hate there to be a joke that goes:

"What's the difference between living in the USA and prison?"

"In prison you don't have to pay rent!"

No word on if the assailant had a clear backpack or not.

Engineer's Tee Shirt

My Vargr ship's engineer wore this shirt:

https://www.thinkgeek.com/product/abd4/

ThinkGeek should really bring it back!

Shooty Shooty

Willard's not-Tantal needed no adjustment.



Unsupported off-hand.  25 yards.  TulAmmo 60gr FMJ.

The 105 year old Springfield/Colt hybrid M1911 still shoots too!

It strays to the left, so you have to hold right to hit center.  I know I won't be doing this well when I'm 105!

For Comfort

Willard's not-Tantal is more not than before.

Genuine Commie laminated wood!  Since it's replacing genuine Commie steel and "bakelite" it doesn't even change the 922r parts count.  Also, the wood is lighter going from 8.5 lb. loaded to 8.3 lb. loaded.

I am the first to admit that the stock is much more comfortable than the East German inspired folding wire abomination that is period correct.

The wire abomination is correct for the model and it gives Dianne and Chuck the heebie-jeebies, so it's preferred for my gun.  For now...

I'm sorta getting used to it.  It's not like these things have any kick worth mentioning.