Saturday, January 31, 2009

The Only Sporting Event That Matters This Weekend

Let's face it... you're gonna watch the super bowl for the comercials as much as the game. Its a social event... its a cultural event... football is an after thought.

No.. the real action is taking place tonight people.

I'm talking about the UFC. I'm talking about mix martial arts... two of the best in the world... Georges St. Pierre against BJ Penn.

If that's not enough... the man that may be the best fighter in the world... Lyoto Machida... will be facing 13-0 Thiago Silva.

There will be choice violence on display... and we won't have to listen to Bruce Springsteen's commie rants.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Obama's a Big Pussy

I don't know if you read DEBKA. If you don't... you certainly should. For example... I would humbly suggest that the american public is entire ignorant of the fact that US siezed a ship smuggling Iranian arms to Hamas last week.

Something else you probably don't know... that ship has been found to have sealed secret holds that we haven't been able to open yet... and this is where we get to Obama being a big pussy. See we need a big port to do a thorough search. You can't just rip a ship apart that's floating out at sea. We already know that Iran is shipping rocket launchers and such to Hamas. They already found them on the ship. What we don't know... is what's in the sealed secret holds... and Obama doesn't want to know.

He's so conserned about not making the Iranians mad... he's stonewalling the search. There are no good ports out there for all kinds of reasons. So they have to get the ship through the Suez canal to find a capable port... but Obama is refusing to bring the ship through.

Let me put this in terms easy for everyone to understand.

You've just realized that the 5th grade bully has stolen your lunch money... but he's been acting nice to you... and now you have to decide if you're going to confront the bully... or just be a big pussy... like Obama.

Its also telling that the american media has not reported on this incident at all. Its what DEBKA refers to as a media "Blackout". Someday someone will explain how the American media is substantially different than Pravda... until then I remain confused.

In the meantime.. we have the boat... but we won't search it... because we don't want to make Iran mad at us. God forbid.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Go See Gran Torino

No seriously. Nothing you have to do tomarrow is more important. Its only going to be around another few weeks.. this may even be the last weekend. If you trusted me when I said Equilibrium was awesome... if you trusted me when I said Second Hand Lions was one of the best movies ever made... trust me now.

Gran Torino is one of the 3 or 4 best movies I have ever seen.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Dora: Glorious Obsurdity
Tonight I wish to discuss an oddity of history... and marvel of engineering. She was the largest of her kind... terrifyingly effective... and at the same time... outregously useless.

Among the 1,420 men it took to assemble and operate her... she was called Dora. Her manufacturer... Krupp... called her Shwerer Gustav... now... she's simply known as the largest gun ever built.
Krupp began designing the Gustav in 1934. She was meant to be the battering ram that would destroy the famed Maginot Line. Of course... in 1940... when the German's famously walked around the Line... and ruined its men and fortifications... the Gustav was still in the workshops.


By the time she was completed... it looked as though there was simply no where to use her... but still... she was a beauty and terror of such perportion that you couldn't blame them for trying. I mean... You don't build a gun like this... and not shoot it.

How big was she? in all honesty she almost defies description.

Dora weighed in a 1,350 tons. Her cannon was 80 centimeters. No... not millimeters. Centimeters. She had a maximum range of 30 miles.
For a time they thought they might get to shoot her at an allied fortification on Gibralter... but Spain nixed that.

It wasn't until 1941 that they finally found something worthy of her... It was a russian port... so heavily fortified it was said to be invulnerable to conventional weapons.

Dora was taken to russia by train... which made sense... since she was designed as a rail car... and trains were the only thing big enough to move her. 1500 soldiers led by engineers made up an advance team that laid special double tracks... and spent 6 weeks preparing the site that would eventually be used to construct and fire the great gun.
When they were done... a crew of 1420 set about assembling Dora on site. Even with the use of 2 10-ton cranes, it took between 3 and 6 weeks to put her together. It took 500 men just to deal with her ammunition... and another 1000 for target intelligence, and air defense.
On the 5th of June, 1942 Dora cleared her throat. True she was but one weapon among hundered set against Sevestopal... but her devastation is still legendary. It took her only 8 shots to level the coastal batteries that had stood for centuries.
Later in the day... she fired 6 shots... which destroyed Fort Stalin. 14 shots in 1 day was all they managed. The fasted turn around was 15 minutes between shots. Still... when you consider the scale of destruction...it was impressive.
On June 6th they aimed the big gun at Fort Molotov... and seven shots later.... it was ruined.
Then Dora turned her considerable attention to sea. Amazingly enough the Russians had buried an huge weapons cache out under the harbor... beneathe the sea itself... but they learned that day that what Dora wants... Dora gets.
It took 9 shots. 9 shots to burrow down through the sea... more than 100 feat below the sea floor. The final shot exploded inside the cache and destroyed it completely. They even sunk a ship for good measure.
That was that.
Dora was never fired again. She was disassembled and transported back to Germany... but on the way her trains were destroyed... scattering her parts all over the country side. All that remains today are a few inert shells.
Still... she was a marvel. Utterly useless... and yet undeniably effective.
Objects of Obsession

I present the EAA Witness Gold Team. From the lightened slide, to the compensator, to the ported barrel, to the trigger stop... this bad boy is competition ready out of the box... and not to mention... its just about the coolest looking handgun I've ever seen. A recent bit of knowledge has gotten me a little excited about the old .38 Super again... which by the way is an option for this beauty. See... Any .38 Super... will also reliably shoot 9X23 Winchester (upon reflection I would like to amend that statement. You would be a spectacular idiot to shoot 9X23 our of a Glock) . That caliber shoots right with the very hottest of the .357 magnums. If a 147 grain silver tip rolling at 1400fps won't do the trick... I don't know what will. Obviously 9x23 is firmly entrenched in the competition shooting world... but its starting to gain respect as a hunting and defense round. The mags can be modified to allow this bad boy to carry 19+1. Of course... if that's just not enough diameter for you.. fear not... the Gold Team also comes in .45 acp.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Black Wednesday

I don't know if you've yet heard the about the tragic events of the day... if not... then I fear the dreadful work is left to me. I must inform you...

Ted Kennedy is alive... and was released from the hospital.

I know this comes as a shock to a lot of you. I know yesterday looked like the day we'd been praying for all these many years. Well don't lose faith brothers... the old bastard has to die sometime.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

In the Immortal Words of Gabby Johnson


The President is a ***BONG***!!!

If you haven't seen Blazing Saddles you won't get it... but if you have...then I may just owe you a new keyboard. You're welcome.
Witnessing History

Important historical events of this incredibily signifcant day:

1) First time in US history both the chief justice and the president elect managed to screw up the oath of office.

2) First time in US history the american public has elected back to back retards.

3) 30th time in american history the idiotic america public has been duped into believing something will actually change.

4) First time Republicans actually have to consider the consequences of their actions. After all.. a retarded commie now has all the powers of the Patriot Acts. Bend over boys.

5) First time a homosexual has been inaugurated... ok... first time since Lincoln.

6) First time a crack head has been inaugurated...

7) Second time Bill Clinton's entire cabinet has been appointed.

8) Second time a US president is doing what ever the fuck Hillary Clinton says.

9) First time in US history the term African American was actually used accurately. After all... OBama was born in Kenya. He really is an African American.

10) Lincoln rolled over in his grave today... ok... so it wasn't a total loss.
Feel free to add more in the comments.
A Telling Quote...

"They will judge you by what you build... not by what you destroy."

In otherwords... then ends justify the means. Lincoln would love that statement... I mean after all... He is judged well because he built a strong union. No one seems to give a damn that he destroyed half of the nation and killed 3 million people to do it.

That's arguably the scariest thing I've known Herr Obama to say.

Pardon me... I have ammo to stack and firearms to clean.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Happy Birthday General

On this day, January 19, 1807... Robert E. Lee was born.

You are expected to raise a glass of fine bourbon tonight in honour of The Man.
Something to Think About

American beer is like making love in a canoe. That is to say...


Its fucking close to water.
Wrap Up... SHOT 2009


I'm going to try to sum up the highlights today for you... I'll post more as I remember them. As you can imagine... a lot of it is still a blur. Let's start with the nitty gritty... Here's some good info I got from straight from the mouths of various, and relevant horses while I was down there...

1) Kel-Tec will produce 250 RFB's a week... and have already taken orders for thousands. They took an order for 1000 while we were standing their BS'ing at their booth. They didn't even negotiate.

2) George Kelgren (Founder of Kel-Tec) is terrified of Obama. Remember, his old company, Gendel, was completely put out of business by the "assault weapons" ban in the 90s. He's very worried about the possibilities of another one... and it is driving his business decisions.

3) The big shots at Remington and Taurus discussed it... and decided the prostitutes in Orlando were nice but not as good as those in Rio. I heard this.

4) Kelgren is far from the only man worried about Washington. Indeed... the economy was not a topic that people seemed to care about. If anything they were joking that we should have depressions more often. There was a lot of worry about possible legislation. More companies than ever are schilling for the NRA. Shame they don't have sense enough to get behind an actual pro-gun organization like JFPO or GOA.

5) No Poofters

6) Nikon's BDC (bullet drop compensator) System is a complete joke. It has a magnum setting for 300 win mag and such... and it has a regular setting for .270, 308, and 30-06. Now when Luke asked a Nikon tech to explain it... he said... "we're going to get you on the animal"... which was fine... until he explained that the scope made no differences for bullet weight or caliber. When I laughed about this and asked if he understood the different drop at 600 yards between a 200 grain .308 and a 140 grain .270... the man said... "gravity is gravity". I looked at him like he was a moron... and he said, "I mean yeah.. all you have is the difference in speed... that's all." ???? THAT'S ALL??? The difference in speed is everything... the faster a bullet is... the less time its dropping... the more distance in covers in the time it has to fall. The company is acting like the difference in bullet drop at 500 yards between a heavy bullet in a .308 or a light bullet in a .270 is completely insignificant... its close enough. Its not close enough. It will not "get you on the animal". I am a Nikon guy. I love their cameras. I love their scopes. So I say this as a big fan of Nikon... do not... I repeat.. do not buy a Nikon scope that uses this system.

7) Charles Daly's AR's are assembled in Kentucky... which has us curious... have they contracted with Double Star? Also on the Daly front... Their Bul M5...a polymer 1911 is made by Bul... an Israeli arms company. Bul had their own display... with what had to be considered one of the most impressive line ups of 1911's I saw at the show. Right up there with Springfield and Dan Wesson. Keep an eye on Daly.

8) No Poofters

9) Kimber had quite a display... Half in disgust I picked up one of those idiotic "desert warrior" things... Gawd Awful... Luke saw me and well... it went kind like this...
"Nate? Holding a Kimber?"
"Yeah... I suppose I just wanted to check... make sure they still suck as bad as I remember"
"Hrm... ain't that like sucking a dick.. just to make sure you still don't like it?"
I chuckled of course... it was well played... but mostly I was just amused that someone had equated dry firing a Kimber with homosexual activity.

10) There is no item 10.

11) No Poofters

12) The little blog here is a little more widely known among the industry types than I realized. Folks at Barrett recognized my name and associated it with the blog. Barrett being in Murfreesboro, TN... that didn't surprise me. The blog makes the local news in Nashville every so often. I knew the boys at Springfield read it already... as the Springfield company blogger and I have exchanged emails. Kel-Tec's boys also apparently knew about blog. All of this says more about company's tracking their product's on the web than it says about my blog. Its not a coincidence that Kel-Tec and Springfield knew the blog when you consider how much I blog about them. Similarly one of the guys at Taurus (tech guy) also knew of the blog. Again...for the same reason. I didn't talk to the Kimber folks... I really didn't want to get in a fight at SHOT.

13) The EZ Signal phone will be available this summer.

14) No Poofters

15) EAA is making some really nice weapons. If you get a chance to check out their Gold Cup or Limited... do so. Truly cool. Cute chicks at their display area to.

16) If you're going to buy a Kel-Tec SU-16.. get the C model. The barrels on the A and the B are very thin, and heat up to quickly... which causes severe accuracy issues. The C on the other hand... which is the one JAC and I have... is astonishingly accurate. The head of Kel-Tec R and D told me he was pushing them to change all the barrels to the heavier C model... but everyone's focus is on the RFB right now.

17) Don't look for a Kel-Tec .45 any time soon. They know they need one in their lineup... but they just don't have the time or resources to do it. There are no drawings. There are no ideas. its just a hole they see that at some point they'd like to fill. Any rumors you hear otherwise are completely false.

18) The same fella from Kel-Tec also provided this gem on the Mini-14... "Ya know what you get when you take a bunch of bad ideas and put them all together? A mini 14." It was a joy to find that one of the brains behind my beloved little carbine was also a card carrying member of the Anti-Mini-14 Society for the Prohibition of Rifles that Suck. AMSPRTS... for short.

19) Taurus uses the same sites on the 24-7s and 1911s. Pretty smart. This means if they find a cool site they'd like to add to their line up... they can do so quickly. And yes... they are doing just that. Look for Taurus to offer triangle style sights in the very near future on their pistols. The details are still being worked out... but the fella that owns the company that makes the sights explained that he'd just talked to Taurus and worked out the deal.

***UPDATE***
20) I just remembered something that struck me as odd. In tactical law enforcement area of SHOT it was common to see company enterages trotting around.... almost all of them included a Navy SEAL... and often when they would introduce themselves... they would say things like "This is our Navy SEAL so-and-so." Like they were talking about a fashion accessory. It was amusing at first... but it turned creepy after a while. I kept my ears open... and I heard a lot more than I think a lot of people there.

Now... before you complain to loudly about the quality of information provided... I would encourage you to consider how much you paid for it.

Friday, January 16, 2009

ATF: SHOT 2009

So Luke I are down in Orlando... probly cold where you are eh? Yeah that sucks... anyway... we're down here enjoying SHOT 2009. Boys I can tell ya... I have seen many things. I've fondled many... firearms... and knives... and accessories... for... firearms... and I took a test ride on a Rockon two wheel drive motorcycle. The show is unbelievable. Think of the largest mall you've ever seen... now imagine the entire thing packed with gun stuff. That's SHOT. A google search would provide you more information.. you can even look at the exhibitors list... which will give you another idea of scale. We walked roughly ten miles today... and saw a little less than half of the exhibits. Madness.

We didn't come home empty handed of course... much swag has been had... and Luke even managed to find a bayonet for his FNP-40. But wait you say... the FNP-40 is a pistol! You can't put a bayonett on a bloody pistol!

Oh you can't?

Not only that... he used it to cut the smoked venison we had for dinner. And yes... it is KaBar... thanks for asking.
And now we're drinkin', and smokin'... dammit.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Boys


It occured to me... its probably been a long time since y'all have gotten to see a picture of the boys. I figured I would post one... just to remind you... I do in fact have the best looking family in America. Particularly when Daddy is not in the picture!
Doubters!


The rule is... Pics or it didn't happen... I believe I saw some such nonsense posted. Fair enough. So... what happens when a 18 month old kid runs head first into a fiberglass bathtub?


Well... If the kid is Elkan...
That's what happens. Dammit.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Ouch!

Let me tell ya... when Christopher Hitchens is capable of slapping your ass silly... you are indeed in trouble.

Seriously... I'm trying to remember the last time Slate sodomized a member of the church so publicly. Hilary probably got the first peal necklace of her whole life... and I'll be Hitchens didn't even give her cab fare.
Eklan - 1 Fiberglass Bathtubs - 0

See... if you'd told me that one of my boys would destroy a major piece of functional furniture... like a bathtub... I would probably have said.. yeah.. I'm sure they will.... eventually. If you'd told me it would be Elkan... I would've said... yeah... I can see that. But if you had told me he was gonna do it yesterday... well that would've been a suprise.

Apparently Elkan and Nana were playing Hide-and-Go-Seek... a favorite game of theirs. They play it all the time over at Nana's house. So.. as usual... Nana was "hiding" in her bathroom... and Elkan comes bursting in... "running" as fast as he can... So fast in fact... that he didn't notice the bathroom scale. He tripped over it... and his head smashed into the bathtub.

I'm using the word smash deliberately here... because smash is exactly what he did.

Elkan stood up... cried for a few seconds... then wanted to play some more.

But the bathtub looks like someone hit it with a hammer. There's a 3 inch section that was literally shattered... pushed in... and generally broken.

To give the matter some perspective... remember... Elkan is 18 months old.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Flordia 56 - Oklahoma 17


Nuff Said.
Porn Bailout!

Seriously. The porn industry is getting in on this whole bailout mania. I wish I was joking. What do you wanna bet they actually get something? Oh sure... it'll get snuck into some "media bailout" and will never get reported... but I'll bet you the mongers get something.

The fact that they would even ask... and it would be reported as news... just proves how pathetic America has become.

Boys... we are fast approaching go time.
Bizarre Superbowl Narrative

Lets just assume things work out.. and the Titans play the Giants in the Superbowl... If so.. it will be eerily similar...

The story starts in Superbowl V... when Craig Morton lead the upstart Dallas Cowboys to the Superbowl... only to lose a war with Johnny Unitas and Colts.

Fast forward to 1978... when Craig Morton becomes the first QB to take two different franchises to the Superbowl... and... interestingly enough... he's facing his old team.. the Cowboys. Of course now the Cowboys feature rockstar QB Roger Staubach.

Now... Kerry Collins has the opportunity to be only the second QB to take two different franchises to the Superbowl... and if he does so... there's a very good chance he'll do it against his old team.. the Giants... and their rockstar QB... Eli Manning...exactly 30 years after Morton did it.

The one glaring difference?

Collins will win.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Women Are Children

At least they are treated as such by our society... so why should we be suprised... when female adults abandon even the pretense of adult behavior?

If you click the link you'll read about grown women taking real looking dolls to play dates and to the park... you know.. just like they did when they were 6.

I would like to say I'm suprised by this... but I'm not. Not even a little bit... after all... as we learned from the Boston Globe... living in cities makes you stupid... and well... small town girls have real babies.

***UPDATE***

Ebay has an entire catagory dedicated to these psycho women and their psycho practices! And a friend just informed me that she has a family member that actually does this! She has one of these attrocities! She has parties for it and crap!

My eyes are bleeding.

Pray for rain. 40 days of rain.

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

iFail

I don't know if you heard.. but the MacWorld convention is going on... and metrosexuals all over the country are agape at the debut of three year old technology in slick packaging. The really funny thing is... Macrumors.com got hacked during its keynote coverage.

Yes. I'm chuckling.

Monday, January 05, 2009

Fail.

Well... I went to range today... And I must say... thanks to EN's rambling foolishness I found my mind wondering off to thought of pins shearing off as I looked through the sites of the new 1911. But before I get to far along... let me assure you... this is a true one hole shooter.

**BANG**

Oh...

That felt sweet. Easy big fella... we're testing for function here... it hit the target... don't bother looking to close... just move on. We'll worry about accuracy in a few minutes.

Ok.. so now I load two 230 grain hardballs into the mag...

**BANG**

Oh...

That felt sweet to... umm... why is the slide still back?

Hrm...

Failure to eject.

Clear.

Try again.

Failure to eject.

Dammit.

Excellent! Now we get to tune the extractor! sweet! see? Told you it was a one hole shooter. Oh well... let's check accuracy for shits and giggles. No bench available... kinda raining... 35 degrees outside... not the best conditions...

Still... 3 shots in an inch at 25 yards. I dare not speak ill.

Friday, January 02, 2009

Tease

Now... first things first... when you're making the decision to build your very own 1911... you must realize one immutible fact... drop in parts don't drop in. Not even when they all come from one place in one kit. Oh... there may be reviews raving about how nothing required fitting... in fact the kit I got had 10 such reviews. Ya know what?


Almost everything required fitting. In fact... if I were to start listing all the parts that required fitting... you'd realize we worked on the majority of the parts on the weapon. If we didn't work on a specific part... odds are we worked on something that touches it.


There is another undeniable fact... You will lose something. You will. Period. Just spend the money in advance and by like 3 spring kits... 3 pin kits... ect ect. You will lose something... and it will happen when you are almost done and have a ton of momentum... and you will not want to stop and wait for a part to come in.


Things you will need:


1 1911 frame

1 1911 slide

1 1911 completion kit

extra pins and springs

emory cloth

complete drill set (we didn't have one... but we wish we did)

1 dremel tool and all the do dads that go along with it

1 bench vice

emory boards (you know... girls fingernail files. We couldn't have finished it without them)

1 google video showing the entire process

1 lap top on your work bench

roughly... 10 hours... maybe 20.


Now... I had 2 slides... one mil spec... and a fancy government from Caspian. Ya know what I learned really quick? Caspian drills all their slides for #38 firing pins. The parts kit I had didn't have a # 38 firing pin. It was much larger. So... Order firing pin from Caspian. Ya know what else I learned? Caspian firing pins don't necessarily drop into Caspian slides. Even the right sized ones. This is where a numbered set of bits comes in handy.


Other parts were of considerable difficulty as well... for example... the link pin. The link pin was the devil. If link pin fit is a factor on accuracy, and when accurizing a 1911 those pins are tighted up considerably, then this should be a one hole pistol. Because we actually had to heat the barrel up to press fit the damned thing in. I can assure you... that at least will not wiggle free.


I think that's enough for now.

Thursday, January 01, 2009

Project 1911 Completed

Thanks to the Brothers C. With their help, and a few minor miracles... a new 1911 was birthed today. We all learned a lot about the weapon... and I can honestly say... if you've never attempted to build your own 1911...

Don't.