Halo-Derp

Time to laugh at the NYPD... Somebody snapped this photo of some tacti-cool dudes looking for a guy that shot some people:


(From Facebook)

Closest guy to the camera.

I'm guessing he'll be hitting up the armoror after they clear to figure out what's "wrong" with his optic there...

Shiny

Available for a freakin' steal if what Manda says about it is true.  (I haven't gotten to read it yet, but I got it for her as a surprise gift a few months back.)  If you like Firefly, you want it.

Did We Get a New Sheriff?

That was my first thought when Manda sent me this link.

Color me insanely surprised with our County's top LEO.  Previously he's parroted Flynn when it came to Open Carry, so I honestly never would have expected this.

Photo of the... month?

All the talk about issue weapons below made me remember I got a decent photo of my current issue zapper.  M4 Carbine, 1 ea.  Manufactured by Colt, Aimpoint Comp M4, and I haven't done much else other than better sling points and the new Magpul hand-stop kit.

FN Wins M4/M4A1 Contract

Gear Scout reports.  I'm sure Colt will continue to cry about it.

Seems kind of funny though, last I heard Colt still had the contract for the M240 family of weapons, which is an FN design; and now FN will make the M4, along with continuing to produce the M16 series, a weapon system Colt had a huge part in.

On a side note, the best rifle (in my mind) that I was ever issued had an FN built A2 upper and barrel on a rebuilt Colt A1A2 lower.  Cloverleafed zero targets every time... Never felt undergunned my first tour with that old girl.

State (Milwaukee...) Legislators Herped all over their Derp...

A Democratic state senator and three Democratic state representatives have circulated draft legislation that would ban civilian possession of hollow point or frangible ammunition. According to existing Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources regulations, sportsmen and women in Wisconsin must use such ammunition when hunting deer or bear. The Democratic lawmakers, two of whom are freshman, all hail from urban districts in the City of Milwaukee.

Their reasoning, in their oh so enlightened minds, is that hollow point and soft tipped "serve no purpose in self-defense or hunting use."  Nevermind that anyone that knows anything about the use of firearms will tell you that those are exactly the best rounds to use for both purposes.

To further the proof of their mental deficiency, there's this little tidbit:

 “While used by the military for decades – in part because they inflict massive wounds – hollowpoint bullets have little, if any, practical use for self-defense or hunting in everyday society. Tragically, they are essentially human-killing bullets.”

That right there is solid proof that they did ZERO research, and are talking straight out of their asses.  I can only hope that somebody sends them a copy of the Hague Declaration and they hire another intern to slap them on the hand and say "NO!" when they try to introduce anything else.

I think I may have to send them some photos of all these solid, lead-free bullets I got issued... not a single hollowpoint among them!

Gotta love the MSM...

In regards to the mess in California...

The man at the center of a massive manhunt in California is potentially armed with armor-piercing ammunition and semi-automatic rifles, could likely hit a target more than 50 yards away, thinks like a police officer and, perhaps most troublesome, is not abiding by any rules.
(Emphasis mine...)

I guess that is quite the accomplishment for most Navy guys (no offense, but unless you're on a SEAL Team, they just don't do much small arms training.)

Sensationalizm for the sake of selling paper

Fitting

My youngest brother tagged me on this in facebook...

 

Looks about right! Heh.

Currently sipping some fresh ground Mexican Chiapas from Emy J's made with my newest coffee gadget. It makes coffee almost as good as a French Press, but isn't a pain to clean, which is important when you don't have running water that's food safe.

Not What I Espected from North Chicago

Milwaukee County Sheriff Clarke urges residents to arm themselves.

"With officers laid off and furloughed, simply calling 911 and waiting is no longer your best option," Clarke intones. "You could beg for mercy from a violent criminal, hide under the bed, or you can fight back."
 

Apparently the Sheriff also called for arming teachers, and Mayor Barrett isn't amused, which endears the Sheriff to me that much more.

"I almost want a pitbull."

Part of this morning's email exchange with Manda...

"And no pitbull."

"I said almost. :-p It's my want of things assholes think I shouldn't have, just because said assholes think they look scary. Then it could ride in my '69 Roadrunner that gets crap-miles-per-gallon while I wave my sawed off shotgun out the window."

"Don't forget the grenade launchers welded to the roof."

"No, that would ruin the body lines."

See, I even have limits.

Sexy

The new Nikon 5200 has hit US shores, and it's pretty neat in my opinion.  It seems very similar to my D40, except on optical steroids... I was planning to get a new camera body when I got home from the deployment, so I can continue to take sweet pictures for your veiwing pleasure, and this just may be the one.  Plus, the red is sexy.

Little reminder:  whenever you click an Amazon add, I get a cut of the sales... which will be put towards said camera purchase.  It's a win/win for both of us, and costs you nothing.

Kind of want...

USFA ZiP .22lr.

I don't know if it's my love of "odd" guns or the SF look of it, but if the price is right, I may look for one.

2013 Magpul Goodies

Magpul tossed out a bunch of new stuff for shot, there's three things that caught my eye.  One is a product I really like, and the other two are(ok, that one's part of a set, but it's the half that I want) ones that show that Magpul does listen to customer wants.

 

ETA: Can anybody identify the handguard/lower rail on that gun?  I could use something just like that on one of my AKs...

Emerson-Multitasker EDC Tool

I love my Multitasker tools, and Emerson Knives are things forged out of pure awesome...  Needless to say, this will be replacing my Leatherman Skelitool in my pocket when I get home.

The Emerson-Multitasker EDC will be released tomorrow at SHOT Show. It’s a tank of an everyday carry tool collaboration between Ernie Emerson and Multitasker Tools.The beefy tool has everything onboard to deal with life’s mechanical problems; it features a modified Emerson Micro Commander style knife blade (plain edge orpartially serrated) made from PVD coated D2 tool steel. The other tools include a heavy duty awl/scraper with liner lock, slotted and Phillips head screwdrivers; both with 90/180 degree locks, and a detachable pry tool with bottle opener and wrench cutouts (Std: 1/4″, 5/16″, 3/8″, 7/16″, 1/2″ Metric: 6mm, 7mm, 8mm, 9mm)The tool will MSRP for $180.

Glock... why don't you listen?

I just don't get it.  For years everybody has cried out for a single-stack 9mm and a carbine from them, yet another SHOT has come, and they give their fanboys a .45 with a skinny slide.  Meh...?

In related news, relative newcomer to the plastic pistol world, Caracal, has come out with a carbine...

The Adventures of Roberta X: I Renewed My NRA Membership Today

The Adventures of Roberta X: I Renewed My NRA Membership Today:      Please join NRA or renew your membership if you haven't already.  Are they perfect?  Oh, hells no; but the NRA is the loudest voice we have, ad the only one with all the legislators addresses, phone numbers, favorite beverages and lobbyists who know what buttons to push. They're also your best chance to do a little button-pushing yourself -- they're always looking for volunteers!

She makes a good point.  Also, I just re-joined about an hour ago.  I had let it lapse, since I only have so much money to throw at organizations a year, and the last few a more local group was getting what I had.

Right now though, the big dogs could use the help.

I apologize...

But I just turned on word verification for comments. I'm getting tired of getting spam comments every 15 minutes (not exaggerating) for links to fake drugs, handbags and shoes.

DoubleTap Defense Suing Heizer Manufacturing

DOUBLETAP™ DEFENSE, LLC FILES SIX MILLION DOLLAR LAWSUIT AGAINST HEIZER DEFENSE, LLC AND OTHERS

ST. LOUIS, MO (January 2013) - On January 3, 2013, DoubleTap™ Defense, LLC, owner of the DoubleTap™ Tactical Pocket Pistol filed a six million dollar lawsuit against Heizer Defense, LLC of St. Louis, Missouri, and others. In the lawsuit, DoubleTap™ Defense is seeking, in addition to monetary damages, an injunction to stop any further action on the part of Heizer Defense, LLC and others to manufacture or market a product based on the intellectual property of DoubleTap™ inventor Ray Kohout.

In the fall of 2012, DoubleTap™ Defense, LLC's relationship with the Heizers was terminated due, in part, to Heizer's inability to fulfill its manufacturing obligations. DoubleTap™ Defense, LLC has since engaged Azimuth Technologies, LLC, a Naples, Florida based company, to manufacture its new and improved DoubleTap™ Tactical Pocket Pistol. Production has begun on the smallest and safest conceal carry pistol on the market, with anticipated shipping to distributors to begin in the 1st quarter of 2013.

News related to the DoubleTap™ can be found at www.doubletapdefensellc.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DoubleTapFirearmsLLC. 

   
While I'm not really chomping on the bit to get one of their pistols, it is an interesting design.

 

And here's apparently Heizers' design...

 

Now I'm no mechanical expert, and I haven't seen the internals of the Heizer design, but I will say my years of gun blogging will let me say DoubleTap just might have a case.



BCM Gunfighter Ambi CH

I've mentioned the excelent BCM Gunfighter Charging Handle in the past, and I'm a fan.  Over on WEVO they've announced the newes part of the Gunfighter line, the Mod.A44 (Ambidextrious).  Cool stuff.

Retail looks to be a little higher than the standard version, understanable with the extra machining and parts that go into it.

'Recoil' Top New Magazine

Recoil was recently named the number one new magazine launch of 2012, despite the shit-storm that surrounded it last fall.  Not just among gun magazines either, that's out of all new magazines.

I'm not too surprised, the last couple years have seen a massive growth in the firearms community, especially among younger Americans.  Recoil is defenitely geared towards readers closer to 20 years old, with a much more graphic driven layout (in my opinion.)  I am a bit surprised that it beat out all other genres though.  That really puts in perspective just how much the gun community actually is growing to me.

I'm glad they managed to pull their collective heads out and get their crap together after their little dust-up.  As KitUp puts it-

"Recoil is a Gun Culture magazine and despite the Great Recoil Debacle of 2012, it is has always been pro-2A at its core…it’s just been sadly schizophrenic as it did so. Disagree? Go back and read – the same issue that had then-editor-Jerry Tsai’s now infamous misstatement you had articles about NFA stamps, silencers, automatic weapons and the best ways to get them. That’s not anti-Second Amendment. That’s some sort of disorganized multiple personality."

Now that they've put that behind them, and put Mr. Harrison in charge, I think it's going to be heading back up to one of the premier print magazines in the gun community.  Now if they'd just do print subscriptions for those of us that don't want to own an iPad.........................................

3,000fps Rimfire

That's not a typo.  I love the ramp-up to SHOT, all sorts of new and ridicules things coming out.  Winchester has announced their new rimfire round, the .17WSM (Winchester Super Magnum), an extended case that pushes a 20 or 25 grain projectile at a stupid-fast speed of 3,000 or 2,600fps respecively.  That means the 20gr. bullet actually has more muzzle energy than a 115gr 9x19mm...

If the price is right, I think it could be a very interested longer range plinker.  The claim is that it'll withstand wind drift better than other rimfire magnums, so it could be fun to stretch its legs out and see what kind of groups it'd do at 200+ yards (I've done some fun stuff in the past with a friend's .17HMR at 100.)

Do Want.

A new longer Boberg. Barrel length of just over 4" in a still incredibly short overall package.

Kinda Want...

A well done conversion to make your 10/22 look like a P90.  Half tempted to order one and then shop around for a used 10/22 when I get home.

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.