9 Weapons that Failed Spectacularly

on mental_floss

Ow.

First good hard sunburn of the year.  Gotta love the Irish complection... I don't think I've ever "tanned."

Rusk County Honor the Fallen Ride

This past weekend we attended the Rusk County (WI) Honor the Fallen motorcycle ride.  Manda's mom is heavily involved with organizing, so despite not having bikes (not those kind anyway...) we still try to go help out when we can.

The rides started as a fundraiser to build up a scholarship fund in memory of SSG Nathan Vacho.  The rides also are in honor of two other Rusk County natives, SSG Patrick Lybert and LcPL Andrew Matus, who gave the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The ride is a 100 mile loop, with two stops, starting and ending at the restaurant owned by Nathan Vacho's parents (small world side-note, his father also happens to be my first CSM.)  There's also a breakfast during registration and a dinner after the ride, along with one hell of a raffle.  This year we walked away with a microfiber towel, a Streamlight Sidewinder, a large microfiber towel, and a set of ESS CDIs for Manda (which was good, she forgot to bring sunglasses...)  Cro managed to walk away with an engraved Ontario Knives Rat 3, ensuring my jealousy for a while.

They also unveiled a Battle Cross monument that will be the first of several monuments in the memorial park.

I blame lack of sleep, but I forgot to write down the name of the group who funded the statue, but this is the first one they've done, and the next one is going to Virginia in memory of the members of the Spec-Ops community down there.

Overall it was a great weekend, with over 320 bikes and a great deal of money raised for a handful of causes.

Despite Manda and I's lack of a motorbike, G&C was still represented.

Cro rolling out for the ride.

More bikes after the jump-

So many photos...

If you like motorcycles, check back in a bit... editing some photos from the weekend.

Monster (Hunter) Deal

The new three book Monster Hunter collection is available from Baen in e-reader form for a whole $6.  I'd been putting off getting them for my new Kindle and glad I did (I've already got two paper copies of each book... a signed one, and a "loaner" copy.)

Weer'd Guns

On Weer'd World.  I do like weird and ugly guns.

Tesla

Was awesome.  Edison was a douchebag.  So says The Oatmeal.

Double-AR

Mentioned it a little while back, Steve just got a photo of the whole thing-

Manda has a Vendetta Against Them...

Do Women Really Want Pink Guns?

Magpul MagLink

Looks good if you're into mag couplers.  Now available.

Overnight Shifts...

Oops

The wiring in the house was getting worked on, so I didn't have power most of the day (8 hour battery on the netbook does nothing when the router and modem are dead...) so not much happened on here.

Done working in an hour, gonna go to the gym and run (they has TVs on the treadmills... I hate running. This makes it bearable.)  Plus a hot tub, and I pulled something in my neck over the weekend and could use it.  Then maybe sleep... going on 23 hours straight here.

On the upside, once the wiring's done, photo editing should be easier.  Got a lot of stuff to push through, including some neat gun stuff.

Starting to Look Like Summer

Hot coals, Fivefingers, and beer. Delicious creamy dark beer.

May Gun Contests

From Aaron.  Good luck.

22 Ways to Make Coffee

I've got 10 checked off the list, although I don't really consider "instant coffee" to be coffee.  I'd definitely like to try more of the list though (like the Aeropress on my Wish List...)

If it ain't rainin'...

Been a long drill weekend.

Like a Phoenix

Breda's back.  This makes me happy.

Excuses...

Overnight shifts plus my tummy treating pretty much everything I've been eating like dairy (yay lactose intolerance!)  I'm just looking forward to getting to sleep in an hour or so...

History of the Carbine

Well... a very compressed history of the modern US Military carbine, and a commercial for BCM. Featuring Pat Rogers and Travis Haley.



Can't help but like BCM though, good gear from Wisconsin is always nice.

F'in Cold This Morning

Seriously Wisconsin... it's supposed to be spring...

Ok... I think it's broke...

April Gun News Recap

From Vuurwapen Blog.

I See Your Double 1911, and Raise You a Double Assault Rifle

'Cause that's how the Israeli's roll.  Judging by the photo, looks like it's got two barrels and a shared gas system... not sure how well that would hold up.  Also not sure how you get "more accuracy" out of it, other than "accuracy by volume."

Surefire EP4 Sonic Defenders

Are good stuff.  Probably the best earplugs I've ever had... even managed to get about 7 hours of sleep after working the overnight last night.  That's the longest I've gotten in a while after working the graveyard shift.

Been There...

Borepatch: Coffee. Black.

Army Wants New Squad Marksman Rifle

Namely, a short version of the M110 SASS to replace the improved M14 system currently in use.  Sounds neat, I'd love to play with one.

Plastic Shell

Found this at the range yesterday.

Anybody know more about this beast?  I'm curious.  Headstamp simply says "HERTER'S" and "12" and "PAT."

ETA: Should specify, definitely not a snap cap, it's hollow and smells of burned powder.

Bank of America...

... Doesn't like guns.

Something that's been bouncing around circles of the gun forum world for a few years is starting to make bigger news.  I remember hearing about some small shop that sells tactical stuff (not even firearms) getting their account closed because they do business in the firearms industry at least two years ago, which had gotten mention from a few other business owners relating similar stories.

(wow... that was supposed to post at 7am.... thanks blogger.)

Game Three

Well.... I got one of the rare(ish) pinstripe variant Lucroy bobblehead, so I'm going to claim a moral victory.

Home now, range trip in the morning.

Game Two

Much better. 9-4 final.

No real exciting plays today...

We also hit up Sprecher Brewery for a tour and tasting earlier in the day.

Should have taken the photo before drinking half of  it... but... well........

Also picked up a case of varied bottled awesome, with a half dozen Generation Porters in there to keep me happy for a while.

WI Hits 100,000 CCW Permits

Madison, WI (Northland's NewsCenter) - Friday morning marked a milestone for a new Wisconsin law. The 100,000th Concealed Carry License was printed fewer than six months after 2011 Wisconsin Act 35 took effect.

Yet nobody's drowned in the waves of blood in the streets. Amazing.