RIFLEMAN'S JOURNAL - JUNE 2003
Saw a guy in a TSA uniform at the grocery store. I wouldn't be wearing that thing in public if I were him (but then I wouldn't be him - I've actually read the Constitution). I wonder how many little old ladies he's wand-raped today? How many shapely young college co-eds he's "searched"? How much "contraband" he's "confiscated" from airline passengers' luggage?
206 - Monday, 2 June 2003: Got a pre-paid long-distance phone card yesterday. I don't have long- distance at home. Used it to call the offices of Senators Minnis and Ringo from work, left messages to vote NO on SB 300. The hearing is scheduled for Thursday, I believe; I'll call again Wednesday.
Some time ago I made the mistake of buying a Lexmark printer. It was on sale, new, for $50 or so, about the same as a lot of inkjet printers these days. It works - except the proprietary cartridges are $30 or so each. I got a refill kit for the black one which mostly works but the color cartridge appears to be drying up even though the control program says it's not empty yet, and both are displaying clogged jets. New cartridges would solve the problem but at that point I might as well buy another printer. My last printer was a Canon BJC 2000, also for $50, but it was refurbished and didn't stay that way - but Canon cartridges are available from third parties for, as I recall, under $8 for black and about $16 for color. So I'll probably buy a Canon again, but I'll shop for cartridges first and see which brand is cheapest to feed. Meanwhile the Lexmark still works adequately for printing black-and-white stuff like activism letters, articles, and my cartoons.
207 - Tuesday, 3 June 2003: Now reading Sun Tzu's The Art of War, long overdue. John Minford's translation, Viking/Penguin/Putnam 2002. Wasn't looking for it but saw it on the New Books shelf at the library.
The UMC (Remington) yellow-box .357 Magnum load in Bi-Mart's coupon book is a 125-grain jacketed soft point, and it's $1 less than I usually pay for the Winchester white-box 110-grain jacketed hollowpoint I've grown accustomed to. I may switch. I already have some from earlier (a little tight right now, but payday Friday, and the coupon is good through Sunday), I'll take it along this weekend and see what it does.
Rose Festival underway. Waterfront Park, along the Willamette River downtown, thronging, booths, rides, blueshirts, sheeple, ick. Navy and Coast Guard ships docking there, but with heightened security - file video from last year of wand-rape, 4th Amendment violations, etc. Also someone in woodland camouflage with a (probably unloaded) M16 wandering about. Not going anywhere near any of it. I hated the crowds before our recent de facto national socialist coup.
Forecast hot for the rest of the week, and the weekend, 90s, ick. Do I really want to bicycle in that? With a load of armaments?
Huh - forgot to take the percussion derringer last range trip. Also still haven't fired a friend's flintlock pistol with actual projectiles (it's been used mainly for noisemaking on Independence Day), may go pick that up after work, or just invite them along (especially if they drive!). (Still looking for auto insurance so I can legally drive.) Packing derringer, and fixin's, in range bag now. Dixie's catalog recommends 15 grains FFFg (or Pyrodex P of course). Don't have a 15-grain spout, but the smaller one I do have, cut down from a 30-grain, throws about 17, and these loads in Dixie's catalog are generally very light - like, 22 grains for most .44 percussion revolvers? 25 grains for a Colt Walker? Anyway I'll take my sliding volumetric scale and follow the instructions to start, at least. A ball starter I have should function perfectly as a loading rod, with such a short barrel. Taking both .433 and .440 ball, might want some more (thinner, .010, preferably pre-lubed) patches, Bi-Mart carries some blackpowder supplies, I think they have some.
208 - Wednesday, 4 June 2003: Called State Senators Minnis and Ringo from work again, got Minnis' flunkies' voice mail, a Ringo staffer said "he's looking at that legislation now" and "hasn't committed himself yet". Should have got one of those pre-paid phone cards for activism long ago, duh.
Going over range bag some more, and the percussion derringer. Both .433 and .440 balls roll freely down the bore. Haven't got .010 patches yet, will go to Bi-Mart after getting paid on Friday. Pretty sure the pre-lubed patches I have are .015. Oh! Found some unlubed patches, maybe they're .010, I could just soak them with saliva the old-timey way (blech) but I'll probably just buy some anyway. #11 caps fall off the nipple. Fortunately still have some #10s - but they fall off too! Huh? Will need new nipple, the one it came with is a little too long anyway, and the stainless clashes with the browning on the barrel and lock. Well, not like I'm gonna carry the thing it my coat pocket, it'll work on the range, I'll just use #11s. Using common straight-line capper, holds 25. According to Dixie's catalog description of the kit the derringer was made from, the nipple threads are 6mm x 1, so I know what to look for at the Expo show.
Dispenser flask with Pyrodex P (saving the genuine Goex, sales restricted in this area, for the flintlocks) and approximately-17-grain spout; volumetric powder measure; ball starter, long enough for a loading rod; existing patches. 59 rounds Winchester 110-grain JHP .357 (saving 42 rounds, four speedloaders, two speed strips and the bedside duty ammo), 50 rounds UMC 125-grain JSP. 110 rounds Albanian brass-case FMJ for the Mosin. May transfer to another bus from the Fisher's Landing transit center, shave a couple more miles off the ride.
Record high temperature today, 91°F, but didn't feel so bad. Forecast even hotter though. However, English Pit is a pit, an old gravel pit, with much shade, and covered firing lines, and a bicyclist creates his own slipstream so long as he keeps moving.
209 - Thursday, 5 June 2003: Woo-hoo! The Mojo sights are here! Will install them soon, may switch to Mauser before running out of Mosin ammo (still taking Mosin this trip, I think, if I don't wimp out in the heat). Ten days delivery from a snail-mailed check, that's all right. Nicely machined and blued parts, light coat of oil. Apparently blue Loctite, or specialized Guntite (I could use a fresh tube of that...), applied to adjustment screws so they won't drift under recoil. Hex-wrench required, but I knew that, and they included one of course. Depending which thread they're using, I have some Ideas about that.... Ah, I see what they've done with the windage screw, that would require a lathe, I think (but I know a guy who has one...), but it's elevation I'm more concerned with anyway and that's very straightforward, I could do what I have in mind with hand tools, almost. More on this as it develops.
Anyway, called Nationwide Insurance from work and got a quote for $52.10 per month, for six months, which sounds pretty good for a never-before-insured first-time-car-owner. (I imagine being 35 years old, licensed since 1985, with absolutely no tickets or accidents on my record, has something to do with it.) This is for the bare minimum liability insurance required by Oregon law, no comprehensive or collision, but does include uninsured-motorist coverage (recommended by friends and required according to the DMV pamphlet anyway). Will call one other outfit but I think I've found my insurer. Two months down ($104.20) to start but I have that much in savings now and I'm getting paid tomorrow. Also there's some kind of form they're sending me, which I then send to DMV, stating that I have not been driving uninsured, thereby keeping the premiums at this low rate, if I understood the agent correctly. Should be legally capable of driving in about a week!
Probably won't be getting that Yugo SKS at the Expo show next weekend. Eh, it's a little underpowered anyway, and overweight, and the triggers generally suck. Ammo sure is cheap, though, and it always works, and both those things are important. Sigh - I remember when a Chinese SKS was under $80, sometimes under $70, and $125 was "a little steep" for a Russian....
Going to need tools for the car. Haven't determined yet whether it's standard or metric and it's too hot outside to go look right now, but two hardware stores are having sales on socket and/or wrench sets for the next week at least. The Haynes manual has a list of recommended tools.
Neighbor informs me her minivan was broken into (again) sometime today, apparently after I left for work. Vagrants returning to the cul-de-sac too, a van and trailer parked about fifty meters from my door for the last couple-three days. Fortunately my car is and will be parked at the inner end of the driveway, less visible/tempting/accessible than hers on the street end of the apartment set.
Reflective windshield shade seems to work quite well, though the second one, for the hatchback window, doesn't seem practical - it won't stay put. Eh, it was only $2. Will have to remember to park facing west when possible, so the afternoon heat is reflected.
The other day, learned about kissata. Not exactly what I'm looking for - a bit too trusting and supportive of the existing government, at least on the surface - but I certainly don't think they qualify as "enemy" and the site seems to have a lot of useful information. They use the Betsy Ross flag too, for the Minuteman angle.
Installing Mojo sights on VZ24 #4. Some grunting and cussing, got the original rear sight out, some more, got the Mojo rear in. Powerful spring in the sight base, even after 60-odd years.
Original front sight removed easily, but the Phase III front aperture's dovetail is deliberately oversized to fit a variety of surplus rifles. Filing required, on the male dovetail of the front sight as per the instructions, but will need a special "safety" file to remove metal from only one surface.
But I was impatient and used the crude triangle file I already had - and it worked! Of course I removed a little metal I shouldn't have, and one end is now kinda mangled (the rear sight is steel, the front is softer aluminum or some alloy) from hammering (since I didn't remove quite enough metal where I was supposed to and used a little more force than perhaps I should have for installation), but the original VZ24 sight protector still works and conceals my incompetence (which wasn't too bad, really).
I think I'm going to really like the dual-aperture. The auto-centering, using the natural tendency of the eye and mind, does seem to work as advertised, and target acquisition, waving the rifle around my apartment aiming at bumps in the plaster, does seem faster, also as advertised. I may swap the Mosin for #4 this trip after all (which would leave me 220 rounds for the Mosin, which I already know I can hit stuff with...). I'm impatient to try it out now that it's ready.
I'm a little worried about the rear sight's vulnerability. I'd like it to have some protective wings, or something, in case it gets knocked around, but can't see an easy way to install any. Hm, maybe adapt some from a Lee-Enfield? That one attaches to the fore-end, beneath the barrel - but that might mess with accuracy. Hmm.
Yup, switching to the Mauser now. Putting the hex-wrench in my wallet, that'll follow me to the range. Replacing Mosin ammo with one full (70) and one partial (50) as-issued bandoliers, 120 rounds, of Turkish 7.92x57mm, corrosive/Berdan brass-case on crummy brass chargers (some of which will be reusable and some of which didn't come out of the stamping die right to begin with). This is some stuff I had previously, not the big batch I got through Cruffler, but it's the same stuff, just a different date on the headstamp (1942 vs. 1944). I also have 30 rounds of Czech (I think), better quality, 1953 as I recall, in a two-pocket leather pouch left over from the Yugo M48 collectors' bundle I used to have - had to sell the rifle, kept the pouch and bayonet. I've put that, and repacked some of the Turk, on good steel chargers.
210 - Friday, 6 June 2003: D-Day! Of course there were many "D-Days" during the Second World War, it was a common term for the day of departure for any amphibious operation, but this is the 59th anniversary of the Huge One at Normandy.
What a terrible disappointment the current generation must be to the survivors. We are not worthy of those courageous men's sacrifices.
But I'm working on it....
Paid, paid phone bill, more groceries. Bi-Mart did not have .010 pre-lubed patches, only .015 like I already have, will look at the Expo show next weekend. Should I take my functioning flintlock (#1)? Um... nnno, there's only so much cargo space, and I already know it works and I'm only taking the derringer for a function test, really. No answer from the woodworker's lady about her flintlock, but I only called from work this afternoon. Eh, there will be other trips.
So I'm in the Bi-Mart store and this lady is with her kid, maybe 10 years old, looking at some go-cart kinda thing and she's TALKING REAL LOUD like she doesn't know any other way. "DOES IT STILL FIT YOU? GO AHEAD AND SIT IT IN IT. DOES THE SEAT GO ANY FURTHER BACK?" And then she starts pestering the employees about the seat, and here's the part that gets me: "DOES THE SEAT GO FURTHER BACK? IS THAT LATCH THERE FOR THAT? I'M A SINGLE PARENT SO I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO THAT. YOU HAVE TO SHOW ME. CAN YOU DO IT FOR ME? OH YOU DO IT. I'M A SINGLE MOM SO I DON'T KNOW...." And so on in that vein.
...So, what I want to know is, What does being a single parent have to do with being completely incompetent when dealing with the simplest mechanical devices? And not only does she admit this gross deficiency, she BLARES IT IN A LOUD VOICE THAT CAN BE HEARD THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE STORE.
What a weakling! What a wretch! What's the word? Naïf? I bet she even believes the police will really show up, and in time to matter, if she calls 911. How can anyone be so deliberately, so aggressively useless?
...Oh. Maybe that's it, some passive-aggressive thing where she could do things herself but would rather manipulate others into doing them for her.
(Kinda like Democrats....)
Of course if you do that long enough, you forget how to do stuff for real, and you become as useless as you want everyone to think you are.
(Kinda like Democrats....)
Gods, I hate cityfolk.
Called another insurance outfit from work, recommended by a co-worker, but the individual I was directed to wasn't in. Eh, I think I'll just go with Nationwide, everyone I've talked to about it says, "Hey, that's not bad, what's the name of that company again?" Now waiting for the DMV form, whatever it is. The agent I talked to yesterday said she'd mail it right out. Then, I need to re- learn how to drive, and how to drive a stick, which, frankly, I haven't done much of, ever. Won't be commuting or taking freeways right away, will cruise around low-traffic surface streets for a while building confidence. Hope to be up to speed by Independence Day, the blacksmith friend, et.al., may be congregating for a certain neighborhood's traditional Good Show.
211 - Saturday, 7 June 2003: Forecast for lower 90s today, as opposed to mid-90s yesterday. Going for English Pit.
Considering taking another C-Tran bus once I get across the river, but the schedules don't match up well and I've discovered I can approach English Pit from further south, instead of looping around to the north like I've been doing (I thought there was a hill there but there isn't to speak of). Leisurely breakfast, taking 11:36 bus.
Or not. Got to the bus stop 8 minutes before departure and two bikes were already waiting. (There are only two slots on the bus rack.) Which turns out just as well because I forgot to pack the cleaning rod. Cruffler accumulates rods, says it's always good to have one around, and now I see his point; I'll get another for a permanent place in the range bag, as opposed to the tackle-box gun-tool-kit. Next bus 12:11, which does match up well with another bus.
"Clean Air Action Day." Ride busses free. Bonus.
Really need new glasses. Many scratches interfering with sight picture & everything. Remembered straps, anyway.
This won't be a real practice session, I think, since I have to sight-in the Mojo-Mauser to begin with. Should get at least some useful handgun practice though, will start with that.
Yup, saved mileage, cooler & easier. Arrived about 1pm. As usual, three reduced human- silhouette targets at ten yards. A couple cylinders for warmup, not bad. 47 rounds Winchester left, now shooting for "record." Only so much left of the 10Mb my ISP gives me for web space, I'll only post the best groups.
Third cylinder, second target, pretty good. Next cylinder not- two Desert Eagles, at least one in .50AE, a couple lanes over, slightly distracting. Fresh targets. Should have brought some food but I'm okay. Will stockpile some snacks for future trips.
Target #4, not worth scanning but I am improving with a handgun. Five more rounds on that one so the rest of the cylinders come out even. Also using the empty chamber as a flinch detector (a very mild case, if any). Target #5 about the same, and another cylinder on that too. #6, better except for the first round. Another cylinder, last of the Winchester ammo, on that one as well, not too bad. Two odd rounds of the UMC on target #4 before changing targets, again using empty chambers for flinch-control. Immediately noticed higher recoil and perceived less smoke.
Other shooters left the handgun range at this point, had it to myself. Scrounged brass, some .357 and - goodness! - the Desert Eagle shooter abandoned some .50 Action Express cases! Maybe a dozen. Also a few more 12-gauge hulls.
Fresh targets for the rest of the UMC. Point of impact a little higher but windage good. Wow! Target #7!
#8 went to point of aim, mostly, I must have been holding it wrong for #7. Shrug. #9, one flyer, but I knew it, I unlocked the wrist in anticipation of recoil. Hah! I knew that when it happened! That's important.
Oops- only three silhouette targets left, must make more. 30 rounds UMC left, I'll just chew them up and save one target for the derringer.
Something keeps smacking me in the left cheek when I touch off this revolver, regardless of which ammunition I use. It feels more solid than a shockwave but doesn't seem to leave a mark so I don't think it's debris from the barrel-cylinder gap. Again, shrug. Anyway, as seen on target #7, it's not too much of a distraction.
Really stiffer recoil with this 125-grain stuff, though it may be (paradoxically?) more accurate. Will buy another box, and more Winchester 110-grain, for a more careful comparison next time. Targets #10 & 11 not worth scanning but generally went where I intended. Progress made with handgun.
Out of .357, target #12 for the derringer. Starting with 15 grains by volume Pyrodex P, .433" ball, .015" lubed patch.
...Pop. Thhhhump. Thwack. I guess the .433" really is significantly smaller than the .440" because there must have been enough blow-by from the propellant gas to rob it of enough velocity that it bounced off the target board and rolled halfway back to me on the ground. Switching to .440" ball, same patches.
Pop-Bang. Very low recoil but it did penetrate the ½" plywood. Way high and left. Now using the ~17-grain spout. Aimed low & right, got a grazing hit. No noticeable increase in recoil or muzzle effects. Ball-starter required as designed. Must remember to try .440" in flintlock after all, next time I take it out. Discernable pause between the pop of the cap and the bang of the powder charge. Maybe some oil or other residue in the nipple?
Still high and left. Eh, it's a touching-distance weapon anyway, and not even a "weapon," really, unless I go time-traveling. Purely for recreational use. Eight rounds fired, the pause between cap and powder seems to have gone. Strikes all over the target if it hit at all, but it works. Will also make a good noisemaker for holidays, with rather more powder and some newspaper wadding. About 2:15pm, to the rifle range!
Got lane 7. Shorty AR in lane 6 (Severe Muzzle Blast) and it was jamming too (failures to extract, and magazine problems - looked like a post-ban 10-round unit). As usual, three 1"/4MOA square grid targets at 25 yards.
(Now, of the first string of five rounds, three made a 4MOA group, which was also about 4MOA high and right, which is pretty good for freshly-installed sights. But, then the TurKrap Effect resurfaced.)
Like the Mojo. Can see the whole 1" aiming point, equivalent to a human torso at 500 yards remember, through the front aperture with a center hold. Would probably have better sight picture without the front sight protector but I like having it. May consider fabricating a wider one whose wings won't interfere. Staying on first target for sighting in.
Recoil about the same as the Mosin, within tolerance. String #2 seems to have the windage. Kalashnikov on Lane 4 flinging brass (steel, actually) at my head. Two shorty ARs on the line now but the one on Lane 6 seems to be bouncing it's brass off the roof post.
...Mostly.
(Curious; .223/5.56mm brass found beyond the 25-yard target holders. Do those poodle-shooters really fling it that far?)
Loading much easier than the Mosin, even with crummy Turk brass chargers. Extraction sticky though, some evidence of primer flow (1942 headstamp). Overcompensated on elevation, now going low, also the sight is binding a little against one of the tangent ramps in the sight base, may have to do something about that.
Huh. This Turkish ammo may be inaccurate crap after all. Anyway the center of the pattern seems to be where it should. Now on target #2 for string #5.
Gawd. About 16 MOA. I know I was shooting better than that. Should have brought the Czech ammo. Will look for different flavors of 7.92x57mm at the Expo show next weekend.
String #6, target #3 - aw come on! The sight picture was right there! This is embarrassing. Won't bother with a full session at this rate. Fresh targets.
Wow - there's something you don't see every day: Someone who doesn't know how to operate a Kalashnikov. All firearms on the line have to be cleared - bolts open, magazines out - before anyone goes downrange. I had to show this guy - maybe 21 years old, archetypal Slacker appearance - not only how to use the magazine catch but where it was. (He thought the safety lever was it.) Shudder. (Later, as I was leaving, this same creature sent a round downrange - with the rifle laying flat on the bench and some people on the line with their hearing protection off. I glared at him and said loudly, "Rule Number Three: Keep Your Finger Off The Trigger." He looked bewildered. I left. Hopefully this was my last visit to English Pit, as I'll be driving soon and can go Other Places.)
Strings #7 & 8 on target #4, not a single hit, still 15-20 MOA patterns. Strings #9 & 10 on targets #5 & 6 the same. Crap! Fifty rounds fired, pointless to continue with this lousy ammo. I suppose I could try the stuff I got from Cruffler, maybe 1944 was a better year than 1942, but I'm packing it in for today. Left about 3:30.
Could have gone just the five miles to the transit center and taken the bus back across the river, free, but I could use the exercise of the 11+ mile ride over the I-205 bridge. Probably should have brought sunscreen. Eh, I'll live. Hit 37mph on the bridge downhill. :)
Rifle got hot, of course, much cosmoline weeping from the stock. Still Warmer Than Ambient after hour-long return ride. Cleaned up okay, did the window-cleaner thing before leaving, using USGI bore cleaner at home. Still not a perfect bore to begin with but better than the other four.
Hm- also got consistently smacked in the right cheek by the Mauser's stock. The Mosin didn't do that. Will need to look into that.
Oh, what the heck. Putting my OFF window decal on the car, and probably the GOA and JPFO ("GUN OWNER" inside a Star-of-David) as well next time I stumble across them in the mess of my computer desk. Will still need Betsy Ross decal, and a Gadsden if I can find one. May just order some. May even do the bumper stickers after all: "Criminals Prefer Unarmed Victims." "Politicians Prefer Unarmed Peasants." Usually available at the Expo show.
212 - Monday, 9 June 2003: Looks like the Lexmark printer's cartridges are about done for, and I'm not going to spend $60 refilling a $50 printer. May just donate the cursed thing to one of those refurbishing places, I've got Some Stuff to get rid of that way once I'm driving. I could go right out and buy a new printer on sale somewhere but haven't researched the relative cartridge costs yet, and I'm still trying to keep money in the account for auto insurance. Nothing from Nationwide yet, still waiting on that DMV form.
Installed the 1Gb drive I got at the flea market for $8, it works. Shuffled drives & files, more room now. The 850Mb was giving me some trouble, I transferred the files to the larger drive and wiped it, seems okay now. System as a whole still unstable but muddling along.
Idled the car a while the other day, after three weeks just sitting there, started right up, reassuring. Seems to be mainly metric inside. No tools yet, still saving for insurance. If the sales run out there will be others. Priorities: First, auto insurance; tied for second, new glasses, new printer, and a faster (and cleaner, software-wise) computer.
213 - Tuesday, 10 June 2003: Made a hundred copies of the human-silhouette target, and fifty of the Declaration of Independence, which I've formatted to fit on one double-sided piece of paper and still be readable. Will make more later and scatter them, sort of a Johnny Libertyseed thing. :)
New cartoon!
Okay, all right, I'm not really a Republican anymore (though of course I'm still a republican, if you know what I mean), but I still have occasional fits of partisanism. Also one of the office critters at work has a "Dean for America" bumper sticker and my knee is jerking. According to discussion on the net, that former governor of Vermont has gone a long way toward turning what used to be a decent state into just another socialist hellhole.
214 - Wednesday, 11 June 2003: Biked back from work today, first time this year, without incident. Stopped by Office Depot on the way to price printer cartridges and yipe! HP, Lexmark, Epson, they're all about $30, except the ones that are more - and except for Canon, still well under $10 for a black cartridge. One third-party offering was $12.10 for a two-pack. So I'll be getting a Canon printer. Color cartridges were under $20 as I recall, didn't see any third-party for those but will keep shopping.
Office Depot offers a ream of recycled printer paper free in exchange for a spent inkjet cartridge or laser toner cartridge for recycling. Why not? I already have a pair of empties for the cursed Lexmark, besides the ones I'm cussing at now.
In the latest Shotgun News, J&G Sales advertises WWII German 7.92mm Mauser ammunition for 10¢/round or less - 300 rounds for $29.97, plus shipping. Considering it. So much stuff, so little money - auto insurance, glasses, a computer that doesn't suck, rifle ammunition likewise, and Kiesler's Wholesale advertises an Imbel M444 FAL rifle for $679 (dealer price; probably at least $700 retail but that still beats DSA's cheapest offering). The rear sight is imperfect but there's quite an FAL community on the net and I recently read of a project where the FAL sight was replaced with a SMLE #4 unit, which still isn't what I want but is better than anything I currently have.
215 - Thursday, 12 June 2003: Biked back from work again and actually felt pretty good, zipping right along, taking some hills in higher gears than I used to. Cool.
Office Depot seems to have the best price on Canon inkjet cartridges, compared to Office Max, Circuit City, and Fred Meyer, but none of the above seem to have a Canon printer of a corresponding model on sale presently. Eh, still waiting for auto insurance. Still nothing from Nationwide.
216 - Saturday, 14 June 2003: Flag Day! Been flying the Betsy Ross and the Gadsden since the start of the Iraq war, and longer, weather permitting. May get a fresh pair at the show tomorrow, that vendor is a regular and has decent prices.
Blacksmith friend stopped by, pronounced my car a Good Buy, gave maintenance tips.
About a week ago, finally read The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin, in a new collected- works volume edited by Eric Flint. Anyway, brrr.
As for Flint, I've enjoyed his alternate-universe books 1632 and 1633 and am looking forward to the next installment, The Baltic War, though my knee does jerk a bit at his pro-union - that is, demographically pro-Democrat - bent. But he doesn't seem anti-gun.
S. M. Stirling does. His Island in the Sea of Time series, bearing certain resemblances in plot to Flint's current Amuricans-sent-back-in-time series, was well-enough written but I was really turned off by Stirling's characters' constant preaching on various leftist and authoritarian themes. Gave up on the books he was co-writing with James Doohan, for the same reasons. I remember enjoying his Draka series, but now I wonder if he was writing horror stories, or if I was just reading them that way and he was trying to write something else. His series The General and later books, co-written with David Drake, were also well done but contained some of the same "authority-knows- best-and-anyone-who-disagrees-is-a-filthy-racist" stuff. I note that Drake went with Flint for the latest installment, The Tyrant. Officially Stirling didn't have time but Drake seems a reasonable sort and I wonder what really happened. I've also enjoyed other of Drake's work.
David Weber co-wrote 1633 and I think is on the team for The Baltic War. I don't read much fantasy but have done a couple of his, The War God's Own and the other one in that series whose title I can't recall. One of the female characters, a fellow-warrior of the lead characters, commented at one point that where she came from, peasants (like she used to be) were not allowed to bear arms, in such a way that that was clearly a Bad Thing. I like Weber.
Now reading The Wreck of the River of Stars by Michael Flynn, apparently the fifth book in the Firestar universe, about a century and a half later. A little wordy perhaps but still a page-turner. Didn't Flynn win the Prometheus Award for Best Libertarian Fiction with Firestar? I wish I'd gone to a Mentor Academy. Flynn also co-wrote Fallen Angels with Niven and Pournelle.
One of these days, must track down a copy of Great Kings' War, the sequel to Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen by H. Beam Piper.
Withdrew cash for show tomorrow, carefully not taking checkbook or ATM card. Keeping $100 minimum in savings, and enough in checking to start the auto insurance. Nothing from Nationwide in the mail today, they said on the 5th they'd send that DMV form, will call them from work Monday.
Will have to dig out the VCR and plug it back in. While at the library, discovered a video on flintknapping, a skill I do not have. Several less-than-functional flints on hand for the flintlock pistol(s), hopefully I can learn to put a new face, or whatever, on them. Also, I have a copy of Quigley Down Under I haven't viewed yet - only seen the film once or twice, it's a gunfolk favorite and Selleck makes good western - and it's about time to see The Outlaw Josie Wales again. Also got some Samurai flicks from the library. Some of Eastwood's westerns - for that matter, several westerns - were little more than remakes of Samurai flicks. And that's all right.
How about a high-quality, techno-historically-accurate remake of The Good, the Bad & the Ugly? (There were no cartridge-conversion percussion revolvers while the War Between the States was still going on, as far as I know, though I've recently learned there were a whole lot of pinfire pieces in use then, largely by the South. Also the rifle Eastwood's character uses was a Winchester Model 1866 - the war effectively ended in ‘65 - and quality reproductions of the 1860 Henry are now available so the film crew wouldn't have to risk damage to a five-figure original.) Selleck wouldn't be harsh enough for Eastwood's part, I think, but since I lost cable and gave up on TV I haven't seen his more recent made-for-cable westerns so maybe he could do it. Eh, most actors (not Selleck - remember the Rosie Incident?), most directors and producers, are raging leftists anyway. John Milius might make it without wrecking it but I'm not entirely sure whose side he's on either, what with the Neal Knox/NRA Schism thing. Nah, leave well enough alone, I reckon.
I suppose I'll have to get a copy of GB&U someday, too. Also I'd like to get a copy of Harry's War starring Edward Hermann. It's been so long I can barely remember the plot but as I recall, the IRS comes after Hermann's character on trumped-up, or computer-error, charges, and he Resists. There are rumors the government has actively suppressed this film. I'm pretty sure I can just get it through the net.
217 - Sunday, 15 June 2003: Departed 8am, biking to gun show, arrived at Expo Center about 8:35, earlier than expected. Line already forming at ticket booth. No sign of Cruffler. Entered, still no Cruffler by 9:10am, he said he'd meet me out front at 9 - may have got sidetracked, car broke down, who knows. On to the aisles!
Multiple blueshirts prowling the entire exhibit hall throughout. At least five, in addition to regular rent-a-fascists, and at least three Portland Police cars parked in clearly-marked "NO PARKING" areas.
There is coming a time when those badges will make good targets....
Anyway. Less than $80 to spend after admission. Saw:
VZ24s, up to $125. Heh. Turk Mausers, as low as $61. Eh. Got enough Mausers for now. Marlin Camp Carbine, .45, $500 or so, a couple places. Romanian .22 bolt-action trainers, $81 and up. Mosin M44 carbine, $51, that's competitive. Nagant M1895 revolver, with Interesting MechanismTM, $135. I wanted one of those last time they were around but couldn't justify it. Now there's a new batch in and... I still can't justify it.
7.92mm ammunition - TurKrap everywhere, $5-$10 for a bandolier of 70. Some was in higher-quality bandoliers than usual, and some of that was on good steel chargers instead of the usual crummy brass. Passed, but saw some which the vendor said was Greek, ‘39 headstamp, 1940 box, $1.75/20 rounds. Got four boxes for $6 on the way out, hope to try it next weekend - but don't want to go back to English Pit.
Yugo SKSs, with grenade launcher spigot and sight, as low as $130 depending on condition. Russian & Chinese, $250 or so. CETME, $399 but the ergonomics still suck.
#11 percussion caps, $3.50/100, I think Bi-Mart can beat that, but got some 12 gauge muzzleloading/blackpowder-cartridge wads, $2.75 for 100 overpowder plus 100 overshot, and $3 for 100 pre-lubed cushion wads. With plastic hulls, can just put the cushion wad between the overpowder and overshot wads, without using an overshot wad because I have the plastic mouth to crimp, and that should keep the lube from doing undesirable things to the powder or the lead buckshot I plan on getting someday. Can still use ordinary plastic wads for #6 shot competition loads. Still no suitable smokeless shotgun powder.
Ishapore 7.62mm SMLE, $170. Ah- FALs. Inch-pattern L1A1s actually, "metric mags" $700, "inch mags" $600 - want metric. Want entirely metric actually. At those prices, for used rifles, I might as well go to a regular FFL and have him order that Imbel M444 for me. But I don't have near that much saved up anyway and don't want to do layaway for so big a purchase, with my unstable finances.
Romanian Kalashnikovs: WSAR10, 7.62x39mm, $329, with 10- & 30-round magazines; SAR2, 5.45x39mm, $375, with same-capacity magazines; "AK47", 10-round only but would accept regular units, $329, all with buttstock cleaning kits, sling, a couple other things. Also all with scope rail.
Star Model B, 9x19mm, $250. Argentine GP35 clone, $430 - ow. Argentine M1927, (licensed!) clone of the Colt 1911A1, $350 - that's pretty good, actually. Walther P38 (post-war P1), as low as $340. Ruger GP100 revolver, $420. Bulgarian Makarov, new with two magazines, $159.
VZ24 edge-up bayonets, $12, but I am fully bayonetted for now. (Nothing found suitable for the M590 project.) 9x19mm 115-grain FMJ 100-round value pack, UMC (Remington) $10.95, USA (Winchester) $11.50.
Portuguese surplus 7.62mm NATO - decent stuff, I tried it before I gave up on the Ishapore - $34.95 for a 200-round battlepack. 7.62x54mmR as low as $2.95/20 but passed this time.
Heritage Rough Rider revolver, .22LR single-action, $154. Foldover soft rifle cases, 3/$10, did that, should have enough for a while now. Um- should have bought another long handgun case for the second flintlock. Eh, worry about that when it's in a condition to be carried somewhere. Did not find suitable sights, for it or the Stevens M52, may just order from Dixie or GPC.
Used Kahr K9, nicely-engineered compact 9x19mm, $359. Digital calipers, $29, not this time. H&R Sportsman 9-shot .22LR top-break revolver, $165. Exploding targets, $9.50/10. Used Llama .380, 1911ish, $225, with two magazines. Saiga sporting Kalashnikov, 7.62x39mm, $199. Hi-Point 9mm carbine, $178. Kel-Tec Sub-2000 folding carbine, .40S&W, $280.
CZ75B, $439 new, $369 used. CZ97 .45, still too big for my hand (the ‘75 fit nice with the checkered wood grips, not so nice with the plastic thumbrest), $539. New Kahr K9, stainless, $559. Percussion revolvers, still beat by Cabelas on all counts. Springfield 1911 basic model, GI-style fixed sights & parkerized, $469.
Flag vendor not there! Only one bumper sticker display, did not have the ones I wanted. Can always order them.
Post-Ban M1A, $1129. Percussion derringer, not identical to mine and more crudely finished (whoever built mine did a nice job), $119. Kit, same as mine was from, $99. Birchwood Casey Plum Brown, for old-style muzzleloader barrels and such, $6.50 for five ounces, will remember that when I'm ready to refinish the flintlock pistol(s). Flintlock rifle kit, .50, $199. 6mmx1 nipple, meant for rifles, $3.95, but stainless and would still clash with the rest of the derringer's finish. Wads for .36 percussion revolver, $5.15/100, passed today. CVA Bobcat economy .50 percussion carbine, still $120 but tag no longer says "no box".
STG58, Austrian (?) metric FAL, with bipod, $799. EAA Russian double shotgun, 12 gauge of course, $272. Stoeger hammerless, $225. Eh, already have a short-barreled double. Spanish 7.62mm NATO, $3.50/20, $150/1000. 7.62x39mm, about $3/20 all over. Kuhnhausen manuals $30, which is pretty good for retail, but passed. Will likely get the Mauser volume next show (September).
11am, all the way through and still no Cruffler. Went back through, got a box of Winchester .357/110 JHP for $11.95 and the aforementioned Greek 7.92mm, dropped a couple bucks in the VFW table's jar, still no Cruffler, left about 11:45. Hopped over the I-5 bridge and back for Washington state lottery tickets, returned about 1pm.
218 - Tuesday, 17 June 2003: (Cruffler had e-mailed me that he couldn't make the show, but I didn't check my inbox before I left.)
Finally called the insurance company from work - yesterday I was distracted by my job sucking - and made some progress. They faxed the form thing to me there, and I filled it out and faxed it back and was ready to start the insurance right over the phone with my debit card and-
-they asked for the Vehicle Identification Number, which I did not think to bring. So I'll try again tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Cruffler announces he's scored a couple hundred Winchester AA shotshell hulls and will pass them along to me! Cool! The Load-All has been set aside for logistic reasons - I don't want to haul a nine-pound Mossberg all the way out to English Pit on a bike just to fire a few experimental rounds into the dirt. But now that I'm imminently motorized I can go somewhere else! Then I can develop a nice load and put the old double on duty!
Will probably not go shooting this weekend, need to relearn how to drive first. Also, no telling when the proof-of-insurance will arrive in the mail.
219 - Wednesday, 18 June 2003: I ARE INSURED! They faxed a copy of the proof to me at work and the real one is on the way. It was 25% down, not two months, for $78.15 to start the six-month policy. Remainder in monthly billings, about $55, also payable online. Slightly more room in the checking account than I had expected.
220 - Friday, 20 June 2003: Payday! Checks dispatched to SAF and GOA, per recent snail-mail alerts.
I really hate my job, but in a disturbing reversal, many of my friends are unemployed or otherwise in financial straits and I'm the one with a job and a recently-purchased automobile. Freaky.
Cruffler informs me that Clark Rifles' P.I.G. (Politically Incorrect Gun) Match will be held on Saturday, 26 July. Extra points for shooting with bayonet fixed. Enough time to prepare? Could be, could be. Should dry-practice prone position, and look for something usable as a ground mat, probably just a camping mat. 220 rounds left for the Mosin but I still haven't tried it at 100 yards, and the course of fire for the P.I.G. is ten rounds each at 100, 200 and 300. (Huh? Only 30 rounds, plus sighters? They call that a match? Oh well, it still sounds like fun. Cruffler says it's very informal and fun-oriented.) Plan to go, at least to watch. Hope to get up to Clark Rifles soon for practice, maybe next weekend, after rediscovering driving this weekend.
Haircut time, both for summer and line-of-sight.
Discussed the cheek-smacking Mauser with Cruffler, noted different stock geometries; the Mauser has a lower comb and more drop from the wrist to the butt, while the Mosin is higher and straighter, so, the Mosin just slides past below my cheek on recoil, while the Mauser acts like a speed bump. This could be a problem. I believe strap-on comb risers are available, or, the surplus stock is so beat up already, it would be no great crime to just build it up. Anyway I would likely shoot the P.I.G. with the Mosin, as I have more confidence in it and its ammunition at present.
Letter from Nationwide Insurance... asking for more information to complete my coverage, like proof of previous insurance, which I told them I never had. I faxed them back the completed form even. Called toll-free number, they suggested it got electronically sidetracked and to call back Tuesday or Wednesday. Anyway they did fax me a proof-of-insurance earlier. (And they did take my money.)
A few days ago I ordered a JPFO bargain bundle and it arrived today, consisting of a Bill of Rights bumper sticker, the I Will Live Free CD, and a copy of Hope by Aaron Zelman and L. Neil Smith. The CD's case art is incorrect. It shows the traditional American Revolutionary Minuteman holding an M1A rifle (well, it might be an M14, there's a dark spot about where the selector switch is supposed to be)... and there's no bayonet lug.
Ordering loading lever arm, cylinder stop, and complete screw set for the 1861 from Dixie Gun Works, online. The first is replacement, the others are spares. Already have spare trigger & bolt spring, and hand & spring assembly, in recesses Dremeled from the one-piece grip under the backstrap. Will probably make a spot for the cylinder stop right under the butt. Will likely want to fit the bolt stop to the revolver first, so it would be a drop-in if I needed it. Already done with the hand.
Also ordered a Confederate belt buckle, on sale. :) Hope the loading arm arrives in time to install it for Independence Day blank firing, DGW's site (and e-mail alert) says their inventory starts Tuesday and some shipments may be delayed. I could spend a lot of money at Dixie. Cabela's has better prices on the three (four, if you count the 1847 Walker) most popular reproduction percussion revolvers, but DGW has all the other models, and piles of other neat stuff besides.
221 - Saturday, 21 June 2003: Started driving this morning, I do largely remember how. Still not going out in traffic but maybe later today. Stalled a couple times, never was very experienced with a stick. Keep forgetting to downshift. Probably at least two years since I've driven anything motorized. The car, at least, is behaving itself if I do my part.
New poster!
Now reading The Great Rights of Mankind: A History of the American Bill of Rights by Bernard Schwartz, 1977. Slow going, but at least it mentions the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. And I got the quote for that poster from the third chapter.
Starting to drive in traffic now, made it to a gas station on Sandy Blvd. and back without incident. The needle was just under ¼, and for $10 at $1.579 (I'll shop for a better deal later, now I know I won't run out soon), it's nearly full, so I've got, what, a 9- or 10-gallon tank? One of my first trips will be to a surplus store for a couple miniature gas cans, about 2 gallons but built like the European military 5-gallon type.
Hah. Not so hard as I thought, this driving thing. Drove to hardware store. Drove to flea market. Drove to surplus store eighty blocks from my apartment, got one of their last four miniature gas cans. Will drive to library tomorrow, will probably drive to work Monday.
I have a car.
:)
222 - Sunday, 22 June 2003: Drove all the heck over the place today, confident enough in my skills to drive to work, probably regularly. No more icky bus people! No more scrambling to make a transfer!
223 - Monday, 23 June 2003: Off work early, took freeway back, survived.
Decompressed a little, then went to Schuck's Auto Supply for a wrench set for $15 - and they were sold out, will try again tomorrow. Got a socket set for $20 instead, should have enough tools to swap out the front seats now, may stop at U-Pull-It tomorrow or Wednesday. Then I went to a guy's place who was selling a computer on the net.
It's a 233MHz Compaq Presario in a black tower. It's gotta be faster than my 133MHz Packard Bell, and for $25 how far wrong can I go? 8Gb drive, CD-ROM, USB (mine is so old it doesn't have USB! Now I could use a digital camera, if I had one), I forget how much RAM but it was more than I have now. 56k modem, like I already have, big deal. Will fiddle.
No carry case for the socket set (33 piece, both SAE and metric), will need a bag or something. While driving from one Schuck's to another in search of the wrench set, found gas for $1.499, topped off tank & filled (5-liter) miniature can. Survived rush-hour traffic on major thoroughfares.
Learned how to drive a stick....
224 - Wednesday, 25 June 2003: Sigh - looks like I'll have to get a DVD player. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is out on disk for $10 at Fred Meyer. I'll likely need a new TV too, the one I have is about obsolete. Need printer first though, and still glasses. Next payday the third, I guess, since most folks will have the fourth off.
Bought the disk, though. DVD prices are dropping like the mainstream media's credibility ratings, I've already seen them advertised at $40 from major retailers.
Noisy neighbors. Loud TV, windows open, as late as midnight. Taking up more than their share of street parking, too. Three calls to the blueshirts in the last week, about as productive as I expected. Last time, officer Chin didn't think it was so bad. I wonder if his hearing would have been more sensitive if the neighbors were white and I weren't? (The legacy of Charles Moose (commentary), former Portland chief. Nicknamed "Curtain Rod" for negligently discharging his sidearm into one. Had some kind of finger-flipping, shouting-screaming tantrum in a downtown department store, too. Filthy racist. Janet Reno likes him, that alone speaks volumes.) Drafting a letter to the property owner, co-signing with another neighbor.
Gods I hate cityfolk!
At least the car is doing well. Planning on a recon, at least, to Clark Rifles this weekend, probably Saturday, then maybe a coolant flush and/or oil change on Sunday so I'll know when the last one was. Filled the tank on Monday and the needle was pegged past full, just today starting to creep down.
225 - Thursday, 26 June 2003: Okay, the novelty of driving has worn off and I'm disgusted with traffic - that is, cityfolk. Ick.
Will probably take stuff for a full session to Clark Rifles, but don't know if I'll do any shooting. Will consult Cruffler, he goes there, and is planning on the P.I.G. match too. If I like what I see this Saturday I may enter the match. Probably the Mosin, a hundred-odd rounds (leaving plenty for the match, only 30 plus sighters), the Mossberg and the experimental loads from a couple months ago, and maybe the .357 with a box or two.
Oh, duh, and the MojoMauser and the Greek ammo.
226 - Friday, 27 June 2003: What a day! Nearly twice as busy as usual at work. Anyone else running the shipping computer would have been a disaster. Then, when an adjustment needed to be made to a particular invoice, on the invoicing computer, naturally I'm the one who gets called over to do it for them - despite my having, on my own initiative, months ago, written and printed out step-by-step instructions for exactly what needed to be done, and posted them conspicuously at that workstation, and made another copy for next to the keyboard, and sent another copy home weeks ago with the guy who now, still, couldn't figure it out. Having my own job to keep up with, I pointed this out, and the assistant manager, trying to "help," said, "I don't have time to read that." The assistant manager of the warehouse doesn't have time to learn how to run the warehouse? Well, he is a Democrat, that kind generally expects other people to do everything for them. And to pay for it all, to.
As for everyone else, like the ~18-year-old I'm supposed to be training on shipping, I've got two words: Public Education.
No logical thought. No analytical capacity. No problem-solving capability. No reading comprehension. These... things, are the future of the Republic?
Gods help us all.
The car leaked something in the parking lot, maybe a pint, I hope it was just coolant overflow. It seemed to come from the center of the engine compartment, and to have spattered like a thinner liquid. Coolant level looks fine, and the "Check Coolant Level" light, which was on earlier, is now off. No indications of oil loss, no trouble starting or driving at all. Shrug. Still planning on changing both this weekend.
Air conditioner works, by the way. Not well, but it does. Fuel gauge still a little past "F".
Sigh - I'll probably get new Lexmark cartridges after all, sometime next pay period. The printer is fine, really. It's just too much trouble to pick out a new printer and shuffle the software and so on. Meanwhile I stopped at the library to print out the map to Clark Rifles (and pick up another samurai flick on hold, and put Ann Coulter's Treason on hold, and test various links from my site with the library's faster connection).
Still reading Schwartz' The Great Rights of Mankind. More useful quotes, and some interesting ideas for adjusting my Jeffersonian Republic's Constitution. Author seems completely neutral on the right to bear arms, only mentioning it in passing, as in lists of proposed Amendments from various Committees. But at least he acknowledges its existence, unlike the other history books I've been reading.
Oh, and finally the Oregon Insurance Identification Card, and complete policy package, arrives from Nationwide, who were having trouble finding the form I faxed them twice.
227 - Saturday, 28 June 2003: Cruffler said to meet him at Clark Rifles at 8:45am. Left about 8, arrived 8:30, now I know how long it takes. Only drove past the entrance once! No firing before 9am, Cruffler showed me around first. Nice facility, friendly range officer, hope to never go back to English Pit ever.
Informal practice with .357s, my GP100 and Cruffler's Python. That old Colt - they don't make ‘em like that anymore. He was shooting .38 wadcutters and let me have a cylinder, and it all went exactly where I wanted it to go. So I can hit stuff with a handgun, and it depends at least in part on the handgun. Burned up 50 rounds Winchester 110-grain JHP, packed revolver.
About 9:30, to (one of!) the rifle range(s!). (I think there's at least one firing line I didn't even see today.) Forgot notebook, writing ‘blog notes on back of extra targets.
Club rifle target holders will take up to four 8½"x11" sheets, and that's allowed. They're sized for the big NRA "SR-C" target centers, and I bought two from the RO shack - but starting with my usual 1"/4MOA practice targets at 25 yards, with the MojoMauser and the Czech ammo. Still sighting in, really. Earlier, removed front sight protector for better sight picture, hammered front sight closer to center. Rear sight still binding in base on elevation. The sight is not defective, the opening in the base appears to be a couple hundredths off-center.
Prone shooting allowed too, on the concrete slab between the shooting benches. RO mentioned some shooters complained the benches are too close together. On the 100-yard line, they appear to be (re)moveable.
Brought Tasco 15-45x spotting scope with tiny tripod, no room on the shooting bench for everything. Next time will bring one of my larger tripods and set it up on the floor instead. Six lanes on this line, no one else there yet. I took #6, to the right, and probably will prefer it. Baffles between most lanes for brass control, and Cruffler says also for hearing protection when muzzle brakes are in use.
String #1, windage close, about a half-dozen MOA high. Adjust sights- #2, coming down. Cheek still being smacked by Mauser stock. Cruffler suggests just shoving something under the elastic cartridge carrier, duh. Will whittle something I reckon. Also, I could make it permanent, I've got five of these rifles and a sixth stock and they're all already beat up, it would be no crime against history. Sandpaper, drill, dowels, glue, more sandpaper, and Reid Coffeild is still going on about just this sort of work in Shotgun News feature articles.
Cruffler, having familial duties, took off about this time, but left me a box of at least 100 12-gauge hulls, and pointed out some dozens more abandoned in a bucket at the club.
Dragonflies cavorting downrange. Sometimes, just sit there and watch. :) String #3, a couple hits. Finally. The VZ24 has decided it's a rifle and not a shotgun.
Fifteen rounds Czech left, 70 rounds Greek brought, switching. String #4, elevation OK, a little to the right. Tiny-hex-wrench adjustments less than blissful, but at least it is adjustable. #5 a little low now, but windage good. More importantly, grouping. So the Turk ammo is crap for rifles. I've heard it's popular with machinegunners. They're welcome to it.
String #6, overcompensated elevation. #7, a couple hits. About 10:20, more shooters arriving, no difficulties, not the kind found at English Pit. String #8 disappointing, the cheek business is bothersome. String #9 also disappointing but two hits. Ow, switching to Mosin. Fresh targets.
String #10 for the day, high & left but good group. May get a Mojo for the Mosin, it appears to be worth it. Maybe just the rear sight, the front post is adequate. #11, fixed bayonet in anticipation of P.I.G. match, opening up some but still respectable. Encouraging.
Okay, the Mosin is about where I left it and the Mauser is beginning to behave properly. Time to try the Mosin at 100 yards. One SR-C target center. Thirteen-inch black at the 9 ring, 3" ring, 2" 10-ring, 3" X ring. Also a 3" white 8 ring and the corners of the 3" 7 ring, 21" square total. Black circle more than three times the MOA I'm training for, it's actually bigger than the front sight. :)
Managed to miss once in my first 100-yard string anyway. Can't see hits in the black under these light conditions with this spotting scope, but there's a hole in the 8 ring.
Getting hot - the weather, that is. Forecast for 90s. Keeping the other large target center for some other time, firing three more strings on existing target, not hiking back and forth today. Still need to test shotgun loads too, and I have other errands to run back in Oregon today.
So, for 20 rounds at 100 yards with a 50-year-old carbine with bayonet fixed, with open sights and 14-year-old ammunition with wrinkled case necks, I got five 8s, eight 9s, five 10s and two Xs, with the pattern centered about 10:30 in the 9 ring. This is useful information. If I aim about 4:30 on the edge of the black I should get mostly 10s.
But this target is way huge for 100 yards. Next weekend is Independence Day of course, planning on fireworks and such with friends, but maybe on the 12th I'll go again and try the longer distances. Oh, the RO says they do CMP there too! I can qualify for a $400-$500 Garand!
About 11:45am, now to the handgun/shotgun range. Much friendlier than English Pit, just remove the handgun-target holders, which are only resting in slots, and get them out of the way. No shotgun fire on club target holders, fair enough. Only doing a function test anyway, and there are plastic wads and clumps of weeds and scraps of plywood from the target holders all over the backstop to aim at.
Disposed of long-in-the-tooth duty ammo, 13 rounds (eight in tube, five on butt carrier) of Federal Tactical "reduced recoil" OO buckshot. Didn't seem so reduced to me, but my tolerance has really improved and I can take it, for a while. Then, five rounds of the PMC version from a couple shows ago, felt about the same.
Now my Pyrodex loads. Four rounds, 70 grains by volume Pyrodex RS, 1-1/8 ounce #7½ shot by Lee's bushing, essentially the Hodgdon manual's load, kicked about as much as the rifles. One at 60 grains, 7/8 ounce, kicked a lot less. One at 55, 7/8, less still; two at 45, 7/8, I could shoot that all day. Maybe a 60-grain load with one ounce, that should be a good trade between performance and recoil. Now need to search for bulk buckshot, or maybe make some.
Packed up and left about 12:10, returned about 12:45. Still peeling Parkerizing from inside the Mossberg's bore, don't know if it's a reaction to the Pyrodex or if it would have done that with use anyway. The wire-loop "tornado" bore brush works pretty good for that, but I'm leery of using one in a rifled barrel - I don't expect it would harm anything, I'm just not sure it would get into the grooves as well as it should, but in a smoothbore it seems fine. Both rifles cleaned up fine.
Anyway, good place, will go back, will probably invest in membership.
Even if I do have to rejoin NRA again.
Man, samurai flicks are downers.
228 - Sunday, 29 June 2003: Biked to laundromat and flea market, for exercise. Yesterday, discovered how much faster everything goes by in a car - like turnoffs and on-ramps. Back on the bike, everything is slower and farther away!
Got Sunday paper for ads, will hold off on oil change and coolant flush until after payday to take advantage of sales. No trouble with car at all thus far, very little oil leakage, especially compared to the cars my friends and neighbors drive. :) "Check Coolant Level" light can't make up its mind, the green stuff is where it's supposed to be according to the lines on the reservoir.
229 - Monday, 30 June 2003: Cool! The package from Dixie Gun Works is here! The loading lever arm came with the latch, bonus, won't have to transfer those parts. (Actually I did since they're slightly different lengths. Some Trouble getting the retaining pin out of the new one, and more getting it back in.) Hm, not as nicely polished as the original, but- (fiddle fiddle) yup, it fits, with some Fitting, which will require some time. Also received complete screw set for reproduction Colt revolver, now when they get too ugly I can replace them. Cylinder-stop too, fitting again required, that's for another day when I have some good files and spare time and more patience than today - you want to be careful with revolver timing. The belt buckle looks fine for the price, my first piece of Confederate uniform! Virginia Infantry, eventually, I'm thinking. Perhaps a Captain... though if I ever get into re-enacting instead of just dressing up to tick off the leftists, I'll likely be a lowly enlisted grunt.
As an officer, I'd need a fancier sword.... Dixie has a fine selection, including historically- correct models, but Confederate supply being catch-as-can-capture-from-the-Federals, I've a lot of leeway in equipping myself. Like my 1861 Colt Navy, which could only have reached Confederate hands as a battle prize. "Took it of'n a dead bluebelly." :) And frankly, swords became truly obsolete during the War Between the States, when repeating handguns were available for close combat and when an individual rifleman with a .58 Springfield or Enfield could hit an individual enemy officer, on purpose, at hundreds of yards. By the end of the conflict, only egotistical snobs like Custer or flamboyant commanders like Stuart still bothered with swords. What my Captain would realistically carry instead of a sword would be a couple extra revolvers. I'd love to get a Third Model Dragoon, just because it's so wonderfully huge and powerful, but the "1858" Remington is both a superior design and available in significant numbers to the South, and more affordable than the Dragoon as reproductions.
Loading lever fitting mostly done, it works, will more finely adjust it next time I have it apart for cleaning, like after gunning down imaginary damnyankees this Friday. :) It's obviously from a different manufacturer and the knobs, which fit the holes under the barrel, are oversize. The original is as-cast and of course works perfectly. Filing the knobs works, I don't want to make any alterations to any major component. Cylinder stop is oversize as well but not much, not touching it until further contemplation.
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