They really DO exist!

The AR-47, that is.  The press-loons keep talking about one, so why not give em one?

 

Spikes lower, DPMS parts and stock, Bushmaster upper.  It has a UTG folding rear sight right now, though I'll likely eventually upgrade to Yankee Hill folders front and rear at some point in the future.  I've been told I need an optic, but I don't know what I'd use.  I have a 3-9 Bushnell that I may put on it, but I'll need taller rings to do that at the same time as the irons.  I figure I'll shoot it as is, and see what I need to do from there.

Baby Vulcan, grin away!

Lokidude

QOTD: Profound Sledgehammer edition

"The problem with welfare is not so much the waste of money as it is the waste of people." -- Mark Steyn, Undocumented Anchorman

Lokidude

Now, for something much happier

I just loaded a prime rib in the oven.  The fat cap is covered with a delightful mix of minced garlic, olive oil, thyme, basil, salt, and pepper.

Some days, it's good to be me.

Lokidude

How's that murder rate going for you?

That was the question I was asked by a Brit on my buddy Kevin's Facebook page.  I replied there, but am now stepping to my own house to post a full reply, to avoid a full-on flame war on his status.

It all started with a quote:

"The world is filled with violence. Because criminals carry guns, we decent law-abiding citizens should also have guns. Otherwise they will win and the decent people will lose."
- James Earl Jones

It devolved after I quoted Burke and was asked "So how is that murder rate going for you now that everyone is armed to the teeth? I see your murder rate is 3x ours, per capita."  Well, let's just see how it is.

My British challenger was correct about the US murder rate being 3x the UK rate, per capita.  This is a good start, it means that he can do research and pull good facts.  There's one problem with his argument, however.  With the much bemoaned  "ready availability of guns" in the US, you'd assume that we'd have the highest rate of murders with guns in the world, no?  You'd be incorrect.  In fact, we're not even #2.  We're #8, actually.  The UK is on the list, at #38, which for that portion is unsurprising, as guns are effectively banned there.  However, it seems British criminals are as inventive as any other, and find other ways to kill, leading to such things as a desire to ban pointed kitchen knives.  In fact, they're even more so, as the fraction of murders represented by guns there is far smaller than the fraction here.

What about other violent crimes, though?  The US and the UK have a virtually identical rate of assault.  Our rape rate is roughly double theirs.  However, our total crime rate is roughly 5% lower than theirs.

So, it looks like the US is a violent pit, doesn't it?  Not so fast.  The US is a big, broad place, so let's break those numbers down a bit more.

2009's numbers show, irrefutably,  that the violent, crime-ridden places in the US are, unsurprisingly, the exact same places that have onerous restrictions or outright bans on ownership and use of personal weapons for defense.  Washington, DC, where guns are now technically legal (but incredibly difficult) to own, but virtually impossible to bear in self-defense, has an overall violent crime rate of 1,345.9/100000, while Wyoming, where I carry a gun most every day (and which has roughly the same total population as DC), has an overall violent crime rate of 228.2/100000, and that's not the lowest figure at all.

Guns don't cause crime.  Criminals cause crime.  Guns are an equalizer, allowing a guy who stands 5'4", with a wrecked knee, to protect himself and his family against those who would do them harm.

Lokidude

All data in this post courtesy of Nationmaster and the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting office, via the UCR Datatool.

For those of you who don't have Larry Correia as a friend on Facebook

and seriously, why don't you?!?

MHI now has a TVTropes page.

More proof that Larry and his tale are awesome.

Lokidude

Doing the math

One of the big arguments for plastic fantastic autopistols is high magazine capacity.  That's all well and good, but with my EDC 1911, I carry 2 spare magazines.  That gives me 25 rounds, or half a box of ammo.

Just something to ponder.

Lokidude

And from the department of WTF...

A North Carolina teen found dead near Boston apparently fell from an airplane.

A Massachusetts prosecutor said Friday it's likely that a North Carolina teen whose mutilated body was found in a Boston suburb fell from the sky after stowing away in an airplane's wheel well.
Norfolk District Attorney William Keating cited evidence including a handprint in the wheel well, clothes strewn along the plane's flight path and an autopsy report indicating the teen fell "from a significant height."

Works in movies.  Less effective in real life.  Sadly, this young man learned that lesson the hard way.

Lokidude

Updates!

There's a whole mess of updates to the official Redneck Command blogroll tonight, mainly because I procrastinated longer than I thought I had.

First the easy shuffles.  Tango at Not A Tango, Nothing to See Here and Gay_Cynic from FreeThinker got added to the Folks I've Really Met list.  Silver from Screw the Rules, I Have Blog was moved into the Conspirators section, where she should have been originally.  A Day in the Life... is dead, and Sarah has moved to Bookworm Blues, where she reviews speculative fiction.  I only wish I had the time to read as much as she does.

On to the meat:

Raptor's Nest:  Raptor is a frequent denizen of We The Armed, a writer of fun fiction, and an all-around sharp guy.  All in all, a very good read.

Girls <3 Guns:  I think it was a link from Unc that led me to GG's place.  Being as I'm a big fan of women taking their safety into their own hands, I was immediately interested.  She's an awesome resource for gun rights and self-defense information, and especially for women who question how to carry an effective defensive tool and remain fashionable and chic.

Eyes Never Closed:  JP556 is a frequent Conspirator and a good egg.

Happy That You Are:  The adventures of a young prospective dental student.  With cephalopods.

Hitched a Lift, Now What:  So, one day, this Canadian chick wandered into the #GBC.  And for some unknown reason, she actually stuck around.  And how do you not like a chick who, when she's pondering
"How An Alberta Girl Gets a Gun" is referring to gorgeous 1911s?

Is This Off The Record?:  T is a reporter from somewhere between the coasts, who gives the viewpoint from the inside.

Lost & Found:  I'll let Cybrus tell you all about it.  "The scattered thoughts of a father, programmer, fire fighter, and shooter."  And y'all wonder why I like the guy?

Site & Situation:  Vine brings guns, riddles, and common sense.

The Holster Site:  Michael makes some awesome leather holsters, with flair and panache.  I'm currently saving my pesos for an Executive II for my Taurus.  That's the highest recommendation I can give someone.

The Gun Counter:  The fourth or fifth iteration of a forum and group of friends that I've followed for about 6 years now, this is one of two that I frequent.


We The Armed:  The other forum I haunt, and one I joined just recently, after the Alan Baird kerfluffle.  As a bonus, Larry Correia, Nightcrawler, and Michael Z Williamson are all there, and if they're half as friendly and awesome in meatspace as they are online (Bex confirms that Larry, in fact, is), then I have no problem buying their books and being a fan.

I know it's a mess of updates, but show em some love.  You'll find something you like.

Lokidude

Almost 3 weeks early

Jay's been predicting the DGC would hit 100 by the end of the year.  He rolled it today!

The only good goblin is 6 under.

Lokidude

180 by 30

I sit here today, 17 months from being 30, with newfound motivation for a goal I've waffled about for years.  Right now, I weigh 240, give or take, and given that I'm 5'4", that's fat.  By the time I'm 30, I want to be a maintainable 180.  This is a goal, not just some squishy New Years resolution.  Resolutions, while good-intentioned, usually lack the critical elements of a goal.

1) A goal is specific and measurable, on a timeline.  I have to drop 60 pounds in 17 months.  That's pretty easy to check and monitor.

2) A goal is achievable.  Breaking it down, that big 60 is around 3.5 pounds/month, or ~1 pound/week.  Very doable.

3) A goal is accountable.  That's why I'm making this declaration.  If I say it, out loud, in front of everybody, then there is pride and honor pushing me on.

4) A goal is personal.   It has to be inside you.  I've always been a fat kid and quite frankly, I'm sick of it, and the associated crap that goes with it.  Coming from a family of diabetics makes it that much more important, especially watching my grandmother suffer through pain and malady that were preventable, or at least mitigable, through discipline and care for herself.  That won't be me. I want to start a family, and be healthy and active to enjoy them.  So, as of today, Operation Fatass begins.

Wish me luck.

Lokidude

Fun Show AAR

Went to the funshow yesterday, looking mainly for holsters (and Colt grip medallions, on the off chance that I was the luckiest dude ever.)  I couldn't find any deals on holsters, only one guy there with any, and for what he wanted, I'll just save my pennies a little longer and get myself an Executive II, which is my running plan anyways.  Saw several friends shopping around, including my buddy Jim, who found himself a gorgeous Pattern 14 Enfield with very good looking rifling.  My buddy Ben from All Things Projectile had a table set up, and I swear, he's gonna be the death of my wallet, because seriously, suppressors have gotta be the coolest/most practical way to get into NFA items, and he had a gorgeous AAC quick detach in .30 that would be absolutely awesome on my 7.62 AR project.

Saw some very old Colt and Smith revolvers, a mess of .32 ACP pistols, a Nazi-marked PP, and a Nazi Hi-Power (not cut for a stock, so I wasn't really very interested.)  Ended up not buying anything, but got some ideas for ways to spend more money than I really should, when I get to that point.

Can you say Electric Blue 1911?

Lokidude

Something you have to read

Ambulance Driver has a post up today on stains.  Required reading.

If that doesn't get to you, I question your humanity.

Lokidude

Now taking donations

Because, seriously, I need THIS!

Anybody who makes a donation gets a free pirate cruise if I get her!  ;-)

Lokidude

Just another Friday night in the GBC

*there is a discussion going on about making warm blankets, and a followup discussion of how to regain one's manliness after discussing blankets*


JayG           Tango, after that display I think you need to go kill something
JayG           ideally with an atlatl
SCI-FI       SMURF PELTS.
SCI-FI       But you need a lot of them.
JayG           pffft
JayG           if Gargamel couldn't catch them what makes you think you could???
Lokidude    Jay, Gargamel didn't have an 06

Lokidude

Thanksgiving

I promised myself I'd get this up tonight.  I have much to be thankful for this year, and sometimes, I need to see it written in front of me to realize it.

I'm thankful for the cold and wind outside, because my walls keep it out.

I'm thankful for good food, and good friends, and I hope to be able to visit as many as possible in the coming year.

I'm thankful for my parents, and my brother, and my aunts and uncles and my cousins, for once again showing me that, while we put the fun in dysfunctional, we are family, and nothing can break that.

I'm thankful that I was raised to believe that rest and peace are important, and that letting someone go isn't cold and heartless

I'm thankful for the newest addition to our family, because he's fun and furry and keeps life interesting.

I'm thankful for my new in-laws, who have accepted me into their family readily and seamlessly.

And most of all, I'm thankful for my wife, who has stood beside me through so much change and chaos, and who continues to do so.  I'm thankful for the woman who makes me want to be better, not because she demands it, but because she's worth it.  I'm thankful I have a wife who wants to do anything she can to help me in a crisis, but understands that sometimes, all that you can do is sit back and let things happen.  I'm grateful to be married to a woman who is hard working, and ambitious, and responsible, but who enjoys getting away from it all, camping and fishing, and the occasional spontaneous flight of whimsy.  I truly don't deserve her, and I'm thankful that she hasn't yet realized that.

Lokidude

Granolas going militant

It seems that a group of animal-rights activists have declared war on trappers.  They've posted a downloadable state-by-state list of all registered trappers, including their home addresses.  There's only one reason to do something like that, and that is deliberate, targeted harassment, and more.

From their own website, negotiationisover.com, comes the money quote:

Camille Marino is the Founder & Senior Editor of Negotiation Is Over! and a co-founder of Just Us. As a co-admin of NIO Florida, she and her colleagues have pooled their resources and are aligning themselves to create a network of militant activism across the state. Negotiating with abusers is an exercise in futility and the only action that matters to the imprisoned is the one that imparts freedom. Acutely aware of the fact that victimized animals do not read blogs, NIO strives to be an instrument of defiance, disruption, disobedience, subversion, creative & aggressive grassroots action, and a catalyst for revolutionary change. Liberation will not happen by politely asking abusers to be decent. Emotion and passion drive action… not sterile debate. 

(Emphasis mine.  Tells me most everything I need to know.) 

Okay, Slappy.  How about you go turn that friendly, cuddly, noble wolf loose and see what happens.  Just lemme pop some popcorn first.

Lokidude

H/T to good buddy Gay_Cynic.

It's that time again...

National Ammo Day is once again upon us.  (Easy to remember for me, as it's Baby Brother's birthday.)

On this day we protest with our wallet.  Buy 100 rounds of whatever caliber you love, from whatever source you prefer.  Make Chuck Schumer, Charlie Rangel, Paulie and Joshie and Joan Peterson and all the rest of the anti-rights tools quiver and quake as they know that they're losing.

Lokidude

An update

They're sending my grandmother home tomorrow on hospice care.  Docs don't have a timeline for us, but I've seen her symptoms before, and they aren't good.  I've got a ticket on a 6 AM flight, to say goodbye before it's too late.  As I told my buddies in the GBC, she's a neverending well of piss and vinegar, and part of me figured it would carry her forever.

It's only got to carry her for 24 hours.  I'll be there, Nana, fast as I can.

Lokidude

Just... Damn

I got the call last night.  My grandmother has been in the hospital for a couple days, nothing we haven't seen before, she's been in off and on for six or seven years now.  But this time, for some reason, it felt different.  And the call came in.  The urologist is waiting for confirmation, but he's 99% sure that it's bladder cancer.  Combine that with the pneumonia that took her in in the first place, and it looks pretty rough.  I've finally wrapped my mind around the fact that it is that bad, but I can't resign myself to let go yet.  In all my 28 years, I've known that the old bat survives on pure meanness.  I can't fathom that that quality in her has possibly run out.  Thank god we live in the future, where I can get there in a couple hours when that call comes in.

For now, I'm raising a glass to continued meanness.

Lokidude

You know you're a gun nut

You know you're a gun nut when you get busted by your wife for looking at another woman's butt, and your God's-honest-truth defense is "I was trying to figure out what caliber the 'bullets' in her belt were!"

Lokidude

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For all those who stand ready

Thank you.

Thank you to Roark, and Tom, and Paul, and Pop and Granddad, and every other veteran out there, who stand and stood ready so that the rest of us can sleep at night, without worry whether we'll see the morning.

 

Photo thanks go to Oleg Volk

(Quote is Orwell.)

Check out his awesome posters

Lokidude

It would follow that they were formed in a bar

Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, to be specific.

Happy Birthday, Devil Dogs. 235 years of kicking ass and taking names. Keep up the good work.

Lokidude

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Help a friend out

Friend and fellow Conspirator Dixie has entered her daughter Evie in the Gerber Generation photo contest.  If she wins, she'll get a $25000 scholarship, and to be in a commercial.  And let's face it, Evie is the cutest kid in the contest.

So vote already!

Lokidude

Regarding my glowing happy mood this evening

Xman                 Loki's all positive and stuff. It's revolting :)
JayG                  It is
JayG                  he hasn't had the soul sucked out of his body yet

JayG                  yet

Redneckmp-     or had his spirit crushed

Lokidude           I'm a goddamn ray of sunshine, don't even try to fucking bring me down! ;-)

Xman                Someday, he'll ride his unicorn straight into the woodchipper of life

I love my friends.

Lokidude

Real men are proud to rock pink

And if I had the spare scratch, you'd better believe I'd have a bid in on the pink AR being auctioned on on Gunbroker to benefit the Susan G Komen breast cancer foundation.

Join GunBroker.com in the fight to end Breast Cancer

• This auction will support the fundraising goals of the GunBroker.com Family Team which includes Walkers and Crew members in the Atlanta Breast Cancer 3-Day walk.

• 100% of the funds from this auction will benefit the Breast Cancer 3 Day.
  
  

• Special thanks to DPMS Panther Arms and KG Industries for donating the coating services. Rifle will be shipped from DPMS upon confirmation of payment.

   

Several years ago, I lost a beloved aunt to breast cancer.  During the 8 or so years that she battled the disease, the Komen foundation and their affiliates advanced the treatment for her cancer in leaps and bounds, and have kept that pace going in the years since.  I fully support their efforts, and applaud Team Gunbroker for this awesome promotion to raise money for the 3-day.

If you've got the money, go bid.  If you have a woman in your life that you love, donate to the Komen Foundation.

Lokidude

I can't believe I haven't shown this off...

I got to talking with Trillian tonight in the #GBC, and we got to discussing her taste in handguns.  I showed her a picture of my 1911, and then realized that I've actually never shown it off here, and particularly since I swapped the grips and mainspring housing for pretty wood McCormick slims and a flat MSH.

So, here ya go.

 

It is, quite honestly, my favorite to shoot, and to carry, whenever I can cover it.

Lokidude

It's that time again

Today is election day. Every other year, we as Americans throw a bloodless revolution, as we have for better than 225 years. This revolution is one of the most important of our lives. Get out. Vote. I can't make the blanket statement to "vote them all out," because I have phenomenal representation, but as a general rule, booting the establishment is a good thing, in my mind. Must be the punk still thriving deep down inside me.

And if you needed any more motivation to vote Republican, I have 5 words for you: Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer. That's what you'll get if Nevada goes the way the polls seem to be leaning. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Schumer is personally responsible for the Hughes Amendment, and that alone should tell you everything you need to know about the man.

Lokidude

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Tis Merely a Flesh Wound!

If only the Black Knight had access to the wonders of modern technology.

The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine has developed a skin printer.

The main difference is that instead of ink, the skin printer will have two heads that propel a combination of skin cells, collagen, and blood coagulants onto the wound. The two compounds form skin once they are mixed together at the print head, in much the same way epoxy glues harden when the two parts are mixed together.

I'm familiar with various kinds of 3D modeling printers, but this technology is pretty awesome.  It has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of burns and other skin traumas.

Living in the future is awesome.

Lokidude

Bad Execution, turned to 11

When I leave my computer downloading all night, and your 4.76 GIGABYTE patch is still only half done, that should indicate something.  Yes, I'm looking at you, Blizzard.  I've heard enough awesome things about 4.0 to mute my current haterage a bit, but seriously, why couldn't you have broken this up into a couple smaller elements and released them spaced out a bit?  I really don't want to wait another 4 hours to play a game I was looking to play last night.  And I have a relatively quick connection.  I feel bad for guys like Marko who're REALLY out there and have a much slower connection.

Seriously, who thought this was a good idea?  They need kicked in the nuts for ignorance on a massive scale.

Lokidude

For the upcoming holiday

As we go into this weekend, and the best holiday of the year, the blogosphere has some rules to live by.

Patrick over at Popehat started it, with 25 rules to survive the psychopaths.  Labrat added her own wisdom.  Listen to them and live.

Stingray, in true Stingray fashion, delivers helpful hints for being a better madman.  It's kinda like Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, for the criminally insane.

And Alan delivers the finest and truest rules of the season, culminating in:

Let the kids be kids for one night at least.

I recommend reading them all, but if you only have time for one, read Alan's.  Seriously.  It's a reminder of why I always loved Halloween.

Lokidude

An open note to politicians

I may well agree with 90% of what you say, but if the other 10% is either batshit nuts, or obviously and egregiously outside of your ability/authority, it negates the entirety of your platform, with extreme prejudice.

Just a friendly reminder.

Lokidude

Gaining understanding

I think I understand the PBR lovers a bit more tonight. I had my first Budweiser in months, after a stretch of drinking good local beer. It was like going home, in a way. Yeah, it wasn't near as good as what I've been drinking, but it was familiar and comfortable. So maybe now I have to give the Blue Ribbon boys a break. Who knows?

Lokidude

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Corrupting the Youth

Robb brings us another generation of gunnies.  Good on you, sir.

Lokidude

Truly awesome

Larry Correia rolls over 1,000,000 hits and paints the awesomest picture ever.

Congratulations, Larry.  Keep it up.

Lokidude

Alan C. Baird...

is a flaming spineless chickenshit motherfucker.  Or he would be, if he had the equipment to fuck.

Read, if you can stomach

One

Two

Okay, yeah, I know, it's salon.com, and I should know better.  But damn it all to hell, how many times do we split the cake*?  And now, they're not even trying to hide it.  They want us all dead.  Fine by me, Alan.  You come pick em up yourself.

Molon Labe, you worthless piece of shit.

Lokidude

H/T to Ry Jones

* "splitting the cake" references this most awesome quote.

Let's say I have this cake. It is a very nice cake, with "GUN RIGHTS" written across the top in lovely floral icing. Along you come and say, "Give me that cake."

I say, "No, it's my cake."

You say, "Let's compromise. Give me half." I respond by asking what I get out of this compromise, and you reply that I get to keep half of my cake.

Okay, we compromise. Let us call this compromise The National Firearms Act of 1934.

There I am with my half of the cake, and you walk back up and say, "Give me that cake."

I say, "No, it's my cake."

You say, "Let's compromise." What do I get out of this compromise? Why, I get to keep half of what's left of the cake I already own.

So, we have your compromise -- let us call this one the Gun Control Act of 1968 -- and I'm left holding what is now just a quarter of my cake.

And I'm sitting in the corner with my quarter piece of cake, and here you come again. You want my cake. Again.

This time you take several bites -- we'll call this compromise the Clinton Executive Orders -- and I'm left with about a tenth of what has always been MY DAMN CAKE and you've got nine-tenths of it.

Then we compromised with the Lautenberg Act (nibble, nibble), the HUD/Smith and Wesson agreement (nibble, nibble), the Brady Law (NOM NOM NOM), the School Safety and Law Enforcement Improvement Act (sweet tap-dancing Freyja, my finger!)

I'm left holding crumbs of what was once a large and satisfying cake, and you're standing there with most of MY CAKE, making anime eyes and whining about being "reasonable", and wondering "why we won't compromise".

RTWT

My turn

A while back, Bex got to show off her new toy, and now, it's my turn!

As she said, I have a thing for duty-size guns.  It's just how I roll.  So when I saw this little gem in the case at my local funhouse tagged for $325, I knew I was gonna go home with it, even as I briefly hemmed and hawed (and checked the bank account to see where to pull the funds from.)

Anyways, without further ado...

 (As always, click to embiggify.)

Talked him into eating the tax, so a 4473 and $325 later, my new friend came home with me!  Now, I just need to find some decent wood for her, and make or buy a decent leather holster.  Should make a gorgeous OC gun for this cowboy town.

Lokidude

We all knew Barry was a liar

...and A fink for that matter, too. (Bring On the ban, if you can get Michelle to give back your balls.)

Obumblecare was supposed to lower everybody's insurance premiums and health care costs, and give everybody an orangutan named Clyde to chill with. Which we all knew was BS, because that many orangutans named Clyde would be confusing.

That, and if you want to see the true cost of something, make it free.

This was driven home to me last night. On the heels of radio news saying McDonalds was looking at dumping their health coverage (great uninteded consequence there, eh?) I came home to a letter from my company (not MickeyD's) indicating that for 2011, my insurance premium was going up by $50 a month, and my company's portion was going up by $100. Thanks, Barry, Harry, and Nancy. You just set me back by an extra $600 per year. And you cost my company $1200, just for me. Run that math across our 10000 employees, and my company just got whacked for TWELVE MILLION dollars.

How's that for stimulation.

Lokidude

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You can't make up funny this good

At least I couldn't, not even if I tried.

 Click to embiggen.

Anyways, I've always heard Christ rode a pogo stick.

Lokidude

The Latest Addition

Bex here to tell about the latest addition to family. Sorry, no creepy ultrasounds are forthcoming at this time. The time finally came for me to get a gun of my very own.

If you had asked me a year or two ago whether or not I would ever buy a handgun specifically for me, the answer would have been a probably not. I've never been anti-gun, but definitely not a big gun nut either. My dad had guns in the house and took me and my brothers rifle shooting on the rare occasion. I knew enough about guns to not be scared of them and how to be safe, but that was the extent of my exposure growing up.

Loki, as usual, was the corrupting influence in my life. Before we started dating he took me to the gun range and taught me how to shoot handguns. I have to admit that I had a ton of fun with them, and I was hooked. Every time after that when I found out Loki was going shooting I did my best to be able to go with him so that I could get some trigger time too. The only problem that I had is that none of Loki's guns really fit my hands - it's the curse of having small hands. Not to mention Loki has a fetish for the bigger, heavier gun frames that I find just a little clunky. That doesn't mean that I don't know how to clear, load and shoot every gun in the house. There are just some guns that I like better than others.

I've also been seriously thinking about getting my own concealed carry permit. Living with a permit holder and learning more and more about gun rights, laws and issues - as well as just listening to the news at night - it makes you start to think about protecting yourself from the wolves out there, both the literal and figurative wolves due to where we live. My one condition is that when I get my permit, I want to carry a gun that I feel completely comfortable shooting, fits well in my hand, and more importantly in this house... it's MINE!

Loki was definitely not opposed to getting a gun for me, as long as it was a quality gun. So down to the local gun shop we went. Within 30 minutes I had fallen in love. The next stop was to a not so local gun range to actually shoot one. I knew that the gun felt good in my hand, but actually shooting it can be a different story. One 16 round magazine later I knew that I had to have this gun.

Again Loki showed how supportive he was in this endeavor by actually trading in one of his own guns, the 4043 S&W, to help bank roll my gun. Granted giving up that gun was not a big loss to either of us as we did not enjoy shooting it one bit and our accuracy with it was horrible, but it's still the thought that counts.

So by now you're probably asking what gun did I decide upon....

It's a brand new .40 caliber XDM with a 4 inch barrel complete with all of the toys in the box. I had to laugh at the label on the side of the case "NOT LEGAL IN CALIFORNIA". Is anything legal in California nowadays?

One feature I do love is that the XDM comes with 3 different backstraps so that you can tailor the grip to your hand. Of course I threw on the smallest backstrap as soon as we had it home. Next stop is to take it out the range and have some fun! Happy shooting everyone!

Damn you, Whitebread!

As if I didn't have enough stupid projects and bad ideas to keep me occupied and broke for the next decade, Whitebread had to drop a link to Hack A Day today.  After I killed much of the evening reading back through the archives, I'm inspired, and far from done reading.  Check it out, but I'm not responsible for any consequences.

And Whitebread, I hate you, dude.  Thanks.

Lokidude

Three Full Mags, And My Swinging Cod!

Had to retire my 4043 this weekend, at least for the time being.  Bex and I went to an excellent range in Salt Lake (Get Some Guns & Ammo) and she made up her mind about her upcoming purchase of a carry gun, but that's her story to tell, not mine.

We were shooting at 5 yards, and with the gun she wants to buy, I dumped a full mag into the head of a silhouette target at 5 yards, in quick order.  I picked up the 4043, and couldn't group worth a damn.  Just to make sure it wasn't me, I loaded the 1911, and put 8 rounds in a 4" circle at that range, and with a quickness.  Back to the .40, and back to garbage shooting.  So, back to the 1911, at least until I wring the S&W out.  With winter coming on, I'm not too worried about packing the big gun, and 2 spare 8 round mags don't leave me feeling undergunned compared to a single spare 11 rounder.  I'll probably end up selling the S&W, and maybe even buying a twin to what she's buying, so we can share ammo and mags, which is always a plus.

(Actually, I'm carrying more ammo now than I was before.  3 8 round mags, plus one in the chamber, makes 25, as opposed to 2 11 round mags plus one, for a total of 23.)

Thank God for spare guns.

Lokidude

(If you don't get the title, I feel sorry for you.  Say 10 Hail Joss Whedons, and pray to Adam Baldwin for forgiveness.)

Almost as cool as Zombie Reagan

It's Vicious Circle 66: Zombie Lincoln!

I had the pleasure to spend a couple hours with alan, aepilotjim, JayG, and Tracie (Mrs. Whitebread), talking about the Marine Corps Commandant (he clanks when he walks), electric cars, Jesse Jackson's expensive gas ride getting jacked, the nutter who went after Discovery, and Californians still being able to own guns.

The links are here, if you feel like reading along.

I may not have brought all 50%, but I did have three screwdrivers!

Lokidude

Southern Style Granite; Free to make STUPID business decisions.

Ambulance Driver asked for a favor, and since 1) he's a good man asking for a favor, and b) I agree with what he's asking, here goes.  There is, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a business named Southern Style Granite who seems to have an issue with folks in homosexual relationships.  The post is here.  RTWT

Anyhoo, Robert brings to our attention one Baton Rouge area business, Southern Style Granite. They have a really nasty attitude toward gays, to the point of refusing to do business with them.

And that’s fine, really. If they’re afraid of the gay cooties, that’s their business. The libertarian in me tells me that, as a private business, they have the right to refuse service to anyone.

But they don’t have the right to be immune from the consequences of their intolerance and bigotry.

Um, do they not realize how many interior designers are gay? Jeez, talk about not knowing your clientele!

So do me a favor, and link this post in your own blogs, or link Robert’s post, and let’s Google bomb these backwards-assed yahoos into the 21st century. You did it for me with those mouth-breathers at Cycles and More, and now I’m asking you to do the same with Southern Style Granite. This post or Robert’s needs to be the #1 Google result by the end of the week.

Pass the word along.  Be the change.

Lokidude

Why don't you go first, Skippy?

It seems some envirowhacko reject took some hostages at the Discovery Channel headquarters yesterday and got himself fatally ventilated for his trouble.  As happens in such best-case scenarios, none of the hostages or rescuers were harmed.

He'd posted a nutty "manifesto" online, like they all do.  Seriously, the thing reads like it was written by an 8th grader.  Or an illiterate libtard.  My apologies to 8th graders.

According to his scholarly writing, he was a "Human Extinction Project" sort of nutball.  Which, logically, is pretty damn dumb.  But he's entitled to his dumb ideas.  He's even entitled to be as vitriolic about it as he was.  But for the love of God, grow some stones, shut your damn mouth, and lead by example.  (Yes, he's dead, but he made a cop off him, because he was too chickenshit to follow his own preachings.)

By the by, Bex and I want kids.  While I'll grant that fools like James Jay Lee have every right to be as horrible, hateful, and vitriolic as they please, call me (or, God help you, my wife) a "filthy breeder" having "pollution parasite babies," and I can pretty much promise that things will get interesting, in every sense of the word that you can possibly imagine.

Lokidude

Overheard in the War Machine

(during a conversation about what to name our new-to-us boat)

Me:  Floating Divorce?  To go with the Divorce on Wheels?

Bex: You are SO never allowed to divorce me!

L:  So I have to kill you first? *wink*

B:  Yeah, pretty much.  Or I'll kill you.

L:  I'm faster on the draw.

B:  Who says I can't set an ambush?

L:  I love you honey!

Seriously, my wife is awesome.

Lokidude

This just in...

A determined grasshopper can hold on to the hood of an old Ford at 35 mph for about as long as he feels like.

Lokidude

Top Shot: Finale

This week is the finale.  The final four consist of Peter Palma, JJ Racaza, Chris Cerino, and Iain Harrison.

Elimination Challenge #1:  Dueling flipper targets, using a Beretta 92.  The competitors have 60 seconds and 40 rounds to flip as many targets as possible to their designated color.

The first matchup is JJ and Chris.  JJ, as expected, dominates Chris, leaving only one target scored for Chris.

The second matchup is Pete vs Iain.  Iain beats Pete 7-3.  That makes the elimination round Peter vs Chris.  In the elimination round, Pete got out to an early lead, but was soundly beaten by Chris in the end.

Elimination Challenge #2:  The competitors are allowed to pick between 3 pistols and 3 rifles, and are basically playing HORSE with their shots.  JJ starts with an 8" pane of glass, at 50 yards, standing, one handed, with the Schofield revolver, and misses, hitting the target frame.  Iain hits JJ's shot, and Chris hits the frame and doesn't break the pane.  Iain takes the lead, and calls the next shot.  S&W double action revolver, shot glasses, 50 yards, and drills the shot.  Chris also nails his shot, and JJ misses again.  Chris takes the HK rifle, 2 hands, standing, beer mugs at 100 yards.  Chris misses his shot, giving JJ a chance to stay in.  JJ also misses his shot, and is eliminated.

Elimination Challenge #3:  As Iain and Chris walk up to the final range, all of the "Green Team" members are there to greet them and watch the final challenge.  The final challenge is a composite.  Thrown knives, longbows, Colt single actions, the Winchester and rope challenge, a Beretta 92 and a 1.5" tube, an AR-15 and a plate array, and an M-14 with two exploding targets.

Iain jumps  out to an early lead on the knife, and extends it on the bow.  Chris quickly closes the gap and takes the lead, as Iain has trouble early on the Peacemaker.  The two are virtually tied going into the Winchester rope shot.  Chris severs the rope first, but Iain is only two shots behind.  Iain's first shot on the Beretta breaks the glass in the tube, and he reclaims the lead, but not by much.  Iain extends his lead on the AR-15, and shortly after, Chris follows him to the M-14.   Iain hits his 100 yard target quickly, and Chris ties it up, but Iain beats him on the 300 yard bull and wins the competition.

Congratulations, sir, and to all the competitors, you put on one hell of a show.

Lokidude

Food is love

The house currently smells like bacon, garlic, and cilantro.  Bex and I are making chili, and the smell alone is worth it.

I come from a family where food is love.  If we feed you, it means we like you.  And we like a lot of people, so I pretty much lack the ability to cook for 2 people.  Hence the 3 gallon pot of chili currently on the stove.  Not my fault, blame Mom and Dad, they taught me that way.  I'll try to put together some semblance of a recipe later (we cook to taste around here, not to some crazy measurement),  but as a preliminary, it has north of 5 pounds of meat, 2 1 pound bags of beans, and a full head of garlic.  And one more ingredient.  Our secret ingredient.  (Yes, I've been wanting to use that line for YEARS.)

Yes, Texas, it has beans.  As proper chili should.

Lokidude

Making with the stabby

I need information on bayonet mounting.  If I wanted to mount a bayonet on a rifle that has no bayonet lug, how would I go about it?  I'd rather not try and weld on the bottom of my barrel.  The gun in question is a Remington 760, so some 870 parts will fit on it.  WECSOG is fine, as are modifications, as this rifle is going to be exceptionally custom when I'm done.

Also, what bayonets would be a good fit on a rifle like this?  I'd like something in a 4-6" blade, quick-detach would be nice, and interchangeability with an AR would be a big plus, but not a dealbreaker.

Lokidude

Why I love junkyards

I'm gonna get myself in trouble, not be allowed to go to the junkyard anymore. Stopped in today, made a purchase, and found myself a set of mirrors for my truck, for $20. I didn't have that much cash on hand, so I'll be picking up the mirrors tomorrow. As for the purchase?

Online, they go for $12 each, plus shipping, which isn't cheap on a 20 pound can.  Plus, mine came with a very good rubber seal, which many of the online ones don't have.  It's completely rust free, the dark spots are where the red overspray has worn down to the OD paint underneath.

Total cost?  $6.55.  Yeah, some days you're the windshield.

Lokidude

Top Shot: The Shortest Fuse

This week's Top Shot opens with the end of team competition. Everybody dons their green shirts, and gets ready for the beginning of individual eliminations.

Challenge #1 this week is the famed "Fuse" shot. 10 rounds from a Beretta 92 to cut a burning fuse. The competitor with the shortest fuse at the end of the match loses. Blake, Iain, and Kelly miss the fuse entirely. JJ also misses all 10 rounds. Pete pops the fuse on his second shot, and dumps the other 8 rounds in rapid-fire celebration. Chris hit the fuse on his 4th shot, but it still burns through. Adam breaks the fuse as well, and imitates Pete's celebration.

The five shooters that missed their fuses have to shoot a tiebreaker. Chris shoots first, and hits his fuse. Kelly shoots second, runs dry, and misses his fuse. Blake misses his fuse. Iain pounds the fuse several times near the explosive at the end, and manages to cut it. JJ pops his fuse early on, but keeps shooting for insurance, and breaks his fuse. Kelly and Blake have a tiebreak, one bullet each on a standard bulls-eye, closest to the bull advances. Kelly puts a round touching the top edge of the bull. Blake pulls his round low and gets eliminated.

The second elimination challenge of the night is an endurance challenge, running and gunning. 3 rifles, one pistol. TT99 pistol, HK93, Mosin Nagant, and SVT-40, in that order, while running up a hill. The slowest 2 times get eliminated.

Kelly goes first, making short work of the course, hitting in one shot on all the guns, and scoring a time of 1:30.

Pete goes second, loading only one round in each weapon. He also one-shots everything, and gets a final time of 1:21.

Chris makes excellent time up the hill, one-shots the course, and ties Pete's time. Actually, he does it in .7 faster than Pete, and takes a slim lead.

Iain clears the course in 4 rounds, with a time of 1:25.

Adam has the first miss of the course, on his third target, but he hits with his second. He finishes with a time of 1:36, putting him in last place.

JJ runs a perfect course, with a time of 1:20, to win the course, and send Kelly and Adam home.

Next week, the finale.

Lokidude

Top Shot: The Razor's Edge

This episode starts with Red team returning, along with Kelly, after winning his second elimination challenge in a row. Kelly indicated to Denny that he was next, and the count is now 3 Red team members, and 6 Blue.

The teams head out to practice in a miserable downpour. The weapon this week is a throwing knife. Blue trains first, and JJ may have found his Kryptonite in the throwing knife, and Blake struggles as well. Iain, on the other hand, looks like he's throwing darts.

The rain has stopped by Red's practice. Denny struggles, Pete does relatively well, and Kelly once again proves the "no skills" crowd totally wrong, filling the target board with steel.

Tara gets a call that her father is quite ill, but at his urging, she decides to stay in the competition.

The team challenge is throwing knives at six targets along a progressively narrowing balance beam. Adam and JJ for Blue must play, as they sat out last week, and they pick Iain to throw with them.

Iain and Adam miss with their first two knives, but JJ hits with his first. The same story repeats itself on the second target. Iain drills his first knife on the third target. Adam misses 2 on the fourth board, and JJ repeats his perfect streak. Iain misses twice on 5, as does Adam. JJ extends his perfect streak, and then Iain hits his first knife on the final target. Final time, 3:05.

Red gets up on the line. Denny leads off, and misses his first two, and Kelly drills his first blade. Pete misses both on the second board, as do Denny and Kelly. After a couple passes through, Kelly finally hits the second board, and Pete nails the third on his first throw. Denny sticks one in the support on 4 that doesn't count, and Kelly clears it. Pete's first knife scores on 5, and Denny does the same on 6. Final time, 3:10. Blue wins again, and Red is off to the nomination range.

At the nomination range, Pete and Kelly vote for Denny, and Denny gets to pick his opponent, choosing Pete.

Tara gets another call about her father, and learns he has days to live. She bids farewell to her team and heads home to take care of her family.

The elimination challenge is going to involve slingshots. They'll be shooting at 8, 10, and 12" targets. 20 marbles, 60 seconds. Denny's targets are yellow, Pete's are orange, and a hit on the opposing target nets your opponent a point. Pete shows up rocking his lucky tie, which is just so stylish.

Denny hits the first target, but Pete jumps to the lead, and Denny is never able to catch up. The lucky tie pays off, and Pete beats Denny 7-5.

Two episodes left, and next week, it becomes an individual competition. Tune in, same Bat time, same Bat channel.

Lokidude

Reason 1031 why I love this town

Bex and I just got back from Montana State University's traveling "Shakespeare in the Park" putting on a phenomenal performance of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." (Quite possibly my all-time favorite Shakespeare.) The kicker? The amphitheatre is about 100 yards from my door. And the show was on a donation basis, and earned every dime they made.

I wouldn't trade my life for anything.

Lokidude

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Top Shot - Trick Shots

Okay, after a week off for business, we're back to Top Shot this week.

This week is trick shots.  The weapons, on practice day, are a Winchester 1873, an S&W M&P revolver, and a Schofield (one of my favorite wheelguns of all time.)  They're training Annie Oakley's "mirror shot" over the shoulder with the Winchester.  With the M&P, they're replicating Ed McGivern's double-action one-handed "dot shot."  The Schofield is being used for a boilerplate exhibition shooter trick, blasting thrown cabbages.  Denny's putting on a decent show for Red in practice, and everybody did okay with the rifle, but the pistol work seemed very rough on them.  Blue shoots well enough with the rifle, does moderately with the M&P, and can't seem to hit the broad side of a barn with the Schofield.  Disappointing, considering they have JJ and Blake.

The team challenge involves Annie Oakley's shot with a mirror, then driving a literal tack with the M&P, then a thrown soda can.  The fourth shooter has to hit a half-size soda can thrown into the air.  3 shots per challenge, one point per shot.  The half-can of soda is worth 2 points each.


Red
Rifle - Pete 3/3
Naildriving - Denny 0/3
Full can - Brad 0/3 (he hit his first, but it was over the rope, instead of under)
Half-can - Kelly 1/3

Blue
Rifle - Tara 3/3
Naildriving - Chris 2/3
Full can - Iain 1/3

Blue wins, 6 points to 5.

On the nomination range, Brad votes for Kelly, and Kelly returns the favor.  Denny votes Kelly, and Pete votes for Brad, and makes a funny about his consistent voting.  This puts Kelly and Brad in the elimination challenge, and Kelly is displeased, to say the least.

The elimination practice is shooting hand-thrown pigeons with a shotgun, another exhibition shooter staple.  Both shooters seemed to be at about the same level, both shooting and throwing, but the practice didn't allow for them doing both.

Kelly and Brad both break their single bird, Kelly hits one of two on his second, and Brad hits both, to take a 1 point lead.  Kelly hits one again on his 3 bird round, as does Brad.  Kelly breaks 3 on his 4 bird round, while Brad hits 1.  Kelly breaks 2 his 5 bird round, 2 targets, and Kelly wins yet another elimination challenge.

From here on out, it looks like the competition gets much more intense.

Lokidude

Counting Down

In just over 11 hours, I fly out to Seattle for a week-long class. As a side benefit, I get to finally meet Gay_Cynic from the #gunblogger_conspiracy. Content will be obviously light.

"All My bags are packed, I'm ready to go..."

Lokidude

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Blogroll updates

It's been forever since the roll has been updated, and the pile is deep.  I promise to be better about procrastinating, I swear.

First, two updates:

Weer'd Beard went and got himself a big boy blog.

Salamander moved his blog on Wordpress.

New Conspirators:

ZerCool blogs over at Panem et Circenses ... et Plumbum. He's good people, with a taste for Smiths that make JayG and me jealous.

The OrangeNeck finally went and got himself a blog.  And he's every bit as good as we all knew he'd be.

Antitango writes over at Not a Tango, nothing to see here...  A former Marine, living in my hometown.  (I swear, buddy, I will get the chance to hook up with you one of these days.)

DaddyBear is over at Daddy Bear's Den.  A delightful combination of guns, Irish Woman, and the joys of parenthood.

Sarah over at Cranky Chicks with Guns is an utter riot.  Wal*Mart funny, guns, news of the weird...  A worthy read.

I've known Chris over at Simple Musings from a Guy With Guns online for a couple years now.  Sharp witted newshound with camera skills, and a love of the Second Amendment.

New Great Gunnies:

J Wilson is over at Wilsonblog.  The very least that can be said is that he has most excellent taste in guns.  More than that, he puts up some awesome pictures.  Enjoy.

My buddy Moose42 posts MHI fanfic and other awesome writings at Alone: King of One.

Molly Smith over at The Molly Minute...  She can't drive for a couple more years, but she's got the smile of true joy, and the ability to embarrass you with a handgun in a major way.

Go, read, enjoy.

Lokidude

On the Wyoming Governor's race

 I just sent the following email to Matt Mead, Colin Simpson, Ron Micheli, and Rita Meyer, the GOP candidates for Governor of the State of Wyoming.

In light of the upcoming GOP primary in the state of Wyoming, I have some questions about where you stand on issues related to gun rights, and the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.  I greatly appreciate your input on this matter, as it will be critical in aiding my decision of which candidate to support.

1. Do you believe that the Constitution is the "supreme law of the land" and that the Bill of Rights acknowledges our birthrights?

2. If so, should these rights be proactively protected from infringement by all levels of government, including city, county and state?

3. Please give some examples of gun laws you consider constitutional.

4. Please give some examples of gun laws you consider unconstitutional.

5. Does the right to bear arms include the right for any peaceable citizen to carry them concealed without a permit, as in Vermont?

6. Do you believe that Americans have a right to own, use and carry weapons of military pattern, and will you use the prestige of elected office to publicly promote that right?

7. Do you support or oppose registration of weapons? Why?

8. Do you support or oppose licensing requirements to own or carry firearms?
Why?

9. What specific gun laws will you work to get repealed?

10. If elected, will you back your words of support for firearms rights up with consistent actions? How?

Thank you,

Lokidude

The questionnaire itself comes from David Codrea at The War on Guns, and is available here.  A tip of the hat goes to Top of the Chain for directing me to the original survey.

I'll keep you posted on any and all replies I receive, and intend on sending the same questions to the candidates for the state legislature from my district.

Lokidude

Top Shot Week 5

The Good, The Rat, & The Ugly

Had to catch Top Shot on Hulu. No liveblog for you. PDB does a decent liveblog, and I'll post my impressions tonight.

Lokidude

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Making Progress

Just got a call from Dr. Evil, mechanic extraordinaire. Engine in the VW is 4 bolts from coming out, and will get pulled tonight when it's cooler. He has a line on a 1600, so the 1835 will be coming through in more of a hurry than I expected. We're working on the entire project list, and I'll be posting that as soon as it's complete. This car will make Q Division jealous.

Lokidude

Robb's motto

Found on Texts From Last Night: (865): Actions speak louder than pants. Lokidude

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Well that was quick

In an attempt to expand my legal CCW capabilities, I've been investigating nonresident permits from a few states. Florida looked the most promising, so I ordered their application kit early last week. They said to expect a 10 day wait. When we returned home tonight from our weekend with our families, waiting for me in the mailbox was a big manila envelope from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Less than seven days, and that number includes the big daddy shut-it-all-down holiday weekend.

Florida, so far, I'm very impressed. Keep it up.

Lokidude

And the payoff

A while back, I posted a teaser for a project the BBTOH brought parts for.  Tonight, I got everything assembled, and now it's time for the reveal.  But first, the story behind the project.

Sometime around Thanksgiving of last year, Baby Brother and I learned that Dad has never owned a .22.  We both felt that this was a serious wrong that needed rectified.  In about the same time frame, I got to pining for the .22 I learned to shoot on, a Marlin 60, which Baby Brother had acquired from me a few years back.  A deal was brokered, and a couple of Glenfield 60s in decent shape were acquired.  I got my Marlin back, and Baby Brother and Dad both end up with a Glenfield.  Baby Brother's rifle worked like a champ from day 1, but we knew that Dad's rifle needed some love, so I've spent the past six or so months diagnosing, tuning, and loving on the old girl.  The firing pin was .1" short, and the stock was ROUGH.  Mr Potterfield's hero squad at Midway had the hot deal on a new firing pin and stock.  A little Birchwood Casey Cold Bluing Paste (a phenomenal product, BTW) from the local gunshop, and we're in business, I think.  Test firing isn't until this weekend, but everything seems in spec quite nicely.

And now, pictures!

The main action screw, after the Birchwood Casey treatment.  The center area will get more work after it's in the gun and less likely to be scarred.

The completed project.

I love you, Dad, I hope you like it.

Lokidude

It's gonna be a good day

The sun is shining, the sky is blue, and the grass is green.

On the way to work today, the radio told me that the racist, statist, bastard KKK Senator from West Virginia went to his eternal reward.

Shortly thereafter, I learned that the US Supreme Court punched Mayor Daley's "Sad Panda" button.

I may have to look at AKs...

Lokidude

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Top Shot, Week 4

This week is a "judgement" challenge, it seems.  The teams are using AR-15 rifles, in practice, they have to turn, and shoot a series of targets of a declared color, while not shooting the other color.

Blue looks decent in practice, the collection of former military definitely doesn't hurt them.  JJ, claiming he knows nothing of rifles, puts on one hell of a show.  Jim shoots slowly, but is frighteningly accurate.

Red starts off with Andre and Pete demonstrating "every Marine a rifleman."  Kelly puts up a horrible practice round, for his sake, I hope Pete's advice afterward helps him out.

Back at the house, Blue is showing some drama over Jim's speed.

The team challenge is a game of Concentration.  The target is a 6x6 grid, revealed for 30 seconds, then the targets are obscured before the shooters fire.  7 rounds and 20 seconds to hit as many "foe" targets as possible.  Red picks Blake, JJ, and Iain to sit out this round.  +1 for a foe target, -1 for a friendly.

Red

Denny +6
Brad +7
Kelly +6
Andre +1 (with a -1 hit)
Peter +5 (leaving 2 rounds intentionally in the magazine)

Blue
Caleb +5
Adam +5 (with a -1 hit)
Tara +3 (fumbled her load, and still left ammo in the mag)
Jim +3 (with a -1 hit)

Blue was mathematically eliminated with a shooter still on the bench.

The debate back at the house doesn't seem so much who HAS to go into the elimination challenge as who GETS to go in.  Jim volunteers himself, as does Iain.  Caleb puts up a fair bit of protest to Iain volunteering himself.

"Just so you know, Adam, that is the first time that anyone has missed a nomination target." -- Colby

Iain's description of the plan is beautifully simple.  "We don't want to be whiny )#&%)%# like the Red team, so we made a plan and we're sticking to it."  Iain and Jim, as planned, go into the elimination challenge.  In another first, Blue could cover Iain's nomination target with a quarter.  Red doesn't seem to understand how Blue is completely amicable and friendly about elimination, which Red has so far been unable to do.

The elimination challenge is shooting a moving target with a TZ99 pistol.  Jim seemed to have a bit of difficulty with the pistol, but he's decidedly optimistic.  Iain seems entirely comfortable, both with the pistol and the challenge.

The elimination challenge is another "friend or foe" target setup, 15 seconds, 3 of each color.  Iain shoots first, and rocks all three foe targets.  Jim also hits all three foe targets, but he also hits a friend target, and loses the challenge.

Lokidude

California contemplating license plate ads

In a misguided attempt to chisel away at their crushing deficit, the state of California is looking at placing advertisements on digital license plates.

The device would mimic a standard license plate when the vehicle is in motion but would switch to digital ads or other messages when it is stopped for more than four seconds, whether in traffic or at a red light. The license plate number would remain visible at all times in some section of the screen.

Not only is this a bad idea, because it exploits the public in yet another way, but who chooses what ads are displayed on a particular license plate?  You want to put ads for the Sierra Club, Humane Society of the US, and PETA on my truck?  Fat chance.  I might not scream quite as loud if the ads were for Remington, Shakespeare, or the Big Sky Brewery in Missoula, but I'd still be more than a bit pissed.

Double-plus ungood idea.

Lokidude

The content of "the joke."

It dawned on me today that I never detailed the joke that caused the drama between Kelly Bauchard and Bill Carns, and that some of my readers might not watch Top Shot, for whatever reason. So here it is. Bill mentioned something to Kelly about his ex-wife's new fiance shooting himself in the chest. Kelly's unfiltered 22 year old reply: "Is she really that bad?"

Like i said before, having an ex-wife, I snickered a bit. Sure, it was inappropriate and off color, but as Caleb said in his writeup of the episode, we were all 22 once and said stuff at least that stupid. Kelly made numerous attempts to aoplogize, Bill wanted nothing of it, and public opinion seems to fall on Kelly's side.

Also, this is the first post I've done using Blogger-droid, but it seems like a decent app so far.

Lokidude

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Top Shot Week 3: Flippin' Slivers

This week on Top Shot, longbows!

The practice field is set up at 100 yards, so they're basically firing artillery-style.  Which, historically, is how a longbow was used.  Nobody seemed to have a particular advantage going in, but Kelly seems to perform well.

And the reality TV drama comes out.  Kelly apparently made a pretty off color joke about Bill's ex-wife, which Bill reacted badly to, and now there's some red team strife.  Caleb laughed at it, and I'll admit, having an ex-wife, I snickered a bit too.

The team challenge is an accuracy/speed competition.  30 seconds to score one arrow closest to the bull.  Flames show what ring you hit in.  Red, being down 2 members, picks Chris and Adam to sit out.  Caleb is stepping up to lead for Blue team, and JJ volunteers to fire last.

Kelly takes an early lead that nobody can touch, until JJ beats him on his fifth arrow, putting Blue in the lead.  Bill, being the solitary remaining shooter, must hit closer than 26" from the bull at 100 yards.

Blue wins yet another week, meaning Red faces their third straight elimination challenge.

Red seems to be in utter chaos when picking who they send to the elimination challenge.  The only thing that seems certain is Brad seems to be ostracized.  Kelly is trying to swing Denny to his side, but Denny doesn't seem interested in making any deals.

The nomination is entirely political, and ends up being Bill v Brad.  Brad was pretty predictable, as he's alienated much of his team, but Denny's deciding vote for Bill was mildly surprising, in light of his comments about not liking being told how to vote.

"I'm mad because I'm an IPSC Grand Master and I'm gonna be competing with a goddamn bow and arrow." -- Brad

Seems he's missing the point of the show.

Elimination challenge is using crossbows.  In practice, Brad seems to take to the weapon easily.  Bill also shoots relatively well, but seems to be shooting consistently to the right.

Elimination is a William Tell shoot.  Apples at 10, 20, 30, and 40 yards.  Bill seems to have problems cocking his bow, but scores his 10 yard apple first.  Brad picks up the 10 yarder on #2, but Bill goes 2 for 2 before Brad gets #2 on his third bolt.  Brad takes the lead on his third apple.  Bill keeps missing on #3, seems to have wind problems.  Brad is very close, but still having a hard time on #4, while Bill finally hits #3.  Brad scores on #4, winning the challenge and retiring Bill Carns from the competition.

Back with more next week.

Lokidude

Gun Show AAR

Went to the funshow today.  No money in the budget for new boomsticks at the moment, but I wasn't after a gun anyways.  (Not that I would have minded one of the two Schofields I saw, or the other No 3 in 44-40.)

But no, my specific purpose was to track down "the grip lady."  Seriously, if you ask at the door for "the grip lady," everybody knows exactly who you mean.  She has several display cases chock full of various grips, both factory and aftermarket, and for some pretty obscure handguns.  A friendly exchange of currency later, this:

Into this:

The grips are about 3/16" wider, and a touch longer.  Makes for a very hand-filling grip.  I'll try and get out this week to see how it affects my shooting, but just handling it is a fair bit more comfortable.

Lokidude

And we shot the last one, too...

A bunch of hubbub is being made of the fact that the State of Utah is gonna put 4 .30 holes in one Ronnie Lee Gardner tonight.  Also, the fact that the last firing squad execution was performed 14 years ago.  I remember that execution quite well, as it was also performed by Utah lawmen.  John Albert Taylor, convicted of a brutal rape and murder, was given the just rewards for his crime, as well.

I'm not going to make any commentary on it, beyond this:  That's how Utah rolls.  Texas may have an express lane, but Utah still gives the touchy-feely "misguided choirboys" crowd the finger, and the folks that need killing high-speed lead poisoning.

Lokidude

Well, damn.

I just found out my favorite gunstore, located 35 miles away, is packing up and moving.

TO THE END OF MY STREET!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Goodbye paycheck.

Lokidude

Top Shot, week 2

Okay, we're gonna try liveblogging Top Shot this week in a slightly different fasion, something a bit more streamlined than last week.

This week, the weapon is a Beretta 92F.  That's an M9 to you military folks.  The practice session target setup looks BRUTAL.  And some of these pistol boys make me realize how much improvement I have to do with my sidearms.

Jim from the blue team is struggling horribly.  Blake makes shooting the 92 well look stupid easy.  Kelly looks very good, especially for only having put 15 rounds through a 92 previously.

The team challenge has 7 tubes, decreasing from 4"-1.5".  Each shooter gets 1 round to go through their designated tube, and if they miss, must step back and wait for everyone else on their team to fire their one round in turn.

And damn, the red team gets to pick who on the blue team sits down.  And they pick the obvious choice, Blake.

Shooting orders, big to small

Blue

Jim
Caleb
Iain
JJ
Adam
Tara
Chris

Jim was the only blue teamer to miss his first shot, but he redeemed himself on the second shot.

Red
Andre
Kelly
Denny
Frank
Peter
Brad
Bill

Frank, Brad, and Bill missed their first shots.  Frank missed his second, Brad hits, and Bill misses again.  Frank hits his third, as does Bill.

Red team 2:34, Blue team 2:07.  Jim shot slow, but he hit slow, and hits count.  Red team is going to lose another shooter.

Frank drew 3 votes straight off, Brad and Bill drew a pair.  The tiebreaker is drawing the name of one member of the team that's not involved in the tiebreaker or elim to break it.  Peter is drawn, and votes for Brad to face Frank in the elimination.

Hot damn, this elim challenge looks like a blast.  Riding a chair-zipline, while shooting at targets on either side.  Looks hard as hell, but Bex and I agree that it looks like more fun than should be allowed by law.

Brad is up first, and scores 5.  Frank, shooting second, also hits 5.  Re-ride!

Second trip through, Brad scored 5 again, Frank scored 1.  The cop goes home, and the red team is officially down 2 shooters.

Next week, longbows!

Lokidude

This just in

Whale Wars on Animal Planet makes me swear.  A lot.  Loudly, using words that would impress conventions of mechanics and Marines.  Seriously, why hasn't the Japanese Navy, or the navy of any of a score of other nations, prosecuted and executed these self-righteous assholes as the pirates they are?  In a truly just world, the whalers would be returning fire with guns, blowtorches, and hydrochloric acid in response to the thrown acid, boarding attempts, and laser target designators, amongst other assaults on their vessels.  And any of the Sea Shepherd clowns that survived until capture would be summarily executed.  International law with regard to pirates is clear, and unchanged for hundreds of years.  Play pirate games, receive pirate rewards, to paraphrase JayG.

They sail under a Jolly Roger.  Technically, that's enough to get them at least investigated and boarded by authorities.

Lokidude

The Evil Plan Advances

Just got approval to buy a pair of Solex Kadron carbs for the VW.  Was just informed that the heads necessary to use them will mate up to my current motor.  I'm gonna need to start saving up for the speeding tickets.

The car weighs ~1300 pounds.  Less when I'm done, I hope.  120 hp is the goal.  120 hp, all motor.

Just try and keep up.

Lokidude

Top Shot

Okay, Top Shot is starting momentarily, and I'm gonna attempt to liveblog, because what the hell.

Harblz is the last to enter, and seriously, black mock turtleneck?  I will say, the boy is in some VERY deep company.

8:05 Mountain:  Team competition, rifle match.  Red team, with the USA Rifle Team member on it, looks quite strong.  M14, 1891 Mosin-Nagant, 1903 Springfield, and an SVT.  2 Comblock, 2 US weapons, a semi and a bolt from each.  The lone female, a former Marine, seems to know her stuff, too.

Aaaand the team challenge is an obstacle course/relay race.  Targets at 50 and 100 yards.  I'd say Caleb would have some kind of advantage, but everybody else is in just as good of shape as he is, if not better.

8:18 Mountain:  The race is on.  Chickypoo pops her target first, 1903 Springfields at the first station.  And Chicky is a shit spotter...

Okay, Blue is moving on, Harblz and Blake, with SVT-40s.  Harblz has the short shot, apparently in one.  Red is down 4-1.  JJ the speed king and the old dude Jim are on a rope obstacle, and the old dude kicks it's ass...  Don't mess with old dudes.

Blue is up 6-1.  Red is pretty much jacked at this point.

And Blue wins, 8-1.  Wow, Red got SMOKED!

8:34 Mountain: I expected more from Mike Seeklander.  This "public vote" elimination is gonna be a drama factory, I'll bet lunch for a week.

Bex commented on just how safety conscious everybody is.  It's true, the gunhandling is textbook.  I approve.

And the elim shoot is gonna be Mike v. Kelly.  I'm cool with that, but the comment about Kelly's experience?  Bullshit.  The kid has as much experience, at a MUCH younger age, than the rest of them.

8:45:  And the elim is a rifle challenge, using a Remington 700.  It's a weapon Mike is sure to know, but Kelly's specialty is rifles.  Mike is dependent on the spotter in practice.  Kelly is calling his own.  If Mike survives, he'll definitely have earned it.  And the smiley face was a nice touch.

200, 400, and 600 yards, one target at each range for elimination.  Kelly made a sharp call for his spotter.  Head to head at the 200 yard targets, and Kelly goes ahead by one at 400 yards.  One more target to eliminate Mike.

2 shots at 600 and Kelly drops Mike Seeklander.  Of course, this is Kelly's discipline, so I really am not that surprised.

Lokidude

Utah, Omaha, Juno, Gold, Sword

"You are about to embark upon the great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months." -- General Dwight D Eisenhower

With those words, 66 years ago today, Operation Neptune, the initial assault phase of Operation Overlord, commenced.  The bold attacks carried out by brave men turned the tide of war in Europe.  Always remember the brave men who fought and died in those days, running into the teeth of hell to do what had to be done.

Lokidude

Teaser Time

The BTOH stopped by the Workplace of Dude today, and brought me things. I give you this teaser:

So, anybody know what I got?

Lokidude

Hittin the skids

It would seem that the Funboy and the Queen of Censorship are hitting Splitsville.

Having been divorced, I don't normally wish it on a snake.  We'll have to see what comes out as the reasons for the split.  However, any mention of Tipper Gore gets Dee Snyder in reply.





Lokidude

Valhalla welcomes another one home

Medal of Honor recipient and true hero passes at the age of 100.

John Finn, the oldest living Medal of Honor recipient, died Thursday morning at the age of 100 at the Chula Vista Veterans Home.

John Finn was a hero on a scale that few in my generation can comprehend.  Wounded, to the point where there would have been no dishonor in giving in to the pain and falling from the fight, he instead chose to give the enemy the full measure of resistance that he could bring to bear.  Of course, he joins the chorus that rings from every decorated veteran I've ever heard:

He downplayed his heroic efforts during World War II and said he was just doing his job. “I read about other guys with the medal who lost their lives or really suffered in wars and I think about myself. I was just an uneducated man who got mad as hell one day,” he said in 1984.

The man himself delivers the quote of the article:

“I can’t honestly say I hit any, but I shot at every damn plane I could see.”

Sir, a grateful nation is saddened by your passing.  May you find peace and rest, for you've earned that, and then some.

Lokidude

Awesome and sad all at the same time

An artist named Brian Dettmer is making some beautiful art by carving into books to reveal layers of the interior. Part of me cries that books had to die to make his art. The rest of me has had my breath completely taken away.

Images were originally taken from Centripital Notion.
Per the artist, more information is available at Packergallery.com, Toomey-Tourell.com, and HaydeeRovirosa.com.

Thanks go to my good friend Toni for the initial link, she always finds the interesting stuff.

Lokidude