My Ancestors Were Horse Thieves

Tax Dollars Well Spent

2012-02-05T20:43:00.001-07:00

Based on the Superbowl commercial for the Chevy Sonic below, I've got no other option but to assume that GM did what so many others in this country have done when given money they didn't earn. That being finding the showiest and most obnoxious way to set it on fire.

If you'd like to see how part of your more than $23 billion dollars were blown just click play, sit back, and enjoy.

At least with all the airbags, the bungee jump should have an added level of safety.

Would Have Been Nice

2012-01-23T19:41:00.001-07:00

It looks like Colorado legislators chickened out and decided that the citizens of Alaska, Arizona, Vermont, and Wyoming are more trustworthy than Coloradans.

Not that I expected that this bill would pass, but it sure would have been nice. Maybe next year we will prove to the Democrats that we aren't all crazies.

Unexpected Christmas Gifts

2011-12-26T22:36:00.000-07:00

I'd planned on going shooting with some of my family on Christmas Eve. After an unsuccessful duck hunt I gathered up my son, my brother, and my soon to be cousin-in-law and headed to the shooting spot by the dump. We shot the AR-15, the 15-22, and for the first time that I've owned it the Mosin Nagant.

In order to be accurate, the bayonet was affixed. The fact that some previous shooters had left a rather large and only slightly shot SpongeBob was an unexpected early Christmas gift. After poking several 7.62 mm holes in SB, my son was given the honor of finishing the poor sponge off.

One would think he'd been hanging out with Jay G

Gun Gifts

2011-12-06T22:15:00.001-07:00

There's an interesting poll up at MSNBC of all places asking about thoughts on giving guns as Christmas gifts. The results are somewhat predictable. After all, guns are one of my favorite gifts to give or receive.

The Best Beer I've Made

2011-12-05T19:09:00.001-07:00

Among my many hobbies is beer making. I may be a jack of all trades and master of none, but in my own not so humble opinion I make some good dark beers. The best beer I've made to date however, wasn't dark and was mostly an accident. It goes like this:

6 lb Light DME
2 lb Wheat
0.50 oz. G. Northern-Brewer Hops - Boiling hops (60 mins)
0.50 oz. Cascade Hops - Finishing hops (15 mins)
1.25 oz. Hallertau Hops - Finishing hops (15 mins)
0.50 oz. G. Northern-Brewer Hops - dry hopped
0.75 oz. Hallertau Hops - dry hopped
1 tsp. Irish Moss
dry ale or kolsch yeast

The hops bill will likely change depending on what I can find (which is how I ended up with the above). The original recipe was for a Kolsch, but this beer is much more wheaty. The original called for only 1/4 lb of wheat.

The procedure is to crack the wheat, place in a grain bag, and steep for around 10 minutes at about 165 degrees F. Remove the wheat and add the DME and the boiling hops. At around 45 to 50 minutes add the finishing hops and the Irish moss (this helps to clear the beer a bit). After the wort cools add the yeast. I used a dry ale yeast as the brewery supply store I was at didn't have a kolsch yeast. After primary fermentation has slowed add the dry hops. Rack at around two weeks and then bottle (or in my case keg) after two or three more.

The beer is full without being heavy, hoppy without being overbearing, and sweet without the typical citrus of a wheat beer. This is a beer I will be making again and again and again.

The Only Thing Better Than A Night At The Range

2011-11-17T18:39:00.001-07:00

I've been out tromping around the woods all last week looking for elk. Right before I headed to go hunting I got a package containing some 380 ammo. This wasn't any 380 ammo however, this was free 380 ammo. The fine folks at LuckyGunner.com were kind enough to send me a box of Magtech to run through my wife's Beretta.

Figuring asking for forgiveness is easier than asking for permission, I swiped the Beretta out of the safe and headed over to my new favorite range, BluCore Shooting Center. While I was there I figured it was a 380 Auto type of night and rented a S&W Bodyguard 380.

I started the night with the Beretta and the free Magtech ammo. I figured shooting a pistol I was comfortable with and using ammo someone else payed for was a great way to start off the night.

After a few mags through the Beretta it was time to switch over to the Bodyguard. Unfortunately, I had to use range ammo through the rental gun. Even more unfortunate was that the laser was not working on the Bodyguard, so no fun with lights. I really didn't like the Bodyguard. It didn't fit my hand well and was in need of a cleaning as it was having FTE's every 5th round or so. The nice thing about BluCore's rental program is that one fee gets you as many guns as you want to shoot. I traded the Bodyguard out for a Kahr P380.

The Kahr fit my hand much better and was much more accurate for me. I improved from pie plate at 5 yards accuracy with the Bodyguard to silver dollar at 5 yards with the Kahr. I've been looking at various pocket pistols and the Kahr 380 definitely moved up the list during this trip despite the higher than average price tag.

By this time my fingers and nose were getting cold due to the BluCore state of the art ventilation system bringing in outside air at a fairly rapid rate. I decided to load up the rest of the sweet sweet free (did I mention free...thanks again LuckyGunner.com) ammo and see what my accuracy looked like at 7 yards.

Not too bad for frozen fingers. As has always been my experience with Magtech 380, the entire box ran through the Beretta flawlessly and was far more accurate than I am. It is a good choice at a reasonable price, with LuckyGunner.com offering it for $0.31 per round.

Young And Unskilled?

2011-11-03T21:06:00.000-06:00

I've been working in the field running a turnaround on a small production plant. As the week has gone on something struck me. All the senior field guys are over 50. All the skilled laborers, the welders, the foremen, the operators are all over 50. It doesn't seem to be an issue of the older guys simply refusing to retire either. The younger guys in general do not have the skill set to do these jobs.

The younger guys in general have a tendency to take their time starting work and knock off early even if the job is not yet complete. If something isn't working they will keep on trying it instead of looking for a better solution.

I am not sure what happens when the 60 year old skilled workers have all retired. What happens when all the kids that should be working with a wrench or screwdriver or welding torch don't know which end to hold because they've all been told that college is the answer. Instead of a rewarding career building, making, and fixing they are sitting at home trying to figure out what to do with a business or liberal arts degree. What happens when we figure out that we can't outsource these jobs to China? What happens when there aren't enough Americans that know how?

Keep Your Hands Off My Ballot

2011-10-29T07:32:00.002-06:00

I got an interesting text last night. It was from Jefferson County Students First, who are kindly offering to hand deliver my ballot if it didn't make it into the mailbox.

I have a hard enough time trusting my mailman to get my ballot in to get counted, a complete stranger with and agenda not a chance.

Send It In

2011-10-25T22:01:00.000-06:00

If you live in Colorado, the time to mail in your ballot is now.

I'm not going to suggest how anyone vote, but I'll give you one guess on how I voted on the tax increases in Prop. 103. When they tell me it's for the kids, well I've heard that one before.

Zombie Targets

2011-10-23T23:59:00.000-06:00

At the range today I neglected to bring targets. My range of choice was well stocked with Birchwood Casey Zombie targets. I figured why not and added one to the stack. What I learned is that even knowing that it's a zombie, it may be tough to break the habit of aiming for the boilermaker.

Evil Corporations

2011-10-23T16:35:00.000-06:00

This post by Dave Ramsey captures a lot of what I feel about the Occupy Wall Street folks (HT to the Pantsless One). The one thing Dave doesn't really cover that has struck me as I've read various stories and laughed at some of the signs is that there seems to be a lack of understanding on what a corporation is and does. Mostly this has been addressed with the type of sarcasm shown in the linked picture above.

What I would like to do is to discuss what a corporation is and some of my personal experiences with "evil" corporations. A corporation is simply a legal entity that provides a group of individuals personal protection from legal and financial liability. If a corporation goes bankrupt or is accused of a crime the individuals making up the corporation don't automatically end up bankrupt or in jail.

My younger brother is a chiropractor. He is also the sole owner of a corporation. His corporation of one is not uncommon. It allows him to practice medicine with a lower financial risk. Many of his patients have no idea he is also a corporation. As an individual and a doctor, he treats them, but he bills them as a corporation. Is he rich? Far from it Since opening his own practice he is barely breaking even, and most months puts almost all of his profit back into his business. This is the "evil" of a corporation. Healing people with his own two hands.

I've worked for a couple of corporations. One was the type most folks think of when they hear corporation. It was (and is) a multinational corporation with manufacturing in the United States, China, Italy, India, and Switzerland to name a few. Their sales offices are all across the world. This evil corporation payed me a good salary, trained me, and sent me to their manufacturing facilities in Switzerland and Italy for further training. I got to ride a train through the alps thanks to an evil corporation. I also got to become a much better engineer. I was also personally involved in supplying parts so that a hospital, a water treatment plant, a geothermal power plant, and many other industries and facilities could either be built or continue to operate. We made money, but I don't remember having to fulfill our evil quotient.

One of the other corporations I worked for even had the evil word in its name. When I started there we had four full time employees and three part time employees. This corporation gave me my first job. The pay wasn't great, but the experience was invaluable. Working at a corporation of 7 forced me to wear many hats, and gave me an understanding of business and engineering that many of my peers do not have because they haven't been exposed to it.

So when I see signs protesting the evils of the corporation, understand why I might have a tendency to point laugh and shake my head in disgust. Corporations have allowed me to feed and clothe my family. Corporations have provided me training and allowed me to grow as a professional. Corporations have allowed me to be where and what I am today, and I'm not the only one.

Snipe Hunt

2011-10-02T20:18:00.001-06:00

I went looking for ducks and ended up on an honest to goodness snipe hunt. I brought back two Wilson's Snipe. Just enough for lunch.

Cleaning them is accomplished much like cleaning doves. Cooking them is fairly simple as well. We got a box of fancy rice, situated the cleaned snipe in the rice, added water, covered, and threw in the oven for 45 minutes at 400.

The result was delicious. If you've never had snipe (I'd never had them before today) I highly recommend it.

A Winner Is Me

2011-10-01T22:06:00.000-06:00

Apparently #29 is my new lucky number and I will soon have a box of happiness heading my way. My number was drawn for two AR-15 magazines topped off with Carteach .223. When I sent my donation to the Wounded Warrior Project, I did it with every expectation of winning nothing more than the knowledge that the money would be put to good use.

Pictures will be posted of the aforementioned box of happiness when it arrives. A big thanks to Carteach for running this fundraiser and opening up wallets across the country to the tune of $2300+. I guess I can no longer say, "I never win these things."

Concealed Confusion

2011-09-07T22:28:00.000-06:00

Tonight I attended the monthly meeting of a local 4WD club that I'm thinking of joining. There has been a good deal of discussion within the club recently surrounding changing their bylaws.

Before tonight their club banned firearms at all club sponsored events. I've been told this was to combat the stereotype of guys getting liquored up, driving down a trail (and beside a trail and making their own trails), and shooting up signs and anything else. The other reason is that the club is "family friendly".

With concealed carry becoming ever more popular, some folks took issue with the bylaws and looked to have them changed. The online vote they conducted apparently had over 70% for changing the bylaws to allow concealed (and only concealed) carry at club events with 20% opposed. The vote during the meeting was much the same. From that standpoint it was a good meeting.

The disappointing thing was the amount of disinformation being passed around by both those for and those against changing the bylaws. Some of the misconceptions/misstatements included:

Places where an individual with a concealed carry permit is not allowed to carry
The legality of drinking while carrying concealed (in Colorado drinking is legal, being intoxicated while armed is not)
How reciprocity with other states (Utah in particular) works
The legality of open carry in Colorado (with the exception of a few cities, perfectly legal in CO)
What brandishing a firearm is

The disappointing thing is that some of the misinformation was coming from the club's resident gun expert. No matter the state you live in, no matter if you carry or not, if you are a gun owner you should know the laws and how they apply to you. I first utilized the excellent local resource provided by Rocky Mountain Gun Owners. If your state doesn't have something similar, the NRA-ILA is a good source. When you move or travel to another state, you've got homework to do if your guns are coming with you. Don't end up like the gun expert in the meeting, and don't end up in jail like this guy.

2011-09-05T08:35:00.000-06:00

I was discussing Labor Day with my wife this morning and we came up with this truism.

To hell with unions...unless they want to invite me in.

I figure that covers around 90% of Americans' attitudes.

Good Excuses

2011-09-03T07:54:00.000-06:00

If you've ever needed a good excuse to donate to an awesome cause, look no further. Carteach has put together a fund raiser with some really nice goodies. All proceeds go to the Wounded Warrior Project. If you haven't yet sent some money their way, now is as good a time as any.

No Kidding

2011-08-31T22:49:00.002-06:00

Dear Colorado Government,

I'd like you to see what my shocked face looks like after hearing that you've been forced to scale back Medicaid coverage after grossly underestimating the costs.

Get used to this face as you'll likely be seeing it a lot when 2014 rolls around and Obamacare kicks in.

Seriously,
A Horse Thief

Camp Hale Weekend

2011-08-28T22:07:00.000-06:00

I spent this weekend down near Camp Hale. Camp Hale was a training location for the 10th Mountain Division during 1940's. It is amazing country with spectacular views.

While there we got on some back country roads and found some mushrooms and some of these:

I also stumbled across some metal discs.

Upon closer inspection these appear to be the metal caps that went on the fiber tubes containing a 75mm shell and hand grenades respectively. Pretty cool to stumble across a small piece of WWII history right here in Colorado.

Maybe He Wore Dark Desert

2011-08-24T06:19:00.000-06:00

Gadhafi gathered up his special forces and SWAT teams and made a tactical retreat. Everything these days is tactical.

More Reality Gun Shop

2011-08-17T21:43:00.000-06:00

I learned that Red Jacket will soon have some competition in the reality Gun Shop arena. A local to me establishment, Gunsmoke, has apparently been filming for their very own reality series. I've taken a gun or two over there to be worked on, and every time they've done a good job for a reasonable price. I hope Discovery shows them in a good light.

Econ 101 Must Have Been Harder Than I Remember

2011-08-06T21:53:00.000-06:00

Reading the comments on several of the S&P downgrade stories has me shaking my head and checking my store of colander and cement helmets.

Screaming, "I HAVE A GUN!"

2011-07-21T23:46:00.000-06:00

Stories like the one coming out of Ohio are why I am grateful that in Colorado there is no requirement to notify. I'm not even going to comment on the rest of the B.S. in the linked video.

Stop Playing With It

2011-06-09T09:04:00.000-06:00

Denver cop shoots himself in the hand while playing with it in the bathroom.

Seriously, stop playing with it.

Happy Birthday To Me

2011-05-18T22:15:00.000-06:00

So, I've had a lower in need of an upper for quite some time.

Yesterday was my birthday, and my most amazing wife decided to get me this.

It's a 16" DPMS Sportical upper purchased from MidwayUSA. Hopefully the snow/sleet/rain will stop soon so I can take it on a test drive. I'm already thinking about changing out the handguard. Any suggestions are appreciated.

ETA: Turns out that when iron sights are installed after several birthday beers the chances of getting them on backwards goes up by 78%.

I Didn't BAG....I BAT

2011-04-21T10:02:00.001-06:00

I didn't make a gun purchase on Buy A Gun Day. Instead I B.A.T.

It's got some rust issues, some in need of paint issues, and some needs the brakes adjusted issues (which I'm in the middle of right now), but it should be a fun project.

I also made a batch of non alcohol taxable homebrew.

It's a dry hopped wheat beer, should be interesting.

Policy Revision

2011-04-20T19:49:00.000-06:00

Well that didn't take long. The new range owners down the road got tired of hearing about their customers' dislike of their ammo policy and revised it.

Hurray for owners who listen to their customer base and respond accordingly.

Full Auto BBs

2011-04-19T07:50:00.000-06:00

No tax stamp required...for now.

They look to be on backorder, but for only $299 I could afford a bunch of BBs.

How To Lose Customers Before You Open

2011-04-10T01:34:00.000-06:00

I had been rather excited about the "new" shooting range opening literally a couple of blocks away from my house. I had used the location rather frequently when the place was under previous ownership. The place is now called BluCore Shooting Center and is run by some guys that had previously been offering training courses and decided to run a range instead of borrowing someone else's.

As details about their membership pricing and new lane configurations started showing up on their website, I was pretty excited about the possibilities. Then they posted their ammo policy. It requires purchase of range ammo for the most common rifle and pistol calibers. I quickly became significantly less excited, as did many others. When the owners started to spin this as anything other than a way to stay profitable, I became even further ambivalent about exchanging cash for goods and services.

I'll probably still use the place from time to time, but for now I'll still be looking around for a better local spot to shoot at.

Dear Amazon

2011-04-04T07:07:00.000-06:00

Amazon, I like you and all, but can you please stop sending me e-mails with the latest deals on flat screen TVs? I was only looking as a backup if my amateur TV repairman efforts failed. As it turns out, all I needed to do was swap out some boards and everything was just peachy. I knew exactly what I was doing thanks to the magic of the internet.

So no more TV e-mails, okay? Now if you've got suggestions on what to buy for Buy A Gun Day, I'm all ears.

Bound Book

2011-03-17T22:16:00.000-06:00

Back in January, after having read all I could find and being egged on by this blog post, I sent in my 03 FFL license application. I wanted me some Curios and Relics. About a week ago, my license arrived in the mail. I wasted no time making copies and scanning the original as well as a signed copy.

I sent this scan and my credit card number into AIM Surplus and earlier this week they sent me this:

It is a 1891/30 Russian Mosin Nagant with a hex receiver. Poking around 7.62x54r.net, I found out that it was produced in Izhevsk in 1931. It is also a MO stamped rifle with two extra date marks. After cleaning the bajezzus out of it, it is a nice looking rifle. My wife already has the 2x4 ordered so that we can successfully operate the bolt.

This is definitely the first of many C&R purchases. Likely, I should burn my credit cards now. If you don't have a C&R license, look into getting one. They are well worth the time and effort.

Comedy Gold

2011-02-24T23:26:00.000-07:00

Over at Unc's place...the internet has finally been won. Not the post, but the comments containing Red Coats, Nazis, Wookies, Wisconsin Democrats, Hillary Clinton, ATF agents, Orcs, and so much more.

I know you didn't ask to have a half hour of your day taken up by reading comments to a 101 work post, but seriously what else were you going to do at work on a Friday?

They Do Exist

2011-02-09T06:01:00.001-07:00

In case anyone was wondering, Magpul really did finally get around to making iPhone cases. I ordered mine from Midway USA about a year ago. When I ordered it I still had a 3g iPhone instead of the 4g I have now. I also had a different expiration date on my credit card. I actually had to call the fine folks at Midway to give them my new card info.

Luckily, my wife still has a 3g iPhone and it happened to be in need of a case. Other than it feeling like she has a grenade in her pocket, she seems to really like it. It appears to be a sturdy product that will perform its intended function well.

Home Improvement Scope Creep

2011-02-08T11:34:00.001-07:00

I've haven't been posting lately because I've been knee deep in home improvement projects. Initially we were going to add cabinets and a work surface to the wall of our office to provide for more storage and give our two kids a quiet place to do homework and other projects.

A week ago we had finally gotten to the point where it was time to cut the carpet in order to expose the subfloor that the base cabinets would be mounted on. Out came the carpet knife, up came the carpet and the carpet pad, but the subfloor did not appear. Instead, we found 3/4" thick oak hardwood floors. My wife has always wanted wood floors.

We pulled all the furniture out of the room, and once the carpet was gone, the carpet pad removed, the staples used to hold the carpet pad pulled, and the tack strips carefully ripped out, we were left with this:

I still had to remove the 20 or so 1" long (remember where I said it was 3/4" hardwood) screws used to "stop the floor from squeaking".

Last Friday, with the room all prepped, I rented an orbital floor sander and edger. Total cost including sandpaper was about $125. I also picked up some water based polyurethane, Varathane brand with nanotechnology. I picked the water based stuff for two reasons. I was hoping to avoid the yellowing of the finish that the old oil based polyurethane had developed. I was also hoping to avoid having my whole family high off of fumes. Doing this in the winter makes airing out the house an unattractive option.

The orbital sander did a great job and was relatively easy to use. It really is just a giant version of the hand held orbital sander I have in the garage. A little scraping was required to remove the white paint spots the previous owners of the house so thoughtfully applied to the floor prior to covering it with carpet. We started with 36 grit for the rough cut, used 60 grit for the intermediate, and 80 grit for the final sanding.

After extensive cleanup involving brooms, vacuum cleaners, and cotton shirts, we had a clean bare floor. By Saturday afternoon we were applying the first coat of water based poly. I'm not sure what the nanotech did, but by Sunday at 11 AM we had a bunch of sore muscles and a floor that looked like this:

Noms

2011-01-25T23:37:00.000-07:00

I made bacon french toast this morning. If you have not yet tried it, I urge you to go cook now. No pictures as it was gone before I even thought to dig out the camera.

Flashbacks to Fifth Grade

2011-01-21T06:25:00.000-07:00

For some reason, this whole "let's sit together at the Sate of the Union" thing the Colorado delegation is proposing strikes me as a bit juvenile. It reminds me of fifth grade when one of the popular girls would feel sorry for snot nose Johnny and get all of her friends to sit with him at lunch.

The thing of it is, there's a good chance that Johnny doesn't really like the popular crowd. He'd just like to finish his lunch and go finish reading the last three chapters of his book.

Hopefully guys like Rep. Mike Coffman are like SNJ and are serious about getting back to work after lunch is over. From Mr. Coffman via the Denver Post:

"Now that we have the seating arrangements ironed out, we can get back to the real task at hand, which is getting our economy back on the right track."

CCI Tactical

2011-01-11T22:50:00.000-07:00

I was browsing the latest Cabela's catalog this evening and learned something new. Apparently it is possible to have tactical .22lr ammunition. I'm hoping it is all black and comes with lots of pockets.

Not So International Expo

2011-01-08T14:57:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about spending $30 and taking my family to the International Sportsmen's Expo. Then I realized that I'd spend most of my time oogling things I'd never own or really need.

Instead, I ended up taking the family a little further down the road to Golden Gate Canyon State Park. Seventy dollars per year gets me into every state park in Colorado. I got to show my son tracks made by various animals and spend time with my family in the Colorado Rockies.

I think I made the better choice and got the better deal, even if we didn't bring home rabbit for dinner.

Tron: Legacy

2011-01-05T07:41:00.002-07:00

Jeff Bridges fights computer Jeff Bridges, on a bridge man. On a bridge!

From the Mouth of Babes

2011-01-01T11:35:00.000-07:00

My son just asked me if I have any friends in New Mexico. I responded in the affirmative.

"They should move."

Sleepover

2010-12-31T19:44:00.000-07:00

There's a seven, five, and four year old that will be sleeping on my living room floor tonight. They are currently upstairs running amok.*

This has likely made my first tasting of Buffalo Trace bourbon even better than it otherwise would have been. I deem it damn fine whiskey. The snorting buffalo on their website is also good for five minutes of entertainment.

*Word to the wise, when watching someone else's child it is a very good idea to stay on the sober side of the drinking gauge. Either that or pawn the responsibility off on your wife.

Srsly?

2010-12-26T17:09:00.000-07:00

It's been really dry so far this winter. It's been unseasonably warm, 52 F yesterday. Does that really mean that it's time to water the lawn? On the 26th of December, in a city that averages 17 inches of water annually, my neighbor is watering his slightly green lawn.

I suppose though when my kids are out riding their new bikes past his window, it seems like lawn watering makes sense.

Old Words, New Venue

2010-12-24T09:12:00.000-07:00

You know it's bad when public officials start using gun banner verbiage. Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, when discussing the newly created "wild lands" designation designed to slow resource extraction in Utah used a familiar phrase.

He said it would protect pristine wildlands while allowing a "common sense" approach to decisions on such matters as oil and gas drilling.

Take a guess as to whose "common sense" they will be using.

Is it Christmas yet?

2010-12-24T08:49:00.000-07:00

I've been asked five times in the last 30 minutes if it's Christmas yet.

Tactical Tim, Tebow Tim, Timmay, and...

2010-12-21T21:16:00.000-07:00

When I see this:

I think of this:

and when I see this:

I think of this:

I don't know. Maybe it's just me.

I Might Be In A Database

2010-12-20T22:52:00.000-07:00

Colorado has a database for their concealed weapons permit holders. This convoluted story describes the not so surprising state of a State run, voluntary (for the sheriffs, not the permit holders) database that lumps those that have undergone training and a background check with criminals.

The surprising part of the story is that over 70% of law enforcement officers in Colorado trust the information in the database and use it to "feel safer" because they "know" if a suspect is armed. Assuming that my entry wasn't screwed up like 63% of them apparently are, when I am pulled over because my taillight is out, the Colorado cop coming to my car window is on high alert because he "knows" that I am armed. How this helps the officer or myself, I am not sure. How it can escalate what would otherwise be a calm situation, I can easily see.

It was also comforting to know that information that was not given in my application has possibly been added to my file. It is sounding more and more like this database needs to be deleted. Time to get to work.

Technology Fail

2010-12-18T13:01:00.000-07:00

The dimmer switch has been buzzing lately. Not thinking the problem through, I went and replaced the existing switch with another dimmer switch that I had laying around. The new switch emitted the same buzzing. I looked up at the lights and immediately saw my problem.

Two recently installed CFLs. That's all I could find last time I was at the store. Fluorescent bulbs, even with electronic ballasts operate at a certain frequency. Modern dimmer switches operate by rapidly turning on and off the power to the bulb. This happens at a variable frequency that is set by the switch position. Long story short, the modern CFLs don't like the frequency they are being cycled at.

I'm off to the store to look for some good ole fashioned incandescent bulbs, but at some point I'm going to have to find another solution. Thanks technology.

Tinfoil Hats

2010-12-13T21:37:00.000-07:00

A program on the Discovery Channel is currently teaching me how to make a RFID blocking wallet...with tin foil.

Holiday Ice Cream

2010-12-07T20:12:00.000-07:00

If you ever find yourself in Denver, I recommend a trip to Magill's. I just got done devouring egg nog and pumpkin flavored ice cream, and their rum raisin is to die for.

Need One of Them There Money Trees

2010-12-05T23:28:00.000-07:00

The indoor range a stone's throw from my house has been closed for a while now. It has also been for sale for a while now. I drive past this range every weekday morning and see the for sale sign. This has not been good for my long term planning. Every time I drive past, I see the sign and think that I ought to buy the place and run it right for a change.

The thing about this facility is that, while it is likely the nicest facility in town it has never been the best run place. Seriously, read the reviews. My favorite has to be this one from Yelp:

I came with a group of friends, of which, several were not caucasians.

The owner and his staff referred to my friends as "terrorists". I said I did not appreciate that and let it go. We continued small talk and then I asked how much it was going to be. He (the owner) said; "For you, It's double."

It typically isn't great business strategy to arbitrarily harass your potential customers and then kick them out. I never had any truly terrible experiences there, but I was never made to feel welcome. The staff always acted like they were doing you a favor by letting you pay to shoot there.

They did refuse to allow a group of folks shoot (seven of us) because they overheard one of the group mention that it was for our NRA handgun class. Their stance was that since they taught classes there, no one else could. I could understand that viewpoint if they were teaching classes weekly or more often, but since they only held classes at most once a month and charged $50 more than the average going rate I didn't get how that could make business sense.

Many new shooters end up shooting again and again at the range they learned to shoot at. Why turn away seven new, potentially repeat customers? Most of our group of seven never went back to that range and instead still shoot at the place we ended up doing our shooting for the class at. After that experience, I stopped taking new shooters there. We went to the outdoor range with the similar name halfway across town. You need a State Parks Pass to even get to it, and the RO's are huge sticklers for their numerous rules, but they actually try and make folks feel welcome. In addition, they try to help out any way they can, especially new shooters. I've seen the RO's help to site in a rifle, give an AR-15 lesson, and help a father and son both learn to shoot safely.

I think I could run a range like that. The problem is that I can't figure out where I planted that dang money tree. Well, that and I don't really know anything about running a range.

Blood On The Gun

2010-12-05T22:42:00.000-07:00

I've said before that I view a gun as just another tool. At times however, I have trouble explaining away the idea of a gun having "juju".

Last year my wife went hunting with a borrowed, but essentially brand new Kimber 84M. The gun had never killed an animal. At the end of her hunt the gun still hadn't killed an animal. This year she had the rifle her grandfather had given her. That gun has seen numerous animals fall in front of it. On opening day she got her elk close enough to camp that we brought it back whole.

My father-in-law decided to give his trusty Ruger M77 in .30-06 to his son and get himself a shiny new Ruger No. 1 in 7mm Mag. With his old gun he had been an elk killer, but it took him years of hunting hard in order to "get blood on the gun". Now that he has, he's back to where he was before the gun change.

I've been grouse hunting a bit in the last couple of years, but it wasn't until I took my grandfather's .22 revolver up to the mountains that I had grouse literally walk up to me and beg to become dinner.

I realize that the attributed juju is likely just the human tendency to search for and assign meaning to random happenings. We like to find patterns, even where none truly exist. Even armed with this knowledge, I still have trouble completely explaining away the idea of juju. Do you have guns with juju, or the more dreaded gun with none?

First Time

2010-12-02T23:01:00.000-07:00

The next several days of of hunting involved going into the high places looking for bull elk. No one had any luck finding a legal bull. Several of us saw a big 2X2 bull, but he didn't have brow tines and therefore wasn't legal. On Tuesday the snow started flying. Against better judgment we all went out hoping that the snow would let up and we could find elk. I gave up sure that I would be the first one back in camp. As it turned out I was the last.

On my way back into camp I saw a weasel, completely white in his winter coat carrying his lunch, a small vole. When he saw me he dropped the vole (already very dead) and ran off. To this day I
wonder how many other people on the planet have seen something similar. If someone were to ask me why I enjoy hunting so much, the story would likely involve Mr. Weasel.

The next day broke with clear skies and the possibility of tracking elk in the fresh snow. I finally got to hunt the West side of the mountain and took my wife with me. She had hunted hard and not too far up the mountain ran out of steam. She elected to sit in a good spot, overlooking a decent amount of the mountain. Not coincidentally, she was sitting where I had killed my first elk on the mountain.

I chose to hike higher up the mountain, following the trail past the archery hunters' blind, higher and higher until I cut elk tracks. I followed the tracks until, for some reason, my gut told me to leave them and walk out towards a rock outcropping. As I reached the outcropping, I heard and then saw the elk that I had been following. He was 50 yards away, but his head was hidden behind some brush. He had no idea that I had dropped in below him, and was feeding peacefully. Unfortunately, due to his feeding and the brush between his head and me I could not tell if he was a legal bull. After about three minutes of watching him both through my rifle scope and binoculars I finally decided he was legal.

The next 30 seconds were tied up in me figuring out how to make a clean shot. His shoulders were hidden behind the brush. I was forced to take a shot further back on the front side that angled towards his back shoulder. Having selected my shot, I shouldered the rifle, took off the safety, monitored my breathing, and squeezed the trigger. I almost did not believe what happened next. I immediately ran the bolt and chambered another round, fully expecting the elk to take off running. Instead, he took two steps and dropped.

I waited to see if he would get up and move, but after several minutes I couldn't contain myself and started making phone calls. I called my father-in-law, my uncle, and my wife telling them that I had an elk down. Finally my heart rate slowed enough that I could approach the elk. I came up to him with the safety off in case he had not yet expired. As I neared, it was clear that my first and only shot had done the job.

I quickly gave thanks to the elk and the mountain, then I got to work. In short order had him gutted. My wife showed up and then my uncle and father-in-law. We quartered him and with the help of the snow, had him down the mountain and into camp. My first bull gave seven families three elk to share. My freezer is now full and I have to figure out how to mount the antlers of a 4X5 elk. I have been blessed with elk for the last four years.

Well Then I'm Happy and Sad For You

2010-11-21T08:42:00.001-07:00

The new/old gun I mentioned in the last post is a High-Standard R-102. It had been my grandfather's gun. My grandmother recently passed away. It wasn't entirely unexpected. She had suffered a stroke and then been in and out of the hospital. While my mom and aunts were cleaning the house and putting things in order they found the gun. It was up on a shelf, exactly as my grandfather had left it, with nine rounds in the cylinder. I wouldn't have expected it to be any other way.

My grandfather carried the .22 on his hip often when we were out in the woods together. He used it on a couple of rabbit hunts we went on. When I carefully took aim and shot at the grouse, it occurred to me that this was likely something my grandfather had done many years ago with this same revolver. Unlike my grandfather I sailed the first two shots right over the grouse's head. On the third shot I aimed slightly lower and hit my mark and the circle was completed.

It isn't a terribly pretty gun. The grips are plastic. It isn't worth a lot of money, and the finish is worn and scratched. What it is is a tangible connection with my past, my mother's past, my grandfather's past. I wouldn't part with it for anything.

A Bird In the Bush, Now In Hand

2010-11-20T20:39:00.000-07:00

Sitting in elk camp on opening day with two elk hung and skinned early left us with some time for goofing off. We soon had the slingshot out and were putting some serious dents in some cans. I was sitting at the end of the firing line and kept hearing rustling next to me. After thinking the squirrels were playing jokes on me for several minutes, I finally saw the source of the rustling. Not 15 feet away from me were two grouse.

The nice thing about elk season is that it overlaps with grouse season. I quickly went and got my new/old revolver from the truck. I walked around so that I had a good backstop, and upon the third .22 round I had ever shot from the gun I had bagged one of the grouse. It was quickly cleaned skinned and placed in a dutch oven over a bed of veggies.

We covered it and placed coals from the campfire on top, replacing regularly for 45 minutes and dinner was served.

What I Found Walking In the Woods

2010-11-11T20:19:00.001-07:00

For the last week I've been walking through the Colorado woods chasing elk. I have been blessed in the last three years and have brought home a cow elk each year. This year I did not draw a cow elk tag in the area I usually hunt. This meant going into the high up places to look for bulls.

I have also been blessed with a wife who has developed a love for hunting. She did draw a cow elk license, as did my uncle. My wife and I got to elk camp after a long week of work. We pulled in long after dark, plopped our sleeping bags in the canvas wall tent we share with my uncle, father-in-law, and cousin. The morning came early and with it came a plan. There was construction down in the valley below that was pushing the elk up around 7:00 in the morning. We downed some coffee and quickly ate a cold breakfast in order to get into place to catch the elk on the move.

I sat with my back against a large aspen tree and watched the ridge above me where the elk might choose to cross. After sitting for about an hour enjoying watching the squirrels play and chatter, I was jolted by a crack and a boom. Someone had taken a shot. I sat tight, hoping that the elk might choose to run past me. Instead I heard several other shots, all very close. Soon I could sit no longer and called my uncle. I was sure that two of the shots were his. He had a cow down and wanted my help to get in gutted and back to camp. I found him quickly and started to help. Several minutes later, my cousin crested the hill and told me that he would help my uncle as long as I went to help my wife with her elk.

I quickly headed over the hill to find my wife with her first elk, a small cow. Her dad was soon there to help. As is my wife's way, she insisted on doing most of the work of gutting the elk herself. She had gotten it close to camp and in short order we had it back and ready to hang. Fifteen minutes later, my uncle and cousin brought the other elk in, and we had two elk hanging in camp. It was not yet 2 PM. An excellent start to the season.

Pictures below the fold.

A Common Theme?

2010-10-20T13:05:00.034-06:00

I got done reading Linoge's excellent post on logical fallacies presented as arguments for gun control. It sounded strangely familiar to another argument I had heard repeated over and over, but had seen little evidence for. You see scientists and the World agree that global warming is caused by dirty evil humans.

Since everyone knows that global warming is real and kills, we have to do something. Invariably "do something" means passing laws that make the honest person's life more difficult while rewarding the rich and the criminal.

Maybe that's why so many of the gunnies I know remain unconvinced on the subject of global warming. We've seen this scheme before, and we weren't fooled the first time.

I Must Be One Of Them There Fudds

2010-10-19T21:23:00.000-06:00

I was reading the comments to Sebastian's post on the doomage of hunting (I agree with a lot that he says, but feel that access will have more to do with the decline of hunting than hunters shooting each other in the foot). At some point the comments moved to Fudd bashing. The popular sport of making fun of hunters who only own a rifle or shotgun and only use it to take game.

Looking at the stack of mail I brought in, I got concerned. The top two items were a Cabela's catalog and the November issue of Field & Stream. Oh crap! Maybe I'm part Fudd. After all, I got into shooting through hunting. I learned to shoot primarily by using prairie dogs as targets for my .22. From there I graduated to rabbits, and then deer, elk, and turkey.

Where I grew up a gun was truly seen as a simple tool. No different than a hammer or saw or tape. A gun's function was varmit removal and dinner collector. It wasn't until I had a family that the utility of a gun expanded to include protection of loved ones. It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that I think the derogatory use of the term Fudd is moronic. Typically, convincing people to join in supporting your chosen cause does not involve demeaning them.

There are plenty of people that own one handgun that they store at their bedside, "just in case." They don't take it out to the range for practice and only clean it once in a blue moon. For those people, it is just a tool, like a hammer only to be pulled out of the toolbox when a nail needs beaten down. There are other people who want to know everything there is to know about their gun. They want to master its use and typically own different guns for different occasions and some just because they are cool. These folks are comparable to a master fabricator who owns multiple hammers of multiple weights and materials and uses them for much more than that troublesome nail on the stairs. Not everyone is passionate about hammers.

Many hunters are the same way. A rifle or shotgun is no different or more significant to these hunters than a new pack or rangefinder or call. It is just one of the many things needed in the field in order to take game. The best way to get these hunters to support gun rights for all is education, not name calling. Hunters have been told for decades that politicians aren't out to take their hunting rifles. The uneducated ones believed this. Once a hunter becomes educated on the subject, they often become more involved in supporting the rights of all gun owners.

For all the bitching about these evil good for nothing Fudds, I have yet to actually meet one. Maybe it has to do with where I live, but virtually every truck that has an elk or duck or deer sticker on the back window has an NRA sticker there too. Many hunters are shooters and CCW holders.

Maybe next time you see an honest to goodness Fudd out in the wild, instead of directing your scorn their way you can direct them to take a seat behind your evil black rifle. Chances are good that after squeezing off a few rounds and having a friendly chat the Fudd will have disappeared.

Just A Couple of Quick...

2010-10-08T17:57:00.000-06:00

Pictures from the road.

Mr. Major, Meet Mr. Minor

2010-10-06T05:51:00.000-06:00

Colorado state law being ~~crafted by politicians~~ what it is. The Republican party currently stands a good chance of being relegated to minor party status for the next four years. Conservative minded voters in this state don't want the Western Mayor Against ~~all~~ Illegal Guns Denverite Hickenlooper running the show statewide. That means either voting for an inexperienced liar or Tom Tancredo. Increasingly, it looks like Tancredo will be the one of the two who stands a chance of defeating Hick.

I have to admit that I would enjoy seeing the Republican candidate Maes get less than 10% of the vote. The Republican party in this state truly lives up to the Stupid Party moniker. The choices they gave primary voters were an experienced guy that no one really supported and an unknown that talked a good game. It wasn't until after the primary race that more of the info about Maes' unsuitability to lead came to light. Seeing the party that can't even produce a viable candidate for Governor relegated to minority party status would make me smile.

The problem is that they would not truly be a minority party and as GOP Chairman Dick Wadams has stated, they would simply try to change the law to again force a two party (donkeys and elephants only) system down our throats. Maybe the Ds would get in the way and the American Constitution Party can replace the stupid party. More likely it'll make for some entertainment to much popcorn to.

Things That Don't Need Laundered

2010-10-05T06:05:00.000-06:00

After yesterday, I have some new things to add to my don't stick in the laundry list. The list already includes cash, receipts, lip balm, crayons, sunscreen, and a cell phone (it got noticed before the water got too high). My new additions look like this:

The Wilson mag should be fine, but due to paranoia the dollar a round Hornady ammo will be regulated to range use.

Free Market At Work

2010-10-02T07:32:00.000-06:00

I've had more than several jobs and more than several insurance companies. There have been good ones, bad ones, and some that were simply serviceable. Aetna was one that I really liked. Unfortunately for Colorado's small businesses, they are no longer an option.

New laws and regulations have made it unattractive for a good company to provide their service in this state. Colorado officials assume that the free market will work and other companies will step in to fill the void. They obviously don't understand how the free market works. Less competition generally leads to higher prices and fewer options. Hurray for the new regulations and the "free market".

A Friendly Self Defense Reminder

2010-09-25T07:39:00.000-06:00

Back in February a local 81 year old man shot at two men who were stealing his trailer. He hit one of the thieves in the face, but both bad guys ended up surviving the encounter. The problem is that the bad guys were driving away at the time.

Robert Joseph Wallace, the 81 year old in question, just pleaded guilty to two felonies, attempted reckless manslaughter and illegal discharge of a firearm.

Luckily for him he had a compassionate DA and judge and was only sentenced to probation. That being said, he still is a convicted felon with all that entails. He is also much poorer, having likely given his lawyer large sums of money in order to keep him out of prison. He was originally facing two counts of attempted first degree murder.

Self defense does not mean protection of property. This isn't like the old days where you can shoot the guy stealing your horse and end up with a pat on the back from the local sheriff. It is very hard to justify fearing for your life as the bad guys are driving away with your stuff. Shooting at another person is a last resort action. It is a kill or be killed (or seriously injured) situation.

A flatbed trailer is not worth prison time or two years of probation and the loss of rights associated with being a felon. A flatbed trailer is not worth another person's life, no matter how worthless that person is.

C'mon Bad Guys

2010-09-21T07:36:00.000-06:00

I found this gem of an article over at the Denver Post on the stupidity of action movies. I picked out my favorite part and tossed it below, but the whole thing is made of awesome sauce. Clicking the quote gets you the full meal deal.

Five guys with machine guns can destroy everything breakable in a room and not even touch the Hero, who is usually diving behind the couch or something.
The couch — is the theory that the cushions deflect bullets because of all the coins lodged in there? And if he's behind the couch, why are the bad guys shooting the TV and the dishes and the pictures on the wall? And why don't the bad guys find their own couches to crouch behind, instead of standing out in the open hosing down the room with bullets?

The Vroom Rrrch

2010-09-14T07:20:00.000-06:00

Around these parts we have a certain special type of driver. I call them the Vroom Rrrch. When traffic is bumper to bumper (read my drive to and from work every day), the Vroom Rrrch driver will first slam on their brakes for no apparent reason. After all of your stuff has shifted forward in your car the driver will likely proceed to realize that slamming on his brakes has caused him to back off of the bumper of the car in front of him and press the accelerator to the floor. This is followed by slamming on the brakes once again.

All day yesterday while sitting in traffic I was trying to figure out what could be going through the Vroom Rrcher's mind. I still haven't figured it out. About the best I could come up with is that maybe they are ex-manual transmission drivers that haven't figured out how to drive without the aid of a clutch. Any ideas?

Life Circles Back Around

2010-09-11T12:28:00.000-06:00

I've been asked by my company to go and represent us at the career fair of my alma mater. It got me to thinking about my senior year career fair back in 2001. I was planning on talking to the company that I likely had a job with and making some other contacts in case things fell through.

The day didn't exactly turn out as I had planned. My senior year career day was on September 11th. I spent most of it in a hallway watching a TV that had been wheeled out and plugged into the wall. There were about 10 of us that watched for most of the day. I didn't go to class. I didn't go to work. I just stood there and watched.

Now I head back to career day and the prospects for many of the upcoming graduates are the same as mine were back then several days after September 11th. I hope they all are as lucky as I was and find employment that leads them into a successful career. Nine years removed, it is hard to believe that little has changed.

You Win This Time Tactical Tim

2010-09-10T19:27:00.000-06:00

I resisted as long as I could, but in the end due to the amassing of excellent writers like Tam, Marko, and Caleb and the Advisory Board, I ended up renewing my membership. Although I am still not enamored with Tactical Tim's writing style or especially his marketing style, I do like the selection of people he has chosen to surround himself with.

Here's hoping he convinces me to renew next year as well.

Stupidest Thing I've Seen All Day

2010-09-09T19:40:00.001-06:00

I just got done watching the commercial below. At the end of it I literally did a facepalm. Crap like this can't really sell cars, can it?

How I Spent My Friday Night

2010-09-04T09:54:00.000-06:00

After the boys went to bed, I got everything set out and ready for a little Friday night fun. This is the result.

I like the Magpul parts as far as feel and durability go. However, I was a little disappointed with the rough finish, particularly on the MAID grip. The LPK and stock kit were from Stag Arms. There were no issues and both the buffer tube and the trigger look to be on the nicer end of the spectrum.

Now I've got a serious problem. I need to decide exactly what I want to do with the upper. I know I want it in 6.8 SPC (for a possible antelope gun and general bigger boom). After that though I am undecided. Maybe I should just ask the experts and call up Bison Armory. Maybe I should hem and haw some more. After all the journey is part of the fun.

Gun Shop Wisdom

2010-09-02T11:35:00.001-06:00

After having shot other peoples' AR-15s in various configurations and deriving massive amounts of enjoyment from the Evil Black .22, I decided it was finally time to own an Evil Dark Earth Rifle. I looked around and didn't see anything really close to what I was after, so I did what any country boy with a smidgen of mechanical aptitude would do. I went out and bought a stripped lower.

The first gun shop I called had lowers in stock, but I couldn't get over there till the next day. By then what they had was gone. I drove across town to another gun shop who when I called to see if they had them replied that they did but, "they are marked pistol". After being assured that they were indeed mil-spec receivers I headed on over to pick one up.

When I got there another gun shop employee asked what I was after. When I told him he asked if I was building a rifle or a pistol. I replied that I was building a rifle thinking he was just making small talk. That was when he proceeded to tell me that all they had was pistol lowers.

Que my confused face. After about five minutes of discussion, I finally got him to agree to sell me the "pistol only lower". It came with a warning to be real careful if I was really going to build a rifle out of it.

LPK is on the way, and the furniture from Magpul is already here. I guess I'll just have to be real careful...to not lose the pivot pin detent spring when I build my rifle lower.

Fish, Fish Got His Wish

2010-09-02T07:12:00.000-06:00

So as details started coming out about the crazy guy that was holding hostages at the Discovery Channel, I had a couple of thoughts.

First, crazy can find you anywhere. Who at the Discovery Channel woke up today thinking, I bet today is the day the nut with the bombs shows up? Remain aware of your surroundings and carry your guns.

Second, when I found out that his crusade was against human beings "infesting" the planet and that he wanted to save every animal but the humans, all I could think after SWAT had taken him out was, "Well, one less human in the world."

Seriously, any other whack-jobs that think like this dude, do us all a favor and when you decide to reduce the human population do it quietly in your own home.

My Weekend

2010-08-22T17:10:00.000-06:00

What did your weekend look like?

40.419452,-106.74566

Where the Votes Don't Matter & Everything's Made Up

2010-08-19T09:06:00.000-06:00

I'm a registered Republican. I don't always vote GOP, but I like to have my primary vote and have it count for something. The GOP chair however would rather my vote didn't count for anything. I voted for Maes.

Yesterday, Tom Tancredo and GOP Chair Dick Wadhams decided that my vote shouldn't count.

They want to force the guy who won the primary to drop out of the race so they can choose someone "more suitable".

ISN'T THAT WHAT A PRIMARY ELECTION IS FOR?

Apparently, a primary is so that registered Republicans can bless those chosen by the party leadership. I will likely be changing my party affiliation. Now I've just got to decide between Libertarian and independent. News flash to GOP leadership, this shit is why you lose elections and no one trusts you rat bastards.

Sanding Rubber

2010-08-16T21:08:00.000-06:00

My wife was recently given her grandfather's hunting rifle. The Remington Model 721 in .270 was purchased new in 1952. It has been on many a hunting trip. Her father used it to take his first deer. When we got it, it was in need of a little TLC.

There was a small crack at the front of the stock and the recoil pad was the original from '52. We removed the old recoil pad, watching it disintegrate as it came off. We then plugged the old holes with dowels and glued the crack in the stock.

We applied linseed oil to the stock and got to work on the recoil pad. I picked up a Limbsaver grind to fit as I had heard that they were fairly easy to install and worked great. We mounted the pad and traced out the contour of the rifle. We then removed the pad and got to sanding. My wife went first and after a half hour came in covered in tiny black rubber particles and oil. Apparently finishing the recoil pad would be my job.

I started with dry 60 grit paper on a rotary sander and soon applied oil. I got the general shape roughed out and switched to the fine stuff. I got it shaped well, but I had gotten too aggressive and melted the rubber in a few spots. I brought it back in and started to mount it up, but it was still too big. Somehow we hadn't scribed the shape quite right. I tried tried again and got it right.

Then my wife took it to the range and got it right, right from the start. She was shooting 1-1/2", 5 shot groups at 100 yards with little effort and 20 year old ammo.

A flat shooting 58 year old rifle, full of hunting juju, I'm looking forward to November.

Circle Of Life

2010-08-16T07:20:00.000-06:00

I haven't been blogging much lately. There are more than several reasons, but the chief one is this.

We have had a pond in the backyard since we moved in. It wasn't very big or very deep. The water didn't circulate well and there was no filter. In short it was a PITA. This summer I've been busting hump in order to expand, deepen, and generally improve the pond. I'll have a post up later with some pond lessons learned.

I was out last night taking some pictures of the pond in order to show off my hard work when this guy showed up.

He stayed atop my fence for a long time. I thought maybe he was thinking about doing a little fishing in my pond. After about five minutes of watching him look around my backyard intently, he jumped down to a lower fence, flushed out the mouse, and before I could blink or snap a picture he flew off with his dinner. The circle of life is everywhere. It's even in the backyard of a nondescript house in the suburbs.

Cleaning Less Is Fine, Until It Isn't

2010-08-05T20:42:00.000-06:00

Caleb has some advice on gun cleaning. The condensed version is don't do it until it gets real nasty, just lube it up and go. That advice is fine and dandy, most of the time. Allow me however to relate a tale of my buddy's 1911 I recently looked over.

My buddy is a relatively new gun owner. He just bought his first rifle last week. He has owned a Para 1911 in 9mm for around 8 months or so. It has had FTE problems since he purchased it, but in the last month it had gotten really bad. He was convinced that he needed to replace the extractor. Since this gun is equipped with their Power Extractor, he was all set to send it to a gun smith to have it sleeved and a standard extractor put in, MSRP $100.

I asked if I could take a look, mostly out of curiosity. I stripped it and the thing was coated in lubricant. My initial cleaning involved wiping off lubricant with a clean cloth. I checked the extractor and it appeared to be operating just fine. Next I got out the trusty flashlight and looked down the barrel. The chamber was copper colored and filled with schmutz.

A little bit of this magical concoction from Hoppes, some break cleaner on the action and reapplication of a SMALL bit of lubricant, and the gun is off to the races.

The moral of the story is this. It is fine to minimize cleaning of your guns (as long as you are shooting non-corrosive ammo). If you practice this however, it may end up biting you in the ass one day. I like to keep them clean, lube them a little, and inspect them a lot.

It Stinks...Bad

2010-08-05T20:19:00.000-06:00

I just got done holding my nose and voting in the Republican primary. Chances are good that I won't vote for half those guys in the general election. The local GOP party is just as good here as anywhere else at putting folks in front of voters who have views that don't mesh with the majority of conservative voters in the area.

This year should be a slam dunk for the Republicans, but one just has to look at the state of the primary race for Colorado Governor for proof otherwise.

I Don't Think He Knows What That Means

2010-07-29T09:25:00.001-06:00

Saw an interesting article in the Denver Post yesterday. Apparently the DA was concerned that a Denver police officer used "unauthorized ammunition" in his Smith & Wesson poodle shooter.

Personally I was more concerned that two officers opened fire on bad guy with gun and managed to not only completely miss said bad guy, but also hit innocent bystanders. If you want to hit what you are aiming at practice, practice, practice. It sounds to me like these two LEOs should hit the range a bit more often.

ETA:

A bit more info can be found at the Denver DA's website. Included in the report is a picture of the M&P 15 used to miss the suspect. One thing that jumps out at me is that he is using iron sights...at 2 A.M. Maybe the use of a red dot isn't authorized by the department either.

Trick Shooting Good, B.S. Not So Much

2010-07-28T19:42:00.000-06:00

I finally got around to watching the most recent episode of Top Shot. I figured with trick shooting there would be some fun scenes and maybe the drama llama would stay away. Unfortunately, only one of those figurings were correct.

The B.S. started after the red team lost. They decided to vote the one guy who made the shot that no one else on either team made into the elimination challenge. When the two guys who didn't make a shot voted for Kelly, I almost shut off the DVR right then and there. They both spouted some nonsense about how the guy who had previously gone to two elimination challenges and won was not versatile.

In the end Kelly showed how non-versatile he was by once again out shooting his competition with something other than his weapon of expertise. After this last show, I'm not sure if I'll watch it again. That $100,000 has some of the contestants doing some shady stuff, and I don't really find it entertaining.

Tactical Tim

2010-07-22T11:24:00.000-06:00

I'm a USCCA member and subscribed to the Concealed Carry Report. I still haven't decided if I will re-up when my initial year is over. On the one hand, they have some excellent writers in their magazine. On the other hand, there's Tactical Tim.

I generally don't pay much attention to Tactical Tim, or anyone proclaiming themselves to be "Tactical". Recently though, in the Concealed Carry Report there was a link to TT's "No B.S." review of the Springfield XD-45 compact.

I own and enjoy a full size XD-45 and was curious to see what TT thought of the compact. After watching the video and reading the writeup, I have come to one conclusion. Tactical Tim's "No B.S." reviews contain more B.S. than an arena right after a Professional Bull Rider three day show.

Just a few of Tactical Tim's misses.

While it may feel similar to a Glock trigger, the XD is actually a single action trigger. It is not as TT states numerous times a DAO handgun.
Being a SA gun, the grip safety is less redundant than TT suggests in his review
He hoped that the XD would fix all the issues a Glock has. The XD has a great grip angle, issue solved.

Between the gun B.S. and the renew now B.S. I just don't know if it is time or money well spent.

Reasons Colorado Is Cool

2010-07-20T21:46:00.000-06:00

At my favorite sporting clay spot, they recently had their annual ATF shoot (drink Alcohol, smoke Tobacco, & shoot Firearms). Unfortunately I was unable to attend. But per this biased review, it looks like the fine folks from the Independence Institute put on a good party.

Barring a zombie outbreak, there's always next year.

Well You Don't Say

2010-07-20T21:38:00.000-06:00

Apparently, firing all city employees and replacing them with contractors doesn't result in complete anarchy. In this case, it means improved services, lower insurance rates, and the ability to fire under-performers.

The money quote is all the way at the bottom of the article.

“Remember the Soviet Union?” said Hector Alvarado, who heads a civic advocacy group. “They had a lot of bureaucracy, and they lost. Maywood was like that. Now people know if they don’t work, they will be laid off. Much better this way.”

Downsizing government can and does work. Hopefully this is the first of many communities to take this approach.

From The Wayback Machine

2010-07-14T07:03:00.001-06:00

I got a rather unique gift from both of my sons for fathers day and have been meaning to share. Unfortunately, my scanner has not been very cooperative. Last night I beat the treacherous piece of technology until it agreed to do its job. The results are below. First up is the three year old.

Next is the six year old.

As you can see they've got me pegged. Hopefully my wife answers the door when child protective services come to ask me a few questions.

Neighbors

2010-07-10T09:06:00.000-06:00

This story of some local boys getting liquored up and playing with an "unloaded" handgun has a fairly predictable ending. The comments however were a bit surprising. My favorite below:

I know it's trite. I don't own a gun, but I was always told "never point a gun at anything you don't intend to shoot."

Even guys that don't own guns know the rules, as it should be. The guys commenting on this story are the kind of neighbors I would like to have.

Bear Aware

2010-07-03T08:49:00.000-06:00

A good few number of folks head out camping around this time of year. Just remember that there's bears in them thar hills. You don't have to go deep into the back country to find them either. Have fun and stay safe.

Requirements for the Job

2010-06-30T20:54:00.000-06:00

I was listening to Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's reply to an inane question from one of the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee this evening that was being replayed on the radio. Part of her answer caused my to shout at the radio,

IT'S A REPUBLIC!

When a Supreme Court nominee does not know that we live in a constitutional republic and not a constitutional democracy, shouldn't that automatically disqualify the nominee? Not that she is alone in this particular mistake. A good portion of Congress thinks the same thing. Our founding fathers had this to say about democracy.

Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide. - John Adams

Perhaps Elena Kagan should go back to school and leave the Supreme Court seat to someone who at least knows which form of government the Constitution of the United States established.

He Don't Get It

2010-06-29T18:09:00.000-06:00

If you live in Colorado and need a reason to not vote for Stan Garnett (aside from the fact that he's from Boulder). Look no further than his comments on the McDonald ruling. The Denver Post reports the following.

Garnett said he was concerned about the implications of the ruling — and criticized Suthers for injecting Colorado into a local issue in another state.

Suthers is State Attorney General John Suthers, the current and hopefully future AG. Mr. Suthers was kind enough to join the amicus brief signed by damn near every state in the West in support of McDonald. Garnett, the fine gentleman from Boulder, feels that writing in support of incorporation of the Second Amendment is a waste of time and resources.

Somehow, fighting for individual freedoms has become a waste of time to some Americans. Come November, make sure that enemies of freedom like Stan Garnett have wasted their time running for office.

Hopefully They'll Issue Him a Hunting License

2010-06-22T19:38:00.000-06:00

Pakistan is releasing the Greeley Colorado man that was hunting Bin Laden.

Maybe when he goes for his next trip into Pakistan they can issue him a special hunting visa.

But I Saw It In a Video Game!

2010-06-22T05:54:00.002-06:00

Some things you can do in my current favorite video game Red Dead Redemption that might not work out so well in real life.

Firing warning shots to break up a fist fight
Shooting every critter you see
Shooting hats off of people's heads
Shooting guns out of people's hands
Using throwing knives to silently kill enemies
Hunting cougars (not that kind) with a knife
Roping a bull elk

That being said...I'd really like to see someone try the last one, preferably with slow motion instant replay.

A big coincidental thanks to the Atomic Nerds for posting a picture on the same day I wrote this post.

Midichlorians In Your Cup

2010-06-18T21:06:00.000-06:00

Espresso machine, I am your father.

How to Use the Gun Blogger Glossary

2010-06-18T07:22:00.000-06:00

In comments to the Gun Blogger Glossary post, Stingray of Atomic Nerds fame had this to say

This is tactical coffee. That other thing is just some midget spazzing while fumbling for his midget-heater in a tense moment because it wasn't in a gamerfag holster.

I might just have to add midget-heater to the glossary...

Our Last Best Hope

2010-06-16T05:44:00.000-06:00

A local man's plan to kill Osama Bin Ladin has been thwarted. Too bad, he was likely our best shot at getting the guy.

Where I Come From

2010-06-10T14:19:00.000-06:00

We don't call them elks. One, two, four, or a herd of 400, it is still elk. Not only that, but I have no idea what an Elkette is even though I drove by the sign every day for three months.

While we're on the subject, I will admit to providing false answers to the question of, "What elevation do deer turn into elk?"

I realize how lucky I am to live near these animals, so I try not to bust anyone's balls when someone asks an off the wall question. There are some questions though, like the one above that demand a creative answer.

Wear It Proudly

2010-06-10T09:49:00.000-06:00

The infamous FU bracelet. I now know what to tell my kids to get me for Father's Day.

Beat To Hell

2010-06-09T21:47:00.000-06:00

I just got my shipment of HPR ammo from Scottsdale Ammo. Frankly, I'm not impressed. There is "once fired" brass that I would not have reloaded if it were me. The bullets are beat to hell. I thought I was being picky so I pulled out every brand of range ammo I own.

I could pour out 500 rounds on the table, drop one round of HPR in the middle, have someone else mix it all up, and pick out the HPR round within 15 seconds. Even with the initial release discount, I didn't pay any less for these rounds than anything else I have in my ammo closet. Unless the quality improves, I don't think I'll be buying HPR again, made in the USA or not.

HPR ammo, excellent marketing, poor execution.

Arguing On the Internet

2010-06-09T20:38:00.000-06:00

Apparently I've been doing it wrong.

Life In The West

2010-06-09T16:11:00.000-06:00

I was in Montana for work the last couple of days. A couple of notes below.

All over the town I was in were fliers for a raffle. The raffle was to support the local American Legion baseball team, the Laurel Dodgers. The raffle is, 30 Guns in 30 Days. Unfortunately, not being a resident of Montana or one of its contiguous states, I was not eligible to win.

Nine Fingers Mustard is excellent. It also reminds me of the excellent book series The First Law by Joe Abercrombie.

My rental car was a new Nissan Maxima. It comes with a keyless remote. I threw it in my pocket and never touched it again. With the key in your pocket, you can start the car, lock and unlock the doors from the outside, and open the trunk all with the push of a button. Pretty cool.

The current trend of training via videos or computer based slide shows with an accompanying quiz sucks in my opinion. There is little retention and virtually zero opportunity to ask questions. On the other hand, I haven't gotten myself killed yet.

Red Dead Horse Thief

2010-06-07T22:12:00.000-06:00

While I'm writing reviews, I figured I'd go ahead and say a few words about the hit video game Red Dead Redemption. This might just be the best video game I've ever played. The story is excellent, the side missions are challenging and varied, and you get to play old west cowboy. There's gunfights, duels, poker, dice, horseshoes, train robbing, horse breaking, and my favorite horse thieving. Plus when you're done with the single player, you can gather up a posse and go riding. If you have an extra $60 in your sock drawer, I highly recommend blowing it on this game (which I bought with my own damn sock drawer money, thank you very much).

Top Shot Quarterbacking

2010-06-07T21:58:00.000-06:00

So I've read quite a few opinions on the Top Shot premier episode. A couple of comments on the comments...

It's entertainment. It isn't educational, it isn't fair, it isn't really even competition in the traditional sense. It's a spectacle that is supposed to be fun to watch. If it isn't your cup of tea, fine go find some gladiators in loincloths or turn on Michael Bane, whatever floats your boat. I thought the slow-mo and splody was plenty of fun.
Shots with open sighted rifles that aren't your own at 50 and 100 yards can definitely be challenging.
In the team challenge Mike missed his first and second shots and got flustered. Don't believe me? Watch it again and look at his face. With the number of shots he fired he should have gotten lucky and hit, if he was relaxed and shooting. Instead he was reloading and jerking the trigger. Not terribly conductive to hitting the target.
From what was shown, Mr. Mike had little help from his spotter. That being said, I've used the exact type of rifle Mike was shooting, which is not mine, to ring gongs at 200 yards. I didn't have a spotter and it took me 5 shots to figure out where I was hitting, make the needed adjustments mentally, and ring the gong regularly
I wasn't on national TV when I was shooting.
I probably shoot open sighted rifle as or more often than Mike.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who wondered about some of the shots on the elimination targets. Andre and Denny were the only one who dead centered the target. Mike was only just on paper.
Kid can shoot...under pressure.
My wife wants to be on season 2 of Top Shot.

Hurray For Reporters

2010-05-26T17:53:00.000-06:00

If you have the nerve to protect yourself and your property, prepare to have your name, address, age, marital status, and profession printed up in the local paper.

Also plan on having your nosy neighbor wondering why you didn't shoot the kid in the leg.

Wonder No More

2010-05-26T06:21:00.000-06:00

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you sent a big city news paper reporter out west to report on a group's effort to stop scaring the bejesus out of kids with Al Gore's global warming propaganda? Well wonder no more.

Apparently everyone in favor of teaching the "other side" (her quotes, not mine) of global warming is a Tea Party conservative Republican (redneck hillbilly simpleton). This continued anthropogenic global warming back and forth is really getting old. The real truth on global warming is that WE DON'T KNOW.

Dominance Check

2010-05-18T18:16:00.000-06:00

Turkey hunting this year ended without a turkey in the bag. With the move back from New Mexico hunting time and energy were greatly reduced. That does not mean that turkey hunting was unsuccessful. I found a matched pair of mule deer sheds. I also found a new sharpshooter.

After watching my son shoot the M&P 15/22 with iron sights, I decided that an upgrade to a red dot was in order. He seemed to have difficulty maintaining alignment so I threw on a bipod as well to reduce muscle fatigue.

I mounted the red dot fairly close to the charging handle and had my son check to make sure he could see the dot easily. At this point he mounted the gun right handed, just like his dad, and proceeded to close his right eye and lean way over the stock in order to use his left eye. After a brief discussion and some simple tests, we discovered that he is left eye dominant. He also happens to be ambidextrous (left handed if you ask his grandma).

We switched to a left handed grip and the impressive results are below.

Loading right handed

Shooting left handed

...but the Vanna White pose takes both hands. In his words, he "destroyed it."

I guess now I need to start shopping for left handed rifles.