Near Infinite Customization

One of my most notorious characters was Bill Jenkins.  No relation to my Rhodesian snake-chimera Robert Jenkins.

Here's Bill in Lego

I'll get him the SMLE he's supposed to tote before too long.  Inevitable, really, now that I'm starting to really dig the idea of mini-figs as character markers.

I took the head and hands from a fantasy style goblin.  Bandana from a pirate.  Torso and legs from a guy from the old Adventure line-up and the present gun is a Brick-Arms STEN.

Bill has been pictured before...  Lego is not perfect, but you can get amazingly close.

We Can End Celebrity Endorsement Of Gun Control

If you are buying movie tickets.  If you are dropping your hard earned into DVD, Blue-Ray, iTunes, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video or other...

This is what you're really paying for.



It won't stop as long as we continue to feed them.

Starve them out and put them back into the wait-staff where they belong.

Make note of all of them.  Write to sponsors if it's a TV show.  Remind the sponsors that, while you enjoy the show, you can't continue to purchase their product as long as they are associated with people who take such a dim view of our inherent rights.  Mail a copy to the network and tell them you want it added to the FCC filing.

Obtuse

Sooner or later choices are going to have to be made by the liberals.

Gay rights or Islamic rights.

Women's rights or Sharia Law.

I am amazed they don't see the conflict in the positions they are staking out and advocating.

Did I say amazed?  I meant appalled.

I Want One

Looks like a good thing to have in the hurricane box!

This product is not yet for sale, though.  Still in the low rate initial production stage.

Link to their Indiegogo page if you want to donate to their cause WAY before they're ready to begin production or ship product.  $70 is the minimum donation pledge to get a light, by the way.

You Can Just Buy It?

Not only can you just go online and order Cosmoline, they're still making the stuff!

I had it in my head it that, if you could find it for sale, it was like LSA and there were vast warehouses full of Cold-War overproduction surplus.

But there's several places selling newly manufactured Cosmoline brand Grease MIL-C-11796.

$40 a quart, $80 a gallon with bigger discounts on larger quantities.

Kinda makes one want to got to Home Depot for some PVC tubing and end-caps to bury in the back yard.

Noticed It A While Ago

Before 9/11 if there was an act of domestic terrorism, you were pretty safe in assuming it was some environmental organization what did it.

They've seemed to have quieted down while Islam takes a turn murdering for politics.

I've noticed something besides terrorism they have in common.

They get what they want from the government.

It would appear that terrorism is effective in getting your political goals accomplished in America.

Dammit.

Trumped

Donald must be doing really well in the polls, I haven't heard things get this shrill since a Bushitler was in office.

Rattle Upgrade

The mini-fig head stuck on the end of his tail just didn't look like a rattle.

Here's my second attempt.

I've also changed over to an M16 since the character properly carries a rifle not a GPMG.  I've got a more FAL looking Brickarms gun coming.  Cheap and addictive this is!

Um...

This guy is about the bravest person I've ever seen.  Or dumbest.  It's a fine distinction.

Didn't Even Hit The Target

Because all the shots went through the same ragged hole?

Yeah, technically, she stopped hitting the target a while ago, but I don't think it means the same thing in context.

Former Ranger

Making a new character with a different class does not make you a "former ranger".

On The Bandwagon

Put in for an RMA from L3 to get refunded my full 2008 purchase price of the EOTech 552/A65.1.

Got the RMA email this morning and put the optic in the mail today.  They even added $15 to cover shipping.

I guess we'll see how long this takes.

Another Difference

On the Simonov designs, the nose of the bolt is controlled by rails or slots in the receiver.

On Saive, the nose is controlled by the bolt carrier which surrounds the bolt.

It's True But Not Like He Thinks

"Nevada and Arizona are wide open, so that’s a gigantic back door through which any terrorist can walk." California Governor Jerry Brown.

Yeah, we know, Jerry.  But politicians like you won't let us close the border from either California OR Mexico to keep them out of the USA.

Skate Plan

I just had another "brilliant" idea!

Tam will doubtlessly remind me that I am not a lawyer and should not give legal advice.

It's THAT good of a plan!

Start posting to Facebook, Twitter, Blogger or what have you that you're looking to get some machineguns and explosives (be specific about the makes and models and choose current USGI issue equipment).

Wait for the FBI to bring you some.

Get arrested.

Plead innocent on the grounds that the government is authorized to arm the militia, and it doesn't designate an agency for the distribution of those arms.

PROFIT!

What could go wrong?

EOTech Refund

Apparently L3 has decided to refund the purchase price for any EOTech RMA'd and requesting it.

Harvey loves her 552, but the reticule has shown some dimness and we're on the third battery compartment now.

This is her home defense carbine and I'd feel better if a more dependable optic was gathering dust in her safe.

We've never seen the problem described for such optics, but it's not difficult to get more than 122 degrees in the back of the car in the hot Florida sun.

I've submitted my request for my January 2008 purchase price.  We'll see how that goes.

If you want to make the same attempt:

Go to EOTech's main page.
Click on "Service & Support" in the red bar near the top of the page.
Click on "Return Authorization Request Form" in the drop down menu.

It should take you to this page.

Fill out the form.

People have gotten refunded by simply saying, "I want a refund" in the "Description of Failure" box.  Indicated my purchase price and date too.

If they cut me a check, I can see an Aimpoint PRO or ACO in Harvey's future.

Parallel Design

The SKS and FAL both use a tilting bolt and a short stroke gas piston.

The SKS has a two-piece piston, the FAL is one piece.

The bolts differ a great deal in detail and you can see that while the principle is the same, the designs are not inspired by or derived from the same source.

Bolt and carrier in the locked position.

Bolt and carrier in the unlocked position.

Bolt all by itself.

In both cases the bolt hits the end of the barrel and the carrier shoves the rear of the bolt down into the locking shoulder.  On the SKS the rear of the bolt has a ramp that acts on the rear of the protruding "hook" on the bolt.  On the FAL the top-rear of the bolt carrier has the ramp that shoves on the top of the back-end of the bolt.

For unlocking, the SKS carrier grabs the "hook" with a rear facing ramp and pulls the rear of the bolt up.  The FAL has a lug on either side of the rear of the bolt that are lifted by rails on the interior sides of the bolt-carrier.

Image from: http://www.gundigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/FN49-3.jpg

Although this is from the top, not the side, you can see the SAFN has the same two-lug rear to the bolt that rides on rails in the bolt carrier.

Image from: http://www.gunpics.net/russian/svt40/svt4022.JPG

The SVT-40 is kind of a mix of both designs, which is odd since it precedes the SKS and is contemporaneous with the development of the SAFN!  The SVT uses rhomboid shaped lugs on the rear sides of the bolt that are engaged by a matching recess in the rear of the carrier.  But the same lugs are used for engagement and disengagement, just like the SKS.  Edit to add:  It's also a Tokarev design, not Simonov.  Lots of people get the SVT confused with the Simonov AVS-36 when talking about the design and function.  The AVS-36 uses a vertically sliding locking block, much like a Winchester lever action of all things, rather than the tilting block of the SVT-38.  The confusion might stem from Simonov's more successful designs both being tilting.

The FAL and SAFN use separate surfaces for each operation.

Mind numbingly interesting, no?

The hook lug on the SKS actually more resembles the tilting bolt of the MP.44 than something derived from the SVT.  Much like Comrade Simonov copied the bolt and adapted his SVT carrier and gas system to it.

Image from: http://www.gotavapen.se/gota/ak/stg/mp44_bolt.jpg

  Except the SKS bolt and carrier have far too much resemblance to the PTRS-41...  The SVT appears to be the outlier here.

On top of it all, Msr Saive and Comrade Simonov weren't in communication with one another, even indirectly.  Their designs sprang from their own selves and weren't cribbed from the work of others except in the broadest strokes.

Still Not Me

Wasn't me, didn't do it.

In fact I was nearly as far away from the event as you can get and still remain inside the US.

So I am offended that they're blaming me and proposing to punish me for an act that I had no part in.

I am starting to wonder if gun owners have a class-action standing for libel.

The things they attribute to us are provably untrue.

Heartwarming

I offered one of the Yugo SKS's to Harvey because it's born-on date was Halloween, our favorite holiday.

She looks it over and says, "I don't want another gun," my heart sinks, "but I can always use another knife!" as she snaps open the bayonet.

I love my wife!

By coincidence, it's the gun I pulled at random to clean up to see what general condition the lot was in.

Supersized Knife System

She's yet to name her.

We're going to call her "Lily" after Lily Munster.

Surprising Comparison

An FAL is shorter than an M59/66A1.

Just by a bit, mind you, but it's real.

The weights are surprisingly close as well, although the FAL is lacking its bayonet.

Loaded PAP M59/66A1 is 9.8 lb.  Loaded FAL 50.00 is 10.4 lb. plus 0.5 lb. for the bayonet.

That extra pound and some gets you a detachable magazine, double the shots and 7d pi instead of 5d+1 pi.

You Said It You Own It

I just realized that the circumstances where Michele Evermore terminated contact with me were not actually of my doing.

She took offense at what others were saying on my LiveJournal account and ended the friendship.

She'd been mentioned by name several times and emailed me years later asking me to edit the posts to ease her finding a job, she's embarrassed by being quoted here.  Especially THIS post.

Well, Michele Evermore, when you say you "owe me a solid" you should at least reply to a friendly email.

I should have told her to fuck off when she contacted me out of the blue to do her a favor.

Well, now her name is restored to all those places I quoted her.

Don't put it on the net unless you're prepared to own it, Michele.

Useless

Some people say that a rail section on top of a scope is useless.

I disagree...

There's nothing more utilitarian than a small bayonet on top of your scope!

Now In Lego

For a while now I've thought that Lego mini-figs were ideal for marking your character in GURPS.

They fit perfectly in a 1" hex and are nearly infinitely customizable.  Especially with accessories from places like Brickarms.

Remember Robert Jenkins?

I can even get the smily face rattle!

The head and torso are from the box.  Gun, vest and boonie hat are Brickarms stuff from GI Brick.  The snake body is from ebay and is originally from a Ninjago kit.

Robert should be packing an FAL, but nobody makes a Lego version.  Or a MAG.  No FN guns at all.

An early draft of this character was humping a pig, so that's what the Lego version gets.

Plus you can make little diorama vignettes.

I Got Wood

Heh heh heh heh heh.

The 1970 made PAP M59/66A1 has decidedly different wood from the 1976 made one.

'76 on top, '70 on bottom.

Am I seeing the difference between elm on the '76 and beech on the '70?  Or vice versa?  Neither?

In Before The Rending Of Garments

And gnashing of teeth.

Ending Federal funding of Planned Parenthood is not a ban on abortion.

You can still go to Planned Parenthood and have an abortion after the Federal teat has run dry.  You'll just have to pay for it yourself.

I'm near as neutral as you can get about abortion, but I have long held that it's wrong to force people with religious objections to the practice to subsidize it.

And using tax money to pay for abortions is exactly that.

If we're going to get worked up about crosses on top of water towers, we'd damn sure better get worked up about this.

Comic Database: Steve Hughes... Offended?

Motivation

Why am I going through the effort of getting a Utah carry permit for a one-week trip to Seattle?

San Bernadino.

I simply will not go where I am disarmed by law unless required by law to do so.

This is why Harvey drives around Illinois when she visits Iowa.

We don't go where we can't tote, because it's too damned dangerous.

I am really searching my memory for an Islamic terror attack that didn't happen in a gun free zone.  The big daddy of Islamic terror attacks, 9-11, was also in a gun free zone.

Because our politicians often merely pay lip service to what the 2nd amendment says and generally ignore the full implications of the 14th...  Entire states are gun-free zones.

Not All The Way Dead

The phosphorescent night sights on Portia aren't completely dead.

If I charge them up with my super bright Chinese 7w CREE LED light, they will glow quite brightly for about 30 seconds.

Before charging.

About five seconds after 10 seconds of charging with the Cree light.  It's about half as bright as when I started to attempt to get the camera to take a focused shot.

They're on life support, most assuredly.

I wonder what one would buy to renew the phosphor.

Or even upgrade to tritium, like they did starting in 1986.

Here Come Da Judge

My father-in-law says he's going to buy himself a Taurus Judge.

He says it looks like fun, and it's going to be a toy.

I sent him to the Hickok 45 video and something struck me...

Many of the loads cannot penetrate a disposable aluminum cookie sheet... that a staple gun readily punches to hang.

Hope he has fun!

PAP M59/66A1 'Portia'

This is Portia, in keeping with naming my guns with girl's names.  Her last three digits of her serial are 926, which reminds me of Porsche, which sounds like Portia...

It's more amusing if you've memorized "A Fish Called Wanda".

The sharp eyed will notice that this is not the same rifle as pictured earlier.  As I mentioned, Marv is generous and I borrowed enough to buy a crate (what do I need a soul for anyway?).  Except SOG was out of crates.  But I got a crate's worth of rifles!

I have just guaranteed that there will be no successful attempt to ban such guns, as anything I own doesn't climb in value.  But I cannot ignore that these were $59 rifles once and merely $250 rifles a mere five years ago.  With Mosins around $300 and climbing...  This is an investment more than anything else.

This was the oldest gun of the ten.  Acceptance date in the log-book is November 24, 1970.  These log books are full of information that would be wonderfully useful, if I could read Serbian.  Not that it matters most of the time since most of the entries aren't written legibly.  Of note, though, is the "depreciation" entry and this gun shows 0%.  This lot has a spread of 0% to 80% "depreciation" and one translation I've found says that "Procenat nagriženosti" means "percentage to corrosion" not "percent of depreciation".  A gun with a stated 70% has a bright, shiny, pitted bore about halfway from the muzzle end.

PAP stands for Poluautomatska puška, which simply means "semiautomatic rifle".  Being made in Yugoslavia makes it an M59 instead of an SKS.

The grenade launcher muzzle...

These ports were part of the muzzle device from 1967 through 1972 and are omitted in later production guns.

...and gas shut-off...

The shut-off button also locks the grenade sights down.

...and grenade sights...

...makes it an M59/66.

And these (now dead) phosphorescent "night sights"...

...make it an M59/66A1.

All took apart.

Contents of the cleaning kit.  About useless since the cleaning rod is WAY too short.

The ten round magazine...

...is loaded with...

10 round clips!

Freeman Dyson On Global Warmering

Plus Dr. William Harper



Not that the person who piqued me into posting every single example of Climate Change Heresy will bother to read it.  They don't care about the truth of things, all they wanted was to rattle my cage.

And Ivar Giaver, 1973 Nobel Prize in Physics, where you have to actually earn them unlike the worthless Peace Prize.

Saves Me The Trouble

Cracked had an article that laments that it's nearly impossible to study gun violence.

I was going to go off on it because, unlike Cracked, I was around for CDC studies about firearms related diseases.

Then I find this.

He says what I wanted to mean.

Climate Change Is Fraud

How do you tell?

The people who tell us how serious the crisis is, don't act particularly concerned about it.

Air Force One gulped down (using average fuel consumption) 29,460 gallons of jet-fuel in the 8 hour 11 minute (average DC to Paris travel time) so that President Obama could lecture us on how serious the threat of climate change was.

58,920 gallons for the round trip.

I use approximately 500 gallons of (premium) gasoline a FUCKING YEAR for the "gas guzzling" Corvette...  But it's MY lifestyle that's destroying the planet?

128,100 BTU per gallon of jet fuel... 7,547,652,000 BTU for the trip.

My annual electric bill comes in at 59,780,721.56 BTU.  Vette, 57,000,000 BTU.  Harvey's Civic, 77,064,000 BTU.

193,844,721.6 BTU annually compared to the energy expended to send one person to Paris for a day to lecture me on how much energy I am using and how it is generated.  He used almost 39 years the energy I consume getting to Paris and back!

Yes, it's clearly ME that's the problem here.

I will start taking climate change seriously when the people who advocate most strongly for it start acting like they're taking it seriously.

Worlds

I twitch a bit when I hear Russia referred to as a "first world" power.

Etymology is dead in J-school it seems.

They use the terms first world and third world all the time without stopping to wonder, "where'd the 2 go?"

Lovingly Drowned In Cosmoline

It's a Zastava Poluautomatska puška M59/66A1.  Also known as a Yugo SKS.

My first gun in the dreaded 7.62x39mm.  According to the log book that came with it, it was manufactured on October 31, 1973.  Halloween is about my favorite holiday, so this ROCKS!

It cleaned up nicely.

With pig-sticker deployed.

Ready to launch rifle grenades.

She's not a svelte lightweight at all.  9 lb. 12.8 oz. loaded.  By the way, there was almost 3 oz. of cosmoline in her when I unboxed.  That's a LOT of cosmoline!

By the way, MAJOR thanks to Marv for bankrolling my gun habit while these things were on sale for Black Friday.

I've also discovered that the front sight is wider than standard.  I had to open up the slot in my sight tool to turn them.

At The Pawn Shop

We're friends with the proprietor of a local pawn shop.

He mentioned that a Lorcin .380 had returned to the shop twice because it was unreliable.

I suggested next time he say, "What did you think it was?  A Hi-Point?"

Billy also got a Burgess shotgun in.  Sadly, someone fired modern ammo with the gorgeous damascus barrel.  There's cracks near the chamber where the take-down alignment grooves are.

Dammit.

I'd never seen one in person before and it was definitely a neat gun!

Portents

What could these things mean at Casa McThag?

Stay tuned!

It Took A Facebook Meme

To get me to realize...

The people who tax cigarettes and alcohol with the expectation that those taxes will make me smoke and drink less...

...are the same people who tax our wages with the expectation that I will work harder and earn more money.

Saving Money Hand Over Fist

Went to a gun show last weekend.

Didn't buy anything.  Including a $600 Yugo AKS.

Went to the gun shop yesterday, didn't buy a Beretta 92FS.  Saved $425!

Going to a gun show Sunday.  Not going to buy anything there either.

So far I've saved $1,025 so I should be able to buy most anything I want!

What do you mean I have to actually have the money for the saving to count?

Well dang it!

T+ 18 Years

18 years ago the third world war went nuclear.

According to GDW's Twilight: 2000.

I am thrilled that it didn't come off like the game said it would.

I didn't write this today, I wrote it back in August after reading about the organizer of a prepper seminar being "disappointed" that Y2K didn't come off in a disaster.

I am sure there's lots of prepper types that prepare for the same reason I have my hurricane supplies, to be ready for a disaster while hoping it never comes.

Because it's better to be prepared than not.

But even though it's better to be prepared; it's FAR better to never need to put your preparations to use for real.