'National' vs. 'Local' news

Among the reasons I don't trust the major media:

John Stossel mentions this:Here's another example. What do you think is more dangerous, a house with a pool or a house with a gun? When, for "20/20," I asked some kids, all said the house with the gun is more dangerous. I'm sure their parents would agree. Yet a child is 100 times more likely to die in a swimming pool than in a gun accident.

Parents don't know that partly because the media hate guns and gun accidents make bigger headlines. Ask yourself which incident would be more likely to be covered on TV.

Of Arms and the Law finds this:Two young children and their father, found dead in the woods together, were hanged, police said Wednesday.
and
Tuesday's discovery came a week after a man and his four young children were found dead in a townhouse about 20 miles away in Frederick. In that incident, police said three young girls had been suffocated and their brother died from skull fractures. The father hanged himself from a bannister with nylon rope. The mother is still missing.

I guarantee if these people had used a gun- any gun- to do this, it would've been on the national news for at least a day, with various politicians using it to push a ban. But since they were only hanged, strangled and beaten to death, local news. Big deal.

Same as some kid is beaten to death or stabbed in school, local news; some kid brings an unloaded gun to school, national news and calls for 'something to be done'.

Senator Reid speaks to vets,

and gets his ass handed to him. Any bets as to whether the major media will have any mention of this?

Ever heard of Leslie Fish?

Among other things, she's a filksinger; someone who takes traditional tunes and makes lyrics- usually related to a sci-fi or fantasy story/movie- to go with them. She also composes her own stuff(a talent I'm somewhat in awe of). Here's one of hers:

Black Powder and Alcohol

Black powder and alcohol
when the states and the cities fall
When your back is against the wall
black powder and alcohol

Give me charcoal to the measure two,
sends the bullet where you want it to
Give me sulphur to the measure three,
make the powder gonna keep you free
Give me saltpetre measure fifteen,
sweetest shootin' that you've ever seen, remember

chorus

Give me water, yeast and veggie trash
leave it sittin' in the slurry mash
When it's ready put it in the still
if you can't heat it up the sunlight will
Draw the alcohol away and then
put the slurry back and start again

chorus

Booze'll clean your cuts and run your car
you can make it anywhere you are
Black powder in your cartridge shell
Will send your raiders runnin' clean to hell
You can make it if you just know how
so kids, remember what I'm teachin' you now

chorus twice


Here's a place with some of her stuff in mp3 form, check it out.

The Modern 'Liberal'

as Chris puts it. I'd heard of this the last week or so, but since it's a long video and my connection is slow(no, Og, I haven't gotten cable or whatever yet), I haven't watched it. But Chris has the transcript.

Why DO I do this?

Med-Fair, I mean? In some ways it's a bloody pain: load up several hundred pounds of stuff, some of it messy as hell, cart it to the site & set up, use it for three days(while talking yourself hoarse and getting either sunburned, frozen or drowned), then pack it all up and take it home and unload. Add in sometimes having to dolly all this crap a ways because you either can't drive onto the grounds or can't park close. And there's always the exciting possibility of of some freelance socialist stealing a tool or some piece you sweated over for hours to make.

Biggest reason? I really like showing this stuff to people. I like showing how people took whatever was available and made needed things out of it. I like demonstrating how this is done. I like answering a lot of the questions(excluding things like "Is that real metal? Is that real fire? Can I have that?*) I love it when some grandkid finds out that grandpa used to do this on the farm/ranch, and even has some of the tools back home still; you can see their face light up and "Wow!" go through their mind.

I like it when someone asks how to get started and I can tell them places to go for information and materials. I like it when someone shows up and asks "Can you fix/duplicate this?" and stands there watching while you do it. Pointing out pieces of history that someone's never heard of before, folklore about smiths in different cultures. And, on occasion, using a song they've never heard of(ever heard 'The Two Magicians'? Or 'A Lusty Blacksmith'?) Get to be the first to tell a kid interested in Irish history about Chu'hulainn and where his name came from.

One of the really nice things is to finish some small piece, and one of the merchants comes up and says "Can you make this stake/hanger/hook/support for me?" You get a description, figure out size, then pick out a piece of stock and make it, then deliver it or have them pick it up. And the folks watching get to see it all, just like a smith at a fair or town shop way back when.

Yeah, it can be a pain in the ass. But it does have compensations.

Crime in Canada and dhimmitude- and stupidity- in Britain

For the first, I present this thread I ran across at High Road which links to this article on crime rates. Interesting reading. The problem with something like this is that different countries figure the numbers differently(remember England figuring 'homicide' numbers so as to lower the stats?), and I don't have time to dig into this to check it out.

As to the second, Kim and others noted this piece of amazing dumbassery and cowardice:
Schools are dropping controversial subjects from history lessons - such as the Holocaust and the Crusades - because teachers do not want to cause offence, Government research has found.
I say cowardice specifically because of two points:
And one school avoided teaching the Crusades because its "balanced" handling of the topic would directly contradict what was taught in local mosques.
and
The report said the teachers feared confronting "anti-Semitic sentiment and Holocaust denial among some Muslim pupils".
Both of which translate to "We're scared of the muslim community and don't want to upset them. And the government will screw us over if we do. It's all in the holy name of 'tolerance', you see." Etc. Just read the whole damn thing.

On what's happening with the British hostages

I found a link to this at Instapundit, and it reminded me of two things.

The first was an incident in India(I believe) of a British officer captured by whatever force they were fighting at the time*. He was basically given the choice to crawl and live, or die. He looked them in the eye and said "Do your worst". He was killed; and the people who saw it spoke of him with honor for the rest of their lives, and worried about a people who produced soldiers like that.

The other? With British sailors and Marines being held hostage- largely because the Brit government didn't allow them to open fire in self-defense- and the Brit government bitching to the UN and so forth, I remember a phrase I once heard. Compare this crap to the Royal Marines who strapped themselves onto the weapon wings on Apache choppers because it was the only way to try to rescue one of their own, and an old phrase rings true: "Lions, being led by mice".

The Fair, and the aftermath*

Fair's over, truck's unloaded, laundry's done. I'm just about done after this day, though not as badly as after closing Saturday & Sunday. Some stuff I forged needs to be wire-brushed and oiled(later), the forge has been oiled and covered, tools put back where I usually keep them. I hosed out the back of the truck to get rid of the dirt. And did laundry, and mowed(the back yard grows amazingly this time of year if there's rain)

I finally looked at my rain gauge this morning. Mind you, this was Monday morning, when the rain ended Friday night: 4.5". That's a lot of rain in a 72-hour period, and I think most of it fell Friday afternoon & evening in a series of what could be called downpours. Or that damn
cow being force-fed fluids as she was tied in place over us. Part of my garden in the back yard washed out, I think it'll take about three bags of topsoil to repair that. God, it was nasty that day; if I'd done anything to piss off Sondra, I'd think she'd cursed us with her lousy weather.

Friday started off cloudy, and had some occasional sprinkles, which was fine. Then the thunder started rumbling to the south. Which did give me enough warning to cool down the forge and get everything under cover before it hit. Friday evening is already described. Saturday I woke up and it seemed kind of dark, so I looked through the blind and crap! I couldn't even see the other side of the street it was so foggy. Except...(note to self: put on glasses and you'll be able to tell it's the condensation on the window, not fog). Turned out it had dawned with naught but a couple of clouds in the sky, and thanks to cooler, drier air from the north stayed clear and helped to firm up the ground; was almost chilly most of the day. Sunday was warmer and still clear, which helped a lot at breakdown since nobody was allowed to drive onto the grounds, which meant dollying everything out. Ever tried to dolly an anvil and stump, about 200 pounds, about 1/4 mile over ground? It ain't fun.

Met the gentleman who goes by Pagan Blacksmith Saturday, nice guy. Lots of people I haven't seen since last year























seen once again.

I can confirm that naproxyn can be your friend: I started on it Thursday and will keep it up for a day or so, and my hands and various troublesome joints have gotten along much better than expected.

Oh, the other folks from last year? Like Heather
























Natalie & friends?























Yeah, they were there. Also, meet Tullamore:













That's Mary, Mark and Rachel. Damn fine musicians and singers.

And, of course, Your Host at work:

























And now, I'm to a glass of something comforting and then to bed.


*Actually, it strikes me that that would be a good chapter title for a bodice ripper; but if you use it, I want royalties, dammit!

Will Rogers was the first one,

speaking of the weather around here, to say "You don't like the weather? Wait a couple of hours." As example, when last I took note of this it was bloody pouring and blowing like a hurricane. And, I found out today, radar showed a circulation that passed over the Fair site.

By 8p.m., the heavy had all stopped, just a few sprinkles. This morning just a few scattered clouds and downright chilly, at least compared to the last few days. Hit somewhere in the 60's today with nothing more than a few clouds and should be a bit warmer tomorrow.

The site had one shallow lake, a few small ponds and a whole lot of mud this morning, but conditions improved with both the sun, and the cooler, drier air that moved in last night. Should be pretty good tomorrow. With the exception of the lake disappearing, as my daughter noted a whole bunch of dogs today who saw the water and happily ran to the limit of their leash into it; the dogs'll be as upset about it not being there as their owners were about the dogs turning into used mops.

Ah well, to bed.

Texas Ladies Club

From a friend:
For those of you who don't live here in Texas with us ... and think we are a bunch of uncivilized ruffians ... not true! In fact, we even have ladies groups that meet regularly to discuss current events and develop needed home-skills.

Here is a photo taken at a recent "Say NO to Hillary" ladies group meeting here in Horseshoe Bay.

Current postal match is up

at Mr. Completely's place.

Assuming I- or the range- doesn't wash downstream, I should be able to give it a try.

Remember that cow and the flat rock?

Bossy's gonna die

The 'scattered thunderstorms' the weather weenies talked about seems to consist of the aforementioned cow turning most of the state into a flat rock. All at once. Scattered storms my ass.

Though this should make Algore happy, since this is Ma Nature balancing out last years dry spell. I can hear her now: "Last year was a bit dry, so I'll make up for it. IN ONE WEEK! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" I'm half afraid to look at the rain guage; yesterday, over the last three days it showed 1.5". Today, there's street flooding all over the damn place and they closed Med-Fair about 2:30. Yuck.

You have to understand, the Fair actually being closed due to weather takes seriously nasty conditions. Like some guy with a beard looking for gopher wood and muttering about 'cubits' nasty. For a long time it was always either the first or second weekend of April- depending on Easter- and weather in this area can be, ah, 'variable' let's say at this time of year. It's been open when it was snowing, cold as hell, hot and wind gusting high enough to damn near tip the forge and anvil over and rain. So heavy enough rain, or threatening bad storms enough to close it, is Not A Good Thing.

I did have enough warning of the rain to get the fire put out and things under cover, so that's good. And from the current info, looks like this should end tonight. So tomorrow should be ok. Soggy ground, but that can deal with.

I repeat: yuck.

Once again, Ma Nature demonstrates

that she has little fondness for moderation. Last year was pretty dry, and there had been hopes for more 'normal' rainfall this year.

In response, I think in the last two weeks we've received as much- more in some areas- than we got in the last six months of last year. According to my rain gauge, in the last three days we've had a good two inches in Oklahoma City; most of it since 7:30 this morning.

I'm all for getting a bit more wet this year, but did it have to be now? And in one big damn swoop?

Balance of nature, my ass.

As to what Britain is becoming,

I saw something on this piece of horrible crap a couple of days ago, but had a hard time figuring out what words to use. Other than foul swearing. Kim has some words:It’s not often that I read something which fills me with horror to such an extent that I can truthfully say, “Words fail me.” This is one of those cases, and I’m not even going to try.

I'm going to have to take back the good things I've said about Tony Blair in the past. Not only does he push a horror like this, but the Iranians kidnap a bunch of British marines and sailors, and what does he do? Protest and run squealing to the UN. And note that the main reason they were grabbed is they weren't allowed to protect themselves. By Brit government orders. Mr. Free Market is right, it's Tony Bleah.

In case you were wondering, (Updated)

the possible tornado was northwest of here, and no apparent damage.


Update: That was the original report I heard. Turns out a lot of electrical lines were damaged/downed and a bunch of roofs damaged.

Oh joy, 'tis spring

It's been off & on raining since about 7:30 this morning, sometimes like the proverbial cow on a flat rock. And now, the tornado sirens are blowing.

Absolutely bloody wonderful.

I'm linking a lot lately,

but it's all good stuff. Like these two from Sebastian: Clayton Cramer whacking on the latest BS from the Brady Campaign to Ban Guns, and the Armed Canadian on the various and assorted reasons gun registration and licensing is bad.

As a followup to the

revolver post, something ammo-related comes to mind.

The lady in question had picked up some Winchester .38 Special +P hollowpoints some time ago, and they were a big part of her problem with being spooked by the pistol: the muzzle flash was bothering her. Big, impressive flash in the range, but that was Not a Good Thing in this case. With some different ammo, much less flash, much happier lady.

A lot of people don't realize it, but not only are the brand names and bullets different between brands, powder is. And some produces a lot more flash than others. The Gold Dot ammo I've fired has all had a minimal flash; this Winchester and some Remington hollowpoints the worst I've seen outside of some 7.62x25mm. And it is a real problem for some people.

So here's another point of ammo selection, if the stuff someone tries has to much flash for them to be comfortable with, try another brand. May be all that's needed to get them over the hump.

And through the good offices of Mugwug

We find this:
1. Make sure they are breathing. Yes? Good. No? Adjust head position. Don't worry about spinal injuries. If they ain't breathing, they don't care, so you shouldn't either.

Go, and read it all.

Some years back, while helping some friends pack to move, wife came over and said "There's been a terrible accident, you should go do something", or words to that effect. I went out back and Damn! she wasn't kidding. One vehicle rolled over in the (happily wide) median, one smashed up but upright. By the time I got there I found
The two people in the upright car were conscious, not bleeding, and sitting dazed,
The lady still in the overturned car was hanging in her seat belt(older car, no shoulder belt),
One kid had been ejected and was laying in the grass.

The kid wasn't bleeding and was conscious so I just shaded his eyes from the sun. Then two guys with a crowbar started prying the door of the car open to get to the lady. I started yelling "When you get it open, don't move her!" One of the said something about "We've got to get her out!" but someone else added in "He's right! Don't move her, wait for the ambulance!", and between us they listened. She was fairly solidly anchored by the belt so she wasn't going to fall out, so I didn't try to argue about the door.

Right after that was settled two ladies came over and wanted to put a towel under the kid 'so the grass won't itch'. I kept pointing out(far too politely; I should have said "God-dammit, NO!") that it would be a Bad Thing to move him around, and they kept insisting they needed to 'do something'. God knows how many people have been injured worse because somebody just HAD to do SOMETHING.

Finally the first ambulance arrived(amazing how long it seems with things like that going on) and the pros took over, and I got out of the way.

All this memory sparked by this line:It is perfectly acceptable to DO NOTHING most of the time...

As Oscar Poppa puts it,

The stupidity of some people is bloody amazing.

“For far too long we have ignored the relationship between bullets and gun crimes,” state Sen. Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn), a former NYPD captain, said as he held a hollow-point slug. “We can no longer allow this item, this bullet, to be that silent partner.”

Adams said he was introducing legislation that would mandate the tracking of ammunition and force buyers to register the bullets they purchase.

My first thought on reading this is "It'll really screw with handloaders", since he only wants to 'register the bullets'. However, I then consider that he's one of the standard-issue Functionally-illiterate-on-the-subject GFW politicians, so he actually means 'ammunition'. And it appears he's either unthinking or actually stupid, too, as he says this:
“If David Garvin did not have - as we believe he did not have - a permit for the gun he was carrying, he shouldn’t be allowed to buy bullets,” Schneiderman said.

Stupid, stupid, stupid...

Oh yeah, Senator, just because he could illegally get a gun couldn't possibly mean that he could buy ammo, could it?

Actually, it could, but either you don't care or for some reason cannot comprehend the fact that the law you want to pass will be just as useless at stopping dirtbags like this as the disarmament laws already on the books. Or, maybe you just don't like the fact that someone might do something(anything?) without having proper approval from a government minion such as yourself?

Medieval Fair a'coming

and I'm not particularly ready.

Not really un-ready, but not looking forward to it as much as in the past. Aching joints do that to you.

I've got the big stuff gathered up already, and deciding what to wear isn't a problem(kilt, shirt, shoes). Need to figure out some munchies to take along and drinks. Probably soda bread and cheese, maybe some roast or something for meat.

And, there are some things to look forward to. So, getting prepared we go.

In the comments on the Portland demonstration

Windy said Btw, have you noticed that those of that political, philosophical and moral bent nearly always refer to such women as "ladies" and always refer to men as "males"? Denying men their humanity, there?

Which reminded me of something that told me just how rotted some people are on the subject of male-female: Few years ago I was watching 'Antiques Roadshow', the episode was from either Seattle or Portland. Two women had what turned out to be an extremely rare Inuit artifact their father had picked up many years before. In speaking of where he found it, one said "He bought it years ago, when he was a young m-", caught herself and changed it to "person."

Think about that. She was talking about her father, and couldn't let herself refer to him as having been a 'young man'. Just what kind of idiotic twists of mind are required to think that way?

If you haven't read of the 'peace march' in Portland,

go read this. I can't better his take on it.

Crap like this pretty much destroys the 'we support the troops' lies from these people. You do NOT burn someone in effigy if you support them. You do NOT burn the flag which stands for what they protect. And you do NOT drop your pants and crap on said flag.

That's just bloody amazing to think on. This idiot actually, on a public street in front of women* and kids, took his pants down and emptied his bowels on an American flag. What kind of absolute freakin' idiocy and self-indulgence does it take to commit such an act? And some of these idiots cheered him.

In case anyone who supports this kind of 'protest' happens by, let me state this flatly: I do not question your patriotism, I deny it. You don't burn troops in effigy if you actually support them, you don't burn your own flag(or, in this case, the flag of the country you live in) if you support them and give a damn about this country, and you don't cheer on and make excuses for those who do. If you do, you are not patriotic, no matter how many words you spill claiming you are.

You're the same kind of idiot who makes excuses for the Taliban. You're the same kind of idiot as the homosexuals who protest in support of the Palistinian Authority, and fools like Rosie O'Donnel who supports al Qaeda. And if you're one of the parents who let their kids watch this crap, you just plain suck.


*I will not refer to females such as these as 'ladies', for they most certainly are not.

The things you find

that you can't get here.

I know, that's confusing. Friends who went to Scotland last year had saved one last taste of something for me. Glenfiddich Malt Whiskey Liqueur. Short, black bottle with the triangular shape.

Woof. Dark, smoky flavor, and you don't notice the kick(right away). Good stuff. And they don't export it here.

I need to see if the son can ship the stuff over, dammit, I want a whole bottle.

Things to do on field maneuvers

in Europe when a foot of snow falls overnight?

According to the son, make a six-foot snowball and park it in front of someone else's tent. Which is backed up to a vehicle on the other end.

Always some way to stay busy...

If you were interested in the CMP M1 Carbines

and hadn't heard, the price for the Inland carbines, the first on sale, will be $495 plus shipping.

Compared to what they've been going for at shows that's not too bad, but I wonder how many will actually be available.

Second range report(finally!)

Marlin Camp Carbine, .45acp














This isn't a new firearm, and a lot of people- Kim for instance- have written about it before. But this was the first time I've had a chance to fire one, so...

Specifics first: 16.5" barrel, 35.5" overall, 6.25 pounds.
Unlike the Hi-Point, it uses a hardwood stock with pressed-in 'checkering' and has a much more traditional look; like the Hi-Point, it's a straight-blowback action. Which, in a .45, means a big, heavy bolt.
Sights are a 'U' notch rear and a red plastic front bead. Safety is in the front of the trigger guard like a M1 Garand.
It uses any magazine that will fit a full-size 1911, which is a nice touch.
The trigger pull was not a 'clean break', had a fair amount of motion before it broke(less than the Hi-Point) at about 5-7 pounds.
The top of the receiver is drilled and tapped for a scope base, from what I've read it uses the same one as the Model 336 lever-action.
It has the Marlin micro-groove bore.

I'm tempted to say that this is like the Hi-Point, only more so. Short, light, easy to shoot. Recoil is minimal- at least some of it due to that massive bolt cycling back & forth- and fast repeat shots were easy to do. We fired it with a combination of S&B ball and cast 230-grain ball handloads. It handled all of them without a hiccup, and at 30 yards put them into about a 3" group. Ejection is not 'positive': it's downright robust, throwing most empties a good twenty feet to the right and forward.

We didn't have any hollowpoints to try, so no guesses as to how it works with them. From what I've read, seems to feed them pretty well for those who've tried them.

Bad things
Mainly two. The first is, the sights would suck on a cheap .22; on something like this, they suck bigtime. I think the groups fired would have been a bit better with sights my eyes could pick out better in a not-too-well-lighted lane. I'm told you can get a replacement front post and a rear aperture that mounts on the receiver, which would be good. Probably even better in some ways, it would be real easy to put a red-dot or similar optic on it. THAT would be real nice.

The other is that the .45 version(it also came in a 9mm) has a reputation for the stock taking damage behind the receiver due to A: a weak recoil spring and B: a recoil buffer that tends to break. This one had the original spring and buffer, and I wonder if the felt recoil would be even less with a stronger spring.

Overall, I vote yes. Like the Hi-Point, this would be a good truck gun or home defense firearm, the latter preferably with a good hollowpoint that feeds reliably in it. A stack of McCormick ten-round magazines, and you'd be loaded for bear. It balances well, this one came with sling swivel studs, and points well. Accuracy was quite acceptable, and it fed reliably with both the factory mag and two different 1911 mags I took along, one an old military and one a Metalform.

If I found one of my own, I'd replace the spring and buffer as soon as I could, and do something about the sights. And I'd get the checkering tools out(which reminds me, I need some new cutters) and convert the pressed in texturing to actual checkering. And I'd like to find one of my own. 'Finding' being the key: as Kim has mentioned, there is one other bad thing about them: Marlin stopped making them. So it's find one at a show or in the used rack at a store.

This needs lots and lots of people

to read it and sign it.

Remember the NASA scientist who said he was being oppressed?

That the nasty Bush people were trashing your freedom of speech and not letting you warn people about Global Warmering? Slight problem:
But Republicans told him the hundreds of other interviews he did belie his broad claim he was being silenced.

"We have over 1,400 opportunities that you've availed yourself to, and yet you call it, you know, being stifled," said Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican.
and
[NASA spokesman George Deutsch] said Mr. Hansen was prohibited from doing the interview because of his prior refusal to notify NASA officials when he was granting interviews, not for political reasons. Citing what he called his "constitutional right" to give interviews, Mr. Hansen admitted violating NASA's press policy but defended his actions.

Don't you just love it?

New shooters and revolvers

Couple of days ago I'd taken a friend to the range, and it reinforced something that's been said by a lot of people: that the perfect handgun for someone a: new to it and/or b: who won't shoot very often is a revolver.

Background: Friend was divorced some years ago, and one of the things the ex left behind was a S&W Model 13. It had been sitting wrapped up in a rag for years, until- due to some happenings in the neighborhood- she decided she wanted to learn to use it. Enter I, stage left.

If you're not familiar with the Model 13, it's basically the lovely old Model 10 with a heavy barrel and chambered in .357 Magnum. Once I'd cleaned and lubed it, I told her she couldn't have a better piece for the purpose; the .357 with good loads has one of the best 1-shot fight-stop records of any cartridge, and .38 Special ammo with premium hollow points is not far behind.

Since she'd not fired anything other than a .22 rifle in years, I started her off with a .22 revolver, then on to hers loaded with .38's. Problem: she decided that the .22, being so much quieter and so much less muzzle flash, would be a better choice. Yes, I pointed out the problems of a .22 for self-defense, but hell, I'm just the guy teaching her, what do I know?

I told her I'd look around, and since good-quality double-action .22s are hard to find at less than $400 or so, I had her try out a Ruger Mk II semi-auto. Which is where the reinforcement came in, because at that point she handled revolvers pretty well, but had real problems remembering everything with a semi-auto(magazine, chambering first round, safety, etc.). She wasn't comfortable with it, and I was not comfortable with the idea of her keeping a semi for self-defense; I knew she'd never go to the range on her own, and I couldn't take her often enough and drill her enough that she'd be comfortable and safe handling the semi-auto.

To repeat: a good revolver can be loaded and put in your storage place and not worried about: no magazine or firing pin spring under tension, no slide or bolt to work in a moment of stress, no safety to accidentally push on or off at the wrong time. It's there, ready if you need it.

I like the 1911, and it's my carry piece. Glocks, the Springfield XD pistols, lots of good semi-autos out there, but the fact is they require more training and practice to handle well and safely. Fact is, I'd have no problem carrying a good revolver with a speed-loader or two in case needed, and for someone like this lady a good revolver is the best thing she could have. And that goes for a lot of people.

Oh, she finally got used to the .38's; it was kind of amazing. This last time we went shooting they didn't bother her at all. She shot up what I'd brought along and went to the desk and bought another box and shot it. And decided that it was probably better than a .22 after all. To my great relief.

Got busy this evening,

so can't do the other range report. About the time I finished dinner friend said "I think my car is leaking gas, can you take a look at it?". So there went part of the evening.

Happily, not much as this turned out to be a simple fix. She'd mentioned it was also making a hissing sound so had her start it. And it not only hissed, it idled with somewhat less smoothness than an overloaded tumbler. So I dug around and found the vacuum hose that'd come off, pushed it back on and the engine hesitated, almost died, then smoothed out. Pair of pliers to compress the lock and slide it back into place, and done.

The gas smell? I think it was blowing from somewhere and she just thought it was her car; it's been blowing like standing in front of a hurricane machine and it could have come from another car or a gas station. No sign, either sight or smell, of gasoline where it shouldn't be.

Speaking of gas. I made fried chicken, garlic-rosemary roasted potatoes and milk gravy for dinner, and-while very good- I'd forgotten the way milk sometimes works through my system. By the time I got home I'd started producing enough gas for Algore to accuse me of being a Gaia-threatening source of methane. Which seems to have about run the course, so I won't have to worry about blowing the covers off tonight.

I know it's not all that fascinating, but I've got to write about something. And my (temporary) ability to produce enough flammables to drive my truck to work tomorrow is definitely 'something'.

Which for some reason reminds me that I need to find a habenero plant for the garden, hopefully one a little hotter than those I found the last two years. I really like the flavor these give to things.

Aye, well, the day's done and I'm tired.

Range report

Hi-Point Model 995

These things have been around a few years now, but this is the first chance I had to shoot one. So let's get the specs out of the way:
5.75 pounds
32.5" long
This one is chambered for the 9x19mm cartridge(also make a .40S&W model), and has the sling mounted














First things first: yes, it's ugly. Not cover-your-eyes-and-scream ugly, but attractive it's not. The stock is black plastic; the camo version they now make is even uglier.

The action is a straight blowback, just like a .22 semi-auto rifle or pistol. Which makes it very simple and inexpensive to manufacture: no unlocking mechanism, no link, just a big heavy bolt and a recoil spring. The trigger is much like that of a Mosin Nagant or some old .22 autoloaders, you just keep pulling 'till it goes bang. The magazine(ten round single-stack) fits into the grip, mag release on the left much like most pistols. Safety is a up for safe, down for fire lever also on the left and just a little too far forward for my thumb to reach without adjusting my grip. The charging handle is on the left side of the receiver, ejection port on the right.

The front sight is a tapered, flat-top post inside a ring which can be moved up or down in the housing for gross elevation adjustments
























And the rear is a ear-protected aperture fully adjustable for windage & elevation.


















That thing sticking out on the left is the charging handle; to lock the bolt open pull it to the rear and push the knob in.

The whole rear sight assembly, ears and all, comes off and a Weaver-type base(that comes with it) screws on, allowing you to mount a red dot or other optical sight. The night I fired this, just as we were leaving some guy came in with one of these with what looked like a 3-9x scope mounted: it was half as long as the carbine.

We fired it that night with both CCI Blazer and some Monarch brass-case ball- no hollow-points available- from ten to twenty-five yards. Reliability was excellent, not any type of FTE, FTF or jam. Accuracy at 25, from a none-too-steady rest gave about 3.5" groups. The sights are not bad at all, with the aid of a bit of paint on the front post easy to pick up in the low light and- as apertures tend to be- easy & fast to line up. The trigger will not win any awards, but gave no problems and was entirely predictable. Recoil was 'barely', most of what you felt was the bolt cycling back & forth.

I have to say, this thing was fun to shoot, and would work pretty well for introducing someone to a light rifle more powerful than a .22. Assuming it works as reliably with a good hollowpoint as with ball, you could do much worse for a home-defense gun. And it can be had (in this area at least) for less than $200.

Bad things? If you like 'classic' appearance it just might make you a little queasy, trigger without a clean break and parts of it say 'cheap'. Somewhat loudly.

Short, light, handy and reliable. And, for someone on a budget and/or uncomfortable with a handgun, a good home-defense piece. You could keep the mag loaded and chamber empty and simply pick it up and pull the charging handle to be ready. Overall, I'd have to say worth having. And as a bonus, especially with some type of optic on top it looks nasty enough to give Chucky Schumer a case of the damp drawers. What more could you ask for?

More boom stuff coming, I promise!

I had a chance to shoot a couple I'd never tried out before, and I'll report on them, hopefully tonight. Just haven't gotten through everything else to do it.

Next time Mikey Moore calls the terrorists 'minutemen',

will whoever's standing closest kick him somewhere appropriate?
A US military official has said children have been used in a bomb attack in Iraq, raising fears that insurgents are using a new tactic.

Gen Michael Barbero said a vehicle stopped at a checkpoint was waved through because two children were seen in the back, but was then detonated.

Militants were changing tactics in response to tighter security, he said. ...

Gen Barbero said there had been also two adults in the car. They parked it near a market, abandoned it with the children inside and apparently detonated it.

The two children died, along with three civilians in the vicinity, officials said.

Yeah, George Washington and Company had a long record of using children to carry out terror attacks on civilians.

Well, not really, but Mikey & Buttmonkeys say so!

Some Europeans haven't drunk the kool-aid

and will talk about the enviroweenies.

The – so called – climate change and especially man-made climate change has become one of the most dangerous arguments aimed at distorting human efforts and public policies in the whole world…I am convinced, however, that up to now this scientific debate has not been deep and serious enough and has not provided sufficient basis for the policymakers’ reaction. What I am really concerned about is the way the environmental topics have been misused by certain political pressure groups to attack fundamental principles underlying free society. It becomes evident that while discussing climate we are not witnessing a clash of views about the environment but a clash of views about human freedom.

As someone who lived under communism for most of my life I feel obliged to say that the biggest threat to freedom, democracy, the market economy and prosperity at the beginning of the 21st century is not communism or its various softer variants. Communism was replaced by the threat of ambitious environmentalism. This ideology preaches earth and nature and under the slogans of their protection – similarly to the old Marxists – wants to replace the free and spontaneous evolution of mankind by a sort of central (now global) planning of the whole world.

As The Englishman says,

"Sometimes national stereotypes are too easy a target"

A FLUFFY polar bear cub called Knut, who has become a media celebrity, should be given a lethal injection according to German zoologists, who say he has become too dependent on humans.

That little bastard! How dare he live?!?

“Hand-feeding is not appropriate to the species and is a grave violation of the animal protection laws,” said Frank Albrecht, an animal rights campaigner. “Legally speaking, the zoo should kill the baby bear. Otherwise it is condemning the bear to a dysfunctional life and that too is a breach of the law.”

A bear cub. In a zoo.

The question is whether Knut’s offspring would be capable of independent life or whether they too would be dependent on human support.

So apparently if you keep a cub alive, and it grows up and sires other cubs, they'll magically be too dependant on humans. 'Course, seeing as how the polar bear population has inconsiderately continued to grow, causing much gnashing of teeth among those who need them to be disappearing to help prove globular warmering, would someone please explain to me what the big damn problem is with having this cub grow up in the zoo? This one or some other?

Next time New Orleans floods,

not a damn penny of other people's money should be sent there. Instead, let's import alligators and water moccasins. Because so far we've sent X-billions of dollars there, and- along with the other crap that's been documented- we now get Ray Nagin(Cowardly Jackass/NO) saying there's a 'government plot' to keep blacks from coming back to NO.

Couldn't have anything to do with an incompetent like Nagin(Brainless Twit/NO) being in charge, could it? Couldn't possibly have anything to do with some people, having moved to other places, finding the living better, could it? Etc.

Well, if Nagin(Generally Stupid/NO) wanted to ensure his place in the Race Warlord Poverty Pimp* Hall of Fame, this should do it. Assuming the crap coming out of his mouth before this wasn't enough.

Take on this from RNS
*thanks to Denny for the label

Wheee! This stuff works in strange ways

The next step in the FPS story

Took a friend to the range this evening, and after the teaching was done took the opportunity to try the .45 again. After a bit of research on the 'empties bouncing off my forehead' problem, I'd adjusted the extractor just a touch to give it a bit more tension.

Now, out of 25 rounds of S&B ball, one case bounced off, and all the Gold Dots properly flew off a bit to the right.

I repeat, this stuff is weird.

For Patrick's Day, just a little late

because I just saw it today

In honor of St. Patrick's day, I thought I'd take the time to share a few items that I made turned up while researching the Emerald Isle:

---

* Ireland was founded in 432 AD by a group of masochists who actually ENJOYED leading bleak lives of hopeless despair. Many of their descendants would later emigrate to Chicago and become Cubs fans.

* In 1998 Danny O'Malley of Dublin created the first internet search engine to specialize in Irish-related information: Alcohoogle.

* Currently, every search term entered returns the Guinness home page.

* To prevent illegal immigration into the country, Irish Border Patrol members guard the country's beaches by hurling empty whiskey bottles at swimmers.

* The Irish possess the most unstoppable Special Forces in the world, which are capable of successfully invading any nation with at least one distillery.

* According to noted zoologist Jonathan Swift, the Irish - unlike rattlesnakes - really DO taste like chicken.

* Ireland has long been famous for the irritable temperament of its inhabitants. It used to be called Angerland, until St. Patrick realized that "ire" was a much more sophisticated-sounding word.

* The national symbol of Ireland is the shamrock. Which used to be called the "samrock", but the new pronunciation quickly took over, since that's how a liquored-to-the-gills Irishman would pronounce it, anyway.

* Another important symbol of Ireland is the hardwood cudgel known as the "shillelagh". Which used to be called a "salay", but changed for the same reason as the samrock.

* In a fight between Aquaman and Ireland, Aquaman would die messily when his dolphin "mysteriously" exploded, with the IRA claiming responsibility shortly afterwards.

* The Irish are a clever and inventive people who are popularly credited with inventing several different types of bar soap. None of which they've been able to sell to France.

* Which really sucks, because France is upwind.

* Before switching to the Euro in 1999, the Irish had a dual currency system, where both Guinness bottle caps and whiskey labels circulated freely alongside each other.

* There was also a brief experimental period with British currency, but - like most things in Ireland featuring the Queen's portrait - the bills quickly became too spit-soaked for practical usage.

* Although the Irish claim to have their own language, it's actually just a form of English that they picked up from watching Lucky Charms commercials.

* Even though Ireland thinks it's better than the US, I think the fact that Americans can dance AND use their arms at the same time proves them wrong.

* While Ireland DOES have a President and a Parliament, the true power rests in the hands of Bono and his mysterious Leprechaun Council.

* Despite the impression given by the Notre Dame mascot, not all Irish are obnoxious, chrome-domed troublemakers. Just Sinead O'Connor.

* Ireland is a country blessed with vast, verdant grasslands. Plants grow well there because of the soil's incredibly high content of organic minerals - a result of the Irish peeing all over the place as they stagger from pub to pub.

* Much like the fabled elephant graveyard, the Irish have a secret bog where they go off to die when they become too feeble to lift a glass.

* In Ireland, starting a fight by punching someone in the face is considered a friendly greeting. Starting a fight by throwing your drink in someone's face, however, is grossly insulting, wastes precious alcohol, and carries the death penalty.

* Only one Irishman has ever won the Tour de France (Stephen Roche, 1987). Although this SOUNDS pathetic, I'm actually quite impressed that they found someone sober enough to sit on a bicycle without toppling over.

* Irish pop band The Boomtown Rats recently scored their first hit single since 1979 with their War on Terror ballad, "I Don't Like Mohammeds".

* Like the US, Ireland's constitution guarantees its citizens the right to free speech. It doesn't do them any good, though, since the only difference between Irish speech and incoherent drunk-dialing is the phone.

* The Titanic was built by the Belfast shipbuilding company, Harland & Wolff. Although the company was eventually cleared of negligence charges for its part in the ill-fated ship's construction, they WERE convicted of giving Leonardo DiCaprio career options beyond "pretty man-whore".

* The first Irishman in America, Paddy O'Tatertot, was also the man who built Notre Dame college and started its legendary football program. This caused the mass immigration of the Irish to America in the late 1800s, as they all wanted to see this union of the two best aspects of their country - devout religion and open-field brawling.

* Ireland's 1996 Olympic Gold Medal swimmer, Michelle Smith, was banned from the sport in 1999 for substance abuse after her urine sample was found to contain enough alcohol to qualify for a proof rating.

* Sad thing is, that last one was completely true. Personally, I don't think it's fair to test the Irish for alcohol. It's like testing SpongeBob for seawater.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Yes, I'm still here.

Yesterday had pretty nice weather, so the day went to a bit of grocery shopping, a bit of boomstick looking, and putting some sweet peppers and tomatoes in the garden. And a new blackberry along the fence.

I'd had two blackberries, one planted year before last, one last year and both looked dead. However, while the one from last year was most definitely deceased, the other had one cane growing and new leaves on it. So I've still got two. Putting the new one in earlier than I did last year may help it root in well before summer.

Last night was spent at a wedding reception for a couple of friends. Despite threats to the bride I did not show up in woad, which probably contributed to my warm welcome(I presented her with a bag of freshly-made fudge, and the both of them with a bottle of Celtic Crossing which I trust will be properly disposed of). And there was drinking and music and dancing, and a good time was had by all.

And no hangover this morning, either; those of us with a clear conscience need not fret about such things. So there.*

And today was helping a friend in the yard a bit, and mowing mine, and cleaning up outside and in. Now I shall pour myself a taste, and get ready for bed.

*Dammit. I'd trade a touch of hangover for something to feel guilty about at times.

Range report, further on the FPS modification

I mentioned in the first post that I'd ordered two of the oversize stops. Since with the first one A: I didn't mess it up and B: it worked so well, I spent part of last night fitting the other to my Kimber Compact. Face it, anything that makes a difference in felt recoil in a full-size 1911 should help a smaller one to some extent, and if it made no difference, nothing had been changed on the gun to make me sit on the firing line yelling "Crap! It didn't work! How and I gonna get this back to normal?!?"

Following the information from Tuner in the M1911.Org posts, I cut the bevel on this one bigger than on the full-size; the shorter, lighter slide doesn't have as much momentum to trade off so if you make it too small, you'll get failures from the slide not cycling all the way. Didn't make it much bigger, as I'd rather find out I need to cut it a bit larger than that I may have cut it too far.

This evening I put some S&B ball, some handloads with 230-grain cast bullets(a bit lighter load than the S&B) and some Gold Dot 185-grain hollow points through it. I had one GD case get caught between the slide & barrel, which with this short a test may just mean 'Stuff happens', or I may need to cut the bevel a touch larger. I think it's probably the 'Stuff', because everything else, every other time, went through without a burp. I even loaded one magazine with a mix of all three, and they all cycled.

The difference in recoil was flat amazing. This had always, with full-power loads, flipped the muzzle up a fair bit and torqued to the right; now the recoil was straight up, much less rise and no twist. Which made for faster recovery. Ejection tended to be to a lesser distance than in the past. There was one disconcerting thing: I had several cases bounce off my forehead, which had never happened before. All with the S&B or Gold Dots, the handloads all went off more to the right.

I need to test this more, of course; with a carry piece, there's no other option. I do have to say that the results so far are quite good. More testing, more shooting, DAMN! the things you have to do...

Hey, Sen. Obama,

got your 'nobody suffers more' right here:

Interviewer: "Let's talk with the two children of the jihad-fighting martyrdom-seeker Rim Al-Riyashi, Dhoha and Muhammad. Dhoha, you love Mama, right? Where did Mama go?"

Dhoha: "To Paradise."

Interviewer: "What did Mama do?"

Dhoha: "She committed martyrdom."

Interviewer: "She killed Jews, right?"

Interviewer: "How many did she kill, Muhammad?"

Muhammad: "Huh?"

Interviewer: "How many Jews did Mama kill?"

Muhammad: "This many... "

Oh, aren't they so cute! And they'll blow up so soon themselves.

Oh yeah, they deserve, they NEED a whole country of their own. I repeat, pre-civilized, bloody-handed murderers.

I may have to see '300'

just because it ticks off the right people. Lefties and islamists and twits, oh my...

Speaking of twits, over at Eternity Road is this piece on the hysterical reaction(in many cases) to The Great Global Warming Swindle, and for that matter damn near any questioning of the Global Warmening concept. Isn't it just wonderful that a scientist questioning an idea is now(along with anybody else, but scientists in particular) equated with being a Holocaust denier? Apparently the idea of rigorous questioning and challenges to an idea to prove it right or wrong isn't considered 'science' any more. At least by the politicians and twits.

Continuing to speak of twits, how about taking a kid out of their home by force and keeping them in a psychiatric facility for being homeschooled? I mean damn, with what's happening in the world, the Germans can't find something for the police to do that's more worth doing than this crap?

Damn, it's late. 'Bye.

Who would've thought it could be so cold

in the arctic? I mean, the Goreacle told us it's so warm the polar bears are drowning?

The explorers, Ann Bancroft and Liv Arnesen, on Saturday called off what was intended to be a 530-mile trek across the Arctic Ocean after Arnesen suffered frostbite in three of her toes, and extreme cold temperatures drained the batteries in some of their electronic equipment …

Then there was the cold - quite a bit colder, [organiser Ann] Atwood said, than Bancroft and Arnesen had expected.

Hehehehehe... I just love it. But wait! If it's warmer than usual, it's Global Warmering; and if it's COLDER than you expect?

Anyone?

That's right,:
"They were experiencing temperatures that weren’t expected with global warming,” Atwood said. “But one of the things we see with global warming is unpredictability."

Ah, yes, the all-purpose explanation.

But what about the bears? A survey of the animals' numbers in Canada's eastern Arctic has revealed that they are thriving, not declining, because of mankind's interference in the environment.

In the Davis Strait area, a 140,000-square kilometre region, the polar bear population has grown from 850 in the mid-1980s to 2,100 today.

"There aren't just a few more bears. There are a hell of a lot more bears," said Mitch Taylor, a polar bear biologist who has spent 20 years studying the animals.
Yet, according to the enviroweenies,
"They are declining due to global warming and changes in when the ice freezes and melts in Hudson's Bay," ..."To say that bear populations are growing in one area now is irrelevant."

What says the Englishman?
Whereas to say that bear populations are falling in one area now is relevant?

Speaking of bears,















Don't look to bad off to me.(Thanks, Denny)

We now return to our (ir)regularly scheduled bitching

Was a bit out of pocket the last couple of days. And, believe it or not, I kind of enjoyed it.

Besides the general hiding out we're getting some rain. Last year, I've mentioned, was damned dry, and even after all the ice and wet through the winter we've still got a lot of lakes, ponds and reservoirs 'way below where they should be. My folks said Lawton had received about 1.5" as of early this evening, with more coming. Haven't looked at my rain guage- no, I'm NOT going out with a flashlight- but got some earlier today and more just started coming down now. Nice change.

Now, as to the bitching:
One of the standard warnings, not just for gun owners, is that the lawbooks have become so full of crap that it's damn near impossible to avoid breaking some law. Often without knowing it. As the FBI agent was quoted as saying "If I want to arrest you all I've got to do is follow you around for three days: you'll break some law". Where this specifically affects gunnies of all types is politicians wanting to make virtually ANY violation a disqualification of your right to arms. To illustrate, just found this in the comments from Keith:
...a friend's son had been re-newing his shotgun cert, and the cop who came to visit him asked if he had a criminal recrd, to which he replied "no", and the cop arrested him.

Him and his dad had been prossecuted a couple of years earlier for having a dead sheep that they had not buried (now it would even be illegal to bury it).

Anyway, he's been to court for "giving false information in order to obtain a shotgun certificate"

£500 fine, six month prison sentance suspended for 12 months, and I'm unsure whether it was to help his case along, but he has also surrendered his shotgun certificate.

This is the kind of crap we want to stop cold. This cop obviously either knew of this bullshit offense or went digging for something of the sort specifically to set the guy up for this. "Ah ha! You have lied to me! You should not be allowed to touch guns! Off to jail with you!" It NEEDS to be stomped on hard, and every minion of the law who uses crap like this. Remember Martha Stewart? She was prosecuted and jailed for 'lying'- in an informal interview and not under oath- to a federal investigator about a crime they couldn't prove she committed. From what I've been reading about the Scooter Libby case, he was pretty much convicted of lying about a crime that didn't actually happen because something he said at one time didn't match up exactly to what he said on another occasion.

Do not mistake me: if he actually, knowingly lied under oath, and they can prove it, that's that. But... I dare say that there's not one of us who could not be prosecuted for the same 'offense' if some prosecutor decided it was worth his time(for whatever reason) to do it. This kind of bullshit erodes(further) respect for the law and those who enforce it, and it's worth stopping simply to end that.


Next, for the most part I think my Loyal Readers are not the type to have been causing any of the heartburn, but some jackasses have been giving Kim & Family crap they really don't need.

I can sympathize with the financial trouble. I haven't been at the same level of debt, but when you owe far more than you have, or can hope to pay back, it pretty much works out the same. Mine happened with the following sequence:
A. First wife had very troubled pregnancy(our daughter), lots of bills, pretty much got that cleaned up.
B. She developed cancer, and we had no insurance on her at the time.
C. With chemotherapy and fighting like hell she beat the cancer back from, were getting the bills hammered out(we actually had a credit counseler look at our situation and recommend we file bankruptcy) when- despite the doctor saying it couldn't happen- she became pregnant again(our son). Even more-troubled pregnancy, he spent a week or so in neonatal ICU and if you think that doesn't add up...

Between the cancer and the second pregnancy, when we finally received the bill from the hospital(and the bastards actually sicced a collection agency on us before they even sent the God-cursed bill!) we found ourselves the proud owners of damn near a quarter-million dollars in debt. Which there was not a chance in hell of us being able to pay, so we (literally) robbed the Snoopy bank to pay the attorney his retainer and filed bankruptcy. Which I still hate the memory of.

I'd fully intended to pay the bill if I had to make payments for the next twenty years. Until we received the damn thing. It wasn't just the amount, it was the specifics of it. For instance:

The one thing I clearly remember as we stood there going over page after page of the bill was one line. For premature Pampers. Ever see them? Not much bigger than a playing card. After we got the son home we'd found a local store that carried them, they kept a couple of boxes and, when somebody needed them, ordered more. Came in a box of sixty for just under four dollars. That line was noting that they were charging us just under twenty-nine dollars a box for a box a day. I read that and my resolve to pay them, whatever it took, took wings and went south forever. That we'd been getting nasty calls from the God-damned collection agency for more than a week before the bill even arrived had somewhat eroded my resolve I admit, but this hammered a stake through the heart and stuffed garlic in the mouth.

Not the same situation as Kim & Family, but I know the feeling of being so far over your head you need a decompression chamber to attempt respiration. So to my Loyal Readers: if any of you, in a moment of upset or something, left a comment over there that was upsetting to them, send them a nice apology. If you deliberately sent them a shitty comment or otherwise crapped on them, then go away. Not just from there, from here. Last thing they need is snotty fools giving them static, and if you're the kind to crap on them in times like this I don't really want you reading my stuff, either.

I'm to bed now, having both blown off steam(I'm STILL pissed at the hospital) and ingested a bit of whisky. 'Night, all.

I ought to go back to college

just so I can piss off people like these.

Hundreds attended a campus forum on March 1 organized by seven Asian women who’ve led the attacks on Kaplan. Many came expecting a fair airing of views at what was billed as an “open forum.” Instead, they witnessed further condemnation of Kaplan at what professor Howard Schweber afterward called a “political rally.”

At the forum, Moua acknowledged that her initial e-mail was misinformed as to precisely what Kaplan had said. Nonetheless, scores of speakers drew from it over the next two hours to peg Kaplan as racist and ignorant.

Two women in the class, who’ve since transferred out, described their shocked reactions to Kaplan’s comments. Mai Der Yang, a first-year student who missed class that day, said the real harm came in a meeting days later when Kaplan gave “insult after insult.” Among those insults, Yang said, was that Kaplan “believed his statements to be true.”

Nancy Vu, another organizer, stressed the women’s collective victimization, saying they’ve felt “so intensely alone” and “at every corner have been dismissed” by faculty and students. “You have made us feel alienated.”

Additional speakers from student and community groups accused university leaders of not doing enough to promote diversity and sensitivity. Madison school board member Shwaw Vang, who is Hmong, said Kaplan’s speech “degrades and dehumanizes me.” Activist Peng Her drew parallels between the seven women and Rosa Parks and the civil rights marchers in Selma, Ala. And the women were called the “Magnificent Seven” to great applause.

Near the end, Dean Davis again apologized to students, saying they’ve exhibited a “remarkable thoughtfulness and grace that makes me proud.” He did not bother to put in a good word for the idea of academic freedom.

The big things here:
People who had no personal experience with the professor or what he said somehow magically 'knew' what he 'believes'. All from e-mails of bitching by students who "said Kaplan’s speech “degrades and dehumanizes me.” and- here's the big one- :
"...another organizer, stressed the women’s collective victimization..." Got that? It's the standard-issue "I am a VICTIM! You cannot doubt what I say or my FEELINGS!!!" bullshit that's destroying what schools are supposed to be.

And this Dean is apparently one of the eunuchs in the lead, "I understand your feelings, and your feelings are all that matters. Especially when I can use them."

On the other hand, if I go back, I might get thrown out. Or attacked by hordes of aggrieved lefties. Which might be fun, if I had a good cane.

Well, damn!

	Total	100,433
	Average Per Day	183
	Average Visit Length	1:32
	Last Hour	28
	Today	121
	This Week	1,282

Sometime in the past couple of days it rolled over. Which is kind of amazing. I can't decide if people keep coming here from actually wanting to hear my bitching(tend to doubt), pick up the occasional nugget of actual information(quite possible) or to watch the ongoing BS(likely).

In any case, keep coming. Because I am going to grandly ignore the above and assume you all come here to bask in my brilliance. So numbers count, people.

1911 firing pin stop modification

A while back I was browsing through the 'Handguns: Autoloaders' forum at The High Road and found mention of a change to the firing pin stop on a 1911 that was said to make a big difference in felt recoil. So I dug around some more, which led me to the M1911.Org site. Which led me to the gunsmithing sticky threads, this one in particular.

This sounded interesting, especially since my hands sometimes bother me after a box or so through mine. So I went to Brownells and ordered two of these EGW stops.

If you're not familiar with the 1911, the firing pin stop fits into a slot in the back of the slide





















and holds the firing pin(center) and the extractor(circular piece on the right) in place. The bottom of it

















on the factory piece has a nice, round curve; this is where, as the slide moves back, it cams the hammer back to cock it. The idea is that if you take a stop like the EGW which is square on the bottom,

















fit it to the slot of the pistol and then give it just a slight bevel at the bottom edge














it changes some things. When the slide moves back under recoil, the factory stop makes the camming action a smooth operation that doesn't take much energy away from the slide; but if you give it a much smaller bevel like this- from what I've read the way John Browning originally designed it- it takes more of the energy the slide carries to cam the hammer back, which slows the slide down, which changes the way the energy moves around with- I read- some good changes.

These stops are made oversize so they can be fitted to your pistol. This one was a touch too thick, so I stoned a bit off the back. Then I started stoning the sides to narrow it a bit. Lock it in a padded vise, cut a bit, flip it over and cut the same number of strokes on the other side, try. Black the shiny area(I used Sharpie) and repeat until you get a good fit.

For the bevel, I'd suggest reading that thread at M1911 for specifics. Basically, cut a very small 45-degree angle with a fine file, and it HAS to be same angle and width across the face, otherwise it'll cause some nasty twisting(torsional?) stress to the hammer and hammer pin. I then gave it just enough strokes on a stone to break the corners, cleaned and oiled it and installed.

After shooting the carbine I tried this out. And it really works. Recoil on this pistol is now straight up- no twist- and a smaller jump. It also throws the brass straight up and back instead of to the side, which I was not expecting. Although it makes sense when you think about it. I only put about thirty rounds through(only so much time), but the difference was kind of amazing.

Definately glad I tried it.

Ain't it purty?

Some of you who've been dropping in here might remember that a while back I bought a M1 Carbine receiver when SOG got some in. I've been collecting parts since, and finally put everything together.


















The barrel is an aftermarket(GI barrels in good shape are now at prices that are flat amazing in some cases), the stock- a flat beautiful piece of walnut- was obtained through the good offices of Og. Everything else is GI, from the springs to the sights to the magazine.

Most of the assembly is no big deal, but I'd never installed a barrel before; turned out not to be as bad as I'd feared. Driving the front sight on was an experience of its own(I don't think you actually need the pin to hold it in place), but everything else fitted in just like it should.

Took it to H&H right after I finished it to function-test it, and all went well. It was hitting well below point of aim, the sight blade being deliberately made high. Back home I did some fitting to tighten things up between stock and receiver/barrel, following the suggestions in this piece by the fine people at CMP. Then, after bitching and moaning about the weather and time a short delay, today I had the chance to get it to a 100-yard range and do some shooting and filing. Started off at 50 yards, shot two and filed, shot two and filed until it was a couple of inches low, then moved to 100.

To give you an idea of how much had to be taken off- and the accuracy of this thing- , please note the four shots top left:
















That's a sub-2" group using GI-spec Lake City ball. Just to compare I adjusted windage and fired two rounds of Wolf ball(shut up, Cowboy). As to the elevation, I was actually aiming at the target above this one, so they were hitting about seven inches low. After having cut the front down a bit at fifty yards.

Finally got it just right, as the baby bear said, and it sat there through the rest of the day. Just before packing it in I loaded two rounds and fired them:





















I think I'll keep it.

Shocking numbers

brought to us by The Englishman:
Illegally held guns are flooding Britain’s inner cities and a spate of fatal shootings in London has highlighted gun culture’s allure to disaffected youth. This comes despite the best efforts of the law and its enforcers to restrict the supply of guns. Yet, any man, woman or street urchin could own a gun in Victorian Britain — at least until 1870 when a licence fee was charged if they wanted to carry the weapon outside their home. And, surprisingly, there was very little gun crime.

Personally, I don't think it's surprising at all; someone checked the actual homicide rate of Tombstone, AZ back in the wild days and it was very low. And most were between gang members and general outlaw types(sound familiar?).

Well worth reading. Then go read Kim, who has some interesting comparisons and comments.

Yeah, I'm late on this. I first saw it a couple of days ago, late so I didn't post on it then. Yesterday had a couple of things I HAD to take care of, and being the the final(I hope) throes of whatever plague is going around, by the time I was done I gave up, read a bit and crashed. So I'm getting it done today.

Damn you, Goreacle!

I was expecting a visit from the Brown Truck of Happiness yesterday, bringing a package of goodies from Brownell's. But I get home and no package! No Brown Truck has come! So I turn on the computer and check the tracking and find Rescheduled in the delivery. Why?

ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS CAUSED THIS DELAY

Oh, joy. I'd planned on opening my box and checking out the goodies, hitting the grocery store, making dinner and spending the rest of the evening using my new stuff. But NOOOO.

For all the Globulist Warmering doomtalking, you'd think the damn blizzards would be over by now, or at least changed to drowning rain(got to make those sea levels rise somehow, you know). But no. The Goreacle is going to freeze the whole place if he keeps this up.

Snork...

Does about sum them up, doesn't it?

Thanks to the Emperor for this

The son has been heard from

New friends and nice things to play with
















It seems some friendlies showed up at the range while they were qualifying and, after business was taken care of, some "Can I try that?" went on. It's a G36(more on it here) and he said it's an interesting piece.

Yes, as you may be able to tell, he's doing just fine.

Cable damascus

It's what it sounds like, instead of bars or sheets of steel you take one or more pieces of cable, forge-weld them into a bar and then forge it into a blade. Makes a nice 'snakeskin' pattern when it's etched.

It has one real problem in the making that's worse than a standard pattern-welded piece: getting and keeping crap out of the pieces. With standard you can clean the bars, stack them together, heat and flux and the flux both carries out any traces of scale or whatever from between pieces and seals the surface(until you hammer it and drive the stuff out and off). When cable comes to you, brand new it'll be greasy; used, greasy and cruddy with the stuff having worked all through the wires.

Cleaning the stuff out of new isn't too bad, use a good degreaser, soak it in kerosene or whatever. Old cable, it's a bit more involved. I've read of everything from degreaser, boiling it in soapy water and pretty much anything else you can think of. What I used to do was fairly simple, since I used new cable: I burned it off. Be warned, smoky and smelly, but it works. I'd stick about six inches into a low fire and let it burn out, then push the next six in and so forth until the whole piece was done(I usually used about an eighteen inch piece). This does have the bad point of sometimes leaving some ash inside, but the fluxing seemed to take care of it nicely. Also, if you used low heat the grease tended to melt and run out before it burned, leaving the inside pretty clean. Several smiths I've read of would take a day to burn clean and flux a lot of cable, so as to have enough to keep them a while.

To flux it- I used borax- first I'd get the very end to welding heat and set the weld. Then heat a few inches to low red and unwind the section slightly(doesn't take much) and, while still good and hot, sprinkle it heavily with borax; you want the stuff to melt and flow throughout. Repeat heating and fluxing if needed, then twist it back as tight as you can. Move to the next section and repeat.

Remember, the flux does two things: it seals the surface of the steel to keep scale from forming, and it causes impurities that may be trapped between pieces to melt at a lower temperature than otherwise, which means when you hammer it the liquid flux and impurities(if any) spray out. Yes, it will burn the crap out of you, an apron and eye protection highly recommended.

To actually make the billet, I'd heat four to six inches of cable up to welding heat and hammer it from the welded end back the first pass, then turn it 90-degrees and go back up the other way; remember, this has to both set the weld and drive out the flux. When this section cooled I'd inspect, and if well set I'd do the next section.

When I had enough for the purpose, I'd fold it two or more times- usually in a 'Z' shape- then flux and weld that into one piece. Then I'd fold that once more, either in half or three and weld it again. You have to be CERTAIN that you've closed any voids between wires and driven all the flux and any impurities out.

When done, you'll have a solid bar of sufficient mass for the blade you want to make, and forge it out, heat treat and so forth as you would any other.

I haven't made any of this in a while and have no pictures, but I did find this picture at this man's site:








This is a beautiful example, with a section of cable left on to make the hilt.

You can make it as I described, or you can cut pieces of cable and wire or arc-weld them around a bar for a handle(which is the first way I read about this being done). In the latter case, one man I saw some information on took one-inch cable, cut four pieces about four inches long, arc-welded them to a handle and brought the whole mess up to heat and did the billet making with a power hammer(Damn, the times I've wished for one of those...).

Besides a different appearance, some who've used it say they've found blades made this way to be a bit more aggressive in cutting; I never tested for that so I can't say. Although if I'm able to make some more, I'll give it a shot.

That's really about it, fairly simple process. Just remember that bit from Murphy's Laws of Combat: the simple things are never easy.