A 12 Year Old Dutch Girl Gives Birth...

...and if you read the article about it - well, you may start to wonder what in hell is wrong with the world! It sure made me wonder that and a few other things.

First the article tells us that she gave birth while on a school trip after having complained about stomach pains. That is when the teachers realized she was in labor. Wow, those teachers were pretty sharp to have realized that a 12 year old girl was in labor; I would say sharp enough that they also should have realized she was pregnant long before she went into labor. So why didn't anyone notify the police well before the girl gave birth? How is it that they, who pretend to be smart enough to teach our children, better than they claim we the parents can, about sex and condoms and AIDS and morality, did not recognize that a little girl was pregnant!

Then the article says that the girl refused to name the father of her baby. Understandable, she is probably terrified of whoever impregnated her. The article does name a suspect, at least a suspect as I see him, and that is the girl's own father. You see, it is reported that the girls father sexually abused another of his daughters and served 2 years in prison for that offense. Are you wondering again? I am. I wonder how is it that the girl's father, who had already sexually assaulted another daughter, could get close enough to the little 11 year old (she would have had to have been 11 when the intercourse took place) to be able to even be a suspect. Of course, he is innocent until proven guilty but you don't need to be proven guilty to be a suspect. If you were wondering too, how he could have become a suspect, here is the answer: He won custody of the little girl, his daughter, after he divorced from his wife.

Okay, I understand now, a convicted sexual offender, who was convicted of sexually abusing one of his own daughters, who reportedly went to jail for 2 years for sexual abuse, was considered to have done his time and to have been rehabilitated and then won custody of his children - that he no doubt loved dearly. Why would someone wonder about that, happens all the time - doesn't it!!!

The article then explains that the police are now involved:

"Dutch police said in a statement Wednesday, "The girl got pregnant when she was 11, which in itself means there has been a criminal offense. Article 244 of the Penal Code, sex with a minor under 12, is punishable. In addition, there are now [circumstances] reported by the Child Protection Board. Taking these two circumstances, the police is now investigating who the father [of this baby] is." Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/03/30/12-year-old-dutch-girl-gives-birth-school-trip/#ixzz1IB3mglf7

Are you now wondering anything else. I surely am. You see, I have to wonder: Would it have been legal in the Netherlands for a man to have sex with his 12 year old girl? I mean, didn't the report just say that the reasons the police are investigating is because sex under 12 is a punishable offense and because the Child Protection Board has made a report about it all? So are they implying that had she not been under 12, or had the Child Protection Board not reported the sexual assault, that the police would not have investigated? That makes me wonder if sex with a girl 12 or older is legal in the Netherlands!

Hopefully the police will be able to soon discover who is the father of the 12 year old girl's baby. Hopefully that person will soon be in jail awaiting trial. Hopefully they will have arrested the right person and that person will be found guilty and that person will go to jail for many, many, many more years than two. I would also hope that, if the father is the guilty party, he is never released from jail to be able to do something like this again.

I wonder, am I out of my mind or is it the assholes liberal leftists who, in essence by way of only a 2 year sentence for sexual abuse, excuse this type of behavior, are out of their minds. I believe, if anyone ever deserved to be executed for a crime, it is the person who commits the crime of impregnating a little girl. I even wonder about that though, about why everyone else in the world does not think likewise.

All the best,
Glenn B

Too Tired...

...to blog.

Blogging to continue tomorrow.

All the best,
GB

Today In History - The Colt 1911 Adopted By The U.S. Army

For the most part, I am neither a fan nor a detractor of the Colt 1911. I don't own one but I readily admit I would like one.

With that said, allow me to point out it is one fine American Pistol. There was probably no other pistol so well associated with United States military strength as was (and probably as still is) the Colt 1911. Based upon that honor and upon how many of our service members have carried and shot them, I would be remiss as a gun guy, supporter of our military, and somewhat of a history buff if I did not tell you all that:

Today marked the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the Colt 1911 as the sidearm of the United States Army.

It held that honor for many years until it was pretty much replaced by the Beretta M9 about 25 or so years ago. The Beretta, though an excellent pistol, shoots the measly 9mm pea-shooter round. The Colt 1911 shoots the venerable .45ACP, and you can bet it packs a wallop. I am pretty sure many of our wartime enemies could attest to that. It was and remains a great pistol among the great pistols of the world. My hat goes off to John M. Browning for designing it and to Colt for manufacturing it and to the U.S. Army for arming our soldiers with it once upon a time in history.

All the best,

Glenn B

Ballseye's Gun Shots 128: Slide Fire Solutions SSAR-15 Stock = Bump Fire With Finesse

Ever heard of bump firing. It is a technique whereby you hold a rifle in a certain manner with your finger on the trigger in a certain way and the next thing you know, it is the recoiling motion of the rifle that is in essence firing the rifle. It can make it seem as if you are firing fully automatic. With traditional bump firing, you lose accuracy because it is difficult if not impossible to control the rifle in the proper manner.

Step in Slide Fire Solutions with their SSAR-15 stock. It is an awesome device that replaces the stock on an AR15 and brings bump fire (or should I call it slide fire) to a whole new level. The stock can be used in a locked position whereby it acts like a normal stock and the shooter must pull the trigger with motion of the finger to fire the rifle. If you unlock the stock, the shooter then must place his finger on what is basically a rest that sits just outside the trigger guard area, the rest (or whatever they call it) seems to be attached to the replacement grip that comes with the stock. The finger goes through the trigger guard to have the end of the finger sit on the rest on the other side while the middle of the finger is across the trigger. Then the shooter gives a push/pull to fire the weapon. With what seems, to me, to be a piston like motion, the stock slides back and forth on the buffer tube of the AR. As you push/pull, the gun fires activating the trigger each time it recoils from what I can tell. You must push forward with the non-trigger finger hand and pull back with the trigger finger hand to fire. You can fire single shots, two very rapid shots, three very rapid shots (appearing like auto bursts but not actually auto fire), or you can just keep firing making it appear that the weapon is full auto. The trigger is, it seems, activated separately for each shot, it is just done so at an incredibly fast rate. It sure appears as if you are firing fully automatic and the firing rate is probably as high as found in many full auto weapons but it is being fired semi-automatic. While you can achieve this while bump firing the traditional way, the big plus with the SSAR-15 is that you can still control and aim the guns while shooting that fast.

Now, I am none too sure I explained that exactly right but think if not 100% correct I got it pretty darned right. Take a look at the company web-site to learn more:

http://www.slidefiresolutions.com/Product-SSAR-15.html

This is not an inexpensive device. The price on the manufacturer's site is about $370. I have seen it elsewhere on the web for about $350. It is supposedly legal, at least on a federal level and it comes with a copy from the BATFE supposedly saying it is legal federally. The letter can be seen in a slide show at the above link to the page showing the stock. I note, the letter calls the stock a firearms part and says it is therefore not regulated under the Gun Control Act or the National Firearms Act. I think I should point out, it did not say that when attached to a rifle, it does not turn the rifle into one that is fully automatic or that the rifle would then still be legal. Read into it what you will. The manufacturer and at least one retailer claim it is legal. On the state level, that may be another issue. It may or may not be legal in your state. I cannot see why it would be illegal here in NY but I am no lawyer. I also am sure that once the antigunners find out about it they will strive to ban it.

If I could find the change, I probably would have to go for it but that would be tough right now. Just watch the video again and listen to the laugh of that cute grandma-like lady shooter; her laugh says it all - I want one and I don't even own an AR (although my son does)!

All the best,
Glenn B

Coconut Macaroons

I spent virtually all of the day, on Sunday from 0730 to 1500, at a reptile show. I was manning a table for the Long Island Herpetological Society. Luckily, for me, I was there with another member, harry F., who was willing to let me sneak away for about an hour or so to make a quick run over to the nearby Costco. I needed to pick up some things for the house. Since I was manning the table at the show, I had pretty much decided, ahead of time, to just look for the items on the list given to me by my wife. I figured I would be in and out within an hour.

I was pretty much right on the money for the time I would be in there but I wound up straying a bit from the list at hand. When I saw this huge container of Coconut Macaroons I would have needed ropes and a mast both twice as thick as those that bound Odysseus as he sailed past the allure of the Sirens. They were calling me and I succumbed.

They were a big hit once i got them home. My wife apparently loves them. I imagine the kids have gone for some too although Brendan is not much the sweets eater. I have eaten more than my share but must say am happy for the help I have been receiving, probably from Linda & Celina, in making them disappear. I'd hate to see how many pounds I would have gained had I alone liked them. There are still some left but my guess is only about 1/3 their number remains. Mmmmmm-mmmmmm good!

Next time I shop there though, I may grab the Hostess Twinkies - they had huge boxes of them. They were my all time favorite packaged pastry/cake treat when I was a kid. Haven't had them in years but will have to give them a try again soon.

All the best,
Glenn B

Blogger Is Screwy Lately

When trying to post lately, while in the compose mode, anything that is written up winds up in one big block of text without line or paragraph breaks. This can be fixed, with a lot of effort on each individual post, in HTML mode. Blogger's solution - get another web browser other than IE. Hopefully they will fix it soon.

Now yet another problem has arisen, the publish icon does not function when clicked on with the mouse button. Instead I have to run the mouse cursor over the icon, then hit enter to publish.

I may have to search for a new place to blog if this type of stuff keeps up. It is getting annoying, one little problem after another. yes there have been other issues recently. Very annoying.

Anyone know of another free blog site?

All the best,
Glenn B

Firearms Manuals - Steve's Pages a Great Source of Info

Once upon a time, I had a link to firearms web pages that were a really great source for firearm's manuals in the form of links to those manuals. It was called Steve's Firearms Pages. I used them fairly often. Then one day the links no longer worked and I could not find the site again. Today, I got an email from a buddy of mine that had a link to a firearms site. When I checked it, I was very happily surprised to see it was a link to the lost site. When I took a few minutes to look it over, well I realized that the site sure seemed different. There wasn't much of a change if any in format, or as to type of content but it sure seemed the site had grown. Where it had contained a lot of firearm's manuals before, it now looks as if it has greatly expanded. It was a great site then and it is awesome now.

Compiling the link list must have been an arduous task considering that each was probably not only collected and added to the list but was also checked to see that it worked and that the content of the link matched the link name. That is not the half of it though. You see, it appears the links are not to manufacturers' web pages that have manuals on them but rather that the links are to PDF files that were created by Steve himself making PDF copies of firearms' manuals. So he placed all of the manuals into PDF files, then linked to each PDF file separately, then placed every link in alphabetical order (sort of) for all of us to use for free. (There is a donate link on the site.) The list of available manuals goes from A-Z with only two letters not represented - Q and X. Not every firearm is listed there, it is nowhere near that large, but yet it is quite impressive. If counted correctly, it has 1424 linked firearms manuals in PDF format. After the firearms manuals there are other links to optics, reloading tools, flashlights, metal detectors, photography and other stuff - all on the same page as the firearms manuals links. That is just on one web-page. WOW!

Besides the informational links to the firearms manuals there is a lot more offered on the site‘s Main Firearms Page. You can find links on the Main Firearms Page to:

Illustrated Parts Breakdown Page

Owners' Manuals (PDF Files, Adobe Required)

U.S. Army Field Manuals

Archival Books (Firearms and Reloading)

Magazines & Articles

Downloadable Catalogs

All Kinds Of Other Interesting Stuff

Down at the bottom of the main Firearms Page are additional links to:

The Front Page Knives

Welcome

Big Sky Country

More Montana

Even More Montana

My Bronco 4x4

Aftermarket Photography

MIDI Jukebox

ZIPped MIDI Files

Movies

Reloading

Weather Page

Me

Message Forums

Just the firearm’s manuals alone, all in one virtual place is a great source of information. Add to that lots of useful information on all those other topics and it is pretty impressive to say the least.

Here is the link to the Main Firearms page:

http://stevespages.com/page7.htm

Here is the link to the Firearms Manual page:

http://stevespages.com/page7b.htm

All the best,
Glenn B

I Am Betting Against Insomnia Tonight...

...but then about a half pint of Vodka, with more on the way, will help prevent it. Mind you, it's not a long term cure, not even a short term remedy, just felt like getting looped tonight once I got home from work and I am guessing it will put insomnia out of the picture for tonight. Don't do it often but sure am headed that way tonight. Maybe some Irish next.

All the best,
GB

The Four (4) Inevitable or at Least Quite Possible Bad Outcomes of the Four (4) Rules of Gun Safety

Rule Number 1: All guns are always loaded.

Inevitable Bad Outcome Number 1: All guns are not always loaded as you will be sure to find out when you need one to defend your life as you squeeze the trigger and it goes click, click, click…:rolleyes:

Moral Number 1: Foolish of you to have blindly believed rule number 1, wasn’t it! Make sure if you carry a gun for self defense that it is indeed loaded, otherwise you are sure to get yourself wounded or killed when you depend on an empty one.

Rule Number 2: Never allow the muzzle to cover anything you are not willing to destroy.

Inevitable Bad Outcome Number 2: You are so caught up in being concerned about exactly exactly where your muzzle is pointed, even when it is holstered, that you neglect to pay attention to your surroundings and some bad ass puts a hurting on you.

Moral Number 2: Your muzzle is going to point here, there and everywhere at one time or another; so make sure your finger is off the trigger until it is pointed in the right direction when some dirtbag wants to kill you, before he gets the chance to do it.

Rule Number 3: Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.

Inevitable Bad Outcome Number 3: If you need to draw and fire in a hurry at close quarters and you wait to place your finger on the trigger until you have proper sight alignment, you may just wind up looking like Swiss cheese because your opponent knew how to point shoot.

Moral Number 3: Know when to use your sights and when go without them like when to point shoot, hip shoot, or shoot while vertically tracking, it may keep you alive. Remember that can mean placing your finger on the trigger and shooting without paying attention to the sights. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to activate the trigger mechanism, sights or no sights.

Rule Number 4: Be sure of your target and what is beyond.

Inevitable Bad Outcome Number 4: If a bad guy draws down on you there will almost always be someone else behind him, within the effective range of your bullets. If you don’t shoot, when you have a clear and reasonably sure shot, you may just wind up dead.

Moral Number 4: You are the one who either has to live with the consequences of your actions or die because of them. If you think you can get a relatively safe and sure shot that saves your own life and maybe those of others, wouldn’t you chance a shot no matter who or what is beyond your target.

Be MINDFUL THAT THE INEVITABLE BAD OUTCOMES I LISTED ABOVE CAN ONLY HAPPEN IF YOU STRICTLY ADHERE TO THE 4 RULES OF FIREARMS SAFETY AS SO MANY PEOPLE CLAIM THEY ACTUALLY DO. Those outcomes usually do not come about simply because people do not strictly adhere to the rules whether they want to admit that or not. Thus as usual, rules invariably will be broken because they were not written to cover every situation. It takes a well trained and wise person to know when to bend them, when to improvise to save a life instead of unnecessarily jeopardizing lives.

Shoot safely and shoot to stay alive and protect other innocents.

All the best,
Glenn B

Insomnia Again and Again and Again...

...it just seems the norm lately. I don't know what sucks more, not being able to fall asleep or the crappy movie line-up on FIOS. They have plenty of movies to bore me to tears but nothing to lull me to sleep.

Later 4 U,
GB

Muslims Seemingly Go Berserk - Destroy Churches & Homes of Christians Over Accusation of Koran Desecration

A guy, apparently a Christian in Ethiopia, has been accused of desecrating a Koran. What outcome, as a normal law abiding citizen of any non-heavily populated Muslim country in the world, would you expect. I imagine that if the Koran was owned by someone other than the guy who allegedly desecrated it, you would expect that then maybe he would be charged with a misdemeanor and have to go to court. He might face a fine or even a brief jail sentence for destroying some other person's property. If it was his own property - I would expect nothing of much importance to be the result.

Well, if you live in the world of the so called religion of peace, some of you (a high number or so it appears to me) seemingly look at it otherwise. You apparently believe that an accusation of Koran desecration is the green light for you to go berserk, to take the law into your own hands, and to punish every one else who is not a Muslim but is part of the accused person's religious group. This is evidenced by this article: Thousands of Christians Displaced in Ethiopia After Muslim Extremists Torch Churches, Homes.

About the only thing with which I disagree in this article is that it says Muslim extremists were responsible for the crimes of arson. I tend to believe that those responsible are much closer to the run of the mill Muslim. I lean toward believing that Islam is a religion geared toward violence onto others who are non-Muslims. That is my personal opinion, but I believe it based upon episode after episode of Muslim violence onto non-Muslims, and on takeover after takeover of numerous non-Muslim countries throughout the history of the world, all apparently in the name of Mohammad or Allah.

Pretty soon, I can almost see myself in one of these: http://www.cafepress.com/+crusades_cross_tshirt,167588292

All the best,
Glenn B

Obama Supported The Revolution In Egypt...

...because he said, in essence, it was time for the oppressive government of Mubarak to be outed and for democracy to take over. He fully supported those who were revolting and demanded that Mubarak step down. He supported the takeover of power by those who took control of the government when Mubarak left the government. So what is one of the initial results of the Mubarak regime no longer being in power: Egypt Soldiers Tortured Female Protesters, Gave "Virginity Tests" Following Uprisings, Group Says.

Now try to bear in mind that the Egyptian Army, the one that the soldiers who are mentioned in the article serve, was on the side of the revolutionaries.

It is ever so nice to see that we now have a better, more peaceful, more humanitarian, pro-populace, law abiding, ethical, and moral government running Egypt. It is so nice I want to puke at the thought that, if these allegations are true then our nation's influence is in part responsible for this situation. If you are wondering who is in charge in Egypt, it is the army. They took over when Mubarak stepped down.

One can only wonder how it will turn out in Libya.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ballseye's Gun Shots 127: Spring Cleaning & Maintenance - For Your Holsters

If you carry a firearm in a holster and do so frequently then the early spring is a good time to perform an inspection and maintenance, including a good cleaning, of your holster(s) and shooting related leather and nylon gear. Holsters and all that other leather and nylon gear like belts and magazine pouches (I'll just refer to them all as holsters for the rest of this post) are often pretty much forgotten when it comes to taking care of firearms and accessories. You may be the type who takes good to excellent care of your guns; for example you may clean and lubricate your pistols, rifles and shotguns immediately after shooting them. You also may clean your shooting related optics just as often. After all they are on the guns. Now tell me - do you clean your holsters that often? Be honest about it too; I'd bet most of you don't!

Truth be told, all too many of use don't care for our firearms and scopes as well as or as often as we should, so - you can bet that way too many shooters don't care for their holsters as often as they should. Now, if you are one of those folks, who doesn't do all that much to care for your holsters, you may be wondering: 'What in hades is this guy Ballseye talking about - holsters don't need any care!'. Then you may think about that nice leather holster you bought two years ago, which you have worn everyday since then, and it may come to mind that yep it sure could use a bit of shoe polish to get rid of some of the scuffs on it and to bring back to life some of the worn off color. Then you wonder: 'Yeah, that's what he must mean but why write a whole blog post about that?'

Well, while I do include polishing the leather in the list of things to do for your leather holsters, the truth is there are quite a few other things you can do and most of them can be applied to any type of holsters be they made from leather, nylon, Kydex, or other, materials. The reason I recommend early spring as a good time to clean/maintain your holsters is because of what can happen to them over a long harsh winter, especially in places like the northeast United States. We had an exceptionally cold and snowy winter this year, heck it was like that of much of the Midwest, southeast too. A cold winter like that tends to expose your holster to a lot of harsh environmental factors. These include cold dry air, then dampness when the snows melt, then cold dry air again and oh - did I forget to mention salt (used to melt snow on sidewalks and roads). Even if covered up by all of your heavy winter clothing they can be effected by these elements. Now, I know you are not likely rolling around in the snow getting your holster full of snow, ice and salt. The thing is though, the weather does have its effects, especially on leather and you certainly can get snow melt salt onto your holster by handling it after coming into contact with the salt by spreading it on your sidewalk, by pulling off your boots then handling your holster, by getting it on your clothing and then it transferring to your holster and so on. Speaking of your winter clothing, that could be among the worst things to which a holster is exposed.

One of the worst things for any holster, but especially for those designed with a closed bottom, is what you get from your winter clothing. I am talking about lint. Lint rubs off of wool, cotton, and fleece like clothing and can build up in pretty incredible amounts in places that catch it. Guess where one of those places is located. If you own a closed bottom holster, that you have worn all winter under sweaters and fleeces, why not take a flashlight and shine it inside the holster to see what is down at its bottom. Look carefully, sometimes it has been so compacted as to look like part of the holster itself. Or maybe better yet, stick a finger in there and see what you can scoop out. You may be surprised. I have seen people draw a weapon that actually had a lint blob, ball, thingy hanging off of the muzzle end. What happened was so much of it got compacted in the holster bottom, it started going up the sight channel, then it got stuck to the sight when the weapon was drawn. Looks really funny at the range but I am willing to bet you would not be laughing if you had to draw in self defense and the muzzle was full of lint or the front sight was obscured by it.

Lint and other foreign objects are the first things I check for when doing holster maintenance. I recommend examining a closed bottom holster monthly, in the colder months, for lint buildup. I also recommend cleaning them that often. I use a toothbrush to best effect to loosen it all up and pull it out although you can use your booger picking index finger, a vacuum (with the narrow super sucko tube attachment on it) or whatever else works. I also recommend checking even open bottom holsters since I have seen lint build up in them now and again (more along sticking to the sides of the holster especially in the sight channel or in the pocket like area in which the trigger guard rests.

Once I get any lint or other foreign material out, I do a general examination and cleaning of the holster. I look the holster for damage and wear - inside and out. Then if all is okay I clean the outside of the holster. The material of which the holster is made has a lot to do with how I clean it. With Kydex, I use a damp sponge or cloth with a bit of mild dish washing detergent on it. I wipe it off well, then rinse it under running water, then make sure to dry it especially making sure I dry any metal parts (such as rivets) so they do not rust. Most Kydex holsters can be washed inside and out in this manner. With nylon holsters I either wipe them down as described for the Kydex but then do not rinse them unless I have ample time to allow them to dry out completely in case they absorb any of the water. Yes, nylon is water repellent but not waterproof. If you do not want to rinse them under running water, then clean with a damp cloth with a bit of mild detergent followed by a wipe off or two with a damp cloth with only water on it. Let it dry completely before use.

Leather holsters are a different animal when it comes to cleaning. I will sometimes wipe them off with a damp cloth but make sure not to overdo the amount of water. I don't want water soaking into the leather if I can avoid it. I only wipe off the finished shiny outside of holsters with a damp cloth. (If you do not want to use water on your leather products there are specialty leather cleaners available.) I let it dry, then treat it by polishing it with a paste shoe polish of the appropriate color. I may also apply a tiny bit of leather treatment but am very prudent in its application because I do not want to soften the leather and effect the shape of the holster. Again, the water, detergent, shoe polish and leather treatment are only applied to the outside of my leather holsters, I never use water or show polish or leather treatment (such as Mink Oil) on suede liners or suede holsters. Suede liners and suede holsters can be cleaned with specialized suede cleaners and then protected with specialized silicone containing products or other products made to protect suede. All the products you need to clean, protect and preserve leather can be had at the local supermarket or sporting goods store. Products like those manufactured by Kiwi are quite suitable, in my estimation.

With all the holsters, I also pay attention to any metal snaps, clips and or rivets. I make sure they are cleaned too. Snaps can build up foreign material on their inner surfaces and that can interfere with the working of the snap. So just make sure they are clean. if water gets on them while cleaning, I make sure to dry them off well, that includes any metal parts of my holsters. Now and then, I may apply a very light coat of oil to those parts with a cotton swab but most times it is not needed as most of those parts are fairly corrosion resistant (but not all so I make sure to dry them off as I mentioned above). With snaps, it is a good idea to check them now and then to make sure they are not coming loose from the material in which they are embedded. I have had lots of nylon holsters where snaps have come loose but it can happen with leather holsters too. Better to check them now and again than to have a gun come flying out of its holster when you run across the street.

As far as frequency of holster maintenance and cleaning goes, it is a good idea to give them a once over at least monthly but for certain, don't go more than a quarter year before checking on their condition. If your holster gets subjected to things like a lot of grime, moisture, salt, lint, hard work you may want to check it at least weekly to make sure it is clean. If it gets banged around a lot check it at least weekly to make sure it has not been damaged (including tears, stretching, scuffs, snaps coming loose and so on). The absolute best way to make sure your holster is in tip top shape is to give it a good visual inspection each time you use it and each time you take it off for the night. In other words, when you start your day give it a good going over and do the same again at the end of your day. The inspection only takes a few seconds. Then, just perform cleaning or other maintenance as needed based upon your daily inspections. Remember, a good and fully functional holster can be a very important part of your firearms gear. It goes a long way toward assuring your gun will be secured there and ready to be drawn when you need it.

All the best,
Glenn B

Hope & Change BUT The Words Remain Virtually The Same

Each of the below statements was made by the president of the United States of America; the thing is they were spoken by very different presidents at very different times yet they are almost identical.

March 19, 2011:

Today we are part of a broad coalition. We are answering the calls of a threatened people. And we are acting in the interests of the United States and the world.

March 19, 2003:

American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.

That George W. Bush is sure a sneaky fellow, his influence carries on in more ways than you probably would have expected. I'll bet you liberals who voted for Barrack H. Obama never thought you were voting for a guy who incessantly would strive to model himself so much after Dubya!

I would almost be willing to bet they show a Coalition Organization Complete sign on an American aircraft carrier in the not too distant future.

All the best,
Glenn B

Insomnia Sucketh...

...and lately it sucketh a lot. Work comes too soon to still be awake at this hour. Once I do get to sleep, one of the dogs is almost certain to wake me, between 0430 and 0530, wanting to go outside. Oh Joy!

Later 4 U,
GB

Don't Forget - The Japanese People Need Our Help

Today is pay day for me. That being the case, I made a donation to the American Red Cross specifically to go toward relief efforts for the earthquake/tsunami disaster that recently struck Japan. If you have not given anything already, I urge you to do so to any legitimate organization that is helping the Japanese with relief efforts. Let's not let down one of our best allies and her people in their time of need. There are many organizations, helping out in Japan, to which you can give. I imagine they would be happy to receive anything from a dollar on up. It adds up but more importantly it helps.

All the best,
Glenn B

Charlton Heston...

...had, what has to be (for me at least) one of the best if not the best, single line from any movie ever:

"Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!"

It made my 12 year old heart thump with excitement, and all the movie goers screamed in unison with approval, for the courage exhibited by the brave hero who spoke those lines in the face of overwhelming circumstances.

It was followed, a couple of minutes later, by what was probably, when taken in context, one of the second best movie lines ever:

"It’s a madhouse - a madhouse!"

Of course, the last lines of the movie were pretty good to:

"Oh my God. I'm back. I'm home. All the time, it was... We finally really did it. (screaming) You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!"

Yep, I was just watching Planet of the Apes. When it came out, it was probably the best, most startling, awesome and advanced, sci-fi movie of its day. It easily still remains among the top 10, maybe even the top 5. No sequels, no television series, no remake(s) can do it justice.

All the best,
GB

Happy Purim - Hope You Enjoyed the Hamantaschen

To my Jewish friends and to those of said faith who read my blog, Happy Purim.

There are not many Jewish holidays, of which I am aware, that celebrate the feats of a Jewish woman, but this is one of them. It celebrates Queen Esther saving the Jews from the wrath of Xerxes I (her husband) that had been stirred by Haman (his lackey and an anti-Semite). When she revealed to her husband that she was Jewish she saved the Jews from meeting their end at his hand.

I wish I had realized Purim was upon us on Friday. I would have headed to Williamsburg, NY, to a good Jewish bakery and picked up some Hamantaschen. They are delicious. My wife likes them best with raspberry filling which is not a traditional filling used by Jews, though that filling is sometimes used it is usually when you find them in German or other secular European style bakeries. I like them with raspberry filling but traditional ones are just as good if not better. If I remember tomorrow, I will have to stop by Williamsburg and go to a kosher bakery to see if they still have fresh ones and pick up a dozen.

All the best,
Glenn B

Oh Henry

Finally got to the range with the Henry Survival Rifle. Being that I took it apart, cleaned it well, then put it back together and got it done right (I know now since it worked), I can say I am a bit disappointed. It jammed about 10% of the time with 3 types of ammo and about 80% of the time with yet another. Except for the one ammo jamming 80% of the time, it was pretty much doing what it had been doing before I took it apart for a good cleaning. I had thought it was doing that because of fouling, guess I was wrong. It did like one ammo though, CCI Mini Mag 36 grain hollow points. Only jammed once firing about 40 rounds of that.

It both fails to feed (lousy design of the rifle I think) and fails to eject. I will have to do another detail strip, maybe this time going all the way and taking apart the bolt - completely. There is a possibility it is jamming because of some fouling inside the bolt then again I tend to doubt it but a good cleaning of all of the bolt's components will not harm it. There is also a possibility the ejector is worn or sheared at its tip, I will have to check that. That could be causing the failure to eject. I may polish the feed ramp a bit to see if it helps it feed ammo better. I am using original factory magazines so tend to doubt they are causing the feeding problem. Oh well, time and some tinkering will tell.

All the best,
Glenn B

Home Depot Bound

What a less than fun way to ruin spend a weekend day, even part of it. Going to Home Depot is not my idea of fun. I had other things planned today once my chores would have been over; that is had the new wireless doorbell I bought at Home Depot actually worked! Our old doorbell was still hanging on the wall and connected to the wires but we have not had a front door bell button for years now. The wiring was fried and causing the bell to overheat. I asked my wife, many times, to go to Home's to pick out a bell. She did not and I forgot all about it. A couple of weeks or so back, I happened to be walking down the electrical aisle at HD and grabbed a doorbell. It was not fancy, not pretty, but had 2 push button units, one for the front and one for the back, or in our case the side door - so I took it.

I finally got round to trying to install it today. That is when I found out it did not work. I went over everything 3 times too. I opened the push button units, took out the tabs that prevented battery contact, made sure the batteries were oriented right, put 3 D batteries into the main bell unit, made sure they were in right, made sure the volume was turned up to high (tried it in the opposite direction too and in the middle),, took out the batteries from the main unit and out them into a flashlight and it shone brightly when I turned it on. I have no way of checking the batteries in the push buttons and am figuring they are the culprits as to what is wrong.

So, as soon as I let off some steam by blogging about it, I am off to Home Depot to make an exchange. Well, actually to get a refund then buy another because they do not allow straight out exchanges which would be so much easier. Happily, I have the receipt. Went there once to bring something back and a manager implied I had stolen it and was returning it to make some money. I got the overall store manager who reamed her a new one much to my satisfaction. As a matter of fact, a few weeks later she was fired for being a jerk toward customers. Most times the folks at Home Depot are nice but that does not make a trip there much easier. I am sure that once I am there I will be thinking of and buying other things I need for the house or garden. There are bound to be way too many other folks there at the same time as me and that is what makes a trip there barely tolerable to miserable. The only good thing is that I can get some things I need for the garden so as to have to make one less trip later when the spring rush is on for garden supplies.

I guess, I'll go right to see my mom after going to Homer's. Then, if I have time, I am going to go to the range to shoot. That always has a calming effect, sort of like meditation or whatever with the concentration and mind/body coordination it takes to do it well. I hope I will have enough time but I will be cutting it close because I have to be home in time for dinner tonight since the daughter's boyfriend is coming over. Speaking of being short on time, I had best get going.

Later 4 U,
Glenn

Whacking Whacky Qaadafi

One can only hope we will have whacked him when all this is over or that at least the Libyan opposition forces will take Qaddafi out terminally. Hopefully the imposition of the use of force by nations who have force to use has not come too late. Hopefully the opposition will survive and even win their uprising. Hopefully they will become steadfast allies of the United States. Hopefully, Gadhafi does not already have agents in place, in the USA and elsewhere, who will now unleash havoc within our borders or within those of our allies. Hopefully allies of Khadafy (or however you like to spell it, the media sure likes to spell it in a lot of different ways) will not take action against us along those same lines. Hopefully I am not hoping for too much.

If you have not heard the news yet - go here:

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/03/19/france-fires-libyan-military-vehicle/

All the best,
Glenn B

The Influence Of The War Monger George W. Bush...

...must still be playing havoc with our military around the world because it appears, from the report I just read here: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/03/19/france-fires-libyan-military-vehicle/, the U.S., and her allies the Brits, have attacked Libya with 112 missiles.

I mean it couldn't be that the guy who was going to end the war in Iraq and bring all the troops home by, when was it, the end of last year, nor the guy who was going to win the war in Afghanistan pronto and pull our troops out of there, nor could it be the guy that said we had to stay out of other countries' affairs and used Egypt as an example, nor could it be the guy who just ignores the fact that Bahrain has invited in the Saudi Army to kills its own protesters, nor could it be the guy who also ignores the killing of hundreds if not thousands in Yemen - so it has to be that friggin war mongering, hypocritical, idiotic, inept, criminal of a president George W. Bush who has somehow caused all of this - right!

Where is Chris Matthews condemning the missiles falling on the innocent. Where is the war whore correspondent Christiane Amanpour standing up for her people, where is Pelosi chastising the president for interfering in the affairs of other nations, where is Cindy Sheehan camping out tonight to protest this new war, where are all the super duper libs' like Chucky Cheese Charles Schumer who should be condemning the president for going in to protect our oil interests in Libya while at the same time not going into Bahrain for the exact same reason? Where are the senators and representative screaming about the cost of each cruise missile? Why don't we hear the screamed protests of such voices as those of Shawn Penn, Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, Keith Olbermann, Jesse Jackson, Paul McCartney, George Soros, and that, in my opinion, friggin big mouthed obnoxious slob of all slobs Michael Moore. Why aren't the recruiting stations for the military be protested by the leftist mobs now! Where are the protests, diplomatic, political and by the people of the killing of the enemy with missiles that will most assuredly create collateral losses in the form of innocents!

Tell me, where was the imminent threat to the United States of America or to her allies that necessitated our taking military action against Libya? Where are the protesters screaming that we had no such reason? Don't get me wrong, I am no Qaddafi lover, I would not mind seeing Libya blown to hell with what happened to the Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, and with all else Qaddafi is believed to have had his hands in over the years. I am simply questioning the hypocrisy of the ultra leftists. You friggin far to the left liberals make me want to puke because you are so phony at being anything other than one sided for yourselves and not really for America or the truth. You are a little more than sham Americans as far as I can tell.

By the way, where was our president when all of this was happening and where is that transparency he promised us! Heard from him yet about this? Oh yeah, he issued a statement from, of all places, Brazil! Way to go President Obama - that really makes you look as if your very presidential finger is on the trigger - or does it?

(This all has been an expression of my personal feelings and my personal opinion.)

Waiting to hear you lefties condemn
President Obama for this
but betting you won't,

Glenn B

Spreading The BS (no this is not about politics)

Well, maybe it was cow manure and not BS but I spent a few hours out in the garden today and some of that time was devoted to spreading the shit manure. I only have two small patches in which I usually grow my vegetable garden supplemented by whatever I grow in pots so there was not that much to spread. Still though, I managed to spread about 240 pounds of the stuff, even more that what my fat ass self weighs. I cleaned up the leaves, twigs, trash, and whatever else was there, turned the soil, spread the poopy (composted - of course), then worked it into the soil a bit. My good buddy, Arthur I. Tis was there with me and my aching back and knees and hips can attest to his presence.

After that, I got to trimming some bushes so that when they do bud and put out leaves for the season, they will not make the backyard look too much like an unkempt jungle. I also cleaned up a bit of this and a bit of that and had an overall rewarding time of it except for that pest Arthur being there. I did notice, while tuning the soil, that the two areas I plant with veggies are loaded with earthworms. I grabbed a handful for my critters. The fish, newts, salamanders, frog, turtle and tortoises all had an enjoyable lunch today - well not enjoyable for the worms but certainly enjoyable for my critters anyway.

I also put my seed tray outside to let my tomato, cucumber, watermelon and pumpkin sprouts get their first feel of the sun's rays on them. They all sprouted in the last couple of days. Another week or two and outside they go for the season.

All that done, and some bill paying and online banking too, my wife, daughter and I sat down to a nice dinner of Corned Beef, boiled potatoes and cabbage bok choy. My wife said the supermarket was out of cabbage and I'll admit it tasted close enough to almost fool me into believing it is a suitable substitute. Since dinner, I have been enjoying a nice glass of Beaujolais. More projects tomorrow, a visit to my mom and maybe a trip to the range too but for tonight I am going to relax.

All the best,
Glenn B

.

Japan Teetering On The Brink of Chernobyl - Can It Get Any Worse?

The Japanese have been faced with amazing trials over the past few days. They seem to be handling all of them well with one possible exception. They are faced with thousands to tens of thousands of dead, from the earthquakes and tsunami, yet they keep searching for survivors. They have awakened to find themselves homeless in the winter yet they have managed to shelter their people. They have most certainly found themselves hungry, short of food, but no one is looting or certainly there are no mobs of looters getting whatever they can steal. They face the prospect of a nuclear meltdown in not one, not two, but three nuclear reactors. Yet, 50 of Japan's bravest, now dubbed the Fukishima 50, have been giving it their all (and that could wind up being most literally as in their lives) by continually going in and out of the danger zone to try to prevent nuclear meltdown! They have found themselves alone and lacking in almost every need but have found themselves suddenly surrounded by a wealth of friends and have had the humility not to be to proud to accept the helping hands that have been offered.

By now you may be wondering what I meant when I said they are doing well with one possible exception. That possible exception is their leadership, their government. While they may be doing much right, they are possibly about to fail miserably in their most important duty, protecting the people of their nation. The government seems to have been bending over backwards, along with those who run the nuclear plants, to assure the Japanese people that the near meltdown conditions at the nuclear power plant did not pose a serious threat. In that regard I think they are, or were, at least temporarily, out of their minds. I think they would have been much better off evacuating the area early on and then not needing to worry if people had been irradiated. Now they are testing everyone in the area for radiation and they are finding too many people who have been contaminated. I imagine that the mindset that allowed them to do so comes with bad politics and with cover-up politics. Let's hope it is not the latter, let's hope they have not already been covering up faults of those power plants for years already. Let's hope some of what they are saying about the chance for a nuclear meltdown is true and that there really is almost no chance of it. The thing is though, it seems a meltdown may be inevitable because almost everything else that could go wrong with the nuclear power plant, that they promised would not happen, seems to have happened. I pray it not be the case.

If the core melts down, causing the landscape to become irradiated, could there be anything worse that could happen to them? Short of an epidemic caued by decaying bodies or an invasion by the Chinese or a missile attack by the North Koreans, I cannot think of anything even remotely realistic. Of course, there is always Godzilla or zombies but they just ain't gonna happen in the real world. Let's hope that a meltdown, an epidemic, a missile attack or an invasion of helpful Chinese troops isn't going to happen either.

Keep the Japanese in your thoughts and prayers and please consider donating to a legitimate charity to help them.

All the best,
Glenn B

Testing The Henry Survival Rifle...

...was high on my list of things to do this week. I just have not gotten the chance to go to the range though, but still really wanted very badly to test it to see if I got it back together right. The thought crossed my mind that I could load it with CB caps and shoot it at a target/backstop area that I could set up in my basement. They are 22 Short not 22LR but they would work enough for me to see if I got the trigger mechanism in there right to propel the firing pin forward. I thought it over and decided I really did not want to or need to be shooting bullets inside my house so I passed, mostly because of possible safety issues.

Then, I remembered that I had two containers of blanks, both 22 caliber. One is about the size of a 22 short shell, the other was about 3/4 the size of a 22LR. I opted for the latter, loaded one into the magazine, inserted the mag, pulled back the bolt and let it slingshot forward and the rifle actually loaded that smaller off sized cartridge. I aimed it in a safe direction, gave a squeeze of the trigger and it went BANG! I then had to manually operate the action because there was not enough recoil from the blank to do so. Then I loaded a second one and tried again. BANG a second time. I would have to say it appears pretty positive, I got it reassembled correctly - whoopee!

I lit a couple of scented candles to cover the telltale aroma of the gun powder but when my son came home about 15 minutes later he asked: "Is something burning? What's that smell?" I told him I had shot off a round in the basement, to which he said "WHAT". I then told him what really had transpired and he said "Cool". It was surprising how long that very noticeable odor remained despite the scented candles having been lit, in fact I was a bit surprised he did not recognize it right away. Then again, maybe he just did not want to believe that I had fired a gun in the house. Oh well, what's a guy to do when there was a gun just waiting to be test fired. Remember, they were only blanks and shooting them was certainly better than shooting actual bullets in my house and a whole lot safer too! By the way, even though I was only shooting starter gun blanks, I made darned sure to have the muzzle pointed in a safe direction. That included one that was bullet proof (just in case there was some sort of unexpected projectile in the casing) and one that was fireproof because as with any live round these contained gunpowder and gun powder produces muzzle flash and muzzle flash is nothing more than fire, some still burning powder, some unburned powder and hot gases.

Yep - it is a good idea to consider safety even with blanks. If you ever use blanks, never fool around with them or with a gun loaded with them. Firing blanks at others can cause harm and in some instances they have been known to cause death. Shoot safe, stay safe.

All the best,
Glenn B

Veteran's Support Organization - Is It Legit Or A Fraud?

You can watch the video and decide for yourself, or maybe decide to seek out more info. Me, I think I may direct my money elsewhere.

Veterans Support Organization: MyFoxNY.com

All the best,
Glenn B

Decent Deal On .223 Ammo From SGAmmo

I placed an order with SGAmmo, last week, for 400 rounds of .223 ammo. I received it today. I figured I would do my son a favor and pick him up some additional .223 ammo. He is a good guy and deserves it. Now, I suppose I'll have to get something for my daughter to of equal value.

The ammo I ordered was 400 rounds of .223 Federal American Eagle 55gr FMJ ammo, AEBP223B. The deal is not as good as you would get per round if you ordered a full case but it is a pretty good price for 400 rounds. It was $119.50 plus $12 shipping. If you are interested, go here: http://www.sgammo.com/product/federal/400rds-223-federal-american-eagle-55gr-fmj-ammo-aebp223b.

As far as SGAmmo goes, they received my order, sent a prompt email confirmation that same evening, then sent an email update in the early afternoon of the very next day saying the order was filled, and the day after that I got an email saying it had shipped. I was supposed to get it on Friday but for some reason it was delayed in transit by UPS and I received it today - no fault of SGAmmo. When I got it today, it was packaged well, and contained what I ordered. All was well - what more could you ask for!

I'll certainly shop with them again but not for awhile because I am pretty much tapped out after having to pay the unexpected expense of a replacement for our failed clothes dryer; that hurt. (I would have never ordered the ammo had I known the dryer was going to go belly up, and I still feel I have to do something for my daughter since I did something for my son, so the bucks are sure to be scarce. Oh well...)

All the best,
Glenn B

Here Comes Another Assault On Our 2nd Amendment Freedoms

Read about it here:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/03/13/obama-pens-op-ed-calling-better-gun-sale-background-checks/?test=latestnews

President Obama is calling for additional or enhanced background checks for firearms purchases. When will the left understand that no matter how difficult they make it for a law abiding citizen to purchase or own a firearm, criminals will always be able get them through criminal means. Addressing gun background checks will do little if anything to prevent violent criminals from getting guns. What needs to be corrected in our society is how we deal with violent criminals. Instead of pandering to their every want and need in jail, they need to be jailed in prisons that are punishment oriented and in which they will spend long mandatory sentences, without parole, for violent crimes. In addition, certain violent criminals should be executed to rid us of their threat forever. That would do much more than background checks, for firearms purchases, to solve the problem of violent crime!

Edited to add: Since this latest call for extended background checks is being made with the Tucson shooting at least in part as its base, then one other thing could also be done to make our society safer without infringing our rights. Lunatics, psychos, outright mentally disturbed folks suffering from psychosis could be institutionalized instead of being allowed to roam freely. That is how it used to be but some leftist bleeding heart allowed them to be set free - at least here in NY State. Commit them when they are deemed a danger to themselves or others and when they are set free or allowed to remain free because some shrink makes a bad call, then call the shrink to task by license revocation in all 50 states, monetary fines and possibly incarceration due to negligence.

Let's start putting blame where it is due, on those responsible for the crimes and on those responsible for allowing criminals and lunatics to roam freely.

All the best,
Glenn B

Another Tsunami Headed Toward Japan?

I hope I just misunderstood what I think I heard on Fox News a few minutes ago. What I thought I heard was that a 10 foot Tsunami was spotted, on Monday morning, heading toward Japan. If that is correct may heaven help them.

THIS WAS LATER REPORTED AS A FALSE ALARM

All the best,
GB

HOPE & CHANGE SURVIVAL PACKAGE! - What A Deal

I just found what is most likely the best deal on a C&R firearm that I have ever seen.

The price of this great deal is $140 plus $40 shipping. It includes:

Mosin-Nagant M91/30 rifle, Excellent Condition

Cruciform spike bayonet

"Dog collar" sling

30 round double ammo pouch

Sealed 440 round tin of 7.62x54mmR ammunition

The rifle alone on average sells for about $100. The ammunition, at the lowest price I have seen lately goes for about $75.00. Those prices do not include shipping but if included it would amount to about the same as charged with this deal. That would make it a total of about $215 normally as compared to $180 for this deal. I know that is only comparable to a 16% off sale but when it the last time you got such a deal on essentially already low-ball priced items.

If you want to see if it is still available so you can take advantage of it, then go here to RGuns. The deal is shown on their homepage. If I had not just bought a Nagant last month, well I probably would have ordered one of these.

By the way, you have got to love the name of the deal, the RGuns: "HOPE & CHANGE SURVIVAL PACKAGE!"

All the best,
Glenn B

My Mom and Her Predictions of Doom & Gloom

My mom is in a rehabilitation center, recuperating from her most recent fall during which she took a good hit to the head. I would hate to see the damage she did to whatever it was that her head hit, she has a hard head. Still though, she was pretty seriously injured with a subdural hematoma, stitches, bruises and so on. She is much better already and as I said is already in rehab.

Today, when I went to see her, she was sitting at a table in the dining room talking with another resident and with that lady's family. They had just finished up a birthday party for the other lady. As I approached the other woman was just finishing talking about one of her sons or grandsons. I got there just in time to hear my mom talking about her son who she told the others is a policeman. Sh told them that her son had recently been shot and she was worried as to whether or not he was doing well. She said she was mostly worried because she had not heard from him or anyone else as to how he was doing. She went on to tell them that he had been in law enforcement a long time and this was the first time he had been shot. She again repeated that she wondered how he was doing.

By this time, I had been standing right next to her for about half a minute or more. One of the young men who was visiting the other elderly lady looked at me, then at my mom and just said: I think we are about to find out. At that point, I said hi to my mom and she burst into tears and asked me how I was and how I had gotten better so fast after having been shot! It was sad, it was amusing and it was scary all at once. I was happy to explain to her that no one she knows had been shot - especially me. She then said she saw it in the news paper and it mentioned me by name. I explained maybe she had gotten confused and that was good enough for her. I have to admit though - there have been lots of shootings of police officers lately and if she saw a paper recently I understand ow she could have gotten that into her head. She has dementia and just let me say it allows the imagination to run wild and the sub dural hematoma she just suffered could certainly make things worse.

I visited with my mom for a couple of hours and we talked about this and that. She brought up my having been shot several times more during our visit. Each time, when I assured her I had not been shot, she seemed content with my answer and smiled but then asked if I had ever been shot? Then she said something that made my spine tingle. She said guessed she had dreamed that I had been shot and then said she had been dreaming about it a lot. Just thinking of her saying that made my spine tingle again, just now, as I sit here at home typing on my keyboard. You see, she had this thing about dreaming about blood. If she dreamed about blood, she would tell the whole family the next day and tell us all to be careful because it meant something bad would happen. She did not do it often and that is what makes it so scary. You see, when she did dream about blood, more times than not, something almost always happened to someone she knew well like family, friends or coworkers. The something that happened was never good. I would say she was on the mark about 60-70% of the time.

Just coincidence? I would say so but coincidental often enough to make it scary. I remember one time, while she was napping, she dreamed about her second husband, my step-dad, all bloodied up. She woke up all afraid and such and the next thing you knew the phone rang and it was someone from his job, or the police, or maybe even himself calling to say he had been injured in an accident or something like that. Other times, she would tell us about her dream and the next day or two we would find out an elderly relative had passed on the day of her dream or the day after. It was always something that happened after she told us about it. I don't remember her telling me that she dreamed about blood in a long, long time but today she did just that and her dream was about me having been shot! I was thinking, in a half hearted way, I may just have to wear my body armor for the next couple of days whenever I go anywhere and maybe I had best be extra careful tonight when I clean my sidearms. I really don't think it a harbinger of doom but it still gives me the heebie-jeebies to think about it. Now that I think of it, maybe I had best be extra nice to my wife too, just in case...

All the best,
Glenn B

Putting Henry Back Together Again or The Survival Of My Henry Survival Rifle

It was a boring day for me, in Phoenix Arizona in April 2010, when I decided to pretty much detail strip my Henry Survival Rifle to give it a good cleaning. I had the little black beast for several years and could not remember ever taking out the bolt to clean it and lord knows it needed cleaning after having recently put another 750 rounds through it. Now, while I am into guns and shooting, I am certainly no grand wizard of an expert when it comes to taking them down beyond a filed strip for a normal cleaning. So I looked to the Internet for advice on how to get the job done. I came across a web site, here, that gave a fairly good description of how to do the job and it had pictures too. I gave it a good look and, while I wished it had more details and more pictures (because I am not high in mechanical prowess and have little self confidence when it comes to doing things like this), I decided that the job did not seem too difficult regardless of a bit of advice given by the site's author when he wrote:

"Once the hammer and trigger assembly clear the receiver, remove the magazine catch with caution. The tiny spring is very easy to lose."

Yes, you know it, I lost the spring! It wasn't during disassembly but while I was trying to reassemble it but that does not matter much. What mattered was that I spent enough time crawling around on the floor of my apartment to get carpet burns on my knees over the several hours I searched for the spring. When I could not find it, I put all the other pieces in a Ziplock freezer bag and put them in a closet. As luck would have it, two days later, while walking barefoot on the carpet, I felt the tiny trouble making spring stinging my heel. Even after feeling it, it took several minutes of crawling and feeling to find it in the thick carpet. I was just about to sit down to eat, was in no mood to try to reassemble the Henry Survival Rifle and so, away went the tiny spring into the plastic bag with all the other parts. Then I proceeded to promptly forget about it for way too long.

How long did I forget about it? Well, first let me say, neglect it would be the better term? As a matter of fact, my misadventure of losing the spring took place exactly 11 months and 2 days ago. I know because I wrote a blog post about it 2 days after I lost it, that would be the day I found it - precisely 11 months ago to this day. I don't know exactly what got me to thinking of it today, I have thought about it a few times over the past 11 months, but whatever got me thinking of it today was different than other days if only because it got me thinking seriously about putting it back together. After I got done with bill paying, online banking, cleaning up some of the mess in the basement, vacuuming, and so on, I sat down at a folding table in the basement and laid the parts out in front of me. I gave them all a good cleaning, then got called upstairs for dinner. After my appetite was sated, and thus in a good mood, I looked up the blog on which I had found the disassembly instructions last year to see if there were any reassembly instructions. All it said was reassemble in reverse order. Oh there was no joy in reading that. I much prefer detailed instructions and usually lack the confidence needed to get something done without them but, today for some reason, I figured would just do it.

The truth be told, while I had wished them to be more detailed, those disassembly instructions were good enough, along with the great photos that accompanied them so that I could follow the instructions in reverse while looking at the pics, to get the job done. I owe a debt of gratitude to Derek from The Packing Rat blog for that. I also owe him a nod and thanks for his allowing me to use that blog post as the background in the snapshot, of my reassembled Henry Survival Rifle, that accompanies this post. Without those instructions I would have had to take it to a gunsmith who probably would have charged me more than the rifle is worth to reassemble it.

There is no moral to this story, no warnings not to take your guns apart to clean them. I do think that proper maintenance is the best way to assure your guns last a long, long time. Of course, I do recommend being familiar with the how to get the job done before doing it. Good, step by step, illustrated instructions are just about a must for me when taking apart or putting together firearms. I would not have tried to detail strip the Henry, without a very detailed set of disassembly and reassembly showing each and every step in photos, except that it was disgustingly fouled. It was bad enough that the bolt was starting to operate sluggishly a bit because it was so dirty. Mind you, I am not knocking the instructions found at The Packing Rat, they were pretty good, they were illustrated with good photos, and they were the only ones available. While I usually prefer manufacturer's instructions, since Henry did not supply any, I depended on those from Derek's blog. I am happy I did because in the end they helped me a great deal to get the job done. My little black survival rifle has survived being in parts for most of a year, apparently no worse for the wait to be reassembled. I consider myself lucky that The Packing Rat was still online and that it still had the instructions available. There is now a link to that blog over on the right side of my blog page.

Oh yeah, in case you were wondering, the Henry seems to be operating properly. The bolt travels smoothly, the hammer cocks, the trigger releases the hammer and the firing pin moves forward. That last was easy to tell because the Henry Survival Rifle is a take down rifle and when the barrel is off of the receiver, the action can still be operated. I simply cocked it, put my finger on the bolt face over the firing pin channel, pulled the trigger and felt the sting of the firing pin on my finger tip. I have not shot it yet, maybe I will do so tomorrow. I will let you know how it shot once I have done so. I already have a bit more self confidence in my abilities to get such things done and you can be sure that if it fires as it should that self confidence will be even stronger. Thanks Derek!

All the best,
Glenn B

Surviving The Unexpected - Survival Tips To Help You Make It Through A Catastrophe

Snowfall and cold the likes we have not experienced in decades. Rain storms and floods as not seen in many years. Birds falling from the skies dead, not once but repeated times no conclusive reason. Fish floating belly up by the thousands for no known reason. Horrific tornadoes spread far and wide. Volcanic eruptions round the world. Earthquakes and tsunamis to follow. Is it TWOG? I hink not but I am surprised there are not doom-sayers on every corner telling us that The Wrath Of God is upon us. Is it TEOTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it)? I doubt that too.

While I do not think the end of the world is upon us, I do think that all of those things I just mentioned are a good reason to have emergency supplies on hand. You never know, or certainly only have very little warning, that such things are about to happen and when they do, it is often too late to run out to the store to stock up. So what should you have on hand? Well, I could write up a list that would take hours for me to compile but I will keep this one pretty basic. In fact it will cover what I think are the bare minimum that you should have on hand at any given time in your home (and it is not a bad idea to also have something in each of your cars).

Drinking Water: First and foremost you should have a supply of clean drinking water. Have at least 3 days worth though enough for a week would be better. How much water is that? It is recommended that you have on hand a minimum of about 1 gallon of drinking water per person per day. That may be higher in desert or tropical areas.

Food: Again, at a minimum, you should have a 3 day supply of food per person. As with water, more food is recommended and a weeks supply would be better than a few days worth. Right now, I figure I have at least a 10 days to 2 weeks supply at hand in my home, that includes everything in our daily use pantries and whatever else I have in survival storage. Remember I am talking about food that does not require refrigeration since the power may be out. So types to have on hand could consist of: MREs, canned foods (remember a can opener), packaged foods, snack bars, and so on.

First Aide: I have a fairly decent first aid kit available for emergencies. I am not a doctor or a medic nor an EMT but I do no how to administer basic first aid. I recommend not only having a first aid kit but also taking a course I how to administer first aid to those in need. A little simple preparation could save a life.

Weapons: They are right up there on my list and I am listing things in order of importance, the most important at the top and working my way down in level of importance, as I see these items. I have firearms, ammunition and knives at the ready at all times. A good strong knife is a must have in a survival situation. If at the onset of a disaster, I could have nothing else other than water, I would want a good strong sharp knife.

Flashlights and Batteries: I have several flashlights in our home, one in each car, and carry one in my pocket at virtually all times. As far as batteries go, I buy sufficient number of them to last a few days to a week with minimal use of flashlights anticipated. I buy fresh replacement batteries at least yearly for those I keep in storage. I replace batteries in flashlights as needed and check them at least quarterly even if I have not used them since batteries can drain without use.

Candles and Matches: I have a good supply of both, waterproof matches at that.

Grab & Go Supplies: I have a plastic container set up with grab and go items. In the event we have to evacuate our home, we can grab that box and will have at least a few days worth of food inside of it. I have a case of 24 ounce bottles of water to go with it (I need to get another case). t is not a bad idea to have at least a grab & go bag, in your house, for each family member. Keep at least a days worth of food, water in it along with first aid kit, flashlight, batteries, some cash, a change of clothing, emergency blanket, matches, candle, weapon such as a firearm (when and where legal), knife. There are many other things you can put into a grab & go bag, just remember you need to carry it and be able to move fast, it is for use in case of quick evacuations. Having it read at all times means you are ready when need be.

Weather Appropriate Clothing and Blankets: You should have something at easy reach in case you need to evacuate. A good wool blanket goes a long way to keeping you warm, even if wet.

Cell Phone with Charger: Almost should go without saying nowadays.

Extra Pet Food & Water: Probably a good idea to have a few days to a weeks worth of food and water for you pets on hand.

Emergency Radio: A battery operated radio, at least AM/FM to listen for public service announcements during a disaster. Of course this means having batteries on hand for the radio. A radio with alternate power supply, such as a solar powered radio or crank powered radio is a good thing to have in case of emergency, they usually operate on batteries, ac/dc, solar power and can be crank powered too. Some of these emergency radios have the capability to charge cell phones.

There are a lot of other things I could think of to recommend to you to have in the event of an emergency but those I just mentioned can go a long way toward helping you survive many disasters that could befall you. Having similar items in your car can do likewise if you are caught on the road during a SHTF situation. If you carry weapons in your car make sure it is legal to do so.

All the best,
Glenn B

Pandemonium In The Pacific - Pray For Japan

Unbelievable is all I can say. Japan has been hit by the Godzilla of all earthquakes, a magnitude 8.9, the largest to have ever hit Japan. Then it was hit by a wall of water in the form of a tsunami. There also have been numerous aftershocks, one reportedly of 7.4 magnitude (a terrible earthquake in its own right) and many in the 5.0 plus range. They were also hit by another 7.2 magnitude quake in Japan about 2 days ago and can expect hundreds if not thousands of aftershocks (as reported on Fox News). So far, they are reporting only 32 dead but are saying the death toll is sure to rise. Amazingly though, and thankfully, the death toll is low so far. Hopefully it will not rise much further. Of huge concern are the nuclear power plants in Japan which so far are not reporting any radiation leaks.

There are now tsunami warnings across the whole of the Pacific. A 4.5 magnitude earthquake has struck Hawaii. They are expecting the tsunami to hit Hawaii by 0800 EST. The west coast of the U.S. is on alert for a tsunami.

My guess would be more earthquakes worldwide, probably along more faults than the one in Japan, I am guessing on some limited knowledge of such in the past after other large earthquakes.

I am not a religious guy but I have found myself praying for the Japanese and the rest of those in the Pacific. I ask you to do the same.

All the best,
GB

Violence - Incompetence or Life Saver

As per Isaac Asimov:

"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."
As per me:

"Violence is often the last resort of the dying man, as he vainly struggles to survive. Had he resorted to violence sooner, he may have lived longer. Only those competent in the wise application of violence know when to make good use of it and when to safely abstain from it."

All the best,
Glenn B

Been A Bit Of A Busy Day Today...

...I had to buy a new clothes drier since our old one bit the bullet. I figured fixing a 16 or 17 year old drier would only assure it would work until something else wore out and broke and since one visit from a repairman would go for about 1/4 of what a new one would cost, and that would be just for the cost of the visit not including the cost of a repair, well you do the math. To me it was not worth it, so I got the new one. Now, the new ones are expensive. I bought a mid priced one and it was just over $500 (other stores wanted as much as $50 to $175 more for the exact same model). Add to that expenses for the delivery, installation and removal of the old one and tax and it was over $700. Wow, that was a big hit that was not needed right now.

Then I hit Home Depot for some manure. Spring will soon be sprung and I want the garden to be ready to be planted as soon as the first few nice days in a row are upon us.

After that, I headed out to see my mom. She was zonked out when I got there - well almost anyway. She sure was trying to sleep despite the best efforts of an aide. She had been given a strong sedative not too long before I got there; yet, when I walked into her room in ICU, an aide was trying to feed her dinner. Every time the aide tried to force a spoonful of some pulpy looking gruel into my mom's mouth, my mom's head just kept lolling to one side or the other and her eyes would roll back. She was out, really out, but the darned aide kept pinching my mom's cheek trying to wake her while insisting to my mom that she positively had to eat. I told the aid to just let my mom sleep and I would feed her if she woke up. What absolute morons ever vigilant truly caring intelligent people at these hospitals. They just gave my mom a very strong sedative that knocked her out then sent in a trained asswiper an aide to try to feed her and maybe help choke her on the food while they were at it to keep her healthy.

I also made my way to the local range to unwind a bit. I took along the Glock 26 and the SIG 229. I shot up 400 rounds of 9mm and another 200 rounds of .40S&W. I shot better than I have in some time too. I shot like crap while at qualifications last month so it was nice to get myself back in the groove. I guess it was just a bad range day last month and today sort of made up for that and just made me feel good as a range trip usually does for me.

All the best,
Glenn B