Ruger... Tease...

Manufacturer of the 2008, 2009 and 2010 Handgun of the Year
is starting 2011 with a bang!

Woke up to that email today...

Happy New Year!

From Guns & Coffee. 

I'm sure I'll be driving around watching for drunks, so it's set for auto-posting. Hopefully it works.

ETA: No, it didn't work.  Apparently it scheduled itself to turn into a draft.  Anyway, better late than never.

More XR9S

I mentioned Oleg had some photos and info up the other day, looks like he's got some expended rounds, along with some video links in the post.

Looks quite controllable for such a small package.

20ga Fun

Had the day off, and the weather was as close to 32 degrees as it gets these days, so despite the rain, we hit up the range for some shooting.  Thankfully the rain apparently went north, so we only had to deal with the quarter mile visibility thanks to the fog.

On the upside, the little 20ga 870 is just as much fun as I hoped.  Slugs aren't too bad out of it either.

Pistol is a S&W .45acp of some form... I forget what.

Still air makes for pretty pictures too.

As always, click to embiggenate.

Chamelioline Cloaks? For the Realz?

Hardcore 40k fans will have no doubt read Dan Abnett's fantastic Gaunt's Ghosts series, and will know the Tanith First and Only are famous for their scouting and stealth abilities, the later of course being strongly augmented by their use of one of the Imperium's most underused technologies, Chamelioline.  While never really explained, Chamelioline seems to be a sort of fiber interwoven into their camouflage cloaks that changes color and blends with their surrounding environment.  I can only assume it's a type of fiber, as it is only used in cloth uniforms utilized by certain elite Imperial Guard units, some Assassins, and some Astartes chapters for their scouts.

All cool and whatnot for the geeky 40k fan like me, but it turns out that there's a company, Hyperstealth, looking to make what they call SMARTCAMO, an adaptive camouflage material that blends in with the surrounding terrain colors.

Guy Cramer, the CEO of Hyperstealth, gave a presentation at the International Camouflage Symposium in Brussels back in October featuring a video of the stuff.

The video was of an actual camouflage cloth around his arm, which could change colors between Desert and Woodland and anything in-between, the colors also showed the ability to become brighter than the desert colors for use in a late fall climate or even snow. Cramer announced at the end of the presentation that the video was to be released on the HyperStealth web site after the conference.

 Apparently since the presentation he has been asked not to release said video by the US Military.

However the release goes on to mention that the material was developed using "fractals" to create feedback loops in the pattern and nanotechnology.

Some seriously cool stuff being worked out.  They also apparently have developed a system for vehicles that not only works as a visual camo, but stealths it out from a large chunk of the electromagnetic spectrum, something the Imperium apparently never figured out (stupid religious views...)

But if all that isn't Science Fictiony enough for you, SSD is tossing some more conspiracy level fodder into the mix.

Then, we find out that Dr. Joseph Resnick, Lt. Col. Timothy R. O’Neill, Ph.D (U.S. Army, Ret.) and Guy Cramer (of Hyperstealth fame) have owned mineral rights for 95% of the side of the moon that faces Earth, the polar regions and 50% of the far side of the Moon since 2007. And that isn’t to mention their mineral rights onMars!

So this has got to be it, they have found some rare mineral on the Moon that makes SMARTCAMO™ work. Now the question is, how did they get it back to Earth?

Taurus Poly Revolver

Taurus looks to be getting into the plastic wheelgun game with a polymer framed .38+P 5 shot compact.

It's actually not too bad looking, and I do like the user accessible hammer (allowing you to manually cock for single action shots.)  The grips are just printed to look like wood, but it's a nice touch and keeps the weight down to a minimal 18.2 oz.

(H/T - The Duck)

'Nother Bike Project

At least with much less work.

So even though the Single-speed project is underway, I picked up another project bike today.  Then drove across town like this and thought it was the most hilarious thing ever.  Maybe I need more sleep...

Little 16" Specialized Vegas for $10 at a thrift store.  Thankfully I've got some time to fix it up and get it ready before my oldest nephew is big enough to fit it.

ETA-

Cleaned it up and got a better picture.

Clean and no rust!  Surprising for a steel frame 'round these parts.

Every Question from Every Gun Forum

Parts II and III.  The first few seconds of III made my tummy hurt from laughing.  (Again, swearing and whatnot.)

Daniel Defense Vickers Tactical Training

Featuring Larry Vickers!



I don't know if it's my bleary sleep deprived mind, but the trailer for the DVD (first mentioned here) just makes it seem like it's all about "The LAV."  The one biggest thing I like about the MD Art of the Tactical __________ discs is that when it all comes down to it, they're about the training and techniques, there is no long drawn out introduction with a roll call of Chris or Travis's qualifications and why they're so awesome for instance.  Yes a qualified instructor is important, but it's just sucking up screen time on a DVD. If it really bugs you, throw a printed insert in the case explaining about why you're so awesome.

Be back in a bit, I need to get some coffee.

The Decemberists

Because I'm a jerk, I've had this song stuck in my head for like three weeks.  Thought I'd share.  (Try to not get too hung up by the singer looking like he's in mid-stroke... still sounds good.)



Their song "Yankee Bayonet" is also pretty darn good. I do enjoy good duets.

More Guns

Does not mean more "Gun Violence."  Normally I hate stats, but I bulldozed my way through this one just because I like the subject.  Imagine that, Helmke lying about something...

More about that stubby...

Showed a drool worthy pic of a stubby breacher shotgun from AAC's facebook page a few days ago.

I asked if they knew anything more about it, turns out to be Remington MCS.

Correct, that is a 10" Breacher in a Remington (made by Bladetech) SRD holster. The Kydex holster is designed to clamp the magazine tube/barrel between the fore grip and the frame. It is MOLLE compatable and can swith from right to left handed if you desire.

Cool stuff indeed. 10" barrel and one of the sexiest pistol grips I've ever seen on a shotgun.

Ruger AR Uppers

Ruger is now offering the top half of their piston driven AR separately.



Steeply priced at $1500...



Boberg XR9S

Oleg has some pics and range report goodness.  I've been intrigued by this little thing ever since I first heard of it. 

It's kind of like a bullpup pistol, with the chamber sitting right above the mag.  What does this mean? A 3.35" barrel in a 5.1" package.  More accuracy, and more velocity in a gun the size of a .380acp, yet chambered in 9x19mm.  The Boberg site can be found here.

M&P15-22 Stubby Mag

I don't know how I missed this, but S&W is offering a short 10 round mag for the little AR clone.

I'll probably snag one or two for bench shooting.

The Labyrinth

With sock puppets and Neil Gaiman with a mullet. Enjoy!

Too funny...

Robb's made more money off his blog this year than the VPC raised in donations.

Of course I have too, just off those Amazon links alone...

Merry Decemberween to Me

Test fit some parts that came today.  They're pretty good looking, better in person.

Truvativ Hussefelt with a 38 tooth ring and a Howitzer BB.  Pretty beefy and should hold up to my big body thrashing the thing on the trail.

Blog List

I occasionally catch them in the Sitemeter, but if you link to me on yours, I'd love to return the favor and add your blog to the list over there in the left column.  Just let me know.

Quest for Caffiene

Caleb got a Decemberween present.  It's plain out awesome, and given my blog's name, I thought you guys may be interested.

"I Want" gun porn of the day

From AAC's facebook page-

"Keys? We don't need no stinkin' keys!!"

Multitasker Ultralight Review

Click through to open the box-

Sig .50bmg Pictures

The other day I mentioned Sig is coming out with a .50bmg rifle, among other things.  TFB has pictures.

Ruger LCP-CT

Ruger sent out an email yesterday announcing a factory option for the LCP with a factory installed Crimson Trace trigger guard, and included pocket holster.

A laser on such a diminutive gun sounds like a great idea to me, especially with the minuscule and non-adjustable iron sights machined onto the slide.

The pocket holster is also a fantastic thing to throw in, as the majority of these guns will be riding in a pocket at some point, and it's a good idea to keep lint and whatever else pocket crud out of the gun, and more importantly out of the trigger guard.

MSRP for the CT option is $548.00, or $190 over the non-CT version.

Rem 700 Bolt on Bolt Handle

From Kinetic Research Group. 

The "Bolt Lift" is exactly that, a bolt on oversized bolt handle for the Remington 700 rifle that requires no modifications to the rifle.  Currently only in black, but Tan and OD likely in the future.

(H/T SSD)

Son of Guns

Looks like there's a new gun related show coming out next month.  Discover Channel is premiering "Son of Gun" on January 24.  The show looks to be following a similar format to the handful of random manufacturing businesses they follow around for a few wacky antics filled episodes.  This time it's Red Jacket Firearms, known for doing Saiga conversions and suppressors (apparently even 12ga cans... come to think of it, a suppressed SBS Saiga 12 would be quite awesome...)

If nothing else, it's nice to see firearms getting more mainstream.

Lancer L5 AWM

Lancer Systems have announced a new polymer AR15 magazine to be officially announced at SHOT (well, pricing and availability to be announced then.)

The "Advanced Warfighter Magazine" looks to be an evolution of their current translucent polymer mags, with a more robust feed lip assembly and improved floorplate for easier disassembly.

The follower is supposed to be an anti-tilt design, which if true would alleviate my biggest complaint about their current generation of translucent mags.  (I can get pictures of what I mean later tomorrow if people are currious.  I've got two Lancers around somewhere.)

The body is also textured for better handling.

Coffee House Culture and Its Downfall

In 18th-century London, the slang phrase for withdrawal as a method of birth control was “to make a coffee-house of a woman’s privities, to go in and out and spend nothing.” (This, according to a contemporary dictionary of vulgar slang.) All these years later, freeloading is still an issue. Zeigel says he sees students come into the Golden Roast with their own food and drinks, just to use the free Internet. Shaun Parrish says there’s a reason why Java no longer has free refills—they can’t afford to. Because while he doesn’t like to think of coffee as a commodity, it is one, and it’s one with skyrocketing prices.

Sucky thing to do, and I don't understand why they'd let them stay.  I guess it must be some hippie thing to let the freeloaders hang out.  I guess we're just more courteous here.

On the other side of things, I do agree that slow drip coffee is all sorts of delicious.  I've only had it once at a place out of town, but it was well worth the wait.

I did kind of have to giggle about this too-

But the market has expanded so much that even crappy liquor stores carry random varietals and tape reviews from Wine Spectator next to the price tags. I’ve seen Grenache at convenience stores in Georgia. The Olive Garden has an Amarone on its wine list. An Amarone! And none of that would have happened without the Gallo brothers popularizing mediocre wine.



Like the way Starbucks has popularized mediocre coffee.

And if you've read my handful of coffee posts before, you know I feel much the same way about them.  Yes, I applaud their politics, but charging a dollar more per cup does not improve the flavor.

Sig's 2011 Products

The Sig Sauer Handgun Blog has the skinny, the P210 looks to be returning, and the 7.62x39mm carbine has made an appearance.  Part way through the list is this one too-

SIG 50 .50 CAL BMG, 29″ Barrel, 5 Round Box Magazine, Bi-Pod

It should be interesting to see Sig's take on a big rifle.

Cold

Woke up, the car wouldn't start (put a brand new battery in it last year when it did this, and now that it's cold again, same problem. Grr.) so, angrily, I bundled up and took the single speed to the coffee shop.

Two years ago, I pretty much road the thing nearly all winter, even through some nasty snow storms.  I don't remember it being all that bad, just made sure to put on the long underwear and a good hat.

As I was coming home, I could only come down to two conclusions.  Either Global Warming is indeed a load of crap, or I'm simply becoming less tolerant to sub-arctic temperatures.  Even with my shemagh wrapped around my face and my heavy deerskin mittens, I couldn't wait to get back inside. The bridge of my nose seems to always take it the worst, and hasn't yet recovered.

I'm leaning towards the first.