Once again, the UN proves what a bunch of

pains in the ass they are. Got this in an e-mail a couple of days ago:

SKS’S ARE SOON TO BE A THING OF THE PAST BASED ON TREATRIES BEING SIGNED BY YUGO AND THE UNITED NATIONS GET THEM NOW THIS LOT MAY BE THE LAST

Oh, joy.

Because, of course, it's MUCH better for the rifles to be sold on the black market and the money pocketed by politicians and UN officials the rifles to be destroyed, than that they be imported to these here United States and actually used by us.

Bastards.

The White Truck of Happiness came today

and left me something good.













Which when opened proved to hold smaller cans of happiness













Yeah, that'll last a while.

And unless the bad guys fit the 'proper' template,

horrendous crimes just don't seem to make the major media 'requirements' for broadcast.

Senator Harry Reid(Surrender-NV)

is a sorry, worthless, chickenshit, waste of oxygen. And if he actually had any ethics- GOOD ones, that is- would be so ashamed of himself he'd leave the Senate.

Fat chance, the sorry little scrote.

The Brady 'Let Us Ban Guns' Group lies

This has been noted before, but it's worth repeating, since they keep doing it. On their 'all the kids killed by guns' BS, check here.

Oh, and AP is pushing a 'the NRA is anti-semitic' BS. And(of course) some of the other major media picked it up.

I don't go by Riverdog's place often enough

Tonight I found this:What calibers/brands/bullet weights of ammo are lying on your desk at your blog station right now?

My computer desk is next to the worktable and on the opposite wall from the desk where the loading press is. Looking around, not digging,
Five rounds Federal .38 Special HydraShok, in pistol
Most of a box of Gold Dot 185-grain HP, .45acp
Couple of .30 Carbine, 110gr. ball
three Blazer 9mm ball Cancel that, just noticed about 100 rounds of Winchester, Monarch and Blazer ball in boxes.
Half a box of S&B .45acp ball
About 75 rounds of .30 Carbine handloads, some 110gr. hollow-point, some ball
About 300 rounds .45acp handloads, 230gr. cast ball
About 35 rounds 12-guage 00 buck handloads
Some Aguila SSS .22, about two boxes
Box of .455 Webley, 230gr. handloads
Box of 50 .30-06 handloads, 150gr. cast
Box of 7.5 Swiss handloads, 150gr. cast
Box of .380/200 handloads, 200gr. cast
Box of .45 AutoRim, 230gr. cast
Half a box of .357 Mag, 158gr. semi-wadcutter handloads
A couple of odd .303 Brit, a 12guage slug, some .303 plastic-bullet training rounds,and a couple of shotgun shells I can't decide on from this angle.

Damn, I've got a lot of crap I need to put away...

Hmmm, then he says For extra credit, list the knives or edged weapons lying on the blogstation (or within arm's reach)
Oh, Lord, I am a knifemaker, and sort-of collector. On the desk or table or the filing cabinet right here,
M4 bayonet
Swede Mauser bayonet
Six CRKT folders(hey, a guy had them on sale! Cheap!)
One CRKT neck knife(see above)
Small belt knife(2" blade)
and in the box on the end of the table, a dirk, a big sax-style chopper, about a dozen fixed-blades of different designs and about two dozen finished blades that need hilts.

I think that's it.

'Course, around the corner in the other room is the small fighting axe, the big axe and two swords...

Thoughts on people who fear other honest people

more than they fear the bad guys

I've been thinking about some of the noise being thrown off the last couple of days. My sympathies being where they are, most of what's irritated- in some cases enraged- me has been the 'ban the guns, you people who own them are evil,', etc. Compound that by the absolutely infuriating verbal sour manure vomited out by that brass hat at the university both belittling the student who wished he'd had his sidearm and working hard to cover his sorry ass.

Two things about it. One is the usual 'take the argument to the ridiculous extreme to discredit it' garbage. You say that someone who has a carry permit should be allowed to carry on campus, that becomes "You want to hand out guns to everybody!" Mr. Wiles says he did not like the feeling of having his safety entirely in the hands of others and wished for his sidearm, that becomes "You people would get killed by the police because you'd be running around shooting at anyone you thought suspicious! And before you were shot, you'd kill innocent people!" And, in the case of Asshat Hincker, "You seem not to trust the police, you think you need a gun to protect you from them!"(which, I repeat was either one of the stupidest things to come out of his mouth, or a coldly calculated effort to make Mr. Wiles look like a nutcase; in the first, Asshat Hincker is a fool, in the second he's a sorry excuse for a man). Heartily sick of this garbage and the dishonesty- in some cases flat stupidity- of it.

Second, I'm sure you've noticed the constant "People would be running around shooting at everything" marfi*. The 'I hate guns, just wait for the police' people just cannot seem to wrap their brain around the idea that an honest citizen with a gun just might act in a responsible manner. In this case, you've got three possibilities:
1. If the classroom is one with no window or other exit, teacher/student(hereafter 'T/S') gets everyone to move away from the door, blocks it if there's time, then takes cover behind what's available and guards the door. If bad guy comes in: Bang.
2. If there's a way to get people out, the T/S provides cover- covering fire if needed- while others escape. If bad guy doesn't show, they all get out; if bad guy shows: Bang.
3. T/S is heading for class and comes up against the bad guy. Outcome uncertain, depending on readiness/accuracy/etc. Worst case, T/S is wounded or killed without stopping bad guy. Middle/best case, T/S may be wounded or killed but bad guy is stopped.

I think part of the reason for the 'You people can't be trusted!' may well be that these people cannot or will not consider that someone would knowingly place themselves between death and someone else. They wouldn't do it, or have it firmly fixed in their mind that they're incapable so they shouldn't even try; so when someone says "If I have my sidearm, I can protect myself. And in such a case, protect others", they don't believe it. In fact they either flat hate it or- and in some I know this is it- they fear it. Whether because they've been trained to or don't think that they could do it(or know they wouldn't), they fear someone who would. So in their mind, you wanting the means to stop a bad guy makes you a bad guy. As Kevin puts it, they don't understand, or will not make, the differentiation between aggressive violence and protective violence; the difference between the rabid wolf and the sheepdog. So they fear the sheepdog as much, maybe in some cases more, than they do the rabid wolf, and want to castrate the sheepdogs and make them yappy little lapdogs.

Which, now that I think about it, means a lot of them think of the police as their partially-castrated wolves; they don't trust them, they wait for the chance to punish them if they do anything wrong/possibly wrong, but want them around on a leash to bite the rabid wolves when they show up. After which they'll be (sometimes metaphorically, sometimes not) locked up to decide if they are still usable wolves, or out of control types who should be gotten rid of.

If you carry, you know what I'm talking about when I speak of the "What would/could I do?" scenarios that go through your mind. You sit in a restaurant and look at what you could do if a robbery occurs, or someone pulls a weapon to attempt murder. You walk through a store and take note of places from which you could, from cover/concealment, fire on a terrorist or spree killer, or gang-banger careless about who he's trying to kill, who opens up on people. You know the responsibility of that weight you carry, and you prepare for it, both by trips to the range and by running these things through your mind. Which may be one of the things that scares some people so much; that we actively prepare for what may come.

The big factor, I think, is the Decision: that it makes some people very nervous, sometimes flat terrified, to be in the presence of someone who has decided that, if absolutely necessary, they will kill. As James put it:

Everybody who shoots knows what I'm talking about. You see it in their eyes, their expression. All of a sudden you're not a person but a dangerous beast that might suddenly lash out and kill everyone around you. A Deathbeast.

If you carry for self-defense or have a weapon in the home for the purpose, you’d damned well better have decided this; when you’re facing someone with a knife or club or gun, or just hands and a homicidal impulse is NOT the time to decide if you can/will do it. There’s a paper called ‘Survival Stress in Law Enforcement’ that says this:

Commitment To Deadly Force:

If an officer hasn’t already, he must take a serious look at the issue of having to take someone’s life. That thought alone will cause great levels of stress throughout a career, but if an officer is not convinced or has questions as to what he/she would do in a deadly force situation, they are endangering themselves as well as the lives of others. With all things considered, faith, religion, and murder vs. killing, must be weighed, but in this career a total commitment to deadly force must be adopted when this situation presents itself.

Exactly. And to those who are terrified of that decision, often refusing to even consider it no matter what, having made the Decision makes you something non-human, something to fear. They don't care that your fondest wish is that all the preparation will never be needed for real, they don't care that having to pull the trigger on someone is a nightmare you deal with: they sense the teeth, and see no difference between wolf and sheepdog, so they want to remove the teeth- and preferably the balls- of the sheepdog. Instead, they put their trust in the magical thinking of "If we pass another law, and this time we really, really mean it, this time, we'll be safe!"


I’d suggest reading the paper mentioned above, link found at Winds of Change.

*Marfi: Capstick described it as ‘what comes out of the south end of a northbound hyena'

Additional: just found this at Chris' place on the 'you're paranoid/leave it to the pros/etc.' viewpoint.

If you're thinking about compact flourescent bulbs,

Check this out.

Found thanks to Rodger

A bit of a roundup on the mass murder

All kinds of them out there, just a few pieces here I think good to see.
Mark Steyn on some of the attitude problems out there. He includes this, which I'd never read before about a school shooting in Canada:
Every December 6th, my own unmanned Dominion lowers its flags to half-mast and tries to saddle Canadian manhood in general with the blame for the “Montreal massacre,” the 14 female students of the Ecole Polytechnique murdered by Marc Lepine (born Gamil Gharbi, the son of an Algerian Muslim wife-beater, though you’d never know that from the press coverage). As I wrote up north a few years ago:

Yet the defining image of contemporary Canadian maleness is not M Lepine/Gharbi but the professors and the men in that classroom, who, ordered to leave by the lone gunman, meekly did so, and abandoned their female classmates to their fate — an act of abdication that would have been unthinkable in almost any other culture throughout human history. The “men” stood outside in the corridor and, even as they heard the first shots, they did nothing. And, when it was over and Gharbi walked out of the room and past them, they still did nothing. Whatever its other defects, Canadian manhood does not suffer from an excess of testosterone.

Junkyard Blog has a number of thoughts and links.

The Emperor links to two good pieces here. I'd like to call your attention to something from the second. It covers, among other things, a letter to the editor by Larry Hincker. You might remember him, he's the idiot mentioned here. Well, it seems a student who has a carry permit, but- obedient to the rules Hincker is so approving of- wasn't carrying, had the temerity to note that he did not like the feeling of being unarmed in the face of a spree killer running around(full letter in the post). I strongly urge you go read the full letter that Larry Hincker wrote; partly to get the full "I am an Elite, and therefore know better than you" attitude, and partly to witness the full level of stupidity and ass-covering in his words. In particular:
Wiles tells us that he didn’t feel safe with the hundreds of highly trained officers armed with high powered rifles encircling the building and protecting him. He even implies that he needed his sidearm to protect himself against the officers.

No, Mr. “I can’t believe he really wants to say that.” Larry Hincker, he does NOT 'imply' he needed to protect himself from the cops. And if you think he actually said that, then you're even more stupid and condescending than I thought. Since you're either too busy covering your ass to own up to it, or(quite possibly) too stupid and arrogant to see it, he's pointing out that the police got there after everyone was dead. They were not able to do anything except, at the very end, secure the crime scene and begin first-aid. Because, unfortunately, that's what usually happens, because the police are called either while the crime is being committed, or after it's over. So them showing up with rifles and shotguns and the bloody kitchen sink after it's over doesn't do much to protect you, now does it?

Two more bits:
The writer would have us believe that a university campus, with tens of thousands of young people, is safer with everyone packing heat. Imagine the continual fear of students in that scenario. We’ve seen that fear here, and we don’t want to see it again.

No, you haven't 'seen that fear here'; you had your little politically-correct pants-wetting at the thought of someone ready and willing to use force in self-defense. NOW you have fear there, and it's not because of honest citizens with firearms. And no, you brainless jackass, he didn't say 'everyone packing heat'(and don't you just love the way he phrases that? must have made him feel all street-wise). He pointed out that disarming people who have received the training and the carry permit, just because they set foot onto the Holy Campus, is stupid. There would be no 'continual fear' unless some neuter like you worked to stir it up, because they would not know; there's a reason for the saying 'concealed means concealed'.
and
Who among us thinks the writer of the commentary would not have been directly in harm’s way if he showed himself to those tactical squads while displaying a deadly weapon? Would he even be here today to tell us the story? Contrary to his position, the writer’s commentary actually gives credence to the university policy preventing weapons in classrooms.

And it doesn't mean they'd go chasing around after the bad guy. It means guarding the door so the murderer can't get in; if he tries, he goes down. It could mean giving cover to other students so they can escape. And when the cops make it in, you set your sidearm down.

I can't cover any more of this crap, the "I am the All-Knowing One" attitude is enough to make you break things. And since Mr. Hincker isn't handy, that wouldn't be productive. Just go to Gonzo's, he says it nicely.

Once again, honest people denied means of defense

because a bunch of jerks think criminals with murder in mind will obey the law.

HB 1572, which would have allowed handguns on college campuses, died in subcommittee.

A bill that would have given college students and employees the right to carry handguns on campus died with nary a shot being fired in the General Assembly.

House Bill 1572 didn't get through the House Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety. It died Monday in the subcommittee stage, the first of several hurdles bills must overcome before becoming laws.

The bill was proposed by Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah County, on behalf of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. Gilbert was unavailable Monday and spokesman Gary Frink would not comment on the bill's defeat other than to say the issue was dead for this General Assembly session.

Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker was happy to hear the bill was defeated. "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."

Note the 'feel safe' part. Not BE safe, but 'feel' safe. Because honest people who carry are disarmed.

This was a horrible crime, committed by someone who knew there would be no armed opposition on the campus. Would it have stopped him if he had known that the moment he began shooting someone must might pull a sidearm and stop him? We don't know. We do know that he'd have been facing a fight instead of a school full of victims.

And the usual suspects are screaming to ban this and ban that and ban everything. Of course.

Dammit.

Smith & Wesson Model 57

I was thinking the other day about "Is there any firearm I particularly want?" Not just 'that would be nice to have', but "I want it!" And this came to mind

It's built on the large 'N' frame, and chambered for the .41 Magnum. I've wanted one of these since the day I first fired a Model 58; same gun with a 4" barrel and fixed sights. At about ten yards or so the five shots made one big, ragged hole and the recoil didn't bother me at all. Pretty much the same experience every time I've fired one.

So I've lusted after one of these for years. First, I couldn't afford one. Then I couldn't afford or find one. Now, I might be able to afford one, but I can't find one. You see, S&W stopped making this model some time ago. They still make a couple of .41 Mag revolvers, but one's the Scandium frame and the other's stainless, and I want a blued-steel Model 57.

Ammo for these tends to be expensive, but dies are available for handloading, so that's not a big problem. It's a powerful, accurate pistol with that old Smith quality. Maybe one of these days...

I'm not sure if this goes under 'separate but equal'

or 'some animals are more equal than others'. Because if a christian or jewish group went to a university and demanded separate dorms, separate gym hours, separate washing facilities and so on because being around kuffars unbelievers evil jews people of different beliefs "distracts them from their desire to become better Muslimsbelievers, and even draw[s] weaker Muslimsbelievers away from Islamtheir beliefs.", the university would lecture them about the need to 'experience other people and their ways' and so forth.

But for muslims? Hey, lets build separate but equal facilities and set things up to appease please them, because we want to be nice to them.

Arrant bullshit. At the least.

What's NOT getting taken care of

while Pelosi(Vile Harridan-CA) is running around kissing up to murdering dictators includes the funding for the military.

Remember that? The "It runs out on April 15"? The funding bill that the Democrats(Pelosi and Reid-Sorry Bastards) kept loading up with crap, and loading with 'we will get out by' bullshit?

Over at Q&O, back on April 1st, McQ posted this:
As acknowledged by the CRS report, money for the Army begins to run out exactly on the date noted. The report acknowledges that fact by pointing out that the only way the Army can continue to fight the war is to take money already obligated to other areas of Army operations, defund them and shift that money t
and
Oh, and all that blather about making sure units are fully mission capable before deploying? Well, unfortunately, to fund the war, we'll have to cut depot level maintenance on equipment necessary for the effort and that equipment won't be available to those deploying units. They certainly won't be able to "overhaul" equipment, increasing both their reliability and servicability. And putting the latest upgrades on the equipment, such as, perhaps, additional armor for troop protection, or the latest technological gadget which might help them locate and defeat IEDs? No go. Additionally, such transfers of money might, as the memo states, "slow down training".

Any more pissed than you already were? Well, on April 3 he noted this:
Said the commenter: "The troops will be "suffering"? Please. No one is going to notice any difference."

Don't you just love that sentiment? Real support from someone who obviously doesn't have a clue. Let me lay some things out here for you. As you recall (and if you don't, go to the link above) the Congressional Research Service said that if the Army began shifting funds from other areas to the Operations and Maintenance budget (i.e. the warfighting budget), it could continue its warfighting until the middle of July before it ran completely out of money. That was supposed to justify Democratic dallying with finalizing the supplemental to send to the President.
followed by some detailed information on what's being screwed up:
One of the many areas (facilities repair and upkeep, training, etc) that the CRS said would be effected is "depot maintenance". Now for those who don't know what that entails, that doesn't mean a whole bunch. So what is depot maintenence?

Well here's a short answer:

Army Depot Maintenance provides the Army with the industrial capability to repair, overhaul, and upgrade weapon systems and equipment; store and distribute ammunition, war reserve material, and other selected items; and provide tenant support to Army and other DoD Activities. Depot Maintenance Activities both compete and partner with private industry to deliver goods and services efficiently and effectively.

followed by more information on the support systems that money is being taken from.

The other day he noted this:
Those funding shifts being requested include:

* Defense Secretary Gates will soon ask lawmakers to approve the transfer of $1.6 billion from Air Force and Navy personnel accounts to cover the costs of Army operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

* The Army already has had to reduce quality of life improvements, including upgrades to barracks and other facilities, Gates wrote.

* Officials also have reduced repair and maintenance used for deployment training and cut back on training exercises for non-deployed Guard and Reserve units.

If funding isn't approved by mid-May, look for this to happen:

* ... the Army will reduce the pace of equipment overhaul work at Army depots.

* ... curtail training rotations for some brigades scheduled for overseas deployment, and.

* ... delay transforming Army brigades into more modular units.

So while these slimy dictator-kissing little bastards are playing games, the troops and their families suffer. And it'll get worse unless they stop playing these damned games and push through a bill that funds the military and the war.

And if they don't? Then we need a bunch of pitchforks, torches, rails and tar and some pillows. Or some nooses; as the Emperor says, "Lamppost, rope, politician: some assembly required".

Bag Day

comes but once a year. I have to admit I picked this up a bit early; I was at Brigadoon Surplus and found this, and I knew this was one of those "If you don't get it now, you won't get it at all" deals. So, thanks to tax refund(and some help from the change jar) I present the Sistema Model 1927













Yes, it looks like a 1911A1; that's because it is(full rundown here). Short version, Argentina contracted with Colt to make 1911A1 pistols(in 1927) and then, in 1945, began producing them in Argentina. With small differences, they're identical to the GI model, and all parts interchange.

At some time in the past a set of wraparound grips were installed(no markings, so not a clue who made them); otherwise, it's as-issued. The crest visible in front of the slide serrations indicates it was a government issue pistol, not one made for the commercial or export market. The finish is best described as 'gone', some very light pitting below the slide on the sides. The bore showed worn rifling and some fine pitting, not unusual for these from what I've heard. They let me field-strip it, and close exam showed no cracks, rust or other 'forget it' findings on the inside. And the price was right, so...

Once home I detail-stripped it, and was very pleased to find no rust, pitting or other trouble on any of the internal parts(lots of old oil/grease/dust), and all were actually in very good condition. Cleaned and lubed, the action works smoothly and the trigger is actually pretty good, breaking clean at about 5 pounds.

Took it to the range a couple of days later and tried it with some S&B ball and handloads, and it functioned perfectly with all. Accuracy wasn't wonderful, part of it may well be the barrel but some of it is the !*)+##% sights being not the easiest things for my eyes to work with.

So, let's see, get a oversize firing pin stop and fit it, probably stick with these grips for now, maybe a new barrel to fit. I'm not sure about the arched mainspring housing, being used to a flat one, but a flat is easy to find if I decide to change it. And, maybe, some new sights; this would be a good carry piece, but for that I'd have to change them to something easier to pick up fast.

So here's my BAG Day acquisition. Hope you found something, too.


Addition: from what I've been reading, the last shipment of these came in about a month or two ago, and I do mean last; as in no more from Argentina.