RIFLEMAN'S JOURNAL - SEPTEMBER 2003

Will probably take the ISP plunge tomorrow after work. Should probably stop at bank and make sure Inet isn't charging anymore.

Departing for hills about noon, not getting as much practice as I'd hoped, should have gone to Clark Rifles yesterday. Maybe this upcoming weekend, the Expo show on one day and the range on the other. Taking the double and all the Pyrodex rounds I've loaded; MojoMauser and some Greek ammo; and the GP100 but not planning on firing it as I'm still low on ammo for it but I want to get used to carrying it. Now using an actual IWB, thumb-break by Uncle Mike's. Both more and less comfortable than the belt-slide last time. More concealable anyway.

This is little more than an excuse to burn gas. Stopping in Damascus on the way, there's a 76 station there with habitually-low prices (price war with a Safeway station down the street), if it's still low I'll top off there and refill the reserve can. The surplus store where I found the small can has more of them for $7 each but passed for now, and I think I want a five-gallon next anyway. They had some, $15, but they were the USGI type and I want the Euro/German pattern like the little one I already have. There's a good surplus store in Damascus too but they're likely closed for the holiday and it's a bit far to go out there during the week. I'll look anyway.

Yeah, that's closed. Filled up, the can too, at $1.81⁹, which is a pretty good price around here these days- and the rear-view mirror fell off the windshield. This happened before, after I returned from the coast and was at the woodworker's place figuring the headlights out, and he used some kind of binary aerosol superglue to fix it. Fortunately there's a Bi-Mart in Damascus, and it was open today, and they have a respectable automotive aisle, so for $3 I got the binary goop intended for mounting the mirror and it worked. I already had a razor scraper to clean the surfaces.

Then for the next few hours I drove. And drove. Some pretty country, certainly, and the DeLorme gazeteer was of use, and every once in a great while there's a sign on one of the Forest Service roads. The places I had in mind to shoot at were occupied of course but I used that as an excuse to keep driving, which I find I kinda like. Went far past where I'd ever been before, and that was with others driving. Figured, at worst, I had a full tank of gas and could just laboriously go back the way I came.

Eventually found one of those little gravel roads leading down to a cul-de-sac where the logging machinery used to be set up to drag logs uphill for loading on log trucks. This one was long disused and had a good hillside for a backstop. Also some scrap wood from decades-past logging for targets. Not bothering with the MojoMauser today, not enough distance and I didn't really bring everything I need for rifle training. Must make a point of going to Clark Rifles next weekend.

So just the double. On with the detested goggles and the earmuffs. First, fired some blanks, they worked well, 60 grains Pyrodex RS, a card, and newspaper wadding seems adequate. Then the #6 loads I made earlier, they worked fine and were mild enough. Now the buckshot. ...Not much more recoil than the #6, still something less than the Mosins. Examination of wood chunks reveals somewhat less penetration than I expected, but I imagine it would still ruin a home-invader's day. May increase powder charge in the next batch of buckshot but probably not. Knocked some wood around, used up all Pyrodex 12-gauge rounds I had, drove on.

Examining map, decided to keep going on USFS 45 and come out the other side, meaning Molalla, more-or-less. Unlike some folks I can read maps, and I wear a small compass on my watchband, and that was sufficient to lead me from the wilderness. More pretty country. Eww - a town called Liberal on the way back. Well, it was a small town. Returned about 5pm, cleaned shotgun, ate something.

And boy was that holster uncomfortable! I placed it behind my starboard kidney, using a belt loop on the jeans as designed to keep it from shifting, and it's okay for walking around or sitting in a chair at a desk or such, and with an overshirt hanging down it conceals well, but it's just not suitable for driving. Maybe if I placed it right on the point of the hip instead - but either way it would be nearly impossible to draw while sitting in the car, especially with seatbelts. Crossdraw should fix that too. Really need a different method for driving. A fanny pack would work but one big enough for the GP100 would attract undue attention. Summer makes concealment more difficult too. I have a vertical shoulder holster for the revolver but it was a waste of money. A horizontal one would probably work better but I've tried others in the past and shoulder rigs in general just don't feel right.

Started loading more Pyrodex buckshot rounds! And some #6 too. May fetch some smokeless powder tomorrow but will probably wait for next paycheck, there's still the Expo show to consider. Eeww! The hulls from the blank loads were melted at the mouth. Probably something about pressures and velocities and burning times. Eh, I've got more hulls. The big loading manual I had from the library emphasized the need to discard questionable hulls. Those from live rounds surprisingly clean inside, blanks filthy. Hmm.

Dug out sack of Federal buckshot hulls, how many was that? About eighty I think. Probably fill 'em all with Pyrodex and buckshot, depending how much material I have. Bummer, the ones in the sack need to be resized, that'll take a while. Oof! Resizing is a hassle, moreso with the high-brass buckshot hulls of course. If I do much more of this I should invest in a separate resizer with a big beefy lever of its own, but they're $50-$60, more than I paid for the Load-All - and once a hull is resized, and fired in a particular weapon, it generally doesn't need to be resized again if it isn't going to be used in any other weapon. Maybe I'll see something at the show. I could haunt pawn shops too, like Cruffler, but I shouldn't go into those places for the same reason an alcoholic shouldn't go into a bar. Crufflegene indeed. Fortunately (?) I desire bayonet lugs on my long guns whenever possible and most pawn-shop fare doesn't have them.

Decided on 40 buckshot rounds and 20 #6, and some of the latter needed to be resized too. (I determined this by simply trying to chamber the empty hulls in the double.) Resized/deprimed on station 1, primed on station 2, got all that done before worrying about powder and such. There has got to be a better way to get 60 grains-by-volume of Pyrodex RS than dipping three times with a .30 Carbine case. Great, another expensive tool to buy.

...Got the 40 rounds of buckshot done, 60 grains, .125" overpowder card, 1/2" lubed cushion wad, then either two .125", or one .125" and four .025" overshot cards, depending which came out of the bag in what quantity - should be no significant variation in pressure or velocity, I imagine either way has about the same compressability, there was no significant variation in column height. Used most of one bag of cards, will need another pack of cushion wads for next batch. Less than two pounds of OO left, and most of a pound of Pyrodex RS gone, but a warmfuzzy sense of accomplishment. The double is back on duty. Work will suck tomorrow, will worry about the 20 rounds of #6 later, the hulls for them are resized and primed.

Weather forecast mid-90s tomorrow and the next couple days, then "soaking rain" later and the weekend. Well phooey!

283 - Tuesday, 2 September 2003: Up late fiddling with my new ISP, Iguanasoft. $6.50/month for the first six, then $15, "unlimited" access, 30Mb personal website space. Email is working, got my Yahoo account switched over, slightly clueless about accessing newsgroups and uploading my site. Emailed for support but guessed the e-dress, none listed on the ISP's site, hmm. On the other hand, when I signed up I called the toll-free number from the Computer Bits ad about 8pm and talked to a real person after about half a minute on hold. Billing by snail-mail, apparently, but online payment options mentioned.

Up later fiddling with the local copy of my site, doublechecking the HTML code, etc. Still have to transcribe this 'blog after the end of July from the word processor files. Using Windows Wordpad, of all things, since WordPerfect went down with the Packard Bell, but I salvaged the data files, but I can't access them with anything on the Compaq. I may have access to an MS Office disk, that should come with MS Word, right? And that should be able to import from an eight-year-old version of WordPerfect, right? At worst I'll open them with Wordpad and pick the raw text out of them "by hand." As for the functional differences between MS Word and WordPerfect, in my experience most word processors - especially Windows-based - are only cosmetically different and the same keystrokes generally do the same things.

Clancy's latest is going faster than I expected, doesn't seem as thick and juicy as his previous work, but still tasty enough.

284 - Wednesday, 3 September 2003: Called Iguanasoft, left voicemail, no response yet. Also emailed to a guessed address which didn't seem to bounce.

Finished The Teeth of the Tiger and there will obviously be more in this line. This is different from Clancy's usual highly-trained, duly-constituted-hero stuff... and I like it. Must be my general anti-government bent. I also liked Without Remorse, the one with John Clark's origin, for much the same reasons. Looking forward to the next installment.

Now starting The Course of Empire by Eric Flint, and K.D. Wentworth whom I've never heard of but the jacket blurb says she's all over. Well, I'm a science-fiction fan, but not a Fan, y'know. I went to one con, ever, and that was at least a decade ago and frankly I was somewhat disappointed. This is apparently a standalone novel in a new universe.

285 - Friday, 5 September 2003: Called Iguanasoft from work yesterday, left voice mail, received email that evening giving appropriate FTP settings, my website is largely restored. Email also explained their newsgroup thingie is in-progress, but at least they told me. Over a month now and still absolutely nothing from ShootersInet. I don't think they've been billing me, which is good. Once I'm sure I've got everything properly switched over I'll have the bank make sure they don't take any more of my money. And, once I've got this 'blog and a couple other things brought up-to-date, I'll start disseminating my new URL! Probably this Sunday with the regular Big 5 sale posting.

Okay, the little webcam isn't so crummy after all, I just have to understand its limitations. And get enough light. Dig it! The medal!

286 - Saturday, 6 September 2003: Departing for show at 9am, expecting to meet Cruffler, et.al. at 10. Stopped at bank on way, only $60 to spend. Parked at Burger King, hiked about a mile to avoid paying $6 for parking, the $7 admission is bad enough. -It's gone up, now $7 parking. Arrived about 9:40, did a couple aisles.

M44 Mosin carbine, Very Good condition, $76. Lovely display of damascus knife blades. Star B pistol, 9x19mm, $181. Springfield M1911A1, mil-spec, $450. CZ75, .40 $309, 9x19mm $379. MREs as low as $3. Marlin Camp 9 carbine, $329. Two-tone .45 Witness, black slide, no price displayed. Some FALs, more L1A1s, nothing under $600 that I saw. First score: sack of maybe 500 12-gauge .125" overpowder cards, from Federal Cartridge, only $2!

10am, no Cruffler. Leather charger pouches, $4. M65 field jackets, Woodland, $20, would have got one if I didn't already have one, or if they were plain green or black. Argentine GP35 clone, $289. Bushnell Sport laser rangefinder, $165. Purchased bag of ten M14 chargers, $2. Saw shake-to-charge flashlight and other cool emergency stuff, took business card, they're right across the street from the flea market I go to every weekend! Will stop by sometime.

Lee Progressive 1000 reloading press, $60. Cruffler has a half-dozen and got some obscene deal on the last four together, maybe I'll barter something for one sometime. Albanian 7.62x54R, $50/440-round tin.

Charles Daly 1911, target sights, $420. Argentine 1927, $350. FEG GP35, $290. Bulgarian Makarov, with holster & two magazines as I recall, $179. '03 Springfield, sign said 1929, $650. Ruger Bearcat .22 single-action revolver, one of Cruffler's dream guns, with box, "possibly unfired", 1968, $425.

A few Witness pistols around, between $400 and $450. Digital calipers, $26.75. Winchester .357 Magnum, 110gr JHP, $11.95. Korean .30-06 on Garand clips, $95.95/400; Danish, $14.95/48. .50 Action Express ammunition - should have brought the brass I picked up, maybe I could have bartered for something! Bill of Rights t-shirt, $9, already got one.

Met Cruffler & friend at 11am, wandered, yakked. Purchased three foldover soft rifle cases, $10.

P.08 Luger shooter, non-matching, $500, not too awful. Erma .22 Luger, $300, VG or so. At second blackpowder vendor, discovered and purchased sack of 500 non-lubed 1/2" 12-gauge cushion wads, $8.50. Yakked with holster vendor, discussed difficulty carrying GP100, he suggested Bianchi Model 111, or the discontinued Cyclone model possibly available on eBay. Left about 1pm, returned to apartment about 2:30 after hopping across river to buy Washington lottery tickets.

Phone message waiting, SCA friends inviting me out to Acorn War but now I'm out of money (they have a thing called Merchant's Row, with sharp-pointies and other cool things) and I'm not even sure where my SCA garb is anymore.

Examining bank balance, Inet may still be billing me after all, and that would be bad. Fortunately I budgeted for it out of paranoia.

287 - Sunday, 7 September 2003: Still some software problems but working them out. Now running Outlook Express v6 for email, downloaded a security patch from Microsoft dated 14 April 2003. IEv6 eradicated, Opera v7 working well. Catching up on email, finally.

And my headlights died again. They worked fine last night when I went to the supermarket but weren't working when I checked them in the laundromat parking lot this morning. Fortunately I had a spare on board and swapped it over while the laundry was running and that worked, but now I'll need another spare and I can't afford that until the 12th. Next time I'll get two. If I can find them; as stated, this appears to be a design flaw, most of the ‘80s Escort wrecks at U-Pull-It are missing that part already.

A co-worker, Matt H. of Vancouver, Washington, drew this cartoon for me but did not provide a caption. I've got one:

In California, County Election officials lay the groundwork to
"ensure fair and honest voting in the upcoming gubernatorial recall election":

And finally the heat wave is coming to an end! The past month it's rarely not exceeded 90 degrees, but this afternoon there was a tremendous peal of thunder that seemed to go on about half a minute, and it's been raining variously since then.

288 - Tuesday, 9 September 2003: What's the big deal about driving in rain? I used to do it on a bicycle, with much smaller tires and only two of them. The only problem I'm having is, sometimes the front-wheel drive spins out when I take off from a stop. Should probably get new wiper blades but not urgent.

It's an Oregon legend that Oregonians, of all people, don't know how to drive in rain. Like many legends, this is based in fact. I-5 was shut down by a wreck for some time this morning, according to the radio news, and it wasn't the only one. Other freeways reportedly jammed. I take surface streets to work unless I'm late anyway. Less fuel efficiency, greater life expectancy.

Today at the shampoo warehouse I learned that one of the best employees (the Gulf War I Navy veteran), and one of the worst (who shall remain undescribed), both put in their two-week notice, for different reasons of course. Net loss, I think.

And the officecreatures sit and drink coffee and yak on the phone with their buddies and leave at 3pm in their Lexuses and Infinities and Beemers to play golf and they make twice what I do - and the local stores, like in Everett and Bellevue and Salem, send great big reports to print out on the warehouse invoice terminal's printer here in Portland because they pushed the wrong button, and the salescritters put orders into the system with invalid or incomplete ZIP codes and addresses and some of the notes at the bottom of the invoices look like they were typed by third-graders. Once there was an order addressed to "Grance Past, OR". (Grants Pass for you furriners.)

I am deeply insulted. And the ~18-year-old who's supposed to be replacing me at the shipping computer, while I receive freight and run the forklift and whatever else the manager needs done sometime that fiscal year without being completely screwed up, cannot solve even the most trivial problem or discrepancy independently. And the (Democrat!) assistant manager of the warehouse still doesn't have time to read the instructions I documented months ago. I will be looking for another job during my next vacation.

But they're probably all like that, in this what Lt. Col. Cooper bemoans as the Age of the Common Man....

Now running WordPerfect 9, and most of the old WP6 files converted perfectly - except the business cards, which I need new ones of to reflect the new ISP. Still fussing with that. At least one of them, for the back side, came over all right, but I'll have to completely rebuild the front. It would be easier if I abandoned the "Tyrant-Free Zone" graphic.

Will compose and send paper letter to ShootersInet's snail-mail, and instruct bank to halt payments, this week. Looks like I'll be out about $40, I'll live. Still checking mail2web to see what email lists haven't been switched over yet. Still getting some email from the old ShootersInet version of my site, sending new addresses in replies. No word from Iguanasoft about newsgroups, they said they'd have it done last weekend, emailed them tonight.

Car insurance bill for $103.66, apparently the uninsured-motorist thing which I thought I had fixed for the nth time. I get enough rampant illiteracy and blatant incompetence at work, I don't need any more from my insurance company!

289 - Thursday, 11 September 2003: Been slacking on the ‘blog the last couple days but couldn't let this anniversary pass without comment. On this date I choose to honor the memories of the American martyrs of Flight 93, such as Todd Beamer and Jeremy Glick, leaders of the uprising which prevented death and destruction in yet another densely-populated target area, most likely the White House:

Flight 93 Memorial

I am not a religious man, though I was raised Protestant Christian (Nazarene). I am in fact agnostic and theology tends to bore me as baseless superstition. I haven't even opened a bible in at least a decade. That being said, I must admit to being moved by this passage from the Holy Bible, which others on the net have used to express their feelings about these events and these heroic individuals. From the book of Numbers, chapter 23, verse 10:

"...Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!"

In other news, looks like I've got nothing but spam left on the ShootersInet e-dress, and Iguanasoft has got their newsgroups running. So there. Will talk to the bank and send the letter tomorrow.

290 - Friday, 12 September 2003: Went to bank, they checked my account history, apparently ShootersInet has stopped billing me. Have to revise the letter before I send it, no need to be nastier than necessary. -That's on the way. Back out for errands, library to drop off ballot voting against the stupid state-debt thing, fuel, groceries, some sale items at Bi-Mart. Filled at $1.83⁹, could probably beat that but the same place was $1.89 a week ago. Didn't need the reserve can. Pretty good mileage on this car, two work weeks and some recreational driving besides on a full tank of gas.

At Bi-Mart, got yet another pound of Pyrodex RS, only $10 on sale; new air filter for the car, easily installed; box of UMC .357/125 JSP, a buck less than I've been paying for the Winchester 110 JHP but it does kick a little more and it's dirtier; and a Maglite 4D flashlight, on sale for $17. Now, I have one of those - and it died, apparently in its sleep, a few days ago. It's about fifteen years old and when I was more active in the SCA I used to drive tent stakes with it when the household would arrive at some remote campsite in the dark after some awful long drive. Once the batteries burst inside from the trauma and I hosed it out and it worked perfectly for several more years. Some brand loyalty here, yup.

291 - Saturday, 13 September 2003: Again, zzzz....

Departing about 9:30am for Barberton. Some sales on this side of the river I want to check out today, hope to make Clark Rifles tomorrow. Besides I haven't packed a range bag.

Arrived without incident about 10am. Can't say the same for Cruffler, who was dodging traffic to cross the road to reach his van to get some antiseptic to put on the back of his neck where a yellowjacket had stung him moments before I arrived.

Yakked a while, went into the show. Rock Island 1911 Commander, .45 of course, $395, military-style sights less than appealing but seemed decently put together. Witness Compact 10x25mm, $380 - too small for my hand, I want to wrap all my fingers around it. Presumably the magazine had a finger rest but I didn't see it and if I were going to get a 10x25mm (which does not repel me) I'd want a full-size package to help handle the recoil and blast. Dan Wesson Pointman Minor, $520; Panther, stainless, $550, both with fixed Kimber-style (Novak?) Sights. Russian SKS, really pretty good shape, "unfired," $250. Ruger 10/22 standard, $140 used - Bi-Mart's usual sale price is $139.99 new in the box, and I'm still boycotting Ruger anyway.

Original Spencer carbine, $2,200. Star M43 Firestar 9x19mm, all-steel compact single-action semiauto, $265, two magazines & case. J.P. Sauer .22LR single-action revolver, looked like fake stag grips, 5½" barrel, $200; same table, Ruger Single Six, adjustable sights, two-screw frame, 6", $185. Still want a .22 non-autoloading handgun for training & seduction purposes. I would buy a used Ruger, it's the politics I don't like, not the products. Winchester M140 20-gauge semiauto shotgun, with choke tube, $260 - something like that may be on my list, to be modified, if I find myself Really Liking 3-gun competition.

Only made one purchase but I think it was a good one. Marked $50, for $45 a Redfield #80 aperture sight for the Mauser/Springfield. Cruffler and another of his friends said it was worth $70-80. Not new but in Very Good condition. The vendor let me lay it upside someone else's Mauser so I could confirm it would not interfere with the charger guide. All-steel construction, reportedly unlike Williams' aluminum, the aperture and windage & elevation bits quick-release, as a unit, from the base which bolts onto the receiver, which will require drilling & tapping and I haven't decided yet if I'll do that myself asking the use of the woodworker's drill press or if I'll just wimp out and pay a gunsmith to do it. And best of all, click-adjustable target knobs! If I'm reading the markings right - one side in "MIN", the other side blank under "YDS" so the end-user can mark it for a specific load - they're ¼-MOA clicks! Big range of adjustment, and a replaceable aperture too. Looks like I'll have to inlet the stock for it, at least some, big deal, these old VZ24 stocks are all chewed up to begin with and if I rebarrel the action I'd pretty much need a new stock anyway.

Speaking of which, the next installment of Coffield's series on sporterizing a VZ24 is in the latest Shotgun News, describing how to get the barrel off a large-ring ‘98 Mauser! Looks like about $150 of tools to take the barrel off a $70 rifle. But I do have five of them, at least four of which are eligible for the treatment. Anyway no great rush to mount the sight, the MojoMauser has its dual aperture and the other four aren't really shooters. Probably by the time I'm ready to rebarrel one in .308/7.62x51mm, Coffield will have a segment about drilling & tapping.

Went back out again to the Portland branch of The Leather Factory, which I hadn't known existed here. My semi-former SCA household has an email list which I'm on, and thereon was posted notice of this place having a sale. Got some leather strap and some screw posts to fix the belt hanger for the M1840 saber. Also a smaller-than-I-had punch, for my next holster project, whatever that will be. Quite a place, lots of interesting stuff, will go there again. -Browsing their catalog; did you know snakeskin, like for making belts, is "not available in California"? For gods' sake, what is available in that socialist totalitarian hellhole?

Nothing spectacular at the local flea market, but for $4 bought No Name on the Bullet, Don Graham's 1989 biography of Audie Murphy. I have to share the jacket blurb with you, from the author's preface:

"Audie Murphy used to be a legend in Texas and still is among those old enough to remember World War II and the postwar decade. A hero equal to any the Alamo has to offer, he has suffered, the way heroes sometimes do, from a shift in the modern consciousness. Since Vietnam, Americans have had trouble believing or honoring the kind of warrior that Murphy represented. We prefer video fantasy - Rambo - a kind of MTV celebration of American machismo in which the nation wins that unpopular war it never should have fought and which, of course, it lost. Audie Murphy could have had Sylvester Stallone for breakfast. Audie Murphy was the real thing, not some pumped-up, aerobicized celluloid palooka. And the real thing is always more interesting, more human, more tragic, more blood-and-death-ridden than the made up, the phony. It was that real hero, the man behind the bronze statuary, that I had come to find."

Stephen Hunter, the least-coast author who pretends to be gunfolk, best known for his "Bob the Nailer" stories, has done a couple-three books on Bob Swagger's father Earl: Hot Springs, Pale Horse Coming, and Havana (which I have on hold at the library). In Pale Horse Coming he steps into a fantasy world wherein renamed gunfolk deities easily recognizable to the knowledgeable, such as Elmer Keith, Ed McGivern, and Audie-by-God-Murphy, join up with Earl Swagger to kick some authoritarian ass. Maybe he read John Ross' Unintended Consequences, I dunno. Ross reads his stuff.

At the flea market, saw a Mossberg bolt-action 12-gauge with a chunk of lumber for a stock and spots of rust like a leopard's coat. Marked $65, vendor said he'd take $50. Passed, duh. Besides I already have two twelves.

At Barberton, Cruffler let me fondle his latest, a gen-yoo-ine Martini-Henry imperial British rifle, marked Enfield 1888, long-lever variant. He got it for $350 and it's in better shape than any three of my Mausers together. How does he do that?

In snail-mail, got the OFF shoulder patch and another window decal. Also, Employment Trends, my usual temp service, informs me that I can get a referral bonus for sending people with experience in electronics assembly, SMT (surface-mount? Never done that but I bet I could) operators, "Electronic Materials Handlers" and shipping & receiving. At least two-and-a-half out of four. I think I'll give them a call.

Preparing for range trip tomorrow, not least by doing laundry today. Thinking of the 91/30, the MojoMauser, the neglected Ishapore and the Stevens. Should take the Mossberg and some years-old factory buckshot, since I'm on the verge of making my own smokeless loads. I don't need as much work with the double now as the Mossberg, since I'm contemplating 3-gun. Still need a semiauto rifle, and want a pistol, for that. -While at leather store, saw lots of books, including project patterns, including holsters and cartridge belts. Instead of shelling out ~$50 for a leather shotgun belt or bandolier, might make my own, they've got everything I'd need. My two nylon bandoliers are not Cowboy-appropriate and making it myself would be cool.

Fuji's helping! By sprawling his enormous shedding bulk in my lap and keeping me from getting out of my chair.

Been a while since I've properly packed this thing, and it's not a proper range bag anyway, just a backpack they were throwing out at work from some expired promotion. In no particular order: BDU shirt to prevent chafing from the hasty sling; 50 rounds Albanian on Mosin chargers; 1"/4MOA/25yd practice targets; "Battlin' the UN" targets from the later edition of Fred's Guide; notebook (spiral bound - there's a place out on the westside that calls itself the "home of the $200 laptop," I must look at that someday) for ‘blogging; new business cards, with the Betsy Ross and Gadsden flanking my information; 120 rounds Greek 7.92mm, mostly on Mauser chargers; earmuffs, and I'm down to one pair of disposable foam earplugs than I can find easily, must steal more from work; 100 rounds Hirtenberger 7.62x51mm on mostly M14 chargers; 50 rounds Winchester #4 factory buckshot; cleaning rod, patches and window cleaner to neutralize corrosive ammunition, and the extra rod section for the 91/30's longer barrel; 100 rounds CCI Mini Mag, 65 rounds Remington Thunderbolt, 525-round carton Federal copper-plated hollowpoint, .22LR for the Stevens. Little 25x telescope, all I'll need for 25 yards, in the car's glovebox.

No handgun practice this time. Probably just stay on the upper, 100-yard range this time, unless the 300-yard range is really empty. Five long guns! I need a range cart. Might talk to woodworker, use his shop to build one.

292 - Sunday, 14 September 2003: Reminder: hover your mouse cursor over the picture to read a popup caption. Internet Explorer does this but Opera won't. Don't know about Netscape or Mozilla.

Departing for Clark Rifles about 10:15am, arrived about 10:50. 300-yard range quite active, didn't bring my big spotting scope anyway. $10 for non-members, not bad. Sign on RO shack door, range closes at 3:30pm today, should be done by then.

Upper, 100-yard, range, station #7 of eight, over to the left end - #8 is left-hand only, #1 right only. Starting with the MojoMauser, two 1" practice targets at 25 yards. -Damn! Still cheek-smacking! Windage okay, a little high, fixed that. Target #2, some flinches, one hit. Another string of five there, no better. Comb needs more work. Swab bore with window cleaner and back in the case, can't hit stuff with a rifle that hits back.

Now the Ishapore. Two targets again, 5-round strings. Target #3, Ishapore string #1, high & strung vertically. Holding low for another string on the same target, a couple hits.

While the line breaks for targets, I hunt brass, even though I don't load metallic yet. Some .30-06, several 7mm Remington Magnum, a couple .300 Winchester Magnum. People leave that stuff? -Saving Boxer-primed Hirtenberger brass too.

Target #4, Ishapore string #3, ten rounds, some hits. Not too awful but the Ishapore still needs better sights. Target #5, string #4, ten rounds... low. Where I was aiming. Huh. Okay, enough with the Ishapore, nature break, then the Mosin.

Target #6, Mosin string #1, one hit. Heavy trigger, might (temporarily) swap the trigger spring (sear) and cocking piece with the Hungarian M44. Same target, Mosin string #2, windage okay, just a few MOA high. Recoil manageable without pad, tolerance improving.

Break for targets. Perusing other folks' items - repro Sharps 1875, not the common 1874 like in Quigley Down Under, .40-70? -90? Lovely piece. Typical Savage 110s and Remington 700s and Marlin 336s of course, but the same guy with the Sharps also had an SVT40 Tokarev semiautomatic, "Stalin's Garand" you might call it. 7.62x54R like the Mosin. Some of the ammunition he used was Sellier & Bellot, Boxer-primed, he didn't want the brass, I took it. Also saw Remington XP100 pistol, apparently all original with nylon stock and vent-rib barrel. T/C Contender, Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter with the full-rib barrel with Ruger's scope base, Mossberg 500 slugger with cantilever-scope-mount barrel - that last guy was grouping pretty good, cutting at least one cloverleaf at 75 yards with those big .72" slugs. Or maybe they were .50 saboted, I didn't see, but they made big holes.

Target #7, Mosin string #3, 6-o'-clock hold, three hits. Target #8, string #4, a couple flyers but three good hits. (Slightly distracted by muzzle-brake-equipped SKS a couple lanes over.) This 91/30 will see action in the next PIG Match.

Everyone else still shooting, I've established I'm not going to cut the target holder apart, now preparing a holder with four targets. Should have brought more Mosin ammo. Target #9, string #5, high and a touch right but about a 3 MOA group! #10/6, respectable. #11/7, about the same. #12/8, one high flyer (.30-06 in lane #6 going off at just the wrong moment), starting to go to the right when hot. Decent rifle. Fewer feeding problems than the Hungarian carbine, too.

10 Mosin rounds left, two "Battlin' the UN" 25-yard targets scaled to represent 300 yards. Six aiming points: on an armored personnel carrier, the commander in his hatch, the driver's vision port and the antenna mount; on a typical 6x6 truck, the driver and engine compartments and the front wheel (also the typical fuel tank but it's not shaded in and I didn't think to shoot at it). Next time, more Mosin ammo, prone & sitting positions, and the bayonet to see how it affects point-of-impact for the PIG. (Let's see, next payday the 26th, end of a week's vacation; Vancouver gun show on the 27th, will plan another range trip for the 28th.) -So, one round at Boris the Bulgarian Blue Helmet, who will then duck (or fall) inside, then two each at the driver's port and the antenna. The truck wheel is godsawful huge at this scale, I'll take three at the driver and two at the engine. -Got Boris! Grazed the antenna mount, went under the vision port. Rapid fire, three in the driver's compartment but a little right, low again at the engine. Last round jerked low and right when that ‘06 went off again.

Out of Mosin ammo, MojoMauser and Ishapore not doing what I want, switching to Stevens. Um, still no sling there! Well, just semi-plinking now, can't do rapid fire with (this kind of) single-shot anyway. Starting with Remington Thunderbolt, at UN/300 target #2. Five rounds, Boris is having a bad day. Five more... well, he can still tell his friends. Another five - trigger still heavy, front sight way too big, floaters in eyes - got the vision port! Now the truck, five-round strings. Driver's had it, engine's had it, the wheel at 300 yards is bigger than the front sight.

Now the CCI Mini Mag at a UN/500-yard target. Truck aiming points are the same but smaller, Boris has ducked inside and I've got his vision blocks to shoot at. Nearly hopeless hitting vital areas on the APC with that huge front bead, but got the truck wheel, wounded the driver, nailed the engine. -Actually got the APC's antenna! Break for targets- eh, the APC fired smoke grenades.

Now the Federal 525-round value pack copper-plated hollowpoint. 60 more rounds, five each at three points each on the truck and APC at both simulated distances. 300 first, ruined Boris' whole week, but couldn't shut him up, but his driver can't see. Truck wheel so big I can't decide which part to aim at, grazed the engine with one shot. Driver's hurt bad, and so's the engine.

Can't hardly see a thing on the APC at 500 yards, whatever size the front sight is. Missed the commander's vision blocks, driver soiled himself but can still see, missed the antenna. Truck wheel in a bad way, engine's a mess, and- the driver jumped out and ran for the hills! (Target break.)

About 2:35pm, packed up rifles, talked with RO, went to handgun range for shotgun practice. Like the first time I fired a shotgun here, removed the target holder and blasted at stuff on the backstop. Friendly (! Still reeling from English Pit) RO suggested I toss old, abandoned, no-longer-reloadable shotgun hulls onto the backstop for aiming points. Made ‘em dance, but oof! Will definitely load down for 3-gun, and for my own buckshot.

Chatted with Clark Rifles' webmaster! Gave him my card (one to RO too).

Some cycling problems, webmaster sez recoil opening the action a little because I'm pulling back on the forend like a rifle's and then for some reason pushing forward again to re-lock the bolt. Or maybe it's the kinda grungy old factory buckshot rounds I've had for years, or maybe the Mossberg just needs a few drops of CLP. Well, that's another reason I'm here, I never have practiced much with it. Oof. Fifty (!) rounds of Winchester factory #4 buckshot. I handled the unpadded Mosin fine, but not this! At least I have more hulls now, a good-sized batch of matching once-fired too. Now I need smokeless powder but money's already tight this pay period, that'll have to wait.

3:15, packed up and left, returned about 4pm. Unloaded, out for Sunday errands, groceries, library & Big 5.

Must clean everything of course, starting with the corrosive-ammo Mosin and MojoMauser, but those are pretty simple, just do the bore properly and run a solvent-rag over the rest - in fact everything this trip is pretty easy, even the Mossberg, which used modern non-corrosive loads instead of experimental Pyrodex this time. The Hirtenberger I used in the Ishapore is non-corrosive as well. -Done! Now I get to type all this up and scan all those targets!

Productive enough session. Mosin 91/30 has potential, VZ24 needs a Mosin stock, Ishapore needs Mojo sights or something, Stevens is almost ready to seduce people into the gun culture, and the Mossberg is controllable with factory loads and will be moreso with my own.

293 - Monday, 15 September 2003: Showed off the targets at work, hopefully disturbed some Democommies. Finished The Course of Empire, it may be the first in a series. Wasn't bad, certainly had its moments, though my anti-authoritarian knee jerked on occasion, especially at the UN references. Those are (some of) the guys I'm training to kill, after all.

Snailmail from OFF, summary of the year's legislative session, mention of how NRA laid big wet ones right on the lips of the RINOs who killed every pro-gun-rights bill this year and supported many of the antis. With friends like these.... Begging for (Oregon tax credit!) money for their PAC, will probably send $20 or so next paycheck.

Paid insurance bill, too weary to argue about their left hand not being acquainted with their right. I'll see if they get it figured out in the next bill, and if my rates go down after these first six months.

Got another Kurosawa film from the library, The Hidden Fortress, whose box describes it as the inspiration for Star Wars. ...Yeah, I guess, after fermenting long enough in Lucas' mind. (I have both versions of Espisodes IV-VI on VHS of course.) Good flick though, of course. ...Um, Lucas always did have a big nine-episode thing in mind, I can see bits of Episode I in there too.

Now starting the late :( Poul Anderson's Ensign Flandry, iBooks 2003 edition. Cool cover art by Whelan. Nice kitty.

Summer is over, having to close Fuji's window at night, even ran a heater-fan for a while. Icky forecast tomorrow. Supposed to be another nice weekend though, might scrape up another $10 for another trip to Clark Rifles. Damn, I'll need even more ammunition, I've only got about four "regular" sessions' worth for the Mosin(s) and the other rifles aren't productive yet.

Much yakking on TV and radio news about hurricane Isabel. Some years ago, when some big one hit somewhere, woodworker went and worked on the reconstruction and made a respectable amount of money, hmm. But I'm not in as good a shape as I used to be and I don't have near the construction skills he does. Maybe I'll ask him about it. I did fight forest fires one season on a Job Corps/Forest Service team and made some real money (long since gone of course), but that was hard work.

294 - Tuesday, 16 September 2003: Actually ran the car's heater this morning (it works). Headlights giving trouble again. When cold, they won't come on, but switching to and from high beams several times seems to wake them up, and they come on again without difficulty when the car is relatively warm (like after stopping at the library). I generally drive with my lights on all the time, as Oregon is frequently either glaring sunshine or pouring rain (sometimes both, in spring and autumn) and it makes me that much more visible to the rest of the road. Now, the connector for the wire harness that goes into the multipurpose switch is deformed from the heat of the previous failure(s), but I have a spare of that too, hacked out of a wreck with about half a foot of each wire. I suppose I could/should splice it in, maybe it's warped to the point there's a poor connection.

From the library, watched The Patriot with Mel Gibson for the second time. First was in the theater near the end of its run. Will have to get a DVD copy, after I get a DVD player, after I get a new TV to hook it up to, none of which is a priority because everything on TV but the History Channel sucks. Including Fox News, sometimes - remember Hannity's treatment of the Kuglin case.

Coworker telling me about R. Lee Ermey's antics on Mail Call. I really miss the History Channel but I'm not about to pay a whole cable bill and have the money support all that other filth.

Finding myself disenchanted with (neo!)conservative talk radio, though even that is better than the unholy trinity of Brokaw, Jennings and Rather. Maybe I need more Boortz in my diet but his website doesn't list any local stations and I'm not sure which one I found him on. I'll check the stations' sites.

295 - Wednesday, 17 September 2003: Snailmail from Citizens Against Government Waste, begging for money on a Citizens' Demand to Slash U.S. Funding of the United Nations. First two endorsements on the back are Dubya, who is now groveling to that globalist body of mass-murdering commie thugs, and the Manchurian Candidate, John McCain (RINO-AZ), who wants to close the "gun show loophole" nationwide and is largely responsible for the Incumbent Protection Act masquerading as campaign finance reform. I'm not impressed.

Public-Service Announcement postcard about an original copy of the Declaration of Independence coming to Portland next week, when I am also on vacation (whoa! That is next week!). Independence Road Trip reportedly sponsored by "producer and activist Norman Lear." Web search reveals... he's the enemy. And the place is downtown anyway, with the window-breaking "peace" protestors. Phooey.

Headlights worked perfectly this morning, slightly hesitant this afternoon, hm. I dunno.

296 - Thursday, 18 September 2003: I am 36 years old.

What progress have I made in the last year?

I got a car - that's a big thing. It is good to be motorized.

No bouts of unemployment in the last year, honestly that's slightly unusual.

Collection has grown, but effective collection largely unchanged - no proper pistol, no battle rifle, just more old bolt-actions like I already had.

Marksmanship has improved. Went to my first real match and have something to show for it.

Eh, net gain for the year. Especially the car.

297 - Friday, 19 September 2003: About halfway through Anderson's Ensign Flandry. Damn that man could write.

The one-of-the-worst employee is gone. One of the charming little things he did before he left was to park the forklift flush against a pallet of freight so no one could use it without climbing up and over the armored side to get into the operator's area. I'll be calling the temp service about those assembly jobs this Monday morning.

298 - Saturday, 20 September 2003: Went gun-shopping, in an actual gun shop, with Cruffler this morning. He was looking for an FAL he had seen earlier, while getting his first FAL, but he struck out as the staff had packed most of the used stuff off to a show in Eugene. Got some fresh catalogs. Saw a Taurus revolver, 8-shot .17 HMR with about a 14" barrel. Didn't bother noting price.

Got two replacement multipurpose switches at U-Pull-It, and saw another fried one too. Headlights still mostly functional. Also got some narrow little... hose... thingie that appears to go from one part of the air cleaner to... another part of the air cleaner. Dunno what it is but mine was broken. A larger, short, hose thingie going from part of the air cleaner to... some... part of the engine is also damaged but I duct-taped it for now and that seems sufficient. No apparent difference in performance. -Have I mentioned industrial protectionism? What is all that stuff under the hood? I mean I like to think of myself as having a mechanical aptitude but what is this plumber's nightmare? Anyway it starts up every time and goes and whoas when I say so, can't expect much more for $400.

At flea market, haggled to $8, a beat-up old Mauser bayonet, sans grips and scabbard, with a nicked but suitably long blade for the M590's bayonet project.

Finished Ensign Flandry, starting Anderson's For Love and Glory.

Watched Kurosawa's Ran. That's quality. Downer, but quality.

A ‘blog reader points out that an ancient bolt-action in skilled hands can be more effective than a modern autoloader in conscripted ones, which is of course true. Better still would be a quality full-power semiautomatic with 20-round magazines in those skilled hands. Cooper emphasizes the first shot, because you may only get one; Fred emphasizes rate of (effective!) fire. Both would appear to agree with the racegunfolk proverb that "You can't miss fast enough to win." Between the two I hope to become a Rifleman.

Still intending to NATOize the Mauser(s) but no idea when. Discussed conversion to, for example, FAL magazines with another ‘blog reader, obviously requiring significant alteration to the trigger guard. A simpler solution might be to get a spare floorplate and magazine spring from the parts geezers, cut the middle out of it, weld up some sheetmetal and join the two springs together and make a fixed, charger-fed ten-round magazine, which wouldn't stick out as far or weigh as much or get lost or abandoned in battle. No modifications to the trigger guard necessary that way either, it would be a drop-in for any ‘98 Mauser. I might even sell them at shows. -Would have to make it differently for a 7.62x51mm/.308 conversion of course, blocking the magazine and shortening the follower to handle the shorter cartridges, but if I do make such a floorplate replacement that too could be a drop-in. I'd also like a turned-down bolt handle but if I change the barrel I'd have to headspace all over again anyway and I could just get a whole other bolt that is already turned down, and just headspace off that, instead of worrying about heating and bending, or cutting and welding; or that frightful conversion ATI offers where you take a hacksaw, a file, a drill and a thread tap to your existing bolt handle and bolt on their replacement.

Yet another reader has actually got me thinking of buying a Ruger Mini-14... for 3-Gun (to be accompanied by the M590 and the GP100, pending the purchase of a Proper Pistol and yet another vaporware project, a 20-gauge autoloader with an extended magazine and rifle sights). It would be a centerfire, detachable-magazine-fed autoloader that I could possibly afford, and while it is not known for accuracy, it's still better than the various Simonovs that were my other affordable option, and being a Ruger it can be expected to function. But if I could acquire an FAL, or even a CETME (which several people are still recommending to me), and do 3-Gun with that, I'd have tactical training and practice with the same rifle I would expect to use in battle. Hmm. Medium-sized Vancouver Fairgrounds show next weekend and again in mid-November, a few little shows in October, next Expo show November 21-23.

At the gun shop, saw a Mini-14GB, "government" model with factory flash-hider and bayonet lug, stainless with folding stock, $1,000. I've known of the GB for some time and I kinda want one just because Bill Ruger Sr. didn't want me to have one, but if I have that much money to spend on a rifle I'll damn well get an M1A.

Review and discussion of another possibility, the Kel-Tec SU16 folding mousegun, here.

New Shotgun News, feature article on Knob Creek. Make mine MG42. Or MG3 or MG74. Or an FN-MAG/M240 would apparently be just fine if there were any transferrable or if BATF were indicted/jailed/executed for their crimes. And a 1928A1 Thompson, horizontal forend, Lyman rear sight, finned barrel, Cutts compensator, one drum magazine just to have but a pile of 30-round boxes for use. -I suppose an M1 or M1A1 would do. And a couple Browning M2HBs for homestead security, while I'm daydreaming.

New page - my shooting awards!

299 - Monday, 22 September 2003: Last night, Dremeled a .30-06 case right at the shoulder and dug out the solder again, making a very-slightly-less-than-60-grain-by-volume powder dipper. This will accelerate my Pyrodex shotshell loading. Could use one of those belted-magnum cases for larger capacity I guess but 60 grains seems to work for me as a standard charge in a 12-gauge cartridge.

Called Employment Trends this morning and that took willpower. I'd rather have slept in, and then there's the notion of risking the job I do have looking for something else. -Made appointment for tomorrow afternoon. Have to dig out and revise resume. I hate resumes. At least I've managed to reconstruct my work history and have that on file. -Done, I guess. At least I know how to use a word processor. Guess I should trim the beard....

Thinking about it, the roller-locking system of the CETME may offer some minor advantage over everyone else's gas operation, at least when it's time to clean up. Cruffler has one, maybe I'll wheedle a test-drive from him. I've got my own ammunition of course, for the Ishapore.

Finally getting around to making those 20 rounds of #6 shot for the double, using the last recipe, 60 grains Pyrodex RS, .125" card, .5" (now non-lubed) cushion, two .125" cards, 7/8-ounce shot by Lee's bushing. Should make some more actually, the woodworker's lady has an heirloom Winchester 1897 and 50 rounds or so would make a nice gift. Not that she ever shoots, but there's that socially-nekkid thing again. I looked up the serial number once and it was made in the smokeless era, but so was my double and I wouldn't want to strain either. Going much faster with the 60-grain dipper, duh. -And the first round has a different column height because the new non-lubed cushion wads compress differently when rammed down. So only one .125" card above the cushion, that works good.

Drove around. Filled tank at $1.79⁹, got Plus at that place that sells it the same price as Regular. Gas prices are dropping a little, mainly under $1.80 now. Bought computer microphone, $5, not working well, may be something wrong with the built-in Compaq microphone jack.

Secured a 12-ounce jug of Accurate Nitro 100 powder, $12.99, will now attempt some smokeless loads. From the Accurate powder manual included with the Load-All, a minimum Cowboy Action load consists of a Winchester AA-type hull, Winchester 209 primer, 15 grains by weight Accurate Nitro 100 powder, a Federal 12S0 plastic wad and 7/8 ounce shot, which will be #6 for 3-Gun purposes. Bushing chart says the #128 powder bushing throws 15.2 grains of Nitro 100. Five weighed charges were between 15.2 and 15.3 grains. Other powder weights in this load section are up to 18.0 grains in 1.0-grain increments, this should be safe. Shot weight is about ten grains light, that should only reduce pressure but I've decided to not use any smokeless loads in the double even though these, listed at 4,900psi, should be safe. These are for the Mossberg for recreation. -Chuggity-chug, everything working as advertised, column height is cool, good crimps. Making 20 rounds, will probably test them this week.

Huh. Nitro 100 is "Product of Czech Republic." Good for them. How's it feel, out from under the socialist boot? Still want a CZ pistol.

So I'm listening to a Mariners game on the radio and I hear an ad for The Gun Broker, a local gun store with two locations. "Friendly courteous service." That's not the memory I have - one of the reasons I quit going to actual gun stores - but I haven't been to this one for years. Don't dare set foot in there now for financial reasons. ...I heard an ad for a gun store. On the radio. And this is not one of the conservative-talk stations. Must be for hunting season.

On some Yahoo gun lists, discussion of Wal-Mart marking Marlin .30-30 lever-actions for $150 or so because they're stupid, and refusing to fix it (supposed to be $250-$300) when it's brought to their attention because they're even stupider. May have to look into that. $houldn't, still, but if this is for real I should take advantage.

Eww, Wal-Mart people. Ick.

300 - Tuesday, 23 September 2003: Had to go all the way out to the Beaverton office to reactivate my temp-service account. Selected "Temp-to-Hire" and "Still working, notice required". Gave a couple website cards, heh. Anyway got something done on vacation.

Sleeping in tomorrow dammit. Then maybe the hills to test the #6 smokeless loads, or maybe Clark Rifles for a regular session - no, maybe Thursday for that, want more preparation and an earlier start. Is the range closed for maintenance on Thursdays? I'll check the site.

Now looking for a smokeless buckshot load. Several 1-1/8-ounce loads listed in the Accurate manual but they all use plastic cup-type wads, unsuitable for a 9-pellet OO load. Same with the Hodgdon manual. Alliant/Hercules .PDF manual only offers a couple loads, not what I'm looking for, though the one using #1 buckshot might be more interesting if Sportsman's Warehouse had anything but #4, OO and OOO. Eh, I might make some #4 but that's lighter than I want. No buckshot loads at all in the Winchester .PDF. Will get the shotshell manual from the library again.

Finally took a picture of my percussion derringer!

301 - Wednesday, 24 September 2003: Burned gas driving all over looking at pawn shops, which I shouldn't have done but was relatively safe as I don't have enough money left to buy anything, though actually it was dangerous after all because I have enough left to put something on layaway but fortunately nothing leapt off the shelf at me.

Did see one scruffy old Remington 58 12-gauge semiauto marked $199 in the used-gun section of The Gun Broker, which place was not as bad as I remember it being. But I already have two twelves and where would I find a spare barrel (it had a long one) and a magazine extension to make it a 3-Gun gun? Obviously I could have the hobbyist at Barberton whack off the existing barrel, and possibly fabricate an extension, hm. And when the "assault weapon" ban expires I could add a bayonet lug! Yeah, a button silver-soldered to the end of the tube for the muzzle ring, and a ‘98 Mauser nosecap suitably abridged, yeah! -But it might make more sense to go with the M16 system so I could use an M7 or M9, or the special M590 bayonet that doesn't exist yet but at least now I have most of the parts.

But I won't be getting that M58 this pay period even if they have layaway which I didn't ask. And then there's the question of whether it still works even.

In a pawn shop, handled a CETME, marked $399, ergonomics aren't too awful after all but the 100-meter setting on that Spanish rear sight sucks, a V-notch I can hardly see as it's too close to the eye. 2-, 3- and 400 settings were decent apertures. Suppose I get a CETME, might make a disk of something with a hole in it and solder that to the 100-meter blade. At The Gun Broker, handled an HK91 clone with HK-drum-style rear sight, much better picture. Also encountered the new AR-180, I think it was marked $549, decent sight picture but only a flip-thingie with two apertures, I'd want more elevation adjustment but it's kinda moot with a mousegun anyway.

Also at Gun Broker, several Mausers and Mosins, mostly way overpriced. Several M44 carbines, each one marked differently - like Hungarian M1953, Polish M1952, they're using the chamber date and the import mark. ...No, fellas, they're all M1944s. Didn't bother enlightening them - $150, usual price on those, eek - but did point out that their (also overpriced, $199) Ishapore SMLE 7.62mm was not a "conversion" but was actually made that way.

Almost found a nice crossdraw holster for driving - thumb-break, decent leather, Ted Blocker, a local maker. Unfortunately it was for a single-action revolver and a GP100 (in stock, $409) would not fit. But that's what I'm looking for. Reportedly Blocker's new location is right next to The Gun Broker's other location on the west side, looks like I'll have to sniff it over.

First thing I saw coming through The Gun Broker's door was what looks like an original Colt 1847 Walker Dragoon, and I had to ask about it because the back of the Dixie Gun Works catalog shows about a 10% survival rate of the 1,100 that were ever made and they seem to fetch five figures even as a lump of rust. Number apparently 12x8 (I don't recall the third digit), did not see (Texas Ranger) Company markings. Patent number on cylinder 829 as I recall, "Address Sam'l Colt" on top of barrel but I forget which city. Counter-guy said he was pretty sure it was fake but hadn't heard back from Colt.

Pretty much planning on Clark Rifles tomorrow, not least since I just removed the slip-on recoil pad and cartridge carrier from the MojoMauser, since I know I can handle that level of recoil unpadded now, and maybe all that extra stuff wrapped around the butt is what's causing the cheek-smacking, I dunno. Will take about 100 rounds Greek 7.92, and the Mosin 91/30 and a similar amount. Checked the website, apparently they are open Thursdays. Hm, in the middle of the week, even though it's Sight-In Days because of hunting season, it shouldn't be too crowded as most folks have day jobs, maybe I'll have access to the 300-yard line! But I may just stay on the 100 as I'm still getting acquainted with both these rifles. I think I'll take a couple sets of Fred's AQT as well, yes, I think that will be the point of this trip. Maybe a little more ammo, then. Also picked up a box of Winchester .357/110 the other day, may burn that up too. And there's my first smokeless loads to test in the Mossberg.

While I was out, temp service left a message, for a short-term bindery assignment at $8.00/hour. No, I'm making $9.10 in the warehouse I hate and I specified Temp-to-Hire and $8.50 minimum. Sigh.

302 - Thursday, 25 September 2003: Cruffler emails hinting that Clark Rifles is closed on Thursday after all. Eh, another late start, still catching up on sleep, I'll go tomorrow.

Charging off to The Gun Broker's westside location. Road work, heavy traffic, but got there. Respectable selection of used items, some Chinese SKSs for $149, several semiauto shotguns under $200 - a J.C. Higgins 12 gauge for $129. Handled another CETME. Some used Mini-14s, none under $400. Old Winchester 1897, $349. I'm thinking, hey, this place is all right, maybe I'll buy something here - and one of the counter guys starts twirling a Ruger Blackhawk and dry-firing it at the traffic on Highway 99. So I said aloud, "Okay, if you're gonna do that I won't spend any money here," and left.

And that's why I don't shop at actual gun stores anymore. They're mostly like that. -And what is it with people these days? All over? Rude, lazy, ignorant, inconsiderate, immature, uncivilized! WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO THIS COUNTRY?! Ya know, it begins to appear as though the Christian/morality people have a point.

Then I tried and failed to find Ted Blocker Holsters, and then fought dreadful cityfolk traffic to get back to my apartment. Passed Silver Lining Pawn on the way back. Stopped there Tuesday on my way out to Employment Trends, the .45 Witness was gone, shrug.

WordPerfect 9 not cooperating with the business cards, now installing MS Word 2000. -Not quite what I'm looking for either, back to WordPerfect. By very carefully juggling font sizes and margins I'm getting an approximately satisfactory result.

So I'm in a Borders bookstore the other day, killing time before the temp service appointment, and Neal Stephenson, author of Cryptonomicon and other things, is coming out with a big fat prequel trilogy, first installment Quicksilver already out and on order at the library - and I've got the maximum fifteen items on hold already and have had for the last few days! You'd think at least one of those items would have been transferred by now, freeing up a slot! I mean the sheeple already voted for a tax increase to fund the place and there's a stink about the new director getting something like a $180,000 salary, can't they even look at their own computer system once in a while?

So it's about 11pm and I hear a noise on the roof. So I grab a weapon and step outside to look.

And then I step back inside to grab the Polaroid.

303 - Friday, 26 September 2003: Well, phooey, sort of. The temp service may have a machine-operator position, making machine tools, for $9/hour, on the westside. That's a slight pay cut and an ugly commute but the kind of work I want to do, making useful things out of chunks of metal, and I'd be starting at only ten cents less than I'm making now shoving shampoo back and forth. Unfortunately I've never done that kind of work before and may not meet their qualifications. They're calling the place to possibly set up an interview, so no range trip today. And the show tomorrow, maybe a range trip on Sunday.

For once it's a good thing I got a late start. Maybe.

-So I go out to the library and finally pick up some 1930s horror video (Hallowe'en coming, ya know) and put Stephenson's Quicksilver on hold. My queue position 144 of 144. :(

Then I go to the bank to withdraw the rent and when I come out I notice my right-rear tire is low. I carefully drive home, thinking I'll use the socket-powered compressor to bring it back up enough to carefully drive to Les Schwab, but there's a message from the temp service and now I have to charge out to the west side for an interview today because I have to go back to work on Monday. And then the compressor won't fit on the shorter-than-normal stem on that particular tire, so I go to the cardlock gas station and use their compressor and cross my fingers and off I go.

-Okay, that worked. Got there early even, though the trip back was true-ugly with road work and Friday-afternoon-mass-escapism. I think/hope the interview went well. -Not the kind of work I'd had the impression of. Production, yes, but mainly crimping metal connectors onto bits of wire. Apparently my job would be Tool Clerk, checking the tools, fittings, dies, bulk connectors, in and out, maintaining the crimping machines, and some computer stuff which did not faze me. Rather more interesting than the shampoo-shoving industry, and only ten cents less than I'm making now, though my fuel consumption will increase and the hours are earlier, 7am-3:30pm, ick. But the interviewer said it's a rapidly-expanding and very busy company, so I would expect better opportunities for advancement.

Handed out a couple website cards to the two interviewers. Calculated risk. If they look at my site, and I don't get the job because of what they see here, then it's not the kind of place I'd want to work for anyway. On the other hand, it shows off my computer skills.

The tire appears to be holding. Shrug.

(Relatively) little tuxedo cat visiting from Bastet-knows-where, appears healthy but attention-deprived. Went nuts over a small bowl of kibble and some cuddles. Fuji appears is jealous. Hsssss!!!

304 - Saturday, 27 September 2003: OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE?!

(ahem.)

So I go to the Clark County Fairgrounds gun show. I arrive about a quarter past ten and I wander around looking at stuff. Naturally I stopped at the bank on the way out for some extra cash, which gave me about $140 to spend. I'm looking for, I dunno, 3-Gun guns maybe, a .22 handgun maybe, I dunno. And at the very first table there's this Marlin Model 9 semiautomatic carbine, 9x19mm, takes S&W 59xx pistol magazines, and it's marked $199.95.

I have never seen one of these marked under $300, and both the 9mm and .45 versions (using 1911 magazines) were discontinued years ago but remain much sought-after.

So I think about it.

And I look at the rest of the show. Found the flag vendor! Apparently he's retired and just doesn't bother going to all the shows anymore, but said he'll be at the next Expo show. Got fresh Betsy Ross and Gadsden flags, the ones on the porch are fading of course, but hey, two for $15 ain't awful. These fresh ones will be for next year, almost time to take them down because of weather. Saw various things - a "Coast to Coast" (remember that hardware store?) Mossberg 500 12 gauge, rifled with rifle sights, $150; a Marlin/Glenfield Model 60 .22LR semiauto rifle, missing some pieces, stock and action held together by rubber bands, marked $29; a couple Lugers around $750. VZ24 Mausers, $100, I don't think so. Mosin 91/30 collector's bundle, $140, I don't think so. Charles Daly 1911, $365 with two magazines, I wish. Russian "Eagle Eye" weapon-mount night-vision, $449, didn't get the particulars but the vendor has a website.

Ran into Cruffler, on his way out, about 11am. He'd just bought an Interarms Mk. X Mauser, for the action, on which he plans to put a .416 Rigby (!) barrel he's had a while. I reiterated that he is a masochist. (He has an NEF Handi-Rifle in .45-70, and a Mosin chopped to 16½ inches, and probably more than one .375 H&H Magnum.)

.38 Special wadcutter ammunition, Really Mild for training and seduction, about $5/50, but that Marlin was in my mind and I passed, and this appears to be the same ammo vendor who goes to most of the shows so I'll get that later. Some used Mini-14s, $400 more or less. SKSs, $175-300 depending. A Winchester 1897 takedown marked $299.

And I go back to find that Marlin, and it's still there. And I think about it. And I think about it some more. And I talk to the vendor and there is no haggle in him but that is really a good price on one of these.

And I drive off to find an ATM and get back just in time to chase another prospective customer away and I bought it.

Augh.

Hey, I paid the rent yesterday, in cash. So there. No Washington sales tax with Oregon ID, bonus.

So now I have a 3-Gun carbine. Came with one (stainless or nickel) 20-round aftermarket magazine, 30s are available, I'll want about a half-dozen. Original factory magazine was 12 rounds, like the S&W 69xx compact pistols. Now I have to look at my checkbook and see if I have enough left to go to Clark Rifles tomorrow, and get fuel, and groceries and such. AUGH!

Anyway. Condition Very Good, missing front sight hood. No box or case or manual. Takedown instructions in Part IV of the Gun Digest Books of Firearms Assembly and Disassembly. Not unlike a Ruger 10/22 actually, several design similarities, though it is not feasible to drill a hole in the back of the receiver so you can clean the bore from the breech. Don't like cleaning from the muzzle, could damage the crown and therefore accuracy. Anyway cleans up all right, a few small surface patches of rust or pitting, bore looks good. Micro-Groove^TM rifling, unjacketed projectiles not advised, eh, I'll be getting bulk military surplus FMJ for it.

Augh. Now I need a 9x19mm pistol. And it might even be a Smith & Wesson so I can share magazines, but no, I'd still prefer a GP35, CZ, or clone or derivative thereof. Will need more magazines though, will peruse Shotgun News. Hm, I wonder if it's possible to convert the Marlin to take other pistols' magazines? Probably not economically. Worry about that after I have the pistol, other folks will buy whatever magazines I get for their S&W pistols or Marlin carbines. Next show Canby, small, 11-12 October; Salem, small, 25-26 October; Clark County Fairgrounds again, medium, 15-16 November; Expo, large, 21-23 November.

Straight blowback operation, throws residue around but not as bad as gas-operated. Flourescent orange plastic front sight, will look for the protective hood, Gun Parts Corp. catalog reveals it's common to many Marlins, I should be able to find one at a parts table. There is a cutaway type also, to let light hit the flourescent plastic, but I can do that myself with a Dremel and some cold blue if I have to. In catalog #25, GPC has the plain hood for $2.80, the cutaway for about twice that, and a complete front sight set with cutaway hood for $16.80. Cheap step-elevation notch rear, but it folds down and the receiver is drilled & tapped, will seek aperture receiver sight. Standard sling-swivel studs, original wood stock in respectable shape, few dings. Visual & tactile loaded-chamber indicator, big whoop. Garand-type manual safety, fine. Magazine disconnect, ick, may do something about that, likely a contributor to the heavy trigger. Firing pin spring, good, not likely to slam-fire. Big chunky bolt, plastic recoil buffer in back of receiver, apparently not a lot of use (but not a lot of cleaning either). Okay, it's a score.

Augh. Well, if I find myself in dire financial straits I can probably make about $100 profit from it. In fact I might, after or to facilitate the acquisition of a battle rifle, but like Cruffler, once I buy a piece I don't want to let it go.

So I look through my ammo dump and I find exactly twenty rounds of Winchester/USA white-box 115-grain FMJ 9x19mm ammunition. I thought I had more. Augh! I've got to get at least one more box to test it with! And groceries! And laundry! And fuel! And the electric bill (maybe I'll skip a month on that...)! Augh!

Hmm, now how can I get a bayonet on this thing...? AUGH!!! Where am I gonna put this thing? Cased the Hungarian M44, put in on the pile, the new addition on the wall rack. Okay, a little over $80 left, not a complete disaster. Augh.

One box UMC 115 FMJ, $8.99. Ten dollars Plus at $1.75⁹. Enough groceries for the rest of the pay period, I hope.

AUGH AUGH!!!

Ya know, just a few days ago I was e-conversing with a ‘blog reader and we both came to the conclusion that these pistol-caliber carbines weren't such a big deal, though I did say I might get one after I had a pistol to which it would be a good companion. And now look what I've done. AUGH!!!!

So while at the laundromat I leaf through the last Shotgun News looking for 30-round Smith & Wesson double-column 9mm magazines. Forrest Co. lists them at $18.95 each, 25% off for six or more, $139.50 for a dozen, but there have been Bad Words said about that company on rec.guns and elsewhere. Whatacountry wants $14.95, or $12.95 for ten or more. So there's my ballpark when I look at the next show. Probably won't get the whole stack at once, maybe two at a time.

Finished Poul Anderson's For Love and Glory, not as rip-roaring as I might have hoped, certainly not as much as Ensign Flandry, but still very fine of course. Now starting Man-Kzin Wars X: The Wunder War, by Hal Colebatch of Australia, who "has been an advisor to two Australian Federal Ministers" which alarms me as Oz has gone all socialist-totalitarian-antigun and here's a guy who may have had something to do with it. But then he dedicates the book to "Poul Anderson, friend and inspiration", the guy who wrote Sam Hall and Conan the Rebel, so I'll settle down and read it. Colebatch also wrote Blair's Britain, which I'll have to look for reviews of on the net.

Apparently the good of the Crufflegene is as contagious as the bad. The bad is I spend too much money on firearms, but the good is I find some pretty darn good deals.

AAUUGH!!!!

305 - Sunday, 28 September 2003: Juggled slings, got one on the Marlin. Really must Dremel the Stevens' stock, I have the studs for it. Departing for Clark Rifles about 11:30am, Marlin with 70 rounds commercial 115 FMJ, MojoMauser with ~100 rounds Greek, Mosin 91/30 with ~150 rounds Albanian and bayonet, Stevens with the Federal bulk carton and some other stuff, Mossberg with smokeless handloads. Various targets and two copies of AQT.

Wanted to check email before I left but Iguanasoft is "ring ring". :-/

Arrived about 12:15pm. Listened to Tom Gresham's Gun Talk on the way up! Live from the Gun Rights Policy Conference in Texas, featuring the aforementioned e-list denizen Dave Workman of the Second Amendment Foundation.

Phooey, sight-in days, only two rifles allowed. Okay, no AQT, testing the Marlin and practice, from the bench at 1"/4MOA targets, with the Mosin.

And before I even get my targets posted, I notice a young man with a Winchester ‘94 in .30-30, apparently flinching badly. Talked to Range Officer, retrieved Stevens & ammunition from car, loaned it and gave what tips I could. Another shooter joined in with breath-control tips. Some progress made. Got to fire two rounds from the Winchester, never fired a lever-action before! Recoil and blast were surprisingly intense, no wonder he was flinching, but less than the Mosin carbine I've become accustomed to.

Now the Marlin. Standard procedure when introducing oneself to a self-loader, load only one round in the magazine to start. Hit! Good sign, first shot right in the black of a 1" square at 25 yards. Bolt locked back as designed. Now two rounds, to make sure it's a semiautomatic, and it is. A near miss, and another hit! Put the other 17 Winchester rounds into the magazine and had at it. -And they're all over. Huh?

Continuing with the UMC ammunition. A couple lanes down, a guy with a Remington 700 muzzle-loader complains rather strenuously about the brass. I apologize and a target stand is leaned against the bench by a third party to block the Marlin's ejections.

(Now I've been thinking about this. This guy who complained, I have to wonder how many ranges he's been to, how often he goes shooting. I've had 7.62x39 cases, and even x51, bouncing off my head and didn't pitch a fit. I don't recall anyone throwing such a tantrum last time I was here either, with a Remington 7400 (the .30-06 that made me flinch) and that SVT hurling battle-rifle brass across the line. Maybe he's one of those "sportsmen" who don't think anyone should have semiautomatics. How long does he think he can hang onto his "deadly long-range sniper rifle"? Wake up mister, your muzzle-loader is also on the confiscation list, your house also can be burned down by our government, your cat also can be stomped to death. -Oh, so long as mine goes first, with my "eee-vil man-killing automatics", that makes it all right, does it? Such people are, as Churchill said, appeasing the crocodile in the hope of being eaten last.)

(But maybe I'm reading too much into his reaction. I dunno.)

Second target, five-round strings of UMC 115/FMJ, generally low and left, ugly groups. Heavy trigger, not the best sights, but come on! I know I can shoot better than that! 35 rounds fired, case the Marlin, switch to the Mosin, four 1" targets at 25 yards.

Target #3, Mosin string #1, three hits, okay, that's about where I left it. Target #4, string #2, three hits, closer misses. 5/3, much the same. 6/4, pulled the last one left, and apparently another one too, but still a tighter group. Fresh targets.

1 2 3 4

Target #7, Mosin string #5, five shots, four holes, couldn't say which is which. 8/6, I know I pulled one right, dunno how the other one got there. The 91/30 goes a little high, generally. Target #9, string #7, held a little too low. 10/8, better. Fresh targets.

5 6 7 8

Bayonet! If I'm going to use this rifle in next year's PIG Match I need to know how the point of impact is affected by the bayonet. Target #11, string #9... ew. Not encouraging. I'm a little tired and the Mosin is more than a little hot. Well, I can always go back to the Hungarian M44 carbine, and maybe I'll have made progress with the MojoMauser by next summer. 12/10, closing up some, but the extra weight is fatiguing. 13/11, an improvement I guess but not a complete one. Target #14, string #12, on the other hand....

9 10 11 12

Definitely tired now, record heat today, mid-80s reportedly. Switching to the reclaimed Stevens .22. Looks like the low-recoil approach helped the guy with the Winchester, I got warm fuzzies, that is very much what I bought that little single-shot for. It is my gunfolkly duty to help others improve and maintain their skills, and .22LR ammunition is dirt-cheap everywhere. Hot hot Mosin! And it's bayonet too!

Two "Battlin' the UN" targets, one each representing 300 and 500 yards, five rounds each on six aiming points each. Using the bulk-pack Federal at "300" and the apparently-preferred CCI Mini-Mag at "500". Ah, trigger has smoothed out (a little) with use! So forget about paying for the ammo, mister, it's a fair exchange.

Got Boris again! Going a little low with the rear sight all the way up, will seek yet another front sight in between the original and this replacement in height. Held too high, went over the driver's vision port. Aiming right at it, got the antenna mount once but I dunno how those three rounds got over to the right. Centered the front bead in the truck wheel, no real challenge there. Driver's done for, hurt the engine a little.

CCI at "500" yards, got the wheel, hurt the driver, technically five hits on the engine! Low again at the commander's vision blocks, got the driver's vision port kinda by luck, likewise grazed the antenna.

About 3pm, enough with rifles. Talk to R/O, to handgun range to test smokeless 12-gauge loads. -Controllable recoil but still stiffer than I'd hoped, just a bit less than the Mosin, may try that 3/4-ounce load in the Accurate manual. -As I feared, a couple light powder charges but they made it safely out of the barrel, will have to pay more attention to the powder reservoir. The last thing I looked at before buying the Marlin yesterday was a full set of Lee powder dippers for $10, that would solve that problem without costing much more time, will keep an eye out at shows.

Another thing, the column height on these was a touch high and one crimp actually opened a little in transit. The Accurate manual lists the same components for the 3/4-ounce load as for the 7/8-ounce, that should solve that problem. Also I might go to a 14.0-grain powder charge.

Anyway I was firing at a Pepper Popper at 50 yards and the M590's ghost-ring sights appear to be right on for that. Observation of dust from impact indicates about a two-foot pattern from the 20" cylinder bore. I can make smokeless loads too!

Departed 3:20pm, returned 4pm. Saw Regular at $1.59⁹ at Vancouver-area ARCO stations on the way back. Portland ARCOs want $1.75⁹. Dig GasPriceWatch!

Don't have to clean the MojoMauser at least.... Augh. Can't spare another $10 until the 11th, and sight-in days, attracting "sportsmen," continue through the 19th.

While I've got the Marlin open, looking at the magazine disconnect. Recall my earlier mention of the GP35/Browning Hi-Power, which also has this feature; many owners disable it, not least to improve the trigger pull. As-is, the Marlin's trigger pull is heavier than the unloaded carbine - I can cock the internal hammer, insert the empty magazine to disengage the interrupt, release the manual safety, and hang the carbine from one finger by the trigger and the hammer will not fall, unless I bounce it to put extra force on the trigger. Another design similarity to the Ruger 10/22....

Both action screws held firm through 35 rounds, at least, though I might put a little blue Loctite/Guntite on them on principle. Very dirty, much residue, more than when I got it. Ejected brass was filthy too, chamber doesn't seem particularly loose but apparently it is. Magazine disassembles like most such do, pushing a button and sliding the floorplate off while controlling the spring, so I can clean inside that too. Hm, plastic follower, but seems sound enough and it's a standard S&W design so I can replace it if it gives me trouble.

Hm, GPC only wants $10.60 for the plastic trigger group housing, stripped, so there's my magazine-conversion project. Okay, got the whole trigger group apart, now reassembling without the two-piece magazine disconnect and its spring. -That seems to have worked, and cycling with the trigger held back shows it won't runaway since there's a separate disconnector for the trigger & sear (of which there is no mention a'tall in the Gun Digest disassembly book, or the GPC catalog parts diagram!). Trigger not noticeably lighter, unfortunately, but now I can dry-fire conveniently without an anxiety-raising magazine in the weapon. Parts saved of course.

On the way back out for the latest Big 5 sale flyer, heard an infomercial for the Phazer active-countermeasure anti-police-radar/laser thingie. ...Yes, it's a paid advertisement, but it was still intriguing, especially the part where they guaranteed it would scramble whatever the blueshirts are using to record your speed, or the company would pay your fine. Something else to look into.

Found the Boortz show, reserving judgement ‘til I've heard more. -Eh, not as bad as Limbaugh or Savage. He was about to administer the Libertarian "World's Smallest Political Quiz" on-air, but the caller's sell-phone disconnected. Also joined by comedian Jeff Foxworthy ("You might be a redneck if..."), who is also an occasional substitute host for the Boortz show.

Putting the Marlin on-duty because I feel like it - twenty semiautomatic rounds are comforting, and even a jacketed 9x19mm round, even from a rifle barrel, will not overpenetrate as much as a Mauser or Mosin. But the shotguns are still the first string of that team and I'll probably clear and case the Marlin when the novelty wears off. Ugh, truly need magazine loader.

Uncivilized neighbors playing loud rap music and TV. What am I supposed to do, call the racist blueshirts so they can go on a fishing expedition in my apartment because I'm white and the neighbors aren't? Burn the offending house down? What? Digging out the property owner's address again, time to send that nasty letter which never actually got sent.

Ah, Drudge! That's the kind of radio I'm looking for.

306 - Monday, 29 September 2003: While at Clark Rifles, sought Tim Roark, hoping for a copy of the picture he took at the PIG. Not there, not answering email, got his phone number.

Gods I hate that warehouse and the people in it too!

And there's a message from the temp service waiting when I get back to the apartment, the connector place is making an offer. Now playing voicemail tag, got back around 4:45pm. Told them I could probably leave the warehouse after this week, as opposed to the traditional two weeks' notice. Anyway it says right there in the (new! Improved!) employee handbook that employment at the warehouse is at-will so I don't have to give them any notice at all, and whether I burn it or not I wouldn't go back after crossing that particular bridge anyway.

Accrued vacation and sick time will be cashed out upon termination. Hopefully that will be soon, I'll need gas money. (Jeez I shouldn't have bought that Marlin.) As I understand it, I'll be a long-term temp - one of the supervisors who interviewed me had been there over a year and was still a temp. (Presumably there were raises....) But that means a paycheck every week instead of every other.

And of course I'm stressing over a job change. This Tool Clerk/Machine Maintenance thing... I can do that. Yes I can. Gawd, if I understood the interviewers I'll have a desk!

I was kinda planning a tirade about the warehouse's new handbook but hopefully it will be moot.

(Probably I'll have a tirade about the new job's handbook....)

Tag! Temp service returning my returned call. Tool Clerk position, yes, "some floating around" as well, sure, $10.00/hour! I was told $9! Will talk with warehouse boss tomorrow (haven't mentioned this yet and I doubt anyone there is capable, ya know, of accessing this weblog), then call temp service from there. A new job and a raise! Woo hoo! Feeling a little better about the Marlin now.

Weird. I'm changing jobs without an intervening bout of unemployment. Can't recall that ever happening to me before.

And now I'm finally scanning the targets from yesterday's range trip and uploading the last two days' ‘blog!

Heh - thinking about the PIG Match. Too bad the M590 is smoothbore, and there are apparently no rifled barrels available for it... but I might get something like that cheap Coast-to-Coast/Mossberg slug gun I saw at the Vancouver show, hmm. Mounting the bayonet directly on the barrel would probably not be wise, with stresses and all as there is not a lot of meat in a shotgun barrel except at the back end, but there are reproductions available of the ‘97 Winchester Trench Gun's handguard/bayonet lug which wraps around the barrel and slings the bayonet beneath the muzzle. Hm, a little sheetmetal, a little cutting, a little bending, hmm.... There'd be no mistaking which hits were mine! But then there's the recoil of a 12 gauge slug, and what was that line from Tom Horn? "Trajectory like a rainbow"? The PIG is a 300-yard match in its first stage. What's the technical term? "Plunging fire"? But man would it be politically incorrect! And what category would that be, hm? :) Oo! I've even got a folding stock for a Mossberg! :) :) Hm, one of those cantilever-scope-mount barrels, like that Winchester Mk. II tactical semiautomatic, but that one's iron sights are silly-tall like an AR. The Coast-to-Coast came with that cheesy Williams notch rear and gold bead front like a 10/22, ick. Hm, flip-up Express leafs for 25/100, 200 and 300 yards, in an altered scope base, that'll keep the front sight down to a rational height. Maybe, at $10/hour, I can afford to pick up another cheap Mossberg 500 action. Hm, could I do this on a 20 gauge platform? That would reduce the recoil. -Yes, the Mossberg catalog lists a 20 gauge rifled barrel with cantilever scope base. Ported muzzle, that makes it louder, hm. The 2002 catalog doesn't seem to offer any non-ported rifled barrels, except for the Remington 870. Hey, I could do it on an 870! I can even get a magazine extension for that design, and that would give the bayonet another thing to hang from!

Eh, vaporware.

Random thought: Now you know that when Paramount gets their hands on the film rights for The Teeth of the Tiger they're gonna turn the whole thing inside-out, the terrorists will be Christian white supremacists from Indiana who buy eee-vil "assault weapons" at gun shows, and the operatives will be borderline psychopaths like most Hollywood leads who go around clumsily whacking innocent bystanders instead of the mass-murdering scum who truly deserve it (who in turn will be "misunderstood agrarian reformers", of course). I believe there is also to be a film treatment of Without Remorse. It ain't even made yet and it already sucks. John Clark will probably be a drug-addicted pedophile.

307 - Tuesday, 30 September 2003: Notice is given! Friday will be my last at the warehouse. Gods be praised. I have been led to expect my final check, or direct deposit, including unused vacation and sick time, on Friday, which ought to fix me up good. Depending how good, may open another savings account, toward a battle rifle finally.

Now I just hope this $10/hour job isn't a snakepit of commie Democrat traitors. Eh, I could have the temp service go fetch me another one.

Ooo! Article on SurplusRifle.com about a target trigger for Mosin-Nagants! With shipping, about as much as I paid for the whole rifle, but still hmm!

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