Excuses

Slept in in preparation for overnight shifts the next two nights, then dug out the bike clothes to get a short ride in.
New biking socks though!!

Amazon Tactical

Amazon's getting it's black on... or FDE. Black is 2000.

They're also giving away a Streamlight TLR-1s when they hit 500 fans.

Monday Morning Recycling

Lots of .44 and .38 bullets.

Good start to the weekend...

The Army is still quite capable of burning coffee. Yuck.

Surefire G2 Blast Test

So I came into possession of an Elzetta ZFH1500 light mount, and mounted it on the ol' B-CC.  The only flashlight I had handy that fits in it is my old beat up Surefire G2 incandescent.

There's one little issue with the particular combo of the Elzetta mount and the 14.5" barrel, especially with a muzzle comp like the Dynacomp-

The bezel of the light is awful close to the blast area, and incandescent bulbs are not known for their blast resistance.  Knowing this, and not really liking the G2 anyway (old tech, dim as hell (65 whole lumens) compared to new LED lights...) I figured it'd be a good chance to see what it could take.

Apparently it'll take somewhere between 40 and 60 rounds of 55 gr. Wolf  FMJ before giving up the little electronic ghost.  I was somewhat hopeful that it'd hold up longer than that, since the bottom of the comp is fully closed (to counter muzzle rise and cut down on dust signature) but apparently not quite enough.

Little Bit of White-Light Testing Yesterday

Need to shoot some photos and write some words, but I should have something up tomorrow before I head out for drill weekend.  Let's just say things did not go well for the standard Surefire G2.

Speaking of Shotguns

Vuurwapen Blog sums up why the Taurus Judge isn't one, and sucks at pretty much everything.  This is the same stuff I've been saying since the stupid thing came out, and am still amazed at the sales numbers.

Shot Mass

Or Slingshots Vs. The Box of Truth.  As OldPainless himself says, it's not too bad of an analogue for the old birdshot/buckshot mass argument.  The results are far from unexpected.

Tease...

Caleb is a giant one.

Ruger 10/22 Takedown

Not disassembly, but a 10/22 that comes apart in the middle.

From their email-

Ruger® is proud to introduce the Ruger 10/22 Takedown™. Readily separated into two subassemblies, the Ruger 10/22 Takedown™ offers a convenient transport and storage option for the popular Ruger® 10/22®. As reliable and accurate as every 10/22®, the Ruger 10/22 Takedown™ makes it even easier to keep America's favorite rimfire rifle by your side.

The barrel and forend of the Ruger 10/22 Takedown™ are easily separated from the action and buttstock by pushing a recessed lever, twisting the subassemblies, and pulling them apart. Reassembly is the reverse of takedown, and is quick and easy.

The Ruger 10/22 Takedown™ is shipped in a ballistic nylon backpack-style case that features internal sleeves which hold the subassemblies. External pockets with MOLLE webbing provide storage for magazines, ammunition, and other accessories. 

For more information on the new Ruger 10/22 Takedown™, or to learn more about the extensive, award-winning line of Ruger® firearms, visit Ruger.com or Facebook.com/Ruger. To find accessories for the Ruger 10/22 Takedown™, like the 25-round Ruger® BX-25® magazine, visit ShopRuger.com.

Actually looks pretty cool.  I wouldn't mind one for shits and giggles at least.

Lock-N-Load Coffee

I need to get my hands on some... I've always been leery of mail-order coffee, but they have fun names and I like the feel of their company.  Plus you can order coffee to have sent to military folks (either random units, or you can specify.)

How to Hide a Gun in a Suit

From atailoredsuit.com

(h/t RTB)

Last Minute Decisions...

...like riding your bike to work right now mean you forget things like normal, non-biking type underwear, and undershirts.  Oops.

New Bike in the House!

MandaFern upgraded her commuter rig.

Trek Neko SL with dealer installed rack and fenders.  Should help a lot with her goal of biking to work more than driving this summer.  I'm just jealous of the nice hydraulic disc brakes myself.

Ruger 10/22

Original 1964 review.

"Somebody Else Will Call"

“Bike Thief” is a social experiment in which filmmaker Casey Neistat repeatedly stole his own bike in locations around New York City, including in front of a police station. He gets away with it in (almost) every instance.

This really highlights both an immense lack of situational awareness in most people and the reason why I have good bike locks.

Spring...?

Feels more like summer.  The highs this last week have been pushing the 80s, and the "rain" they keep speaking of keeps getting pushed further and further back (50% today as of last night, currently bright and sunny and only partially cloudy.)

This does not help with the bloggage.

Yesterday afternoon/evening I rolled up to the gun shop to pick up a free hat for being awesome, and fondle my probably BAG Day purchase.  Speaking of, BAG Day is a Sunday, and the shop's closed, but I'm looking at a handgun, so I'll most likely pay and do the paperwork on Saturday and pick it up Monday after the stupid waiting period.  I figure that should be close enough for .gov work.

While I was there, I also got to handle an NFA Kriss carbine and a Serbu breacher.  The Serbu seems like it would be fun for about 5 minutes, then unless you're actually using it as a breacher, you'd be wondering why you went AOW and not SBS (I'm still very much wanting an 870 with a 12" barrel... ends right at the factory mag tube, how awesome is that?)  The Kriss on the other hand... well, I'm glad I didn't look at the price tag, or I'd be doing math to figure out when I could start paperwork.

On a more positive note, they're also carrying converted Saiga 12s and stock drums for the same.  That could end up costing me a bit (although I'd be constantly tempted to mount a launcher of some sort to the bottom...)

Start three nights of overnights tonight, so maybe there'll be some stuff up here with more content in the morning.

WGO Launches Pro-CCW Sign Campaign

"The signs are part of what WGO calls its DEFEND WISCONSIN PROGRAM, in response to the anti-gun signs being posted by some businesses around Wisconsin to prohibit concealed carry. It also aims to counter the anti-gun smear campaign of the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort (WAVE), the notorious Madison-based anti-gun group."

I'll have to keep an eye out for them, and make sure to frequent those places.

If you are a Wisconsin business owner and would like to put up your own signs, they are available here.

Also of note is this little bit of the article-

"Last fall, WGO launched its successful Don’t Buy List Program, which to date has listed over 800 anti-gun businesses around the state. These businesses are put on alert that gun owners will no longer patronize them until the signs are removed. To date, nearly two dozen businesses have reversed course and removed the signs, thanks to grassroots pressure from vigilant members of WGO."

Keep up the good work.

RFAK

Basic range trauma kit.  List looks good to me, maybe toss an Israeli bandage in there if you know how to use them.

(h/t SayUncle)

Aww...

It seems like I just sat down, and somebody already drank all my coffee.  Guess I need more.

(ok... I think I drank it all...)

I like Border Collies

Solders and Marines to Get New Helmet

The new ECH will be rated for rifle rounds.  Pretty cool.  Maybe I'll even see one before I hit 20 years in service!

VZ Grips (J-Frame) Range Report

Put 50 rounds through the other day while we were at the range.  To me, it seemed like there was more felt recoil, but it was more controllable.  The new grips are just a little bigger, a little grippier, and the finger groove all do a much better job of keeping the gun firmly planted where it belongs. 

Also, despite the grips being more efficient at transferring the recoil energy, my hands still felt better than they did after the 40 rounds a few days before with the factory rubber.

These are definitely worth looking into if you have a J-frame.

Hehee...

I love the fact that I just picked this up at a local retailer...

Muscle Memory

Winter can be a bitch.  The temptation to stay on the couch covered in furry space heaters can really put a damper on your skills.  Muscles have memory, and like most memories, sometimes they're about as effective as a sieve.

Yesterday was the first solid "Spring is... well... mostly here.  It is Wisconsin dude" day of the year, with record setting high temperatures well into the 70s.  This of course led to the motivation to put on silly looking biking clothes and break out the XC bike.  The one with the clipless pedals.

For those of you not up on your bicycle lingo, "clipless" pedals are the sort that, despite the name, have a mechanism that a cleat on your shoe clips into (the term "clipless" comes from the older style that have straps that your foot slides into, and those straps have been known as "toe-clips" for decades.  The new mechanical ones give you the same advantages (your foot's locked into the pedal) without the toe-clips, so they're "clipless.")

This winter MandaFern and I started up gym memberships at a local gym, and due to Uncle Sam's insistence, throughout the winter, we did many miles on the treadmill.  I never once swapped out the knobby on the back of my bike and put it up on the trainer, meaning I never strapped on my biking shoes and clipped in to my pedals since some point in October.

Clipless pedals have a certain amount of "float" built in to them (about 7 degrees the way I have mine set up) that you can pivot your foot left or right before they release.  This keeps your ankle from getting jacked up and stiff without constantly releasing your cleat and letting your foot come off the pedal.  Yesterday, I must have only gotten the front of my cleat in the pedal, and suddenly felt that I was lacking in this float after about a block.  Right as I started to really hammer on my pedals.  No float = very early release, which leads to my ankle bouncing off the pedal.  Much to my surprise, I don't have a giant purple bruise (sure feels like it though) but it is rather stiff.

Earlier in the day, Cro and I hit up the range (benefits of having your "weekend" in the middle of the week) and spent a good amount of time working on rifle marksmanship.  I had the Anshutz, and Cro was rocking his CZ-452, and we were mainly working on prone and sitting at 100 yards (yes, .22lr open sight, bolt action rifles at 100. It's a challenge, and a fun one.)  

Shooting prone and bike riding suffer the same issue in Wisconsin during the winter, nobody wants to do it.  Proning out in the snow on the frozen ground sucks.  Thankfully bulk 22 is cheap, and my Anshutz works "good enough" with Federal bulk packs (apparently at 100 yards it yields 4-5" groups for the crappy ones.)  It probably took the better part of 100 rounds to actually warm the muscles back up to remembering what they need to do to make a sling loop work right.  By the end I was back to cursing my heartbeat for messing with my sight picture, but there were quite a few called flyers leading up to that (not to mention how small a 600 yard reduced target looks through peeps at 100...)

Thankfully, I'm not planning on racing or going to Camp Perry this year, so I'm not behind the curve.  I'm heading to Afghanistan towards the end of the year, so I've been working on other skills this winter.  Prioritizing is pretty important too.

(To end on a good note, it was a beautiful day, and the route back from the range goes right past the cheese factory... so the grill came out, and the burgers had slices of the freshest Co-jack melted to perfection on top. Those were served up with some of the great offerings from New Glarus to wash them down.)

Trucker's Friend

Via Breda on facebook-

You might drive a Prius, but that doesn't mean you should be rolling down the road without the Trucker's Friend ($50). This all-purpose, all-in-one tool incorporates an axe, spanner, hammer, nail puller, tire chain hook, pry bar, and lever into a single, rugged 21-inch body. Mesh hat and Big Gulp not included.

That should take care of some zombies.

Too Nice Out

First warm warm day of the year, already hit the range, now to break out bikes.  Come back later.

Grip Therapy - OMG IT SPINS!! Edition

I finally got around to picking up some VZ Grips for the snubby, and I'm glad I did.  I got a set of the Hyena Brown 320s in G10 laminate, because I like that they look like wood. The texture is smooth, but grippy enough, and with the finger grooves and general boot grip shape, they feel nice and secure.

They feel slightly wider than the factory rubber, but the relief behind the cylinder release is a bit deeper, and and the G10 is less grabby than the rubber, so I can actually use HKS and Safariland speedloaders now.  I'm hoping they'll snag on my shirt a lot less now too.

Between these and the Apex kit, I'm really really liking my little J-frame.

Irish Coffee and J-frame

Another "Guns & Coffee" photo.

Got a new Irish Coffee Mug (from the dollar store, and made in the USA!) and new grips on the J-frame.  Half a pan of mint frosted brownies to complete the picture.  It is March after all!  Also a 5 round Tuff Quickstrip.  The new grips work a lot better with traditional Speedloaders, but the strips lay in a pocket a lot better.

Arsenal Double 1911...

I'll just get this out of the way, my official opinion is that it's pretty stupid and I'm still wondering how it's not a "machine gun."

No desire for this thing.