HF 573 moves out of committee!

H/t to the Iowa locals on my sidebar. This is the Stand Your Gound legislation. (castle doctrine)

Seriously? A candle for a violent attacker?

Where is the candle for the victim? Or are the candles passe now? I've been known to beat dead horses for years.
What I am referring to is referenced here and here. Guess I'm a little tired of the smoke and mirrors about "child related gun death" when the child is engaged in a violent felony. The anti-rights groups also chime in with the 'give up your wallet and you will be fine' meme. After they have already violently attacked you? Nice theory. Wee'rd and Bob S. do a much better job than me at deconstructing the arguments of the 'more sane gun laws' crowd.

Wow that got here fast.

Ordered this Saturday morning. It is before noon Monday.

Monthly Round Count

1000 rimfire.(Give or take- may be more)
1143 centerfire pistol.
730 9mm
42 380
100 45acp
271 40s&w.

I should reload. Also, the 9mm includes a new gun. I'm not going to keep that rate going all year.

Added- safe to assume I won't shoot anymore this month. Unless you count airguns. Range is closed Monday and Tuesday.

Range time. With moving pictures. Updated

Update below!

Took the CMMG adapted AR back to the range with my M&P 9c and the LCP. 24 degrees out today. The AR went about 400 rounds, give or take, with a few misfeeds (mostly on the Black Dog magazines) until it stopped working.  It looks like what happened is the pin that holds the extractor in moved down slightly, and is contacting on the rails that the bolt runs on. I was running it dripping in lube, so it was a sloppy black mess. I may need to stake the upper part of the pin to keep it from moving down.

 The LCP fired off the 2 mags of carry ammo just fine. Had a fail to eject with the nasty UMC Rem bulk pack. Basically douched the gun as it was pretty dry, and it ran 25 rounds without incident.

 I took some 9mm NATO my lovely wife picked up for me, and the last 50 out of a box of UMC Rem el cheapos. With the 9c, I was hitting the dueling tree 1/2 the time or better- almost blew one target off(designed to) with the NATO. Blew half the case off of a hanging bowling pin. Then I switched to the Rem el cheapo. I flat nailed one 40 yard target (9 for 10) with the one miss hitting a target just to the right from my line of aim. So I broke out the phone camera. Bring on the suck.

I was out of 9mm ammo after this. So I went back to the AR and discovered it had pooped itself, or I would have some video of that too.

--Update below--

The kit is working now. I pushed the pin out, cleaned it up, tried to dent it, put it back in and it seemed to hold. Went back to the range. (twice in one day- haven't done that since the 90's) Talked to the gunsmith at Olofsons, he mushroomed the head of the pin. I went out and proceeded to run 300+ rounds through it with just the odd misfeed and two of them failed to fire, neither would fire a second time.

 Ran more through the 9c; it is up to 580 rounds without a cleaning or problem. I so cleaned the dirty thing. It's a carry gun, not a range beotch- though it is accurate enough. Ran the 40c's carry ammo, bang every time and accurate to boot. Shot some Federal 180 grain through both M&P's. Shot like a putz. Shot the 40c better than the 357 w/40 barrel. Even with the stubby mag.

My thumbs hurt like hell. Too many rounds loaded today.

Relaxed Iowa Carry Laws?

Nice opening statement.

.....the number of Iowans with permits to carry concealed weapons increased 154 percent during the first year of relaxed laws governing their issuance.

 As I recall, 1- it's not a permit to carry concealed weapons. It is a permit to carry weapons. Concealed or open is up to you. 2-Relaxed? The word you are looking for is uniform. There is a reason Sheriff "arming the criminals" in Johnson county went from 552 (of his supporters?) to 2270 citizens. Sheriffs issued blanket denials, or penciled in nonsensical rules for validity, like must be carrying $X, or only when hunting or going to gun range, for example. I'm also guessing the 381 criminals cited for Johnson County must be for pretty pissant crimes. Guess the good sheriff did not want to go before a judge 381 times explaining why he denied these hardened perpetrators permits. Please expound on the evil nature of these crimes. And the 'just because they can' and 'I don't know why [the response has been so dramatic]' quotes. I don't see them bringing Grand Theft Auto night or the fine meth industry up in the tourism ads, but the dirtbags are out there, even in our little paradise.

One of these things just ain't like the other.

;)

There. I fixed the photo. I need to learn how to use the goofy app. Or it just randomly picks what way to orient photos.

CMMG AR15 Kit

Picked up a CMMG Kit 10237 today at Rhine Group in Ankeny. I've been waffling between a M&P 15/22 and a conversion upper. The kit included 3 mags, and I already have 2 Black Dog mags laying around. So I headed home, shaved the mag tabs to fit my AR-15's magwell, and headed right up to the range. For the first few mags it had some misfeeds- one required pulling the kit to clear. After that, it settled down and worked fine. Only one stovepipe. I ran whatever was left in a brick of Rem Golden Bullets that don't work in anything else- fine enough in this. And some Federal 38 grain stuff that, in the range officer's opinion worked good with nothing. Around 5 misfires- one was crushed and should have fired, the rest fired on the second try.

I'm guessing around 400 rounds today. Next time it will be more. Didn't shoot paper, but it was hitting the dueling tree targets just fine, and would tag just about anything I cared to aim at.

Overall, I'm happy with the kit. Run it some more next time. Should pay for itself very quickly. And I paid for it with my own cashy money and get nothing cool in return for talking about it.

Strawmen invade Iowa Capitol against Castle Doctrine

Domestic abusers and gang members will all walk now, at least according to chief law enforcement lawyers here in Polk County. Didn't Mattel get in trouble when Talking Barbie said "Math is hard?" So the local legal eagles will have to try harder to get a conviction. Bet those pesky 4th and 5th Amendment rights piss them off too.(Look, my very own logical fallacy- or is it?) And totally ignored is the secondary purpose- stop civil persecution of those acting in self defense. Love all the scare quotes in the article, too.

President Assigns Blame Properly......jk

Just heard an excerpt from a Presidential stump speech, might have been the STFUSOTU, blaming the Senate Democrats for only extending the payroll tax cut 2 months instead of a year. Man, he was cajoling them to get with the program and pass it for 2 more months a full year. Oh, I guess somehow he thinks the House Republicans were at fault, you know, when they had that steaming turd dropped in the inbox as the Senate closed their full session and went home. And then the MSM went apeshit blaming the Republicans for raising income payroll taxes* on THE POOR (tm) if they didn't pass the buck on. As I recall, The House wanted to make it a full year but Harry Reid refused to recall the Senate if they made any changes and sent it back. 2 months was not enough time for this stuff to go down the memory hole. Didn't they learn from last years Debt Ceiling hoaxes?

*My initial thoughts when the first payroll tax "holiday" was passed was, golly, the Stupid Party and the Democrats do want Roosevelt's New Deal to go into the red much sooner than later. Boner should have thrown the 2 month bill in the toilet, flushed, and went home too.

Also, it looks like Nancy Pelosi owned Romney. She has been walking back her "I know what Newt did last summer" comments just as Willard is running ads using Pelosi's statements.

President Sides With TSA over Rand Paul

Well of course he did. Our President is a Constitutional Scholar- so obviously he hasn't read the damn thing. The wookies in the comments there are very restless.

ETA- Will we skip straight to the beer summit? Wait, last time Mr Pres said the Cop was stupid. This time he says the Senator was stupid.

News Flash! Our Dirty Water is Wet!

So the Chicago Sun Times will no longer endorse candidates. Sounds great. Of course, they lead with the fact that they were founded as a product of a "bygone era" where evil Republicans had their own newspapers, and our Glorious Founder just had to counter that. Historical filler, we're above that now, Faux News!, our own new tone, we will publish the views of local groups we agree with support Democrats,then they get to the truly LOLworthy part:

[Candidate endorsements] promote the perception of a hidden bias by a newspaper......

No, reading the insipid bird cage liner promotes the perception of bias. Where is this hidden crap? All it takes is a round of Spot the Party to find the bias. At least when they endorse a candidate, the bias is open and above board. Disingenuous hacks must not have gotten any stimulus money this election cycle. And then the kicker: We are going to focus on local issues this year. Translation: too much focus on national issues might make you want to vote against The One, who we reflexively can't go against.

Watching MSNBC choke over Newt tonight....

Tingles looks sad over on MSNBC. They are having trouble simultaneously boosting Mitt and attacking him with the 'Rich Offshore Accounts' meme. And then ol' Debbie from Florida chimes in and resets the narrative. It's funnier that SNL over there tonight.  Wait, that is a low blow. Guess someone on CNN called him the 'term-a-Newt-er'. All the comedians are out tonight.

Perfect description of the Iowa Caucuses this year....

Dr Phil, really?

I have nothing against the girl in Oklahoma- from the facts as presented, that was a perfect DGU, and a brilliant demonstration of the need to take responsibility for your own safety. That said, I would not appear on Dr Phil less than 1 month later to talk about it. Not without my lawyer, anyway. Of course, she's not from East Stickinthebutt, MA, either- with some Martha Coakley wannabe lording over the subjects.
Aw, hell, I don't watch Captain Obvious Dr Phil unless he's on in a doctors office or break at work runs a little late. I'll be the first to admit I only saw the first 5 minutes, maybe my qualms were addressed. Admittedly, stuff like this needs to be aired often and drilled into peoples heads as a proper response to violence. (see what I did there- "a" vs "THE". I'm open minded) And as a resident of a Duty to Retreat State, (hawkkkkk spit) I'm jealous of the Castle Doctrine protections offered in real states.

Interesting EPA case before the Supreme Court

I know that the justices of the court tend to ask harsh questions of both sides during oral arguments. Some of the questions here are great. 

hotair.com/archives/2012/01/18/audio-justice-alito-oddly-unimpressed-with-epa-procedures/

You can ask for a permit, but once they think there is a violation, the EPA doesn't give out permits. Sound like what other government agencies rely on, that start with a "B" and end with "sometimes really big fires". It is funny reading a government employee flat saying they can do what they want when they want to, just in legal language. With any luck, the Supreme court will curtail crap like this, but I doubt it.

SOPA

You have that whole internet there. We just want to have half, and regulate the piss out of the rest, subject you to random closings for no reason that we have to articulate, because we changed the rules (not laws, rules). Sounds like some other right that is written in the Constitution, but I digress. It's for the Children(tm) you're a terrorist swarthy pirate our buddies are losing money. I'd have gone dark, but I'd screw it up somehow. Plus I don't post at all some days, so how could you tell.

Crony Criminalism?

H/t to New Jovian Thunderbolt for this article in the NY Post. I stand corrected- it was the Irish against the Italian and Jewish gangs. Amazing how gun control comes down to being anti-jewish so many times. The Gowdin's Aspie Law doesn't count, here. Because flat out I'm calling them fascists. Pols with their own criminal enforcers? Sound like brownshirts to me. Loved skimming the second article. Mandatory sentencing laws for use of stolen firearms actually does reduce crime. I'll give it a full read later.

Wow, there is an app for everything!

Alternatively, when the government does it, it's okay. Online smartphone/internet gambling will be allowed in Iowa for horse racing via the county owned race track Prairie Meadows. Now, I could give two spits about gambling; it's your money- light it on fire for all I care. But freaking out about online poker, then turning around with a straight face and allowing online nag gambling? Don't think this even approaches tinfoil hat territory*. Guess I'm behind the times, though, as this was approved last year.

*Custom size 7 1/2. Lined with the Faraday bags motherboards come in. Very stylish.

M&P compact grip spacer issue.

I noticed both M&P compact models using fullsize magazines with fullsize mag grip spacers had issues seating the magazines. Even empty. Originally, I only had the X-Grip spacer and the 40c. I chalked it up to experience, put the spacer in the the pile of parts, and shot without it on the mag. The Talo edition with the factory grip spacer fell into my lap recently. It was a bear to seat, worse than the X-grip. I went for it because, one, I have 2 extra 9mm compact mags from the 9mm barrel attempt on the 40c. Two, I have a fullsize 9mm to feed and the spacer comes right off. Three, they knocked the price down from 500 to 425 while I fumbled with it. Within my herd of fullsize magazines I have a pair of the old style round button baseplates; the other 7 are new style rectangular tab baseplates. On a whim, I put the spacer on the old style baseplate mags. Works perfectly. On either compact. Put the spacer on any other mag, it takes extra force to lock it in and does not audibly click home. And yes, there is a mix of 40 and 9 mm mags shown. They all mount up the same because the frames are identical.

New vs Old

Carry Mag

New Style Baseplate

Old Style Baseplate

1.114" New Style 9mm

1.126 New Style 40

Spacer Height

Old Style Plate-1.158 Sorry it washed out

With the tightest mag clearance being just over the height of the spacer, it makes sense that they are hard to seat. The mags go in a little further before the mag release catches them, then sit lower once seated. Also, and my crappy photos don't show it, it does not sit straight on the new style plates. So I most likely will just mod the adapter a little to use it with the new style mags. Or just leave the goofy thing alone and not use it. I've gotten used to the 2 finger grip now.  I sure as heck do not want the spacer causing reload issues in the heat of the moment. Plus it would just be in the way if I need the mag as a spare for the fullsize gun.

Got to shoot something different today.

   First off, new M&P9c, 330 rounds- 250 plinking ammo, 50 Rem cheap hollowpoints, 30 +P Winchester 124 grain, all worked fine. Did not even shoot paper with it first. There was 1" of fresh snow on the ground- I could easily see when I missed. Reactive targets are nice, but fully reactive ranges are awesome! Hit the 50 yard targets a few times, went in and asked about the sizes. 20"x16" and 18" round. They told me the real challenge was the 9"x12"s at 40. Those I was hitting just fine. Bowling pins at 15 were fun, but they didn't break apart like the 40 action last week.
 Tried not quite a mag dump with the +P stuff. I've shot the 40c better with carry ammo.

The range staff were working on one of these:

Apparently they had been impressed enough with my meager gun handling skills, because they let me shoot a few rounds with it. With no sights, I walked it down to the target. It had major feed issues, don't know if I'd care to own that one. But a pistol caliber carbine would be fun- the Olympic .45 AR's at the show were $600 but the mags are spendy. Guess you pay to play. Plus they make a 10mm. Just thinking on electrons here.....for now.

ETA- 14*F out there today. And I just shaved....my beard and head. Brilliant.....

First gunshow of the year.

SR22's everywhere. Kinda surprised. Low of 295, high of 330. Almost bought one. May still if I can find a trade to take in. Maybe Sunday. Got something new to take to the range tomorrow, though. Sigh, another M&P. A 9c Talo edition, traded one gun for it plus some cash. 425+ tax was the price before trade. New enough to not say "stainless" on the slide, just like the 9mm FS.

Remember the incident in Canton Ohio?

Well, it resulted in the officer being fired.  Wonder if a civil suit will be pressed for the threats he made? Not that Holder's (Hi DHS!) InJustice Department would find this to be a violation of the Barlett's civil rights.

Light a Candle to Stop Violence

Counter vigil from Weerdworld. As he and others point out, just lighting a candle to stop one form of violence is short sighted. Here is part of my effort for victims of violence:

Here is my M&P40c with a Crossbreed Supertuck. Notice holster wear and mag scratches. Both get out and used at the range as often as possible. Practice is required with a firearms- shooting skill is perishable, and so are you.

This is the 40c's bigger in size but smaller in caliber brother, the M&P357. Rides in the same holster, and normally sports a 40 S&W barrel for commonality with the 40c, as the full size mags work in the smaller frame. And it came with both barrels in the box.

And here is the third M&P, in 9mm. With +P loads, the performance is very similar to the 40 S&W with 2 extra rounds per magazine(17+1).

This one won't fit in the holster, or the photo.

Eco friendly green everywhere!

   The small minded out there would leave us unable to use, let alone own, any of these. In other, "enlightened" countries, i.e. Britain* or Australia,  knee jerk reactions to incidents similar to what happened in Tuscon, AZ last Jan 8 were used to disarm (yeah, well, Fudd guns don't count) both countries. Wonderful gun bans existed in such progressive countries as the Soviet Union and Germany of the Thirties. That turned out great. For those in power. Not to mention our own Jim Crow gun control laws and the anti Irish/Italian Sullivan act that exists in New York City to this day, now in its 101st year. Or Illinois, Jersey (You can't have a Red Rider BB gun, you need a mother-may-I-card just for that. Seriously) Mass, Commifornia, and any others I have left out.

  So I light this candle for those who have no choice in the manner of their defense.

*Don't get me started on British self defense laws. If someone attacks you in your home, give them tea, crumpets and your life, because the government there will punish you for giving a criminal trespasser so much as a paper cut. And heaven forbid you aren't home at the time, because the government will assume that the thief lives there and you have no right to remove them if they "move in". For a country full of castles, they sure need a doctrine about something..... 

Less cold range time

Today the shooting range was much warmer than last time. 25 degrees! I seem to have developed a new tic when shooting the M&P's- touching the slide lock so the last round does not stay open. It happens right after I shoot a 1911. Yes, thumb high is what I'm doing, but wrong. I need more dry fire time holding it correctly. Another interesting thing popped up as well. If I think the words, "focus on the front sight, jackass" after a miss, I usually hit the steel plate I previously missed. This was working on the 50 yard plate with the M&P9. Heck, that gun has gotten to where if I do my part, rarely do I miss a plate. Even when going from plate to plate. I hope I wasn't chanting "front sight" out loud, but a couple of times I hit the 15, 25, 40, 35 then 50 yard plates in succession and even surprised myself.

About 400 rounds today. 150 through the 9, 160 spread between 2 40's, mostly the M&P40c, and 90 through the 2 1911's. May be time to lose one 1911 for something that starts with a "G". Or a 22LR of some type.