Stuff to clear, may be some duplicates

I have never heard of a fractal vise before

This is... incredible.  Patented 108 years ago.

Two things right now; first, OU and OSU should not get one damned more penny

as long as they're pushing this bullshit.  They claim they need more money?  Fire everyone involved in this crap and dump the programs and that'll free up a lot of cash.


Second: gee, you make it impossible to supply more power, and at the same time you force demand to increase, and the situation is screwed.  Who could've imagined that?

This is a range report from a day before the health situation went FUBAR

I have a tendency to not be as methodical as I should when working up loads.  In this case I took a known good load for a cartridge, that's given consistent results, and changed one thing: overall length.  We were working with a .40-65, using the Lyman 400-grain Snover bullet(410 grains out of this mold when cast of 20-1), 58.0 grains of Goex 2f powder, a .060 Walters Wad, and a Federal Large Rifle Magnum primer, all loaded in Starline cases.  I crimped them using the resizing to for a taper crimp(yes, I probably ought to see about a actual taper crimp die) to lock the bullet in place and allow for easy-as-possible chambering for the load.

Messing around with a dummy found that in this rifle, a OAL of 2.975" means the bullet is engaging the rifling, and you have to give it a firm push to seat it far enough to close the block.  Previously I'd used considerably shorter, so loaded several with lengths down from there, and tried some groups.  These lengths leave the last lube groove exposed, which is find for ammo kept in a box and used on the range, I'd be iffy about using such as a hunting load unless you were sure to keep them protected from dust.

The max length shot lousy.  Shorter by a few thousandths less so, and so on.  Which led to the fact that the best OAL for this load was 2.915".  The wind was gusty which didn't help, but gave 3.5-4" groups at 200 yards.  For me with iron sights, that ain't bad at all.

A while back I was able to pick up some Olde Eynesford powder in 1.5f granulation to try*.  I'd fired some with their 2f before and it had definitely preferred a large rifle magnum match primer to the standard, so I decided to try something and made a basic error: you never change more than one variable at a time when testing loads, and on this I did two, from 2f to 1.5, and used Federal Large Rifle Match primers.  Bad handloader.  But there they were, so I fired them, and this I have to show.  I pulled one, and the other four,

well, I can live with that.  I'll have to load a couple more sets to try this again.

However, I now have to show another group, which puts screwing around with black powder changes into the 'It's just because you want to make it work' category.  I've used Blackhorn 209 black powder substitute before, and it's given good results.  I'd put together five rounds using the previous load: the same brass/wad/bullet/case as noted in the above, but using 30.0 grains of the propellant and a standard Federal Large Rifle Magnum primer, and OAL 2.819", which just covers the last lube groove.  And it did the same kind of thing it's done before

with one out on me.  It ain't the Holy Black the traditionalists yell about, but results count.

This was actually the first group fired that day, the one with OE 1.5f the last.  This rifle had just been fitted with a new spirit level front sight(this one, I believe) so some windage adjustments were made as things progressed.

Shooting that took a few minutes and shots to get used to.  To me it shows as a black bar at the bottom of the sight with a clear space in it, which moved left or right according to tilt.  And it takes damn little change to make it move over.  It was easy to get used to, and it emphasized just how easy it is to be just a fraction of level and not realize it.  If you were going to do long-range shooting I'd think this would be something you'd want to add on.

This probably isn't the best report I've done; the meds and problem is screwing with my sleep, I'm tired, and the weather(turned rainy and/or stormy the last couple of days) probably isn't helping, but here it is.

*There are half a dozen different brands of black powder available, in various granulations.  However, the only one normally available around here is Goex in 1-4f, others you have to order and that means hazmat fees; it also, from some places, means a minimum of a five-pound order, which gets expensive and is a no-go when you want to get hold of one pound so you can try it.  Local place was nice enough to add a bottle of OE 1.5f to an order and that's how I got this to try.

I've never rolled paper cartridges,

but if I ever get a percussion revolver, I'd better keep this where I can find it.

First, these cops are idiots

and, at the least need some serious retraining.

Second, their followon to their start, should get them fired.  

Happily, this judge has a brain.  

Saturday, and yes, since I'm still being non-constructive otherwise,

here 'tis

Among the PITAs of the current personal situation

is that, since I've got to sit here, it would be nice to put some ammo together.  However, one of The Rules is that you do not do that if you're tired or otherwise concentration-impaired.

Since this mess is causing some sleep difficulties I have been either in or edging that category.  Which means only things loading-related that don't require as much care.  Slight problem: that crap was done before.

Frustrating, this is.  Makes it hard to focus on reading, too.

Yes, we SHOULD know who killed Babbitt. And why.

That the 'Justice' Department is so hellbent on not letting us know is telling.  And disgusting.

The family has filed suit.  Dunphy thinks
The Capitol Police and the Justice Department may be forced to produce whatever evidence they have in the course of a lawsuit expected to be filed by Babbitt’s family, though I expect the case to be settled prior the discovery phase with the government, i.e. the taxpayers, paying a considerable sum to the plaintiffs. Their decision to clear the officer notwithstanding, the government’s position rests on such a feeble legal foundation as to make going to trial potentially expensive and embarrassing. When the facts are placed before a jury, the shooting simply cannot withstand the reasonableness test as outlined in Graham v. Connor, and no credible use-of-force expert would dare testify otherwise absent evidence not yet revealed.
They'll probably try real hard, because I think they really don't want a bunch of these people put under oath where someone can ask them questions.

One of the things that's really pissed me off about this: leftists who will take ANY LE shooting as a reason to riot think this was just fine because 'Trump supporter'.  God, I despise these people.

A bit from Sarah Hoyt

She's referring to this book(which I need to read), and the piece is about history of conflict:
There probably is some bias in there (and not on the side of white anything) though I don’t remember detecting it, when I did my deep dive into African history 17 years ago. What became very clear to me is that whenever civilized (in this case defined as post-tribal) humans collide with tribal humans, tribal humans lose. They use the techniques that work in between tribes, imagining that their adversaries are also a tribe:
They start off with unimaginable massacres and horrible evil in the belief that this will cause the adversaries to back off. Because this works, between tribes. But when you’re dealing with people who view human individuals as both important, and important regardless of tribe, the more atrocities they commit the more they aggravate the anger of the civilized people.

The civilized hold back, afraid of committing atrocities, and the tribal humans commit more atrocities, and act like victors, while doing truly horrific things. And then at some point the post-tribal people lose it.

What comes after is usually horrific and causes college majors to cry centuries later.

This dance has been performed over and over and over again, since Rome at least. Since we had a polity that transcended tribes. The end is always the same.

So, the neo-tribal barbarians of the left who are following the script to the letter might wish to hear and revise their tactics. They won’t, of course, but we should warn them, all the same. Since we’re the ones who are trying to avoid the horrors.

Friday evening, and though conditions are less than stellar,

I did manage to collect some data for review

since I'm sitting here, some of the idiocy running around out there

might at well be put together.

Why do so many leftists hate Israel in particular and Jews in general so damn much?


Speaking of...


Some parents need to sue the ass off these school boards for racial discrimination.


The EffingBI violated their own court order to seize all this, now they want to steal it?  They need slapping down HARD.


No, just because a climate model shows something doesn't mean that it's accurate.


And that's about all this I can take for now.

One of the problems currently dealing with

is that although I haven't had any food problems, I'm being oversensitive about "Should I eat this?  Will this make me puke?" concerns.  Having spent a week out of the last three in a hospital with this mess, can't help myself.

There's also the fact that I'm limited as to how much time/doing what I can spend on my feet, but- being "I want to get this crap done"- I tend to push it.  Which led to this conversation while getting a little mowing done this morning:
Me: I've gotten this much, I wonder if I could get the rest?
Inner Me: Don't try it,  you need to stop here, put this crap away, and go sit.
Me: But I'm doing fine so far!
Inner Me: Did you like hospital food that much?
No, I did not.  I went back inside.

Be it noted that that hospital went back & forth between extremes: "You call this food?" to "This is acceptable."  I wasn't on any restrictions, so one day when both lunch and dinner were awful daughter was good enough to get me a sandwich.  Happily, a number of good places close by.

Right now the regular doc is doing some digging and trying to figure out a part of this, and I see him again tomorrow for a catch-up.

Good thing: I have time at home where I have to stay inside.
Bad thing: I'm just fuzzy enough from all this that things like reloading are off the table.  I could sort brass and such(that was already done), but actually putting ammo together... not just yet.

Speaking of, I'd been hearing that ammo was starting to show back up on the shelves, I wonder if President Gropey spouting that crap last night has already short-circuited that?

In (literally)bloody damned Chicago

Which already has all those gun laws the left tells us will fix the problems.
A Chicago woman has died days after she was dragged from a car and shot during an attack captured on video that killed her boyfriend and drew more attention to the city's particularly violent year.
But just ooonne more federal law will make it all daisies and rainbows, right?

 Arzuaga and Perez were among eight people fatally shot in Chicago from 6 p.m. Friday to late Sunday night. Those killed were among more than 50 shooting victims during that period, the Chicago Tribune reported.
So a slightly worse than usual weekend in Chicago.  Which that idiot mayor will try to blame on the laws somewhere else.

Among the bad parts in this mess

is that some things I need to do inside I've been trying, but the 'off the feet as much as can/feet up when can' strictures really mess with it.  Kind of hard to do a lot of this when you're having to lean over your legs/move the chair/reposition/"I can't reach that, dammit!"

The dog is unhappy that I'm here but not playing much.  Happily, some scratching and brushing and such and he forgives me.  Especially as son gave him a large, tasty bone a few days ago and he still has the remnant of it to chew on.

Throw in that I'm supposed to drink a fair bit, because one of the meds causes you to pee more than normal, which also means I have to take an electrolyte supplement, so don't get too far from the bathroom, or a big cup, or something.

I shall now attempt to accomplish something more than 'just take it easy'.

There is a lot of crap flying around out there,

but my interest in writing about much of it is very low, so I'm going to pick one thing that, by the sound of it, should have some people fired.  At the least.
For US soldiers tasked with the custody of nuclear weapons in Europe, the stakes are high. Security protocols are lengthy, detailed and need to be known by heart. To simplify this process, some service members have been using publicly visible flashcard learning apps — inadvertently revealing a multitude of sensitive security protocols about US nuclear weapons and the bases at which they are stored.
. . .
... the flashcards studied by soldiers tasked with guarding these devices reveal not just the bases, but even identify the exact shelters with “hot” vaults that likely contain nuclear weapons.

They also detail intricate security details and protocols such as the positions of cameras, the frequency of patrols around the vaults, secret duress words that signal when a guard is being threatened and the unique identifiers that a restricted area badge needs to have.
And more.  And more...

Seriously, this is a HUGE screwup in security, and I tend to think BRM is correct, it'll be a big, long, and expensive work to change all this.  Hoping all the while this doesn't give the PRC or Russians a way to really screw some things up.

The current status

after seeing the regular doc today: "Stay off your feet as much as you can, I'm going to check on some things, and I want to see you again Friday."

At least i do have the staples out of my scalp.

Standard domestic livestock kill people on a fairly regular basis,

if you forget that when dealing with non-standard, you're probably screwed.

Old NFO has a list, which starts with

 Number 9: Death is the number 1 killer in the world


And right now #7 is not very comforting

There's not many physical books being burned, but electronically

and by threats, there's a scene like this going on all the time.

There's a quote from Ray Bradbury that covers it:
“There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running around with lit matches.”

I thank you for all the good wishes,

they are very much appreciated.

The problem flared up again, badly enough I could barely walk.  Things were checked, and I was checked in.  Something new was tried which actually helped.  Hopefully that will remain helpful.

Know how you're supposed to get a followup with your regular doctor after you've been in the hospital?  I had an appointment with him this week that was set up a couple of months ago to followup on something unrelated.  This appointment is going to start with "Yes, 'X' is doing much better.  Now let me catch you up on the last couple of weeks."

A short update

after spending the last four days back in a hospital.  Which sucked.  

Now back home, and a bit shaky but otherwise a fair bit better.  And I will be taking it easy the next few days.  I will write more about this mess later, right now I have a dog to scratch.