RIFLEMAN'S JOURNAL - OCTOBER 2003

309 - Thursday, 2 October 2003: So the warehouse is hiring temps, and others, as I'm leaving after tomorrow and the Navy veteran is leaving in a month or so and there's another guy leaving soon too. One of the direct-hires was supposed to be a forklift operator. Like everyone else in the warehouse, he was started on order pulling.

Errors in nearly all the orders he pulled. Same kinds of mistakes over and over. Tried him in packing, complete mess, had to repack nearly every order he packed or the product would be destroyed three minutes after the UPS trailer reached the facility down at Swan Island. Back to order pulling. There's an oversize box waiting by the shipping computer so it doesn't have to be hauled around so much before I stick the UPS label on it and the rest of the order is being pulled by this guy. Hours go by, two, three, I dunno. "Where's the rest of this order?" I ask someone. Apparently this guy decided to take a break and smoke a cigarette in the restroom, while in the middle of pulling that order. Don't know who finished it, don't care, that guy's gone (must be a record, usually it takes months for anyone to get fired, by which time they've quit) and so am I after Friday.

And apparently, on his way out, this same guy stole five bucks from my wallet, which is in my fanny pack, which I don't generally carry out on the warehouse floor. At least nothing else seems to be missing.

This is the kind of reason I'm leaving. There are legends of Really Bad Employees at this place, like the heroin addict, the later-to-be-convicted murderer, and the one who left a few days ago which any other place would (I hope!) have fired twenty times by now but who was allowed to leave on his own terms after months as a part-timer while "attending classes" (yeah right). There are the temps who work one day and are never seen again, and the ones who work one hour and are never seen again. There are the paychecks sent to salesmen's houses instead of the warehouse, and the paychecks which arrive on schedule on Friday but are dated for the following Monday, there are the computer system crashes and the bottlenecks on the invoicing/packing/shipping line (not my end by gods, whichever I happen to be on) and there's me and the Navy guy (who is having Genuine Life Problems, even to the detriment of his health, but still shows up and Performs) doing just about all the work while others lounge around outside smoking cigarettes and talking about sports, there's the guys twice my age who act half my age and the guys half my age who act half that age, there's the horseplay and ignorance and subliteracy and apathy and monumental incompetence....

I shoulda knowed not to work for a company with "of California" in the title. So I wonder what the new job will be like? Cruffler's right, I need self-employment. Meanwhile, at $10/hour, maybe I can get a t-shirt heat press.

Have been assured that my final check, prorated and inclusive, will be available tomorrow. We'll see. Boy is that place screwed now. Well, half-screwed. When the Navy guy leaves, then they will experience the Full Screw. And never mind all the computer-software instructions I documented, and printed multiple copies of, and posted conspicuously, some of the public-schooled creatures there can't even read a color-coded diagram and the rest "don't have time to read that." Shudder.

So I get a copy of Episode II from the library (so soon? Only put it on hold a couple days ago, they must have acquired several copies - been waiting near a month for Hondo (which I'm not sure I've ever seen)) and of course it's not rewound and while it's rewinding I hear little moments of crunching noises indicating wrinkled tape resulting from incompetent and inconsiderate handling. This is what you get from cityfolk. See also above, different symptoms, same disease.

310 - Friday, 3 October 2003: Barely got out of bed this morning. Good thing I have a car, it puts slack in one's schedule.

Warehouse boss being generous, left before noon. He also offered to reimburse the $5 stolen from me yesterday. AAAAhahahahahaaaa! I quit my job! Left a few website cards behind, eh.

Goodness gracious, $792.70 in the final check! Gonna go right out and get new glasses! Which will take a couple weeks or so as they have to send to some commie sweatshop in China I imagine, but what isn't made in China these days? I could pay more at some other place I suppose but I'm not sure when my next check is coming, probably the 17th if I remember their lag time correctly, so I'll be frugal. Not going to visit any pawn shops either, or the Canby gun show next weekend, until I start getting those weekly checks from the temp service.

Got the eye exam done and frames chosen, $73.95 including $14 "field screening" which detects diabetes by testing the field of vision - I passed. Apparently no significant change in my prescription after all but the old glasses are really beat up. Paid in full, estimated one week for delivery. Two pair this time, we'll see how they hold up without the scratch protection which would have doubled the price. One pair will go, unused unless necessary, into the bugout bag in as sturdy a case as I can find.

Automated mailing from the library when I get back: "The last available copy [of Hondo] has become unavailable, hold cancelled." Checked their dialup system, three copies listed, one "lost" and the other two "missing." More rude lazy ignorant thoughtless thieving cityfolk.

No new holds waiting at the library, but did find James P. Hogan's The Anguished Dawn, sequel to Cradle of Saturn. He won the (Libertarian!) Prometheus Award for The Multiplex Man, which I've also read and enjoyed. Anyway in Cradle of Saturn he puts forward the Catastrophism theory, that Really Bad Things happen once in a while, suddenly, to this planet and all of Sol System, instead of more gentle, gradual changes over geologic time. And in the back of the book (and on his own site) he's got references and web links to evidence supporting the theory. I do so hope he's wrong. We ain't built no starships yet dammit. There's not even a permanent Human presence off-planet (anything that needs supplies regularly delivered by spacecraft is not "permanent").

Now might be a good time for a coolant change in the car. Have a Jiffy Lube coupon for $10 off, but also have a jug of the stuff that was on sale at Bi-Mart and I should learn to do it myself. Especially while the weather's still good.

Hm, the bank seems to think I have $26.50 more than I figure. Again. ...Which actually matches up with checks I have out to Iguanasoft and The Liberty Committee, thirteen and eight days respectively, so that puzzle appears to be solved. Paid phone bill way early, paid electric bill a few days late, filled gas tank ($1.69⁹), reserve can still full. Might do some informal shooting in the hills tomorrow but will probably just veg.

Finished Man-Kzin Wars X, satisfying. Sucked right into The Anguished Dawn, might as well read it now while I can still remember some of Cradle of Saturn.

And it's freaking me some with apparent advocation of Socialism. Is this the same guy who wrote, as I recall, Mirror Maze, with the Constitutionalist party abolishing the income tax? He's got some moneyless scientific utopia going in the moons of Saturn here and what little economics I've learned isn't showing me how it can work purely out of good intentions. Especially with an influx of Terran refugees. Where do all the consumables come from? How are they replenished? With money, what happens is, you buy raw materials, make a product, sell it, and use the money to buy more raw materials, making enough profit to, like, eat. How can anybody do anything but starve, in the long term, if everyone gives away the fruits of their labors without material compensation? Obviously in the short term some people will be well-fed but it runs out, ya know? He hasn't actually quoted the Marxist plank, "To each according to need, from each according to ability," but it's a flashing neon sign between the lines! This is not the Hogan I remember! -Well, I'm only at page 40, we'll see.

311 - Saturday, 4 October 2003: Zzzz....

Time to do something about those headlights. Got some crimp-on connectors (heh - I think that's the kind of thing my new job makes) and I'm gonna swap over the new wire-harness-socket, and I have four multipurpose switches on hand, two of which are presumed innocent.

But first- I'm wondering why my windshield-washer fluid is always running out and I finally get around to more carefully examining the reservoir, which seemed okay when I replaced the pump a while back - and it's brittle and cracking all over the pump end. Off to U-Pull-It again. $6 counting admission including another pump, seems to have solved that problem, salvaged old pump too. On the way back, got Breakheart Pass with Charles Bronson from the library.

So! Cut the old, heat-deformed wire-harness socket away from its wires, leaving as much wire as possible. Strip wires & apply crimp-on blade connectors to old wires & replacement socket's wires, plug everything back in, lights work! Still using the last, the second, switch module, two spares still in the back with the tools and the reserve fuel can. That's fine, since the other harness socket is more of a pain to release from the module. Next time at U-Pull-It, get another harness socket and prepare it ahead of time in case this one also melts, but it should last some weeks at least since it wasn't deformed to begin with. Now replace all the cover panels. There, I fixed two things on my car today!

Perusing Hogan's site, his bulletin board archives. Found this little item, and this one, and elsewhere he mentions Ron Paul. All righty then. But this Kropotkin stuff in The Anguished Dawn is still weirding me out. He goes into some detail, on an unrelated work, here.

312 - Monday, 6 October 2003: First day on the new job! Slightly harrowing commute on the westside freeways before sunrise but survived, made rather good time too.

And the Gods exist and They are Jerks. Arrived way early, selected parking space, turn the car, shift to Reverse- and it dies. Okay, I think, I've stalled it by being sloppy with the clutch, I'll just start her right up again. And she doesn't start right up again. Plenty of electrical power, turns over fine, lights and gauges and radio and all work, but the engine won't catch. Push the car the rest of the way into the parking space. Nothing obvious under the hood. Bad omen for the first day on the new job.

The work itself went well enough though I do hope I meet their expectations, which seem pretty high. Apparently I'm replacing another FWRA member.

So I call the woodworker and the mechanic at lunchtime and discuss the problem, try their suggestions, no progress. Then I call them at breaktime to report and... they don't answer. And I call them at quitting time and... they don't answer. But I leave messages with the work number and other people are working late there so I can still use the phone and finally they call back and they're all tied up helping another friend with his truck and what was expected to take half an hour took two, with other misadventures besides.

Finally they arrive and it's dark and by this time it's raining - let me rephrase that, it's RAINING IN OREGON - and they fiddle under the hood for a while and I drain the battery cranking the engine which still doesn't catch and the woodworker is soaked after a long and Interesting day of his own and we leave my poor little green car in the parking lot of my new job and go have dinner. Tomorrow we'll tow the thing back to this side of town for further work and in the meantime I have to ride mass-transit again, getting out of bed even godsawfuler earlier, triple-quadruple ICK.

And I stop at Fred Meyer's to get a new copy of the Tri-Met Guide, showing all schedule and route information, and they just switched to a new one and they aren't available yet. And I go to Tri-Met's website to print out the maps and schedules I'll need and Opera crashes three or four times before I get that done.

What the heck did I do in a past life anyway?

313 - Tuesday, 7 October 2003: So the mechanic and the blacksmith show up in daylight, without rain, to tow my car away from work while I'm at work, the plan being to take it to the east side where I can get at it for service easily on the bus.

And a blueshirt pulls them over on Highway 217, tells them they're towing illegally (which don't smell right to a couple people who have towed and been towed many a time) and forces them off the highway so my car ends up ‘way the heck out in Wilsonville at the blacksmith's place where the bus doesn't go.

So I take a different bus from work and get as close to the blacksmith as I can and he picks me up and we start messing with my car. Could be the fuel pump, which would suck as it's one of those inside-the-tank types - but maybe it's just a bum fuel filter! So we charge off to the sports-and-auto store and get a new $9 filter and the car runs!

For a little while, then it dies and won't stay running again so maybe it's the ~$80 fuel pump after all. Well, she probably needed a new filter anyway, gods know when it was last changed and it was displaying low flow. Also cleaned the battery terminals and tightened that connection. At least I can afford a new pump at the moment but dammit I wanted to put that money toward a fighting pistol or a battle rifle! And now my car is way the heck over on the other end, the opposite corner even, of the metro sprawl from my apartment. Now the plan is for the blacksmith to pick me up from work tomorrow, and possibly enlist the woodworker and mechanic again, and go straight there from work.

AARRGGHH!!

314 - Wednesday, 8 October 2003: After further diagnosis it is confirmed that my car has the inside-the-tank fuel pump, as opposed to the other kind, and that's what's dead. Fuel tank must be removed, or at least lowered, to access.

Blacksmith picks me up from work. Woodworker and mechanic join the team again. Push other ill car out from under portable garage, push mine in. Study Haynes manual. Call nearby parts store, new pump $99.99, will call around from work tomorrow. Woodworker calls professional-mechanic relative, labor estimate ~$120 not including parts - forget that! Jack the car up, scrounge chunks of stuff to make jack stands from, crawl beneath, reposition jack under fuel tank, remove bolts, lower fuel tank. Stop, wrestle parking-brake cables around huge fuel tank flange, resume lowering fuel tank. Stop, cuss venomously while wrestling with giant rubber-band thingies suspending exhaust pipe, shove that out of the way, resume lowering fuel tank. Access is gained, past dusk, the team is tired and dirty and crotchety, that's enough for the day. Thursday's plan is for the blacksmith to pick me up again, I buy a new pump at the lowest price I will find tomorrow, and we put everything back together.

Boy do I have some Christmas shopping to do this year.

Insurance bill waiting in mail, $103.66 again, due the day after I expect my first check from the new job, fine. New Shotgun News, something to read at work tomorrow. Nearing the end of The Anguished Dawn, still not buying the moneyless society thing and not much of an effort being made to sell it, aside from a brief reference to "production guaranteed by high technology" or suchlike, which I could imagine working if the technology were high and reliable enough, but then people would be dependent on it and right there in the same book he's got the entire surface of Sol III laid waste by a near encounter with a rogue planet and primitive, non-technological skills are needed for survival, so is Hogan even on his own side here or what? I'm sure he's read Heinlein but has one of Lazarus Long's famous quotes sunk in? The one about specialization being for insects? He's built a society of naïve idealistic techno-dependent low-gravity weaklings! If this is supposed to be a "message book" there's not many pages left for the message. I can think of a message....

What's next in the queue...? Cold is the Sea, a cold-war thriller by WWII sub veteran Edward Beach, who as I recall commanded USS Triton, at one time the largest submarine in the world, on her famous nuclear-powered all-submerged circumnavigation. I've also read Submarine by him, a collection of actual accounts of WWII sub warfare in the Pacific, much of which was smooshed together as plots for Operation Petticoat and some war films, like with John Wayne. Reading that collection and recalling the films is like comparing Audie Murphy, playing himself in To Hell and Back, with the official citation for his Medal of Honor. By gods those were men and Hollywood don't capture the half of it.

The job is going all right, I'm learning the machinery and the software despite some, ah, language barriers between my trainers and I. They're... not from here, nor are most of my new coworkers. Eh, still an improvement over the shampoo warehouse.

315 - Thursday, 9 October 2003: EEEYAAAGGHH!

(My car is fixed.)

Gawd what lousy driving conditions I experienced this evening. Heavy rain, some hail apparently, hydroplaning in the infamous ruts of I-205, terrible visibility, and cityfolk besides. A couple times I tensed up so hard I may have pulled something. Stoned on adrenalin.

MY CAR IS FIXED! Blew $99.99 on a new fuel pump and that solved the problem. The headlights still work even. The fuel tank was completely removed for vastly easier access, the blacksmith made a rivet (since nobody on the team had a pop-rivet gun and the new pump's kit included a pop-rivet to rebuild the hanger assembly after drilling out the original 15-year-old spot weld), more wrasslin' was had by all. Bought pizza for the team. Looking forward - I think - to driving to work tomorrow, depending on weather and traffic. Still several panels to replace inside but she runs.

Messages waiting, items on hold at library and my new glasses are ready, things vastly easier to fetch with a car. Email way the heck backed up.

316 - Friday, 10 October 2003: My car is still fixed! Except now I seem to have a loose connection in the radio. The hatchback window fogs much, may attempt repair of defroster grid. Slightly overslept, still made the morning commute in 30 minutes, arrived a few seconds late. Can't do that on light-rail.

Work is getting hectic as I am largely untrained and the place is largely untraining, due to recent expansion and personnel changes, but at least the situation is acknowledged. I have been encouraged to use my "gut instinct" and to "wing it". A professional trainer is "coming soon". I have already reorganized much of the heap-o'-tools & supplies, and am getting quite the handle on the highfalutin' electronic-cable-label-printing software.

Should have had about a quarter of a tank after juggling everything yesterday but it turned out to be much less. Circuitously returned to east side, avoiding awful freeway traffic which would have burned at least as much fuel, didn't run out, filled at $1.65⁹, defective nozzle leaked all over my little green car's hindquarter, attendant dripped gas on the passenger seat. :-/

At Bi-Mart, picked up some white-box USA ammo on sale, one box each 9x19mm (there is more than one "9mm" and it's important to get the right one) 115-grain JHP, 9x19mm 124 FMJ and my preferred .357/110 JHP, for further testing the Marlin and practicing with the GP100.

Finished The Anguished Dawn yesterday, kind of a weak ending I thought, not at all sold on Kronian society, though I wouldn't classify Kronians as "enemy", just "weak" and "unrealistic". The scientific theories put forward in the story were intriguing. Haven't started the Beach novel yet, still leafing through latest Shotgun News and Cabela's Christmas Catalog.

Tomorrow morning I sleep in, carefully not going to the Canby gun show. Tomorrow afternoon I put the rest of my car back together and track down all the tools I tossed loose into the cargo compartment and tomorrow evening I catch up on email and newsgroups.

It seems I'll be seeking a CETME, as it may be the only battle rifle I can afford. At least I still have a couple-three hundred rounds of 7.62x51mm from the Ishapore.

317 - Saturday, 11 October 2003: ZZZZZ!!!!!

You know, just before this fuel-pump business I was thinking, "Why would I ever need a cell phone? Who would I ever call?" Talked it over with the team, I'll look into a pre-paid plan. It would appear that the cellular phone is like the fire extinguisher, the seat belt, and the concealed handgun. You'll probably never need one, but if you do you'll need it right there, right now.

So now I have a $600 car, counting the fuel pump and feeding the team. Sigh. Figuring 40 hours a week at $10/hour minus guesstimated 30% taxes, I should expect about $280 net per paycheck. I guess I've lost health insurance but I'm not paying ~$100/month for it anymore either.

All the car's interior panels replaced, tools back where they belong. Left my reserve fuel can at the blacksmith's place, eh, I was gonna give it to him as further payment for services rendered anyway, I'll go get another. Hm, right now, why not. And the library on the way back.

Was going to get two cans but only found one good enough. While at surplus store, blew $20 on USGI black trenchcoat, with liner. Coool. At liquidation store on the way back, a pair of 3-ton jack stands, $8.88, gift for blacksmith who couldn't find his.

318 - Monday, 13 October 2003: I am beginning to suspect that my new job would be kinda cool if I had the slightest idea what I was doing. I've been informed the professional trainer will arrive next Tuesday.

Driving to and from work, across the bulk of the metro area, has its good and bad points. On the one hand it's a lot faster and more convenient than mass-transit, and on the other, there are way too many cityfolk on the same roads.

Out of idleness, reloaded the Marlin's magazine with the Win/USA 115 JHP. These (#USA9JHP) have jackets which go all the way up, like the spendier Silvertip, thus preventing accuracy-impairing deformation of the lead during feeding and handling, unlike my preferred 110 JHP load for the .357. Of course I don't know yet if the Marlin will feed hollowpoints, but the shotguns and that .357 are my leading home-defense weapons anyway, I was just bored. (Iguanasoft's newsgroups are down, sent email for tech support yesterday.)

Um, blacksmith & mechanic both have birthdays in the vicinity of Hallowe'en, better do some shopping. After my next paycheck. -Yeah, okay, I've got a couple items in mind, just have to shop around for them.

Next range trip? I dunno. Sight-In Days at Clark Rifles continue through the 19th, see previous mention of "sportsmen." Due to conflicting schedules the Hallowe'en gathering may be held around the 26th to include as many as possible. Salem gun show that weekend too, that big ammo vendor should be there, I still want some of that mild .38 wadcutter for training others with my big heavy .357. Axis vs. Allies match at Clark Rifles on the 8th or so, MojoMauser still not ready, not enough practice with the Mosin 91/30, may go with the Hungarian M44 carbine again, if I don't wimp out on the match altogether. Hope for a practice session on the 1st or 2nd.

%$#@ fuel pump. I'll ask the blacksmith if he still has the old one, I might want to take it up in the hills. Perhaps with some .22LR tracer ammunition from the gun shows.

Got the new glasses on Friday, some mild headaches while my optic ROMs rewrite themselves but settling down nicely. Good enough to drive with right from the eyeglass store.

Car radio has settled down, may have just been a bad battery connection, took a wire brush to the terminal that wasn't so treated by the blacksmith during repairs last week. Sunday I got that Sinking Feeling when I turned the key and lost all electrical power but I fixed that.

319 - Tuesday, 14 October 2003: Snailmail! Beg-for-money from the Michael New (court-martialed and booted from the Army for refusing an unconstitutional order to wear UN blue) Legal Defense Fund, might send $5 or $10. Another, from Jesse Helms, about a National Right to Work Law - anti-Union, will take a closer look later. And another, from Eugene Delgaudio, "Public Advocate of the U.S.", bemoaning same-sex marriage and going on about the God-ordained act - no, ‘Gene, I'm not a right-winger. The political spectrum is not a one-dimensional line, and just because I ain't one of them doesn't mean I'm one of you (plonk). -And, voter's pamphlet. Looks like more than half the candidates for the Multnomah County Public Utility District are Democommies, or Greenies (the co-chair and the state secretary of the Pacific Green Party of Oregon). Ballot measures to create that district and further bloat government. Guess how I'll vote.

So the 5,000 extant members of the Free State Project voted for New Hampshire. The place is full of damnyankees but still, "Live Free or Die"....

At library, my hold came through on Stephen Hunter's Havana, will likely have to read it next as other people will have it on hold.

Bi-Mart now carries 250-round "mega packs" of Remington/UMC yellow-box handgun ammunition, 9x19mm 115 FMJ $29.88, .40 S&W 180 FMJ $39.88, .45 ACP 230 FMJ $49.88. Reckon I'll have to get me a couple of those. And that appears to be their regular price, as opposed to sale. Hope it will be a regular item.

Schuck's Auto Supply advertises a digital caliper for $19.99. Counter-guy says "the whole district is out" and "I wanted one too". If they ever do get some, at that price I may get two.

320 - Thursday, 16 October 2003: Work is getting frustrating. Fortunately I learn quickly and have something resembling a mechanical aptitude, and I've excavated some user's manuals, but I've been winging it so long my arms are getting tired. The only other person who knows how to set up the automatic crimping machines, for attaching the small metal connectors to the ends of stripped wires, does not speak English very well and has other duties besides.

English, or American (says so right on the front of the dictionary, The American Language), is a minority language here. Folks from all over southeast Asia, from Mexico, a couple from the former Soviet Union, India I guess, I dunno. Decent hard-working people - there's one young Asian woman who runs around about as much as I do, kinda like the Navy veteran at my last job - but how am I supposed to tell the machine operators to do suchandsuch with the thingamajig and keep an eye on the whatchamacallit so the machine doesn't jam? (Especially when I barely know what I'm talking about myself because no one is capable of training me?)

People come and go through the tool area, my area for which I am supposedly responsible, with impunity - there's no way to keep them out, except perhaps bayonets, and that won't work when I'm on break or lunch and would probably violate some sniveling cowardly corporate policy anyway. The tool area is supposed to move into the warehouse, where only certain people are allowed, and that should help but I've no idea when it will happen. Warehouse people say it's been proposed and cancelled repeatedly for months.

The machine operators and hand-toolers can't get enough light to do their jobs, because light bulbs - ordinary 60-watt incandescent light bulbs available absolutely everywhere - have been "on order" for weeks or months. For gods' sake, gimme twenty bucks and I'll load up at Bi-Mart!

Rush yesterday to clean the place up before major-customer representatives visit today. Unspoken, many employees dressed nicer than usual, including myself forsaking my traditional t-shirt for an uncomfortable button-down - and the tourists failed to show. No word if they'll come tomorrow.

But I'm not in the shampoo warehouse anymore and tomorrow I find out how much more money I'm really making. Oh, frequent overtime too, anytime I want it just about. I often had short hours in the warehouse. I'll stick it out through the winter at least I guess, maybe some of this will be sorted out by then.

Starting to attempt repair of rear defroster grid. The grid itself seems intact though I may have damaged one line getting the tabs off. I had to get the tabs off because the wires were long since broken from them and very crudely soldered back on, which broke off again. The repair kit says it'll fix either the grid, with paint-on conductor, or the tabs, with adhesive like that for the rear-view mirror. Cleaned up the wires, which pop off the (essentially useless) hatchback lifters with blade connectors, but now they may be too short - they flex with the lifters as the hatch opens and closes. Next, probably this weekend, clean up the tabs, solder the wires back on, and prepare the window/grid surface. Should probably pick up a cheap multimeter first.

Listening to AM talk radio, the Victor Bock show on 860 KPAM. He's doing his show on the street tomorrow in downtown Beaverton at the Libertarian Party Headquarters! I know where that is, the bus went right past it as I was making my way toward the blacksmith's place last week. The occasion is to help gather petition signatures for a referendum on Oregon's reprehensible tax hike plan. I haven't had an opportunity to sign yet, I may swing by, and sniff over the party HQ while I'm there.

It is good to have a car.

Fuel consumption is up with the longer commute, but gas prices are dropping, $1.59⁹ now. Got the replacement reserve can filled too. Blew $15 on a VHS copy of Matrix Reloaded, it had its moments certainly. Crass commercialism after the feature, hadn't seen the advertisements before as I don't watch TV anymore. Also a trailer for Revolutions.

321 - Saturday, 18 October 2003: First new-job paycheck fatter than I expected, went to Silver Lining to celebrate. Nothing leapt off the shelves at me but they're having a firearm sale, emailed Cruffler, he might be interested in a .375 Winchester ‘94 Winchester for $300. Might go back for a lowball ‘94 Winchester, a couple under $160, but all the rest are .30-30 and I'd prefer a handgun caliber in a Marlin. Saw an Ithaca Model 300 semiautomatic 12 gauge, $219 sale price as I recall, but it had a recoilling barrel and would therefore not be fully suitable for my 3-Gun/Trenchgun project.

Oh, have I talked about that? A little, back in September, but I was talking slide-actions there. My idea is to get some cheap old semiautomatic shotgun - lower recoil, the action soaks it up - and add a magazine extension for 3-Gun competition, and even a bayonet lug because I want to, pending expiration of the ‘94 Ban. But nearly all the cheap old semiauto shotguns have recoiling barrels instead of gas operation. This matters. An extra pound or so of steel hung off the barrel will almost certainly cause malfunctions (examine the Johnson M1941 rifle and its itty bitty spike bayonet), but I don't want to hang the bayonet off the barrel anyway for structural reasons, as mentioned in September. But if I hang it off the magazine tube I want to clamp the tube to the barrel for added support and that's just not feasible with an old Remington M11 or Browning A5 (though it would look really cool with that retro humpback receiver), or that Ithaca 300. A ‘blog reader from Michigan (gods help him) has independently dreamed up much the same thing, with differences that may be marketable, more power to him. Either way a stationary-barrel design would be required. -I dunno, though. I could put that Ithaca on layaway.... I think a magazine extension, with conventional stock, is still legal for semiauto shotguns - Winchester is marketing them that way, I'll check the laws - and the hobbyist from the Barberton show can chop the barrel for $10. Hm.

Paid auto insurance again, $103.66 again, shrug.

Finished Cold is the Sea, good enough, not unlike Clancy. Ironically one of Beach's supporting characters, in one of the submarine crews, is named Tom Clancy. Now starting Hunter's Havana.

Went back to Silver Lining after all, sniffed over the Ithaca 300 again, will probably pass but will do some research on it. Then, looked at the Remington percussion replica, still in the case, still marked $159. Not exactly clean; ugly turn mark on cylinder; loading lever flops side-to-side; starboard grip escutcheon and frontstrap mainspring screw protruding; hammer face slightly deformed, probably from dry-firing. Otherwise acceptable fit, 95%+ finish, blue (black) barrel, loading lever, base pin, cylinder & trigger, plum frame, color-case-hardened hammer, usual brass triggerguard, adequate walnut or walnut-colored stocks, decent lockup & timing, nice trigger. "Been here a couple-three months, hasn't it? Not moving, is it?" Marked $159, offered $100 - done! Now I won't have to order one from Cabela's. ...Disturbingly, they ran this unregulated blackpowder firearm through NICS, but placatingly did not charge the $9 Oregon gun-tax for it. Well, I was going to put it on my site anyway. Even came with original box and manual! Manual says EMF, box says Armi San Marco, so I should be able to find correct parts - or even a spare cylinder! Where's that Dixie Gun Works catalog...? Already have everything I need to run it: .451" & .454" ball, #10 & #11 caps, Pyrodex P, .44-.45 Wonder Wads, and two holsters, a full-flap butt-forward cavalry style and a big Mexican-loop type I got in a trade at a show years ago.

Well crud. Now I have to start assembling a Confederate uniform. The 1861 Colt reproduction flopped around loose in that flap holster but this big Remington .44 fills it nicely, and now I've got a saber to balance it on the other side. Hallowe'en party planned at work.... Will have to track down some saltpeter too, make proper nitrated paper cartridges for both revolvers. Mainspring screw sank a little, escutcheon will need more attention. Matching serial number on frame (butt) and cylinder.

So it's about 2pm on an unseasonably nice October afternoon and I'm digging through my hovel looking for those holsters. Recall that I live near Portland International Airport and Air National Guard base. So I hear the F15s roaring off to intimidate some Cessna and I step outside to look.

And I see one of them doing a slow roll after a high-angle takeoff.

Mixed feelings. My country, my country's cool technological stuff in the hands of my highly-skilled-professional countrymen who desire to protect my country. Following the government's orders to crack down on anyone who does anything without that government's permission. And having a little fun while they're at it.

Not that I wouldn't roll an Eagle if I had the opportunity. I did spend three misguided months in Air Force ROTC long ago. Very mixed feelings. ...Well, there are rumors on the net that, like in 1861, whole units will be Choosing Sides. Meanwhile I'll get more rifle practice.

Will have to visit that leather store again, desirous of a "Laredo" rig for my two percussion revolvers, conventional strong-side for the Remington .44, crossdraw for the Colt .36. The crude little underweight thing I built for the .36 works for a conventional right-hand draw by itself, but there's room for improvement. -Hey, now all I need for Cowboy Action is a handgun-caliber lever-action and a costume!

So I start taking the Remington apart and the grip escutcheon spins in the grip panel. It's cross-threaded! No wonder it's sticking out crooked instead of flush with the wood. How the heck am I supposed to get it out without destroying the wood? ...I could get the Dremel, carefully cut a screwdriver slot in the escutcheon, and use two screwdrivers, hm. Doesn't seem to want to come out any other way. -That's not working, it's really tight and the brass escutcheon won't hold the driver in the slot. Also I've damaged the steel grip screw's slot too now. A drop of CLP on the hole in the escutcheon, set it aside for a while, watch a John Wayne flick from the library.

Replacement grips are available but usually need to be polished with the frame, requiring refinishing of both, for a smooth fit. And these are pretty nice, I'd rather keep them if I can. -No good, maybe I'll challenge the blacksmith with it, and I still want to shove my second flintlock pistol under his nose and see what happens.

Ah, got it apart! Threads damaged though, will visit hardware store tomorrow, replace the screw if I'm lucky, possibly find a tap to recut the escutcheon's threads. -Or, by carefully clamping the brass escutcheon in vise-grips and carefully driving the steel screw in and out, I think I've got it functional. Continuing the teardown and first cleaning. ...Can't get the trigger & bolt spring screw to move without damaging it, seems all the screws are very tight, but that spring (among the weakest point in the single-action revolver design) hasn't broken yet. I'll order a replacement screw set, and spare spring or two, and a hand & spring assembly, from DGW, probably after next week's paycheck, just to have on hand. Looking at an exploded diagram I got off the net, and also in print in DGW's catalog, the guts of a Remington are mechanically identical to a Colt, just different dimensions I guess. Huh! I thought I had a .44 bore brush! Have to get a couple, got several .36-.38s. I do have a couple .44 cotton blackpowder mops (.410 shotgun bore mops).

I'm not sure this revolver has ever been fired. It just doesn't seem dirty enough, though it's obviously been fondled and dry-fired rather a lot. Well it will be fired, you betcha. Yes, I guess it has been fired, I'll need a brush to get that gunk out of the bore. Ew! Rust in the chambers! In the nipples themselves actually, but not too bad, and they can be replaced. All six nipples loose in cylinder! Not anymore. Looks like there's not much I can do about the floppy loading lever without putting the rammer itself in a press and very carefully squishing its prongs, but it does stay latched to the barrel and remains functional. Put it back together, everything seems to work. I think I'll fire some caps in it tomorrow, but no range trip until next weekend at least.

Yesterday after work, I did stop by the Libertarian Party HQ and (finally!) signed the anti-tax petition, but didn't linger, just drove through the orange cones on the street. A lady handed me a clipboard, made sure I was signing on the correct county's sheet, then exchanged it for a copy of Libertarian Viewpoint, issue 1, volume 1, and I drove away, eventually stopping at Silver Lining as described. (Note to self: never take Barbur Blvd. on Friday afternoon, and if I do, don't miss the Ross Island Bridge exit.) Coupon on back for joining the party: "The Libertarian Party is the party of principle. To publicly affirm what we believe - and to ensure that our party never strays from our principles - we ask our members to proudly sign this statement: ‘I do not believe in or advocate the initiation [emphasis theirs] of force as a means of achieving political or social goals.'" Options from $25/year to $1,000/life. Thinking about it. I may have to stop by in a more leisurely manner sometime, sniff the place over. Libertarians have a really good platform, and no viable candidates. Argh.

322 - Sunday, 19 October 2003: Went to Sportsman's Warehouse again, got another 5lb box of OO buckshot for reloading, and a six-place leather 12-gauge cartridge carrier for my revolver/saber belt. And then I got into trouble.

Having just acquired a ‘58 (actually 1863) Remington reproduction, I looked over their offerings. As before, inauthentic brass-frame and/or .44 caliber "1851" Colts, a couple 1860s (one marked $10 higher than the other?), no Remingtons on display. But at the bottom of that rack there was another reproduction Colt percussion revolver.

A Third Model Dragoon.

Uberti (the Good Stuff), $250. See, inspired by The Outlaw Josie Wales, I want a reproduction of a big Colt's Dragoon revolver. The 1847 Walker is out, only 1,100 were ever made and nearly every one went to the Texas Rangers; I'm considering a Virginian persona. The 1st Model Dragoon was little more than an improved Walker, production of about 7,000; still used oval cylinder-stop notches, instead of the rectangular with relief cut as we know today. The 2nd Model introduced the rectangular notches, but only 2,700 were made, again not enough to justify any old persona laying hands on one. But the 3rd Model reached over 10,000 in production, enough to get spread around some. Either the 2nd or 3rd introduced the pin safety, a protrusion in the blank space between chambers where the hammer could be rested with a slot in the hammer face, so the revolver could be carried with six chambers loaded without a live chamber under the hammer. (The Remington has big notches cut between the chambers for the hammer nose. The 1861 Colt has the pins. Cowboy Action rules state that the hammer must be down on an empty chamber regardless of design.)

MSRP for the Uberti 3rd Model is $285, DGW wants $320. Oh crap.

In a moment of weakness I asked about their layaway policy - 10% down, 90 days. I recovered my strength and did not put money down, but I might next Friday/payday, especially if they've another in the back that hasn't been fondled. Still two paydays, at $300+ net each, before the $275 rent is due, and the electric bill sans baseboard heater is looking more like pocket change.

And then, if they've another in the back that hasn't been fondled after that....

Biiiiig revolver. DGW's information pages, in the back of the catalog, says a 40-grain powder charge for the originals. The Remington is listed at 22-30, the 1861 Colt seems to work best at about 17. Whump.

So I reach for the DGW catalog and flip open the GPC catalog instead and it falls open to the page for the American Arms Inc. "1858" Army. "Also Armi San Marco." ...Ew, $71.60 for a cylinder, and marked Limited Quantity besides. But there it is. Well, at worst I could get a Pietta from Cabela's after all. I may even splurge, someday, on one of the drop-in cartridge conversions for this Armi San Marco.

323 - Tuesday, 21 October 2003: Unseasonably warm weather. Probably make up for it in a couple weeks. Perhaps I should invest in traction devices now.

The professional trainer arrived today, to teach about maintenance and repair of the automatic crimping machines. Coulda been better, coulda been worse. The operator-trainer and the "tech guy", both even newer there than myself, also received this training but I missed a lot of it as I'm the only person there even remotely trained to set up those machines and do several other things, except for the guy who trained me, who has other things to do. On a personal note, the trainer seems to be at least partly gunfolk and some chat was had, gave website card. He'll be back in November, and apparently every three months, for routine calibration under contract. So there's that at least.

Lots of overtime available at this job, so far I'm getting half an hour or an hour three or four days a week. Nominal quitting time is 3:30pm but some people stay ‘til 5 or even 5:30. Of course the earlier I leave the less ugly the return commute is and the more life I have - but if I leave early, er, on time, that leaves the tool area undefended and I find a mess the following morning. I have repeatedly spoken aloud the words "barbed wire" and "bayonet".

Apparently no rabid antigun commie traitors attendant. Or at least no rabid ones. Some coworkers express some interest in possibly discharging some items.

Theoretically two 10-minute breaks and a half-hour lunch each day, and a third break for those staying past 3:30. I try to time mine when the break room isn't mobbed but that means the operators are working and need me to set up machines when I'm trying to relax and eat and read.

Frankly the place is a mess. It's expanded so quickly, hired so many new people in such a hurry, there's more winging it than a flock of seagulls. Last week I was assembling shelving units and tables, like with a screwdriver and wrench. Some people have difficulty with the notion of an authorized tool clerk, as opposed to just wandering into the tool area and taking what they want. Documentation for the processes is often... inadequate, and that affects me too because I need to know which tool to issue or machine to set up and it's supposed to say right there. There is talk of hiring one or two more tool clerks, to deal with the hand tools and small consumables like soldering-iron tips, leaving me freer to work on the machines. As is, I'm getting plenty of exercise.

Voted against PUD ballot measures. I vote against anything that would increase the size or power of any government. For candidates for the new bureaucracy - "Vote for five" - there were five blank lines and I wrote "None" in each, making sure the little ovals were well-pencilled.

From library, viewed Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West with Bronson, et. al. last night. Today, picked up Grossman's On Killing, also a popular non-renewable item, will read it right after Hunter's Havana, about halfway through, and which is neither disappointing nor offensive. But why the heck does someone who writes like gunfolk work for the Washington Post?

324 - Thursday, 23 October 2003: Hectic at work. Fortunately the tech guy is learning to set up machines - I'm training him in the hands-on, we got the theory on Tuesday - so I could leave only an hour after quitting time without stumbling too much over my sense of professionalism.

Some of the people there could work faster, though. Truly. Including some who grew up speaking Amurican.

I don't know who or what my predecessor was but he sucked. There are seven autocrimping machines ranging from ancient to industry-standard. There are three of the latter in regular use, and two more of these, in some disrepair, from another facility, awaiting parts. In the entire workplace I managed to find one manual for these five latter machines and it was two years and three revisions old. Downloaded a fresh one from the web, printed and photocopied it. Also on the web, hunted down a manual for some other machines that have been giving trouble but haven't had time to read it myself yet. This place is a mess. And I let myself get talked into working Saturday, 8am to noon, gods know when I'll actually leave. May not make the Salem show after all. Overtime pay.... Sleep....

Anyway. Cruffler suggested some days ago that I search for actual saltpetre (that's how it's spelled on the bottle) at an old-fashioned pharmacy, and it worked! 6oz. bottle, $2.47. Looks exactly like table salt.

But before I cook up a solution and try making nitrated paper for combustible cartridges, I should take advantage of the momentarily-nice weather (it rained yesterday) and work on the rear defroster (which I learned yesterday that I could really really use). First, clean up the little tabs and solder the wires back onto them. Only got one done, and that badly, before the little butane torch ran out of fuel. I have a can to refill it, but then I noticed a very small crack in the torch's reservoir. So now I need another of those. And a multimeter still. Sigh.

Fine, now I'll try the saltpetre. "For technical use only." ...Whatever. Water, saucepan, just a bit less than boiling. Add the stuff until saturated, the point when more crystals will not dissolve. Dip the paper (torn from an ordinary two-ply paper towel, separated) in, carefully hold it above the stove to dry quicker while another dipped piece is set aside to dry conventionally. Put the fast-dried piece on the end of a stick and flick a lighter under it.

Not completely dry - but burns faster than regular paper and sparks and crackles while it's at it. All righty then. Carefully pour the rest of the solution into a small bottle for reuse. More on this as it develops.

Snailmail: SAF's 18th Annual National Gun Rights Raffle & Survey, $25 for six entries to win. This year I can afford it - and I'm a member now besides.

325 - Friday, 24 October 2003: Yeah, this job pays better. Nearly $400 net this week. Not quite so disgruntled about working tomorrow.

Clawed my way across town through Friday-afternoon traffic, on surface streets to avoid the freeways altogether. Deposited check, then clawed my way south to Sportsman's Warehouse and put the Dragoon - they had another still in the box, in the factory plastic bag, well oiled - on layaway, $50 down, $200 remaining, figure $50/week, I should pick it up on the 21st.

On the way down, stopped at a pawn shop with a "gun sale" sign, looked over some old semiautomatic shotguns, all 12 gauge: A very scruffy Winchester of some kind, an old and an older Remington M48, an 1100 or two. One of the 48s was marked $200, the other $175, one of the 1100s $225. Both the 48s were 2-3/4" only but one of the 1100s was a 3" Magnum. Gas-operated, fixed (or at least stationary) barrel, hm. Maybe next week. Ain't had two guns on layaway together since Big 5 had VZ24s.

Stopped by woodworker's on the way back, told him about the Dragoon while asking if there was to be a Hallowe'en party - this is the same guy writing a story about an adventuress in 1849 Burma, with a First Model Dragoon, which is the same size, shape and testosterone level as this Third Model. He asked more gun questions which I was pleased to answer. Previously I had him fire my 1861 Colt and my flintlock pistol to get a first-hand feel for how such things really worked so he could better write about it. Since then I've acquired a percussion derringer, which the adventuress would doubtless have a brace of; most of a second flintlock; a Remington .44 percussion revolver; and I've made progress developing truly combustible paper cartridges. Must take him out again.

Gonna need more holsters. Thinking of making.

Fuel consumption really increased, use of cabin heater and blower also contributing. Forgot to refuel last night, got to work this morning with the needle on ‘E', used reserve can for return trip, then bought $5 fuel at $1.59⁹. Seen it at $1.51⁹ on the west side near where I work, I'll top off and refill the can there tomorrow. $7 for these 5-liter steel cans, check your local surplus stores.

326 - Saturday, 25 October 2003: Actually left work at noon like I said I would. Actually topped off tank and refilled can at $1.51. Grabbed some cash and charged off to the Salem gun show.

Cruffler's right, that's really too far to drive for such a little show. Did get three hundred rounds of ammunition though, all .38 Special lead: a 200-round value pack of CCI Blazer (non-reloadable aluminum-case) 148-grain hollow-base wadcutter on closeout for $15; then 100 rounds of the same in Miwall-distributed reloads at $6.95/50, then 100 Miwall 158 round-nose at $4.95/50. So there's more stuff for seducing people into the gun culture. The 148 WCs in particular should be very mild in the beefy Ruger .357. I was going to get some different 9x19mm for testing in the Marlin but most of the stuff was hotter than the Win/USA or UMC I've been using, and I've read from several sources that the Marlins don't like hot stuff. (This vendor posts muzzle velocity and energy for many of the loads they sell, including regular factory stuff.)

Things that caught my eye:

Martini-Henry Imperial rifle, .450-.577, short-lever (Cruffler's is long-lever), $395; CVA Third Model Colt Dragoon, used with holster, $239 - but I've got a brand-new Uberti on layaway at $250.

Hesse CETME, with two 20-round magazines, $330, "this show only." Still can't get past the ergonomics. Same vendor, same deal: CAI FAL, $600; CAI CETME, $390; CAI G3, $530. A G3 might be okay - not least as it has a better rear sight - but the CETME's safety lever is reversed from the G3's, in that you push it up to FIRE, and that's just not convenient. So the CETME is off my list again. With this job I might be able to afford an FAL after all, did see a few around $600.

Luger shooter, "G" on chamber, "S/42" on toggle, $495. CAI (meaning Norinco I imagine) Phantom semiauto 12 gauge 3", synthetic stock, $250 new. Mossberg 1500 semiauto 12 gauge 2-3/4", $200. CAI "unissued" (and really very nice) #4 SMLE, $300. Ruger GP100 like mine, $405. Yugo SKS, in cosmoline, $175. Walther P1 (post-war P38), $348. Beretta Stampede SAA clone, .45, 4-3/4", $510. Charles Daly 1911s - $490 with fixed sights? $520 adjustable? When did that happen? Argentine 1927, $350, if I had that much to spare I might have tried some haggling but I only had $148 after parking & admission. FEG GP35, $290, but Cruffler let me handle his and they do have bad triggers, but several sources say the trigger improves when the magazine disconnect is removed. CAI Argentine GP35, $430. Rossi 92SRC, with Puma medallion, .357, $250 - not today, but it's one of the few used lever-actions I've seen in some time that wasn't either .30-30, or four figures. Original Colt SP1 AR15, pre-Everything, $1495. Next likely show Centralia, Washington (Cruffler recommends it), November 7-9 (same weekend as the Axis vs. Allies match - um, never did call Clark Rifles match director Tim Roark, I'll email him again tonight and call him if I don't get a response), then Vancouver the following weekend and the Expo Center after that.

Stopped at Fry's Electronics on the way back, saw a digital camera with most of the features I want for $50 on sale but that aisle was mobbed and no salescritters were free, I noted make & model and will research on the net. Also several attractive models around $120. Got a multimeter instead, took cell-phone brochure. Saw a blister-packed Nokia/AT&T "Go Phone" with starter kit for $90, others that worked out to "free" after mail-in rebate. A ‘blog reader (the home-shop machinist actually) suggested a pre-paid plan, which was seconded by a member of the SCA household, but I haven't looked into it yet.

327 - Sunday, 26 October 2003: With the time change I found myself up and out of bed before 8am. That's enough time to go up in the hills and shoot something! Or even pack a range bag and go to Clark Rifles, which makes even more sense. Their newsletter calendar says a Plate Match today, something I have been interested in, so maybe I'll watch that too. Taking the Mosin 91/30, as it's windage is better than the M44's; the MojoMauser, again; the Marlin and a selection of ammunition; and the Remington revolver to see what it does. Eek! I'm almost out of #11 percussion caps! But I should have enough for one session. Eek! I have no .451" ball! But I do have .454", that should work. Refilled Pyrodex flask, taking spouts which are supposed to be ~17, 25 and 30 grains by volume. Also taking volumetric measure just to be sure. Do have .44 Wonder Wads.

Arrived about 9:30am. Gorgeous day, possible record temperatures. Not too crowded, Sight-In days are over. Starting with the MojoMauser, Greek ammunition, two Palma five-place targets at 25 yards on the upper range. Lane 1, no whining about the Marlin's brass today. Loud Ruger M77 .270 in lane 4, even with plugs & muffs.

R/O had me move to lane 2, and move my target holder, so I wouldn't hit the side berm. Huh? Looks the same, where I was & where he waved me over. Eh, still beats English Pit.

Figuring out where the MojoMauser is today. Starting on upper target at center aiming point, the diamond, two-inch black with one-inch white center. Original stock with nothing else on it, recoil less a problem every time, still a little cheek-smacking but I'm getting a handle on that too. A little wobbly - when was my last range trip, a month ago? - but still three hits.

Now string #2, on the upper-left square. One flyer low, another high, but starting to group. String #3, upper-right... ugly. This old VZ may be shot-out after all, but why did I get hits in the first two strings? Four, lower-left, even worse and I'm pretty sure it's not me. Put some more elevation on the rear sight. Five, lower-right, all over. Dammit! Looks like I bought all the VZs for projects. Swab with window cleaner to neutralize corrosive primer residue, back in the case, switch to the Mosin.

MojoMauser 1: 2: 3: 4: 5:

Mmm, jerky. Honey-glazed.

Second target, Mosin string #1, upper-left, high & left - um, rear sight somehow got set at 150. String #2, upper-right, pretty bad. Three, center diamond, holding low, better. Four, lower-left, looks like she settles down when she warms up. Five, lower-right, better!

91/30 Mosin 1: 2: 3: 4: 5:

105 Mosin rounds left now, want to save some for long-range practice for the next match. Twenty-five more here, another Palma target, then experiment with the Marlin. Third target, Mosin string #6, upper-left square, decent. Seven, not too bad. New glasses an improvement but floaters now more noticeable (I've had them for many years, maybe since childhood), considering "ocular nutrition" as advertised by Paul Harvey.

Mosin string #8, center diamond, OK I guess. Nine, drifting right when hot, holding left to compensate. Ten, good. Getting better! And see, it really is the Mauser and not me. Swab & case Mosin, uncase Marlin.

91/30 Mosin 6: 7: 8: 9: 10:

Target break. Recovered previous targets, set a blank Palma below a 1-inch/4MOA practice target, something for the Marlin to find itself in. Starting with Winchester/USA 115-grain JHP. Five rounds, feeds hollowpoints fine, about 5MOA group, about 4MOA left, strung a little vertically. Magazine disconnect is disabled, I loaded the magazine with twenty rounds and didn't want to unload it, so I eject it after the fourth round so I have an empty chamber after the fifth.

Shoulda brought a brass hammer & punch, the Marlin's rear sight is drifted way left in its dovetail, which I hadn't noticed before. Nothing on hand to elegantly adjust it with, will just hold to the right. Target break, nature break. Enough room on the lower range, plate match on the handgun range looks like fun.

Marlin string #2, holding right, some hits! Now to the Palma five-place target. String #3, upper-left, good! D'oh - forgot to look for large S&W magazines in Salem, oh well. Four, upper-right, not bad. So the Marlin can feed hollowpoint and group too.

Marlin 3: 4:

Now switching to Win/USA 124 FMJ because I have some. String #5, center diamond, don't know how that flyer got over there. String #6, acceptable. Back to the UMC 115 FMJ, of which I have a 250-round Mega Pack. String #7, not a bad group! I guess I just needed to get to know the Marlin. Trigger still quite heavy though, front sight too big, rear notch wide enough but too shallow. Anyway I'm keeping it. 11:40am, to lower range with the Mosin.

Marlin 5: 6: 7:

Using "SR1" 100-yard targets, one each at 100 and 200, no 300-yard stage in the Axis vs. Allies match. Taking lane 4. Horrendous T/C Encore .270 rifle with big muzzle brake on 9. First long-range target, 100 yards, Mosin string #11, holding low, four hits in the (6-3/8 MOA) black. String #12, shoulder starting to complain after about a hundred rounds... ew. Four out of the black high. Thirteen - hah! All in the black! Fourteen, one out to the left.

Lower range has a timer, with buzzer and large flashing red lights. R/O sets it to 15 minutes, and it goes off to signal a target break which sometimes lasts about as long with guys trudging out to 300 yards and back. (During matches, Roark has everyone pile in the back of his truck.) Replaced 100 yard target, shooting at 200 next. Score for twenty rounds at 100, from the bench: one X (barely), two 10s (barely), eleven 9s, mostly high, four 8s, one 7 and one 6, also high. If I ordered a Mojo for the Mosin... it wouldn't arrive in time for the match.

Mosin, 100 yards, bench with hasty sling:

Now 200. Mosin string #15, not much wind according to the weathervanes posted out there, itty bitty black spot. Should have used the "SR-C" target at 200, which is probably what they'll use in the match. Oop! Almost forgot to set the rear sight at 200. -All high, one way up in the 5 ring. Set sight at 150. Windage just a little left, where I was holding expecting it to go right when hot, as it still was from the upper range but I guess not that hot. Sixteen, holding no windage but low as before - heck with it, rear sight all the way down at 100 & hold center. Just as high as before. Held a little right in response to the wind thingie and that's where it went. Hmm. String #17, low center hold, sight at 100, a couple hits! But the rest all over. Eighteen- no, the buzzer, a target break, only fifteen rounds on this target. Two 9s, five 7s, two 6s, three 5s and three off the top of the paper. Why is this rifle shooting so high? At 200 yards with the rear sight set for 100? But I did stumble into a couple hits on a ~3¼ MOA black spot. The match target will be larger. This one's not worth scanning.

R/O says prone OK. String #18, prone at 100 yards, holeee! Is that really two Xs? Nineteen, low & right but three of them in almost 1 MOA of each other! Twenty, ick, low and strung horizontally. Twenty-one, all in the black at least. Two X, five 10, six 9, five 8 and two 7.

Mosin, 100 yards, prone with hasty sling:

Target break. Loosen sling, reposition spotting scope. Now prone at 200 yards. String #s 22, 23 & 24 - can't really see, eye fatigue, two failures to chamber (defective cartridges - no failures to feed with the Russian 91/30 Mosin, unlike the Hungarian M44 carbine), very hot rifle, tired & sore after so many full-power rifle rounds with naked steel buttplates, that's enough. Score: two Xs (completely by accident!), three 9s, six 7s, one 6, probably a couple off the bottom as I held too low, or more likely just couldn't hold still. Also not worth scanning.

Now for some fun! Plate match done. Clubhouse guy wants me back on the upper range with my smoky blackpowder handgun, R/O prefers me on the handgun range so the unflat trajectory doesn't hit the ground and maybe take a bad bounce over the 100-yard backstop. Cool, I get to shoot at steel plates on the right end of the handgun line at ten yards.

Starting slow, 20 grains Pyrodex P by volumetric measure. Just one to start. Powder, Wonder Wad, .454" ball, loads fine, aim, squeeze, clang! Now all six chambers at a laboriously-measured 20 grains. Capping by hand, neither of my cappers will fit the Remington's recesses. Perfect function, first three rounds hit, the rest missed but I don't know where. Another shooter, as she was leaving, offered the use of a blank paper target she'd set at 7½ but didn't get around to shooting.

Again the laborious process of measuring powder. Okay, just a little high and maybe left, not bad. Now back to the plates with the 25-grain spout as-is, with my finger over the end bulging in some so it's really more like 22 grains. Trying the straight-line capper, Uncle Mike's as I recall, doesn't work well, may try alteration, or a new capper. Three minutes to load, expect to cut that down with paper cartridges and a functioning capper. Four hits on the plates.

Let's try the 30-grain spout. To avoid double-charging, or having to pour out all the chambers if I have a short charge in one, I charge one with powder and insert a Wonder Wad by fingertip, then index the cylinder and repeat, before inserting and ramming the balls. Not as fast as just charging each chamber, then inserting the wads and then the balls, but safer and less wasteful if I fumble one. Five hits.

Looks like there's room for maybe 35 grains of powder in that chamber, I'll try one round that way. -Nothing bad happened, except I missed. This revolver does have a nice trigger, but this is my first time out with it. Now another full cylinder with the 25-grain spout. A couple hits, overcompensating, holding too low. One more cylinder then leave. Five hits, not bad. About 3pm, packed up.

D'oh! Forgot to get Washington state lottery tickets! Oh well, hope to go up there again next weekend for another practice session. If the ammo holds out - may have to join Cruffler at the Centralia show for more. I'll set aside enough for two relays, let's say 40 rounds each, now. Weather forecast discouraging though.

Hm, one last thing I could try with the MojoMauser. There are two possible explanations for its crappy performance, since I've at least partly eliminated myself as the cause; either the barrel is "shot out" as I surmise (it just doesn't look that bad), or the Greek surplus ammunition from 1939 is as crappy as the Turkish from 1942. So, now I can afford such indulgences, I'll get a box of commercial, American hunting ammunition - I think Bi-Mart has the Remington green-box stuff on sale this week - and try that, hopefully on the 1st. If I can't get a decent group out of the MojoMauser, VZ24 #4, that way, then it too will be just an action waiting to be recycled. And if it does work, I'll get three more boxes and shoot a relay on both sides of the Axis vs. Allies match!

Tim Roark did return my last email, clarifying that the match is on Sunday the 9th and including what in the SCA would be called "event copy", giving all the necessary details. The event is three stages, 100/200/200 yards, ten rounds each plus a minimum of two sighters for the first two stages. I forget at the moment which is rapid and which slow fire, but they're all prone. As seen above, on the second 100-yard target with the Mosin - and in my awards page - I can do that. Cool. Roark can't find the picture from the PIG match but says he'll look for it and hopes to have it for me by match time. Also cool.

Cruffler wonders if I'm going to the Centralia show, though he likely won't make it himself. Checked the road atlas and yipe! It's halfway to Tacoma! Cruffler brags it up but I wonder if it's worth it.

Leafing through On Killing by Grossman. Starting to look interesting, but then on page 326: "The more advanced the technology, the greater the need for control. In the realm of weapons technology that means controlling explosives, artillery, and machine guns, and it may mean that the time has come to consider controlling assault rifles or pistols." Sigh. Look in the index - no listing for Second Amendment or Right to Bear Arms. One quote from Jeff Cooper on page 207, not describing who or what he is except that he has "life experience in criminology". Favorable references to the United Nations. Suggestions of censorship in response to "violence in the media". Into the return bin. Next book, Poul Anderson's Five Fates.

328 - Tuesday, 28 October 2003: Five Fates is actually a collection of five stories by five authors, of which Anderson's is the first, apparently all springing from the first few paragraphs by Keith Laumer. Poul Anderson, as previously noted, could write real good.

Finished Havana, not disappointed, will have to run through the rest of Hunter's Swagger novels now. I had not known that Swagger's universe was linked to a previous work, The Master Sniper, one of the first books I read on purpose, way back there with Starship Troopers.

There's another tool person at work, so I am now the machine person, which was the original idea. Anyway she's done more to clean up the unholy mess in the tool area in two days than I had a chance to in three weeks. Much rolling of eyes between Machine-Man me, Tool Woman, and Operator-Trainer at the astonishing lack of organization at that place. But it still beats the shampoo warehouse and I reckon I can stomach it ‘til spring at least. ...Just as I was one of the few people who could read and count and type in the warehouse, here it begins to seem that I am one of the few people who can handle a wrench or screwdriver with anything resembling efficiency or grace, or decipher a technical drawing in less than a day. Working on firearms appears to have developed my mechanical aptitude to the point where I can handle tools, and small parts, and see the relationship of various parts to each other in a given mechanism, and determine what needs to be done to achieve a desired result. I am disturbed that these appear to be uncommon skills in 21st-century America.

Damn it's good to have a car. Which I'm also learning about whether I like it or not. Today was supposed to be a gathering for the blacksmith's birthday but that was postponed as he had a business trip, so now it's planned for Saturday, which gives me a little more time for gifting. Anyway while there I will attempt to recover the old fuel pump for possible ritualized destruction. And I think I left the Haynes manual for my car there too. Meanwhile she's running great, headlights and all, though there seems to be a very slow (~10psi per week) leak in the left front tire.

Reportedly there was a story in today's Oregonian on Cowboy Action Shooting, I'll have to look it up on their site and see how they've twisted it. Almost bought a cowboyish hat at Bi-Mart today, $28. Still need a lever-action (or other period repeating) rifle in a handgun caliber. Something like that Rossi 92 I saw in Salem would be acceptable, but nearly every used lever-action in circulation anymore is a .30-30, all the handgun-calibers have already been snapped up by the CAS crowd, and I can't justify the expense of a new one.

At library, picked up Military Small Arms of the 20th Century, 7th Edition, will probably buy a copy. Also got the three-hour restored director's cut of Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, a CAS icon, on VHS. Dillon Precision advertises the "1915" western-style holster for the M1911 pistol.

Finally scanning targets from Sunday's range trip and uploading the updated ‘blog.

329 - Thursday, 30 October 2003: Snailmail, $20 each to SAF's Gun Owner Census and, belated, OFF-PAC.

Thinking more about my rifles. My previous range trip, 28 September, I got the impression the 91/30 shoots lower with the bayonet fixed - in fact I had one very respectable group in that session. So maybe I'll practice with the Mosin with the bayonet. Many Mosins were sighted-in with the bayonets fixed, and the 91/30's bayonets were reportedly issued without scabbards as they were not expected to be removed from the rifles.

As for the MojoMauser, I may swap its stock for the spare set I have and see if that does anything, with or without commercial loads. I dunno.

Gas prices as low as $1.49⁹ for Regular in Beaverton, ten or even twenty cents higher on my end of town.

Got the big shotgun loading manual from the library again, found only six buckshot loads for the Winchester AA 2-3/4" hull, half each #4 and OO, all require components I don't yet have and am not sure I can find. Will look at the powder maker's manuals again. -Nothing promising there either. I suppose I could try to develop my own load - I want a mild one after all - by selecting a 1-1/8-ounce load (nine OO pellets are just a few grains over that weight) with a common powder, reduce the charge by, say, 25% or so, use cards & wads and test it in my magnum-rated Mossberg - which is where it would be used anyway.

330 - Friday, 31 October 2003: Big potluck thing at work, and costumes too. Didn't bring anything but sampled some interesting multicultural dishes, especially from the Asians. Should have made an effort to assemble that Confederate Virginia Infantry officer's uniform. Maybe next year.

From record heat to real winter cold in about a week. Welcome to Oregon. Both heater-fans going.

Victor Bock of KPAM 860 has been doing remotes the past three Fridays now, to gather petition signatures to put Oregon's proposed huge tax increase on the ballot so it can be voted down. I've been sharing the news with some carefully-selected coworkers.

Did some production work yesterday, chipping in on a behind-schedule project. I think I held my own against the more experienced machine operators and could quickly reach their level if I weren't Machine Man. -You ever notice how some people are just no good with their hands? Can't handle simple hand tools, can't do production work at any reasonable speed, can't perform simple hand-eye-coordinated tasks without breaking something? ...You ever notice how many of those people vote Democrat? And these weak, unskilled, arguably-worthless individuals, who wouldn't survive a week without tax-paid city services, are so often elitists. Looking down on people who "work with their hands." Considering themselves superior to people who can actually take care of themselves without taxing an entire social class into serfdom to support them. Boy are they in for a shock when the next civil war starts and the infrastructure collapses. They ain't gettin' my can o' pork-n-beans, nor my stockpile of drinking water, nor my squirrel stew neither.

Most of the VHS tapes from the library are worn, or mangled outright. Considering a combo TV/DVD, spotted a 19" at Fred Meyer for $250. I'd be more interested in the DVD part of course, as most TV programming stinks. If my paychecks stay as fat as they've been (relatively speaking), I'll shop more seriously. After I get the Dragoon.

Today's paycheck, for one week (with overtime and Saturday pay), was more than I ever made in two weeks at the shampoo warehouse. Only 7.8% in taxes. Worried I'll end up "owing" some ("Show me the law!") if they don't steal enough up front, talked to temp-service lady who delivered the checks, will examine and possibly adjust W-4.

Stopped at Sportsman's Warehouse, put another $50 on the Dragoon, blew $30 on a silver-box of Federal Classic and a silver-box of Winchester Super-X "8mm Mauser" hunting ammunition, they did not have green-box Remington in that caliber. Actually stopped at Wal-Mart, they didn't have that caliber at all. $16 for a box of that, Express, at Bi-Mart. All 170-grain soft-point ("Hi-Shok", "Power-Point" and "Core-Lokt"). The Remington has a big fat round nose that looks like it was made for tube magazines, the other two look like rifle projectiles.

Probably vegging out tomorrow morning after all, instead of a range trip, and it's godsawful cold now anyway. Maybe Sunday but it'll probably be raining by then. May also try next Saturday, the 8th, for a practice session before the match on the 9th. I'd really like to get two practice sessions before the match, and of course I need all the practice I can get.

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