VolkStudio Blog

Just Looking

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Oleg Volk

A Lucky Gunner employee practicing sitting position in the best traditions of Appleseed.

Posted in rifle, sound suppressor, training | Tagged 22LR, AR15, optics | 1 Comment

Blast!

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Oleg Volk

A lucky picture capturing shotgun blast in hot, humid weather. Taken at ORSA Skeet and Trap Club during a shoot with Lucky Gunner crew.

Posted in shotgun | 2 Comments

In the ideal world

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Oleg Volk

My friend Boris Karpa is fond of Tim Moen’s campaign slogan: “I want gay people to be able to protect their marijuana plants with guns.” I don’t think he is thinking far enough into the bright future.

If pot was legal, we’d no more need to protect a pot patch than a row of tomato stakes or a small plot of dill. For one, legal remedies would be available in case of trespass or theft, for another, the value of the plants would be insufficient to warrant depredation. Bootleggers sometimes fought each other or law enforcement during the Prohibition, but the thought of two liquor or grocery stores selling wine getting into a shootout over turf is laughable today. Chocolate, coffee and sugar aren’t evil, but try prohibiting them and you will see raids on neonatal wards of hospitals for their store of medical caffeine, and cops would imprison people over a sugar cube. Government prohibitions enable and promote rational criminal behavior by enforcing arbitrary laws and creating perverse incentives. Reduce the number and scope of prohibitions and you will see a massive reduction in crime.

Posted in civil rights | Tagged drugs, politics | 5 Comments

Using Optics for Training New Shooters: new on AllOutdoor

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Oleg Volk

Going counter to conventional wisdom.

Posted in rifle, sound suppressor, training, weapon | Tagged 22LR, 7.62x39, AllOutdoor, optics | 2 Comments

Forbidden fruit and other visual musings

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Oleg Volk

Posted in interesting people, pistol, weapon | Tagged 32ACP, dress, grenade, Mauser, Mills Bomb, white, woman | 1 Comment

Bad nightmares about good things

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Oleg Volk

Last night’s dream was amusing enough, in retrospect, to be written up. I was going through an airport with my parents and a couple of friends who visited from Germany. My parents went ahead, I hanged back with the tourists. While they were dealing with the security theater, I leaned against something and felt that I had a holster on, specifically a Sideguard IWB with a 1911 in it. Something very similar to this holster:

With this gun:

At that point, the nightmare started, with me running around and trying to find some common carrier that could ship my guns and holster home to me, as it was too late to check it into luggage. Cue people who can’t help with directions, cell phone that won’t complete my searches and general frustration.

How did I know it was a Sideguard holster? I couldn’t feel the weight or the bulk of the 1911 at all until I leaned against it. That’s what Eric Srigley’s leatherwork is known for, amazing support and comfort. He’s not the only craftsman and designer of that quality, but my mind associates “comfort” with his holsters in particular.

Sad but not surprising that TSA is on the roster of unresolved problems undergoing background processing. I wonder if they or some things like them will always be with humanity, like taxes and herpes…or could some vaccine be developed eventually?

Posted in holster, weapon | Tagged 1911, 45ACP, leather | 4 Comments

Cimarron .38 Navy Colt: new on AllOutdoor

Posted on June 9, 2015 by Oleg Volk

An 1870s design updated for practical use

Posted in pistol | Tagged 38 Special, AllOutdoor, revolver | 6 Comments

A smart guy did the math

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Oleg Volk

Weeks after I asked the ballistic math questions, I got this email:

Was intrigued by your trig problem.

Herewith my answers:
1) take distance and bearings at regular intervals, say 20 seconds apart. (take bearing and ten seconds later take distance, repeat for 1 minute. Using change of bearing and distance, plot 1 minute of travel; use of graph paper expedites solution for speed and direction. Alternately, use similar triangles and trig functions to calculate.

2) from cannon bearing 18.33 degrees at 7.74 km.

3) after 1 minute of travel, the cannon should be laid to 23.00 degrees at 7.50km.

4) 1 MOA at 7500 meters is a bit over 2 meters dispersion. If one assumes that both horizontal
And vertical dispersion are the same, which is NOT usually the case with arty, then the area inside the impact zone is about 4 square meters. Given the projected area of the ship, a hit ought to be a certainty.

Regards, Historian

Posted in advice requested, weapon | Tagged cannon, history, math | 3 Comments

Girl with a scar

Posted on June 4, 2015 by Oleg Volk

SCAR16S with 4x ACOG

Posted in rifle, weapon | Tagged 223, dress, optics, scope, semi-automatic, white | 3 Comments

Collectible 1903 Springfield rimfire trainer for sale

Posted on June 4, 2015 by Oleg Volk

The friend who lend me the rifle for photos (1 | 2 | 3) would like to sell it. Asking $1400. You can contact him through me. The rifle is in Nashville, TN.

Posted in rifle | Tagged 22LR, bolt action, vintage | Comments Off

Credit where it’s due

Posted on June 3, 2015 by Oleg Volk

Minnesota’s recent legalization of sound suppressors is mainly GOCRA‘s achievement. Please support them.

Posted in civil rights, pistol, rifle, rkba, weapon | Tagged minnesota | Comments Off

Springfield rimfire trainer, again

Posted on June 3, 2015 by Oleg Volk

Posted in rifle | Tagged 22LR, bolt action, USO | 1 Comment

Waiting shotgunner

Posted on June 3, 2015 by Oleg Volk

Posted in self-defense, shotgun, weapon | Tagged 12ga, pump action | 1 Comment

Minnesota portraits

Posted on June 2, 2015 by Oleg Volk

Posted in interesting people | Comments Off

Use cover

Posted on June 1, 2015 by Oleg Volk

While not ideal cover, the vault door is a pretty good start on not getting shot. The actual position is the balance between having a wide field of view, pushing the muzzle out to avoid trapping the muzzle blast next to the shooter, and reducing target indicators for the intruder.

XDM45 5.25″ (longslide) owned by the model.

Posted in pistol, self-defense, weapon | Tagged 45ACP | Comments Off

Best cure is prevention, but…

Posted on June 1, 2015 by Oleg Volk

…if avoiding psychos doesn’t work, then shooting them would have to do.

Statistically, women are at greatest personal risk of murder or aggravated battery when they leave abusive relationships. So don’t compound bad judgment in picking mates by choosing to go unarmed and untrained. Most abusive mates don’t gravitate towards those who can defend themselves, though exceptions do occur. Going armed, especially in a situation where the enemy is inside the home, doesn’t guarantee safety. Going unarmed, however, all but guarantees victimization if the mate or ex-mate is inclined to violence.

I recommend Cornered Cat for more info.

Posted in holster, interesting people, pistol, self-defense, training, weapon | Tagged domestic, murder, violence | 6 Comments

Hunter

Posted on June 1, 2015 by Oleg Volk

While doing photos for Michelle DiCianni’s Gun Digest article about Rock Island 45ACP pistol, we spooked an adult doe right by my house. While the doe lumbered away slowly, the model tracked her with her index finger and said: “I just have to remember to lead it a little”. Turned out she’s an avid deer hunter and knows rifles, though new to handguns. So we put a rifle into her hands.