RIFLEMAN'S JOURNAL - APRIL 2005

Also visited pawn and gun shops in the Everett area, shopping & fondling, and the famous Kesselring shop up north, which was packed on a Saturday afternoon. An impressive selection, new and used, and well worth the drive. Planned to do some shooting at a local range, but forgot about Daylight Savings Time and had to hit the road (long trip on I-5 both ways without incident, except of course a couple tailgaters I'd like to meet with sabers at dawn). Anyway sis is extremely close to acquiring a subversion rifle of her own (always lots of .22s at a show that size, and they have the show either there or in Monroe every couple weeks), and will burn up bricks of .22LR becoming proficient (left 400 Remington Thunderbolt with her, that I planned to use in the Stevens but didn't have time for). I was going to have her try my 91/30 Mosin (since they have Big 5 stores up there too and she's been eyeing one) so she could get a feel for the recoil, but there'll be other visits.

There's also a regular bowling pin pistol shoot at one of the indoor ranges (and a recent thread on one of the Yahoo gunfolk mailing lists about harvesting used pins from bowling alleys). Must return, not least to join WAC - private sales still legal at shows in Washington, nudge wink. Furthermore I have another sister and a brother-in-law and a couple nephews to subvert. (Second sister forgot one target from her last trip, where the third round she ever fired in her life was a perfect center hit (from the Stevens, the best $49 I ever spent) - delivered it framed.) And the brother-in-law is locally famous for his Independence Day decorations (and there's an annual pyrotechnalia in their cul-de-sac). Hmm, get the P35 running, keep the GP100 by all means, acquire another .357 or two (also saw some rather desirable pre-sellout S&W K-frames in .38-only; i.e. 4", stainless, adjustable, M67 I think, perfect subversion handgun, and lots of room on the skinny old-style grip frame to work with for hand sizes), get the whole family doing pin or plate shooting, heh.

Must also get Washington CPL, overdue since my club is up there already. Furthermore, if I read it right, Oregon has no reciprocity with anyone (except for example Idaho which recognizes any state-issued license), while Washington gives me a few more states.

Paycheck unmolested in mail on my return, deposited, sent rent check a couple days late. Laundromat, bleah.

Ugh, must start doing taxes. (Hsss, snarl.)

Still slacking on email.

796 - Tuesday, 5 April 2005: Called three temp services yesterday - nothing. Supposedly one is waiting for a response from the Japanese place I worked at last year, that'd do.

OFF reports that state senator Ginny Burdick, anti-self-defense zealot, controlling the Senate Judiciary Committee, is introducing a swarm of tyrannical legislation and is positioned to kill any pro-rights bill. Her pets include a state copy of the federal "assault weapon" ban which expired in September, except it bans items with one "evil" feature instead of two, requires licensing of items already owned, bans possession of full-capacity magazines and transfer of listed items; extends the prohibition on firearm discharge from city limits to "Urban Growth Boundaries"; harsher penalties for possession of a firearm while committing a felony - which dovetails nicely with all the felonies-by-decree she's introducing; gun-free school zones, to facilitate more school shootings by providing defenseless victims for the convenience of psychopaths - this one includes "places where school field trips are taking place", so if you're sitting down to your Big Mac and the bus pulls into the parking lot, you're an instant felon (see above); banning licensed carry at the State Capitol (there was an incident with a nut with a knife); creating the "crime" of just the possession of a "large capacity" magazine; safe-storage law, that worked so well in the Merced Pitchfork Murders; fee hikes for concealed handgun licenses; removal of the state pre-emption law, allowing anti-self-defense localities to write up their own restrictions and bans, creating a minefield of conflicting laws across the state; prohibits CHL issue to someone with "domestic violence" convictions, like a WWII veteran who got in one bar fight sixty years ago (but not, I'm sure, a blueshirt who beats his wife). Pro-rights bills include: seller of firearms exempt from civil liability for their later misuse; CHL reciprocity; on-duty military personnel may renew CHLs by mail; CHL holders can bypass NICS; destruction of State Police records on firearm purchases.

And I can't afford to send them any money to help. I mailed the pre-printed postcard, though, on the military/CHL item.

Caught up on email, at least. And I discovered that the county library system has Cowboy Bebop on DVD! (Sis has cable, I don't. Boy do I miss the History Channel.)

797 - Thursday, 7 April 2005: Taxes done, but have to wait for refund before I can pay $145.60 to the Multnomah County Department of Extortion.

Still nothing from temp services. Really sick of plumbing work.

Resizing mass quantities of .357 and 9mm brass with case-feeding Pro1000 and carbide dies. Months ago Michigan forwarded some 9mm load data he got from a web forum; one load is the same as what I came up with, 4.0gr W231 under 125gr lead (Winchester's published maximum), but seated a bit deeper than mine. The 147gr load is with 3.7gr Accurate #2, which matches the published maximum from Accurate's 2002 booklet - but that's not a powder I have and I can't afford to buy a jug. Also want to experiment with Titegroup, advertised as not caring about powder position in the case, for .357 subversion loads. Midway carries Rainier plated bullets, including double-ended wadcutters that would take up more case capacity and theoretically reduce my ignition problems - and hollowpoints for only a couple bucks more per batch than round-nose, hmm, I might develop one load for both plates and carry. Also available in quantities of 1,000, though shipping would probably be dreadful. When I get money again I might pester Cruffler to ride on his C&R discount.

Car insurance paid a couple days ago, before I thought of the county extortion. Gas prices still climbing, crowding or passing $2.30 - saw a Chevron at $2.47 for Regular. Probably not enough cash left in the wallet to completely fill up in Vancouver this weekend when I go to Barberton and Clark Rifles. $2.19 the lowest I saw in Everett last weekend, BTW, most ARCOs $2.21.

Getting load advice, employment suggestions, and moral support from several readers. That's so cool!

Reminded by one of sis's conservative friends, Cruffler sent me this story months ago. (Same friend also turned me on to The Federalist Patriot.) Then there's this video (linked within article - it's all over the gunfolk net) of a DEA agent demonstrating gun safety. Only the police should have guns, right?

Hannity radio show - more attacks, including physical, on conservatives, by liberals, on college campuses. Tracking them down for documentation.

Many moons ago I had a couple rounds of Albanian 7.62x54R that wouldn't chamber, and they've been in the desk drawer ever since. Put one in the kinetic puller and pounded on the floor, came out with about a half-dozen blows - it's a boat-tail projectile with an exposed base (and it's magnetic, BTW), weighing 148.5gr (so I really do want 150s for my own loads - this is the same ammunition that gave me that jaw-dropping 98/1X in rapid-prone in November, the best official string I've ever shot). Short-stick cylindrical powder, similar in appearance to H4895, weighing 50.7gr - not to be used as load data of course, who knows where that powder came from. Dig out dies, remove decapping pin, lube and resize case, fiddle with seater and Lee Factory Crimp Die - probably ruined that cartridge but it was written off anyway, and I learned stuff. Looking through Midway master catalog - looks like no one offers a .312" 150gr boat-tail, or a .323" 175gr (or 150gr) boat-tail, though there are one or two selections in each size that are the next weight up. Hm, while I'm sitting around the hovel staying offline to leave the phone line open during business hours, I'll slug the VZ24's bore - wow, .328" groove, .313" land. And .323" is my only choice for jacketed. Maybe when I have income again I'll look into casting, for the CBA matches.

(Maybe, maybe, maybe, phooey. Grumble.)

Hmm, looking through Speer #10 (very good illustrated glossary), I discover a section on page 83 titled "CARTRIDGE SPACE FILLERS" showing reduced loads in rifle cases using kapok or Dacron to fill excess capacity and keep the powder near the primer. Will ask around about that, it may be a solution for my .357 subversion loads - but tedious, Titegroup would be simpler if it works. And wadcutters, which take up more case capacity, as a reader suggests. I do seem to recall no ignition problems with the wadcutters I tried, though I'll have to juggle dies for seating - I have a ".38 Speed Seater" with a flat punch, but I'm not sure it'll do crimps. But I don't have wadcutters anyway. Hmm, if I do get a set of Lee .357 dies, I could set up the Pro1000 - process the cases as I am doing, size with the case feeder (presently I'm sizing and expanding the .357, charging with a bench-mount measure, and seating in the single-stage), tumble clean, prime separately, then expand and charge with the Auto-Disk in the first station, seat the wadcutters in the second, and crimp with another die in the third if necessary.

Presently my plan for 9mm is to run the processed cases (400-odd Remington sized, tumbled and primed, but not expanded) through the Pro1000 with the first station empty, expanding and charging in the second, and seating in the third. Still looking for 147gr data (other than Weakchester) with the powders I have, and still haven't tested the Auto-Disk.

798 - Friday, 8 April 2005: Tumbling and priming piles of handgun brass. Running out of the three thousand nine hundred something WSP primers from the English Pit score last year, wow. Well, no such thing as too much ammo.

Oh yeah, I just remembered - at the Puyallup show, one vendor had what looked like virgin Winchester 7.62x54R brass, don't recall the price. Winchester makes factory loads in that caliber, and they sell brass in other calibers, so it's natural the brass would be available separately - but I still haven't seen it listed anywhere.

And another thing - I finally found a .30 Luger barrel for the P35! In the Parts Geezers' "BHP" box at the same show. Unfortunately a) I'm still unemployed and it was something over $100, and b) it wouldn't work in my FM anyway because it's way thinner than the 9mm barrel, requiring either a different slide or a sleeve attached to the barrel to mate with the 9mm slide's integral bushing. Double phooey.

Mining the web for 9mm/147gr/W231 load data - some goes up to 5.0gr, yipe! "BB RN", which I think means Berry's Bullets round-nose, which as I recall is copper-plated lead like the West Coast stuff I have at the moment (getting hooked on the spendier plated bullets as opposed to smoky, lubed, velocity-restricted unplated). I'll load small test batches again, 25 each, at 3.7 to 4.0gr in .1gr increments, and try them out (in Remington brass, not that it made much difference last time). Still have three pounds of W231, ya see. Still concerned about extractor, but maybe my FM just wants a hotter load.

Packing range bag for tomorrow - also taking the Stevens for at least some rifle practice (the FAL match is on the 23rd - might also take the FR and some Australian FMJ - course of fire for the FAL appears identical to last year's Allies vs. Axis: 5 sighters plus 10 for score slow prone, 2x5 rapid prone, 10 slow standing, all at 100yds on the SR1 - still have stack of actual SR1 centers to practice on). Fiddling with the converted 32-round pistol magazines - got one to misfeed dummy rounds as it did with live, but the other two seem fine, hmm. Have a little leftover Wal-Mart/Winchester Value Pack 115FMJ which can be presumed innocent, I'll try that in the 32s. 100 rounds 124RNL over 4.0gr W231 (an oft-encountered load in my web search this evening); the four 147gr test batches above; 136 rounds (all the prepped brass I had left before departing for Everett - now I have a bucket of prepped & primed brass, but I'm completely out of pistol primers) 125gr .357 over 3.4gr Bullseye; 100 each Remington Thunderbolt, CCI Mini Mag, and Federal Champion bulk-pack hollowpoint.

The plastic .357 cartridge boxes, which I bought at Kesselring's, are made by J&J Products; are available in a few different transparent colors; appear just as well-made as, and stack properly with, the ubiquitous MTM... and have a significantly lower price. Ahh, free market.

799 - Saturday, 9 April 2005: 140 years ago today, General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses Grant, effectively ending the War Between the States.

But if the courts and the politicians who appoint the judges keep going as they have been, we'll have a rematch. And there will probably be a lot more than two sides.

Off to Barberton. Saw the usual - that .36 Remington percussion revolver is still there; nothing earth-shattering for me, but Cruffler was Accumulating as usual.

Off to Clark Rifles - pretty full, decent weather today. Upper rifle line full, to handgun line, with Winchester factory FMJ, forty-odd rounds - extraction getting worse, though when it did extract it ejected with more force than any handload I've yet tried, so the power level of factory ammunition is not the problem. Meanwhile, the other two extended magazines will, I think, work once the rest of the pistol is fixed. Didn't even try the 147gr test loads, kinda pointless to test the ammunition for functioning if I have to fight a stray case every three or four rounds anyway. Used up the 125gr .357 I had ready, just... practicing. Hit the 50-yard popper about a third of the time. Need to sit down and do some real paper-punching with the GP, to fine-tune the sights, and the FM too once it's fixed. Skipped rifle practice after all. Probably won't have the FM fixed in time for this month's plate match - might use the GP, if I can scrape up the match fee and gas money.

Back to Barberton - got surplus protein from Cruffler. Met GunPartsGuy, chatted about upcoming FAL match - shooting apparently starts at 10am (firing allowed at 9am), so I should have time to get familiar with Cruffler's loaner and even sight it in. GunPartsGuy really liked "PACIFISTS TASTE LIKE CHICKEN". I'm quite proud of it myself.

Squeezed a not-quite-full tank of gas out of the wallet. Vancouver ARCO $2.33, Portland $2.37, Portland Chevron $2.49. For Regular.

Neighbor reports ex-con neighbors approaching eviction for Domestic Disturbances - then pesters me, as she's been doing for months, to get a job as a cable installer with the local cable-TV/broadband-ISP company (where she works in customer support), hmm. Among the benefits are free cable TV and free high-speed internet, hmm.

Okay, new extractor spring for the P35 - Numrich wants four and a half bucks, Brownell's wants closer to six. Wolff, OTOH, wants only $3.49 for an extra-power spring, which is probably exactly what's needed. And only $3.50 shipping for regular mail! Seven bucks shouldn't make the difference in my immediate financial needs, it's on the way. The extractor itself appears to be fine, and of course it still works with dummy rounds.

Front sight coming slightly loose again, more heated Loctite applied.

800 - Monday, 11 April 2005: Phone three temp services - still nothing.

Starting to look into the cable-installer possibility.

Library has Have Gun - Will Travel on DVD! (In the 2003 Standard Catalog, a Colt SAA and holster rig used by star Richard Boone in the show is pictured, having sold at auction for $57,875 in September 2001.)

Completely out of pistol primers, but hundreds each of 9x19mm and .357 cases ready to load. Starting to process backlog of 7.92x57mm and 7.62x51mm brass.

801 - Wednesday, 13 April 2005: No job progress.

No Wolff extractor spring yet.

Brownell's new-product sub-catalog in mail - hmm, adapter for Williams sights for FALs, $26.95 - metric only (big deal - the parts kit I'm competing for on the 23rd is Imbel), no gunsmithing, WGRS-KN sight only, hmm, a good, compact aperture sight, but not field- (that is, finger-) adjustable. I want a milling machine, sigh. Still, an encouraging step toward getting Proper Sights on an FAL. -Really, the FAL's standard sights aren't so bad, except I'd like the rear to be click- (instead of step-) adjustable for elevation, and I'd like it to go below 200 yards/meters. Locking windage down with screws actually suits me - who adjusts for windage in the field?

Sister sent back an old computer with me - juggling files and OS and hard drives to get the hottest machine (the one she sent, I think, an AMD6 with 128Mb RAM) for myself, then will set up the second-hottest (the Compaq PII/333MHz with 32Mb I'm running now) as a basic net-capable system for Veteran neighbor (possibly donating my cheapie webcam so he can take pictures of his artwork). This also gives me an opportunity to wipe a drive and put a fresh OS (Win98) on, dumping the spyware and adware and who-know-whatware that's accumulated. Previously, discovered ancient 486DX-25 standing by the trash cans, want to refurbish that as a DOS machine (if my floppy disks are still good) to run antique games like Aces of the Deep.

GOA alert, seeking senatorial support for John Bolton as ambassador to UN - have enough 23¢ stamps to mail the pre-printed postcards, for all the good they'll do, to Oregon's commie and RINO senators. Newsletter - Montana state legislature pushing anti-Federal bills, exempting the state from Federal firearm registration and regulation (arms and munitions made in Montana exempt from serial numbers or background checks, so long as the items remain in Montana), and from proposed National ID. Montana has been high on my list of retire-to states for a long time, for just this sort of thing (but Wyoming is even-less-populated). Also, a review of Andrew Napolitano's book Constitutional Chaos: What Happens When the Government Breaks Its Own Laws, mention of an entire chapter on the 2nd Amendment.

Getting extension for county extortion (income tax) online. ...No, the pamphlet says I can but I can't find it on the website. Included check for $10, all I can spare, and a nasty note stating as such, checked box on form for extension, and mailed. Pamphlet says to expect 5% penalty for late payment (as opposed to 25% for late filing). Filthy thieves. Pie chart says 70% goes to schools - yeah, for a new SUV for the superintendent, amoral leftist indoctrination from the NEA, and six-figure salaries for bureaucratic sinecures. Snarl.

Tweaked feed lips on third 32-round S&W/P35 magazine, feeds dummy rounds now....

802 - Thursday, 14 April 2005: On talk radio, tale of a tax protestor who wrote over 300 separate $1 checks for Multnomah County income tax. For the second year in a row. Heh.

The computer my sister sent is an AMD6 at 300MHz, so theoretically a little slower than my Compaq PII/333, but it has gobs more RAM - dunno if the RAM modules are compatible. Anyway, using the AMD's 4Gb drive to backup data from the Compaq's 8Gb, then will wipe the Compaq and reinstall Win98. Probably giving up on the Opera browser and going back to MSIE. Copying all my bookmarks promises to be tedious.

Wolff extractor spring for P35 arrives, installed - yes it's stronger. Feeds dummy rounds. Can hardly wait to test it this weekend.

Ah, the RAM modules are interchangeable - now the Compaq has 256Mb instead of 32, and is noticeably faster.

Actually the extended S&W/P35 magazines hold 33 rounds, heh.

Digging out the three 15-round KRD magazines the FM came with - getting new ideas on how to fix them so they don't interfere with the sear. While testing with dummy rounds, made from bullets seated in unprimed cases, had a scare - slide would not retract further than the barrel cam, and the firing pin was way down into the slide. I thought it had broken! But, knowing what's inside my pistol and guessing what happened, I jiggled and jiggled until it finally came loose, the little button of the back end of the firing pin popped out like it's supposed to, the slide retracted properly, and I quickly stripped the pistol to confirm my guess: the P35 has a rebounding firing pin of course, meaning that even with the hammer down, the rest position for the pin does not protrude past the breech face - it relies on momentum from the hammer strike to carry it past the rest position to strike the primer. Examination reveals that there's a lot of forward travel available, more than a quarter-inch. What I believe happened was, the firing pin went so far forward, without a primer to stop it, that it entered the dummy round's flash hole and wedged there, thus also preventing the barrel from camming down out of engagement with the slide and coincidentally freaking me out just when I thought I had my long-awaited Browning Hi-Power fixed. But nothing's broken. Whew.

Revised Front Sight DVD (see September, #615-620) in mail, rumors of their bankruptcy (December, #698) appear to have been greatly exaggerated. No glaring changes from the last version.

I note that Montana borders Wyoming. Which borders all-Republican-by-counties Utah, which borders Idaho, which borders Montana again. Rocky Mountain Republic, anyone? Needs a corridor to the sea, though, and Canada is enemy territory (though some of those provinces might be interested; I think L. Neil Smith touched on that in Pallas) - hm, the election maps make eastern and southern Oregon and northern Nevada look inviting, and northern California has been muttering about seceding from the rest of the state for a couple decades at least.... Eastern Washington has made similar mutterings lately, since the governor's race fiasco last year.

803 - Friday, Tax Day, 15 April 2005:

Citizens Against Government Waste

Taxpayer Association of Oregon

Amendment XVI, 1913:
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census of enumeration.

Now what the hell is that totalitarian garbage doing in the Constitution of the United States? That's not an excerpt, that's the whole amendment. The Supreme Court ruled Lincoln's income tax, during the War Between the States, to be unconstitutional - but this, this thing stands?

Packing range bag for tomorrow (forecast calls for rain, maybe the range will be underpopulated): FM; 100 rounds 124gr RNL over 4.0gr W231; 30 rounds Winchester factory 115JHP; four batches of 25 147gr test loads at 3.7 to 4.0gr W231; whipped up a fifth batch at 3.6gr; two 13- and three 33-round magazines, the 15s may still be a lost cause; one set Fred's AQT targets; FR8- um. 35 rounds 7.62x51mm NATO needed for the match, plus I still have to sight-in the loaner FAL. 65 rounds (15 sighters) for the AQT. Excavating for NATO ammunition, found a little more once-fired CAVIM brass. Have 130 rounds Australian, 110 South African (which gives sticky extraction in both the Ishapore and FR), 235 rounds Portuguese which gave decent performance, all Berdan primed; 80 rounds reloadable Hirtenberger. Will take the Hirtenberger, empty the brass for future re-use, try to sight-in the FR at 25 yards with 15 rounds, then shoot the AQT - GunPartsGuy says South African works fine in his FALs, will use that in the match next weekend. Skipping the GP, reached a point where I have to change direction in developing subversion loads.

Reading Alternate Generals III, edited by Turtledove, fresh from Baen, a military-alternate-history collection. Mike Resnick's entry, "The Burning Spear at Twilight", strikes me as a pointed commentary on Abu Ghraib and mainstream media.

804 - Saturday, 16 April 2005: This will have to serve as my Patriot's Day shoot. And what the heck, tax-protest too.

Arrive about 11:30. CBA match underway! Haven't seen a newsletter since the board elections - asked at clubhouse, supposedly mailed yesterday. Upper 100yd rifle line crowded with overflow from closed-for-match lower 300yd line, starting with P35 on handgun line. Spent a half-hour searching for the brass catcher. Medium rain on the way up, light to none at the club. Those CBA folks really turn out, though, even in Northwest Spring weather.

First, Winchester factory 115gr JHP from the two proven 13-round magazines - perfect function. Now 124RNL from the 33s - first perfect, second several misfeeds, third one misfeed. From magazines intended for a whole other design. My pistol is fixed!

Now 147gr test loads, in the 13s. 3.6gr W231 - perfect. 3.7gr - perfect. No pressure signs. 3.8gr - perfect, still no pressure signs. 3.9gr - perfect, starting to see slight pressure signs on the primer. 4.0gr - the same. The bushing chart for the Auto-Disk measure says it jumps from 3.4 to 3.7gr of W231, testing and measuring is now in order.

Both 13-round magazines a little stickier than I remember, must closely examine and smooth them up for drop-free. I am now very close to finally carrying a proper pistol.

If the front sight stays on. (A little loose again, more heated Loctite back at the hovel.) Also want entirely new sights anyway, several more-or-less local gunsmiths available including the Politically-Conscious (Gadsden and Stars & Bars tacked to the ceiling, Clayton Cramer's Original Intent brochures on the counter) Washougal River Mercantile ‘way up the Columbia Gorge. Trigger pin still drifting too - yipe! Safety plunger pin drifted almost all the way out! (Firmly reinstalled at hovel.) Studying trigger pin, perhaps some green Loctite (#648, BTW) there too - but it shouldn't be needed, the trigger spring is supposed to engage a slot in the trigger pin, and apparently does, but I guess not deeply enough. Perhaps very carefully deepening that slot would help.

About 12:30, to the upper line. 15-round warmup with the FR, tweaked front sight a little - looks good. AQT, stage one, simulating 100 meters, 10 rounds in 2 minutes standing. I suck at standing. But it's a big target and I got 44 out of 50, only one out of the black in fact. And one in the tie-breaking V - see image of Stage Four aiming point for reminder of target layout.

Stage two, simulating 200, 10 rounds in 50 seconds sitting. 1) I forgot my prone mat and 2) the concrete pad is wet, will shoot prone and sitting stages from the bench using the Hasty sling with elbows resting on the bench, like I used to. Cruffler will likely admonish me for wimping out, invoking Bastogne and Valley Forge and whatnot - phooey, I'm unemployed and gas prices are still climbing (Vancouver ARCO $2.35), I'm lucky to get any practice at all. Another 44 of 50.

Stage three, simulating 300, rapid prone, 10 rounds in 60 seconds - not really timing myself either, but I generally don't have trouble getting my rapid strings in under time. One miss, I'm out of practice, I've been fiddling with handguns lately and my riflery has suffered. 41 of 50.

Stage four, simulating 400, slow prone, 20 rounds in 22 minutes. Disaster! Only 31 of 100! Most went way low. No, the front sight hasn't shifted - I've spoiled myself shooting from sandbags the past several months, I'm flinching or bucking or somesuch. But at least I found out about it before the match. That's 160 out of 250, which still makes Marksman but is damned embarrassing. (Hey Cruffler, that loaner FAL has a sling, right? I'm gonna need it.) I cheer myself with the thought that I was shooting 86% until something blew up in the fourth stage - expert is 80% on this test.

Meanwhile, GunPartsGuy arrived, we chatted, not least about the FAL match next weekend - hope I can make it, between gas money and match fee (also the car hasn't been quite the same since the long trip to Everett and back - I suspect it's one particular wire which has given me trouble before and for which I already have a replacement - no, that's not it, still idling erratically or stalling at idle). Also, will forward to him the emails I got from the Fred's representative seeking ranges for a Fred's Road Trip.

Packed up ~2:30. Remembered to stop for lottery tickets, sigh.

Examining P35's trigger - aha! The trigger spring is doglegged such that it does not engage the slot in the trigger pin unless the trigger lever is tilted way past where the frame allows it to be. Sooo, bend the spring and reposition the dogleg. Yeesss, I think that will work. So I think that's another bug fixed, and the sights may be the last problem.

805 - Sunday, 17 April 2005: Must get off butt and look into the cable-installer job. Meanwhile, considering liquidating the Marlin - I never use it.... :(

Cruffler has informed me that the scruffy Mossberg 500 I bought for $59 is not available for repurchase. Seems the Crufflegods offended him by allowing him to miss the deal in the first place. Eh, there's zillions more out there and he's still letting me buy back the rifles, if-and-when. Meanwhile he's put a bead sight on it. Remember, Cruffler, that piece probably needs a new ejector.

Tom Gresham's Gun Talk: Condemnation of militarization of blueshirts, us-vs.-them philosophy, "I'm afraid of police officers now." Welcome to the patriot movement, Tom. "The war on drugs... is an utter and absolute failure." Dude, welcome to the republitarian movement!

Interesting, the FR8's flash hider has come loose. Screwdriver through slots for leverage, tightened up. Hey, maybe that's what happened to my AQT, changing the barrel harmonics!

Aha! Bill Sloan's latest is on order at the library, Brotherhood of Heroes: The Marines at Peleliu, 1944 - The Bloodiest Battle of the Pacific War. See my review (#367-371) of Given Up for Dead: America's Heroic Stand at Wake Island.

Slacking a bit on email again.

Uh-oh, car's getting worse. Runs okay at higher speeds but stalls frequently waiting for lights. Engine screams when changing gears, even with my foot off the gas. At least it still starts every time, even if it only runs for a second.

Got Savage's Liberalism is a Mental Disorder and Weber & Ringo's We Few, fourth in the Prince Roger series (March Upcountry, -to the Sea, -to the Stars). Starting the SF. Weber & Ringo, yum.

806 - Monday, 18 April 2005: Yawn - up way late plowing through We Few. Not necessarily the end of the series. Tasty at any rate.

Starting Savage's Disorder - skimming, nothing I haven't heard on his show or figured out for myself, he's preaching to the choir with me. Useful notes & sources though. Calls for military on our southern border - I am ambivalent; part of me shrieks about Posse Comitatus and Constitutionalism and a slippery slope, another part wants to drill anything coming north except through checkpoints and security screening. Border Patrol agents report finding Islamic paraphernalia, i.e. prayer rugs, documents in Arabic, and phone numbers in Iraq. Gods only know how many enemy agents are in our country already, probably planning an enormous synchronized attack on dozens or hundreds of targets. At least my P35 is running better now. Who was it who said "A pistol is for fighting your way to a real gun"?

Templess naturally. Working on cable-installer resumé.

Auto-Disk powder measure's ".34" aperture listed as 3.7gr W231, but under this particular phase of the moon it's giving a very consistent 3.5gr, which happens to be the published maximum. Loading 50 rounds under plated 147gr, will test this Saturday after the rifle match, if all goes well will whip out a couple hundred that evening for the plate match Sunday, if the car runs and if I have gas money and match fees. ...Errr, less than that, maybe 150 left. Could use the .358" unplated 125gr over 4.0gr W231 maybe. And/or the GP100.

If I can make it to the match at all. :( Haynes manual suggests all sorts of expensive-sounding problems based on the car's symptoms, sigh.

807 - Tuesday, 19 April 2005: Anniversary of:

The Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (I hadn't realized that)
The Waco Massacre
The Oklahoma City Bombing

Concord Hymn
by Ralph Waldo Emerson

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, are sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heros dare
To die and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.

And of course last night was Paul Revere's (and Israel Bissel's, and others') ride. I think Fischer, or another RevWar historian I've been reading in recent months, is coming out with a new book on that.

No job progress. Lethargy and apathy. A reader in Salem says the company in question is growing fast. Reviewed job description on company website - if I have the right job description there are three openings in the metro area at present, one of which was posted just today. Emailed neighbor who works there for further details. There, I did something.

Car still runs, mostly. I can drive it - still okay at higher speeds, but if it coasts at all or if the clutch is in, that is if there's no load on the engine, it threatens to die. At traffic lights, have to keep two feet on three pedals to keep the engine idling. I smell more clutch than I used to, since I have to keep the RPMs up and feather the clutch when starting to move to avoid stalling now. Runs a little (a little) better when warmed up.

Finally a newsletter (downloaded - hardcopy expected in mail - no newsletter for February) from Clark Rifles. Ah, they are open Wednesdays and Fridays starting in April! -Says they're switching to email distribution of the .PDF, fine with me, but I thought I gave them my e-dress, and this is the newsletter for March.... Plate match info: $7 match fee and 100-200 rounds of ammunition, which means I should be able to just barely make it to my first handgun match. Maybe. (Hm, better whip up some .357 ammo and take the GP along in case I don't have enough 147s left for the P35. Oh wait - still have 94 rounds of Miwall .38 158SWC, whew, I still haven't developed a reliably-igniting load for those 125gr RN/FP and plates probably call for something more substantial than a subversion load. So between the two handguns I've got (or will make) plenty of ammunition for one plate match. Examining the .38 cartridges for bulges, excessive lube, etc., as I've seen before on gun-show reloads - they're all fine, Miwall stuff is usually pretty good about that. And yes I know where all five of my speedloaders are.) $15 for the FAL match, I should be able to squeeze that out, and Cruffler's loaning the rifle and I've got the ammo. Half a tank of gas left, plus ~10 liters reserve - Portland ARCO holding at $2.37.

Cruffler declines the Marlin, he's not made o' money after all (and he's running out of room), but he did say the $300 I asked was a fair price. (Actually he does want the Marlin - warned me that I wouldn't get it back - but it's against his religion to pay full market value for anything, and I need as much as I can get for it.) I'll probably take it to the Vancouver show on the 30th with a sign asking $350 OBO, per his suggestion.

Hm, I happen to have a PayPal account, I wonder if I should just put a digital hat out on the electronic sidewalk...?

808 - Wednesday, 20 April 2005: Applied for cable-installer job online.

Car not getting better.

809 - Thursday, 21 April 2005: Catching up on email.

Hardcopy newsletter from Clark Rifles, April/May issue. Front page profile of one of the founding members, the Senior Gentleman with the "CAMP PERRY - 1939" patch on his jacket, who I've competed against and who has given me tips. He'll be 86 next month, was a B-24 pilot in WWII, and if he has anything to steady himself against at all he'll shoot 2MOA all day long. I've seen him do it.

Activities director phones, asking if I'll be at the FAL match Saturday - yes, depending on the car.

Newsletter - match results and upcoming match info. Calendar through June - Cowboy match May 15 (still don't have everything for it); another plate match on the 22nd; benchrest rifle match (not my flavor), 28-29th; open Memorial Day, Monday the 30th. Another Cowboy match 5 June, Garand match 11th, CMP match 18th, plate match 26th. Range open some Thursday evenings for Cowboy practice.

Going 'round some of the lists, Ronnie Barrett strikes again - excerpts from a lengthy Open Letter (in which he quotes Patrick by-gods Henry):

Many of you have inquired as to the outcome of the letter I wrote to Police Chief Bratten of the LAPD. Unfortunately, the chief's position did not change. He continued to use his officers in the same deceptive practices formerly utilized with the city council. These few officers testifying in Sacramento ultimately contributed to the unconstitutional AB50 law being passed. It saddened me to have to tell members of the LAPD SWAT team that they would have to send someone for their rifle, because I refused to assist anyone or any organization that is in violation of the United States Constitution. In turn, the department arranged to pick up their un-serviced rifle.

Barrett cannot legally sell any of its products to lawbreakers. Therefore, since California's passing of AB50, the state is not in compliance with the US Constitution's 2nd and 14th Amendments, and we will not sell nor service any of our products to any government agency of the State of California.

I appreciate all the phone calls and e-mails from LAPD officers and civilians during that time, encouraging and supporting our actions. We shall see if other firearms companies will follow this path. I know many are corporately owned and feel like they are unable to risk the life of their company for the liberties of our nation, but if we lose our Republic, our freedom, what good is any of it? I am in the proud and fortunate position that many of our forefathers were in when they risked all for our liberties.

Gods Bless Ronnie Barrett! Go Buy His Stuff!

810 - Friday, 22 April 2005: Portland's terrorist-loving commie mayor Tom Potter has unilaterally (I thought the lefties hated unilateralism...?) pulled out of the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Local ACLU praises decision. City council still has to vote.

I am... still ambivalent. I remember Waco - but I also remember Flight 93 and the Bridge at Fallujah. In any case I think it's time to start carrying the P35. (Definitely need a better holster than the cheap floppy Uncle Mike's IWB. (Well, poor people have a right to carry too.) Leaning toward paddle, from my experience with the Bianchi with the GP100. OTOH summer is coming and I'll probably end up with a fanny pack.)

Actually, Portland itself may now be safe from terrorist attack, as it will now be a safe haven for terrorist staging and planning and even that murderous medieval scum may know better than to crap where they eat. (Not condoning, just cold-bloodedly observing.) On the other hand there's what Churchill said about appeasement, and all the innocent Americans who will be murdered because the terrorists weren't caught here before they went to do their thing there.

Earth Day, phooey. See Cox & Forkum's entry. And read Crichton's State of Fear. If my car were running well (and if I could afford gas) I'd go take a long non-carpool recreational drive.

Current required clutch-and-throttle technique burns a lot of gas, good thing I carry that reserve. Squeezed match fees, plus $7, from bank. Sis says more is on the way.

Getting closer to activating PayPal account to accept donations, maybe tonight. Hey, other 'bloggers do it, right? -Later... yup, added to the front page, the journal main page, and to the top and bottom of this and subsequent montly journal pages.

811 - Saturday, 23 April 2005: Match day! Arrived in plenty of time. Car is... manageable. Light Medium Heavy Intermittent rain, cold, wearing field jacket. No gloves, my lightweight pigskins were used up in plumbing and car work and my insulated winter gloves - well, I might have used the left one on the support hand if I'd thought of it. Cruffler brought hot dog stand, more surplus protein!

Good turnout, about twenty shooters, one woman, a couple youths (though I'm not sure the youths were shooting). FALs from all the heck over the world with lots of different stuff hung off them. Most used metallic sights, all standard issue sights as far as I could tell, though several were equipped with optics, from hunting scopes to red-dots to the NATO Trilux. Also two Garands (at least one of those was using ammunition in cardboard boxes printed with the CMP logo), one M1A, a couple Kalashnikovs (at least one in 5.45mm) and someone actually brought a Simonov. Rarity o' the day, FN49 in 7.92mm. With TurKrap ammo. During the sight-in phase it jammed (Cruffler says the design is known for unreliability) and that shooter switched to an FAL. (Only FAL shooters could win prizes, except for the parts kit, which was a raffle drawing separate from match scores.)

The plan was to use the other range to sight-in and familiarize myself with the rifle before the match started, but didn't get around to it. Well, FAL, magazine catch, bolt lock, etc., what's to know? (I found out....) Cruffler's loaner is rather ordinary, IMBEL upper, unidentified lower, black plastic furniture, nekkid muzzle. Standard sights, rear goes down to "2". Cruffler included a standard USGI 1¼" nylon sling - still in it's plastic bag. Installing - there's no rear sling swivel! Choked it around the wrist of the buttstock, adjusted for Hasty, it works.

Meanwhile, Cruffler testing his stubby 10-gauge NEF single-shot, reinforcing his status as a certifiable masochist. Anyway he now has his own personal reusable Claymore mine.

Lots of South African ammo like what I brought, also some Portuguese which I never had trouble with (Cruffler says he got a batch with some duds). One shooter using knee & elbow pads instead of a prone mat. Others using carpet remnants instead of the ~$100+ purpose-made shooting mats. I'm still using the $15 camping mat.

About 9:30, safety briefing, course of fire, rules - no use of bipods; no use of sling in standing stage. Ten shooters, twenty targets per relay - slow prone, single-loaded, on even-numbered target, best ten of fifteen for score, then rapid prone on odd-numbered target, two strings of five, reload required. After first relay shoots first two stages, targets are retrieved and fresh ones put up for the next relay. Then, ten rounds slow standing, single-loaded, first relay on even numbers and second on odd. I'm in the second relay, near the middle of the line.

Here we go. Cruffler spotting for me - this rifle goes high and left. Holding off - hm, failures to extract and/or eject, sometimes beating on the charging handle. Good thing I have a full minute for each shot. After slow prone stage, confer with Cruffler, crank gas collar - in what turns out to be the wrong direction! Rapid prone, only got four shots off in the two minutes allowed because I'm wrasslin' the rifle after each shot! Argh. Well, down to retrieve targets.

Cruffler was calling my hits so I had some idea how I did, also the shooter from the first relay let me use his spotting scope (on a shorter tripod than mine, and an angled eyepiece, so it could be set low enough to use from the prone position without getting out of the sling - gotta get me one of those) - but I was still pleasantly surprised when I brought the targets back and started counting holes. 87/0X in slow prone, 87% on the SR1 target! After subtracting the five worst, the other ten were in the black! Cruffler also says the last four or five (low and left in the 8 ring) were together, and that would make about a 2.5MOA group! Rapid prone was a disaster of course, since the rifle wasn't cycling since I adjusted the gas system the wrong way - but of the four shots I managed to fire, three were in the black, a 10 and two 9s, plus a 7 for 35 of 100. (Back at hovel, extrapolating how I would have done, that's another 87% stage!)

Now the first relay again, standing, in which everybody pretty much sucked - except the one who ended up winning the match by a comfortable margin (230), who had five in the black and, as I recall, two misses. Then it was my turn for standing, with the gas collar all the way the other direction - cycles now, but still won't lock open on an empty magazine - and it was a good thing I actually shot standing with the FR8 last weekend in the AQT, because I pleasantly surprised myself with a 67! Four in the black, only one miss!

So my final score was 189, but if the rifle hadn't malfunctioned... (calculate...) good gods. Extrapolating based on a percentage score from the four shots in the rapid prone stage, I might have won the match, beating even the respected and feared T.R., who won this match and most others I've ever seen him in since I starting shooting competitively nearly two years ago (#248)!

Hung around a bit - didn't win the FAL parts kit in the raffle, nor anything else, but I was shooting well. With a completely strange rifle whose entire type I had rarely handled and never fired before. Group photo for their website.

Finally, over to the pistol range with the P35 - only two magazines of 147gr handloads, and after they worked perfectly (except for one failure to slide lock) I saved the other 24 rounds in the test batch for the plate match tomorrow. Loading all remaining 147gr projectiles tonight. Made arrangements to pick up surplus hot dogs from Cruffler tomorrow, as his place is right on the way back.

Bad score, but good shooting. Learning experience. Also a confidence builder as even with an unfamiliar and malfunctioning rifle I might have won. The day I beat Mr. R. in a fair (i.e. no equipment failures) match I can start calling myself a Rifleman - and if I'd known more about FALs, today might have been that day!

And yes, it probably was the loose flash hider on the FR8 that wrecked my AQT Stage Four last weekend. Will try again later (pending income) (with prone mat), and hope to use the FR in the PIG this July.

Loading 9mm plate rounds - weighing dispensed powder to be sure - today the .34 aperture is throwing 3.4gr, or a little less. Switched to .37 - 3.7gr W231 (chart says 4.0), but consistent, I'll take it. 126 rounds, for a total of 150 - match info says "100 to 200 rounds". Will take the GP and semiwadcutters as well, just in case. Out of 9mm projectiles.

Further impressions upon reflection: FAL recoil entirely manageable, though my tendency to creep up the stock in prone can cause the rear sight to smack me in the eyeglasses. Extra-sproingy "SPROING" sound, and a lot of movement as the big chunky bolt and carrier go back and forth. Ergonomics not all I might hope for, but I could get used to it.

812 - Sunday, 24 April 2005: Match day again! Up way early, stopped at OAC show (still free admission with ACSW badge), monthly theme Target Rifles & Pistols - nothing leaping out at me, though I coulda spent a couple hundred bucks on books, as usual. Car seems to have stabilized. That's not to say it's running well. (Later, chatting with Cruffler, he believes it's some kind of vacuum leak - examining Haynes manual to chase it down. Also, later, discovered I'm low on oil! It's not leaking though....)

Arrived Clark Rifles way early, finishing off No Name on the Bullet, Don Graham 1986, biography of Audie Murphy - rather disappointed, the author smells Left (he doesn't like Murphy's acquaintance Ronald Reagan - neither did I, entirely, but my reasons are different) and paints what I took as an unflattering picture of one of the greatest soldiers in military history.

Cold & foggy to start, but sunny & warm later (cold & rainy on the way back though). About a dozen shooters, three women, one youth. Separate divisions for autoloaders, revolvers, & .22s - no separation in final rounds. Weapons sighted: S&W 622 (discontinued .22 semiauto); S&W M22A w/scope; two Browning Buck Marks with scopes; Ruger 22/45 with scope; S&W 681 (fixed-sight .357 L-frame, 4" barrel); S&W 686 6" with scope; S&W M19 6"; Ruger Security Six 4"; Kimber-esque 1911; full 1911 race gun, .38 Super, double-column & extended magazines, 6" barrel, ported, scoped, no iron sights; stock Glock 17; stock Beretta 92. Match fee $7 per weapon, one can enter in separate categories. Course of fire: .22s shoot on smaller, lighter targets in the center, a rack of eight ~6" steel circles with a bath-size ducky silhouette on either end - when .22 vs. .22, targets are four circles and a ducky for the stop plate, observers calling the winner by which ducky goes down first; in qualification and in .22 vs. centerfire, .22s must hit five circles and a ducky. On either side of the .22 rack are the twin centerfire racks, with a bowling pin shape, four ~10" circles and a ~¼(?)-scale Pepper Popper - for qualifying, autoloaders must hit all six, revolvers any five - in competition, autos must hit all six plus a separate stop plate, revolvers any four plus the stop. These stop plates are ½(?)-scale Poppers angled to overlap when falling, so the one on the bottom indicates the winner. Five qualifying runs, best and worst times discarded, remaining three averaged, result gets paired in first round against a similar time.

My first qualifying run was the best run I had all day, only eight or nine shots. I ended up using 75 rounds, exactly half the 9mm ammunition I brought, to hit thirty targets! And in fact I even got the default 30 seconds on one run because I used both 13-round magazines and still couldn't make six hits. Lesson 1A: More Magazines. Lesson 1B: More Ammunition.

Lesson 2: More Practice.

Long pause while calculating times and building tournament tree. I'm paired against the lady with the Glock in the first round. Best two out of three runs advances to next round.

.22s first. Revolvers - the plain, fixed-sight, rent-a-cop-market M681 was in the hands of someone who knew how to use it. My turn - hey, I beat Glock Lady! Of course I had to reload on both runs to do it... good thing I practice that maneuver. I made it to the second round! Felt like I was doing a little better than in qualifying. Wait for everyone else to run through.

Second round - youngest (maybe 12?) and oldest (maybe 70?) shooters, M22 and BuckMark respectively, mowing down the disks and duckies within less than a second of each other. Eek. Unlike most pairings, they needed all three runs to decide. (The old guy won, but not by much, and was eliminated in the next round.) So my goal is to beat Mr. R in a rifle match and The Kid on plates. -I'm eliminated in the 2nd, didn't even have a chance to empty one magazine per run (stop shooting when the run is lost, to conserve ammunition.) Something about a Loser's Round.

I forget who actually won the match - maybe the guy with the 681. Loser's Round, sudden death - that guy's wife, with the .38 racer, whupped me. However, if I heard the match director right, I won 2nd Place in the Autoloader division - will await match results before claiming it. (No material prizes in these matches.) Actually had 12 rounds of 147gr left over - mainly ‘cause I didn't make it to the later rounds. Hm, maybe I shoulda gone with the GP after all, though I brought even less ammunition for that - but I've had it and been using it longer. Next month (if I have a job...), more ammunition, more magazines, and until then, more practice.

Left about 1pm. Stopped by Cruffler's place for surplus meat from FAL match yesterday, and got Big 5 flyer from his Sunday paper, one less stop for me and my ailing car today.

Well. At least the P35 functioned perfectly! Trigger pin is fixed - safety plunger pin loose again, working on it.

Starting Greg Bear's Dead Lines, a techno-horror story, sans splatter.

813 - Monday, 25 April 2005: Raking cable company website for contact information to follow up on my job application - can't find it. Also several dead links, sigh. Will talk with neighbor who works there.

Three temp services - nothing.

So last night I heat the safety assembly and put a little green #648 Loctite on and it wicks right into the pin, swell. And then the plunger sticks. Not swell. So I may have got the plunger Loctited, or maybe the heat fried the spring. Hmph. Thinking about extended and/or ambidextrous safety for the P35 anyway. Charles Daly never answered my email about whether they sell their different-from-everyone-else's version, I'll try again. Meanwhile, soaking in Kroil. (And the old one too, maybe I can salvage something.) Browsing catalogs - Brownell's has the Cylinder & Slide hammer & sear set, improved No-Bite hammer contour, with reduced-powder hammer spring and new factory-weight firing pin spring - only $115, swell. About $85 for the C&S Browning ambi safety with the usual gas-pedal. Midway is a few bucks less. About $44 for just the one side, but still with the gas pedal. Interesting, picture shows safety lever, plunger & spring - examining - okay, if I can get the plunger unstuck, it shouldn't need the pin holding it in, the frame will do that. Sigh. Another learning experience. Ah, starting to see the kind of sights I want - Millett Orange Bar front, similar to the red insert on my GP100... oh! JP Enterprises Double Ring sights for pistols, hm! I'll have to look up a picture of those. Both Pachmayr & Bomar low-profile options. Pachmayr Accu-Set not listed for white outline for P35. Bomar TPU available in white outline (like my familiar GP100) for the "Browning Mltry HP", about $60, that may be my sight. MMC, even lower profile and with protective wings, also available in white outline, but closer to $80.

Sigh. Great, I finally get my pistol fixed and I break it. My car is sick, my poor cat is old (fifteen - he can't jump into my lap anymore), and I'm unemployed.

Buuuut, after soaking in Kroil overnight and focusing intently, using a blackpowder vent pick at an angle through the empty plunger pin hole, pushing it back and forth, I got the safety plunger out! Spring still looks good, guess I just have to clean out the plunger recess and the plunger itself... yup, dried Loctite chunks. Yes! Fixed! And forget the plunger pin. (Whew.) So at least my pistol is completely fixed (except for the sights which I want to change anyway). Tweaking the trigger spring so it properly engages the slot in the trigger pin has solved that problem too, 138 - no, 164, counting Saturday's test - rounds and it didn't move. ...Aaaand, the front sight has not come loose either, since the last Loctite treatment there, also 164 rounds ago.

But accuracy yesterday was terrible. Sometimes it felt like the bullets were phasing immaterially right through the targets, I know I had good sight pictures lots of times. The hits I did make were not where I expected them to be. Testing Auto-Disk - throw twenty charges to get it "warmed up" and get the inevitably spilled powder in it's usual positions, then weigh ten consecutive charges - fairly consistent between 3.7 and 3.8gr W231, that's probably not it. Likely I'm flinching.

Icky weather and no need to go anywhere today, not working on car. Forecast better tomorrow.

Today I received what may qualify as my first hate mail:

I just visited http://www.iguanasoft.com/~jeffersonian/terra.html. Your image http://www.iguanasoft.com/~jeffersonian/te3.jpg uses (in the crown) a pixel pattern taken from my image of the Portuguese 1706-175 flag, hosted, i.a., at http://flagspot.net/flags/pt-1706.html, also at http://www.terravista.pt/guincho/1421/bandeira/pt_hist.htm#1667 (from 1996 to 2004), and and since 2005.02 at http://www.tuvalkin.web.pt/terravista/guincho/1421/bandeira/pt_hist.htm#1667. In all these locations are copyright notices and requirements for fair use you apparently ignored.

I suggest you replace it with a new crown of your own device quickly enough, in order keep your website online -- that way IguanaSoft people checking for authorship theft will find no resemblance in the images and ignore the complaint I just filed.

Yours
-- ____.
António MARTINS-Tuválkin | ()|
antonio@tuvalkin.web.pt |####|
Estrada de Benfica, 692-c/v d.ta Não me invejo de quem tem |
PT-1500-111 LISBOA carros, parelhas e montes |
+351 934 821 700, +351 217 150 939 só me invejo de quem bebe |
http://www.tuvalkin.web.pt/bandeira/ a água em todas as fontes |

FOUR YEARS AND THREE INTERNET PROVIDERS AGO. And now ALL OF A SUDDEN you're filing a complaint. You're one of those prejudiced, bigoted, terrorist-loving, "Hate America First" Europeans, aren't you?

--
Criminals Prefer Unarmed Victims.
Oppressive Regimes Prefer Unarmed Subjects.
http://www.iguanasoft.com/~jeffersonian
OFF - GOA - JPFO - SAF - NRA

With a little commentary in the pop-up text when you hover the mouse over it. Hm, maybe I should save that Portuguese 7.62x51mm ammunition for use on actual UN "Peacekeepers," if-and-when. I wonder which country provided the Blue Helmet troops alleged to have committed wholesale rape among refugees...? OTOH maybe I should just burn it up as quickly as I can to get rid of it.

What can I say. I ain't no Audie Murphy, but I got a temper a little like his.

Later: Whew! Big fat Federal tax refund arrives, $956, I can live for two whole months on that! There's hovel rent, a month ahead on storage rent, utilities, fuel, groceries, and maybe next month's hovel rent if I'm careful, even without a job. Haircut, laundry, new shoes, car parts.... State refund, $269 as I recall, still coming besides - there's the county income tax.

Sister's latest donation arrives the same day. That's going straight into savings, and with any luck staying there.

And hey! Now I don't have to sell the Marlin! -Though without income I can't yet justify buying rifles back from Cruffler. Well, maybe the Hungarian M44 for $60, which is more than he wanted to pay ‘cause he can get them for under $50 with his C&RFFL and he was being nice - yeah, I'll get that one back at least.

Man, what a load off! After rush hour, wrassling the car out after all, I'm getting tired of Ramen! Rent check mailed.

Meanwhile:

Hm, probably not making the Albany machinegun shoot after all, at least not with the car ill. Will start working on it tomorrow.

Growing more accustomed to the comforting presence of the P35 inside my waistband. And it gives me an excuse to wear my "CS" belt buckle, heh.

814 - Tuesday, 26 April 2005:

WELL CRAP!
(My limited grasp of HTML prevents me from making the above line even larger.)

My car has died. Or is at least in a Persistent Vegetative State. Politically, I've burned my bridges with the mechanically-inclined members of the SCA crowd who helped me before. Hiked a couple-some miles back to the hovel, picking up Nickel Ads and Auto Mart on the way. To hell with it! I needed to replace it anyway, and if this had to happen it's best it happened now, with the rent check in the mail and still over $500 in checking and over $200 still on the way from the state.

I'll probably have to have it towed back to the hovel. At least I got it off the street, into a parking lot for an unsuccessful pizza place that is presently closed - it's out of the way.

Okay, start reading. Looking for as much under $500 as I can get; small, economical, easy to park - a compact. Hatchback is fine, stick shift is fine. Bland as opposed to sporty, for both insurance and theft-temptation. Needs to either pass DEQ or have at least a year left on the tags. Auto Mart is all regular dealers, almost nothing under $2,000 - toss. Nickel Ads it is then, with separate "Under $1,000" category. ...Hm, slim pickings: ‘81 Audi 5000, $450; ‘85 Mazda 626, "new carb, runs great," $600; ‘88 Jeep Cherokee, "red nice condition, runs great," $500 (hmm....); ‘77 Chevy Nova 4-foor, 6 cylinder, automatic, power steering, Dec'06 tags, "runs great," $550. Might have to get the local Pravda. Of course there's also the net. Want to get this done by the end of the week. Not, repeat not giving up personal transportation.

Later, Cruffler discourages the Audi and the Cherokee, as too big and/or difficult to find parts for. (Eh, 4x4s cost more to insure anyway.) Anything over $500 is really too much, so the Mazda is out, and the Nova is too big as well. On the web - some interesting possibilities, but many of them are too far to beg rides to. A couple more: 79 Corolla, "just passed DEQ," $450; another 88 Escort, 5-speed this time, "needs nothing but tags," $400 OBO; 84 Subaru 2WD wagon, maybe too big for the tight hovel parking, "great MPG," "runs and drives great," $450.

Later, yellow pages, towing - of my first two choices, one number gets a private home and the other, with a color graphic ad and a website, is disconnected. These numbers are from the phone book dropped on my doorstep about a month ago. Sigh. Calling the huge (and likely more expensive) area towing company - seventy five dollars! Fer cryin' out loud! Back to the phone book - ah, I misdialed. Another company, $45 plus $3/mile - I'll take it I guess. At least it'll be back here and less likely to be vandalized or robbed. (Tools and such in there.) And maybe I can at least get it lurching again. The current problem is electrical and somewhat familiar.

You ever get the feeling the gods have taken a personal disliking to you?

-Done, $66 total (a little over 3 miles each way). Driver said the big company wants $4.75/mile, that would have broken $100!

(Whimper. My car is dead.)

Emailing on the Corolla. "New tags." "Passed DEQ." That's what I want. Get it registered and the title transferred and off I go for nearly two years as far as the state is concerned.

Checking email one last time before bed - the Corolla is of course already sold. See above about gods and disliking.

815 - Wednesday, 27 April 2005: Okay, I think I have the electrical fault fixed (again), but now the battery is dead. Just enough juice to make the dome light glimmer and the automatic seat belt twitch, thus indicating the fault is fixed. So if I got a jump and/or got the battery recharged the car should lurch along again. I might even push-start it (if I could get it out of the confines of the hovel driveway), but it probably still won't idle without a foot on the throttle.

Sister-in-law, Arizona, emails diagnostic tips - almost certainly a vacuum leak. Can't find anything obviously wrong, maybe I've burned out an EGR valve or some other thingamajig. I really don't know cars. (Firearms I can diagnose....)

Thinking of going out to buy a battery charger. Yes, I will. Hiking, it's only a couple miles - I hate the bus. And it's a nice day. And I could probably use the exercise. At least I got new shoes before the car died. In fact it died as I was leaving the store. -A couple hours later, the little green LED is on, yay. Paid extra for the model that shuts itself off when done. A couple power strips linked together, and out through the window, and hopefully by morning my car will be back to how it was before it died.

State refund check, $259, yay. My feet hurt.

Neighbor says she'll drive me around this weekend. Accumulating small stack of cars for sale, more constantly being posted.

Savage, Limbaugh, and some gunfolk lists are praising Fox's 24, the terrorist/anti-terrorist drama series. I will not watch broadcast television... but the first three seasons, on DVD, have been in my library hold queue for a couple weeks.

Battery charger is working! The red LED indicating full charge is still not lit, but the automatic seat belt and dome light are encouragingly functional again. I'll leave it charging overnight and hopefully chug and stall my way to the bank to deposit the state refund tomorrow.

Now it's raining, but everything that should be is covered. Reading Haynes manual - troubleshooting section suggests, among things I haven't eliminated, dismissed, or am in denial about:

Vacuum leak (repeated four times for as many symptoms)
Leaking EGR valve
Plugged PCV valve
Leaking head gasket/low cylinder compression
Faulty coil

Installed new fuel filter about a week ago. Reversed air filter to put a clean spot next to the intake. Only using ARCO regular gas, which I usually pump myself. Added one bottle each of "gas treatment" and "fuel injector cleaner" with last fillup. Sister-in-law advises compression check - manual gives instructions I could follow, but I don't have a compression gauge and don't want to spend money on one that I'll probably need for a whole other car.

Later, looked up compression gauge, ~$35 - I just spent $35 on the battery charger, my checking account is under $500 now. I need to replace this car anyway.

Neighbor's brother's friend has some cars for sale, and near the hovel, may go look tomorrow if I can get mine lurching again. (Done with hiking for a while.) Talked with the brother on phone, tried to sell me a Prelude for $900 - I don't have $900, nor income for a payment plan. Might also call about the 5-speed Escort, there's an address in the ad so I can actually go look at it. The 84 Subaru wagon was reposted this evening, might call on that too.

Probably not a faulty coil. When I have the smaller ground wire from the negative cable making good contact on the chassis, the electrical system seems fine. Don't think it's an ignition or fuel problem. These aftermarket manuals should come with more illustrations and/or schematics - exactly which part of this plumber's nightmare is supposed to be the vacuum hose? (mutter industrial protectionism grumble)

If it's a head gasket, I might-could fix that myself, those instructions seem clear enough (do I really have to replace those ten bolts with new ones? Hm, don't have a torque wrench), but it'd be an all-day project, and probably more than one day. At least the weather will be getting better.

National Treasure, favorably reviewed by gunfolk/patriots, out on disk, waiting for the library to order copies.

816 - Thursday, 28 April 2005: It's alive! It's alive, IT'S ALIVE!

But, like Frankenstein's Monster, it's not all there. At least it's still somewhat driveable. Battery is recharged - the red LED was still not on at 9:30 this morning, after about 17 hours of charging, but I went into the hovel to turn on my phone's ringer and when I came out at 9:32 it was lit. Chugged and stalled my way out of the driveway, got the car turned around to its usual position. So I'm still something over half motorized. ½Whew.

Neighbor calls, having talked to brother, having talked to A Guy, who has "A Daihatsu" for $500. Phone the brother - reportedly The Guy seeks Karma points by getting cars at auction, fixing them, and selling them at fair prices to people in need, even supporting the cars after. Not obligated to buy. The Guy is fetching the car now, the brother will phone me this afternoon when it's ready to view.

Off to the bank (in my car) to deposit state refund and get cash to buy car (I vastly prefer cash transactions whenever possible). While out, swinging by to look over the 88 5spd Escort. After checking email.

Back - it's a 4spd, not 5, marked down to $350, and the body panels don't all line up with each other, the inside passenger door handle and hatchback lock are missing, and it was last tagged in ‘03. I'm trying to get a better car.

Neighbor's brother phones - change of plan, now a Corolla, "nicer," for $500, meeting about 2pm.

Okay, I bought another car and probably paid too much for it, the full $500. Reportedly it was $750 but was reduced because I'm friend-of-family-of-friend. ‘87 Toyota Corolla Deluxe, 1.6L 4cyl, beige (shrug), 5spd, 4dr. 218k. (Great, I now have an older car with even more milage - however Toyotas are known for reliability, are they not?) AC, just in time for summer. Runs great - have to get used to driving a healthy car again, clutch-and-throttle-wise. Left CV joint rattling, seller says he'll install it free if I go get one. Tire size 175/70R13, the new tires I got a couple months ago are 185/70R13, will those fit? If so the seller has a tire machine and will swap them over. A couple cracks in the windshield, driver's window loose, some minor light problems (more cosmetic than functional). No radio. No gas filler cap, though the body hatch is intact. Everything that matters seems to work, it's street-legal. Tags good ‘til July, "new motor two years ago," "should" pass DEQ. Noticed some smoke while backing into driveway. No spare tire aboard - trunk recess looks like it'll take a full-size. Existing tires somewhat balding in the rear, rather better in the front, which is more important as it's front-drive of course. (If this is "nicer", what did the Daihatsu look like...?)

Out to buy Haynes manual tonight (library copies are mainly at the downtown branch, where I won't go, and my hold queue is full - and I want one to keep on board anyway). DMV tomorrow. U-Pull-It, and auto parts store for new CV joint, and maybe an oil change on principle, this weekend. CV installation at the seller's place Monday, then phone insurance company and have policy switched over.

Okay, I'm re-motorized. Now I can fix the other (or not) and dispose of it at leisure.

Four different places looking for a Haynes manual, or even a Chilton - not in stock for this model/year. :-/ Dumped one Commiewood video from hold queue, ordered Haynes from library.

817 - Friday, 29 April 2005: Found a Haynes manual, only ten bucks on sale at G.I. Joe's. Cancelled library hold.

On the way back, the muffler falls off and drags in the street.

See above about gods and disliking.

Hike to pay phone - seller arrives, clarifies that "standing behind" the cars applies only to motor and drive train but since I've only had the car one day and I can't even drive it he'll fix it. He wrassles the muffler the rest of the way off, we go back to his place, and he welds it back on. Planning on Monday morning for the CV joint (drive axle actually) - haven't decided if I'll buy one or try to get one from U-Pull-It, will get it done either way this weekend. I guess the Fairgrounds show is out, no sense torturing myself with stuff I can't afford.

A reader calls dibs on the Marlin if I have to sell it. Actually he had dibs but until I got my tax refund I thought I needed the money right now.

Several readers sending car tips and moral support. Thanks!

Later, U-Pull-It, completely fed up with the driver's window sliding down (which also makes it pointless to lock the door) - replacement regulator - fixed. The one I removed from my car is Not Correct for this model/year. Also got filler cap. Wiper/washer control jerry-rigged with pushbutton switch from hardware store and lots of electrical tape. Electrician's nightmare in the radio recess, will deal with that later. Left front parking light broken but bulbs still work - did not find suitable replacement.

Did I mention power steering?

Tools, maps, road flares, reserve cans, etc. transferred.

Don't think I have all the tools I need to U-Pull a driveaxle - phoning around shops, will just get a new one anyway. Best price found, $59.99 + refundable $35 (everyone else wanted $50 for the processing fee, though a few other shops met the part price). Out to get it - they actually had one in stock. There goes another hundred, though I'll get a third of it back.

I hate cities and the people who drive in them. Just to the parts store and back I could have initiated at least two duels.

818 - Saturday, 30 April 2005: Always learning things - on this day in 1803 Napoleon sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States.

Bleah, nose-and-throat thing. Gobbling cough drops.

It's nice to again have a car that runs. It's not nice to have watched my big fat tax refund evaporate in the process. I was gonna live off that money.... At least I got the rent paid. Might have to use savings for the utilities. :(

So the library hold queue is crawling along and I'm Out Of Book. A couple blocks over to the second-hand store for some paperbacks. Yesterday, Star Prince Charlie by Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson, in the Hoka universe (or at least there was a Hoka in it - and I think that's all the Hoka I've ever read, I should probably do something about that), a nice little uprising-against-tyranny story; today A Separate Star, from Baen, a collection in tribute to Kipling by authors whose brains he bent, featuring Anderson, Drake, Heinlein, etc. Not the first Kipling tribute from Baen either, some time ago I read Heads to the Storm, a similar collection with many of the same authors. (I'm not entirely sure it's not the same collection, one or the other being a reissue under a different title... eh, it was only 73¢.) Anyway this one also features Kipling's own "As Easy as A.B.C.," a thought-provoking commentary on "democracy," and "With the Night Mail" from the same future history (both of which I've read before).

Introductory essay by Anderson: "...‘The Gods of the Copybook Headings' explains most of the world's history in nine stanzas." Don't it, though?

Rereading Heinlein's "The Long Watch." Sends a chill and jerks a tear, every time.

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