31 December 2018
T2K And What If
Twilight: 2000 is an alternate history now. More than 18 years in our past.
To figure out simple things like what equipment will be issued requires a lot of givens.
You have to accept that the financial and economic health of The Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact is what their public facade was before Communism's collapse.
Guns like Poland's Tantal gets fully developed and deployed.
The LADA's bugs get worked out.
Neither nation goes 5.56 or NATO.
It's a lot of fun to speculate!
To figure out simple things like what equipment will be issued requires a lot of givens.
You have to accept that the financial and economic health of The Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact is what their public facade was before Communism's collapse.
Guns like Poland's Tantal gets fully developed and deployed.
The LADA's bugs get worked out.
Neither nation goes 5.56 or NATO.
It's a lot of fun to speculate!
Damn You Ian!
My GURPS Conversion of Twilight: 2000 just got three new weapons added.
The Czechoslovakian LADA would have continued its development in a world where the Berlin wall stayed up and the Velvet Revolution never happened.
The Czechoslovakian LADA would have continued its development in a world where the Berlin wall stayed up and the Velvet Revolution never happened.
Sick As A Dog
The Boy managed to catch a cold.
He's spread the love to the rest of us.
I hate having a cold.
Thank you modern symptom suppressants!
He's spread the love to the rest of us.
I hate having a cold.
Thank you modern symptom suppressants!
29 December 2018
Goddamn Fashion
What the Hell happened to t-shirts.
Just a couple of years ago there was t-shirt for fit, you picked a size and you were good.
Now there's at least three fits for the things and all of them mean ordering a size bigger than before because the fashion is now body hugging instead of baggy and loose.
I hate tight fitting clothes. I didn't like it when I was skinny, and I damn sure don't want it now that I'm fat.
I want t-shirt fitting t-shirts!
Just a couple of years ago there was t-shirt for fit, you picked a size and you were good.
Now there's at least three fits for the things and all of them mean ordering a size bigger than before because the fashion is now body hugging instead of baggy and loose.
I hate tight fitting clothes. I didn't like it when I was skinny, and I damn sure don't want it now that I'm fat.
I want t-shirt fitting t-shirts!
Remove The Vacuum
If any single thing has made me feel better about how my skills at checkering are progressing it's been looking at other's work.
I am seeing where the mistakes were made where others might not because they've never even tried to do this.
It's reassuring to see that the experts are human too.
I am seeing where the mistakes were made where others might not because they've never even tried to do this.
It's reassuring to see that the experts are human too.
28 December 2018
Morons I've Got Morons On My Team
I've been reading about how apathetic I am about gun rights because I don't march on the capital and participate with the pro-gun rallying.
Fine.
When are we going to rally?
What day?
Can we, just once, not schedule it for a day when YOU are already going to be there?
You see, you think that I'm apathetic because I have to deal with my home-logistics.
What you're leaving out is you declare when we should rally... after you've already gotten your logistics settled, and a hotel room reserved.
You scheduled this to your convenience and are baffled that the rest of us can't drop everything and come rally on five days notice?
You're being unreasonable in your expectations of other people's time.
I didn't want to go there, but you're a cop with a lot of seniority. You have a lot more time off than I get.
But since we're blaming people for shit here; let's talk about you being an LEO and the professional organizations who constantly lobby against my rights.
What are YOU doing about that? Where are your fellow officers at these rallies, and why aren't they in uniform standing with us against gun control, since you keep saying they're on our side.
Well? Where are they?
Fine.
When are we going to rally?
What day?
Can we, just once, not schedule it for a day when YOU are already going to be there?
You see, you think that I'm apathetic because I have to deal with my home-logistics.
What you're leaving out is you declare when we should rally... after you've already gotten your logistics settled, and a hotel room reserved.
You scheduled this to your convenience and are baffled that the rest of us can't drop everything and come rally on five days notice?
You're being unreasonable in your expectations of other people's time.
I didn't want to go there, but you're a cop with a lot of seniority. You have a lot more time off than I get.
But since we're blaming people for shit here; let's talk about you being an LEO and the professional organizations who constantly lobby against my rights.
What are YOU doing about that? Where are your fellow officers at these rallies, and why aren't they in uniform standing with us against gun control, since you keep saying they're on our side.
Well? Where are they?
Present Arms
Richard Overton has crossed into the void at 112.
One Hell of a run, sir.
This whiskey is in your honor. Willard will take care of the cigar.
One Hell of a run, sir.
This whiskey is in your honor. Willard will take care of the cigar.
27 December 2018
Somewhere I Have...
Those three words are my bane.
Somewhere I have the testing data from WW2 about what guns penetrated what and how far.
The reason I want this data instead of using wikipedia is the 75mm L/40 M3 gun on the Sherman would cause massive spalling on the face-hardened armor (FHA) the Germans were using.
It technically did not penetrate, which is the only metric that matters to people arguing on forums, but that is of small solace to the crew behind that FHA plate.
The problem with spalling, in fact, is why the Army insisted on cast hulls and turrets early on. Cast armor with face hardening was more resistant to it than plate.
Somewhere I have the testing data from WW2 about what guns penetrated what and how far.
The reason I want this data instead of using wikipedia is the 75mm L/40 M3 gun on the Sherman would cause massive spalling on the face-hardened armor (FHA) the Germans were using.
It technically did not penetrate, which is the only metric that matters to people arguing on forums, but that is of small solace to the crew behind that FHA plate.
The problem with spalling, in fact, is why the Army insisted on cast hulls and turrets early on. Cast armor with face hardening was more resistant to it than plate.
Space Monitors
The Traveller System Defense Boat (SDB) is for all intents and purposes a monitor.
The lack of a jump drive is akin to the lack of speed.
They are heavily armored compared to a jump capable ship.
Because most of the rulesets for Traveller restrict armament by the displacement tonnage of the ship, they're not any better armed than a normal starship of the same tonnage.
But...
The last few rulesets I've been using would allow them to have better drives and to carry lots of reloads missiles.
The lack of a jump drive is akin to the lack of speed.
They are heavily armored compared to a jump capable ship.
Because most of the rulesets for Traveller restrict armament by the displacement tonnage of the ship, they're not any better armed than a normal starship of the same tonnage.
But...
The last few rulesets I've been using would allow them to have better drives and to carry lots of reloads missiles.
Life Sentence
My final payment to the NRA just hit the bank.
I am now a life member!
A voting member.
It feels about like turning 50 (which I did just the other day).
A landmark moment that isn't really that different from the day before.
A question for others who've done this: Do they mail you a member packet or something?
I am now a life member!
A voting member.
It feels about like turning 50 (which I did just the other day).
A landmark moment that isn't really that different from the day before.
A question for others who've done this: Do they mail you a member packet or something?
Translated Markings
Just for fun...
It is Romanian!
7.62LPSGJ means 7.62mm with the LPS bullet and copper washed steel case. The 149gr LPS bullet should be silver tipped, which you can tell from the silver stripe. This round can also be called 57-N-323S.
It's Lot # V25 made in 1978 at factory 22.
It uses VT powder from lot 19 of 1978 from factory U.
There are 440 rounds per can and they don't have stripper clips. They're probably packed in 20-round paper bundles.
Dear Mayor Pugh
Paid Confiscation Yields "Rocket Launcher".
First off, if that's a live AT-4 I will eat my hat.
Second, Mayor Pugh, the NRA doesn't give two shits about NFA items, and a live AT-4 is a destructive device.
Third, there's no such thing as a legally registered AT-4. The maker simply doesn't sell to unwashed civilians. If this is a live round, it's stolen. The NRA does care about stolen guns and doesn't want them falling into criminal hands.
If you'd just talk to us every once and a while you'd know this rather than sounding like an idiot. Or is it that you don't sound like an idiot...
First off, if that's a live AT-4 I will eat my hat.
Second, Mayor Pugh, the NRA doesn't give two shits about NFA items, and a live AT-4 is a destructive device.
Third, there's no such thing as a legally registered AT-4. The maker simply doesn't sell to unwashed civilians. If this is a live round, it's stolen. The NRA does care about stolen guns and doesn't want them falling into criminal hands.
If you'd just talk to us every once and a while you'd know this rather than sounding like an idiot. Or is it that you don't sound like an idiot...
I'd Love To See This
I watch a lot of World of Warships videos.
I occasionally wonder why this Player Characteresque Design has not been included:
An almost 10,000 ton displacement ship equipped with 15" guns from a battleship.
Cruiser sized, very slow, big guns, heavy armor. I am shocked that these things aren't staples of the game!
There's even WW1 versions in keeping with World of Warships tier system!
The Royal Navy is not the only offender to make such ships. WW2 List of the things.
The US Navy even had a few!
I occasionally wonder why this Player Characteresque Design has not been included:
An almost 10,000 ton displacement ship equipped with 15" guns from a battleship.
Cruiser sized, very slow, big guns, heavy armor. I am shocked that these things aren't staples of the game!
There's even WW1 versions in keeping with World of Warships tier system!
The Royal Navy is not the only offender to make such ships. WW2 List of the things.
The US Navy even had a few!
 |
| USS Tallahassee ex USS Florida |
26 December 2018
Good Guy From Die Hard
The good-guy guns from Die Hard.
It didn't hit me until I was watching the movie on a larger screen that Sgt Powell was using a Model 15. And of course John MacClaine was using a Beretta 92.
Coincidence?
Government shuts down on Monday.
The Dow gains 1,000 points on Thursday.
Coincidence?
I think not!
The Dow gains 1,000 points on Thursday.
Coincidence?
I think not!
Oh Shit She's Doomed
There's a bio-pic about Ruth Bader-Ginsberg in the offing.
You know you're screwed when you're still lurking about and they make a lifetime achievement type film about you.
Just about the only surer way to be shuffled along to Hell is to know something about the Clintons.
You know you're screwed when you're still lurking about and they make a lifetime achievement type film about you.
Just about the only surer way to be shuffled along to Hell is to know something about the Clintons.
Tubes
The stock I have been lovingly crafting butchering while I master checkering belongs to Marv's Sears Model 25. This is a Sears Roebuck branded High-Standard Sport King semi-auto.
It uses a tube magazine.
My, inherited from my maternal grandfather, Remington 341A Sportsmaster bolt-action also feeds from a tube.
Something else these two guns have in common is their chambering, .22 Short, .22 Long and .22 Long-Rifle.
It's kind of neat how they can take rounds which are three different lengths and still be magazine fed.
I should have been more familiar with the concept because I also own pump shotguns. They feed from tube magazines as well, and have no problems with different length shells. Well, within limits.
The Remington 870 won't cycle the cute little 1-3/4" mini-shells. The much older Winchester Model 12 Heavy Duck feeds them fine. I've never had a 2-1/2" shell to test with, but both handle the common as dirt 2-3/4" and 3" rounds.
Marv's KSG cheerfully eats 1-3/4", 2-3/4" and 3" rounds as well.
What I don't think I've ever seen is a box magazine .22 which can handle the shorter versions of .22 LR. It doesn't seem like it would be impossible, especially for a bolt action, but was it done?
What's also apparent is .22 Short and .22 Long stopped being popular enough for gun makers to bother with as .22 Long-Rifle supplanted them and reigned supreme.
It uses a tube magazine.
My, inherited from my maternal grandfather, Remington 341A Sportsmaster bolt-action also feeds from a tube.
Something else these two guns have in common is their chambering, .22 Short, .22 Long and .22 Long-Rifle.
It's kind of neat how they can take rounds which are three different lengths and still be magazine fed.
I should have been more familiar with the concept because I also own pump shotguns. They feed from tube magazines as well, and have no problems with different length shells. Well, within limits.
The Remington 870 won't cycle the cute little 1-3/4" mini-shells. The much older Winchester Model 12 Heavy Duck feeds them fine. I've never had a 2-1/2" shell to test with, but both handle the common as dirt 2-3/4" and 3" rounds.
Marv's KSG cheerfully eats 1-3/4", 2-3/4" and 3" rounds as well.
What I don't think I've ever seen is a box magazine .22 which can handle the shorter versions of .22 LR. It doesn't seem like it would be impossible, especially for a bolt action, but was it done?
What's also apparent is .22 Short and .22 Long stopped being popular enough for gun makers to bother with as .22 Long-Rifle supplanted them and reigned supreme.
Getting Them To Admit It
My VA disability is skeletal. It should have been ortho, but someone was being generously broad when they medically separated my ass.
My hip problems are almost certainly from my limp which started from my legs never really healing straight after the accident.
What all this means is the travel to get it checked out is due to my service connected disability.
That's supposed to mean they pay me some money for the distance traveled.
Guess how many times I've gotten them to pay me for travel?
Because my measly 10% rating means they only pay if it's a visit for my service connected problems there's a myriad number of ways to deny the visit was, in fact, connected to my service injury.
Never mind that the window that does the determination is slow and staffed with people who take an apparent delight in telling veterans "NO!"
Not least in my mind for trying to get my percentage increased to the level of my loss is to get past the magical 30% bar. Once you're past that any trip to a VA medical appointment pays miles. A goal that got set in my mind from constant denials of my travel reimbursements and having to make the trip several times because they can't seem to schedule everything I need to do on the same damn day.
My hip problems are almost certainly from my limp which started from my legs never really healing straight after the accident.
What all this means is the travel to get it checked out is due to my service connected disability.
That's supposed to mean they pay me some money for the distance traveled.
Guess how many times I've gotten them to pay me for travel?
Because my measly 10% rating means they only pay if it's a visit for my service connected problems there's a myriad number of ways to deny the visit was, in fact, connected to my service injury.
Never mind that the window that does the determination is slow and staffed with people who take an apparent delight in telling veterans "NO!"
Not least in my mind for trying to get my percentage increased to the level of my loss is to get past the magical 30% bar. Once you're past that any trip to a VA medical appointment pays miles. A goal that got set in my mind from constant denials of my travel reimbursements and having to make the trip several times because they can't seem to schedule everything I need to do on the same damn day.
Open Letter To Patreon
I am paying a small amount every month to see content from select creators.
If they say they're not getting the money I'm sending via the Patreon service, I will stop payment.
Just to do the math for you, 5% of $0 is $0.00.
I am paying for content, you're supposed to be processing the transaction that lets the content creator get paid.
I'm willing to bet that every single person who's complained about content on a given creator's page is not paying that creator.
That's a zero gain for cutting that creator off from the money I want to send them.
Your choice, as a business, is to take 5% of what I'm paying (actual, real money) or 5% of the $0 the people complaining are paying (which is, as mentioned earlier $0).
The person paying you is the customer, not the person standing outside bitching about the wares for sale.
Listen to the customer.
If the people I support don't get paid, you don't get paid.
If they say they're not getting the money I'm sending via the Patreon service, I will stop payment.
Just to do the math for you, 5% of $0 is $0.00.
I am paying for content, you're supposed to be processing the transaction that lets the content creator get paid.
I'm willing to bet that every single person who's complained about content on a given creator's page is not paying that creator.
That's a zero gain for cutting that creator off from the money I want to send them.
Your choice, as a business, is to take 5% of what I'm paying (actual, real money) or 5% of the $0 the people complaining are paying (which is, as mentioned earlier $0).
The person paying you is the customer, not the person standing outside bitching about the wares for sale.
Listen to the customer.
If the people I support don't get paid, you don't get paid.
25 December 2018
Crunchy Bits
This brushing and flossing regular thing is paying off!
The tartar accumulation has been coming off in largish flakes last couple brushings.
You may now say "ICK!" about how bad my dental hygiene must have been before I found Tooth Religion.
Christmas At Nakatomi Plaza
There's a teeny 30-seat theater attached to a bar and bistro in Safety Harbor.
They're running Die Hard on Christmas.
We have our tickets for the 8:30 show!
As is often said, "It's not Christmas until Hans Gruber falls from Nakatomi Tower!"
They're running Die Hard on Christmas.
We have our tickets for the 8:30 show!
As is often said, "It's not Christmas until Hans Gruber falls from Nakatomi Tower!"
24 December 2018
Decypher
Reader Dan gave me a crate of 7.62x54mmR! THANKS DAN!
I looked at the markings on the crate...
... and I realized that this wooden box is not marked for 7.62x54mmR. That's a 7.62x39mm box!
You can also see where the steel band was removed, meaning that despite the wire seal on one buckle, it's been opened.
So I opened it too!
That is 7.62x54mmR markings! 149gr silver tip light ball packed in 1978. I think that "FARA LAME" means loose rounds rather than on strippers.
Someone also liberated the can-opener! An angle grinder works better anyways and leaves you with a nice decorative plate!
What the box markings should have looked like:
I looked at the markings on the crate...
You can also see where the steel band was removed, meaning that despite the wire seal on one buckle, it's been opened.
So I opened it too!
Someone also liberated the can-opener! An angle grinder works better anyways and leaves you with a nice decorative plate!
What the box markings should have looked like:
At The VA On Christmas Eve
My hip hurts, it's related to the long term effects of my injury.
So I scheduled an appointment to see my primary.
She's not in, so I got an administrator who's doing her original job as a doctor.
I got asked at least three times if I was thinking about killing myself or that the world would be better off without me.
Of course it would! I just won't give it the satisfaction! GRIN
X-rays of the hip scheduled for the 2nd.
So I scheduled an appointment to see my primary.
She's not in, so I got an administrator who's doing her original job as a doctor.
I got asked at least three times if I was thinking about killing myself or that the world would be better off without me.
Of course it would! I just won't give it the satisfaction! GRIN
X-rays of the hip scheduled for the 2nd.
23 December 2018
Referring URL
Every once and a while I look at my stats and see a referring URL that's unfamiliar.
Most times when I visit that site, I find a link to my blog.
Sometimes, I don't.
I am at a loss to explain how a site can be referring to me without, you know, providing a reference.
This is one such referrer.
Maybe one of the near hundred people who came here from there can tell me how you got here from there.
Most times when I visit that site, I find a link to my blog.
Sometimes, I don't.
I am at a loss to explain how a site can be referring to me without, you know, providing a reference.
This is one such referrer.
Maybe one of the near hundred people who came here from there can tell me how you got here from there.
In The End It All Comes Back To The French
I have one national interest item for staying in Syria.
The Kurds.
It's in our national interest to support our allies.
However, it's against our national interest to start a war with... Jeebus there's a long list of nations who don't want the Kurds to exist at all, let alone have their own nation.
A nation that they kind of used to have.
There were no nations in that area when it was a region called Kurdistan.
The Ottomans introduced the nation-state to them.
Then the French and English started drawing lines on the map willy-nilly after World War One.
Kurdistan became part of Armenia, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. None of whom want to lose the territory to form (reform) a nation of people who're none-too-happy about being second class citizens this past century.
I don't think it's in our national interest to help them recreate a land-locked nation surrounded by enemies, except as we share some enemies. But some of their enemies are our allies.
My support of the Kurdish peoples is tempered by the suspicion that they'd turn on us in an instant.
While we might be confused about what our national interests are at times, people from this region rarely are. The moment there was a conflict between our interests and theirs, BANG!
The peoples of the region are bad at loss-leader.
I could be wrong, but we'd have to fight a war against Armenia, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey to secure the geography and that would certainly bring in others against us; like Russia.
On the plus side, if we start killing Turks we will have the wholehearted support of Greece.
The Kurds.
It's in our national interest to support our allies.
However, it's against our national interest to start a war with... Jeebus there's a long list of nations who don't want the Kurds to exist at all, let alone have their own nation.
A nation that they kind of used to have.
There were no nations in that area when it was a region called Kurdistan.
The Ottomans introduced the nation-state to them.
Then the French and English started drawing lines on the map willy-nilly after World War One.
Kurdistan became part of Armenia, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. None of whom want to lose the territory to form (reform) a nation of people who're none-too-happy about being second class citizens this past century.
I don't think it's in our national interest to help them recreate a land-locked nation surrounded by enemies, except as we share some enemies. But some of their enemies are our allies.
My support of the Kurdish peoples is tempered by the suspicion that they'd turn on us in an instant.
While we might be confused about what our national interests are at times, people from this region rarely are. The moment there was a conflict between our interests and theirs, BANG!
The peoples of the region are bad at loss-leader.
I could be wrong, but we'd have to fight a war against Armenia, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey to secure the geography and that would certainly bring in others against us; like Russia.
On the plus side, if we start killing Turks we will have the wholehearted support of Greece.
22 December 2018
It Used To Be A Bigger Deal
I use my old 80gb iPod so seldomly that the battery managed to fully discharge sitting in the center console.
It was once my most favorite car accessory.
Two things have led to this.
XM provides enough variety that I rarely want something I'm not getting.
My phone holds more music.
It's really thrown me for a loop that my phone is so damn powerful. It almost makes up for the lack of flying cars.
It was once my most favorite car accessory.
Two things have led to this.
XM provides enough variety that I rarely want something I'm not getting.
My phone holds more music.
It's really thrown me for a loop that my phone is so damn powerful. It almost makes up for the lack of flying cars.
Someone Has Never Met A Slave
LeBron James' panties are in a bunch about how the NFL is all rich old white men and how they're treating the players like slaves and the teams have a slave mentality.
In particular he is critical of the owners saying words to the effect of, "This is my team. You do what the fuck I tell y’all to do, or we get rid of y’all."
First off Mr James, I don't think you understand slavery at all.
The NFL league minimum for 2018 is $480,000 and will increase to $495,000 next season.
No NFL player was forced to sign their contract. We know this because when they become unhappy with their chosen profession and attempt to get a better deal than they've agreed to they are never released from the contract for signing it under coercion or duress.
Mr James, the owner of a company has every right to demand that their employees do their jobs in the way the owner wants to have them done or fire the employees if they refuse.
It's called having a job!
Most of us put up with it for a fuck load less than $480,000 a year too!
Speaking of lower wages, Mr James; if you could not play basketball, or leverage your fame as a basketball player, what work are you qualified to do? Your bio doesn't mention any education of note, so I'm going to say you're qualified to be a burger flipper without basketball.
Pardon me, but you should stop being critical of the "rich" part of "rich old white man" because your first paycheck let you join the rich man club. Why don't you buy a football team and show them how it's done? You've got the money.
In particular he is critical of the owners saying words to the effect of, "This is my team. You do what the fuck I tell y’all to do, or we get rid of y’all."
First off Mr James, I don't think you understand slavery at all.
The NFL league minimum for 2018 is $480,000 and will increase to $495,000 next season.
No NFL player was forced to sign their contract. We know this because when they become unhappy with their chosen profession and attempt to get a better deal than they've agreed to they are never released from the contract for signing it under coercion or duress.
Mr James, the owner of a company has every right to demand that their employees do their jobs in the way the owner wants to have them done or fire the employees if they refuse.
It's called having a job!
Most of us put up with it for a fuck load less than $480,000 a year too!
Speaking of lower wages, Mr James; if you could not play basketball, or leverage your fame as a basketball player, what work are you qualified to do? Your bio doesn't mention any education of note, so I'm going to say you're qualified to be a burger flipper without basketball.
Pardon me, but you should stop being critical of the "rich" part of "rich old white man" because your first paycheck let you join the rich man club. Why don't you buy a football team and show them how it's done? You've got the money.
21 December 2018
Restored
Bockscar is restored and in place at Wright-Patterson.
Enola Gay is restored and in place at Udvar-Hazy.
I'm glad they've got them both on display.
Enola Gay is restored and in place at Udvar-Hazy.
I'm glad they've got them both on display.
Is And Ought
What is and what ought to be are not always the same.
Machine guns ought not be banned because The Constitution, as amended, says "shall not be infringed."
Yet, machine guns are, effectively, banned.
The plain meaning of The Constitution and The Bill of Rights is clear and supported by copious historical materials.
But...
Machine guns are still banned.
Banned because we cannot get a case to be accepted at a high enough level to get a ruling which strikes down the 1934 Gun Control Act.
It's difficult to get a judge to even allow an attempt at a 2nd Amendment defense, let alone get the case to proceed. Many times a 2nd Amendment challenge to a law is denied standing. No standing, no case. No case, no ruling. Status quo maintained.
That is what is.
Such guns ought not be banned.
If they weren't banned (h/t Mr Heins) then there wouldn't be bumpstocks.
If machine guns weren't banned we might just have more (actual) assault rifles in circulation and, maybe possibly, more crime associated with them than with garden variety semi-auto clones.
There was some rare, but high-profile, crime with guns like Thompsons during the 1920's which got us the (unconstitutional) law in the 1930's. If the National Firearms Act (NFA) had not been passed, we might have seen... Might... It's all speculative. Crime with long guns of any type is nearly at the statistical noise level, despite mass shootings like Las Vegas and Parkland High.
A fact that sticks out about such guns is how long it took Auto-Ordnance to sell their initial stock of Colt-Made guns. There just wasn't a lot of demand for rock-n-roll when the ban took effect.
It's also clear from studying the events leading up to the passage of the NFA that a handgun ban was what they were aiming at, since much of the NFA is geared towards preventing a long gun from being made handgun-like enough to replace a handgun.
Plus the high-profile crime with such guns ended more from the end of prohibition than from the banning of the weapons used.
A little mentioned fact about the high-profile crimes of several of the notorious criminals is their source of weapons wasn't a legitimate sale, but theft from government and military armories.
There's still high-profile crime committed with guns to this day. They're just not commonly machine guns. Just like back when you could mail-order one and the only barrier to ownership was getting the money together, actually.
Remember what I said about demand being low when access was easy?
Nothing creates interest in something like the government announcing they're going to take it all away.
In 1991 I was the weirdo who "Thagified" his Mini-14 to be more military rifle-like. Until 1994 me and my friends, plus a bare handful of others, were the only ones buying such guns in and around Ames, Iowa. We didn't buy near enough stuff to keep our local gun shop open, so something else was selling, no?
Then, suddenly, in 1994 there were lots of ban-compliant versions of several military style rifles on the shelves. The AWB sparked an interest and created a demand which didn't exist prior. This led to an explosion of demand in 2004 when said ban expired. Many of us went from owning A gun like that to many guns like that. Lots of the more Fudd-like gun owners went out and grabbed an AR and discovered it had a lot of utility. Now the AR is the most popular and most widely owned long arm in The United States.
But banned makes demand.
Most people become acutely aware that their semi-auto M4gery is neutered by lack of a happy switch. Some look into getting a registered, transferable M16 and hit the "HOW FUCKING MUCH?" wall.
The price point on the supply curve is far above the demand point. But that doesn't mean zero demand.
Bumpstocks and Hellfire triggers are the means to supply this demand at a lower price point so supply and demand curves meet at the customer. They do this by carefully examining what the law says and creating a mechanical solution which isn't mentioned in the definition of the law.
Which means we have to correctly state how a bump stock works.
A bump stock is a sliding stock with a short travel. To make them work you need to to three things. With your firing hand you need to pull the stock into your shoulder and pull the trigger. With your opposite hand you need to pull forward on the gun.
This slides the stock all the way out.
Recoil forces the rifle back and slides the stock in. This causes the trigger to retreat from the firing finger far enough for it to reset the action and when the off-hand pulls the gun forward again, the trigger is pushed against the firing finger and fires the next shot.
It's still firing semi-automatically! You've just changed how you're pulling the trigger.
It's astonishing to me how few people there are who can describe what's going on with a bumpstock.
All of this brings us, great-circle route and wall of rambling text to their imminent ban.
A regulation promulgated to an unconstitutional law in violation to the separation of powers.
Again, to be honest.
Maybe we'll get a judge who can see that regulations, the way they're done nowadays, is a violation of the separation of powers and strike this regulation down in a manner that allows us to cite it to kill more regulation.
We probably won't, but it'd be nice.
Machine guns ought not be banned because The Constitution, as amended, says "shall not be infringed."
Yet, machine guns are, effectively, banned.
The plain meaning of The Constitution and The Bill of Rights is clear and supported by copious historical materials.
But...
Machine guns are still banned.
Banned because we cannot get a case to be accepted at a high enough level to get a ruling which strikes down the 1934 Gun Control Act.
It's difficult to get a judge to even allow an attempt at a 2nd Amendment defense, let alone get the case to proceed. Many times a 2nd Amendment challenge to a law is denied standing. No standing, no case. No case, no ruling. Status quo maintained.
That is what is.
Such guns ought not be banned.
If they weren't banned (h/t Mr Heins) then there wouldn't be bumpstocks.
If machine guns weren't banned we might just have more (actual) assault rifles in circulation and, maybe possibly, more crime associated with them than with garden variety semi-auto clones.
There was some rare, but high-profile, crime with guns like Thompsons during the 1920's which got us the (unconstitutional) law in the 1930's. If the National Firearms Act (NFA) had not been passed, we might have seen... Might... It's all speculative. Crime with long guns of any type is nearly at the statistical noise level, despite mass shootings like Las Vegas and Parkland High.
A fact that sticks out about such guns is how long it took Auto-Ordnance to sell their initial stock of Colt-Made guns. There just wasn't a lot of demand for rock-n-roll when the ban took effect.
It's also clear from studying the events leading up to the passage of the NFA that a handgun ban was what they were aiming at, since much of the NFA is geared towards preventing a long gun from being made handgun-like enough to replace a handgun.
Plus the high-profile crime with such guns ended more from the end of prohibition than from the banning of the weapons used.
A little mentioned fact about the high-profile crimes of several of the notorious criminals is their source of weapons wasn't a legitimate sale, but theft from government and military armories.
There's still high-profile crime committed with guns to this day. They're just not commonly machine guns. Just like back when you could mail-order one and the only barrier to ownership was getting the money together, actually.
Remember what I said about demand being low when access was easy?
Nothing creates interest in something like the government announcing they're going to take it all away.
In 1991 I was the weirdo who "Thagified" his Mini-14 to be more military rifle-like. Until 1994 me and my friends, plus a bare handful of others, were the only ones buying such guns in and around Ames, Iowa. We didn't buy near enough stuff to keep our local gun shop open, so something else was selling, no?
Then, suddenly, in 1994 there were lots of ban-compliant versions of several military style rifles on the shelves. The AWB sparked an interest and created a demand which didn't exist prior. This led to an explosion of demand in 2004 when said ban expired. Many of us went from owning A gun like that to many guns like that. Lots of the more Fudd-like gun owners went out and grabbed an AR and discovered it had a lot of utility. Now the AR is the most popular and most widely owned long arm in The United States.
But banned makes demand.
Most people become acutely aware that their semi-auto M4gery is neutered by lack of a happy switch. Some look into getting a registered, transferable M16 and hit the "HOW FUCKING MUCH?" wall.
The price point on the supply curve is far above the demand point. But that doesn't mean zero demand.
Bumpstocks and Hellfire triggers are the means to supply this demand at a lower price point so supply and demand curves meet at the customer. They do this by carefully examining what the law says and creating a mechanical solution which isn't mentioned in the definition of the law.
Which means we have to correctly state how a bump stock works.
A bump stock is a sliding stock with a short travel. To make them work you need to to three things. With your firing hand you need to pull the stock into your shoulder and pull the trigger. With your opposite hand you need to pull forward on the gun.
This slides the stock all the way out.
Recoil forces the rifle back and slides the stock in. This causes the trigger to retreat from the firing finger far enough for it to reset the action and when the off-hand pulls the gun forward again, the trigger is pushed against the firing finger and fires the next shot.
It's still firing semi-automatically! You've just changed how you're pulling the trigger.
It's astonishing to me how few people there are who can describe what's going on with a bumpstock.
All of this brings us, great-circle route and wall of rambling text to their imminent ban.
A regulation promulgated to an unconstitutional law in violation to the separation of powers.
Again, to be honest.
Maybe we'll get a judge who can see that regulations, the way they're done nowadays, is a violation of the separation of powers and strike this regulation down in a manner that allows us to cite it to kill more regulation.
We probably won't, but it'd be nice.
DIVE DIVE DIVE
The VA Clinic I go to was flooded out in the round of storms we've had the past couple of days.
My Monday appointment will be at the main hospital instead.
This might actually save a little time since it's where I would have ended up for x-rays.
It's just such an irritating drive to get there from here.
My Monday appointment will be at the main hospital instead.
This might actually save a little time since it's where I would have ended up for x-rays.
It's just such an irritating drive to get there from here.
RBG & C
Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsberg was found to have lung cancer and has already has a lobectomy for it.
Interestingly, they prolly would not have found the cancer if they hadn't been checking her out for the broken ribs.
The doctors claim she's cancer free now that half of one lung is removed.
I claim she doesn't have much time left, at least time with dignity.
She's going to make us watch her die in real time rather than step down, isn't she?
Interestingly, they prolly would not have found the cancer if they hadn't been checking her out for the broken ribs.
The doctors claim she's cancer free now that half of one lung is removed.
I claim she doesn't have much time left, at least time with dignity.
She's going to make us watch her die in real time rather than step down, isn't she?
20 December 2018
A Coordinated Conspiracy
Reading this completely factual and not made up at all article.
There is no mention at any United States Coast Guard press office or web page of what has to be an astonishingly large number of boat losses.
Almost as if the USCG is hiding something...
There is no mention at any United States Coast Guard press office or web page of what has to be an astonishingly large number of boat losses.
Almost as if the USCG is hiding something...
More On Duty
It's a military perspective.
A matter of honor.
You take the oath and you serve.
That service could lead to you being sacrificed for your nation.
They don't state it directly, and they dance around it some, but it's the elephant in the room when you start in Basic.
You learn what your duty is and are expected to perform it.
If you fail to do so, it had better not be a willful refusal. There have been soldiers hanged for shirking their duty.
So we hold in contempt any cop who shirks their duty to defend their community and then hides behind "there's no law that forces me to do it."
Fuck you Pig!
While there was no law forcing you to do it or legal consequences for failing, where is your honor?
Wait. I know this one. You don't have any.
I'm sick of these cases.
I'm composing a proposal for my congress creatures that will put the power of law behind such failures to perform their honorable duty. To expressly create the relationship that doesn't exist by default according to The US Supreme Court.
"By taking this oath you agree..." to be held responsible for your failure to act. I'm OK with the gallows for a coward who hides while children are being gunned down. At the very least the refusal to act on the grounds of mere personal safety be grounds to lose their cushy pension.
Especially since, on the basis of the description of the coward's job at the school, it is reasonable for the community to have expected action from the coward, his supervisor and the rest of the department. Action to protect their children rather than their own cowardly lives.
“A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once. It seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.”
I hope this coward is tormented in his every waking moment.
A matter of honor.
You take the oath and you serve.
That service could lead to you being sacrificed for your nation.
They don't state it directly, and they dance around it some, but it's the elephant in the room when you start in Basic.
You learn what your duty is and are expected to perform it.
If you fail to do so, it had better not be a willful refusal. There have been soldiers hanged for shirking their duty.
So we hold in contempt any cop who shirks their duty to defend their community and then hides behind "there's no law that forces me to do it."
Fuck you Pig!
While there was no law forcing you to do it or legal consequences for failing, where is your honor?
Wait. I know this one. You don't have any.
I'm sick of these cases.
I'm composing a proposal for my congress creatures that will put the power of law behind such failures to perform their honorable duty. To expressly create the relationship that doesn't exist by default according to The US Supreme Court.
"By taking this oath you agree..." to be held responsible for your failure to act. I'm OK with the gallows for a coward who hides while children are being gunned down. At the very least the refusal to act on the grounds of mere personal safety be grounds to lose their cushy pension.
Especially since, on the basis of the description of the coward's job at the school, it is reasonable for the community to have expected action from the coward, his supervisor and the rest of the department. Action to protect their children rather than their own cowardly lives.
“A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once. It seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.”
I hope this coward is tormented in his every waking moment.
Good Shoot
The Pasco Sheriff's Office sends:
Based on the information above, good shoot!
Scumbag beats on someone. She runs to get help. Help is obtained.
Happy ending.
We received a call and responded to the 8000 block of Belcher Ln in Land O'Lakes for a call regarding the shooting of a person, which turned into a death investigation. The investigation shows a female fled her home to contact 911 after being involved in a domestic violence incident with a male who also resided at her home.
The female fled to the home of a neighbor also in the 8000 block of Belcher Ln. A few moments later, the male followed the female and entered the neighbor's home without the homeowner's permission. The homeowner, confronted the male and asked him to leave multiple times at which point the homeowner defended himself by shooting the male. The male was pronounced deceased on the scene.
Based on the information above, good shoot!
Scumbag beats on someone. She runs to get help. Help is obtained.
Happy ending.
Duty
The Supreme Court has ruled (more than once) that the police have no duty to protect us.
These rulings stem from suits being filed by people who'd been victimized because the cops didn't act in a timely manner or at all.
There are two basic arguments from the cops. The reasonable argument is they cannot be everywhere at once because they're a scarce resource. The unreasonable argument, that still works in court, is paying off the victims after losing the suit would end up bankrupting the agency.
These arguments and their court rulings have resulting in the cops having zero responsibility at all.
This has created an unreasonable situation because there are cases where the cops are present at the scene and could have intervened. Yes, they can't be everywhere at once but they were there this time.
There's a guy who almost bled out on a subway after being stabbed by a criminal while two officers cowered behind a locked door watching the attack.
There's the infamous coward of Broward who hid outside while the students in his charge were being murdered.
These cops were at the scenes of the crimes and did nothing.
I am sure I am not the only person to notice that most law enforcement agencies are union.
Unionized workplaces have a long tradition of seeking to be paid without actually doing the work they were hired to do and, in the case of public unions especially, getting lavish pensions and benefits far earlier than in the public sector.
The Coward of Broward is collecting on that retirement package right now, despite a clear dereliction of duty.
It is wrong and a solution must be found, otherwise why are we bothering to pay the cops?
These rulings stem from suits being filed by people who'd been victimized because the cops didn't act in a timely manner or at all.
There are two basic arguments from the cops. The reasonable argument is they cannot be everywhere at once because they're a scarce resource. The unreasonable argument, that still works in court, is paying off the victims after losing the suit would end up bankrupting the agency.
These arguments and their court rulings have resulting in the cops having zero responsibility at all.
This has created an unreasonable situation because there are cases where the cops are present at the scene and could have intervened. Yes, they can't be everywhere at once but they were there this time.
There's a guy who almost bled out on a subway after being stabbed by a criminal while two officers cowered behind a locked door watching the attack.
There's the infamous coward of Broward who hid outside while the students in his charge were being murdered.
These cops were at the scenes of the crimes and did nothing.
I am sure I am not the only person to notice that most law enforcement agencies are union.
Unionized workplaces have a long tradition of seeking to be paid without actually doing the work they were hired to do and, in the case of public unions especially, getting lavish pensions and benefits far earlier than in the public sector.
The Coward of Broward is collecting on that retirement package right now, despite a clear dereliction of duty.
It is wrong and a solution must be found, otherwise why are we bothering to pay the cops?
Pot Pie
There's times I miss a couple of my friends from Iowa.
For a while all of my friends were either computer programmers (distinct from IT!) or chefs.
When three of your bestest buddies are professional cook types at that level, you get spoiled with some of their experiments.
Plus, they were a "little" competitive.
I fondly remember pot-pie week.
Every day was a different kind of pot pie from each of them.
And I wish I lived a lot closer to my friends so they could get to cooking!
I've gone and made myself hungry for a (good) pot pie. Darn it!
For a while all of my friends were either computer programmers (distinct from IT!) or chefs.
When three of your bestest buddies are professional cook types at that level, you get spoiled with some of their experiments.
Plus, they were a "little" competitive.
I fondly remember pot-pie week.
Every day was a different kind of pot pie from each of them.
And I wish I lived a lot closer to my friends so they could get to cooking!
I've gone and made myself hungry for a (good) pot pie. Darn it!
19 December 2018
A Slim Hope
The bump-stock ban outside Florida by executive action via regulation might just get tripped up by making up stuff not mentioned in the actual law.
The law states clearly what is and is not a machine gun.
Guess what!
A bump-stock isn't, by the letter of the law, a machine gun.
This is how to argue it when you file your lawsuit.
If the lawsuit wins and gets the bumpstock ban struck on "that's not what the law says" grounds that could even be a springboard to getting other regulations which add new law rather than being means to enforce existing law.
The law states clearly what is and is not a machine gun.
Guess what!
A bump-stock isn't, by the letter of the law, a machine gun.
This is how to argue it when you file your lawsuit.
If the lawsuit wins and gets the bumpstock ban struck on "that's not what the law says" grounds that could even be a springboard to getting other regulations which add new law rather than being means to enforce existing law.
Exploiting A Loophole
Bumpfire stocks were exploiting a loophole in the NFA and FOPA to get around the registration requirements and prohibition on new non-government manufacture of machine guns.
The NRA has long been A-OK with the ban on new MGs, why is everyone shocked they backed a ban on something that was circumventing that ban?
Where have y'all been?
They. Are. Fine. With. The. NFA.
They don't want it changed to loosen restrictions. Not for machine guns, not for short barreled rifles, not for short barreled shotguns, not for suppressors.
They have made no secret about it and have been more than willing to tell the people who were clamoring for getting things like SBR's taken off the NFA list to get the fuck back in our lanes.
If you're staring at an arm-brace on your AR or AK "pistol" prepare to be next, because this gets around the SBR portion of the NFA like bumpstocks got around MG's.
Likewise, do you have a Mossberg or Remingtonshort barrel shotgun firearm? That's exploiting a loophole too.
And we're on our own. The largest NFA advocacy group is definitely of the "go be poor somewhere else" variety and actively works to maintain exclusivity of ownership.
The NRA is also totally willing to abandon your state and any attempt to advance gun rights on the grounds that you've got it better than some place that's much worse and has no chance of being changed. They will then lie about what their sole representative did while we were watching them do it.
The only way to change them is to join them and vote for the board. My life membership is paid up next month, and I've been a member long enough now to have been voting for those changes.
The NRA has long been A-OK with the ban on new MGs, why is everyone shocked they backed a ban on something that was circumventing that ban?
Where have y'all been?
They. Are. Fine. With. The. NFA.
They don't want it changed to loosen restrictions. Not for machine guns, not for short barreled rifles, not for short barreled shotguns, not for suppressors.
They have made no secret about it and have been more than willing to tell the people who were clamoring for getting things like SBR's taken off the NFA list to get the fuck back in our lanes.
If you're staring at an arm-brace on your AR or AK "pistol" prepare to be next, because this gets around the SBR portion of the NFA like bumpstocks got around MG's.
Likewise, do you have a Mossberg or Remington
And we're on our own. The largest NFA advocacy group is definitely of the "go be poor somewhere else" variety and actively works to maintain exclusivity of ownership.
The NRA is also totally willing to abandon your state and any attempt to advance gun rights on the grounds that you've got it better than some place that's much worse and has no chance of being changed. They will then lie about what their sole representative did while we were watching them do it.
The only way to change them is to join them and vote for the board. My life membership is paid up next month, and I've been a member long enough now to have been voting for those changes.
17 December 2018
Figured It Out
I finally figured out what is wrong underlying Black Panther!
It's the American perspective that African is a thing.
It stems from pretty much the only kind of African we have here in The States is African-American; and they were given a unifying identity from their shared descent from slaves.
Such a shared identity doesn't exist on the African continent. In most places it doesn't advance past tribe.
Rwanda proved that. The Hutus and Tutsis identities mattered far more than being Rwandan or African.
Ask Willard if the Shona and Ndebele identified themselves as Rhodesians or Zimbabweans.
For Christ's sake, it's not just the native peoples who have this problem, South African whites divide themselves into Anglos and Afrikaner (which ironically enough is Dutch for African).
For Wakanda to unify Africa, they'd have to conquer it. They'd have to colonize it and replace the native's values with their own. Just like the Europeans they spare some time to condemn in the film.
It's the American perspective that African is a thing.
It stems from pretty much the only kind of African we have here in The States is African-American; and they were given a unifying identity from their shared descent from slaves.
Such a shared identity doesn't exist on the African continent. In most places it doesn't advance past tribe.
Rwanda proved that. The Hutus and Tutsis identities mattered far more than being Rwandan or African.
Ask Willard if the Shona and Ndebele identified themselves as Rhodesians or Zimbabweans.
For Christ's sake, it's not just the native peoples who have this problem, South African whites divide themselves into Anglos and Afrikaner (which ironically enough is Dutch for African).
For Wakanda to unify Africa, they'd have to conquer it. They'd have to colonize it and replace the native's values with their own. Just like the Europeans they spare some time to condemn in the film.
I Seen It With My Own Eyes Too
The next internet commie who tells you that food was plentiful in the 1980's in Communist East Germany, feel free to beat with a sack of cheap potatoes.
h/t Erin and Sarah Hoyt
If you're a car guy and wondered at how bad Communism is.
Trebant.
Communism made GERMANS make a car with body panels made from cotton and using a fucking 2-stroke motor AFTER WW2.
Never mind how mind boggling going through Checkpoint Charlie was.
On one side it was just like the rest of West Germany. On the other it was like two months after fucking VE day. I half expected to find spent brass laying in the alleys because they sure as shit hadn't fixed any of the damned bullet holes.
h/t Erin and Sarah Hoyt
If you're a car guy and wondered at how bad Communism is.
Trebant.
Communism made GERMANS make a car with body panels made from cotton and using a fucking 2-stroke motor AFTER WW2.
Never mind how mind boggling going through Checkpoint Charlie was.
On one side it was just like the rest of West Germany. On the other it was like two months after fucking VE day. I half expected to find spent brass laying in the alleys because they sure as shit hadn't fixed any of the damned bullet holes.
It Makes You Wonder
Why does the St Petersburg Regional Benefit Office of the VA have three cops and a metal detector/X-ray conveyor before you can enter the building?
Of all places that's an enforced Federal Gun Free Zone...
Could it be from all the pissing veterans off they do in there?
Of all places that's an enforced Federal Gun Free Zone...
Could it be from all the pissing veterans off they do in there?
Step One Of Many
Went to see the DAV today.
Filed my intent to file a request to increase my service connected disability and gave DAV power of attorney to represent me.
Got a huge pile of paperwork for my doctor to fill out about it.
I go in to talk to them on Christmas Eve no less.
The ball is rolling.
Filed my intent to file a request to increase my service connected disability and gave DAV power of attorney to represent me.
Got a huge pile of paperwork for my doctor to fill out about it.
I go in to talk to them on Christmas Eve no less.
The ball is rolling.
16 December 2018
Dated
The date in my GURPS: Interstellar Wars is June 30, 2170.
That works out to the Vilani date of 1295.007.
December 16, 2018 is 1179.506 Vilani!
WOO HOO!
Yes. This is important.
There will be a test.
That works out to the Vilani date of 1295.007.
December 16, 2018 is 1179.506 Vilani!
WOO HOO!
Yes. This is important.
There will be a test.
"If you’re going to take away the Affordable Care Act, how will you
protect the millions of people currently using it for health insurance
for their family?”
--Dick Durbin, D-IL
Gee, Dick, you didn't care about the millions of people who were using normal insurance for their families when you shoved the ACA down our throats, did you?
--Dick Durbin, D-IL
Gee, Dick, you didn't care about the millions of people who were using normal insurance for their families when you shoved the ACA down our throats, did you?
15 December 2018
Let There Be Light
A trick to checkering is you must, absolutely, have complete control of the light in the work area.
Shadows show where you need to make your cuts better than anything, and that requires you be able to place the work at an angle where you can get the cutter square and the light where you can see the shadows.
I think a swing-arm lamp is soon to join the repertoire at the work bench.
Shadows show where you need to make your cuts better than anything, and that requires you be able to place the work at an angle where you can get the cutter square and the light where you can see the shadows.
I think a swing-arm lamp is soon to join the repertoire at the work bench.
The Price Of Species Survival
Did you know that wheat is the ultimate in species survival stories?
All you need to do to join this ultimate survivor club is become so tasty to another species that has the domestication killer-app that they ensure your kind lives to see tomorrow.
But note that "your kind".
Look out there and see what plants and animals are in no danger of extinction.
Now what percentage is a domesticated species that's grown entirely to be eaten by man?
Hell, even some non-domesticated species are flourishing because man likes to eat them.
But "your kind" is for a species, not an individual member.
Wheat, barely, corn, rice, cows, pigs, chickens... they all made a deal with Man.
"Eat us, but don't let us die out completely."
I'm doing my part. Holding up my end of the bargain.
Are you?
All you need to do to join this ultimate survivor club is become so tasty to another species that has the domestication killer-app that they ensure your kind lives to see tomorrow.
But note that "your kind".
Look out there and see what plants and animals are in no danger of extinction.
Now what percentage is a domesticated species that's grown entirely to be eaten by man?
Hell, even some non-domesticated species are flourishing because man likes to eat them.
But "your kind" is for a species, not an individual member.
Wheat, barely, corn, rice, cows, pigs, chickens... they all made a deal with Man.
"Eat us, but don't let us die out completely."
I'm doing my part. Holding up my end of the bargain.
Are you?
Life Happening
I've noticed that I'm not posting much the past couple of days.
It's just life getting in the way of the muse.
Not even tragic life.
Just time consuming and kind of nice.
It's just life getting in the way of the muse.
Not even tragic life.
Just time consuming and kind of nice.
14 December 2018
On The Other Hand
I am glad of the FL Supreme Court decision that says that cops are protected by the stand your ground laws.
The last thing I want is for a cop to decide to not do what they were hired to do on the grounds they were afraid of being prosecuted for defending themselves.
Not, it appears, that they CAN be prosecuted for failing in the duty the public THINKS they hired the cops for. Cough Cough Scot Peterson Cough.
The last thing I want is for a cop to decide to not do what they were hired to do on the grounds they were afraid of being prosecuted for defending themselves.
Not, it appears, that they CAN be prosecuted for failing in the duty the public THINKS they hired the cops for. Cough Cough Scot Peterson Cough.
Call Me Cynical
The Florida Supreme Court has unanimously decided that cops are protected by "stand your ground".
Why is it my spidy-sense is tingling that before too long we're going to be hearing that ONLY the police are so protected?
I've been hearing about how this decision essentially forces the cops and their professional organizations to join with us in applying the law as it is written.
But cop orgs don't work like that. They want to be special. Better than the people whom they purportedly serve.
Why is it my spidy-sense is tingling that before too long we're going to be hearing that ONLY the police are so protected?
I've been hearing about how this decision essentially forces the cops and their professional organizations to join with us in applying the law as it is written.
But cop orgs don't work like that. They want to be special. Better than the people whom they purportedly serve.
13 December 2018
Less Weight More Smooth
Applied the Apex Tactical trigger and spring kit to The Lovely Harvey's S&W Sigma SW357V.
Dropped the trigger pull from 8 lb. 4 oz. to 6 lb. 0 oz.!
Unlike adding this trigger to FuzzyGeff's pistol, I had to do the fitting they mentioned in the install vid.
What a bother!
File off some of the back. Install. See if it trips. No? Take it all apart. GOTO: 10.
Dropped the trigger pull from 8 lb. 4 oz. to 6 lb. 0 oz.!
Unlike adding this trigger to FuzzyGeff's pistol, I had to do the fitting they mentioned in the install vid.
What a bother!
File off some of the back. Install. See if it trips. No? Take it all apart. GOTO: 10.
12 December 2018
So A Repeal Of 7026 And An Apology Is Coming?
Cops and Schools dropped the ball.
A large group of people don't seem to be mentioned as contributing to the shooting.
That'd be gun owners aged 18-20.
Also not mentioned are the owners of bump-stocks.
I think gun owners can be magnanimous enough to not demand an apology if we get a repeal.
A large group of people don't seem to be mentioned as contributing to the shooting.
That'd be gun owners aged 18-20.
Also not mentioned are the owners of bump-stocks.
I think gun owners can be magnanimous enough to not demand an apology if we get a repeal.
Two Hundred Forty Two Years
Happy birthday to the United States Cavalry!
Without the cav, we don't get the tank.
No tanks, no Armor Branch.
Without the cav, we don't get the tank.
No tanks, no Armor Branch.
11 December 2018
Tangible Progress
The bottom pic shows a salvage operation. Marv let me take his .22 to checker and, filled with overconfidence, I dove right in!
I should have started on scrap wood. I learned to practice on scrap after I'd messed up this side a couple of times and sanded my mistakes away. Because of this, the tool wants to jump into grooves which are no longer visible but I'd put in making the mistake.
I also had to expand the last attempt into something that at least half matched the more successful left side.
10 December 2018
First Success On Live Target
20 lpi, 3:1 diamond cut checkering on a real gunstock that Marv intends to keep!
Still needs some clean-up and border.
All The Sixty Degree Cuts
Still have to cut in the 90° pass and then do a border.
While burning the wood I was learning on was both spiritually satisfying and cathartic, I wish I had some to take pictures of now.
The most important lesson learned is how to fix a slipped line. What comes with that is knowing that sharpening the diamonds erases evidence of the slip!
Another confidence booster is looking at a couple of middle-high end guns. The people doing the checkering on those are human and I can see both their skill and spot some mistakes they covered with their skill.
I'm learning and it feels GOOD!
And once again, if you find yourself saying, "I want to checker stocks!" get the Gunline brand not Master Carver. The quality difference is evident almost immediately.
Should I Let The Power Go To My Head
By sheer virtue of merely being a straight, white, male, gun-owner I do so much evil without even lifting a finger.
LGBT folks cannot dress as they like or associate freely with one another. They go entirely without cake.
Minorities starve in the streets, devoid of gainful employment outside of manual farm labor.
Women can scarcely find time to tend to my every need with how I chain them to their stoves. Or should I say MY stove since they're unable to own property or vote.
But most importantly, without firing a single shot, I personally murder thousands and thousands of people every month whom I've never even seen, let alone met.
I'm thinking that since I'm possessed of such vast power and capabilities, people should be a lot more careful about pissing me off.
OR...
I'm just a single individual who's never actually oppressed anyone in my life.
It makes me wonder if the oppressed feel they should be and are angry that I don't accommodate them.
LGBT folks cannot dress as they like or associate freely with one another. They go entirely without cake.
Minorities starve in the streets, devoid of gainful employment outside of manual farm labor.
Women can scarcely find time to tend to my every need with how I chain them to their stoves. Or should I say MY stove since they're unable to own property or vote.
But most importantly, without firing a single shot, I personally murder thousands and thousands of people every month whom I've never even seen, let alone met.
I'm thinking that since I'm possessed of such vast power and capabilities, people should be a lot more careful about pissing me off.
OR...
I'm just a single individual who's never actually oppressed anyone in my life.
It makes me wonder if the oppressed feel they should be and are angry that I don't accommodate them.
Above Average
 |
| Image stolen from GunFreeZone |
I've got 8 revolvers. I'm making the average with a niche interest?
Powder Load
.32 H&R used an 88 gr lead bullet backed by 12 gr of Fg black-powder.
That's from a single source about the .32 Merwin Hulbert revolver.
That's from a single source about the .32 Merwin Hulbert revolver.
09 December 2018
Back At It
I made a lot of firewood getting to the point of mutilating Marv's stock again.
If I didn't know better, I'd say that was checkering.
The Gunline tools are MUCH better than Master Carver. Their superiority is hard to express in words but it boils down to the head being firmly held and the retaining pin not falling out on the Gunline tools.
Gunline also doesn't recommend an intermediate angle. You go straight from the 60˚ spacer to 90˚ finisher.
If I didn't know better, I'd say that was checkering.
The Gunline tools are MUCH better than Master Carver. Their superiority is hard to express in words but it boils down to the head being firmly held and the retaining pin not falling out on the Gunline tools.
Gunline also doesn't recommend an intermediate angle. You go straight from the 60˚ spacer to 90˚ finisher.
.32 Revolver Rounds
.32 S&W
.32 S&W Long
.32 H&R or .32 Merwin & Hulbert Long
.32 H&R Magnum
Digging up the dimensions for .32 H&R was a pain since the sites that used to give the dimensions are all dead. One did come up on The Wayback Machine.
Day At The Range
The big news:
JT finally popped the cherry on his AR!
He even managed to get it zeroed.
There's prolly room for refinement there, but 'twill suffice.
Took The Lovely Harvey's Sigma SW357V out for a function check. She'd had problems with it stopping up prior to getting into the M&P groove. It'd been cleaned since the last time she took it out so I wanted to see if that helped.
Have I ever mentioned that the stock Sigma trigger is kinda horrible?
Six ten-round strings. It doesn't like Winchester white-box 125gr FMJ. The nose of the round will catch on the bottom of the feed ramp and stop up the works. Sling-shotting the slide gets it to feed, but that's sub-optimal.
It's fine with Federal's American Eagle, so I think it just doesn't like the Winchester.
I took my Glock 17 2nd Gen to check to see if it was me or the M&P.
Same ammo, same distance, moments later, with my M&P.
Grumble. So I tried a little of this, a little of that...
Finally started clicking on the bottom right. I have never had so much trouble getting better with a gun in my entire life than this M&P.
JT finally popped the cherry on his AR!
He even managed to get it zeroed.
Took The Lovely Harvey's Sigma SW357V out for a function check. She'd had problems with it stopping up prior to getting into the M&P groove. It'd been cleaned since the last time she took it out so I wanted to see if that helped.
Six ten-round strings. It doesn't like Winchester white-box 125gr FMJ. The nose of the round will catch on the bottom of the feed ramp and stop up the works. Sling-shotting the slide gets it to feed, but that's sub-optimal.
It's fine with Federal's American Eagle, so I think it just doesn't like the Winchester.
I took my Glock 17 2nd Gen to check to see if it was me or the M&P.
Same ammo, same distance, moments later, with my M&P.
Grumble. So I tried a little of this, a little of that...
Finally started clicking on the bottom right. I have never had so much trouble getting better with a gun in my entire life than this M&P.
07 December 2018
Not Forgotten
Something that gets overlooked in talking about Pearl Harbor:
The men who survived still went on to fight a war. Many of them immediately.
Seeing the mighty battleships laid low like they were and then going out and fighting the war anyway.
That's bravery.
Especially since only two of those battleships sunk didn't rejoin the war after repairs. They'd gotten a first-hand lesson in how vulnerable their ships could be, and still they served.
This tanker's hat is off to those sailors.
The men who survived still went on to fight a war. Many of them immediately.
Seeing the mighty battleships laid low like they were and then going out and fighting the war anyway.
That's bravery.
Especially since only two of those battleships sunk didn't rejoin the war after repairs. They'd gotten a first-hand lesson in how vulnerable their ships could be, and still they served.
This tanker's hat is off to those sailors.
Self Medication
Did you know that getting a tattoo releases endorphins?
Did you know that when you're cruising on an endorphin high your crippled legs don't hurt?
Plus, you're allowed to drive home afterwards.
You can even show your tats to the cops!
Did you know that when you're cruising on an endorphin high your crippled legs don't hurt?
Plus, you're allowed to drive home afterwards.
You can even show your tats to the cops!
Going For It
I have made an appointment with Disabled American Veterans to start the process of getting my disability rating upped to match the level of intrusion it makes in my daily life.
I'm nervous, scared even.
The VA always make it seem like any appeal is tantamount to saying, "please take me off the disabled list!"
Wish me luck.
I'm nervous, scared even.
The VA always make it seem like any appeal is tantamount to saying, "please take me off the disabled list!"
Wish me luck.
06 December 2018
Squeeze It Harley...
In my on-going attempt to shoot the M&P-9 better...
Stumbled across this article. Written by a known gun-writer...
It did cause me to ask myself, "was I forgetting any fundamentals?"
I think I was.
His line, "If it moves even a tiny bit, you are jerking the trigger."
I've been fighting a flick of the muzzle to the right as the sear breaks with this thing.
So I zone out and "roll on" the trigger pressure...
Click. No movement.
I think what I've been doing with this gun is pulling it up against the break then jerking it through.
More practice, obviously, is needed.
Stumbled across this article. Written by a known gun-writer...
It did cause me to ask myself, "was I forgetting any fundamentals?"
I think I was.
His line, "If it moves even a tiny bit, you are jerking the trigger."
I've been fighting a flick of the muzzle to the right as the sear breaks with this thing.
So I zone out and "roll on" the trigger pressure...
Click. No movement.
I think what I've been doing with this gun is pulling it up against the break then jerking it through.
More practice, obviously, is needed.
You Can Tell When Someone Is Universally Reviled
When you joke about killing and eating someone and your friends don't bat an eye about the murder and cannibalism...
But do critique how you prepared the meat and cooked it.
It kinda makes you worry about the safety of The Google Hipster.
Nobody's going to call the cops for them.
Disclaimer: No people, animals or hipsters were harmed in the production of this blog post.
But do critique how you prepared the meat and cooked it.
It kinda makes you worry about the safety of The Google Hipster.
Nobody's going to call the cops for them.
Disclaimer: No people, animals or hipsters were harmed in the production of this blog post.
05 December 2018
Unexpected
Wow!
Taking care of my teeth brought an unexpected bonus (that I should have expected).
My senses of smell and taste have returned.
Who knew, besides everyone?
Taking care of my teeth brought an unexpected bonus (that I should have expected).
My senses of smell and taste have returned.
Who knew, besides everyone?
I'll Drink To That!
Eighty-five years ago, this very minute, the 21st Amendment nullified the 18th Amendment and ended the national experiment in prohibiting people from drinking by cutting off the supply.
Odd that before FDR it was understood that if you wanted to ban something not mentioned in The Constitution you needed an amendment to grant the power sought.
Almost as if the 9th and 10th amendments meant what they said...
Remember this when you say things like, "driving is a privilege." By that rationale drinking is a like privilege... yet an amendment was needed to ban it.
Odd that before FDR it was understood that if you wanted to ban something not mentioned in The Constitution you needed an amendment to grant the power sought.
Almost as if the 9th and 10th amendments meant what they said...
Remember this when you say things like, "driving is a privilege." By that rationale drinking is a like privilege... yet an amendment was needed to ban it.
Durable Good
This wee little thing was made in 1891.
It still locks up tight as a drum.
The only thing "wrong" with it is it was made before they began making them for smokeless cartridges.
In fact, in the process of looking up when .32 S&W Long changed from black-powder to smokeless, I discovered that this gun cannot be chambered for .32 S&W Long.
.32 S&W Long wasn't developed until 1896.
This would have to be chambered for .32 H&R (aka .32 Merwin & Hulbert Long). Try finding information on that round! .32 H&R is nearly identical in dimensions to .32 S&W Long, it's just 0.045" shorter and the base diameter is 0.337" instead of 0.335". You could make H&R rounds from S&W Long brass! No idea what the powder loads are.
I'd ask the expert, but I think Mr Goforth up and died on us. His book is a bit spendy.
I'm certain my Grampa loaded it with S&W Long, that was probably a bad idea but he got away with it.
I now own two guns I can't get ammo for!
'Tis The Season
Giving to the homeless isn't some Nietzschean thunderdome eugenics experiment.
Back when I was going to be a psychologist, we were required to volunteer at the homeless shelters and soup kitchens.
Lots of mental illness in the homeless population.
A recurring problem was the people who didn’t technically NEED the help because they were homeless by choice and this was their means of making a living. No luxuries, but completely off the grid.
A subset of these “fine” folks hovered outside the edge of the charities waiting for a generous soul to wander in with handouts. They were predators disguised among the needy.
It was possible to ID who’s who once you’d been there a few days, but it’d be hard on a “just passing through” basis.
You’ve got to balance your generosity with caution knowing that while 6 in 10 who’ll accept your charity are grateful for it, there’s 1 who’s waiting to take everything you have while your guard is down.
Even worse is one of those 6, whom you’ve dealt with peacefully many times, can turn on a dime and become the one who’s trying to kill you for trying to help. Remember what I said about there being a lot of mental illness in the homeless population?
Just because there are people you cannot give to and people you shouldn't give to doesn't mean you shouldn't give if you want to.
To borrow a turn of phrase from a friend, "Charity is a mitzvah!" and there's nothing inherently wrong with giving to the homeless.
Unworkable Justice Idea
If found not-guilty, the accused must be restored to where they were before the accusation by the accuser.
Because the process has become the punishment now, proving your innocence can leave you ruined.
I'd think a good many accusations and charges would never be filed if they had to make the accused whole again after the proceedings were complete.
Because the process has become the punishment now, proving your innocence can leave you ruined.
I'd think a good many accusations and charges would never be filed if they had to make the accused whole again after the proceedings were complete.
Color Me Shocked
Got to the VA Clinic at 0930, and was on my way home with fresh autism serum in my arm by 0945.
I even got new orthotics ordered!
I got to report that the exercises for my plantar fasciitis is working and I'm recovering some mobility in my right foot. These exercises are hampered by the lingering damage of my nearly 30 year old injury.
Don't jump of tanks into ditches kids. It looks like fun, but it's not.
I even got new orthotics ordered!
I got to report that the exercises for my plantar fasciitis is working and I'm recovering some mobility in my right foot. These exercises are hampered by the lingering damage of my nearly 30 year old injury.
Don't jump of tanks into ditches kids. It looks like fun, but it's not.
Wheelgun Wednesday
I've developed something of a weakness for revolvers.
We've got...
Arizmendi y Goenaga Velo-Dog in .25 ACP
Iver Johnson Safety Hammer Automatic in .32 S&W
Harrington & Richardson Automatic Top-Break 2nd Model 1st Variation in
EMF S.A. / Armi San Marco New Dakota Model in .45 Colt
S&W M&P ElectrolySmith in .38 Special
S&W Model 15-3 in .38 Special
S&W Model 640-3 in .357 Magnum
Colt Anaconda 6" in .45 Colt
04 December 2018
This Is Brilliant
Because Cowboy Action Shooting is on the wane as the people who romanticize the Old West are getting too old to lift the guns...
What about people who romanticize old cop shows from the '70's?
One Adam Twelve Action Shooting!
It's an idea whose time has come!
What about people who romanticize old cop shows from the '70's?
One Adam Twelve Action Shooting!
It's an idea whose time has come!
Quote Of The Day
"Cowboy action shooting is where the men talk about clothes and the women talk about guns."
Seen on a forum.
Seen on a forum.
In A Glass Case
I'm looking at the Remington TAC-14 / Mossberg Shockwave...
I'm doing that kinda-want-but-then-I'd-own-it thing.
Then it hits me!
A glass gun display case with one of those, a Taurus Judge and...
What else fits this category?
The Mossberg .30-30 lever gun covered with picatinny?
This list has to be a mile long!
I'm doing that kinda-want-but-then-I'd-own-it thing.
Then it hits me!
A glass gun display case with one of those, a Taurus Judge and...
What else fits this category?
The Mossberg .30-30 lever gun covered with picatinny?
This list has to be a mile long!
Teeth
I admit it.
Itake took horrible care of my teeth.
They weren't bothering me, so I wasn't bothering with them.
Until one tooth started bleeding constantly.
"Well, Dumbass, you've only yourself to blame for this!" I thought to myself.
Happily there's a free dental clinic for veterans near here.
Turns out, despite the neglect, my mouth wasn't unsalvageable.
They prescribed brushing, flossing and a fluoride rinse. 2-3 times a day for the brushing and flossing, once a day for the rinse.
On day one the flossing had every tooth leaking blood and the brushing opened the floodgates. I was spitting toothpaste flecked blood.
But by day three, no blood at all.
Today I noticed that my gums appear to be advancing a little bit and the mass of tartar behind my lower incisors seems to be wearing off with the brush attention.
The dentist recommended a real cleaning, but that will have to wait for other, more pressing, expenses. Like paying for an M1911A1!
Priorities!
Besides, the dentist didn't seem too worried about letting the brushing act on the tartar for a few months. "It might weaken and fall off on its own if you're using a tartar control toothpaste." Which I am!
PS:
That "brushing after meals" thing? The dentist said to wait at least half an hour after eating to brush because your saliva is more acidic just after eating and that could be worse for your teeth than not brushing! I did not know that.
I
They weren't bothering me, so I wasn't bothering with them.
Until one tooth started bleeding constantly.
"Well, Dumbass, you've only yourself to blame for this!" I thought to myself.
Happily there's a free dental clinic for veterans near here.
Turns out, despite the neglect, my mouth wasn't unsalvageable.
They prescribed brushing, flossing and a fluoride rinse. 2-3 times a day for the brushing and flossing, once a day for the rinse.
On day one the flossing had every tooth leaking blood and the brushing opened the floodgates. I was spitting toothpaste flecked blood.
But by day three, no blood at all.
Today I noticed that my gums appear to be advancing a little bit and the mass of tartar behind my lower incisors seems to be wearing off with the brush attention.
The dentist recommended a real cleaning, but that will have to wait for other, more pressing, expenses. Like paying for an M1911A1!
Priorities!
Besides, the dentist didn't seem too worried about letting the brushing act on the tartar for a few months. "It might weaken and fall off on its own if you're using a tartar control toothpaste." Which I am!
PS:
That "brushing after meals" thing? The dentist said to wait at least half an hour after eating to brush because your saliva is more acidic just after eating and that could be worse for your teeth than not brushing! I did not know that.
I Think They're Fucking With Me
I called the VA about getting new orthotics and inquired about getting a flu shot.
They said just walk-in tomorrow 8-12.
Tomorrow when the government is shit down to mourn Bush 41?
I think they're messing with me.
But I'll still swing by.
They said just walk-in tomorrow 8-12.
Tomorrow when the government is shit down to mourn Bush 41?
I think they're messing with me.
But I'll still swing by.
No Mr Cook
Tim, it wasn't an excess of free speech that lead to the holocaust.
I suggest you use some of your vast wealth to buy any of several history books and read up on the path the National Socialists took to power.
Something you're going to find in there is silencing the voices of their opposition.
Like you are suggesting.
So, Oberst Gruppenführer Cook... I did get your rank correct, didn't I?
I suggest you use some of your vast wealth to buy any of several history books and read up on the path the National Socialists took to power.
Something you're going to find in there is silencing the voices of their opposition.
Like you are suggesting.
So, Oberst Gruppenführer Cook... I did get your rank correct, didn't I?
Now I Know What To Stock As Trade-Goods
When the apocalypse happens, oh and it will, I know what I am stocking up on.
Can openers.
Well, maybe not...
Laying in pallets of canned goods and only having Swiss-Army-Knives to open them will stymie most people.
I say let the millennials starve, clutching a full can of food.
Heck, I know at least two ways of getting a can open that doesn't need much more than the can itself.
There's an abundance of concrete out there... Just sayin'. The preppers all know what I'm talking about, don't you?
Can openers.
Well, maybe not...
Laying in pallets of canned goods and only having Swiss-Army-Knives to open them will stymie most people.
I say let the millennials starve, clutching a full can of food.
Heck, I know at least two ways of getting a can open that doesn't need much more than the can itself.
There's an abundance of concrete out there... Just sayin'. The preppers all know what I'm talking about, don't you?
Beginning And End
Well not really the beginning or end of the K-frame size.
The ElectrolySmith is a 1945 made pre-Model 10 gun.
The Model 15-3 dates from 1970.
It's always interesting to me that, despite their differences, they're more alike than not.
Update: I notice that the stocks on the M&P should really be on the Model 15 and the stocks on the 15 don't really belong on either gun, but are a better fit where they are.
03 December 2018
Unicorn Medicine
Elasmotherium Sibiricum unicorn.
It's a 4-5 ton critter, so ST 41.
The 3e Bestiary says it has DR 4.
It's smaller than an elephant with the same DR, so an elephant rifle should suffice, right?
An elephant only has HT 12, the Elasmotherium has a 17. It's pretty much not going to blow the health roll.
To drop it dead in its tracks with its HT 17 you pretty much have to do auto-death.
That's 246 points of damage.
A tall order.
1/3 that if you hit the vitals.
82 points has to penetrate, so 86 raw.
That's a max damage roll for 14d+2 pi.
It's an average roll for 6d+1x4 pi.
1/4 if you go for the brain. 2 extra DR there.
62 need to penetrate the DR 6 so 68 raw.
Max roll for 11d+2 pi. Average roll for 6d+1x3 pi.
Those are not African hunting rifle stats. A Steyr-Solothurn S18-1000 firing 20x138mmB APHE does 6dx3 pi++, and you need to hit it in the brain.
However, two shots of .600 Nitro to the noggin will do it, on average. That's going to take some points in Fearlessness!
It's a 4-5 ton critter, so ST 41.
The 3e Bestiary says it has DR 4.
It's smaller than an elephant with the same DR, so an elephant rifle should suffice, right?
An elephant only has HT 12, the Elasmotherium has a 17. It's pretty much not going to blow the health roll.
To drop it dead in its tracks with its HT 17 you pretty much have to do auto-death.
That's 246 points of damage.
A tall order.
1/3 that if you hit the vitals.
82 points has to penetrate, so 86 raw.
That's a max damage roll for 14d+2 pi.
It's an average roll for 6d+1x4 pi.
1/4 if you go for the brain. 2 extra DR there.
62 need to penetrate the DR 6 so 68 raw.
Max roll for 11d+2 pi. Average roll for 6d+1x3 pi.
Those are not African hunting rifle stats. A Steyr-Solothurn S18-1000 firing 20x138mmB APHE does 6dx3 pi++, and you need to hit it in the brain.
However, two shots of .600 Nitro to the noggin will do it, on average. That's going to take some points in Fearlessness!
I Used To Know How To Do This Math
The lowest CMP M1911A1 lottery number reported on two different forums is 1097.
The highest is mine at 2765.
1097 was issued on November 2nd.
In 18 business days they've drawn 1,668 numbers or an average of 92.667 per day.
The lowest reported number for "send in the money" is also 1097 with the highest being 1511.
In the 15 business days separating these 414 numbers they've averaged 27.6 per day.
If they don't speed up or slow down... there are (about) 45 business days between my number and having to send in the money.
That's February 15, 2019.
Plenty of time!
Eyes, legs, arms and fingers crossed that they keep up this sedate pace to allow me to accumulate the funds!
The highest is mine at 2765.
1097 was issued on November 2nd.
In 18 business days they've drawn 1,668 numbers or an average of 92.667 per day.
The lowest reported number for "send in the money" is also 1097 with the highest being 1511.
In the 15 business days separating these 414 numbers they've averaged 27.6 per day.
If they don't speed up or slow down... there are (about) 45 business days between my number and having to send in the money.
That's February 15, 2019.
Plenty of time!
Eyes, legs, arms and fingers crossed that they keep up this sedate pace to allow me to accumulate the funds!
02 December 2018
Your Native Language Is Free
GURPS does not require you to spend points to get your native language.
For a character from a mono-linguistic nation like America, this means a single language...
But what of cultures where two or more languages are the norm.
I know several Ex-Canadians whom speak both French and English. I also know several whom know just one fluently, and the other is a dim memory from grade school.
It comes down to the actual background of the character.
I generously allow a second native language for free if the player has managed a sufficiently good background.
It's actually a pretty low bar.
There's lots of Cuban-Americans around here who can speak English and Spanish with equal fluency.
Same for more than one Mexican-American I served with in the Army.
This would also apply to someone born on Earth in the early 2100's. You're going to speak the UN mandated English and the language of your home nation. This would also apply to Terrani who will speak English and Vilani because they are always changing between those languages and cultures.
I also forget to note that Vilani is a tonal language with high and low forms. High and low spoken forms, one written form.
For a character from a mono-linguistic nation like America, this means a single language...
But what of cultures where two or more languages are the norm.
I know several Ex-Canadians whom speak both French and English. I also know several whom know just one fluently, and the other is a dim memory from grade school.
It comes down to the actual background of the character.
I generously allow a second native language for free if the player has managed a sufficiently good background.
It's actually a pretty low bar.
There's lots of Cuban-Americans around here who can speak English and Spanish with equal fluency.
Same for more than one Mexican-American I served with in the Army.
This would also apply to someone born on Earth in the early 2100's. You're going to speak the UN mandated English and the language of your home nation. This would also apply to Terrani who will speak English and Vilani because they are always changing between those languages and cultures.
I also forget to note that Vilani is a tonal language with high and low forms. High and low spoken forms, one written form.
A Bit Of A Clarification
While the Model 70 was designed and intended for iron sights in 1936, that was 82 years and (at least) two generations ago.
The post-64 version of the gun was still equipped with irons, but the stock cut is obviously intended for a scope.
The post-92 or Classic is where the irons start fading from the catalog.
At present, the only non-magnum, non-large bore Model 70 you can get from the factory with irons is the .30-06 Alaskan, and you will be paying a premium over the base model of $400 for it too.
Winchester doesn't even admit to having iron sights on their "past-products" Model 70 page. Not even the special commemorative Centennial and Jack O'Connor versions.
The post-64 version of the gun was still equipped with irons, but the stock cut is obviously intended for a scope.
The post-92 or Classic is where the irons start fading from the catalog.
At present, the only non-magnum, non-large bore Model 70 you can get from the factory with irons is the .30-06 Alaskan, and you will be paying a premium over the base model of $400 for it too.
Winchester doesn't even admit to having iron sights on their "past-products" Model 70 page. Not even the special commemorative Centennial and Jack O'Connor versions.
Not Actually A Week
A jump in Traveller takes a week.
That's canon, and immutable.
But it doesn't...
A jump is 168 hours ± 10% and it's random.
So it's really 151.2 hours (6 days, 7 hours, 12 minutes) to 184.8 hours (7 days, 16 hours, 48 minutes).
That's a range of 33.6 hours (1 day, 9 hours, 36 minutes) where the piloting, navigation and engineering spaces must be manned.
It also creates an interesting bit of color in the universe when you start counting the hours.
A Type A or B spaceport will be 24/7 operations, but C and D ports will likely have hours. Tracking the time means the players will have to deal with extra complications in scheduling.
It makes things seem more real.
Going off the GURPS and Traveller reservations I devised a system of 3d8 to generate the time differential.
3 = -10% 151.2 hours - 6 days, 7 hours, 12 minutes
4 = -9% 152.88 hours - 6 days, 8 hours, 52.8 minutes
5 = -8% 154.56 hours - 6 days, 10 hours, 33.6 minutes
6 = -7% 156.24 hours - 6 days, 12 hours, 14.4 minutes
7 = -6% 157.92 hours - 6 days, 13 hours, 55.2 minutes
8 = -5% 159.6 hours - 6 days, 15 hours, 36 minutes
9 = -4% 161.28 hours - 6 days, 17 hours, 16.8 minutes
10 = -3% 162.96 hours - 6 days, 18 hours, 57.6 minutes
11 = -2% 164.64 hours - 6 days, 20 hours, 38.4 minutes
12 = -1% 166.32 hours - 6 days, 22 hours, 19.2 minutes
13-14 = 0% 168 hours - 7 days
15 = +1% 169.68 hours - 7 days, 1 hour, 40.8 minutes
16 = +2% 171.36 hours - 7 days, 3 hours, 21.6 minutes
17 = +3% 173.04 hours - 7 days, 5 hours, 2.4 minutes
18 = +4% 174.72 hours - 7 days, 6 hours, 43.2 minutes
19 = +5% 176.4 hours - 7 days, 8 hours, 21 minutes
20 = +6% 178.08 hours - 7 days, 10 hours, 1.8 minutes
21 = +7% 179.76 hours - 7 days, 11 hours, 42.6 minutes
22 = +8% 181.44 hours - 7 days, 13 hours, 23.4 minutes
23 = +9% 183.12 hours - 7 days, 15 hours, 4.2 minutes
24 = +10% 184.8 hours - 7 days, 16 hours, 48 minutes
That's canon, and immutable.
But it doesn't...
A jump is 168 hours ± 10% and it's random.
So it's really 151.2 hours (6 days, 7 hours, 12 minutes) to 184.8 hours (7 days, 16 hours, 48 minutes).
That's a range of 33.6 hours (1 day, 9 hours, 36 minutes) where the piloting, navigation and engineering spaces must be manned.
It also creates an interesting bit of color in the universe when you start counting the hours.
A Type A or B spaceport will be 24/7 operations, but C and D ports will likely have hours. Tracking the time means the players will have to deal with extra complications in scheduling.
It makes things seem more real.
Going off the GURPS and Traveller reservations I devised a system of 3d8 to generate the time differential.
3 = -10% 151.2 hours - 6 days, 7 hours, 12 minutes
4 = -9% 152.88 hours - 6 days, 8 hours, 52.8 minutes
5 = -8% 154.56 hours - 6 days, 10 hours, 33.6 minutes
6 = -7% 156.24 hours - 6 days, 12 hours, 14.4 minutes
7 = -6% 157.92 hours - 6 days, 13 hours, 55.2 minutes
8 = -5% 159.6 hours - 6 days, 15 hours, 36 minutes
9 = -4% 161.28 hours - 6 days, 17 hours, 16.8 minutes
10 = -3% 162.96 hours - 6 days, 18 hours, 57.6 minutes
11 = -2% 164.64 hours - 6 days, 20 hours, 38.4 minutes
12 = -1% 166.32 hours - 6 days, 22 hours, 19.2 minutes
13-14 = 0% 168 hours - 7 days
15 = +1% 169.68 hours - 7 days, 1 hour, 40.8 minutes
16 = +2% 171.36 hours - 7 days, 3 hours, 21.6 minutes
17 = +3% 173.04 hours - 7 days, 5 hours, 2.4 minutes
18 = +4% 174.72 hours - 7 days, 6 hours, 43.2 minutes
19 = +5% 176.4 hours - 7 days, 8 hours, 21 minutes
20 = +6% 178.08 hours - 7 days, 10 hours, 1.8 minutes
21 = +7% 179.76 hours - 7 days, 11 hours, 42.6 minutes
22 = +8% 181.44 hours - 7 days, 13 hours, 23.4 minutes
23 = +9% 183.12 hours - 7 days, 15 hours, 4.2 minutes
24 = +10% 184.8 hours - 7 days, 16 hours, 48 minutes
The Riddle Of Iron
Reading at The Counter Jockey Chronicles.
He's absolutely right, "You don't need iron sights on that .270 you are going to put a cheap Wal-Mart scope on."
But was Cletus wrong in asserting that the Winchester Model 70 originally came with iron sights?
Because the first years of the gun did come with irons.
New Model 70's don't unless you're looking at the Safari Express or Alaskan.
The gun was designed for and came with iron sights on day one. However Model 70 has had, also from day one, space dedicated for scope mounting on both the front and rear rings of the receiver. Early on they also could be had with the side mounting holes from the 54 too.
Originally the Model 70 was an evolutionary improvement on the Model 54. One of the goals was to make it easier to mount a scope on the gun, because the 54 is a pain.
The 54 fights mounting a scope from the design of the receiver, how the safety works and even the shape of the bolt handle.
The factory solution was a bracket that mounts to holes in the side of the receiver and cantilevers the mounting plane over the top of the bore. There's a lot of tolerance stacking to worry about here and it still doesn't fully address the bolt and safety.
The aftermarket and gunsmiths came along and got very creative in working around the problem, but the solutions were often less than ideal.
Both guns (at least initially for the 70) were also drilled and tapped for a Lyman 48 aperture sight (see the pics!). There are scope mounts for both models which use these holes and the front receiver ring to mount a scope mounting bridge. There are even mounts which tie into the dovetail on the barrel where the rear sight should go.
Do you like confusing variety? Because vintage Winchester bolts guns supply it in spades.
Cletus said, "originally."
I think he's right, the Model 70 was developed in a day when optics were fragile, fiddly and unreliable.
That has not been true for a very long time. The cheapest POS scope at Wally World is a miraculously good scope when compared to the top-end glass from 1936.
A stock cut for using low to the bore irons isn't going to be fitted as well for a scope and vice-versa.
At a certain point all of the bolt-gun makers took a look at the market and asked, "is there anyone who isn't putting a scope on their gun?" The answer was, surely, not enough people to justify the extra costs of including them with the gun because all of them stopped including the things.
I only noticed their departure from these guns when I was first afflicted with Bolt Gun Agony. At the time the Browning/Winchester BOSS (Ballistic Optimizing Shooting System) was the new hotness, must have (all the gun writers said so) item for your deer assassination bullet launcher. If you selected the BOSS, you could not select the iron-sighted option. Steeped in gaming where the GM would fuck you for not having a back-up to something he had rules for breaking... I wanted irons!
That's also when I discovered that only a couple of models still offered irons and they were obviously not intended to be the primary sighting system. The rear sights were often too small to be useful in the field and too coarse to be useful on the range. They were on there so the owner could feel better about going to the boondocks and having his scope break on him. We started calling them vestigial sights. A better rear sight could be tapped right into that dovetail, but it didn't come with the gun; which by the way was often a special order in the early '90's.
Sometime after that (1995?) it seemed that you couldn't even special order the irons anymore. Except for the Safari type guns.
You just don't need them if you've even a "crappy" variable scope nowadays.
He's absolutely right, "You don't need iron sights on that .270 you are going to put a cheap Wal-Mart scope on."
But was Cletus wrong in asserting that the Winchester Model 70 originally came with iron sights?
Because the first years of the gun did come with irons.
New Model 70's don't unless you're looking at the Safari Express or Alaskan.
The gun was designed for and came with iron sights on day one. However Model 70 has had, also from day one, space dedicated for scope mounting on both the front and rear rings of the receiver. Early on they also could be had with the side mounting holes from the 54 too.
Originally the Model 70 was an evolutionary improvement on the Model 54. One of the goals was to make it easier to mount a scope on the gun, because the 54 is a pain.
The 54 fights mounting a scope from the design of the receiver, how the safety works and even the shape of the bolt handle.
The factory solution was a bracket that mounts to holes in the side of the receiver and cantilevers the mounting plane over the top of the bore. There's a lot of tolerance stacking to worry about here and it still doesn't fully address the bolt and safety.
 |
Both guns (at least initially for the 70) were also drilled and tapped for a Lyman 48 aperture sight (see the pics!). There are scope mounts for both models which use these holes and the front receiver ring to mount a scope mounting bridge. There are even mounts which tie into the dovetail on the barrel where the rear sight should go.
Do you like confusing variety? Because vintage Winchester bolts guns supply it in spades.
Cletus said, "originally."
I think he's right, the Model 70 was developed in a day when optics were fragile, fiddly and unreliable.
That has not been true for a very long time. The cheapest POS scope at Wally World is a miraculously good scope when compared to the top-end glass from 1936.
A stock cut for using low to the bore irons isn't going to be fitted as well for a scope and vice-versa.
At a certain point all of the bolt-gun makers took a look at the market and asked, "is there anyone who isn't putting a scope on their gun?" The answer was, surely, not enough people to justify the extra costs of including them with the gun because all of them stopped including the things.
I only noticed their departure from these guns when I was first afflicted with Bolt Gun Agony. At the time the Browning/Winchester BOSS (Ballistic Optimizing Shooting System) was the new hotness, must have (all the gun writers said so) item for your deer assassination bullet launcher. If you selected the BOSS, you could not select the iron-sighted option. Steeped in gaming where the GM would fuck you for not having a back-up to something he had rules for breaking... I wanted irons!
That's also when I discovered that only a couple of models still offered irons and they were obviously not intended to be the primary sighting system. The rear sights were often too small to be useful in the field and too coarse to be useful on the range. They were on there so the owner could feel better about going to the boondocks and having his scope break on him. We started calling them vestigial sights. A better rear sight could be tapped right into that dovetail, but it didn't come with the gun; which by the way was often a special order in the early '90's.
Sometime after that (1995?) it seemed that you couldn't even special order the irons anymore. Except for the Safari type guns.
You just don't need them if you've even a "crappy" variable scope nowadays.
01 December 2018
Godspeed Mr Bush
You weren't much of a President, but you were a gentleman.
Wait, I forgot you're the rat-fuck that EO'd what later becomes 922r (which you signed).
Burn in Hell, Cocksucker. I'll kick you in the balls right after I'm done with McCain and MacNamara.
Wait, I forgot you're the rat-fuck that EO'd what later becomes 922r (which you signed).
Burn in Hell, Cocksucker. I'll kick you in the balls right after I'm done with McCain and MacNamara.