In honor of Og

getting his bike license, I present Sluggy:

A Bitch tells the UN to 'grow a pair',

But I doubt they will. Or can.

At the Bitch Girls found this, linking to this at Uncle. Two things strike me about this;
1. The letter writing campaign to the UN officials involved in this 'disarm the victims conference' is having an effect, and
2. An awful lot of people at the UN are a: very thin-skinned and b: really, really don't like free speech that doesn't kiss their ass or at least agree with them:At last count, his Mission had received over 100,000 letters, post cards and email messages — most of them arriving at the staggering rate of about 4,000 per day — all of them with an identical anti-U.N. message in what appears to be a rigidly coordinated letter-writing and hate-mail campaign for which the NRA is notorious in this country.

'Hate mail'? So telling UN officials that we don't like them having this conference on our soil on July 4, our Independance Day and telling them we will not trash our Constitution because it doesn't suit them is 'hate mail'? Excuse me.

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

You KNOW when something sticks these nanny-state socialists, they squeal so loudly.

Oh, and from "Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam of Sri Lanka, president-designate of the two-week long conference beginning Monday, we get this: "...the meeting is “not aimed at banning small arms or controlling weapons that are legally manufactured, purchased or traded in conformity with national laws”. Oh, really? Remember the definition of 'small arms' from the UN website? Broadly speaking, the website says, "small arms" are weapons designed for individual use. They include revolvers and self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines, sub-machine guns, assault rifles and light machine guns.

'Hate speech' my ass. They just don't like being told "We will not do what you say" so openly and loudly.

I posted earlier that I didn't think sending letters to the UN personnel would do any good. Looks like I was wrong; at the very least, it's upsetting them terribly and causing cases of the vapors. So I need to find those addresses and start writing.

Well, lookee here, WMDs found in Iraq

Just up at Fox

Not surprising. I remember the news when the Polish troops managed to buy a bunch of chemical warheads from some people who'd sneaked them out of an ammo dump during the invasion. VERY QUICK blip on the news(gee, I wonder why?).

Now the question is, what'll the major media do with the story? And how'll a bunch of them try to spin it?

Let us now pile up on Australia

Or at least some of the inhabitants

First time I saw Steve Irwin, aka 'The Crocodile Hunter', I was visiting my parents and they had the Discovery Channel on, and this Aussie-accented idiot was in Arizona pulling rattlesnakes out of their holes and yelling at them. Or the camera. Whichever. After a few minutes of this I looked at my folks and my son and asked "Am I the only one who want one of those snakes to bite him?" The answer was "No", everybody wanted a diamondback to chomp him; maybe that'd tone him down a bit.

Opinion hasn't changed in the time since. And then we had the idiocy of his feeding that croc with his baby in one arm. As my daughter put it, as if the basic idea wasn't bad enough, this idiot wasn't bothering to support the babys' head while dancing around the lizard. At that point she wanted to shoot him in the ass and tell him to knock it off, although I'd recommend aiming a bit higher so he couldn't reproduce again.

What brought this up is that Steve is on a tear, found here. As to little Stevie growing up:
LITTLE STEVE: Look, Mum! A snike!

MUM IRWIN: Don't touch the snike!

LITTLE STEVE: Oi touched the snike!

MUM IRWIN: Don't put the snike down ya pants.

LITTLE STEVE: Oi put the snike down me pants!

MUM IRWIN: Blimey!

LITTLE STEVE: Blimey! The snike bit me todger!

MUM IRWIN: Blimey! Whut'll we DO, Dad?

DAD IRWIN: Blimey! Let's 'ave a new biby. This one's no good. It's got no brines.

LITTLE STEVE: Oi!

MUM IRWIN: Whut'll oi do with it?

DAD IRWIN: Feed a crocodoile while 'oldin' the bleedin' thing under your ahm.

MUM IRWIN: Your 'ead smells like a bleedin' urinal.

DAD IRWIN: Lovely, innit?

To explain the urinal smell, read the whole thing.

And if an Aussie sports team is in Florida, we might chip in for some body armor for Steve after this. Although he could stuff Marv and Maynard in his shirt for padding.

What's the ballistic resistance of cockatoo?

Ref the UN trying to take over(still/again)

At Michelle Malkins' I found a link to this article about the UN Gun-Grabbers International Conference the little bastards are holding on July 4.

Pretty much all you need to know about what they're after is here:According to the United Nations, the upcoming small arms conference is intended to assess progress made since 2001 and actions needed to further stem illegal small arms trade. "Crush the illicit trade in small arms," the U.N. website says.

In a "Frequently Asked Questions" section, the U.N. says although the 2001 small arms conference did not define "small arms," the United Nations General Assembly issued a document in 2005 defining "small arms and light weapons" as "any man-portable lethal weapon that expels or launches...a shot, bullet or projectile by the action of an explosive.
and
Broadly speaking, the website says, "small arms" are weapons designed for individual use. They include revolvers and self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines, sub-machine guns, assault rifles and light machine guns.

And since the UN considers anyone except minions of the government having arms to be 'illicit', your 'small arms', including the shotgun or rifle Grandpa passed on to you, or the revolver you've owned for years, or the .22 rifle your father gave you when you were a kid, all these things will need to be surrendered to UN-approved forces for destruction. And remember, it's all in the names of Peace and The Children.

And (considering the way these slimy little bureaucrats operate) whoever they can sell them to under the table.

Old firearm headaches

Not big ones, just little ones. Like screws that don't go where you find them, pins the wrong diameter, things like that.

That Indian Enfield I stripped/plated the screw for the other day was going back together when noticed that the forend would not mate up to the barrel as it should. Instead of snuggling up tight, the damn thing was a good 1/2" away at the muzzle end; that's a LOT of flexing to make it do. Which puts a lot of stress on things, including the barrel, which is really bad for accuracy. So took it off and looked it over.

The #1 designs all have protective ears for the rear sight. They're mounted to the stock with a screw/nut assembly made for the purpose. The nut was fine, but the screw, instead of the flathead that would nestle into the countersink in the ears(out of the way of the barrel), was a panhead that touched the barrel, causing the stand-off problem.

The fix was easy enough. Get a suitable flathead machine screw(10x32, 3/4" long), strip and blue, then install. But I've been trying to figure out where this panhead came from. It could almost be the right screw for the rear of the stock nose, but it's a touch too long. And there's nowhere else that a screw like this would fit. Maybe the first owner over here took it down completely, lost that screw and stuck this one in, not minding that it messed up the fit. Only the screw looks to be of an age with the rifle itself, the way it's made and the thread looks like a gun screw; which makes me wonder of some junior armorer-in-training in India either picked up the wrong screw or just used what was handy at some point, not caring that it didn't fit correctly?

Things to wonder about...

Further proof that islamonazis are idiots

There are women like these around, and they want to either lock them indoors or keep them in a damn burkha:























































Fools! FOOLS, I tell you!

Found thanks to the Sandmonkey, whose place I had never seen before.

Father's Day

Had been thinking about this, but one of the fatherly chores, talking to kid's who've lost a pet, kicked it to a back burner. As it was, by the time I could get there they'd already buried it.

First job I remember him having was at a bakery. Mainly remember that because of the smell; we got to visit him at work once and I still remember the aroma of fresh bread.
I mentioned a time or two that Dad was on the Highway Patrol. Joined when I was in the first grade. His first assignment got us transferred to another city, after a year there we were transferred to a small town. Stayed there for quite a while, then he applied for and got transfer from road work to doing safety education classes, where he stayed until he retired.

I remember lots of things. Including his spending very little time around for long stretches. When transferred to the small town he was the only trooper in the county, which meant he was always on call. Days off, vacation, just in from 18-20 hours on, the phone could ring and off he'd go. Time after time. I remember him coming in from bad storms and flooding, being home long enough to eat and dry off, then going back out. Getting to bed after a long day and getting up a couple of hours later when the phone rang, to go out and work another accident.

Most of that he never spoke of around me or my sister, I'd just hear bits & pieces when he spoke to Mom. I know at times he was ready to give up; between lousy pay and long hours and the stress, I really don't know why he didn't at times. Especially after some particularly bloody accident involving kids; they really messed with him.

I mentioned lousy pay. For a guy with a wife and two kids, very lousy pay. So on the days he didn't get called out, he often went to a part-time job, working at a salvage yard or for some farmer during harvest, something to bring in some more money. I can't call it 'extra' money, it was all needed. One time the car started leaking oil; blown head gasket. No way could we afford to pay someone to do it, so he borrowed a manual and a couple of tools from a mechanic and did it himself. I didn't understand for a long time how much he sweated over having the family car in his hands on a repair that could royally screw the engine if he did something wrong; but he did it right, and it never had another problem with it.

The state finally came up with the funds to hire enough troopers that there would now be at least two in each county, so Dad got some actual time off. But they didn't have enough funds to get a car for everyone, so when he was getting off Dad would go pick up the other guy who'd drive him home and take the car. Fun, fun, but at least it meant he actually had time when he didn't dread the phone ringing.

Somehow, through all this he managed to deal with two kids with their assorted demands/problems/hurts/questions and all the rest. He taught me to use tools, to fish, to shoot & hunt. And to paddle my butt when required(generally well called-for when it happened). I can't say we always got along(I try to keep lying to a minimum), but we did get by. When he started me shooting handguns he put me through some of the same training he'd had, under the idea that "If you ever really need one, you'll need to know how to use it right". This included draw & fire work and fast reloading(at my best I could start walking, at the signal draw & fire six, reload from belt loops and fire six more in a little under 11 seconds). And to check homework and all the other stuff.

This is running on far too long, and I'm just reciting facts. Big one is he was always around, times good and bad. Taught me a lot by both words and example. He & Mom have been married for more than 50 years now, and they still set a good example.

Carnival of Cordite #62 is up

over at Spank That Donkey, check it out

Well, hell

Last night my daughter called to tell me one of the ferrets died. Belle had been losing weight and had little energy; no signs of any pain, just old. She passed on very quietly, in her sleep from what they can tell.

Kind of took my mind off Father's Day. Had something in mind to write, but it'll wait a day or two.

The Firehand Guide To Metal Stripping

And Possible Personal Injury

I'm going to have a warning in a little bit; pay attention to it!

One of the things you run into when repairing/restoring firearms, old ones in particular, is replacing screws, both wood and metal types. Sometimes a parts dealer will have them, sometimes not, or they may just cost more than you're willing to pay. You can buy new ones, but they are generally zinc plated to make them nice & shiny, and you can't blue them. What you can do is strip the zinc plating off, after which a steel screw can be blued or browned.

WARNING: this method involves the use of acid. If you get careless with this stuff, it WILL bite you. Depending on how careless/unlucky/stupid you are, the bite can range from a little redness on the skin to serious chemical burns to- if you get it in your eyes- eye damage or blindness; and if you inhale the fumes, it can damage your lungs. When you're handling the stuff wear safety glasses or goggles, wear gloves and- preferably- a long-sleeved shirt, and work either outside or in an area with good ventilation. And even outside, it might be a good idea to wear some type of breathing protection. I try to always have fresh water available in case I have to rinse myself off, and some baking soda to neutralize spills. In short: BE CAREFUL WITH THIS STUFF!

In this case, a guy needed the rear nose cap screw for a #1 MkIII Enfield rifle. It's a panhead screw with, thankfully, standard threads. We found a matching screw in my junk box, too long but that's fixable with a hacksaw and file. First we ran it into place and found out how much to cut off, trimmed it, then used a fine file to clean up the cut and give a slight taper to the end so it screwed in nice & easy. Now comes stripping. First, you need some way to hang it into the acid. I use a piece of stainless steel wire; stainless just because I have some handy in the right size, plain steel wire would be fine, but I don't think I'd use copper or aluminum. I don't know how aluminum would react with the acid, and copper would strip off into the acid and might wind up depositing on the metal.

If there's any oil or grease on the screw, clean it off thoroughly first. Then I wind the wire around the threads a few times to hold and then turn it so the head is either down or angled down:














Then into the acid. I use muriatic acid I get at a home repair place, you can also find it at pool supply stores. Swimming pool, dammit, not... never mind. Then I lower it into the acid:














Even on good-sized bolts, I've never seen it take more than about 15 seconds. It'll start bubbling as soon as it goes in, when the bubbling stops it's done. Lift it out, cap the acid, and rinse the screw & wire thoroughly. It should have a slightly 'frosted' appearance. Dry it off and dip it into(in this case) Perma Blue:





(please ignore the messy work area)








It's a good cold blue you can find all over, including Wally World.The directions say to dip or swab on, give it a minute, then rinse and if necessary polish with steel wool and repeat for a darker blue, then rinse, dry and oil. If you do repeat, after the steel wool I'd suggest washing with at least dish soap and water; steel wool has oil on it and it can interfere with the bluing process.

In this case, I left it with one treatment. Hard to tell from the picture, but it gave a nice, even color that matched nicely with the nose cap:















That's it. Fairly straightforward process, just be careful.

Notes:
Color will depend not only on the bluing chemicals, but on the steel in the screw/bolt/pin. Some alloys will color better than others, but most screws and bolts- and nails and music wire for pins- are a simple mild or high-carbon steel that colors well.

If you don't get any oil or grease off, even that from your fingers, it will affect the coloring, in some cases can prevent it from bluing at all where the traces are.

You can adjust the color somewhat by the time you leave the bluing solution on, by steel-wooling the piece after, things like that.