Since the show was here in Nashville, I had clients and colleagues come in from last Tuesday through yesterday, and my work days were longs and busy. I am back, at last.
The image above is a test of concept and actually shows rimmed 7.62×54 cartridges. I had not expected the ammunition to look so obviously incorrect at this scale and will have to re-take the image with the proper fodder for the rifle.
I’ve followed the development of this mess for a couple of years now. A former competitive air gun shooter, Stacey modeled for several of my RKBA posters, and I got to hear a bit about her situation. My advice was “get out now!” but the reality proved more difficult. Now we can all help. If you can spare just the price of a box of pistol ammo, it would be a help. Stacey is doing her best to get out of this situation without orphaning her own kids.
After Michelle’s article, I wanted to make my own decision regarding this design. Had a chance to shoot it at the range today.
I have no idea what that gun does that a Sig P238 with laser grips wouldn’t do far better. Or, for the same price as Curve, what Ruger LCP or Keltec P3At wouldn’t do for with less bulk and far better ergonomics. Or, if we go with Taurus offerings, PT738.
Kenau (2014), about an apocryphal hero of the real siege of Haarlem in 1572-73. Excellent visuals, good actors but spotty screenplay which comes across as genuine some of the time and as a farce at intervals. Just a slight tinge of “Charlie’s Angels in Reformation Wars” made it less enjoyable than it would have been otherwise. Very well done visuals, with a pastel tone that really makes the footage look old and weathered. Some excellent compositions and good lighting. Mostly good character development. Good depiction of siege artillery. On the other hand, how did the city stand as long as it did with zero cannon of their own, at least as shown in the film.
Overall: recommended.
City 44 (2014), also a historic drama about the 1944 Warsaw uprising against the German occupiers. Likewise, a beautifully filmed story marred by too many simultaneous story lines, too much pathos and an occasional departure into romantic surrealism that really broke the main narrative. Spectacular, if somewhat overdone pyrotechnics, excellent omission of most of Hollywood tropes, regrettably replaced with numerous Polish tropes. Some scenes give a great sense of immersion. Interesting cameo appearances by such unusual hardware as Goliath demolition vehicle.
Overall: recommended.
Shooting film is a lot like shooting a flintlock: slow, inefficient and best left to those who enjoy the process more than they value the results.
Even if used with modern film, these cameras provide no instant feedback and no easy image backup capability. Scratching the film is entirely too easy.
This particular camera was fairly advanced for the time, offering flash synchronization, auto and manual exposure options. With the availability of modern cameras, my personal interest in using film dropped to zero, even though those cameras still make cool photo props. But some of my friends still enjoy putting them to real use.
Does anyone near my location have access to a shootable Werndl rifle? I’d like to do photos and a short article about it.
AAC MPW 300BLK rifle with 2.5-10x Vortex scope. The shooter is one of OATH Ammunition employees.
Ammunition: OATH subsonic 300BLK in aluminum case, supersonic in brass case. Projectiles in both are precision-machined copper. I’ve been playing a lot with machined bullets recently: you can tell the uniformity of the shape even by how little retouching is needed in the macro photos.
My test group. I am not the best shot with rifle, so these results at 25 yards with subsonics aren’t showing the full capability of the weapon. The point of aim was the numeral 6, but the scope wasn’t zeroed for me or for this round. Correct point of impact for 25 should have been an inch left and an inch down or so.
So, the small detail I found relevant is the parallax adjustment on the scope. Most 2.5-10x scopes are set for 100 yards and look a bit fuzzy at 25. This one gave a sharp image and the reticle didn’t shift relative to the target when my eye did.
If gold standard was reintroduced, how much of the currently available metal would have to be devoted to making currency instead of industrial or decorative uses? What would it do to the price of the metal? How would fractional payments we set up, in copper and silver or fiat coinage made of something less costly?
Pretty much everyone agrees that a private person be able to pick friends free from interference. I see a lively argument going about the right to give or refuse business free of interference as well. Let me postulate these hypothetical situations:
A person runs a business — retail or consulting or some other, doesn’t really matter — and feels that a particular customer is unwelcome. Should they be forced to serve that customer? The reluctance could be based on credit history, political disagreement, just a hunch that the customer will cause trouble. Yes or no?
If you say yes, the person should be forced to do business with everyone, would you still hold the same view if the customer is Lon Horiuchi? The Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan? Someone else that you and the proprietor both hold reprehensible?
Businesses already legally discriminate by age, even though that’s a characteristic over which people have no control. If discrimination by sex, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, political affiliation, plain personal dislike are all to be illegal, why should discrimination by age or citizenship or any other factor remain legal?
I need a simple, inexpensive or free 3D modeling program (Windows 8) to perform the simplest tasks: lathing, extrusion, sweeps and the like. Don’t need high quality rendering or more complicated modeling. Suggestions?
