28 February 2023

Waco D+ 30 years

30 years ago agents of the ATF decided it'd be a good idea to assault David Koresh's place near Waco, Texas.

It did not go as scripted as "plan" reverted to its primary definition, "a list of things that doesn't happen."

It ended in a fire and many deaths.

The date of that fire led to more deaths two years later when the Alfred P Murrah federal building was truck-bombed by Timothy McVeigh.

To this day there are questions unanswered about the 28Feb93 raid.  There is speculation that spins into tinfoil hat conspiracy land...

But after Wu Ping Cough, conspiracies are sounding a lot more reasonable than they did thirty years ago.

I Actually Knew This One

The tachi was the primary combat sword of the Samurai until the 15th century.


The tachi and o-katana are even different enough from a katana to get different stats in GURPS.

"Katana" in Low-Tech is actually a tachi or o-katana.

"Late-Katana" is the shorter side-arm sword, or a true katana.

That's A Lot Of Hate

Scott Adams is in hot water for noticing something we're not supposed to notice.

In a Rasmussen poll some African Americans were asked, "Is it OK to be white?"

While 53% responded that it was...  26% said that it wasn't and 21% said they weren't sure.

Rasmussen is saying this represents how African Americans feel about white people with a ±3% margin of error.

So on the outside 23% of black people in America don't think it's OK to be white.

That's 10.3 million people who don't think it's OK to be white.

Almost 1 in 4 black people, demonstrably, hate white people.

Scott Adams said to get away from black people because, as a whole, they've become a hate group.

The numbers Rasmussen has published supports this conjecture.

Maybe there's more context, polls do a horrible job of actually getting people's true feelings about things.

But it's a data point that shouldn't be ignored just because the data is unpleasant.

By the way, the KKK has, maybe, 8 thousand members.  And I say maybe because it's rife with undercover agents trying to bust them.

The fucking Klan is considered a threat worth keeping full of undercover cops, but 10+ million people isn't?

The times sure be interestin' ain't they?

27 February 2023

Vague

 

I was curious as to why the selector on Brenda was soft and vague, but the one on Olive was crisp and precise.

My first thought it was something about the selectors, but swapping them showed it was something else.

It's the detent.

The one on the left is from Olive and is the KE-Arms sourced one.  The one on the right is a standard detent from a Palmetto State Armory kit.

It's long been known that the spring pocket in the KP-15 is deeper than a normal AR lower and pistol grip.  The KE-Arms version makes up for that extra depth.

WHY the pocket is deeper... dunno why.

26 February 2023

Good Idea

A nuclear power plant is identical to a fossil fuel plant from the steam lines to the generators.

The difference is how the steam is made.

That means that any coal or natural gas plant is already a 2/3 complete nuclear power plant.

I know it will work because the power plant North of here used to be nuclear and the powerhouse was converted to use steam from natural gas when Duke fucked up a refueling and cracked the containment doing maintenance when it was offline.

The turbines don't care what boiled the water.

The big barrier to adding a reactor and such to an existing plant is not technical.

It's political.

It's an embedded bureaucracy that's intended to make the construction so expensive that a profit will likely never be realized.

If I was president, I'd simply declare it a national defense item and start putting the same reactors as the Navy is using in subs and carriers (whichever design is appropriate) and have the damn Navy run them and slip around a couple of EPA regs because the DOD is exempt.

Only through super-human restraint would I not invite protesters to participate in protecting the environment from radiation personally.  I guess they could volunteer, I would make sure the seats were VERY comfy.

Don't Get Entitled Fuckstick

Dear President Zelinsky;

We're not really underwriting the defense of your nation for you.

We're doing it for nations we actually care about.

Like Poland.

Russia doing their "we need to utterly control all the nations on our borders to feel safe" thing, logically extends into invading Poland.

An invasion of Poland, as per NATO rules, demands a more active response from the US than an invasion of Ukraine.

What we're doing for Ukraine is also a lot cheaper than what we'd have to do in Poland.

So, we're fighting the invasion of Poland before it happens on the cheap.

It also means that we're not spending a penny more than we think we need to spend, so getting all demanding about it will just turn the American taxpayer completely against this limited support.

Keep in mind that the American taxpayer isn't all that thrilled about this in the first place.

Being a bitch about it and going all entitled could leave you begging Putin for terms.

Merging

I've tossed magic into historical settings a couple of times.

However, I tend to avoid moments where magic would have made a big difference in history, or put a handwave explanation as to why magic didn't make history come out different.

But...

What if the GURPS magic system was in place for the French Revolution?

Or even AD&D's system.

Resurrection is possible, if you've enough money and access to the appropriate spellcasters.

Changes The Scarlet Pimpernel a bit, don't it?

Confirmed My Bias

There's hardly a thing on YouTube that's worth wasting more than 40 minutes with.

Especially what amounts to a podcast of two or more Youtubers (a form of dancing monkey to be sure) babbling about whatever they're on about.  Even more so if it's a live stream.

Even, or perhaps especially, if they put out good content alone.

I feel like I've listened to enough of them now to just skip over.

24 February 2023

Benign Neglect

It's a bad plan, but I tend to not shoot the gun I carry all the time because I'm carrying it...

I need not have worried overmuch because it shoots just fine.

I put 100 rounds through the Sheild Plus today in "right out of pocket" condition.

Only three malfunctions.

Two failures to lock to the rear on the 10-round magazine.  One fail to go bang.

The fail to go bang is ammo, because there was a normal indentation in the primer.  A second try with that round went bang.

I am thinking that the failure to lock is a magazine problem because the 13-rounders work just fine.

This 10 rounder has done this off and on every time I get more than 50 rounds through her.

Not the worst kind of malfunction to have.

Groups with the Tula Maxx ammo was... Meh.

It shoots much tighter with Winchester White Box.  Worth the extra money, I says.

Remember What I Said About The Melting Pot?

There's a plan afoot to move people of a particular skin tone from the places where they are now to the suburbs.

The confusion between correlation and causation here is that living in the suburbs causes people to be more successful.

I think the causal relationship is actually that people who earn their way to the burbs are successful and it's the choice of successful people to live there.

Moving someone who couldn't earn their way there doesn't necessarily mean they will thrive in the new environment because they have not adopted the culture needed to succeed there.

It's not skin tone scaring people in the burbs, but culture conflict.

Forcing these cultures into the same proximity will cause conflict and traditional Americans are getting very close to not caring what the world thinks of them when the decide the conflict is existential.

I have a local example.

Two doors down and across the street I watched a dark complexioned neighbor dress down his daughter for her choice of a gangsta type boyfriend.  The shouting amounted to, "I did not move away from that shit for YOU to bring it home with you!"

He's a very good neighbor.

But he bought the house on his own, it wasn't leveraged to make some white liberal, who lives in a decidedly urban (and probably gentrified) neighborhood, feel better about themselves.

I wonder if the real drive to move black people out into the burbs has more to do with getting access to new places to gentrify so as to make their urban dreams more pleasant.  Why should the way THEY vote cause THEM to have problems when they can shove the problem they've carefully nurtured to fruition onto someone else.

I'm Not Fat

It's not a gut, it's an organic AIWB retention device!


(Spoiler: I'm fat)

It's Good News

The IP lawsuit by GWACS vs KE Arms et al has been dismissed!

That's excellent news for the entire 2A community!

Mundanities

The recliner in my room, which was the only place I could sleep when healing from me killing The Precious tends to get covered in...  Whatever.

Today, I dug it out.

I have a chair again!

I promptly put a shirt in it.

SIGH.

Some things are meant to be catch-alls.

23 February 2023

A Distraction

 

I just enjoyed this song from the movie.

It's a lot flatter on YouTube than the soundtrack.  Worth the $1.29 for the mp3, I think.

I like finding songs like this which are hard as fuck, but don't contain a single electrical instrument.

22 February 2023

Let's Hear It For Servo Focus

 

In this little pic you might not be able to see, but I caught the prop-tip vortex spirals!

Link to full size.

Also in this shot.

 


Full size link.

Shut Down And Touch And Go

Here's Diamond Lil shutting starting to shut down.  Not sure why they ran #2 longer than the other three.

The Coast Guard was doing touch and goes while we were waiting in line to get inside.  Since we were, practically, standing at the end of the runway I had a really good angle for it.

Then there was a Beech SNB selling rides.



What I Did Today

The Commemorative Air Force brought their B-24A cum C-87A "Diamond Lil" to Brooksville and flew it around some.

Being the frugal bastards we are, Marv and I just took the self-guided ground tour.

The B-24A is much smaller inside than a B-17G.

 



This Guy Is Hilarious

 This is the most sober I've ever seen his analysis of military tech, so this particular vid isn't really all that funny, but it's at least an attempt to be fair about what Russia's capabilities are.

I Should Not Have Done That

Bloke on the Range has a video up talking about the litigation between GWACS Armory and KE Arms et al.

Someone said that Karl and Russell weren't given the opportunity to defend themselves in the Arfcom thread that got locked and got themselves banned with.

Au Contraire!

I read that damned thread.  And the other three they participated in.

While not the only parties guilty of moving the goalposts, they never did answer some of the direct questions put to them.

And I said so in the comments to Bloke's vid.

I got replied to.

If I am charitable, they asserted that Karl and Russel didn't need to reply to some of the accusatory "questions."

But those aren't the questions I was saying remained unanswered.

I pointed that out.

Hit send just as I realized...  It was a waste of time to engage there.

I don't think the person I was replying to cares.

21 February 2023

My 1911 Likes And Dislikes

 

I've been issued a couple.

I've owned a few.

They fit my hand well and I shoot them well.

I've, thankfully, had no problems with any I've owned.

My last issue gun kept shedding its front sight because the unit armorer didn't know how to stake a new one in.  I don't know either, but it's not my job.

I like how they are slim.

I dislike that they are heavy.

I think that I shoot them well enough that their lower capacity compared to the soulless plastic that has supplanted it doesn't matter.  But I prefer more chances to hit the target afforded by the newer designs.

I must have the correct sized meat hooks that the grip safety never gave me a bit of trouble.

1911's have soul.  As does an HP-35.

There's even soul in a metal framed Smith auto, like the 59.

I like the storied history of the thing and how it remains in production despite the advances in technology and the naysayers.

I like how you can make it completely yours from a list of parts that's at least as big as what you can do with an AR, even if it lacks the Lego-like simplicity and ease of installation.

Socket Two Me

I have a Magpul MS3 Sling that often resided on Dottie, but normally sat in the closet.

At one time I had three of my guns configured for it, and Dottie was the only for a while.

Now Olive is configured for it with the addition of QD sockets in the provided holes of the KP-15 lower.



I have a socket on both side by combining a Magpul Type 1 (passenger) and Type 3 (driver) QD socket with a washer to give more stand-off on the Type 1 side.

KE Arms makes their own version of this socket, but only allows for single side mounting.  Which is fine for 95% of the time, but occasionally it's handy to hang it from the passenger side socket because it hangs just a little different.

To me, the whole point of this QD thing is to be able to rapidly reconfigure it.  And idea that the MS series of slings supports.

Also KE Arms charges too much for shipping!

PS the Type 3 was a deeper version of the Type 2 socket that has threads in it.  The Type 1 and Type 2 are the same depth with the 2 being threaded and the 1 having just a hole.  The Type 3 has been discontinued.  To make this work with parts you can still get, use a Type 1 and 2 as shown in the instructions with a washer under both sockets and using the appropriate screw as needed.

They Said It Couldn't Be Done

I installed the LaRue MBT-2S trigger from Dottie into Brenda.


It works with both versions of the KE Arms "optimized" safeties, despite KE Arms saying that they don't.

BULLY!

I am still not completely happy with a match trigger because it feels so alien compared to a bog standard AR trigger.

I cannot deny how it tightens up the groups.

20 February 2023

Tinker Tank

Made some small changes to my Republic Fighter Tank MOC.

Improved the pintle for the small gun.

Did it to the OG Fighter Tank too...

Made some structural changes to the bustle area to make it less fragile.  This also aided the aesthetic, especially with the hatch closed.

Oh, and I changed the crew to be from the 501st Legion to match my AT-TE.

At Least We've Shifted The Language

Another Permitless Bill

A month ago, these bills would have been reported as, "Constitutional Carry."

They are now being, accurately, reported as, "Permitless Carry." 

We've forced a change in the terms being used and that will put Governor DeSantis' feet to the fire since he promised Constitutional carry.

WHAT!?!

I pick what Lego sets I get based on what delights me.

It's mostly been Star Wars sets lately.

It turns out that some of the minifigs that came with those sets are insanely expensive.

The original Jango Fett that came with the Episode 2 Slave 1 is over $500.

The fucking head is $100 by itself.

What the actual fuck?

I'm seriously considering cashing in next month at a convention.  Even $300 for him would be a deal for me.

19 February 2023

Poong-San Defense

Because a casing was caught in my jeans cuff, I got to look at the headstamp of the ammo that Olive doesn't seem to like.

PSD 21.

That's Korean military M193.  I have no idea how I came to have 15 rounds of it in an old Colt 20-rounder.

It could be PMC X-Tac 55gr.  It's labeled as 5.56mm (M193) on the box.

Where's The Hate Crime Charge

 Mother shot in back in parking lot in front of her family.

Alleged murderer is in custody.

But I cannot help but think that, had the races been reversed, there'd be some hate crime charges here too.

Justice needs to do a better job of being blind.

Naked Photography

Shooting in the raw doesn't mean you don't wear clothes.

RAW photography is what it is.

It's a format that doesn't signal process your image.

It takes up more space than the jpg I'm currently using.

It would cut down the number of pictures on my card from thousands to fewer thousands.

The thing is, I don't photoshop to make my pictures better.  I just take the best image I can, in jpg, and call it good.

Yes, this will limit my skills.

I accept that.

I do not, however, condemn anyone who is shooting in RAW.

What is odd is being condemned for not shooting RAW.

I haven't needed to.  I am mostly satisfied with the pictures I'm taking and where I am lacking, it's still within the realm of the camera's settings to fix... I just need to be more adept at setting those settings and picking the right mode.

I am not, just in case it is not obvious, a professional photographer.

I'm not even a hobbiest!

But I like taking pictures.

I am impressed by the photos people who ARE shooting RAW and using photoshop to edit.  They put a lot more work into getting their shot than I do.

They're also spending a lot more money than I do because they get paid for their work.

Were I to attempt to jump from where I am to pro, I'd be investing in a better body, glass, computer and software to take the shots that someone would be willing to pay me for.

And I would, almost certainly, start shooting in RAW.

And Nobody Commented

 Twelve plus years ago, I asked people to state what they liked or disliked about the 1911 and why.

I specifically said they were allowed to tell anyone else they were wrong.

Nobody stepped up.

Is it because I took away the power to condemn someone for liking what they did not?

Angles And Dangles

Olive's KP-15 lower was the first complete lower I've purchased...  Um...  Ever.

That meant that someone else picked the parts for me.

So far the only thing I've actually changed is to use the standard buffer and spring I got from Brownell's from the slightly heavier buffer that KE Arms included.  The Brownell's one feels smoother in an ineffable way.

The safety is messing with me a bit because it's two things I've never had before.

First is it's mirrored ambidextrous.

Second is it's 45° throw.

Driver's side shooty:

Driver's side no-shooty:

Passenger side shooty:


Passenger side no-shooty:

I admit, it's quick, but it's unfamiliar.

It can be changed to a 90° throw, but that puts the passenger side lever into my hand in a distracting way when shooting dextrous.

I learned to work an AR safety with the edge of my hand when shooting sinistrous, so I am not sold on the passenger side lever yet because I don't tend to send my thumb to look for the switch.

I'm not sure this is a solution to a problem or a solution looking for a problem.

Speaking Of Shooting

The Lovely Harvey went shooting alone on Friday.

She still gets tired quickly because she's still building strength, but her groups were the smallest yet.

I think it helped a lot that I wasn't there making her self conscious about how she was shooting.

We might have a, "Thag thinks he's helping, but he's really making Harvey nervous," dynamic going on.

She's still biasing her shots to the left, so I think we'll knock her rear sight over a bit and see if that moves the group.

And Another Thing

I am not entirely happy with my 5.56 grouping from yesterday.

I am hoping that it's because I am not very experienced at shooting past 25 yards.

For years and years to shoot past that distance I needed to drive for hours.  Most of the time the limit at that range was the 50 yard line because of a shortage of RO's to keep an eye out for the people walking back from checking their targets.

Couple that with the range shutting down just about the time I'd be able to get there...

I stayed local and shot shorter.

I am endeavoring to persevere, though.

Some of it is not being able to see.

Some of it is not getting good and steady resting on my range bag.

Ammo might be an issue.  The gun might simply dislike what I'd brought.

I definitely need practice.

Just Step Into The Light Already

I am so sick of hearing about Jimmy Carter.

I have been sick of hearing about Jimmy Carter LITERALLY for decades.

It's bad enough he was a poor president, it's that he inspired a "hold my beer" movement to be worse.

Once he finally croaks, he can fade into obscurity and be remembered for the malaise he led and for being the person that got America fed up enough with the establishment to elect an actor of all things to right the ship of state.

If only the Reagan administration had not made so many concessions to the welfare grift to get the Cold War funded and won.

A Bit More Detail

 Ace lays out why it's not a good idea to listen to Mr Hersh, especially when it's a sensational story.

It's important to remember that Hersh can only give you the correct time when it coincides with the stopped clock.

18 February 2023

The Crushing Recoil Of 5.56x45mm

 

Marv pummeled me with his muzzle brake because he's a pussy.

I've never known someone so recoil averse than he is.

On the up side, it does appear to be working.  That gun ain't jumping.

That'll Do

Brenda in 6.8x43mm SPC is a shooter!

Ditching the KE Arms buffer for a generic H weight give perfect ejection.

100 yards and it's all in the circle on a half-size three-quarter-size IDPA target.

Olive...  Well her upper was originally zeroed for SS109 ammo and the range we go to doesn't allow that ammo any more.  So she shoots off to one side with 55gr... something.

1x magnification did me no favors either.  IIRC this was not very accurate ammo in the first place.  It was what was in the 20-round magazine I keep in my rifle bag.  Have to hit the range with known good ammo before I blame the gun or accept the blame for myself.

17 February 2023

Do Try This At Home


 

4 Slices bacon, chopped 2x 12oz packages of kielbasa, sliced 1/2” thick 1 lb. Hamburger 1 white onion, diced 2-3 cloves minced garlic 3 Tbsp flour 1-1/2 tsp chili powder 1x 14.5 oz. Can crushed tomatoes 2x 16 oz. Baked beans 1x 7 oz. Can chopped green chiles, undrained. 1x 15 oz. Can sweet corn, undrained. 2 large russet potatoes, chopped into 1/2” cubes. 1 cup water. Parsley for appearance Salt and pepper to taste. Crisp bacon, set aside. Brown kielbasa in bacon grease, set aside. Brown burger with onion, add garlic at end. Add salt, pepper, flour and chili powder.  Stir and cook 1 min. Add remaining ingredients, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 1 hour.

Interesting Read

Prescient too.

Read the whole thing. 

The Seven Factors
These key "failure factors" are:

  • Restrictions on the free flow of information.
  • The subjugation of women.
  • Inability to accept responsibility for individual or collective failure.
  • The extended family or clan as the basic unit of social organization.
  • Domination by a restrictive religion.
  • A low valuation of education.
  • Low prestige assigned to work

How many are in play here in the US today?

Let's Be "Racist"

The more I dig into the problem, the more convinced I am that much of "racism" is conflict of culture and not any actual failing of any particular string of genes.

Are blacks stupid?  Are whites smart?

Probably not.

But to make a bad analogy:  How far are you going to get using Apple Basic to program an IBM?

It's not going to work.

Western Civilization is a framework of values.  Use that framework and you're guaranteed a level of success and comfort within it.

Perhaps not great wealth, but you will not starve.

There are some cultures which cannot work within that framework.

There are some which almost work within it.

Because Western Civ is a culture of education and science, it tends to accumulate wealth and advance technology.

That wealth has allowed some "almost" cultures to exist within it.  It's propped up more than a couple non compatible cultures too.

The people in these cultures are currently successful in spite of their native culture, not because of it, thanks to the largess generated by The West.

The problem is they think they are successful because they've been told all cultures are equivalent.

The gigantic problem is that all cultures are not equivalent.

It didn't used to be a problem.

Once upon a time there was a vast, and brutal, education program running in America which took people from other cultures and got them up to speed with Western Civ.

It was called "The Melting Pot."

If you ask a teacher today, they will describe something sitting on a stove making a stew-like mixture.

That wasn't the original meaning.

It was a crucible.

The good from the outside culture was burned out and absorbed into the, stronger, alloy of American culture.  The bad, the slag, was discarded.

Our long, festering, issue in America is and has been actively preventing black people from assimilating into American culture.

This is where there's genuine racism.

But you didn't need to be a racist to see that a slave assimilated into western culture wouldn't be a good manual laborer.

But!  BUT!  BUT!  Western civilization, with its idealism and embracing of freedom and liberty had slowly been coming to the idea that slavery is wrong.

What better way to convince yourself that it was still OK to keep that peculiar institution going than to promote the idea that the slaves were incapable of being equal members of American civilization?

An idea promoted so well that the very people most oppressed by the concept have bought into it so fully I despair at the task of fixing that lie.

The idea that it's their genes and not the subculture is something that creeps into, otherwise, rational people's thoughts.

Why?

Because membership in this subculture requires one to be of the no longer enslaved race.

How does this subculture react to its members coming to the same conclusion as I have?  It curses them and tries to drag them back in, like crabs in a cookpot keeping others from escaping if they are doomed.

It's ingrained.

The good news is that it wouldn't take but two generations to unfuck.

BUT! (again with the buts)

We have to decide to fire up the melting pot and let it work its brutal magic.  And make no mistake, it will be brutal.

At the end, though, we could have black skin have no more meaning than having auburn hair or green eyes.

We've come so very close more than once.

Every time it's been actively sabotaged by "people" with strong incentives to keep the status quo.  People who have convinced themselves that blacks are incapable of being full members of society because of genetic failings.  Gee, that sounds familiar, Mr Crow!

While we're on the topic of bigotry and why I think that the concept has merit:

Italians, Irish and Catholics.

They were subjected to as bad (some even say worse) discrimination and abuse than any free-black person endured.  In some cases, being Irish was worse than being a black slave.  A slave, being property, had some value to their owner.  Irish laborers were considered disposable.  If one were to die, you'd shrug and get two more off the dock.  YOU DIDN'T EVEN HAVE TO PAY FOR THEM!!!

But the Irish went from filthy Micks to identifiable surname in about two generations.

TWICE!

Italians, same thing.

Catholicism took JFK to assimilate, but that had more to do with the idea of obeying The Pope than a real hatred.  Americans used to be distrustful of someone who had extra-territorial allegiances.

We know, in our hearts, that it's possible.

PS: Reading the history of a couple of places in Africa convinces me even more that it's a culture issue than anything else.  Rhodesia might be another example of where it was actively prevented from happening.  The white government repeatedly stated that the black population was "not ready" for full enfranchisement.  That they lacked the education to handle the responsibility of the vote.

Well, Zimbabwe kind of underscores what they said would happen if majority rule was implemented before such education was disseminated.  But, then, Communists never did value education when there was a population to subjugate.

16 February 2023

Up-Armoring

 

Beefed up the hatch coaming a bit and changed the little cheese wedges from white to translucent gray and giving them a twist.

Playing with the aesthetic is fun.

Fighter Tank Comparison

On the left, my own creation.  On the right, the kit built to the instructions.

You can see that I didn't change much.  I was trying to preserve the aesthetic of the design while making it an actual tank instead of...  Whatever that is.

I'd considered making the gun house portion of the original rotating, but that would have affected structural components I wasn't willing to hunt out replacements for.

Cycles And Hours

I've tried several times to inject some realism into my Traveller campaigns.

Mr Garabaldi has mentioned some aviation maintenance stuff that reminded me to do some maths.

The rules command that a ship put in for annual maintenance or suffer ever increasing chances for malfunctions.

Based on the prices and times, this is an annual overhaul.

I've total-party-killed the group several times when they neglected that overhaul and misjumped to oblivion.

But the duty cycle on these things is...  Light.

The annual maintenance is based on running the jump drive for a week in jump 13 times a year.  Likewise the maneuver drives run for five days max in the worst case scenario per jump.

That gives the jump drive 2,184 hours between overhauls and the maneuver drive 1,560.  The ppwer plant is running when either drive is running, so it's got 3,744 hours on it when the worst case hours puts into drydock.

That 1,500 hour between overhauls on the maneuver drive affects in-system traffic more than interstellar.

A 1G shuttle making the run to Jupiter uses about 300 hours of that time.  So five round trips before needing to overhaul the motors.

Compared to aviation, these numbers seem tiny.

But we're talking insane amounts of energy and miraculous effects.

The reliability of the jump drive is the worst, except for all the other ways.

Yes It Matters

The Republic Fighter Tank is kinda sorta canon...

It's from a video game, not any of the movies or shows.

Lego has made three versions of it so far with varying degrees of fidelity.

But something that sticks in my craw is that it doesn't have a turret and it's armed with two light guns.

All better!

I think I managed to adhere to the aesthetic properly.


15 February 2023

First Ever Carry

 The mighty FIE Titan in .25 ACP!

The first gun I carried concealed regular like, and illegally because Story County, Iowa was a no-issue county.

Illegal carry was a misdemeanor, and a not that bad fine at the time, so the risk was small.

It's why I chuckle at "law abiding gun owner" sometimes.

I still feel I was morally correct in ignoring such an immoral law. 

Quite often there was a Glock in my gaming bag too.

When I moved down here, Florida's gun laws were substantially better than Iowa's.  Now the only thing better about Florida's laws is being allowed to own a registered NFA item.

GAS GAS GAS

Last weeks bug bombing knocked the little bastards on their heels.

Yesterday, I sprayed all around the house and in the cupboards with what I call "tanglefoot", it's a persistent insecticide.

Today I am bombing again, just to make sure.

I like overdoing it when it comes to poisoning bugs.

Cuba Libre!

 It's been 125 years since USS Maine exploded and we blamed the Spanish for a coal bunker fired magazine explosion.

We can lay the blame at Hearst's feet.

14 February 2023

Repetition

It just occurred to me that changing the stocks on my P220 from wood to plastic is something I'd done before.

For the same reason.

The wood had failed.

My Colt Detective Special came with cracked stocks too.

I guess the P220 is superior in that I can work on it myself and not be told by Cylinder and Slide that it was beyond economic repair.

Living The Wonderful Life

George Bailey should have invested in plastics.

Just sayin'.


At The Temple

FuzzyGeff noticed something that I'd missed.

Willard's grand-daughter was on leave and asked to go shooting with us, because the service hadn't provided enough trigger time.

I hadn't thought anything of it, but FuzzyGeff found a deeper meaning.

She'd come to seek wisdom from the wise men of the temple.

It's humorous and sobering at the same time.

Weight Reduction

Dottie was a tubby girl.

8.6 lb. plus 1.2 lb. for the optic.

Changing to an A1 stock and round handguards drops it some.

8.3 lb. plus the 1.2 lb optic.

Hiding her behind every blade of grass, really drops the mass!

7.6 lb. plus the 1.2 lb. optic.  Almost the same as just the rifle was before!

I don't tend to count the sling but they run about 0.4 lb.

I think she's no longer Dottie.  Too much has changed.  Brenda simply gets a new caliber!

Based On Data

The local news has an article that says that Ukraine is killing 1,000 Russian soldiers a day.

Well shit!  All they need now is a deck of cards to wait for Russia to run out of soldiers.

But then... the weasel words.

Non-Ukrainian intel groups using data provided by Ukraine...

I guess Ukraine has no reason to give false or misleading data, do they?

Based on data provided by The Abode of McThag; Angus McThag has mutually satisfactory sex with two super-models every day.  He does this after polishing his extensive Faberge egg collection.

See how that works?

Call me skeptical.

I don't think we're getting honest data from either side here.

I Like Thought Experiments

A thread asks, "What if you had to carry a pre-1945 gun as your daily carry."

What if I have to?

Well, been there, done that.

My very first, legal tote was with a revolver made in 1891.  H&R Automatic Top-Break 2nd Model 1st Variation in .32 H&R Long (.32 S&W Long fits and fires).

I've never been afraid of older designs.  They're often just fine, if heavy and limited in capacity compared to newer guns.

I pocketed a 1926 made Colt Pocket Hammerless .380 ACP for quite a while as well.

If it was just by age of the design, there's the 1911's.

First the Springfield M-1911 A1 'GI'

Then the Colt Government Model in .38 Super.


13 February 2023

Grind And Grit

Olive didn't have a smooth feel when racking the charging handle doing dry fire.

Since the upper was the same as Brenda, I tried swapping the buffer and spring.

Smoothed right out.

Then I put the buffers back where they came from and left the springs swapped.

Still smooth.


 

The KE Arms spring is shorter than the Brownell's (10-5/8" vs 11-3/16") and wound clockwise instead of counter like all the other buffer springs.

Both are compressed some by installation, so I don't think length was a big issue.

The Brownell's spring has 37 coils, the KE Arms 38.

Both use approximately the same 0.074" thick wire.

The KE Arms spring seems to be more progressive than the Brownell's one.

KE Arms buffer is 3.2 oz.  Brownell's is 3.0 oz.

The hole the buffer goes into was ground down on Olive.


 Both my KP-15 lowers are blems, this could be the reason on Olive.

Brenda doesn't show any sign of such work.




A Modest Proposal

Let's just not bother reporting on anyone killed in a gun free zone.

Deaths are what the people who created them seem to want, so lets not give them the satisfaction of mentioning they'd succeeded in getting someone killed for a lack of shooting back.

No carry on campus has facilitated the deaths of how many people now?

Enough, I think, to indict a lot of politicians as accomplices before the fact.

12 February 2023

Can A Photo Hurt You

Jasmine and a Rhodesian brush camo inspired Hawaiian shirt.

Apparently, there's people who act like this photo can cause physical harm to them.

Nope.

Just a picture of a rifle on a shirt.

Remember When "Budget" Meant Readily Affordable

The first place that I noticed that "budget build" no longer meant readily affordable was in Hot Rod and Car Craft.

Perhaps it was because they were in California where the rent payments in 1996 are like Florida rent payments in 2023.

Something hit me then as now.

"The Defense Department has a budget; and the F-35 program was made on a budget."

For AR's you can definitely get a functional, reliable gun for less than a grand.

You can almost come in under a grand when you add glass.

When you've spent three grand on your gun, you're no longer making a budget build.

PS: If you ARE spending $2k plus on just the rifle, why are you shooting the cheapest shit you can lay hands on?  Can't afford better after buying the gun?

KE Arms Observations

Olive has the first complete KE Arms KP-15 lower I've had.

KE Arms springs are black.

Their buffer is black.

They like black, apparently.

I've read about their 45 degree ambidextrous safety not working with some triggers.

Triggers that work fine with bog standard safeties.

Their buffer spring doesn't like seating all the way home on the buffer.

Not sure it makes any difference, but they seem to have a problem with adhering to the established standards.

On Chinesium

While I hear a constant barrage condemning "Chinesium," I've very rarely heard about Chinese made tools actually failing when the brand is reputable.

My dead 1/4 drive ratchet was 'Mercian made.

The screwdriver tip that broke last night was American made, from the vaunted Western Forge no less.

I've no primary source for a broken Chinese made Craftsman tool.  Lots and LOTS of "My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw a Chinese made combination wrench break at 31 Flavors last night."

Chinese made things depend a great deal on keeping them on a tight leash.

If you take your eyes off them, they slack off like nobody's business.

I'm reminded of Star, the Spanish gun-maker.

If you paid for it, Star would hold to a spec that even Colt, in its heyday, would be challenged to match.

If.  You.  Paid.  For.  It.

If you balked at the price, they'd drop the fit and finish steps until the customer was happy with the price.

That's why you can find Super B's that are exquisitely finished, and some which look like they were made with a hand file by a drunk.

China is no different. 

Of course, they're Godless Commie Bastards and that's reason enough to hate the fuckers.

And I do.

11 February 2023

After Hours Approval

The OD green KP-15 lower was approved about an hour and a half after the place closed.

So I picked it up this morning.

Brenda is now just a complete lower.

Please welcome Olive!

The sharp eyed will note that's Dottie's old handguard.

That's because Dottie has gone some what retro

I'm not sure what I'm going to build Brenda into, but there's a couple of projects ahead of her in the queue.


5 Ounces

One plan was to replace Dottie's lower with the OD KP-15.

That should dump about a pound from her.

Just ditching the Magpul furniture for a conventional round handguard and an old type-E A1 stock drops 0.3 lb.

Those five ounces make all the difference.

I'm half considering retiring the FDE lower and making Brenda OD Green instead of making Dottie any lighter.

We'll see.

I'd much rather get the DOD/AFM delete going on The Beast than make another gun build.

And I'd like to get the desktop updated.

10 February 2023

Can't Afford Not To

I waste a lot of money saving money.

Brownell's dropped the price of a complete KE-Arm KP-15 in OD green down by around $100.

So I splurged.

That should lighten up Dottie by about a pound.

That means I will have a spare rifle configured lower.

Perfect for an ersatz Mk.12 Mod.1 build!

But first, my luck at getting a fast background check is holding.

We'll see if I ever get to pick it up.

Consider The Source

Seymour Hersh has an article that claims that the US blew up the Nordstream pipeline.

Mr Hersh does not have a good track record of getting things correct, and hasn't gotten one right since he reported on the My Lai massacre.

To me, though, the thing that says it was simple Russian incompetence that caused the problem is how the Russians have been behaving about it.

Mr Putin is not screaming bloody murder about the US Navy at every turn.

Suspiciously silent is a good way to put it.

More Contentious

What brand of tool is more contentious than even whether there should be pineapple on pizza or chili in beans.

My toolbox is mostly full of Craftsman.  Mostly from the early 90's.

I've had good luck with it.

Only had to do a couple of warranty returns.

It appears that Lowe's is honoring the Sears warranty, if it comes to it.

I have had so many people look down their noses at my tools it's not even funny.

They're working for me, so I don't care.

I'm getting the same static about the Ryobi power tools I got too.

I have killed a couple of those.  Exceed the design duty cycle at your peril.

But for most things, what I've been buying has been working.

(By the way, Milwaukee is made by the same company as Ryobi, just a different spec.)

The funny thing is, I learned the schedule of the Snap-On truck because a buddy insisted on them.  And we needed to track that fucker down to get the warranty honored.  Over and over.

He didn't treat his tools any worse than I do either.

Bad run of 3/8 ratchets is what I think, and kept getting replacements from the same flawed production run.

But eventually he got a good one and stopped needed to track that fucker down.

This would be true of any maker and a life-time warranty.

I've Given This Advice

 

I used to have a flanged mace engraved with "Gamer Tamer".

09 February 2023

Then I Realized

I was reading about Russia still making Il-76's.

Before I even finished the thought of, "damn that's an old airframe!" I heard Lockeed/Martin laughing all the way to the bank making new C-130's.

Coincidence I Swear

I've been doing a rewatch of The Marvel Universe movies in order.

Today the movie will be Thor from 2011.

On a Thursday.

[giggle like a school girl]

Permitless Carry Advances

After the "would be comedic if the stakes weren't so high" circus of the Florida House Constitutional Rights, Rule of Law, and Government Operations subcommittee H543 managed to get approval to move on to the next committee meeting.

Judicial, I think.

The D side of the fence did their normal "the sky is falling, there will be blood in the streets" thing and the R side kept reminding them that nothing in the bill said anything about what they were talking about.

The anti-gun petitioners echoed "the sky is falling, there will be blood in the streets" and stressed how afraid they were about people being able to carry guns without a permit because there were lots of mass shootings in gun free zones.

Then applauded when two subcommittee members (guess which party) proposed making gun free zones more expansive.

HEADDESK

The pro-gun petitioners, almost universally, condemned the bait-and-switch of calling this "constitutional carry" when, lacking open carry, it clearly isn't.

The R side did nothing to address their concerns.

Nor will they ever until they come to believe that they represent the voters and not the tourist industry or law enforcement organizations.

Considering the number of primary challengers being lined up, I think they might get a hint in 2024 about it.

Perhaps enough of a hint that we will get an actual constitutional carry bill instead.

Because our rights were eroded incrementally, I'll accept winning them back incrementally as long as we acknowledge that each win is but a step to recovering all our freedoms.

It's a big elephant, one bite at a time.

But just because it's a bite in the right direction, it doesn't mean I can't complain there's no salt.

08 February 2023

Cautious Optimism

Have not seen a live roach for hours.

All I did different from the first time last month was to increase the soak time from two hours to four.

Fingers crossed.

Going to do it again next week, just because.

It Shouldn't Be This Hard

The brake booster on Marv's '96 Vette died.

It has redefined inaccessible for me.

He got it apart, but...  He's taller than me and GM didn't leave any room for his arms to angle around at all.  Even with the steering column and seats out!

Marv has it so I can get my double jointed hands in there to get nuts on the studs, but nothing we've tried is getting the push-rod on the post on the pedal.

It goes over the narrow part, but doesn't go down the wider part as it should.

The hole in the rod needs hogged out a bit.

In the process of doing that, though, something went "sproing" inside the thing and now there's a rattle.

Now he needs a second new booster.

Toxicity

I am engaged in chemical warfare with the damned roaches.

Last time really knocked them back on their heels, this time I'm giving a much longer soak time than the minimum 2-hours.

It seems we do this every seven or eight years, though I think I know the source this time.

07 February 2023

USS Caine

I've long wanted a model of the, fictional, destroyer minesweeper USS Caine; of The Cain Mutiny fame.

The principle problem has been finding a model of a Wickes or Clemson class 4-stacker to start with.

I'd prefer 1/200 scale, but 1/350 seems more common for WW2 ships.

Not that anyone makes one in those scales.

There are a couple of places who make museum quality models of them in their original form, none in the DMS refit.

I don't think I've got the skills to make it all from scratch.

News To Me

Something that the Antifa and Black-Lives-Matter supporting "pro-gun" groups are trying to make a thing is that "the 2nd amendment is for everyone!" with the implication that those who oppose rioting, arson and destruction of property think that minorities shouldn't be allowed firearms.

That's never been true for me.

I've advocated for equal rights for all for a long time.

I'm a monster because I really mean equal, of course.

I signed up to teach gun safety and basic marksmanship with Operation Blazing Sword.

I've helped with Pink Pistols for years.

Why?

Because I discovered that I had friends who'd been secretly gay for years.

Secretly, because of the threat of violence from the "normal" people.

Armed populations don't get genocided.

That's what Pink Pistols teaches.

Gay rights did advance to the point of equality.  LGBTQ stuff is nearly to the point of general acceptance.  That's really as it should be.  But just like Mothers Against Drunk Driving and NAACP, once they'd achieved victory, the people who ran the organizations discovered they'd be out of work.

So they found additional "rights" to advocate for beyond what was right and just.

The Antifa and BLM associated groups are attempting to say that opposing the normalization of pederasty and that gender dimorphism can exist prior to secondary sexual traits emerge are committing genocide.

I don't think they know what genocide means.

Even so, I've noticed something.  There's no conversation about denying these people their right to own a firearm.  There is no conversation, even among people who dislike "Teh Gheys" intensely (and they've commented here) to round them up into camps and execute a "final solution."

The pro-gun community teaches LGBTQ people to shoot.  The pro-gun community teaches women to shoot.  The pro-gun community teaches minorities to shoot.

We're not, generally, homophobes, sexists, or racists.

We've been living the idea that the Second Amendment is for everyone for decades.

The NRA was even active in arming blacks during the Civil Rights Era in the south!  Worst.  Racists.  Evah!  Charlton Heston got drawn into the fight for firearms rights because of his activism for civil rights.

I think the problem is that we're also advocating for law and order.

Criminals who loot, rape, murder, burn, riot and destroy are not protected by the aegis of the 2nd Amendment.

That's why they think we hate their "rights."  We don't support criminality.

Sausage Making

Watching the live feed of the Florida House Constitutional Rights, Rule of Law, and Government Operations Subcommittee hearing on H543.

The committee does not seem to have read the bill nor the law it's changing.

Rep Joseph is going off on all manner of things that aren't in the bill at all.

And they're asking the same question over and over.

Rep Roach has slapped them down numerous times.

A Different F-Word

Liberal gun owners have claimed that the phrase, "slotting floppies," means "shooting [CENSORED!]."

The phrase comes from the Rhodesian Bush War.

Well, does floppy mean [CENSORED!]?

I happen to know a veteran of the tail end of that war.

Mr Willard, would you like to share it's meaning to the class?

Of particular note is Mr Willard was an officer in the RAR, or Rhodesian African Rifles, and the men under him were not white.

Trolling At Max Level

Apparently Karl Karsada of InRange on YouTube and Brownell's relationship is a bit strained over a thread at Arfcom.

The marketing director of KE Arms, Russel Phagen has weighed in on Karl's side in this thread.

It appears that Brownell's is liquidating their KE Arms stock, in particular the What Would Stoner Do guns.

In addition to deep cuts in the price, there's an additional 10% discount code.

"TRIGGERED"

I have to admit, I laughed.

If you were considering a KP-15 lower, money wise, this would be a great time to get one.

06 February 2023

Reluctance

I've been reading about a couple of YouTube personalities and I am discovering that I don't care for them.

I am reluctant to name them because they have an army of flying monkeys who will not hesitate to dox my ass and send their fellows to harass me.

One of them works for a company which makes guns.

I am now reluctant to keep doing business with that company.

It's probably not hard to figure out whom I'm speaking of, but...

I'm reluctant to even say as much as I already have.

What Does This Mean To You

Person 1:  I think pedophilia is wrong and events meant to encourage children into thinking that it isn't is likewise wrong.

Person 2, responding to person 1: You are a homophobic bigot and hate everyone LGBTQ!

It seems to me that person 1 didn't make such a broad statement, but that person 2 might associate the entire LGBTQ spectrum with pedos.

That, my friends, is what we call a tell.

Especially since there's a lot of LGBTQ people out there saying, "I'm not with them!"

Homosexual ≠ Pedophile.

Even if most pedophiles are also homosexuals they are not the same and being a homosexual is not a good indication of being a pedophile.

If recent rumors about the dancing monkeys is correct, there are far more straight pedophiles than gay; it's that our sample selections were biased to the population not protected by Hollywood money.

Blocked

I have about ten things I want to babble about, but instead of babbling, I'm gibbering.

Got to work on getting it up to blather.

05 February 2023

Done!

Done hours ago in fact.

The passenger side fought less, but still fought.

No friction material left on the shoes and a good deep lip on the drum.

The parking brake design on the Colorado is teh suxxor.

Marv earned his beer for getting the ball on the end of the (stuck) parking brake cable seated in its home.

When we do this on Marv's truck we're buying the spring compressor tool!  That would make this all a LOT easier next time.  Though, not for the parking brake...

You Know It's Florida

You can tell you're wrenching in Florida when you have to hit your feet with Lava soap because you did the job in your flip-flops.

04 February 2023

That There's Your Problem

Father In Law's truck started losing brake fluid and had almost no pedal left.

Found a leak in the left rear.

Wheel cylinder.

Why?

Because the piston had shot out of the front bore and it was just pouring out the block.

Why?

Because there was no material left on the shoes and at least 1/8" of a lip on the drum.  <-- Yes, that was "fun" to get apart.

Metal on metal for who knows how long.

Got the left side apart and back together.

Did the initial bleed on the corner we'd worked on.  Holding pressure, no leaks!

The 2008 Colorado's rear drums are different from the 1991 Caprice rears that I'm familiar with and have their own quirks about disassembly and reassembly.

We, Marv and I, figured it out and we do the right side tomorrow before The Lovely Harvey sets us a bounty of a bone-in oven baked ham!

YUM!

Bad Ammo

There's a bulk reloading company that no longer exists.

The reason they no longer exist is because their QC sucks.


 I had a blown case from one round and decided not to shoot it anymore.

But what to do with the two remaining boxes?

Marv reloads, so he pulled the cartridges apart for components.

He found that the powder charge varied wildly!  From 3.7 to 4.5 grains with a 3.88 average.

Not knowing what kind of powder it was, he decided to dispose of it rather than reuse.

He was kind enough to record the disposal!

Can't embed shorts, so here's a link.  LINK

03 February 2023

Armeeoel

Having fun with the camera.