I Am As Prepared As I Can Be I Suppose...

...I've got plenty of booze on hand and my health insurance is paid up.

All the best,
Glenn B

I Posted This Pic In January, BUT...

...without the appropriate caption which is some lyrics from a truly excellent song:

You're comin' to me
With that soulful look on your face
Coming lookin' like you've
Never ever done one wrong thing

All the best
Glenn B

Pence Has Been A Great Vice President BUT...

...if President Trump wants to absolutely assure he will defeat any and all comers in 2020, he should pick this person, or someone very like this person, as his VP running mate. When I say very much like that person, I mean politics-wise and gender-wise. 

If you have a problem with her over her stance on the flag of the Confederacy - wake up to the rest of her political platform at: https://www.ontheissues.org/Nikki_Haley.htm. I agree with most of them; how about you? Damn, maybe I'd vote for her for president!

All the best,
Glenn B

With All This Corona Virus Crap...

...going on, and with me having wondered from close to the beginning of it all if this virus was man-made, and with me more recently wondering - what if it becomes more deadly as time goes by (either because of how engineered if man-made or if by its nature if a natural virus) - I have decided to watch 12 Monkeys this weekend along with some of the death, doom and destruction classic movies (if I can find them on Amazon or Netflix) like: The World, The Flesh & The Devil; The Omega Man; The Andromeda Strain;  The Last Man On Earth; Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (no not a death by contagion type movie but one of the best doomsday movies of all times and absolutely the best films of  George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden and Slim Pickens); The Stand (mini-series, which I have never before watched).

Those films and the one series should make it a good weekend to expound my imagination's gloomy outlook on the corona virus & the general state of the world with or without the contagion.

Who knows, if my new gas mask filters arrive in time, my outlook may change but I had bad timing and only ordered them on February 9th. I had been meaning to order them, to replenish my old ones, for well over a month - maybe even two or three before that date. Being THE Great Procrastinator I kept putting it off or just forgetting about ordering them and when I finally ordered them the CV scare was ongoing. Now they tell me my order will take at least 4 weeks to complete. Oh well, it's not like the expired ones I have will kill me if I use them like the ones from decades ago would have done to you if you used them after their expiration dates (some of them actually became toxic over time due to the chemicals used to make them). Never use old expired surplus gas mask filters.

All the best,
Glenn B

Leaping Lizards Batman...

...Saturday's date will be February 29th - it's a leap year!

I don't know about all of you but I just found out when checking my calendar for something totally unrelated.

All the best,
Glenn B

Beretta Serialization & Date Codes For Italian Made Guns 1945 - 2007

I was curious to find out when my newly acquired Beretta Model 84B was manufactured and conducted a web search to that effect. I was a pleasantly surprised to discover that Beretta has a serial number look-up page. I was also quite dismayed to discover that it did not work for the serial number of my Beretta 84B and I followed their instructions and dropped the Y at the end of the serial number (I also tried with the Y). Instead of giving me any info about my pistol, I was presented with a page directing me to call "1-800-BERETTA ext. 2003 between 9 AM and 5 PM EST Monday through Friday.".  Since my phone rarely works in my apartment, I decided to continue the web search. I should note, the Beretta app did work to look up the date of manufacture for my 950BS, it was made in 1990 - no month shown. The app also worked for my two 92FS pistols both manufactured in 1997; that was no surprise as they have consecutive serial numbers but I was surprised to see they are both listed as "Pol. Special" which I imagine means police special. Never knew they had such a designation for the 92FS. So, it seemed to work for my American made Beretta pistols but not for those of mine made in Italy.

The next thing I came up with was the page at this link: https://www.answers.com/Q/What_year_was_the_Beretta_84F_made_-_serial_number_E542xxY. Usually when I wind up on an Answers.com page, the info there seems to me to be quite lacking; however, this time I am pleased to say I found some useful and what I think was amazingly coincidental information about the date codes for those of my Beretta pistols manufactured in Italy. Those pistols include my Beretta 70S, 84B and 92SB. When I checked the Model 84B I saw it had the date code AI. According to the page at the above link, that indicates the 84B was manufactured in 1982. Being the curious type, at least about my own firearms, I decided to check my other Beretta pistols that had been manufactured in Italy. I was quite surprised at what I saw next - the other two of my Berettas that were manufactured in Italy both also have the same date code as the 84B, meaning they were all produced in 1982.  I got the 92SB in or about August or September 1982 (as a replacement for one I bought in June 1982 but that had issues and was replaced under warranty) and the 70S in July 1983 (also a replacement but because I sent in the original to have a longer barrel fitted for it by Beretta and when they sent it back UPS left it on the doorstep and it was stolen, so Beretta replaced it). What an amazing coincidence it is that the 84B was made in the same year as the other two considering I bought the 84B in February 2020 some 36.5 years after I got the second of the other two.

Not one to usually copy and past all the info I find on such a page, I will make an exception now and paste it below (only because I did not see, anywhere on the page, that the info supplied on answers.com page nor their web page were copyrighted). So, here it is (note the answers.com info was posted in 2010 and the info provided was good from 1945 up until 2007 for manufacture dates):

"Beretta firearms produced in Italy carry a proof mark for the year of production. The chart below is used to identify the year by this mark. For recent pistols this mark is usually located on the frame near the trigger guard, for older pistols, the mark is on the slide or on the frame behind the grip area. Shotguns have this mark stamped on the barrel near the chamber. You may need to remove the barrel to read the mark.

In some cases the actual date was stamped instead of these marks, this is normally seen on older pistols.

We have also seen markings where roman and numerical figures are combined, for example XX 8 instead of the listed XXVIII for year 1972.

 I - 1945; II - 1946; III - 1947; IV - 1948; V - 1949; VI - 1950; VII - 1951; VIII - 1952; IX - 1953; X - 1954; XI - 1955; XII - 1956; XIII - 1957; XIV - 1958; XV - 1959; XVI - 1960; XVII - 1961; XVIII - 1962; XIX - 1963; XX - 1964; XXI - 1965; XXII - 1966; XXIII - 1967; XXIV - 1968; XXV - 1969; XXVI - 1970; XXVII - 1971; XXIII - 1972; XXIX - 1973; XXX - 1974; AA - 1975; AB - 1976; AC - 1977; AD - 1978; AE - 1979; AF - 1980; AH - 1981; AI - 1982; AL - 1983; AM - 1984; AN - 1985; AO - 1986; AS - 1987; AT - 1988; AU - 1989; AZ - 1990; BA - 1991; BB - 1992; BC - 1993; BD - 1994; BF - 1995; BH - 1996; BI - 1997; BL - 1998; BM - 1999; BN - 2000; BP - 2001; BS - 2002; BT - 2003; BU - 2004; BZ - 2005; CA - 2006; CB - 2007;"

That is a very good resource if all the date code info is correct and I can say without a doubt that according to other sources the 84B was produced between 1980 and 1985 so 1982 is right in there. In addition, I know for a fact that both the 70S and the 92SB were also being produced in that year. My guess is the info is good as gold.

All the best,

Glenn B

Why Would A Guy Commit Suicide...

...after just expressing interest in going back to work at his old place of employment and who was engaged to be married. It seems to me, that  he had lot for which to live. So, to me, it seems very odd he would commit suicide. Now, I suppose there could be reasons for his actually having done so, such as possibly having been very recently diagnosed with an incurable disease or rapid onset of acute mental illness. I guess time and a good investigation will tell if it was something along those lines that led him to suicide. Of course though, it could have been a murder made to appear as if it was a suicide.

What I am talking about is this:

"Philip Haney, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) whistleblower who was an outspoken critic of the administration of former President Barack Obama, was found dead Friday, about 40 miles east of Sacramento, Calif., local authorities said.

Haney, 66, "appeared to have suffered a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound," the Amador County Sheriff's Office said in a release. Sheriff and coroner Martin A. Ryan shared the initial details of the case." More at the source.

It boggles my mind to think that a man seeking to be reemployed and who was engaged to be married would suddenly take his own life. Being that he was a critic of the Obama administration and was also a whistleblower who accused the Obama administration of wrongdoing - it causes me to consider the possibility that he was murdered as some sort of retaliation or maybe because someone was trying to protect the currently ongoing political or other interests of someone who had been in the Obama administration. 

Then again, it almost smells Clintonian - don't ya think - but why they'd have anything to do with this is a bit unfathomable at this time so I'll give them that for now. Of course, in my estimation, it still smells Clintonian but then, I think a Clintonian conspiracy would smell like any other evil leftist conspiracy when you get right down to it.

Now mind you, I am not saying he was murdered, not saying there was some vast (or small) left wing conspiracy to eliminate him, not indicating I think anyone was actually involved in wrongdoing. What I am saying is: I am just thinking of the possibilities since it seems so odd that a man with so much going for himself ended his own life. Hopefully the facts will come out.

RIP and my condolences to his family and fiancée.

All the best,
Glenn B

So The Lib Justice Has To Work A Bit More...

...and apparently all she can do is dissent and bitch & moan about it.

Wat I am referring to is Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor's dissent in the Supreme Court decision that at least temporarily upheld the Trump Administration's expanding the range of what is considered a "public charge" for immigration purposes. She is complaining that the current administration is seeking stays from the highest court in a larger number of cases than ever by calling them emergencies. She is also complaining about what she perceives as the bias of justices who have an opposing view to her's. Funny she never stood up for those on the right when those on the left had the majority under Obama but now she moans and groans and dissents with gusto. Typical! More at the source.

I must say, the flood of illegal aliens entering the USA and sucking us dry seems like an emergency to me. She is evidently faulting the administration for in  effect is more work for her. Maybe instead of faulting the administration she should fault sanctuary cities and states that encourage foreigners to break the law and enter the U.S. illegally and who then offer them public assistance at the expense of the taxpayer. She might also consider faulting the lower courts that upheld the actions of sanctuary cities and states in as much as those actions were detrimental to our great nation and its citizens. Of course though - as she essentially seems to see it - it's all Trump's fault.

All the best,
Glenn B

Target Sports USA Asked Me For A Rating...

...after I ordered some 380 Auto ammo from them tonight. This was the narrative of my rating:

"Let me put it this way, if by some chance of astronomically unbelievable proportions - from another dimension that is One Step Beyond, The Outer Limits, of The Twilight Zone - it looks like a demoncrat will be elected on election day in November 2020 (as our president), I will place a multi thousand dollar order with Target Sports USA for various calibers of ammo because: they have excellent prices, I am a member of TSUSA Prime, shipping will be free, and they have an outstanding inventory with speedy shipping and they are reliable with regard to all of those aspects of an absolutely excellent ammo dealer.

Besides that, even though I live in TX now, when I lived in NY: they would ship directly to the buyer when NY realized the requirement of the NY SAFE Act to ship only through FFL dealers or through NY State registered ammo dealers was not legal nor workable under the law; yet, many other ammo dealers told New Yorkers "screw you" and refused to ship to us even through an FFL as the SAFE Act had required beforehand! Thank you Target Sports USA for standing by we gun owners in NY who needed ammo from a reputable and loyal dealer!"

I think folks will be able to tell, I like them - a lot! As for my promise to place a multi-thousand dollar order with them if it looks like a demoncrat will take the White House - you can bet on it safely. Screw those commies and socialists, screw that extreme wanna-be fascist tyrant Bloomberg and screw the gun grabbing skags among them (and that means everyone of them).

All the best,
Glenn B

Newly Found Freinds

Years ago, at least 10 and maybe 15 or more, I came across this magazine and decided to hang onto it.

I'll be damned if I can remember how, where or exactly when I got it. Did someone give it to me, did I find it left at a range, did I pick it up at a tag or estate sale? The truth is I do not know and may never remember but I have a very hazy recollection that someone at work gave it to me but unless someone can confirm that, it will remain a mystery. Anyhow and as I said, I decided to hang onto it. I do recall that over the years I have tried to sell it with no success. I also remember that a good friend of mine from work told me it was a 380 magazine for a Browning pistol. I wondered if maybe it was a Beretta mag since at one time Beretta made a 380 pistol for Browning but was assured it was Browning made mag because no markings indicated such whereas a Beretta would have PB or the Beretta name on them. Suffice to say I have had it for a long time and had no use for it.

Jump to the present. Today it found friends, two of them in the form of its exact duplicates. They all have the exact same markings on the base plate and all are 13 round mags. They arrived in the mail at my local FFL along with the Beretta 84B on which I had the high bid during their last Sportsman's Auction (formerly Rod & Gun Auctions).

 

I guess the first of the three mags I had was a Beretta after all!

I must say, it is a very nice used pistol with minimal wear. It should give a lifetime plus of shooty goodness and I am looking forward to shooting it. About the only downside, if you can call it that, is that now I need to stock up on a new to me caliber - .380 Auto (also known as 9mm Short and 9mm Kurz). The addiction never seems to end!

Nope, I never got rid of that magazine even though I tried to sell it or trade it a couple of times and was disappointed when it did not sell. I also am pretty sure I even tried to give it away once with no takers. Now though, as can be seen by it gaining friends, the truth is you just never know when you are going to need something like that. Of course, it could be looked at in another way - because I had that mag, I was compelled to buy the gun that it goes with and thus will also be compelled to by the ammo to use in it. Then again, that has already been accomplished to a small degree, getting some of the new ammo that is, as I stopped at Academy Sports (ammo there is much less expensive than at the gun shop) right after picking up the pistol, and bought a few boxes to hold me over until I can make an online ammo purchase.

Yes folks, I am one happy shootist in as much as that I held onto that mag throughout all those years.

All the best,
Glenn B

 

I Fell To Temptation...

...those girls on the side of the road made it look all too appealing and I went for one then decided on getting myself two. 

Nothing like a box of Samoas or two to satiate that sweet tooth

All the best,
Glenn B

I Know A Little Bit About Being A Survivor...

...having battled for my life against adversaries a few times and winning my battle against stage 4 throat cancer several years ago. Here though, at this link, is an amazing story about survival and recovery and damned fate or in this case damned on one hand but not damned the way the balls bounce. Since the video is posted in an article from September 2015, it leaves me wondering if they ever made the film.

Edited to add: In answer to my own question, the film is available on YouTube to rent or buy for a fee @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtaphi0bVEg.

All the best,
Glenn B

This Would Make One Heck Of A Bucket List

I've done several of these things but no where near to all of them. I think I'll have to try do at least a few or maybe several more.

All the best,
Glenn B

Do Xenophobic Crimes Automatically Indicate Rightist Motives?

I often wonder how someone is said to have had far right motives immediately after committing what is said to have been a xenophobic crime. An example of such a case is the one recently to have taken place in Germany in which a German citizen was alleged to have killed 9 individuals, then his mother and then himself. Some of his victims were said to have been Turks in a hookah bar, possibly in two such bars. The media has immediately referred to him, in essence, as a far right xenophobe. More at the source.

As I recall, throughout history:

Hitler was an extreme leftist - he was the leader of a socialist (leftist) nation. Hitler orchestrated: the Holocaust - 6 million Jews or 2/3 of the world's Jewish population exterminated;  Generalplan Ost - estimated losses were 4.5 to 13.7 million Soviets killed by the Germans; Genocide of the Poles - estimated losses 1.8 million to 3 million. He also killed a very large percentage of the German mentally ill, German criminals, a fairly large number of Catholics and a high percentage of the Romani (Gypsies - up to half a million exterminated) not to include all millions of the dead of many nations due to warfare.

Stalin was far left he was the leader of the USSR a communist & socialist (leftist) nation; he orchestrated the Holdomor - the man-made famine that is estimated, by the United Nations, to have killed 7-10 million; however some estimates go as high as 12 million Ukrainians; Kazakh genocide, part of the same famine that killed off up to 42% of the entire Kazakh population or up to 1,750,000 Kazahks. The high estimated total of those deaths, 13,750,000, is possibly more than were killed in the German concentration camps during WWII, the estimate of those concentration camp deaths are as high as between 12 to 13 million.

Pol Pot was the leader of Cambodia and was a communist/socialist (leftist). He orchestrated the Cambodian genocide of an estimated 1.4 to 3 million , up to 33% of the Cambodian population, targeting groups such as Vietnamese,  Chinese and Thai Cambodians.

Now don't get me wrong, there are a few to several genocides in modern times that have been committed by what are or legitimately could be considered rightist governments. These would include: 

One would be the: Yeghern or as it is also called the Armenocide the Armenian Genocide in which at least 50% of the Armenian population was believed to have been exterminated, 700,000 to 1.8 million lives wiped out; the Greek Genocide is another with 500,000 to 900,000 killed. Both were committed  by the Turkish Ottoman Empire. That empire was conservative only in as much as they espoused and conserved Muslim ideals. 

The Rwanda Genocide (and I could be wrong that their government had ideals on the right but I believe they did) in which an estimated 70% of the Tutsi population was wiped out along with many Hutus and Twa amounting to about 70% of the Rwandan population.

Yet, when an individual exhibits the same so called xenophobic motives - they are almost invariably said to to have had extreme right motives and virtually none are ever attributed with those ideals or motives of the extreme left - even though those on the extreme left are those who committed the worst genocides throughout history. Even Adolf Hitler is usually alleged to have been on the right, by the media and other leftists, despite the facts that he created and then led the Nazi Party - a newly formed brand of socialism. In fact, when someone commits such a crime today, he is almost immediately labelled as a xenophobe with extreme right ideals. Yet, when someone obviously has committed a terrorist act, authorities and the media almost always say that there can be no determination made as to whether or not terrorism was involved until further investigation has been completed, this even when someone mows down people while screaming "Akbar Allah". 

Why is that? It makes absolutely no sense, there is no logic to it except twisted logic to say anyone committing what are viewed as xenophobic crimes had motives anywhere on the right when they emulate those on the extreme far left as well as those on the extreme far right - with those on the left historically having committed the worst of such atrocities. Well, maybe it makes sense in as much as leftists today evidently never seem to want to admit that their ideology, when taken to the extreme, almost always winds up in genocide of at least one group and often of multiple groups who are considered not pure in some way or another and that the genocidal atrocities committed by leftists have been the worst of all throughout modern history. Again, that is not to say that governments on the right have not committed genocide - I am merely pointing out that is is ludicrous at best to immediately attribute rightist ideals to those who commit what are allegedly xenophobic crimes.

All the best,

Glenn B

These Boomers Arrived Today

I bid on these two guns and a Beretta 84B, via online bidding, for the most recent Hessney Auction Company's Sportsman's Auction (formerly Rid & Gun Auction). The Beretta has to go through an FFL but the Uberti 1851 London Navy Revolver in 36 caliber and the Remington Model 10, 12 gauge slide action shotgun arrived at my apartment today via UPS. The 1851 London Navy Revolver, being a black powder revolver, did not require a transfer through an FFL and the Remington Model 10 shotgun was good to go on my Curios & relics FFL since it is more than 50 ears old. In fact it's way more than 50; I'll need to check the date codes on the Remington but I believe these were made only from 1911 - 1929, so it may be over 100 years old! They arrived in undamaged condition and that was a relief; they certainly had ample padding to assure such a condition.

The Uberti has its original cardboard box with what passes for a manual (really a pamphlet of instructions); also has its serialized (by way of a sticker) walnut presentation case with name plate showing make, model and serial number; and accessories including: a powder flask, a bullet mold, a tin of percussion caps and a nipple wrench (ouch). It is a nice looking gun. I am as certain as I can be that it is new old stock and unfired, except maybe for a test shot at the factory. At first glance, I can say that the only thing that is a bit disappointing is that the case color, on the frame over the trigger, appears to me to be chemically applied instead of being actually case hardened but I surely am not a gunsmith so am not certain of that. Anyway - it is a very nice BP revolver and I am quite happy to have gotten it since Uberti is known for high quality BP replicas.

The Remington Model 10 is in very good to excellent shape. I'd estimate the metal finish to be at least 80-85%. The wood of the slide/fore-end looks original finish and is excellent. The wood of the stock seems to have been shellacked or varnished right over the old finish. I am not 100 percent sure of that, it could just be the age of the original finish that makes it look that way - hard to tell on this old of a gun but I am fairly certain it was given a coat of shellac or varnish at some point. It seemed to function well during a function check - although a trip to the range well tell all about how well it works. 

I eagerly am awaiting a nice day to go to an outdoor range with my two recently acquired Zastava M70 pistols and with this Remington shotgun. The Beretta 84B is scheduled to be delivered to my local dealer on Saturday. If it is dropped off early enough, I may be able to pick it up and if the day is nice enough then head to the range with all four guns. I am not taking the Uberti 1851 because I do not shoot black powder, at least not yet. That revolver is nice enough to keep for a showpiece or as an item to sell or trade later on in still unfired condition.

All the best,
Glenn B

Good News For Virginians

It appears that the governor of Virginia has run into a roadblock regarding his plan to ban so called assault weapons in that state. More at the source. I would think firearms owners in that state are doing the happy dance that some politicians maybe woke up and realized the governor was pushing for a revolution.

All the best,
Glenn B

I May Have To Go Fising In Oklahoma

Yep, I may just feel the need to go fishing in OK. That would be specifically at Keystone Lake but on any day other than Monday or Friday. Why? Well I'd like to catch the same fish that one unlucky Valentine's Day angler was forced to release because of Oklahoma's catch and release law that requires paddlefish caught on Monday or Fridays to be released. He caught what would likely have wound up being the world record paddlefish had it ever made it to an official weigh-in station. More at the source.

At least he got a picture of it!

All the best,
Glenn B

A Mini-Misadventure In Dog Walking

So there we were walking along, the mongrel Skye and me, for our last walk of the day at about 2145 tonight. As we do most walks, we were in the park across the street from our apartment complex. We walked around the paved path in the front of the park then started around the outer perimeter of a baseball field, walking just outside the fence. That field, not the ball field but the one outside the fence, is still soaked from last week's rains. Then it drizzled for awhile today and I guess added to it. Everything is kind of, sort of, pretty much on the soggy side. By getting us right up next to the fence, we were on a bit of higher ground. The ground gently slopes down once outside the fence of the ball field and the lower portion of the field is kind of swampy, last week a lot of it looked like a pond. I figured that walking right along the fence would keep us away from any soggy spots and we'd stay dry. Walked there earlier and it was okay. Well, it wasn't okay tonight. 

As we were waling along, my left foot suddenly was swallowed by the earth as if a small portal to hell had opened under it to suck it in. I sank down several inches, the mini-sinkhole devouring my entire left foot and a few to several inches of my left leg. Skye jumped away into the ball field fence, bounced off, look totally scared shitless and pulled on her leash. Luckily I still had a tight grip on it or she may have run off to wherever. I landed on my right knee and luckily was easily able to extract my left foot with the untied shoe still on it - not that still having my shoe mattered all that much. It was totally soaked and covered in foul smelling mud that smelled just like swamp stink, that stink that rarely comes out.

Now, I've sank that deep in the mud while walking in a pond or swampy area before but I certainly never expected it walking around a ball field, especially over ground I routinely cover on our multiple daily walks. The ground did not seem too soggy and felt relatively firm at every step - that is except that one. You can safely bet that I was happy the soggy sucking mini-sinkhole spot was not any bigger and deeper or I may have been in trouble. Of course, as it turned out it was only a minor inconvenience that I laughed about a bit as I pondered my luck while slogging back to the apartment with Skye who somehow managed to avoid the mud. One thought on the bright side - at least it wasn't a hole filled with a huge amount of dog doody!

Threw the pants and socks into the wash with some other things once home. Used the spray nozzle in the kitchen sink to hose down the shoes and get most of the mud off of them but I think the stink is not going anywhere. The shows are probably ruined but I'll try to clean them some more and try to get the stink out and who knows maybe they will recover. If not, in the trash they will go and that would be too bad because they were not that old and in good shape before this mini-misadventure, one that was a prime example of my kind of luck.

I think Skye and I may need to find new trails to blaze for our dog walks, at least when the ground is still drenched from downpours like those we went through last week with several inches of rain over three days.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Lamentations Of The Left

If President Trump is successful at winning reelection in November, I will gleefully listen for the lamentations of the leftists. I am very hopeful that The Donald will be the man in the White House come Wednesday, January 20, 2021; just look at the cap I purchased at the Little Rock Gun Show yesterday:

I like the sentiment if only because the libs have been so, shall I say, emotional in their abject hatred of all things President Trump including we so called deplorables who support him. I'd been looking for one locally after I saw one advertised online months ago. A dealer at the Little Rock gun show finally got them and I have to wonder if I in part was responsible. I kept asking the cap dealers at every gun show I attended over the past few months, including at least two prior trips to the LR gun show, if they had caps with this exact sentiment about making the liberals cry again, expressed on it. If for some reason I don't get to hear the lamentations of the leftists - maybe because of some cosmic disturbance of probabilities or because of some treacherous chicanery of the demoncrats in rigging the election - I will not cry but will buy guns and ammo like never before in anticipation of the government doing lots of gun grabbing and then of the ensuing anarchy and revolution that would be sure to follow.

I was over in Benton visiting Brendan and we hit the gun show before going out to lunch in Little Rock. Except for us each getting a cap, the show was otherwise an overpriced bust. Then it was off to lunch. We'd been set on going to some restaurant he had in mind in North Little Rock but on the way there he decided we should go to Outback Steakhouse. That was okay by me, next time for the other place I guess. I had the 22 ounce bone in rib-eye! It was delicious and since all else that I had eaten before it yesterday was a single biscuit with butter, I wolfed down every bit of steak on my plate. 

Too bad for my mongrel Skye, I decided against getting a take-out box to save the bone for her. She's had some worms as of late and bone may not be the best thing for her system right now. Her loss but next time, I'll save it for her. By the way, she was a good girl on this trip as on others except she kept pestering me on Saturday to take he outside over and over again. That's okay, I could use the mileage walking what with the snacks I ate over the weekend. Such is life with fat-body (me) and a mongrel.

Nice weekend it was indeed. Hope yours was likewise.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Most Inspirational Firearms Person In My Life Doesn't Have A Name

Well, I am sure he had/has a name but for me, the most inspirational firearms person in my life was a guy whose name I will likely and sadly never remember. He was not Jim Corbett, not Elmer Keith, not Jack O'Connor, not Bill Jordan, not Jim Cirillo all great shooters in my esteem) - he is nameless. 

He was a firearms instructor, not as his primary job but as collateral duty to his career job as a U.S. Border Patrol Agent. I met him at the very beginning of my career in federal law enforcement at the Border Patrol Academy in the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, GA. That was way back in 1979. We were at the range, him an instructor not much older than I was at the time and me a trainee. I was shooting a revolver for the first time in my life; well, I shot a few times before that specific day while at the FLETC range but was doing the same that day as I had on those other days - miserably. I had gotten a good and probably well deserved arse chewing from the range master who told me I literally could not hit the broad side of a barn but in my defense all I had really ever shot before with any regularity were 22 rifles at summer camp. 

I was feeling pretty dejected after being shamed in front of the other BP trainee classmates - as I recall I was THE worst shot of us all - and was getting ready to go clean the Colt revolver when one of the other instructors walked over to me and pulled me aside as the others went inside into the cleaning room. In a voice smooth as silk but still somehow a bit gravelly, he asked me if I wanted to stay behind and learn how to shoot. His long mustache, reminiscent of Wyatt Earp's, swayed a bit in the breeze as he talked with pipe held in his hand the wafting aroma of No. 79 tobacco filling my senses and reminding me that was one of my great-grandfather's favorites. In a bit of an uplifted mood, I said yes. So my training began, training that eventually led me to become  better shot, a much better shot.

I don’t remember all of the details, it was over 40 years ago, but this is how I remember it: We stayed late that day, it was the last class of the day or maybe he had me come back to the range after my last class. He had me shoot at a bullseye target, the one we used regularly in our training. I fired 6 shots from either 10 or 15 yards. Maybe two or three shots hit the paper. He had me move the target closer to 10 or 5 yards. He had me try shooting at that distance a couple or few more times with pretty much the same dismal results. Then he had me do something a bit different. He told me to post a new target but to turn it around backwards before stapling it to the backer. The next thing I knew, I was shooting at a blank piece of paper. I could not believe it, every shot hit paper and I shot a group albeit a huge one. Yes, every shot I fired hit the paper, in fact I probably had a group double the size of my head (mind you it is a big one even when not over inflated). I did not completely get it at first because when I tried again on the bullseye side of the target, I was terrible once again. I tried a few more times with little tor no success at bettering things. Then he told me to try another thing, one that shocked me. He told me to aim at the target and once I had acquired the right sight picture to close my eyes and only then to squeeze the trigger for that surprise shot. I aimed, closed my eyes, shot again, my group was probably the size of my open hand.

With calm determination, as he clenched the stem of a briar pipe in his teeth, he explained what had happened. That was, he said, that when I saw the bullseye, I was essentially trying to hard and gripping the grips to tightly and trying to hold them exactly in the center of the bullseye and when I should have squeezed the trigger I had jerked it wildly each time. He then with a coolness I had not seen from other instructors explained how I should be doing it. He said it plainly, slowly and calmly. My shooting improved but on the blank paper side again.

When my group got down to fist sized, he had me post a new target with the bullseye facing us. This time I had to aim in and keep my eyes open. My group opened up somewhat on that try but was still as small as my open hand or thereabouts. He kept at me and I kept at it. We shot after hours, for hours, over several weeks until I was proficient and when I graduated from the BP Academy, I was classified as a "Marksman". With a couple or few years after that, I routinely qualified as an expert. Soon after I got into the Customs Service in 1983, I started to qualify pretty much as expert or above every time; yeah, that meant I qualified as a Distinguished Expert and I did that with some decent regularity.

The next thing I knew, I was asked, in great part due to my shooting abilities, if I wanted to become a Customs range officer as part of my collateral my duties. I jumped at the opportunity. I received my firearms instructor training from the NRA at the Allentown (PA) Police Department’s range way back when. Shortly after that, I traveled back to Allentown where I participated in a competitive match at the same PD range. There were literally hundreds of shooters and even though the competition was limited to standard departmental approved and or issued carry firearms, there were an awful lot of shooters with tricked out revolvers and pistols and competition style quick draw holsters. In other words lots of shooters with competition guns not issue or agency approved carry guns – and even though those guys were obviously long time competitive shooters - I won the third place trophy for my division shooting an issued revolver. I never competed again though, I was a stickler for doing it by the rules and it was obvious that way too many who competed did not and even were given leeway by range officers who looked the other way. It just was not for me.

Anyway, I have to say, that nameless Border Patrol Agent – on temporary assignment to the BP Academy who coincidentally was there when I was in training - was the most influential firearms person in my firearms life, maybe the most influential person in my life in general. If not for him, I may have been drummed out of the academy or maybe with luck would have just barely passed firearms training. I never would have developed the passion I wound up having for firearms and shooting nor passed it on to others. So, as it turned out instead, I became a very good shooter and years later when I held collateral duties as a Customs firearms instructor, a period of about 16 years, I taught many a miserably failing shooter how to hit that at which they were aiming. 

It was always good feeling getting someone’s score up to passing and even way above it for quals when other instructors had given up on them. I thought of him, tat nameless BPA, each time that happened. I and those I taught owe it all to that nameless BPA who looked a bit like Wyatt Earp with his huge mustache and yet had the wisdom and aura of a pipe smoking granddad teaching his grandson to shoot for the very first time and getting him to do it right that time and always after. Many years later, I taught my daughter and then my son to shoot and tried to do my best to do it in his style; although, I am sure I was never as calm as was he. Anyway, while my daughter discovered boys and forgot about shooting when she was a teenager, my son became and remains a pretty good shot if I must say so myself but his shooting skill says it better than I ever could put in words. 

Damn, how I wish I could remember that BPA's name so I could try to look him up to thank him again and tell him how it all turned out with me loving shooting as much as I do - with me teaching others including my daughter and son how to shoot and hit their target. He will forever remain nameless to me but still will be the most inspirational firearms person - if not the most inspirational person overall - in my life because he took the time and made the effort to teach me right and he inspired me for my lifetime and inspired me to pass that inspiration onto others. 

Thank you whoever you are, in my book of life you are a great man!

All the best,

Glenn B

If It's Not One Disease From China...

...it seems to be another one that threatens us and the rest of the world. Luckily for us, Customs & Border Protection (not Patrol, as many say) was on the job and they seized the "cat food" in the form of a package of small and apparently dried out birds. More at the source.

All the best,
Glenn B

"I carry a gun every day" - Me Two (and I do mean two)

"I carry a gun every day" is a pretty good read about why folks carry guns and in general what we can expect by doing so.

I think though that LETTER FROM AN ANGRY READER published in 1981 is a better one, a much better one. It's also certainly more intense in it's message and intensity is what is needed to get through to many folks.

Why not read them both and see what you think.

As far as I can recall, I saw "I carry a gun every day" for the first time today. It was written or at least published in 2015; do not know how I missed it before now. Then again, maybe I've seen it before and just do not remember it, it certainly has not made as lasting an impression on me as the letter in Esquire.

The other one, LETTER FROM AN ANGRY READER, well: I read that one when it first came out in 1981 when I was a young and somewhat cavalier Border Patrol Agent. It is (fact or fiction and I believe it is fact) one of the best articles on carrying firearms, heck on any subject, that I have ever read. That one is still relevant today as it was when written about four decades ago, maybe even more relevant today. Been too long since I shared it on my blog so figured I'd present a link to it along with the link to the newer article.

As for myself, I've done "some serious considering about who has the right to do what to whom" and that's why I go armed  everywhere I can do so legally and yes - I carry at least two guns.

All the best,
Glenn B

Zastava M70 Pistol - Disassembly & Assembly

Well, I finally got around to cleaning my second Zastava M70 pistol; I cleaned the first one a couple of weeks ago. There was no way I would have figured out how to do it without some instructions (well I might have after awhile since it's not difficult at all but it would have been trial and error trying to get there). While you can find a couple to maybe several videos on the subject online, there was one at YouTube that showed almost a complete disassembly. I say almost complete because it did not show how to remove the firing pin (and I'd sure like to know how to get out any remaining Cosmoline like gunk) and how to disassemble the hammer mechanism (if even possible as it appears as a sealed unit). Regardless, the video in question was excellent nonetheless for all the steps to take most of it apart and then get it back together. 

Own a Zastava M70 pistol? If so, and you need to disassemble it and put it back together again, then have a watch this video - maybe a little long but lots of detail and that is a good thing. Don't be fooled by the video shot below, that is a  still of a different pistol:




February 9, 2020, Edited to Add:

By the way, when I purchased these they were advertised as being:

"UN ISSUED NEW OLD STOCK"

These pistols are not new as far as I can tell. The fact is, to me, they appear to have been lightly used. I am in no way saying the dealer used false advertising when selling these, they were probably told they were new and maybe some in their stock were new but evidently at least not the two I received. Here is why I think so: On each of the two I bought, there is evidence of wear on the slide rails of the frame and on the inside of the slide. There also was fouling in the bore and chamber and fouling in each magazine (even though each pistol and both mags with each gun had Cosmoline (or the equivalent, on them). While the fouling could have been solely from an initial test fire, the fact of the finish wear on the slide rails and such probably indicates otherwise. Though, I suppose that could have also come from test firing but, while it is not bad, it seems a bit much to be from test firing. Each also has small scratches and or dings in the exterior finish of the slide and frame finish. 

If I was gong to associate the word 'new' with them, it would be to say 'almost as good as new'; that of course being in my estimation. All things considered though, both were in what I am guessing is 95-98% cosmetic condition and nonetheless they were an excellent deal for the price.



All the best,
Glenn B

Yep! Exactly!

Well Said, Bloomberg Is A Tyrant (at least a wanna-be)

All the best,
Glenn B

No Super Bowl For Me But I Will Watch The SOTU Address

I did not watch the Super Bowl because I cannot stand the apparent ultra-liberal political stance of the NFL, that they seemingly keep pushing into people's faces. That said, I am going to make every effort to watch the State Of The Union Address tonight. I am guessing it will be on all the news channels and PBS. It commences at 9PM EST or 8PM here in Eastern, Texas.

Even if, for some reason, I cannot get to a television to watch, I am guessing I'll be able to watch via my cell phone at this link: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sotu/. 

The Super Bowl may have been a good one but I think this speech will be more uplifting and important by far than anything the NFL could ever produce. As far as I am concerned the networks/cable outlets should go back to showing reruns of Heidi instead of NFL games.

All the best,
Glenn B

If Rush Limbaugh Has The Time...

...and the energy considering his current health crisis, or should his legal team have the time, I hope they can look into this. The this I am talking about is what came up in my auto spell checker while I was keying in a text message to a friend of mine and mentioned Rush by his name but inadvertently failed to separate his first from his last name. Instead of showing the proper correction with his names split - my phone's spell checker showed the word : "Dishonesty". 
 

My guess, and mind you this is only my guess, is that whoever is responsible for programming the spell checker is a Rush Limbaugh & truth hating ultra-liberal piece of garbage!

My phone company will be hearing from me and if I can find a way to send an email to Rush Limbaugh or his representatives I will be doing so (edited to add: email sent via his website). I figure they can sue for defamation of character or whatever and the money be used by Rush to pay his medical bills or to donate to charity.

By the way, my phone company is T-Mobil, the phone is a Samsung Galaxy S6 Active that is several years old and my old phone company was ATT using the same phone. I am not saying any of them is responsible, I gave that info just in case any of you want to check your own phones to see if it comes up likewise.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Day The Music Died

Today is the day that the music died in 1959. It certainly was a day that changed American rock & roll & popular music by stealing away some of the best.


A hat tip to Artie P for reminding me.

All the best,
Glenn B

Praying For Rush

Rush Limbaugh announced today that he has stage 4 lung cancer. I don't know about lung cancer but I do know that stage 4 cancer of other types can be beat with chemo and radiation when surgery is pretty much out of the question. It is not easy and the most important thing I have heard one needs to do is to stay in the fight and complete each and every treatment. When you quit you stand almost zero of a chance once at stage 4. 

It is also like having a bomb dropped into your lap when you hear stage 4 especially when the whole thing comes as a surprise. I think he said that his first symptoms were on the 12th of January (if I understood correctly) and that his diagnosis was confirmed on the 20th. If that is correct, that is a terrible shocker without a doubt.

I can wish him only all the best, and a complete if not also a speedy recovery (there probably is no way it will be speedy at stage 4). He was and remains a champion of the right, of our Constitution and of freedom. By the way, he said he is going to continue with his show as best he can do while going through treatments.

Rush Limbaugh is a great commentator, a pretty good linguist and a political wiz. He also could be pretty funny - something unusual for a talk show host on the right. He was a breath of fresh air when I lived and worked in NYC and then when I lived on Long Island and still worked in NYC. I was truly overwhelmed with relief and pretty much joy when I found his show on the radio where I live now in Texas.

I am not religious but I sometimes say prayers just in case there really is some divine entity out there listening; it's not that I am an atheist just that I am not certain either way. As for the prayers I say, I have rarely said them for myself - even when I probably needed them badly - they are almost always for others just like now except he is getting more than most have gotten out of me. 

All the best,
Glenn B

Texas Gun Control Survey - Whom Are They Trying To Kid

According to a poll run  by the Dallas Morning News - University of Texas at Tyler poll, Texans overwhelmingly want certain aspects of gun control, such as red flag laws and background checks, to be legislated. The thing is they polled only 1,169 registered voters and my guess is they did so at the university (notice what I underlined above) which would likely be a hotbed of liberalism. More at the source. 

Now granted, I have only lived in Texas since this past August but let me assure you I have gotten a good feel for how people in less liberal areas think and the are not in favor of gun control by any margin of a majority. In fact, gun control is heavily frowned upon even in large populous zones like the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. I mean any state that can host 18 guns shows over the remainder of the shortest month of the yer, one weekend of gun shows already gone by and not included in the 18 I just mentioned, you have got to figure that state as very gun friendly. And yes, Texas is one of the most gun friendly states of any of the 50 (yes former Prez Obama - there are only 50 states in the US of A).


All the best,
Glenn B