Best place to make panoramic photo prints?

Posted on December 25, 2014 by Oleg Volk

I am looking for a lab that can make very tall (12″x36″ or larger) pillar prints. Any suggestions? Even better if local to Minneapolis, MN and can do foam-backed prints, but plain photo paper by mail would be fine also.

Posted in advice requested, camera and lens | Tagged | 6 Comments

Studio space around Edina, MN?

Posted on December 23, 2014 by Oleg Volk

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Earlier this week, I did photo shoots in Cannon Falls, MN. The studio was provided by a friend. Unfortunately, the drive takes almost an hour, and close to hour and a half for some of my friends. I’d like to find some space for picture-taking — large enough to fit people — closer to Edina or Hopkins. If you have any leads or ideas, please chime in.

Posted in advice requested, camera and lens | 2 Comments

A good friend, then and now

Posted on December 19, 2014 by Oleg Volk

(Early 1995)

Some people don’t change at all in nearly twenty years.

(Today)

Posted in interesting people | Tagged | 1 Comment

HK VP9 review: new on all4shooters

Posted on December 17, 2014 by Oleg Volk

Full review with slow-motion videos. Click on photos that show a right-facing arrow to see slide shows.

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Pure Estrogen 5.56mm rifle: new on AllOutdoor

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Oleg Volk

A carbine for the female shooter

Posted in rifle | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Dressing for the weather

Posted on December 14, 2014 by Oleg Volk

There’s much to be said for dressing the model for the weather. Even when it’s 50*F, adequate furriness of the outfit makes for much happier collaborators than a bikini or natural pretty skin.

The rifle is a MAD33, an American-manufactured roller-locked 5.56mm.

Posted in interesting people, rifle, Uncategorized, weapon | Tagged | 3 Comments

Casting call: Apopka, Florida, Monday Dec.8

Posted on December 7, 2014 by Oleg Volk

I just had a last moment request for 3-4 article photos for a magazine. The topic is defense against home invasion. If you are available tomorrow evening, please drop me a line with a link to your profile or an attached photo. Ideally, I’d like to have a couple-three different people to photograph for variety.

Posted in self-defense | 1 Comment

Ignorance of the law

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Oleg Volk

One of the pivotal court cases restricting the rights of Americans was the 1939 US vs. Miller. It’s quite obvious from the evidence that Miller had no idea that he was breaking that specific law at the time he was arrested with a short-barreled shotgun. Moreover, the arrest was for a different transgression, and gun charges were added onto it.

As things stand now in Washington state, everyone who has a firearm at home or has some remote connection to shooting is at risk of prosecution under the broadly written, pervasive and completely unreasonable new restrictions on a variety of normal, everyday and entirely benign actions that are legal pretty much everywhere else in the country. If the state wants to prosecute a person, they will be able to find a suitable portion of I-594 to use against him. I don’t think enough of the Washington residents are aware of the size of the bludgeon they just voted to their rulers.

 

Posted in civil rights, rifle, rkba, weapon | Tagged , | 16 Comments

Washington State descends into legal savagery

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Oleg Volk

The foes of individual liberty have finally figured out that restrictions on adults are hard to implements, so they try to go after kids or those new to the shooting sports. The obstacles in the path of teaching gun safety and self-defense skills are a re-hash of the old laws which prohibited training Negroes in the use of gun or sword. Learn what I594 wrought and why it should be repealed.

As an aside, the conservative side isn’t above trying to restrict dissemination of knowledge either. I designate gun control as the more pressing problem because it would easier to face hordes of right-winders with a rifle in hand than to face hordes of left-wingers with nothing but a condom for a weapon.

Update: a very good summary of the substance of I594.

Posted in civil rights, pistol, rkba, self-defense, training, weapon | Tagged , , , | 19 Comments

A Case for Mounting Lasers Above the Bore Line: New on AllOutdoor

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Oleg Volk

Non-standard but effective solution.

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Santa’s little helper says

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Oleg Volk

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Rimfire trainers have been popular for a long time.

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Oleg Volk

1903 Springfield trainer in .22LR

Posted in interesting people, rifle, training | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

RDB in OD Green, 17.2″ barrel

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Oleg Volk

The optic is the familiar 3x prismatic with BDC reticle. The 3x reticle is not the same as shown in the video, but the principles of use are the same.

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Accurate rifles are interesting. Accurate shooting is more so.

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Oleg Volk

 

Let’s say we have a target one second of flight time away. For 62gr .223 that would be about 650 yards. Aim, correct for drop, fire…not even close! 10mph side wind will take the center of the group more than five feet to the left or right. With the group being somewhere in the 10 inch range for a 1.5MOA rifle/ammunition combination, a human-sized foe is within range but only if atmospheric conditions are taken into account.

LUCID L5 Reticle

Using a ranging reticle, it’s possible to know where calculated drift and drop fall within the sight picture. At 100 yards, bullet drift would be 1.5MOA but 4MOA by 400 and just over 10MOA at 650. For a 100 yards zero, the 650 yard drop would be 21.5MOA — much too high to just estimate with a duplex of crosshair reticle. “Hold two body heights high” doesn’t work well if you only see part of the foe. 4-16x and 6-24x Lucid scopes both use the same reticle. Horus Vision reticle follows a very similar concept, but it’s a lot more busy.

PS: Out of curiosity, I just looked up 6.5mm Creedmoor and the wind drift with it is 33% to 40% of the value for .223Rem. But that’s a longer action cartridge than AR15. Compatible 6.5mm Grendel (middle of the line-up load) still only has half the drift of .223 and about half of the drop as well. It makes no difference when making a beaten zone with a machine gun, but improves hit probability with rifles…and reduces your own exposure to return fire.

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Threaded Glock factory barrels for sale (posting for a friend)

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Oleg Volk

I like silenced pistols. Since Glock doesn’t sell threaded barrels anymore, I had to find another source of sufficient quality for mounting suppressors on Glock 17. A friend started eleven with 5-inch G34 barrels and threaded them 1/2×28, standard for US sound suppressors and flash hiders. They cost $230 shipped, $12 more with a thread protector. If interested, email Hermes at motionforwardtechnology@gmail.com

If you are still waiting for a sound suppressor, extended barrel gives about 50fps extra (or as much as going from regular to +P ammo would). It will still fit any open-end holster. If you live in a no-suppressor state, you can still gain a little velocity and a lot less flash with a flash hider from 9mm AR. Functioning wasn’t affected, other than a slight decrease in the muzzle rise.

Posted in pistol, sound suppressor, weapon | Tagged , | 3 Comments

CMR30 in use

Posted on November 30, 2014 by Oleg Volk

And between uses

(with Vortex Spitfire 3x prismatic scope)

Looks like fun, doesn’t it?

Posted in rifle | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Like training wheels for pistols

Posted on November 30, 2014 by Oleg Volk

Handguns designed to powerful AND lightweight tend to be less fun to shoot. At the same time, they are generally compact enough for teaching kids and other new shooters. So combining lightweight frames like Keltec PF9 or Ruger LC9 or 9S with equally lightweight rimfire uppers from Twisted Industries works pretty well. Not much recoil, and the ammunition is still less expensive than 9mm.

As you can see from the photo, even a lightweight .22 with minimal kick is a handful for the new young marksman. A heavier pistol or in a stronger caliber would have interfered with learning the marksmanship basics more.

This approach, on the other hand, allows to work up confidence and to have fun while learning. As an adult, I shoot more with an Iver Johnson conversion kit mounted on M1911 than I do with 45ACP just because subcaliber practice is more fun.

 

 

 

 

Posted in pistol, training, weapon | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Another useful feature of bullpups

Posted on November 30, 2014 by Oleg Volk

The forend comes very close to the muzzle. Besides making stable firing hold easier, it also prevents partial occlusion of the weapon light by the barrel.

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Keltec production numbers

Posted on November 30, 2014 by Oleg Volk

Looking at the ATF documents for 2013, I see Keltec production totaling 81,714 handguns. 22,875 of them were either PLR22 or PMR30 (more common). They also made 17,103 rifles of various models and 19,045 KSG shotguns. Not a huge number but far from “just enough for Oleg to equip his models”. 117,862 guns to be exact.

_MG_6997

Since 2014 isn’t over, we don’t know the exact total, but it will be close to 150,000 with only about ten more employees than last year. On average, 2.5 guns per employee per work day. And this year, the share of more labor and material intensive long guns has been a lot higher.  Keltec is a family-owned company that managed to avoid over-expansion/bust traps that plagued quite a few of their competitors. They also haven’t grown to outpace their service and customer support capability. And people who say they can’t find a Keltec gun usually mean “can’t find it at MSRP”. At the same time, upping MSRP to bring availability and together has been unpopular. And, at the end of the day, remember that they only sell to distributors, so the prices aren’t even set by the manufacturer. In the meantime, for new and popular products, the prices are higher for delivery tomorrow and lower for delivery in a year. It’s the same with most consumer products, be they guns, cameras or cars. And Keltec has an incentive to build more of the hot new sellers before some other company makes a near copy. So the limited availability may have objective reasons for it, not just some gun makers’ intent to tease potential customers with unobtanium.

Posted in pistol, rifle, weapon | Tagged | 2 Comments

A Sub-five-pound AR-15, for When Weight Matters: new on AllOutdoor

Posted on November 30, 2014 by Oleg Volk


Sometimes a couple of pounds make all the difference

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