Friday, May 29, 2009

IT IS ALIVE!


After much digging and fussing the reloading bench is back up at least temporarily. It is in the "Formal Dining Room" which is soon to be the Library. All that will happen once the garage is closed in and remodeled to include the new "Gun Room". Once the Gun Room and Utility Room and Pantry are complete, the bench and shelves move out there and I can bring the rest of my reloading stuff home. Then we start the fun task of finishing off the Library and building in all the shelves to hold our collection. I've got the Dillon set up for 9mm to start off with as that is in short supply at the moment. Now that the bench is up I can break out the 300Whisper again and get back to playing with it as well. I've got a whole bunch of half completed brass that needs finishing and loading.
And for the curious, that is a Dillon 650 with all but the aftermarket auto bullet feeder with a Dillon RF100 Primer Filler. That was my first anniversary present from misbeHaven along with a bunch of caliber conversions. She got a Kimber Compact CDP and Remington 1100LT Youth 20Ga. Oh to be young foolish and making too much money again. Those days are long gone but we'll manage. Man was she a catch!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Cookbook for a good cause!

Chris and Melody over at AnarchAngel have a cookbook for sale to help pay for their legal bills. GO BUY ONE NOW! Help fellow shooters out. If they shouldn't have to sell off guns to pay bills. That is a sin in some peoples books. But, you gotta do what you gotta do and I think the cookbook is a much better idea. Tell everyone you know to go buy one. This isn't that much to spend to help friends out.

Anti Gun Media Bias?

So, 8 AR uppers with barrels along with a stash of ammo were found in a dumpster in Austin yesterday. Of course the coverage is hysterical that these things were loose on the streets.

Howard Nemerov has an article about it with local links in today's Gun Right Examiner.

Who in the heck dumps 8 barreled uppers and a couple thousand rounds of ammo? Do they have no idea of the value? I think next time they should call me and I'll come pick them up and save the neighborhood from the stigma of having it televised that there are "Assault Weapons" running loose around on their streets. The article has been corrected to say parts but the talking head on the news report made it pretty clear that assault weapons and ammo had been found in the dumpster and the folks were nervous that this just didn't happen in their neighborhood. What a bunch of weeenies!
Possibility is good that these are left over from a recent gun store heist in North Austin.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Campus Carry Part Whatever

So, SB1164 passed the Texas Senate after the House managed to stuff their version into a deep dark hole and let it die. Well, now that SB1164 has made it over to the House, it is going through the process as well. I already called my Rep and asked that pressure be put on the House Calenders Committee to get this bill on the Major Calender so it can be considered in the House and voted on before time expires. It came out of the Public Safety Committee reported favorably without amendment and now moves on to Calenders. We need to get this moved so please call your Rep. There is no time to waste with letter or e-mail as they get so much traffic right now it may not get read in time.
CALL your Rep NOW!!!!!!!! Let them know that you support this legislation and want them to request Calenders put it on the Major Calender so the full House can hear and vote on this legislation.

Sick REALLY Sux

So that sick that I thought I was over, since I felt better at the end of the week I went out for class Saturday and taught in the rain. Turned out to be a bad idea. Spent Sunday in the after hours clinic to find out I had an ear infection and sinus infection. "I'm feeling much better" now and should resume ranting. Stay Tuned for more as it happens.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Star Trek and Monty Python?

This is just too funny not to link to. GO SEE NOW!

Shrouded Muzzle Brake V2.0

So, a while back I wrote about an experiment of mine putting a shroud around a muzzle brake to redirect the gasses and noise forward down range instead of at the shooters on the line around me. Well I have since built version 2.0 and range tested it. I took the Holland quick Discharge brake and made a shroud for it. Since pressure is not a huge issue out here at the end of the barrel I made the shroud out of aluminum so there is not much added weight. While it is no Flaming Pig or a Krink, it does an excellent job for me. It works well as a muzzle brake and the shock wave is sent pretty much down range just as if the brake is not on it. Definitely cuts the recoil well as the work is done when the high speed gasses exit behind the bullet and hit the cuts in the brake. Very happy with the results and NO I will not be offering them for sale. I am not set up for manufacturing or sales so that idea is out.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

P-Mag Mag Clips


Couple weeks ago in the fun shoot, we had the chance to play with FireBird MagPull P-Mag Mag Clips from Springer Precision. That's a mouth full.

OPINION:
I don't like clipping, taping or otherwise attaching two mags together in any way for a variety of reasons. If they are back to back, you are putting the feed lips and top (bottom) round as the low point on the gun so anytime you drop to the ground or over a hood or other hard object, the first thing that hits is the mag feed lips and top round. This also will force the mag up into the mag well and nothing good can come of that. If you clip them together side by side, at some point you are going to have one mag or the other up alongside the ejection port. I know it will be slightly below the port but that still puts something in the way alongside the port side of the gun. Just not something I am comfortable with. There is also the issue with the movement, firing and jolting of the gun possibly dislodging the top round in the spare mag. I am not comfortable with this happening or the possibility of this happening. For that reason, I am a huge fan of the Ready Mag and having the first spare mag on the gun attached in a mag well like device. Keeps the top round in place and firmly holds the mag in place till ready to use. Ejecting the spent mag also releases the fresh mag. I use it and practice with it and like that method. Just my NSHO.

RESULTS:
That said, with P-Mags, this device seems to work well. You remove the base late from each mag and slide the mag into the mag clip instead. Handy, not too heavy additionally. Holds firmly. Didn't get to torture test it with lots of banging around but the aluminum construction tells me this thing is made to last. It comes in two flavors, 20/30 and 30/30. So you can have two 20 round mags or one 20 and one 30. I can see the utility of the 20/30 as an interesting concept. With a 20 round mag in the gun and the 30 round mag as a spare, The mags don't stick out too far and the spare is up higher along the left side of the gun. The when the 20 is dry, you switch to the 30 and that gives you 30 more rounds and puts the 20 rounder out of the way of the ejection port. In the limited space of a patrol car I could see the space savings as a plus. So, for its intended purpose I think this one fills the bill.

Definitely an interesting concept but it will only work with P-Mags as the base plate design is very specific. Doesn't work with standard metal AR mags so those of us with a collection are out of the loop. No big for me at all. For those of you heavily invested in P-Mags, this may be something for you to consider.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Campus Carry Update

Go read JR. I have already called both my Senator and Representative. I wrote about the last call to my Rep here.

Take 5 minutes out of your life and contact your Senator and Representative.

REMEMBER: The life you save, could be mine. Or even more importantly it could be my wife's!

Stupid Drivers

So, worked late today and after picking misbeHaven up we pulled out into traffic on one of the main N-S roadways through campus. We quickly got into a pack of traffic and I noticed flashy blinky things in the rear view. (I notice these things) Well, the UPD officer was in the left lane behind an econobox that then pulled into the suicide lane in between traffic. The officer followed and the econobox then pulled back into the left lane in traffic. They eventually pulled up next to us in the left lane after the officer was able to get through traffic and up behind them. When the light way up in front of us (At least two more cycles away) turned green and traffic started moving, I stayed put and let the officer and the offending car move over into the right lane. All the while traffic kept merrily driving by. Next cycle of the light, I moved over into the left lane and ended up next to the officer. I stopped short of the officer and left the left lane open in front of us and next to and in front of him. Light cycles again and as traffic moves the offending econobox moves with it up to the intersection with the officer behind them and turns right on the major E-W road that we crossed. As we approach the intersection, the e-box is cruising on down the road not racing away but certainly not stopping. Once we got up to and through the intersection, the e-box was continuing on down the road and rapidly approaching the next traffic signal. By this time, traffic was hauling on down our road after being rudely held up by some slow b@$+@rd in a truck that wouldn't pass the officer. (That would have been me).

What the hell ever happened to drivers? The "all about me" crap has got to go. As Chris Rock said, "If the police have to chase you down, they're bringin an ass whoopin with em!". Add to that all the self absorbed drivers who are obviously too important to be bothered giving the officer the right of way or even the courtesy of room to operate in while doing his job.
Some people! BTW, the offending driver was not of color and was not male and was not of post college age. I just have to add the video to let the humor wash over me.

Monday, May 11, 2009

The Movies

So, misbeHaven and I went to see Star Trek Sunday.
Disclosure: I grew up on this and do have both 1st and 2nd editions of the Star Fleet Technical Manual. Yes I am a geek and proud of it.

Overall it was a great action adventure flick. Stands on its own well and should be enjoyed by the current generation of ADHD kids and adolescents. As a pre-sequel though I have issues.

Simon Peg as Scotty ROCKED!!! The rest of the cast seems to be pretty well chosen as well IMNSHO.

However, ______ and ______ being romantically involved?? WTF Or as misbeHaven put it, That's like Elves at Helms Deep! (don't want to spoil it for you)

Like I said, overall it was a good movie and I recommend seeing it. The plot line is OK with me and there are a few contrived scenes but overall good.

Sick SUX

Well, I was sick most of last week so obviously there was light posting. After feeling human Friday, the Mrs and I decided that teaching out in the heat and humidity Saturday would not be a good idea so I skipped out on class this weekend. Fortunately, there were enough instructors to cover the basic class. Instead I stayed around the house and helped get more stuff unpacked at Casa de Geek as well as stuff hauled into the local charity. Slowly but surely we are getting the house filled and storage emptied.

So, stay tuned for more content. There are four or five posts bouncing around in my head. Think, Star Trek, AR Mags, Muzzle Brakes and reloading. Maybe more as time permits. We are short handed at work for the next two weeks so likely long days.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Campus Concealed Carry II

So, as of 5/11 (interesting as it is only 5/08 today) HB1893 Campus Concealed Carry, is on the general state calendar for consideration by the entire Texas House. Get those calls and letters going. We need to get this bill passed this session.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Monday Morning Misquote

And now for something completely different. For the 11 of you who read my blog, here is the challenge, mix a movie quote with another movie to get one good one.

"You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war on IO, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Computer when death is on the line! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do.............."

Kinda like:

"No Mr. Jones, I expect you to die."



Let your mind run free with this one.