31 October 2018

Conservatives Hate Jews?

I consider myself pretty conservative and I don't hate Jews.

Even if it were true, did the left ever consider that it could be a rational response to all the Jews whom hate us?

Schumer, Feinstein, Metzenbaum...

I certainly hate some Jews, but it's not because they're Jewish, it's because they're statist anti-gunners.

And I'm just hating them back.

Libtard Lenny is technically Jewish, I don't hate him.  I just can't stand to be around him when he wants to talk politics.  Unfortunately, that's all the time since Obama's second term.  Harvey reports that he's gotten worse since Trump was elected.  Again, it's politics and not his religion that makes us avoid him.

There's a few Jewish types in the several car clubs I associate with.  I'd have never known except how they ordered dinner.  Even a couple who won't eat dinner where the car-show is because it's not kosher if the kitchen is making bacon cheeseburgers; even if you don't order one.

But I don't hate a single Jew I know personally and I don't hate any Jew who's done me no wrong.

Except for a few liberal politicians, that's EVERY Jew.

I've no cause to hate the entire group.  It's done nothing ill to me.

I don't understand why the hate is attributed to me; maybe it's because I'm white, straight and male.

But none dare reply to this bigotry by calling it racism, heterophobic or sexist.

It's A Common Thing

I had a row with a prominent person.

It triggered something of an existential crisis for me as a blogger.

I emerged knowing better who I am.

In a sense, I finally became me on my blog.

In the process I've found that there were people who preferred the almost-me from before to the actually me of now.  The differences are kinda subtle, but there is definitely an audience who left.

And have been replaced by new readers!

I'm happier being me, and treating my interactions with some as I would treat them rather than as someone who's worried if they're going to be invited to the next Blogmeet.

I'm not going to be and it no longer bothers me.

I spent too long hoping that if I tailored my writing just so that one of the cliques would invite me into the sanctum and show me the secret handshake.

High School 2.0.

I remembered that I was far happier once I'd given up on joining a clique in High School Actual and the friends made from that decision have been life-long.

FedEx Drops NRA Discount Program

They cite a lack of business generated from the program.

It's plausible.

How many of us are sitting here saying, "what discount program?"

Another reason I'm inclined to believe it is I've paid a higher rate to get "slower" shipping to avoid using them.

I have very few positive experiences with FedEx and timely delivery.

Needy


30 October 2018

While I'm Getting Over Myself

I notice that other commenters with blogs who defended the 20Oct18 fishing event don't have huge diatribes peppered with insults in their comments.

When you're singled out by name, quoted derisively, linked to and insulted...  If it wasn't about me, whom else was that directed at?

It wasn't the other folks, just me.

Among the many words that you might need to look up is "personal".

Slinging

Willard likes to have sling swivels on his rifles.


Drilled the stock for the rear, used a mag-tube clamp-on for the front.

The clamp-on was a take-off item from Connie, who now sports a forearm cap with QD stud.


I love it when a plan comes together.  Especially since the cap was tossing around in my parts bin.  I guess I can return the one I ordered from Brownell's thinking that this one wouldn't work.

No More Birthright Citizenship?

I have long felt that if your parents weren't here legally then you've no claim to US citizenship.

Looks like we might be getting an executive order to that effect.

I have no idea if this is going to be upheld by the courts.

It makes me wonder, though:  What if everyone born here had to take the same citizenship test that an immigrant takes before gaining citizenship.

Could it really be worse than what we have?  Might it be better?

What is clear, from talking to a couple naturalized citizens around here, is the process of becoming an American Citizen via naturalization actually teaches the applicant the civics lessons that the public school system no longer does.

Without knowledge of civics, how does the voter know how the system is supposed to work and why it's supposed to work that way.

This ignorance is probably why people are so confused about the electoral college.

Vision Related

The sudden change from point of aim to hitting low might be because of my eyes?

My vision is in the odd place where the reading portion of my bifocals makes the front sight of a pistol very clear and the target at 7-yards so indistinct that I can't really see the center of it.

Astigmatism is a joy.

The "long distance" portion of my glasses lets me see the target well, but the sights are too blurry to use.

Uncorrected, I can see both well enough to shoot OK.

What I was doing was peering over the top of my prescription glasses and under the brim of my hat.

The partial occlusion from the frames or the brim might have been distorting the image I was seeing.

I noticed this with the peep sight on a rifle.  Using my natural vision this way puts a flat section on the top of the peep's circle.  That makes me point just a little low...

More experimentation is needed.

Eat Moar Hatin'

Judging from the lines at Chik-Fil-A, if the boycotts get any worse they are going to have to double the number of franchises to keep up.

Doing Some Research

I've yet to find someone outside of California complaining about open-carry who isn't in a state where open carry is allowed.

I've yet to find someone who lives in Florida who thinks that what happened in Miami was a tragic error that will get guns banned forever.  In fact, everyone in Florida who's posted on it seems to support the event.

Why?

Because we noticed what happened in July.

The people who are insultingly and derisively condemning the open carry event in Miami don't seem to note it.

The cops showed up, guns drawn, tasers out, and assaulted a peaceable assembly of people exercising their rights in a legal manner.

People doing nothing wrong.

Lemme say that again for the people who're slow on the uptake.

PEOPLE WHO WERE DOING NOTHING WRONG.

The reply from the most recent event was, indeed, over the top!

Wanna know something else?

Still didn't do anything wrong.  They've a right to do what they were doing and they were in full compliance with the law to do what they did.

Why is that so fucking hard to comprehend?

Lemme lay out a quote, since you clearly don't understand:

"Just cause you don't understand what's going on don't mean it don't make no sense.  And just cause you don't like it, don't mean it ain't no good."  M. Muir.

The lack of comprehension about how events led to the open carry event on October 20, 2018 cannot be accidental.  It's a deliberate refusal to read the explanations of the people who were on the ground and participating.  It cannot be otherwise because the people who are refusing to understand have shown, repeatedly, that they are smart enough to grasp the explanations.

When your position is farther away from unrestricted gun-rights than The Miami Times, it's time to rethink your position.

The press called it a stunt, and it was.  It appears to have worked.  The cops behaved.  Nobody got injured, arrested or even detained.  The press coverage was minimal.

The only white people scared by this appear to be people who're claiming to be for gun rights.

Not a single face of the anti-gun crowd has been out there talking about it.  Not even attention-whore David Hogg.  I bring him up, again, because he's local to the event and he hasn't been heard from lately.

If you are more frightened by the open display of firearms than the attention seeking anti-gun spokespeople; it's time to reconsider your position.

The over-the-top reply to the Miami PD's July 24 response has garnered no negative response from anyone BUT supposed pro-gun, pro-liberty bloggers and gun writers.

Another moment where comprehension is lacking is these events were conducted exactly as the people condemning October claim they wish things were done.  Nothing provocative in the clothing, holstered pistols and quality retention holsters.  There's video of the cops coming down on the July 24 event.  People doing nothing wrong and obeying the law were assaulted under the color of law.

And a very vocal segment of the "pro-gun" blogosphere is blaming the victim.

Bravo.

Bravo.

29 October 2018

Lifting The Veil

Why do my feet hurt so much?

"Could it be the extra hundred pounds you're lugging about, Lardass?"

Yeah, that could be it.

Something that won't hurt, I no longer have any soda in the house.

I'm going to see if I can't substantially reduce my sugar intake and see what that does.

Reading labels, I am still astonished at how much sugar and corn syrup are added to things which aren't sweet and don't need sweetening.

A packet of mayonnaise!  For something that's so simple you'd not expect them to add corn syrup to it, but there it was, "Vegetable Oil, Corn Syrup, Eggs, Flavoring, Preservative".

Where's the vinegar and lemon juice?

My home-made recipe is oil, vinegar, egg-yolk and lemon juice.  Dirt simple.  Sometimes we use a lime.  Sometimes we add some seasoning, like ground mustard or white pepper.

But corn syrup?

What's Different

I'm sitting here dry firing all the 9mm's and trying to figure out why I shoot all of them better than my M&P.

I knew something was off when I shot the detested M9 better than the M&P.

I think I've figured it out.

The M&P has a lot more over-travel than any of the others.

The 9mm I shoot absolute best is my High-Power, it's got zero over-travel.

How do I correct for this?

I'm gonna try changing my grip a bit.

Adventures In Fast Food

The Lovely Harvey loves her a McDondald's McRib.

Last night I attempted to sate her desire.

Because not every Mac Shack in the area participates in the annual McRib disbursement, we'd gone to the worst McDonald's in the area.

We got one that was fridge cold and without the signature BBQ sauce.

Knowing from past experience going back and complaining would do no good, we tried a different location.

We went inside and I asked, "Does your crew know how to make a McRib?"

She looked as if she couldn't believe her ears, "Uh... it's three things.  Sauce, onions and pickles."

"Do you heat it up?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because you know two things the other location apparently doesn't about making them!"

We got two properly prepared from the second, better location and Harvey is sated.

Ninety-Nine Plus A Day

99-years and one day ago the US, properly and legally, banned booze.

First they passed the 18th Amendment, without which there was no power granted to the Federal Government to ban the manufacture or sale of alcohol.

Then, yesterday in 1919, they passed the Volstead Act.

This all lasted until December 5, 1933 when the 21st Amendment took the power to ban the manufacture and sale away from the Feds; and thus invalidating the Volstead Act.

Take a gander at all of the other things banned by the government and see if you can find the section of The Constitution that empowered the Feds to ban them, but didn't empower the banning of booze without an amendment.

Wickard v Filburn has a lot to answer for.

I wonder if FDR was surprised to find himself frozen up to his neck in the ninth circle of Hell with the entire Stone court.

Shooty

Marv dragged me to the range today!

I confirmed that the new stocks on the Colt Challenger have been relieved enough to allow the magazine to work correctly.


Accuracy was also unaffected.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Polish P-64 shoots.  Teeny sights, but managed to get it all vaguely on the target.


The disappointment was my M&P 9.  The new trigger has me breaking my wrist down and I'm shooting low where I used to shoot to point of aim.


I'm getting sick of trying to get comfortable with this pistol.

27 October 2018

More Pre-Order Doom For Willard

"Authentic" AR-10 profile pistol grip for his BRN-10B!


Vagaries Of Technology

The Mac can see the Drobo that's plugged into it while running OSX 10.6.8.  Read and write.

Boot the same machine to Win7 Ultimate and if can no longer write to the Drobo.

The laptop, can write to the Drobo over the network while The Mac is in 10.6.8.

All of the permissions solutions require a security tab in the drive properties in Windows that doesn't exist because it's not an NTFS drive.

There's got to be a solution.

Polar Bear Gun

Watching the InRange Q&A today and they mention that the gun for polar bears up Alaska way is a 3" 12ga slug.

What does GURPS say?

The round in question does 6d+1 pi++.

A polar bear has a ST of 20, thus 20 HP.  It also has DR 2 from its thick fur and tough skin.

The dice will give raw numbers from 7 to 37.

On the body this will give 10 to 70 points of damage from 5 to 35 points of penetration.

On average you're going to get 23 points of damage rolled, 21 will penetrate and 42 damage will be done.  That's a death roll on a body hit.

The average hit to the vitals is going to do a bit better with 63 points of damage dealt, two death rolls.

The 13 HT of the bear might mean you have to stay with it and keep pumping rounds until auto-death.

Rumor Has It

According to the forums at CMP, they've started drawing numbers for the M1911A1s.

The first person who claimed to have been contacted also says that the only grade to chose from is the highest and most expensive Standard Grade at $1,050.

That's kind of encouraging and discouraging at the same time.

Good that the guns were, indeed, arsenal refinished before being put into storage.

Bad that I have to find that much more money if drawn.

CMP is warning that the entire process of assigning numbers, contacting winners and shipping the guns could take months.  Lots of people, I am sure, put their name in the hat without a means to pay or wanting a lower grade; so many of the winning numbers will be recycled to a different person.

It Rhymes

It just hit me where I've heard the language the Zumbo 2.0 crowd is using.

NFACTA!

They too could not stand that there was a simple, legal and honest way to do what they were doing and set out to condemn and ban it.

They conflated using a trust to own an NFA item with criminality.

While the conflation with open carry is different, the language and tone resonate similarly.

People aren't carrying as they would like, and it MUST stop.

Little Amusements

As things like movies accumulate on my hard drive, storage becomes an issue.

The risk of losing the data looms large.

So I bought an old Drobo DD04DR14 on ebay.  Extra capacity and redundancy.

I named it Sheriff Drobo.

I couldn't help myself.

Now I wonder if anyone else gets the joke.

Are You Jim Zumbo 2.0?

If you look at the Florida Carry event with the flat-cap wearing dude armed beyond the teeth and you're having the hives...

You're Jim Zumbo 2.0.

You're support the right for people to carry but...

You're not really on our side.

I remember, not all that long ago, when we were exhorting hunters to realize that their guns were next if they didn't get on board and defend teh evol brack guns.

The socially unacceptable, "can't-take-them-deer-huntin'" AR-15's and AK's that scared the white people.

You used to express unity in the face of the enemy.  Not divisiveness.

Just as there are people who want to own something other than a bolt-gun or a duck-gun; there are people who want some damn comfort when they're carrying.  (An aside to anyone living north of the Mason-Dixon latitude:  I fucking dare you to conceal carry in Miami in August the way you do back home.  The good news is we know how to treat heatstroke down here thanks to European tourists).

Two of the people who've their panties most twisted over this are, in fact, gun writers; like the "where-did-he-go-what-happened-to-him" Jim Zumbo.

Is there something about becoming a professional gun writer that makes you unable to see you're wrong, or at least admit it?  Or admit it while you still have the job.

Zumbo apologized.

I repeat, "What are you doing to advance the expansion of gun rights in Florida?"  I am still waiting on an answer to this question from several corners.

The question is NOT, "How do you think McThag's support of open carry hurt the cause of gun-rights."  I find it very odd that your focus is on how I feel about this rather than the actual effects of the event.

So far, by belittling me, you've only managed to beclown yourselves.

Living Rent Free

It would appear that I am living rent free in Aesop's head.

I still want to know how I became the official spokesperson for Florida Carry in Aesop's head.

He's focused on my sole comment about it pretty thoroughly.

He acts like I organized the event and told people to bring more than a pistol.

He's not offering anything different than what's been tried and failed before.

He's demanding we expect different results from doing the same things as have already been tried.  Isn't that a definition?

He's totally forgetting, even though it's been pointed out at least a couple of times, that Florida Carry's fishing events are very low-key affairs and this one was over the top because of the behavior of Miami-Dade's "finest" last month.  Wanna bet that next month is back to holstered handguns AND that the cops stay polite?  If so, WE FUCKING WON!

Wanna guess where I'm not hearing about this fishing event?

The local news.  During an election.

Even the local news isn't bothering with more than the same-day coverage already posted.

Because nobody really cares!

People just shrugged and said, "well what did the cops expect to happen after they overreacted?"

We're not hearing calls to end the small allowances given to open carry while fishing and hunting.

The only gun-control being discussed is the normal everyday stuff we've been hearing since Columbine with the name changed to Parkland, and we're not really hearing a lot of that either.

David Hogg is MIA.

If this was as bad as Aesop claims it was, Hogg would be all over it.  Update: If this was a dire a mistake as has been claimed, someone from the anti-gun crowd would be on TV explaining in lurid detail that this is the sort of whack-job the "average" gun owner is.

However...

The only people truly upset and staying upset are the people who've complained about open carry before and really don't want it to be allowed.  They might concede that it shouldn't be illegal but they don't think people should do it anyways.  Update:  The only people calling them stupid and throwing insults are the supposed "rational" pro-gun people.  It's just you.

They also really hate it when you see through their insults, bullying and bluster.

Florida Is Strange

Florida is strange because so much of our population comes from someplace else.

Rare is the Floridian, seemingly, who was born within hour's drive of where they live now.

Before Florida became a destination state and God's Waiting Room it was already possessed of multiple personalities.

The Panhandle has often been referred as "South Georgia".

Tampa and Miami are distinct from The Panhandle and from each other.

The interior of the state has long been rural and agricultural, changing significantly only when some obscure guy you might have heard of started buying up land near Orlando.

As God's Waiting Room we get retirees from diverse places.  People who are living on a fixed pension from places that tax their pension checks and cost more to live in and have shitty weather.

We've gotten their kids who want to live closer to their elderly parents.

Tampa got a ton of Cubans, but a different kind of Cuban than Miami and because of different circumstances.

Many people move to Florida because it simply suited them better.  Lower taxes, lower costs of living, better weather (except for hurricanes and brutal humidity; but those aren't year-round problems).

We have the descendants of retired mafiosos.

We have old money and new.

We're diverse!

Things are strange here because of the mix and the fact that winter doesn't kill the crazies like it does up north.  We're a meme generating zone.

You've heard of Florida-Man, ever hear of Minnesota-Man?

Because of all this, our politics get downright strange and because of it things you'd think were as insane as the typical Florida-Man story are just the lay of the land.

To us it's normal.  To you it's insane.

Yet... for the most part... it's not really any worse than where you are.  It's just different.  Perhaps more open and in your face than what you're used to because we've got to hammer it out in more than one version of The American Culture to get the point across, and that means finding a common language to say it in.

A person who moved here from Detroit is not going to be reached by the same message as someone from New York.  But a politician has to say the same thing to both people the same way, or be accused of being two-faced.

Unlike many high-population states we are not dominated by a single city, though Miami and The Holy Mouse Orlando would like that to be otherwise.

What works, what doesn't and how to tell is difficult to explain to people who aren't living here.

That sounds wonderfully trite, but we don't get YOUR politics either.  Even if we started where you are.

Where else could you go from homosexuality be banned by law to a tiny, upstart pro-gun LGBT organization merging with the oldest pro-gun LGBT organization in a few years?

Where else could a Republican super-majority pass a massive anti-gun bill and then try to claim it was not.

Where else could a blogger note that the sky was not, in fact, falling because people open-carried AT the notoriously bad police of Miami-Dade be treated as if they had organized the whole thing solely to promote more gun control?

26 October 2018

Did You Know?

The rear sight from a Marlin 336 works on a Rossi M1892?

Willard and I now do!

Someone had removed the rear sight from a .44 Magnum Rossi Model R92 made by Taurus and imported by Braztech, Miami to mount a red-dot on the barrel.

When they pawned the gun, they kept the red-dot and neglected to replace the rear sight.

Happily, when I ditched the buckhorns for a peep on my Marlin, I kept the take-off parts.

Turns out they use the same dovetail.

25 October 2018

Repossessed

If I say, "The '90's called and they want their meme back," what decade calls me to get the "the [decade] called" meme back?

1/1024

In honor of Fake Heritage Day yesterday I spent the day being 1/1024 Jewish and Harvey spent it 1/1024 Scottish.

When I mentioned it to her, she asked, "Didn't you have a bacon cheeseburger for lunch?"

I replied, "Yeah, it's like I'm not Jewish at all isn't it?"

I Might Be An Idiot

While I might be an idiot, it's better than being an asshole and a bully.

It feels good knowing I'm better than someone.

Several someones from the looks of things.

Dear Democrats

In case you're wondering why we're not rallying to your defense when someone allegedly mailed you alleged bombs.

You, yourselves, told us that this sort of thing was no biggie when you were dismissing our concerns about candidate Obama's relationship with Bill Ayers.

Yeah We Tried That

To all the people outside Florida telling us Floridians that what Florida Carry is doing is completely wrong and offering helpful suggestions about how we should be going about it:

We tried that already.

Yes, even that.

That too.

No really, we did.

Florida isn't like where you're from, so the things that work where you are don't work here.

To be perfectly frank about it, if Florida had been listening to a lot of the naysayers about how it should be doing things today; back in '87 there'd have never have been a push at the state level to change from hardly ever issue to shall-issue.

It's A Cap

It's called a flat-cap not flat-hat.

Maybe if you'd ever served in a combat arm of the military you'd know that.

Amendment Selection

For The Record:

On the Amendments I am voting:

#1: Yes.
#2: Yes.
#3: No.
#4: No.
#5: Yes.
#6: No.
#7: No.
#9: No.
#10: Yes.
#11: No.
#12: Yes.
#13: No.

I'm Not EOD But I Am A Gamemaster

Looking at the photo of one of the pipe bombs.


First, the initiator wires go in from opposite ends.  Traditionally the initiator is a blasting cap.  Blasting caps have two wires coming out the same end, so bringing the wires out of the cap out opposite ends of the bomb is a lot of extra work.

The timer and wires are taped to the body of the device.  Other pictures show the clock-face of the timer, meaning the battery compartment is against the body of the bomb.  What this says is they taped up a ready to go and electrified assembly.

Other photos also show the buttons on the timer proud of the face of the clock.  It'd be a miracle if those buttons didn't get pushed and set it off in shipping.

If this is a real bomb, we're going to find the maker after he blows himself up.

24 October 2018

I Love It When A Scheme Comes Together

The Bat is embarking on an adventure.

She's buying her hubby a private barrel from Foundry Distilling Company.

Once the whisky is removed from the barrel, whats to do with it?

My favorite local pico-brewery does barrel aged Imperial Russian Stouts.  I spoke with the owners and they love the idea of reusing the barrel for an aging.

But then what?

Not quite as local, but nearby, there's Siesta Key Rum.  Every year they do a beer barrel aged release for an insane price per bottle on a very limited basis.  Again, I've spoken with the owner and he's practically itching to use an Escape barrel for the beer-barrel release.

And it doesn't end there.  Siesta Key has a list of breweries who'll do their own barrel aging with it.

What do The Bat and I get?

The barrel rental is normally paid in the form of product.

This scheme will take years.

Voting

Opened up my sample ballot and did my due diligence to become a well informed voter.

This link to a pdf was handy for navigating the stupid long list of amendments.

I figure a straight party-line vote for the Democrats is the way to go this year!

Joking.

Now I have to decide if I wanna vote normal or hit one of the early places.

Are They Really Related

It's getting into the heads of some pretty sick individuals to contemplate it, but...

For a while there was child porn that was completely computer generated.  It's probably still out there, and the quality of the work is likely approaching photo-realistic.

I speculate that it's definitely out there because there's conventional porn that's photo-realistic and computer generated.

I remember some discussion about how this would encourage pederasts.

The other day, remembering these debates, it occurred to me:

Does the existence of Real Dolls encourage necrophilia?

Crossfit And Vegans

People who will tell you they are without being prompted for $1,000 Alex.

How do you know someone is opposed to open carry?

Wait a bit and they will tell you.

In detail.

They are especially critical of events like Florida Carry's.

I have a question for these self appointed arbiters of what an appropriate form of protest or rally should look like.

"What are you doing to advance and expand my rights in Florida?"

Cue Jeopardy music, then cue crickets.

The people panicking about the open carriers at the Florida Carry events also panicked about Open Carry Texas.  Doom was prognosticated, those idiots are hurting the cause...

And yet...

Texas now has open carry.

I think I will back a successful methodology rather than one that doesn't appear to work.

By the way, the methodology applied by Open Carry Texas and Florida Carry has been successfully applied to expand minority rights before.

The LGBT community showed us the way, we've only to use their example.

UPDATE:

I wasn't even replying to anyone, just pointing out that people who oppose open carry just can't NOT mock anyone trying for it.

Do you know what else opponents to open carry have with people who crossfit and vegans? 

They're assholes and bullies.  You should reconsider holding them in any esteem at all. 

Stupid Brain

I've come up with an idea for a post like three times.

When I am away from a means to post, such as when I am driving.

As soon as I get someplace I can make the post, I can't recall the idea.

My muse is taunting me.

23 October 2018

Time Flies

I've only got three more payments until I'm finished paying for my NRA Life Membership.

Wow.

I remember when I started them I thought that the eventual last payment would be "like forever" away.

Now it's almost here.

I might just jump the gun and finish it early, like on my birthday.

How Are You Getting Here Then?

In the statistics for the blog, it tells me which sites refer here the most.

Most of them are blogs and have this blog listed on their sidebar.

Sometimes there's a link to a post in the body of the work on the site.

But there's a couple that have no link to here.

It makes me wonder how they're managing to be a referring site.

Trigger Pull

The weight of a trigger pull is often cited.

Marv bought a scale to measure it.

We've measured a few.

I'm hampered by getting his scale with my guns quite often, so I started looking for one of my own.

There's a lot of "Out of Stock; No Backorder" on such a commonplace item.

It's kind of surprised me.

How Hard Is It To Say You're Sorry?

Two months on and not a peep.

It's how you treat the "lesser" people that shows your true character.

You fucked up, you were a bitch.

I'm not the only one who noticed and it's on YOU to say you're sorry.

Maybe if you had your comments on, you'd have not isolated yourself in the groupthink.

Alas.

Fully Prepared

https://www.breitbart.com/latin-america/2018/10/22/venezuela-declares-military-fully-prepared-war-u-s/

So, what, got their wills all notarized?

22 October 2018

Almost Ready For Angola

Portugal didn't spend money it didn't have to equipping its troops, or so I am told, making surplus, giveaway web-gear de rigueur.



M1936 suspenders from World War Supply.

M1937 BAR magazine belt from IMA.

Needs some filling out, like a canteen...

Sucking The Fun Out

Related to the "how much does it cost" to get into a shooting event is how these events, over time, begin to suck the fun out of shooting in them.

It's no fun to be competitive in your class, but always lose to the same guy who's just a bit better.

It's less fun to begin the slog to beat that guy.  Pretty soon what you're doing is work, not recreation, and the feeling of stress reduction from having fun is replaced with increased stress from the "gotta win" training.

Go to some of these events.

It's sad looking at some of the best competitors.  They're winning, but they don't look like they're having fun.

I decided a while ago that I was going to have fun shooting at these things even if I never won.  I'm gimpy and my (patented) "thump-drag" gait means I don't scoot very quickly.

I'm not going to outshoot Jerry Miculek, but I'll bet I can match him for enjoying myself at the match.

I've also noticed that the people having fun are contagious.  When someone is having fun, they get cheered on more than the robot who's sole programmed function is to WIN.

HUDGlockGuy is going to win, he wins every week, no need to watch.  But look at her!  She's using the rental gun and having a blast coming in tenth, "YOU GO!  WOOOOOO!"

The dude at the bowling pin shoot with the 7-shot S&W revolver got more cheering coming in third than the first and second place guys because they were just so competitively grim.

So go have fun!  It's OK to enjoy shooting, despite what some people would have you believe.

It's OK to shoot just for the enjoyment of it, without trying to be a better shot, put food on the table or prepare for the end of civilization.

Organic

What should your first 3-gun or 2-gun set up be?

Guns you already own.

Why?

Because you've no idea if you're going to have one iota of fun participating until you signed up for and shot a match.

Because if you don't have fun, then it didn't cost you anything but time, ammo and the entry fees.

Don't go in thinking you've got the wrong gun either.

I shot trap and field at the local Isaac Walton League in Ames with a rifle sighted Rem 870 and placed consistently in the top four.

This very gun, in fact!
If you'd asked a gunwriter what shotgun to bring to trap and field, you would not see a picture of my gun in the article.

Sometimes wildly inappropriate guns are MORE fun!

Don't forget the used market when you're shopping for your stuff.  There's a ton of people who didn't have fun or got frustrated with the sport and are looking to unload their gear on the cheap.  There's also people who love the sport and are upgrading their stuff and willing to help someone else get started for less than they paid, just to spread the joy of the sport.


Forget all that!  Actually, the best way to start shooting 2-gun is to borrow a friend's guns.  Then see if you like it.  You probably will.

How Can You Tell They're A Professional Writer

Because the "budget" build is more than most people's mortgage payment and everything is brand name.

Not just brand name, but paying advertiser's brand names.

Not just brand name advertisers, but brand new, in production items at full retail price.

It's tiresome and it's obvious to nearly all of the people who might read it.

It's Not Combat

Something just clicked about the people who're using two and three gun matches as training for combat.

The answer to many of the problems presented in the match, if you're an infantryman, is to toss in a frag.

Pull, ping, count, BOOM.

Alternatively, you simply light the place on fire.

While eminently fun, throwing grenades and burning things aren't the same kind of fun that 2-gun and 3-gun bring.

If you're sitting there thinking, "but Thag, I don't have any grenades!"  You're not using your imagination.  There's gobs and gobs of common household items that add up to grenade and incendiary device.

So common, in fact, that it's nigh impossible to take them away from a population to protect your own forces in a war zone.

Bear in mind, taking these common household items and making a grenade is manufacturing a destructive device and without an approved Form 1, you're making an illegal NFA item.  One would expect, though, that should Warre be declared, niceties like ATF approval are going to be widely ignored.

An Hour And A Half

If you've an hour and a half to spend, here's a treatise on why reviewers of Starship Troopers are generally full of shit.



Gravity

The universe has a sense of humor.

I once wondered what it would be like to live in a 2G environment.

Now I weigh twice as much at then...

I'm not fat, I just live too far down the gravity well.

21 October 2018

Proto Firefly

When I first saw Firefly the ship reminded me of something.

I swore it was something of Chris Foss', but it was actually Angus McKie.

The ship I was reminded of was called The Interstellar Queen.




Not the same at all, but it evokes the same aesthetic.

I Think I See Why Now

I'd wondered why there was a voter referendum state constitutional amendment on the ballot this year for the restoration of felon voting rights.

Could it be related to this?

Shit like this is why I strongly oppose early and absentee voting and support showing a photo ID before you can vote.

Crunch

Yesterday evening, Marv and I were cruising around testing to see if his stuck caliper repair had worked and to see if his cooling system fix had likewise been successful.

As we we were nearing the light-controlled intersection at an on-ramp; the light turned green.

The car in front of us entered the intersection and BAM!

An SUV, running the light and going rather fast, t-boned it from the offramp to the left!

We did the civic thing.  We stayed to help.

I got on 911 right away, Marv ran up to see what he could do.

There must have been 20 other people helping too, it was like a flash-mob of assistance.

I talked to the paramedics when they first arrived to give them the big picture on who was hurt and how bad.  The passenger in the SUV had obvious head injuries and was slipping in and out of consciousness.  I got a solid "Thanks!" from the Fire-Rescue supervisor for providing that quick overview.

The cops took Marv's information and statement.  I wonder if he's going to end up in court as a witness.

20 October 2018

Recidivism Rate

In support of my belief that it should be legal to shoot thieves and burglars in the back:

Their recidivism rate is 0% after receiving on site capital punishment.

Just sayin'...

Against my position...

It does create an incentive for the criminals to murder their victim immediately before stealing.  This incentive is more theoretical than it appears at first blush because states with strong castle doctrine laws have much less problem with hot-burglary.

Bad Shoot BUT

Watch this first.

I think he's going to jail prison (he's already in jail and being charged) because it's a bad shoot.  Well, unless enough someones like me are on the jury.

I think we should make it legal to shoot thieves in the back while they're trying to make off with our stuff.

I don't know who decided that burglar and thieves' lives were worth anything, but their grave should be regularly and thoroughly violated.

The onus should be returned to "it's just stuff, it's not worth your life" being on the scumbag thief and not the owner.

State Of The Alternates

6.8 SPC is running 17 loads from 5 manufacturers.  14 are available, and 3 are out of stock, no backorder.

6.5 Grendel is running 11 loads from 4 manufacturers.  7 are available, 1 is out of stock, backorder OK, and 3 are out of stock, no backorder.

.300 Blackout is running 50 loads from 17 manufacturers.  40 are available, 2 are coming soon, 5 are out of stock backorder OK and 5 are out of stock no backorder.

SPC and Grendel are a whisper (pun) from becoming wildcats.

Bureau Number List

The numbers painted on the tails of the various Navy planes in Strike Fighters...

A-5A, RA-5C, A-6A, A-6B, A-6E, A-6E (TRAM), A-6E (SWIP), F-4B, F-4B "Shoehorn", F-4B "67", F-4J and F-4N all have a rotating BuNo in the appropriate range for the model.

A4D-1 (A-4A): 142687
A4D-2 (A-4B): 142687
A4D-2N (A-4C): 147386
A-4C "Shoehorn": 147386
A-4E (A4D-5): 149993
A-4E "Shoehorn": 149993
A-4E "67": 152029
A-4F: 155022
A-4F "74": 155022

A-7A: 153223
A-7B: 154430
A-7B "71": 154430
A-7C: 156794
A-7C "71": 156794
A-7E: 157497
A-7E "74": 157497

F8U-2 (F-8C): 146992
F-8C "Shoehorn": 146992
F8U-2N (F-8D): 147908
F-8D "Shoehorn": 147908
F8U-2NE (F-8E): 150349
F-8E "Shoehorn": 150349
F-8H: 147908
F-8H "69": 147908
F-8J: 150900
F-8J "69": 150900
F-8K: 147030

F-14A: 160406
F-14A "77": 160406

19 October 2018

Salty

I'm so old that when I read G43 and 19X I think of Gewehr 43 and MOS 19X not Glocks.

19X, for the record, was the MOS for "something in Armor, actual AIT to be assigned according to the needs of the service."

Mind Blown

Looking at my Lego guys.


The Imperial Army uniform that Han is wearing in Solo is the same, except for color, to the Snowtrooper from Empire Strikes Back.

The attack on Hoth was an Army operation!

Was I?

There was a very exciting portion of my life where I was being there and doing that.

I cannot, for the life of me, remember if I was lugging a pistol around "just in case".

The "case" never came up, so it's hard to remember now.

Redacted

Ever write something and stab publish then reread it and discover that it doesn't say what you wanted to say the way you'd intended?

Well, judging from the not reading the blogs that most of my readers don't write: No you haven't.

Rhetorical question.

If you think a post is missing it's because it's in the shop.

18 October 2018

Fragilty Neglect And Abuse

Willard and I were talking about what constitutes firearm reliability.

We keep circling around the popular metric of shooting a gun 2,000 rounds without cleaning or lubing and trying to figure out what it's really proving.

Especially since nobody I know is carrying 2,000 rounds on them.  Honestly, if your gun can fire all the ammo you're carrying without a hiccup, you're golden.  Even if you have to completely tear it down and refinish every single part before it can fire again!  Even if you have to throw the gun away because firing all three magazines you carry destroys it on the last round.

Well, what we've decided is 2,000 rounds is the neglect litmus.

That we're actually testing this says a lot about modern guns and that they can survive an idiot who doesn't take care of their tools.  It sometimes makes me wonder why gunwriters seek to emulate idiots.

But 2,000 rounds over weeks or months is not abuse.

If neglect is idiocy, abuse is stupidity.

Abuse is tying it to the bumper and going for a drive.  A long drive.

Abuse is doing pushups with hands on barrel and stock with the magazine monopoded.

Abuse is jumping out of an airplane with it.

Which brings us to fragility.

How well can your gun take abuse?

The AK is the exemplar of being able to take abuse.  The M16A1, not so much.

I notice we don't much test against abuse, abuse risks real breakage and that costs money.

What A Great Place It's A Great Place To Start

ARMY! NAVY! AIR FORCE! MARINES!
Ref.

Old Book

Finally embarking on reading the Mars Trilogy by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

I just noticed the copyright is 1915 for Princess of Mars.

I'd forgotten how old it was.

17 October 2018

Knife Quality

Let's say a $40 knife lasts for 5 years.

How long does a $250 knife have to last to reach parity with the cheaper knives?

31 years 3 months.

Now, lose it in the intervening three decades.

It's not broken, but it's still gone.  Anything you can carry that's small, handy, and gets used a lot (like a knife) runs a risk of loss.

I've honestly lost count of the number of knives I've lost over the years.

Happily, since I've never spent a lot on them, it's been an angry moment at myself for losing another one then a shrug and hit a store for a replacement.

Heck, I consider the $50 I spent on the Kershaw Cyclone to be extravagant for a knife.  I'm also ahead of the use/loss curve in that I've had it since 2011 and it's still with me and still working like it did new.

But what if you insist on a $250 knife and it disappears?  Lot harder to shrug philosophically and go get a new one, huh?

Asking, And Answering, The Wrong Question



He doesn't actually tell us if V-Power is better than cheap gas.

He has explained why, if your car is rated for 87 octane, why you don't really need to run premium.

Untested is whether V-Power is superior to the cheap premium.

16 October 2018

Distraction

Dusted off Strike Fighters and flew a couple.

I have lost all my finesse at landing on the carrier.



Dead Cow

If you've got a vintage military issue revolver, you need a vintage holster for your web gear!


Pretty fetching, don't you think?

Flush

My Marlin, Connie, had open holes in the top of her receiver where the scope mounts used to be.

I'd bought a set of plug screws, but they had slight caps on them and are proud of the top just wee little bit.


Just enough proud to keep the Lyman peep sight I'd added from dropping low enough to zero.

Today I got screws that have no cap, so they sit flush!


That should keep a small amount of dirt from accumulating on the top of my bolt!

Left Overs


About half the parts in my gun-parts bin are take-off parts like these.

It's the sort of thing that accumulates because they're not actually broken, they're just redundant because of an upgrade.

Who knows, maybe they will be worth something someday to the S&W collector trying desperately to return their gun to it's, more valuable, configuration it left the factory with.

My That's Nice

I was empowered to install the Apex trigger in FuzzyGeff's Sigma.  This is in addition to the Apex spring kit that got put in the gun previously.


I took no photos of it in progress because that slide lock holds the trigger pin and it's a five hand operation where you only have room for a couple fingers.

The combination is outstanding!

We started at a very gritty 8 lb. 6 oz. stock, to smoother 7 lb. 8 oz. with a cleaner break to a very smooth and clean 5 lb. 10 oz.!

The Lovely Harvey is even considering these upgrades for her Sigma.

Whelp I Did Not Die

I'm in the queue at the VA to have a check up to see what we can do about heartburn bad enough it makes me think I'm having a heart attack and thus a panic attack which is even more like a heart attack than the heartburn.

Can you see the self-reinforcing cycle here?

15 October 2018

Panic

I just got done with the worst panic attack I've ever experienced.

Called 911 and everything.

Got people to come over to look after The Boy until Harvey could be on scene.

The paramedics wired me up, took vitals, listened to my lungs and heart, watched the EKG for a bit.

Not a heart attack.

This is what three days of feeling like dogshit warmed over brings me to.

Sicker Than Two Dogs

Ate something that disagreed with me on Saturday.

Been trying to die, or at least feeling like I was going to and welcoming the sweet embrace of death!

I'm now vertical and the room moves with my head instead of doing this shakey rebound thing.

I think I might just fast for a day or two.

14 October 2018

Quote Of The Day

Because once you yell "Play ball!" on killing your political opponents as a viable course of action, Americans have a long and distinguished history of shoving that bat right up your ass. And then, going after your family for good measure.
-- Aseop.

12 October 2018

Stuck

Do you collect stickers?


If I had a steamer trunk, it'd be covered in decals of every place I'd ever visited.

Companion Update

According to Shotgunworld.com it's a Beretta design, thanks reader Sabre22.

Quoted verbatim for my Father In Law's pleasure:

Beretta patented the design for their folding single-barrel shotgun in 1922, and it was available for purchase by 1925. It remained in production for almost 70 years, perhaps as late as 1992. It was not imported to the US all that time, though. It was very successful in Europe, and it has been estimated that Beretta sold aobut 500,000 of them. It was made in all gauges, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, 28, 32, 36, .410, and 9mm rimfire. Most of them were very light, but it was also made in a heavier duck hunting configuration, and in trap-shooting models. Recievers were blued, nickel-plated, chrome-plated, case hardened, or gold-plated (on a deluxe engraved model). Most of the examples seen in the US had the opening lever in front of the trigger guard and the safety button in the front of the trigger guard, but some models had the release lever on the right side and some had a top tang safety.

From 1952 until some time in the late 1960's, Berettas were imported to the US by J. L. Galef & Sons, and during this time they were advertised as the Beretta Companion, although they were marked at the factory with the name of "Vittoria" (Italian name of the Roman goddess Victoria, goddess of victory, equivalent to the Greek Nike) along with an "engraving" of the goddess. The name "Companion" must have been copyrighted by Galef, not by Beretta, and when Beretta gave the importation rights to Garcia, Galef got M.A.V.I., another Italian manufacturer, to make a very similar gun and sold it as the Galef Companion. To this day, some people still think the Galef Companion was made by Beretta, but it was not.

Garcia, and later Beretta USA, sold variations of the gun as the FS-1, TR-1 Trap, TR-2 Trap, and Model 412. Importation to the US ended in or about 1988, but most of the guns seen in the US now date from the 1950's through early 70's.

In addition to the Galef Companion, there have been other copies or modified versions of the same basic design by other manufacturers. At least one of them was still available in Europe at least as late as 2006, and may still be available. The last manufacturer I am aware of who offered the same basic design was an Italian company called Effebi. The name Effebi is taken from the letters FEB, the initials of the company's founder - Dr. Franco E. Beretta. How's that for irony! The company was originally called by the founder's full name, but later changed to Effebi. My guess (but only a guess) is that Dr. Franco E. Beretta's distant cousins threatened to sue him for copyright infringement if he did not stop using the family name in connection with firearms.

These guns are very light and therefore have a tendency to kick. I have a 20 gauge that weighs less than 5 pounds and has a steel buttplate, and even with low-brass target ammo it will kick the livin' snot out of you if you are not carefull! Pressing it firmly against my shoulder helps, and I suppose a rubber slip-on recoil pad would help. I would not give one of these guns to a kid or a lady as their first gun unless I used extra-light ammo. I have found mine to be quite pleasant to shoot with Fiocchi Training loads (3/4 oz of shot at moderate velocity). You would be surprised how well that little gun and the Fiocchi Training shells will break sporting clay targets (but only one at a time, alas!)
Under the handguard is the XX stamp for 1964 manufacture.

Perfectly Cromulant Stories

Brian Daley wrote three enjoyable books about Han Solo which were set before A New Hope.

As many things as have appeared from those novels, Disney might as well just film them!

Heck, one thing from those novels that grabbed my imagination has even appeared in Solo!

Enfys Nest and her gang are flying swoops.  I know that Mr Daley coined the term.  I also know they're really swoops because Lego calls them that!

For Your BRN-10!

Pre-order yours today!


Celebrate?

Social Security recipients are getting a raise.

2.8%

Veterans on disability are too.

2.9%

As I wend my way through the process of getting my disability upped...  I remember years and years where they didn't give an inflation raise.

But They Aren't Afraid

Homophobia.  Literally fear of same.

Homophobia is applied to people who hate homosexuals.

The thing is, they don't fear homosexuals, they hate them.

Homomisoia is the word your reaching for.

In this same line of, "we're products of a school system that doesn't bother teaching where language comes from," of getting it wrong...

Pedophile.  Child lover.  With lover here NOT meaning make love but more like parental affection.

Pederast is the proper work for child molester.  Erastes IS the form of "love" which means fucking.

11 October 2018

Companionable

My Father-In-Law inherited a single-shot 20ga - 3" shotgun from his brother.

It folds up to a very manageable size.

It was imported by J.L. Galef and Son, NY
... But it was made by M.A.V.I. in Gardone, Italy.

And that is all we know.

PMAG Comparison Part 4

This is also a "how to ID" guide to the various generations.


L -> R
PMAG-30
PMAG-30 Rev M
PMAG-30 Gen M2 MOE
PMAG-30 Gen M3

The original 1st gen PMAG has the window section regardless of whether that section is clear or not.  The gen 1 also has four sections of "grippy" area as opposed to three in all following generations.

Gen 1 markings:




Rev M Markings:
Some Rev M's have an NSN on them.
Gen M2 MOE Markings:

Gen M3 Markings:



10 October 2018

Snout Counting

Let's say that the Democrats had their way and the electoral college was divvied up by the popular vote per state.

Hillary 262.
Trump 256.
Third party 20.

But because the founders warned us of the most populous states dominating the less populous, I propose a split.

The portion of your electors from your House representation goes to the popular vote and the Senate portion gets chosen by the state's governor.

This seems fair to me, since the Senate is supposed to be the state's representation and not the people's.

Hillary 241.
Trump 275.
Third Party 22.

Or we can admit that the current method is actually just as fair and leave it alone.

Legitimacy

The Left has been using the word illegitimate a lot lately.

Once again, I find that they don't understand The Constitution.

In the Electoral College the states can assign their electors how ever the state government decides.

By popular vote, by a bill in the state legislature, by lottery, by gubernatorial decree...  Any of these is legal.

Whomever gets a majority of those electoral votes is President.  Legitimately.  Even if it's by one elector in a hotly contested race.

The confirmation of judges and justices is the same.  If a majority of The Senate votes to confirm, then they're legitimate.  Even if it's by one vote over a deeply contentious and controversial nominee.

I Will Get Right On That


Their bot isn't very bright.  I emptied the cart before I left and they sent me this reminder email to induce me to complete the transaction.

09 October 2018

Hurricane Michael


Click to make bigger.  Cell phone panorama.
From my Canon instead of my cell phone. You can kind of make out the shape of the spiral arms.

Neutron Embrittlement And Magic Alloys

In my Traveller campaign a key development to allow power plants is a steel alloy with a high copper content.

It's dubbed "Reardon Metal" after the Ayn Rand novel "Atlas Shrugged".

It needs 0-G to make, but it doesn't become brittle with exposure to neutrons like most other metals.

It's also key to the manufacture of all manner of gravitic components.

¡Viva Bolivia!

Today Che Guevarra became a good Communist.

Happy Dead Che Day!

08 October 2018

I Don't Think Time Works This Way

I was listening to some harpy bleating about how Kavanaugh is a rapist.

I try to say there simply isn't any evidence of him copping a feel (the actual Ford allegation) let alone rape.

"It doesn't matter!  All women must be believed!"

What about Juanita Broadderick, Kathleen Willey, Leslie Willwee and Paula Jones?

"That was so long ago it doesn't matter now!"

Paula Jones was more recent than Christine Blasey Ford, so if Jones' allegation is too old to matter...

"You're just twisting my words!"

No, just trying to see what your objection to Justice Kavanaugh is.

You clearly don't mind that someone who has been accused of sexual assault gets into a position of power and you clearly have assigned a time limit on those accusations being valid.  What we're determining is the parameters where you are upset about someone who has been accused of sexual assault gaining access to power.

The key parameter appears to be whether there is a (D) behind their name or how liberal they are.

And The Idiot Signed It

https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/girlfriend-boyfriend-relationship-rules-controlling-list
I'm not saying that my relationship with Harvey is perfect, but...

I've got a very loose lead on.  My lead is at least around my neck, this guy helped her tie it around his nut-sack.

M1911A1 Update

CMP 1911 orders will not be accepted post marked after Oct. 4.

We will allow time for all deliveries to be made before entering packets into the RNG.

October 6, 2018 Update:
Please disregard the Oct. 5th date about the Random Number Generator (RNG) notification. We are allowing the mail services, USPS, Fed Ex, UPS, Carrier Pigeon & Pony Express, to deliver all packets post marked on or before 4th Oct. Once all packets have been assigned a number (this will also take a few days), we will enter the numbers into the RNG which will then assign a number to each packet. Once all packets have their assigned RNG number, we will start the processing of the packets. Each packet has to be check for correction/completion before we can notify anyone, this will also take time. Please allow at least 30 days before anyone is notified. Everyone MUST bear with us as this is a first for us also.
DO NOT CALL or EMAIL ASKING WHAT YOUR NUMBER IS--All this does is slow us down and upsets you.

We understand everyone wants to know their number and we will work as fast as we can. As we did with the early submission packets, we will try to notify those that packets were not accepted. This will be after those that were accepted are notified. At this time we have over 17,000+ packets. 
Feel free to join the 1911 discussions on the CMP Forum.

At one point they were guessing they were going to have 100k packets to process.  They have fewer than a fifth of that now.

That changes the odds from 1:10 to just worse than 1:2...  I've a rising feeling of dread excitement here.

Also, I had no idea The Pony Express was still running...

Credible Allegation


I think that the FBI should investigate these allegations.

Columbus Day

No mail.  The Boy doesn't have school.

Chill sign is lit.

07 October 2018

Doom And Gloom In The Sunshine State

Apparently the election is already over and the Democrats have completely taken over Florida so it's time to move to another state.

This is based on the polls saying that Gillum is far ahead of DeSantis.

I remember other polls by the same agencies.

I cannot wait for 2020 when we finally get rid of President Hillary Clinton...

Wait.

It's not President Clinton, it's President Trump.

Almost as if the polls were wrong or something.  Almost as if their methodology was flawed.

I'll land two positives that the press and the pollsters won't mention.

First DeSantis is the first gubernatorial candidate since I moved here that I want to vote for, rather than voting against their opponent.  I'm not alone.

Second, Gillum is going full Newyorkdamnyankeeliberal gun-control openly in his ads.

Someone Republicans want to vote for and the gun-owner turn out?

This fight ain't over.

Never mind how much liberals have been embarrassing themselves lately.

Math Is Hard But It's Not That Hard

Darlings, if you had the 66 votes it would take to impeach Justice Kavanaugh in the Senate you could have prevented his confirmation in the first place.

Never mind getting a simple majority in The House to actually impeach...

I'm getting so very sick of "we didn't get our way, so we're going to impeach him!"

If you fuckers could do math you'd notice you do not have, and if you keep on like this, will never have the numbers to do this.

06 October 2018

Situational Awareness

The Lovely Harvey was up north for her Grandma's funeral.

At a rest-stop in Missouri she noticed someone dressed like a gang-banger paying a lot of attention to her and The Boy when they went up to the restrooms.

When they were leaving the restrooms he was uncomfortably close to their path, but not yet crowding it.

She says she just had, "a feeling" about this guy.

When they'd passed him, he started in their direction and was checking all around him.

She thanks keyless entry for getting The Boy into the car while she was able to turn and face him, hand on her pistol, and making eye contact.

Not today, Mr Gangbanger.  Not today.

He saw she was alert and prepared for anything he'd planned and suddenly did a 90 off the walk and over to another area of the rest-stop.

Bias Confirmation

I'd like to remind Reverend Sharpton that, historically, a more conservative and thus more Republican Supreme Court is better for minority Americans than one run by the Democrats.

He must be old and senile to have forgotten which party ran The South lockstep for generations and which party actually sent troops to break it up.  Twice, as a matter of fact.

The Democrats set a trap for your people, Mr Sharpton, and you leap at the bait every time it's presented.

05 October 2018

Is RINO Better?

I've read several well reasoned arguments about what we get for voting for Rick Scott (a RINO) over Bill Nelson (Democrat).

Some of it is convincing.

Even though Scott would likely stab us in the back at a moments notice, and we know this because he has before, the Democrats lose more than they gain because they lose a very senior senator.

Overall, it's a net gain.

BUT!

While it hurts the Dems to a degree, it sends a signal that we don't really want people who will actually adhere to our values and fight for them.

Do we need another RINO in the Senate?  Aren't there already enough?

Letting Nelson be reelected is the status quo.  We know his measure and can work around him.

We've been working around him.  We can keep doing that.

We don't need to replace the agreeably dead McCain with another just like him.  Especially since Arizona will probably handle that on their own.

Radical ≠ Standard

From Miguel's I am reading that the press says Judge Kavanaugh has a "radical" view of the 2nd Amendment.

I found that fascinating, and mentioned in the comments that it's odd that this same radical view is referred to as the standard model.

Who says that?

The American Bar Association, for example.

Free Ammo For A Year!

Widners is giving ammo away!

Click this link for details!

I'm not being all altruistic here.

They promised to pay me for the advertising with a $25 gift card and a shot at a $1,000 gift card.

So, here goes!

I am Angus McThag, paid celebrity endorser, and I approved this message.

Synchronicity

Willard and I were doing silly "what-if" stuff yesterday.

He mentioned that The Rhodesian African Rifles (RAR) was a sister unit to The 5th Infantry Brigade and if they'd only called the whole RAR would have joined the fight in the Falkland's (and having been disbanded recently; they were available).

That got us thinking about the Argentine reaction.

They were certainly freaked the fuck out about the rumors (rumours?) the Brits were spreading about how the Ghurkas fought, including beheadings and ninja-like infiltration skills.

We were thinking a quiet word spread about the RAR and how they reverted to their cannibal roots when abroad and how they'd been regaled with glories of "Hispanic food" on the trip over from Rhodesia.  I said all it would take to force a surrender would be to land carrying a gigantic cauldron...

I told you that story so I could tell you this one.

I went to check something on Facebook and a targeted ad had a 25 gallon cauldron.

Google is fucking listening!

But wait, there's more!

I mentioned to FuzzyGeff on the phone that I'd never find a Gen 1 PMAG gathering dust in a gun shop because ALL of them sold-out during the Great Obama Panic(s)®.

Lo and behold, I found one sitting in the case at a pawn shop the next day.

Willard asks, that with the power to align the universe I appear to have, "Why don't you ask for something like an 18 year old cheerleader who has a thing for old bald guys with beards?"

04 October 2018

Welcome To Florida

I am bitterly amused by national pro-gun people's headlines bemoaning California raising the age to own a gun to 21.  Freaking because Trump has repeated what he said about banning bump-stocks after Vegas...

Yeah, where were you when both of those things happened to Florida?

I know, you didn't care.

PMAG Comparison Part 3

To top it all off.

The three generations of dust cover are oh-so-similar, but oh-so-different.

L->R Gen 1, Rev M / Gen M2 MOE, Gen M3
They're not fully compatible.

Gen 1, Rev M and Gen M3 shipped with a dust-cover.   Gen M2 MOE did not, ironic since it still has the provision to store it at the bottom of the mag.

Since the Gen M2 MOE doesn't ship with dust covers, Magpul will sell them separately for those who want them.  This does you no good if you've lost a Gen 1 or Gen M3 cover.

The Gen M3 cover doesn't fit any of the preceding generations because it's got a wider plug on the latch at the spine, so it won't get near locking.

The Gen M2 cover clips right onto a Gen M3 magazine, but leaves a gap at the rear, ruining the whole point of it being a dust cover!


The Gen M2 cover can be forced onto a Gen 1, but the fit is less than ideal.

The lugs are just barely hanging on here.
I was able to find, yet another, Gen 1 PMAG at one of the local pawn shops and it came with a dust cover!

The Gen 1 cover will latch onto a Rev M / Gen M2 MOE, but the latch is barely holding.  Breathing on it hard is almost enough to make it let go.  It has the same problem when attached to a Gen M3, while also leaving the same gap as on an M2.

They're pretty simple to tell apart from the markings.

Gen 1:
Doesn't that fit look better than with the Rev M / Gen M2 MOE cover?
The "REMOVE BEFORE USE" meshes nicely with the "Use top impact cover when storing magazine loaded" on the body.
Just a mold number underneath.
Rev M / Gen M2 MOE:

Instructions in the valley have been removed.
The 'M' for Rev M appears with a couple of mold marks.
Gen M3:

Name moved to the valley.
Gen M3 logo, mold marks, date stamp and EN number added.