A Noble Fate

Dear Mr. McThag:
This letter is in response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated July 16, 2022.  The request is for ownership history on a M1911A1 Caliber .45 Pistol serial number 1164935.

 
The following Information was found in the Department of Defense (DoD) Small Arms/Light Weapons Registry for a M1911A1, Pistol Caliber .45, Automatic, NSN: 1005-00-726-5655, Serial Number: 1164935. The records for this weapon are listed below in chronological order:

 1. March 21, 1975 – The 200th Theater Army Materiel Management Center, 21st Theater Sustainment Command - Kaiserslautern, Germany registered the weapon into the DoD Small Arms/Light Weapons Registry.

 2. March 17, 1991 – The 200th Theater Army Materiel Management Center, 21st Theater Sustainment Command - Kaiserslautern, Germany shipped the weapon to the 123rd Support Battalion, 1st Armored Division - Dexheim, Germany.

 3. March 18, 1991 – The 123rd Support Battalion, 1st Armored Division - Dexheim, Germany received the weapon from the 200th Theater Army Materiel Management Center, 21st Theater Sustainment Command - Kaiserslautern, Germany.

 4. June 18, 1992 – The 123rd Support Battalion, 1st Armored Division - Dexheim, Germany shipped the weapon to the 200th Theater Army Materiel Management Center, 21st Theater Sustainment Command - Kaiserslautern, Germany.

 5. July 13, 1992 – The 200th Theater Army Materiel Management Center, 21st Theater Sustainment Command - Kaiserslautern, Germany received the weapon from the 123rd Support Battalion, 1st Armored Division - Dexheim, Germany.

 6. February 26, 1993 – The 200th Theater Army Materiel Management Center, 21st Theater Sustainment Command - Kaiserslautern, Germany shipped the weapon to the Anniston Munitions Center - Anniston, Alabama. 

7. March 02, 1993 – The Anniston Munitions Center - Anniston, Alabama received the weapon from the 200th Theater Army Materiel Management Center, 21st Theater Sustainment Command - Kaiserslautern, Germany.

8. September 26, 1994 – The Anniston Munitions Center - Anniston, Alabama shipped the weapon outside the DoD, directed under grant aid or Foreign Military Sales, to the Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group, U.S. Embassy - Manila, Philippines.

It's interesting that it doesn't show up as being with 2-37 or 3-34 armor of 1st Infantry Div. (Fwd.) Böblingen, Germany for 1988 to 1990.

It's So Obvious!

I'm going to print up some "Recession Free Zone" signs and post them around.

I cannot believe that nobody has tried this sure fire way to fix the economy before.

What could go wrong?

How Long Until

I've been hearing about "Glock switches" and how you can just swap out the slide plate and you've changed your legal semi-automatic Glock into an illegal machine gun.

Over and over I've heard about designs being "readily convertible" to full-auto being illegal, with the line being drawn at some arbitrary number of hours with a machine shop to be not readily convertible.

It seems that the "Glock switch" is a couple of minutes and no machining required sort of deal that renders Glock readily convertible.

How long until ATF AFT changes the Glock's legal standing?

Or are we in one of those penumbras where the switch is the MG and the gun you mount it in isn't really converted, like with an AR Lightning Link?

Dead Blogoversary

NJT scheduled his blogoversary post before he died and it's kinda messing with me that he's blogging beyond the grave.

That led me to check my dates and I'm running 12 years on Blogger and 17 years if you include my LiveJournal days.

This is not the most read blog on the interatubes by a long shot, but it's getting to be one of the oldest regularly updated blogs remaining.

Wow.

Dead Cord

A long while ago I bought a set of over-the-ear headphones.  Two sets, actually.

I'm traditionally hard on headphones, so I expected to have had to replace the headphones by now.

Nope.

Because they have a 3.5mm jack on the phones themselves, when I wreck the cord, I can just replace the cord and not the headset.

I think one reason that the headset has lasted longer is when I snag the cord it will unplug rather than break.

Surprisingly, it's taken me four years to kill a cord once I got a brand that the kittens didn't chew on.  They LOVED the silicone coated ones that came with the headset but don't seem to care for the cloth-wrapped ones I got from Amazon.

She Be Home

The Lovely Harvey is home and sleeping like a baby.  She wakes up every two hours crying.  (I kid)

She's got to do an IV push twice a day for two weeks of some kind of antibiotic.

We've got home-health lined up for that.

She's just drained from the surgery to get the infection out of her arm and the antibiotics.

Happily, she will get more sleep here because I won't be needing to wake her up every four hours to take her vitals.

I just check to see if she's breathing.

Dear Inbred German Cocksucker

Aka Prince Harry,

Go fuck yourself.

With something rusty and dipped in effluence.

Love

America

If you've a problem with our response to British royalty, refer to the surrender documents signed on September 3, 1783.

FOIA

I fired off an email to the Redstone Arsenal asking about the three M1911A1 I have the serial number for, my issue gun, my CMP gun and Marv's CMP gun.

I got a reply today, letting me know I'm in line to get an answer.

Sir or Ma'am,

LDAC has received your FOIA request for three M1911A1 Caliber .45 Pistols serial numbers (my issue gun), (my CMP gun), and (Marv's CMP gun).

Please allow up to 3 weeks to receive your response. 

You are now # 63 in the queue.

The DoD Small Arms/Light Weapons Registry history only goes back to 1975 when the Registry was started. 

We're a little disappointed it won't go back far enough to tell if our pistols served in combat.

I am eager to know where my old gun ended up.  Prolly disassembled for parts, she was in rough shape when I turned her in.

Oh Yeah

Willard reminded me of the reason that, while I enjoyed what I read of 1632, I didn't get past the halfway mark of 1633.

UNIONS! UNIONS! RAH RAH RAH!

Unions solve all the problems and don't create any new ones!

It kept ruining my willing suspension of disbelief.

RIP Mr Flint

Eric Flint has passed to the great beyond.

I enjoyed the 1632 series, can't put my finger on anything else he's written that I've read.

They Always Say...

The anti-gunners are always on about how us gun owners will change our tune when more black people get guns.

Nope.  I have no problem with this guy.

Well, some small details could be better.

The perp could have been hit.  Get to the range Mr Smith!

And stop keeping guns in your truck!  Especially if you can't hit the perp who stole it a moment ago.

I'd also like to suggest a red-dot or other illuminated optic so you can better tell where your rifle is pointed.  Irons suck in the dark.

Dear WHO

I understand why you issued your recommendations about avoiding monkey-pox, I really do, but:

If the people you are trying to reach were capable of making sound decisions about whom and how to have sex; they very likely would not be the people you are trying to reach.

Dead Games

It occurs to me that most of my gaming work is translating the real world into GURPS 4e.

It's an essentially dead game.  Nothing significant has been published for it for a while.

The settings that I translate into GURPS are, likewise, dead.

Traveller and Twilight: 2000 are long out of print unless you count Drive Thru RPG.

Hell, even my translations from D&D 2e to GURPS 4e are from one dead game to another.

It makes me sad.

The current version of D&D cannot cope with so many things, so there's no point of trying to translate it because you're pulling shit out of your ass.

Even GURPS settings are abandoned.  Transhuman Space is six years since the last supplement.

GURPS WW2 died when the author of the Japan supplement died.

I'm the minority, keeping this dead game alive with settings long out of print.

But I still get an email or two every couple months asking for the GURPS 4e: T2K supplement.

People are out there playing my conversion.

That feels good!

I've even got some feedback here and there to improve my conversion.  Most of those suggestions have been incorporated.

I have self published a GURPS book!

Go figure.

Do You Need A Clone Of An M1911A1?

Do you lack the kilobuck pricing that normally comes with M1911A1 clones?

Worry no more (while supplies last).

For $320 I'm damn tempted, to be honest.

A temptation that's tempered by the knowledge that we're going to have hospital bills coming soon.

Never Assume

When I read posts saying, "I am buying a 1911," I notice that everyone assumes the poster means something in .45 ACP.

But that's not always true.

Since 1929 1911 can also mean .38 Super.  Arguably superior to .45 when it comes to slaying bowling pins.

That Colt is one of my most favorite pistols.

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Empire

Star Wars: The Clone Wars really made me appreciate the Imperial military.

It's a common thread that veterans sympathize with the Stormtroopers, especially Marines.

Being a tanker, I've got nothing from the Rebels with regards to armor.

Heck, the Republic doesn't even have real tanks in the prequel era.  Just walker style things.

I'm bracing to get a replacement Lego AT-TE so I have some canon Republic armor here.

I've got a lot of Imperial stuff, AT-DP, AT-ST and AT-AT.

There's even both versions of the Trade Federation AAT.

For non-canon I got the Republic Fighter Tank just so I'd have a tank-like tank from the good-guys.

Held Over

The Lovely Harvey is looking to be spending until Tuesday at the hospital as they try to figure out exactly what bug caused her infection.

She is doing well otherwise, with two hard-core antibiotics dripping into her veins at regular intervals.

Even once she comes home, she's going to get some home-healthcare visits to put more antibiotics in.

Yes, this was serious and thank The Gods we called it in early.

The main problem she's having is being bored and that the hospital is an hour from here.

Hard to get up there juggling The Boy.

But I've managed it once with the help of Marv, and he's made the trip as well; so she's not completely neglected and abandoned.

If it weren't for needing to be here with The Boy, I'd load up movies on my laptop and sit and watch all of Star Wars: The Clone Wars with her.

A5?

Someone on Arfcom is thinking that an M16A4 with a carbine stock is called an M16A5.

Well, there's some marketing and branding trying to get people convinced, but no M16A5 has been type classified at this time.

Canada has issued such a rifle for a long while, but they call it the C7A2.

The Marines have made some for issue to people of smaller stature in boot-camp, but it doesn't appear to extend to issue in the fleet.

It's more nose heavy than the fixed stock A4 and that ruins the balance.  It's just a bit lighter, but since it's in the wrong place, it's not a feature, but a bug.
 

This Is Neat

 

Shield Plus v LCP Max

This is really .380 ACP vs 9mm Parabellum from short barrels.

.380 is 2d-1 pi with 120/1,300 range.

9x19 is 2d+1 pi with 140/1,600 range.

For all practical purposes, the ranges are identical.

2d-1 pi does 1-11 base damage with an average of 6.

2d+1 pi does 3-13 base damage with an average of 8.

But the pudding is in the eating...

I've done the math numerous times before, so let's jump to the conclusion.

The LCP Max is light.  Very light.

Per mag, per pound...  On average...

With hollow-points.

 77.78 points with the 10 rounder and 84 with the 12.

The Shield Plus gets:

65 with the 10 rounder and 81.25 with the 13.

Advantage LCP!

However...

On average that Shield Plus has slung 100 or 130 points down range where Ruger pushes just 70 or 84.

Winner S&W!

Pocket Carry

Something about packing a S&W Shield and Sheild Plus has been a lack of good holsters for the pocket.

The DeSantis was as good as I'd found.

Was.  Past tense.

Don Hume finally admitted that the Shield series was going to stick around and he started making his fine pocket holster for them!

This is the same model holster I used for my SIG P238 for years and I like the design a lot.  It stays put in my pocket and is does a better job of keeping the trigger isolated so I don't have to rely on the thumb safety alone.

Worth the seven week shipping time!

Now, if they'd only ship the rest of the order so I can try out IWB in The Beast with the M&P 9C.

Firsts

I did two things this week that I'd never done before.

I bought beer at a drive-through "beverage" store.

Got a margarita to-go from a restaurant.

I am greatly amused that I can do this.

I am surprised that I waited so long.

Recovering

The Lovely Harvey is through the debridement of her shoulder to get the infection cleared out and is staying at the hospital for a couple days on IV antibiotics.

The surgery went well and the prognosis is positive.

Dishonoring The Memory

Whomever is running the Jerry Pournelle's Chaos Manor Facebook page has gone full woke.

Woke is not something I'd ever ascribe to Dr Pournelle.

Whomever is running the page is nowhere near as smart as its namesake, or many of the readers.

Night Stand Gun

I had Tonya out to check something yesterday and had not returned her to the safe before bed time.

As I was setting her to one side, I realized that if I was going to have her handy, the tritium sights needed to be deployed before I crawled into the fart sack.

Not that she was handier than Brenda who's got a red-dot and a light...

What Tha...

 

Mosin clip in a Krag.

Now I have to try.

Update: It does not work very well.  I wonder how many takes it took to get that one smooth load.

I'll Take Any Of Them

The Lovely Harvey and I watched "Porky's" last night.

She spotted a car that she liked and mentioned she'd be OK with owning it.

I commented that, except for the Jag, I'd be OK with ANY of the cars shown.

Not that we have the money to pry one of these classics out of the present owner's hands.

Blow Back Delete

Marv has been divesting himself of blow-back guns and is focusing on only owning locked-breech pistols.

I'm not complaining because I get a huge bag of 9x18mm Makarov for my P-64 (a blow-back pistol).

I don't have too many guns that work this way in a caliber that matters.

All the .25's except the derringer are blow-back.

The Colt 1908 Pocket Hammerless and ZM Łucznik P-64 are all I have that don't have a locked breech.

Range report for what he's replacing all those Walther clones with is coming.

Disaster

 The Lovely Harvey's brand new robo-shoulder has become infected.

This sort of thing happens, and we're just the nexus of bad luck this year.

She's scheduled for surgery to clear it up with a weekend in the hospital for antibiotics.

UGH!

I am not ready for this at all.

Errant Thought

As part of suicide prevention, people are often asked to consider how their death will affect others.

I had a depressing thought along those lines.

I've walked away from a few relationships without a further word.

And nobody cared.

In effect, I committed suicide to these people and my name doesn't even come up with them any more.

Makes one feel pretty bad until you remember that you said, "fuck them!"

In most cases I'm happy to be gone from their minds because that means they will leave my ass alone.

A couple, though, puzzle me.

I walked away to calm down and they just let me go.  Well, if they're reading this, I've calmed down if you wanna talk.  It should never have been entirely on me to keep the lines of communication open.

Reasoned Discourse

After just three pages, SJ Games Forum has locked the thread.

I suspect that things were not going their way on other venues and they're hoping that it will go away on its own.

Several people have indicated that for every person walking, there are two taking their place.

That's not how this works.

If the pro-choice camp outnumbers the pro-life camp 2:1 that means that 1/3 of the customers just left for greener pastures.

I strongly suspect that most people who are done with SJ Games are simply leaving without saying anything.

A pity.

But SJ Games had not made much I wanted to buy for a very long time, despite me actively working with GURPS for decades.

Mockery

When Mrs Joe Biden insists on being called a doctor, all I can think is, "The only reason you're in a position to insist that I call you 'doctor' is because you're Mrs Joe Biden."

She wants to be Dr. Jill Biden, she's going to have to do something of note that doesn't involve her husband putting her there.

So, until that day, Mrs Joe Biden will get the mocking scorn she's earning.

She earned it, so she deserves it.

Ackshually

I hate to be the one to say it, but...

The AR-15 has been used by the US military in war.

The Colt AR-15 model R601 was used by advisors in Vietnam during Project Agile.

AR-15 didn't always mean a semi-auto clone of the M16 (or M4 for that matter).

If your Colt AR-15 model number has 3-digits after the letter(s) then it was select fire, 4-digits were semi-auto.

That Moment When...

Watching F-Troop and realizing that although much is played for comedic effect, a great deal is historically accurate.

As Predicted

The descendants of Covid 19, which should have been called Covid 20, 21 and 22...

They are easier to catch and less dangerous.

Like all corona viruses.

Like lots of people said back in November 2019.

Please change your signs from Pan to En.

Fiction Snippet

This rose from debating if x event would lead to y result with a friend.

I saw him from almost a mile away. Even from that distance he looked weathered and bent. Like everyone, he carried a rifle, but he carried his differently from the people around here. A stranger; with his weapon held as if expecting trouble at any moment.

He was clearly heading towards my place; not passing by.

That was very unusual. Strangers were rare enough since the flare. A stranger interested in one particular person set off alarms. Not too loudly, he was clearly alone and I'd had to deal with far worse during the riots when the government bungled just about everything in trying to restore basic services that had been disrupted by the nation's electrical grid going tits up. To be fair, if it had merely been just the government, we might have gotten through but just been miserable; but too many people panicked. Then others panicked in response to that panic and it just kind of snow balled from there.

I was lucky. My parents had a farm and we lived where crops grew. Outside of a few towns; where I lived was sparsely populated and the nearest city had a college and a animal disease research facility. A bad combination it turned out when inexperienced students and professors who'd spent too much time isolated from the realities of life discovered that research cattle was not good food. We give the city a wide berth, I am not sure the ruins harbor anything contagious, but I also want to die of old age.

The stranger was at the fence. He paused long enough to catch my eye and slung his rifle. He didn't wait for me to wave or acknowledge him; he just opened the gate and started up the drive. I grabbed my rifle and checked to make sure there was a round chambered. The stranger saw and grinned; and kept walking.

I could see him better now. He was obviously older than me, and seemingly older still from having traveled a less lucky path since the flare. His clothing was that strange mix of recently made and scavenged military many of us wore. What was exceptional was that he was wearing an ammo-carrying vest. Now that things had settled down locally, few of us bothered being that ready for trouble; but I suppose a traveler would need to be. His shoes didn't match. The newer shoe was on the leg with the limp; the older shoe was actually a boot. His face was leathery weathered and there were clearly well set laugh-lines. There was something familiar about his eyes that I almost recognized.

He walked right up to the base of the porch steps, smiled wide, and reached into a canvas satchel. I tensed up and pointed my rifle more generally at him; his movements slowed down but he continued to remove something from the bag. He said, “Anglave, I believe I owe you a coke.”

Setting the can on the porch steps, he turned and limped back the way he'd come.

“Thag?”

Can't learn to write until you practice writing, I says.

Is It Just Me

I'm not seeing much mention of the asshole who shot up Highland Park in the mainstream news any more.

Some mention of its parents, but not much mention of the actual asshole.

Almost as if continuing to mention him is not advancing the narrative sufficiently.

You Want Detail?

As far as GURPS and Twilight: 2000 are concerned, a protective mask is a protective mask.

It doesn't take a lot of digging to see that hardly any two nations used the same NBC equipment during the time frame given in the setting.  The US uses at least three different masks, for example.

What got me to looking for a place that had the details stems, from all things, watching Tom Hiddleston running through clouds of green poison gas wearing a, period correct, M9 mask.

I didn't know it was an M9 at the time, but wanted to know the designation.

That led to a deep dive into this page.

I can see I am going to be making an equipment list addendum for my GT2K conversion.

Something that should come up for the characters in T2K is the US masks not using NATO standard filters.

It's the kind of details that I obsess over that no player really appreciates.

DOS Or As Your People Call It "Command Prompt"

Moving some files around to ensure that a loss of a hard drive doesn't result in a loss of data, when the file manager of Windows declares the destination drive to be dirty.

I search for how to fix this error and am guided to instructions on using the command prompt to do a chkdsk on the recalcitrant thing.

I read these instructions and say, "Nope! Not at 0300 after five beers!"

Reboot into OSX and fire up the disk utility and stab the "repair" button.

When that's done, back to Window and all is better.

Apple, for when you're drunk at three AM and need to unfuck a stuck bit.

F Troop

I am sorely tempted to use the character names from the show F Troop for the 77th's troop of the same name.

Just to see who notices.

Also, the show has held up amazingly well.