Soldiers' Care Package Donations Update

Folks I know it is not the holiday season, but when it comes to our troops, especially those in harm's way, I would think at least a few of you would make a donation to this fund. As of tonight, I have one donation from C.V. of TN, in a pretty good amount. That one donation alone could fund a small care package for a couple of people; but I am pretty sure my readers can do better than that. As a matter of fact, I know you can do better than that because last time around, for the Soldiers' Holiday Care Packages - you guys were really generous. I know things have gotten tighter with gas prices, food prices, paper products prices, utility prices, electronics gear prices, booze prices, travel costs, and just about everything else you can imagine having gone up to the sky - but out men and women in the U.S. Armed Forces are still over in Afghanistan and Iraq fighting for us and the American way - in Afghanistan as for the ones to whom this/these package(s) will go.

So I am making a personal appeal to you to please do what you can to give a donation, even just a buck if you really cannot afford more, to help fund this effort. I would especially ask, heck I even expect, certain of you whom I have helped out in the past to make a donation. No you don't have to repay me what I sent to you, this is not payment to me anyhow; but I sure expect you to make a darned good effort to dig deep and come up with something for Jaime V (my assigned solider by Soldiers' Angels) and his unit in Afghanistan. Bear in mind that these guys and gals are now in the thick of things - as in the country where the war is escalating on a seemingly daily basis. Anything we can do for them is appreciated by them, of that I think we can be certain.

As for you who gave generously last time, I say thanks again; but I also ask you to give something again. You don't have to give as much as last time - as I said a dollar will do. If I get a hundred donations of a dollar, plus the donation I already have from C.V, plus what I will donate (at least $25 toward goodies to include in the package[s] plus the postage to ship the items), it will be a nice package or two or three that I can send to them from all of us.

I am only collecting for one month, until about August 10th at the latest. I will start sending out packages in about 2 weeks, or sooner if I reach $100 before then, and I'll keep sending out packages as long as the funds come in up until August 10th. Every penny you send will be used toward items to go into a care package. I will pay, out of my own funds, for the postage, for the shipping containers and tape, for the premium that PayPal takes right off of the top of the donations you make to this effort, and I will add $25 to $50 to the donations out of my own money. So please - if you are planning on donating - don't put it off. The sooner enough comes in, the sooner the first package(s) goes/go out.

If you want to donate, there is a donate icon on the upper right side of my main blog page. As I did last time, I will scan and document here on the blog the receipts for the items, and for the postage, and all that - and I'll probably post pictures of the items that go into the packages too.

For more info on this effort, go to: http://ballseyesboomers.blogspot.com/2008/07/soldiers-care-package.html.

Before I forget, allow me to say thanks to C.V. of TN.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Gun Thing...

...has been getting to me lately; or maybe I should say it is the lack of me being able to buy a gun in quite awhile that has gotten to me. Sure, I ordered a M1916 Spanish Mauser recently, but those are on back order and I'll not likely see it for at least several months. What I am talking about is I have not bought a new, used, or surplus firearms in way too long, and what with the Heller Decision to celebrate, National Buy A Gun Day having come and gone, my interest in shooting and collecting firearms, my interest in hunting, and well - it just as if all those have ganged up against me like little mischievous spirits. Lately those little imps have been whispering into my ear that I need to buy a new gun Alas I have little ready cash, and I am certainly not putting one on plastic since I just did that when I ordered the Mauser. So if I want one I need to figure out how to make some quick cash, or how to save some of the money I am already earning, but currently have allocated for other things.

Saving in today's world isn't easy. Finding a quick cash making deal is not easy either. Heck with the price of everything going up on what seems a daily basis, by the time I get enough money saved for any gun which suits my fancy, well chances are it will just be too darned expensive because its price will also have gone up. I could be at it a long time with the rifle and pistol I have in mind too - yes there are two of them that have kindled my internal flames enough to have warmed my heart toward them.

First let me cover the pistol, and I'll do it briefly because I have written about it before, and you can always rad about it there. So let me just say, I would like to become the owner of a Heckler and Koch P2000SK Sub Compact. It is one heck of a nice pistol, and I think I can pick one up at a significant discount (last time I checked anyhow). I mean just look at it, then read up on its specs, and imagine the quality of this finely made pistol in .40 S&W, and imagine it in your hand, and imagine the great fun you will have shooting it, and imagine the comfort you would feel, knowing it was there, if you ever needed it for self defense; and oh heck I just would like to get myself one of these before I retire.

Now that I have slapped myself out of that dream, let me move onto the rifle. The rifle is another piece of fine craftsmanship, or should I say two pieces of fine craftsmanship since it is a takedown rifle. Sometime back, I don't know if it is because I saw one in a movie or where ever, I became enamored with the idea of picking up a takedown rifle. I like the fact that it can be broken down into two major components and put into a carry case that does not define itself as being a gun rag. In other words, it can be carried less obtrusively. There is also another aspect of takedown rifles, something that makes them alluring or sexy (as far as a rifle can be such), and I guess that is the adventurous side of such a gun. Takedown rifles have, at least in my mind, always been associated with adventure. From spy movies, to old westerns, to modern day assassins, to big game hunters, these rifles are there - there always seems to be adventure associated with them. Of course I know buying a rifle of any type will not assure adventure, its just a selling point kind of a thing or silly association at best, but it is there and it has played a role in their appeal to me. As for wanting adventure, heck I have had enough in over 28 years as a federal LEO, but I'll save those stories for another time, maybe even for a book after I retire.

Back to the rifle. I suppose by now you are wondering just what rifle I am writing about, so let me shoot down all the suspense and come right out and tell you that the rifle of my desires, the one at the top of my list of want to haves, heck at the top of my list of gotta haves (right now anyway), is the Browning BLR Lightweight Takedown Rifle. I have owned a BLR before, one that was sold to me used, but was virtually as new in the box. It was a great rifle, but I sold it. Why sell a great rifle? I guess mostly because I thought I could not afford shooting it; and what a poor excuse that was for getting rid of something which I should have put away in the gun locker, and treated with reverence. We all make bad decisions, and my decision to sell my BLR was a bad one even though it was chambered for the .358 Winchester round. Yes even though that round was about $1 or more apiece back when I sold the rifle, and even though I feared it would get much more expensive, and even though it actually did become much more expensive, I should have kept that rifle. Ouch, it hurts just thinking about having sold it. By the way, the ammo now being priced at over $2.00 per round has not really made any of the pain go away. Yes folks, over two bucks each time you pull the trigger, just check out the price here: http://www.impactguns.com/store/020892201057.html, and that does not include tax or shipping. So just think of what great condition that rifle would have been in had I kept it even if I decided to shoot it a few times a year -heck it makes it even more painful when I think of it that way. Now when you consider that a new one goes for an MSRP of $893.00, but I have seen them online at about $765 plus tax - ouch to the pocket book. They will probably be closer to MSRP here in NY; and then when you consider I bought that other BLR for only $300, and that it truly was as new (probably unfired from what I could tell), well the brick walls of my house may wind up with some of my forehead skin stuck to them - I could just about bang my head on the walls the way I am feeling right now. But that won't make my desire to own another one go away. So I had best figure out how to save for a new one.

If you are wondering about the one I want now, as I said it is the Browning BLR Lightweight takedown Rifle (my old one was not a takedown version). It is one heck of a nice wall hanger, and even a nicer shooter even though it is a lever action rifle. From its 20" (in the caliber I want) blued steel barrel, to its alloy receiver, to its gold plated trigger, to its highly polished walnut stock with pistol grip, to its removable box magazine, to its recoil pad, to its takedown feature - this rifle speaks quality. It is available in three barrel lengths 20", 22" and 24", and in 14 calibers. Some of the ammo for it is even more expensive than the .358 Winchester round. Of course, if I do save enough for one of these, I will get it in a caliber than is more affordable, yet one that is an all around good hunting round, and good defensive round (no I would not use this gun as a primary defense weapon, but one never knows what one will have at hand if the SHTF). So I am thinking of getting one in .308. The other 13 calibers in which it is available are found here, as is a bit more info about the rifle.

Now to start saving, maybe some brown bag lunches, maybe some bottles and cans to the recycling center, maye sell a few things at a garage sale....

All the best,

Glenn B