I am looking for several sheets, preferably 4ftx6ft:
I need to have them ASAP, no later than Wednesday evening. Not sure where to look for these items, my inquiry at the hardware store were not fruitful. Suggestions are welcome. I am in Hermitage, TN.
A new revolver arrived recently, along with a very impressive rig from El Paso Saddlery. The new gun is for fun and practice, and comes as a pair with a longer-barreled target counterpart. One major argument for the single action configuration in this caliber is the reliability of extraction even after high-volume shooting. Any guesses as to the caliber and provenance?
I had my computer re-built and upgraded — new motherboard, processor, case, fans…and it ran great for a little over a week. My house line got improved and I have a dedicated 20amp circuit just for the computer and the massive UPS for it.
For the last week, I’ve had random freeze-ups that seem to be caused by overheating. At least the computer won’t turn on immediately after freezing up, then comes on after a few minutes….usually. I planned to get an extra fan, but today, it’s refusing to come back on at all.
My usual helpers are unavailable. Would anyone nearby be competent and willing to help me troubleshoot it?
Toggling all internal resets fixed it for now.
I like how this series is turning out.
Very aggressive texturing on the rubber grip works pretty well for retention and doesn’t dig into the hand. Stippling on top of the slide reduces glare when in ready position.
The common complaint with Army issue guns is that they are made by the lowest bidder. South Korean K5 (P51 in the commercial dress) is no exception. Back when Korean Daewoo P51 pistols became available in the US, I didn’t pick one up. I wasn’t sure what niche it filled and didn’t have a chance to try one out. The guns were milspec (it’s used as the officer sidearm in the South Korean Army) and looked the part. Recently, I discovered that Daewoo is building rather higher-grade variants for Lionheart Industries. They sell three LH9 models, standard, compact and mk2 (with an accessoryy rail). The pistols are Cerakoted, have options of tritium night sights or fiber optics, and generally look worth using.
The guns have an interesting trigger mechanism — it can be carried cocked and locked, hammer down for double action first shot or in “fast action” mode — with the hammer first cocked, then pushed forward. The trigger pull is then similar to Para Ordnance LDA — long but very light and smooth. The pistol frame is aluminum alloy, so the overall weight is 800g vs. 1kg for Browing Hi-Power (same 105mm barrel length and 13-round magazine capacity).
I have not fired the pistols I have here yet, so a range report is coming later. I like the feel and the balance, like the anti-glare texture on top of the slide and the trigger. It has no magazine disconnector. I am not wild about the way the safety works: it disconnects the trigger, so it can be pulled with no effect. I would have like a CZ/1911 type safety that arrests the trigger motion better for the sake of more obvious tactile feedback. The gun comes in a zip-up soft case with spare magazine, cleaning tools and other accessories: the first impression is very classy. It helps that GCode offers a variety of holsters for LH9: I consider them to be among the best Kydex designs made.
Found a detailed review that you might enjoy reading.
(This blog is going metric. I have had it with variable-base measurement systems!)
The article focuses on selecting the right firearm for teaching guns safety and marksmanship to kids.
Opponents of firearms for effective self-defense tell others to run away from danger, to learn martial arts, or to “give the bad guy what he wants”. Not everyone can follow that advice…in fact, almost no one can. Least of all, the kind of people who are visibly vulnerable already, such as pregnant women or the elderly.
Cute and defenseless? Not so fast!
Ashley is a beautiful woman. She is currently three weeks away from delivering a child and one of the most fit looking expecting mothers I’ve seen. However fit and athletic she is, has little capability for hand-to-hand combat. It’s difficult to fight while carrying a heavy, fragile load within your own body.
Why might a woman like her have to fight? Pregnant women are easy prey for both human criminals and animal predators, especially dogs. They can’t fight effectively, nor can they flee quickly. Look up news headlines in your area and you will see examples of both kinds of attacks. Some women also face a threat from the future father who is not happy about having to support an unwanted child.
What factors mitigate the risks? Not starting trouble, avoiding known dangerous locations, having a spouse or another capable person available as a bodyguard. Knowledge of martial arts helps mostly through improved coordination for avoiding damage from accidental falls, blocking minor threats. Ashley gained only 15 pounds at three weeks from delivery. Another friend nearly doubled her body weight from 96 to 180, becoming bedridden the last couple of months of the pregnancy. Even though she had considerable martial arts skills, her personal safety depended mostly on her husband and on her own ability with pistol.
Keltec PF9 in a Comp-tac paddle holster is light and easy to carry.
Some people say that a pregnant person shouldn’t shoot because noise and lead exposure would harm the child. Compared to falling prey to a dog or getting beaten or gang-raped, the damage from almost non-existent exposure to lead is negligible. Lead-free primers and fully jacketed or lead-free bullets are available, but even with the most conventional cartridges, the exposure from firing several rounds in a defensive situation is close to zero. Likewise with the noise: the amniotic fluid around the fetus attenuates noise very effectively, which is why many ear muffs are filled with liquid. The theoretical problems aren’t significant, while the security provided by being able to stop determined threats is worth having.
The weight of the pistol seems like a problem at first glance, but is it really? Ashley, one of the most efficient pregnant women I’ve seen, is carrying about 15 pounds extra, the equivalent of over half a dozen loaded full-size .45 pistols. One more compact handgun weighing a pound would hardly be noticed, provided a good holster is used. If the waistband doesn’t support a holster or the belly makes such carry uncomfortable, shoulder rigs are always an option. They add the advantage of easier draw when seated. In short, if there’s a will to go armed for self-defense, there’s a way to wear the weapon comfortably.
Those who oppose armed self-defense won’t be happy. Even though pregnant women are almost unknown to become violent criminals, the prohibitionists are against anyone other than the special people — the high-ranking politicians — having the benefit of effective protection. But they shouldn’t dictate how the rest of us take care of our own lives.
vz58 is light, powerful, yet can be handles and fired with one hand if necessary.
While carrying a sidearms while pregnant isn’t a problem, getting trained is much better done in advance. If you plan on having kids, learn how to defend yourself and the child ahead of the actual pregnancy. Handguns work great for wearing full-time, at home long guns are substantially more effective in stopping intruders. Again, the much-maligned intermediate power defensive carbines (called “assault rifles” by our enemies) are a good choice: they have adequate performance without excessive weight or recoil, can be operated with one hand in a pinch.
Writer Julia Chochrane wrote about her experience with self-defense while pregnant:
I’m 5’2″ and after taking martial arts for 3 years (after being raped, as a way of preventing it happening again) I learned that a 5’2″ female martial artist is no match for a 6’2″ male martial artist, and other assorted real limitations of martial arts. So I got a gun and learned to shoot and got my concealed carry permit. And was damned glad to have that gun when a thug tried to follow me up the stairs into my apartment one afternoon when, due to a holiday, I was home early and the place was otherwise deserted. I didn’t have to actually draw on him, confronting him verbally got him to go away, but I was 7 months pregnant and it was a very near thing and as a result of my “delicate condition” martial arts wouldn’t have done me a damned bit of good.
I have no idea if I’d have been less confident in confronting him if I hadn’t known I had a gun concealed but in easy reach for a fast draw if needed. I’m “attracted to guns” because for a little tiny woman like me, my having a gun can mean the difference between my being raped and murdered, or my surviving an attack unscathed to go home to my family that night. Living through a rape was bad enough the first time. I don’t intend to let it happen again.
Gun control is advanced mainly by those who are rapists at heart. They want to force their will upon other people. That conforming to their dictates makes the rest of us more vulnerable to other forms of molestation, including sexual, not only doesn’t bother them, it’s the intended effect. Gun control is advanced by predators who do not care who is hurt by their restrictions or how much government force they have to use to enforce those restrictions. And if you think I am exaggerating, look at how much less time a convicted rapist would serve in New York City compared to a person who merely owns and peaceably carries a sidearm for self-defense there.
A friend recently gave me an 870 shotgun. It lacked only a few important details, like the barrel or the intact buttstock. Fortunately, 870 is like an AR15 in terms of parts availability.
A few days later, another friend took a 28″ skeet barrel, chopped it down to 19″ and gave it to me. The same friend brought a Blackhawk forend. In the meantime, Mitch at Mesa Tactical sent Urbino Tactical stock. I asked for the adjustable version because I had a red dot in mind…that was before I realized that the shotgun had no rail for the optics. So I ended up with a Hi-Viz adjustable sight instead — I like being able to regulate the sight to match the point of aim of slugs. The result was a pretty handy shotgun. I am considering adding a +2 extension to the magazine tube, but that would make the gun more front-heavy and harder to control with one hand if necessary.
Since I can’t hold the shotgun and take a picture of it at the same time, I asked a friend to do so. Something tells me that she can hold her own in sweeping hallways clean of intruders even without a formal black belt in gun-fu.
Перевод А. Глебовской
Легат, я получил приказ идти с когортой в Рим,
По морю к Порту Итию, а там – путем сухим;
Отряд мой отправленья ждет, взойдя на корабли,
Но пусть мой меч другой возьмет. Остаться мне вели!
Я прослужил здесь сорок лет, все сорок воевал,
Я видел и скалистый Вект, и Адрианов Вал,
Мне все места знакомы тут, но лишь узнав о том,
Что в Рим, домой, нас всех зовут, я понял: здесь мой дом.
Здесь счастлив был я в старину, здесь имя заслужил,
Здесь сына – сына и жену я в землю положил,
Здесь годы, память, пот и труд, любовь и боль утрат
Вросли навек в британский грунт. Как вырвать их, легат?
Я здешний полюбил народ, равнины и леса.
Но лучше ль южный небосвод, чем наши небеса,
Где августа жемчужный свет, и мгла январских бурь,
И клочья туч, и марта луч сквозь бледную лазурь?
Вдоль Родануса вам идти, где зреет виноград
И клонит лозы бриз, летя в Немуз и Арелат.
Но мне позволь остаться здесь, где спорят испокон
Британский крепкошеий дуб и злой эвроклидон.
Ваш путь туда, где сосен строй спускается с бугра
К волне Тирренской, что синей павлиньего пера.
Тебя лавровый ждет венок, но неужели ты
Забудешь там, как пахнет дрок и майские цветы?
Я буду Риму здесь служить, пошли меня опять
Болота гатить, лес валить, иль пиктов усмирять,
Или в дозор водить отряд вдоль Северной Стены,
В разливы вереска, где спят империи сыны.
Легат, не скрыть мне слез – чуть свет уйдет когорта в Рим!
Я прослужил здесь сорок лет. Я буду там чужим!
Здесь сердце, память, жизнь моя, и нет родней земли.
Ну как ее покину я? Остаться мне вели!
Kipling’s original:
Legate, I had the news last night –my cohort ordered home
By ships to Portus Itius and thence by road to Rome.
I’ve marched the companies aboard, the arms are stowed below:
Now let another take my sword. Command me not to go!
I’ve served in Britain forty years, from Vectis to the Wall,
I have none other home than this, nor any life at all.
Last night I did not understand, but, now the hour draws near
That calls me to my native land, I feel that land is here.
Here where men say my name was made, here where my work
was done;
Here where my dearest dead are laid–my wife–my wife and
son;
Here where time, custom, grief and toil, age, memory, service,
love,
Have rooted me in British soil. Ah, how can I remove?
For me this land, that sea, these airs, those folk and fields surffice.
What purple Southern pomp can match our changeful Northern
skies,
Black with December snows unshed or pearled with August
haze–
The clanging arch of steel-grey March, or June’s long-lighted
days?
You’ll follow widening Rhodanus till vine an olive lean
Aslant before the sunny breeze that sweeps Nemausus clean
To Arelate’s triple gate; but let me linger on,
Here where our stiff-necked British oaks confront Euroclydon!
You’ll take the old Aurelian Road through shore-descending
pines
Where, blue as any peacock’s neck, the Tyrrhene Ocean shines.
You’ll go where laurel crowns are won, but–will you e’er forget
The scent of hawthorn in the sun, or bracken in the wet?
Let me work here for Britain’s sake–at any task you will–
A marsh to drain, a road to make or native troops to drill.
Some Western camp (I know the Pict) or granite Border keep,
Mid seas of heather derelict, where our old messmates sleep.
Legate, I come to you in tears–My cohort ordered home!
I’ve served in Britain forty years. What should I do in Rome?
Here is my heart, my soul, my mind–the only life I know.
I cannot leave it all behind. Command me not to go!
As communication technologies improve, most Americans are learning that police forces include many psychopathic, murderous thugs. Videos of police committing rape, murder, mugging and other crimes under the color of the law are everywhere. It’s only a numerical minority of cops who commit most of the offenses, but the majority either abets them or look the other way. Some departments — usually in smaller jurisdictions — stay clean. Many — including pretty much all the major metro areas — do not. In the minds of a law-abiding person, cops become more dangerous than freelance criminals because they are better armed and armored, they have backup on call and the law favors them as well. Many of my friends who are police officers or sheriff’s deputies view other cops as the most serious threat to themselves and their families.
In Sprague DeCamp’s Lest Darkness Fall, a person shifted from late 1930s Rome to the 6th Century asks about police and gets this response:
In the Third World, no one interacts with police voluntarily. In the US, at least in some parts of the past, police had the benefit of the doubt. That doubt is now gone and replaced with fear and loathing. Thus far, it hasn’t been replaced with an open season on them…it’s up to the police agencies to make sure that doesn’t become the next step.
In certain areas, such as Boston, the cops are trying to protect themselves by disarming the population and by showing up in force wherever they go. Other departments are doing their best to repair their tarnished image by actually acting ethically. Guess which approach I prefer.
Photo by Michael Freeman
Woke up before 6am this morning to re-set my waking hours to include more daylight. My friend showed up at six a.m. with some of the clothes she designed. We planned to shoot outdoor fashion, but got rain. I suggested shooting the photos in studio, she wanted to run outside instead. I am glad that the 24-70/2.8 lens is well gasketed and my hat has wide enough brims to keep most of the water off the camera.
Primary Arms is coming out with an illuminated 1-6x scope with a BDC reticle for .223Rem. I tried out the prototypes and was pleasantly surprised: sharp optics, minimal distortion, very good eyebox even at 6x, and a clear rangefinding reticle. Not sure of the final price but it will be rather less than the other options out there. It’s even brighter than PA’s own 1-4x.
These days, it can just as easily be 32ACP, another one of Browning’s creations. But the older, high quality pistols like this Beretta or the 1910 Mauser have the advantage of great triggers and minimal recoil. 22LR can also work, especially if of a reliable brand like CCI. In a 2 inch barrel, 40gr 22LR produces 850-880fps while 25ACP comes out nearly 100fps slower for which the heavier 50gr jacketed bullet compensates somewhat. Ignition and feed reliability are with 25ACP, but the differences are minor.
