RIFLEMAN'S JOURNAL - JANUARY 2003

Fired only a few blanks - went straight to the party from work so hauling long guns would have been inconvenient, but I managed to pack along the flintlock pistol and percussion revolver. Starting to get the hang of setting a flint in the one, but the other needs new nipples. Probably order them from DGW in February or a little later, after I get the other three VZs and the truck fund has recovered some. Payday Friday at least so I can get right on that.

108 - Thursday, 2 January 2003: Today I learned that my paycheck will arrive on schedule tomorrow, but will be dated for Monday the 6th.

Some science-fiction author is quoted as saying, "The self-employed person has an idiot for a boss - but that still beats having some other idiot for a boss." No kidding. T-shirts... wheelocks... rear sights (could I complete with Mojo? Not directly, the design I have in mind would require drilling and tapping at the least).... Hey! I wonder if the engineer friend knows how to make a die for stamping? He has a triphammer, though its motor and springs were destroyed when his barn burned down. Stamped parts, where practical, would be much cheaper and faster to make than all- milled and, frankly, if the project is economically viable he could use the income from a partnership as much as I could use the income....

Well. Need to research, pick up some examples of existing sights - ‘03A3 Springfield, M1/M14, M16A2 - to figure exactly how it should be done. Hm, CAD software.... Hm, community college machinist course....

SIGH....

109 - Saturday, 4 January 2003: So I sent $5, one time, to the Second Amendment Foundation, and now they're sending me a membership card and asking me to please "renew" my membership for $15. I've been on their mailing list for years but never sent them any money until a couple months ago.

...Yeah, okay. The check will go out Tuesday, after I deposit my pay Monday evening.

110 - Wednesday, 8 January 2003: WOW! The Constitution Society has added my site to their Constitutional Defense links page!

Sigh - I suppose I'll have to go ahead and add the Republican elephant to the other icons of evil in my "Tyrant Free Zone" graphics.

Put $40 on the three VZs, $57 + $9 remaining, due 11 February. Two more paychecks before then. Paid phone bill on Monday, haven't had the courage to look at the electric bill. Hm - it seems they're not sending me a printed bill anymore! That could be dangerous. Okay, I went to my ePay account and... the space heaters appear to be much cheaper than the baseboard. Paid in full, though a few days late. Have to stay on top of that in future, apparently they're expecting me to pay online now and really won't mail me a bill.

Barberton show this Saturday. Cruffler encouraging me to go. Only been to that show once, and as I described in October I arrived late and missed most of the stuff. Might try it depending on weather. Forecast thus far marginal.

111 - Thursday, 9 January 2003: Cruffler mentions the Lee Loader, a standalone device for loading a single caliber. Went to Lee Precision's site and downloaded their latest catalog in .PDF; also instructions for a Lee Loader.

It's only $20! Of course it only does one caliber, but all you need is the consumables and a mallet! Hm. Also discovered a shotshell loader, $50. Blackpowder shells for that old side-by-side, hm? Lower pressure than smokeless, and a smoothbore's easy to clean, and actual cartridges with #209 primers will work perfectly with Pyrodex or some other substitute, more widely available than the real stuff necessary for flintlocks. Buckshot, now, or #6 shot as is required by some competition rules, where would I find that? Eh, web search, later. But, Cowboy Action Shooting! I'd need another revolver - I might make do with another percussion model there, assuming I can solve the 1861's ignition problems to make it the first revolver - and a rifle. I think .30-30 is in-period, there's always someone selling a used ‘94 Winchester for $200 or so, though I'd prefer a handgun-caliber Marlin but of course those are more expensive even used. A Marlin in .30-30, usually a Model 336 series, is almost certainly not acceptable, though their Model 1894s in handgun calibers are - Marlin has even introduced new models for the sport. Maybe a Winchester in .44 Magnum. Silver Lining Pawn, Sandy Blvd. about NE 22nd, usually has quite a selection - that's where I got the side-by-side, for $165, talked down from well over $200. :) Also there's always Nickel Ads.

But that's all vaporware. I have other prioritie$. :(

Forecast for Saturday iffy, calling for rain in the afternoon. Might try anyway, would arrive at Barberton Grange about 9am, the show starts at 8 as I recall.

Wrote a check for $20 to Oregon Firearms Federation. Some good news from them in e-mail - Giusto, the new Multnomah County Sheriff, has already overturned one of the illegal policies of his predecessor Dan Noelle, specifically, requiring character references to renew a Concealed Handgun License. Noelle was doing all sorts of other Gestapo stuff too, like racial profiling, taking every single one of the 45 business days allowed by law to issue the license (how many women were assaulted while waiting for "permission" to defend themselves?), building dossiers on pro-gun citizens, etc. Hm, maybe I should fling a FOIA at them, see what they have on me...?

Um, $20 to OFF doesn't leave much for the Barberton show. Eh. I'll live.

112 - Saturday, 11 January 2003: The things I do for the cause of Liberty! Out of a nice warm bed and onto a big-city mass-transit system (ugh - humans!), even earlier than for work.

Weather adequate to start. Nearly missed first leg of mass-transit journey, Tri-Met is no longer offering their downloadable trip planner program, or if they are I can't find it on their website, and the older version I have is a couple minutes off. Made it anyway.

Reached the show without incident about 8:45. $2 admission. Much more active than the last time I was there. Few new items, mostly used, much trading of horses. Met Cruffler, yakked much. Bought nothing - this time.

Saw some items of interest, though: a stainless steel Remington percussion revolver, $200. Used of course but not badly, and still no more than Cabela's wants, and then Cabela's charges shipping. A couple Winchester 1894s in .30-30, very Cowboyish, $200, $225. A Zoli reproduction Zouave rifle-musket, .58, with bayonet lug, $225 in at least Very Good condition, more like Excellent. Dixie Gun Works wants $400-$500 for theirs. Marlin 336, .30-30, $225. Italian repro Colt SAA, .357 Magnum, brass two-piece grip frame and one-piece wood grip, $325 as I recall, new- in-box.

VZ24s, $125. Ahem. :)

Mossberg 500 20 gauge, with short plain barrel, would be lovely for home defense - I think it even had the undersized "Bantam" stock for women and youths. $150, Very Good if not better. Nice checkered stock, too. One of the new Rossi Matched Pair switch-barrel sets, derived from the NEF Pardner/H&R Topper, .22LR/.410, $150, looked new. These have safety levers on the left rear of the receiver, by the way. #%&! lawyers.

Cruffler directed me to a hobbyist who shortens shotgun barrels cheap. Inquired about my dented side-by-side, he said $15. $10 for singles.

:o

And Cruffler praises the man's craftsmanship. Weather permitting, I'll be taking the barrels over there at next month's show. By the month after that it should be fully functional! Might have to get another year's membership at English Pit just to try it out, despite the place's various shortcomings.

Left about 10am, blundered about the unfamiliar territory, got back about 11:30. Weather adequate all the way. Interesting crosswind, coming down the I-205 bridge. Whoosh!

113 - Monday, 13 January 2003: Payday Friday. Forecast clear but windy for weekend. English Pit? With the Mosin? Plenty of ammo, now.... I really don't like English Pit but I've got to get some practice. After getting motorized, I'll be taking a good look at Clark Rifles, even if I do have to join the sold-out NRA again.

114 - Wednesday, 15 January 2003: No, actually, no. It's just too bloody cold, and that wind would be terrible, especially on a bike. I may pay off the three VZs altogether instead.

I may also get a haircut. The "winter coat" tends to interfere with the sight picture anyway. Besides, I got a coupon in junk mail. Maybe practice next weekend, the 25th- no, that's the Expo show, and it'll still be January.

Um. Should be doing something about that front wheel. Now would be a good time, all but the serious spandex-wearers have packed it in for the season so the bike shop won't be overloaded with work like they are in spring. Probably need a new chain, too, and new brake pads on both ends - that last, at least, I should be able to do myself.

115 - Friday, 17 January 2003: Got reviewed, got a raise, 60¢ per hour, now making $8.85. At one point I was led to expect 75¢. Hmph. At least I have an income and it has in fact increased. Got paid, but the raise isn't on this check, though I was told it would be retroactive to the beginning of this last pay period so my next check, the 31st, should be rather impressive. Maybe the truck fund will make some progress now.

Did not get the three VZs after all, but made a calculated payment; counting the unconstitutional gun tax, there should be only $20 remaining. No rifle practice this weekend, with a very strong east wind which would be in my face on the way to the range, but there's a buckskinner show - "Mountain Man & Indian Craft Trade Show" - at a National Guard armory in Gresham. "No smokeless powder arms or ammunition allowed." $3 admission. Light-rail seems to go tolerably close to it, I think I'll go, perhaps staging on my bike. Never been to this kind of show before, only more general types. Maybe I'll learn of a new source for real blackpowder in the area, or get a good deal on Pyrodex or another substitute. There is even a significant risk of expanding my collection with another percussion revolver or a muzzleloading rifle, but not for much more than $100.

New voter registration card in the mail. I am now officially a Libertarian. Already voted NO on Measure 28, a "temporary" state income tax increase - vote-by-mail in Oregon. I was one of the first to deliver my ballot to the drop box at the library. I know this because they had to go find it and set it out on the counter.

Good gods! Gross pay is $645.98. Net pay is $445.74! $49 for health & dental insurance - friends convinced me that wasn't such a steep rate after all - and $151.24 in combined taxes! 23.4%!! Government SUCKS!!!

Literally.

116 - Saturday, 18 January 2003: Went to the mountain man show. Lots of interesting stuff, primitive skills on display, and all the fixin's therefor. Blackpowder arms of course, though this was less a gun show than a craft show.

There were percussion revolvers. One steel-frame Remington... being purchased by the time I got there. (Probably more than Cabela's wants anyway.) Some "1851" Colts, all inauthentic .44, about half inauthentic brass frame. A brass frame "1860". A couple steel-frame 1860s, the lowest around $180 - Cabela's wants $140 plus shipping, still the better deal.

Got a six-pack of Butler Creek (Uncle Mike's) revolver nipples, 6mm x .75 (hah! I did get the right size! Hm, they might even work with common #11 caps without the caps falling off, instead of needing the smaller, harder-to-find #10s - won't know till I fire some live rounds, see if the #11s shake loose in recoil), for $11.50; DGW wants $2.50 each, plus shipping. Hopefully the 1861's ignition problems will be solved now. Oh! The other day, while fondling the 1861, the trigger and bolt spring broke. This is a weak point in just about all the Colts and reproductions. Fortunately the springs are only a few bucks, not too hard to find, and interchangeable between most Colts and reproductions, so I had two spares on hand. One was in a drawer - I used that one, all fixed, but the trigger pull is heavier now - but the other remains in a little recess I've Dremeled out of the one-piece wood grip, under the backstrap, removing just enough wood that the backstrap presses against it and keeps it from rattling. In another recess is a replacement hand and spring assembly, another weak point in that design, which I broke not long after I got the revolver. Those are a few bucks more, and harder to find, and generally require some time with a Dremel and/or hand file to fit to particular revolvers, but I've already done that for this one. So, I have spares for the two parts most likely to break, which follow the revolver around instead of getting left behind in a tackle box or gear bag.

I also bought a nice heavy belt, natural leather color, for carrying percussion revolvers, a saber, and suchlike. The same vendor had one of the two largest selections of blackpowder arms at the show, including a CVA Bobcat rifle, .50 percussion, for $120. Now that was tempting. Depending how big this raise turns out to be in real life I might just get one. It has authentic-enough styling: fixed sights, notch rear and brass blade front, both dovetailed; very plain halfstock with no nose cap; black plastic buttplate and trigger guard, though you have to look a little closer to notice they're not iron. Looks like a removable breech plug. I'll search CVA's site later, maybe I can download a manual. There is also the Plainsman model, flintlock, for about $50 more. Cabela's sometimes lists them for $100 and $150 respectively, so counting shipping the vendor had a fair price. I'll be looking for him at the next shows.

Also saw a bunch of what I believe to be original blackpowder longarms, including a percussion double shotgun marked "Greener" and a flintlock rifle marked "Harper's Ferry 1827". Wow.

117 - Sunday, 19 January 2003: Three weeks and no reply from Ginnie Cooper, Director of Libraries for Multnomah County. Still eight copies of Arming America in their online catalog. A JPFO alert a couple-three days ago turns up the heat; the publisher, Knopf, has ‘ended its contractual relationship with Bellesiles.' JPFO suggests that activists like myself... do what I've already done.

She must be a bureaucrat, so I'll give her two full months. Got the follow-up letter printed and ready to mail on February 24th. After that I'll consider registered mail.

Expo show next weekend. Can't afford much there, maybe some more .357 ammo, maybe a pound of Pyrodex - RS (FFg equivalent), perhaps, for the soon-to-be-functional side-by-side. Will also look for a shotshell press and as general a reloading manual as I can find. Probably go on Saturday as usual. Oregon Arms Collectors show on Sunday the 26th, might go there too just to look.

At the buckskinner show, did not learn of another source for real blackpowder in the area. Was told that Portland is one of the few cities in the country that restricts its sale.

Weather as always permitting, the following weekend, February 1st, I really should get some practice, even if I have to go to English Pit. The 1861 for function testing, the Mosin for rifleman training, and maybe the .357 just because. Got a haircut today so I can actually see what I'm aiming at.

Mild winter! Saw robins today.

Oh yeah - on this day in 1807, Robert E. Lee was born. Deo Vindice!

118 - Tuesday, 21 January 2003: Woo-HOO! Made arrangements with a co-worker for a ride from Big 5, so I wouldn't have to take three rifles on the bus or juggle them on the bike. Paid off the layaway and now have a total of five VZ24s! Will tear them down and clean them up over the rest of the week. Already have 1¼" nylon slings for them.

Should probably stop by the woodworker friend's place, only a few blocks from work, and make a new gun rack. Needed one even before getting these three.

So! Things to look for at the Expo show this weekend: more bayonets, preferably the (appropriate!) Czech production with the cutting edge facing up when attached; shotshell press for loading low-pressure blackpowder-substitute rounds for the side-by-side, expected to be functional in about seven weeks; reloading manual, duh; maybe another box of .357/110 for cheap. Oh, and more of those cheap fold-over soft cases. Money a little tight now but only where the show is concerned, most groceries and some bus fare taken care of already. Next payday the 31st.

Really, really must stop buying weapons long enough to buy a motor vehicle. Really.

Also got the last W2 in the mail, will be doing taxes any day now. *^%# government.

119 - Wednesday, 22 January 2003: Cruffler tells me in e-mail that what I want is "certified, return receipt requested" mail instead of registered. Also says real blackpowder is no easier to find in the Vancouver area. Phooey! Well, maybe if I keep this job I can afford a membership at Clark Rifles, and go in on a co-op powder buy with other blackpowder shooters, probably from Track of the Wolf, like I did with Cruffler for the bulk Mauser and Mosin ammo.

$omeday.

New Cabela's Shooting catalog in mail. Yipe! Prices have gone up for percussion revolvers! The three most re-enactable models, the .44 1860 and .36 1851 Colts and the .44 1858 Remington, are now $150, $125 and $155 respectively, plus shipping - but that still beats the retail prices I've been seeing at shows. $200 for an 1861. Yes, I scored on that one. 1849 Pocket, .31, 4" barrel, $200 - Dixie, of all places, actually beats that, wanting only $162.50 for one of their versions, described as Palmetto manufacture as opposed to Uberti or Pietta or such. $140 for the .31 Pocket Remington from Cabela's, still a little better than Dixie on that one. $30 for a spare .44 Remington cylinder.

Bobcat rifles not evident. Probably on the website. Other rifles' prices also increased.

Reloading equipment, and lots of it. Where to start? Hope to purchase a generally-useful manual at the show this weekend. Shotshells are probably not in the same books as rifle and handgun loading. Probably be looking for a u$ed press. Pawn shops carry that kind of thing too.

Well duh! The library has some reloading manuals! Not many, but one is for shotshells, dated 1997 - that should do. Told the library computer to ship it over to my local branch for pickup. Now I won't have to spend so much at the show, and after reading it I'll likely have a better idea what sort of equipment I'll need, and probably a better idea what sort of manual to buy.

Heh. Will the Federal Bureau of Incineration subpoena my reading list, my library records? As if I weren't on their "dangerous, subversive, anti-regime" lists already.

I've done absolutely no reloading and know very little about it. I am saving brass, mainly .357 Magnum from the GP-100, but presently the reloading I want to do is for the side-by-side shotgun, making some low-pressure rounds so the tired old thing won't have a bad-steel-day. I have saved some hulls, and can always generate more with the Mossberg, which of course can handle modern pressures. Shotshell presses are usually built for a single gauge, so if I got a 20 gauge - that nice little Mossberg I saw at Barberton, for example - I'd probably need one press for 12 gauge and a whole different press for 20 gauge. Besides that, I'd need a different press still for metallic- cartridge stuff, though in that case the same press will generally do both rifle and handgun calibers, and plenty of them, with the appropriate dies.

120 - Thursday, 23 January 2003: On this day in 1855, John Moses Browning was born in Ogden, Utah. And don't you forget it!

Cabela's lists the Lee Load-All II. Lee's .PDF catalog asks $50, Cabela's, $33. Uh-huh. I might - probably would - have to measure and pour blackpowder or Pyrodex manually, though I've heard tell of modern machines being tweaked to work with blackpowder or substitutes. Don't know if the machine can handle buckshot, might want to insert that manually anyway to get it settled right. Cabela's also lists a Lyman shotshell manual on sale for $14, and bulk buckshot, 5 pounds for $10. Other necessities - primers, wads, smaller shot, etc - available retail locally.

Cheap commie-Chinese-made shoes rotting off my feet once again. Have a pair of steel-toed Dickies, a little too small (and, of course, also made in China), but I bought them about a year and a half ago and have only worn them one day since. Besides, tomorrow is Friday, I should be able to survive one more day in them. Wearing them around the hovel tonight to attempt further breaking-in.

I should give more thought to my feet. I do rather depend on them.

Cruffler points out that the exhibit hall will be all but deserted on Superbowl Sunday, and great deals might be had from desperate vendors. This would an even greater opportunity if I could afford to take more than, say, $80 to the show - and some of that might come from the truck fund after all. Weather forecast, warm - 50s - but wet. Eh, I've hiked from the bus stop to the Expo center before.

Starting in on the VZs! Rifle #3 - because it ended up on top of the stack of long, narrow boxes when I got home - is missing a lot of finish but still appears entirely functional. Did the bolt last night, now for the rest of the rifle.

No problem getting the stock and handguard off, I know how, now. Some rust under nosecap and barrel band of course, not so bad, but quite a bit on the underside of the barrel. Eh. Won't affect function and looks are not a priority. Action separated from trigger guard easily, trigger guard from stock not much less easily. Action screws original but wholly serviceable, retaining screws present.

Chamber crest not completely obliterated, a bit peeking out at either side, but no E- something-something codes in evidence. Serial number PR 17xxx, in usual position on forward left side of receiver, and repeated just in front of that on the barrel. "55" on top of the barrel just forward of the receiver. The usual "ZBROJOVKA BRNO, A.S.VZ.24." on the left receiver rail, no other markings aside from the usual proofmarks and the stylized "CZ", the Z in a circle formed by the C. What finish remains, like under the wood, is nicely done. Again with the Czech craftsmanship.

Some of the gunk I'm scraping off looks like actual Czech soil. Oh, if only these inanimate collections of steel and wood could talk! Where have you been? What have you seen? Who was your master before me?

Multiple delays to remove cat from lap. He doesn't usually want to go, and, well, sometimes I don't want him to either. :)

No surprises. Yawn - 11pm. Got it all back together but haven't properly cleaned the bore. It's waited decades, it can wait another night.

121 - Friday, 24 January 2003: Survived a day in the warehouse, on the cement floor, with imperfect boots.

So if I get a Load-All, not only can I use it to make low-pressure loads for the double, I can - duh! - make regular loads for my modern Mossberg! Also, apparently, this press can be converted for different gauges, unlike many of its competitors.

And I can afford it. That's important. Expect to order it from Cabela's over the net around March, maybe April. Expect to have, or at least have use of, a shotshell manual by then. Will search the net for blackpowder shotshell data. Dixie Gun Works' catalog includes some - the last fifty pages or so are alone worth the $5 price.

Yes, will go to the Expo show on Sunday instead. Must do Sunday errands tomorrow in preparation. Probably not going to OAC show, then.

122 - Saturday, 25 January 2003: Cruffler e-mails me that he might get me a deal on a Load-All with his licensed discount. Cabela's would want just under $40, counting shipping, if the bare press is all I ordered.

Speaking of Cowboy Action shooting - suppose I get a Remington 1858 reproduction percussion revolver. I could use it as-is, especially if I got a spare percussion cylinder - but there's another kind of spare cylinder. At least two outfits are making competing products which re-create, more or less, the actual drop-in cartridge conversion used on the Remington percussion models back in the day, which in these modern offerings allow the steel-frame cap-and-ball revolver to fire standard-or-lower-pressure .45 Colt metallic cartridges. One is the Kirst Cartridge Konverter, and the other is from "R&D", available through Brownell's at least. Either costs more than the percussion revolver itself, but still not quite as much as a whole cartridge revolver. And, yes, the conversion is legal, though selling the revolver with the conversion installed may not be. I believe at least one of them is also available in .45 ACP, but I think I'd rather have the rimmed Colt round instead - if I were to later invest in an actual cartridge revolver, and a handgun-caliber lever-action rifle, I could get those in .45 Colt as well, simplifying logistics. On the other hand, I think the Kirst is also available for some Colt models, including my 1861, using .38 Special full-wadcutter low- power target loads. Again a drop-in, or so the advertising says.

Now, you can buy Cowboy Action ammunition, factory-made - they've a rule, plain lead only, and it can't exceed 1,000 feet per second from handguns, or 1,500 from rifles as I recall. But, if I do get into it, and if I'm loading shotshells already, why not get another press - Lee does make them affordable - and load centerfire metallic as well? Looking through Cabela's shooting catalog, their prices for smokeless powder are higher than what I've seen for Pyrodex at Bi-Mart, so I could use the blackpowder substitute all around for that authentic cloud of white, smelly smoke. :)

123 - Sunday, 26 January 2003: Again, nearly missed first Tri-Met connection - but this time it was running a little early instead of me being late. Had to run in too-tight work boots. Alternating between those - which seem to be getting broken in - and what's left of the lightweight hikers I prefer, so one day my toes are pinched and the backs of my heels are chafed, the next my heels are bruised and my feet are soaked. Will have to break down and buy another pair of hikers. Will shop more carefully this time, not just get whatever Big 5 has for cheap.

Again with the city humans. Ugh! Must concentrate on getting motorized!

Arrived about 12:15. Not so deserted as I was led to believe. Saw: Russian Simonovs, up to $400, lowest $309; Chinese not much less, maybe $250; VZ24s, $85; Mosin M44s, some competitive, $55, others not.

Reproduction Starr double-action percussion revolver, $250 - that's almost competitive. Colt Cowboy, their "economy" model SAA, .45, $590. Italian copies for half that. Russian/EAA Bounty Hunter double shotgun, $295, either 12 or 20 gauge - with choke tubes even! Many '94 Winchesters, mostly .30-30. One of those, Good condition, missing buttplate, $120. None in handgun calibers except new lawyerized models with ugly safety buttons for more than Big 5 would want. An Ishapore 2A 7.62mm, $140. An FR8 Spanish Mauser, 7.62mm, $285 with bayonet. Marlin 1894 Cowboy, .45, $590, but that has the new cross-bolt safety and no half-cock. Hmm, maybe a Rossi 1892 clone, saw some but didn't notice prices. Same CVA Bobcat, same vendor, same price, $120. Some blackpowder events coming up in Spring....

Century Arms Blue Thunder 1911 copy, $270. Argentine surplus 1927 clone, $400. Didn't notice any Charles Dalys, or the FEG Hi-Power clones. CZ75B, $360. Huh - the Lee Loader is - or was - also made for shotshells! Saw some in 20 and 16 gauge for $25, but none for 12. Not listed for shotguns at all in the latest catalog. Eh, the Load-All seems the better deal anyway.

The show closes at 3pm on Sundays now. Vendors started packing about 1:45.

The parts geezers are back! One said that first one of them was in hospital, then the other. Found the barrel band clip, bought it for $5. Yup- fits; now have complete spare stock set for a VZ24. Uh! Forgot to look for Colt single-action parts! I want a spare, spare trigger & bolt spring for the 1861, and maybe another hand & spring assembly too. Eh, I've got one of each, that should do for now.

Bought a pound of Pyrodex RS for $12.50. Other tables wanted up to $5 more, and even Bi- Mart wants like $15. Priced smokeless powders - $14-$20/pound. Whatever powder I end up needing, like for reloading .357, may also be available in 4lb jugs for a price break. Lyman 2nd edition blackpowder loading manual, including popular Cowboy cartridges but apparently not shotshells, $20. Well, between the Load-All's instructions, DGW's data, and logical thought, I should be able to figure it out. Kuhnhausen's Mauser shop manual, $30 - that's the one I'll get when I'm ready to start converting the VZ24s.

A couple proper VZ24 bayonets, with the cutting edge up, $15 each, but passed. MREs, $38/case.

Left about 2:15, made it all the way back on the same bus transfer. Feet could be worse. Next big show March 29th. Next little show the antique thing in Hillsboro, February 8th, but I'll be going to Barberton to get my double functional instead. Bought only the Pyrodex and the clip. Small but net gain for truck fund.

Cleaning bore on VZ #3. Not counterbored at muzzle like the first two. Got an 8mm bore brush a couple shows ago. Using USGI surplus bore cleaner. Dark and pitted like the others, but not rusty like #2; rifling still pretty strong. Headspace a little long but not as bad as #2. I think I would fire this one as-is.

#2 never did get a thorough bore cleaning, so taking it down and doing it while I've the stuff out. Very dark, can feel roughness while running the rod through, and still plenty of gunk coming out. Eh - with the just-too-much headspace, I probably wouldn't fire this one as-is anyway, it's the first candidate for conversion, which means a whole new barrel, so the sewer pipe it has now doesn't matter. For $60, one can afford to buy these just for the actions. I've read a new Mauser action goes for $200 or so. Yipe!

For $15 I can afford to get the double shotgun shortened before getting motorized. For $40 I can likewise afford to get a press and make Pyrodex loads for it. But, considering I'll need even more tools for a proper barrel change, I'll wait until after I'm truckified before ordering those Israeli 7.62mm barrels from Sarco - though I might get the Kuhnhausen manual earlier, so it can tell me which tools I need.

Hm- by the way, Cruffler reports that the state computers were down, thereby preventing the sale of firearms, with government registration ("background check"), on both Saturday and Sunday. What a coincidence! Many a time, nationwide, this computer system has just "happened" to fail while a big gun show is on somewhere, pretty much crippling the show. Purely by accident of course.

:-/

Forecast for next weekend fairly icky. I need practice, but what's the sense in practicing, at my current level of skill, if I'm fighting the weather more than the targets? If I were a better shot already I might try shooting in poor conditions, but I still need to hit stuff consistently without Oregon winter distracting me. Well, this is Oregon, maybe it'll clear, and maybe I'll go if it does.

124 - Monday, 27 January 2003: Got off work early, hiked over to woodworker friend's place, made minimalist rifle rack. Take two long, narrow strips of wood - ¾" plywood in this case, though I imagine ½" would do - about 1½" wide and as long as you like. Drill a fairly large hole straight through the top end, from which to hang the thing, like with those rubber-like-covered storage hooks from one of those 99¢ places - or you can screw the completed rack directly to your wall. But before that, get use of a drill press and tilt the work platform a few degrees - like ten - so the dowels slant up when complete, thus holding the rifle instead of letting it slide off to the floor. Get some wooden dowel, like from a hardware store; I used 7/16", cut to 4" length. Drill holes of that size, or a little smaller for a tight fit, about every six inches - both pieces should of course be the same. If the holes are loose, the wall will stop the dowels from going all the way through. With about 20 minutes' work, much of which was spent adjusting the drill press, was made a two-piece, six-place rifle rack that, when empty, stores in about the space of a single rifle. If I twist out the dowels, it would take even less space.

Now I have to muck out the apartment so I can reach more wall space. An actual gun safe is beyond my present means, but for $80 or so on sale I might get a sheet-steel gun cabinet. Unfortunately, for that price it only holds six or eight pieces. Maybe I could build one, perhaps from ½" plywood. It wouldn't be as secure, but it would be the way I want it. I sure could use some CAD software - but, I shouldn't really need it, I took drafting and fabrication with welding training in Job Corps, and I've worked for the friend in his cabinet shop many a time, and unlike far too many people in America today, I can read and count and use measuring devices....

Mail today, from both Senators, commie Wyden and RINO Smith. Must be from when I sent GOA-inspired letters to oppose the formation of a Homeland Security department, ‘way back on 17 November (which was probably too late for the vote anyway). It takes so long for these ivory-tower elitists to respond to their constituents that I bet most voters can't remember what they were ticked enough to write about in the first place. Probably the whole idea. Anyway the letters I wrote asked them to vote against the Homeland Security Act, and the letters I got back explain how proud they both are to have voted for it. Neither one of those big-government timeservers probably ever laid eyes on my letters, probably all handled by staff - "Okay, this letter is about Homeland Security, it gets this form letter in response." Doesn't matter whether my letter was for or against. Neither they nor their staffs care. They just want to give the illusion of responding to the citizens, so those tax- funded government paychecks keep rolling in.

Isn't that the same kind of arrogant, ignorant government behavior that got a whole bunch of redcoats killed, a couple centuries ago...?

125 - Tuesday, 28 January 2003:

28 January 1986 - STS-51L - OV-99 Challenger
Official portrait of STS 51-L crewmembers. Back row (l.-r.):
Mission specialist Ellison S. Onizuka
Teacher in Space Participant Sharon Christa McAuliffe
Payload Specialist Gregory B. Jarvis
Mission specialist Judith A. Resnik
Front row (l.-r.):
Pilot Michael J. Smith
Commander Francis R. Scobee
Mission specialist Ronald E. McNair

IN MEMORIAM

126 - Wednesday, 29 January 2003: Got a reply from Multnomah County Library. First, what I sent, mailed on 23 December:

23 December 2002

Dear Ms. Cooper,

As a loyal patron of the Multnomah County Library system, I am writing to ask that you remove from your catalog, or at least reclassify, Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture by Michael Bellesiles.

Please understand that I am not asking you to do this because I disagree with the author. As a Libertarian, I firmly oppose censorship and fully support libraries carrying books with which I disagree. However, Arming America has been discredited as a fraud and you would be doing the public a disservice by leaving it on your shelves identified as a legitimate work of historical research.

Mr. Bellesiles has tendered his resignation to Emory University after being found guilty of falsifying historical evidence in order to advance his own personal agenda. Although this book earned some prestigious awards at first - notably Columbia University's Bancroft Prize - it has since been exposed as a work of fiction, rather than scholarship. For details, please see Emory University's own report on the matter at this internet address:

http://www.emory.edu/central/NEWS/Releases/bellesiles1035563546.html
('blog note: This article appears to have been removed, but appears to be reproduced at the activist site linked below, along with Columbia University's press release and lots of other good information.)

Furthermore, the Bancroft Prize, possibly the most prestigious of its kind, for this book has recently been rescinded. I am enclosing a copy of Columbia University's press release on that matter. I am also enclosing a copy of correspondence received by another citizen, concerned as I am about the fraudulent nature of Arming America, from one of your peers, the Director of the Goshen, NY Public Library and Historical Society.

I hope this information will help guide you to the correct course of action. Please keep me informed regarding your decision.

Sincerely,
Karl Leffler
[address]
jeffersonian@shootersinet.com

Now, here's what I got back today:

January 22, 2003

Karl Leffler
[address]

Dear Karl Leffler

Thank-you for your letter with your comments about the book Arming America by Michael Bellesiles. You state that the book "has been discredited as a fraud" and that it is a disservice to leave it on the shelves at the library "identified as a legitimate work of historical research."

The library is aware of the controversy surrounding this title. The report of the investigative committee concluded that Professor Bellesiles failed to meet the standards of professional historical scholarship concerning four sources that were sited [sic] and discussed in the text. This alone was enough for the Bancroft prize to be rescinded since it requires that these standards be upheld.

You say this book has been discredited as a fraud which is a matter of opinion. There have been many opinions reported in the media both critical and defensive. The report of the investigative committee does not make that statement.

The library does not remove a book from its shelves based on specific content in the text. Library material is selected by the merits of the item as a whole which is in adherence with the principles of intellectual freedom. Arming America has extensive research and text which has not been refuted by the investigative committee.

The library believes in the intelligence of our readers to determine for themselves what may be relevant or irrelevant in their lives. We try to give them a choice and provide a variety of viewpoints. Due to the controversy surrounding this title, we would be doing our readers a disservice by removing the title from the library. Interest in library materials is often generated by the media.

We hope you will continue to use and enjoy the resources contained in your library and thank-you for your interest in the collection.

Sincerely,
Ruth Metz
Interim Director of Libraries

127 - Thursday, 30 January 2003: Cleaning up VZ24 (arbitrarily) #4. Less cosmoline, more oil, less rust. Hmm.

Bolt assembly is blued. The others are in the white. Serial number appears to have been ground off from bolt handle.

Receiver not reblued. Serial number DR 21xxx, but a different number on the barrel, where #3 had a matching number. I already put the handguard back on before launching the word processor or I'd give that number too. Again no tantalizing factory-like codes as with #1. Action and retaining screws imperfect but all present and serviceable - and ‘98 Mauser action screws are pretty easy to find.

Best bore yet! Counterbored muzzle. Lands in very nice shape, grooves dark & pitted but not nearly as much as even #1, which I've already fired. Quite possibly rebarreled. I'll have to take this one out for practice.

Some interesting repairs to stock - sort of trapezoidal panel-like inlays, possibly to repair deep gouges, but maybe this one, or at least this stock, was fitted with special apparatus at one time? Like a grenade launcher and attendant sights? Small patches of green paint surviving on buttstock - maybe marking for special application? Also a fine line around the barrel about an inch and a half back from the muzzle, just behind the front sight base, as though it were more than one piece - the counterboring is further back though, about two inches. Headspace still good after degooping.

Much discussion on Yahoo's crffldisc list about a Norinco (commie Chinese) air rifle offered by South Summit for $25. .177, single-stroke side-cocking, advertised as 850fps. Website picture shows something resembling a proper sight radius, too. Side discussion about ethics of buying from oppressive commie regime.

Only $25....

Payday tomorrow. May order Load-All from Cabela's shortly thereafter. Got so wrapped up in the rifle I forgot to turn on the TV for local weather. Less detailed newsradio forecast, low 50s and showers for the weekend, probably no practice.

128 - Friday, 31 January 2003: Lots and lots of rain. Some localized flooding. Blissfully sleeping in tomorrow.

Paycheck is within <1% of what I figured it should be. Some immediately to truck fund. May order Load-All from Cabela's at any moment. Need some shoes first, I think. Rent no problem, electric bill paid in full - those little heater fans turn out to be bunches more efficient than the baseboard heater, especially the one with a thermostat so it can turn itself on and off. This month's bill is less than half what I remember from this time last year. I've switched off the breaker for the whole baseboard, whether half of it still works or not.

Making progress getting off caffeine. Still drinking three cans of Barq's at work every day, but at home it's mostly apple juice.

Rain supposed to be easing up tomorrow, but still showers - I won't try going up toward Camas for rifle practice. However, there's supposed to be another clear, dry spell next week, which bodes well for the Barberton show and dropping off the double's barrels to be shortened. I could swing by English Pit on the way back from the show....

Going out locally tomorrow for shoes. Bad shoes just suck the energy right out of me. I'll be more enthusiastic about practice and long bike rides if I'm not torturing myself with every step.

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