Friday, March 30, 2007
Mjolnir V3.0
I've rescoped Mjolnir.
This is what happens when longstanding desire plus a little money in the pocket meets a sale in a month containing my birthday.
Those of you who are following along with home know that Mjolnir originally came topped with an S.A. 3rd gen mount, and an S.A. 6x40 govt model scope.
You'd also might remember that I'd learned to unload a 20 round magazine in less than a minute into a 5 inch circle 100 yards away with that scope, but the mount was unreliable, requiring many minutes and rounds to rezero at the beginning of each range session, a necessity that gradually eroded my faith in my most potent rifle.
It was at that point that I ripped the heavy, unreliable thing off, and returned her to her original design, an iron sighted battle rifle.
The thing is, though, being a scout squad, she's pretty much screaming for a scout scope.
So I got her one.
I was originally going to save my pennies and hold out for a Leupold, but the #2 choice, the Burris 2.75 Scout was on sale, for roughly half the cost. Suspecting that the scope wasn't going to co witness with the irons, I made sure to get the quick release rings.
So far, I'm pretty pleased with the setup. The eye relief is just perfect, though I do need to adjust my normal cheek weld 1/2 inch higher than I'm used to. When mounting the rifle, the whole thing just lines up very naturally for me. The eye goes to target, the rifle goes to shoulder, and hey, lookit that! The crosshair's just where I expect it! The optics are clear and bright, and the heavy plex shows up pretty distinctly in a variety of lighting conditions. The light magnification of the scope is just about right to be useful, and it's pretty natural to keep both eyes open.
Knock wood and the creek don't rise, I'll have her on the range this weekend to sight her in and see how she does.
Update!
I've had her on the range, and god, this setup is SWEEET!
It turns out that this is very much an ideal setup for this kind of rifle. The magnification is enough to be useful, but not so much that it discourages 2 eyed shooting. This adds a whole dimension of versatility to an already versatile rifle. The 7 ounces of extra weight isn't noticeable, and the scope placement does not disrupt the overall balance and handiness of the rifle.
The whole winds up being greater than the sum of the parts.
Once I had it dialed in, I was thumping round after round downrange, well on target. The rifle's now shooting better than ever, accuracy w/ milsurps about 2 MOA, when I do my part. If I have time later on, I'll post up a few targets. And yes, I was able to recreate my "put 20 rounds through a 5 inch circle 100 yards away in 60 seconds" trick.
:)
The only downside to the rig is that the forward ring's rail lock works loose during extended rapid fire strings. Oddly, that didn't seem to produce any deleterious effects, other than opening the group up a bit. I'm not sure what to do about that yet, other than torque. Loctite seems to be a counterproductive thing to do given the quick release nature of the rings.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45  
Some of us learn from our mistakes, others keep making them....
or
Jim Zumbo returns fire.
Posted on THR:
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JIM ZUMBO
PO Box 2390
Cody, WY 82414
March 28, 2007
An Open Letter to the
United States Senate
Dear Honorable Ladies and Gentlemen:
It recently came to my attention that one of your colleagues, Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, has chosen to attack firearms owners using remarks I wrote in mid-February as his launch pad. As you probably know, Sen. Levin has been making anti-gun speeches every week for the past eight years because of a promise he made to the Economic Club of Detroit in May 1999.
Mr. Levin has an agenda, and he should have spoken to me before using my name in one of his speeches, especially since his remarks were entered into the Congressional Record. I would like my remarks here entered into the Congressional Record as well.
Sen. Levin is only one of 16 members of the Senate to vote against the Vitter Amendment to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act. This amendment prohibits the confiscation of a privately-owned firearm during an emergency or major disaster when possession of that gun is not prohibited under state or federal law.
Eighty-four senators voted for that amendment, inspired by the egregious confiscation of firearms from the citizens of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina in the summer of 2005. Those seizures, you will recall, led the Second Amendment Foundation and National Rifle Association to join in a landmark civil rights lawsuit in federal court that brought the confiscations to an abrupt end.
The taking of private property without warrant or probable cause – even firearms – was considered an outrage by millions of American citizens, and yet Sen. Levin joined 15 of his colleagues in voting against this measure. It is no small wonder that Sen. Levin gets an “F” rating from gun rights organizations. He would have American citizens disarmed and left defenseless at a time when they need their firearms the most, when social order collapses into anarchy and protecting one’s self and one’s family is not simply a right and responsibility, it becomes a necessity.
That in mind, Sen. Levin must know that almost immediately after I wrote those remarks, I recanted and apologized to the millions of Americans who lawfully and responsibly own, compete with and hunt with semi-automatic rifles. I took a “crash course” on these firearms and visited with my good friend Ted Nugent on his ranch in Texas, where I personally shot an AR-15 and educated myself with these firearms.
Some of us learn from our mistakes, others keep making them. Legislation to which Sen. Levin alluded, HR 1022, would renew the ban on so-called “assault weapons,” and dangerously expand it to encompass far more perfectly legal firearms. For the Congress of the United States to even consider such legislation is an affront to every law-abiding firearms owner in this country.
This legislation that Sen. Levin appears to endorse is written so broadly as outlaw not only firearms, but accessories, including a folding stock for a Ruger rifle. As I understand the language of this bill, it could ultimately take away my timeworn and cherished hunting rifles and shotguns – firearms I hope to one day pass on to my grandchildren – as well as millions of identical and similar firearms owned by other American citizens.
It is clear to me that the supporters of this legislation don’t want to stop criminals. They want to invent new ones out of people like me, and many of you, and your constituents, friends, neighbors and members of your families. They will do anything they can, go to any extremes they believe necessary, to make it impossible for more and more American citizens to legally own any firearm.
In his final paragraph, Senator Levin misrepresents what I said. I never spoke in favor of a general assault weapons ban. Again, I immediately apologized for my blog statement that was exclusively directed toward hunting and not gun ownership.
I will not allow my name to be associated with this kind of attack on the Second Amendment rights of my fellow citizens.
A few weeks ago, in a letter to Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, I promised to educate my fellow hunters about this insidious legislation “even if I have to visit every hunting camp and climb into every duck blind and deer stand in this country to get it done.”
I will amend that to add that I will bring my effort to Capitol Hill if necessary, even if I have to knock on every door and camp in every office of the United States Senate. In promoting this ban, the Hon. Carl Levin does not speak for me, or anybody I know.
Sincerely,
James Zumbo
Cody, Wyoming
_______________
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Give 'em hell, Jim!
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Bore Cleaning Trickby Egregious Charles
I found a pretty nifty bore cleaning trick, for guns which can be cleaned with a rod from the breech. You start out with some Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF), recommended by Armalite and the US Army as an excellent substitute for gun cleaners & light gun oils when those are unavailable or price is an issue (as in many foreign countries). You use it like a combo oil. Mine cost $2.50 for a quart at Ace Hardware. You put enough in a jar to fully submerge your bore brush lengthwise. You then hold the barrel just over the level of the ATF in the jar and scrub the bore, dipping the brush with each stroke. You are re-saturating the brush with every stroke, so this means a lot more fluid is in the bore carrying stuff out than if you just saturate once then scrub. I generally do about 50 strokes with a thoroughly dirty bore. After this, I find I can put through a dry patch or two to carry out the dirty ATF and the bore is clean when I follow with a patch soaked in a conventional cleaner. It's not that ATF is such a good cleaner in itself, it's that you can apply so much this way. ATF also has very little smell, unlike the strongest cleaners I've tried (Blue Wonder and RB17). I generally reuse the ATF in the jar. (It doesn't work with a worn brush though. If anyone hasn't discovered this yet, bronze brushes wear out after a few cleanings; you can feel that it isn't really gripping anymore as you use it.)
Today I thought at first that this technique had disappointed me. I'd been shooting my Saiga shotgun with slugs and buckshot, and didn't get around to cleaning it until the next day. I cleaned it with brush and ATF, put a patch through, and there were a few lead flakes on the patch. Another had the same result; my brush and ATF method hadn't gotten rid of all the lead. I pulled a Bore-Snake through a couple of times and that finished the lead. I remained disappointed until I happened to hold up the jar and look at the bottom; there was a layer of lead varying from 1/16" to 1/8" thick around the edges, covering the entire bottom of the jar, which is 3.5" in diameter. It may be thinner in the center, I can't tell, but is still totally covering it with no light showing through. All the lead was new, there was no lead in there before because I'd only used it cleaning up after jacketed pistol & rifle ammo. There was a LOT of lead in that bore, and the brush & ATF had gotten almost all of it with 50 strokes.
I shot 10 Wolf slugs, 10 Brennke K.O. slugs, and 20 rounds of Wolf 00 buck (which doesn't seem to have a shot cup). I hadn't realized how much lead that would leave.
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Posted By: EgregiousCharles
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
I fell out of my chair.
Blinking.
Disoriented.
Confused.
The 2nd amendment might actually exist in NJ?
Evan Nappen's press release
The key part of the ruling:
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Fundamental fairness is a doctrine to be sparingly applied. It is appropriately applied in those rare cases where not to do so will subject the defendant to oppression, harassment, or egregious deprivation.” Doe v. Poritz, 142 N.J. 1 (1995), citing State v. Yoskowitz, 116 N.J. 679, 712, 563 A.2d 1 (1989) (Garibaldi, J., concurring and dissenting). Egregious deprivation would surely be the result if this applicant were precluded from obtaining a firearms purchaser identification card by virtue of the fact that he consensually surrendered his weapons at a time when it was impossible for him to have known that such action would later subject him to lifelong deprivation of his second amendment right.
Additionally, it is clear that in consenting to the disposition of the weapons seized as a result of the temporary restraining order, the applicant did not intend to waive his right to bear arms as provided by the second amendment of the U.S. Constitution. He therefore could not have knowingly, intelligently, or voluntarily waived that right.”
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Chickens fear me, for I have eaten many of their kind.
Damn, I didn't realize that today was the 5th annual International Eat a Tasty Animal for PETA (IEATAPETA) Day
Fear not, for I ate chickens, as is my custom.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
A Phrase You'll Be Hearing A Lot...
You'll be hearing this sentiment a lot in the future:
"Contradicting 70 years of Constitutional Jurisprudence"
You'll be hearing it specifically in the context of the Parker ruling, as the Forces of Organized Gun Bigotry try to regroup and riposte.
The thing is, as we who've studied the issue know, there's been 70 years of bad constitutional jurisprudence that is way, way overdue for correction, but our enemies would prefer that we set the clock back to when their distorted view held sway. They would love to have you believe that it is we who are the revisionists, and holders of distorted history, and not they. They would have you believe buy all sorts of nonsense that makes sense only to the bewildered and beguiled.
And now, for some Q & A:
Q: How do we convince the American public that they have no right of arms, while at the same time assuring them that their privilege of sport shooting isn't threatened?
A) Through a program of deliberate, sustained mendacity. Clicky. Kevin has the goods.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Friday, March 09, 2007
DC Gun Laws Struck Down!
{cue 1812 overture}
Breaking news!
An article
@ Instapundit
Full Ruling (pdf)
Quote:
----------------
According to the majority opinion, "[T]he phrase 'the right of the people,' when read intratextually and in light of Supreme Court precedent, leads us to conclude that the right in question is individual." The majority opinion sums up its holding on this point as follows:
"To summarize, we conclude that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. That right existed prior to the formation of the new government under the Constitution and was premised on the private use of arms for activities such as hunting and self-defense, the latter being understood as resistance to either private lawlessness or the depredations of a tyrannical government (or a threat from abroad). In addition, the right to keep and bear arms had the important and salutary civic purpose of helping to preserve the citizen militia. The civic purpose was also a political expedient for the Federalists in the First Congress as it served, in part, to placate their Antifederalist opponents. The individual right facilitated militia service by ensuring that citizens would not be barred from keeping the arms they would need when called forth for militia duty. Despite the importance of the Second Amendment's civic purpose, however, the activities it protects are not limited to militia service, nor is an individual's enjoyment of the right contingent upon his or her continued or intermittent enrollment in the militia."
The majority opinion also rejects the argument that the Second Amendment does not apply to the District of Columbia because it is not a State. And the majority opinion concludes, "Section 7-2507.02, like the bar on carrying a pistol within the home, amounts to a complete prohibition on the lawful use of handguns for self-defense. As such, we hold it unconstitutional."
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{I'm in a mtg, damnit, can't chase this one around, or see what it means....}
Sweet smoking Jesus, is this the open door we've been praying for?
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Monday, March 05, 2007
Something to mull over...
I often tell my colleagues that there is an art to the science of the sort of geekery my mongol horde and I engage in. Like any endeavor of significant complexity, success cannot be assured, even in principle, and to beware of buying stock in snake oil if anyone ever tells them differently.
Once suitably alarmed, I then continue to explain that there are practices and circumstances that tend to be associated with failure, and those which tend to be associated with success. My role, then is primarily to educate the players and foster such practices, and create such circumstances that are most likely to bring about success, in as efficient a manner as is prudent.
I guess, then, that this blog is an expression of that thrust into a different realm.
Tyrants, tyrant wanna be's, and the various varieties of predatory thug all seem to be an inescapable part of the human condition.
Though various initiatives may serve to reduce their number, they cannot entirely be prevented or eliminated, given their insidious and tenacious nature, and they reliably appear at all levels of scale in every society.
Tyranny and thuggery is are* minimized when the following conditions are met:
* There is a rule of law that reflect genuine justice, and its implementation is reliable, repeatable, and predictable, and from the point of view of the predator, inexorable.
* There is a citizenry that is well equipped, physically, morally, spiritually and ethically to confront directly, if need be, the said thugs and would be tyrants.
* The rule of law approves of their so doing, noting their actions to be in the interest of society, and
* Society at large understands that in so doing, its interests are served, and applauds the service thus rendered.
Conversely, tyranny and thuggery tends to maximise in direct proportion to the degree that these conditions are not met.
*Thanks Kim. I really need to stop blogging on the fly....
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Profoundly Broken...
A loyal Reader tosses this over the transom.
Quote:
-----------------
Back in December, an NJ state commission was considering such weighty matters as the "bullet loophole" and "ammunition straw purchases".
The commission's report was published earlier this month. Here is the press release.
The commission is recommending to the governor and legislative leaders that New Jersey makes sweeping changes in the access and sale of ammunition, which they call a "wide-open, unregulated bazaar."
.....
-----------------
I read both the press release, and the report itself, which is written in a dizzy, alarmist style, as if they were spinning around shrieking until they passed out.
I think the thing that disturbed me the most was the entirely unbalanced substance and tone of the report. Nowhere was there even a slightly dissenting voice to be heard, nowhere was anyone questioning anything other than guns baaaaad, bullets baaaaad, must increase regulation, police helpless to protect the public, etc ad nauseum.
Nowhere in the report did anyone stop to think, "Hey, wait a minute. All over this report, we repeatedly talk about how heavily regulated guns are, how bad crime is, and wail on and on and on about ammunition isn't sufficiently regulated. And yet nobody questions why it is that the infringment overregulation of arms in NJ is inneffective as a genuine measure of crime control".
The situation is pretty simple: that commission was a stacked deck from the get go, tasked with delivering a predetermined outcome into Gov. Corzine's hands, a task which they achieved with flying colors.
NJ is so deeply and profoundly broken that I fear it is beyond hope.
Given that it stands in such sharp divergence from the vast majority of America, I question it's continued membership in the Republic.
New Jersey: Isn't it time to blow the bridges, mine the river, and tow the wreckage out to sea?
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
NOLA...
As in New Orleans, Louisianna.
I spent a fair number of days in the Big Easy last week, for business, and wanted to pass along my impressions.
The city, for the most part, is functional, but there's signs of renewal and damage in roughly equal proportions. There's a lot of burnt and flooded out buildings just sitting there, with no indication that anyone's gotten around to doing anything about them just yet.
It's been more than a year, coming up on two, and roughly half the city's population has not returned, begging the question as to whether they ever will. As a consequence, there's simply not enough people to run the city's service industry. Restaurants are working limitted hours, and many are running with inexperienced skeleton crews. One night, the single waitress for the whole establishment was seen in tears in the corner, while the barely competent cook churned out one meal at a time, working in series rather than parallel.
I had a fairly lengthy chat with a cabby on the way to the airport, as he outlined the woes of his world, as it reached down to him. Even he could tell that injections of recovery cash into the corrupt environment was just making those who'd made millions padding their pockets billions.
Perhaps the most toxic bit though was that the credibility of the NOLA police was still pretty low. Asking a beat cop for directions, I was polite, but in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but wonder if this was one of the guys who'd abandoned his post, or gone round confiscating guns from decent folk. Oddly, some of my colleagues privately voiced similiar questions.
Yup, they certainly did blow it down there, and people remember.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
Zumbo Chooses...
{I wrote the first part of this post a few days ago, before leaving for a biz trip. I wanted to sleep on it, but I now think its at least worth giving some discussion to}
I guess the third time's the charm.
Quote: (Jim Zumbo apology, V 3.0)
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Originally Posted by JimZumbo on Nugent's board, 02-23-2007 03:30 PM
Thank you all for letting me speak. Yes, I know the 2nd Amendment has nothing to do with hunting and hunting guns, and yes, I promise you I am now dedicated to educate all shooters that we must all stick together regardless of our gun choices, and also tolerate the firearms others may choose to use if they are dissimilar to ours. I will do everything I can, within my power as a journalist and public speaker, to protect the 2nd Amendment and America's gun owners.
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It would seem that this is a learning process for Mr. Zumbo, more than anything else.
So long as Mr. Zumbo delivers the goods, so to speak, I'd think that a rehabilitated spokesman who'se come over to the side of the angels is infinitely more valuable to us than a roasted sacrifice to our ire on a stake.
Hear me: Although I don't hunt, I've never had a problem with hunting or hunters, and have always had their back, so long as they returned the favor. I grew up among them and ate game at their tables. Most of those were of the sort who wouldn't stand for gun bans of any description, nor the sort of craven brother tossing that Mr. Zumbo formerly advocated.
Yes, Jim Zumbo has done us some irreperable harm, but he is showing signs of being a big enough man that he's earned the right to earn the right to redeem himself, and I for one, wish him well on that journey.
As before, brother Jim of Smoke on the Water beats me to it by a day, and a dollar more poetry.
Quote:
----------------
I cannot stress enough how important I belive it will be for Mr. Zumbo to make good on his repentences and promises. I also cannot stress enough how vital it will be for we in the shooting world to allow Mr. Zumbo to remake himself and his career as a strong and uncompromising advocate for the Right to Keep and Bear ALL arms, and not just those of the sportsman afield.
That said, Mr. Zumbo is a hunter. I expect he'll continue to be a hunter, and will write a great many more articles to come of the sport. And it is while afield with his Fuddite Friends that I hope he does us the most good; overcoming their prejudices and biases one by one. And, it is when the agenda-driven, Anti-Gun media seeks him out for their inevitable interviews that I also hope he does well by us.
They're going to be looking to Mr. Zumbo to be a figure of self-pitying sympathy, one done wrong by us rabid, evil gun-nuts. And it is to that media that Mr. Zumbo needs to best acquit himself, and by extention, us.
A note to Mr. Zumbo: We'll be watching, amigo. Do good, dammit.
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{The following part of the post is this mornings...}
Via Smallest Minority, I see that Jim Zumbo has continued along the path towards righteousness, with this post. (Worth the read)
This bit here tells me that Jim has resisted the urge to become "King of the Fudds", and is manning up enough to risk telling those who unconditionally supported his former position something:
Quote:
-----------------------
I also have received vast support from many who understood and agreed with my original intent. I realize now that the former image I conjured was largely an impression based on prejudice and misunderstandings. Your support is appreciated and I do not wish to alienate those of you who offered it, but hope that you will consider a broader more tolerant viewpoint as I have.
-----------------------
The other day, someone posed the question as to whether hunters & shooters should unify, or split, and I responded thus:
Quote:
-------------
Here's the thing.
This isn't so much as a join or split decision so much as it is a SORTING decision.
We can and MUST pull together, but in order to be coherent in that, we have to define what the baseline belief is that you have to sign up for.
Our baseline belief, if I may be so bold as to articulate it, is something very close to the lines of, "The right of the honest and responsible man or woman to arm himself as formidably as he wishes, for just purposes, is sacrosanct. A non exhaustive list of just purposes includes hunting, self defense, pleasure and sport shooting, and the defense of life, liberty and property, to name but a few."
This whole thing is about sorting out who is, and who isn't signing up for that belief.
Every mass movement, be it a religion, a political party, a business arrangement, or what have you has some sort of method for determining who is and isn't on the team, and for exluding from consideration those whose actions sabotage the common goal.
So, YES, we ARE pulling together. The hunters and the shooters are mutually pledging to watch each other's six, and chucking out of the clubhouse those who won't.
-------------
Elsewhere in that thread, Pax makes the important and illuminating point, that the supposed rift between shooters and most hunters is a myth, in that it was the hunters who narced out JZ to begin with.
So, I'm not going to slam the clubhouse door shut in the face of a guy who's come back with humility and his hat in his hand.
Keep up the good work, Mr. Zumbo. A lesser man would have failed, crawling away cursing his tormentors, but you woke up and started looking for the hard path. Keep on trucking down the road of righteousness.
Update!
Now, this is interesting...
Quote:
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Ted, I'm still at the sportsmen's show, it ends tomorrow, and am able to write a little in my booth. Am giving the absolutist message in my seminars -- people are seeing the light. But lemme tell you what you already know. A LOT of people said I was right all along and I shouldn't have apologized. That's the danger, that's the problem. A WHOLE lot of education needs to go on. When these people tell me that, I give them my new hard core spiel about HR1022 and how it will take away their favorite hunting guns. They say, NO ****, and I've won a convert. How sweet it is.
Funny thing, my best customer all week is a guy who went to my seminar. Bought a bunch of books and he owns an AR-15! Good fun things are happening.
I'm doing my best setting up a schedule of what I need to do to make it right with the black gun folks. My BloodBrothers. I DO want to do what's right.
The big current effort is my letter to the Second Amendment Foundation, with a copy to Wayne LaPierre. I'll forward the letter to you tomorrow.
I'm working on my new absolutist piece for TX F&G now. Jim
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At this time, I'm looking into the provenance of that email.
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Posted By: geekWithA.45
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