Mag Advice

Jerking the Trigger has some good advice on how to go about backordering PMags and actually getting them this decade.

I may order some soonish just to have a stash waiting when I get home.  Not that I need more, but I like having spares.  Mags are expendable.

Cancer Sucks

My uncle finally lost the fight this morning (home time, not "here" time.)  Not unexpected, but no less rough on everybody regardless.  He introduced my parents years and years ago, so I am a little worried they'll take it hard.  The Army isn't as willing to hand out emergency leave for extended family, and I'd likely not make it back in time for the funeral anyway,  so I guess the best thing to do is drive on with the mission.  I did get kicked out of the TOC for the rest of the day though... Sergeant-Major's orders.

I'm a bit off and on right now, not the first time we've had to deal with cancer in the family, but Grandma's too damn stubborn of an old Polish woman and thoroughly kicked its ass.  If there were any others, I was too young to really know what was going on.  Anyway, just another reason why I'll be getting a couple more kilts for next September.

Dirt Pusher's Journal: Post Holiday Day

Dirt Pusher's Journal: Post Holiday Day: Amazingly had some down time for Christmas, spent it playing D&D and watching Serenity , and the bad guys were kind enough to refrain from l...

A Swedish Rifle in Egypt

 

Guest post by Cro

Ever since I came back from Iraq in 2005 I have been interested in middle eastern history. My post war college education was History with an emphasis on middle east. I learned that the history of that region is full of so many fascinating stories. Some of them being the Egyptian military rifles. Egypt went through many rifles after WW2, and prior to adopting the AK, some examples are the Hakim, the FN 49, and the Rasheed. The Hakim is a 8mm version of the Swedish AG-42 Ljungman The swede was originally 6.5 mm which must have been a sweet shooting package. The Hakim fires a big 8mm Mauser cartrage.

Prior to taking my Hakim to the range I gave her a good cleaning to inspect everything and make sure it does not have any major issues.  The Hakim is a DI system with an adjustable gas block and familiar looking gas tube.

 

Bolt disassembly was a bit tricky as it is spring loaded once you take it off the rifle,  I was not holding the bolt in the carrier when I depressed the lever and launched my bolt across the room. 

My rifle came with 3 spare mags and a bayonet.  I only tested out one of the mags during the range trip.  The rifle has a muzzle brake.. That’s right muzzle brake standard on a military rifle.

The ammo I used was some 1970’s steel cased Romanian that has served my 8mm rifles well, and some 1960’s brass cased that came with strippers.  This was the first time I opened the crate of the brass cased stuff and I fell in love with it right away. The stripper clip guide on the top of the receiver cover is designed to place the loaded clips in with the bullets facing up, and then you rotate the clip down to line up with the magazine.  It takes a bit of practice compared to the normal use of clips.  But once you get the hang it makes sense because of the way  the bolt works.

 

The manual of arms for loading the hakim is a bit different than other semi auto rifles.  Instead of pulling back and letting the bolt fall foreword, you actually push the receiver cover foreword, and then pull it back.

So I fired the rifle at 100 m to see where it was going with the ammo.  I was impressed, the thing was nearly on the black right off the bat.  I decided to leave the sights where they were and fired a group to check accuracy.  The steel cased stuff did ok with a 4 inch group average.  The Brass cased surprised me.  I was able to squeak out a 2.5 inch 5 shot group .  I was impressed and surprised.

Recoil was low.. Very low in fact.  The muzzle brake works extremely well, and the length and weight of the rifle works to make it a rifle I could shoot all day long.  I even was able to ring the 16inch gong at 200 while standing  about 7-10 of the shots.

So what's my final take on Al Hakim?  I will call it Excelent, or ممتازًا

The rifle is accurate, fast follow up shots, and sends a full power round down range.  I don’t like the sights, but what can you expect from a Garand guy??  For what I paid for the rifle it was an excellent value, and cheap 8mm is still easily available.. Don’t believe me?  Go to southern Ohio Gun.  That’s where I got the brass cased stuff.  As of my last check they still have it.    I plan on taking this rifle to the range more often than my other C&Rs.

Good Quote...

Seeing as it is Holidays, I'll do a rare thing around here and put up something religious, only because I feel it's a good quote for some of the current discussions being thrown around the interwebs...

"Everyone is kneaded out of the same dough but not cooked in the same pot."
ProvHerbs 3:23

Think about it, discuss it, have some Happy Holidays!

ITEOTWAWKI

And I feel fine...

At first I woke up, and it was really foggy, and outside of the wire all I could see was desolation, decrepit buildings, and few signs of life.  I thought maybe the Mayans were on to something.

Then I realized, I'm in Afghanistan.  That's pretty much everyday.  Oops.

News from home

The cats are still cats.

Hope for 'Recoil'

Iain Harrison is taking the reigns.

Just some thoughts...

It's been a relatively slow day at the office, which gives me time to pay attention to what's going on at home, half a world away.  A good chunk of time was spent arguing/discussing where the blame lies, and what, if anything, allowing faculty to carry would have done with a couple of night owls on the ol' Facebook.

Now that the rest of the world (ok, the US) is waking up, some people with a better command of language have summed up a lot of what I was trying to convey.

Breda linked a post she wrote years ago that does a great job of explaining what angers me the most about the situation.  I have lots of respect for teachers, and I think that if they are willing they would be the thoughtful and responsible type of people that should be allowed to carry a firearm.  I know I've seen at least one photo of an Israeli elementary school teacher carrying an M1 Carbine while taking her class on a field trip, and it seems to be working fairly well for them.  The faculty may not have been able to prevent all of the deaths, but hell, give them a fighting chance to do something!

Roberta also makes an excellent point about the media and these things.  I hate to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but I can't help but think there's a connection with how much reporting these events have and how much the predominately left-leaning media has been crying for a new AWB.

In my own words on Facebook, "We will never know what went through the minds of certain individuals in the last couple of weeks, but I can assure you, the fault does not lay in an innatimate piece of steel and wood or plastic."

The Smell of Cordite

Guest post by Cro

Back in my high school literature days  I remember reading about “the smell of cordite”  and wondering what is cordite?  The main character in the Dayof the Jackal book even ate a piece of cordite to make himself seem older and sick when getting through security.  I had been reloading pistol back then and could not think of any piece from a cartridge that you could eat.  I always imagined all metallic cartridges as having powder inside.  I happened to pick up an excellent No4 Mk 2 Fazakerly.  That’s right I said Mk2.  It’s a 1950 example of the final refinement of the Enfield rifle. 

This particular example is in very good condition with very little wear on the metal and wood.  Those familiar with the Enfield No 1 Mk 3 can see that the major difference is the rear sight is moved to the rear of the receiver.  The particular rear sight on this model has a large aperture battle sight and a flip up ladder sight for long range. 

The particular rear sight has a smaller aperture for the long range, and a screw adjusted ladder that is regulated by audible clicks.  In my opinion this is far superior to sights like the 1903 that has no means to measure your rear sight height except by eyeballing it.  Granted the NM 1903 competitors often had a micrometer to adjust their rear sight height, but I have a hard enough time remembering my range gear as it is.  I guess I am just spoiled by being used to click sights like the M1.  My Savage Enfield has a simple flip sight with only a 300, or a 600 meter option.  Not exactly the best sight for marksmanship, but a great sight to mass produce for a weapon starved Britain.  The front sight is a simple drift adjustment.

The rifle did away with the Enfield knife bayonet and went with a spike/blade bayonet that did not have a handle.  Kind of a useless bayo in my opinion as I follow old Teddy Roosevelt’s opinion that the bayonet should double as a knife.  I would personally hate to carry an extra piece of kit that could only serve a second purpose as a tent peg. 

I had 3 types of 303 on hand.  Privi, Wolf, and Surplus 1952 Kynoch.

The Wolf is packaged the same as the Prvi, and even has Prvi head stamp on the rounds. So I guess it’s an example of buying brand name.  The Prvi was 174Gr FMJBT, and the Wolf was 150Gr Soft Point.  

But on to the Cordite.  The Kynoch is an old surplus round I picked up a few years ago on the cheap.  I pulled the pullets and dug the cordite out of the case to find it filled with 36.2 grains of the spaghetti like propellant.  The sticks are packed very tight inside the case and would only come out after much persuasion.  I wonder how they measured and loaded the stuff in the brass case.  It seems like it would be much more difficult than standard powder shaped propellant.    The bullet is a flat based FMJ projectile of 175gr.  The neck sealant was a black tar like sealant that did not want to let the bullet go.

So on to the Range Report.  I took the ole’ Brit to my local range to see how this piece shoots.  The 200 and 300 yd ranges were closed for maintenance that day so I was relegated to the 100yd test.  I started with the Brit surplus.  All the rounds went bang, although not always right away.  Some of the rounds had slight hang-fires, not terrible, but I could feel the firing pin strike and then feel the discharge as a separate action.  This was not the norm.  I was actually surprised by the accuracy of the surplus rounds.  The best 5 shot group I got was 3.5 “  not great, but not bad considering my rest was not the most stable.  The Privi and Wolf had the same accuracy.

This is not the best group, but typical of what I saw that day.  One thing I liked about this rifle was that all the ammo was zeroed with at least 2 clicks up on the rear sight.  Its often annoying when your Mil Surp shoots 7 inches high at the lowest setting.

Overall I Liked this rifle.  The bolt is easy to operate, but the trigger has a bit to be desired. It had some creep and did not break clean.  I was happy with the accuracy, and I think with the proper loads this rifle has good potential.  Of all my Enfields I would pick this one as my favorite.  

On a side note I stopped at a local gun show on my way to the range and found a gem of a rifle for a price that would be silly to pass up.  Stay tuned for that review, but here is a teaser.  

(Don't give away the surprise if you know what it is!  I'll be "out of the office" for a while, but rest assured, there'll be new content when I get back!  And thanks again to Cro for sharing some of his cool stuff with us.)

(Insert Zombie-like Moans)

My coffee is too slow this morning.

Well... Thankfully I Have a Kindle...

I asked Mandafern if she could swing into the local book store and pick up the newest issue of SWAT Magazine to send over to me, and I guess they no longer carry it, nor any other "hunting or firearms related publications" because they "encourage violence."

I guess I'll no longer be supporting their business.  Kinda sucks, since it was less than a mile from the house. Hopefully the other book store across town has it, otherwise I'll be forced to stop supporting my local businesses (who obviously know what's good for me better than I do) and finally get a subscription.

Snark Mistress Fundraiser Update

From Jay G.  Amazing prizes to lure you into a good cause.

Fundraisers for Tam

If you're stuck under a rock (like me...) on of the most influential gunbloggers (at least to me...) is having a rough time with some stuff.

As gunbloggers tend to do (because we're awesome people) there's a whole slew of fundraising type stuff going on to help.  Given my current location, the best I can do is jump in and lower everybody's chances for some of the prizes, and I highly suggest you do  the same!

M&P C.O.R.E.

I can't find the post, but I swear in the past I mentioned it wouldn't be long before more than FN was doing this...

Smith & Wesson announced a new series for the M&P pistol line, the C.O.R.E., or Competition Optic Ready Equipment. In other words, an M&P9 or 40 (standard and 'L') with tall sights and a cutout for various Micro Red-Dot sights.

I haven't had a chance to shoot a pistol equipped this way, but I'm very tempted to pick up a Ruger 22/45 with a rail when I get home to drop a Primary Arms MRD on and see how it works for me. I like the idea, and can see it being pretty sweet for a duty/defense pistol if you can train yourself to use it.

51?

Burried under all the other news, Puerto Rico had a pretty important vote yesterday too:

With 243 of 1,643 precincts reporting late Tuesday, 75,188 voters, or 53 percent, said they did not want to continue under the current political status. Forty-seven percent, or 67,304 voters, supported the status quo.

On the second question, 65 percent favored statehood, followed by 31 percent for sovereign free association and 4 percent for independence.

I think that'll have a bit of an impact in the next few years...

More Coffee in the 'Stan!

So to further the series of... imaginative (yeah, that's a good adjective...) coffees for the ECR (Evil Coffee Robot) we cracked open a K-Cup of Green Mountain Coffee's "Golden French Toast." Coffee and French Toast, sounds all breakfasty, and that should be pretty awesome, right?

In the "roaster's" own words-

Remember those lazy Saturday mornings when everybody slept in? About the only thing that would open our eyes (other than the smell of just brewed coffee, of course) was the mouth-watering aroma of buttery French toast and warm Vermont maple syrup.

And Fair Trade to boot!

This stuff was freshly mailed to us the other day, so there's no excuse of it sitting around from a year ago either.  Once the ECR stopped making strange noises (sure glad I had an M4 fully loaded with M855A1 ready) we were greeted with a strong aroma of Maple Syrup. It filled the entire office, and didn't smell bad actually.  Upon closer inspection, my nose picked up a hint of rather bland Robusto coffee and very slight notes of butter.

It did brew up nice and dark, and I couldn't see the bottom of the cup for once.

For smelling so sweet, it's amazingly bitter. Any "French Toast" flavor is quickly lost by... something.  In it's defense, there was much less "chemical" taste than other K-Cups I've tried.  Overall, it looked much better than it tasted, and really just seems like bad coffee they tried to cover with an even worse flavor.

As for SSG Moose, "It tastes like what I imagine the French Toast from the movie 'Road Trip' would."

This one scores one mangy goat out of five.

Want a Case of P-Mags?

Of course you do.  Magpul's given some away, so fill out the survey and try to win.

A-Stan Coffee Reviews!

So when we moved into the TOC here, we inherited a Keurig coffee robot (I still refer to it as a robot... I don't trust the damn thing, and I'm positive they never programmed The Three Rules into it) and a giant pile of K-Cups.  So, I figure it'll make for a good start for more coffee content from another continent (heh.)

Today my partner in crime, er S2/S3, SSG "Moose," who's actually a fan of the Coffee Robot(tm) decided to bust into the Pumpkin Spice from Green Mountain Coffee.  This is a seasonal flavored coffee, and no doubt left over from last fall.  The... roaster... describes it as "A delicious coffee enhanced by the creamy pumpkin spice flavors of autumn." Supposedly it's a light roast, and of unknown origin.

The coffee is indeed light, to the point that you can almost see the bottom of the cup.  I described it as "incredibly weak, with a dis-congruent aroma-to-flavor ratio, smelling quite reminiscent of a rich Spiced Chai Latte, and with the taste of a wet dishrag used to clean out a pumpkin pie pan, with only a hint of coffee.  It's only saving grace is a clean finish with only a minimal chemical preservative taste."

SSG Moose described it as "hot wet garbage."

We'll give this one a rating of a single goat (out of a herd of 10 or so.)

Temptation Has Two Wheels

And it's name is apparently CrossRip Elite...

With the ol' Autobot gone and an F150 looming on the horizon, I find myself contemplating a "serious" commuter bike... with gears and mounts for racks and fenders.  Of course I'm a fat-tire rider at heart, so the disc brakes and hint of knobs on the tires also attract me quite a bit.

Having cross levers on the flats seems like a wonderful idea for a commuter as well, since I like to be up and scanning at intersections, and hovering over the brakes; something that plain doesn't work if you've only got levers on the drops like the Red Beast has.  That's one of the handful of complaints I have about that bike.

Oh well, plenty of time to think and see how the reviews turn out as this one has some time on the streets (and trails.)  It's probably a good thing I'm not too keen on the color, otherwise I'd be awful tempted to tell Manda to go down to the LBS and order me one...

MHI Kickstarter

I'ma be that guy and mention it again... only $8,000 or so to go until there's MHI dice involved, and I wants me some MHI D6 goodness.

Go. Contribute. Get cool stuff.

New Travel Mug

Fits the theme around here pretty well.

Dirt Pusher's Journal: Ranger Coffee

Dirt Pusher's Journal: Ranger Coffee: Engineer Blend !  Will have to get some sent over when we hit country, it's only proper.

Two-wheeled Awesome

Rideable Penny Farthing replicas... want.

MHIEHBRPG Kickstarter is Live!

That's the Monster Hunter International Employee's Handbook and Roll Playing Game is live on Kickstarter.  Some of the mid-level packages are going fast!  I couldn't resist the patch, but really wish I could have shelled out the $500 for red-shirting.  Oh well, some day I'll achieve that.

Anyway, go support the Awesome!!

SKD Deal of the Day

If you're a gear whore aficionado like me, you may want to keep an eye on SKD's new "Deal of the Day" page. Just a heads up.

Want

Break-down 7.62x51 MOA Semi-auto rifle... that fits in a laptop case.  Sweetness.

Free Coffee Recipe Book

Free right now for your Kindle.

Oh Danny Boy...

All I can say is, well... I've heard worse.

It was, at least, the pick-me-up I needed this afternoon, and the man deserves some donations for that (I gave mine last night.)

YAR! (Pirate Name Time!)

My pirate name is:

Bloody Tom Flint

Every pirate lives for something different. For some, it's the open sea. For others (the masochists), it's the food. For you, it's definitely the fighting. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

Yar!

Almost forgot, tomorrow is a Holy Day! International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

I'm Totally Reclassing

00-ABID

Tsai Steps Down

It is with deep sorrow that I announce I am stepping down as editor of Recoil, effective immediately.

It is very difficult for me to walk away from something I helped create, something that I loved doing, and something I firmly believed would appeal to a fresh new generation of gun enthusiasts, but I accept that the comments in my story in the current issue have made my position as editor of Recoil untenable.

With that said, Recoil is bigger than any one person, and if my departure will allow Recoil to continue to grow and engage gun enthusiasts, then stepping down as editor is clearly the right thing for me to do.

I accept I made mistakes, and I apologize unreservedly for calling Recoil’s support for Second Amendment rights into question.

While I understand the passions aroused over this incident, the deeply hurtful words from some of my fellow gun enthusiasts have been painful to endure. I hope now we can all move on.

Finally, I would like to thank all those who have supported me over the past few days. These are the people who know me to be at heart a passionate gun enthusiast whose dream was to make something bold and new in firearms media.

Jerry Tsai

I don't know how much of it was pressure from the publishers (you don't lose a giant chunk of ad revenue overnight and just ignore it...) but I think this is the right first move in trying to save a publication.

9/11

Obviously an important day, and one with extra meaning for the second time in my life. I'm not going to say to much, primarily because I'm at a vehicle gunnery range in the middle of the desert, and I'm amazed I have any signal.

I will, however, direct you to this post from Breach, Bang, Clear- A Different Take on Remembering 9/11

More Companies Pulling Ads from Recoil

Magpul Dynamics/Industries on their Facebook page.
Haley Strategic
ITS Tactical
Panteao Productions
Bravo Company USA

I'm sure there's more, but these are some pretty big names that definitely jumped out, especially Travis Haley, who was featured in the last issue quite prominently.

ETA: Better list from SSD

Tsai Speaks

He posted this morning on their Facebook page-

I’d like to address the comments regarding what I wrote in the MP7A1 article in RECOIL issue 4. First and foremost, I’d like to apologize for any offense that I have caused with the article. With the benefit of hindsight, I now understand the outrage, and I am greatly saddened that it was initiated by my words. Especially since, I am an unwavering supporter of 2nd Amendment Rights. I’ve chosen to spend a significant part of both my personnel and professional life immersed in this enthusiasm, so to have my support of individuals’ rights called into doubt is extremely unfortunate. With that said, I retract what I wrote in the offending paragraph within this article. It should have had been presented with more clarity.

In the article, I stated some information that was passed on to me about why the gun is not available for civilian purchase. By no means did I intend to imply that civilians are not responsible, nor do we lack the judgment to own such weapons, if I believed anything approaching this, clearly I would lead a much different life. I also mentioned in the article that the gun had no sporting purpose. This again, was information passed on to me and reported in the article without the necessary additional context. I believe everything published in RECOIL up to this point (other than this story), demonstrates we clearly understand and completely agree that guns do not need to have a sporting purpose in order for them to be rightfully available to civilians. In retrospect, I should have presented this information in a clearer manner. Although I can understand the manufacturer’s stance on the subject, it doesn’t mean that I agree with it.

Again, I acknowledge the mistakes I made and for them I am truly sorry.

Sincerely,
Jerry Tsai
Editor
RECOIL

I've got a class, so I'll get to my thoughts and reactions later.

More on Recoil

Very well written piece by Monderno.

Silencerco Pulls Ads from Recoil

Over the previously mentioned article.  Not looking good for Mr. Tsai.

Sci-Fi Gun Poster

Coolness.

Need...

TJRS (Tactical Java Retention System.)  Obviously this is high on the list of needed MOLLE pouches.

Via SSD

Done with Recoil Magazine

Unless Jerry Tsai gets fired...

I haven't seen the most recent issue yet, but there's apparently an article about the H&K MP7A1 written by the above editor, in which he writes-

"Like we mentioned before, the MP7A1 is unavailable to civilians and for good reason. We all know that’s technology no civvies should ever get to lay their hands on. This is a purpose-built weapon with no sporting applications to speak of. It is made to put down scumbags, and that’s it. Mike Cabrera of Heckler & Koch Law Enforcement Sales and veteran law enforcement officer with SWAT unit experience points out that this is a gun that you do not want in the wrong, slimy hands. It comes with semi-automatic and full-auto firing modes only. Its overall size places it between a handgun and submachine gun. Its assault rifle capabilities and small size make this a serious weapon that should not be taken lightly."

I haven't been able to verify, but there is a response attributed to JT that digs his hole even deeper on their Facebook page (in the comments on the photo of the gun in question, you'll probably have to dig a little.)  It pretty much reads as an excerpt from the Brady Campaign handbook with talk of "falling into the 'wrong' hands" and defending H&Ks decision to not produce a "civilian" version to keep military and police safe from such a tiny lethal device.

I don't want to buy a gun magazine that's going to preach anti-gun rhetoric at me, so until it's fixed and he's gone, they shouldn't expect me to be buying another issue (I am a little sad, the pictures and layout where nice...)

OTG Has You Covered

With their new "Dynamic Intervention Contraceptive Karrier."

Gimme Blog Fodder

As the handful of regular readers here know, I'm currently down in Texas/New Mexico doing Mobilization training for the Army, and will soon be heading into Afghanistan.  I've started another blog, Dirt Pusher's Journal, to document stuff as it goes on, and to help me try and keep a better form of a journal this time around.

Problem is, I don't know what kind of stuff people want to hear about.  So, if you can give me some ideas in the comments, and pass the word around, that'd be awesome.  It's often a lot easier for me to write stuff if somebody plants an idea in my head.  I'll do what I can, keeping with OPSEC and the standard rules and regs, but feel free to put whatever you want down there.

Glock Commercial

I've got to agree with Caleb, it's pretty decent.



Not my choice in guns (if you've spent any time around here, you've probably picked up on that... nothing against them, I'd even shoot one regularly if given to me, just not what I like if I'm paying.)

It's good to see a company stepping up their image though.

Awesome Warning

Is awesome.  I ordered a sling mount for my M4 from these guys and it came with this:

Look for a review in a couple months after some time to beat it up.

French Press

Decent instructions from Daily Shot.

KtKC Starts Today

I (sadly) can't participate this year, since the Army frowns upon modifying the uniform that much (although if I had a Multicam Kilt and could get away with it, I'd rock it like no one's business!) but head here for all the information! (Jay G has a good post up too.)

Next year I'll be in on the fun though.

Adapt...

Improvise, and overcome.

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.8

Burnin' Ammo

Your Chance to Own a G&C Legend!

Update: Word is, the ol' Autobot has found a new caretaker.

The ol' Autobot is up for sale... if you're in the Wisconsin area and looking for a remarkably unremarkable compact sedan, it could be yours!

Just don't want to have it sitting for the better part of a year while I'm gone, and having two compact-ish four door sedans in the household seems a bit silly.  We put new tires on it yesterday too!

Rockin' the .50

Vid'ya over at the deployment blog.

More Pre-MOB

Don't forget about the other blog.

Coffee History 101

From Daily Shot.

Awesome

Lego Serenity.

MHI Employee Handbook

And Roleplaying Game coming soon!

I'm definitely looking forward to it.

More Multitasker Tube Goodness

It makes a great handle when combined with the brush head and a section of rod from my issues Otis cleaning kit.  Good stuff, and Sheila's got a lot less sand in all the corners and whatnot.

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.6

Toasty

Warming my feet by the range fire.

OW!

Qual on the SAW, hot brass bounced up and balanced on my stock and nose...

Eye Pro people!

Tactical Kitties

For home defense.  Valid point.

DIY Lower

On a 3D printer. Pretty cool.

Larry writes good, and not just about killing monsters.

Building Pure Awesome

First MC-130J in production.

Deployment Blog

Report tomorrow to start the deployment.  Less than excited, but it is what it is.

I decided to start up a secondary blog primarily for the deployment.  I'll still be dropping stuff here, and will stick with the ol' G&C when I get back to civilization, but I felt I needed a different place for this whole adventure.  Please bare with the growing pains and rough start I'm sure it'll have in formatting, the last few weeks slipped by far too fast and I didn't get a lot of things done I intended to (hanging out with Manda seemed to be more important than most other things...)

In the meantime, Cro will likely be slipping in some content as well, so keep checking here too.

For now, I'll see you at Dirt Pusher's Journal!

About Time...

Now to see how long before we'll actually see Female Cut IOTVs for the rest of the Army...

Eyepro!!

Always a good idea.  LuckyGunner's Labs did some tests to see how stuff stacks up.

Some Styrofoam may have been injured in the test. 

Well worth the read.

Lost Some Wisdom This Morning

And gained the knowledge that three hours of tattoo work with no anesthesia is still preferable to even an hour of oral surgery, even fully sedated.  Well, I suppose it's the aftereffects really.  Been able to get down half a cup of yogurt since this morning, not really feeling like much else (still, thank his Noodly Appendages for Yoplait's lactose-free yogurt.)

My BRD is Spreading...

It's gotten to my leg...

My leg looks funny all shaved...

We powered through a three hour session to get the outline and shading done, and colors will come later (the reds you see is simply my body being angry at getting stabbed a lot...)  I guess now I've got more incentive to bring the leg back with me from Afghanistan.

Tattoo Needles...

...Still don't tickle. Gotta earn it.

One Week...

...Until I report for Active Duty.  Damn it's coming up fast.

Speaking of, that's why it's been kinda quiet around here lately, lots of crap to get together and a lot of "non-blog" stuff on my mind.  Deployments take up a lot of your time...

Content Warning

This video may contain copious amounts of violence, blood, and adult language; but that's what makes it good.  (It's a Short Film from ComiCon)



I always did like Thomas Jane as Punisher.

Plastic AR Carbine Lower

I say "carbine" because it can take any buffer tube.

ATI Omni Polymer lower reciever.  Cheap, and I think it'd hold up fine.  I may look into picking one up when I get back just to see how "cheap" I can build an AR.

GucciFlage Nightmare Camo

Heh. I see what you did there.

Garmin Fenix

Good looking, compact, wrist mounted GPS that you can sync with a computer, or another Fenix (like your team leader's as Gear Scout suggests.)

Yes Please.  Garmin, if you're reading, I would love to beat one up in Afghanistan over the next year.

Bleg.

Off to McCoy for a few days for another class.  Mob is coming up fast, feels faster than I thought.

Mmm...

Garlic crusted steak.

It's ok to be jealous.

Recoil (Issue 3)

Just a first flip through, but so far it's on par with the last two.

Go figure, I know that there's an article on both the guns featured on the cover,
but I can't help but think if you're rocking a Kriss for your primary,
a .45acp Glock would make a lot more sense than a 9mm FN.

Some good stuff on working with Kydex, home defense thoughts, and lots of pretty pictures.  Worth picking up.

Reach out and touch someone...

Marines set new Artillery range record.

Golf Battery, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marines, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., dropped the 155mm M982 Excalibur round on insurgents 36 kilometers away — more than 22 miles — in Helmand province. The strike was launched Feb. 12 from an M777 howitzer on a mountainside at Forward Operating Base Zeebrugge, in Kajaki, to neighboring Musa Qala district, Marines said.


It marks the longest operational artillery shot in history for the Marine Corps, said Capt. Joshua Kling, the battery commander.

Google Reverses

Gun stuff is back up in shopping.

Happy Blow Sh*t Up Day!

Sorry... my Engineer is showing.

But hey, happy birthday America!

More Range Photos

Got some edited before the big lappy got too hot and froze before crashing hard (and a heat advisory was issued about 30 seconds later... heh.)  I've got a few more from my camera, so hopefully I'll get those edited later and save them for another post.

Anywho, as I said before, a friend from my Scout Camp days was in town for the day, and wanted to try some of the modern hardware out.  So we brought out the 1911, M&P pistols (9mm and .22lr,) Lightweight AR, and the LCP to run some more rounds through it.

So, on to the photos!

 Neat action sequence-

I advise "right click, open in new tab."

Manda tried out the LCP

She fired two shots, and declared it less than great... too long of a trigger and hard to control.  Not surprising.  She then put a magazine through the 1911, and while it bugged her shoulder, she still preferred it over the LCP.  More in detail about that in a later post.

Cleaned up yesterday's photo too...

Of course the AR was a crowd pleaser as usual, what with its light weight and low recoil.  Andy was bouncing a bottle around on the berm in a couple shots and was in love.

After getting back in town, we headed over to O'So Brewing's taproom as Andy is a huge beer fan.  40 taps of Wisconsin beer is always a good time.

I need a new camera...

A friend from camp came into town for the day, and we dropped my fast prime lens on his D90 body...

That's straight off the camera there...  A few more I need to crop and tweek colors on, but damn. I am jealous.

Multicam...

...for everyone?  That's the word on the street for the Army.  Makes the most sense to me, there's already a good chunk of gear in the system and heraldry in place for the colors.

Contempt...

The 255-67 vote marked the first time in American history that the head of the Justice Department has been held in contempt by Congress.

Should be interesting to see how this plays out.

Google Pulling Gun Products

At least from shopping results.  Hmm....

While the Idea is Cool...

...bipedal armored fighting machines are not really a good idea.  I'm fairly certain any unit of modern main battle tank would hand their shiny metal asses to them.  However I do kind of hope they follow through on it, I'd love to see one.

You keep using that word....

...I don't think it means what you think it means.



Hardly "supporting" there, Elks...

I've seen numerous "no guns" signs around now that we have ccw laws (really never were many when we only had open carry...) but this one really made me wonder more than just about any around.

Productivity...

Will most likely be shot.  Top Gear (the real one) is on Amazon Prime, and there's an app for that on the Xbox 360 now...

Reasuring

The fact that whenever I've left the house the last few days with a bruised up side, I've had one of my little pistols tucked into my waistband.  This has easily been the most "debilitated" I've felt in just about ever, and there's no way in hell I'm running away from anything, so it's nice to know I've got a better option available.

Range Photos

Fun times.  Went out to the range with Dan and another coworker yesterday to try out the micro-pistol and Dan's new toy.  It was good, aside from the sore everything.

Dan picked up a Saiga-12 (he may or may not be in the middle of reading the Monster Hunter series...)

It'll be getting a new stock sooner than later.  In the meantime, not quite my cup of tea but it still a bit of fun, and quite giggle inducing.

Dan also brought out the S&W .44mag (I'm wondering about his fascination with self punishment...)

And, on the opposite end of the spectrum, the tiny little thing pretending to be a pistol worked too.  Surprisingly accurate, despite its lack of sights (one of the few times I'm probably going to put a laser on something.)

I did come to the conclusion that with my hands, the tiny bit of concealability I loose is a worthwhile trade-off for the controlability of the finger rest extension.

Light Range Trip

The LCP works, so that's cool.  Snappy little gun though.

Bruised ribs do not make for very dynamic movements though... at least not with any long guns.  Photos later, need to caffeinate and clean house first, guests inbound.

Impressive

To say the least.

Scout earns all the Merit Badges (Via Jay)

Ow

Biking back from the coffee house and my chain popped off.  Couple nice patches of road rash, a few cuts, possibly bruised rib, and trashed one of my new Fivefingers.  Worst spill I've had in a long while.  Thankfully I managed to land on my non-carry side, so the gun's ok, and the OtterBox once again saved the phone.  Gonna curl up for a while in the AC now...

Elsie Pea Club

I joined it.  This thing makes the P64 seem absolutely huge and clunky.  Very much the "21st Century Vest Pocket Pistol."

It's been on "the (long) list" for a while, with the stipulation of "only if it's a deal..."  Well, when scoping out the new shop in town I noticed one in the case for a good chunk off retail, despite being brand new.  Turns out it's the classic "I won it at a raffle, and don't like it" trade, just plain too small for the guy's hands.  (ETA :p ) We had left the store, and about halfway to the car Manda looks at me and simply says "go back and buy it, otherwise you won't shut up about it all weekend."  So I did.

Picked up some cheap Russian ball to wring through it, and a box of Hornady Critical Defense.  Also had an Amazon package waiting at the door when I got home containing a Desantis Nemesis Holster for it (I love Amazon Prime.)  Should get out in a couple days to try it out.

Killin' Time

And monsters.

Two and a Half Hours

Until the shop opens.  Curse you Doyle.

Sh*t Veterans Don't Say

From the same guys that brought you Sh*t Veterans Want to Say.

Play Ball!

Yay summer.

Home. And New Shop in Town.

Which is cool, since we've been in a drought for dealers in the county for the better part of a decade other than big-box retailers.  Had a good talk with the owner, and he went out of his way to ask MandaFern for opinions on guns for women.

I'll be going back on Monday to bring something home... (stupid Doyle...)

Obligatory teaser shot...

Dan also picked up something from there last week that's pretty sweet, and will make an appearance here when I get a chance to take some photos and try it out.

Bit of an update, his site is now live.

Happy Birthday!

To the US Army.  Hooah! Back to training. Wondering if there'll be cake with chow...