Gun Jeebus Explains It All

Hey, Gunwriters, was this so damn hard?

I Should Put Luck On My Character Sheet

Ian went well South of me instead of just West as predicted for days.

I'm looking at footage from during the storm and I am, once again, awed by nature.

We're high enough that the water wouldn't have been a problem, but the wind...

That might have been an issue for hunkering down.

We are, indeed, fortunate that we were missed.

Our decision to hunker, though, was colored by the predictions that if it had gone just west, it would have been greatly weakened once it was abreast of my locale.

Update: The last "Me" I made for GURPS was my Technomancer Coyote chimera, and he has Luck as one of his advantages.

Quite Happy

On a whim, I bought this:

30 ounce stainless tumbler.

I'd just been using it for water from the cooler and noticed that it kept things cool for a while.

But since our water delivery has been delayed, I decided to use tap water and the ice I laid in for the storm.

I filled it with ice and tap water at about 7pm.  Then let it set on the desk because I left to have a beer with friends.

There's still a lot of ice in it.  It's been 8 hours and there's still ice in it.

Not bad for a whim.

Sadly, I cannot find this design on their web page.

I bought mine at the local Ace Hardware, so it might be exclusive.  Might be discontinued.

Dunno.

Marv Confuses Me

Atlantic Firearms has police trade in SIG P320's in stock and he doesn't even want one.

Even knowing that they come with all three magazines they originally shipped with does nothing to entice him.

How can he be content playing in his own yard when the grass is clearly greener on the other side of the fence?

We Will Rebuild

The unproductive poblano tore its root-ball.

The very productive mad-hatter fell over again.  This plant has been trying to commit suicide for months.

This is the extent of the damage.

So Far So Good

Since it went so far south, we were spared.

My favorite local brewery was even open!

We still have some rain and they're expecting some more wind here in the wee hours, but I don't think it will be significant.

Here's hoping that my other fellow Floridian bloggers got off as easy as I did!

Yikes!

Ian looks like it can make it to Cat5 with just a little push.

The 8am update said sustained winds at 155 mph and 156 is the final category.

I've been reading a thread with people in great distress over their loved ones refusal to get out before the storm.

Hurricanes can be some serious shit.

I also read that every category 5 landfall recorded in the US has been in Florida.

We're speshul.

Right now we're on the northern fringes and not getting much of anything.

Fingers crossed.

Gonna Get Wet

The current prediction has us sitting pretty.

Sustained winds are predicted to be lower than Irma, which we weathered nicely, and from directions with wind-breaks.

Lots of rain expected, though.

I think we're going to be OK.

We have plenty of food and water.

Sufficient ammo.

Scotch, bourbon, whiskey, Long Drink and beer is set in.

70 lb. of ice in our two big coolers.

Devices are all charged.

We even have a deck of cards and a cribbage board!

Missing M Updated

Starting small.

Pistols
M1 is missing, but could be a 25mm Very Pistol Mk 4.
M2 is a 37mm flare gun.
M3 and M4 are missing.
M5 is a 10ga Very Pistol.
M6 and M7 are missing.
M8 is a flare gun.
M9 is the Beretta model 92FS.
M10 is missing.
M11 is the SIG-Sauer P228
M12 is missing.
M13 is a Colt Aircrew Revolver.
M14 through M16 are missing.
M17 is a SIG-Sauer P320 with a full size frame.
M18 is a SIG-Sauer P320 with a compact frame.

Carbines

M1 is the M1 Carbine!
M2 is a select fire M1 Carbine.
M3 is an M2 Carbine with a night scope.
M4 is a chopped down M16 with a collapsible stock.
M5 through M7 are missing.
XM8 is a tarted up H&K G36 with extra meltability.

Rituefels (fewer missing than I remembered)

M1 is the Garand.
M2 is an update redisignation of the M1922M2
M3 is missing.
M4 is a .22 Hornet H&R Survival Rifle.
M5 is a .22 LR subcaliber training device for a 37mm.
M6 is the Aircrew Survival Rifle .22 Hornet/.410.
M7 is a .30-06 subcaliber training device for M20 75mm recoiless rifle.
M8 is a .50 caliber spotting rifle for the M40 106mm recoiless rifle.
M9 is a .30-06 subcaliber training device for M40 106mm recoiless rifle.
M10 and M11 are missing.
M12 are .22 LR H&R M12, Remington 40X-S1 and Winchester 52.
M13 are .22 LR Remington 513T, Stevens M416-2T and Winchester 75T.
M14 is an M1 derivative.
M15 is a squad automatic M14.
M16 is the adopted AR-15.
XM17 was a semi-auto .22 LR
M18 is a 57mm Recoiless Rifle
XM19 is the AAI 5.6mm Flechette Rifle.
M20 is a 75mm Recoiless Rifle
M21 is a sniper M14.
XM22 is a Cadillac Gage / Stoner 63A in the rifle configuration.
XM23 is a Cadillac Gage / Stoner 63A in the carbine configuration.
M24 is a Remington 700
M25 is a sniper M14.
M26 is missing.
M27 is a 105mm recoiless rifle.
M28 is missing.
XM29 is the Objective Individual Combat Weapon.
M30 through M39 are missing.
M40 is a 105mm recoiless rifle (though designated 106mm).
M41 through M49 are missing.
M50 is the Ontos!  They gave it a rifle series number!!!!
M51 through M62 are missing.
XM63 is a 120mm recoiless rifle.
XM64 is a 155mm recoiless rifle.
M65 and M66 are missing.
M67 is a 90mm recoiless rifle.
M68 is missing.
XM69 is a 20mm spotting rifle.
M70 through M88 are missing.
XM89 is a 120mm recoiless rifle.
XM90 is a 15mm spotting rifle.
M91 through M104 are missing.
XM105 is a 120mm recoiless rifle.
XM106 is the Colt Automatic Rifle, an M16 derivative.
M107 is a Barrett M82.
XM109 is the Barrett 25x59mm Anti-Material Payload Rifle.
M110 is the KAC SASS.

East Now?

I love the wobble as the track firms up.

The track has moved from 8 miles west of my AO to 8 miles East.

I am OK with that, especially since it's way weaker this way.

Going to be a bummer for Pinellas county, though.

It'll prolly still go straight north to Cedar Key.

Next Campaign...

I recently hit upon a meme that asked, "Why are vampires always rich in the movies?  How do they make their living?"

The reply was the obvious one, "If you've been alive since 1892 and you're still broke, just go sleep in the sun."

I think I will have to incorporate this concept into my next world that has vampires whom could have been around since a hundred years ago.

Of course, this will not fly in settings where vampires are a recent thing, like Technomancer.

I Shall Pass

 

Should we end up intact, but without power, I think I'm going to break out the old paper copy of The Lord of the Rings and start re-reading it.

It's been a good long time since I've sat down and read it and if there's no power and no internet, I will have plenty of time.

To be completely honest, if circumstance align to make it so we can't cook, I will still survive.

Being a bit tubby fat will allow you to miss a few meals as long as you can get water.

We have water laid in.

We have food and a means to cook it, but...

In other good news: They keep shifting the landfall "east" which translates to SOUTH for us on the Gulf Coast.

Pinellas looks to be under the gun now instead of me...

OR it runs along the coast 4-6 miles out in the Gulf as it loses power and passes by as a Cat 2.

OR anything between...

The important thing is it losing strength as it approaches us and we've done that level of storm here before.

I need more scotch.

I think I will attempt to get a bunch of ice to fill some coolers tomorrow so I have cubes for the scotch.

Good News Bad News

The bad news is that it appears we're right in the path of the storm.

The good news is that it appears that it's going to dramatically weaken before it actually hits us.

Of course, the wobble could land it miles north or south even at this point in time.

Keeping my eyes crossed that it does drop down to a Cat 1 as it approaches.  We can handle that!

But looking at it being a Cat 4 just 24 hours before it's supposed to hit is unnerving.

Land Of The Lost Combined With Lost

Or should that be The Land of the Lost²?

The Lovely Harvey and I have been doing the MST3K thing with NBC's show "La Brea".

Oh my Gods is it bad.

Poorly written and badly acted.

We're slaughtering it and enjoying the together time.

Season 2 starts on Tuesday, but we're going to wait for all the episodes to be available because if you can't binge, it's just not worth it.

We keep waiting for Sleestak to come out of cave some place.

I'm A Sucker

Because they can come in a tin box with an etched wooden plaque, I ordered a polyhedral set of the duck dice.

I am weak!

Everything Is Just Ducky!

The Wizard's Vault sells rubber ducky dice in several colors and will sell you just 6-siders!

I got the 15mm 6d6 set in purple.

I'd been seeing these recommended on Facebook for a long time, but only as part of a polyhedral set, and I don't really need more dice at all, let alone poly's.

The Home Defense Debate

The comparison in picture form.

Val is 10.7 lb. and Brenda is just 8 lb. as shown not counting the sling.

I think either will suffice for the job, with Brenda being the handier choice because she's almost three pounds lighter.

Valentine, on the other hand groups a lot better at 100 yards with that 20" barrel.

The big question really is: Can you legally justify a shot at the distance where the differences in ballistics matter between the two?

Because the law will return after the disaster ends, and you WILL have to explain the corpses.

Though, I think a great deal of leniency was granted in the wake of the really bad hits in Florida.  I wonder where I could go to check on that before it becomes a make-or-break legal problem.

I think I will go with the handier option unless the looters are systematically burning houses up and down the block.

If that becomes true...

Reach out, reach out and touch someone...

Godless .270 Win will suffice all the way down the street.

PS: Do you know the distances to the landmarks in your neighborhood?

Even More Fun

Thinking I would get back to converting Star Frontiers to GURPS...

I just noticed that the Yazirians get a bonus to their smarts stat.

Because the designer is racist and the "monkeys" are supposed to represent CENSOREDS.

Speaking as someone who's delved into twisting racist stereotypes into a gaming environment...

One does not make the race you hate smarter than the race you favor.

It's a lot easier to make a case of Orcs being blacks because they conform to the bigoted mold of being less than the good people.

It's a case that falls apart with virtually any scrutiny, which is why I had to twist it to conform to the racial mores of 19th century America rather than it being pre-made for me.

Making the traditional fantasy races fit the Victorian social strata isn't simple.  It seems like it would be when you start, but it spirals out of control and makes some decisions more racist as others are locked in.

Ultimately, it ended up being unplayable and I lost my little statement against bigotry because I had to force fits that were just caricatures of caricatures.

While this stopped me, it's clear that it's not even slowing the people complaining about the Hadozee down.

Wait until they notice that, in Spelljammer, that Ithilid are very mercantile oriented while having misshapen noses...

Ready!

We spent Friday finalizing our preps for the killer storm that's guaranteed to hit us and kill us all. (Notaguarantee).

That amounted to almost nothing.

We've always overbought canned goods and rotate them out in a FIFO matter.

So when something like this threatens, we're already stocked up.

I might go out and get some bags of ice for the two big coolers if the track looks really threatening.

The guns are all zeroed, just in case we get the doom-storm and need to repel looters.

I have to decide if Brenda or Valentine is going to be the duty gun.

Val has 5x optics and a 20" barrel, but she's heavy.  Brenda is handier, but no magnification and less puissance.

Prolly nugatory.

I Should Not Have Done That

Considering that the KE Arms KP-15 lower is 1.6 lb. and the lower that I have on Dottie is 2.63 lb.

I should not have test fit Dottie's upper on Brenda's lower.

KP-15 come in the requisite OD green too.

I'd better leave this alone until we get the water leak fixed and definitely CAT 5 hurricane that's guaranteed to hit my house is gone.

Speaking Of Star Frontiers

One of the alien races in Star Frontiers are the Yazirians.

They look like simians crossed with a flying squirrel and are sometimes known as "monkeys".  The game makes no mention of this being a slur.

A female of the species.

The Yazirians are in the news lately because the race was recycled into D&D's Spelljammer setting as the Hadozee.

Hadozee have an in-world nickname of "deck-apes".  They look like apes and they commonly choose a life shipboard working up from the deck.  The game makes no mention of this being a slur until 3e.

Well, someone decided that "deck-ape" is code for CENSORED and thus they need to be removed from the game, or something.  Deck-ape is derogatory, therefore it must be an allusion to black people?

There's lots of derogatory terms which have nothing to do with black people and are still derogatory.

But if it's because they have a derogatory nickname and look like simians...

I don't think it's the game designer that's racist here.

I haven't been following it too hard.

But I've had these guys in several Star Frontiers settings and I never saw any racism associated with how it tells us the race behaves.  They are a warrior race with tight clan associations and a strong code of honor.

I read "wookie" into that not CENSORED.  But then, I don't get up in the morning looking to be offended.

Better Than The Future

Traveller lists an automatic pistol that's in 9mm, masses a kilo loaded and holds 15 shots.  It's firing 9x19 in all but name.

Star Frontiers lists an Automatic Pistol which is 2 kg, but it's really more like a MAC-10 than a pistol.

2300: AD is a lot more detailed about naming the handguns but only lists 4 handguns.  The Traylor Model 57 is a 9mm auto massing 0.7 kg loaded with 10 rounds of 9x24mm at about 9x19 velocities.

That's about it for chemical slug-throwers in SF games I have.

GURPS: Ultra Tech goes a lot farther and has guns which are better than modern day, but I think that comes from having real world guns in the system and the designers noting that they'd better be better than the real world or they're not going to be adopted.

I'm Still Processing

I am still having trouble with how capacity has ballooned in small pistols.

I remember being giddy about how my old Shield fit in my pocket and was still a full-up 9mm.

But this...

14 rounds, ready to go; though pocket carry demands using the 10-round mag.  But still, 24 rounds at the ready and casually concealed on the hottest Florida day.

I mentioned before that this capacity is Hi-Power territory.

It's just a wee bit smaller than Saive's wonder-nine.

Living in the future is kinda neat.

It doesn't even stop with pocket guns.

The 2.0 9C is the same height and width as the Browning, but shorter, lighter and has more shots in factory configuration.

 I have science fiction game settings which didn't predict this!

Dry Fire Oopsie

When you do your dry fire practice it is very important to make sure...

That the incessant clicking and clacking doesn't wake up your significant other.

Harvey was less than amused.

17?

The 2.0 Compact normally carries 15 rounds.

But it accepts the 17 rounders from the full-size M&P 9.  It even comes with spacers to slip over the magazines to prevent damage to the ejector from over-insertion.

 

The conundrum for this winter carry season is whether I should apply those sleeves and run with 17 rounds instead of the native 15.

I carried the M&P 45C with the native 8 rounder in the gun and two spare 10-rounders.

It makes the 9C very similar to the Glock 45, except slightly smaller.

I still have a week or two before the weather allows to think about it.

Favoritism

 

I find myself thinking that if I had to pare the AR collection down to a single gun, it'd be Brenda.

The KP-15 lower feels right and the "Gov't" profile middy barrel balances well.

It's proven accurate enough and reliable so far.  I did have to make a small adjustment from PSA's over-torquing the barrel, nut; but that's minor.

It's nearly the lightest AR I own too.  The only ones that tare less can't easily mount an optic, or a light.

Now that I have an optic where I can see a point to aim with instead of a smudge, I am really digging it.

Praise be to Gun Jeebus!

By the way, you too can get a lower like this from KE Arms and they're knocking 25% off with discount code DEFEND2A25.

I'd have never considered this build without the contrarian need to see if I could make a cheaper, but still usable rifle, in the same vein as the WWSD project.

Honey Do

Knick-nack shelf hung back up.

Night stand assembled.

VICTORY!

I even put a different metal plate in my phone case to better adhere to the magnetic mount in the car.

One Ugga Dugga

Having assembled a couple three fixed stock AR lowers (including a couple of actual M16's in the Army) I was unaware there was an actual torque spec for the receiver extension (aka buffer tube).

35 to 39 ft-lb.

Says so right in the TM.

I've always just given it an "ugga-dugga" or "one grunt" then put the stock on.

Considering that the stock screw acts as a jam-nut on the extension, there's no need to get medieval on the thing.

Just for the record, the locking ring for a carbine receiver extension is supposed to be the same 35 to 39 ft-lb.  One "ugga-dugga" and staking it has never had a failure for me.

Extras

 

The coffee robot and the moon buggy are part of the main build, and not mentioned in the instructions for the alternate.

However, none of the parts needed for them are used in the alt, so...  Here they are!

I also realized that I'd pre-ordered this set in June and it'd been sitting in my closet for months before I finally decided that I wanted the alternate build rather than the main one.

By the way, this kit also rams home how much Star Wars sets contain licensing fees.  1,254 parts for $99 instead of $160.

Is This Something?

This sure looks like something!

922(n) is unconstitutional thanks to the Bruen decision?

It's got a few steps to go to affect me down in Florida, but this looks like a positive step.

Yes, Quiroz appears to be an unsavory character, but as Mr Richardson points out landmark cases often involve scumbags.

The history of felons owning guns cannot fail to mention David Marshall Williams.

Convicted murderer and credited with the design of the M1 Carbine.

It doesn't get more clear that we used to be OK with violent felons being around guns as long as they'd served their time.

One wonders what would have become of Mr Williams if his natural talents had been suppressed from the general ability of a felon to obtain gainful employment that exists today.

I also wonder how many people are in a perpetual state of criminality because the lifelong albatross of their conviction bars them from many jobs.

Ooops!

The October '22 edition of Shooting Illustrated arrived today and I was excited to see a review for the S&W CSX.

Written by former blogger JayG! WAVES! (Jay used to read here back before he became an NRA hireling). His blog isn't even there any more.

Upon reading the article I spotted an error.

The CSX and Shield Plus do not have identical capacities with the extended magazines.

The CSX has 12 and the Plus has 13.

I even mentioned the capacities in my Shield comparison post.

C'est la vie.

Changed It In 1979 Too

In 1979 Lego put red on the front of the wing and green on the back, symmetrically.

Me and my friends moved one color from each side to put green on the right wing and red on the left.

The 2022 version has green on both thruster winglets.

So I dug in the box and replaced the ones on the left side with red.

Yes, I feel better now.

PS

44 million AR's and similar guns.

Approximately 400 rifle of any kind murders.

This is statistical noise territory requiring no action from the government to solve.

I also recall several studies that concluded that all this gun control had a zero to negative effect on crime.

An action that cannot be told from inaction should not be enacted into law, but that's just me.

Common Use

Interesting article about a Georgetown University professor's study on gun ownership.

It confirms what we've been saying about guns being everywhere and that they don't really cause a problem for a long time.

I don't remember where I first saw it, but, "If gunowners and 'assault weapons' were really a problem, you wouldn't need someone else to convince you."

Millions of gun owners and millions of guns with millions and millions of magazines holding more than 10 rounds with the accompanying billions of rounds of ammo.

Yet, despite recent increases, crime is still relatively low.

If even 1% of American gun owners was a problem, and that problem was that they commit murder, then there would be a million murders to account for.

And there aren't a million murders.  Not even close.

The last two years have had approximately 19,000 gun murders (because being pushed out of windows is fine).

With about a 1/3 of America owning a gun that means that 0.019% of gun owners commit murder.

And actually that's probably a much smaller percentage since the study was polling lawful gun owners and not the people who are largely responsible for nearly all murders in America: gangbangers.

Decision Made

 I went with the smaller build which is a recreation and update of the set I had.

I even incorporated the original LL924 brick.

Discolored by years of play.  43 year old Lego is still compatible with the new stuff.

You can't say that about some of the Chinese copies from week to week.

It's a lot different and larger from the 1979 version:

 As expected, there are a couple of parts left over...

I looked for the parts to make the original, and they're all almost there.  The t-tail parts have all broken over the years.  They weren't a good design and I haven't seen them in a new set for decades.

That original set included my first two mini-figs.

And, of course, I still have them!  The white suited one got the most play and lost his white hands somewhere along the way.  He was my main "character" until he got replaced by the yellow suited one (now lost) and then the black suited one.

He's lost his original helmet.  I replaced it as soon as the ones with the faceplate came available.  The original is probably still rolling around in my Lego box.

Conundrum

I never had the Lego Galaxy Explorer.

I misremembered.

I had the Space Cruiser (924/487).

I know this because I still have the LL924 printed bricks.

I bought the new Galaxy Explorer thinking I'd had the old 928/497 kit.

All is not lost, Lego did updates for the Space Cruiser and Space Transporter (918) in the new style using parts from the new 10497 set.

Building the new Space Cruiser means there will be gobs of leftover parts, and I will still not have a Galaxy Explorer.

I dunno what I want to do.

One saving grace is the 924 remake is much smaller than the 928, and thus much easier to find a place to put it.

Explain It To Me Slowly Using Small Words

Exercising her white priviledge, Sherri Papini gets 8-months for the same crime that Jussie Smolet walked on.

I want to make it clear that I am not confused as to why.

It's racism that let Smolet walk.

What everyone gets wrong is that they think that it isn't racism.

If the straight, white, patriarchy was really in charge then women and minorities wouldn't be able to say shit about anything being done.

Crack a couple history books for examples.

What we have is a classic tyranny of the minority under the color of democracy.

Those never last long, never more than a generation.

We're getting to the end of that time frame too.

Brace.

Nope

Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid being "remade".

While upwards of 30% of the cow-punching population of the old west was black, Robert LeRoy Parker wasn't.

Again, Hollywood, if you want to do something original, do something original.

Gender and race swapping with a retread of an old story is tedious enough.

Gender and race swapping of historical figures is quite enough.

But hey! Amazon, you're so original and avant garde showing that a black man can be a criminal...  Oh wait.

Because that's what The Wild Bunch were, criminals.

PFC McThag

On this day, 32 years ago, I exited the service and stopped being sergeant McThag and resumed being private fucking citizen McThag.

It does not seem like it's been that long.

Book Burning

Banning a book from an elementary school is not the same thing as completely banning a book.

Banning a book from a public library is not the same as forbidding its publication.

If the book can be published and, with little to no difficulty, purchased from Amazon; it is not banned.

Trust me here, kids, as a gun-owner I know from banned.

The issue, again, is a very slim minority wants people who are not ready for the material to be exposed to it before they can put the information in context.

Perhaps its more clear to me from my reading on some unsavory topics.

You want to know who makes perfect sense without context?

The Klu Klux Klan.

As long as you don't introduce any outside facts to what they were pitching way back when... it's perfectly sensible and logical to be a racist.

It's a house of cards, but as long as there's no wind...

And that alone makes me think that evil is being done by the people who want these books in front of children who've no tool-set to understand the context of the material.

No Shit Sherlock

 Recruitment is WAY down!

The mention several reasons why, but dance around something they mention.

"The fact is the pool of Americans aged 17-24 who are qualified and interested in serving continues to shrink."

Bold and underlined mine.

Making military service a social experiment dramatically reduces the interest of those who make your best troops.

The best years of our volunteer military are when they reflect an honest cross-section of America and not trying to force a distortion of that reflection.

This is fallout from forgetting what a military is actually for.

Killing people and breaking shit.

Every single time the politicians stray from that ideal, recruitment suffers and our military hollows out.

Making military service something that people want to do helps a great deal, but that means abandoning the petri-dish aspect we're forcing onto it.

Recognizing that killing people and breaking shit is the main goal, and devoting most of our time to that end will make recruitment recover.

Eliminating social sops that do nothing but drag on readiness will also help.

I'm looking at you ladies.  Getting knocked up right before your unit deploys should be a bad conduct discharge.

People wasting their enlistment chasing free gender transition surgery should be eliminated too.

Just in case you think I'm picking on the protected classes too much, how many great soldiers have been ruined by the antics of their wife?

I support the right of women to get pregnant, trans folks to transition, and marriage but there's a time and a place for everything and military service is a sacrifice.

Evolution In Action

Try to force your way into someone else's car in Florida, you learn you're not in New York anymore.

Darwin does not sleep even if He takes breaks.

Another way to look at it is there's one fewer stupid New Yorker sucking on my oxygen.

This is something of a open letter for people who live where you don't see much conceal carry.

The laws "back home" will be different once you cross the line from blue state to red state, or even purple state.  Especially about guns.

We're constantly seeing the results of people not absorbing that, while all the states are broadly similar with regards to their laws, the specifics matter a great deal.

Canadians are, by far, the worst offenders about not making this absorption and they're actually traveling to a different country; it should be more obvious to them.

But I have the same sympathy for the deceased as I do for the WNBA moron rotting in a Russian prison.

They did not bother to internalize that the legal situation had changed because they chose to travel to a different jurisdiction and discovered that there are consequences.

For one of them, final consequences.

PS: I suspect that no charges will be brought on the shooter because we don't have a name yet.  The shooter being named is often a clue about prosecution in the Hillsborough/Pasco/Pinellas area.

Torn From Restful Slumber

Just another day with The Boy.

In the first place, he's spoiled rotten.  Our fault.  We gave in on too many things too often from feeling bad about his condition.

He learned to get his way by presenting a certain kind of behavior.

But that's not every time he goes off.

Not sure what triggers it, but it's pretty massive.

Because he's removed from the adult day training program, there's no fucking support from the state agencies because... reasons.  They like to blame Wu Ping Cough, but...

Let's just say that generous funding is available and is being left untouched because the rules about getting the funding pretty much preclude dealing with kids like The Boy.

It's a Catch 22.

I'm Getting Fed Up With 2022

The water bill was stupid high this month.

Nothing is running, but the tell-tale is running.

MOTHER FUCKER!

Healing

The nail, which was flapping loose and hanging on by a very thin hunk of skin has reattached itself, at a funny angle.

It's healing, it just looks like hell.

Familiar Animal

Mixing and matching animals is a staple of myth and fantasy.

One of the oldest is the griffin.  Eagle and lion.

D&D has the owlbear.

I was thinking smaller and less grand.

A miniature griffin made from a raven and a house cat.

Not sure what to call it.

Griffin might come from the Greek word for hooked.

Pic stolen from the interwebs, apparently I am not the first person to come up with this idea.
 

Some More Elegant Than Others

The Killflash® on the Aimpoint and the Anti-Reflection Devices on the Primary Arms scopes all screw into the body of the scope in front of the objective lens.

This is not true for an ACOG.

That's a genuine Tenebraex Killflash®, milspec and everything.  It does not screw into the body.  It slips into the overhang around the objective lens and is retained by that large o-ring under the scope tube.

It's not a confidence inspiring design, but I guess that it works.

I have read that the o-ring breaking has been a recurring problem for the USMC.

I wonder if it's something they have to sign for...

Killflash All The Things

I don't know why I love these things, but I do.

PAC5X on Dottie.

PAC3X on Kevina.

SLx 5x36 on Valentine.

SLx 1x MicroPrism.

M4S on Kaylee.

It amuses me to no end that only the Aimpoint is wearing an actual Killflash® anti-reflection device.

The hex-mesh is noticeably smaller, and that does help with the angle at which the objective will reflect.

I am still not sure if they're just delightfully silly or brutally functional.

Considering that I've bought different colored furniture just for the looks before...  It can be delightfully silly.

Promising Closer Ties With Iran

Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, seen here with officers of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, during an unscheduled state visit.

Because Mac

My printer/scanner/copier is ancient.

It was new tech when my Mac Pro was new tech in 2008!  I can't really get a newer one because there simply aren't drivers for the version of OSX I run.

It has happily done everything we asked.

Until The Lovely Harvey tried to print with her spiffy new Win11 lappy.

The machine did not detect the printer automatically.

So I told it to search from the set up section.  Nope.

So I called JT and he directed me to the HP help section where they had a tutorial.

The tutorial works, with massive delays while Win11 talks to the mothership.

Most galling in the manual setup is when you select the printer port, it says USB001: HP C4200 Series in the list.

Fucking machine CAN see the printer, it just won't automatically install it.

Then you let it talk to the mothership to download drivers.

HP is listed three damn times in the list and has different printers in each HP selection, but I finally found it and have successfully printed a test page.

Hurray for me!

How You Lose A Gun In Your Car For Three Years

First, you put the gun in the back after getting done shooting it.

Second, the car has a complete electrical failure that keeps you from opening any but the driver's door.

Third, you have it towed to a shop to figure out the electrical failure.

Fourth, you fall and break your leg.

Fifth, the world panics around a flu-like disease that nearly everyone survives but we still keep the panic going for... reasons.

Sixth, just as you're starting to recover from the broken leg, you erase all progress you've made so far by slipping and falling again...  No new breaks, but lots of pulled muscles.

So, when you finally get to the point where you can face the mechanic, whom has not just had the thing towed to the scrap yard...

It's been three years.

Crazy McThag's Used Gun Repair

Rule 1 of old guns: don't forget/lose them in the back of your car for three years.

Rule 2 of old guns: rust never sleeps.

Got Mr Fleetwood's, lost-but-now-is-found Astra 600/43 functioning again.

In typical German fashion, the Spanish designers made the collar that locks the spring to the slide a nice RC4 fit to the barrel.

A drop of water, a leather holster to hold that moisture in, hot car interior...

No slide on the slide. 

Since the slide was loose on the frame, it had to be the collar and barrel locked up.

A careful tap on the collar got it freed up and some Iosso paste took out the rust and returned the RC4 fit.

Huzzah!

 

She's now cleaned and oiled!

In a sad note, verdigris has consumed the ammo which was with the gun when Willard brought it over.

I think I'll work some mink-oil into the holster too.  It's rarer than the gun!

Defamation And Slander

Does being intentionally vague about whom you're defaming and slandering so as to give plausible deniability to the defamation or slander make it more or less actionable?

I've seen the tactic employed more than once.

I suspect it makes it less actionable because I was advised, by a lawyer I was paying for, to simply remove proper names and insert pseudonyms and all would be well.

Too Often

My "Labor Day is Battery Day" thing is preventative maintenance.

Not a single battery tossed in the trash had stopped working or leaked.

Also tossed...  Not tossed, moved to The Boy's battery bin, is a pack of batteries which were at their expiration date.  We've had that pack for 10 years.

The reason we kept them is because they still work and the same brand now has a 20 year expiration date instead of 10.

But the spare batteries sat in the battery bin for 10 years while the item that uses those batteries was on the original set.

Batteries are simply better than they used to be.

Many of the devices that use batteries have gotten better about using the energy available.

A couple of working items got new batteries more from the expiration on the batt than the failure of said batt.

Living in the future is kinda neat.

It Does Occur

I really think that if we were to pare government back down to just what's authorized in the constitution then we wouldn't have near the problems we have.

But even if we did, we'd be able to deal with them rather than being forced to sit and watch while government prevents us from acting.

Take student loans, for example.

This is a problem caused by government interference in the marketplace.

It's probably not going to be solved by the government DOING something.

It's also not going to be solved by "fuck those people".

You're not helping.

It's not going to be solved if you cannot comprehend that the conditions when your boomer ass got your degree do not, and have not, existed for a while now.

But remember what I said about the government fucking around in the marketplace?

It was their policies that drove many places to require a degree, ANY degree, in jobs that don't really require any formal education.  All because the bell curve is real and too many people of a politically protected class couldn't a pre-employment aptitude test.

The degree, ANY degree, became a proxy for such testing.

A bachelor's in underwater basket weaving became as valuable as a doctorate in advanced mathematics to land one of these jobs and was a lot easier to get.

Have you noticed that you need to get a master's today to land a job that needed a bachelor's 30 years ago?

I noticed that my associate's stopped being good enough to get mechanical design jobs 20 years ago, despite ten years experience doing the job.  Now that job requires a bachelor's in mechanical engineering where the engineer will never use most of what they learned.

Real engineering jobs are needing master's and getting ever more demanding of narrow specializations...

At least that was the trend when I got laid off when the ham-fisted response to 9/11 killed the contracts keeping the doors open were cancelled.

But the point is the market is distorted and requires active work to unfuck it.

I would also like to point out that while this slow motion education train-wreck was unfolding, the loudest voices opposed to any action to alleviate student loan debts said nothing.

The internet is forever.  Your blog is old enough to have made mention of when it started.

You.  Said.  Nothing.

You were blind sided as hard as the kid who just realized that a degree in anything doesn't land a job they couldn't get before getting the degree (but without the debt).

Admit it.

The actual solution is the oldest one.

Bankruptcy.

I know why this is unthinkable, do you?

I Don't Got The Leather

 The Beast does not have Corinthian leather in fine, soft or rich forms.

But I note that the Cordoba got 17/25 mpg.  With the slant six.

In 1980 that's a 90 horsepower beast that drags the 3,446 lb car to sixty in a leisurely 18ish seconds.

You could upgrade to a 318 (120 hp) and flush that mileage down the drain for 13 city.

I made note of this because The Beast gets about the same mileage.  15/24.

She's a bit heavier at 4,160 lb. but 0-60 is 6 seconds.  Having 355 hp compensates for the extra mass.

Although I have a 130 mph speed limiter, it's 40 mph faster than the Cordoba.

Technology rocks!

Pity They Both Can't Lose

". . .both parties are in the field and a collision is imminent. If they should succeed in completely destroying each other the result would be hailed by all good citizens." 

Los Vegas Optic on the topic of The Lincoln County War.

h/t Bob Boze Bell

Speaking Of Going Broke

 

That discount code I mentioned...  25% off your order at KE Arms and you help to fund their defense against the assholes at GWACS who are not motivated by IP theft, but are just using lawfare to kill a business that an investor has come to think of as distasteful.

Ian talks about the following video:

I am -> <- this close to getting a KP-9 lower and slowly accumulating parts to make a PCC.

No Tax Stamp

Despite full registration ,licensing requirements, and tightly regulated manufacture and importation...

Criminals still have access to unregistered cars.

Go Broke Saving Money Like That

KE Arms is being sued by GWACS for... reasons.

KE Arms has offered a nice 25% discount on code DEFEND2A25 on your order.

I've kinda-sorta wanted a 9mm PCC based on an AR for a while.

KE arms makes a polymer lower like Brenda's that takes Glock mags.

$239.86 after taxes.

But to make it a firing gun you need another $514.61 if you already have Glock 17 magazines.

$754.47 total.

But it's not COOL until you have a 33-round stick or 50-round drum magazine.  $45 and $120 respectively.

Can't suffer along with irons either.

Plunk another $400 getting that sorted.

A Little Known Fact

Judging from comments here and in other forums, it is widely believed that you can only own a single handgun, or if you own more than one they all must be the same kind.

For example: A 1911 owner may not own a Glock.

If you own a Glock 17 it's ok to own a Glock 22; etc...

Look! They're touching!

Variety is the spice of life!

I love my 1911's, and I shoot them well; but they are heavy and don't hold as many beans despite being heavier.

I shoot that Glock 17 pretty well too.

And my S&W 59.

I shoot my Hi-Power extremely well.

I really should settle down and pick a gun.

The M&P 9 2.0 Compact appears to hit the Goldilocks zone for size, mass and capacity, so I might stick with it for a while.

The Murder Of Barry Allen

Got an "anti-reflection device" for the MicroPrism.

It's NOT a Killflash™, because that belongs to Tenebraex.

Before:

After:

I like them quite a bit, even though I'm not sure of the actual utility in my world.

They definitely provide a bit of protection from things landing on the objective, so there's that.

A Distinct Lack Of Features

Looking at the pics of the AR's from this post...

I only have one AR with all the banned features.

Kaylee doesn't count on account of her being a fully registered NFA item.

I take solace in knowing that both AK's are in full AWB non-compliance.

The Real Reason Bayonet Lugs Were Banned!

Because some bayonets are bottle openers!

You hook the edge of the cap with these cut-outs.

Ergonomics

The economics of ergs?

In the kerfuffle about the ergos of the ancient Browning Grand Puissance, I noticed once again that not everyone's hands are the same.

To me the GP fits like a glove, especially with the Spegel grips.

Yes, there's still hammer bite, but she shoots so damn sweet.

As long as I avoid Magtech, she's been as reliable as any Glock I've owned.  I cannot bring myself to blame the gun for not liking a certain brand of ammo.

However, I can totally understand it not fitting someone else's hand.

I get a view of that when comparing Harvey's, Marv's and my M&P 9.  We don't necessarily agree about what size backstrap to use.

I love my .38 Super Gov't Model, Harvey just thinks it's "heavy."

Harvey and FuzzyGeff really took to the old S&W Sigma.  I liked my Glock 17.2 better.

Harvey sets her stock shorter than I do on her AR when the stock is adjustable.

Marv tends to prefer his optics mounted higher above the rail than I do.

It's a matter of preference and even if you hit the 99th percentile of users, there will still be outliers who don't fit.

The difference, today, is those outliers will hop on the internet and complain as loud as they can.

Chasing The Shiny

If a gun pre-dates Glock, it automatically sucks!

At least that's what I understand from reading forums.

The 1911 is a favorite to rag on.

Lately, thanks to FN making a new gun that looks a bit like it, the Hi-Power is in the barrel.

I try to be understanding, but guns that suck don't stay in service for nearly nine decades.

Even more fun is some of the nations still using the thing are having a hard time finding a gun which sufficiently outperforms them to be worth spending money to replace them.

That's not the earmark of a sucky gun.

Who's still rocking a Luger?

New isn't always better, even if new is much cheaper to make.

New is often simply just as good, but cheaper.

I happen to like mine, even though it gives "love bites" from the hammer.

Clearly Some Of You Are Just Stupid

If you go to check on your comment and see, "This comment has been removed by a blog administrator." it's not because I'm offended by the content.

It's because you can't follow directions.

Clearly you can read, you're responding to what I've written.

I've explained it enough, so if you can't figure out why your comment has been removed, you're never going to successfully comment here anonymously.

Beheading?

Woman beheaded by her ex.

I see that this story must be a lie and she's not really dead because she had a restraining order against him.

I'm pretty sure that California has some sort of knife law that would prevent hauling a sword around, let alone attacking someone with it.

They should make murder illegal, that'd fix it!

What's really remarkable is that it's a beheading that doesn't appear to involve an adherent of The Religion of Peace.

I Don't Get It

I'm a member of the Rhodesian African Rifles Facebook group so that Chomp's mates have a means of getting a message to him via me.

The people who were in the RAR are people who, predominately, were born in Rhodesia when it still existed and have done a diaspora out to other nations of the Anglosphere.

A few of them were around when the Unilateral Declaration of Independence was sent to The Crown.

And they are all weepy about Queen Elizabeth shuffling off?

The same queen who let your asses hang out to dry over the matter of recognition which would have ended the bush war virtually overnight if the US recognized an independent Rhodesia (warts and all) and stood up support against the spread of Communism?

Their capacity for forgiveness impresses me.

Zoon

 

I know quite a few deeply religious folks who're bad people on a leash.  It's good they found the leash, but they think they're good people.

What The Actual Fuck

 

I have never been so happy to be in a state that's non-adjacent to Illinois in my life.

Was the bill named, "let's hand the streets to the criminals"? 

I suspect that vigilance societies will be making a strong return, especially where the mafia already runs things.

The mafia, after all, has its roots in providing protection from crime dating back to Republican Rome.

Editing

As more data becomes readily available, I tend to update my technical posts for GURPS.

I discovered tonight that the PASGT helmet is, officially, a NIJ Level IIIA design.

That's DR 12.

The MICH and ACH are also Level IIIA, so same DR.

This caused me to update a nine year old post!

I have nine year old posts.

I've been at this a long time, ayup.

I Agree

"The way I see it, you can't have too many guns."

- R. Ruark

I sure hope that The Lovely Harvey agrees with this philosophy because I am weak and easily tempted by the wiles of gunshop employees.

Have YOU Met The King?

Mr Willard can say, "not yet."  Despite having met the man who is now king.

Just 42 years ago, no less, when Chuck swung in as Rhodesia faded into history and the One Person, One Vote, One Time Mugabe rule over Zimbabwe began.

I once spied Chuck from a distance at the Farnborough Air Show.

King Charles III?

I just read that Queen Elizabeth II has passed on.

Longest reign of any English monarch.

It feels a bit strange, she was the Queen of England my whole life while entire countries are no longer there, let alone their rulers.

Qualified Professional

Apparently I am a "qualified professional" at Bud's Gunshop!

That makes me feel important!

Some of the discounts are pretty good too.

It's the same generosity that gets me 20% off my beer tomorrow at the local brewery, they call it "Heroes Night".  This includes first responders too.

Glock does it by letting me pay the blue label price at authorized dealers.

This DD214 is sure handy!

Free Gallon Of Gas!

If you start The Beast in "engineering mode" it will show you lots of, mostly useless, things.

One of those things is how much fuel is left in the tank, in liters.

When I pulled into the station, I turned on engineering mode and it read 25.1 liters.

I added 10.627 US gallons (40.23 l) to the tank and the fuel remaining now reads 69.6 l.

25.1 + 40.23 = 65.33.

I got 4.27 l or more than a gallon for free!

Or, most likely, that the fuel level sender is as accurate as every sender I've ever had.

Except The Rust Monster.  The gas gauge in that rusted hulk of a '76 Camaro was dead nuts.  It was uncanny.

Oar Eye Kuhd Bee Ah Kewl Kid

While looking beyond the kilobuck event horizon at the FN High-Power...

I realized that a SIG P320 M17 is just under $700.  Under $600 because Bud's lets me use my DD214 to buy LE versions of it.

Mags are just under $50.

I'm flush with souless plastic pistols.  I've no need for another.

No need whatsoever.

I am curious about what the allure is for it, though.

I suspect, like the old M&P, it's the Gunwriter zeal.

Remember when everyone was drinking the Kool-Aid Flavor-Aid and dumping their Glocks?

Remember when those same everyones declared that they'd done all they could with their M&P and returned to Glock?

Then, when departments were availing themselves of SIG's generous, "we'll give you a brand new P320 in trade for every issue gun you give us."  AIM Surplus gets their LEO trade-in guns from someplace, after all.

Then, when the US Army finally decided that the replacement for the M9 would be a SIG P320...

The Glocks went away and we learned the virtues of the chassis system with a striker!

A chassis with a hammer was just a novelty, apparently.  Though it's more from complaining about the DAO nature of the P250 than the idea of an interchangeable grip module/slide-barrel modular gun.

SIGH.

And some of them wonder why we were depressed when they stopped being gun bloggers and became gun writers.  That and them becoming friends of diminutive douches.

But, hey, the P320 might be a great gun!

Die örtliche Polizei seem to like theirs.

Battery Swap Complete

With the changing of the 123's in all three weaponlights, I am set until next year!

PMCS without a 2404.

How do I do it?

And, judging from the expiration dates, one set was less than a year, one came with Harvey's X300 and one was about five.

I'd neglected the X300's about as bad as the sights.

Nothing had failed, yet.

But that's the purpose of preventative maintenance, ain't it?

Catch it before it fails.

Won't Do That Again

Sucker puncher gets deaded video.

This is almost definitely an illegal shoot.

But I cannot make myself say it was an immoral one.

I'm of the opinion that if you assault someone, you've got anything they can deliver coming back at you and this legal nicety of, "you can't shoot back if they stop hitting you," is exactly a legal nicety.

It's not a moral obligation.

I think we should begin making the killing of animals who make assaults of this nature legal again.

We can also make it legal to shoot thieves fleeing your house in the back too.

BB-35 Fun Fact

At 6 knots, Texas, is the fastest any battleship has traveled in over a decade.

Killed By Rust

I had meant to post about this when I still had the link, but... It just bubbled back into my brain.

The story was about three men who died going down into a chain locker of a ship.

One at a time they entered and collapsed, with the second and third man trying to rescue the previous victims.

Turns out what snuffed them was a lack of oxygen in the space and what ate up all the oxygen was the anchor chain rusting.

I am continually surprised at what the universe puts out there that can kill you.

Brilliant!

 

Looking For A Good Time In Dallas?

 

Worse Than Star Trek

It takes effort to be worse at this than Star Trek too.

Watching The Orville's third season and, once again, television writers and SFX directors don't get the idea about the ranges they're talking about.

Ships are packed in at distances which would be stupid for the US Navy, let alone something set in outer space.

I wish they'd remember the immortal words of Douglas Adams.

“Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.”

I know it's not near so visually stimulating, but it's galling.

There's ways to make it interesting, I know there are.

I GM'd TTRPG sessions without even pictures of what was going on and the players were entertained, with advanced CGI I could make it work.

Sorrow

When looking at Texas being worked on, I am saddened that not one of the numerous "4-stacker" destroyers remains.

The Clemson and Wickes classes were everywhere for a while.

Then there were none.

I've also noticed that there don't appear to be plans to make museums of anything newer than the Korean war.

I think there's an effort to save USS Halyburton, but that's all I can think of.

We didn't even save the first US carrier with an angled deck as part of her design.

"Firearms" Are Next

Bump stocks got nuked, by Trump no less.

ATF is asking for funding to support an amnesty registration of pistol braces in association with an expected December rules change.

The "totally not a short barreled shotgun" "firearms" are bound to be next.

I really feel for the people who poured through the laws finding the loopholes in the NFA that all three of those things slip through.

The people who went to the effort of having ATF issue a letter telling them what they were producing was completely legal are the ones most hurt.  If I were a manufacturer I'd be really hot.

To see all that hard work erased with the stroke of non-legislative pen must really hurt.

I've been trying to say that this is where things were going for a while.

The real solution is to end agencies ability to write rules which have the effect of law.

Failing that, we need a jurisprudence that a violation of a rule or regulation which isn't a clear violation of the law is not a crime.

But the REAL REAL solution is to end the idiocy which is the NFA.

What this bullshit is doing is punishing people who were doing their best to obey the law.  Regulation that changes just to nail this kind of person is among the worst injustices.

A Question

Ten dead and 15 hospitalized in a mass stabbing in Canada.

Have they tried banning firearms?

Have they tried universal registration?

Have they even considered commonsense knife control?

Looking at the numbers, I don't think they can look down on us for mass killings anymore.

Considering their much smaller overall population, this is proportionally a larger mass killing than Parkland!

Prodigiously Priced Pistols

Panzer Guy suggested that I look into a Springfield Armory DS Prodigy.

MSRP is $1,500 to $1,700 with magazines (17, 20 and 26 round capacities) running $60 each.

About 33 ounces.

SPUTTER!

For a bit less, $1,300 or so, I could get FN's High-Power and get cheaper 17-round magazines for $56 each.  But the weight is 40 ounces.

The FN has more curb appeal.

But I'd be far more likely to drop on the M&P 9 2.0 Metal.

30 ounces for $650 and I already have magazines.

There's something to be said about not fucking with the existing log-chain.

 

Musketry

 

While Brenda is my favorite, the advantages of a 20" barrel over a 16" cannot be completely denied.

The extra velocity and energy has an effect down-range.

The rifle being longer and heavier is the sacrifice you make to get that velocity and energy.

I have found that the A4 clone is my second favorite.

Not for home defense; but if we get a hurricane emergency and we have to shoot looters, I think that Valentine is more appropriate.

Longer range, more optics...

Fucking Watermelon

I am currently without a slice of my left pinky.

I was cutting up a watermelon for The Lovely Harvey Tuesday and when I tried to reposition the melon to get the thing cut in half...

I slipped and the tip of the knife protruding from the melon got my pinky.

Looks like it cut the nail and went mostly parallel to it going out the tip.

Sounds worse than it is.

First aid applied and proper care is ongoing.

I feel stupid for the accident. 

I am reminded, for the second time in my life, how little I need my left pinky, but also how often it's used.

It Ain't Just Guns

Having copper when others use stone.

Having bronze when they're stuck with copper.

Iron vs bronze.

Steel vs iron...

The GM or DM just needs to let their guard down for a second and I'm in!

Likewise, I've managed to make a completely playable character who was stone-age in D&D.

Flint arrow heads and a stone ax are just as good as their metal equivalents if the DM hasn't bothered to use some of the optional rules.

Why I Am Interested In Obscure Firearms History

In a nutshell, it's gaming.

If you're aware of a piece of equipment which seems to appear anachronistically early, you get an upgrade to your character's capabilities.

Game stats often don't consider the numerous reasons these old things aren't as good as the more familiar modern equivalent.

A good example was the Warner and Swasey M1913 scope.  In service it was a pain in the ass.  It fogged over a great deal and the solution was to make it easy to take apart so one could wipe at it, perpetuating the moist air is inside problem causing the fogging.

The mounting screws loosened themselves regularly causing problems retaining zero.

While the scope itself is fairly robust, it was easy to knock it out of zero.

But it's a 6x optic and all you need to do is find out how your game handles such and you can have one in 1913, when scopes were uncommon.

There's more than a couple of character sheets with an FG.42 on them because, in game terms, you get a full power, selective fire rifle which compares favorably with the much newer FAL.

No mention of them not being very accurate by FAL standard or very durable.  The stamped receiver is on the very edge of not being able to take 7.92x57mm, so they start deforming rather quickly.

Plus they are balanced oddly.  I got to fire an early version (type E) and it felt like it wanted to roll to the left with a full magazine and not when it was close to empty.  Not rolling hard, but just enough that you needed to pay attention.

I've often wondered if the later type G version was better about that.  I will happily test a clone if someone were to mail me the $6k or an example from SMG.

Then there's also guns like the Czech ZH-29 where you can get a semiautomatic rifle in 1929!  YEARS before the Garand and in a more adventurer friendly caliber than .30-06.

I've done the same thing with a Mondragon rifle, 7mm Mauser being very adventurer friendly for Swashbuckler's campaigns set in South America.

Pistols tend to be easier to sneak past and once the HP35 hits, well... It's the wonder-nine for the next 40 years.

Newest

Another jingoistic moment.

The last six battleships made are still afloat and they are all American.

The oldest battleship still afloat is American.

We're not too bad at this.

Battery Day!

 

Today is battery day for the optics on all the guns!

While not strictly necessary to do every year... and I don't remember every year, it should be done periodically.

The Aimpoint 1000 for the first time in its life gets proper DL 1/3N instead of two 357 size.  More amps and lithium instead of alkaline.

Some of the batteries came with the scopes in question and have been mounted for years.

The PAC5X has had the factory batt in it since 2015 when I got the scope.  So did Harvey's 2016 PAC3X!

It was time.

The AimPoint M4S got its third battery ever, replacing one from 2015.

The BelOMO PK-01VS is also getting it's third battery, it was last changed in 2017.

All of these optics lit up when I checked them before removing the old battery, so no battery had actually failed or leaked... yet.

Preventatives are to prevent failures, not repair them.

I am happy that I am down to just three battery types, two are bog standard.  AA and CR2032 for most with the DL1/3N being the outlier.  FuzzyGeff has another outlier with the AAA, but that's bog standard as well.

Got to get some 123 batts to do the weapon lights too.

I Just Realized Something

Watching Texas come out of the water here:

I recall that Russia lost a floating drydock a while back and they're hung up and can't work on their big ship in the mean time.

We, on the other hand, have enough of the things to tie up one to fix on a museum piece for a year.

America is still doing OK.  We just need to stop the sabotage.

Amusing

It amuses me that, except for the weight, 2.4 vs 2.0 lb., the Beretta M9 and the S&W M&P 9C 2.0 are identical in game terms.

Oh and the Beretta is a TL7 design, the S&W TL8.

The real world notes lots of differences.  But π = 3 in GURPS.

Good

Hanoi Jane has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.

I hope she suffers a lingering and painful death.

That can come from the cancer.  I'm not picky, as long as that bitch suffers.

Without The Internet

Reflector gunsights for rifles and shotguns were commercially available from just after WW2.

The first powered one was the Giese electric gunsight.  I have found several mentions, but not a single picture.

An ambient light illuminated sight was available from about the same time, The Nydar shotgun sight.

I had a hard enough time convincing GM's to let me slide with a ZH29 rifle...  A red-dot might have pushed my luck.

If you can read Russian, or can work Google Translate...  http://vault8.pro/kollimatornye-pritsely-chast-2-istoriya-razvitiya/

Winter Is Coming

Soon we will get a cold front worthy of the name and the Hawaiian shirts will come out of the closet with the Miami Classic!

I'll be toting my new S&W M&P 9 2.0 Compact this season, tipping the scales (with 46 rounds) at 3 lb. 13.6 oz.

This is my lightest shoulder holster package since I stopped packing the P232, and I didn't pack spare ammo with that one!

Since it accepts normal M&P 17-rounders I could add four rounds to the carry package and increase the mass to 3 lb. 15.7 oz.

The previous light loadout was the M&P 45C at 3 lb. 14 oz. with the 8-round mags or 4 lb. 3.2 oz. with 10-rounders for spares.  25 and 29 rounds respectively.

Found Safe

Willard has relocated the missing Astra 600/43!

File Photo

It's always in the last place you look.

Watching Fanatics Argue With Fanatics Is Not As Fun As I Supposed

I gave up on Miggy's blog a while ago.  I stop in occasionally.

His co-blogger lies.

"Remember, they didn’t get open carry legal in Florida, they got rifles in public banned."

They did?

What law is this?

Because I checked.  No changes have been made to Florida's open carry laws.

The state pre-emption on gun laws is intact.

The open carry activists have had zero effect.  Nothing positive.  Nothing negative.

IN FLORIDA.

Every other state where open carry of rifles was predicted to be the end of gun rights forever are now licensed open or constitutional carry.

All.  Even Texas.

I've been saying, for a long time, that the freak the mundanes model given us by the LGBT crowd is an effective one.  But since that comes from those "icky queers," can't use that model, can you?

But, J. Kb, you should not lie about the effects of open carry in Florida on the passage of laws.

He and Miggy seem to be of the, "the rights I have now are perfect, therefore no changes need be made at all," camp.  It's nice that the world aligned for them so well, but some of us want what was promised us returned.

I cannot find "unless that right so offends" or other words to that effect in the US Constitution or the Florida Constitution.

In the immortal words of Mike Muir,

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

and

"And if I offended you, oh I'm sorry...
But maybe you need to be offended
But here's my apology and one more thing...fuck you!"

Knee Jerk

It might seem like I overreacted a bit in response to the rather mild statement, "You just have to put in a little time and effort like you do with any new piece of equipment. I think a lot of the people that complain about it being hard to use just aren't willing to do that."

I've been listening to people say that for more than 30 years about the OEG.

 

The OEG is the Armson Occluded Eye Gunsight and it's a really nifty theory.

Pic stolen from Armson's web page.

With both eyes open, one eye sees the target and the other sees the dot, then the brain superimposes the images and Robert is your mother's brother.

It seems simple and intuitive and it's anything but.  Especially when trying to get that dot zeroed.  Oh, that zero is wrong if you switch eyes.  WAY wrong for most people.

Being a Star Wars geek, I've owned a couple.

They are not easy to use, but I've seen people use them successfully.

I got to the point where I could make it work.  I put in the time and effort.

Remember me being an early adopter of Aimpoint?  I first thought of it as an improved OEG.  It is.

No more tricking your brain!  Zero is easy and works with both eyes!

PS:

For the princely sum of $60 you could get a scope that's very similar to a modern red-dot in 1969 from Sears!

It uses a grain of wheat incandescent bulb instead of an LED, but all of the essential red-dot characteristics are already there.  Uses common, everyday, AA batteries too!

Quite a bit bulkier than an OEG though:

Pic found on Arcom.

Then there's the Weaver Quick Point from the early '70's.  It's a red-dot that's illuminated by a red fiber-optic in a clear dome, much like the OEG, but the dot is projected onto a lens below the light gathering tube allowing you to look through the sight.
 

See what I meant about good ideas taking a long time to catch on?