Wow...

Not the kind of poster you'd expect to find in Cali.

Hooray!

The prodigal rifle has returned.  The very persistent FedEx guy pounded on the door long enough to get me up (been working weird shifts...) and had a nice long brown box for me.  The paperwork only says "updated to current specs," but most importantly there's an extractor once again and everything looks good to go.  That was a pretty quick turn around too, FedEx says they received it last Wednesday.

Hopefully I'll be able to get out to the range Thursday or Friday after classes, or failing that Saturday.  Hopefully it doesn't blow up again.

I can haz shorty?

So more and more I feel the desire for an AR in the 10.5-11.5 inch category, and I think the idea of an AR pistol is stupid.  The question is does the $200 and hassle seem worth it for the mere privilege of having a stubby gun? And how much of a hassle is it in Wisconsin?  Something to distract myself during classes this semester I suppose.

Heh...

Being an inked individual, I'm almost always a fan of tattoos, and if done right you can pull of some pretty funny ones.  Almost wish I had thought of that.

Correia's going on a killing spree...

...but it's for a good cause.  A young man is in need of a rather pricey procedure and for a $50 donation, you can become a Redshirt in one of Larry Correia's upcoming novels.  I'm planning to go over my finances and see if there's hope of becoming a bonifide Monster Hunter before being eviscerated by some ghoul.

Downright Frightening

As Robb says;

You'd have to be a paranoid lunatic to carry a concealed weapon to a child's birthday party.

Not much else to say, other than carry your guns and remember your training.  Bad stuff can go down anywhere.

Polished Turd

I've mentioned offhand a few times that I do actually own a Hi-Point firearm.  It's a Model 995 9mm carbine.  I picked it up dirt cheap years and years ago after accumulating some boxes of 9mm and not owning a 9mm gun.

Now everybody knows the stock Hi-Point carbine, especially five years ago, is butt-ugly, and the "plastic" they used for the stock then had a tendency to feel like mashed potatoes if it got above 80 degrees.  Right around the time I got the thing, ATI announced they were making an aftermarket stock for the 9mm version.  The stock is quite obviously inspired by the Baretta Storm, but more importantly, the material is actually pretty nice.  It's much more solid.

I also had the barrel threaded and a CETME flash hider I had hanging around bored out to accommodate the 9mm, just to make it look a little meaner (the naked tube just looked wrong.)  Top it off with a $30 BSA red dot, and it's a pretty decent looking little carbine.

My only real complaints are the incredibly crappy trigger, low capacity mags, and no good way to rig up some backup irons. (Check that, looks like ATI's got a 17" top rail now.  Plenty of room for the dot and some and a set of BUIS...)

On the up-side, the ergonomics of the ATI stock are actually pretty good.  The blowback action also makes for a pretty gentle shooting carbine as well.  I've never had a malfunction with the gun either (as long as I've stuck to the factory mag anyway.)  In all seriousness, if it wasn't for the whopping 10 round mags I'd say it would be a great home defense gun setup.

First Timers

There's a bit of it going around right now, I think it got started by somebody complaining about suggesting women buy .38spc revolvers this time... (we all know my feelings on that crap...)

Anywho, I've had my fair share of first timers out at the range, and I think I've got a pretty good system down.  The pre-planning almost always involves the question "well, what do you want to shoot?(No, really, anything.  If I don't have it I probably know somebody who does.)"  The range trip referenced above for example was strongly based on that question since there were a couple new/newish shooters in the bunch.  (The answers, if you're interested, were "...something cool!" and "an AK, who doesn't like stereotypes?" (Adam is of loosely middle-east decent and has a good sense of humor about it))  Of course things always start with .22lr of some shape or form to get the basics down, plus I don't care how much .22lr people shoot up.  It's cheap enough that I'm cool donating it to the cause.

In my opinion, the most important thing with a new shooter is to make sure they have a good time.  The basics are important, because hitting your target is 3,000 times more fun than just making noise (which is still fun as hell by itself), but like with any habit, you need to hook 'em early.  Standing around lecturing and nitpicking every small detail of their technique can come later.  On the other hand, give a young dance major raised in a strongly liberal household an AK and a bunch of balloons... (ah memories...)(eta: Adam's not the dance major. She's much cuter.)

That brings up another good point, targets.  Paper's great for honing technique, but instant feedback is much more pleasurable.  Not everyone gets pleasure out of punching tiny little groups in the 10 ring, but I have yet to meet the shooter who doesn't love that "PING!" of a steel target.  Pick up a couple party packs of 100 balloons from Box-mart and you're set for some great first time targets.  Less walking too, there's no doubt if you hit it.  (Can be a nice change for us regular shooters too, put a couple small ones out at 100 and see who can pop theirs first... off hand... with 22's.  And some 8" steel at 300 with .22lr pistols is downright hilarious, especially when you hit. Pop........................................................................ping!)

And don't push your first timer either.  If they don't want to shoot the Earschplitten-Shoulderbreaker, that's fine.  Of course they very well could change their mind after you fire off a couple shots and show them it's not going to hurt them (in the BSA Climbing/COPE world we call it "Challenge by Choice.")  I'm sure we can all agree that guy who gives the 90lb girlfriend the .500mag and laughs as it bounces off her forehead should be punched, so don't be that guy.  But if they're perfectly happy popping balloons at 50 yards with the 10/22 all afternoon, just make sure you've got enough balloons.

Whatever happens, just make sure they have fun.  If you take out a first timer and they actually enjoy it, they're gonna be shooters for life, and that's why we win.

I really do want...

To continue on the wishlist and link to Steve again, the Baikal MP-161K looks freakin' sweat.  I think it would be dead sexy with some decent glass up top and some fancy streamlined bipod of some sort.  I'd probably strongly consider it in .17 HMR just because I already have a goodly amount of .22lr semi's and I do like shooting the .17 HMR (granted I've never had to pay for it...)

Steve doesn't think it can be imported, but I don't see why not really.  I'm not a lawyer by any means, but I thought that simply being a rimfire exempted rimfires from most of the stupid rules, hence the GSG-5 and the like being perfectly fine, despite the "evil" features.  This one doesn't even have any of those problems (no pistol grip, 9 shot mag, no muzzle device...)  I mean if they can import Saiga Sporters I don't see why this one wouldn't be fine.

Still kinda want one...

The Rhino has apparently cleared customs and should be hitting dealer's cases soon.

I probably would go with the 4" version personally, although I'm not sure about the holes in the overlug(?).  Still, it appeals to me for the same reason I own a Nagant Revolver.  It's different, kind of weird really, and I like that in a gun.  (The Nagant still gets massive bonus points for looking quite steampunky right out of the box though, the Rhino, like the Mateba before it, definitely has a more Sci Fi feel.)

Yup.

Got off work an hour and a half ago... and here I am sitting in the coffee house doing the internet thing.  Who needs sleep when you have delicious coffee?

(Couldn't stand the first pic... too cold. I can't stand that much blue in pictures.)

And the plot thickens...

Remember that issue I mentioned with my 1911 last week?  Seems that there's a smith down in West Virginia who's been running into the same thing quite a bit lately.  I guess the smart thing would be for me to pick up some different ammo... (although that's easier said than done around here.)

Maybe it's the lack of sleep...

But the new Ruger SR-556 chambered in 6.8 makes my head hurt.  Why not just call it an SR-68?

Don't know how I missed this one...

FN is just all sorts of confused... The Firearm Blog linked to a Belgian article yesterday were FN still says the Army's going to purchase up to "10,000" units.

I wouldn't mind a SCAR-H personally though...

Those guns are huge!

No, wait, just tiny guys...

GunPundit posted some photos of Afghan forces and their various small arms.  What caught my eye was the last picture with a couple ANA dudes rocking some M16A2s.  Yeah, 5.56mm type.  I had just forgotten just how small your average Afghan is compared to your typical American service member...

Got distracted...

Didn't really get around to blogging today, felt the random motivation to finish off a super-heavy tank for 40k that I've been working on and off on for a year or so.  The Shadowsword has always been my favorite of the Imperial Super-Heavies, so when they finally came out with an affordable plastic one I had to get it.  I painted it in the colors for my Death Korps of Kreig army that never happened, but thankfully it's well within the fluff for a random super-heavy to get attached to another unit from a different home world, so no real problem fielding the green/grey tank alongside my desert tan Velurian Armored Cav.

The pictures are rather meh, since it's getting dark out and I'm too lazy to set up any good lighting.  But the thing is a beast, almost 10 inches long, and occupies enough space on the table to fit four standard battle tanks.  A standard human sized guy can actually fit underneath the sponson.  It's a biggin'!

Just thought I'd share why I slacked off from here today.

The Countdown Begins

Made the 40+ mile round trip to the nearest FedEx location so I could send off the poor little M&P15-22 after work today.  We'll see how long it takes to get back.

Birdshot...

...is only good for little birds.

MHV

Larry's taking a headcount for signed copies of Monster Hunter Vendetta.  If you are looking for one, head over and let him know.  I'm in for one to compliment my autographed copy of MHI.

HULC

A while back I mentioned we're getting close to powered exo-skeleton goodness.  Well I was poking around Wired's Danger Room blog and found a video showing the guys in the pictures actually walking around on various terrain.



The first guy looks more sure-footed than some people I've seen on similar terrain who weren't carrying a crap-load of gear.  Pretty cool for sure.

Dirty Girl

Bonus question of the day:  What would cause a 1911 pattern pistol to fail (just barely) to go into battery after the third round, every other time or so, on the same magazine?  (Third "Bang!" and then a light tap on the rear of the slide to jar it that extra 1/16th or so of an inch.)  I was thinking my locking cuts were just dirty or something but it was always the fourth round out of the magazine (essentially brand new Wilson ETM.)

SCAR Drama continues?

Well, maybe not. It seems you can find anything on the interwebs, including FN's Marketing Director stating SOCOM will not be purchasing the Mk16/SCAR-L.

You are correct and I am not hiding any facts. And, as the main customer has stated, they do not plan to buy the MK 16...in my humble opinion, this has nothing to do with performance but rather smartly-weighed budget decisions.

This correspond with what USSOCOM Maj. Wes Ticer told Kit-Up back in June.

After completing testing, US Special Operations Command decided to procure the 7.62 mm Mk 17 rifle, the 40mm Mk 13 grenade launcher and the Mk 20 Sniper Support rifle variants of the Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle (SCAR) manufactured by FN Herstal. The command will not purchase the 5.56 mm Mk 16.

The Mk 17 will fill an existing capability gap for a 7.62 mm rifle.  The Mk 16 does not provide enough of a performance advantage over the M4 to justify spending limited USSOCOM funds when competing priorities are taken into consideration.

 Is this the end of rumors and name-calling? Doubtful.  I'm sure there's still plenty of fanboys that are all sorts of butt-hurt over the decision, but I'm going to stick to my original call that the Mk16 simply does not show enough of a performance-to-price difference compared to the M16 family.

The facebook...

Somebody linked the hell out of me on there, but due to facebook's way of redirecting outside links, I have no idea who what or where... grumblecakes.

FN just keeps going...

Apparently they didn't respond to a request for more info from Kit-up, but the internets fanboiz are taking all sorts of offense that they're reporting the SCAR-L to not be all the bestest and greatest of things in SOCOM's eyes.  Go figure.

Denial...

...is not just a river running through FN's main lobby.

SCAR maker FNH-USA announced today that SOCOM had approved the Special Operations Combat Assault Rifle program “family of weapons” for “full rate production.” That includes the Mk-17 SCAR-H which fires 7.62 rounds, the Mk-13 grenade launcher and the Mk-16 SCAR-L which fires 5.56 rounds.

Kit-Up is watching to see how this goes, given prior developments...

Splat

Not to get into the various politics involved, but somebody is either very naive, or giggling hysterically in their cubicle over the fact that they got away with this.

h/t - Sharp as a Marble

Haters

They gonna hate.

For Tam-

1911 Phase II - Grip Therapy

Got two packages today, one big box (like I could fit a couple pistols in it) from Brownells with the relatively tiny mainspring housing; and a padded envelope just big enough to contain some VZ Grips 1911 grip panels, a baggy of 4 o-rings, and some pieces of grip tape.  (Bet you can guess who charges more for shipping too!)

So as previously mentioned, I went with the "Tiger Stripe" Operator's II panels.  They're a little darker and a tiny redder than they look on the site, but not badly so.

I also picked up a pack of the grip-tape for the front strap, since $7 isn't much, and is sure a lot cheaper than sending off the gun to get checkered.  Quality on the grips is excellent, and they're incredibly grippy.

The mainspring housing fit perfectly, had the flat plastic one off and the spring swapped and new steel housing on in less than 10 minutes (I think I wandered around looking for a clamp to be a third hand to hold a punch to compress the spring longer than the time to actually perform the swap...)  The effect is amazing really, the gun fills my hand much better and points even more natural because of that.  Plus did I mention the new one's steel?  I mean my usual carry gun has a frame made of plastic, but it just never felt right on the ol' 45.

Grips went on like 1911 grips have forever.  I ordered a set of the o-rings to give the screws a little more grab on the slicker G10 material, so they stick out a little more than they did on the old rubber scales, but not enough to feel noticeable.

On to the pictures.

Overall view of the gun-

It really feels like a whole new gun now.  Slightly more heft with that extra steel on back, and overall much much more secure in my hands.  These grips have a lot of bite, and that little extra texture on the formerly smooth front strap is a welcome addition.  I'm sure it'll be a fantastic change on the range too, the front combining with the cuts on the rear of the new grips should keep it well under control during recoil.

Better view of the left grip-

First off I gotta say this is one of the best looking pictures I've taken in a long time... at least in my opinion. Turned out great.

As for the grips, you can see how the front half are dimpled kind of like a golf ball.  This makes that half have a really solid grip, much like the huge checkering on the front of Dan's HK.  I know I complained about them there, but I don't mind the aggressive texture here.  I think due to the grip I use it doesn't bite my hands as much.  We'll find out if I feel that way after shooting it a bit though.

The back half has grooves cut at a 45 degree angle that directly opposes the rotational force from firing.  There's also a mag release cut out on the left panel.  So far it's possibly my favorite feature.  All around they're some fantastic grips if you like super grippy grips. (Did I mention they're really grippy?)  Hopefully I can get it out to the range (gotta restock the .45acp too... on the last box...) soon and see how it handles.

Oh yeah, the mainspring housing-

Steel, arched, checkered.  Fit on my Kimber frame perfectly with no work at all.  Fills that void in the back of my hand and helps get it up high in the beavertail.  No complaints.

Couldn't keep away...

Yeah, watched the last episode of Top Shot.  Good to see Adam douchin' it up right to the end.

Right up there with Rape Whistles...

Seriously... how well do you think this will work?



I do have a whistle on my keychain, but it's a Fox 40 Micro.  It's not a "self defense" item either, it's a search and rescue type of idea, beats the crap out of screaming in the middle of the woods for hours.