With A Sense Of Excitement And Dread

Alms?  Alms For the M1911A1?

CMP just emailed my lottery number.

2765.

Low enough that a demand for payment information will be coming soon.

How soon remains to be seen.

They've been averaging 100 emails per business day and 27 calls for payment.

Based on the numbers from a couple of forums, I have until mid-February to hork up the money.

Holy crap, I think this is going to happen.

Ideal For Conceal Carry

The shop had an unknown set of target stocks.  Willard happened to have a K-frame on his person to see if they fit.

They do, but it's ridiculous.

Many Small Installments It Is

Willard indicates that, as a Trained Survivor of Ranger School, he is immune to my primitive mind-wipe techniques.

He did not rule out my paying for the 15-3.

While much more expensive than the time-tested Ranger-Mind-Wipe method of bashing him in the head with a hammer...  giving him money is far more socially acceptable and legal than assault with a deadly weapon.

How many months of $10 a month until it's paid off?

Uh...

Shocking

Two things from this photo from this article.

First: They still make Hamm's?

Second: It's outselling Miller Lite, PBR, Coors and Miller High Life?

If You Name Your Child Abcde

Not only do you deserve to be mocked over picking such an idiotic name, you should be prosecuted for child abuse.

Obviously this "parent" is not competent to raise a child.

It's OK Anne, We Got Better

Anne Hathaway is concerned that her country is gassing children.

It's OK, Anne, we were men by the end of OSUT.

I guarantee you, Ms Hathaway, we got substantially heavier doses than can be delivered outdoors.

I got it twice because I foolishly dropped my helmet-liner when I unmasked.

What The Actual Fuck?

Snipes is going to get a $130,000 pension after all this shit?

Clearly this obeying the law and having integrity is never going to pay off.

First You Outlive Your Critics

It really changes the tone of Tombstone doesn't it?

Clearly I Will Deserve Substantial Financial Compensation

If the Democrats get their way and maternity leave is made mandatory I am suing.

It's discrimination against me on several counts but most notably:

The very word maternity evokes the feminine discriminating against me as a man.

It further underscores my inability to bear children due to Y chromosome sexual dimorphism.

It makes people without a recent childbirth second class citizens by denying them the right to take months off and have a job when they return.

Please stand with me against this bigotry.

Forty Four

That was the outside temperature I was confronted with this morning.

It will be warm again in a couple of days, then cold, then warm then...

Welcome to Suncoast Florida!

I am especially glad I went with all-season tires this time instead of the max-performance summer.

When it gets this chilly, those summer tires aren't sticky at all.

Gonna Have Forearms Like Popeye

Now that I've finally found the hold that lets me shoot the M&P without the annoying twitch as the sear breaks I've been dry firing a lot.

Holding it harder seems to help a lot.

I can sure feel it in my muscles down there.

Prolly going to get a blister on my thumb... (big hands you know you're the one).

Masterpiece For A Reason

The Model 15-3 is a shooter.

Not only that, the double action groups are nearly as small as the single action.

And this is with PMC's .38 Special range fodder.

I think I will either have to pay Willard for this gun or mind-wipe him into forgetting he left it here.

T-Shirt Idea

A tab with "SPECIAL FORCES" in it.

Underneath, "No, not like Green Beret; like Education."

Are The '80's Retro?

Brownell's is getting ready to release a 1980's throwback 1911.

They're calling it retro, but are the 80's retro?

I remember this debate from the retro section of Arfcom, arguably the people who coined the term in relation to guns.

They put a cut-off on retro to just past the end of Vietnam.

The M16A2 isn't retro.

The M16A2 is from the '80's...

See where this is leading?

How old does something have to be before it's retro?

The barometer in clothing and cars is when the vintage parts become valuable when there's a groundswell in interest and recreating the look of an era.

I don't see anyone besides CBS doing the '80's...

Are the fashions of Miami Vice coming back?

Are the guns of Miami Vice back in vogue?

The prices on S&W 645's don't seem much higher than a couple years ago.

I don't think the '80's are retro... yet.

Brownell's could be the pioneer that starts a trend though!

Bring on the Armani wrinkled suits and wearing penny-loafers without socks!

"NO EARTH TONES!" M. Mann.

Drill Frackin' Drill Baby

I cannot remember a Thanksgiving season, the biggest travel holiday in America, where the gas prices went down before.

When more demand chases a given supply, the price goes up.

Demand was higher this year than last year, and the prices went down.  Last year prices went up 30¢ a gallon from late October to November ($2.119 to $2.419).  This year prices went from $2.549 in late October to $2.179 today, a fall of 37¢.  Early October was $2.699...

That says that supply is outstripping demand, despite the increase.

More pipeline capacity is coming online, I expect to see prices drop even further and possibly stay down for a while.

I Had The Tools Out Anyway

Nudged the rear sight over the 0.0171" and noticed the old trigger sitting in the Apex Action Enhanced Trigger Kit and I remembered that I used the stock sear return spring.

"What the heck?" I asked myself and put in the heavier spring that came with the kit.

It's increased the trigger from 5 lb. 10 oz. to 6 lb. 1 oz., but it's much crisper feeling.

Got to take it to the range to see if it changes my shooting any.

I tend to fall on the side of a heavier, but sharper trigger than lighter and softer.

Adulting Sucks

All this being responsible and paying the bills sure cuts into the fun.

This time of year is especially difficult with all the sales going on.

I've got an AR project on hold that needs an upper and Palmetto sure has a deal on for a complete one.

Worse is when you thought you'd squirreled away some money for something and life intercedes and that money disappears for life's needs.  Having two of Harvey's relatives drop dead in the same year takes a toll on the finances.

I guess the good news about squirreling is there was money there for life to take.

I didn't want to grow up!  I wanted to remain a Toy-R-Us kid.

How Shiny Can I Get This Cannonball

My M&P shoots just a bit left.

23/32" left on average.

To move the rear sight to compensate means moving it 0.0171".

I have the tools, do I have the patience?

Brew Toofs

The Motoz3 does not have a headphone jack.

It only has a USB-C port.

Motorola thoughtfully included an adapter to let you use wired headphones, but when it's plugged in you can't charge your phone.

$3 (THREE BUCKS!) to China got a small tube which puts Bluetooth to a headphone jack.

In theory this will let me charge the phone while driving and listening to the music stored on the phone or making phone calls through the car's speakers.

It's inelegant.

Happily, it also works with the aux cable I already have for this purpose.

If this gets too tiresome, there are also Y style adapters for the USB C that have a tail for the headphone plug and a tail for the USB too.

Do You Know What This Is?

I was very tempted to open this envelope because I'd never seen one before.

It's a .45 ACP cleaning rod.

We didn't have them in my line unit.  We used M16 cleaning kits.

To find that there was a supply, still in the wrapper, is really disheartening.

Well, not really still in the wrapper.  This rod was encased in this wrapper in July 2004.  No idea if it was was turned in and wrapped or unwrapped from old stock, inspected and re-wrapped.

What I do know is we didn't have them.  In a line unit.  In Germany.  At the height of The Cold War.

Oddly I Am Relieved

The fact that Marv got a good Remington-Rand after I goaded him into it has made me feel much less anxious about my number not coming up.

I fully expect to never be contacted by the CMP at this time and I am oddly OK with it.

It's strange because I DO really want one.  I just don't NEED one anymore.

I live vicariously through Marv at times.

Two For Two

"I hope you stayed out of jail and off YouTube this Black-Friday weekend!"

SUCCESS!

Batch 15 Of 15

A relatively local distillery, Siesta Key, ages some runs of their rum in beer barrels.

It's quite good.  Unfortunately for you out of state people, you have to buy it from the distillery pretty much the same week it's released.

A Sad Collection Of Parts

Marv's Winchester '94 is dead.

Someone cracked the tang in the way back.

Took it to a gunsmith today to ask if it could be welded.

The receivers on the 1970's guns aren't suitable for such, he says.

So it's off to the graving yard and to be dismantled for parts.

Need anything from a 1971 Win 94 in .30-30?

Integrity And The Siren's Call

I once asked for, and received, a BelOMO PK-01VS red-dot for review.

I gave it my honest assessment and ran a long term battery test (you can see those at the posts in the link.)

In the back of my mind was the thought, "If this thing sucks balls and I say so, will they send me more stuff to review?"

It didn't suck balls, but I've never asked for anything else to review.

The engineer/designer half of me thinks that a review should always be honest and that the manufacturer should treat negative reviews as an opportunity to improve their product.

If your product doesn't suck balls, then you've no need to pressure writers for good reviews; they will happen on their own.

Even if your product doesn't suck balls, there's only so much that can be said about it.

The PK-01VS, for example, it's a red dot.  If the reader knows what a red dot is, then 2/3 of what you can say about it is already written in the reader's mind.  What's left is how it mounts, does it co-witness, what does it weigh, does it keep zero after remounting and what does it cost?

It's not new and innovative in a world where Aimpoint has been around for decades.

But what if it had sucked?

On the strength of my experience with the PK-01VS, Marv bought a BelOMO PO3.5x21P.

He wanted magnification where I didn't.

The PO3.5x21P is magnified and has decently clear glass.  It's also huge, clunky, heavy, mounts awkwardly high and has very weak illumination.

He paid for this scope.  But what if I'd gotten it for free for review?  Would I have said that I didn't like it?  Would I have told Marv it was exactly what he wanted?

The fact that I had this doubt is why I've never asked for something else to review.

When I buy something and put down my thoughts about it, I can be upset if it doesn't work and say so.  I can be thrilled it does work; and say so!

I've been at this blogging thing for a long time and the names in the sidebar keep changing.  A couple of the must-reads are gone because going big-time seems to mean you have to change completely to remain there.  The "I get PAID to explain this at WORK!"attitude seeps into interactions where an honest question once got a friendly, or even humorous answer.

The person on the other end of the aether is gone and has been replaced by a writer.

The first step in becoming a writer is to accept the free stuff the second is to write so that it keeps flowing.  Why?  Because it's not the subscribers that pay the bills, it's the advertisers.

It's tragically amusing.

Things I've Learned From Gun Writers

Over the years, gun-writers have said the following.

There is no possible way to shoot better without a shot timer.

There is no possible way to learn how to shoot without receiving training.

The Glock SIG Smith and Wesson FN Glock is the best handgun ever made.

Plastic Polymer framed guns are a passing fad here to stay.

9mm sucks and should not be relied on for serious self defense.

.40 S&W is the best possible cartridge for self defense and this will never change.

.45 ACP is what serious shooters use for self defense.

Never EVER Use appendix carry.

Semi-Automatic handguns are too complicated for novices, especially women, so your first gun should be a revolver.

Lasers are gimmicks and have no serious application.

Use lasers they're an excellent solution to the aiming problem.

Red-Dot sights mounted to the slide are too fragile and will never catch on.

Buy a red-dot for your handgun.

.NNN is the best hunting round ever created, don't bother looking at anything else.

.30-06 is the best hunting round ever created, don't bother looking at anything else.

.308 is the best hunting round ever created, don't bother looking at anything else.

This (cheaper version of the gun) is garbage, buy the normal model.

The (cheaper version of the gun) is actually a good shooter, use the money you saved on the gun to get good glass.

Glass that costs as much as your rifle is the bare minimum quality to hit anything.

There's lots of affordable glass that costs less than 1/4 what your gun costs that's actually quite good.

The Colt All American 2000 is an excellent design made to the highest standards.

The Colt All American 2000 is a piece of shit.

In case you gun writers ever wondered why we, the public, don't take you all that seriously any more...  You can't make up your minds about what's best.  The constant reversals are annoying, at best.

The fact that you can't anger the advertisers means you cannot give an honest review of any product.

The most honest you can be about products in general is too vague to actually aid a potential buyer of the items.  "There are these things called holsters, there are many different styles and materials, you should get one," doesn't actually help anyone to decide what kind of holster best suits their needs.  But there's lots and lots of articles that follow this pattern.

Datum Example

Most of us gunnie types have at least read about length of pull, drop at the heel and drop at the comb.

Many of us can even say what these measurements are and how they are taken.

But do we know what they mean?

They're the measurements that determine the "fit" of a gun to a given shooter.

They're both objective and subjective.

Objective in a given person of a given set of dimensions will need these dimensions to be within a range for their measurements.

Subjective in the shooter will like the way the gun feels best at a point within this range, which could differ from another shooter of the same measurements.

Fitting the gun to the shooter is taking these measurements and applying them to the gun.

If you've no idea what your measurements are and what your fit to a given set of lengths and drops, these dimensions are pretty meaningless.

But what they are for and how to use them is readily explained.  There's even web pages and videos explaining them and showing how they're applied.

Chock Full Of Shooty Goodness

FuzzyGeff finally got to put some rounds down the barrel of the AR that's been stored here for...

Uh...

A long damn time.

Popping the cherry below the fold.

Dimming The Sun Will Cool The Earth

"Scientists" say so!

The "good" news is the sun is doing it all on its own.

It's no surprise to people who pay attention to solar weather that the hottest weather we had last century coincided with more sunspots and the cold we're starting to see now (if we're honest with the measuring) coincides with a lack of sunspot activity.

If It DOES You've Been Doing It Wrong

Army says new war ready M17 pistol will change modern combat.

Handguns are as close to superfluous as any weapon still carried can get.

Yes, they have a role.

Before you latch onto that too hard remember, so does a bayonet.

A role isn't the same as having a large role.

The radio is still the number one most dangerous weapon on the battlefield.

I'm willing to bet we spent an order of magnitude more on getting the M17 than we did getting radios.

A new pistol just isn't a game changing weapon.

I cannot find the quote from a Marine general who was ruing over how much we'd wasted on all the previous handgun programs and that if they'd just cut him a check for not even half that he could equip every member of all the armed services with a new pistol from any of the major manufacturers.

He said something to the tune that as long as everyone can shoot issue 9mm NATO, they were golden.  If everyone was using the same magazine, they were platinum.

Broken Record

I admit, I am a broken record (ask your grandparents) about endurance abuse & neglect testing handguns.

The proponents of such "testing" consistently fail or refuse to explain what we're learning from the experiment.

They seem to be claiming that guns that don't make it to the end are somehow unsuitable for use as self defense tools, but is that really true?  Does the testing demonstrate this?

I posit that it is not true and the testing is irrelevant to practical concerns.

Remember 2,000 rounds of 9mm is 52 pounds of cartridges, 3-1/4 pounds of cardboard boxes and the weight of the container you're lugging it around in.

Are you carrying that much ammo on a daily basis?

Are you even carrying 100 rounds?  That's just two boxes.

Spraying the ammo as fast as you can work the trigger only dumps about six shots a second and that's gonna give NYPD accuracy.  Shooting that fast, for most everyone who's not Jerry Miculek, is called "criminally negligent".

Still, six shots a second takes a bit more than five and a half minutes to burn through if you didn't have to stop and reload every 17 shots or so.  If you are using magazines that hold 17 instead of 2,000 rounds you're looking at 117 reloads.  That's going to add at least two minutes to your time, probably more like four.

So, for your pistol to be acceptable it has to be capable of ten minutes of shooting as fast as you can go?

THAT would be a test of a gun.  Because that doesn't allow for cool-down and subjects the parts to some real heat and fatigue.

What we really get is 2,000 rounds stretched over weeks or months.

Pray tell; in the intervening time between strings why didn't you clean and lube the gun?  You had time.

Did You Notice?

No malfunctions, stoppages or jams in Marv's M1911A1.

On the whole, if the gun was as bad as the internet keeps saying it is, I'd have expected to see a lot more problems from the numerous examples at hand here.

I guess it's the mechanic in me that just doesn't abuse my machines.

A hard learned lesson from cars is preventative maintenance pays dividends down the road.

I sometimes think the endurance tests on pistols, if taken to the car world, would be, "We drove the Nissan Stanza for 100,000 miles without changing the oil or replacing the tires!"

"Are you fucking stupid?" is what car-people would say.

Yet with guns...

Where's The Rattle

There's something wrong with Marv's M1911A1...

It doesn't rattle.

I've never seen this in an issue M1911A1 before.

Related to this, I think, is you cannot get the slide to move off angle appreciably from the slide rails.

It's very strange.

I've seen this on brand new 1911 guns before, like my Springfield Armory or the Colt...

BOOM

A shot glass full of nitroglycerin does 4d+2 cr ex.

I know you were watching West World and wondering.

Merit Aperture

Found a Merit Aperture for my Lyman 66LA sight on the Marlin.  This one appears to be a #4SS

These things are just the neatest!

The seller warned that it didn't work in his Lyman sight because it wouldn't tighten down.  I suspect that he's got a Lyman 57 series sight that needs a longer shank of the #4LS.

My sight uses the shortest, and most common shank.

Local Space

JT and FuzzyGeff have been playing GURPS: Traveller: Interstellar Wars.

They've traveled from Nusku to Terra to Procyon and are preparing to embark to Sirius.

Procyon and Sirius are visible in this shot!

Procyon is the dimmer star just left of the center of the frame.  Sirius is the bright star down and right from it.

Two parsecs apart on the Traveller map.  Both are about 3 parsecs from here.

They Made A Car Wars Car!

Did you play Car Wars when you were younger?

The people at Black Rifle Coffee might have.

Electric cars armed with big guns.



Kinda skimpy in the armor department, but there's no arenas or leagues yet either.

Soon?

Tech's War On McThag Continues

My dear, beloved, Moto X 2 is terminal.  It keeps shutting off spontaneously at random.

Mostly while trying to take a picture, but now while using at as a phone while Harvey is trying to communicate something important from the road.

So, spending money I don't really have to spare, I've got a Moto Z3 now.  I already miss my football leather back and purple anodized accents...

The Motox2 has been giving warning signs for a while and I've been shopping, so I knew what I was going to get when I walked into the store.  The sales person was complete unprepared for such decisiveness.

It's huge, and heavy compared to the svelte Motox2, but MAN is that camera good.

Still getting it set up and disabling all the NEW IMPROVED features.

There's an astonishing number of "we can improve your experience if you just let us have access to..." messages.  You can't entice someone who's content with what they've got already so I've been denying them this access.

Two things I am avoiding setting up are the facial recognition and fingerprint unlocking features.

Something about the new phone I'm very happy with is the Skymap app once again points accurately.  The Motoz3 must have better compass and gyros than the Motox2.

The larger screen gives a better experience when using it for GPS navigation and having a new battery sure improves how long it can stay on.  Today is the battery life test.  I'm going to see how long I can go.  Yesterday 12 hours of playing around with it on the side while playing Traveller: Interstellar Wars only dropped the batt to 89%.

On an aside:  I noted while shopping for the phone that Verizon still has flip phones.  This is excellent news for the Bubbas and Willards out there who don't WANT a phone that's more than a phone.  Remember what I said about being content?

Verification Required

Some asshole in India ruined it for the rest of you.

27 spam comments for his SEO service.

Word verification is now active.

Sorry.

I'm Going To Invent Space Travel

Just so I can throw that BLEEPING computer out an air-lock!

This story starts a while ago.

Windows update locked up during the "do not shut down your computer" portion of the update and did a spontaneous restart which has caused that update and all subsequent ones to also fail.

Today the anti-virus wanted updated and when I did the restart, my login told me that my user profile was missing.

I tried several means of gaining access to the computer and somehow ended up in "Startup Repair" which included a restore to last known good config.  I got there by trying to remember which function key actually prompted Safe-Mode and in the several reboots the machine just went to the repair function.

MUTTER MUTTER MUTTER

The repair seems to have worked and an uninstall/reinstall of the anti-virus went without a hitch.