RIFLEMAN'S JOURNAL - APRIL 2004

That's not a boast, it's a lament. Banged out a memo describing Things I See Wrong With Production, issued to three supervisors. (The new one, replacing the one I have rapport with, does not seem the type to get her hands dirty. This could be a problem. Her job requires her to understand what's actually happening on the production floor, and she doesn't seem to like it out there with all those people working with their hands....) Anyway, two and half hours more overtime.

The trigger has arrived! :) And there's going to be work Saturday and it's in my own enlightened self-interest to be there keeping something truly ugly from happening to the tools and machines. Which means I'm going to miss the April Foul Weather Match. :( Reportedly the work is scheduled 7am-Noon, so I can't even go to the match first, then go to work and clean up only half a day's mess. Nor would setting up the machines ahead of time work - it's been tried. This place doesn't work like that, or rather the operators are incapable of it. And besides the machines are old and crotchety and need frequent tending - definitely not foolproof, and you can extend that statement on your own. :( :( Emailed match director with sad tidings. :( :( :(

With the overtime, I haven't actually finished loading that box of .357/125/Unique, only twenty rounds. Hopefully tonight & tomorrow night - though there may be overtime Friday too. :-/ Dunno when I'll find time to install the trigger - no hurry for the match now. :-\

452 - Friday, 2 April 2004: Actually finished the box of .357 last night. Not loading anything else ‘til I test what I have, though I may decap and resize more .357 (& .38) brass.

Memo received rather well, some problems may be addressed. Mainly training issues. For the nth time, You Can't Get Good Help These Days. New supervisor wanted a copy of the word processor file to "cut and paste" - indications she's starting to pick up speed. Old supervisor, now in charge of developing procedures for manufacturing new products, treated the Technical Support Group - which I'm in (no small part of my job includes tracking down part numbers and tool numbers and technical drawings and such on the ‘net or over the phone - gawd, they've got me going to meetings now) - to Mongolian grill, yum.

More overtime tonight, and at least five hours expected tomorrow. :-/ Responding to demand, finally - after about three hours of cussing, and where did that cut on my finger come from? - renovated a particular autocrimper applicator, a duplicate for one that works reliably if not perfectly, that had done nothing but jam every time I'd tried it in the past two months. And it'll probably jam again tomorrow. But there's two different huge projects that need essentially the exact same terminal, requiring the same applicator. Lucky for them there is a duplicate, received with a pallet of refuse from a closed facility elsewhere shortly before I started. Previously salvaged a lot of that.

I must credit being gunfolk with my success restoring that device (and others) to (at least partial) operation. I've had very little official training in any of my duties and the experience of stripping and reassembling my firearms, clearing malfunctions, and such, has, I believe, heightened my mechanical aptitude and problem-solving abilities. I'm figuring most of this out as I go along and I get no small warm-fuzzies because I can.

And then I get depressed when I see how many people can't.

Filling in with all kinds of production work in between my regular duties. They're sure getting a lot for their ten bucks an hour....

Absolute best gas price in Portland area $1.72 for Regular. Yesterday it was $1.69 at the same ARCO.

Nuke Fallujah? No, let's not initiate the use of nuclear weapons - we have so many conventional ones, after all.... How far is Fallujah from the coast? Oh, the Iowa class is finally retired, phooey. A few salvos from Wisconsin's Mk3s would be highly appropriate. Savage condemning Bush for his silence on the issue. Well, yeah. And Kerry would hike my taxes to pay for social programs for the "misunderstood agrarian reformers" who hung the mutilated corpses of American citizens from a bridge.

Argh....

453 - Saturday, 3 April 2004: It jammed again (and again and...) but eventually I finished fixing it. Mostly. For now. I hope. Also rehabilitated yet another applicator from the junk pallet, doubling capacity on one project. Another still ready for the same treatment, for a different anticipated project.

Match director responds, announces another series of matches for summer, good! I should be off factory loads by then.

Laundry today, maybe shooting tomorrow. Finally applied the Borders gift card, to The Complete Blackpowder Handbook, 4th ed., by Sam Fadala. Picked up Carter's Josey Wales omnibus at the library again.

Mailed the county extortion check, taxes done. Now to save up for that powder.

Chugging through Ing's The Rackham Files, final section a reprint of the novel Pulling Through. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, it lost relevance as a survivalist manifesto; with the rise of international terrorism, it's getting it back. Entertaining and lifesaving. Foreword by Larry Niven, coauthor of Lucifer's Hammer, which novel is credited by some with starting the survivalist movement - recommends Ing's Soft Targets. Not in the local library system - but have I read it before? Is that the one with the Mormons? Isn't there a sequel? I may have paperback copies in the hovel. -Finished Rackham, embarking on The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales.

Watching Bend in the River, 1952, with James Stewart, while working on Timney installation - if I'm going tomorrow, I want it along for the ride. Preset at 3lbs, sez instructions, that should be a great improvement as-is. Installation in barreled action very simple - stock inletting required. Hi-Yo Dremel, Away!

And away, and away some more. Done! Ohh, that's better. Some creep to eliminate perhaps but a vast improvement over the military original.

454 - Sunday, 4 April 2004: Daylight Savings Time, ugh. Wimping out! Next weekend, planned an informal session with Structural Engineer but she hasn't responded to email and, frankly, she also has been known to pray to the Gods of the Market-Place. (For example John McCain, Comm-AZ. You did look up that Kipling, didn't you?) I won't call if she doesn't. I weary of wasting time attempting to enlighten people who will smile and nod and vote for Kerry anyway.

Tom Gresham's Gun Talk is a streaming apologist campaign for Wayne LaPierre and G.W. Bush. Neal Boortz isn't - he says plainly that the only reason he wants Bush to win is because he wants Kerry to lose.

Argh.

Anniversary of the Rwanda Holocaust, where the UN refused to release stockpiles of small arms which the victims could have used to defend themselves against machete-wielding savages. I got ammo....

Meanwhile Fallujah is surrounded by some very angry United States Marines, and photos, good enough to identify with, of those who mutilated and strung up the corpses, are in USA Today. I do still miss Fox News Channel, a little....

Nothing splendid at Big 5, though I'm thinking more about a Marlin. Noted that of the 1894 models they offer, the .357 Magnum (which I'd probably choose as I can load for it now) has a stubby carbine barrel and attendant reduced magazine capacity compared to the .44 and .45 models. OTOH, it's lighter and handier, hmm. Probably Microgroove rifling, not good with cast bullets as required by CAS, hmm.

Library hold came through for Terminator 3, not going to rent it and have money go to RINO Schwarzenegger (who now says his pledge, as Governor of California, to not raise taxes, may have been "wishful thinking"). -Cool enough effects, but I think the technology was less internally consistent than the previous films; rather shallow plot, uninspired dialogue, action sequences too much over-the-top (potty humor for crying out loud?), eh. There's no subtlety anymore.

A couple more Ing items on hold, a couple old Cagney flicks.

In latest Shotgun News, and last few issues, Sarco advertises sporter-contour Mauser barrels; .308 and .30-06 $84.95 each, .30-06 three for $74.95 each. Might order a .308.... Short-chambered - how short? I have a NO-GO headspace gauge for .308, I guess I'd want a GO gauge, would I need a chamber reamer? Would also need action tools to get the old barrel out, and a good vise, and something sturdy to mount the vise to. Brownells catalog hasn't arrived yet, the hardware store down the street would have the vise, I could build a table, and Brownells would have everything else. Saving back issues for articles, particularly Coffield's on the Mauser. I'm leaving the MojoMauser's original barrel for the foreseeable future but I've got four other actions to daydream about - and I still have that Redfield receiver sight in a drawer.

455 - Monday, 5 April 2004: My memo of last week may trigger a new training regimen. One can hope. Of course it would help if the operators could read English, but many can barely speak it....

Larry Elder plays a John Kerry clip: "Stand with us and we will create a new prosperity, where Americans do not work for the economy but the economy works for Americans."

And Kipling said:

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die."

Smart guy, that Kipling.

Finished Carter's Wales, yum. More than one whiff of libertarianism - also noted in the afterword by Lawrence Clayton. What do I want to read next? Miller's A National Party No More? No, I think that would only depress me - Kren of the Mitchegai, third in the New Kashubia/A Boy and his Tank series by Frankowski and "perhaps assault weapons should be banned" Grossman? Not yet. Another Ing, Butcher Bird, apparently a sequel to The Ransom of Black Stealth One, which I read some years ago? No, I'll save that a while yet - Combat, an anthology edited by Stephen Coonts (Flight of the Intruder - Coonts BT, DT, wrote from memory) featuring entries by such as Dale Brown (Flight of the Old Dog), Larry Bond (who coauthored Red Storm Rising with Tom Clancy, hadn't known that), Ing's Inside Job (first section of The Rackham Files), and the like, that'll do.

Larry Elder wowing over this Arte Morino guy, first Latino to own a major-league baseball team (Anaheim Angels), who says "We only speak English at home... I'm an American," rejects politically-correct multi-culti crap, "I'll hire the best people for the job" whatever color they are, slashing stadium ticket and concession prices so regular working folks can afford to go to a baseball game - I'm guessing this guy is not a member of MECHA. If I still watched TV I might start watching the Angels. -Latino racists bashing Morino, of course, just as black racists call Larry Elder "Uncle Tom". Heretics, they are, challenging the politically-correct dogma!

Nader stumping in Oregon, trying to get on the state ballot for Secretary-General (er, President). Almost makes me want to find an activist and sign the petition - the more votes Nader gets, the fewer go to Kerry. Spokescreatures say "Nader will pull votes equally from both Democrat and Republican parties" - bwahahahahahaaa!!

Homeland Security boss Tom Ridge, anti-self-defense voting and legislating record, in Oregon praising our preparedness. (Lifting eyebrow) ...After (re)reading Pulling Through, I get brain rash. Ing eloquently and comprehensively berates the unspeakable stupidity of those who have not made personal, non-governmental preparations. At least I have (access to) a car now - but I really need to give more thought to bugging out, and continue to save up for a better car (or truck) of my own. $80 at present, open another savings account, automatic monthly $25 transfer from checking? No overtime tonight.

Aside from bugging out, I might simply want to relocate. Oregon begins to wear. Too damn many Californians, for one thing.... While helping with housecleaning, Blacksmith's wife offers an old roof rack which may or may not fit any particular car, presently taking up space at their place. Also claimed old car battery to salvage lead for bullet casting, what the heck. Instructions from Blacksmith for neutralizing acid - baking soda into the cells, let work, rinse thoroughly.

456 - Thursday, 8 April 2004: Now I'm helping with scheduled calibration of calipers and micrometers, not least by playing detective and tracking them all down.

Began authoring instructions for the stuff I do, particularly computer stuff like tracking hand tools in the database and printing labels - and that last may turn into a book, the label software's so buggy.

Supervisor - the one I like - wants me to create something to be used as a log for tracking operators' certification status for particular tasks, decided on MS Excel.

Helping with engineering time studies, how long it takes to set up machine X and then to perform task Y with it.

Training and operation guidelines, based on my memo, along with documents I'd generated previously, issued to production - reading comprehension is not all it could be. :( And that's after I dumbed down the vocabulary at the higher supervisor's request. :( :(

They're getting a lot for ten bucks an hour....

On rec.guns, discussion of handloads - a newbie to that facet of the gun culture posts his recipe (for a .308 Win load) and his results (five or so MOA) and asks for help, and from the ensuing discussion I get the idea I should try different weights of projectiles in the MojoMauser to see what happens - empiricism, gods bless it! Still have twenty sized and primed cases (or is it forty?) with nothing in them, will probably pick up a box of 170gr .323 projectiles presently.

No word from Structural Engineer.

Emailed powder guy.

Cruffler warns against using battery lead for projectiles - corrosion. Fine, I hadn't done anything with it yet anyway.

On 9 April 1865 at Appamattox Courthouse, Virginia, General Robert E. Lee, commanding the Army of Northern Virginia, surrendered his battered, starving and outnumbered troops to Union forces under General Ulysses Grant, effectively ending the War Between the States... for now.

457 - Friday, 9 April 2004: Now I'm back with the handsaw and electric drill, chopping up a wooden cable spool to make a stand for a reel of some other material. Then preferred supervisor wants my help drafting training documents, and possibly training, and higher supervisor is counting on me to keep upcoming ISO (globalist Eurocommie plot to destroy initiative and creativity!) certification from being a complete (as opposed to incomplete) disaster. This is what you get, in today's workforce, for showing up every day, speaking Amurican, and typing more than three words a minute. They're getting a helluva lot for ten bucks an hour. No overtime this week but this payday netted over $400.

Powder guy responds, phoned him, got directions, found the place, got the powder! It's all in a big plastic sack in a thick cardboard box, apparently that's how Goex does it when doing bulk, I'm not complaining. Seller considerately weighed it for me before the transaction. Chatted some, will probably see him at future shows. Now where the heck am I going to put it...? Powder guy says there's a place down in Springfield that stocks the real thing, just about a hundred miles down I-5 in the Willamette Valley, close to (Californicated, lefty-college-town) Eugene; will do web search. But 19 pounds of 3F should last a good long time.

Jerry Doyle filling for Michael Savage again, says John Stossel will be guest - and a half-hour into the show the basketball game comes on. :-/

The other day, Victor Bock spread the word that the state "discovered" $120 million due to "errors in calculation" or some such, so many of the programs and services they threatened to cut if Measure 30 (intended to raise $179 million) failed, which it did by a bunch, won't be cut now. Mainstream media not covering this, of course.... Yeah, they made an error in calculation all right - they miscalculated how ticked the taxpayers of Oregon already are!

The other day, stopped at Sportsman's Warehouse to shop for components and stuff. Chrony F1 chronograph, $70; Speer 170gr .323, $15.50/50, and round nose besides - I want Spitzer dammit. 200gr Spitzer, $10/50 - wasn't the original German load 196? I'm sure Cruffler's told me, and I can look it up in one of my Ian Hogg books. (But what was the Czech load? Or is the VZ24 an export piece regulated for the original German load?) Hornady 170 round-nose, $25/100. Sierra Matchking, 150 and 170gr out of stock, $17 and $18/box but no clue how many per (guessing 50); 200gr boat-tail, $24/50. Nosler 150 Ballistic Tip, $13/50, that might be worth a try. Also there's shows and mail-(net-)order. -Handgun-caliber Marlin lever-actions, standard models, not the octagon-barrel, color-case-hardened Cowboy models, way above Big 5's frequent sale prices. No CZs or Witnesses on display, genuine-Browning GP35s $500-$600+.

Blacksmith calls last night, redeeming another Christmas work certificate for Saturday afternoon. Well, that's why I gave them, and this guy has done many a thing for me.

Structural Engineer calls, begs off tomorrow's shooting session due to health, reschedules for 8 May and/or possibly the Vancouver show the weekend before.

458 - Saturday, 10 April 2004: Zzzz....

Charged off to Barberton show, yakked with Cruffler - blew $80 (marked $90) on Romanian .22LR bolt-action repeater with one 5-round magazine, will order more later. Swabbed bore, detailed teardown & report to follow. If I go to Clark Rifles tomorrow I'll take it along - the rear sight may need some drifting. Anyway I hope this helps with my rapid-fire stages, and it's the Second Step in seducing new people into the Gun Culture - a repeater as opposed to a single shot. Also it came with a(n aftermarket) sling (which doesn't quite fit the tiny little swivels but is functional). Better shape than the ones I've seen at the Expo shows for $81. The one for $65 last time, I recall, was missing sling swivels. How can ya have a rifle without a sling, any sling? It ain't right.

Charged off to Blacksmith's place, moved stuff, crawled between fiberglass and cobwebs in attic helping prepare for wiring changes. Got car help! (The current one has its own set of problems.) Blacksmith's wife cooked dinner, curry chicken & pasta, I had seconds.

Mechanic and Woodworker absent, suspect Blacksmith timed things so we wouldn't clash.

The property on which the hovel slumps is on the market, prospective buyers stopping by. Hmm.

Charged off to laundromat, cityfolk ugh.

Clark Rifles' newsletter & site not updated, dunno if they're open tomorrow (Easter). Eh, I'll just phone them before I depart. Packing range bag - figuring MojoMauser w/handloads, Romanian .22 w/variety, GP100 w/handloads.

Boortz blasting Kerry - 1971, Kerry alleges atrocities by American troops in Vietnam, graphic details, list of ~150 names. Boortz sez that, after studying records, it's been determined that of those 150, most (like, 80%?) were never in Vietnam; of those who were, most were in technical or support positions and never saw combat; of the rest not one would or could sign an affidavit testifying to the truth of Kerry's allegations.

But according to TV networks and mainstream newspapers, Bush is the one who can't be trusted....

Argh.

459 - Easter Sunday, 11 April 2004: (I'm not religious; I only point out it's Easter because it's politically incorrect. And besides, lots of gunfolk are Christians, and vice-versa, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend.)

Zzzz....

Concerns that whoever buys the hovel will raze it for development. Swell, now I have to start saving and shopping for an apartment, instead of a CZ or battle rifle or pickup. -Ugh, don't want to live on the west side again, California with trees. Though I would reduce my commute and get out of the Multnomah County income tax. Though Washington County will probably pass one soon, with all those commiefornian immigrants stuffing the ballot box and whining about "services." And how am I going to move all this junk? -What's it cost to rent a dumpster? And no more rabbit-warren apartment complexes packed with cityfolk where you can hear your neighbors' every domestic dispute, toilet flush and case of indigestion right through the walls! Ugh! At least the hovel shares only one wall and that neighbor's quiet. Though the dogs in the place behind bark and bark and bark and bark. But that place is on the market too now. But then there's the convenience store just the other side of the "privacy" wall, where people drive up and park there at 11pm with their stereos blasting rap for twenty minutes at a time checking their tire pressure or doing drug deals or gods know what. Anyway my rent can only go up. :-\

Phoned Clark Rifles - got answering machine. Waited, phoned again - got answering machine. Guessing they're closed for Easter, not burning gas at these prices just to find out. -For next trip, adding Marlin magazines to range bag for function-testing. Blacksmith wants return engagement next Saturday, now figuring on shooting Sunday the 18th.

Teardown of the Romanian. No cosmoline to speak of, little to clean. Beefy and simple construction - stampings grooved or pinned to a milled receiver. Chamber stamped "IMC2/1982", matching serial numbers on receiver & bolt. Dovetailed rear sight, just forward of chamber, looks way too far right, but it's been peen-punched there, hm. Express-style flip-up sight leaves, "25", "50" and "100", U-notch all. Hooded front post, looks to be elevation-adjustable like the AK/SKS. Nonstandard groove atop receiver for proprietary scope mount, available separately from importers (this one marked CAI (Century)); Cruffler says .22/airgun mounts might be alterable but I've never been big on scopes anyway. Cleaning-kit compartment (empty) in butt, again like AK/SKS. Mauser-esque manual safety, big flap at rear of bolt, vertical for safe, 90 degrees right to fire, can cycle bolt either way. Cock-on-opening and stiff besides, but it'll work. Small pin for cocking indicator in rear of bolt. Firing pin doubles as ejector. Turned-down bolt handle with K98k-style relief cut in stock. Crummy trigger, especially compared to the MojoMauser's new Timney.... Anyway Cruffler said yesterday I got a good deal.

460 - Monday, 12 April 2004: I dunno what's worse; the unspeakable lies and fabrications spewing from John Kerry's mouth, or that some people actually believe him. Now that's frightening.

I gotta get the hell out of the city. Cityfolk are herd creatures, cattle, sheep, lemmings. Don't want to get trampled in the stampede.

But now I've got the car thing (which is a lower priority with the current arrangement), and worse, the potential need to change residence as the hovel may be bulldozed out from under me. (No word on the one neighbor's attempt to buy the place herself.)

461 - Tuesday, 13 April 2004: I'm going on strike ‘til I get literate co-workers. (One guy from the warehouse says I'll be on the picket line for a long time....)

Bush press conference - not encouraging. Didn't hear all of it - real-estate creature sniffing over the property, glared him away - but didn't hear what I wanted to, i.e. the Marines are disassembling Fallujah and constructing gallows with the lumber. And I believe I've said before, I could speechify better than Bush.

RINO Senator Gordon Smith actually responded to my letter of last month (entry #423). Dig this RINOspeak:

Dear Mr. Leffler

Thank you for your comments regarding the extension of the assault weapons ban. As a gun owner myself, I understand your strong feelings on this issue.

The Senate recently considered the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which would limit frivolous lawsuits against firearms manufacturers and dealers for misuse of their products by third parties. As a strong supporter of this bill, I voted against numerous amendments that I felt would have placed undue burdens on gun ownership. I also supported an amendment to extend the current ban on assault weapons which expires in September 2004. President Bush has stated that he favors extending the ban, as have 32 sheriffs and chiefs of police from Oregon counties ranging from Douglas to Umatilla. I believe we should win new rights for gun owners without losing ground refighting the assault weapons war.

The amendment would only maintain the current ban, which has little impact on lawful gun owners. Had the amendment expanded the current ban in any way, I would have rejected it outright. As a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment, I will always carefully review any legislation affecting the rights of Americans to own arms.

Thank you again for sharing your concerns with me. Your thoughts are important to me, and I hope you do not hesitate to contact me again in the future.

Warm regards,
Gordon H. Smith
United States Senate

"...[A] strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment...." "...[S]upported an amendment to extend the current ban...." "[L]ittle impact on lawful gun owners"? There are things I could buy before that I can't buy now. Forces of government can have things I can't. If I put the wrong parts together, or use parts made before or after a certain date, I could be jailed, if the jack-booted thugs don't murder me out-of-hand. "Little impact"? To quote John Stossel, "Give me a break." This pack of weasel-crap is going out on the gunfolk lists, and to OFF. Tonight.

Gawd, Bush is actually whining in the press conference. "Butbutbut I...." Finally found out who's running on the Libertarian ticket. "I'd like to get another UN Security Council resolution...." I'd like to get a republican in the White House!

462 - Wednesday, 14 April 2004: Chugging through Combat, the anthology edited by Coonts. R.J. Pineiro is a globalist elitist UN-worshipping anti-gun gunowner who, according to his website, "believes in gun-control laws, trigger locks...." Barrett Tillman's entry, Skyhawks Forever, is damn tasty though, for both action and political commentary.

Fuel prices creeping higher. Will fuel tomorrow, before they go up even more for the weekend as usual.

According to Michael Savage, the US military has dropped its demand for the surrender of the murderers and mutilators in Fallujah. WHAT!? I'd bet that, on hearing the news, a bunch of Captains and Majors and Colonels, and perhaps more importantly Sergeants, just came over to what will be my side in the upcoming civil war. And boy, are we going to need them.

There's a book from Baen, State of Disobedience, by somebody Kratman. Not in the library system yet but warmly reviewed on the gunfolk lists. It seems topical....

I think I will get a box of Nosler Ballistic Tip 150s presently - found at least one more box of once-fired Mauser brass I can size and prime, that'll make forty pieces. Will load all with the previous charge, 45.5gr Accurate 2230 (change one thing at a time), and examine the projectiles to consider seating depth(s). Got to find an accurate load and make a bunch of it.

463 - Thursday, 15 April 2004: Tax day.

Citizens Against Government Waste
Taxpayer Association of Oregon

This job - they're getting $30/hour work for $10/hour and no benefits. The office creatures come down to the production floor, slumming from their cushy desk-phone-and-air-conditioning jobs, and stand in the narrow path leading into the tool area, then get all snotty when I try to get them out of the way so I can do my job, without which no one else can do theirs.

And then they phone the temp service to complain about me. Message from temp rep, wants to "touch base." Could this be political? My positions on issues are not secret at work - might I have a case for harassment charges? I'm going to have a Talk with the highest supervisor tomorrow, whether he wants one or not, and the results will determine the topic of conversation with the temp rep that afternoon.

I'm using my own personal Dremel to chop up aluminum cable fittings for test fixtures. (Would that there were an easy way to collect the aluminum powder, some interesting things can be done with that....) I'm transcribing questions and answers from a free-download program to make a written multiple-choice test for soldering. I'm cleaning up after everybody because they're too stupid and lazy to clean up after themselves. I'm having to read completely through the work instructions myself nearly every time, to figure out which tool these incompetents are asking for or what settings they need on the machines because they're all subliterate, even the white Amuricans. (Actually one or two of the Asians have a helluva lot more on the ball than certain people who were born here - but I knew that; check out the Mallard Fillmore archives.) The instructions themselves are dripping with errors besides. The operators spend about two minutes chatting for every minute they spend working, and for every minute working, about 40 seconds is spent fidgeting, adjusting chairs and lamps and fans and headphones and table decorations and product.

Look, compared to most other jobs I've had, this one's pretty cool - I do challenging and rewarding stuff, using my brain as much as my hands. But I am not getting paid enough and am not getting the respect I feel is due one without whom even the supervisors admit the whole place would grind to a halt. One of the warehouse people - I get along with them all right, we swap frustrations and horror stories - tells me that the latest person they hired to help out back there got in his car and drove away in the middle of lunch and never came back. One of the production leads has been transferred to officecritter country, one of the few others who could speak Amurican was let go, the couple that are left just had their class sizes doubled. There's no one in-house really qualified to take over and I might not have time to train such anyway, as this is shaping up to be a serious case of take-this-job-and-shove-it-itis.

And the economy is improving no matter what Ted Kennedy and John Kerry say. (Warehouse person says that other guy left after getting a better offer via cellphone.)

On the Victor Bock show, tax talk. Apparently someone other than me wrote "EXTORTION" on the check for Multnomah County extortion, and the county called that person and demanded he write a new check. This citizen previously checked with his bank and was assured everything was legal. Eventually the county engages a collection agency and the citizen has the bank tell them that the original check is valid and the county has to take it. County calls citizen again, still asking for a new check because "You hurt our feelings."

[Raising eyebrow]

No one called me, and my check has already cleared. I'm guessing I was not the first and by no means the only disgruntled taxpayer to make his feelings known in such manner.

Fueled at a westside Fred Meyer supermarket for $1.82 - long line. Attendant furthermore hands me a card for 3¢/gallon off, actual price then $1.79. Local ARCOs $1.85-$1.89, other brands up to $1.99. Yes, that's Regular Unleaded.

To Sportsman's Warehouse, bought box of 50 Nosler ballistic-tip 180gr .323, $13 (I thought they were 150s last time, no sign of such now), and another tray each of Winchester large rifle and Federal #100 small pistol primers.

464 - Friday, 16 April 2004: I was offered, and accepted, an apology at work. A conference with the boss and the temp rep will be planned next week.

I need more stuff, man. I'm doing everything from basic carpentry (and now other people are bringing their tools from home, like a circular saw and carpenter's square, to rebuild a rickety old table for material handling) to technical detective work - a certain terminal being crimped on a certain wire by a certain tool is failing the standard pull test; it should hold at least 30lbs, and that size wire, 16AWG, traditionally holds 40 or more, and this one's not quite making 30. So I stare at the tool, and take it apart and put it back together, and cuss some, and try different settings on the slightly-adjustable tool, and try other tools, and nothing works. And I get on the tool maker's website and root around - yes, that's the tool that's supposed to be used for that part, yes, that's how it's used as opposed to the other way. And finally I find a technical document, a "drawing" with no drawings on it, and I download that and stare at it in turn - and in the fine print at the bottom the manufacturer specifies a 20lb pull test requirement, which means that by the specifications issued by the maker of both the terminal and the tool, it passes after all.

I don't think anyone else would have figured that out. In fact one of the higher-ups said as much. They're getting rather too much for ten bucks an hour.

It's official: $2/gallon for Regular in Portland, Oregon. The place I stopped at yesterday went up two cents for the weekend. Never buy fuel from Friday through Sunday, plan ahead.

Examining the Noslers - pretty! The tips are sort of grey-blue - feldgräu, for the Germanic origin of the caliber? Boat-tails too, and no cannelure so I can play with the seating depth. I'll probably load some this weekend. Need to look up 180gr loads now.

A Vancouver-area ‘blog reader offers a pile of reloading stuff for an attractive price! Hope to meet him at Clark Rifles on Sunday.

465 - Saturday, 17 April 2004: Zzzz....

Looking through load data - no 180gr loads for 7.92x57mm! Accurate manual says starting charges for 2230 are 44.1gr for 170gr and 37.8gr for 220gr - I'll try 40.0 for the 180. At this point I start wanting a chronograph. Also there are some load-data sites on the net, maybe I'll find some 180gr loads there - I'll check before loading the Noslers.

To Blacksmith's place - Mechanic and Woodworker present - undeclared cease-fire. Not as much work there as last two trips, the remodel is nearing completion, but Blacksmith at least earned the work certificates I gave out for Christmas.

To big electronics store not far from there - the "experts" standing ready to answer my questions are little if at all brighter than the production operators I've been complaining about. But, I have a good idea what a new TV and DVD player will cost, and have located a converter for plugging a DVD into an older TV. I'll just have to answer my own questions about digital camera system requirements and so forth.

Guy with reloading supplies responds, will meet at English Pit (yech - well, I'm not shooting there anymore) tomorrow afternoon.

Laundry done.

466 - Sunday, 18 April 2004: This is also my Patriot's Day shoot. Departing for Clark Rifles ~9:30am, with MojoMauser, Romanian .22, and GP100 - not taking the Marlin this time after all.

Light rain, swell. :-/ And sometimes not so light. But it keeps the crowds down at the range - but tomorrow is Patriot's Day dammit! Folks should be out doing riflery!

Ammunition: 50rnds .357 Magnum, 125gr Hornady XTP crimped at cannelure, 8.6gr Unique, Federal #100 primer; .22LR, some Federal Champion plated hollowpoint, CCI Mini-Mag plated solid, and Remington/Peters brown-box solid; Mauser - twenty rounds each, all in Federal cases with Winchester standard large rifle primers (I deny all liability! Imitate at your own risk! Lawyers suck!):

150gr Speer Spitzer, 46.0gr IMR4064, 2.90" OAL
Same, 2.96"
Hornady 150gr Spitzer, 46.0gr IMR4064, 3.0" (Remember this one!)
Hornady 150gr Spitzer, 45.5gr Accurate 2230, 2.95"
Same, 3.0"
Same, 3.05"

Think I'll start with the Romanian to warm up. Would like to bring the Marlin to function-test those 30-round magazines, and the 1851 Colt to see what it does, and heck, a bunch of other stuff, but I want to meet that guy with the reloading stuff and I still have other errands to run, like groceries and the library and getting Big 5's latest sale flyer for posting. Also there's a new gun shop opening in Vancouver, just about at Mill Plain and I-205, I want to check that out too.

Rain letting up, but cold - good thing I keep a jacket and gloves in the car. Starting with Romanian .22 at 25 yards, upper range mostly to myself (during my session one older guy started with a reproduction Trapdoor Springfield and ended with a pre-Ban shorty AR - at least he's not a type snob!) Two Palma five-place targets, Federal Champion loads.

Expecting way right - got high and left! About 6MOA. (Remember the aiming points on these Palma targets are a 2" black square with a 1" white center, therefore a ½" black border; and 1" at 25 yards is very close to four minutes of angle, four sixtieths of a degree. Remember that 4MOA is twenty inches at 500 yards, and the width of the average human torso is twenty inches. Remember what this is all about! Especially now, when tomorrow is the 229th anniversary of the day it all started!) Another magazine - hmm, about 3MOA. More - hm, not too good. Way high and left, and not the best trigger.

1 2 3

Now the Peters, holding low & right - hmm. Okay, I'm not sorry I bought it, it just needs some work. More Peters - not as good but still encouraging.

1 2

Now Mini-Mag. Uh....

Yeah. Okay. That's about two minutes of angle - I recall reading, probably in Fred's Guide to Becoming a Rifleman, that USMC Snipers train to 3MOA. And again - not bad for Kentucky windage.

Flip up "100" leaf, try to hit the steel Popper at 100 yards - can't tell, it's about an inch thick, it won't particularly move and might not even ring when hit with a .22LR. Well! Adjust the sights later - time for the Mauser! Four Palma targets, twenty aiming points, fewer hikes downrange in the rain, fewer interruptions. First load, Speer 150gr Spitzer over 46.0gr IMR4064, OAL 2.90".

That's more like it! Dunno how that flyer (third shot) got over there, it felt all right. Let's have some more of that - hm, not as good but I think that's my fault. A smaller front aperture might be nice; haven't I seen something like that somewhere? Probably costs more than the whole Mojo set.... Well. More. -Eww. I dunno. Last of the Speer - hm.

1 2 3 4

Next load, Hornady 150gr Spitzer over 46.0gr IMR4064, OAL 2.96", at the cannelure, no crimp. -Not bad! Again - the Timney was a worthwhile addition. Again - hm. And again - hm....

1 2 3 4

Next load, as above, OAL 3.0". Yeeeesss, I think I'm onto something. More! -Oh my. Oh yes. That's what I've been wanting to see since I started this journal! More - holding low & left, first shot centered, the rest respectable, three in one hole! Last of the IMR - I'll remember that load.

1 2 3 4

Next load, Hornady 150gr over 45.5gr Accurate 2230, OAL 2.95", at the cannelure, no crimp. -Ick. Again - less ick.... Again - it's hard to consistently hold off, I'm getting sloppy. Again - hm. Well, there are already indications it wants higher seating, closer to the rifling.

1 2 3 4

Next load as above, OAL 3.0" - let's see if it likes the Accurate powder as much as the IMR - maybe not. Pulled one off, the rest not very impressive. Again - not all bad. Again - getting tired? That makes 100 full-power rounds with a steel buttplate - hm. The rest of these groups aren't worth scanning.

Last load of the day, as above, OAL 3.05". Hm, I guess I am getting tired, and this is my first live fire in, what, over a month? Again - and again - and again. Hm.

12:40pm - handgun range? Or just take a nature break and try the .357 from the bench, where all my stuff already is? The latter. On the Palma target, ‘cause there's one left on the stand. Firing single action, something I rarely do with the GP100 - fight like you train!

Hm, not bad for a handgun I guess but I won't bother to scan it. Anyway no particular pressure signs with any of these loads, but my handgun skills have badly deteriorated since the days when I could smack a gallon milk jug at 100 yards offhand. Need to load lots of ammo and get lots of practice. Only 24 rounds of my first handgun reloads fired, tired, cold, that's enough. Packed up about 1:10pm.

Met the guy with the reloading stuff, made the transaction. Located the new gun shop, C&C Gun Sales, 330B Chkalov Dr. Vancouver in the 205 Commerce Plaza - closed Sundays, but I saw an old Mausery-lookin' thing on the wall, I'll definitely check them out next Saturday (after the Expo show) - or I'll just tell Cruffler and he can swing by there on his way back from a pawn shop and tell me what it's like before then. Nothing at the library after all, and nothing splendid at Big 5 - next time they have the Marlin .357 lever-action on sale for $280 (usually $300, regular price $360 or more) I'm in trouble.

Ya know, I don't mind pumping my own gas (found a Washington station with lower prices than I've seen in Oregon lately), and I don't mind the cash/debit-card machine so you don't even have to talk to the minimum-wage subliterate attendants either.

Lessee here - gawd, what a score! Four thousand Winchester standard small pistol primers - okay, 3,854, no complaints; tube of Thompson/Center Bore Butter for muzzleloaders, I can use that to pre-treat cloth patches for my flintlock pistols and whatever muzzleloading long gun I end up with; most of a package of KleenBore Lead Away cloth, might help on the GP100; two Master trigger locks (phooey - "Warning! Do not use on a loaded gun!" Just a moment please, Mr. Home-invading-rapist-burglar, while I unlock my defensive weapon, hike over to the other room, unlock the separately-stored ammunition....), maybe there'll be an activist thing where they can be melted down for metal to make a new gun; four sealed pounds of Winchester 231 ball (!) powder for handguns (the seller, before he got out of reloading, which is how I got this deal, was in the habit of marking powder jugs and primer boxes with date-of-purchase - good idea!); a sealed pound of Pyrodex P; a hundred-odd 95gr .356 FMJ, for .380 or light 9x19mm; a somewhat larger quantity of 124gr .355 FMJ, one of the common weights for 9x19mm - Marlin food there, both of them, and I'm still in the market for a CZ75 or GP35; and a similar quantity each of 53gr (? I only weighed one) JHP and 55gr JSP .224 Spitzer - gawd, do I have to get a mousegun now? Well, maybe an NEF Handi-Rifle, or some used bolt-action, that might make a nice Third or Fourth Step in gun-culture recruiting. I'll see if anything leaps off the pawnshop shelves or show tables at me. Huh, I might even put a scope on it. (Though I'd rather have a flash-hider and bayonet lug - must learn to silver-solder!)

Score indeed! Nothing I can't use except the trigger locks and mouse pills, and I might find a use for the latter. (In original email, seller hopes the stuff finds a good home - yup.) Oh yeah - apparently a couple shells' worth of #4 lead buckshot (I'll dispose of that next time I dust off the 12 gauge Load-All and the Pyrodex RS - hey, how would that stuff sit in a .45 flintlock pistol, hmm? Oh! Or the .45 percussion derringer, yeah, a couple Wonder Wads instead of a patched round ball!), rattling about in a used 9x19mm Hydra-Shok box; and on the side of the box, a little green sticker: "State of Tennesse 10¢ Ammunition Tax". A Southern state has an ammunition tax? That's what you get for voting for the party that (yes, Socialist Federalist imperialist anti-Constitutionalist) Lincoln wasn't from.... Of course it's (obviously) per box, not per round like Commiefornian Perata wants - and if, if the money goes only to things like wildlife/habitat maintenance, so it comes full circle back to gunfolk (or at least "sportsmen", not always the same thing - see September, #305), then I guess it's not completely awful.

So now I need 9x19mm dies (tungsten/carbide sizer, thanks), and some silver solder to repair and build up the bridle in the second flintlock pistol so I have an excuse to burn those 19lbs of Goex under patches treated with the Bore Butter, and, well, a mousegun. But I was probably going to succumb to that eventually. Maybe a Savage bolt-action, hm, preferably a repeater though I wouldn't turn my nose completely up at a nicely-priced Handi-Rifle, especially if it has iron sights (even that cheesy Williams bead front and folding rear like a Ruger 10/22). Probably .223 Remington, international standard, as opposed to something else like .22 Hornet - and then I'd need dies for that. Next show, Expo Center next weekend - um, guess I'll skip Clark Rifles Saturday and practice after observing the plate match Sunday. Vancouver show, where I'm quite likely to find an inexpensive mousegun, the following weekend. Can't make the OAC show Sunday if I get to Clark Rifles in time to observe the whole plate match - April theme, double-action and semiauto handguns; might find a CZ or GP, but I'm not in a position to buy yet.

Anyway progress has been made! Sometime this week, or Friday perhaps - no, the Expo show, that's where I'll shop for more Hornady 150gr .323 Spitzers and IMR4064! Maybe that guy still has some 4064 for $12/pound, if he does I'll take it all. Um, except I want to see if I can get the same results with the easy-measuring Accurate ball powder. Eh, I still have some 2230. Need a case tumbler, and tumbling media, and to set up the case trimmer. Might break down and get another box of Hornadys at SW this week, and load up my last forty once-fired cases with Accurate 2230, half at 3.0" and half at 3.05", so I'll have something to shoot next Sunday. Also I still have two boxes of Federal factory 170s, for which I should still be sighted-in at 100 yards; might burn those up too, both for practice and to free up the cases.

According to Ian Hogg (Military Small Arms of the 20th Century), the standard German service load for 7.92x57mm threw a ~175gr projectile - and of course the Spitzer is a German invention. I will bear that in mind during future load development.

And the new landlord calls - prospective buyers want to look at the place tomorrow evening, eww, strange uninvited people in my hovel, ick.

467 - Monday, 19 April 2004: Patriot's Day! Time to put my flags up on the porch. (If it would stop raining....)

So Al-Qaeda gets their reward - they blow up some trains in Spain, Socialists win the election there three days later, then the new government pulls Spanish troops out of the Middle East. Al-Qaeda has proven that international terrorism can influence national elections and therefore national policy. Dunno about y'all but I'll be keeping my tools even closer to hand than usual, especially starting about mid-October. Glad I got that paddle holster for the .357, I'd rather be comforted than comfortable. Now I need practice.... And to decide which rifle and/or shotgun to start hauling around in the car, hm. Probably the MojoMauser if yesterday's results can be repeated. Guess I need to build a scabbard for that WWI bayonet, build up a load-bearing thing I can buckle on in a hurry - ah, maybe a bandoleer, with the bayonet at the bottom, like some old Imperial British equipment I see advertised by International Military Antiques! Must proceed with load development and fill some chargers. -Um, the Marlin might be a better choice, actually, with shorter length, lighter weight, semiautomatic operation and 30-round magazines, hm, but it doesn't have a bayonet and is neither as powerful nor potentially accurate as the Mauser, and if you need a rifle you need an accurate one. The Mauser also has better sights, and a better trigger now too. Hmm. Better sights are available for the Marlin (for near half what I paid for the whole carbine).... Maybe the Hungarian Mosin M44 - heavier than the Marlin but vastly more powerful, folding bayonet bolted on, demonstrably accurate (I won a medal in my first-ever highpower rifle match with it) - not as smooth an action as the Mauser, and I don't want to tear it and the 91/30 apart to reclaim the best trigger parts, no, not the Mosin. Besides the Mosin ammunition is corrosive and if I ever have to use it some time may pass before I can clean it.

Michael Savage talking about the PATRIOT Act last week, and I start departing from his point of view - he says it's necessary in this, a war for national and cultural survival against the murderous beasts of radical Islam. Well actually that makes my head hurt because he does have a point - but what happens when Kerry and Hillary get their hands on those powers, even as those Socialists are decrying the Act now? But Savage also accepts that argument - he seems to be going for the temporary-emergency angle, and has misgivings of his own. Well okay, at least he's thinking. Hm, I feel a new cartoon coming on....

Starting to train yet another backup, one of the technician/engineer types already in-house. I dunno. I might recommend an IV caffeine drip if I hadn't deliberately got myself off the stuff before I started displaying all these problem-solving abilities here.

Sigh. Illiteracy is rampant. Some people (operators - the putative tooling backup can and does read) aren't even trying to read no matter how many signs I make and print with Windows Paintbrush or how much time I spend with scrap cardboard and a big red felt pen. Nobody gives thought to what they're doing! They just dumbly go through the motions, living in their own narrow world, never caring about the unacceptable results of their incompetent actions! SOME PEOPLE JUST DON'T GET IT! Man, it's spooky to think about living like that, stuff going on all around you that you never even notice. Gives chills, brrr.

Not unlike the Beltway Mentality. If such people had money and influence, we'd call them Senators....

Privacy invasion postponed 'til Thursday.

468 - Thursday, 22 April 2004: Gods, I hate stupid people.

Had a meeting with the facility boss and the temp-service rep, addressing concerns - they want me to stop yelling at people, I want to work with sapients, and/or more money for doing the work of two or three people. What was it, three months ago they started making noises they'd hire me on permanent? I'm still a temp at ten bucks an hour, no benefits, no vacation.

Tried to clean up the hovel, at least got the most embarrassing stuff I think. Prospective property buyers should arrive any minute- survived that I guess. Got the expected funny looks re: the collection on the wall rack and the targets stuck to the ‘fridge.

Larry Elder has landed the John O'Neal interview! LT O'Neal (Vietnam, riverboats, combat, ‘67-‘70) and fellow veterans (apparently mostly from that same riverboat unit) are carefully not endorsing any candidate or party while calmly and civilly disassembling John Kerry's (Vietnam, riverboats, fingernail scratches, four months) "war" record. Other veterans calling the show to voice complete support of O'Neal and/or detailed condemnation of Kerry and/or piercing questions like "What shrapnel" and "Did Kerry know about the three-Purple-Hearts rule". Things like "I'm a 28-year Marine veteran... no man in my unit would have even sought medical attention for the wounds Kerry allegedly received." These are people who have been there and done that, sources with credibility instead of catsup stains.

This is one of those times where I regret not having served. These are real men who did, and do, filthy jobs because they love their country. We need men like these, now more than ever - their honor, integrity, and sense of duty are qualities sorely lacking in much of our society and most of our government today. But they've done their duty, in many cases far more, and it is unjust to call on the same men again....

Fuel still $1.89 in Vancouver, filled up before it spiked for the weekend, prefer the cash machine over interacting with creatures who have probably never read an entire book (other than comic) in their lives and likely never will.

(Not that I have anything against comics, other than that I myself am a recovering comicoholic. Back when I was spending entirely too much money on them I remember some of the stories being quite good. Most of the collection liquidated long since, at a loss of course.)

(Learned that the library carries Gunsmith Cats....)

469 - Friday, 23 April 2004: Speaking of reading, polished off Ing's Butcher Bird, quite good. Happy ending! Sen. Miller's A National Party No More is next I guess, though I may not have the stomach for it - there are pictures of Clinton and Gore in there....

Seeing the paperback in the supermarket and reading the jacket blurb, hunted down a library copy of 1901 by Robert Conroy, alternate history where Kaiser Wilhelm goes all imperialist - by invading Long Island. Into the queue. Eric Flint (& Andrew Dennis)'s 1634: The Galileo Affair, next in the Grantville series, came through on hold, bumping Zell Miller to read it as there are probably people stacked up to prevent me from renewing it.

I wonder if the library director overcame her leftist indoctrination long enough to allow the acquisition of Michael Savage's books? I'll check - sonuvagun! 23 copies of The Savage Nation and 19 of The Enemy Within! Taking Nation first.

470 - Saturday, 24 April 2004: Despite Cruffler's criticism, haring off to the overpriced Expo show, parking offsite and hiking in as before to avoid parking fee - not planning on buying anything particularly heavy or bulky, and if by some mischance I score a long gun I can get another ~$4 soft case for it a couple aisles over - furthermore, unlike some people, I can walk more than two hundred meters in a single day, carrying stuff besides, without requiring medical attention. And the exercise probably wouldn't hurt, I haven't bicycled since I got motorized.

About a half-dozen blueshirtmobiles, and occupants, present, in addition to usual rent-a-fascists. These are things I don't like about the Expo show. Most dealers and vendors apparently quite friendly toward the enforcers of law, but I gotta ask, have they considered what, if any, orders these badge-wearing individuals wouldn't obey? Also I keep hearing how rank-and-file law enforcement supports RKBA - not in the cities, man, not in the cities. Otherwise they'd vote themselves new union presidents and new union policies, right? I judge people by what they do. This may be my last Expo show, the mid-sized Vancouver show next weekend is much friendlier.

Things I bought: 50-place plastic loading block, $5; 1¼" nylon sling with quick-release swivels, $10; most of a pound of IMR4064, $10 (marked $12); two boxes Winchester .357/110JHP, $9.95 each.

Things I saw: FEG Hi-Power, $300; used Winchester ‘94 Angle Eject .357, $210; MREs (tan), $3 each, $33/case; British 20-round AR magazines, $20 each, two for $35; EAA Witness .38 Super, a little too long in the grip, $269; Romanian SKS w/blade bayonet, $200; Yugo SKS, $200-ish; Charles Daly Hi-Power, $400; Argentine 1927 (licensed M1911A1), $350; Russian SKS, $250; EAA Witness 9x19mm, $350.

.44 AutoMag! Right off the covers of the Mack Bolan books. "TDE", with case and at least one magazine, VG+ (probably Excellent - most of these rarities have been properly pampered), $2,100. Marlin M39TDS, $325. CZ52s, $140-$180 depending on condition, feels like holding a block of lumber, but the high penetration of the 7.62x25mm does get one thinking. Witness 9x19mm with Wonder finish, $333. Stainless Mini-14 GB, factory bayonet lug & flash hider, which Bill Ruger Sr. never intended to be available to "ordinary civilians", $700 - later, another stainless Mini-14 with aftermarket lug/hider attachment, $400. Kahr K9 stainless, "NIB", $559. Another Witness 9mm, Wonder finish, with case and one 10-round magazine, $299. Marlin 1894 .357, still beat by Big 5. Springfield mil-spec M1911A1, $398. Charles Daly 1911s, $400+. Mossberg M590, exactly like how I bought mine, $435 - gone up about fifty bucks in five years or so.

Argentine FM Hi-Power, $350. CETME, $400-$490 depending on furniture. Beretta Stampede (Colt SAA clone), $400-$500. And - drool - CZ75B Tactical, black-and-green, soft rubber grips, white-red-white 3-dot sights (pinned replaceable front, dovetailed rear), 9mm of course, $389 - fits the hand nicely for a double-column magazine, even better than the 9mm Witness. I think it came with two 10-round, not sure. And a lanyard ring on the butt, hadn't noticed that before! -Ya know, when I'm ready, I may just find an FFL - maybe Silver Lining Pawn - and have them order one for me from J&G Sales or some other distributor. It would be one of my few new-in-box pieces, and carefully shopping around for the lowest transfer fees might actually save me some bucks over the show prices. I've heard of a place in Canby that had a low rate.

Enough of that - charged across the river, bought Washington lottery tickets, sniffed over pawn shops - nothing thrilling, and two of the four near the bus mall there are out of business. Charged off to Brightwater Ventures, who provided the rifle dies I won in the February Foul Weather match - and there's Cruffler's hot-dog wagon parked out front! Chatted some, but nothing very exciting there either. Kind of looking for a .223 bolt-action now, proprietor suggests CZ, but try finding one used, nobody's selling once they get their hands on them - but somehow CZ is keeping quality high and prices (relatively) low on about all their stuff. Have not read a bad review of any CZ on the net. Furthermore CZ is apparently making their smallbore centerfires to an appropriate scale, as opposed to a .30-06 that's only scaled down on the inside like the regular American manufacturers. And the CZs mostly have metallic sights, I will not own a rifle without them.

But it doesn't have a bayonet lug, hmm. Aside from the Stevens and the Romanian (trainers both), and perhaps the Marlin (a tactical item with high-capacity detachable magazines), a CZ .223 would be my only "sporting" rifle, hmm. Again, must learn to silver-solder! Though it would probably be sacrilege to bubba-ize any CZ (except the ancient Mausers which have already been battered in battle) in any way. At the Expo show I fondled the very rifle in question and they do put ‘em together nice. Cruffler relates a tale of an acquaintance who has "bubba'd" most of his firearms to the point that most of them don't work - except his new-production CZ rifle, in which he has not found much room for improvement.

Now if only they'd open a factory in the US.... Nah, they'd get government-educated creatures working for them instead of the old-world craftspeople they have now and the whole thing would go to hell. Now, if they'd open a factory in the US and carefully hire only home-schooled employees... then the ACLU would sue them out of business for discriminating against stupid worthless people. Phooey!

Returned to Oregon, got groceries, returned to hovel about 5pm - and then, ugh, laundromat.

Loaded 40 rounds for Mauser, Hornady 150s at 3.0", half each 45.5gr A2230 (weighed this time, not metered) and 46.0gr IMR4064. Taking them and last 40 rounds Federal 170gr factory tomorrow, I'll see if the sights have stayed put since the last time I set them for that factory load, and I'll see how factory fodder does with the Timney trigger. From sandbags I think.

And Blacksmith wants some more help tomorrow, told him 3pm. Sigh - he's near the only member of the SCA circle left who hasn't, or isn't expected to, become a political enemy.

Primary election voter's pamphlet in mail - apparently there is no Libertarian primary, at least in Oregon. Um - as a registered Libertarian, I don't get to vote for or against Republican (or Communist) primary candidates! Pamphlet says I have until the 27th to change registration - naaah, there's not that much to choose from; for one thing, nobody running against Bush. Six pages of candidates for mayor - "It's time for a change at City Hall!" Change from a hypocritical leftist elitist tax-raising anti-self-defense bigot to... another hypocritical leftist elitist tax-raising anti-self-defense bigot? City ballot measure 26-53: if passed, candidates receiving "majority" vote in primary are elected without having to appear on the ballot in the general election. Ah, "NO." Write-ins are still a longshot but let's not eliminate them, thanks. Somebody - "Referred to the People by the City Council" - is banking on voter apathy to make primary elections shoo-ins for their pet candidates. "No arguments FOR or AGAINST this measure were filed." Sneaky....

Email backlogged, some folks overdue for replies, hope to get that done sometime this weekend. I have readers!

471 - Sunday, 25 April 2004: Changed my mind, haring off to the OAC show with too much money before heading to Clark Rifles, therefore missing some observation of the Plate Match. This month's theme, modern handguns.

Well crap! At this rate I won't see the Plate Match at all. In fact I might not even get to the range today. Bought, bought an FR-8 Spanish Mauser in 7.62x51mm NATO for $130, marked $150. Hah! That's less than Big 5 wanted when they had them! It's not a Crufflegene, it's a Crufflevirus and Cruffler has infected me!

Lessee here, I should know how to take a Mauser apart by now- all receiver screws present, though small retaining screws are slightly mangled. Bayonet lug/cleaning kit tube present but empty. Stock in decent enough shape, some light rust at the boundary. It used to be Parkerized and still is in a few places. Mismatched handguard obviously of later vintage. Chamber marked "FABRICA DE ARMAS/(crest)/LA CORUÑA/1956" - and the "6" looks like it may be an overstrike. Ordinary-looking Mauser military trigger, I wonder which Timney model will fit? I'll pick another one up sometime, and if it doesn't fit this FR-8 I'll use it in another of the VZ24s when I get to customizing them. If I get ambitious I'll tear down the MojoMauser and see if the Timney I already have will fit. Bore and chamber both shinier than I'm used to seeing on a surplus rifle. Actually the whole thing is fairly clean, relative to my other surplus pieces when I acquired them.

This FR-8 is in an international-standard caliber, unlike my other Mausers. If I can get good accuracy from it, it may become my primary rifle. Also it's more compact than the VZ24 and would make a better car gun.

Tall rear sight can pinch last finger when working bolt. Disc rear sight, on rear receiver bridge just behind the (desired) charger guide, has three apertures, presumably 200, 300 and 400 (or 500?) meters, and a rather inappropriate V-notch presumably for 100; apertures should be close to the eye as these are, but a notch should be further away. Will consider altering, or replacing, disc, for all-aperture. Front post presumably adjustable for elevation, and for gross windage by quarter-turns, special tool required, I believe TAPCO carries it.

Flash hider, yeah! Business end also formed as (NATO-standard?) grenade spigot. Must get bayonet!

Magazine follower has square back, acts as bolt stop when magazine is empty - annoying on the range or when dry-firing, possibly useful in combat when one might not entirely realize one is no longer firing live rounds. I can Dremel it if necessary. Crap - swallows .308 NO-GO gauge, hmm. But a military chamber is usually looser than a civilian equivalent.

Putting remaining cash back in the rent envelope... still over $300 in checking, I'm not really in trouble. Well crap! Now must dig through hovel to find NATO ammunition, I know I have some left - okay, forty rounds each Hirtenberger and South African, can't find the Portuguese, did I finally use all that up? Ah, found ten rounds on the Ishapore's butt-cuff. Okay! 10:30am, off to Clark Rifles with two Mausers and 170 rounds!

Arrived about 11:15am, upper range, lane 1 (right end), two Palma five-place targets horizontally at 25 yards. Starting with the MojoMauser with Federal factory loads. Yes, the sights stayed put - and that was before I got the sandbags. From them - sloppier than I expected, hm. And again, even worse. Again - a couple Kalashnikovs moving in to my left, expecting brass - long target break for people who can't get their stuff together - ick.

1 2 3 4

Hm, almost noon - skip the second box of factory, now the IMR load that looked so promising last time. -Ugly. Again - a little better maybe. Brass! Actually steel, one in my eye, rattling around between my eyelid and eyeglasses, several bouncing off the handguard while I'm trying to get a good sight picture. Next time I'm taking lane 7.

Again with the IMR - better. And again - ugly again. Hm.

1 2 3 4

Now the Accurate 2230. Hmm.... Again - hard to tell with these distractions. Well, still not as bad as English Pit. I think.

Points of Aim - my handloads are going consistently high and right, while the factory loads are still centered (hmm). If the square Palma aiming point is crowding the upper or the right edge of the paper, I aim at the lower left corner of the square - but the Mojo Phase III dual aperture sights lend themselves to centering, not off-centering, and I think I'm having trouble getting a cosistent holdoff. Anyway, another too-long target break, then the rest of the A2230 loads - not awful... I dunno.

1 2 3 4

Shoulder a little sore from the different angle of recoil, sandbags & blocks as opposed to hasty sling & elbows, will have to look into this, maybe even get, or better, make, a portable rifle rest. (With the political alienation from Mechanic (&Woodworker) I no longer have (or at least will no longer ask for) access to his shop but I can figure something out - and if I can blow $130 on a Spanish Mauser on impulse, I can get a cheap tablesaw and drill press on purpose. This would, of course, require an archaeological event in my hovel. Anyway back to sling & elbows for the FR, to start. Rear sight set for notch.

On with loathed goggles (got safety glasses in the reloading-gear score, haven't tried them yet, hm). Portuguese NATO-marked FMJ, one round - no signs of pressure or headspace problems. Four more for a group - not inspiring. Way high and a little right.

Hmm. Setting lowest aperture, presumed 200 meters, and holding low - better sight picture. Tall rear sight does indeed pinch finger when working straight bolt handle, and really dislike that big sloppy V-notch so close to the eye. I wonder, would it be sacrilege to have the disc sight sliced off and the Redfield installed in its place? Alternatively, get or make a front-sight tool, crank that up, and have the bolt handle bent down & swept back, a fairly common gunsmithing operation. Again with the Portuguese - now that's interesting.

12:45pm, let's try the South African. -Yes, very interesting indeed, and that's with the military trigger, hmm. Can I crank the front sight up high enough to make the 200 aperture a 100, and so on for the others? Clark Rifles has 200- and 300-yard lines where I can check.

And another case in my eye, this time from a Garand. 1pm, I think that's enough for today, back to the hovel for cherry-vanilla ice cream with chocolate Ovaltine sprinkles, phooey.

Not a good day at the range, no progress, no observation of plate shooting. Hmp. Extraction of South African a little sticky, I remember that from the Ishapore too. Never got to try the Hirtenberger this trip, not going to use commercial hunting loads in it.

Neighbor got his car back! For a ~$130 impound fee, adding governmental insult to the criminal injury of the stuff missing from inside, like the title and registration and proof of insurance and jack and tools. He's appealing the fee of course.

About 2pm, off to the library, Big 5, and Blacksmith's place. Not going to electronics store after, either. Shoved some stuff around, chatted some, left. Marlin not on sale at Big 5 this week - $70-$75 down payment depending how low it goes. That, and a CZ, and I should be able to stop expanding the collection for a while....

Finally got an updated Clark Rifles newsletter - yes, they were closed for Easter. Now here's a thought - most gunfolk have regular jobs, meaning they don't usually have time to go anywhere after work on weekdays, but I get off at 3:30pm, hm. Clark Rifles is open Wednesdays and Fridays, hmm. If I could get up there before closing time (dusk, about 8pm now), especially Wednesday, I might have the whole range to myself, hmmm. I may try this. (Gods it's good to have a car.) Meanwhile, Vancouver show this Saturday, Cruffler attempting to round up a "Wild Bunch" (his words). Barberton show, and possibly the Structural Engineer coming up from the Eugene area to shoot, next Saturday, and a Cowboy match at CR one of those Saturdays, the newsletter text says one and the calendar graphic says the other and there was a sign on the clubhouse door but I forget which it said but I doubt I'd get there in time to properly observe anyway.

472 - Monday, 26 April 2004: Summery today, cat not complaining (zzzzpurr, zzzzpurr). No air conditioning in the hovel of course.

Caught up on email, mostly.

Here's a woman who's painting - free - portraits of fallen servicepeople for the loved ones they've left behind.

FR-8 has matching numbers on bolt and receiver - sort of. I think the old number was ground off the bolt handle, the resulting flat spot (like my VZs have) smoothed, and the receiver's number struck in its place. FR-8 also has same bolt, receiver, magazine and trigger guard dimensions as VZ24, which is built to the large-ring ‘98 standard! Worried about headspace, performed an experiment - swapped bolts between FR, which swallows a .308 Win NO-GO gauge, and MojoMauser, which will not close on a 7.92x57mm NO-GO gauge. If anything the VZ was a little tighter with the FR bolt, and the FR still swallowed the .308 gauge with the VZ bolt, so probably the FR's bolt is all right (setback of lugs is reportedly an issue). Anyway replacement firing pins, springs, triggers, etc. should be fairly easy to come by for the FR-8 (as opposed to FR-7, FR-6, etc., which were built on different Mauser actions and are probably not safe with American .308 or even surplus NATO loads), and I can scavenge a magazine follower from one of the other VZs to eliminate the bolt stop so I can dry-fire and practice working the bolt without losing flesh on the rear sight.

Cruffler begs off Vancouver show due to vehicle trouble but expects to be back in business by Barberton, and a match the following weekend at Clark Rifles where he wants to look over the FR and Marlin and I want to try (one of) his FAL(s).

Stephenson's The Confusion on hold, crap! People lined up to read it no doubt, so I have to leave it there on the hold shelf until I finish 1634 then bump it right to the top of the queue if I expect to get the whole thing read before having to return it. Hold good ‘til the 3rd. And here's another problem - some of the historical European figures appear, and have significant roles, in both storylines!

Not quite as much money left as I thought, but still not in trouble, just won't enjoy the Vancouver show as much - no CZ this weekend. Rent paid, electric bill in budget, maybe even a check to SAF.

473 - Wednesday, 28 April 2004: Savage sez Bush is taking the leash off the Marines out Fallujah way. I hope so, anything to keep Kerry out of the White House.

Portland Police Chief Foxworth and Multnomah County Sheriff Giusto both declaring for renewal of the Homeland-Defense Instrument Ban.

This FR-8 is a handy little thing! A little heavy perhaps but that's a trade-off with recoil. Swapped magazine follower from one of the non-shooting VZs, developing a bolt technique that won't cost skin. Need to start buying 7.62x51mm again. Also considering swapping other parts - safety lever flopping around, looks mismatched; cocking piece (sear) looks newer, bolt shroud somewhere between. Extractor swinging ‘round the bolt on its (mismatched) ring, unlike the MojoMauser or any of my other VZs. Rough bolt face doesn't help extraction. Yet, everything functions, if not as smoothly and positively as the VZs. Hm.

Admiring the ‘98 large-ring Mauser action. So simple! So elegant! So efficient! So robust! Use it every day for half a century and it still works as designed! So little room for improvement - the basic design, the mechanism, is so sound, so complete, the only changes are little ergonomic things like the trigger and safety lever.

Ah - set screw in front sight base to lock the post. Off-center post more finely adjustable for windage than I first thought, finely threaded in its base. Used old tweezers for sight tool, made guess for adjustment, will see what happens next session.

474 - Friday, 30 April 2004: On this day in 1975, thanks to gutless bureaucrats in Washington D.C. and outright traitors like Walter Cronkite, Saigon fell and Vietnam was lost to the horrors of Communism. Militarily, the United States kicked ass - the Tet Offensive was a strategic disaster for the enemy, the Viet Cong ceased to exist. The troops did their jobs, their leaders betrayed them and the South Vietnamese. There are a whole lot of red-and-gold flags along NE Sandy Blvd. about now, in front of restaurants and jewelers and tailors' shops - they remember.

And now the same thing is happening in Iraq - our troops are hobbled by cowards and traitors here at home who will not let them get the job done. Yes, Iraq is becoming George Bush's Vietnam, and treasonous filth like Senators Ted Kennedy and KKK Byrd are working hard on their self-fulfilling prophecy.

Anyhow, Crufflevirus strikes again! Yesterday afternoon the Crufflegods directed me to stop at Silver Lining Pawn, just browsing - and there's a Marlin M39TDS .22LR lever-action takedown carbine on the rack.

Marked $169.

Didn't get to fondle it but stared at it over the counter. Sure, it's missing at least one of the fore-end tip tenon screws and is probably none too clean, but I have never, ever seen a Marlin M39, of any variant, in any condition (and I've never seen one below Good, usually Very Good), under $200 - and this particular model has in fact been on my List for years (not unlike Cruffler's Ruger Bearcat - which he recently acquired, along with a case of the warmfuzzies). So I carefully don't mention it in this ‘blog (because someone else might beat me too it) and I root around the net until I find exactly what I'm looking for, a parts diagram .GIF and a manual that some third or fourth party at one point scanned into .PDF. And I print those out and study them and stick them, and a cleaning rod, into the daypack and take them along to work. And I stop by Silver Lining again this afternoon with a touch over three hundred dollars in the checking account after direct deposit and it's gone.

Neither fuzzy nor warm. :( :( :( Well, more money to spend at the show tomorrow. If I'd had any significant amount to spare after trivial things like food and rent and gas I'd've put the thing on layaway then and there, but I just couldn't afford it. Phooey!

New images, i.e. bumper stickers:

Finishing 1634: The Galileo Affair. Holy Crap (Catholics and Calvinists and Hugenots, Oh My!). Afterword sez Weber will join Flint for 1634: The Baltic War, Flint will apparently go alone for 1634: Escape from the Tower, then join with Ring of Fire contributor Virginia DeMarce for 1634: The Austrian Princess. Then Flint joins Mike Spehar, aviation consultant for 1633, for yet another 1634 tentatively titled Bohemia. And no end in sight or in mind.

Woof.

Furthermore - this whole thing started with an Assiti Shard, a cosmic artwork in the eyes of its alien creators, striking Earth and sending the fictional early-21st Century hillbilly town of Grantville, WV, into the middle of Germany in the middle of the Thirty Years' War (exchanging it for a chunk of depopulated-by-religious-war medieval wasteland). Flint sez publisher Baen sez there's no reason only one shard should have struck - and then describes what else will be happening in the multiverse. At least two other major universes, at least one with the potential to sprout legs and scramble all over the book market like the first one. (Un)Holy Crap.

Meanwhile I may actually $ubscribe to the Grantville Gazette e-zine.

Lessee here, shooting after the show tomorrow? I dunno. Bummed over missing that Marlin! Anyway, twenty more pieces once-fired Mauser brass after last session, and one box of factory left - think I'll try another twenty rounds of 46.0gr IMR4064 under the Hornady 150gr Spitzer at 3.0" OAL - I need a confidence-builder, and a 25-yard cloverleaf may not be a big deal in the slick magazines but it's more than I'm accustomed to. Soon will have well over 200 pieces matching Federal twice-fired, will seek case tumbler at show.

And another Timney, for the FR-8.

Somehow I've stockpiled over 400 rounds of Winchester Q4204 .357/110JHP - and the Miwall distributor, who carries it for even less than Bi-Mart, will likely be at the show. Packing one box, and the half-box of my first handgun handloads, in the range bag.

Damn I'm bummed about that Marlin. According to the drawing, that thing is factory drilled-&-tapped for a receiver sight, too - besides the scope base the one at the pawn shop had. Done the right way, too, on the side of the split takedown receiver that stays with the barrel. Sigh.

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