Our local cat hunt is over

A coworker was on a site last night, in Des Moines, and saw a buck. It was paying more attention to him than his surroundings. Then he noticed something hiding behind it, barely visible through the grass. So he started making noise, and....

The doe stood up and looked at him funny.


Oh, about that mountain lion sighting. The official story is that they have a photo....

Someone in Syria Gassed Someone Else

So I can't buy an M1 carbine from Korea, and some mumbling crap about NFA trusts. Is that the long and short of it? Reminds me of some douche attacking a building with a truck, and airline travelers getting increased scrutiny. Maybe all those imported weapons are needed to arm Al Qaeda in Syria.

And nothing of value was lost

Hassan gets the death penalty. After a ton of mandatory appeals. Why not send him to Syria?

I maded something

A target holder for my steel target. Or whatever. No pics at this time, I need to try it out first. Scrap lumber for the win!

I'd try it out today, but it is stupid hot out. I mowed the lawn dried out weed patch out of spite, and have no energy to go shooting in the heat, then go to work. Gotta pay for all this ammo somehow.

What caliber for mountain lion? pt2

People keep spotting a mountain lion just down the street from where I work. What, there are no mountain lions in Iowa, let alone our largest city? LOL. I'm thinking 300 BLK will do the trick. Otherwise 380 will just piss him off.

Machine Gun Cherry Broken

With the MG42, no less. I need more cash next year.

At the Iowa Firearm Coalition Second Amendment Rally today, at Brownell's complex in Searsboro. Nice place.

My wife got in on the action too. She chose the Browning M1919.

It has been pointed out on FB that the 1917 has a water cooled barrel. I'm going off of what I remember the rental sheet saying. It might well be a 1917. NFA in Iowa is the important part.

Bradley Manning could be getting a cellmate

Hassan found guilty. Hopefully he would only be Manning's cellmate until his execution. Martyrdom? Sorry, he is far from the first or last martyr excuse used by Islamists.

Iowa Firearms Coalition Rally Saturday

Tomorrow is the 4th Annual Iowa Firearms Coalition Second Amendment Rally. At Brownells Searsboro range complex. I'm going.

So we are just supposed to take a beating

Here is what happens when you take one. WWII vet beaten to death in a parking lot by the youth of the ever elusive "teens" race.

It looked like it was giving me the finger

Bonus points for the gold paint

Treason!

No, not Bradley Manning. He's getting 35 years. It used to be treason to BBQ the Queen's mute swan in formerly Great Britain.*

It is considered an offence to kill a wild mute swan as it is believed they are the property of the Crown, though centuries ago, their meat was considered a delicacy.

The birds are now protected under under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and killing or injuring a swan used to be classed as treason under a law dating back to the 12th century.

Why does this remind me of The Pirates! Band of Misfits movie from last year?


*Not that I condone the random eating of swans or anything.

Excellent way to sell competitors parts

Apparently Troy Asymmetric hired Jody Weis, former Chicago police superintendent and noted antigunner as a trainer. This is the training side of Troy Defense. Looks like he'll be teaching the jogging classes. Supposedly they have already pulled the bio down from Troy Asymmetric's webpage. Have they actually fired him?

Suddenly, I have the urge to buy Samson or MI rails. Way to piss away the goodwill Troy received from the gun community after the Dick's fiasco.

Update: They claim to have rescinded the hiring.

Score one for the good guys

The POS shooting up a county in southern Iowa decided a home invasion would be a good idea. Fortunately, people in southern Iowa keep shotguns ready to deal with just such a situation.

Hmm

I found this little gem while clearing my targets. Looks like the UMC bullets. Or it could have been there before me. There was a bunch of aluminum Blazer cases mixed in with the 22lr left over from the Ruger rimfire competition last weekend. This was just beyond one of my targets.

Happiness is

A warm gun. Duh. 119 RA45T through it today plus 50 UMC and 50 Federal ball. No malfunctions. Even loaded it to 15+1 with the defensive ammo, ran fine.
Well, I need more pistol trigger time. If I did my part, it shot fine. If I didn't, well, blah.

Added: I can still feel the stippling over an hour later. Considering the callouses on my hands, that is very impressive.

Range report

No, not on the FNX. A coworker bought a G23 and we went out earlier this week to break it in. I was farting around with an M&P while he tore through 6 boxes of Tulammo brass cased 170 grain, and then some Barnes SD loads. The Tula brass ammo was a surprise- it was clean on the inside of the case and outside. Got the usual Glock bulge. He had one stovepipe on the first mag, and problem free shooting after that.

I was telling him about how some M&P9 fullsize models shoot funny. So, I proceeded to shoot one of the best groups in my life. He was laughing his ass off each time I shot the bullseye. I did shoot the G23 well- it is a nice size.

Geeking out

I fingered up the display FNX 45 and a G21. Finally decided on the FNX. When he brought out the non finger fucked one from the back, I squeed and messed up the 4473. Just happened to be the model I wanted, not black on black. If I'm going to own an ugly pistol with limited aftermarket support, I want it extra ugly. Mission accomplished.

 

Only $40 more for this over the Gen 4 G21. I do miss my old Sig P220, this reminds me of it with a fat grip and 7 more rounds on tap. Time for some night sights and a holster. (after break in, of course)

I'll just put this here

Brain deadening

Watched an episode of Double Divas on DVR. I can barely stand the show*, but this episode had something to do about guns.

This week, they were making a bra for a bounty hunter to carry her gun in. Short version, they stitched a holster onto a bra. One of the hosts ran around with a squirt gun in it (not the LC9 the customer normally carries, is there a blue gun LC9?) and proclaimed it satisfactory. Drawing consisted of whipping out the girls before grabbing the gun. The customer seemed satisfied.

It was funny watching the seamstress laugh at the saleswoman- she expressed shock that the former carrys a gun. Though the latter did lampshade that the gun would print. They took the saleswoman to a range to shoot a gun. She seems good at her job; she sold the woman demonstrating the gun on coming to the store.

The previous episode was the hosts turkey "hunting" with a husband or family member. They made the women of Duck Dynasty look like ninjas.

Overall, the show didn't seem overtly antigun. Shocking, how times have changed. Maybe I'll give the show a second chance.
 

* I was pretty sure I'd watch anything featuring boobs. I may have found my limit.

CORE slides

44mag has a few in stock. Maybe other retailers do as well. I've bought from 44mag before with good results. Apparently includes a barrel, too.

Yeah, that is funny

Epic.

Organizing (And Fail! After Action Report)

I've forced myself to set my system in 6.8 like I do in 300 BLK.

Primed cases go into the 40 S&W tray on the left. Upside down so I'm not temped to grab them and stick a bullet in them.

While charging cases, they are in the white tray. If you note the powder level in these cases, it is only 29.4 grains of Re10x.*

Grab a bullet, seat it and place it in the green tray. 90 grain Speer TNT, in this case.

Use the Lee Factory Crimp Die and place into case. Done.

I do posses more loading trays. But they are the "dirty" trays covered in case lube. I don't like that crap around powder period. The 40 trays are a handy, compact way to keep brass together. 9mm trays work fine for .223 Remington based cases.



*I now know what I did to screw up. Besides not putting powder into 4 cases and not checking the powder level before seating bullets. Note the height of powder in these cases- some are very near the top, others not so much. Hornady cases vary in weight by lot number. Of the 100 once fired cases I prepped tonight (primed with a CC450 primer) 20 weighed in at 117-120 grains. 80 of them weighed 127-130 grains. The lighter cases have more case volume. Meaning a lower powder level in those cases. Most of the last batch were of the high volume variety. Save for one. I fixated on that one, (#21 of 30) weighing the powder two or three times to assure myself it had the same charge. I then skipped to #26 and continued charging cases. And failed double check my work before continuing.

With 300 BLK I check every time. The powder level is so low in the case that it is almost never visible from an angle. I've done about 1K of them since the last time I loaded 6.8 SPC.

And my alignment is....

I did the sheeple thing too. Sweet, I am Chaotic Neutral. :D Pretty sure that means, "I've got mine; you're on your own!":P I would say I'm closer to a type 2 than a type 4 Chaotic Neutral.
I Am A: Chaotic Neutral Human Ranger (5th Level)

Ability Scores:
Strength-11
Dexterity-10
Constitution-11
Intelligence-17
Wisdom-12
Charisma-11

Alignment:
Chaotic Neutral A chaotic neutral character follows his whims. He is an individualist first and last. He values his own liberty but doesn't strive to protect others' freedom. He avoids authority, resents restrictions, and challenges traditions. A chaotic neutral character does not intentionally disrupt organizations as part of a campaign of anarchy. To do so, he would have to be motivated either by good (and a desire to liberate others) or evil (and a desire to make those different from himself suffer). A chaotic neutral character may be unpredictable, but his behavior is not totally random. He is not as likely to jump off a bridge as to cross it. Chaotic neutral is the best alignment you can be because it represents true freedom from both society's restrictions and a do-gooder's zeal. However, chaotic neutral can be a dangerous alignment when it seeks to eliminate all authority, harmony, and order in society.

Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.

Class:
Rangers are skilled stalkers and hunters who make their home in the woods. Their martial skill is nearly the equal of the fighter, but they lack the latter's dedication to the craft of fighting. Instead, the ranger focuses his skills and training on a specific enemy a type of creature he bears a vengeful grudge against and hunts above all others. Rangers often accept the role of protector, aiding those who live in or travel through the woods. His skills allow him to move quietly and stick to the shadows, especially in natural settings, and he also has special knowledge of certain types of creatures. Finally, an experienced ranger has such a tie to nature that he can actually draw on natural power to cast divine spells, much as a druid does, and like a druid he is often accompanied by animal companions. A ranger's Wisdom score should be high, as this determines the maximum spell level that he can cast.

Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

Derp

I was reading Tam's post this week about the pistol not going bang and the gentleman continuing to feed it squibs. And I thought to myself, "damn, I better be careful." No, I didn't think "what a dumbass loser for reloading squibs." Though I did think "who hammers more bullets in when nothing is coming out?" I did reload a squib once. Luckily I was able to knock the bullet out of the bore. That one must have had powder in it. Why? Read on.

Did I say once? Because I did it again today. 4 squibs, no powder. And I know exactly what I didn't do. I didn't do a double check, by looking down the necks with a flashlight to check for powder. I have a routine for reloading 300 BLK, and when I switched back to 6.8 SPC, it was different. So all of my checks were tossed out, too. I can even visualize where the empties were sitting on the loading tray.

I developed my routine simply to reduce the number of cases sitting open with powder on a reloading tray, just in case I have to rush off and do something IMPORTANT! in the middle of reloading. Then come back to find half of the cases full and half empty. So I try to limit the number I drop powder on to 15 at the most, then immediately seat bullets. Lesson relearned.

At least none of these left the case. They were at most .010" longer. I did look down the bore from the breech end each time (AR15 for the win there!) to check for obstructions, until I was embarrassed enough to take my crap home to ponder it. Funny thing, once I got past the four, I'd have had smooth shooting from there on out. All the other cases weighed +/- 0.5 grain of each other.

Side "benefit" to Fast and Furious

Not sure why Mexican citizens would want asylum in America, our administration was arming the cartels they are fleeing. Guess they better drop them off in Canada.

I'll never hear the end of this

My wife is (distantly) related to Jimmy Stewart. On a promo for some show on TLC (guess it counts towards learning), I noticed Zooey Deschanel has some last names in her family tree similar to my wife's extended family, from the same parts of Pennsylvania. Crap. Best I can come back with is that a roommate in college was related to Mark Grace. (Cubs)

Dang

The Mayors Against Illegal Guns tour bus was in town yesterday. Found out about it on the news today. Didn't look like a big turnout to me.

Busy working

Need to work extra to afford ammo for an FNX.

Oh,yeah, and to buy the FNX in the first place. Coworker is trading an old car for a gun...instead of buying mine.

Pleaded vs Pled

Apparently pled is Scottish. Guess that is why it sounds right to my ears, while pleaded sounds like arrogant English stuffiness.

Purring like a kitten

There are three cats in this pic. Two feline and one 3208. Luckily the feline variety did not get harmed.

Brand R

Ruger SR series pistols have a very different feel when dry firing. Glock, M&P, XD and the FNS all feel a little squirrrely as the striker is released. Every SR I've tried doesn't. Over travel? Lighter striker spring?

Whoops

Touched an FNX 45. I think I just moved it to the front of the line. Holsters might be an issue.

Government, um, efficiency?

This is my real shocked face, not the sarcastic one.

A coworker recently applied for his Iowa Permit to Carry Weapons. He was allowed to use an online course, and apply online. His only personal contact was when they had him come down and get his photo taken and hand him his permit. Time from sending the application to actually getting the permit? 8 days. A reduction of around 22 days, from the anecdotal evidence of 8 people I personally asked who have permits in Polk County. It could be that the numbers of new permit holders are dropping, guess I will find out at renewal time.

Where I work, we have gone from 1 coworker with a permit* to over 50%** since shall issue passed two and a half years ago. Technically, the first coworker moved on to a different employer, so all of the growth has come from new holders. And it is possible others have them, just they don't broadcast it like the rest of us do. ;)

*Another employee was a reserve sheriff deputy in another county. He also left, to become a real deputy. I don't count him because of the Some Animals Are More Special Than Others laws. Not that he was a bad guy, on the contrary he was pretty cool.

** If you take out the FNG's from out of state we just hired, it is closer to 75%.