And oh, what a liar! Among other things, the man at the first link points out 'who the hell could enlist after 9/11 and think they'd never deploy?
But he says the US sends out the REAL terrorists(our troops) to murder and rape, so the leftards just love him. As usual.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Snork... a quote for the day
"The Feds? Make me laugh. How come they think they're the only ones with a list?"
Why you should check Tam's place on a regular basis
Of his rifle designs, I've always gotten weepy every time I see an 1895 in .405 Winchester; they make my heart go pitter-pat. And a Russian military contract 1895 in 7.62x54R with wood out to the muzzle would be the berries, if ever I could find one. While I've never had a burning desire to own any particular '92 or '94, the 1886 makes me want to do something with my life that would let me afford one, like get elected to Congress for the sweet bribes and kickbacks or, if my conscience wouldn't handle that, smuggle coke.
"Trillions for Pork! But I don't want to waste money on that
icky defense stuff."
BREAKING 01/30/09 7:41PM ET: Fox News Television reports that Barack Obama has issued a demand that the Pentagon reduce its budget by more than 10%. The dollar figure is $55 billion.
President Obama wants to spend a trillion dollars on welfare, condoms, international STD prevention, 600,000 new government jobs and handouts for illegal immigrants... but negative funding for the very mission his Presidential Oath required.
This man said he would cut combat systems and the development thereof, and now he's going to try to do it. Among the things in the current 'stimulus'(i.e. "Spend everything we can get our dirty hands on") bill are
• $83 billion in welfare payments (the earned income credit for people who don't pay income tax)
• $81 billion for Medicaid
• $66 billion on "education", more than the entire Department of Education required just ten years ago
• $36 billion for expanded unemployment benefits
• $20 billion for food stamps
• $8 billion on "renewable energy" projects, which have a low or negative return
• $7 billion for "modernizing federal buildings and facilities"
• $6 billion on urban transit systems, dominated by unions and which, almost universally, lose money
• $2.4 billion for "carbon-capture demonstration projects"
• $2 billion for child-care subsidies
• $1 billion for Amtrak, the federal railroad that's run in the red for 40 years
• $650 million for "digital TV conversion coupons" (on top of billions already spent)
• $600 million on new cars for government (added to the $3 billion already spent each year)
• $400 million for "global-warming research"
• $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts
He wants to spend almost half-again what he wants Defense to cut in an increase in welfare payments. You know, the program he's already trying to remove limits on?
And this is from a guy who insists on using an electronic device that is in no way safe from hacking, and is listening to people like Levin:
Update V: Via Reuters, Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) says that long-range U.S. antiballistic missile system should be scaled down as part of a belt-tightening.
Yell at the Senators, people; loud and long.
*Yes, I originally yelled incorrectly about the digital conversions; I should read more closely when I'm that pissed. Still, 650m? On top of what's already been spent? Bullcrap.
BREAKING 01/30/09 7:41PM ET: Fox News Television reports that Barack Obama has issued a demand that the Pentagon reduce its budget by more than 10%. The dollar figure is $55 billion.
President Obama wants to spend a trillion dollars on welfare, condoms, international STD prevention, 600,000 new government jobs and handouts for illegal immigrants... but negative funding for the very mission his Presidential Oath required.
This man said he would cut combat systems and the development thereof, and now he's going to try to do it. Among the things in the current 'stimulus'(i.e. "Spend everything we can get our dirty hands on") bill are
• $83 billion in welfare payments (the earned income credit for people who don't pay income tax)
• $81 billion for Medicaid
• $66 billion on "education", more than the entire Department of Education required just ten years ago
• $36 billion for expanded unemployment benefits
• $20 billion for food stamps
• $8 billion on "renewable energy" projects, which have a low or negative return
• $7 billion for "modernizing federal buildings and facilities"
• $6 billion on urban transit systems, dominated by unions and which, almost universally, lose money
• $2.4 billion for "carbon-capture demonstration projects"
• $2 billion for child-care subsidies
• $1 billion for Amtrak, the federal railroad that's run in the red for 40 years
• $650 million for "digital TV conversion coupons" (on top of billions already spent)
• $600 million on new cars for government (added to the $3 billion already spent each year)
• $400 million for "global-warming research"
• $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts
He wants to spend almost half-again what he wants Defense to cut in an increase in welfare payments. You know, the program he's already trying to remove limits on?
And this is from a guy who insists on using an electronic device that is in no way safe from hacking, and is listening to people like Levin:
Update V: Via Reuters, Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) says that long-range U.S. antiballistic missile system should be scaled down as part of a belt-tightening.
Yell at the Senators, people; loud and long.
*Yes, I originally yelled incorrectly about the digital conversions; I should read more closely when I'm that pissed. Still, 650m? On top of what's already been spent? Bullcrap.
The next 'journalist' who parrots an excuse for Obama-appointee tax crimes
should immediately be tarred and feathered. And the next time some sorry excuse for a reporter or Pelosi or any other politician makes snotty comments about the 'Republican culture of corruption', they should be next. Or first. I am, to put it bluntly God-Damned sick of this.
Contrast that to Daschle's freebie car and driver. First, there is no theory that his wife insisted that Daschle be chauffered around. Second, there is no ambiguity in the law, or no theory that he did not know that he owed the money. It is obviously an in-kind payment for services. Of course he knew he owed the taxes. Finally, there is no tedious extra bureaucratic obstacle to paying this tax. You just drop a number right on to the 1040. You know, that document that you signed under penalty of perjury. Yep, you got it. Mistakes are obvious and when it comes to the tax laws I am more than sympathetic to people who make them, but it is very hard for me to believe that this was one. Genuinely intentional misstatements on a tax return usually require penance more onorous than mere restitution.
...
Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Tom Daschle has an even bigger tax problem than Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner: Daschle paid more than $140,000 in taxes and interest on January 2, 2009 for three tax mistakes he made on his 2005-2007 tax returns comprising over $350,000 of omitted income and overstated deductions that were uncovered in the vetting process:
As a life-long politician, Tom Daschle never earned much money. But he retired from the Senate, after being defeated for re-election by John Thune, as a multimillionaire. He retired to Georgetown, of course, not to South Dakota. This happens a lot in Washington, and Daschle's case is pretty typical.
His wife Linda is or was a lobbyist, and she was the one who reported the family's income. (This is inference, since Daschle consistently chose not to make his tax returns public.) Linda Daschle made millions "lobbying" on behalf of various corporate interests. There was no conflict of interest, the Democrats assured us, because Linda Daschle only "lobbied" the House of Representatives, not the Senate, where her husband was either the Majority or the Minority Leader for much of his career.
But wait! If a company hired Linda to lobby House members, the check they wrote went straight into the Senate Majority Leader's joint checking account. It would have been a felony to write the check to Tom in exchange for political services, but a check to Linda, that went into the same bank account? No problem! She wasn't lobbying the Senate! So Tom Daschle became a multimillionaire.
and
The principal issues that Daschle is now rectifying with the IRS stem from his relationship with InterMedia Advisors of Englewood, Colo. Daschle is a limited partner and chairman of that firm's executive advisory board, and is also an independent consultant to InterMedia Advisors LLP of New York City.
InterMedia Advisors was founded by Leo Hindery, who, as we noted here, was once the CEO of Global Crossing, a company that enriched a number of prominent Democrats, including Terry McAuliffe, but also turned into one of the biggest bankruptcies in the history of American business, in which creditors and innocent investors lost many millions of dollars. Hindery subsequently ran for Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, served on the Board of Advisors of left-wing Democracy Radio, and was awarded the "Oates-Shrum Leadership Award of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund." In his spare time, he's been funneling cash to Daschle.
And Michelle Malkin has this, including a list of the Bend-Over 'Republicans'(here, more than every, the Stupid Party) likely to make excuses for this tax cheat, just like they did the other:
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
Ensign (R-NV)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hatch (R-UT)
Shelby (R-AL)
Snowe (R-ME)
Voinovich (R-OH)
So the guy in charge of the tax-writing committee is a tax cheat, the guy now in charge of the Treasury is a tax cheat and liar, and now Tom "I'm very concerned" Daschle, another Obama pick for high office, is a bigger tax cheat than either of the other two. Not counting, of course, whatever dirty activities they got away with other than these. And, for the sake of President The Obama we're supposed to applaud these criminals going into high office after getting to skip the penalties any plain old peasant would face ALONG with swallowing the shit sandwich of a spending bill they want to cram down our throats.
I'm beginning to wonder if there are enough lampposts in DC; how sturdy are cherry tree branches?
Back on the subject of the shit sandwich, Insty has a post on people mad at FEMA over how long it's taking for FEMA to show up, and notes somebody named Taylor Marsh saying “Well, this certainly seems fitting in the afterglow of Republican stiffing the new, popular President, all the while people are freezing because of a failed power grid. Nope, can’t spend money on that.” Apparently the concept of 'the spending bill The Obama is pushing doesn't have a damned thing to do with this' just doesn't register; probably because ignoring that means "IT'S THE REPUBLICANS FAULT!!!" in her twisted little mind. I went to her site to see the whole of this piece of sh- er, work, to find a 'system maintenance in progress' message. Which seems good timing if it's regular maintenance, and a way of avoiding criticism if it's not.
Contrast that to Daschle's freebie car and driver. First, there is no theory that his wife insisted that Daschle be chauffered around. Second, there is no ambiguity in the law, or no theory that he did not know that he owed the money. It is obviously an in-kind payment for services. Of course he knew he owed the taxes. Finally, there is no tedious extra bureaucratic obstacle to paying this tax. You just drop a number right on to the 1040. You know, that document that you signed under penalty of perjury. Yep, you got it. Mistakes are obvious and when it comes to the tax laws I am more than sympathetic to people who make them, but it is very hard for me to believe that this was one. Genuinely intentional misstatements on a tax return usually require penance more onorous than mere restitution.
...
- Failing to report over $255,000 of income from the free use of a car and chauffer provided to him in 2005-2007 by InterMedia Partners, a private equity fund and its managing partner, Leo Hindery, Jr., a prominent Democratic fund-raiser.
- Failing to report over $80,000 of consulting income from the same source in 2007.
- Failing to properly substantiate $15,000 of charitable deductions in 2005-2007.
The Senate Finance Committee staff also notes that there are two unresolved tax issues:
- Free travel and entertainment services provided to the Daschles by EduCap, Inc., Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation, Academy Achievement, and Loan to Learn.
- Additional unsubstantiated charitable contributions for 2005-2007
As a life-long politician, Tom Daschle never earned much money. But he retired from the Senate, after being defeated for re-election by John Thune, as a multimillionaire. He retired to Georgetown, of course, not to South Dakota. This happens a lot in Washington, and Daschle's case is pretty typical.
His wife Linda is or was a lobbyist, and she was the one who reported the family's income. (This is inference, since Daschle consistently chose not to make his tax returns public.) Linda Daschle made millions "lobbying" on behalf of various corporate interests. There was no conflict of interest, the Democrats assured us, because Linda Daschle only "lobbied" the House of Representatives, not the Senate, where her husband was either the Majority or the Minority Leader for much of his career.
But wait! If a company hired Linda to lobby House members, the check they wrote went straight into the Senate Majority Leader's joint checking account. It would have been a felony to write the check to Tom in exchange for political services, but a check to Linda, that went into the same bank account? No problem! She wasn't lobbying the Senate! So Tom Daschle became a multimillionaire.
and
The principal issues that Daschle is now rectifying with the IRS stem from his relationship with InterMedia Advisors of Englewood, Colo. Daschle is a limited partner and chairman of that firm's executive advisory board, and is also an independent consultant to InterMedia Advisors LLP of New York City.
InterMedia Advisors was founded by Leo Hindery, who, as we noted here, was once the CEO of Global Crossing, a company that enriched a number of prominent Democrats, including Terry McAuliffe, but also turned into one of the biggest bankruptcies in the history of American business, in which creditors and innocent investors lost many millions of dollars. Hindery subsequently ran for Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, served on the Board of Advisors of left-wing Democracy Radio, and was awarded the "Oates-Shrum Leadership Award of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund." In his spare time, he's been funneling cash to Daschle.
And Michelle Malkin has this, including a list of the Bend-Over 'Republicans'(here, more than every, the Stupid Party) likely to make excuses for this tax cheat, just like they did the other:
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
Ensign (R-NV)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hatch (R-UT)
Shelby (R-AL)
Snowe (R-ME)
Voinovich (R-OH)
So the guy in charge of the tax-writing committee is a tax cheat, the guy now in charge of the Treasury is a tax cheat and liar, and now Tom "I'm very concerned" Daschle, another Obama pick for high office, is a bigger tax cheat than either of the other two. Not counting, of course, whatever dirty activities they got away with other than these. And, for the sake of President The Obama we're supposed to applaud these criminals going into high office after getting to skip the penalties any plain old peasant would face ALONG with swallowing the shit sandwich of a spending bill they want to cram down our throats.
I'm beginning to wonder if there are enough lampposts in DC; how sturdy are cherry tree branches?
Back on the subject of the shit sandwich, Insty has a post on people mad at FEMA over how long it's taking for FEMA to show up, and notes somebody named Taylor Marsh saying
Further on the M16 and the powder change
I'm doing this as a separate post instead of adding it to the other.
In comments I got
IIRC, the original powder specified for the M-16 was an "IMR" (stick) type. A ball powder was substituted for some reason. The problem was that as long as the ballistics requirements were met, the specification for the powder didn't put any limit on the content of calcium carbonate. (Calcium carbonate is used as an antiacid.) As a result, the maker used a lot of the stuff. This resulted in a calcium based fouling in the gas system which was extremely hard to remove. This and the early report that the M-16 never needed cleaning had predictable results.
I did some checking(hey, I was in a hurry last night) and this does indeed cover it. I also found this:
1965 - 1967. Field reports from Vietnam began to look much more pessimistic. M16 rifles, issued to US troops in the Vietnam, severely jammed in combat, resulting in numerous casualties. There were some causes for malfunction. First of all, during the introduction of the new rifle and its ammunition into the service, US Army replaced originally specified Dupont IMR powder with standard ball powder, used in 7.62x51mm NATO ammunition. The ball powder produced much more fouling, that quickly jammed the actions of the M16 unless the gun was cleared well and often. This pitifully combined with the fact that the initial M16 rifles were promoted by the Colt as "low maintenance", so, for the sake of economy, no cleaning supplies were procured for new M16 rifles, and no weapon care training was conducted fro the troops. As a result, soldiers did not knew how to clean their rifles, and had no provisions for cleaning, and thing soon turned bad. To add the trouble, the ball powders also had a different pressure curve, so they produced higher pressures at the gas port, giving the rise to the rate of fire, and, thus, decreasing accuracy and increasing parts wear.
I remember reading, years ago, accounts of units where the only people who had any real understanding of cleaning the thing were those who'd been shooting before entering the Army; and they had to rig pull-throughs and such to do it.
In comments I got
IIRC, the original powder specified for the M-16 was an "IMR" (stick) type. A ball powder was substituted for some reason. The problem was that as long as the ballistics requirements were met, the specification for the powder didn't put any limit on the content of calcium carbonate. (Calcium carbonate is used as an antiacid.) As a result, the maker used a lot of the stuff. This resulted in a calcium based fouling in the gas system which was extremely hard to remove. This and the early report that the M-16 never needed cleaning had predictable results.
I did some checking(hey, I was in a hurry last night) and this does indeed cover it. I also found this:
1965 - 1967. Field reports from Vietnam began to look much more pessimistic. M16 rifles, issued to US troops in the Vietnam, severely jammed in combat, resulting in numerous casualties. There were some causes for malfunction. First of all, during the introduction of the new rifle and its ammunition into the service, US Army replaced originally specified Dupont IMR powder with standard ball powder, used in 7.62x51mm NATO ammunition. The ball powder produced much more fouling, that quickly jammed the actions of the M16 unless the gun was cleared well and often. This pitifully combined with the fact that the initial M16 rifles were promoted by the Colt as "low maintenance", so, for the sake of economy, no cleaning supplies were procured for new M16 rifles, and no weapon care training was conducted fro the troops. As a result, soldiers did not knew how to clean their rifles, and had no provisions for cleaning, and thing soon turned bad. To add the trouble, the ball powders also had a different pressure curve, so they produced higher pressures at the gas port, giving the rise to the rate of fire, and, thus, decreasing accuracy and increasing parts wear.
I remember reading, years ago, accounts of units where the only people who had any real understanding of cleaning the thing were those who'd been shooting before entering the Army; and they had to rig pull-throughs and such to do it.
I haven't whacked on (fG)Britain in a while, so
let's start with a chaplain who drops the Creed
Sandhurst military academy has dropped the Church of England Creed from services over fears that it may offend religious minorities.
Cadets do NOT have to attend, and yet he does this. To prevent giving offense to non-believers. The chaplain apparently has no balls, and the required 'PC at any cost' attitude that seems to be required in (fG)Britain nowadays. Or just no damn brains.
A big problem in British schools, which far too many socialist moron teachers and school brass over here are pushing us into as well:
...In a discussion about the profound failure of the Government's £5 billion adult literacy drive, an unfortunate young man who was struggling in the world of work because of his inability to read properly was interviewed about the lack of help he had received. The crash almost came when it was mentioned, in passing, that he had seven GCSEs.
Now I do not wish to be problematical, but could somebody tell me this: how in God's name does someone get seven GCSEs if he can't read? Is not much that is wrong with our suffering country revealed at a stroke by that admission? Does it not reflect the dismal nature of our schools, the dismal nature of what passes for public qualifications, and above all the dismal nature of the educationalists who have made such an absurdity of the GCSE system and the politicians who endorse them?
Yes, it does. But the socialists are in charge, and they don't care what damage they do to your(or our)country because they want it absorbed into the Great Collective where Big Nanny will take care of you. And don't you dare protest about it.
Uncle notes PSH in Britain over a picture. Which the paper can't look at without letting their bigotry run wild.
I just found this crap at Hell in a Handbasket, and had to add it in. As he notes, the headline speaks of 'tackling internet knife gangs', but there are no gangs, just somebody's web page:
Young trainee officers at Strathclyde Police search social networking sites for pictures of people posing with weapons, mainly knives.
...
"We're looking for anyone who is brandishing offensive weapons or blades," Holly told Newsbeat.
"We take the date, the time, detail of what's in the photograph, [then] a copy of the photograph is printed out and thereafter it's all sent to the gangs task force unit."
That's when more experienced officers in the Violence Reduction Unit at Strathclyde Police get involved. And what do they do?
The man in charge of this, Superintendent Bob Hamilton, says there are two ways of dealing with people once they've been tracked down.
If they were posing in a public place, like on the street or a park, the law has been broken and they'll be arrested.
Even when pictures are taken in private, though, which isn't technically breaking the law, he says the weapons are so dangerous his officers pay a visit to the people involved.
"You haven't broken the law, but we don't like what you're doing! So here we are tothreatenscare you into being a good little peasant."
"We show the parents their pictures," he explained, "recover the weapons and make sure they know that behaviour is unacceptable.
"We steal private property just because we don't like them having it and threaten them for daring to step outside the template." So posing for a picture with something you legally own is 'unacceptable' and worth of having your property stolen.
Superintendent Hamilton says Operation Access has been a complete success.
"We've questioned more than 400 people, most of them teenagers, as part of it and it's worked so well it will carry on indefinitely," he said.
'A complete success' translates to 'giving people a criminal record for posing with an object, and stealing private property because it offends us." Yeah, that's a real success for the Nanny State, it is.
As James says, Let us consider this as yet another reason why I thank God every day that I was born an American.
And last, an 83-year-old man with balls takes on a robber, while a bunch of males with none stand around and refuse to help. Which is just the perfect ending, and brings back the question "Hey, Brits; what the HELL happened to you?"
Sandhurst military academy has dropped the Church of England Creed from services over fears that it may offend religious minorities.
Cadets do NOT have to attend, and yet he does this. To prevent giving offense to non-believers. The chaplain apparently has no balls, and the required 'PC at any cost' attitude that seems to be required in (fG)Britain nowadays. Or just no damn brains.
A big problem in British schools, which far too many socialist moron teachers and school brass over here are pushing us into as well:
...In a discussion about the profound failure of the Government's £5 billion adult literacy drive, an unfortunate young man who was struggling in the world of work because of his inability to read properly was interviewed about the lack of help he had received. The crash almost came when it was mentioned, in passing, that he had seven GCSEs.
Now I do not wish to be problematical, but could somebody tell me this: how in God's name does someone get seven GCSEs if he can't read? Is not much that is wrong with our suffering country revealed at a stroke by that admission? Does it not reflect the dismal nature of our schools, the dismal nature of what passes for public qualifications, and above all the dismal nature of the educationalists who have made such an absurdity of the GCSE system and the politicians who endorse them?
Yes, it does. But the socialists are in charge, and they don't care what damage they do to your(or our)country because they want it absorbed into the Great Collective where Big Nanny will take care of you. And don't you dare protest about it.
Uncle notes PSH in Britain over a picture. Which the paper can't look at without letting their bigotry run wild.
I just found this crap at Hell in a Handbasket, and had to add it in. As he notes, the headline speaks of 'tackling internet knife gangs', but there are no gangs, just somebody's web page:
Young trainee officers at Strathclyde Police search social networking sites for pictures of people posing with weapons, mainly knives.
...
"We're looking for anyone who is brandishing offensive weapons or blades," Holly told Newsbeat.
"We take the date, the time, detail of what's in the photograph, [then] a copy of the photograph is printed out and thereafter it's all sent to the gangs task force unit."
That's when more experienced officers in the Violence Reduction Unit at Strathclyde Police get involved. And what do they do?
The man in charge of this, Superintendent Bob Hamilton, says there are two ways of dealing with people once they've been tracked down.
If they were posing in a public place, like on the street or a park, the law has been broken and they'll be arrested.
Even when pictures are taken in private, though, which isn't technically breaking the law, he says the weapons are so dangerous his officers pay a visit to the people involved.
"You haven't broken the law, but we don't like what you're doing! So here we are to
"We show the parents their pictures," he explained, "recover the weapons and make sure they know that behaviour is unacceptable.
"We steal private property just because we don't like them having it and threaten them for daring to step outside the template." So posing for a picture with something you legally own is 'unacceptable' and worth of having your property stolen.
Superintendent Hamilton says Operation Access has been a complete success.
"We've questioned more than 400 people, most of them teenagers, as part of it and it's worked so well it will carry on indefinitely," he said.
'A complete success' translates to 'giving people a criminal record for posing with an object, and stealing private property because it offends us." Yeah, that's a real success for the Nanny State, it is.
As James says, Let us consider this as yet another reason why I thank God every day that I was born an American.
And last, an 83-year-old man with balls takes on a robber, while a bunch of males with none stand around and refuse to help. Which is just the perfect ending, and brings back the question "Hey, Brits; what the HELL happened to you?"
Friday, January 30, 2009
Pressure curves and moment; updated
See, I can too speak techno babble.
A little.
Ok, very little.
What brought this on was part of what Gerry put in comments on the casting post:
I tried my tried and true Unique powder in my M1 Carbine. According to the books the velocity was fine. Unfortunately it wouldn't function the rifle making it a straight pull bolt action*. It's OK though, I have an adapter cartridge so I can shoot .30 Carbine rounds in my Ruger #1 and one of my Military bolt rifles both chambered in .308 Win (7,62x51mm NATO). For loads for the carbine, it's back to 2400. Something about pressure curves and moment. Techno engineering babble.
In the general interest of spreading knowledge I shall now exhibit some of my somewhat incomplete and possibly slightly-flawed knowledge on this subject.
When he speaks of the pressure curve, he’s hitting on one of the things behind the design of any semi-auto or automatic firearm that’s gas-operated; that there has to be sufficient pressure in the right place and for the right length of time to operate the action.
Take a look at the old M1 Garand. Way out near the muzzle is a gas port, a small hole drilled into the bottom of the barrel. Attached to the barrel is a combination gas tube/sight base, and sliding into the gas tube from the back is the operating rod. When a shot is fired, as the bullet passes the port some of the high-pressure gas is siphoned off into the gas tube, where it pushes the op-rod to the rear, which unlocks and retracts the bolt, ejecting the empty case. Then the op-rod spring pushes the bolt and op-rod forward to strip the next cartridge into the chamber, lock the bolt and position the rod for the next operation. This action, including the size of the hole in the barrel, was designed around a 150-grain spitzer bullet moving about 2800-2900 feet per second and being pushed by a particular powder. It’s been known for a long time that shooting bullets heavier than 180 grains, or using a slower-burning propellant, can produce pressure in the system high enough to bend the op-rod and/or cause other damage. Bad Thing. This is one of the reasons why, when it was decided the Garand had to be in .30-06 instead of the .280 cartridge that it had originally been built around, it took a lot more than just a different bore & chamber to make the change. It’s also why, with cast bullets, you can use some powders that are too slow-burning to be used with jacketed bullets; cast have less resistance to being pushed down the bore, and a powder that can damage things with jacketed bullets can, with a heavy cast, be just right to produce the needed pressure at the gas port for the necessary time.
The AR15/M16 family is similar in that the gas port is out front under the front sight; in this case a gas tube takes the high-pressure gas all the way back to the receiver where it pushes on the bolt carrier to operate the action(‘direct gas impingement’ I believe it’s called). Again, there has to be enough pressure, for long enough, to cycle the action.
The early M16 cartridge story also has one of the reasons it got a reputation as a jamming POS. It was designed around the military version of the .223(called the 5.56x45mm), which used x grains of a certain powder. Then it was decided, without sufficient consideration for the consequences, to change powder(I believe because the new was easier/safer to manufacture). I can’t remember if went from a ball to a flake or the other way ‘round, but while the new powder produced the right pressure, it also produced more fouling. Which clogged up either the gas tube or the receiver/bolt carrier/bolt. Which, combined with lousy instruction on cleaning and few or no cleaning kits, produced lots of jamming problems that got people killed. (Update: more information here; it was going from a stick powder to ball)
So a gas-operated firearm of any kind has certain limitations on ammo. Not as many as once, because there are ‘self-regulating’ gas systems that can compensate for different shells(in the case of semi-auto shotguns), and some machine guns and semi-auto rifles have an adjustable gas plug that lets you compensate for ammo variations and/or dirt in the system from sustained firing. For that matter, you can get a gas plug for the M1 that is adjustable, to allow the use of other than M2 ball-standard ammo without damaging the works.
The M1 Carbine has the gas port much closer to the chamber; part of the reason was to have the gas at high enough pressure and temperature as to keep the port free from fouling. There’s no way to adjust that gas system unless you decide to do some machining and modifying, which means there’s a definite limit on what can be done with the cartridge as far as pushing velocity up without hitting dangerous pressures.
Basic 'how it works' according to my understanding; if you've got better info, say so, I have no problem with being saved from continuing error.
*I'll note that some people, for plinking, don't mind their semi-auto turning into a straight-pull bolt. I've read of the '150 to 170-grain bullet and 16.0 of 2400' load in the M1 Garand; it won't work the bolt, but it will, in many rifles, give good accuracy with light recoil. And working the bolt by hand means the fired cases don't go far.
A little.
Ok, very little.
What brought this on was part of what Gerry put in comments on the casting post:
I tried my tried and true Unique powder in my M1 Carbine. According to the books the velocity was fine. Unfortunately it wouldn't function the rifle making it a straight pull bolt action*. It's OK though, I have an adapter cartridge so I can shoot .30 Carbine rounds in my Ruger #1 and one of my Military bolt rifles both chambered in .308 Win (7,62x51mm NATO). For loads for the carbine, it's back to 2400. Something about pressure curves and moment. Techno engineering babble.
In the general interest of spreading knowledge I shall now exhibit some of my somewhat incomplete and possibly slightly-flawed knowledge on this subject.
When he speaks of the pressure curve, he’s hitting on one of the things behind the design of any semi-auto or automatic firearm that’s gas-operated; that there has to be sufficient pressure in the right place and for the right length of time to operate the action.
Take a look at the old M1 Garand. Way out near the muzzle is a gas port, a small hole drilled into the bottom of the barrel. Attached to the barrel is a combination gas tube/sight base, and sliding into the gas tube from the back is the operating rod. When a shot is fired, as the bullet passes the port some of the high-pressure gas is siphoned off into the gas tube, where it pushes the op-rod to the rear, which unlocks and retracts the bolt, ejecting the empty case. Then the op-rod spring pushes the bolt and op-rod forward to strip the next cartridge into the chamber, lock the bolt and position the rod for the next operation. This action, including the size of the hole in the barrel, was designed around a 150-grain spitzer bullet moving about 2800-2900 feet per second and being pushed by a particular powder. It’s been known for a long time that shooting bullets heavier than 180 grains, or using a slower-burning propellant, can produce pressure in the system high enough to bend the op-rod and/or cause other damage. Bad Thing. This is one of the reasons why, when it was decided the Garand had to be in .30-06 instead of the .280 cartridge that it had originally been built around, it took a lot more than just a different bore & chamber to make the change. It’s also why, with cast bullets, you can use some powders that are too slow-burning to be used with jacketed bullets; cast have less resistance to being pushed down the bore, and a powder that can damage things with jacketed bullets can, with a heavy cast, be just right to produce the needed pressure at the gas port for the necessary time.
The AR15/M16 family is similar in that the gas port is out front under the front sight; in this case a gas tube takes the high-pressure gas all the way back to the receiver where it pushes on the bolt carrier to operate the action(‘direct gas impingement’ I believe it’s called). Again, there has to be enough pressure, for long enough, to cycle the action.
The early M16 cartridge story also has one of the reasons it got a reputation as a jamming POS. It was designed around the military version of the .223(called the 5.56x45mm), which used x grains of a certain powder. Then it was decided, without sufficient consideration for the consequences, to change powder(I believe because the new was easier/safer to manufacture). I can’t remember if went from a ball to a flake or the other way ‘round, but while the new powder produced the right pressure, it also produced more fouling. Which clogged up either the gas tube or the receiver/bolt carrier/bolt. Which, combined with lousy instruction on cleaning and few or no cleaning kits, produced lots of jamming problems that got people killed. (Update: more information here; it was going from a stick powder to ball)
So a gas-operated firearm of any kind has certain limitations on ammo. Not as many as once, because there are ‘self-regulating’ gas systems that can compensate for different shells(in the case of semi-auto shotguns), and some machine guns and semi-auto rifles have an adjustable gas plug that lets you compensate for ammo variations and/or dirt in the system from sustained firing. For that matter, you can get a gas plug for the M1 that is adjustable, to allow the use of other than M2 ball-standard ammo without damaging the works.
The M1 Carbine has the gas port much closer to the chamber; part of the reason was to have the gas at high enough pressure and temperature as to keep the port free from fouling. There’s no way to adjust that gas system unless you decide to do some machining and modifying, which means there’s a definite limit on what can be done with the cartridge as far as pushing velocity up without hitting dangerous pressures.
Basic 'how it works' according to my understanding; if you've got better info, say so, I have no problem with being saved from continuing error.
*I'll note that some people, for plinking, don't mind their semi-auto turning into a straight-pull bolt. I've read of the '150 to 170-grain bullet and 16.0 of 2400' load in the M1 Garand; it won't work the bolt, but it will, in many rifles, give good accuracy with light recoil. And working the bolt by hand means the fired cases don't go far.
Dammit, I can't find a new sticker
Before some moron broke the rear window, I had a nice, oval Molon Labe sticker. I'd thought Life, Liberty, etc. was where I got it; but if it was, they don't have them anymore. They do have the Peace through Superior Firepower stickers, but not the other.
Anyone know where I can find them?
Anyone know where I can find them?
Lots of stuff out there, crooked politicians and the crap sandwich
they want us to eat now! or the world will fall apart. Some of this one makes me think some people would like to pin a lot of the bullcrap on Emanuel so as to keep Pres. The Obama looking pristine. Which may well be part of his job. I don't buy it, Obama's in this crap up to his ears, but it does give them a way to try to deflect it.
The Pork, Payoffs & BribesBailoutStimulus Bill, i.e. the crap sandwich the Evil Party wants to shove down our throats, turns out to include ways to try and bring back the pre-reform welfare state.
But, thanks to the simple phrase slipped into the legislation, the new "stimulus" bill abolishes the limits on the amount of federal money for the so-called Emergency Fund, which ships welfare cash to states.
"Out of any money in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, there are appropriated such sums as are necessary for payment to the Emergency Fund," Democrats wrote in Section 2101 on Page 354 of the $819 billion bill. In other words, the only limit on welfare payments would be the Treasury itself.
"This re-establishes the welfare state and creates dependency all over the place," said one startled budget analyst after reading the line.
In addition to reopening the floodgates of dependency on federal welfare programs, the change once again deepens the dependency of state governments on the federal government.
Gee, now why wouldn't the administration and their pet media say anything about this, hmmm?
A media guy saying there are problems with how the Obama administration is dealing with the press, while it's being pointed out- again- that there's also a problem with the media not asking questions at all in many cases. At least not that they'll actually, y'know, report to us.
Speaking of crooked politicians, Sen. Dodd still hasn't released those documents, while he keeps accusing other people of things.
And let's take a look at crooked judges, and the people who won't speak of what party they belong to:
If the allegations are true, Ciavarella and Conahan were involved in a disgraceful cabal far worse than one that merely lined their pockets.
First, the judges helped the detention centers land a county contract worth $58 million. Then their alleged scheme was to guarantee the operators a steady income by detaining juveniles, often on petty stuff.
Many of the kids were railroaded, according to allegations lodged with the state Supreme Court last year by the Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center, an advocacy group.
In asking the court to intervene in April, the law center cited hundreds of examples where teens accused of minor mischief were pressured to waive their right to lawyers, and then shipped to a detention center.
One teen was given a 90-day sentence for having parodied a school administrator online. Such unwarranted detentions left "both children and parents feeling bewildered, violated and traumatized," center lawyers said.
Hell with disbarment and jail, this cries out for a whipping post, followed by tar and feathers. Then being beaten by the parents of the kids railroaded into jail.
Blackfive has a post on a story that somebody started that the armed forces were going to have to start swearing loyalty to the President, not the Constitution. From what B5 says, the story is bullcrap. What's kind of interesting is the number of people willing to believe Pres. The Obama might try to order such. I know why some would believe it; but that it got a fair amount of traction is a bit surprising. Maybe it shouldn't be. Besides his apparent general contempt for the military, he just had the shocking experience of a military judge telling him "No":
''On its face, the request to delay the arraignment is not reasonable,'' the judge, Army Col. James Pohl, wrote in his three-page ruling denying a prosecution request to delay Nashiri's first court appearance.
...
''The public interest in a speedy trial will be harmed by the delay in the arraignment,'' Pohl also wrote.
He noted that unless Congress amended the 2006 Military Commissions Act, ``the commission is bound by the law as it currently exists not as it may change in the future.''
McQ says he'd like this to get a lot of publicity to prevent the chance of the President or people in his administration trying to screw the Colonel over. I agree.
And, on a non-political note, Redoubt in Alaska seems to be building to another eruption, and so many people tried to hit the Observatory site they crashed the server. The first victim of the eruption, it would seem.
The Pork, Payoffs & Bribes
But, thanks to the simple phrase slipped into the legislation, the new "stimulus" bill abolishes the limits on the amount of federal money for the so-called Emergency Fund, which ships welfare cash to states.
"Out of any money in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, there are appropriated such sums as are necessary for payment to the Emergency Fund," Democrats wrote in Section 2101 on Page 354 of the $819 billion bill. In other words, the only limit on welfare payments would be the Treasury itself.
"This re-establishes the welfare state and creates dependency all over the place," said one startled budget analyst after reading the line.
In addition to reopening the floodgates of dependency on federal welfare programs, the change once again deepens the dependency of state governments on the federal government.
Gee, now why wouldn't the administration and their pet media say anything about this, hmmm?
A media guy saying there are problems with how the Obama administration is dealing with the press, while it's being pointed out- again- that there's also a problem with the media not asking questions at all in many cases. At least not that they'll actually, y'know, report to us.
Speaking of crooked politicians, Sen. Dodd still hasn't released those documents, while he keeps accusing other people of things.
And let's take a look at crooked judges, and the people who won't speak of what party they belong to:
If the allegations are true, Ciavarella and Conahan were involved in a disgraceful cabal far worse than one that merely lined their pockets.
First, the judges helped the detention centers land a county contract worth $58 million. Then their alleged scheme was to guarantee the operators a steady income by detaining juveniles, often on petty stuff.
Many of the kids were railroaded, according to allegations lodged with the state Supreme Court last year by the Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center, an advocacy group.
In asking the court to intervene in April, the law center cited hundreds of examples where teens accused of minor mischief were pressured to waive their right to lawyers, and then shipped to a detention center.
One teen was given a 90-day sentence for having parodied a school administrator online. Such unwarranted detentions left "both children and parents feeling bewildered, violated and traumatized," center lawyers said.
Hell with disbarment and jail, this cries out for a whipping post, followed by tar and feathers. Then being beaten by the parents of the kids railroaded into jail.
Blackfive has a post on a story that somebody started that the armed forces were going to have to start swearing loyalty to the President, not the Constitution. From what B5 says, the story is bullcrap. What's kind of interesting is the number of people willing to believe Pres. The Obama might try to order such. I know why some would believe it; but that it got a fair amount of traction is a bit surprising. Maybe it shouldn't be. Besides his apparent general contempt for the military, he just had the shocking experience of a military judge telling him "No":
''On its face, the request to delay the arraignment is not reasonable,'' the judge, Army Col. James Pohl, wrote in his three-page ruling denying a prosecution request to delay Nashiri's first court appearance.
...
''The public interest in a speedy trial will be harmed by the delay in the arraignment,'' Pohl also wrote.
He noted that unless Congress amended the 2006 Military Commissions Act, ``the commission is bound by the law as it currently exists not as it may change in the future.''
McQ says he'd like this to get a lot of publicity to prevent the chance of the President or people in his administration trying to screw the Colonel over. I agree.
And, on a non-political note, Redoubt in Alaska seems to be building to another eruption, and so many people tried to hit the Observatory site they crashed the server. The first victim of the eruption, it would seem.
Hope! and Change! and government theft;
new thieves same as any old thieves, etc.
I love this. The new kind of politics of hope. Eight hours of debate in the HR to pass a bill spending $820 billion, or roughly $102 billion per hour of debate.
Only ten per cent of the "stimulus" to be spent on 2009.
Close to half goes to entities that sponsor or employ or both members of the Service Employees International Union, federal, state, and municipal employee unions, or other Democrat-controlled unions.
This bill is sent to Congress after Obama has been in office for seven days. It is 680 pages long. According to my calculations, not one member of Congress read the entire bill before this vote. Obviously, it would have been impossible, given his schedule, for President Obama to have read the entire bill.
For the amount spent we could have given every unemployed person in the United States roughly $75,000.
And remember, we HAVE to do it NOW! Translation: "We need to shove this through before thesuckerspeople find out just what's in it!"
And remember "We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK,"?
Somebody, please, calculate the increased size of the White House carbon footprint caused by this preference for being surrounded by warm air instead of warm clothing. You're setting the thermostat, in winter, to — what? — 75°? 78°?
And isn't it amazing how some clown fired during the campaign for being a problem can just show up again?
And now the US has a oh-so-progressive bunch of academics who want a 'academic and cultural boycott' of Israel for being such bastards as to do something about Hamas shooting rocket all over the place and murdering people.
Yeah, the last isn't directly connected to Pres. The Obama that I know of, but it just had to be mentioned.
I love this. The new kind of politics of hope. Eight hours of debate in the HR to pass a bill spending $820 billion, or roughly $102 billion per hour of debate.
Only ten per cent of the "stimulus" to be spent on 2009.
Close to half goes to entities that sponsor or employ or both members of the Service Employees International Union, federal, state, and municipal employee unions, or other Democrat-controlled unions.
This bill is sent to Congress after Obama has been in office for seven days. It is 680 pages long. According to my calculations, not one member of Congress read the entire bill before this vote. Obviously, it would have been impossible, given his schedule, for President Obama to have read the entire bill.
For the amount spent we could have given every unemployed person in the United States roughly $75,000.
And remember, we HAVE to do it NOW! Translation: "We need to shove this through before the
And remember "We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK,"?
Somebody, please, calculate the increased size of the White House carbon footprint caused by this preference for being surrounded by warm air instead of warm clothing. You're setting the thermostat, in winter, to — what? — 75°? 78°?
And isn't it amazing how some clown fired during the campaign for being a problem can just show up again?
And now the US has a oh-so-progressive bunch of academics who want a 'academic and cultural boycott' of Israel for being such bastards as to do something about Hamas shooting rocket all over the place and murdering people.
Yeah, the last isn't directly connected to Pres. The Obama that I know of, but it just had to be mentioned.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
I've talked about cast bullets over the past while,
so I thought I’d write some basically about how/what/why on them.
Casting requires metal to melt, a way to melt it, and a mold to cast it in. Then the bullet(sometimes) has to be sized to give it an exact diameter, and lubed. The sizing can take a bullet that’s a little too-large diameter and form it to an exact smaller diameter; the lube helps keep the metal from melting or scraping off due to friction and sticking to the walls of the bore.
The metal. For what we’re talking about, lead alloy. When you’re messing with cast bullets, you’ll run into mentions of hard and soft alloys. Generally speaking, the two elements used to alloy lead are antimony and tin; the more of them(up to a point) the harder the alloy. Tin also does a wonderful thing, making the lead easier to cast. Bronze is copper with a bit of tin added, it not only makes it harder but makes it ‘flow’ better and easier to cast; it does the same with lead. A lot of people shooting black-powder cartridges use pure lead, but often add just a tiny amount of tin to make it fill the mold better for perfect bullets; not enough to harden it, but enough to help it flow. Antimony mostly adds hardness.
You can buy pure lead ingots, you can buy lead already alloyed in a certain way for casting bullets. You can buy or pick up wheel weights, you can(sometimes) find bars of linotype, and you can buy plumbers lead(pure). All of it’s useful
Dig around and you’ll find formulas(x pounds of wheelweights added to x pounds pure lead for instance) to get a particular hardness. For some things people use straight wheelweights as that’s a pretty hard alloy. The hardest alloy is linotype, a lead alloy that used to be used by newspapers to make the plates for printing(and hard to find now). Generally, a hard alloy can be pushed to higher velocity without causing lead fouling in the bore than a soft alloy. A hard is also more brittle; bullets cast of linotype can be driven to pretty high velocity, but when used for hunting have been known to break up after impact in an animal. Soft alloys can’t be pushed as fast, but tend to hold together after impact, and can often expand nicely*.
What changes the situation of choosing alloy is a little thing called a gas check. It’s a small copper cup. Bullets designed for them have a short shank on the base, you push a check onto it and when you size the bullet it crimps the check onto the base**. This protects the base from the hot propellant gas and allows a bullet of softer alloy to be driven faster without fouling the bore(in a semi-auto it also reduces the chance of fouling the gas system). That means that you can, at least up to a point, use general scrap lead for bullets with much less worry about fouling, and you can use a softer alloy for a hunting bullet.
Melting the metal. You’ve got to keep it hot enough to flow freely and fill the mold properly, but don’t want to get it too hot. You can use a camping stove, there are electric melters into which you dip a ladle to pick up and pour the lead, or you can use one of the bottom-pour melters. I’ve got one of the latter, the smaller Lee unit that holds ten pounds of lead. It’s got a thermostat so you can keep the temperature steady, you hold the mold under the spout and lift a lever to pour the metal. It beats hell out of the pot & ladle method, and I’ve been very glad I got it.
Once the metal is melted, you need to flux it. Which means to add something to it that will help cause impurities to float to the top, and help make sure the alloying elements stay in the mix. There are fluxes made specifically for this, some people put a lubed bullet in, some people use a piece of candle wax. The lubed bullet and wax produce a lot of smoke, the special fluxes generally don’t. You put it in and stir things up thoroughly for at least 30 seconds; then you can skim the impurities off the top. With things like wheel weights, a lot of people melt, flux and clean them and then cast them into an ingot mold, cleaning a bunch at a time for later use; that’s what I usually do. Also, some ingots you buy won’t fit into a melter for casting, so you’ve got to break them up somehow for use.
I’ll pass on something I read a few years ago: a guy wrote in one of the gun rags of a friend who got very good results with his cast bullets, and the subject of fluxing the lead in the melter to clean it came up. The friend didn’t; he kept a layer of cheap, unscented kitty litter on top, said it seemed to almost act as if constantly fluxing the lead. Fresh ingots could be slipped through, and about every third use, he’d skim off the layer and put on fresh. I’ve tried it, and it does seem to work pretty well.
You need a mold. Depending on the bullet size and type, you can get molds to make a single bullet, two bullets, or up to six at a time, and they're generally made of iron, steel or aluminum. Most have the bottom of the bullet at the top; some, for making sure a bullet has the most clean, precise bottom possible, fill from the nose. There’s a piece called a sprue cutter where you fill the mold. When pour lead into the mold, you want to have an excess amount on top, so as the bullet cools and contracts it can- if needed- suck in metal from the excess to fill out. That excess is called the sprue, and when it’s cooled enough you use the cutter to take it off. Usually by tapping it with a hardwood baton. Then you open the mold and dump the bullet/s out, preferably onto a padded surface as they’re still hot and somewhat soft.
Sizing/lubing. The bullets then may need to be sized and will need lube. Sizing is usually done with some type of press into which fits a die of exact diameter, most of which have a top punch that fits on the ram to avoid deforming the nose as you push the bullet down into the die. Most sizers also have a reservoir you fill with lube. When you push the bullet into the die you turn a crank to force lube through the die into the lube grooves on the bullet. Then, when you lever the bullet up, it’s done. Lee has another type, a die that screws into any standard loading press, a piece that fits into the shellholder slot to push the bullet through and a basket that catches the bullets as they come out. On this one you lube the bullet first, then place the gas check on(if used) and then put it on the ram and shove it through. Works quite well, and doesn’t cost much.
Lube ranges from the Lee Liquid Alox(very simple and works quite well within limitations) to the original Alox(soft and kind of sticky), to the newer stuff that’s hard enough that the luber has to be heated to soften it, generally much better for high-velocity loads. I’m going to stop there; if you’re interested, there’s lots of good information, online and in books, on these. I have used several. For bullets for the Webley revolver, I’ve had good results using a .45acp or .45 Colt bullet, unsized, lubed with Liquid Alox. For rifle I prefer using one of the hard lubes because A: they’re not sticky to handle and B: in summer, around here, some of the soft lubes can get pretty messy. But I’ve also used Liquid Alox on a gas-checked bullet for .303 and 7.62x54r with good results, i.e. good accuracy and no apparent fouling.
I’ll note that you don’t always have to size the bullet, but you DO need to lube it.
Once you’ve got bullets, you need loads. The Lyman handloading manual, for instance, has cast-bullet loads for most every cartridge in the book. And they have a manual that’s nothing but cast loads. Interestingly, there are some loads that work quite well over a wide range of cartridges and bullet weights. Over at Cast Boolits, there’s a set of four basic loads that cover a whole bunch of cartridges and bullet weights. I’ve mentioned using (in my guns, check it out before trying in yours) 16.0 grains of 2400 powder with 150 to 180-grain bullets in .30-06, .308, .303, 7.62x54r and 7.5x55. With a bullet that fits the bore this load gives good accuracy in all of the above with mild recoil. I first read of it I have no idea where(I’ve eaten & slept many times since then). Very Helpful Commenter had mentioned before that his standard load in military rifles is a certain Lee dipper of Unique; gave him good results in everything. I’ll post this from the Cast Boolits article:
… Four load classifications from Mattern (1932) cover all uses for the cast bullet military rifle. I worked up equivalent charges to obtain the desired velocity ranges with modern powders, which provide a sound basis for loading cast bullets in any post-1898 military rifle from 7mm to 8mm:
1. 125 grain plain based "small game/gallery" 900-1000 f.p.s., 5 grains of Bullseye or equivalent.
2. 150 grain plain based "100-yard target/small game", 1050-1250 f.p.s., 7 grains of Bullseye or equivalent.
3. 170-180 grain gas checked "200 yard target", 1500-1600 f.p.s., 16 grains of Hercules #2400 or equivalent.
4. 180-200 grain gas-checked "deer/600 yard target", 1750-1850 f.p.s., 26 grains of RL-7 or equivalent.
None of these loads are maximum when used in full-sized rifle cases such as the 30-40 Krag, .303 British, 7.65 Argentine, 7.7 Jap, 7.62x54R Russian , or 30-06. They can be used as basic load data in most modern military rifles of 7mm or larger, with a standard weight cast bullet for the caliber, such as 140-170 grains in the 7x57, 150-180 grains in the .30 calibers, and 150-190 grains in the 8mm. For bores smaller than 7mm, consult published data.
You get a chance, go read the whole piece; there’s a LOT of information there on bullets, powders, cases and loads if you’re interested in using cast bullets. Or just interested in what’s been worked out for these. If you’re not familiar with this, when he speaks of “Lyman #3118, #311008, #311359, or #311316” and such, he’s referring to the number for that bullet & mold. They’ve got a sticky here that shows ALL the Lyman bullets and their numbers; if you’ve got a slow connection like mine, it’ll take a while to load.
I’ll throw in that I’ve stuck with 2400 for most of these loads simply because it flows so nicely through a powder measure, whereas some flake powders like Unique can be more difficult to get consistent throws with.
This is by no means a complete 'Go do it' guide, just a bit of general overview. Hope it might answer some questions anybody might have about what the hell I'm talking about.
*If you read accounts of the buffalo hunters in the late 1800’s, they’ve mentioned that a shot that hit a buffalo behind one shoulder would penetrate completely, sometimes breaking the off-shoulder, and the bullet would be found flattened out against the inside of the skin. Pure lead generally; they’d save the bullets, melt them and cast new bullets.
**Some gas checks have a thick edge so it physically locks onto the shank when crimped. Others are simply a cup, held in place by friction. On the latter, it’s possible, if the base of the bullet is seated below the case neck, for them to come loose, which is a Bad Thing. If you use that type, make sure the base does not go below the case neck.
Casting requires metal to melt, a way to melt it, and a mold to cast it in. Then the bullet(sometimes) has to be sized to give it an exact diameter, and lubed. The sizing can take a bullet that’s a little too-large diameter and form it to an exact smaller diameter; the lube helps keep the metal from melting or scraping off due to friction and sticking to the walls of the bore.
The metal. For what we’re talking about, lead alloy. When you’re messing with cast bullets, you’ll run into mentions of hard and soft alloys. Generally speaking, the two elements used to alloy lead are antimony and tin; the more of them(up to a point) the harder the alloy. Tin also does a wonderful thing, making the lead easier to cast. Bronze is copper with a bit of tin added, it not only makes it harder but makes it ‘flow’ better and easier to cast; it does the same with lead. A lot of people shooting black-powder cartridges use pure lead, but often add just a tiny amount of tin to make it fill the mold better for perfect bullets; not enough to harden it, but enough to help it flow. Antimony mostly adds hardness.
You can buy pure lead ingots, you can buy lead already alloyed in a certain way for casting bullets. You can buy or pick up wheel weights, you can(sometimes) find bars of linotype, and you can buy plumbers lead(pure). All of it’s useful
Dig around and you’ll find formulas(x pounds of wheelweights added to x pounds pure lead for instance) to get a particular hardness. For some things people use straight wheelweights as that’s a pretty hard alloy. The hardest alloy is linotype, a lead alloy that used to be used by newspapers to make the plates for printing(and hard to find now). Generally, a hard alloy can be pushed to higher velocity without causing lead fouling in the bore than a soft alloy. A hard is also more brittle; bullets cast of linotype can be driven to pretty high velocity, but when used for hunting have been known to break up after impact in an animal. Soft alloys can’t be pushed as fast, but tend to hold together after impact, and can often expand nicely*.
What changes the situation of choosing alloy is a little thing called a gas check. It’s a small copper cup. Bullets designed for them have a short shank on the base, you push a check onto it and when you size the bullet it crimps the check onto the base**. This protects the base from the hot propellant gas and allows a bullet of softer alloy to be driven faster without fouling the bore(in a semi-auto it also reduces the chance of fouling the gas system). That means that you can, at least up to a point, use general scrap lead for bullets with much less worry about fouling, and you can use a softer alloy for a hunting bullet.
Melting the metal. You’ve got to keep it hot enough to flow freely and fill the mold properly, but don’t want to get it too hot. You can use a camping stove, there are electric melters into which you dip a ladle to pick up and pour the lead, or you can use one of the bottom-pour melters. I’ve got one of the latter, the smaller Lee unit that holds ten pounds of lead. It’s got a thermostat so you can keep the temperature steady, you hold the mold under the spout and lift a lever to pour the metal. It beats hell out of the pot & ladle method, and I’ve been very glad I got it.
Once the metal is melted, you need to flux it. Which means to add something to it that will help cause impurities to float to the top, and help make sure the alloying elements stay in the mix. There are fluxes made specifically for this, some people put a lubed bullet in, some people use a piece of candle wax. The lubed bullet and wax produce a lot of smoke, the special fluxes generally don’t. You put it in and stir things up thoroughly for at least 30 seconds; then you can skim the impurities off the top. With things like wheel weights, a lot of people melt, flux and clean them and then cast them into an ingot mold, cleaning a bunch at a time for later use; that’s what I usually do. Also, some ingots you buy won’t fit into a melter for casting, so you’ve got to break them up somehow for use.
I’ll pass on something I read a few years ago: a guy wrote in one of the gun rags of a friend who got very good results with his cast bullets, and the subject of fluxing the lead in the melter to clean it came up. The friend didn’t; he kept a layer of cheap, unscented kitty litter on top, said it seemed to almost act as if constantly fluxing the lead. Fresh ingots could be slipped through, and about every third use, he’d skim off the layer and put on fresh. I’ve tried it, and it does seem to work pretty well.
You need a mold. Depending on the bullet size and type, you can get molds to make a single bullet, two bullets, or up to six at a time, and they're generally made of iron, steel or aluminum. Most have the bottom of the bullet at the top; some, for making sure a bullet has the most clean, precise bottom possible, fill from the nose. There’s a piece called a sprue cutter where you fill the mold. When pour lead into the mold, you want to have an excess amount on top, so as the bullet cools and contracts it can- if needed- suck in metal from the excess to fill out. That excess is called the sprue, and when it’s cooled enough you use the cutter to take it off. Usually by tapping it with a hardwood baton. Then you open the mold and dump the bullet/s out, preferably onto a padded surface as they’re still hot and somewhat soft.
Sizing/lubing. The bullets then may need to be sized and will need lube. Sizing is usually done with some type of press into which fits a die of exact diameter, most of which have a top punch that fits on the ram to avoid deforming the nose as you push the bullet down into the die. Most sizers also have a reservoir you fill with lube. When you push the bullet into the die you turn a crank to force lube through the die into the lube grooves on the bullet. Then, when you lever the bullet up, it’s done. Lee has another type, a die that screws into any standard loading press, a piece that fits into the shellholder slot to push the bullet through and a basket that catches the bullets as they come out. On this one you lube the bullet first, then place the gas check on(if used) and then put it on the ram and shove it through. Works quite well, and doesn’t cost much.
Lube ranges from the Lee Liquid Alox(very simple and works quite well within limitations) to the original Alox(soft and kind of sticky), to the newer stuff that’s hard enough that the luber has to be heated to soften it, generally much better for high-velocity loads. I’m going to stop there; if you’re interested, there’s lots of good information, online and in books, on these. I have used several. For bullets for the Webley revolver, I’ve had good results using a .45acp or .45 Colt bullet, unsized, lubed with Liquid Alox. For rifle I prefer using one of the hard lubes because A: they’re not sticky to handle and B: in summer, around here, some of the soft lubes can get pretty messy. But I’ve also used Liquid Alox on a gas-checked bullet for .303 and 7.62x54r with good results, i.e. good accuracy and no apparent fouling.
I’ll note that you don’t always have to size the bullet, but you DO need to lube it.
Once you’ve got bullets, you need loads. The Lyman handloading manual, for instance, has cast-bullet loads for most every cartridge in the book. And they have a manual that’s nothing but cast loads. Interestingly, there are some loads that work quite well over a wide range of cartridges and bullet weights. Over at Cast Boolits, there’s a set of four basic loads that cover a whole bunch of cartridges and bullet weights. I’ve mentioned using (in my guns, check it out before trying in yours) 16.0 grains of 2400 powder with 150 to 180-grain bullets in .30-06, .308, .303, 7.62x54r and 7.5x55. With a bullet that fits the bore this load gives good accuracy in all of the above with mild recoil. I first read of it I have no idea where(I’ve eaten & slept many times since then). Very Helpful Commenter had mentioned before that his standard load in military rifles is a certain Lee dipper of Unique; gave him good results in everything. I’ll post this from the Cast Boolits article:
… Four load classifications from Mattern (1932) cover all uses for the cast bullet military rifle. I worked up equivalent charges to obtain the desired velocity ranges with modern powders, which provide a sound basis for loading cast bullets in any post-1898 military rifle from 7mm to 8mm:
1. 125 grain plain based "small game/gallery" 900-1000 f.p.s., 5 grains of Bullseye or equivalent.
2. 150 grain plain based "100-yard target/small game", 1050-1250 f.p.s., 7 grains of Bullseye or equivalent.
3. 170-180 grain gas checked "200 yard target", 1500-1600 f.p.s., 16 grains of Hercules #2400 or equivalent.
4. 180-200 grain gas-checked "deer/600 yard target", 1750-1850 f.p.s., 26 grains of RL-7 or equivalent.
None of these loads are maximum when used in full-sized rifle cases such as the 30-40 Krag, .303 British, 7.65 Argentine, 7.7 Jap, 7.62x54R Russian , or 30-06. They can be used as basic load data in most modern military rifles of 7mm or larger, with a standard weight cast bullet for the caliber, such as 140-170 grains in the 7x57, 150-180 grains in the .30 calibers, and 150-190 grains in the 8mm. For bores smaller than 7mm, consult published data.
You get a chance, go read the whole piece; there’s a LOT of information there on bullets, powders, cases and loads if you’re interested in using cast bullets. Or just interested in what’s been worked out for these. If you’re not familiar with this, when he speaks of “Lyman #3118, #311008, #311359, or #311316” and such, he’s referring to the number for that bullet & mold. They’ve got a sticky here that shows ALL the Lyman bullets and their numbers; if you’ve got a slow connection like mine, it’ll take a while to load.
I’ll throw in that I’ve stuck with 2400 for most of these loads simply because it flows so nicely through a powder measure, whereas some flake powders like Unique can be more difficult to get consistent throws with.
This is by no means a complete 'Go do it' guide, just a bit of general overview. Hope it might answer some questions anybody might have about what the hell I'm talking about.
*If you read accounts of the buffalo hunters in the late 1800’s, they’ve mentioned that a shot that hit a buffalo behind one shoulder would penetrate completely, sometimes breaking the off-shoulder, and the bullet would be found flattened out against the inside of the skin. Pure lead generally; they’d save the bullets, melt them and cast new bullets.
**Some gas checks have a thick edge so it physically locks onto the shank when crimped. Others are simply a cup, held in place by friction. On the latter, it’s possible, if the base of the bullet is seated below the case neck, for them to come loose, which is a Bad Thing. If you use that type, make sure the base does not go below the case neck.
People have written that they don't know how people like Michelle Malkin
can stand the crap they put up with. Prime examples:
Michelle Malkin,
Reading through your articles on your blog indicates hate, bitterness, envy, pettiness and a deranged woman. Even your appearance on Fox News, shows you are a troubled woman from the glint in your eyes and tightening at the corners of your lips. My advice: Slow down on Obama’s presidency, as you nor other rightwing bigots can not change the course of history, as you are terribly ill-equipped intellectually.
From Antonio Simmons:
U are a BITCH and need to go back where your parents are from and stop tryin to rain on our parade!!!! MY PRESIDENT IS BLACK BITCH!!!!!
From Tabatha Jones:
You are the stupidest BITCH in the world, how can you talk about minorities like you do. What make you think that white people like your dog eating ass. They just tolerate you because you are always talking about Obama. BITCH President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama has more class in their little finger then you have in your whole entire body. RESPECT YOUR PRESIDENT!!!!!!!
And so on.
It seems the worshippers of President The Obama, and a lot of nutcase leftists in general, just cannot stand a woman who fits into a minority group not being one of them; especially when the points out things like this. Which leads to garbage like the 'privacy' advocates publishing her address and phone numbers, and so on, for daring to piss them off.
Leftists. They're who need medication.
Michelle Malkin,
Reading through your articles on your blog indicates hate, bitterness, envy, pettiness and a deranged woman. Even your appearance on Fox News, shows you are a troubled woman from the glint in your eyes and tightening at the corners of your lips. My advice: Slow down on Obama’s presidency, as you nor other rightwing bigots can not change the course of history, as you are terribly ill-equipped intellectually.
From Antonio Simmons:
U are a BITCH and need to go back where your parents are from and stop tryin to rain on our parade!!!! MY PRESIDENT IS BLACK BITCH!!!!!
From Tabatha Jones:
You are the stupidest BITCH in the world, how can you talk about minorities like you do. What make you think that white people like your dog eating ass. They just tolerate you because you are always talking about Obama. BITCH President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama has more class in their little finger then you have in your whole entire body. RESPECT YOUR PRESIDENT!!!!!!!
And so on.
It seems the worshippers of President The Obama, and a lot of nutcase leftists in general, just cannot stand a woman who fits into a minority group not being one of them; especially when the points out things like this. Which leads to garbage like the 'privacy' advocates publishing her address and phone numbers, and so on, for daring to piss them off.
Leftists. They're who need medication.
There are some honest, law-abiding agents at BATFE,
and then there are the rest:
The dispute is over a part he submitted to the agency that he is proposing for an existing line of legal machine guns in the U.S. The part would convert the weapons to operate with ammunition that costs 1 or 2 cents per shell, instead of 25 cents or more...
Savage said he submitted the part to the BATFE, even though it technically was not a gun, and was stunned to get a response that not only was his repair part a gun, it was a machine gun, and he had only hours to "register" it properly.
Why?
[A]ll it took was some metal, a length of chain, some duct tape and some plastic wire ties for the federal inspectors to make his gun part operate in that fashion, he said he was told.
Which means they can say "All it took to turn your 10/22 into a machine gun was some tape, zip ties, wire and an electric motor; therefore we arrest it for being an unregistered machine gun." After which they'll come after you.
I just got of the phone with Dahil Goss, Assistant United States Attorney from Northern District of Georgia. She has informed me that a complaint against the firearm I submitted to ATF's Firearms Technology Branch, who then then seized, has been filed.
I asked if a summons with attached complaint had been mailed or served upon me. She informed me that no in fact no attempt to serve me has been made. The arrest warrant has been issued for the firearm, she explained that it would take ATF 1-2 weeks to proceed with "legal fiction" [her term, not mine] and serve the arrest warrant on the firearm. She thought the arrest would occur in Martinsburg West Virginia at FTB, I was under the understanding that the firearm was in the ATF Atlanta office. I can only hope the firearm does not evade arrest if found in one place when going to arrest it in another?
Next time BATFE comes to Congress with its hand out, it should be slapped away and their budget cut; because if they've got the time/money/people to do crap like this, then obviously they have far too much money and too many people and too much free time to play with.
The dispute is over a part he submitted to the agency that he is proposing for an existing line of legal machine guns in the U.S. The part would convert the weapons to operate with ammunition that costs 1 or 2 cents per shell, instead of 25 cents or more...
Savage said he submitted the part to the BATFE, even though it technically was not a gun, and was stunned to get a response that not only was his repair part a gun, it was a machine gun, and he had only hours to "register" it properly.
Why?
[A]ll it took was some metal, a length of chain, some duct tape and some plastic wire ties for the federal inspectors to make his gun part operate in that fashion, he said he was told.
Which means they can say "All it took to turn your 10/22 into a machine gun was some tape, zip ties, wire and an electric motor; therefore we arrest it for being an unregistered machine gun." After which they'll come after you.
I just got of the phone with Dahil Goss, Assistant United States Attorney from Northern District of Georgia. She has informed me that a complaint against the firearm I submitted to ATF's Firearms Technology Branch, who then then seized, has been filed.
I asked if a summons with attached complaint had been mailed or served upon me. She informed me that no in fact no attempt to serve me has been made. The arrest warrant has been issued for the firearm, she explained that it would take ATF 1-2 weeks to proceed with "legal fiction" [her term, not mine] and serve the arrest warrant on the firearm. She thought the arrest would occur in Martinsburg West Virginia at FTB, I was under the understanding that the firearm was in the ATF Atlanta office. I can only hope the firearm does not evade arrest if found in one place when going to arrest it in another?
Next time BATFE comes to Congress with its hand out, it should be slapped away and their budget cut; because if they've got the time/money/people to do crap like this, then obviously they have far too much money and too many people and too much free time to play with.
If it's too expensive to upgrade, don't worry;
we'll screw your customers to force them to pay for it.
What's the problem? These new cleaner gas stations aren't cheap, and "dozens, and potentially hundreds" of gas stations in California might close down instead to upgrade. In other words, in this case, going green means going out of business. According to the Pasadena Star-News, the South Coast Air Quality Management District has heard from 76 refueling sites (of about 4,500 total in its area) that will shut down because of the high costs of the EVRP.
And the California Government solution is:
CARB responds by saying that gas prices will go up by about 0.68 cents a gallon to cover the cost of upgrading.
Standard government solution: order something done 'for the public good', and then- in this case directly- screw the citizen to pay for it.
What's the problem? These new cleaner gas stations aren't cheap, and "dozens, and potentially hundreds" of gas stations in California might close down instead to upgrade. In other words, in this case, going green means going out of business. According to the Pasadena Star-News, the South Coast Air Quality Management District has heard from 76 refueling sites (of about 4,500 total in its area) that will shut down because of the high costs of the EVRP.
And the California Government solution is:
CARB responds by saying that gas prices will go up by about 0.68 cents a gallon to cover the cost of upgrading.
Standard government solution: order something done 'for the public good', and then- in this case directly- screw the citizen to pay for it.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
So we've got a tax cheat writing our tax laws, a tax cheat
and liar now in charge of the Treasury, a terrorist-pardoning liar with a contempt for non-PC parts of the Constitution who'll probably become Attorney General... Effing wonderful.
On the other side, Republicans in the House refused to give Obama and the Democrat Party cover and ALL voted against the New Pork, Payoffs & Bribes Stimulus Bill. I guess enough people finally screamed and threatened and said "We said NO, DAMMIT!" enough to get even the attention of the Stupid Party. To borrow a line, "And whales do too have wings."
There's a call for a new tea party. Personally, I still lean toward a box with tar, feathers and a rail. Or that stall on the Mall selling lengths of pre-stretched hemp rope and noose instructions.
How Much I Support Our President:
1. I support him as much as Code Pink supports our troops.
2. I support him as much as N.O.W. supports Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
3. I support him as much as the Hollywood community supported Theo Van Gogh.
4. I support him as much as Nancy Pelosi supports the Catholic Church’s teachings on life.
5. I support him as much as Al Gore supports cutting down on his personal carbon footprint to save the world.
6. I support him as much as John Edwards supports The National Enquirer’s right to publish pictures of his girlfriend and baby.
7. I support him as much as Western gay rights groups support Mehdi Kazemi.
8. I support him as much as the Castro brothers support Oscar Biscet’s right to free speech.
9. I support him as much as Ted Kennedy supports renewable wind energy off the coast of his summer mansion.
There's twelve total.
Obama I(or would Obama be Carter II?) is still the terrorist suckup he's always been.
And on a happy note, the 7.62x54r brass and bullet lube came in today; therefore, there is shooty goodness in the future.
On the other side, Republicans in the House refused to give Obama and the Democrat Party cover and ALL voted against the New Pork, Payoffs & Bribes Stimulus Bill. I guess enough people finally screamed and threatened and said "We said NO, DAMMIT!" enough to get even the attention of the Stupid Party. To borrow a line, "And whales do too have wings."
There's a call for a new tea party. Personally, I still lean toward a box with tar, feathers and a rail. Or that stall on the Mall selling lengths of pre-stretched hemp rope and noose instructions.
How Much I Support Our President:
1. I support him as much as Code Pink supports our troops.
2. I support him as much as N.O.W. supports Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
3. I support him as much as the Hollywood community supported Theo Van Gogh.
4. I support him as much as Nancy Pelosi supports the Catholic Church’s teachings on life.
5. I support him as much as Al Gore supports cutting down on his personal carbon footprint to save the world.
6. I support him as much as John Edwards supports The National Enquirer’s right to publish pictures of his girlfriend and baby.
7. I support him as much as Western gay rights groups support Mehdi Kazemi.
8. I support him as much as the Castro brothers support Oscar Biscet’s right to free speech.
9. I support him as much as Ted Kennedy supports renewable wind energy off the coast of his summer mansion.
There's twelve total.
Obama I(or would Obama be Carter II?) is still the terrorist suckup he's always been.
And on a happy note, the 7.62x54r brass and bullet lube came in today; therefore, there is shooty goodness in the future.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Well, the "We don't have time to find someone else!" excuse
got us a tax-cheat Treasury Secretary, now "We don't have a lot of time" gets the bridge panels moving.
Inspectors hired by Caltrans to monitor the fabrication of steel girders that will support the tower's roadway reported finding cracked welds last year, Caltrans records show.
The discovery has raised the question whether Bay Area taxpayers are getting a substandard product that could wear out prematurely and require costly repairs in a decade or two.
Caltrans and others in charge of the bridge construction say the welds are safe and that fixes have been made - but also say the inspectors interpreted the welding standards too rigidly.
Meanwhile, the inspection outfit that sounded the alarm has since been replaced.
I'm not an engineer, and this may not be that big a deal; but as a layman who knows a little bit about welding and steel, my first thought is "How do you get too strict on welding standards on a big effing bridge?"
Got to tell you, if I had to drive on this bridge, this would not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling about it. Especially with the comment from one of the officials that 'we're racing the next earthquake."
Inspectors hired by Caltrans to monitor the fabrication of steel girders that will support the tower's roadway reported finding cracked welds last year, Caltrans records show.
The discovery has raised the question whether Bay Area taxpayers are getting a substandard product that could wear out prematurely and require costly repairs in a decade or two.
Caltrans and others in charge of the bridge construction say the welds are safe and that fixes have been made - but also say the inspectors interpreted the welding standards too rigidly.
Meanwhile, the inspection outfit that sounded the alarm has since been replaced.
I'm not an engineer, and this may not be that big a deal; but as a layman who knows a little bit about welding and steel, my first thought is "How do you get too strict on welding standards on a big effing bridge?"
Got to tell you, if I had to drive on this bridge, this would not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling about it. Especially with the comment from one of the officials that 'we're racing the next earthquake."
Weather, and a couple of new links
on the sidebar. First, there's a lot of ice in the eastern/southeast part of the state, but remarkably few power outages; I think the ice storms the past couple of years took down a lot of the limbs/old lines that were potential problems, and people did a LOT of pruning/cutting down on trees that might threaten lines in the future; so a lot less outages than would otherwise be the case.
In the post on the creepy "We are your servants" oath to Obama, BobG noted "First time I heard someone give an oath of fealty given." Which is exactly right. And a pretty wrong thing to be giving to a damn politician.
New links: Dinah Lord, keeping an eye on the islamists, and Closing Velocity, keeping track of missile defense developments.
Oh, and Bill Ayers is still a liar, a murderer and a miserable douche; that this bastard has been training teachers should scare hell out of you.
And, do you feel like a chump for following the damn rules?
In the post on the creepy "We are your servants" oath to Obama, BobG noted "First time I heard someone give an oath of fealty given." Which is exactly right. And a pretty wrong thing to be giving to a damn politician.
New links: Dinah Lord, keeping an eye on the islamists, and Closing Velocity, keeping track of missile defense developments.
Oh, and Bill Ayers is still a liar, a murderer and a miserable douche; that this bastard has been training teachers should scare hell out of you.
And, do you feel like a chump for following the damn rules?
And, a guide for celebrities to help Save Mother Gaia
4. Crush a Third World Economic Development Movement. One of the most pressing threats facing our environment is rising income in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. A generation ago these proud little dark people were happily frolicking in the rain forest, foraging for organic foods amid the wonders of nature. Today, corrupted by wealth, they are demanding environmentally hazardous consumer goods like cars and air conditioning and malaria medicine. You can do your part to stop this dangerous consumerism trend by supporting environmentally progressive leaders like Hugo Chavez and Robert Mugabe, and their programs for sustainable low-impact ecolabor camps.
You'll especially like #10.
And yes, I will stop now and go do something cleanup-like. Or maybe put some loads together, after having considered the implications of Obama's Little Book a bit more.
You'll especially like #10.
And yes, I will stop now and go do something cleanup-like. Or maybe put some loads together, after having considered the implications of Obama's Little Book a bit more.
But before I go, let's consider bullies and abuse of eminent domain
Late last year, we--publisher and author--were named in a defamation suit brought in a state court in Dallas by H. Walker Royall. Royall is a wealthy man who, having volunteered to be the developer in a municipal construction project that involved eminent domain, does not care to have his actions scrutinized by the Fourth Estate.
...
As we see it, Royall's case against us is not an ordinary libel suit. It is a suit aimed at suppressing the process of investigative journalism and the free circulation of ideas. In his complaint, Royall does not identify a single word of Bulldozed that libels him. He says only that "the gist" of the book defames him.
Go read it. Both because it's something people to know about, and because it'll piss off the politicians and the developers for people to hear about it.
...
As we see it, Royall's case against us is not an ordinary libel suit. It is a suit aimed at suppressing the process of investigative journalism and the free circulation of ideas. In his complaint, Royall does not identify a single word of Bulldozed that libels him. He says only that "the gist" of the book defames him.
Go read it. Both because it's something people to know about, and because it'll piss off the politicians and the developers for people to hear about it.
What a difference a few degrees makes
The low this morning was(is) 20, which had the effect of causing most of the falling wet to turn into falling solid, either snow or sleet. There's a nice thin blanket of mixed snow & sleet on everything, which is much easier to deal with than sheet ice, with light sleet still coming down. Go east a ways to the Muskogee area, the temp is currently 32, and here's their forecast:
Today: Freezing rain. Some thunder is also possible. High near 32. North northwest wind around 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime ice accumulation of 0.5 to 0.7 of an inch possible.
That's a lot of ice on its own, let alone on top of what already fell. Ok, the ice storm warning says
FREEZING RAIN...OCCASIONALLY MIXED WITH SLEET...WILL CONTINUE TO
DEVELOP AND MOVE ACROSS SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA...NORTHWEST AND WEST
CENTRAL ARKANSAS TODAY. TOTAL ICE ACCUMULATIONS BETWEEN A HALF AND
ONE INCH ARE LIKELY THROUGH TONIGHT...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS.
which is downright nasty. Which is about what happened here last year, it just wasn't cold enough to freeze the stuff before it hit the ground, so it hit and then froze.
Security Staff proved her general intelligence by staying curled up in her house until I had her food ready, then sliding out and diving into the garage to eat. After which she ran round long enough to sniff, stretch and pee, then dived back into the house. The birds in the holly trees were bitching about things enough the trees were moving, so I scattered some food around in front.
Years ago lived in a town named Medford, way up near the Kansas border. One winter, instead of ice, we got right at four inches of sleet; looked just like snow on the ground, except it was little balls of ice. That was interesting.
I think this is that day I kept putting a bunch of cleanup/putaway off for, so I think I'll get some of that done.
Today: Freezing rain. Some thunder is also possible. High near 32. North northwest wind around 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime ice accumulation of 0.5 to 0.7 of an inch possible.
That's a lot of ice on its own, let alone on top of what already fell. Ok, the ice storm warning says
FREEZING RAIN...OCCASIONALLY MIXED WITH SLEET...WILL CONTINUE TO
DEVELOP AND MOVE ACROSS SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA...NORTHWEST AND WEST
CENTRAL ARKANSAS TODAY. TOTAL ICE ACCUMULATIONS BETWEEN A HALF AND
ONE INCH ARE LIKELY THROUGH TONIGHT...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS.
which is downright nasty. Which is about what happened here last year, it just wasn't cold enough to freeze the stuff before it hit the ground, so it hit and then froze.
Security Staff proved her general intelligence by staying curled up in her house until I had her food ready, then sliding out and diving into the garage to eat. After which she ran round long enough to sniff, stretch and pee, then dived back into the house. The birds in the holly trees were bitching about things enough the trees were moving, so I scattered some food around in front.
Years ago lived in a town named Medford, way up near the Kansas border. One winter, instead of ice, we got right at four inches of sleet; looked just like snow on the ground, except it was little balls of ice. That was interesting.
I think this is that day I kept putting a bunch of cleanup/putaway off for, so I think I'll get some of that done.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Looks like this area will get light ice,
with the nasty stuff being east and south this time. To give an idea, here's my pecan tree out front just before dark:
Very thin layer on top, maybe .1". In comparison to the storm last winter:
which caused me to be without power for a full week. This year, go about 60-80 miles east and southeast, and you get
Tonight: Freezing rain. Some thunder is also possible. Low around 29. North northeast wind between 9 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total nighttime ice accumulation of 0.2 to 0.4 of an inch possible.
Tuesday: Occasional freezing rain. High near 29. North wind between 11 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New ice accumulation of 0.3 to 0.5 of an inch possible.
Worst case, they're looking at damn near an inch of ice. That means massive power outages, trees down all over, the whole works. Very bad.
Map looks like north Texas is getting/will get some, maybe .2" total; bad enough, but shouldn't take trees or many lines down. Which is good.
Right now, I can hear one of the icy-street serenades; I live on a hill, and some people just can't get it through their heads that when the head up a slope they need to keep their momentum, and if the road is clear ahead of them build some before they start up. So they get stuck out front and I get to hear their tires spinning. Sometimes on and on, because they also don't get the idea that you can't power your way out of it. Couple of times in the past I've gone out with the kitty litter and helped people get over the hump, but I gave that up: both the chance of being run over, and the morons who, when you tell them "Easy, just barely give it gas", as soon as they start moving stomp on the damn pedal and break loose again. Not only do they tend to fishtail a bit, but their tires throw the ice and litter around. So no more do I do that.
Security Staff seems to be back to normal, with one exception: she really liked the special canned food, and considers her usual dry to be not really acceptable anymore. Which she'll have to get over, as that stuff was both prescription and expensive. As in "I have a prescription for a steak dinner every meal" in human terms expensive. I did pick up some canned, the type with chunks and gravy, and mixed it with the dry; not what she wanted, but acceptable. Barely.
I just seem to have this talent for disappointing females...
Very thin layer on top, maybe .1". In comparison to the storm last winter:
which caused me to be without power for a full week. This year, go about 60-80 miles east and southeast, and you getTonight: Freezing rain. Some thunder is also possible. Low around 29. North northeast wind between 9 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total nighttime ice accumulation of 0.2 to 0.4 of an inch possible.
Tuesday: Occasional freezing rain. High near 29. North wind between 11 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New ice accumulation of 0.3 to 0.5 of an inch possible.
Worst case, they're looking at damn near an inch of ice. That means massive power outages, trees down all over, the whole works. Very bad.
Map looks like north Texas is getting/will get some, maybe .2" total; bad enough, but shouldn't take trees or many lines down. Which is good.
Right now, I can hear one of the icy-street serenades; I live on a hill, and some people just can't get it through their heads that when the head up a slope they need to keep their momentum, and if the road is clear ahead of them build some before they start up. So they get stuck out front and I get to hear their tires spinning. Sometimes on and on, because they also don't get the idea that you can't power your way out of it. Couple of times in the past I've gone out with the kitty litter and helped people get over the hump, but I gave that up: both the chance of being run over, and the morons who, when you tell them "Easy, just barely give it gas", as soon as they start moving stomp on the damn pedal and break loose again. Not only do they tend to fishtail a bit, but their tires throw the ice and litter around. So no more do I do that.
Security Staff seems to be back to normal, with one exception: she really liked the special canned food, and considers her usual dry to be not really acceptable anymore. Which she'll have to get over, as that stuff was both prescription and expensive. As in "I have a prescription for a steak dinner every meal" in human terms expensive. I did pick up some canned, the type with chunks and gravy, and mixed it with the dry; not what she wanted, but acceptable. Barely.
I just seem to have this talent for disappointing females...
So we now have a tax cheat in charge of writing tax law
and a tax cheat and liar in charge of the Treasury Dept. Just friggin' wonderful.
The 10 Republicans who voted yes were Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee, John Cornyn of Texas, Mike Crapo of Idaho, John Ensign of Nevada, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, Hatch of Utah, Richard Shelby of Alabama, Olympia Snowe of Maine and George Voinovich of Ohio.
See any familar names? I thought you would.
The 10 Republicans who voted yes were Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee, John Cornyn of Texas, Mike Crapo of Idaho, John Ensign of Nevada, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, Hatch of Utah, Richard Shelby of Alabama, Olympia Snowe of Maine and George Voinovich of Ohio.
See any familar names? I thought you would.
Someone else who says Geithner is full of crap
on his "I forgot" excuse on not paying taxes:
Whether Timothy Geithner, who is the architect of this program, is up to it is a big question. Whether he’s up to be secretary of the treasury, quite frankly, is a big question because that tax problem he had is not the minor blip in the road that they’re suggesting it is. I worked at the World Bank under the same payment system that he had at the IMF. I helped negotiate this thing. Those institutions do not pay – employees do not have to pay taxes at those institutions. Americans do.
What the World Bank does, what the IMF does also, is they gross up the salaries of the employees – of the American employees so that they can pay their taxes, Geithner had to deliberately agree to that arrangement. How he could not recognize that he had had a tax liability is beyond me.
That sounds like a pretty polite way of saying 'bullshit' to me.
What the World Bank does, what the IMF does also, is they gross up the salaries of the employees – of the American employees so that they can pay their taxes, Geithner had to deliberately agree to that arrangement. How he could not recognize that he had had a tax liability is beyond me.
That sounds like a pretty polite way of saying 'bullshit' to me.
Despite the Ascension of the Lightworker,
things just aren't all sweetness and light out there. For instance, along with the GFW screaming by McCarthy & Co., the Kennedy family is pissed at the NY Governor: first for daring to not hand her a Senate seat, the second for- well, they're claiming he asked her to lie, but damned if I'll simply accept that as truth, we may never know the real story there. To me, one of the biggest parts of this is the damned expectation that she should have been given this seat simply because "She's a Kennedy!" Which is absolute bullshit. When Ed Koch spoke that "Consider her DNA!" crap it should have gotten him thrown out of the building.
This is on the same level as Vice-Pres. Biden trying to work it so the Senate seat he used to sit it be virtually handed to his son in a couple of years. Absolute bullshit; it's not HIS seat, it belongs to the people of that state. If they're stupid enough to vote the son it because he IS Biden's son, then it's on their heads, but to have this maneuvering going on is sickening.
On Holder wanting to be AG, we now know that not only is he a GFW nanny-state dirtbag, he's a liar.
Speaking of liars and tax cheats and corrupt politicians(which is kind of redundant), we have Speaker Pelosi's 'most ethical Congress EVAH!' trying to brush over Rangel's tax cheating and other lawbreaking.
And, of course, we have the silence broken only by the chirping of crickets over Pres. Obama's 'new way of dealing with terrorists' involving Predator strikes and other such things.
"Just let me be great!" Snork. You're an idiot performer, West, who has delusions of grandeur. And persecution. Actually, you're a moron.
Well, here's another terrorist with interesting connections about to be released, instead of rotting in a cell as he should.
Another good reason to yell at your congresscritter about the 'stimulus' package is the garbage it's to be used to stimulate.
Robert Reich is whining because his words on construction jobs money actually got attention. And people are pissed about them. Tough shit, guy, thanks to this here internet your words are right out there for people to read; deal with it.
Sebastian has some wise words on the use of a semi-auto if it doubles or triples. Especially since the BATFE seems quite willing to use ANYTHING as evidence that you are a Bad Peasant.
More bullcrap "We know!" from GFW LE officers and the media.
And, to cap it all, the picture below has me right in the middle:
That pink area is the winter storm warning, purple is ice storm warning, blue is winter storm watch. Looks like were probably going to get a little ice here, the worst will be south and east. With part of north Texas getting pasted tonight and tomorrow.
I need some lunch, and- assuming the panic-buyers haven't grabbed it all- a bag of kitty litter for the front walk. See you later.
This is on the same level as Vice-Pres. Biden trying to work it so the Senate seat he used to sit it be virtually handed to his son in a couple of years. Absolute bullshit; it's not HIS seat, it belongs to the people of that state. If they're stupid enough to vote the son it because he IS Biden's son, then it's on their heads, but to have this maneuvering going on is sickening.
On Holder wanting to be AG, we now know that not only is he a GFW nanny-state dirtbag, he's a liar.
Speaking of liars and tax cheats and corrupt politicians(which is kind of redundant), we have Speaker Pelosi's 'most ethical Congress EVAH!' trying to brush over Rangel's tax cheating and other lawbreaking.
And, of course, we have the silence broken only by the chirping of crickets over Pres. Obama's 'new way of dealing with terrorists' involving Predator strikes and other such things.
"Just let me be great!" Snork. You're an idiot performer, West, who has delusions of grandeur. And persecution. Actually, you're a moron.
Well, here's another terrorist with interesting connections about to be released, instead of rotting in a cell as he should.
Another good reason to yell at your congresscritter about the 'stimulus' package is the garbage it's to be used to stimulate.
Robert Reich is whining because his words on construction jobs money actually got attention. And people are pissed about them. Tough shit, guy, thanks to this here internet your words are right out there for people to read; deal with it.
Sebastian has some wise words on the use of a semi-auto if it doubles or triples. Especially since the BATFE seems quite willing to use ANYTHING as evidence that you are a Bad Peasant.
More bullcrap "We know!" from GFW LE officers and the media.
And, to cap it all, the picture below has me right in the middle:
That pink area is the winter storm warning, purple is ice storm warning, blue is winter storm watch. Looks like were probably going to get a little ice here, the worst will be south and east. With part of north Texas getting pasted tonight and tomorrow.
I need some lunch, and- assuming the panic-buyers haven't grabbed it all- a bag of kitty litter for the front walk. See you later.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
I would like to know what kind of chickenshit, miserable little
bureaucrat, in or out of uniform, thought this was a good idea?
There are only 26 surviving members of the Alaska Territorial Guard, a unit composed of mostly Native militiamen which was established to guard the territory of Alaska from the threat of Japanese attack during World War II. The militia was deemed necessary because Japan had made incursions into the Aleutians and occupied some of the islands in 1942.
Now the Army, in its bureaucratic wisdom, has decided to cut off retirement pay for these patriots, most of them now in their eighties. They stand to lose as much as $557 in monthly retirement pay at the end of this month. Another 37 of the militiamen have had their applications for retirement pay suspended.
There's speculation that this could be tied to the Obama administration starting to take hits at Alaska and Palin; I have no idea. And I don't really care right now if it's political there, or some lawyer-in-uniform's idea, or a combination; whoever decided this...
If it does turn out to be someone in the Administration's idea, they should be horsewhipped. Then tarred and feathered. General political bullshit is bad enough, someone using the power of an office to punish people because they didn't fall into line should be considered grounds for removal from office. Preferably involving a rope.
There are only 26 surviving members of the Alaska Territorial Guard, a unit composed of mostly Native militiamen which was established to guard the territory of Alaska from the threat of Japanese attack during World War II. The militia was deemed necessary because Japan had made incursions into the Aleutians and occupied some of the islands in 1942.
Now the Army, in its bureaucratic wisdom, has decided to cut off retirement pay for these patriots, most of them now in their eighties. They stand to lose as much as $557 in monthly retirement pay at the end of this month. Another 37 of the militiamen have had their applications for retirement pay suspended.
There's speculation that this could be tied to the Obama administration starting to take hits at Alaska and Palin; I have no idea. And I don't really care right now if it's political there, or some lawyer-in-uniform's idea, or a combination; whoever decided this...
If it does turn out to be someone in the Administration's idea, they should be horsewhipped. Then tarred and feathered. General political bullshit is bad enough, someone using the power of an office to punish people because they didn't fall into line should be considered grounds for removal from office. Preferably involving a rope.
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