The Zombie Killer Transformed - Just Look At It Now

Remember this:

That atrocity was/is my Mosin Nagant with turned down bolt, the one I decided to paint as a goof for a zombie apocalypse charge at a bloggershoot in New Hampshire some years back. Then, after getting it painted, I think I never used it in the charge, heck I may not have even made it to the bloggershoot but don't quote me on that.

That was back when you could still get a Mosin Nagant 91/30 for about $99.99 fairly in decent condition, so I figured what the heck - they're cheap. Having a turned down bolt, this one was somewhat more expensive, around $150 if I remember right but still I figured what the heck - they're cheap (am I repeating myself). Well, lately I've been to gun shows where I have seen Mosin Nagants of the absolutely nothing special variety, but in decent condition, selling for over $400.00! I've also seen some pretty beat up ones, even with cracked stocks, with asking prices between $300 to $350. I decided to sell the Zombie Killer at a gun show over around Dallas not all that long ago. No takers, mostly I guess because of the color even though I was only asking less than the dealers and would have taken $200 to $225. Oh well.

Anyway, I decided to strip the wood and painted metal parts and refinish the wood. That's exactly what I have been doing over the last few days to a week. Here is what it looks like now (sorry for the crappy pics, poor lighting, I'll try to remember to get better ones to repost here):

I think it came out as passable. I wish I would have matched the color of the original 91/30 wood finish but this will do nicely as far as I am concerned. Note that the paint stripper did not affect the metal except to remove the paint and that was a relief because I had no clue if it would take off the bluing. Still though, some of the metal needed some touch-up and I experimented with Birchwood Casey Perma Blue cold bluing solution. Wow, it did the job perfectly on the few spots where I used it, blended right in. It's not like I wire brushed off any rust, I left that in place and just covered some scratches and such, that stuff worked really well.

So, it now looks presentable, even saleable. The thing is now that I got it looking pretty nice again, I am thinking of keeping it. If I do go to another gun show over in Dallas, I may have to bring it along even if I don't intend selling it. That would be just to show it to the one dealer who laughed at it and me and who said he would not buy it because I probably painted it to cover a crack in the stock. The stock has some small dings but definitely no cracks. The only thing about it that may have been cracked was me for painting it up as the Zombie Killer in the first place.

All the best,
Glenn B

Corona Virus Will It Be 14 Monkeys or Resident Evil

Take your pic. I am hoping it's essentially much ado about nothing but China reportedly has been taking drastic measures, such as to quarantine the infected area among other things (over 41 million people in quarantine - source). This made me almost immediately suspect that a bio-weapon was the culprit virus. Then I learned that Wuhan within 20 miles of a bio-weapons biological facility (source); if it is then I am more convinced I may be right that a bio-weapon has gotten out.

In addition, it has been reported as being a 'new little known corona virus'. Such could have been a natural occurrence but also could be the result of a bio-weapons program. Regardless of its origin, I think the world may be in trouble as in 14 Monkeys or Resident Evil (as far as an outbreak not the zombies or monsters) but I certainly hope not; yet, what the Chinese have been reported as doing to corral this virus makes me think the worst. Additionally they are building at least one new and very large hospital (source) as a direct result of this outbreak. I mean they certainly are doing an awful lot more than they would do for the flu - aren't they!

It's not only the actions of the Chinese that are of concern in this brewing epidemic. The U.S. has also initiated drastic actions and plans to evacuate all U.S. citizens from the stricken area. More here. This just adds to my suspicions that the current outbreak is more serious than they are letting us know directly. As for them bringing back folks who are potentially infected with a deadly bio-agent - just try to remember it is the government that's doing it and yes the government is that screwed up that it would put the rest of the nation at risk to do the politically correct thing like evacuate citizens in the face of an epidemic and thus potentially cause a pandemic.


The outbreak has spread to 29 of 31 provinces (source) in China and to many other countries as well. One thing which is a possible bright ray of sunshine is that the virus is supposedly not as deadly as the flu or SARS. That may be all well and good if the Chinese are reporting accurately; however, the drastic actions they are undertaking seem to quite possibly indicate otherwise. If this is a bio-weapon - imagine if you will - initial infections seeming to be of flu like severity or less, then at a later date those who were infected become ill again with deadly result. Yeah, I know, its just imagination on my part right now but why is China taking the extreme measure they have been taking to try to control the outbreak if indeed the virus is as "mild" as claimed.

I think I need to stock up on medical supplies - alcohol being number one on the list. By the way, if you are lacking medical supplies, you may want to get them now, shortages of respiratory type face-masks have already been reported (source) in some parts of the country. Stay healthy my friends.

Edited To Add: Well, not 10 minutes at most after I hit enter to post the above, I was made aware of this article. If what it says in this is true and correct - we are in big trouble. They are now claiming an 83% infection rate and a now 15% death rate due to this virus. This actually could be TEOTWAWKI! Be prepared as best you can.

All the best,
Glenn B