RIFLEMAN'S JOURNAL - FEBRUARY 2008
Okay, a lot of my customers are like this. Like four in a row, counting the husband-and-wife. While many of my coworkers, especially the younger ones, are like this.
And Vista still sux.
And so does India.
Interesting, the Corolla seems to have stopped leaking clutch fluid. Maybe it really was the cold, shrinking a fitting in a hose or something; temperatures have moderated over the last few days. Or maybe I finally poured enough in to refill the system after not having noticed a slower leak over a longer time. Anyway I already had spare fluid aboard, because there was a bottle right next to the fill thing in the engine compartment when I bought the car and I followed the example.
1734 - Saturday, 2 February 2008: ZzzZZZzz.
Direct deposit in, rent check out, and shopping. ...At Sportsman's Warehouse, $$$plurged on the last two 500-piece boxes of Xtreme plated .358" 158gr LRN (inquired re: more and was told that even the manager doesn't know if they'll have it until it arrives on the loading dock), and an Uncle Mike's Kydex adjustable (not quite roto) paddle holster for the 1911. Forgot the $10-off-$50 coupon but I had the $25 gift card from the club picnic. No magazine carriers yet, I think I'll try some paddle types. Then a bunch of groceries, then a UMC MegaPack of .45ACP on "sale" ($69.89) at Bi-Mart, but at least I have factory ammunition to test both my .45s with now. Eh, I have reserves (for a change) and the bills are caught up until I get paid again.
Speaking of pay, it appears my account was credited with two identical direct deposits, which is doubtless an error. Carefully budgeting only one.
Cruffler sends. Heh.
1735 - Sunday, 3 February 2008: Zzz.
Turns out, of the two boxes of Xtreme plated projectiles I grabbed, one was the round-nose flat-point, while the other was the flat-point sorta-truncated-cone I kinda preferred. The only bulk plated stuff they had left after that was .41. They did finally get some useful quantities of Silver State (same company, different product) unplated, that had been sparse as well, but I really like the plated.
The show is at the Show. Only the usual handful of diehards in chat of course, discussing election prospects. None of the remaining GOP candidates are palatable, not even Ron Paul (see also). Folks, buy everything you possibly can in private sale before the election, and don't bloody talk about it. I wouldn't have spoken of my 1911 if it weren't such an iconic design and I weren't planning on competing publicly with it. It might also be wise to get set up to reload, and to stockpile components. You might look into bullet casting too, at least for something common like .45 or .38/.357; some car shops will have lots of used wheelweights for cheap or even free, depending on your area's eco-freak laws. (Other tips for bulk bullet metal sources are very welcome.) You might also consider a muzzleloader or three, which are still largely unregulated; and one can make one's own blackpowder. Flintlock ignition components can be found in many streambeds; my local public library had a video on flintknapping. For percussion, the little red plastic caps, sometimes in strips, sometimes in 8-shot rings, may actually serve (I'll have to try that next time I work with the Hawken); while the Tap-o-Cap tool can still be found to make #11-ish caps from soda cans and paper-roll caps (which can still be found in some places), though the product reviews for that aren't encouraging. And besides that, got .22? Get a brick. Even these days it's under fifteen bucks.
Cruffler sends:
Holy Crap! Ruger goes from treason to actually responding to market forces!
Still no new chronograph, nor have I ordered one 'cause I went a little nut$ at SW. Almost grabbed the same Chrony base model while I was there - still might next weekend, between Barberton and the range, dunno. But, meanwhile making a test batch of the .45 LSWC I got at Expo; they weigh 213-ish-gr, and I'll use the same 5.3gr W231 as for my 226gr LRN castings. No idea where these LSWCs came from, or how to get more if they turn out fabulous, but projectiles are projectiles at this point. -Checking the cabinet I see I was smart enough to have acquired a whole other brick of WLP primers at some recent time, good, nor have I run out of WLR or WSPM quite yet. Also I have all those CCI #34 I got during the road trip and haven't even tried - definitely need a chrono before that, for the oft-aforementioned primer experiments. Science!
The Uncle Mike's #5419-1 Kydex holster fits the 1911 nicely, and also serves, mostly, for the P35, though the Detective upper lets it flop about more than I expect the full length upper - since sold to a generous reader - would allow. So a Kydex 1911 shell should take most P35s. There are few such shells specifically for the P35; Fobus' chart shows the same model number with a different suffix, but doesn't offer the P35-specific model in the roto-paddle I wanted. -Roto-paddle pleases me for versatility: butt-forward for concealability, muzzle-forward for crossdraw while driving, vertical for open carry or competition. The Uncle Mike's has only those three positions and is not finely adjustable as are the Fobus roto or the Bianchi Accumold I still have for the GP100, but it should serve. The UM does allow one's entire hand to grasp the weapon before the draw, and does not interfere with even extended controls. -Can't say whether I prefer one over the other; the Fobus has finer adjustment but doesn't stay put as firmly as the UM. (The Bianchi, if flexed enough, can come right off its paddle, and is not as low-maintenance as either Kydex.)
Finished Anderson's To Outlive Eternity. Kind of a downer generally; the theme of the whole collection was end-of-the-world-y. In much of it, written in the 50s and 60s, the author seemed to think that the UN would actually do something constructive for the world and that we all had to be ruled by for-your-own-goodniks. Anderson did seem to have grown out of that later, with works like "Sam Hall" and Conan the Rebel, but this batch was mostly not my bag. Now starting Earthblood and Other Stories, a Flint/Baen rerelease of vintage Laumer with Rosel George Brown.
1736 - Monday, 4 February 2008: Bleh Monday.
Come get some, you jackbooted bastards. You're going to murder us anyway, we might as well take as many of you with us as we can.
Quote o' the Day: "I'm sure everyone feels sorry for the individual who has fallen by the wayside or who can't keep up in our competitive society, but my own compassion goes beyond that to the millions of unsung men and women who get up every morning, send the kids to school, go to work, try and keep up the payments on their house, pay exorbitant taxes to make possible compassion for the less fortunate, and as a result have to sacrifice many of their own desires and dreams and hopes. Government owes them something better than always finding a new way to make them share the fruit of their toils with others." - Ronald Reagan
New club newsletter.
Laumer tasty. But I knew that.
1737 - Tuesday, 5 February 2008: Effing uncivilized coworkers.
Earthblood is kind of end-of-the-world-y too, depicting a Terra gone to dissolution and Eloi-ness, depressing - but Man eventually (re)conquers.
Reader sends toooools.
Holster drill with 1911. As shipped, the UM Kydex rides too high, but repositioning the shell to the lower screw-holes on the paddle drops about an inch. The holster passes the inversion test, but not the inverted shake test; but I haven't adjusted tension. For racing it's just right, for field use I'd tighten it. The paddle design resists shifting on belt or waistband, and the shell design looks like it will handle nearly any 1911, single- or double-column, of nearly any common barrel/slide length of conventional contour (not a full-length dust cover though). -There, see? Product review. Content. -Ah, problem discovered: the slide lock lever is being pushed portward by the shell such that it then binds against the slide. But that's probably a flaw in the part itself - the inner protrusion insufficient to engage the slide rail and prevent such movement - and I was planning on replacing that part anyway. Considering how the safety lever was similarly misshaped, not very surprising. Odds aren't bad I'll find a replacement at Barberton before I go to the range after the show.
Sorting brass. I appear to have accumulated quite a heap of .30-06, a significant portion of it once-fired military, mostly LC from CMP matches but still a big chunk of Greek HXP from Appleseed, a little more HXP picked up at clubs, and some Korean PS I'm pretty sure is once fired, as well as more I'm pretty sure isn't. (Peering closely at the primer crimp.) Heap of civilian brass too, various headstamps. Altogether I'm probably over 2,000 pieces. Also useful quantities (i.e. more than 500) of .357 Magnum and .45ACP on hand; lots of .38 Special I rarely have a use for; enough .44 Special for a batch, ditto .40 S&W; plenty of 9x19mm that's not worth the effort to reload before Queen Hillary shuts down ammunition sales; maybe a couple hundred .30-30; plenty of 12 gauge hulls and still lots of .223. Also some 7.62x51mm and .308 - which reminds me I promised one reader to send some, I'll get on that by the end of the week maybe (I know exactly which pile it's at the bottom of). And that's just the stuff I'm tooled up for, in various stages of processing. (Need power case trimmer for all that '06 - recommendations?) Powder, caps, ball, patches, and lube for my percussion Hawken and flintlock pistol (also spare flints); and who among us doesn't have a brick or three of .22LR around? -With the election looming one is compelled to take, and increase, inventory.... Oh! And I can cast for .357 and .45 too, and for my Hawken.
1738 - Wednesday, 6 February 2008: Made 26 rounds of me-cast .357, of "Lyman #2 alloy" bought at a show, from the Lee #358-150-1R, tumbled in Liquid Alox, over 5.3gr W231 'cause a sample weighed 155gr and Speer #10 lists 5.4gr as maximum for 158gr lead and the Auto-Disk was already set for 5.3 from the last .45 batch, and 26 was how many cases I had primed in that one bowl. I'll probably have ignition problems with the excess case volume.
Reader sends a bit of 'blog humor.
Okay, tightening the 1911 holster a bit. Definitely needs a new slide lock though.
New Midway Master Catalog in snailmail, will examine for power-trimming options. Still kinda want one of those electronic powder dispensing systems, but I wonder if it would really be faster and/or easier than the RCBS Uniflow and a loading block, since I'm using easy-metering ball powders almost exclusively.
1739 - Thursday, 7 February 2008: Finished Earthblood and Other Stories - the Rosel George Brown shorts were amusing. Three more waiting at the library, starting with Ring of Fire II.
Leafing through the Midway catalog. Eyeing the Pact Model 1 XP chronograph, advertised as being survivable compared to other designs - but suppose the sensor is what's hit, can those be replaced? I'm not finding parts even on Pact's site. I want a chronograph that can be repaired or rebuilt for a reasonable cost if hit.
Also looking for power case trimmers. Of particular importance to me is how the case is held in the unit and how much time and effort it takes to swap in the next one. Yes, I know Dillon has a power trimmer that fits on a progressive press, but the progressives I have aren't tall enough for .30-06 and the thing's expensive anyway - I'm thinking of something under $200.
Is there a digital camera under $200 that saves decent video in .MPG instead of obsolete .AVI? I think Yuri's Nikon L11 saves in .MOV, that's an improvement at least.
Romney's out. I might maybe have rationalized voting for him against HillBama (who are probably going to end up running mates). Now we're evidently stuck with McCain. Which is bad.
And then I got moved from my well-established cube and well-customized work computer. It'll take hours to rebuild my desktop and hotkeys. >:-[ (Although maybe that one tool might actually work on the other computer.)
-It looks like there are only two actual power trimmers of the kind I have in mind, RCBS and Lyman. Reviews for the former are overwhelmingly positive, especially with the 3-way cutter added for another $45 (for each size) - but that brings the total around $300 and that's a lot of money. The Lyman is just barely under $200 before shipping but the reviews aren't nearly as encouraging (or numerous). Hmm. Hornady's Cam-Lock and power adapter might total les$ but would the savings offset the loss of speed? And then I must consider how often I'll really be using the thing - once every couple-few months, honestly.
1740 - Friday, 8 February 2008: Remember a while back I was commenting on combat shotguns, and I was wondering if there wasn't a better way to arrange a high-capacity magazine than a big fat drum? Maybe there is.
Trying the new, finer tumbling media. It doesn't get stuck in the flash holes, which is good, but it's dusty.
1741 - Saturday, 9 February 2008: Show! While there, took new photos and updated the club website on the NEC laptop (which, now that I have Open Office, I'm more seriously considering re-OS-ing as has worked out so well for the HP box). Bought another 1911 slide lock, nickel, non-extended, $10 (more on that below); for $5 a subdued black-and-OD Confederate Naval Jack (rectangular Southern Cross) patch; and the real score, for $25, one of these, which I've been eyeing for years, since I saw my first DGW catalog. It's the full kit, as shown at the link, and old, but complete and never started.
Then, it being a surprisingly nice day, with actual sunshine and some storefront signs showing temperatures in the high 50s F, I went to the range. Where I finally fired my 1911. First I tried the replacement slide lock, which was even worse, as it popped into premature lock even dry-cycling, so back to the original extended. Which, as it turned out, gave no trouble at all (though my assistant plate match director's Kimber Eclipse Target II did exactly what I was afraid mine would do, going into premature slide lock, particularly on the last round in a magazine, with the extra mass of the "gas pedal" responding to physics; but he had the original non-extended with him and popped in back in and the problem vanished; so there's an eyewitness account of the problem with extended slide lock levers).
And accuracy looks very promising.
And I don't have pictures of the targets because I was somewhat distracted.
Because it's not bloody working. Failures to extract - big fat empty cases sitting in the chamber laughing at me. I only fired 11 rounds of UMC FMJ. Every one went bang, accuracy is quite promising indeed, but next I'll be looking for, or perhaps ordering, a new extractor. Drat, curses, and harsher language.
Then I did some administrative paper-punching with my GP100 and discovered that yes, the sights were a bit off, which was probably why I sucked some on plates a couple weekends ago. Fixed that. Bill Sr.'s politics aside, the GP100 is a pretty durn good revolver; both of mine have been quite accurate with some load or other, and utterly reliable of course. I also tried my me-cast-bullet test batch and that was not awful; I don't seem to be doing anything wrong there.
Then, having wisely brought my Hawken and the pure-lead Miniés, I went to the 25-100yd line for Science, shooting inch grids at 25yds. First some patched round ball (.530/.010), with 75gr Pyrodex RS, proving that the Hawken still likes PRB just fine (compared to, say, poor Yuri's Simonov with... just about anything...):
Then I tried the five pure-lead (as opposed to the completely wrong alloy) Miniés I had previously treated with Lee Liquid Alox, the first three at 60gr RS and the last two at 60gr 777 2F when I ran out of on-hand Pyrodex. That experiment was a success (though the heavier Miniés kicked noticeably harder than PRB, even with less powder (PRB at 75gr 2F with lubed patches, I could shoot all day)):
(I noted that the 777 seemed to kick harder than the same volume of RS. That may be because the RS has been in that particular flask for Quite Some Time Really....) Then, being out of those, I tried five more with T/C Bore Butter, and that experiment also was successful:
(That high-left flyer (second in the string) is, obviously to judge by the other four, entirely my fault.) Yuri shot five of the Bore Butter as well, with the exact same load. The buckhorn sight gave him pause; I use it like a pistol sight so far. (I'll look into getting a tang or other aperture for this - I think it'll be worth it.) Keeping the Hawken, youdamnbetcha. I'd've gone digging for spent Miniés but the backstop was so muddy I might not have found my way back out.
Then I noticed that on the 23rd, there will be a Buffalo Big Bore Match (see club newsletter for details), with a Traditional Muzzleloader Division at 50 and 75yds. The Hawken certainly qualifies, and with enough practice on my part I think it will be competitive. Alas the COF so far stipulates PRB only, as opposed to the cloverleafing Miniés, but as seen today and in earlier sessions that won't be a big handicap in this instance. Double alas, that match is on the same day as my plate match, but I'm told there will be another such on 12 July and that should work. -And I should have a confirmed load, loading procedure, and sight settings by then. Only eight Miniés left - need more pure lead! I may just melt down more factory roundball, since I don't have a functioning percussion revolver at the moment. And I'll be using the Lee Liquid Alox - that stuff dries to a waxy substance, easy(er) to store and transport, but five consecutive shots gave no difficulty in loading, while the Bore Butter stays sloppy for longer than I left it out to test, and the Maxi Lube is even sloppier.
So! On balance, a good day at the range. I should be able to hit stuff with my 1911 when I get it fixed; I can hit stuff with my GP100 again; and any buyer's remorse I may have had about the Hawken is quite gone now. -Oh, at one point I thought I'd put the Minié in before the powder - it turns out I didn't - but I tested one of my ball pullers and it worked perfectly (with the undersized, un-patched, Bore Buttered Minié at least). That was in fact the first of that four-shot cloverleaf in the last photo above. So there's another concern addressed: I can pull a load if I have to.
Oh, I also tried one of those red plastic caps - it went pop, but did not ignite the powder. Removing the remnant to try another, I saw a chunk of red plastic blocking the nipple, so I cleared it with a vent pick and went back to regular caps. This particular nipple is rather battered though, and that may have something to do with it.
Another thing: I hate wearing safety glasses. Regular prescription eyeglasses, especially with relatively large lenses like mine, are usually deemed acceptable. And let me tell you, you want glasses when using a muzzleloader. Even with the flash cup in place there was plenty of residue blasting all over the lockplate, and stuff flying every which way. One wonders if the cup isn't focusing the stuff instead. Oh, for some high-speed videography....
Contemplating pure lead sources. Midway sells ingots, for what works out to about $3.50 or less per pound, considering the freight-paid options (but that's in the $100-$200 range for bulk purchases); while for example .440 round ball, in a box of 100, is $5 or more per pound. As for scrap lead, the last stuff I had was supposed to be, but was just a slightly softer alloy than the others I had so far. Hmm...
Later a reader sends a couple GunBroker links to lead ingots and I go "Duh" and do a proper search and, as expected, The Internet Shall Provide. Those are just the eBay entries for "pure lead" - "lead ingots" gets all the alloys, straight wheelweights, etc., for modern bullets. A few calculations indicate that for under $40 delivered, for one of those 20lb batches, I can get over three hundred Miniés. Which oughta last a couple minutes. I'll probably Buy It Now next payday. I'd need more Liquid Alox....
Same reader also points out that 777 is known to be oomphier than the equivalent grade of Pyrodex. Indeed. Bi-Mart stocks Pyrodex, Sportsman's Warehouse stocks both.
Finally, I note the Lee Minié's humongous meplat has a bit of wadcutter effect on paper, as compared to round ball.
1742 - Sunday, 10 February 2008: Zzz.
One has to wonder if it's really coincidence that mass public shootings occur more frequently near elections.
Hm, rent check hasn't cleared. I dropped it in the blue box at the drive-thru at an actual US Port Office, even computer-printed the address on the envelope, eight days ago. Which of course may be the problem....
1743 - Monday, 11 February 2008: Is there anyone here who - Arnold's RINOism aside - has not seen Milius' original Conan the Barbarian? Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Okay, now that I have the Minié problem fixed (and how!), I can resume my long-abandoned work on combustible paper cartridges. -The gummed cigarette paper I was using for percussion revolvers is too small, methinks. I can find saltpeter at an area pharmacy, to make a solution to treat the paper in; powder (or at least substitutes) I have or can get (a couple pounds of RS on hand already, and 777 available retail); need a source for good cartridge paper then. And then I could build a cartridge box and whatnot! A vent pick wouldn't work because of the 90 degree turn the vent makes on the Hawken's bolster, but depending on the paper and the loading process, and whether the cap is powerful enough, I may not even need to open the cartridge before loading; my experiments with revolvers showed that the paper cartridge burst during ramming. I might also do a musket cap conversion, for better ignition; SW stocks the caps.
Phoned hovel owner, left message about rent check.
Hawken - HA HA! They only want about four times what I paid.
1744 - Tuesday, 12 February 2008: Rent check finally clears, dated yesterday when I peer at the image linked from online banking. Shrug.
Hm, no bayonet on the Hawken.... ;)
Email backing up again. I type all day.
1745 - Thursday, 14 February 2008: Grunt. Last call of the day, an hour and a half, and of course it comes in right before end-of-shift. And it was a cop. [shudder] I feel a need to bathe. Fixed both products though. Traffic was naturally le suque. This is a barbeque-chicken-pizza day.
And that's why I'm not answering the backed-up email yet.
1746 - Friday, 15 February 2008: Oh. My. Gawd. Some of this stuff I didn't even see in Cody, only in books. Some even I have never heard of. And three? PIATs? In the original crate? :-O And volksgewehren even!
Yes, I know about the latest curiously timed mass shooting in Illinois. We know the drill; "gun-free zone", "medication", and every time there's a shooting they want to take guns away from the people who didn't do it. See WoG, etc., for the yak-yak, I've neither the time nor stomach for it here. -Okay, one news item: Apparently this latest loon ordered some magazines from the same supplier as Cho did. Watch for legislation to restrict sales, online or anywhere, of parts & accessories. Midway, Brownell's, DGW, Tapco, Natchez, etc., wake the hell up right the hell now.
Oregon now mandates 10% ethanol in gasoline. Which is silly for a few reasons, and even dangerous for a couple. Fortunately the Corolla can go a whole week on a single tank, and since I cross the river for a show or match or practice nearly every weekend now, I'll refuel in Washington. (And I can pump it my own damn self too.) Unless they're just as silly, I'll have to check.... Crap.
Close the effing border already for God's sake.
Ugh, pins tomorrow, long drive, must zzz. -Okay, umm, I'm just now cleaning my GP100 from practice last weekend, and wow. Leading. Good thing I have the Lewis Lead Remover. I had to hook up my camera to my TV to get this picture, since the camera's screen is broken and I can't read the controls otherwise (for the autofocus in closeup mode):
That's probably my own stuff, as opposed to the Silver State unplated. Buy this product.
1747 - Saturday, 16 February 2008: Aaand I didn't win anything at pins this month. February is the Revolver month and everyone brought theirs, so I was in a much larger division than usual, ending up 5th of 10 Major Revolvers and 6th of 16 overall. I was getting hits (since I adjusted the sights last weekend), but the pins were not leaving the table. Most shooters today used S&W M25 variants using .45ACP in moon clips; I was the only .357; there were a couple .38s, and N-frames in .44 and even .41 Magnum. The two Safariland plunger-type speedloaders I scored at Barberton work really well, one less movement than the HKS, but the Silver State unplated bullets I'm down to now have a bit of shoulder which slows chambering. I'll use those up and start on my thousand pieces of copper. As usual I got a little bonus brass, and a fistful of bonus lead (or alloy) 'cause you'd be surprised how tough those bowling pins are and how far the stuff will bounce. Not so tough against one shooter's .41 Magnum though:
That one guy wrecked so many pins the shoot director asked us all to take a couple home with us to throw away, so he wouldn't have to. That .41 made wooden bowling pins react like this.
One wonders if this might be considered an art form:
Drat, that 20lb pure lead item on eBay no longer appears. Maybe there'll be another. There are larger batches but I don't want to blow that much money at this point. And all that's showing on GunBroker or AuctionArms now is alloys - I have plenty of that for the moment, from the Washougal show months ago and constant scavenging, not least at Wolverton.
Now I've learned of the Gracey and Giraud power case trimmers, boasting 10 or more cases per minute - but the prices are comparable to or even higher than the RCBS. Hmm.
1748 - Sunday, 17 February 2008: Zzz, z, z.
IPSC at Wolverton next Sunday, hm, but also the OAC show. Add that to the list of conflicts, i.e. CMP matches at Lone Oak on the same day as Wolverton pins. My weekends are getting full! Either a show or match nearly every Saturday all year now. I'll be needing some just-plain-range days too, to practice with the Hawken for the Buffalo shoot in July; the first Garand match of the year is on 3 May, I'll need practice for that; Mr. R. is holding several other highpower matches throughout the year, I might break down and try those again.
Meanwhile, in an effort to make my own Plate Match run faster and smoother, and since I got out of bed before the show and chat began, hiking to the lumber and hardware stores to contemplate building tournament boards with name or number tags so everyone can see where everyone is. I already have three dry-erase boards but I don't expect those to hold up well in Pacific Northwest weather - I'm thinking tags in slots or hanging from hooks or pins.
Finished Ring of Fire II, perhaps not as exciting as I might have wanted, but entertaining and gap-filling for the forthcoming novels in the 1632 saga. Starting a collection of early Drake, Balefires: Tales of the Weird & Fantastic. That at least should have action; RoFII was kinda soap-opera-y.
Email!
Yuri points out a Mechanically Interesting item.
Review of the affordable Rock Island 1911, most of which may have come off the same production line as mine.
Quote o' the Day: "You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot lift the wage-earner by pulling down the wage-payer. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot establish security on borrowed money. You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves." - William J. H. Boetcker
Yet there are so many always clamoring to "Tax the rich/Feed the poor".
Except for using an advanced feature on my slightly-broken digital camera, I don't even plug in my TV for months at a time (I watch library or purchased DVDs on my computer). Now comes word from chat that GunBroker had a TV ad during the Daytona 500! Two Americas all right: Our Kind and the Cult of Set.
Still some leading in the GP100, but I can't tell if it's my stuff I didn't get out the first time, or new stuff from the Silver State unplated.
From the lists:
My fellow Identity-Americans.
As your future President I want to thank my supporters, for their... well, support.
Your mindless support of me, despite my complete lack of any legislative achievement, my pastor's relations with Louis Farrakhan and Libyan dictator Moamar Quadafi, or my blatantly leftist voting record while I present myself as some sort of bi-partisan agent of change.
I also like how my supporters claim my youthful drug use and criminal behavior somehow qualifies me for the Presidency after 8 years of claiming Bush's youthful drinking disqualifies him. Your hypocrisy is a beacon of hope shining over a sea of political posing.
I would also like to thank the Kennedys for coming out in support of me. There's a lot of glamour behind the Kennedy name, even though JFK started the Vietnam War, his brother Robert illegally wiretapped Martin Luther King, Jr. and Teddy killed a teenage girl. And I'm not going anywhere near the cousins, both literally and figuratively.
And I'd like to thank Oprah Winfrey for her support. Her love of meaningless empty platitudes will be the force that propels me to the White House.
Americans should vote for me, not because of my lack of experience or achievement, but because I make people feel good. Voting for me causes some white folk to feel relieved of their imagined, racist guilt.
I say things that sound meaningful, but don't really mean anything because Americans are tired of things having meaning. If things have meaning, then that means you have to think about them.
Americans are tired of thinking.
It's time to shut down the brain, and open up the heart.
So when you go to vote in the primaries, remember - don't think, just do.
And do it for me.
Thank You.
Barack Hussein Obama, Jr
Examining the 1911. Talking with the pin shoot director yesterday, I was instructed to "crank the extractor". I'm pretty sure I know what he means, and a little research confirms it - it gets bent then, and I'll try live-testing after plates Saturday if there's gumption left. -It bent rather easily, as though the metal were not properly temperered or whatnot; which also came up in conversation with the pins guy, who's been shooting action handgun for longer than I've been shooting; he had a similar experience and I'll probably need a new extractor (i.e.). Lending weight to that last theory is that in my test session, the first couple-three rounds did extract and eject properly, suggesting that the extractor won't hold its tension. Fortunately there are terabytes of gunsmithing info on the 1911 all over the web (i.e.), just as for the Garand. -The pins guy suggested the Wilson manual from Midway for eight bucks or so, while alleging that the Kuhnhausen books were nigh-incomprehensible. Comments?
Seriously, some of my coworkers actually look like this. Except maybe not as alert and coherent. I warn you not to click if you plan on eating later, which is also why I didn't just put the picture right here in the HTML.
Yup, I'm gonna need a new extractor; close examination shows actual peening on the business end. Too soft! Also examining that replacement slide stop - there is what amounts to a fillet at the end of the shaft where it meets the lever, and that's preventing the part from mating flush against the frame, therefore causing it to move left and bind with the slide. Filing... nah, something else there too. And I will need another replacement because the upper part of the original is too short to engage the slide rail, and gets pushed left by the Kydex holster. Not that the replacement's much better anyway, but it was only ten bucks. Shrug, it's a 1911 for under $400. I'll get it running.
1749 - Monday, 18 February 2008: Grunt.
Drake's Balefires is good. "The Red Leer" is an explicit, and decent, homage to Killdozer; "A Land of Romance" made me smile.
From the lists:
This photo was taken by a soldier in Afghanistan of a helo rescue mission. The pilot is a PA National Guard guy who flies EMS choppers in civilian life. Now how many people on the planet you reckon could set the ass end of a chopper down on the roof top of a shack on a steep mountain cliff and hold it there while soldiers load wounded men in the rear. If this does not impress you ... Nothing ever will. Gives me the chills and a serious case of the vertigo ... I can't even imagine having the nerve ... Much less the talent and ability ... God Bless our military.
Man, this country doesn't deserve guys like that. -And can you imagine how cool it would be, in a job interview, when asked for a resumé, to just hand over that photo? :)
1750 - Tuesday, 19 February 2008: Ooo! 'Blogworthy catchphrase: I am behind enemy lines in the Culture War! Eh, someone's probably already used it.
Using MSPaint at work to design a tournament tree board, trying to keep the size down so I might actually be able to move the things (need three, one for each division (revolver, autoloader, rimfire), and maybe a fourth: I plan on making numbered tags and assigning them to the shooters as they sign up, and a fourth board (I could use dry-erase there) would show names & numbers). Still shopping for materials and contemplating construction methods. Current design allows for 16 original entries per division, including a corresponding loser's bracket. For more than 16 I can go back to the clipboard and pen for the first rounds (see 32-place tree, and matching loser's bracket, in MSWord). Using about a 1"x2" numbered token, I think I can cram it into 2'x4', which might even fit in the Corolla's back seat. -Ah, reconfiguring, and using 1.25" key tags from an office store, 24"x30"!
Portland, in a typical ban-everything-'cause-we're-too-worthless-to-actually-fight-crime response, has restricted the sale of spray paint to combat gang graffiti (with fines for non-compliance of course - violate free trade and make the peasants pay for it! That Tree of Liberty, she's gettin' thirsty...). Like restricting cold medicine to combat methamphetamine trafficking (or like prohibiting self-defense on college campuses, hint-all-too-bloody-hint), it has no effect on the declared target and only further inconveniences us tax-paying peasants. I'll buy paint across the river dammit, while I'm up there buying not-yet-ethanol-contaminated fuel for my car, double-dammit. Though ethanol is on the way to Washington state as well, and similar spray paint restrictions are already in Washington news.
I just checked on Wikipedia and the state of Wyoming really does have a smaller population than the city of Portland, Oregon. Sigh. My finances are stable at the moment but not really growing. :( Well, ahem, still trying to control spending. At least I have built about a one-month reserve, in case the current job burns down or the Corolla is struck by meteorites.
On the cover of the latest American Rifleman, the Kimber SIS, named after LAPD's Special Investigative Section. My position is that Kimber is deliberately pandering to JBTs, thinking they'll still have a market when Queen Hillary and/or Sheik Barack have repealed the 2nd Amendment - that Kimber is feeding the crocodile in the hope of being eaten last. IMO. Grump.
One late note, for Science: I just used the Lee Hand Press and Hornady One Shot spray case lube to full-length resize and decap one R-P 7.62x39mm, one FC .308 Winchester, one CAVIM 7.62x51mm, and one LC67 .30-06, all range pick-ups and I believe all, and the last two certainly (crimped primers w/sealant), once-fired. And it worked. I did use a little more lube than usual (since I was holding each case in my hand and spraying it directly), and I put the cases into the die before the lube was dry, as opposed to my usual single-stage method of hosing a 50-place block and working through it, by which time some of it must be dry - but it worked. You can do full-length sizing of full-size rifle cases on the Lee Hand Press, with enough lube. It wasn't even hard. Straight-wall handgun cases with carbide dies are no trouble at all. Pending gumption I may seek duplicate die sets and build that bugout-reloading-kit ammo can after all. Much thought would have to go into what goes into it though. -And by the way, the Hand Press will fit the long way into a "fat fifty" ammo can, without having to be placed diagonally, leaving lots of space. This has been a public service announcement from your friendly neighbloghood paranoid anti-government extremist.
1751 - Wednesday, 20 February 2008: Today I had a caller who was a clinical technophobe. Now by this time I'm pretty good at shifting my mental gears up or down to match the customer's skill level, but this guy was almost in reverse. Some folks you just can't help....
Continuing Drake's Balefires. I started reading Drake for his milSF, but in this collection he states that he's always preferred fantasy (and horror, especially Lovecraftian). These aren't my usual cuppa, but Drake is good. And there's usually action. Some of these I've read before, but some of those bear re-reading.
Whoa. How times have changed. Pass that around at a PTA or NEA meeting and duck the exploding brains.
Quote o' the Day: "All persons entrusted with legislative or executive powers are trustees and servants of the people and accountable for their conduct; when the ends of government are perverted and public liberty endangered, the people may of right reform the old or establish a new government; the doctrine of nonresistance against arbitrary power and oppression is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the happiness of mankind." - Maryland committee to draft amendments to the Federal Constitution, 1788
And in that vein: "An animal so poor in spirit that he won't even fight on his own behalf is already an evolutionary dead end; the best he can do for his breed is to crawl off and die, and not pass on his defective genes." - Robert A. Heinlein, "The Pragmatics of Patriotism", 5 April 1973, James Forrestal Memorial Lecture to the Brigade of Midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy
And yet there are parents who want to outlaw self-defense because they think it will make their children safer - and they send those same children off to socialist/pacifist indoctrination centers proven to be indefensible deathtraps and sociopath breeding-grounds. Sick. In. The. Head. And they've already passed on their flawed seed, which they won't lift a finger to defend (which, being cold-bloodedly Darwinian, might be just as well...). -I know, money, I dig that government school is the only viable option for most of even Our Kind; but think about it, huh?
1752 - Friday, George Washington's Birthday, 22 February 2008: Vista.
Still.
Sux.
This is a job for chocolate chip cookie dough. And/or barbecue chicken pizza. And maybe French toast sticks.
Finished Balefires, good. Starting Wen Spencer's Endless Blue, evidently a standalone SF adventure - haven't read her before. Starts intriguingly enough. -I think she's read Niven's The Smoke Ring and The Integral Trees. And who hasn't read Ringworld?
Man, I need to get more sleep. And plates tomorrow, morning, grunt. Not making Wolverton IPSC Sunday, nuh-uh. OAC show maybe.
Reader sends, re: the bugout reloading kit:
This is purely a guess, I have not sat down and tried to load this stuff exactly this way.
Probably have to juggle stuff into nooks and crannies more than I indicated.
You probably WON'T like my powder choices, either, but others should fit in about the same space.
Still NOT a long term answer, but it does give you a chance to reload one decent batch each. Here goes!
Contents:
1st Can:
Press and dies. Lee by choice on the dies, the ones WITH shellholders and dippers. Carbide when applicable. Fill spare space with primers or bullets if they will fit, see below.
2nd Can:
2 Lee chamfer tools (working and spare, easy to loose).
RCBS hand primer kit; they say RCBS shellholders but Lee WILL work.
3rd Can:
4 Factory metal 1 lb. cans IMR-4895 powder.
(I don't think those are available anymore; Hodgdon seems to have bought IMR and is putting everything in their fat black plastic jugs.)For a second rifle, you would add the needed primers, SR, 500 rounds of bulk 55 gr. FMJBT bullets and an appropriate powder (I would have to check and see what I loaded .223 with last, a short grain IMR powder, IIRC) or more LR primers, 500 more rounds of .30 cal. bullets and 4 additional cans of powder for the 7.62 X 51 NATO.
Probably better off, in the long run, to pare it down to one rifle and one pistol caliber ONLY to keep it small and relatively light!
Article from CMP e-newsletter on the prone position.
Reader comments: "A grip safety is just another excess moving part. I have never known one to prevent an accident, and moreover, it is difficult to postulate a circumstance in which it might." - Jeff Cooper
-Hmm....
1753 - Saturday, 23 February 2008: Match day!
GAAAHH!! Half-again the normal turnout! And both the other firing lines were in use for the Big Bore Buffalo rifle shoot (which I intend to use my Hawken in this summer). Good thing I had all those tournament tree forms photocopied and ready to go, and also good that I brought a laptop with Excel to do the math for the qualifying times. Also good that we drafted a couple more assistant directors, so we had lots of trained eyes around. Breen won again, but not as usual; the new guy almost had him but hit the stop plate with one regular plate left on his rack, forfeiting. I got 2nd Revolver, after Breen (and not by much!), of seven - adequate, especially considering I'm using Magnum pin loads with unplated lead bullets, which kick harder than the plate loads I used to make, and are smokier from the lube. Since Breen and I were the only people to use the same weapon in both this week's plate match and last week's pin shoot, I also got 2nd Intramural. I really should put those things up on the wall, the picture is months behind - except now I may no longer have enough wall....
The Safariland speedloaders are a real improvement over the HKS. The unplated Silver State bullets, however, are a step back compared to the Xtreme plated I can hardly find anymore - besides the smoke there's a bit of shoulder on them that slows chambering, despite my rather deep "taper" crimp from the old Herter's die, which comes out looking like a beautiful roll crimp.
My camera got dropped again but still works fine. Still eyeing new models as they appear on sale - still not finding exactly what I want in the right price range. I can rarely conceive of a need for more than 4MP, or even 2; what I want is a camera that takes good stills like my FinePix A345 does, while also taking decent video in a useful format, i.e. not .AVI, ideally .MPG. Probably such a camera will be 7 or 8MP anyway, shrug.
Sis sends article on Japanese WWII incendiary balloons - which I actually knew about, and I imagine many of my readers do as well, but few Not Our Kind will.
1754 - Sunday, 24 February 2008: Zzz.
OAC show, drooled over a tableful of Lugers (not one under four figures - these were collectible originals with provenance, not Soviet or other rebuilds), and assorted revolvers around the hall - bought, for $8, a discontinued Hoppe's Lead Remover in .44, which is exactly the same as the Lewis (now exclusively from Brownell's) except for the construction of the handle (recall that during the road trip I found some Hoppe's brass mesh disks which are indistinguishable from what came with my .357 Lewis). So if you happen across one, grab it; the Lewis disks, plugs, and handles will fit. Of course I don't have a .44, but I used to, and I ended up with Yuri's dies and brass since he had to liquidate his Vaquero; and I do have a desire for a large-bore revolver. Also got, for $1, a bag of ten LC68 7.62x51mm blanks - what the heck, a buck - and found something Interesting: these, the type with the long cylindrical projection plugged with sealant, have a three-stab crimp, as opposed to the ring crimp I see on USGI .30-06 dated 42 through 72, including that same LC68. Huh?
In chat, Yuri points out a 10-year-old article on the Medusa multi-cartridge revolver. Faithful readers will recall that I've mentioned the S&W M547 9x19mm K-frame, with retractable fingers to extract rimless cartridges. I hadn't fully grokked that the Medusa had a similar feature. So now I want a Medusa. Probably crowding four figures if I could find one though, and one really wonders about actual chamber and bore specs, and what shape the brass will be in after firing.
Updating the page I built to show how I run the Plate Match, in case the car blows up or I get murdered at badgepoint or somesuch.
Lead buildup in the GP100, uh huh. Well, I am pushing them almost supersonic. Looking forward to using these up so I can go back to plated; not looking forward to running out of plated again. -You know what? I should take a Dremel to the trigger. There's a sharp edge right where it presses the second part of my finger in double-action, and I always shoot double-action, and I'm getting a callus. Not like I can't order a spare, and I've got the books to get it out of the trigger group so I don't risk Dremeling any other parts. -Meanwhile, since I now have a 1911, the Witness isn't likely to see action soon, so the GP100 goes back on hovel duty, with Winchester Q4204 110gr JHP.
Yuri points out article making me want to move to Montana (or Wyoming) even more. Interesting comments too.
From the lists, demographic warfare in Arizona. ...So, why isn't 90+% of NEA's membership in jail for sedition?
Want. I could even make rounds for it on my Pro 1000, it should use the same shellplate as .308 and .45ACP.
1755 - Monday, 25 February 2008: Huh - another review, another small-but-actual rai$e.
Huh.
1756 - Tuesday, 26 February 2008: Holy crap. He really does sound like Thulsa Doom:
"In your hand, you hold my light. The gleam in the eye of Set! This flame will burn away the darkness... burn you the way... to paradise!" - Thulsa Doom, Conan: The Barbarian, Universal Studios 1982
1757 - Wednesday, 27 February 2008: Finishing Spencer's Endless Blue. Interesting world, uh, universe, thingie, interesting story, some real depth of character; maybe not as tightly written as it could have been but if there's a sequel I'll read it. Next comes The Trouble With Humans, a Baen/Flint reissue of Christopher Anvil.
"Local media" in the call center today, grump. I (and everyone else) was asked to take down certain cube decorations. I should make one: a poster offering a cash bounty for every pair of "journalist"'s ears. As should be done for any destructive, disease-carrying vermin. (Then comes the permission waiver, which I declined to sign.)
And if this goes on the same could soon be said of cops. Un-be-effing-lievable. Every jackbooted fascist thug responsible for or participating in that "drill" should be publicly hung! BIRDS PECKING AT THEIR LIFELESS EYES! THEIR CORPSES FED TO HOGS!
And Vista still sux.
1758 - Thursday, 28 February 2008: And the library reeked of urine. Probably some cityfolk's brat, dropped off for tax-paid de facto daycare. Or some third-worlder. Or combination thereof. -Lemme tell ya, folks, they are not assimilating, not learning American nor English neither, not conforming to the customs of civilized techno-industrial society. We must stop illegal immigration or watch the advanced culture our ancestors - legal immigrants - built, be dragged down to their level.
Need more sleep. That vintage Christopher Anvil is hard to put down though - the second story, "The Underhandler", was particularly gratifying. The back-cover blurb is titled "Pity the poor aliens". ;)
Some customers, you just can't help. Ya know? I'm not talking about warranty status, I mean people who are just not capable of following simple instructions no matter how far I shift down. People who don't bloody listen.
Washougal show Saturday morning, hm. Practice after? Dunno. 1911, yeah, test the tensioned extractor - probably won't hold; I predict the first couple-few rounds will work and I'll have failures to extract again, when I bent it as illustrated at that link it felt quite soft.
Long, tiring day.
1759 - Friday, 29 February 2008: Indeed.
Another bad end-of-shift call - some subliterate peasant in China (or more likely some unfortunate Christian ideological prisoner) forgot to add the consumable thingies to five NIB products and I had a bunch of typing to do due to the company's #$%^&* bureaucratic logging process. Nearly an hour past end-of-shift, then another hour to get back to my side of town.
On the lighter side, a card from USPS informs me that a box of maybe-pure lead has arrived at my local post office! This was a trade with a reader for .38 Special brass I had no immediate use for, yay internet. If it's soft enough, I'll make Miniés (lots of Miniés), and if it's a harder alloy I'll start investing in multi-cavity molds for my modern arms.
Of course in the same mailbox is a $20 rent increase. Uh huh.
Films... Back to Bataan has a couple relatively hairy stunts in it, ya know? And the cinematography in the first Conan really points out how sucky the sequel was (don't plan to play the other side of that disc again soon). The original Highlander (one doesn't mention the other films (I have thus far avoided seeing the third) in polite company, though the TV series had its moments) (I'll need to get the director's cut (of the original!) on DVD I guess) has some quality camera work too.
Oh, I was going to mention this the other day but poopedness intervened:
Barrack
HUSSEIN HUSSEIN HUSSEIN HUSSEIN HUSSEIN
Obama
Nyah. :-b
Tucson Tom sends something worth the bandwidth. Yeah want. Except for the Glock part of course, but I'm sure a properly equipped machine shop could come up with a proper original design; they just cobbled this one together as a technology demonstrator.
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