Occupied Nashville

Ammunition...The New Currency?

2009-05-14T09:43:00.001-07:00

From the comments to this post at HotAir about Obamanomics:

I suppose they can take what they want from my paycheck - up to a point.
I’ll pay you 200 rounds of reloaded 30.06 if you fix my transmission.

And

The new currency would be based on .22 and .38 and .45 for pistol; / revolver load; and .22, 30/30 and 30.06 for rifle load; and .12 gauge for shotgun load.
.223s might be worth several variations.
E.g.
1 .233 = 2 9mm
1 .223 = 2 .38
1 .223 = 1 .357
2 .223 = 1 .45
1 .223 = .75 30.06 (I’m partial to 30.06)
etc. etc.
50 .22s = 1 30.06
etc. etc.
We talking bar prices or convenience store prices?

What's the exchange rate for commie 7.62?

CZ 52 Goodies

2009-05-10T17:27:00.000-07:00

How about a ghost ring sight for 6 bucks and a little elbow grease? Found here.

And take a look at these grips from cz52grips.com.

They are made of epoxy resin and are available in different colors as well as smooth or textured. Might be a worthy addition.

"...what Constitution?"

2009-05-09T18:25:00.000-07:00

From David Codrea's Gun Rights Examiner:

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., has sponsored H.R. 2159, the Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2009, which permits the attorney general to deny transfer of a firearm to any "known or suspected dangerous terrorist." The bill requires only that the potential firearm transferee is "appropriately suspected" of preparing for a terrorist act and that the attorney general "has a reasonable belief" that the gun might be used in connection with terrorism.

I thought these guys had "people". You know, someone who might say "Hey, I think we might have a little due process problem here."

Countless Government Officials Guilty of Child Endangerment!

2009-05-09T18:16:00.000-07:00

From Women of Caliber:

If right now, you cringe at the thought of possessing a firearm in your home or on your persons out of fear that a child may be harmed by it accidentally, then you have indeed fallen prey to this criminal campaign. Here’s why.

And while you're there, check out some of the other posts as well. Good stuff.

My Mosin Nagants

2009-05-08T20:57:00.001-07:00

Pictured above are my Mosin Nagants, an M44 carbine and an M91/30 rifle. Not rare, not particularly beautiful, but simple, dependable, historically interesting, cheap to buy and cheap to shoot. When I got the first one, a 1943 91/30, last year, the only other rifle that I had was a .22. To satisfy my urge for a bigger boom I'd been shooting slugs with my shotguns. Fun, and certainly boom-worthy, but not exactly cheap plinking.

I was at Krogers with my wife one day and was killing time at the magazine rack when I picked up a copy of Shotgun News. There on the cover in the J&G Sales add was an old looking rifle for 69.95. 69.95? I could do that. But is it any good? I spent the next few weeks on the internet and found that there are quite a few of Mosin Nagants in circulation and plenty of information available. At the next gun show I bought the 91/30 for 119.00 out the door. Later I got my C&R license so that I could take advantage of the cheaper advertised prices. A few months later I ordered the 1947 M44 from AIM Surplus for 91.00 shipped. Having Big Brown drop off a rifle at your door is surely one of the simple pleasures in life.

Ok, so about the guns. The M91/30 was built in 1943 at the arsenal in Izhevsk, Russia. The receiver has the “chewed by beavers” machine marks typical of the guns produced during the the war years. In '43, German Field Marshall Paulus' 6th Army had surrendered at Stalingrad and the Nazis were retreating. The Russians were cranking out material at a furious pace and a few corners had to be cut. Final machining and polishing were among them.

Most, if not all of these rifles that you find being sold today are arsenal refurbished and the stocks are stamped to indicate that. I can't find any mark on this rifle that is a recognizable refurb mark, but I doubt that means a whole lot. One of the barrel bands bears the Izhevsk arsenal stamp and the other is stamped with the Tula arsenal stamp. One of the stamps on the stock is thought to be that of a training facility. Many of these rifles were counter bored when they were refurbed, but neither of mine have been. Of course it came with accessories, a bayonet, cartridge pouch, cleaning rod attachments, oil/solvent bottle, “multi-tool” and a “dog collar” sling.

The M44 is a 1947 model, also made at the Izhevsk arsenal, and looks to be in really good condition. It does have the Ukranian refurb mark on the laminated stock. Came with the same accessories as the 91/30, but of course the folding bayonet is permanently attached. After I cleaned this one up and before I ever fired it, I had a problem with the bolt. When cocked, it would get very hard to open. De-cocked, it worked fine. After I took the bolt apart for about the 10th time I noticed that the connector bar on the bolt seemed to be just slightly bent. I ordered another one from Tennessee Gun Parts \for five bucks and was back in business. My theory is that the bent connector bar was allowing the bolt head to wobble around and bind, but who knows? M44's were used in many countries throughout the cold war and by the communists during the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Both of them are chambered for the 7.62x54r cartridge which has been in production on some form for about 118 years. Ballistics are said to be very similar to the 30.06. The cartridge has been used lately in rifles like the Dragunov sniper rifle and light machine guns like the PKM. Surplus ammo is still, at least for the time being, fairly cheap and available. No telling how long that will last. I prefer to use brass cased or copper washed steel cased ammunition. The lacquer coated steel case ammo makes the bolt hard to open after a few rounds. Must not have all the cosmoline cleaned out of the chamber yet.

Shooting either one of these is big fun. A couple of things. Common wisdom says that the guns were sighted in with the bayonets fixed or extended and will shoot closer to point of aim that way. That may be true but if nothing else, it's fun to snap the bayonet of the M44 out on the firing line. I've never shot the 91/30 with the bayonet attached so I can't say about that one. Then there's the trigger. Both of my Mosins have the longest trigger pull I've ever seen. You think it's never going to go off. It's also kind of mushy or “spongy” feeling. But it is consistent. That's something. Huber Concepts offers triggers for milsurp rifles and they are said to be a great improvement. Last but not least is the bolt. Not the smoothest operating bolt ever made. It takes a fair amount of push to open. Both of mine work well enough as long as I stay away from that lacquer coated ammo. And there are things that can be done to get it a little smoother but otherwise it's just typical of the breed.

Which one do I like to shoot the best? Probably the M44 for pure fun. You know you've fired a rifle when you shoot that one. Some people complain about the recoil but I don't think it's any worse than say, shooting slugs out a a 20ga shotgun. And fireballs from the muzzle are cool. The 91/30, with it's longer barrel is just that much smoother, and has the advantage of the longer sighting plane.

As an inexpensive gun to take to the range or plink with, it's just hard to beat a Mosin Nagant. Starting at about 80 bucks if you have a C&R license, or around 120 bucks if you don't, it's hard to think of a reason not to have one. There are at least a few major variations such as snipers, ex-snipers, and Finnish Mosins. I can't imagine ever breaking one in any use outside of combat and if you did, you can fix it yourself. It's a very simple rifle. Ammunition prices have risen slightly over the past year, but not much at all compared to other calibers. There are plenty of resources on the internet and a good place to start is 7.62x54r.net.

Red Dawn - The Sequel

2009-05-07T19:58:00.000-07:00

Wolverines!!!

- The bad guys/invaders will now be the Red Chinese, who knocks off America in the first 20 pages, and gets help from those stinkin’ Russians later in the movie. The cause of the invasion? Oil, of course. There are hints that America is kinda to blame, too. In today’s PC environment, that’s not too much of a surprise.

I saw the original a long time ago, and caught it on tv a few months back. Seemed a bit corny this time around. The helicopters were cool though.

History

2009-05-07T19:46:00.000-07:00

You may recall that a few weeks ago Jon Stewart called Harry Truman a war criminal, presumably for using nuclear weapons to hasten Japan's surrender during World War 2. But you may not have seen Bill Whittle's rebuttal. About 17 minutes long but worth your time.

For all the jokes about History majors, history is a subject worth knowing. From Scipio,

One can certainly ignore history, but she has a way of intruding into the affairs of man nonetheless. Her central point—actually, her only point—is the unchangeable nature of man. It is this constancy in human behavior that makes history even possible.

Essay Of The Week

2009-05-06T17:33:00.000-07:00

A line in the sand revisited.

Skimming the links at Liberty Sphere's 2nd Amendment News Roundup for 5/6/09, I clicked on a link to David Codrea's Gun Rights Examiner column titled "Do you have a line in the sand?"

Contained therein was a link to a piece by Jeffrey Snyder. You may remember him as the author of A Nation Of Cowards. Mr Snyder's latest is Plastic People, which is about a Canadian gentleman named Pierre Lemieux who refused to answer a question on his firearms license renewal form and is now suffering the consequences. Snyder says

If an activity is licensed by the state, then it is a privilege conferred and controlled by the state, and not a right. The conditions on which the privilege is conferred are matters of legislative or administrative grace; the person may not lawfully engage in the activity and is not affirmatively protected from state incursion simply by reason of being a person, as would be the case with an "individual right."

That pretty much sums up how I feel about infringements of the 2nd Amendment, as well as the rest of our rights. I just started reading a book called "Kremlin Rising: Vladimir Putin's Russia and the End of Revolution" and though I'm only a few pages into it, the authors have already stated that many Russians would seem to be more comfortable with a return to more government control. And it seems that many of our countrymen are fine with the idea of rights turned into privileges "conferred and controlled by the state".

The reality of our situation is that we have accepted compromises in order to live peacefully with other people. But how much compromise is acceptable? It seems that the people who wrote the Bill of Rights were specifically saying that these are rights that cannot be compromised if you wish to remain free. Where is that line in the sand? To be honest with you, I'm not sure I could say exactly where mine is. Maybe Pierre Lemieux didn't know where his line in the sand was either, until he decided to cross it.

Guns In The Movies

2009-05-03T18:14:00.000-07:00

If you like movies with guns in them, and who doesn't, you may be interested in this. I was doing a little "research" this afternoon, looking for a picture to use on an upcoming post on my Mosin Nagants, and I ran across an interesting site I hadn't seen before. It's called the Internet Movie Firearms Database.

It looks like it's set up as a Wiki type site where people can contribute, so I guess some movies will have more information than others. You can search by movie, gun, tv show, video game, etc. So if you've seen a gun in a movie that you can't identify, give this site a try.

For example, here are pages for Enemy At The Gates and The Lost Battalion. I searched for Tali-Ihantala, a movie about Finlands Winter War with Russia, but no luck. Couldn't find the German movie Stalingrad either. Even so, it's alot of fun to browse. Enjoy!

M1917 from The Lost Battalion.

Worst Advice Ever

2009-05-02T14:16:00.000-07:00

The column in the Tennessean is dated April 30 and was written by Gail Kerr. It's titled “Passive reaction probably kept rape victim alive”. In short, a notorious rapist was recently convicted here in Nashville. His defense attorney, on cross examination of the victim apparently brought up the fact that there was no sign of a struggle, therefore implying I that the incident may have been consensual. Standard but disgusting defense stuff in these situations I suppose.

The victim had the presence of mind to swab herself for a DNA sample and to not shower in the aftermath, thus conserving evidence. As I understand it the dirt bag was convicted mostly on that evidence. Ms. Kerr's point seems to be that a.) no sign of a struggle does not mean that a rape didn't occur and b.) by acting passively, the victim was doing the right thing.

I can agree with point a, but point b I'm not so sure about, although who knows? Maybe in her situation it was the only thing she could do. I am not about to second guess anyone's actions in a violent encounter. But some of the quotes in the article leave me just as furious as Ms. Kerr claims to be with the defense attorney. Here's one.

"One of the things I explain to clients who have been in that situation is that we freeze in terror. Freezing is what most people do. We freeze in panic."
That is a lifesaver, she said.
"Oftentimes, the woman is so terrified that whatever she does, if she tries to fight, it is going to provoke more anger from the perpetrator," Taylor said. So freezing and reacting passively is generally the safest thing to do, as awful as that is to contemplate.

I'm not sure that “freezing is what most people do”. I thought it was Fight or Flight. Maybe freezing is what most people do if they haven't given any thought to what they might do in a violent situation. I'd like to see some stats on that. And “freezing and reacting passively is generally the safest thing to do.”? Would any of you give this advice to your wife or daughter?

“Look hon, if the worst happens just , you know, don't resist. You might make somebody mad. And if you happen to survive, well, I'm sure the police and the courts will take care of everything. No problem.”

Aaaaargh, you've got to be kidding me. In my opinion, cooperating with an attacker is the absolute last option, exercised only when there is absolutely no other action to be taken. Look, I know there are some situations where nothing can be done. And some people will just not be up to defending themselves. But to advise someone not to resist as the first and only option is absolutely crazy. Here's another quote from Tim Tohill, president of the Sexual Assault Center

"If the person is alive when it's over, they did something correctly. That is what the community needs to understand."

If the person is alive when it's over? That seems pretty casual. I guess he's talking about survival here, and survival is the priority. But by acting passively the “if” in the quote is up to the attacker. Not real good odds there. I'll say it again. Nobody can predict what situations we might face or how we'll react with absolute certainty. Even being trained and having a plan may not guarantee that a person will successfully defend themselves. But to advise women, or anyone else, that their first and best option is to passively submit to an attacker is absolutely awful advice.

Just as a counterpoint, here's an example of some advice I'd be more likely to believe in.

Take action. Many victims reach a point in the encounter where they quit. As soon as they are emotionally and mentally overwhelmed they curl up on the ground in an instinctive surrender posture. This leaves all of the decision making up to the assailant. Make a decision and execute. The earlier you begin to take action the better.

And

Spend no time thinking about losing. Losing is what was happening before you started doing something. Even if the assailant is tough enough to beat you, he might not be committed enough to continue after he is hurt. Statistically people who fight back have better outcomes than the people who quit.

You can see more good advice at Brillianter.com, Mental Conditioning for Self Defense.

1959 - Collectors Paradise

2009-04-30T20:13:00.000-07:00

A few ads from a 1959 issue of Guns Magazine, which you can download here.

Garands for 97.50.

Enfields as high as 24.95! Why are the shorter barrels always more expensive?

Boys anti-tank rifle, 74.95. Never heard of one shooting down a passenger plane. We must have been more civilized then.

Springfields for 32.50. How much will an AR-15 be worth in 50 years? Fun to speculate.

I'd love to visit....

2009-04-29T18:58:00.000-07:00

Israel.

Thanks Uncle.

Truest True Classics

2009-04-29T18:34:00.000-07:00

Got my new issue of Guns magazine last week. Mike "Duke" Venturino has an article in there called The Truest of True Classics. His definition of a true classic is a gun made previously that was so good that someone saw fit to manufacture it again. Fair enough. Criteria for determining a classic anything are pretty subjective, so his are as good as any.

All the usual suspects are there. Sharps 1874, 19th century Winchester lever guns, Colt SAA, 1911, and Winchester Model 70. No argument there. But when it came to the truest true classic military rifle, he chose the M1 Carbine. Really? It's a really cool gun with a bunch of history, so I guess that makes it a classic, but a truest true classic?

I would have picked the M1 Garand. At that time it was a really effective battle rifle, and people still shoot 'em. And, as Mike says, they are still being reproduced, but not in great enough numbers to meet his requirements. There are many interesting guns from that period, like the Tokarev SVT40, but the Garand was the most successful of them all. Nothing against the M1 Carbine. I used to own one, and I kick myself five days a week for selling it (off weekends). I just think the Garand beats it for truest true classic.

Another interesting tidbit from the article was the news that Gibbs Rifle Company will be reproducing the Springfield 1903A4 scoped sniper rifle. I would love to have one of those!

Awesome

2009-04-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

I've built and flown model rockets off and on since I was a teenager, so this caught my eye the other day. Seems a fellow named Steve Eves broke two records by successfully building and flying the largest and heaviest amateur rocket ever. His 1/10 scale Saturn V stood 36 feet tall and weighed 1,648 ponds. Check it out.

In the video it doesn't look like it flew very high but that's a big rocket. It went 4400 feet.

Back in 2001 there was a contest called Moon Race 2001 in which two teams would build 1/16 scale rockets, a Saturn V and a Soviet N1. The Saturn was never completed, but the N1 was, and it was probably the first successful flight of an N1 anywhere. The Russians didn't fare so well with theirs.

The scale model N1 had a total of 43(!) motors in 3 stages.

I can't resist showing you the last one I built a couple of years ago. It's a semi-scale model of a Soviet surface to air missle that I called RedSAM. It was supposed to be a two stage but I ran out of time, money and patience with the electronics so I flew it as a single stage. Flies real well with F and G impulse class motors.

Whew! Home At Last!

2009-04-27T06:35:00.000-07:00

Spent the weekend camping with the Cub Scouts. Beautiful weather, but I'm beat. If you could harness the energy expended by the boys at one weekend camp out, I'm sure you could power a good sized city for a week.

It was a special weekend, because Number 2 son "crossed over" from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. Solemn campfire ceremony and everything. His big brother is an Eagle Scout, so it's nice to see him going down the same path.

Other than that, he spent most of the weekend fishing. That boy loves to fish, and he attacks it the same way he plays chess. It may take a while, but he will either win or figure out why he didn't. It's sort of amazing watching the patience and concentration that he brings to bear on the problem of hooking a fish. Wish he'd do that with some other things.

Anyway, it was a good weekend of watching boys be boys, but I've got some catching up to do, so not much posting for a day or two. In the meantime, here's an interesting post about the Boy Scouts from Rants and Raves, a blog that you ought to be reading.

We'll Decide What Rights You Have

2009-04-23T07:31:00.000-07:00

Also via Instapundit (gee, he's getting an Occupied Nashville-lanche!), this from Ann Althouse:

"My message to my troops is if you see anybody carrying a gun on the streets of Milwaukee, we'll put them on the ground, take the gun away and then decide whether you have a right to carry it," Flynn said. "Maybe I'll end up with a protest of cowboys. In the meantime, I've got serious offenders with access to handguns. It's irresponsible to send a message to them that if they just carry it openly no one can bother them."

To which Glenn replies,

So if you see Police Chief Ed Flynn, put him on the ground, take his wallet away, and then decide whether he’s accepted any bribes that day. If, after doing that, you think the money’s his, give his wallet back. Who cares what the law says? It’s the Milwaukee Way!

I heartily agree.
Codrea has more, of course.

Ammo Shortage Fact Sheet

2009-04-23T06:50:00.000-07:00

At the top of Instapundit this morning, from the NSSF.

What calibers are in the highest demand?

The high demand for ammunition extends across caliber lines. The increase can be seen in most handgun, rifle and rimfire ammunition and on certain shot shell products such as buckshot.

I have been looking for some reduced recoil 12ga. 00 buckshot or even # 3 buck in 20ga. So far no luck. Just about every online source that I checked is out, and there is none available locally. If I found some on a retailer's web site, I would definitely order by phone to make sure that they had it.

Random Earth Day Rambling

2009-04-22T14:49:00.000-07:00

I've been reflecting on a few of the events of the past few weeks. Specifically, 20/20's bogus reporting on guns, and the media's (and the administration's) reaction to the Tea Parties.

As has been reported everywhere, the main message of 20/20's "If I Only Had A Gun" was
A. Guns are bad.
B. Even if guns weren't bad (which they are), you are too incompetent to defend yourself with one.

Now as far as A, I'm not too surprised that 20/20 would go there. In fact, I expected it. I think most people did. But I am a little surprised by B. It's something else altogether to back up your position by giving a large portion of the population the Sarah Palin Treatment.

And what of the Tea Parties? CNN and MSNBC did their best to present average Americans as extremist bumpkins, with "teabagging" jokes, reporters lecturing protesters, and in depth analysis from Janeane Garofalo and Keith Olberman that included calling the Tea Parties "racist".

The administration chimed in with the Department of Homeland Security's report "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment". I don't think that the timing was coincidental any more than I buy Janet Napolitano's lame explanations.

The common thread here is the Left's, as represented by the media and the Obama administration, attempt to belittle those who believe in, well, all of the things the Left doesn't. Freedom, individual sovereignty and responsibility, and smaller government. Regardless of how you feel about Sarah Palin, if you paid any attention to the election, this ought to look familiar. It's the equivalent of calling someone a "dootyhead" on the playground.

I think the Left is scared. They're certainly acting like it. They simply can't stand it when someone disagrees with them. I also think that these are signs of a worsening ideological battle. Who's gonna win? Who represents the majority? Whether you're right or left, you probably think you're in the majority. It would not surprise me if 25 percent of the country was left and 25 percent of the country was right, and the other 50 percent might go either way. It would also not surprise me if most of the major events in history were begun by a small minority, be they right or left.

You may have seen this lately.

For the full story, go here. Have a nice Earth Day.

New, Less Ugly Hi Point Carbine?

2009-04-21T19:27:00.000-07:00

From Hi Point Firearms Forums, a picture of the new Hi Point carbine. At least, that's what I think it is. Reading through the thread, some folks say that Hi Point has been promising this for quite awhile now. Mid August is the latest date.

It is an improvement in the looks department. I really like the idea of a 9mm carbine.

Incorporation? Could It Be?

2009-04-20T18:28:00.000-07:00

From Ace

Now, as big a victory as this is, note that the gun ordinance being challenged was in fact upheld. I suppose this will be the style of analysis then: Yes, you superficially have 2nd Amendment right, but we are going to read that as being an extremely limited one.

Even so, if that is the game, this is important. Even if it's being interpreted to provide as little actual rights as possible, it still imposes some restrictions on state and local government, and still grants some genuine rights to citizens.

And from David Hardy,

Yep, it's binding in the 9th Circuit. Can be cited in other Circuits, which they would take into account, but doesn't bind them. Note that "binding" is often more theory than fact, since there are ways to get around a binding decision (distinguish it -- facts in this case are somewhat different from facts in that case -- or sometimes outright ignore it, or call for en banc review by all the judges in the circuit and try to get them to overrule the prior decision). And a well-reasoned opinion from one circuit can carry weight in others; this one will surely be cited in the Chicago case. And a circuit split, where some circuits go one way and others go another, is a good basis for asking the Supreme Court to take it on and settle the issue.

And from the Ninth Circuit? I must be dreaming. Actually, reading the comments at David Hardy's site, I'm not so sure this is as big as it sounds. The legal arguments are ...above my pay grade. But hopefully this could be a step in the right direction.

Update: Here's another link from Instapundit with a good (and short) explanation.

Yesterday's News

2009-04-20T11:28:00.000-07:00

Occupied Nashville continues a fine tradition of bringing you yesterday's news today with this from Faciamus!

Assault Rifle Confiscation Resisted By Armed Extremists

BOSTON (AP)--National guard units seeking to confiscate a cache of recently banned assault weapons were ambushed on April 19th by elements of a paramilitary extremist faction. Military and law enforcement officials estimate that 72 were killed and more than 200 injured before government forces were compelled to withdraw.

Read it all.

More Sunday Funnies

2009-04-19T18:52:00.000-07:00

One of the Tennessean's "bloggers", an MTSU student named Zach Barnes, apparently got to shoot a gun for the first time. He got to shoot

a Beretta, a tommy gun and an MP5.

Lucky Zach! While he was shooting the MP5 in full auto, he ponders the need for such a weapon.

I do not understand why people are buying fully automatic assault rifles.

and

I hope that the automatic weapons ban will go back into effect.

The Tennessean will publish anyone with an anti-gun opinion, no matter how poorly informed they are.

Sunday Funnies

2009-04-19T17:48:00.000-07:00

Dwight Lewis, the Tennessean's race columnist, takes a break from racial issues to address the carry in restaurants bill. His advice for the governor?

Veto it. Veto it. Veto it.

Why? Lewis cites a shooting death from 1982!

As I say that, I think back to August 1982, when I helped cover the shooting death of two men and the wounding of another at the popular Gold Rush restaurant-tavern on Elliston Place in Nashville. Gunfire erupted that night when a dispute began among patrons at the establishment. Authorities said witnesses told investigators that two men were arguing in the crowded bar when one of them pulled a pistol and shouted:

"OK, you asked for it!"

As a commenter points out, Tennessee wasn't a shall-issue state in 1982, so the shooter was breaking the law by carrying in the first place.

Question. When did people become more afraid of law-abiding citizens with guns than criminals with guns?

I Know This Guy!

2009-04-19T17:35:00.000-07:00

From PistolTraining.com"

Just because the local Rangemaster says your gun sucks doesn’t mean he knows what he’s talking about no matter how many cool stories he has about learning to shoot sixty years go.

Actually, the article is pretty good.
Via Xavier.

Browning Nomad .22 Pistol

2009-04-16T19:22:00.001-07:00

This Browning Nomad Pistol belongs to my pal Melissa, who also owns the only Kessler Westchester shotgun I've ever seen. As you can see from the pictures it's really in excellent condition. Looks alot like a High Standard Flite King.

Browning Nomads were made between 1962 and 1974. According to the information I've found, the design originated with the Colt Woodsman invented by John M. Browning in 1914.

From a Guns magazine article dated August 1999,

"Bruce Browning resurrected his grandfather's original blowback pistol design 30 years ago. He made changes to reduce manufacturing costs, and had the redesigned gun produced in Belgium by Fabrique Nationale. The new .22 was marketed as the Browning Nomad."

Apparently it became too expensive to produce and was dropped in favor of a design that eventually became the Buck Mark. I have no idea what the value would be but a quick look at the auction sites turned up prices from $240.00 to 795.00 (!). These were for models with either the 6 inch or 4 inch barrel.

It's a treat to get a chance to see a quality firearm like this, so thanks again Melissa, and thanks again to Cathy for the pics.

Mexican Gun Lie...How Much Longer?

2009-04-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

From Hot Air, a quote from an article in the Washington Post:

The financial sanctions provide an additional tool against the organizations, whose drug and gun trafficking has proved exceedingly difficult to curtail. Mexico, for example, has seized more than 35,000 firearms from narco-traffickers since December 2006, and both governments say 90 percent of the weapons originated in the United States.

How much longer will this lie be repeated?

Glock Abuse

2009-04-15T16:06:00.000-07:00

Warning: If you find pictures of dirty, rusty guns disturbing, do not read this.

"For almost 10 years I’ve been abusing and neglecting my Glock 21. Its been a running joke among some friends and I. Nothing was planned or documented. As I tell people what it has been through, most simply don’t believe me. I guess I wouldn’t either. If someone told you their Glock has at least 150K rounds through it and has gone almost 15K rounds with no cleaning or maintenance would you believe them?"

When a Mosin Meets An AR...

2009-04-15T16:02:00.000-07:00

this could happen.

Found on Gunbroker.

Thoughts On Private Security

2009-04-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

From Crime, Guns and Videotape:

Prior to the 1970’s nearly every security officer or guard was armed but for those working in jails or prisons. It was common for security people to make physical arrests and see them trough the court system. Those days are over.

A wave of anti-gun hysteria caused businesses and government officials to begin a disarmament of sorts. Insurance companies contributed to this trend by charging the industry higher premiums for customers that had armed security as a way to increase profits.

One of our larger local malls has a no gun policy. I don't think it's posted as such (it may be) but a security guy that I spoke to told me that if you were found carrying, you would be asked to leave.

Drug Cartel's Guns Are Coming From The U.S.?

2009-04-13T11:19:00.000-07:00

Over at Of Arms and the Law David Hardy highlights some information from Narcosphere:

"The deadliest of the weapons now in the hands of criminal groups in Mexico, particularly along the U.S. border, by any reasonable standard of an analysis of the facts, appear to be getting into that nation through perfectly legal private-sector arms exports, measured in the billions of dollars, and sanctioned by our own State Department. These deadly trade commodities — grenade launchers, explosives and “assault” weapons —are then, in quantities that can fill warehouses, being corruptly transferred to drug trafficking organizations via their reach into the Mexican military and law enforcement agencies, the evidence indicates.

But wait! Didn't the State Dept., as represented by Hillary Clinton, try to tell us that all those cartel guns were coming from gun shows? And didn't the Justice Dept., as represented by Eric "I don't think our Second Amendment will stand in the way of what we have begun," Holder, back that up? And doesn't the media still back them both up?

You know, it almost seems that representatives at the highest level of our government are purposely spreading false information. But for what possible purpose? Hmmmm (beer sip). Hard to believe, hard to believe.

20/20's "If I OnlyHad A Gun"

2009-04-11T17:31:00.000-07:00

The message of ABC's 20/20 "commentary" could be summed up thusly: You're not capable of using a gun for self defense and they ought to be illegal anyway.
There was so much to take issue with that one hardly knows where to begin, but Sensibly Progressive has a great rundown on part of the show if you didn't see it.

Aside from being an hour long commercial for gun control, the advice on how to deal with an armed criminal was, well, downright criminal. Using a cell phone to summon the police was mentioned of course. See this and this for how well that works out sometimes.

Next they advise you to run because 50% of the bad guys probably won't shoot you, and if they do they'll probably miss. Gotta love those odds. So be a target, but not a good one. Then, they show a guy who advises you not to make sudden moves. So running isn't a sudden move? Maybe moon walking backwards while singing "Nyahh, nyahh, can't shoot me!" is the magic survival secret.

There was more, much more. I understand that 60 Minutes will be doing a piece tomorrow night that features the Virginia Citizens Defense League, an rkba org. Can't wait to see what they do with it.

Update: More on the 20/20 show here.

Update 2: In thinking about what I wrote above, I let my snark get the better of me. I'm sure there are situations where running, or at least moving to cover, is a useful technique. If the goal is to survive a potentially deadly confrontation, then it's hard to rule out anything that might keep you alive. The thing that irked me was the show's strong implication that running was always a better alternative to being armed.

Good Friday

2009-04-10T12:38:00.001-07:00

Lots of blogworthy stuff going on, as usual. But there are more important things to reflect on this weekend. Happy Easter and God bless you.

20/20 on Guns

2009-04-09T08:12:00.000-07:00

ABC's 20/20 will be devoting Friday night's show to "Guns in America". From their site:

"Most of the recent shootings have been carried out by legal gunmen."

This should be interesting.

Remington Mohawk 10c

2009-04-08T14:20:00.001-07:00

Here's another gun belonging to a friend. I've got classy friends. This little gun was purchased new for $29.95 new and is now worth around $200.00. In fact Tom was looking for a magazine for it and was surprised that they cost almost as much as the gun did when new.

The Mohawk 10c is one of several variations of the Remington Nylon 66. The 10c was made between 1972 and 1978 and approximately 128,358 were produced. Years ago I thought that the plastic stock was cheap, but 30 years later you can appreciate the fact that it was one of the first. And it looks good. And who knew plastic would be tacticool someday?

Tom's gun is a very nice example. It does need that magazine but otherwise it must be in at least very good plus condition, if not excellent. As you can see, it has the same clean lines of all of the Remington autoloaders of the period. Owning a gun like this for 30 years after purchasing it new is a good reminder for the rest of us. Never sell a gun unless you have to.

Thanks to Tom for dragging it out so we could see it, and to Cathy for the pics.

Kessler-Westchester Buffalo Bill Cody 12 Ga.

2009-04-07T17:50:00.000-07:00

I'll bet you've never seen one of these. I haven't. In fact I've never even heard of it. Friend and co-worker Melissa brought this in today so we could have a look at it. It's a 12 gauge bolt action shotgun with a 2 round detachable box magazine. A Google search only turned up two real links, one from WikiAnswers,

Kessler Arms Corp of Silver Creek, N.Y. manufactured the bolt action shotgun in 12, 16, and 20 gauge with 26" and 28" barrels. Blued with a walnut stock, it was manufactured between 1951 and 1953. The Buffalo Bill Cody signature edition is not mentioned. The value of the standard shotgun ranges from
Exc VG Good Fair Poor
125 75 50 30 20

I wouldn't think that the Buffalo Bill edition would draw much more than that although the Buffalo Bill museum in Cody, Wy may offer a premium.

And one from the The HighRoad.org,

Kessler made shotguns in NY from 1951 to 1953 for the hardware store trade. I read a post on the jouster forum last year that said a furniture store even gave them away with the purchase of furniture. I don't have any info on the various models, but they made a lever action along with the bolts. According to the posts at jouster.com they aren't generally collectable. Gun Parts Corp. still has some parts for them.

The picture above shows the safety at the back of the bolt, the magazine release and the extractor. Looks like the extractor is held in by a screw. In fact, the bolt has several screws in it. One of the things that caught my eye was the recoil bolt in the stock. Looks alot like a Mosin Nagant. The stock has small cracks on both sides of the bolt running fore and aft.

Naturally, I forgot to look at the information stamped on the barrel. Wish I had. The WikiAnswers article says that these were manufactured in the U.S., but it almost looks imported.

It always makes my day to have a look at something interesting like this. Thanks to Melissa for bringing it in, and thanks to Cathy Schlessman for the photos. Next up, a sharp little .22 rifle from the '70s.

Will The Police Protect You?

2009-04-06T20:10:00.000-07:00

In the aftermath of the shooting in Binghamton New York, more information is coming out concerning the police reaction. Donald Sensing posted this.

“Police heard no gunfire after they arrived but waited for about an hour before entering the building to make sure it was safe for officers."

I was working at home last Friday and listening to the reports of the shooting on Fox News. At the appointed time I went to pick up my son from school. I parked in my usual spot and saw that the other parents that I see every day were parked in their usual spots. Then a car that I had not seen before pulled up and parked. A man in his mid to late thirties got out and walked to the back of his car, opened the trunk and began rummaging around in there. I got out of my car and walked toward the school, keeping an eye on the stranger. You know what I was thinking.

As it turned out, he was just there to pick up his child of course. While walking toward the school though, I was trying to come up with a plan. I wasn't armed, and even if I had been, I don't think I could legally walk onto school grounds with a firearm, carry permit or not. So what if it had turned out otherwise? There is an officer at school, but I don't know if he's there all the time or not. How long would it take him to react? How long would it take other officers to arrive, and what would they do when they got there? How long would it take them to sort out the situation and come up with a plan?

It's been pointed out many times but it bears repeating. The police can only protect you in the most fortunate of situations. Otherwise, you're on your own. Think it won't happen where you are? The odds are probably in your favor, but who would've imagined an immigrant would've shot up a building full of immigrants?

Unfortunately, there are some who will use these awful incidents to attempt deprive you of the right of self defense. But the few of you who may read this already know that. And you already know that it doesn't work (see England). So we have to divide our time between grieving for and with the victims of these tragedies and keeping a watchful eye on those who would take advantage of that grief and use it to advance their own agenda. It's a shame, but that's the world we live in.

No, the police will probably not be able protect you from a violent crime. We have to make sure that we retain the right to protect ourselves.

Sunday Funnies

2009-04-05T19:24:00.001-07:00

The Tennessean never fails to amuse. Mark Silverman (Editor and Vice President of Content and Audience Development) penned an opinion column headlined

Obama's action on GM stumps the media

This is great:

Is all of this a bold stroke that will right the economic ship, or is it an overreaching plan that will sink it?

No journalist can answer that question now.

"Journalists" never asked anything about Obama in the first place so why should they expect to have any answers? They were more concerned with Palin's wardrobe or Joe the Plumbers taxes.

Face it hombre, you've been hoodwinked, bamboozled. But no worries. I don't think there are many people left that expect "journalists" to have any answers. Pressure's off.

Children and Guns Part 3

2009-04-04T20:46:00.000-07:00

Women of Caliber has Part 3 of the the Children and Guns series up.

When is it safe to educate your children on Guns?

Mine were 5 or 6 years old when they began learning. Not just learning to shoot, but having some honest talks about guns and safety.

2009 To Do List

2009-04-04T20:36:00.000-07:00

Here it is April already. I had a list of gun related things I wanted to accomplish this year, but I've had to scale it back quite a bit. One of items on the list was to buy a 9mm carbine. Doesn't look like that'll happen though. The choices were a Hi Point (ugliest gin evah!) or a Kel-Tec.

If I buy a gun at all this year, it will probably be a used .22 bolt action rifle. Number 2 son really enjoys shooting the Stevens as a single shot, and I'm partial to bolt actions in .22 anyway. I'd rather get one with a box magazine instead of a tube. I might be cruising the pawn shops for that one.

The shotguns are pretty well fixed up so that's one to cross off of the list. You might recall that I put a Tru Glo “snap on” sight on my short barreled 12 gauge. I liked it so much, I wanted to get one for the 20 gauge. I bought the first one from Brownells for 19 bucks and was getting ready to order another one. We went out to Academy Sports to get the boy some shoes and what did I find? The same sight for $12.99! I also picked up a butt cuff shell holder and a bore brush for a total of 20.00. Pays to shop around. So with those items for the 20 gauge, the shotguns are done.

I'd like to try a scout scope for one of the Mosin Nagants. Given my aging eyes, I think that's the only way I'll get the most accuracy out of it. I could probably do the whole thing for around $100.00. Probably put it on the 91/30.

I'd like to get the Stevens66C to work properly, and I'd like to find a cure for the jam-o-matic Marlin Model 60.

Other than that, for the rest of the year, I'd just like to buy some ammunition and shoot more than I did in 2008!

More on Mexico

2009-04-02T06:16:00.000-07:00

David Codrea has two items up at Gun Rights Examiner dealing with the administration's attempt to use Mexico's drug cartels as an excuse to pass an AWB.
We're being lied to about U.S. guns and Mexican cartels. Why?

and

Do U.S. government arms exports play a part in arming Mexican cartels?

I sometimes wonder if the guns that Mexico makes available for tracing are those that they know have a high probability of being of U.S. origin. Could they be standing "shoulder to shoulder" with Secretary Clinton to bring about more gun laws for you?

More Children and Guns

2009-04-01T19:58:00.000-07:00

Women of Caliber has Part 2 of Children and Guns ready for you. "The Myth of Gun Safety". Go read.

Slugs vs. Buckshot

2009-04-01T19:14:00.000-07:00

I was reading a thread at The Firing Line that asked the question, Do you use slugs or buck for home defense? It's one of those things that pops up on forums every couple of weeks, like "What caliber is the best stopper?" or "Would you use a Hi Point as your carry gun?"

Actually, Carteach0 did a post on this recently and like all of his posts, it's well worth reading. I'll tell you right up front that mine is loaded with 00 buck. But it was interesting to see what other folks used, so I thought I'd do the math. There were about 44 replies to the thread that expressed a preference. Breaks down like this:

Buck only (00-4) - 14
Slugs only - 7
Both Buck and Slugs - 19
Other (shot smaller than buck) - 4

I was a little surprised at how many people mix buckshot and slugs. It seems like for any given situation, either one or the other would be best. For my situation (indoors, short range) buckshot would probably work well. I can understand the appeal of a slug though. Some probably think that if 9mm is good, and .45 is better, then a by-gawd 1 ounce chunk of lead ought to be just a little below artillery.

I guess your ammunition choice is going to depend on where you expect to use your shotgun. Choose wisely.

Mexican Gun Canard tm

2009-04-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

The Armed School Teacher has a little different take on what he calls "The Mexican Gun Canard" ^tm

Am I the only one who remembers The Terrorist CanardTM? That was the proposition that Al Qaeda terrorists were coming to the United States to buy their weapons, since they could walk into any gun show, shout "Death to America!" for a 10% discount on admission and parking, and buy a truckload of "assault weapons" no questions asked.

It never made sense to me either.
Via Tam.

The Mexican Gun Problem

2009-03-30T08:55:00.000-07:00

Walls of the City has the latest run down on the “Mexican gun problem” and does a nice job of reminding us of the laws that already apply to this situation. If you look at secretary Clinton's statements made during her trip to Mexico, it's clear that more laws affecting people who, for the time being legally buy and sell guns, are in the works despite the fact that we already have laws that cover the illegal buying, selling and transportation of firearms.
As I said in a comment that I left at Walls of the City, the media is blurring the lines between legal and illegal commerce in firearms by not making a clear distinction between the two.
On Friday night Greta Van Susteren interviewed an ATF agent on her show on Fox News. Here's the video.

Notice that the ATF guy says that it's his job to “enforce the laws that we have”. Fair enough. The problem is, the administration would like very much to pass new laws that would have no effect on any illegal trafficking that is going on now. Those laws would place more restrictions on people who can legally buy and sell guns. This wasn't addressed in the interview, and I don't think that the average person would make the distinction.

Here's a comment from GretaWire.com:

“If any of you wondered why Greta provided Hillary a platform to rant about gun control this past week you shouldn’t be surprised as Greta’s lawyer husband is pro-gun control and has sued firearms companies. Her later follow up with an ATF official provided no proof of these allegations and only his guesses about the extent of the problem. I have little doubt that there are some weapons being smuggled into Mexico by the same drug smugglers who bring in illegal narcotics. This would be a non issue if only our government would seal the border and enforce laws already on the books. It is a shame to Fox News that Greta did no real fact checking into this matter nor did she provide a “fair and balanced” view from the other side. It appears that her own personal views and those of her husband got the best of her “journalistic” judgment. I would encourage her viewers to e-mail her, Fox News, and the sponsors of her show about this travesty. If that doesn’t work, boycott her show.”

I didn't know if the statement about Greta's husband was true or not, but it looks like it is. Her husband, John P. Coale, was involved in lawsuits against the firearms industry. From Echoes of Tobacco Battle in Gun Suits, New York Times, 1999:

"It looks like we'll have to litigate these things to judgment," said John P. Coale, a lawyer who was involved with the Castano group and who now represents New Orleans in its case against the gun makers.
And that, Mr. Coale said with a chuckle, reminded him of another difference between the firearms and tobacco industries. "They're armed," Mr. Coale said. "The cigarette people were never armed."

The bottom line is, once again the administration is making use of a “crisis” to push their agenda which will result in more restrictions on you and me, with no effect on the “crisis”, and as usual, the media is not giving people the whole story.

UPDATE: Fox News gets it right. The Myth of 90 Percent: Only a Small Fraction of Guns in Mexico Come From U.S.
From Say Uncle, Walls of the City and probably a bunch of others too.

Children and Guns

2009-03-28T19:54:00.000-07:00

WomenOfCaliber has begun a four part series of posts on Children and Guns. Part one is up. Want to Ensure Your Kid Never Commits a Gun Crime? GIVE Him a Gun.

Sounds crazy, but it’s true. Of course you would NEVER hear the media spout off such a statement, but in a GOVERNMENT study conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile and Delinquency Prevention revealed the following bit of valuable information.

Very good stuff. We need more of this to get into the mainstream consciousness.

Illegals and "Unemployement"

2009-03-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

Gerard Vanderluen has an interesting question to ponder.

Then I thought, "What happens to these men if we arrive at a point, in a recession, where there is a lot less work for them in their many millions? What happens when the American dream starts contracting from the edges and the extra cash that allows us to employ them starts to dry up? They won't be counted as 'unemployed' since they were never legally 'employable' in the first place. Where will they go? Back to a Mexico where a recession in the US will breed a depression in that 3rd World country? Unlikely. Their best shot would still be to stay here. But if they did, what would they do? And how many would there really be? And how hungry and desperate would they get?"

Good one.

Somebody Noticed

2009-03-27T20:29:00.001-07:00

that the White House's version of the Second Amendment is a bit different.

According to the Obama White House the Second Amendment GIVES us the right to bear arms. Gives us the right? Funny, I always thought it read “The right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” That’s a hell of a lot different of a meaning than give.

I wish more people would think like this.

See, if the government gives us the right to bear arms, then they can take it away. But if the right is inherent to us as an individual that has nothing to do with governmental authority and everything to do with our divine right as the founding fathers viewed it, then the government can do nothing that takes it away, and that is what this is all about - redefining what the Constitution is really saying.

It sure is.

Merlin Music

2009-03-27T14:44:00.000-07:00

Is there any internal combustion engine that sounds better than a Rolls Royce Merlin?

Česká Zbrojovka vzor 52

2009-03-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

That's CZ 52 for the rest of us. I got this one from Southern Ohio Guns last summer. It was advertised as very good condition and that's about right. You can see some holster wear on the finish. It's mechanically sound, although I haven't tested the decocker yet. More on that later. This one was made in 1954 and has no refurb marks on it. It does have the crossed swords Czech army acceptance mark. Of course, it's chambered for the 7.62x25 Tokarev. Occasionally 9mm barrels have been available for these.

The safety is on the left side and is very conveniently located for me. I have no problem sweeping it down to the fire position with my thumb. It has three positions: safe, fire and decock. The magazine release is not so convenient. It's located at the rear bottom of the grip and consists of a metal tab that's pushed back to release the magazine. Then you grab the mag and pull it out. No rapid reloads here. The sights are the typical military style of the period, that is to say, small. To make it a little easier to pick up the front sight I put a dab of white paint on the backside. Helps quite a bit.

I guess I've taken it to the range about 3 times since I got it, so I'm still trying to figure out how to shoot it. Someone on a forum said that the CZ 52 is ergonomically challenged, and I believe it. You can see from the pictures that it's a pretty slim gun, but the grip is rather long in the fore and aft direction. I tend to shoot low with it and I think it's because of the grip. I have to make a conscious effort to grip it as high as possible. Some folks have solved this with a Hogue slip on grip so I might give that a try.

It's a blast to shoot, literally. Pretty loud and the occasional muzzle flash. Ejection of the spent brass is fairly energetic. There are screens on each side of the shooting lanes at the range and I usually end up with brass everywhere. The last time I went the RSO was standing behind me and catching the brass as it bounced off of the screen and arced through the air. I've put about 200 rounds through mine using 3 different magazines, new and surplus, and have not had any malfunctions. So far I've only used Sellier and Bellot 85 grain ball and Wolf 85 grain jhp's. Magazines hold 8 rounds.

There are a couple of peculiarities to be aware of regarding this pistol. Aren't there always? The first and most important one is, don't trust the decocker. These are old guns and in many cases the parts may be worn, If the decock notch is worn on your pistol, then the decocker may act like a trigger. In that case, when you push the safety to the decock position the gun will fire. You can test it by dropping a pencil down the barrel and engaging the decocker. If the pencil moves, it's bad. The best advice is just don't use it.

The other mechanical weak point is the firing pin. If the gun is dry fired too many times, it can and probably will break. How many is too many? Who knows? When I got mine I went ahead and ordered a new firing pin and installed it because I had no way of knowing if the gun had been dry fired or how many times. Harrington Products makes a machined tool steel firing pin that is not only much stronger than the original, but will also lighten the trigger pull. They also make hardened locking rollers and extractors. Harrington Products is also a good source for general information on this pistol. The stock firing pin is shown below, not the Harrington firing pin.

Need more? Wolff Gunsprings offers magazine springs and recoil springs in 3 different weights. And J&G Sales has some nifty Hogue wood grips. Replacement parts are reasonably easy to find.

As far as the 7.62x25 cartridge, everyone likes to shoot it but there's always a debate on it's usefulness as a self defense round. It has quite a reputation as a penetrator, or over penetrator, depending on your point of view I suppose. Muzzle velocities seem to range between 1400 and 1600 fps. Brassfetcher.com has done some ballistic testing on the 85 grain jhp and 85 grain fmj so you can see for yourself. Surplus ammunition is widely available. Most folks agree that staying away from the Bulgarian surplus is a good idea if you can. I've seen Czech, Romanian and Polish surplus offered for sale.

For the money I spent for it I'm pretty happy with it. It's an old gun, so it lacks many of the features that a person would want in a modern defensive firearm like good sights and a modern mag release. But it's fun and cheap to shoot, and it seems to be very well made. I thought of selling it or trading it a couple of times, but I just can't quite bring myself to. For more information take a look at the Harrington Products site or any of the surplus gun forums in the links on the right.

Here's a video of a fast field strip/

Removable Mags For Your Mosin!

2009-03-25T14:06:00.000-07:00

The "no bubbas" crowd are going to pop an artery over this. Over on the SurplusRifle.com forums there is a thread by a guy who is attempting to make removable mags for Mosin Nagants.

“I am wondering if anybody is interested in removable clips for the mosin. I am just trying to get an idea of number of people who are interested. The gun will remain completely unharmed and the clips are an extension and are easily removable. I will be offering these soon. They will come in a variety of sizes from an extra 5 rounds to 30 if desired. I am estimating the price to be from 20 to 30 dollars ea. depending on length. There will also be quantity discounts for multiple mag. purchases. If you are interested or have questions, write a post or throw me an e-mail at J08248@aol.com. Thanks.”

Picture of the prototype:

Sort of looks like an M14 mag. Those in the know feel that the magazine needs to be curved in order to feed the rimmed 7.62x54r cartridge, like the Dragunov Sniper Rifle Mags shown below.

I don't know if he can pull this off, especially at the price point that he's talking about. It has generated some interest though so best of luck to him. What the heck, I'll take two ten rounders.

It's Good To Be A Cat...

2009-03-25T14:03:00.000-07:00

Because cats know what to do with a rainy day.

Free NRA Membership

2009-03-25T06:32:00.000-07:00

Apparently you can get a free one year membership in the NRA by going here and signing up. We'll see if it works. I'm still a bit skeptical, but if it's for real, great.

Found on Say Uncle

Protection For Me But Not For Thee

2009-03-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

This justs frosts me: Delegates want to bear arms without permits.

Walker pointed out lawmakers often deal with controversial matters that can set certain people off and provoke them to violent episodes.

“I don’t have a concealed weapon, and no desire to carry one,” he said. “But I do believe we have the right to bear arms. I’m a firm believer in that. If the situation would arise and somebody would threaten me, I would feel better if I didn’t have to wait nine or 10 weeks to get a permit. I could just pick up my pistol, put it in my car and drive down the road without the fear of being prosecuted if I was caught.”

Well, no kidding. Wouldn't it be great if we could all do that? Nice of them to want to extend that right to themselves but not their constituents. How many women living in abusive situations would like to able to legally arm themselves “without the fear of being prosecuted”? How many people who are working low paying jobs that include handling cash as part of their duties would “feel better if I didn’t have to wait nine or 10 weeks to get a permit”? There was an item on last nights local news concerning a 60-ish man who was beaten with a baseball bat outside a mall by four young people who wanted his wallet. I guess having money was one of those “controversial matters that can set certain people off and provoke them to violent episodes”.

But these guys don't want to carry all the time. Just when they need to. And who wants to get a permit just for that? In a way, I'm glad they “get it”. But it's disgusting that they see that need only as far as it concerns them.

Found it on Say Uncle.

12GA From Hell

2009-03-22T18:06:00.000-07:00

While looking around for some shotgun information I found this monster in a thread from 2003 on HuntChat.com.

Visiting back here to tell you folks about a project a few of us over on AR have completed.It is called 12GA From Hell(12Ga FH),First it is a long straight brass 12ga cartridge we made by putting rim on bmg brass and straightening case,Two fellas has put the cartridge in big Borchardt falling block actions, and I put mine in a Savage 210 bolt action, with long heavy barrel and heavy stock. In testing I got a 730 gr hard lead Dixie Terminator slug up to 2700 fps.Here is a picture of our case next to a regular plastic case,which we can also fire in our chambers..Ed

And here's a picture of an NEF shotgun chambered for the beast.

I picked up a 12ga NEF Ultra Slug gun. With 24 in shorty barrel. Added weight and thumbhole stock. Gun weighted to 15 lbs so far. I got 600gr hard slug to
1650-1700 so far, and shoots easy.

Even so, I'm sure the recoil is a bit stiff.

Failure To Eject

2009-03-22T17:53:00.000-07:00

Did a little searching on some forums today while trying to figure out the ejection problem on my NEF 12 gauge. I found this information:

What I have found is the pardner will eject Winchester AA shells without fail,but with some other brands with ribbed plastic hulls,it will sometimes not kick them clear of the chamber.I believe it is because the AA cases are so slick and do not swell much when fired,it might also be because the chambers in these cheap guns are often a little roughly finished.If you stick to using Winchester AA hulls that would be the easiest way to ensure reliable ejection.

So I think first I'll try a couple of different brands of ammunition, like Federal and Winchester. The reduced recoil loads are appealing, because even a 2 3/4 00 buckshot load produces a healthy kick in a light shotgun. I checked 4 or 5 websites looking for different buckshot loads, and for the most part, it is sold out everywhere. both 12 and 20 gauge.

If that doesn't solve it, then polishing the chamber is next. I noticed a couple of faint scratches on the brass of the fired shells that were approximately in the same place. Enough to prevent ejection? I wouldn't think so but maybe, at least with certain brands of ammunition. My 20 gauge NEF has no ejection problems with any ammo.

Range Trip

2009-03-21T16:55:00.000-07:00

They say a bad day at the range is better than...well, just about anything else you could be doing on a Saturday. I go to test that theory today. Of the three guns that we took, all three had some kind of malfunction.

First, number 2 sons Marlin model 60. It's a jam-o-matic. Sometimes it jams less than other times but it always jams. Today it jammed more than usual, so we just gave up on it.

Next was the Stevens66C. Long story short, it didn't feed. More on that in a minute. Number 2 just shot it as a single shot and he was quite happy with it. He shot it at 15 yards and 25 yards and he had to aim very low to get in the center. It's hard to tell with him shooting it but it seems to shoot fairly well. The real trouble began when we got home.

When I took the action out of the stock for cleaning I noticed that the magazine tube had slid forward and was very loose. Was this the cause of the feeding problem? Don't know but it seems likely. I removed the bolt and cleaned the barrel and when I tried to put the bolt back in, it just stopped. Wouldn't go all the way. I looked and looked and decided that two screws that poke up into the receiver were the problem. The screws hold the magazine guide in and also have small rounded tips that fit into grooves machined in the bottom of the bolt.

The baffling thing is that I have never fooled with the screws at all. Why are they a problem now? No amount of fiddling will get the bolt past those screws. The grooves in the bolt just barely miss the tips on the screws, but it's enough to keep it from going forward. Obviously something has changed somewhere, but I can't figure it out. I suppose I could remove some material from the tips of the screws but I don't really want to do that without knowing what changed. So that's a mystery for now.

Last but not least we have the short barreled NEF 12 gauge. I decided to take it along and shoot a few slugs through it. Can't shoot buckshot at the range. After the first shot I opened the action, the shell popped out about a quarter of an inch and stuck there. Took a pair of pliers to get it out. Tried one more, same thing. The Remington Sluggers I was shooting are at least a year old, maybe older. I don't know if it's the high base brass on these, or if it's just this ammo or what. As I recall, hunting loads ejected just fine. The brass on these really must have swelled up. I need to try that buckshot and see if it does the same thing. In the picture below you can barely see the extractor mark but it doesn't really show the bulging that well.

So we spent the rest of the time with number 2 shooting the 66C and me spotting his shots for him. He did pretty well considering the sights. And despite the problems, we really did have a good day at the range.

No Blog, Just Rant

2009-03-20T19:42:00.001-07:00

Haven't felt like blogging much lately. What follows is little more than a rant, something I try to avoid, but hey, a good rant cleans out the pipes sometimes. I've been watching this AIG bonus mess and frankly, I'm appalled. The last couple of days our Democratic Party overlords have been giving us an incredible display of hypocrisy and and incompetence. They are tripping all over themselves and can't even get their stories straight. As Glenn Reynolds says, “The country's in the best of hands.” And the solution? “Tax it!”

Nancy Pelosi thinks enforcing immigration laws is un-american. Rahm Emmanuel wants compulsory civil service. Eric Holder wants an “assault weapons” ban.

And Obama? Since January 20, my head has been spinning. I can't keep up with the bailouts and the spending packages. Billions here, a trillion there. Which bill? Which stimulus? Banks? Carmakers? Who can keep up? Insulting our allies, kowtowing to our enemies. Punishing our citizens in arms. Oh I know, he backed off of that one, but the fact that he floated the idea in the first place is...just incredible. Earmarks are bad. Wait, no, earmarks are good. More spending! Cut the deficit! Fix “global warming”...oh wait, I mean climate change, with a cap and trade program that will make energy prices soar and enrich the government.

Obama is not a leader. Obama seems to have no talent for running anything, much less the world's most powerful (for now) nation. Obama is most definitely not a uniter. So what is he? Some of us had a pretty good idea what he wasn't before the election. See above. But do we know what he is now? I still don't think there's a consensus. Socialist? He certainly seems to be that, and his background supports that idea. That's bad enough for me, but beyond that?

Whatever plan Obama and the Democrats have seems to have led only to chaos and confusion. But sometimes I wonder, what if chaos and confusion is the plan? This is real tinfoil hat stuff for me, so it's hard to put into words. But certainly such conditions leave a void to be filled by something. And if half the people in the country voted for this disaster, could they be duped into swallowing any solution our “leaders” deemed necessary? If history tells us anything, that could be so.

Bottom line, I don't like what I'm seeing, and I don't want to think that it's going where I think it's going, but if it walks like a duck... As Donald Sensing says, “I am left with nauseating near-conviction that I am a member of the last generation in the history of the world that is minimally truly free.”

"Red button" shamelessy ripped off from Western Rifle Shooters Association.

Stevens 66C

2009-03-18T17:29:00.000-07:00

Found some interesting stuff for the Stevens. I was looking at the Numrich ad in Shotguns News and they were advertising a “lifter” to fit a Savage 6A or 97A. The lifter is the part I've been calling the “rotating feed ramp”. It looked a lot like the one in the Stevens. I took a look at their website and somehow wound up on the parts list for the Savage model 76A. Looking at the parts diagram, many of the parts look exactly like the Stevens 66C parts. The lifter spring that they list looks like a dead ringer for the one that I thought I'd never find if I needed one. They even have a fancy triggerguard! So maybe I have a parts source.

The other item I've been thinking about is how to finish the metal. Since the gun was originally blued, this seems like the obvious choice. But hot bluing is out because of the expense, and cold bluing sounds pretty iffy. Apparently cold bluing is good for touch up, but not so great for bluing a whole gun. I lurked around some forums and it seems like most people had problems with streaking. And like most other types of bluing, a lot of polishing is necessary for a really good finish. The two products I was considering are Brownells Oxpho-Blue and Blue Wonder.

So assuming I don't go blue, that leaves painting. First choice here is Brownells Gun Kote if I can find a way to bake it (they say not to use momma's oven!) or Aluma Hyde II, which is an air dry epoxy based paint. I had thought about a gray parkerized color, but I think matte black would probably look better.

I can justify painting the gun because I'm trying to refurbish it, as opposed to restoring it. I want it to look good but I'll be happy with a good serviceable finish. Any thoughts?.

Teach Your Children Well

2009-03-18T17:23:00.000-07:00

I've seen a couple of posts lately (sorry, can't remember where) taking men to task for handing their wives, sweeties or significant others a heavy recoiling firearm and then stepping back to for a “Hey man, watch this!” moment. Not only do these morons get a kick out of embarrassing these ladies in front of their friends, they put it on YouTube so everyone can see how incredibly dumb they are. “See, I don't shoot no girls gun!” The posts that I saw gave these bozos the tongue lashing they so richly deserve, so I'll leave that alone.

There is another group of people though who are similarly abused. The kids. That's right, some fathers just can't resist forcing their youngster to have a go with the .500 Nitro Express. Or the 3 inch Magnum Turkey gun. Not the way to build a shooter.

Both of my sons started off with air rifles. Number 2 started when he was 5. When he was 9 he got his first trip to the range to shoot a .22. My older son followed approximately the same path. Last year, when I thought he was ready, and only when he said he was ready, number 2 shot some slugs out of the 20 guage. After the first one I asked him if he wanted to continue, and he said “Sure!” He's since shot my Mosin Nagant 91/30 a couple of times. He still favors his .22 though. When we go to the range I'll ask him if he wants to shoot one of the larger calibers and if he does, fine, if not, that's fine too. The point is, I don't make him do it.

When I was a kid I was with my Dad one Saturday while he ran some errands. We passed the gas station where my Dad bought gas (traded, as they used to say back then). They were having a turkey shoot out back so Dad stopped. We didn't have a gun with us so the owner let Dad borrow his Browning A model semi auto shotgun. You know, the one with the receiver that sticks straight up in the back. Well, I guess my arms were too short to get a good shoulder on it, and that receiver busted my lip wide open.

I don't think for a minute that Dad did that for the entertainment value. I'm sure he was kicking himself all the way home. And I don't remember my reaction, but I do know that the phrase “12 guage” filled me with awe for quite awhile after.

I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but if you want to teach a kid to shoot, bring 'em along slow. Nothing is less fun, even for an adult, than a gun that packs some painful recoil. Teaching your child to shoot is a privilege. Don't blow it so your buddies can get a laugh.

Postscript – If you're a female who wants to learn to shoot, or a male who wants to teach a female to shoot, Women of Caliber has a good post for you. What Not To Wear… when learning how to shoot a firearm

Women of Caliber

2009-03-16T18:07:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to add Women of Caliber to the link list. Here's a sample.

In Caitlin Kelly’s 2004 book, Blown Away: American Women and Guns, she points out that today’s women realize that they simply aren’t as well protected as they need to be. Their levels of knowledge and self-defense protection simply aren’t keeping up with the rate of violent crimes against women. Thus they are searching for more effective means of providing that necessary protection. Women today understand that the power of a competent marksman is a great equalizer against violent crime, and they are refusing to become the next victim statistic.

Check it out. And don't miss this post on the Mexican situation.
Via Say Uncle.

Shining Some Light On The Tennessean

2009-03-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

This Sunday's Tennessean has an opinion written by Mark Silverman, the Editor and Vice President of Content and Audience Development at the paper, announcing Sunshine Week.

“...it has everything to do with ensuring that government works in the open and that you are able to easily and affordably obtain information about government actions from local, state and national officials.”

Fair enough. Until we get to this:

“And just last week in Memphis, The Commercial Appeal reported that dozens of people convicted of robbery, assault and other crimes had received handgun permits. The newspaper could not have produced that story without access to state gun permit records.
“Yet, some legislators want to hide many records from plain sight — including handgun carry permits. Indeed, some legislators want to go so far as making it a crime to publish such information.
“A crime to publish a public record?
Excuse me, but isn't Tennessee still a part of America, where government acts on behalf of the people, and not part of a totalitarian state where government persecutes the public?”

Actually, as I'm sure Mr Silverman knows, they could have done that story without publishing the database of permit holders. If I understand correctly that information is available to any who ask for it and go through the procedure for getting it. The legislation is to keep people from doing irresponsible things with it once they have it. Like persecuting the public for the state's failure to properly issue permits to 0.22 percent of concealed carry permits in Shelby County by publishing the database of permit holders for the entire state.

Mr. Silverman probably knows this, because in 2007 the Tennessean published the database of concealed carry permit holders. You can see how that worked out for them.

Walls Of The City has done a great deal of good work in exposing the silliness at the Commercial Appeal, and if you haven't already, you should go there and read.

Postal Match

2009-03-15T13:05:00.000-07:00

From Billlls Idle Mind, which is a pretty good gun blog that you ought take a look at now and then, comes a link to a postal match schedule over at Mr. Completely.

I've never done a postal match before but they look like fun. No pressure. I guess you could shoot it as many times as you wanted to and send in your best target, as long as you followed the rules. No prizes, just bragging rights, as they say. This one is for handguns, but I've seen postal matches for air rifles, air pistols, shotguns with slugs (smoothbore and rifled) and probably just about anything else you can think of.

Count me in for April. Here's a link for the years worth of handgun matches.

Progressive Thinking On Concealed Carry

2009-03-14T11:40:00.000-07:00

This evening I was taking a look at some of the more “progressive “ websites produced in our fair city. I just knew I'd find some gun commentary, what with all of the proposed legislation that's going around our capitol these days, and indeed I did. The Nashville Free Press is apparently a bi-weekly newspaper and they had what I took to be an opinion piece on the proposed legislation allowing concealed carry in restaurants titled “A Little Gunfire On The Side?” It's a bit odd, and it has the smell of fiction about it. Supposedly they are interviewing some guy in a gun shop.

“...said a man named Jerry, who was visiting a local gun shop where we went for enlightenment, and who volunteered his views on the subject.”

A local gun shop? Which local gun shop? No matter,

“Big Jerry was on a roll. “

“Jerry” goes on to quote some standard lines that could have been picked up anywhere, including this gem:

“My wife and I, we’re very picky where we go. We can tell by looking into a place and seeing the type of people there, whether they might have guns. So we won’t go there…”

All of this sounds quite made up to me. The article goes on to identify State Senator Doug Jackson as the originator of the bill and then launches into a weird back-and forth Q and A quote battle between Jackson and a restaurant manager.

“Who’s to say that someone hasn’t been drinking beforehand?” was a question—one of many—posed by the manager of a well-known restaurant close by the gun shop. He (we’ll call him Frank) hadn’t heard about the proposed legislation, but an explanation of it set him going. “

Which well known restaurant? We'll call him Frank? How about Frank Fictitious? Anyway, let's see if we can answer Frank's questions. We'll start with the first one.

“Who’s to say that someone hasn’t been drinking beforehand?”

Well, nobody Frank. Why is this a problem now? How do you know that people haven't been having a few drinks then illegally arming themselves and coming down to your place for a bite to eat? Or maybe it's a drunk with a knife. Or maybe a vest filled with explosives and rusty nails. But you're worried about a responsible citizen who's bothered to legally arm him or herself.

“How many times have you been in a restaurant and people started shooting? What’s the point of having to have guns? I wouldn’t consider myself safer.”

Never, thankfully. But restaurant shootouts aside, some folks might want to carry their gun on the way to the restaurant. And once inside, if the worst happens, they may want to have options. And if you wouldn't feel safer, well, that's ok. It's not really about making you feel safe. That's your responsibility. I'll tell you what. If this bill passes, just post a big sign on your door that says THERE ARE NO GUNS IN HERE! That should make you feel safer. Don't know about your patrons though.

“We’ve had incidents, but not with weapons. I’ve had a gun pulled on me (not here), and it didn’t make me want to brandish one and shoot it out. Who’s to say you won’t hit the wrong person? It’s crazy. It’s OK to carry guns, but in this setting it’s hazardous to everybody’s health.”

So you've had a gun pulled on you, eh Frank? So have I. Didn't like it one bit. For a couple of spectacular seconds, my life was in the hands of a junkie with his finger on the trigger. No, I don't want to brandish a gun and shoot it out. I want to do everything I can to avoid that. But if I run out of options, I want to retain the right to defend myself. And hitting the wrong person? Well, there's such a thing as training Frank. Now I can't guarantee you that every permit holder is a crack shot, but did you know that the police shoot the wrong person more often than civilians do?

“When people plan to rob a bank, are they deterred by the security guard on the premises?”

Maybe some are. Some obviously aren't. But are you saying that if deterrence isn't enough to prevent a crime from occurring that you ought to just roll over and be a victim? A determined criminal is going to commit the crime. The question is, what will you do?

This (bill) is ridiculous and reaching at the same time. There are too many scenarios. “What if someone doesn’t pay their bill? I have to throw them out and they pull a gun. Do I have to be worried about doing my job? Will we have to breathalyze everyone? Will I need a valet for guns as well as coats? Will I have to assume that 400 people will act sanely all the time?
   “Do I have to have a gun to make my point? Do I have to relegate myself to the same behavior as the criminal?
   “This is a fear tactic. It’s being used to spread more guns.
   “Maybe servers should be able to carry guns? So they can retaliate when they’re under-tipped?”

Frank, you're trying my patience here. See the answer to number one. But there's something else going on here isn't there? You ask if you have to relegate yourself to the same behavior as the criminal. Now we're getting somewhere. Frank, you think that everyone with a gun is a criminal. You can't separate the object from the behavior. Do you know how many times every year that guns are used to defend people from criminal acts? A conservative estimate would be about 700,000 times annually. In the last statistics that I read, in only 2% of those defensive uses of a gun was the gun actually fired. Take your servers Frank. Do you hire the types of people that would commit violent acts when they're not happy with the tip? I don't really think you do, and passing out firearms wouldn't increase the odds one bit. It's the person Frank, not the gun.

At this point Frank Fictitious leaves the stage and the article concludes with

“If the urge to kill or maim isn’t quite a law of human nature, it ought to be, they(legislators – ed.) see, and so they would have us all go armed, everywhere—in restaurants, parks and playgrounds—and call it liberty. “

And there it is again. The idea that everyone who arms themselves is intent on killing and maiming. And liberty? Governments recognizing and expanding the right to defend oneself is indeed a symptom of liberty.

I don't think we'll change many minds at the Nashville Free Press, but maybe we've helped Frank out a little bit.

Going Postal

2009-03-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

The Firearms Blog has a great mailbox for the end of your driveway. I kind of like this one though.

Image from Life in the NoHoDome, where you can find more weird mailboxes.

Technology Growth

2009-03-12T08:18:00.000-07:00

I thought this was interesting. I don't know how they gathered the statistics that they present, but I've heard similar things before. As a parent I worry about the kind of world my kids will grow up in, but I'm also fascinated at the thought at the things they will see.

Found on American Digest.

Finishing Up The Shotgun

2009-03-11T17:41:00.001-07:00

In the picture above you can see the TruGlo Glo Dot II site I settled on for the short barreled NEF. Linoge at Walls of the City recommended it and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. Installing it is literally a snap in that it snaps on over the barrel. It has a slot in the front that is supposed to fit into an existing bead site so that it will be centered, but since I have no bead I just centered it by eye. It takes alot of effort to move it, so I'm sure it would take a pretty good whack to get it out of position. It's a good alternative to drilling and tapping for a bead if you've shortened your barrel.

This particular gun has always been a little on the hard side to open and close. After loosening the screw that holds the fore end on, the action worked quite easily, so I thought the fit might be a little tight.In the picture below you can see the plastic spacer between the receiver and the fore end. I took a half round file and removed some material on the end next to the receiver. I replaced the fore end and it was much easier to work. I probably could have accomplished the same thing by removing the spacer and shaving a little wood of off the fore end. I also greased the pivot pin.

The part that didn't go so well was touching up the blue with a touch up pen. I cleaned the end of the barrel with alcohol and let it dry, then applied the blue with the pen. I let it dry for an hour or so and the wiped the barrel down with a little Rem Oil. Took every bit of the touch up right off. Maybe I didn't let it dry long enough, or maybe it just doesn't like oil. I'll try it again and let it dry longer this time. If it doesn't work this time I guess I'll just keep it oiled.

All I have to do now is shoot it!

Quote Of The Day

2009-03-11T14:40:00.000-07:00

From The Return Of Scipio, a well that I draw from often.

Like young fools of every clime and every age I experimented with all that caught my eye. I can sum it up by simply stating that I survived. I also learned, but the cost was exorbitant and I continue to pay it to this very day. I got my money’s worth though.

So true. The quote comes from a post on Angels and Demons, a sequel to the DaVinci Code. Catholics take note.

Poop to Power?

2009-03-11T06:40:00.000-07:00

Fox news right now - Representative Moore (D-/Wisconsin) is defending a $500,000 earmark for studying the possibility of turning waste of some sort into electricity. She calls it "poop to power". I kid you not.

Uh huh. More like, here's some poop, now give me the power.

War On Poverty?

2009-03-09T14:36:00.001-07:00

From Captain And A Crew Of One:

I believe we won the war on poverty long ago. When people like Sharon Jasper who can live on welfare and food stamps their entire lives, have big screen TV's and complain that "it's pitiful what people give you"...we have thoroughly defeated poverty in this country. When the poorest of the poor have cars with spinny wheels and cell phones...we have thoroughly defeated poverty. When people on food stamps can afford to buy better, more expensive cuisine than those of use who finance those food stamps through our taxes...we have thoroughly defeated poverty.

On the money Cap.

Targets

2009-03-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

I had to laugh out loud when I saw this picture of the Teletubbie target. It's from a very fine post, Targets Of Opportunity, on Brigid's very fine blog, Home On The Range (guns and food!). Her post describes all of the different types of targets that you might find useful or entertaining to practice your skills with.

The range that I go to now is paper targets only. You can't even use a silhouette target there. It might offend someone. As one of the RSO's said, “Hey, it wasn't our idea.” I used to have a place close to the house where we could go and shoot anything we wanted to, but it's been turned into a park.

I don't get to the range nearly as often as I'd like to anyway but I still get to use targets of opportunity right in my own backyard. I just use an airgun, either rifle or pistol. I can shoot at distances up to 50 yards, but usually 40 yards is about as far as I get. I'm too lazy to drag the picnic table/shooting bench another 10 yards back. I have target stands at 25 and 40 yards.

Now when I shoot the airguns, I shoot plenty of paper targets because that's the best way to see your results. You can make little changes in your technique or equipment and tell right away if it's beneficial or not. But after awhile it can get old. After all, if you're aiming for the ten ring and you miss the ten ring, even by a whisker, it's still a miss. So before I get frustrated, I pull out the 3D targets.

These can be just about anything you can find. We have a set of airgun sized steel silhouettes that we use occasionally but there's plenty of other stuff that works just as well. Old shotgun shells (fired of course) centerfire cartridge cases (rifle and pistol sizes), old toys, you name it, it can be a target. Water filled drink cans are a favorite with the kids.

Need more challenge? Use a smaller target or move it farther away. There's a game called Mini-Sniping that uses a set of five 9mm cases set out at 25 yards. You will have to consider wind when shooting these. Once I put up a toy pickup truck (about six inches long) at 40 yards. The shot was to put a pellet through the window. I didn't get the window, but I did get the door and the front wheel! Sometimes we use clay pigeons at 30 yards for the younger shooters, as they are pretty easy to hit with a scoped airgun and they are a real confidence booster.

So if you're shooting a lot of paper targets and maybe feeling a little stale, add some variety. Use fun targets, change distances, make it a challenge. I'll bet you're a better practical shot than you think you are. Besides, who doesn't like to shoot something that spins, falls over, or explodes once in a while?

And if you can't get to the range as often as you'd like to either, try an airgun. It's a good way to keep your head in the game without a big outlay of time or money.

Stevens 66C

2009-03-08T18:48:00.000-07:00

I had a chance to fool around with the Stevens this weekend and got it to function. It's not as smooth as I'd like but it does work. I blasted the action with Gun Scrubber and brushed out a few areas then applied a little Rem Oil. At first it wouldn't work. Wouldn't feed the cartridge. It exited the magazine tube in a nose down position. I got to looking at a spring on the "feed ramp" and thought it might be out of position. Sure enough, it was. Sliding it back over the "tab" did the trick. It's still not as smooth as I'd like, but maybe when I take it all the way apart I can polish it a little to smooth it up.

I suppose the spring could relocate itself again. If it does, maybe filing a little notch to retain it would work. I hope the spring is ok, because I don't know where I'd get another one.

And this is what's suppose to happen, and indeed does happen now. Feel free to blast me for using a live round to function check, but I just didn't have anything else.

There is one more problem. When I drop a round down the magazine tube, sometimes it hangs at an opening in the tube. The opening is in the same position as the threaded lug for the action screw. Giving the rifle a shake as you drop the round down will usually work, but I can't figure out why it's hanging up there. I tried it with the action in the stock and it still hung up a little, but not too bad. In the picture below you can see exactly where it's getting caught.

And last but not least, the lug on the inner tube will not clear the notch on the outer tube when closing it up. It seem like alot of tube magazines do this for some reason. I'm sure a little careful filing will take care of this.

So now I guess it's off to the range to see how it works and shoots. If it does even reasonably well, I'll go ahead and refinish it. I'm thinking of using either Dura Coat or Brownells Aluma Hyde in a gray parkerized color for the metal. Just for fun I'd like to try and find a military trigger guard, like from a Krag or something and inlet it into the stock. The guard that's on there now is just a piece of steel bent into shape and it's the cheapest looking part on the gun. That'll give me a good excuse to rummage around in parts boxes at gun shows. Weaver makes a side mount scope rail and rings that will fit. Top it with a cheap scope and we're done. Might make a neat little plinker.

John Stossel Links Gun Control to Higher Crime Rates

2009-03-06T13:41:00.000-08:00

Do you have any friends or relatives who still aren't convinced that more gun control equals more crime? Show them this.

In fact, as my own state representative, Mike Stewart, prepares to

focus on gun issues that I think have a direct real impact on people's lives."

maybe he ought have a look too.

Need more? Pax Parabellum offers a link to CCW Saves Lives, where you can see many instances of law abiding citizens protecting themselves with firearms. And don't forget Clayton Cramer's Civilian Gun Self-Defense Blog either.

Essay Of The Week

2009-03-06T08:05:00.000-08:00

"Metal And Wood"

See the elderly lady sitting in a lawn chair watching the fourth of July parade. Three flags carefully folded some forty years ago into triangles now rest in her lap - one for each lost son. Ask her if those flags are mere cloth, I dare you.

Look at the old man quietly crying, leaning against the Iwo Jiima Memorial at Arlington Cemetery. As he turns to you, smiles with some embarrassment, and says in a choked whisper, "I was there." Ask him, "Is it just metal and clay?" Ask him. I dare you.

The Wall. My God, the Wall. See the young man lightly tracing the name of his father there inscribed. Ask him if its just rock. Ask him. I dare you.

Read it all.

Via Scipio.

Gun Nuts Run Amok!

2009-03-05T18:07:00.000-08:00

From The Nashville Scene viaPostPolitics,
Gun Nuts Triumph Again in House Committee

In the latest episode of our continuing "Gun Nuts Run Amok" series, the House Judiciary Committee could hardly wait this morning to pass legislation to let licensed gunmen travel freely in our state parks and wildlife refuges.

Gunmen? Don't women carry too?

Update: A House subcommittee has just passed the guns-on-playgrounds bill.

Guns-on-playgrounds? Oooooh, yeah. Parks.

And State Representative Mike Stewart (D-Nashville) chomes in:

"Now I do think the proliferation of handguns in my district, particularly used by juvenile offenders, is a massive social problem, and I'm going to spend a lot of time trying to address that. I think you have to pick your battles. I intend to focus on gun issues that I think have a direct real impact on people's lives."

Mike I've lived in your district for 27 years. I would like to see you focus on crime issues. When legislators "focus on gun issues", everyone but the criminals gets, ahem, impacted.

Bullpup Shotgun

2009-03-05T17:55:00.000-08:00

While I was looking for information on High Standard/J.C. Higgins shoyguns. I came across this. It's a High Standard model 10b police shotgun.

Here's another picture from The Firing Line.

It kind of reminds me of a Hi Point carbine.

From The Children At The Tennessean

2009-03-04T08:37:00.000-08:00

The Tennessean's opinion column today deals with the proposed legislation affecting carry permit holders in our state. Specifically, the proposed legislation allows carry in restaurants that serve alcohol, carry in wildlife management areas, carry in state parks and making gun-carry permit records confidential. Naturally, the paper's editorial staff is against the legislation, and they make the same tired arguments that have been proven false, over and over again, for years. I won't bother to address them here as they have been ably dealt with in their comments. I won't link to it either; you can find it easily enough if you'd like.

But the editorial did present one new totally astonishing idea. It's so fresh, so innovative that I am compelled to share it with you.

"If lawmakers can pass laws that guarantee gun carriers will always make perfect decisions, that guns will never be mishandled, that guns will never get into the wrong hands, that guns will never endanger an innocent bystander or that guns will never harm a child, perhaps the package of gun bills would make some sense."

The whiny, childish immaturity of that statement is absolutely mind boggling. Can they really believe that? If that's all it takes, why don't lawmakers pass some laws that guarantee that everyone will always make perfect decisions, thereby guaranteeing perfect safety? I'll tell you why not. Any mature, thinking person knows that it's simply not possible.

If the statement above accurately reflects the thinking of the Tennesseean's editorial staff, then their concept of safety in a free society is terribly distorted. They are trying to sell an idea of safety that is not possible in any society. They are willing to squash your right to defend yourself and your liberty in order to sell that idea.

You see, the only way for those staff writers to attain that perfect safety is to lock themselves in a room and have someone else be responsible for providing them with food and the other necessities of life. Gee, that sounds kind of like jail doesn't it? But that's not really what they want, is it? No, they want to remove your right to defend yourself so that they can enjoy their liberty in the way that they think they're entitled to enjoy it. Their personal safety is somebody else's problem.

Liberty is not safe. It's not safe to attain, not safe to keep, and it's not safe to lose it.

Let's rework that quote a little.

If lawmakers can pass laws that guarantee that the Tennessean will always make perfect decisions, that they will never mishandle the truth, that a keyboard will never get into the wrong hands, that the Tennessean will never mislead an innocent bystander or that children will not grow up thinking that stupidity will never harm them, perhaps the package of pulp known as the Tennessean would make some sense.

Comrades! (for real)

2009-03-03T18:10:00.001-08:00

A few days ago I posted something called Commissar Reveals Plans For New Convention Center which was supposed to be a Soviet style humorous take on some of the weasly stuff surrounding Nashville's proposed Convention Center II. But tonight I'm reading Jammie Wearing Fool and come across this quote from Obama:

"We’re also making it easier for Americans to see what projects are being funded with their money as part of our recovery. So in the weeks to come, the signs denoting these projects are going to bear the new emblem of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," Obama said. "These emblems are symbols of our commitment to you, the American people -- a commitment to investing your tax dollars wisely, to put Americans to work doing the work that needs to be done. So when you see them on projects that your tax dollars made possible, let it be a reminder that our government -- your government -- is doing its part to put the economy back on the road of recovery."

The Commissar thinks that's pretty good for an amateur, but not quite "transparent" enough. Let's try this again BO.

"We’re also making it easier for Workers to see what projects are being funded with their money as part of our Glorious Socialist Recovery. So in the weeks and years to come, the signs denoting these projects are going to bear the new emblem of the Socialist Recovery and Reinvestment Act," Obama said. "These emblems are symbols of The People's Democratic Party's commitment to you, the Worker -- a commitment to investing your tax dollars in a way that The Party knows is best for you, to put Workers to work doing the work that needs to be done. So when you see them on projects that your tax dollars made possible, let it be a reminder that Our Party -- your government -- is doing its part to put the Party back on the Glorious Road of Recovery."

Now then. That's more like it.

J.C. Higgins .410

2009-03-03T13:35:00.000-08:00

Pictured above is a J.C. Higgins .410 Shotgun. My Dad bought it new from Sears. The way I understand it, it was made by High Standard and is the same as their Flite King K-4111. It was made somewhere between 1962 and 1965. Value is from $100.00 to $150.00. It's in at least Very Good condition. The action is kind of sticky, but that might be because to the best of my knowledge, it's never been apart. The only cleaning it's ever received is scrubbing the bore after shooting and wiping it down. I'll bet it doesn't have 300 rounds through it. In fact, I still have a box of paper .410 shells somewhere. We shot some slugs with it last spring.

I found a manual for it online but the site where I got it is no longer offering manuals. Luckily I printed it out and saved the file. Now that I know how to take it apart it'll get that long overdue attention. By the way, this site has information on all High Standard models.

I'm trying to figure out what to do with it. It doesn't have a great deal of value, but it is a nice looking gun. I like to shoot slugs so I thought about maybe drilling and tapping the receiver for a scope mount, but beyond that I don't know.

If it was yours, what would you do with it?

Brownells Gun Tech

2009-03-03T13:28:00.000-08:00

You probably already know about this, but the other day while looking for some stuff on Brownells' web site, I took a look at their Gun Tech pages.
There are a lot of how-to articles, videos and the like. Good stuff. Check it out.

England Yeserday and Today

2009-03-02T06:10:00.000-08:00

I'm reading a book called With British Snipers To The Reich by a Captain C. Shore. It was published in 1948 and is an interesting read, not only for it's historical value, but because Captain Shore is highly opinionated on the subject of training techniques in the British military of the time as well as the techniques and equipment of his adversaries.

The following quote I found interesting though. Captain Shore is speaking of attitudes of the day regarding firearms.

"Of my beloved P 14 which accompanied me on the Great Adventure on June 5th, 1944 I can speak with real affection, tempered with a great regret that orders being such as they were I could not find it possible to bring the rifle back with me when I left Germany in late January 1946. I would willingly have paid £20 or £30 for it, but there was no chance of purchase. Even in England, in 1943, when I wished to purchase a service rifle no one, and I contacted many parties, appeared to have any idea whatsoever of the method of procedure necessary for a serving soldier to purchase a service rifle, and I was looked upon in the light of an eccentric for having the temerity to make such a request.

Throughout, and particularly after the cessation of hostilities, I was greatly incensed by the way in which any man being a red-hot firearms enthusiast was looked upon as a potential criminal. Surely an assessment of whether a man is a fit person to possess firearms (no matter how great the number) that man's service record should be a reliable, and indeed the sole, guide. But everyone was treated alike and, as is the way in these matters, one can safely wager that the “suspect” types were they who got their weapons home, and the real firearms-conscious, reliable people were unsuccessful. To ban all firearms because it may give rise to “murder potential” is ridiculous. Men, or women, seeking to murder will not stop because there are no firearms handy. One may as well ban all knives, table and otherwise, and pokers – and string!"

Aren't the English trying to ban knives now?

Home Defense Shotgun

2009-03-01T19:14:00.000-08:00

I've had a New England Firearms 12 gauge shotgun for a number of years now. Since I don't really hunt anymore it's been a “beside the bed” shotgun for the last several years. The original barrel length was 28 inches which was a bit awkward for the confines of the house. I've wanted to shorten the barrel for awhile, but I was a little reluctant to tackle it. I can butcher something pretty badly when I set about making “improvements”.

The other day I happened on a post on Xavier Thoughts about shortening a barrel and it sounded pretty easy so I decided to put it off no longer. If you're contemplating such a project I suggest that you read his instructions carefully, especially the part about measuring before cutting. I decided to make mine 18 and three quarters inches, just for a little extra margin of safety. Xavier recommends doing the job with a tubing cutter and I thought "Hey, I have one of those!". I measured (twice, three times) made my mark and started cutting.

All went well at first. I was making progress, slow but steady. After a while the cutter started making funny squeaking noises so I removed and checked the blade. Dull as could be. Did I mention that this was a cheap tubing cutter? Fine for copper pipe but for steel shotgun barrels, not so much. So off I go to the hardware store to get another one. They had two kinds. Cheap and expensive. I knew better but I bought the cheap one thinking that it might just survive long enough to finish the job. I must not have had too much confidence in it because I bought some fine tooth hacksaw blades as well.

The new cheap tube cutter lasted all of five minutes. Now let me say right here that if I had bought a good heavy duty cutter with replaceable cutting wheels, I'm sure all would have been fine, but I didn't so it was time to resort to the saw. I had actually read of a method for cutting barrels where you start the cut with a tube cutter and then finish with a hack saw. After you make a shallow cut with the tube cutter, you finish it off by making many small cuts, a little at a time as you work your way around the barrel. Wrap the good side of the barrel with a thick layer of masking tape right next to the cut because the saw will jump out of the cut at first and scratch the barrel.

So I hung one of those fine tooth blades on my saw. A fine tooth blade will make a smoother cut right? Well it might, if it lasted long enough to get all the way through. Or if you had about 300 of them. I dulled both of the new ones in a few short minutes. Ok, into the tool box for a used 18 tpi blade. That did the trick. Took about 10 minutes. Whew!

It came out pretty square initially. I padded the barrel and put it in a vice and filed across the muzzle, moving around the barrel every few strokes. It didn't take much time to get it square. Next I filed a very slight bevel on the outside of the new muzzle, just enough to smooth the edge. Then I took a half round jewelers file and worked around the inside of the muzzle for a smooth edge there. Checked it with a square one more time and pronounced it good. Finished up with some emery paper for a bit more smooth.

The difference in the feel of the gun is remarkable. It's handy and fast. You can move about without banging it into a door frame. Of course the proof is in the shooting so I'll be interested to see how it patterns with various buckshot loads at home defense distances. I still have to touch up with some cold blue, and I need to drill and tap for a new bead sight. Or do I? I may get one of these and attach it with some LocTite Black Max adhesive. I question the durability of glueing a sight on, but Brownells recommends the Black Max adhesive for just that purpose. Tempting.

If you have an older long barreled shotgun that you don't value too highly and you want to use for home defense duty you may want to try this yourself. Just remember, measure carefully. 18 inches is the legal limit. Any shorter than that and you're looking at jail time. Leave yourself some margin for error. If you use the tube cutter method, get a good one with replaceable cutting wheels. I have no doubt this would be easier than sawing.

All in all, an enjoyable project for a rainy Saturday morning. I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

Corker Voted To Confirm Eric Holder

2009-03-01T18:36:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I'm a little late on this. Is he in favor of an "Assault Weapons" Ban as well?
Guess I'll have to ask him. He just got a big fat F in my grade book.

More On The Ammo Shortage

2009-02-28T19:38:00.001-08:00

Via Instapundit Bob Owens tells us why "Skyrocketing demand has been emptying the shelves of America's gun stores."

Shortages of ammunition and firearms can be expected to continue for as long as it appears our overreaching federal government is a threat to our individual liberties, our economy continues to falter, and our police agencies keep militarizing.

It’s going to be a long ride.

Stock up while you can.

Yep.

Is There Anything You Can't Put on an AR-15?

2009-02-27T18:13:00.001-08:00

And only $449.95!

A Dog's 10 Commandments

2009-02-26T19:12:00.000-08:00

From Xavier Thoughts, A Dog's 10 Commandments. My favorite,

10. On the ultimate difficult journey, go with me please. Never say you can't bear to watch. Don't make me face this alone. Everything is easier for me if you are there, because I love you so.

I had to do that a few years ago. One of the worst days of my life. That dog, Buck, grew up with my oldest son. I have to tell you my favorite story about him.

I was working nights, so I was also sleeping a little late in the morning. My wife woke me up to tell me that she was leaving to take our son to school, and that she had just made 10 fried apple pies and they were cooling on the kitchen counter. She left, and I guess I drifted off to sleep again. The next thing I knew, the bedroom door slammed open, and I heard my sweet wife saying "Get up, G*dd***it! Your d**n dog ate every one of those fried pies!"

It was true. Now Buck was a good sized dog, a shepherd mix, but even he would have had to stretch a little to get all 10 of those pies down in a few short minutes. It was quite awhile before he had access to the kitchen again. Secretly, I had to admire his initiative.

He was a good one.

The Gospel According To John (Moses Browning)

2009-02-26T06:55:00.000-08:00

I should've posted this on his birthday, but better late than never.

1 In the beginning was the 1911, and the 1911 was THE pistol, and it was good. And behold the Lord said, "Thou shalt not muck with my disciple John's design for it is good and it workith. For John made the 1911, and lo all of his weapons, from the designs which I, the Lord, gave him upon the mountain."

2 "And shouldst thou muck with it, and hang all manner of foul implements upon it, and profane its internal parts, thou shalt surely have malfunctions, and in the midst of battle thou shalt surely come to harm."

Read the rest here.

On The Money

2009-02-25T05:59:00.000-08:00

Naked Stevens 66C

2009-02-24T19:17:00.001-08:00

Well, here it is with the stock removed.

The magazine tube that I've been fretting over so much fits pretty well. I don't know what kind of gun it came off of but it fits almost as if it were made for it.

The mag tube slides over the other tube that is part of the receiver. It seems like the cartridge would get hung up but the narrowed section in the tube must prevent that. You can see the lug that takes the "stock mounting" screw (there's only one). Well, there's a small oval shaped hole in the magazine tube that lines up with the threaded hole for the screw. Weird. Like I said, almost like the tube was made for this rifle. Maybe back then they used a universal style of mag tube. I was concerned about how I was going to secure the tube to the receiver but it looks like it may have been a press fit. I don't see any evidence of anything having been permanently attached, and then broken off. Best I can remember, it came to our family minus the magazine tube.

Here's the bracket that supports the front of the tube. There's a little play here. The I.D. of the bracket is a little larger than the O.D of the tube. I was going to shim it, but maybe it's not enough to worry about, especially if the tube is just press fit to the receiver.

Here's the trigger end. Not sure what the spring loaded adjustment screw at the back is for. Couldn't be over travel could it? The trigger itself has alot of side to side wobble. Don't know how hard that would be to tighten up.

Last but not least, here's the part that was keeping the bolt from going all the way in. For lack of a better term, I call it the "pivoting feed ramp". Could be that it just needs a good clean and oil to loosen it up, but I'm afraid the spring might be weak. We'll just have to try it out. I'm going to try some Gun Scrubber and compressed air, followed by a little oil in the right places, then see how it functions. If all goes well, we'll proceed with the cleanup.

You may be wondering about the condition of the bore. Well, so am I. Frankly, I'm terrible about judging a bore's condition. To me, the rifling looks a little weak. Doesn't look pitted, but it's hard to tell. Just have to see how it shoots. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to cut a little off of the barrel and re-crown.

First Sign Of Spring

2009-02-24T15:07:00.001-08:00

Found this in the yard today.

For winter's rains and ruins are over,
And all the season of snows and sins;
The days dividing lover and lover,
The light that loses, the night that wins;
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten,
And in green underwood and cover
Blossom by blossom the spring begins.

Algernon Charles Swinburne

Commissar Reveals Plans For New Nashville Convention Center

2009-02-20T17:01:00.000-08:00

Comrades! Your help is needed! You may have heard “Times are hard”! As they are for you, so they are for your city! Revenues are down! Costs are up! Our roads are potholed! Our schools are failing! We have too many coffee shops!

Comrades! It is well known that the bourgeois middle class has fled our city, taking their offspring and their running dog lackeys with them to the surrounding counties! Let them go! Who needs them? May their dreams of better schools and lower taxes be shattered! But Comrades, they have stolen our tax revenue! They have put us between, as they say, a rock and a gulag!

Comrades! Your leaders are working day and night to solve this problem! But do not believe me! See for yourself! As we speak, they are huddled with developers and their lobbyists at the Gerst Haus, slamming back “Fishbowls of Creativity”, all for you Comrade!

Comrades! Your leaders have succeeded! Together we will build a new “Convention Center”! The old one is paid for anyway! You have seen the success of the Stadium of Football Heroes on the banks of the Vol...um, Cumberland River! You have heard the stories of the Glorious Hall of Hockey (our national sport, no?)! You have seen the benefits these have brought to you, the Worker!

Comrades! We will lure the bourgeois capitalists conventioneers to our city to spend their rubles! It is well known that they cannot resist the Pink Feathered Cowboy hat! They will flock to Comrade Tootsie's, to be lulled by the People's Honky Tonk Music, so that they can spend with no thought of tomorrow! Comrades, at last, Downtown will be revitalized!

Comrades! I hear some of you asking “How will we pay for this”? Do not worry, this is the best part! By raising the hotel tax, we will trick the yankee capitalist pirates into paying for it them selves! We know that they are wealthy and will come no matter how bad the economy is! And how much is it, you ask? 430 million! Wait, that was a couple years ago...600 million...no, that was last year. Let's see, it's 2009...700 million!

Comrades! Never mind!

Comrades! Think of the opportunity! Many jobs will be created for you and your children! But be smart! You will have to compete with many others from Workers Paradises' around the globe who will no doubt race here to share in the wealth! Learn how to make those hospital corners now!

Comrades! Do not be disappointed if property taxes rise! Do not be discouraged if schools never have enough! Do not complain when your water bill increases! These are but bumps on the Road of the People's Progress! Grumblers are everywhere! Do not listen to their sour words! Shout them down with patriotic cries of “Smart people have looked at this”! Do not let them cast doubt on our Plan!

Comrades! Together we will build a Glorious ~~Convention Center~~ Future!

Linkage

2009-02-20T10:39:00.000-08:00

Since I don't seem to be too inspired to write much of anything I thought this might be a good time to catch you up on some weekend linkage.

First, if there is anyone left out there who hasn't seen it, I highly recommend Tamara K.'s View From The Porch which features biting commentary on current events and gun stuff. For instance,

"She just wants the guy who blinded her to be blinded in return.

Me? I'd be asking for five minutes alone in a room with him. Just me, and him... and a claw hammer. Five minutes can be a long time."

Tam also has another blog, The Arms Room, which as you might guess, focuses mainly on the objects of our passion. Older firearms mainly. Lots of good reading there. Honestly, I don't know how she finds the time. I'm doing well if I post a link to something else every couple of days, much less write anything.

Tam also provided a link to this blog, Will's Workbench. Will is apparently attending Pennsylvania Gunsmith School and posting about the experience. For those of us who think that maybe in a parallel universe we might have been highly skilled gunsmiths, it should be a good read.

Carteach0 has a post on "A Remington 870 built for home defense". We do know that a 12 gauge shotgun is the ultimate home defense weapon, right? Looks like there might be some other good stuff on there as well, including some defensive shooting drills.

Back to gun rights and current events we have She Draws Him Like a Gun. Timely comments with just a dash of snark, as you can see:

"I guess I didn’t know just how benevolent the L.E. apparatus was in Norfolk, VA. This was merely a highly complex legal issue involving public/private hybrids, well beyond the grasp of “big men on the internet”. It appears that I have been caught constructing an elaborate conspiracy theory that rivals Garrison’s JFK case. So I would like to alert all of you simpleton gun freaks who might see this to just accept that this was over your head and just accept that Norfolk P.D. had no ill will, Bernie Pishko was just handling a property matter, so all of you go back to your bunker, sit down and shut up….and no big talking on the internet forums either."

I like snark, I just don't do it well.

Last but not least we have Dirt Rhodes Scholar with a must read titled "THE FIRST FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF CONSTITUTIONAL INTERPRETATION: YOUR RIGHTS DON’T COME FROM GOVERNMENT". I'd say the title speaks for itself. You may want to bookmark this one.

So that should give you plenty to think about this weekend. Keep your powder dry, and we'll see you on the other side.

Hmmm...

2009-02-18T19:56:00.000-08:00

From Say Uncle again, a little crystal ball gazing:

Swami Evan looks into his crystal ball and what does he see as the most immediate threat to gun owners? It is NOT the anti-gunners "dancing in blood" of Blair Holt to push for national gun licensing and other extreme measures. It is NOT the renewal of the failed 1994 Assault Weapon Ban. It is NOT even the McCain-backed "Gun Show Loophole" fix.

I certainly hope he's wrong, but I've been saying that alot lately. Is it just me, or does it seem like we are always on the defensive, reacting to every new rumor of action on the part of the gun-grabbers? "They're gonna do this", or "they might do that". Any way that we could be a little more pro-active, so that they have to say "They're gonna do this", or "they might do that"?

Interesting Mosin Nagant

2009-02-18T19:37:00.000-08:00

I saw this interesting Mosin Nagant 91/30 modification on Gun and Game Forums.

Now some people get pretty upset if you modify a surplus rifle. They call it a "bubba". I'm sort of split on the issue. An original rifle just reeks of history, and I enjoy shooting an original just for that reason. Of course most Mosins available these days were re-arseneled so they're not original in the truest sense of the word. But on the other hand, I imagine alot of Mauser actions are running around in sporter stocks, giving their owners a great deal of enjoyment.

It's different anyway. If you take a look at the thread, the owner has a few other mods planned. Makes me want a Huber Concepts trigger for mine.

More Please

2009-02-17T15:39:00.000-08:00

From Say Uncle:

House shoots down federal gun controls

Montana lawmakers fired another shot in battles for states’ rights as they supported letting some Montana gun owners and dealers skip reporting their transactions to the federal government.

Under House Bill 246, firearms made in Montana and used in Montana would be exempt from federal regulation. The same would be true for firearm accessories and ammunition made and sold in the state.

Any Tennessee lawmakers want to step up?

Update

Looks like someone already has.

AR-15 Build

2009-02-17T14:42:00.000-08:00

Sailorcurt is building an AR-15. I know for sure that at least 50% of my readers have considered doing this lately. Be sure and read this too.

One Drink An Hour

2009-02-16T16:15:00.000-08:00

From Sharp As A Marble comes a story about new proposed legislation in New Hampshire. He also gets the coveted Quote of the Day Award:

I've come to the rather nasty realization that I prefer actual terrorists to our own government. "Submit or die!" is comprehensible and defensible against. Failing to fight against that is a self correcting problem. "Submit for your own good or we'll make more laws to make you submit for your own good" is the exact opposite. Failing to fight against that just leads to more of the same.

Tocqueville and the state of the State

2009-02-16T06:51:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend I engaged in a lttle back and forth in the comments at Walls Of The City. Linoge, the owner of that excellent blog not only endured my prattle, but posted some thoughtful responses. The subject was the stimulus bill, it's consequences for America, what to do about it. In looking around, I see that we are not the only ones having this conversation.

It's difficult to propose a solution for anything if you have only a vague understanding of the problem. Well, I found a link on Instapundit that goes a long way towards lifting the fog. Micheal Leeden at Pajamas Media has written an excellent post called "We’re All Fascists Now II: American Tyranny" I suggest that you read it several times.

"Most Americans no longer read Alexis de Tocqueville’s masterpiece, Democracy in America, about which I wrote a book (Tocqueville on American Character; from which most of the following is taken) a few years ago. What a pity! No one understood us so well, no one described our current crisis with such brutal accuracy, as Tocqueville."

Using quotes from Tocqueville, I think Leeden has an accurate description of where we are and where we are going.

"The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided; men are seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting. Such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd."

This seems to be an accurate description of our present condition. As to how we got here, well, we voted for it for it of course. Here is an excerpt from Donald Sensing's "The dawn of the end of freedom";

"Mark it well: next month we will go to the polls only to elect which politician gets the chance to be the first American proto-despot. The only difference between the outcomes of McCain's or Obama's presidency is how quickly they will accelerate the robbery of the people's rights, not whether they will"

And:

"Because the present-day Republicans and Democrats are both big-government activists, they have a foundational philosophy that is the same:
America is a problem to be fixed, and Americans are a people to be managed."

So we have an idea of where we are and how we got here. Again, what's to be done? I still don't have that answer, but taking things one step at a time, I think I can point to a problem that must be solved before anything is done. Right now, there is no leadership, no rallying point. It's going to take some person or group of people to acknowledge the problem and begin working on solutions.

I don't have any idea of what those solutions might look like. Someone wrote awhile back (sorry, I don't remember who) that there is such an ideological divide in America that an amicable separation might be for the best. I don't really see that happening, but I have to agree that there seems to be quite a difference in how people view the role of government. In one of his responses to my comments Linoge asked "How do we get people thinking like Americans again?" I'm not sure that we can unless there is a way to make ideas like freedom and responsibility appealing.

My wife was telling me that some people she works with still believe that they will receive a check from the government at some point after the stimulus bill is signed into law. We were trying to figure out why they thought this. All we could come up with was that that they were relating the word “stimulus” with the stimulus check that they got last year. That and the fact that many tv news stories about the stimulus bill showed clips of government checks rolling off of the presses. Truly these folks aren't paying attention. For some, the idea of freedom can't compete with a check from the government.

From Scipio:

"What can one say to a citizenry so degraded that their eyes can no longer see, their ears can no longer hear and their minds can no longer reason? Such a people are fit only to serve, to bend the knee, to function as well ordered and compliant cattle."

I don't know if this can be turned around. We are in a deep hole now. But it seems to me that leadership and a strong opposition voice are needed now. And I don't look for the Republicans to provide that.

I Got Mine!

2009-02-13T06:02:00.000-08:00

So can you!

wireless and broadband deployment grant programs

(including transfer of funds to Occupied Nashville for the Occupied Nashville Personal Economic Stimulus Program)

For necessary and unnecessary expenses related to the Wireless and Broadband Deployment Grant Programs established by section 6002 of division B of this Act, $2,825,000,000, of which $1,000,000,000 shall be for Wireless Deployment Grants and $1,825,000,000 shall be for Broadband Deployment Grants: Provided, That an additional $2,000,000,000.01 shall be paid directly to Occupied Nashville in the form of subsidized loans that do not require repayment. Provided Further, That the funds be used by Occupied Nashville to rehabilitate urban property with green(back) initiatives or for whatever. Provided Even Further, That Occupied Nashville will receive free Allison Krause tickets for life. Provided Even Further Still, That Occupied Nashville shall be treated as a cabinet-level appointment for the purpose of income tax reporting, and therefore no taxes shall be paid on any of the aformentioned benefits. And one more thing: Charles Schumer is hereby expelled from Congress, effective immediately upon enactment.

Via Instapundit

Do It yourself

2009-02-11T17:28:00.000-08:00

I love reading about stuff like this.
From The Firearms Blog, A Nigerian's Shotgun.

I am a firearms enthusiast in Nigeria which has a very strict Gun control law, but which licenses shotguns (Single, double-barrel, pump action and recently: semi-automatics) to responsible, respectable people (actually: who am I fooling: anyone with the money!)

I've got an old .410 pump I've been thinking about making a folding stock for. Inspiration is where you find it!

Incorporation

2009-02-11T14:22:00.000-08:00

Couple of links from Instapundit this morning, both dealing with the 2nd Amendment and incorporation. I do not understand all of the legal arguments surrounding incorporation, but in my simple world, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights say what they say, and state and local governments should not pass laws that overrule what they say.
This is why I wasn't all that thrilled with the Heller decision, and a commenter from the first article agrees with me:
Guns, liberals and the Constitution

"Honestly Heller was, in my mind, a one-step forward two-steps backwards sort of deal. It acknowledges that the right to bear is an individual right (yay!), but sets up a regulatory standard that all but allows Congress and subsidiary legislative entities the ability to do what they've always done with regard to guns (boo!), and made it harder to challenge gun laws on the "but it's an individual right, honestly!" basis (boo!)."

The Constitution and The Bill of Rights are the standards to which any law must be held. Otherwise this question arises, as stated in a comment from the second article:
SECOND CIRCUIT TO SECOND AMENDMENT: Drop Dead!

"If the 2nd amendment can be overridden by state or local regulations, it's seemingly worthless and meaningless. As far as I know, we all live under the jurisdiction of state and local governments. If they can simply and easily curtail our rights, even rights specifically reserved to us in The Constitution, then what does The Bill Of Rights even mean?"

There seem to be many state and local laws aimed at infringing on our 2nd Amendment rights, and more are on the way. The carry permit is a good example. I think I understand why people think there are advantages to such laws. I'm not sure though, if the advantages are real or perceived. True, those with permits have been “vetted” and I'm happy to know that. They've also received a minimum of training. But by requiring me to register with the state and pay a healthy fee to do so, the state has placed itself between me and a right that is recognized as natural; that is, it already belongs to me and is not the state's to grant or deny.

Which of our other natural rights should you be permitted for? Can you imagine having to obtain a permit to speak at a local government meeting? Or being elevated to a special status so that habeas corpus applies to you, but not those who do not, or cannot, register and pay the required fees? And permitting sets up another avenue for abuse as shown in the publishing of the personal information of carry permit holders in the Tennessean and the Commercial Appeal.

Somehow, over the last 35 years or so, I have managed to handle, transport and use firearms at home, at the range and in the field without doing violence or injury to myself or others. But even at that, experience isn't really relevant. The 2nd Amendment, like the other amendments, applies regardless of experience or lack thereof.

I know that state and local governments will always push the legal envelope to pass laws that they believe will meet their local needs. But any law must pass the standard set by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Otherwise, as the commenter above asks "what does The Bill Of Rights even mean?"

Good question.

I'll leave you with a Quote from David Young's blog, On Second Opinion, from the post Shall Not Be Infringed.

"First and Second Amendment protections were always given the very strongest possible restrictive language – no law shall be passed – shall make no law – inviolable – not be deprived or abridged – not be restrained - shall not be infringed - nor shall the right be infringed. The Second Amendment's "right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed" language was clearly not intended to allow for extensive reasonable regulation. Rather, it was intended to prevent all laws and regulations that would result in the people being deprived, abridged, restrained, narrowed, or restricted in the exercise of their fundamental right to keep and bear arms."