Stephen Camp died

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Oleg Volk

Stephen was the authority on all things Hi-Power. A Loginov noted in Light in the Window, the measure of a man’s life is in the memories he leaves in the hearts of others…and in the knowledge he passes along.

Obituary

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More from Lucky Gunner shoot

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Oleg Volk

The guest of honor shooting WW2 M1 Thompson

Czech vz58 7.72x39 rifle with AAC 762SD suppressor

Lucky Gunner | Czechpoint | Advanced Armament

Posted in ammunition, interesting people, rifle, sound suppressor, weapon | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

A few good blogs

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Oleg Volk

Western Rifle Shooters

Radio Free NJ

Forgotten Weapons

Atomic Nerds

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Cyrano had his sword. She has her Mauser.

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Oleg Volk

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A very implied portrait

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Oleg Volk

In this photo, Morgan was wearing shorts and a tanktop. Anything less than that is in your own mind. Should be perfectly safe for work 🙂

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The order of battle

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Oleg Volk

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Where I was this weekend: Lucky Gunner shoot

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Oleg Volk

http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2011/05/start-em-young.html MP40

http://tractioncontrol.well-regulatedmilitia.org/?p=10309 Kriss semi
http://tractioncontrol.well-regulatedmilitia.org/?p=10314 Kriss auto

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4SWdL7s5NQ BAR 30-06

http://mytumultuousadventure.blogspot.com/2011/05/oleg-volk-at-work.html Taking photos

Had the opportunity to shoot several interesting weapons:

MP40 — as always, very pleasant to fire but feels entirely too toy-like.

M3A1 “grease gun” — love it, my favorite. Primitive but reliable and controllable.

Stg44 (current semi-auto version) — comfortable to fire, ergonomics are completely awkward. No place for the forward support hand that’s not hot metal.

BAR — uncontrollable hand-held, nice from a bipod.

SW76 — more controllable than I remembered it from a decade ago, but still awkward

Scorpion in 7.65 — the big surprise of the day! Very controllable and comfortable to fire. Can be operated with one hand.

DP27 — my favorite in light machine guns. Fixed barrel doesn’t work as well for sustained fire, but it’s far more controllable and comfortable that MG42, for example. Not sure how it would compare to the Bren. Certainly more friendly to left-handed users.

Suomi K31 — after the PPSh, not very impressive. Ergonomics and controllability inferior to the stamped Russian version.

Romak — nice trigger, low recoil…but theEast-Euro optic on it was wretched.

RPD — the other surprise of the day. After ten rounds, I passed that rattling contraption to the next shooter. Very unpleasant to fire.

All that was improved by the presence of American and German WW2 reenactors, helpful Lucky Gunner staff and many friends.

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AXTS ambidextrous receiver

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Oleg Volk

AXTS AX556 receiver duplicates magazine and bold releases on both sides. Seems useful to me. Both additional controls are fenced to avoid accidental activation.

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Adjusting camera to individual lenses

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Oleg Volk

http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/article_pages/cameras/1ds3_af_micoadjustment.html

I just looked at the images form this weekend and found many photos taken with the 85/1.8 severely back focused. Running the tests showed that it had to be adjusted to +7(!) for clear images.It’s a wonder I got any focused images before, but using smaller apertures in studio masked the effect.

For me, the best and quickest way turned out to use live view at 10x magnification and then checking AF with mirror down, first at 0, +5, +10, +15, then narrowing down the results. The difference in sharpness has been drastic. I also re-checked my 200/2.8 and 300/4 and did not find any need for adjustments.

Posted in camera and lens | 5 Comments

Outtake from a poster shoot.

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Oleg Volk

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A strutting turkey

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Oleg Volk

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Roy helps me with photo shoots in Knoxville

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Oleg Volk

Roy is a model, a location scout and possibly a photographer in his own right in the near future.

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Но слышу: — Жив зараза. Тащите в медсанбат! Расстреливать два раза уставы не велят.

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Oleg Volk

This cat was alone of her litter to survive a euthanasia attempt. By the time my friends adopted her, she was terrified of people and possibly slightly brain-damaged. She’s very pretty and well coordinated, but acts as if she suspects all people of trying to murder her again. Very skittish.

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Sniper Pro Shop Summer training schedule released

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Oleg Volk

Course schedule and application

These guys are local to me and very good — and a heck of a deal, too. I recommend.

Posted in interesting people, self-defense, training | Comments Off on Sniper Pro Shop Summer training schedule released

Slower on her feet, no slower on the draw.

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Oleg Volk

Given the typical attraction of predators to injured prey, contingency planning is prudent.

P3AT | IWB Bladetech holster

Posted in hoster, interesting people, pistol, prey, self-defense, weapon | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

We should have never adopted the poodleshooter!

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Oleg Volk

A: .223 is just too small!
B: Are you saying US Army should have just kept the 45-70?
A: That’s an idea…but make it work in a semi-auto.

For people who prefer throwing 300-350 grains of lead with every trigger pull: Teppo Jutsu in .458 SOCOM. Take any .223 AR lower, swap the upper. Standard AR15 magazines work but hold 1/3 as much ammunition. OK, so there’s no free lunch. But .458 SOCOM (comparable to full power 45-70 in performance) would impress a bear whereas .223 might not.

Lucid HD7 red dot sight | Magpul BUIS

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Classic ambidextrous design: Henry .22 lever action

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Oleg Volk

SGB | Lever action .22

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Magnolia

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Oleg Volk

Maggie is enthusiastic about hunting deer with a .243 bolt action but he KSG also caught her interest.

Posted in interesting people, shotgun, weapon | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

My RFB is back from Keltec

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Oleg Volk

It now has the updated gas system which is easier to adjust.

1-4x Nightforce scope, Gemtech Sandstorm suppressor, Magpul sling and rail sling adapter. The model is Jessica. Although she is shown here with a backup Keltec P3AT, she actually carries an FN 57 pistol in real life.

Posted in interesting people, pistol, rifle, self-defense, sound suppressor, weapon | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Front Sight 4-day basic pistol course

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Oleg Volk

I took that course in March. It was well worth the time and the expense. Started out very basic, ended with techniques and time pressures that strained my skill level. The instructors were competent and good at teaching. I liked that they spoke well, avoiding profanities typical of many other courses. Lessons learned:

  • Gloves are good for protecting hands. I also found that Glock trigger and gloves are a bad mix, same as with revolvers.
  • Holster selection is key. One of my holsters proved dangerous in use, as the lack of sweat guard allowed clothing to enter the trigger guard on re-holstering. Another holster wouldn’t stay on the belt at all when tugged. Third one retained the gun well but didn’t allow the laser to be used. I also found that using a 1.5″ dress belt with 1 3/4″ loops cause IWB holster to sink below the waistband line and made it impossible to get a firing grip. I upgraded to a proper 1 3/4″ Galco gun belt upon return and it made all the difference. IWB holsters are definitely slower in use than belt slides. Swear guards (sideguards) are, to my mind, mandatory for a defense holster to avoid accidents on re-holstering.
  • Large magazines are better than small. Being able to fire 18 rounds before reloading allows to give more attention to the targets.
  • Sighted fire works better than unsighted. However, unsighted fire is quicker and allows simultaneous movement. Laser visible in daylight would have been a big help and falls between sighted and unsighted fire in terms of speed.
  • People using compact firearms were at a disadvantage. People using DAO guns were actually doing as well or better than people whose pistols had better triggers. Not sure if that was because they were better trained or DAOs had some advantage.
  • The course proved equally valuable to experienced and inexperienced shooters. The expected Front Sight sales pitches were minimal and restrained.
  • Cover garments have to be considered carefully. A folding knife in my right side pocket almost knocked me out when I swept the hemline out of the way and it wrapped around my back towards my head. I also hit the side of the jacket with the muzzle once and only following the rule to keep trigger guard vacant prevented a discharge.
  • Frequent training is necessary. Live fire is less necessary. Shoot/no shoot targets are essential for encouraging judicious use of gunfire.
Posted in pistol, self-defense, training | 12 Comments