First official trailer is out-
I've always like The Hobbit more than the trilogy. It seems more "story" and less "history text."
It could be that I grew up watching the classic animated one, but I'm really happy to see it coming back to the big screen.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Madison 5 Awarded $10,000 Judgement Against City of Madison/Madison PD
For immediate release:
On September 18, 2010 five law abiding Wisconsin residents were peacefully
having dinner at a Culver's Restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin. These 5
individuals, who were legally openly carrying as provided by Wisconsin law had
finished their dinner and were preparing to leave the restaurant when they were
unlawfully detained by a mass of Madison police officers.
Despite the absence of reasonable suspicion or probable cause of any crime or
violation, Madison police illegally demanded identification from the men under
the threat of arrest if they did not comply. 2 individuals who chose not to
comply with the illegal action of the Madison police were subsequently arrested
and cited for obstruction. 2 days later those unlawfully issued citations were
rescinded and all 5 men, even those who complied with the officers illegal
demands were issued citations for disorderly conduct.
On May 5th of 2011, the frivolous disorderly conduct charges against all 5 men
were dropped.
Wisconsin Carry, Inc. a non-profit corporation dedicated to protecting and
advancing the right of Wisconsinites to carry in the manner of their choosing,
open or concealed, filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Madison and the 5
Madison Police officers who participated in the unlawful detainment and
treatment of these 5 individuals. A copy of that lawsuit is available here:
http://www.wisconsincarry.org/pdf/Madison5/lawsuit.pdf
Today a judgment of $10,000 against the City of Madison and 5 Madison police
offers was agreed to by Wisconsin Carry, Inc. and our 5 co-plaintiffs. This
judgment will be entered into the record of the Federal District Court, Western
Wisconsin.
A copy of the judgment agreement can be viewed here:
http://www.wisconsincarry.org/pdf/Madison5/Doc_10_Acceptance_of_OOJ.pdf
Wisconsin Carry will continue to employ and "all of the above" approach to advancing and protecting the right to carry in the manner of one's choosing in Wisconsin. Included in those methods are lawsuits, grass roots legislative activism, public education/awareness, free concealed weapon license training, and every other effective measure.
Carry On,
Nik Clark
Chairman/President - Wisconsin Carry, Inc.
www.wisconsincarry.org
nik@wisconsincarry.org
www.facebook.com/groups/wisconsincarry
www.youtube.com/wisconsincarry
www.twitter.com/wisconsincarry
On September 18, 2010 five law abiding Wisconsin residents were peacefully
having dinner at a Culver's Restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin. These 5
individuals, who were legally openly carrying as provided by Wisconsin law had
finished their dinner and were preparing to leave the restaurant when they were
unlawfully detained by a mass of Madison police officers.
Despite the absence of reasonable suspicion or probable cause of any crime or
violation, Madison police illegally demanded identification from the men under
the threat of arrest if they did not comply. 2 individuals who chose not to
comply with the illegal action of the Madison police were subsequently arrested
and cited for obstruction. 2 days later those unlawfully issued citations were
rescinded and all 5 men, even those who complied with the officers illegal
demands were issued citations for disorderly conduct.
On May 5th of 2011, the frivolous disorderly conduct charges against all 5 men
were dropped.
Wisconsin Carry, Inc. a non-profit corporation dedicated to protecting and
advancing the right of Wisconsinites to carry in the manner of their choosing,
open or concealed, filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Madison and the 5
Madison Police officers who participated in the unlawful detainment and
treatment of these 5 individuals. A copy of that lawsuit is available here:
http://www.wisconsincarry.org/pdf/Madison5/lawsuit.pdf
Today a judgment of $10,000 against the City of Madison and 5 Madison police
offers was agreed to by Wisconsin Carry, Inc. and our 5 co-plaintiffs. This
judgment will be entered into the record of the Federal District Court, Western
Wisconsin.
A copy of the judgment agreement can be viewed here:
http://www.wisconsincarry.org/pdf/Madison5/Doc_10_Acceptance_of_OOJ.pdf
Wisconsin Carry will continue to employ and "all of the above" approach to advancing and protecting the right to carry in the manner of one's choosing in Wisconsin. Included in those methods are lawsuits, grass roots legislative activism, public education/awareness, free concealed weapon license training, and every other effective measure.
Carry On,
Nik Clark
Chairman/President - Wisconsin Carry, Inc.
www.wisconsincarry.org
nik@wisconsincarry.org
www.facebook.com/groups/wisconsincarry
www.youtube.com/wisconsincarry
www.twitter.com/wisconsincarry
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
I'm part of the 1%...
...of Wisconsinites who applied for their CCW Permit in the first six weeks.
In less than six weeks, 56,000 people applied for a permit under Wisconsin's new concealed carry law and thousands more bought handguns, swamping the state agency handling the required background checks.
The applicants so far amount to about 1% of the state's population, and very few of them have been rejected for a permit. The number of state background checks for handgun purchases is also up more than 50% for the year - another sign of the large numbers of people taking advantage of the new concealed carry law.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Stickman Website Launched
Amazing gun photog and fantastic gear reviewer Stickman has launched an official website.
Right now it's just a simple splash site linking to his Facebook and Flickr account, but it's worth checking out if you like awesome pictures of awesome gear.
Right now it's just a simple splash site linking to his Facebook and Flickr account, but it's worth checking out if you like awesome pictures of awesome gear.
Cold Weather Shooting
From Haley Strategic
Being an Operator who regularly operates in pretty cold weather (hey, it's in my Army job title... 12N-Heavy Equipment Operator) I'd say he makes some pretty good points. It's all about the right mindset, and good techniques. Buscuits and gravy make a fantastic pre-cold weather ops breakfast.
Also, the Nissan Thermos Backpacking Bottle tends to keep coffee drinkably warm for upwards of 6-8 hours in my experience, and it's leakproof. I just need to find a Molle pouch it fits in...
Being an Operator who regularly operates in pretty cold weather (hey, it's in my Army job title... 12N-Heavy Equipment Operator) I'd say he makes some pretty good points. It's all about the right mindset, and good techniques. Buscuits and gravy make a fantastic pre-cold weather ops breakfast.
Also, the Nissan Thermos Backpacking Bottle tends to keep coffee drinkably warm for upwards of 6-8 hours in my experience, and it's leakproof. I just need to find a Molle pouch it fits in...
Friday, December 16, 2011
Ruger LCR-22
That's right, .22lr!
Photo from, and more information at GunsAmerica.
Now if S&W would make a .22lr version of the 442 for a similar price...
Photo from, and more information at GunsAmerica.
Now if S&W would make a .22lr version of the 442 for a similar price...
Egyptian Contract FN-49
G&C contributor, range buddy, and all around cool guy Cro picked up an Egyptian Contract FN-49 and was kind enough to trust me with it for a week or so to take some photos.
It really is a gorgeous looking gun.
The FN-49 began life just prior to WWII, and the designer, Dieudonne Saive, fled to England when the Nazis invaded Belgium. Saive took the plans with him to prevent them from falling into the Germans' hands, and finished the project after Belgium was liberated and FN got back on its feet.
The rifle is a gas-operated semi-auto battle rifle, with a long operating rod and the system is adjustable to compensate for varying loads. The rifle was originally chambered in 7x57 Mauser, and was eventually produced in 30-06, 7.65x53 Argentine, and 8mm Mauser (as pictured in this article.)
Take-down is pretty simple, and the rifle can be field stripped without the use of tools (a small screwdriver is required to remove the handguard as shown below.)
The magazine is a 10 round fixed box magazine, and the feed lips are machined into the receiver rather than the magazine.
This being an Egyptian Contract rifle, many of the markings are in Arabic, including the serial number and range markings on the rear sight assembly.
On the range, the rifle handles well. It balances where a rifle should, and looks good doing it.
Recoil is not as bad as I'd expected, no doubt due to the long operating rod and the system being adjusted for the particular ammunition we were shooting (Romanian surplus.) It was a bit hazy out, and the smoke was lingering.
I fired a few groups from the bench to get a feel for accuracy...
...but we quickly realized we needed to back off to 50 yards to figure out where the rounds were going. After moving to the shorter range, we found the rifle to be shooting about a foot low at 50 yards on it's lowest setting, and a bit left. We adjusted a little for windage, and brought the rear up a few notches and moved back over to 100.
Not the prettiest group, and one still managed to slip between the two sheets, but pretty typical of what we were getting most of the day. I'm certain the gun is capable of much better groups if you had the right ammo, a better zero, and better range conditions. I think next time some warmup time on the 10/22 and a little less coffee (heresy!!!) may be in order.
All in all, I'd say it's a pretty nice addition to Cro's collection.
It really is a gorgeous looking gun.
The FN-49 began life just prior to WWII, and the designer, Dieudonne Saive, fled to England when the Nazis invaded Belgium. Saive took the plans with him to prevent them from falling into the Germans' hands, and finished the project after Belgium was liberated and FN got back on its feet.
The rifle is a gas-operated semi-auto battle rifle, with a long operating rod and the system is adjustable to compensate for varying loads. The rifle was originally chambered in 7x57 Mauser, and was eventually produced in 30-06, 7.65x53 Argentine, and 8mm Mauser (as pictured in this article.)
Take-down is pretty simple, and the rifle can be field stripped without the use of tools (a small screwdriver is required to remove the handguard as shown below.)
The fit and finish on this example are quite good, with some wear on the bluing present, however no rust or pitting that I noticed.
The safety is interesting, at least to Cro and myself, as it slides in a machined groove in the side of the trigger itself.
The magazine is a 10 round fixed box magazine, and the feed lips are machined into the receiver rather than the magazine.
This being an Egyptian Contract rifle, many of the markings are in Arabic, including the serial number and range markings on the rear sight assembly.
On the range, the rifle handles well. It balances where a rifle should, and looks good doing it.
Recoil is not as bad as I'd expected, no doubt due to the long operating rod and the system being adjusted for the particular ammunition we were shooting (Romanian surplus.) It was a bit hazy out, and the smoke was lingering.
I fired a few groups from the bench to get a feel for accuracy...
...but we quickly realized we needed to back off to 50 yards to figure out where the rounds were going. After moving to the shorter range, we found the rifle to be shooting about a foot low at 50 yards on it's lowest setting, and a bit left. We adjusted a little for windage, and brought the rear up a few notches and moved back over to 100.
All in all, I'd say it's a pretty nice addition to Cro's collection.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Gun Mats
For cleaning with exploded diagrams of various guns.
Good assortment of long guns and handguns, and not bad prices either.
Good assortment of long guns and handguns, and not bad prices either.
Ear Pro
Peltor ear pro at Amazon for $50, plus another 30% off at checkout, so about $35 for electronic ear pro that works pretty well. I paid about double for mine a couple years ago, and I'm half tempted to get another pair.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Defending Yourself With a Knife
Sometimes you find yourself in a place where you can't have a gun, and we know the stupid little signs don't stop the bad guys from being violent, so what can you do with another common EDC tool?
Breda posted this link on facebook, and it's well worth a read (and bookmarking as she suggests.)
Breda posted this link on facebook, and it's well worth a read (and bookmarking as she suggests.)
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Morning Recoil Therapy
Some range time and coffee time with Cro this morning. Also finished off all the photo ops needed to take a good look at his Egyptian FN-49 (so if that interests you, should have that up towards the end of the week, a crapload of photos to edit...)
Also, RRA NM AR-15A4 is all sorts of sweet. And ringing steel at 100 yards with the M&P15-22, standing, offhand, is too much fun for my own good, even if I only hit the target 1/3rd of the time.
Follow that up with lots of gunny talk in the very hippie-vibbed coffee shop... hehee...
Also, RRA NM AR-15A4 is all sorts of sweet. And ringing steel at 100 yards with the M&P15-22, standing, offhand, is too much fun for my own good, even if I only hit the target 1/3rd of the time.
Follow that up with lots of gunny talk in the very hippie-vibbed coffee shop... hehee...
Monday, December 12, 2011
AHH!! COLD!!!
Take one J-frame, stash it in a car for an hour in December in Wisconsin, then insert in your Super-Tuck without an undershirt on. Stupid rules...
Costa Ludus goes live
As of Noon Eastern time, Chris Costa's new training company's site went live- Costa Ludus
A few months back Costa/Magpul announced he was following Travis Haley in leaving Magpul starting his own training company.
A few months back Costa/Magpul announced he was following Travis Haley in leaving Magpul starting his own training company.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
One of Those Days...
When your SO catches you entirely off guard, and makes you all sorts of proud.
I worked overnight Thursday, and eventually stumbled out of bed and read a text from her "So I see Shelley says the M&P22 is good to go, so I think it might be a really good gun for me to get for my first one... it really makes sense being able to go from that to a bigger caliber one."
Awesome. Plus, it's a gun I've been wanting to get my hands on for a while as well.
Later I got an email letting me know Wisconsin Carry, Inc. is getting their first round of Free Training Courses for WI CCL underway, and there's one nearby next weekend. The day's wide open for her, so she jumped on that fast. I'll be going along with (she'll be more comfortable with me being there, and even though I've got my permit, training is training.) In her own words, "I doubt I will ever carry, whether is it open or concealed, but I will go through a course and get my license. I want to learn the right way stay safe, just in case."
Later on in the evening she was talking about being at a liquor store a few weeks back, and a shady individual walked in. Apparently I'm rubbing off on her, as she noted him right away, and cautiously put herself in a position for a quick egress in case things went ploin-shaped, while taking a good mental picture of the guy. Thankfully for all involved, the guy just turned out to be your typical asocial drunk that looks like he's about to hold up the joint no matter where he is. He got his stuff and left without issue. She said that the best part of it was that she never was scared, just aware (she even used the phrase "situational awareness!")
It's just amazing to watch what was once a shy and timid girl bloom into a self-reliant and empowered woman in the year or so that I've known her. I think she's definitely worth hanging on to.
I worked overnight Thursday, and eventually stumbled out of bed and read a text from her "So I see Shelley says the M&P22 is good to go, so I think it might be a really good gun for me to get for my first one... it really makes sense being able to go from that to a bigger caliber one."
Awesome. Plus, it's a gun I've been wanting to get my hands on for a while as well.
Later I got an email letting me know Wisconsin Carry, Inc. is getting their first round of Free Training Courses for WI CCL underway, and there's one nearby next weekend. The day's wide open for her, so she jumped on that fast. I'll be going along with (she'll be more comfortable with me being there, and even though I've got my permit, training is training.) In her own words, "I doubt I will ever carry, whether is it open or concealed, but I will go through a course and get my license. I want to learn the right way stay safe, just in case."
Later on in the evening she was talking about being at a liquor store a few weeks back, and a shady individual walked in. Apparently I'm rubbing off on her, as she noted him right away, and cautiously put herself in a position for a quick egress in case things went ploin-shaped, while taking a good mental picture of the guy. Thankfully for all involved, the guy just turned out to be your typical asocial drunk that looks like he's about to hold up the joint no matter where he is. He got his stuff and left without issue. She said that the best part of it was that she never was scared, just aware (she even used the phrase "situational awareness!")
It's just amazing to watch what was once a shy and timid girl bloom into a self-reliant and empowered woman in the year or so that I've known her. I think she's definitely worth hanging on to.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Bang-Bang-Bang-Bang-CLACK!
That's how my turn at the Krag sounded yesterday. We also discovered the primers Cro is using have enough push to get the bullet into the throat, but not stuck particularly hard, when the powder fails to ignite for unknown reasons (thankfully a tap on a cleaning rod popped it out easily enough, and the gun was back to shooting in less than a minute.)
Thankfully for Cro (the owner of the rifle) and myself (shooter of said rifle,) this was a "best case scenario" for a squib load. Last round in the mag, and had it not been, we doubt another one would have fed into the chamber (that's how far the bullet didn't go.) Also, although the Krag is a "soft" shooting rifle, the round in question had zero recoil, and with earplugs in, all I heard was the "CLACK" of the striker hitting the primer. So, wait a couple beats in case of a hang-fire, open the bolt... and no bullet in the cartridge? And unburned powder pushed all the way to the front of the case? Huh. "Hey Cro, I'm sorry, but I seem to have lodged a bullet in your barrel."
We're not too sure what the issue was, theory is some oil from lubing the case made its way inside and dampened the powder, preventing it from igniting. The more important lesson, however, is when something weird happens when you're shooting, stop and evaluate the problem. It could save your rifle and your face.
Thankfully for Cro (the owner of the rifle) and myself (shooter of said rifle,) this was a "best case scenario" for a squib load. Last round in the mag, and had it not been, we doubt another one would have fed into the chamber (that's how far the bullet didn't go.) Also, although the Krag is a "soft" shooting rifle, the round in question had zero recoil, and with earplugs in, all I heard was the "CLACK" of the striker hitting the primer. So, wait a couple beats in case of a hang-fire, open the bolt... and no bullet in the cartridge? And unburned powder pushed all the way to the front of the case? Huh. "Hey Cro, I'm sorry, but I seem to have lodged a bullet in your barrel."
We're not too sure what the issue was, theory is some oil from lubing the case made its way inside and dampened the powder, preventing it from igniting. The more important lesson, however, is when something weird happens when you're shooting, stop and evaluate the problem. It could save your rifle and your face.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
December 7th.
A day that shall live in infamy.
Not much to say, but will be heading out to the range with the Springfield in a few minutes (along with some other long arms.) Hopefully I don't freeze.
Not much to say, but will be heading out to the range with the Springfield in a few minutes (along with some other long arms.) Hopefully I don't freeze.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Korean M1s?
Might still make it. The state department is reconsidering their decision last year (or whenever that was) to not allow importation of Korean surplus Garands and M1 Carbines.
I hope they let it pass, both Dad and myself would love a Carbine for many many reasons.
(h/t the Duck)
I hope they let it pass, both Dad and myself would love a Carbine for many many reasons.
(h/t the Duck)
Monday, December 5, 2011
It's not a bug, it's a feature!
Some business are catching on that by posting, they could be held liable if somebody was shot in their place.
I remember this being mentioned when they were writing the bill, and it was intentional. The idea is to give business owners an incentive to not ban legal Concealed Carry.
(h/t SayUncle)
I remember this being mentioned when they were writing the bill, and it was intentional. The idea is to give business owners an incentive to not ban legal Concealed Carry.
(h/t SayUncle)
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Arts and Crafts
Made a Holiday ornament to unwind a bit from the weekend.
The decorations have now been touched, and the house properly blessed.
RAmen.
The decorations have now been touched, and the house properly blessed.
RAmen.
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