Anthroblogogy - on the brink of civilization, or off the edge...

More turtles - no pants.

2012-05-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

There were seven in this fishbowl being Maytagged around by the surge, but none the worse for it -I had to stay out or be tumbled-up with them, the water was THIN and I could barely float in - besides avoiding shin-whacking by the fins. But they dont bite - not me anyhow.

UPDATE: Jeebus ! WTF is wrong with NEU BLOGGER??? You try to do a simple f*ing embed in a g**daMN stupid-simple post, and all you get is HTf*ingML script????

Gadzooks you gunny peoples do all kinds of weird stuff in two weeks - and the politics is definitely crazy-whack - but Mr. Completely shoots for GOLD!

And I am all excited to be able to go to the Gunblogger Rendezvous (v. 7) this year.

Tab Clearing Upload - No pants were harmed (or involved) in shooting the video

2012-05-23T21:24:00.000-07:00

Should have done this a while ago...there were so many damn turtles, it was amazing.
Just try to remembe to breathe.

Gunnies and Golfers

2012-05-13T19:33:00.001-07:00

I don't know what the big deal each h8in' the other is all about. Territoriality? Each has to accurately estimate distances, and follow-through is crucial to each discipline. Each is accustomed to spending big bucks on bits of iron - you think an AR is expensive? Have you priced a set of Tour Pro level just WEDGES lately? Yeh, me neither - each game has a level of cost that is prohibitive for the duffer. Lotsa Golfers carry Leupold range-finders, and lotsa rifle shooters have to hold in weird positions. For each, the best houses are on the range, and each set of equipment should be insured, and the actual top-performers are quite athletic, unlike me. Most of the golf ranges are realistic and visible, for instance here the cart is 200-225 yards, for an M1 Garand shooter that's twelve to thirteen clicks come-up off the bottom...

And another thing...

2012-05-05T19:28:00.004-07:00

I'll have another, is a GREAT name for a horse.

124 days

2012-05-04T10:36:00.000-07:00

Reminder: 4 months and 1 day until Gunblogger Rendezvous VII

Registration is now OPEN for GBR-VII

Oh yeh, and this year I get to go. Whoopie for me!

The registration form available for this September's Gun Blogger Rendezvous. It's a PDF file, so download it, print it out, and send it in. All the instructions are on the form.

Obama's Endless Campaign

2012-05-04T08:47:00.000-07:00

Kevin of the Exurban League has some good commentariat on the Administration's "new " (or really not-so-new) campaign-sloganeering:

"Forward"

No, really, this is what they're going with.
Because forward is ALWAYS the right way to go. (see the rest)

And finally...
вперед!

Drown the AKittens!

2012-05-04T08:25:00.002-07:00

H/T Say Uncle and some good AK pr0n.

Tricked out AKs at St. Petersburg Open Championship
wayfaerer320 posted photos of the St. Petersburg Open Championship. The police and counter-terrorism officers are carrying some really tricked out AK-style rifles with plenty of AR-15 accessories added. Magpul stocks are popular (with an AK stock adapter) as are EOTech scopes.

In discussion among the comments it is revealed that the problem with Izhmash tanking (they're bankrupt) and of Kalashnikov's in various types and calibers generally, is because of the Soviet-style command economics there is an oversupply of AKs in Russia. Since they are basically Teh Bomb and indestructible, Izmash is literally underwater - they haz lost the market because of flooding ze pool…

For New Jovian Thunderbolt

2012-05-03T08:29:00.001-07:00

He's right when he says, size matters, but sometimes there's not a whole lot of difference.
A .45 is a .45 not a 9mm. or a .380 - but this is just an excuse to post pics.

Note that there's no bumper-pads on the magazines. On the old one (1943) it looks inappropriate, on the new shiny one it looks like a goddam zit. And this text is even smaller, too - that's where size really matters, legibility.

H/T SayUncle.

Stolen Ancestral Valor

2012-05-02T16:03:00.002-07:00

Seems to me that squirreling up your family tree (a tree that was pruned years and years ago) to hitch onto a "native" lineage is a bit like claiming to be a MOH winner or a Marine when you were really only a Cub Scout at best... Must be especially sensitive to Hawaiians, where a LOT of inheritance money can be involved or tragically denied.

Fun with bloodlines

2012-05-01T10:31:00.003-07:00

MAYDAY! MAYDAY!

2012-05-01T09:22:00.000-07:00

MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY! is an alarm that is sounded when your ship is in gravest danger - and that applies equally to your society.

Repeated from Kevin:

Today is the fourth annual Victims of Communism Day, a day to remember the people murdered by their own governments in their quest to achieve a "worker's paradise" where everyone is equal, where "to each according to his needs, from each according to his abilities" is the beautiful ~~dream~~ lie. R.J. Rummel, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Hawaii, has calculated that the total number of victims of Communism - that is, the domestic victims of their own governments - in the USSR, China, Vietnam, North Korea and Cambodia is 98.4 million people.
For all Communist governments during the 20^th Century, he puts the estimate at approximately 110 million. And this wasn't in warfare against other nations, this was what these governments did to their own people - "breaking eggs" to make their utopian omelet.

Six million Jews were murdered by Nazis during the Holocaust, and another six million people who the Nazis decided were simply "undesirable" went with them. "Never again" is the motto of the modern Jew, and many others just as dedicated. But "again and again and again" seems to be the rebuke of history.

Communists are hardly alone in these crimes. Rummel estimates that the total number of people murdered by their own governments during the 20^th Century is on the close order of 262 million, but the single biggest chunk of that truly frightening number is directly due to one pernicious idea: That we can make people better.

Read the whole thing.

UPDATE:

“… it is not for nothing that we have chosen the name National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP), because at heart we are Communists.” Joseph Goebbels. ”We are socialists, we are enemies of today’s capitalistic economic system for the exploitation of the economically weak, with its unfair salaries, with its unseemly evaluation of a human being according to wealth and property instead of responsibility and performance, and we are all determined to destroy this system under all conditions.” –Adolf Hitler

SHTF Content: RoE Civil Unrest

2012-04-27T11:33:00.005-07:00

Reposted from comments: Civil Unrest by Violent Extremists.

What exactly are the Rules of Engagement for civilians during a breakdown in Civil Order when Teh Police are incapacitated or otherwise unable/unwilling to respond - especially when those who have actively precipitated and participated in causing that breakdown are threatening you on your doorstep?

Recent #OWSFail activity in Socialist-mismanaged municipalities (Oakland, CA) show a strong tendency for the Socialist-imprimatur Judicial-Class (in that jurisdiction) to be lenient on pampered, brainwashed, full-grown, mentally-stunted affluent "Activists" who wantonly and feloniously destroy hard-earned private property (for the fleeting, briefly-stimulated pleasure of an ideology), but have never had to earn any of it themselves and indeed are quite incompetent to do so.

1.) Are there really any "innocent" active-participants in rioting and thuggery?
2.) Is a simple camera or camera-phone really a sufficient *excuse* to participate in mass-activism and still sustain plausible deniability and avoiding a Second-Degree warrant?
3.) When such *participation* results in destruction, injury, or death is that not still a Felony, Assault in the Second Degree? Can that be plea-bargained down to Reckless endangerment in the second degree? Can I bend them over a waterboard and give them the THIRD degree?
4.) Do you submit to being deprived of your immediate and future life by stupid ass-clown thugs with metal teeth, or deprived of the rest of your life by incarceration, under a heartless .Gov?
5.) Does the ~~guy~~ asshole hiding his identity under the black hoodie get the first one? (Guess!)
6.) After you finish with them, do you submit the cleanup bill to their dumb-ass parents who failed them so miserably in Life?

Futzing with HTML

2012-04-27T10:55:00.003-07:00

I messed around with the left-side Blogroll a bit to sort things and folks, anybody who's not there or doesn't want to be let me know. I'm considering a whole separate chunk for GunChicks, a group that has exploded in size recently. Actual bookmarks of GunDude A-Z are not reflected in the blogroll...

Rain be-Gone, Rain be-Cool

2012-04-25T13:29:00.000-07:00

We keep being advised that there will be rain, soon, it's coming - meanwhile it's muggy enough under the high-70's hot overcast to wear shorts, but not flip-flops too, and Hawaiian shirts (I don't have any other kind except t-shirts) are good-to-go.
And my mind is still buzzing about the Defensive Pistol class: like if a bunch of stupid #OWS asshole-anarchists in black hoods showed up in The Neighborhood with Molotov cocktails, which one do you shoot first? Do you do the Col. Cooper thing and pepper them in the legs with .22LR rounds to make it hurt badly enough to disperse? Or do you do the Stand By Me thing, Ace: What are you gonna do? Shoot us all? Gordie: No, Ace. Just you...
I would hope that my hipster neighbors who are hipster-parents would act-up in prevention, after all maybe they can grok the fact that their little kid cannot actually be a hipster (there's an age related component to hipsterism) if he or she dies in a house fire - they have to grow-up to become hipsters like Mom & Popster. It's not like some singing Hipster Unitarian Gay Bishop with a guitar over her shoulder can do the Catholic-style water-sprinkling baptism of Hipsterousity, wherein the tykes are blessed with a Fixie bike, a goatee, and immediate soulful Irony. But I'm not sure about my neighbors, and the President is obviously hoping for a hot summer to grease his reelection plans, one way or another.

Spamulata Differens

2012-04-24T16:34:00.001-07:00

I get the whole "Russian Porn SPAM" thing in comments. It's an industry and they are busy making both, which is kind of like mixing Borscht with Schitz - but what's really weird is French Real-Estate SPAM. WTF?? And so ironic, Iconic, postmodern and non-dirigeste, it doesn't even have a link... Now that's really a peak through the torn curtain of Actuality into a parallel dimension of bizzaro-world, no eye-bleach required but the ears are now on backwards. Dada.

Stage-1 Tactical Handgun - learning to crawl

2012-04-23T11:17:00.001-07:00

1-Day Basic Defensive Handgun Safety and Manipulation. I was packed and ready to go early, so I was the first person to arrive - about forty minutes early. I found a parking space under a tree that would shade the truck. "Night Over Manaus" was playing on the iPod. Turned out to be the hottest day of the year so that helped. Louis drove up in a big truck about ten minutes later, he was busy with his helper Sloan ([sic]), so I just said "Hi" and let him do his thing, grumbling. And then my new best-friend Andre drove up. More people started trickling-in.
Once the clock rolled around, the classroom assembled inside. Fourteen guys and a mom with her 14-yr old son. Glocks, M&P's Berettas, 9mm, .40 and .45 - and another gun just like mine. That was Dave. We were all about to be humbled, one way or another, some more than others. *SAFETY!* Accidents have been carving a bloody downward arc on the industry, ammunition has been declining in quality as a few (2) entities dominate the marketplace, and certain manufacturers have characteristic errors. (Cerebrus=Guns, ATK=Ammo) We had with us classic examples. *SAFETY!* Ammo OALs have been all over the map, loads found backwards and loads found empty and loads found mixed: half a box of .45 and half 9mm. Some good stuff remains: Black Hills, Hornady, Fiocchi... *SAFETY!* One thing that struck me was Louis' use of a gun-frame as an example/reference point/pointer - even with the slide removed he always pointed it in a safe direction. "A monkey can hold to a 4-inch group. You gotta be as dumb as a box of rocks!" Or else you over-think and start moving the pistol all around trying to hit at 99%. He asked about each person's specific problems, hands were raised and he answered eliminating each various alternative to a final possibility - one that he would be able to directly address on the range. "The class is about making accurate hits, and the sooner you hit the target the more napalm you can smell." *SAFETY!* "You only have 6-degrees of vision in a fight." Think BIG, hit CENTER. Not "Center-mass," but Center OF mass, any MASS - the mass you NEED to hit. Sight-alignment is front-sight and rear-sight aligned right - sight picture is adding a TARGET to that. Follow-through.
Stance: Weaver, Iscoceles, and Whogivesacrap! When you move, they change - so don't be so dependent, don't waste time being dependent. What you need in any stance is BALANCE. *SAFETY!* We were in the Classroom until Noon.
On the range we started slowly. *SAFETY!*
Making hits to center mass, diagnosing problems. The Nighthawk with an over-large internal part had a tendency to nudge the bullets as they went past and fail to lock-open. Or closed - I forget, the Ed Browns were good-to-go. One M&P had aftermarket zoomy sights that didn't align. People pushed and bullets went down. A Beretta can be disassembled with a yank and rendered inactive right in your hands. You can GET KILLED by a predator - they know what they are doing and they're looking to take it away from you. For them it's a free gun, that's worth something all by itself. *SAFETY!*
And then there were reloads. Where does the magazine go? In the pocket? Leisurely? Looking at your hands, looking at the magazine or gun - doing nothing? Drop them on the deck/ground/alleyway - get the fresh magazine in. Some guys had to give it up and drop $12 mags on the ground - I had to bounce $30 magazines on the ground. I tried not to step on them.
*SAFETY!* And hydration - we took a water-break.
Finally, the Drawstroke and shooting: *SAFETY!* I was wearing a loose Hawaiian shirt (which was nice since it was steamy hot indoors and I was sweating lightly) while all the other guys had their shirts tucked-in and with easy holster access - so I had to learn an extra/different move required to clear the weapon just so I could grab it. And then once up and rocked into place, safety flicked-off, I had to make a slightly different move to go to two-hands on so I didn't muzzle my own support hand. I didn't make it easy on myself, it was kinda hard and easy to f'up. *SAFETY!* A 9mm High-Power had an aftermarket ambi-safety issue. The Beretta has too many damn levers and they add complexity. I just had to remember to seat the magazine assertively and USE the safety.
We finished up around 6:30PM - everyone was grateful for the time and effort.

Class Tomorrow

2012-04-20T19:03:00.001-07:00

I'll try to take some pics if allowed - wish me luck so for once I'm not THAT guy - the guy who I so often naturally am.
Ear pro, eye-pro, notebook, lunch...shoes with socks. :-)

Found Locally

2012-04-19T16:00:00.000-07:00

One of my local gun shops has some neat old stuff tucked away, and this is just one of them - built on the #1-1/2 frame, a 12-guage Parker Bros.:

Safe!

Thanks to Eddy's for letting me take pics!

Tired of Tactical?

2012-04-18T15:46:00.003-07:00

There's a plethora of nice old guns coming on the used market that are decidedly Non-Military in aspect, and I saw two the other day that I wouldn't have looked too closely at before until now, one is a Remington 760 pump in .270 Winchester:

And the other one is a Remington 742 in .30-06 Springfield. I'm kinda getting tired of the whole black-tactical Military thing, and these harken back to an earlier, Civilian time - while still being very effective arms.

Waddya think?

Oh nevermind...

2012-04-18T13:37:00.000-07:00

Gun Blogger Rendezvous Now 7!

2012-04-18T10:18:00.002-07:00

Gun Blogger Rendezvous Registration Now Open - From Mike/Mr. Completely:

I now have the registration form available for this September's Gun Blogger Rendezvous. It's a PDF file, so download it, print it out, and send it in. All the instructions are on the form. I think this year's Rendezvous will be the biggest yet, and Reno's weather in September is usually quite nice for spending some time out at the different ranges.

If you've been wanting to get to the Rendezvous, then make this year you finally come to Reno and join in on all the fun!

It's a blast!

Buy A Gun Day

2012-04-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

I was early and you've seen it before. I'm just messing with Photoshop now.

ePostal Shootin' Match

2012-04-13T11:26:00.001-07:00

ePostal Contest

Mr. Completely's April ePostal Contest is ON! In a classic redux, “Dots on Spots” makes its return, with a few changes from last year. So let us not waste time...

Download the target (pdf) here: Dots on Spots Target
(Do NOT download the image in this post. It will be too small.)

There will be one (1) target per entry.

DISTANCE: 25 feet, or 10 yards, which ever is available at your range.

SHOOTING POSITION: Seated and standing - see next section - How to Shoot It.

Read more at Jimmy B's:

Don't Forget!

2012-04-12T17:36:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Rick at Traction Control I am reminded:

Leave a comment if you do.
I obviously jumped the gun and you've seen the result.

2012-04-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

I ordered a bushing wrench and a spare magazine, when I got the magazine I noticed somethings were different between it and the other. The one-with-the-gun had no writing on the sides and small-ish holes (3.70mmm) in the magazine body - just the base-plate was engraved/stamped.

The new one had writing that was laser-etched (or whatev) with numbers on each side, and the follower looked curiously familiar - and the base-plate was un-marked - but spot-welded.

The follower is identical to the Kimber KimPro magazines I have, down to the Patent#, but the Ed Brown body has slightly smaller holes (3.92mm) than the Kimber (5.02mmm)...