Political Frusteration.

So its of no great shock I would gather that Obamanation is out toting his party line. (Wonder where he finds the money to pay for Air Force One to go on a political gab fest tailing several days or weeks) He seems shocked and totally bewildered that even those that "voted" for him are frustrated, questioning him and his motives and all the policies he and the Democrat controlled Congress have put in place. Placing the buck on Bush may be trendy but there is this way that I look at it:

I enlisted in the Wisconsin National Guard in Feb of 2003. Iraq was getting hot and engaged. We were already in Afghanistan. I deployed twice to the Iraq theater of operations. The thing of it is I could not act shocked that I would be called to take upon the problems of Iraq or where ever else they may send me. I could not blame it on Bush, Clinton, Bush the first, the UN or NATO. While I could say I am here due to a failure of any number of men, those things were still happening when I enlisted and took up the oath.
Obama, is indeed in much the same situation. He took office promising to take care of all these problems or situations that were happening, the economy starting to tank, the wars, all of the unpopular polices that he railed against. In many of them he has extended or increased the scope of them. Others he just sits back and points to Bush.
Well Obama took the oath of office, taking these things on, knowing full well that they were happening. So they at the very least are his problem now, he willingly accepted the burden, though apparently he will not take responsibility for anything that he has done or not done. A man that had very little political experience was overlooked by the Media and a large amount of those that voted for him. Yet we see on various Republican tickets those that have a similar amount of experience in politics as him (Mind you it was also stated that he was different and better because he wasn't long vested in politics!) or even more, but less than the "average" politician getting grilled by the media for ...not having enough experience!

The Democrats have pointed to the Republicans as stopping all they wanted to do, yet we have the new health care bill, and many others. The Democrats have controlled the House, the Senate utterly. The Republicans by and large could not stop anything the Democrats wanted to do. Yet the Democrats cant understand why everyone is so angry about the policies they put in place.

And it does go both ways, many of the so called RINO Republicans don't understand when they get ousted from the primaries why they did.
And in the years before 2006 they got complacent which is they we are in the situation we are now.
Still, Obamanation is so out of touch with people as well as the Democratic party at large that they stand to get a heavy toll placed on them in November.
The Economy itself, Employment, Business's themselves are all either in a holding pattern or nosediving.
Wars continue to happen.
The United States has tried to play nice with despots and corrupt dictators.
Allies are insulted.
Times are uncertain and no one has any clue what will happen with Congress, Taxes, Employment, or the overreaching affects of new regulations.
The Democrats, and their supporters have basically said that everyone needs to stop whining about what is happening, its not their fault.
Thing of it is, it is their fault, seeing as how they hold the majority and have passed all these packages, bills to the tune of hundreds of trillions of dollars, with out it having any affect for the positive.
People were told that the Government would ride in and save the day.. except that hasn't happened.
Too many people are utterly dependant on handouts.
There is a lot of truth to the old saying of give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach him to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life.
People make wealth. Inspiration and Innovation makes wealth. They know how to personally steer their finances to keep themselves making more money when they have the capability still to do so.
Ambition as well helps in this, the drive to better yourself is more than just a wealth factor. Pride, satisfaction and the ability to improve yourself is what drives economies. Not the Government.
With out a Congress that is understanding of those they represent or a understanding of what is going on in the areas they represent there is going to be more and more of this pointing of fingers, telling people its not their fault or overall corruption if they are not held in check. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Hoppe's 9

I share this child hood memory many of us out there have, the smell of Hoppe's 9 after a father, grandparent, mother, older brother, what have you, being in the room as they carefully cleaned up any firearms that had been used that day.
For me it was my Grandfather that taught me how to shoot, as well as my brother in the year and a half I lived with him in Arizona.
Nothing like walking off your porch ten feet to the stack of bricks set up and shooting up the hillside in to some targets. Yes, we cleared rocks and such so there was little chance of ricochet.
And every time, every single time that day or failing that the very next day Granddad would sit and meticulously clean up whatever we used. This man was an infantry officer in WW2, and while he never yelled at how I cleaned the things he was far, far far far more of a perfectionist about cleaning guns than any Drill Sergeant I had in the Army, or any one. As the unit Armorer and a Direct Support repairman I took after him in cleaning up firearms after a long hard run in the field, but I digress...

I have played around with various solvents, chemicals and for cleaning up plane carbon residue there is nothing better that I have found that is safer on  your hands, the air your breathing, less messy, and can still be even spilled on a wood stock with out risk of  damage instantly.
Yes CLP is good for machine guns and it too has a distinctive smell. I just did not like it in the use overseas for M4's. (With that I preferred Militech but that will be a future upcoming post)
While Hoppe's is not what should be used if your shooting corrosive ammunition, and it is not a effective copper solvent, it is still the best thing out there. Cheap and easy to get, you can get the stuff anywhere.
I use Barnes CR 10 for a copper solvent, but that stuff is fairly unpleasant on your hands, the smell is terrible.


So as I sit, cleaning up the last of my firearms that have been long overdue tonight, I'll be reflecting back on as a kid, watching and learning from Granddad, who started me out shooting and got me interested in it in the first place. Thank you Granddad, rest in peace.

Weather woes.

You know your in rough weather when the wind is so severe that there are whitecaps on the standing water puddles in the fields and yards from yesterdays rain.

Triple post for the day!

So I dabble about on interenet type of games, World of Warcraft for example, Some first person shooters, though I'm not what I call a expert computer geek on games, I do alright. I play roleplaying games on the table top, think Dungeons and Dragons, though that has been years now, most currently I play Shadowrun when I am about folks that do the same. I hunt, I own firearms, Have children, Have done a stint in the military...
And a few other assorted things. It could be said that I am a "odd duck" baised on my interests. I'm a political conservitive, Libertarian to be exact. I'm tired of the establishment in the US politics, on both sides of the house that we typically see. I see many similiratys out there with other countries as well with political blackmail so to speak.

Then I delved even further in to the world of the Internet and the Internet blogger. What I have really seen is that the basic cookie cutter shapes out there do exist but they themselves are a rarity if you really open your eyes to what people are saying. My blog father Jay G Is a good example of such. And many of the criss crossing blogs out there, the tangled web that we all tend to get in to. It covers a lot of different spectrum's, granted tending to Conservative leanings but not always in the way that Conservative is portrayed in modern media out there in Western culture. People the world over are pretty disgusted with elected governments failing to really represent the people that elected them. There seems to be a slow, but subtle grinding change happening, though its forefront again seems to be the United States. Currently we have the Tea Party as it is called leads the way. It is a simple thing but complicated for our leaders to understand. And there are similar things everywhere in the world where we have a "elected" representation. While the United States is typically known for our revolution being a bloody one, and a bloody, bloody Civil War, this is again an apparent first, What is going to be a bloodless grass roots take over of the establishment from the bottom up to the top. I Have a feeling the next two to four years are going to be ground breaking if changes actually happen. The US, and the world itself is watching to see how we handle ourselves. And if the people that get put in power really live up to their word and the promises they made.
Let it begin.

Range report.

Well I went out and braved the rainy weather to try getting something accomplished today. Of course when I leave home its hardly a sprinkle, but when I get to the range it starts to really rain. The kind of summer rain that is warm, wonderful but steady. Picturesque in its own way but not when your putting up paper targets. Eh well.

So I Zeroed Classy, my 300 Savage bolt action. Final tally was three shots nearly covered up by a quarter at 100 yards.

Side note, those older leupold 100 sight in scope targets are crap. You have four 2 inch blocks to try to sight in for and its difficult to do precision work with anything less than a 9X, compared to the newer scope sight in targets out there. My favorite is the Burris package, that gives you nine different pink objects to sight in for. Good for all sorts of reticles.

Anyway, the 336 Still vexes me. I have something thats "zeroed" but that is the most inconsistant rifle I have seen. Perhaps it just dosent like 160 grains much. It will kill a deer at 100 yards and beyond, no sweat, but it dos'ent group worth a hoot. It still tends to fire three fine, then drop two off three inches south for no reason. It also will cluster three shots touching or nearly so, then two off randomly. Ill work on it but its a third rifle at least for now.

Thor, the .300 WSM continues to become more and more the Bastard.
The light ends of IMR 4350 net me a couple tight groups, one of which three shots are covered by a quarter. Not bad. However two and a half grains above the suggested STARTING point start to show sighs of high pressure, IE sticky bolt again. I'll research this happening more clearly some how. But at least I have a group that the rifle shoots well, at a powder charge that causes me no issue. The next plan is to zero up this loading, as well as process 50 new brass, and load those up.
This rifle is not a fun one to shoot. It belts even with 2000 lead bullets sitting in the leadsled. It is a polymer stock. and as such is very light. It does have recesses in it, which I may look in to glass bedding or at least filling up with something to give the stock a bit more heft.
However, I do have some success to report with that tonight which is a long overdue start.

Rain, rain rain.

Wisconsin has been getting soaked the past month or more. Some areas in the state are in risk of washing away, Six inches of rain overnight! I know that we have had more than our share of water, its time for the farmers to be doing their thing in the fields if they still have any that are not under water. A drive about the countryside today showed many many fields that now more closely resemble ponds. We could use a good three to four weeks with out water to dry things out.

Open Carry.

Guns & Coffee has posted up some incidents of Open Carry being harassed by a few Police officers.
Weather or not they knew the law and broke it or were ignorant of what they did is little excuse as no civilian would get away with a "I did not know the law" argument.

These incidents, and others, similar to them in this state, and others are a troubling trend that shows Police and Government overstepping of their bounds.
Hey Doyle? I thought we had Open carry by the constitution of the state?

Oh wait..

Yep its been a few days.

So a weekend away with the little ones has kept me busy, as well as sorting out matters around here, and a sudden Virus hit on my laptop.

But lets see, I will be zeroing the 30-30, Classy my bolt action 300 Savage, and trying some 165 grain loads for my 300 WSM.

Reloading update.

Well here is the good and the bad from this weeks hand loading of cartridges.

First off, I hate load manuals. You need to have half a dozen of the damn things because between the same bullet and powder and primer, each guy has a different load recipe. .223 in one book starts at one point and the top end is at the starting point for another manual.

Side note, LC stuff made from the mid 90's on up has a huge case capacity. I'm stuffing 27 Grains of Varget in to LC 97's for great accuracy! Figured this was the one! Made a classic reloading mistake. Took a batch of mixed twice fired British, PMC, Remington, Winchester cases... And with the exception of the British stuff, I couldn't fit more than 25 grains in each of the conventional cases. I topped off 40 of the rounds in the mindset that since the 27 grains filled the LC nicely that I can replicate that performance with the mixed civiliann stuff.
We will see. The LC 27 grain rounds with two called fliers out of five... Well I had three shots keyholeing at 100 yards.

Mostly however I want to get a good solid consistant load across multiple cases for the AR15's, using Varget. Varget seems to show better shot to shot consistency than IMR 4895. I have a pound and a half of the Varget stuff, and if I don't get something consistent I will go back to IMR 4895.

Status, ongoing.

Next up was the trial of the 30-30 Winchester in the Marlin 336, trying out W748 ball powder on a instinct to propel the 160 grain Hornady leverlution bullets. I had a scattering of rounds,  ranging from 2MOA to 4MOA. Disappointing, until....29.0 grains. Three shots touching, one fouling shot and perhaps one flyer? This is the load I will be going with. Oddly though this rifle can bring three in somewhat close with a powder charge it is okay with, and tosses two off in another, usually similar spot. Odd, but if the mentioned weight was a total of about 2 MOA, counting the two off shots. That is pretty damn good for a lever action rifle and a 4.5 power scope. I will load this up, so Success on this account.

Next up is the Thor. Which I think will perhaps become The Bastard. This is the Remington M700 in 300 WSM.
It showed great consistency with the 58.0 grains of IMR 4350 in the barrel break in shots. I even had three rounds in .5 in MOA during that process. After that things went to hell. (yes, I was cleaning the rifle). Again the Barnes bullets at the starting charge grouped acceptably well, then from there it went to hell. Sticky bolts, and that gun was SCREAMING. I know I was pushing the charge here. So I'm looking at backing off, trying the 58.0 grain weight charge again.. or going down from 180 grain pills to 165/168 or 150 grain bullets. Let me say something, I am glad Ides got me that lead sled and I had 2000 lead bullets holding the fucker down. Recoil was little to none in that. However at the sticky bolt phase of 59.0 grains... The report was impressive to say the least. I wish I had a chronograph of what they were pushing. The rifle held it well, but for some reason this thing still is just being a Bastard all the way around. I'll figure it out but still. Hmmm. Much research and thinking to be done on this one.

Status, ongoing.

Finally this is an embarrassing success. The Remington M700 Classic, year model of 2003, .300 Savage.

Nothing really to report, I knew this thing keyholed 180 grain Federals. So I went with Sierra 180 grain plain spitzers. Flat based bullet, sold in packs of 100. Model number 2150. I took aim at a target I had previously shot at with the .300 WSM. Charge IMR 4895 35.5 Murphy's law here. I managed to hit a spot where I shot two rounds in to. They were part of the break in process. However I put 4 shots in 1/4 in MOA, Ill give one thats at just outside of that the called fouler shot. All I can say to this is America, Fuck Yeah. I don't know why but that is what popped in to my head. So I took that mixed batch of brass I had, loaded up 50 of these babys and called it a day today.
Yep, I know, Mixed brass, this is bad bad for long range precision target shooting. However if I can cover these up with a half dollar at 100 yards and a pie plate at 200 this will put any white tail deer down in out there. Not bad for a cartridge that dates from the 1920's

Yes that's right folks, the 300 Savage was decades ahead of its time. It was initially made to take advantage of the better powders out there at that time to replace the 30-06 or replicate its performance, roughly in a smaller magazine and bolt. (Sounds much like the Super Short Magnums that came out in...2001?). This cartridge was even offered to the US military for trials, but the somewhat odd neck on it did not apparently lend itself well to Machine gun applications. This cartridge has nearly identical ballistics to the .308 Winchester/7.62Nato, though that later cartridge does have the performance edge. As such its obselete
Still, I enjoy the cartridge and it does pretty good for what it is.

So, two successes with this Range report. I have Workhorse and one back up rifle, and one that perhaps can be loaned out this season to someone in need. Or whatever. Or just practice with.

Peace out folks.

Taken from the email I received today, Take note Karl Rove and his ilk.

Sue and I are deeply grateful for your support in our campaign for Governor. Thank you.

While we came up short, we are gratified to know that our support extended across Wisconsin. We carried nearly 2/3's of Wisconsin’s counties. We carried counties like Brown (57-40%), La Crosse (57-39%), and Chippewa (60-36%). Sue and I are truly honored by the huge support we received throughout most of Wisconsin. And we appreciate all the wonderful messages we have received since the election. Thank you.

I'd rather have been in the arena, fighting for what I believe in, and lose, than to never have entered the arena at all.

My mom and dad taught me, and I hope Sue and I have taught our kids, that fighting to win, giving everything you have to accomplish the goal is extremely important, but even more important is being able to look in the mirror the next morning and know that integrity and honesty had been involved in every step of the process. We are pleased with our campaign. We never ran a single negative TV ad. We ran a positive campaign based on our 210-page plan to cut spending, lower taxes, and create jobs.

Now, we must unite behind Scott Walker. I will do what I can to make sure that all of my voters vote for Scott Walker in November.

Unlike Tom Barrett, Scott and I agree that government should be smaller, taxes lower, and that job creation will be driven out of the private sector.

Now, I will return to my businesses. Scott is fond of saying he has a plan to create 250,000 jobs. My plan is to create a few hundred of them.

Thank you again for everything.

God bless,

Now, while this man lost the primary election to Scot Walker, he is gracious enough to point to similarity's in how they feel the government should be run, and he is asking his votes to get behind the man that won the election. Take note Karl Rove, and you other dickweeds out there that pitch a fit upon loosing. And yes, that also means you Tea Party candidates in Illinois that lost.

Karl Rove, you are a twatwaffle.

Nothing like the bastards that needed to cast out like some Sith Lords to come in and bad mouth Tea Party candidates that get elected over the retardigans. So Let me see if I understand this. Republicans, and other Conservatives need to toe to fucking line to the party's big fucking tent and bow to what ever stupid sad puke of a candidate they come up with all in the "party unity" bit, Then they essentially take their toys and go home after a huge temper tantrum when we dare not vote for their man? Oh Snap! Right, party unity for everyone but them! Instead of backing the person that the people wanted, therefor stands a better chance of getting elected your gonna bad mouth the person? Say your not gonna fund them? I can't imagine the burning up the lines they got on that one, since it was a few hours later they retracted the fact they would not give money to the woman that won Delaware.
Karl Rove, and the rest of you big party asshats wearing a R or a pretend R or whatever that expect me to go toe to line to support the cause?  (gee sounds like the Democrats lines) I have something to say to you tardlings.
Lick. My. Choad.

Also, Get the fuck out of the way, because your about to get run over by Americans, just like your retarded family members that you hump in your incestuous political relationships, the Democrats.

Thanks to Ides, for the usage of twatwaffle. All due credit for the twatwaffle and any twatwaffle franchises, and assorted copyrights go to her. All Rights Reserved.

Range Day Tommrow.

Well, tomorrow is going to be a long day at the range, though I shouldn't have to worry about barrels overheating in the low 60's like I did when it was 80 degrees.

So first up I am going to finally fire my 300 WSM. I have 10 misc rounds to break in the barrel, which in itself will be a lengthy process. Then I have 4 rounds for four different load weights to try. Wish me luck because those solid copper Barnes bullets are spendy. I don't want more than two range sessions to dial in a load. 180 grains are the first loads up, If I can get those dialed in for this seasons deer hunt ill be content, and work on the 150s and the 165 class bullets as the winter wears on. Thor as that rifle is named is however dangerously close to just getting called the Bastard for now.

I also am trying some Varget powder for my AR15 Varmint to see if I can tighten up my groups from IMR 4895. It should shoot better than two inches at 100 yards for ten shots, but these attempts are 5 rounds each to get a better picture of what this rifle is capable of doing.

My other Remington 700, the 300 Savage classic class of 2003 will be shot as well, and the scope dialed in. I have four loads to try with that, I am optimistic for this rifle.

Finally the 30-30 Marlin is going out for the third range session with the 160 FTX Hornady leverlution bullets. Trying Winchester 748 ball powder. I hope this time I get something close, and can dial it in with a fourth session, (if Im lucky one of my loads will work dead on, but I'm not lucky so far)

The object here is the standard I run with every deer season, I want one Primary rifle, and one back up. I would love to put the Workhorse 30-06 to back up status with the 300 WSM as primary but we will have to wait and see. Since also, customarily if I hunt with my standard hunting buddy he often borrows one of my rifles, for his wife so having three or four deer rifles up and running tends to be useful.

Granted, I do only prefer one rifle for all applications, the 30-30 while a great compact brush gun isn't used for that for me. I hunt with a .44 Mag revolver for pushing brush, the rifle is slung to my back. I find this to be a better arrangement than trying to swing a rifle though the pickers that I end up driving. Also a pistol is a wonderful tool to finish off a deer. Yes, I know, one shot one kill but I do not like approaching a wounded deer or a deer that is laying there to finish the job with a knife. Those hooves are dangerous things and I have seen a doe attack from the ground before. A pistol is more controllable and efficient to put another round in to an animal than a high powered rifle. I typically, since my luck is horrible only end up shooting or seeing does. Since I eat them anyway I don't particularly care. Its easy to just approach an animal and put a single round to the head. No, it doesn't end up splattering brains all over like one would assume, at least with the .44 mag at a couple paces away. The hollow points don't even have time to expand at that range in the quick passage though the head. I find that this is much safer than trying to grapple with a wounded deer, or have one "recover" for one last ditch attempt to move.

WTF @ 20 cent gas increase

So a oil leak for 6100 gallons of crude in the windy city nets us a 20 cent increase per gallon?!
Thanks politicians for there not being more refineries.

Sig P229 Review.

So, here we go, off with review number one.
Sig P229 in 9mm. Single action/Double action.

1 Accuracy.  2.8.
The pistol demonstrates boring regularity with what it shoots. I have put Wolf though it, Federal, and Remington full metal jackets both of 115 grain and 124 grain weights. It seems to prefer the heavier weights a bit more, but at seven yards standing it puts two inch holes in the paper, three to five at 15 yards and four to six at about 25 if I do my part. It does everything you can ask a basic pistol to do, but make no mistakes here it is not a match grade weapon. However, that being said, the fact that it digests everything with out a hiccup and puts rounds in the black or a kill zone if you do your part with out trying is a big benefit. Easy to see night sights really help. This pistol really does shoot better than I can at this time.
Additional bit I had forgot. Standing upright, and aimed at a 50 yard silhouette target, I put in two kill shots and one miss out of three just at an informal attempt, Aimed center of mass. So this compact pistol has the capability of longer than average pistol ranges.

2. Ergonomics.  1.4
This pistol is a bit beefy as it is a double stack firearm. Its recoil tends to be sharp but very controllable, but it does have a definite roll up high feeling when you fire it, making your grip all the more important. This makes it a bit more difficult than some pistols for follow on shots but with range time it is something that is easy to master. I put a novice behind this pistol, and while she was surprised by the recoil it was manageable. It isn't a hard recoiling weapon being a solid metal frame however. She was able to make acceptable enough shots with it at 10 yards and would do well with this pistol with additional range time. This pistol however is designed for right handed people, the controls being on the left side of the weapon
The location of the slide lock is fully to the rear and is not as intuitive as other designs that place the slide release forward. However the decocker is easy to manipulate and smooth as silk. The pistol is a classified as a compact, and while there isn't anything to really snag on for concealed carry its defiantly designed more for open carry. The weight for the pistol is also fairly significant. The trigger on this is smooth, the slack taken up with out a hitch and the trigger squeeze both on single action and double action is more than acceptable.

3. Price. 1.8
Sig pistols are not cheap, trending new for this pistol from 700 on up form there. However its not grossly overpriced and I feel that it is a fair value for the money. The price does put it above your polymer based pistols of the same class, but keep in mind here you are getting solid metal instead of plastic moldings. Also a benefit is this particular model has a common caliber of ammunition, that you can get literally everywhere. A good thing to keep in mind is this pistol is available in 9mm, 357 Sig and .40 S&W for calibers and there are factory .22 LR conversion kits available. Also you can get kits to change out calibers with ease, giving a bit extra value for the money.

4. Fit and finish. 1.2.
This pistol fits tight, locks up well and looks good, however the finish on it seems to be easily marked, and the stock plastic grips do not fit perfectly well together. In fact even when tightened down fully there is some play with where they meet and its a bit of a irritation, however aftermarket grips are available. The stock grips could fit better and I feel that especially for the price of the pistol they damn well should.

5. Aftermarket accessory availability  .8
There are plenty of aftermarket parts out there for it both in grips, the fact this particular model has a rail machined in to the bottom of the frame is a big plus, and my Streamlight snaps snugly to the third furthest out rail, however this pistol doesn't have the following of say a 1911 or a AR15 for customization.

So this makes a total of  8.0 points.

I'm a bit surprised at my harshness on this pistol, as I really do love the thing and its a joy to shoot, however the factory grips could  be more solid. That seems to be my biggest disappointment with it all told. The fact that it is a right handed only pistol further limits some of its practicality.  For a novice its a bit of a steep learning curve compared to some, but its nothing that you could not fine tune with some range sessions. The fact that its a 9mm makes ammunition cheap to come by and you can get it everywhere.

Overall It is a great gun, and I would suggest it to most people, but it could stand for a couple improvements. I will continue to shoot and use this pistol with out any reservations, however. This pistol would be a fair deal with all things told.

My Firearm grading scale.

So I will in the next couple of days do my overall assessment on my Sig P229 in 9mm. But before I do that I think I will illustrate my grading scale, its hopefully a bit more detailed than the typical ones you see either on line or in a gun rag.

I have decided to do a ten point scale, IE a perfect gun would receive a full 10.0 rating.
I will break the points down as follows:

1. Accuracy. This is the biggest department so It will be given a total point value of 3 points.

2. Ergonomics. This one will get 2 total points. This is something of a relative thing as each person is a bit different, so Ill try to use my observations of people using my reviewed firearms. This entails speed to acquire the target, how it feels in your hands, If its a pistol how it does with one handed firing, Long guns, how easy it is to acquire the target, to include shouldering the long gun, and also recoil, both in felt and speed of subsequent shots on target. Also with this, how easy it is to shoulder the firearm in either some fashion of tactical garb or hunting jacket attire. Also with this, the ease of reaching all controls, like decockers, Safeties, Mag Releases, etc.

3. Price. This is the over all assessment of the firearm, and if it is a value for the money, and included, ammunition prices, IE a common caliber will probably scale better, like a 30-06 vs say 340 Weatherby Magnum. This one nets another 2 points.

4. Fit and finish for two points. How well things are assembled, mostly self explanatory.

5. Availability of either parts or aftermarket accessories, Slings, holsters and the like. One point.

Wisconsin Primaries are Tommrow.

I'll trundle myself on down to the city hall to cast my ballot. Seems it counts now more than ever before to get the right people in the office.

On to other things, well.. The 300 WSM is proving to have a new name, The Bastard.
Handholding up the shells for this using Barnes XTPS.... ugh. I keep getting a slight buckle on the top of the case shoulder. Nothing that prevents the case from chambering but its not conductive to accuracy. The only way that those bullets with that long of a shank are able to be seated is to slowly in steps work that bullet in to the case. Having four bloody cannulures makes it more interesting as I get micro copper shavings. 59.5 Grains of IMR 4350 with that bullet fill the case to the brink too. Any one out there have a good ball powder to suggest for Magnum loadings?

So slowly in steps gradually seating the bullet with the crimp seems to help but its a irritation at the best of days. I just hope I get something resembling a starting point for final round honing as well as the barrel break in this week.

I have some 748 backed 30-30s loaded to try out, hoping that this change of powder does the trick for that rifle.

And tonight Ill load up 30 rounds of 223 backed by Varget to see if I can't fine tune my AR loads a bit tighter than what I had with IMR 4895.

And away.

Well the Lady has returned of whence she came. Its a bit of a sad day of course, always is to see someone cared for step away, however brief or long it may last. It was a great week, however all told in the balance of things. Probably one of my better weeks in my life. Good times on the road, its always nice road trip with someone that drives the way you do and thinks similar things of the annoyances on the road. We had a lot of good food and good times and laughs. And shooting as one of the previous posts here illustrates. In preparation for next time and to give me something to do besides clean, and clean guns I think I'll load up some bottom end of powder .38 special wadcutters for the little snubbie. Yes, I know Ides its a bit late but the rounds wont go bad so it will be something for next time, no matter what the weather may be.

As far as other things, It is the continued job hunt, as always of course, the clean up around this place, prepping things for fall and winter.. Though it was very fall like weather this entire week. Go figure the day Ides heads off its back to high 70's and low 80's.

I will polish up Thor, though it may just get called my Bastard Rifle. Time will tell. I'll load up some rounds again to break it in, and then start some Solid Copper 180's as well as some 165's or there abouts. I'll also get Classy, and my 30-30 dialed in this week, I hope anyway. Or at least closer.

Never forget, the wounds are still there.

I could go on about what I was doing when the attacks happened, when the planes hit, towers fell, the subsequent crash of the united flight in PA.

Instead I will just simply say I will never forget. No one should or forget the dickweeds that did this to us and Western culture as a whole. That is indeed everyone kids, Be it the figurehead and leader that is the United States or some other place, England, Canada, Spain, and so many others have had attacks or near attacks. It is a war of cultures and religions. Never Forget that, and never forget that no quarter is offered to us. The fight must be taken to the enemy each and every time.

Shooting with the Lady Friend.

Well Today was a cooler 65ish degree day and I took The Lady Ides out to the promised shooting session, since she does not get to do that but when she is on a visit my way.

So the range was.. for this time apparently well occupied. Nothing serious but it made it a bit frustrating to try to shoot pistols for a novice shooter, at 25 yards. Since the range was hot and did not have a 15 or 7 yard range available  and we could not shoot closer like we normally do.

Also Aguila Pistol Match ammunition is apparently garbage. Multiple failures to extract/eject from my Kimber 22 conversion for the 1911. Federals, Armcors all fired with aplomb.

She belatedly mentioned that some of her problem was she was focusing on the target instead of the front sight post. Whoops.

However we did scoot on up close for a little bit while there was a range break. Other than her not liking the way the Sig 229 fit, once she stopped bad habit shooting she was knocking holes in to the target again like no ones business. I do admit that I was having issues that day at 25 yards with the pistol myself so..
Could have been a combination of factors however she did do quite well with the pistol, all things considered when we got her dialed in.

However the big grins of the day go to the AR 15 with the varmint scope. And damn can she shoot. Granted this thing has a good scope on it but she was displaying excellent control, and was grouping her shots nicely together at the 25 yard line off a simple sandbag rest. She even got so cocky as to say she knew where the shots were hitting relative to her point of aim and she walked them on up to the dead center of the targets.

So while we were taking a break from pistol shooting I decided to let her have some fun with the AR.
Popped up a human silhouette at 50 yards, gave her 25 rounds and the sandbag rest and let her go to town.

Few shots later I put up the bino's and gazed down range. There was a small cluster of a large amount of shots. Very nice. However she shot more than that... Hmmm. Looked up to the "head" Region. Yup, there was the second tight group. "Are you shooting him in the head?" I received a smart assed tone of voice that was laden with glee and joy in reply. "Yes, Yes I am!!!" And she proceeded to fire until mag-lock. And she kept that target, number three of the day that she declared a keeper to go home with her. And add to the collection on the fridge.

One more image of the proud Lady Ides with the purple hair:

Uh... thanks for little to nothing, Remington.

So Yesterday I picked up my rifle from Gander Mountain. 21.70 dollar shipping charge for the "Smith" To send it back to Remington... which I could have bloody damned well done my self, thank you so very much customer service. Thanks.

Well, anyway, So apparently the "Work" done on this rifle was to figure out that golly gosh, we put in the wrong damned follower and spring for the magazine well. That was it, other than the rifle apparently coming back more dirty than I had sent it. *Rage and anger building*

Soooo, it should be perfect now right? Well it does, feed the round in to the chamber. But it still scratches the hell out of the brass, though I will polish up the feed lips next week and take it back out. Then again, it may perhaps be a weakness in the feed system of the rifle, that's trying to digest a cartridge too big for it. Also the ejection of the rounds (I tested it with the remaining handloaded rounds) is the weakest I have seen, hardly gets them out of the ejection bevel. If it manages that at all. Though it is just meant to eject a empty piece of brass and the rounds dumped though the bottom of the magazine well. Still it seems to be a bit of a weak ejection system that I don't recall being a problem before I sent the damn thing back in the first place. RAWR!
So I do not think that I will be purchasing a brand new Remington firearm again. Between the quality of the finished brand new rifle and the quality of customer service and the quality of the total repair job on warranty..
Someones left sucking on hind tit out there and it apparently Is going to be me for expecting to have Thor ready to roll. However it's now a challenge so I think I'll be applying some of the tricks I used on the M24 Sniper rifle systems that Remington sold to the Army when something came up with the smoothness of feeding.

Madtown, Recob's Target Shop and more driving!

Well, Apparently Google Maps is still teh phail. However Map Quest isn't always great either, but we managed to hit 3 of 4 places in MADison that the Lady Friend wanted, and she got to see the state capital building, and the horrible horrible hippie village that down town is, more bikes and people than cars, and none of them pay attention. Bikes on sidewalks going opposite the flow of traffic, not stopping at stops.. Joggers running out with out looking...
Oh and the DHL delivery van coming head on to me in a one way street. I was going the right way. Was a bit hair raising for a bit. And of course every bad habit for drivers, from the prius's that cant seem to crack 45, or find that little stick that signals which direction your going, to the stickers splashed with obama, kerry, and peace and love stickers, covering the ass ends of some rusted out jalopy that seem to be utterly oblivious to the fact that there are others out there on the road.

However, Madison, for what it is, still really is a beautiful city and its small enough that you can get to where you need to go in reasonable enough time. If it was not for the liberal city policies I wouldn't even mind living in the city.

Recobs Target Shop,

Now this is my candy store. Walk in and its wall to wall reloading supplies, ammunition, everything you could really need and then some and the prices, especially, especially on the components are incredible. Best out there.
I picked up w748, Varget, IMR 3031, 4895 4350... and a can of Blue Dot for tinkering with the .44 Mag.. And 1.5k Small Pistol Primers... 1k of Large Rifle, Small Rifle and Large Pistol... And other things...
It is quite a good place, helpful staff, and of course just the sadness that I did have parting with.. a good portion of coin.
*coughs*

All and all another great day, aside form MADison funkiness.

Working Vacation, Day one, or is it two?

So, yesterday for Labor day found myself and the Lady Friend headed to the Milwaukee area for her to get gaming stores interested in the company she works for, as far as a distributor. The trip down was filled with rain till we hit Green Bay, half an hour drive to get that far alone. Dear God why the hell do you SLAM ON THE BRAKES when it starts to rain? You can see it sprinkle for a few seconds at least, why the hell would you do such a insane thing, and then creep along at 45 on an interstate? In Rain. On Labor Day? I mean come on, slow down a tick if you need to. That's fine. Locking up the entire interstate in panic because you cant be observant enough to see that your going in to a rain cloud is a hell of a lot less safe than barreling though a downpour.

Other than that, the trip was pretty smooth on down, to the hotel. Got settled on in and called up my friend that I hadn't seen in a few years, at least since the first deployment and we went out for Margaritas, and Mexican food. Pretty solid night all told.

Today was a rough one, I know that you all will have quivering hearts at this one. Woke up mid morning, let the Lady do her thing, and we then set out. Sadly, Google Maps are pretty well useless in the greater Milwaukee area. The god damn city and the surrounding cities seem to have decided against putting up street signs. And its full fledged construction, everywhere. So after a while of driving around we pulled in to a Japanese restaurant, had a smashing meal of yellowtail, red tuna, red chili sauce shrimp and other sushi. Life is rough. We got going again and found the first place, and continued to hit the rest of our objectives, often times with no help at all from Goggle's map system. Follow that up with a seven layer chocolate cake slice and a fresh strawberry cheesecake slice from the Cheesecake Factory and its a pretty solid day out at work.


Traffic overall was not bad but we were out of the area by the time most of rush hour hit. Sadly it appears that I need to have a Tank, however. People just can not seem to get the idea of getting up to speed on a onramp to merge with traffic. You dickheads that think that by going slower than the flow of traffic, like oh say 50 in a 65, where traffic is pushing 70 to 75 are not doing anyone behind you on the ramp favors. Or the people that you cut off when you finally dicker your way on over in to the right lane. And for those assholes out there that speed up to cut you off when your trying to merge, at speed can go die in a fire. You know the ones that I'm talking about, they will not move over even with the space to do so. They can keep a constant speed and let you in with no issues. Oh no, lets speed up and make the other person lock the brakes up or put it to the floor to get around them. Seriously, go park your car and jump in front of a bus.

Tomorrow will have us in Madtown Madison itself, then hopefully to Recob's Target Shop. I need to pick up several pounds of powder and a pile of primers, as well as a couple other assorted things. The next week then will be spent tuning my .223 a bit tighter, my 30-30 and my 300 Savages. I like Recob's target shop too, and they are cheap on powder. At least ten bucks at least vs Gander Mountain, and generally cheaper than elsewhere on the Internet.

Driving.

I am not sure what the hell it is about freeways but its like every tardling out there just seems to get in the damned way.


There are two lanes or more going one way on a freeway. They are to pass other people, then move the hell back over in to the right most lane of traffic. If you are making people pass you on the right because your too stupid, fat, lazy, or just that damned big of a jackass, please just drive your car in to a tree. Get the hell over or get the hell out of the way.

Also, pick a damned speed. Set the cruise control and stop speeding up and slowing down at random times. If your car does not have a cruise control and you can not maintain your speed with in one to two miles an hour, please, pull the car off the road, get out of it, and light it on fire and never ever get behind the wheel again. (I know if your towing something or other factors can make that difficult)

Also for the jackasses on two lane roads.
You know who you are, you hammerheads that speed up in a passing zone so that I can not reasonably pass you, but then drop to say 45 in a 55 in a no passing zone. Get off the damned road then jackwipes.

Signals are on a car for a reason. Try using them when your shifting lanes. Or if your turning off of a road period.

On to more pleasant things, the Lady had arrived and the trip wasn't too bad, though O'hare is full of rude people as always.

Tomorrow we will be headed to Milwaukee so that she can do her work tomorrow evening in the various gaming stores and such on Tuesday night anyway.
Tomorrow night we shall meet up with one of my old army buddys from teh first deployment if all goes well.
Wednesday we will hit the MADtown area, hopefully find some Sushi or the like, and continue letting her work, on in to Wednesday where we will wrap up the working portions of things, or Thursday maybe. Friday for sure however we will get out to go shooting, I'm looking forward to it as is she. Curious to see how she handles the AR15, and the Sig 229.
Regardless I know she will expend a large amount of my .45ACP inventory and a good portion of my .22 LR inventory out of the 1911, and I'm sure we both will have a great time.

Currently I'm feeling somewhat relaxed, with some zucchini and tomatoes steamed together, fresh steamed green beans and some apple wood smoked thick sliced bacon wrapped beef tenderloins for dinner, the tenderloins topped with mushrooms, onions and artichokes. Not a bad meal at all for 12 total dollars.

Imma snagging this idea from Jay G... Top ten list.

So I had a thought today of what perhaps the top ten ionic fire arms are today for Americans for one reason or another, that everyone should have the chance to fire, even if its just for one day, now while I'm sure everyone will have a slightly modified list here and even on a different given day my list will perhaps change but these I feel are a good solid shoe in on any given day. These weapons will be from the last century, at least actively employed in warfare by us or against us, or in plain civilian life.

Here goes, oh and the one exempting factor. Since Class 3 Firearms are only available to those of us that have done military service or some sorts of police work those fire arms are off of the list, at least if they only come in a Class 3 Variant. Belt fed semi autos Ill include with that as the price range of those systems takes them out of the average shooters availability.

In no particular order...

1. AK 47, or at least the civilian clones there of. It is the weapon nearly everyone pictures from Vietnam forward that defines armed conflict, and the sheer millions of these weapons out there assure that we will continue to see them for some time to come. They define movies and every single bad stereotype out there for Assault Weapons, but the civilian legal versions... (Well at least in -some- states) are quite a bit of fun to shoot, and ammunition is easy to get and cheap.

2. M16/AR15/AR 10, Again the civilian legal variants of these. Soft, easy shooting, reliable now days, and they define the tinker and personalize your rifle like no other. Also the bit of infamy they have as a relic of the Vietnam fielding days adds to the interest or hatred of these weapons. Now days you can have them in nearly any caliber size for any role.

3. .38 special snub nose revolver. What police movie or PI movie made before the 1980's doesn't have one of these in it? Either Bad guy or good guy? These in the Colt, or Smith and Wesson flavor defined concealed carry or back up guns or stereotypically "ladies" guns for decades. Tricky to fire well and master they still should at least be tried by everyone once.

4. Beretta 92/M9.  No other pistol has caused so much controversy in the armed services as this weapon. (God did I hate fixing them too) But these seemed to be the weapons that the police took to in the change over from revolvers, and the movies followed suit. Easy shooting and high capacity defining love or hate they heralded a change over in American Military thinking for side arms and the police as well, followed up by...

5. Glock 17. The polymer framed pistol. Initially offered it created a media panic. "OMG plastic gunz with no metal, you cant detect them!!!!11111" it soon found a to this day loyal following with many many police departments. It took a few years but the rest of the public soon took to polymer and the revolution started by Glock continues to this day.

6 1911A1 .45.  The Yankee fist as it took to being called, it fought in every conflict for the United States to this day, at least with some special forces, it was brought in to play in the M1911 form for WW1, Modified slightly in time for WW2 where so many were made that they stopped all production after that war, and continued using rebuilt and rebuilt again pistols all the way in to the 90's in some National Guard units, and Still the basic design remains with some Special Forces units in Iraq, and Afghanistan. It is considered the pistol which all other combat designs are still measured against.

7 M1 Garand. The partner to the M1911A1 this was the first seriously fielded successful Semi Automatic Battle rifle. It fought in two wars in general issue, and a limited extent in Vietnam.

These next three are more a basic operating system than anything but they still are iconic in the success of the basic principals of how these work.

8. Pump action Shotgun. There are many many good makers of these shotguns in many different gages. Find one, shoot it.

9. Bolt Action hunting rifles by Browning, Winchester, or Remington. These things still sell tens of thousands a year. These basic actions are the building blocks for custom rifles, super accurate sniper rifle systems and have killed hundreds of thousands of deer every year. Most of these are based off some WW1 or 2 Weapon, Mauser generally but the basic principals of how they work are the same. Every single caliber that you can think of has a Bolt Action chambered for it somewhere.

10. This next one is going to get a dual credit. The Double Action Revolver, made most famous for the .38 Special and .357 Magnum Cambering it is also in damn near every police movie out there till the 80's.

Ill give two honorable mentions.

The Lever action rifle. Its more of a relic of the Western movies, it still lives on, in various forms, by various makes today in the hunting camps around the country.

Smith and Wesson .44 Magnum AKA Dirty Harry Fame.  Someone mentions a magnum and that still tends to be what they think of because of the "most powerful hand gun in the world"

And I'm claimed.

Jay G, over at MArooned has claimed me as one of the blog children. Though I may question his judgement in that;) Seriously though, its a good read, bit of everything over there and enough rage and spite at political idiocy and gun laws that if that energy was able to be harnessed,  it would  solve the nations energy needs for decades to come.

Hurricanes and such..

http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-charlotte/north-carolina-governor-suspends-gun-rights

Seems that in a state of emergency here the second amendment can be suspended at will.
This is a troubling thing, no matter if its the state legislature that enacts these laws or really who ever puts them in to play and acts upon them.

So... you can stand your ground at least upon your own property but god damn if your neighbors need help in a dire situation you can be turned in to a criminal for helping or carrying anything off your own property, or outside your home.

This is troubling sort of situation in regards that in any state of emergency your constitutional rights are suspended.

Now I can understand that you don't want roving gangs pillaging a wasted countryside. You want to be able to say its against the law to loot or...,... wait a second. Is it not already illegal to do these things? I'm pretty sure that its easy to identify a group or an individual robbing an electronic store. That however is already illegal. So in theory here if you for some reason were getting ready to vacate an area and decided upon protecting yourself your now a criminal for having weapons with you? Really?

Oddly enough for some reason I'm reminded of when Katrina hit No. I was in Camp Navistar Kuwait at the time, we had just hit ground and were assuming our mission of convoy security for missions on all points in Iraq. I sat in the dining hall watching the media coverage of the disaster and it was CNN, and the female reporter was commenting on much of the pillaging and looting. "Oh these people are with out supplies and basic needs, yet as she did that the camera panned out to show a couple individuals making off with a big flat screen TV. Did appear that much of the looting going on was for basic needs at that point, just seemed to be a number of people were taking advantage of the absence of law to take what they wanted.
My observations in events such as this breaks firearm possession down in to two distinct groups.
One the group that was using them to further their own means by robbery, pillaging or general trouble. The other group is people either defending what they have a right to defend, or at times banding together to defend neighborhoods and the like.

There are very few people that I know that want to kill or cause harm, but they have no trouble defending what they have a right to.

And this goes beyond situations of a natural disaster. I would be greatly happy if I never once had to fire a shot at anyone, no matter how deserving of it in the totality of my life. I was fortunate enough that though two Army deployments that I did not have to do that. But if I had no other choice to defend either myself or a anyone around me, Either in my own home or someone in the general public? God yes. I wouldn't think twice of doing so.

General terms police do a hell of a job, but when called to a scene they are a reactionary sort of thing, or whom ever it may be that is able to answer your call. In a natural disaster sort of thing when you are either disarmed in the situation for many people in the aftermath of Katrina or have no means of defense, your relying on the ability first off to call for the police, and the ability that they can get to you in time.
There was a case, and for the life of me I can not remember the details but it broke down that someone brought a lawsuit against a police department for not responding in time to stop a crime. (If memory serves me it was a violent crime) Basically the judgement was right in the fact that the police could not be held responsible for not getting there in time to prevent the crime. Now while I understand that, in some situations, police can be several minutes to a half an hour away. That isn't their fault so long as they upon receiving the call have done all they can to get there. And they do just that. Time and time again and its a thankless job. But you are the first line of defense in your home, and often times the last. In no way am I advocating vigilante justice. Let the police and criminal system do their job. But I know for a fact that if something happened in my home I would love any and all help neighbors could give to me in the time that it may take for a police officer to arrive. Or who ever it may be.
Stripping us of a basic right because of an "emergency situation" is a very dangerous thing. What else can they suspend in a disaster? That is a very broad thing. Could that not be attributed to a drought or something that goes beyond a quick happening storm? Perhaps I am not reading this right. However its a dangerous sort of situation where when it is not convenient you can have rights stripped away. Any of them.
All of them.

The Firearms community.

One of my observations over the past few years has been the affect that the Internet has had on the gun community as a whole.

It has done a lot to tie us all together, and bring out the general good nature of those out there. Yes there are a few of those that will persist in giving all of us a bad name, Thank you Main Stream Media, or perhaps Urine Stream Media is a better name for a good portion of them.
However over all I feel that the Internet has been an incredible thing to the shooting sports as a whole. It has illustrated the fact that how many of us are helpful, always sharing advice from troubleshooting, Handloading, Casting, training, and so much more. Its brought us as a community much closer together and shown that there are those of us from all walks of life, from the gaming geeks, to the Vets, those of us that are sitting on a large collection of firearms to those that just may have one or two. Everyone is out there now and we are communicating. The old stereotype of the illiterate booze swilling redneck is slowly being eroded away. Indeed much like the alternative media movement taking the world by storm, so too is the Shooting Sports movement. We are able to share information, both in ownership related activity's to the political realm, to get that information out there on bad bills that would further restrict every ones rights. Where as even 15 years ago where many of these bills were flying under the radar and getting passed with little information out there, today they are posted and blogged about almost instantaneously.

The amount of information out there though the millions of firearm owners, in both the United States, and the world at large is staggering. And its getting put out there. There are so many owners willing to help each other with nearly anything that at times it can be overwhelming. And Its by and large a very good thing.

More on the nuts..

The nutjob that took hostages yesterday at Discovery Channels HQ's and another one from this year, Amy Bishop that shot three people on a collage campus brings out a point that does not seem to get fairly addressed.

While these two individuals were violent and homicidal manics, the fact of them getting called crazed gunmen, by the MSM is rather irksome. A nutjob is a nutjob no matter what sort of affiliation they have with anything. But say these two individuals were a white male? Why they would be called redneck throwback NRA loving uncle screwing caveman just waiting to to burn a few crosses and wave a Nazi flag about. Never mind that Amy Bishop apparently murdered her own brother and got away with it till she murdered three more people. So much for gun control working in THAT case. Point being is that there was not a large national attention or push to ban, restrict or otherwise add more gun control laws to the books after the Amy Bishop incident. In fact, how often do you hear of the Amy Bishop incident these days? There was a shooting spree where a black man went after his employers after they asked him to resign for theft. They had it on camera that he was stealing and they still gave him a chance at a fresh slate elsewhere. Their thanks? He shot 8 of them if memory serves me. No national out cry there either.

There seems to be a large disconnect with reporting, if its a white man its all over the news, anyone else, not so much, or there are cries of racism, sexism, hejustwasentlovedenoughisms..
Its a horrible event that any single one of these situations unfolds. But making apologies for it, or covering up the race. (Here is a history quiz folks, The Beltway "Sniper" Pair that inflicted so much terror. How long did it take to come out that the suspects were black?) does nothing to stop these acts. Using these as a platform to create more hysteria about firearms, a non existent race war does sell papers though I suppose to the masses that will read that sort of drivel.

Eco nuts strike again..

Well it seems that some freak tried to take the Discovery channels headquarters hostage.
Seemed he was quite pissed that the Discovery Channel was not implementing his thoughts on how to cure the planet, promote Al Gore's idiocy and such.

Why if this guy was however or a conservative fashion this would be unending. Calls for blame would be passed out to anyone that this guy claimed to have been influenced by.

But since he was coming from the other side of that fence how quickly will this be swept away and said its an isolated incident.

Thankfully no one was hurt other than the man that committed the hostage taking himself.