As Jackson Scott crouched in the dark at a remote Tasmanian farm, a highly venomous tiger snake bit his testicle, The Sun reported today.No one offered to cut an "X" into his skin and suck the poison out, fortunately. Lesson learned: don't poop in the bushes in Australia.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Tiger snake has balls
Or. . . . had balls. Ouch!
Future plans
I should say near future plans, since I'm itching to get back to cranking the press handle:
My goal is to match a handload with these bullets to the factory Speer Gold Dots that are my carry load. I can manufacture them to a higher standard of quality control than factory, and keep the costs way down, too. What that means is that I can practice with a ballistic match to my carry load cheaper than I can if I bought boxes of it from a store. How's that for savings?
My plan is to load them in the fired nickle coated cases from Speer under this here Vihtavuori powder, which I've heard is so spectacular that it's lovingly plucked off Finland's shores by elves as it falls from the heavens. We'll see about that.
My goal is to match a handload with these bullets to the factory Speer Gold Dots that are my carry load. I can manufacture them to a higher standard of quality control than factory, and keep the costs way down, too. What that means is that I can practice with a ballistic match to my carry load cheaper than I can if I bought boxes of it from a store. How's that for savings?
My plan is to load them in the fired nickle coated cases from Speer under this here Vihtavuori powder, which I've heard is so spectacular that it's lovingly plucked off Finland's shores by elves as it falls from the heavens. We'll see about that.
Sparsely populated, beautiful scenery, low prices
I think I found a big piece of uninhabited land that I'm sure would sell for next to nothing. Here's some pictures taken by a recent visit this past spring.
Is it me, or is it getting all Call-of-Duty up in this piece?
Is it me, or is it getting all Call-of-Duty up in this piece?
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Epic forum threads and how to win at the internet
I read ARFCOM's General Discussion threads, which is like preschool for internet gun people. There's more stupidity and poo-flinging than you can shake a stick at in this forum, and it's hugely entertaining. Such was the case here in the vile thread about the prepper chick from the National Geographic Channel's show Doomsday Preppers; a bunch of leg-humping gun owners with zero tact discuss disgusting things about her - her name is Megan - and low and behold she comes wading into the frey swinging a cheerful attitude like Darth Vader.
Awesomeness.
Putting the little children in their place with a smile is good to go.
As for Doomsday Preppers, so far I dig the show. Lots of good ideas, and also lots of bad ones. What I think gives the most value though is that the show covers a very diverse selection of lifestyles: not everyone who prepares for the end of the world lives off the grid in a remote section of desert in the mid-West, storing tons of vegetables in jars, dancing with rattlesnakes, and tauting their sovereign citizenship. Some of them live in apartments and prepare however they can, and some don't plan on going anywhere if the SHTF, choosing instead to live I Am Legend-like right in the midst of a major city.
Awesomeness.
Putting the little children in their place with a smile is good to go.
As for Doomsday Preppers, so far I dig the show. Lots of good ideas, and also lots of bad ones. What I think gives the most value though is that the show covers a very diverse selection of lifestyles: not everyone who prepares for the end of the world lives off the grid in a remote section of desert in the mid-West, storing tons of vegetables in jars, dancing with rattlesnakes, and tauting their sovereign citizenship. Some of them live in apartments and prepare however they can, and some don't plan on going anywhere if the SHTF, choosing instead to live I Am Legend-like right in the midst of a major city.
Interesting new law
In South Carolina, there's a bill in the House aimed at stopping home invasions:
For the violent scumbags who do rape and murder, there's already the death penalty available for that as far as I know. Maybe though the risk of being killed by the state if you're caught breaking into occupied homes will be enough to convince criminals to take up panhandling or something. Who knows. It's unknown whether the law takes grey areas into consideration like squatters and drunks. You may shake your head, but drunk people do some weird things, and just because they find their way into your home doesn't mean that they should automatically be killed for their stupidity, though getting shot in the dark by a scared homeowner is a different matter.
The bill provides for punishments of 20 years or more for a home invasion and would open the door to a death penalty case if someone dies during the invasion.The bill distinguishes between a burglary where there's nobody home at the time, and home invasions where people are home. It also covers a drive-by shooting under the notion that bullets and projectiles are an invasion. This is in response to invasions where scumbags rape and murder the homeowners, and is understandable to a degree. I don't disagree with making the perpetrator in home invasions and drive-bys serve longer sentences, but I don't have a good feeling about applying the death penalty for such things. For one, the powers-that-be have a tendency to throw the book and the kitchen sink at criminals for non-violent crimes, and the idea that a burglar who breaks into a home thinking nobody is there when they in fact are, and statutorily gets the death penalty is beyond extreme. Second, it can't be said with certainty that state governments always send the guilty scumbag to their death; it generally can't be proven, but I don't know anyone who, in their heart, isn't convinced that innocent people at times are executed. Adding another reason to give someone the death penalty doesn't sit well with me.
For the violent scumbags who do rape and murder, there's already the death penalty available for that as far as I know. Maybe though the risk of being killed by the state if you're caught breaking into occupied homes will be enough to convince criminals to take up panhandling or something. Who knows. It's unknown whether the law takes grey areas into consideration like squatters and drunks. You may shake your head, but drunk people do some weird things, and just because they find their way into your home doesn't mean that they should automatically be killed for their stupidity, though getting shot in the dark by a scared homeowner is a different matter.
What a tool
Hhhuuuuuuggggghhhhhhh. . . . . tooooooooooooolllllllsssssssssss. . . .
Just like knives and guns, pliers and side-cutters are tools too! I loves me some tools! Check out this video on how they're made at the Channel Lock factory:
I love videos like this. Lately, I've scrapped what few Teevee shows I watch in favor of the show How It's Made. I feel it's a better use of my time.
Just like knives and guns, pliers and side-cutters are tools too! I loves me some tools! Check out this video on how they're made at the Channel Lock factory:
I love videos like this. Lately, I've scrapped what few Teevee shows I watch in favor of the show How It's Made. I feel it's a better use of my time.
Friday, February 10, 2012
An unfortunate series of events
I found this story of a trial in the wake of a bizarre shooting in Atlanta off the ARFCOM GD. Whoa, dude!
Long story short is that a man who was just ambushed in a gunfight ended up shooting a responding cop who thought he was a bad guy. The comments in the article are against the man who is being charged, though I note that they are all cops. The main argument is that the guy charged - the one who shot the cop, named Thomas - is a scumbag because the cop was in uniform and he should have known that he was a cop, not a badguy.
While I don't support people who shoot cops, based on the information in the article I have give the benefit of the doubt to Thomas because it does sound to me like this was a case of "fog of war" mixed with unusual circumstances. Think of these key items:
- Thomas has no criminal history, and was in the process of conducting a lawful business transaction while legally carrying his sidearm for defense.
- He considered that he was in danger of a coordinated attack, and very shortly afterwords was ambushed by several men, one of whom had a firearm and engaged him in a gunfight.
- He was fleeing from armed scumbags when, moments later and while he was in the process of summoning law enforcement for help, a man appearing in a police uniform jumps out of a personal vehicle -- not a police cruiser(s) with flashing lights -- and points a gun at him.
- The man in a police uniform had visible tattoos covering his arms.
The tattoos aren't indicting on their own, sure, but ask yourself this: Would a reasonable man -- who was actively fleeing from a coordinated armed attack where he exchanged gunfire, and that he believed was still in process -- think that a man suddenly appearing, in a police uniform, before the police are even called, be in fact police? The cop was a really real law enforcement officer who happened to still be in uniform after his shift was over, and he was almost right on top of where the shooting was and heard the gunfire, but instead of being in a police cruiser with a partner and/or backup he was in a shiny Tahoe with tinted windows. What would you think? Have you not heard of scumbags impersonating police officers in order to rob and kill their rivals and victims? I have; and that's why, if I were a juror on this trial, I would see reasonable doubt.
What do you think?
Long story short is that a man who was just ambushed in a gunfight ended up shooting a responding cop who thought he was a bad guy. The comments in the article are against the man who is being charged, though I note that they are all cops. The main argument is that the guy charged - the one who shot the cop, named Thomas - is a scumbag because the cop was in uniform and he should have known that he was a cop, not a badguy.
While I don't support people who shoot cops, based on the information in the article I have give the benefit of the doubt to Thomas because it does sound to me like this was a case of "fog of war" mixed with unusual circumstances. Think of these key items:
- Thomas has no criminal history, and was in the process of conducting a lawful business transaction while legally carrying his sidearm for defense.
- He considered that he was in danger of a coordinated attack, and very shortly afterwords was ambushed by several men, one of whom had a firearm and engaged him in a gunfight.
- He was fleeing from armed scumbags when, moments later and while he was in the process of summoning law enforcement for help, a man appearing in a police uniform jumps out of a personal vehicle -- not a police cruiser(s) with flashing lights -- and points a gun at him.
- The man in a police uniform had visible tattoos covering his arms.
The tattoos aren't indicting on their own, sure, but ask yourself this: Would a reasonable man -- who was actively fleeing from a coordinated armed attack where he exchanged gunfire, and that he believed was still in process -- think that a man suddenly appearing, in a police uniform, before the police are even called, be in fact police? The cop was a really real law enforcement officer who happened to still be in uniform after his shift was over, and he was almost right on top of where the shooting was and heard the gunfire, but instead of being in a police cruiser with a partner and/or backup he was in a shiny Tahoe with tinted windows. What would you think? Have you not heard of scumbags impersonating police officers in order to rob and kill their rivals and victims? I have; and that's why, if I were a juror on this trial, I would see reasonable doubt.
What do you think?
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Don't let your children become a meal
***ETA: The dad used a Spyderco Cali. Pics of the bloody knife at the link.
A six year old boy was physically pulled out of his mothers arms by a mountain lion at a National Park. The boy's dad attacked the cat - who had his son's face in its mouth - with his pocket knife and drove the animal off. The kid is fine.
When outdoors, you're still at the mercy of mother nature, so act like there's a good reason humans are the dominant species on the planet. What puts us at the top are handy things called tools: knives are tools, and are great to have around because of their utility, and because they can be used as weapons in rare occasions like when some starving beast grabs your kid by the face. I'm going to put this out there: having a knife on you does not mean you're a sociopath waiting for the chance to massacre a tanning salon full of meek people. Neither does carrying a firearm. In fact, I'd say that carrying a gun further removes us from our alleged neanderthal roots. What did they carry to protect their gift of life? A stone club and a rape whistle made of bone?
People go out into the world entirely unprepared to deal with problems that have existed since this world was created. Right outside my door are woods chock full of hungry critters, and it's not a good idea to go there without the means to keep them at bay. Fortunately, the dad that saved the day had a simple knife on him, but in many parts of this world even a knife is unlawful to carry. I hope people wake up and realize that it's not the tool, but the man, that has the capacity to be evil, and evil people are way more rare than good people. It is a dishonor to bar people from carrying the tools that will prevent them or their family from being eaten by savage creatures.
A six year old boy was physically pulled out of his mothers arms by a mountain lion at a National Park. The boy's dad attacked the cat - who had his son's face in its mouth - with his pocket knife and drove the animal off. The kid is fine.
When outdoors, you're still at the mercy of mother nature, so act like there's a good reason humans are the dominant species on the planet. What puts us at the top are handy things called tools: knives are tools, and are great to have around because of their utility, and because they can be used as weapons in rare occasions like when some starving beast grabs your kid by the face. I'm going to put this out there: having a knife on you does not mean you're a sociopath waiting for the chance to massacre a tanning salon full of meek people. Neither does carrying a firearm. In fact, I'd say that carrying a gun further removes us from our alleged neanderthal roots. What did they carry to protect their gift of life? A stone club and a rape whistle made of bone?
People go out into the world entirely unprepared to deal with problems that have existed since this world was created. Right outside my door are woods chock full of hungry critters, and it's not a good idea to go there without the means to keep them at bay. Fortunately, the dad that saved the day had a simple knife on him, but in many parts of this world even a knife is unlawful to carry. I hope people wake up and realize that it's not the tool, but the man, that has the capacity to be evil, and evil people are way more rare than good people. It is a dishonor to bar people from carrying the tools that will prevent them or their family from being eaten by savage creatures.
Rules #1 and #2!!!!!
There's a firestorm going on over the pictures of a police sniper at Super Bowl XLVI. If you did not know, there are snipers at most major sporting events; but the brouhaha is not over the snipers so much, but that the guy in the picture is using a rifle as a pair of binoculars, which violates two of the four firearm safety rules.
I have to side with the folks who have their panties in a bunch: being tasked with protecting a stadium from an active shooter -- a rare occurrence -- does not make you so high speed that you can arbitrarily point a rifle at people. Being highly trained does not make one infallible, so the idea that one sudden sneeze can cause a marksman to sympathetically squeeze the trigger and lobotomize a wasted fan is just as plausible in a sniper's hide as it is on a police training range. That is why we have the four rules, which is why we don't point weapons at people.
The people who are defending this violation are under the impression that operators operating operationally in an operational environment are so Tier 1 that they can use their rifle as a spotting scope up in a skybox where nobody can see them. I say that a rifle is a rifle is a rifle. Treat it as if it were loaded and don't point it at anything you do not intend to destroy, including drunk fans and blue painted bewbies.
I have to side with the folks who have their panties in a bunch: being tasked with protecting a stadium from an active shooter -- a rare occurrence -- does not make you so high speed that you can arbitrarily point a rifle at people. Being highly trained does not make one infallible, so the idea that one sudden sneeze can cause a marksman to sympathetically squeeze the trigger and lobotomize a wasted fan is just as plausible in a sniper's hide as it is on a police training range. That is why we have the four rules, which is why we don't point weapons at people.
The people who are defending this violation are under the impression that operators operating operationally in an operational environment are so Tier 1 that they can use their rifle as a spotting scope up in a skybox where nobody can see them. I say that a rifle is a rifle is a rifle. Treat it as if it were loaded and don't point it at anything you do not intend to destroy, including drunk fans and blue painted bewbies.
He must have been reading my blog
Former Tucson Drug Enforcement Administration chief Tony Coulson lays out some damning information in the Fast and Furious debacle. I'm going to quote a big piece of this article because it sounds an awful lot like some of the stuff someone you may know has wrote about in the past, almost word for word:
Weird. It's like Coulson is telling the truth or something. I've pointed out before that Agent Newell is almost always the guy in the news harping on gun control, and that he has to know the information he's passing to the public is BS. I've also pointed out that the real military hardware used by the drug cartels is coming from Central and South American countries in the form of US weaponry that we gave those governments, or from the Mexican government itself. Though it's not something I'm usually concerned about, it does feel good to be right!Coulson also said most other law enforcement officials in Arizona knew Newell had a gun control agenda behind his actions with Fast and Furious and other operations. “Whenever Bill would make those [anti-gun rights] statements [with inflated gun trafficking statistics], everyone would roll their eyes and say, ‘when is someone going to call him on this?’” Coulson said. “That’s because it was only weapons which the Mexican government seized which they chose to trace back to the United States.”
“[Newell] is trying to make this political statement that there is this river of guns, which then the Mexican government picked up on, and said ‘it’s your guns, that’s why we’re having all this violence here,’” Coulson added. “And there’s never any accounting for the fact that probably a majority of the guns, in terms of what law enforcement generally knows, are coming up through Central America and they’recoming from other countries. The 90 percent figure has been debunked as you go along the way. It’s actually something considerably less. … They’re just picking a figure and saying 90 percent of the weapons they seized come from the U.S. Well, really, it’s 90 percent of the weapons that they choose to do a search on results in it originating from the U.S.”
Prepping in the news
Very surprising to me that this article and video doesn't smear the idea of preparing for a world without functioning ATMs and Food Lions, though I caution the use of the word "arsenal" to describe a 12 gun battery of .22 rimfires, shotguns, and a lone AK clone. There's all sorts of good ideas to be seen in the 5+ minute video, such as keeping a small trailer loaded up with equipment that can be used when the power grid goes down during the Red invasion. Keeping honey bees is one of the most practical ideas for a bona fide survival situation that I've seen, but sadly, I could never keep them because I'd be constantly fighting the urge to toss a burning five gallon gas can onto the hive to KILL THEM ALL WITH FIRE!!! I hate bees.
I'm sure there are naysayers out there that mock the idea of prepping; their plan in the wake of a devastating earthquake is to hide out in their therapist's office, living off the bowl of yummy lollie pops from the lobby until men with uniforms and guns rescue them. That's also a very smart idea -- the faster the unprepared die off from starvation, the more furry faced resources are left over for the screwy Mormons who stockpiled 7.62x39 for their assault thingies.
The luxury bunker thing is interesting. Without getting into details, I can tell you that being below ground when a large nuclear device goes off will give you a much better chance at survival, but I question the need for such a structure when you live 150 miles from the nearest city that anyone would consider attacking. It's like keeping tools, manuals, and provisions for an exotic car you will never own. I mean, who's really going to attack Bismarck, North Dakota? You guys up there don't need a bunker. Spend your money on ammo or board games or something.
I appreciate the idea of being prepared. I don't have room in my teeny little house for cans of chicken with 15 year shelf life and a high quality reverse osmosis system. Hell, I don't even have much room for ammo! My food plan for the end of the world is to live off the abundance of squirrels, rabbits, and labradoodles in my crappy subdivision, cooking them on my MSR Dragonfly stove until we can bug out to somewhere with less of a population. That basically rules out 90% of Virginia; everybody and their brother has decided this is precisely where they want to live, so in the apocalypse you can expect half the country's population to meet their demise here when Starbucks sells out of vegetable paninis.
I'm sure there are naysayers out there that mock the idea of prepping; their plan in the wake of a devastating earthquake is to hide out in their therapist's office, living off the bowl of yummy lollie pops from the lobby until men with uniforms and guns rescue them. That's also a very smart idea -- the faster the unprepared die off from starvation, the more furry faced resources are left over for the screwy Mormons who stockpiled 7.62x39 for their assault thingies.
The luxury bunker thing is interesting. Without getting into details, I can tell you that being below ground when a large nuclear device goes off will give you a much better chance at survival, but I question the need for such a structure when you live 150 miles from the nearest city that anyone would consider attacking. It's like keeping tools, manuals, and provisions for an exotic car you will never own. I mean, who's really going to attack Bismarck, North Dakota? You guys up there don't need a bunker. Spend your money on ammo or board games or something.
I appreciate the idea of being prepared. I don't have room in my teeny little house for cans of chicken with 15 year shelf life and a high quality reverse osmosis system. Hell, I don't even have much room for ammo! My food plan for the end of the world is to live off the abundance of squirrels, rabbits, and labradoodles in my crappy subdivision, cooking them on my MSR Dragonfly stove until we can bug out to somewhere with less of a population. That basically rules out 90% of Virginia; everybody and their brother has decided this is precisely where they want to live, so in the apocalypse you can expect half the country's population to meet their demise here when Starbucks sells out of vegetable paninis.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
I got an award!
Kevin at Misfires & Light Strikes has honored me with an award!
The rules:
1. Copy and paste the award on our blog.
2. Link back to the blogger who gave us the award.
3. Pick our five favorite blogs with less than 200 followers, and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received the award.
4. Hope that the five blogs chosen will keep spreading the love and pass it on to five more blogs.
This meme has developed a theme, and that is that some folks are skipping on rule #3, which I am proud to say I am going to continue. Why should this award be limited to the number of followers? Here we are:
Mike's Spot. Here's a guy that likes to test new things and post about it. Helping your fellow man with reviews is good to go in my book.
Aaron at Sharp Tactics. Knife and gadgetry reviews are his deal, and he tells it like it is.
Haji at Haji's Place. Another tester of firearm stuff, and he posts range reports. Do you notice a trend here?
Andy at In Search of the Tempestuous Sea. A blogger I have met, Andy also is a tester of Gun Things. I dig that because I like to read about it, which influences my choices on ammo, guns, and gear. It's also entertaining!
James at Hell in a Handbasket. He posts about gunnish things, and also about history, non-firearm weapons, and lots of cool stuff. He also helps people in need with a total self defense strategy, all at the bargain price of. . . . .free. That speaks about the quality of the man.
Tag, y'all!
Monday, February 6, 2012
Testing. . . Testing
I finally managed to test some self defense loads through the Kahr PM9 this weekend. I've taken it to the range a half dozen times or so with that intent, but never got around to it. I tested the same four loads as I did for the P30.
Despite the little blaster's 10 yard accuracy, it is not for self defense at ranges of 25 yards or more; my five shot groups (if you can call them that) were tough to keep on a sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" paper with all of those loads, fired slowly off sandbags. I shot five of each, except the HSTs of which I fired ten. That is the load for that gun, which conveniently is the one for the Glock 26 as well. Perfect.
Here's a rundown on velocities out of the PM9's 3" barrel:
124 grain Speer Gold Dot +P
- 1,145
- 1,115
- 1,135
- 1,149
- 1,122
- Ave 1,133 fps
124 grain Remington Golden Saber Bonded +P
- 1,082
- 1,069
- 1,059
- 1,051
- 1,053
- Ave 1,062 fps
147 grain Winchester Ranger-T
- 942
- 934
- 928
- 916
- 910
- Ave 926 fps
147 grain Federal HST +P
- 1,001
- 969
- 966
- 987
- 968
- 982
- 967
- 971
- 960
- 977
- Ave 974 fps
There were no stoppages. All of these rounds were unpleasant to shoot from such a little gun, with the Ranger-Ts being the less painful. None of them were any more accurate than the other, and none of them hit right to point of aim, so I should have fired them at 15 yards for that. Too bad. One day I'll put night sights on the gun, and then I'll check those loads and hopefully some other ones for accuracy at 15 yards and post my results.
Despite the little blaster's 10 yard accuracy, it is not for self defense at ranges of 25 yards or more; my five shot groups (if you can call them that) were tough to keep on a sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" paper with all of those loads, fired slowly off sandbags. I shot five of each, except the HSTs of which I fired ten. That is the load for that gun, which conveniently is the one for the Glock 26 as well. Perfect.
Here's a rundown on velocities out of the PM9's 3" barrel:
124 grain Speer Gold Dot +P
- 1,145
- 1,115
- 1,135
- 1,149
- 1,122
- Ave 1,133 fps
124 grain Remington Golden Saber Bonded +P
- 1,082
- 1,069
- 1,059
- 1,051
- 1,053
- Ave 1,062 fps
147 grain Winchester Ranger-T
- 942
- 934
- 928
- 916
- 910
- Ave 926 fps
147 grain Federal HST +P
- 1,001
- 969
- 966
- 987
- 968
- 982
- 967
- 971
- 960
- 977
- Ave 974 fps
There were no stoppages. All of these rounds were unpleasant to shoot from such a little gun, with the Ranger-Ts being the less painful. None of them were any more accurate than the other, and none of them hit right to point of aim, so I should have fired them at 15 yards for that. Too bad. One day I'll put night sights on the gun, and then I'll check those loads and hopefully some other ones for accuracy at 15 yards and post my results.
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