Gun Appreciation Day

 

 

 



I would much rather see someone organize a march on Washington, DC by legal gun owners but for now Gun Appreciation Day will have to do. I wonder if the president will visit his local gun store as it sure seems he appreciates guns at least when carried by all the president's body guards.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

Just Another Reason That I Am No Longer A CheaperThanDirt Customer

At the last gun show I attended, on November 10, 2012 (two months ago as I write), I bought 420 rounds of Federal 62 grain, penetrator tipped,  XM885, 5.56x45mm ammo, on stripper clips, packed into an ammo can. The total cost was $180 (maybe plus tax). I thought that price was fairly high. I needed it and bought it. Why did I pay what I thought was a somewhat high price? Because although the price was high, due to demand, it was not all that much higher than the price asked by anyone else, was in fact less expensive that what some were asking, and in fact was about the average going price based on then current prices that slowly had escalated over time over about the past 6 years. In other words it was just about the fair market value. I should have bought a full case, from that same dealer, he had them at $385!

Then we arrived at where we are now, ammo prices gone into the stratosphere because of panic buying and because of certain dealers taking advantage of the panic buying and then instituting what I believe are less than ethical price gouging practices. One of the companies that I believe has done this, in fact the one that has raised prices higher than any other company that I have seen raise prices is CheaperThanDirt.com.

While I already have decided not to buy from them again, I went to their site tonight, among others, while checking on availability of ammo and current pricing. I was surprised to see that CTD has the ammo I just mentioned above in stock (as I write). What should have also surprised me is the price they are asking for it but I guess it really comes as no surprise, to see what they are asking for this ammo, after seeing what I think was other price gouging on ammo by them. So what are they asking for an item for which I recently paid $180? They have a current price of $799.59 (as I write) plus shipping and they call it "Our Low Price"!

Imagine that, a $619.59 difference - wow. I could have bought 3.44 more of those same 420 round cans of ammo for just the difference in prices. If a price change like that, within a 2 month period, is not indicative of price gouging, well then - I guess I do not know what could be an indication of such! CheaperThanDirt can take some idiots money and right now but not my money, and not ever again my money. I am not telling you not to shop there, just letting you know why I am not. You can spend your money however you want to spend it.

Oh how I mourn that I did not buy a full case or two from the guy at the gun show.

All the best,
Glenn B

Dan's Sporting Goods - Wow - What Excellent Customer Service!

Last week, I ordered a 'tin' of 440 rounds of 7.62x54R caliber ammo, Russian manufacture, from Dan's Sporting Goods (aka: dansammo.com). I was surprised to find anyone with this particular ammo in stock and absolutely amazed they were selling it for only $94.00 shipped because others have sure jacked up their prices lately. I was also quite astounded that it shipped the day after ordered it and it arrived at my home two days after that. That was all excellent but not the end of the story nor of my amazement.

When I received the parcel and opened the shipping box, I was rather dismayed at what I saw in front of me. The ammo can, instead of being that drab green color, that I am so familiar with because of previous purchases of the same kind of ammo, was a zinc colored with what appeared to be whitish corrosion all over it. It had what appeared to be a pull tab on the lid (which I am pretty sure was connected to a wire under the lid that would, when the tab was pulled, rip the top open on older Russian ammo cans. I looked over the markings on the box and saw the number, that I believe indicates the year of the case production, 57 (meaning 1957). Another number, the one I believe signifies the year of the gunpowder production used in these rounds, was 56 (meaning 1956). I was not a happy camper. I had inquired about the ammo they were selling and was told it was 1970s to 1980s production. The website indicated it came in the familiar green 'spam' can.

I shot off an email to Dan's. They replied the next day and told me that indeed some older cans had been sent out. They said I should keep that can of ammo and they would send me another can of ammo. Presumably that would be of the later production ammo I had thought I would be getting. They sent the replacement out on the same day they emailed me, week. I received the second can on Tuesday. It was an ammo can of the 'spam can' variety, drab green in color, with the date of production for the shell casings as 1972 and the powder as 1971. That was more or less what I had expected in the first place. (I know other folks disagree with me as to what the codes on the cans mean but I am confident that the numbers I mentioned indicate years of production; I got my info straight from the mouth of a Russian who dealt this type of ammo.)

I have to hand it to Dan’s Sporting Goods. I have not gotten customer service like that from another company if quite awhile. They made a mistake and they corrected it without delay, no questions asked and even let me keep the stuff they sent to me by mistake. Wow. I can only see myself making more orders from them as they get ammo in  stock of which I am in need (oh please have them get in some 5.56x45mm 62 grain NATO spec ammo soon).

As for the older can of ammo they sent me the first time around: while old ammo like that stores longer than modern production because of the type of primers used, the age of the can I first received was at the limit for me – I mean it is almost as old as me! I suppose, that like me, that ammo could still be good but it probably does not have much more for is storage life left to it (again like me although I do hope to be around and kicking until at least 75 or so). On a more serious note, the welds on that ammo can seemed to be failing as there appeared to be holes in the welds in some areas. I don't know if those holes go all the way through but if they did then both air and moisture could have gotten inside and helped shorten the storage life of the contained ammo or even ruined the ammunition totally. The newer production stuff I received probably can be stored for at least another 15 or 20 years and still be reliable ammunition. I suppose I will have to test the older stuff as soon as I get the chance but the newer can is going into storage.

In closing, just let me add that I highly recommend Dan’s Sporting Goods for your ammo needs.

All the best,
Glenn B

Is It Time For NRA Members To Spend Their Money Elsewhere

I am an NRA life member. I paid for a life membership for my on too. I was proud to be a member of the NRA but not any longer. Why not? In the face of calls for the destruction of our Right To Keep and Bear Arms in the aftermath of the murders of school children in CT, what has the NRA done? They promised to make a meaningful contribution, but to what - was it to more gun control by way of arming more government workers? They recommended ceding more power to a special group by arming them as opposed to arming regular citizens. What special Group - Armed Security Guards. They who in effect would be an outreach of government in that they would either be hired by or contracted by local, county, state and probably even the federal government as specialists to protect school children and it is likely they also would have to be licensed by government. All the while when armed school teachers and armed custodians and armed gym instructors and armed clerks and armed parents would have been the better solution but the NRA cedes the ability f the armed citizen to the armed guard! That proposal was disgraceful.

What else have they done. They implicitly called for the restriction of the rights of groups that utilize another right, that of free speech - the video and entertainment insudtries. Shame on them for implying that a ban of games that include violence be banned. Isn't that in essence the same as calling for a ban on guns. From what I understand, they also promised the Obama Administration that they would do something meaningful along the lines of gun control. Not along the lines of protecting our RKBA or the Bill of Rights or the Constitution but along the lines of gun control. They have also met with Vice president Biden - big deal What do they expect to accomplish by talking with Biden. he is even more liberal than Obama in my estimation. What was the result of the meeting, the media reporting that the NRA is against the administration's proposals for more gun control - whoopee! It is time for the NRA to truly rally its membership and accomplish something because the politicians and the res of America will listen to the united voices of that membership.

So, why is the NRA not calling for the protection of that right with all of its might and all the strength of a united membership behind it? Remember, the NRA mouthpieces, the ones who beg for you money while seemingly pretending to stand for that right (the only one that protects all of our other rights) seemingly are doing little to nothing effective to protect the RKBA, at least from what I can see! Why is that?

Why is the NRA not calling for us to exercise other rights to support our RKBA and to do so in mass. The NRA has many, many members and support for the NRA has been on the rise. Why are they not organizing us to march on Washington. not with the intent to revolt but with the intent to show our strength and that a revolution may be imminent should the federal or state governments attempt any further subjugation of our rights and destruction of our economy? I am calling for the NRA to do it, I am demanding they do it it - I am telling the NRA to get it done and get it done by next month at the latest or we are going to lose the RKBA and all of the others along with it.

I would guess, more than two men, maybe at at least that thousands if not tens of thousands of other NRA members are calling for the NRA to do likewise and to make American stand up and notice that we, the law abiding firearms owners in this country and our firearms no matter what type, are not the problem. The fact is that gun sales have skyrocketed over the past 2 months. If I had a pulpit that has power of that of the NRA - I would be demanding that the NRA membership (made up of armed, law abiding citizens of these United States) march on Washington, DC to the Capitol Building and to the White House to demand that the Obama Administration cease and desist from infringement of our rights under the Constitution of the United States of America. I would demand it be done by early next month. But since the NRA apparently is not going to do it, and since it looks to me as if they have tucked their tails between their legs, I am beginning to think they are not worth another penny of my hard earned money to support their pansy assed policies of speaking loudly and carrying a small stick.

The time is right,
Glenn B

The New Roof Is Getting Laid...

...and a lucky roof is it! The new roof was supposed to be done on Friday but the roofers got an unexpected opening today and called me yesterday to see if I wanted it done today. I said sure, why not and the lady said good because rain is forecast for Friday.

They roofers came by at about 0720 this morning and started working almost as soon as they got here. All of the shingles are off, the gutters and leaders torn down, and wood on the base later of roof that needed replacing has been replaced and shingles are going up on one side so far. A couple of rafters need bracing, they cracked in the big storm and they are going to move the exhaust for by bathroom fan from the soffit to the roof, they tell me it vents better that way. Who am I to argue. Luckily for us, a great deal of it is being paid for by the insurance company; that is if they ever send me the check.

I guess by the time I get home from work tonight, the roof will have been finished for hours. They sure seem to have enough guys working on it to get the job done in one day. I am figuring at least 10 guys out there right now; I think only one speaky the English and none think I understand Spanish. Next one of them that calls me a pendeco is going to get a face full of Ballseye in Spanish.

All the best,
Glenn B

To Go To The Range Today Or Not...

...was the question of the day for me. I am ready to take my Varmint Slayer (Marlin XS-7 with 2.5-10x44 Hawke Optics Scope) to the range to sight it in and have some shooting goodness. Even though I only had 40 rounds of ammo for it, I still could have had a lot of fun range time. Then, the doorbell rang and it was the UPS guy dropping off another 100 rounds of .308 ammo that I had ordered from MidwayUSA.com. That did it, I was going to go to the range now that I more than enough ammo for the Varmint Slayer for a day of swell shooting. Then, the phone rang. It was work calling to ask me if I could work 1-9 PM today because someone else had to take off for an emergency. Oh, well, no range for me today. As a matter of fact, now that I think of it, no range for me for the rest of the week as I will be working everyday through Saturday if I remember right. Besides working my regular Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, I will be filling in for another guy on Wednesday and I think on Friday too. Earliest possible range day will be Sunday but more likely day will be Monday. Maybe I can sneak off to the indoor range on a day I only work until 5PM but that would mean only shooting at 25 yards.Probably just better to wait the few days and go on Sunday or Monday.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Little Gun Pron - The Scoped Marlin Varmint Slayer

I started looking for a bolt action rifle in .308 or .30-06 back in 2009. I finally picked up a Marlin XS-7 in .308 back in mid-October 2012; yes, I am pretty much The Great Procrastinator. This rifle did not come with sights but did come with a factory mounted scope rail. To make it a complete and shootable package, I needed some optics. I decided on the Hawke Optics, Varmint Side Focus (SF) 2.5-10x44 scope.  After getting the glass, back at the end of October (yeah, I cannot believe I got it so quickly), all I needed to do to make it firing line ready was to get some scope rings and mount the scope. I hemmed, I hawed, I went online and looked at rings and tried to decide if I would need low, medium or high height rings. I figured that medium would be good and just kept window shopping on the Internet. 

Sometime in November I recalled that I had at least one pair of scope rings hidden among my firearms things somewhere in my basement. I searched high and low and after awhile, sure enough, I found them. In fact I found two sets of rings, one low and the other medium height. I put them on the side, where I would not forget their location, then I forgot all about them. Just before Christmas, I had to clean the basement because the wife was throwing a party and we would have adults and kids coming over. Since chances would be that the kids would wind up in the basement, I had to search out and secure any of my firearms and ammo that were not already locked up, which wound up being nil but I had to look to be sure. While cleaning and looking, what should I come across but the two sets of scope rings. I moved them to a spot where I would be sure to see them just about every day, then immediately forgot about them again.

Yesterday, I was doing some puttering in the basement and low and behold, there were those pesky scope rings again. I decided I had better get them on the rifle and secure the scope to the rifle with them. Then I went to bed. Well, today, late this afternoon, I got the bug and finally mounted the rings to the rifle and the scope to the rings. I put the bottom halves onto the scope mount and tightened the retaining screws tightly. Then, laid the scope into the bottom half of each of the rings and started to put on the upper halves. At that point, I got some help from my son and as I held the scope in place he tightened the screws and secured the upper haves of the rings to the lower ones. He also helped in making sure that the scope went on sort of, kind of, almost level on the horizontal plane left to right. Finally, I tightened the rings so each side looked even as to the gap between the top and bottom halves.



 

The pic (click to enlarge) shows the Marlin XS-7 in .308 caliber, mounted with Hawke Optics Varmint SF 2.5-10x44 scope, with flip-up lens covers. All the tools needed to mount the base, rings and scope are shown. I used the screwdriver to make sure the screws holding down the mounting rail were secure (one was loose). The Allen wrench came with the rings and was all that was need to secure the rings to the rail and scope to the rings. That is an extra screw next to the wrench. Those critters in the background are Bearded Dragons and definitely not varmints. They certainly seem rather indifferent to the proximity of my varmint slayer.

It is now ready to be brought to the range (and makes a pretty picture) even though it does not have a sling. Maybe I will get one and maybe not. Perhaps, if for no other reason, I should get one to make it easier to lug over hill, over dale, as we hit the dusty trail, when we hunt with it. Of course, using the sling to steady the rifle while shooting might be a good idea but not always so practical a thing to do while out hunting. Sometimes there is no way, no how, no time that you could get the sling on for a more steady shot without spooking your prey. At the range though, there is nothing to spook - well, as long as you don't start pointing the rifle haphazardly at other folks.
Right now, I only have two different brands of .308 ammo and only
20 rounds of each. I have an order in for 100 rounds of yet another type of ammo for it. That ammo should be delivered this week. I am debating if I should go to the range with it tomorrow or wait until I have the other 100 rounds. I'll see if the range bug bites tomorrow or not. Since it took me over three years since I started looking, until I finally bought a bolt action rifle in said caliber, and then took me over two months to purchase and ultimately mount a scope on it, I guess there is no great hurry. If all goes well, the weather will hold out and I will get to take it to an outdoor range to sight it in this week. Otherwise, if I have to go to an indoor range with it, I will only be able to sight it for 25 yards. I would much prefer getting it right the first time and sighting it in for 100 yards at the outdoor range. 

Once it is sighted in, I am thinking of heading to Dutchess County (if rifles are legal hunting implements therein) or elsewhere in NY, such as Columbia County (where I am certain rifles are legal hunting implements), to get in a little coyote hunting. Only tried that once before, up in Maine, as an afterthought to Brendan bagging a bear up there. The coyotes had all the luck that day or two. I don't see any reason though for that lack of our luck to deter us now and I am pretty sure he will be happy to come along. If he doesn't, I suppose I will be out there freezing off mine arse all by my lonesome - well, just me, the varmint slayer and the coyotes.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Tactical (or Tacticool) Mosin Nagant

You wouldn't normally think of a Mosin Nagant as a tactical rifle although I am certain some of them have enough inherent accuracy, with the right ammo and optics, to be used as a sniper's rifle. Why though, would anyone want to try to turn a Mosin Nagant into a tactical rifle? The thing about Mosin Nagants is that they are inexpensive and plentiful (for now) and there are a lot of firearms folks out there who like to tinker with their guns. Mosin Nagants probably are some of the best guns with which to tinker even for the amateur gunschmidt. If you screw up Mosin Nagant, so what - maybe you lose a hundred bucks. If your project turns out okay, you may have something of which to be proud, that will also be useful as an excellent defensive weapon, target gun, as or plinker or something you can sell for a profit.

 

So what things might you want to do to a Mosin Nagant, either a 91/30, M38, M39 or M44 model? You could shorten the barrel (and the cleaning rod to match). That would certainly be a plus with a model 91/30 because it could reduce the weight considerably, well only as long as it still shot on target. You could also put a muzzle break on it to reduce recoil which pretty much would be a must if you shortened the barrel a good deal. Other obvious additions would be: a bent bolt, an accessory rail, long eye relief optics (like a pistol scope or red dot scope), a bipod, and a synthetic stock. Is there anything else to add – sure, why not a pistol grip and a folding or collapsible stock. Finally, you could also put a camouflage paint job on it, like Duracoat.

 

By now, if you know Mosin Nagants, you may be thinking I am having some fun with you or that I am just crazy as a loon. After all, why would anyone want a tacticool tactical Mosin Nagant. I guess first of all simply because it could be fun and secondly because maybe it is not a bad idea at all, especially if you want an inexpensive SHTF defensive weapon combination big game hunting rifle for which you can easily obtain both high quality boxer primed/brass cased ammo or military surplus ammunition.

Still though, the Mosin Nagant only holds 5 rounds, so how could it ever be considered tactical. Well, the Russians sure made tactical use of them in WWII, but if that 5 round mag still sticks in your craw then consider that there is someone out there in pre-production mode who is working on a 10 round mags for them.  Mags that have tool free installation. Go figure but the Mosin Nagant Tactical Rifle may just be the next big thing. 

 

Don’t believe any of it? Think it is just so much tacticool daydreaming? Take a look at the videos and be amazed at what can be done to a Mosin Nagant:

 

The website for the 10 round mag can be accessed with his link:

http://www.datamancer.net/mosinmags/

All the best,

Glenn B

U.S. Map Showing Addresses of All Criminals With Guns

Sometimes, there are just some very insightful things one can find in Internet gun forums.

 

Nuff said!

All the best,
Glenn B

The Fix - For Uploading Pics To Blogger (at least for now)

If you cannot upload pics to your blog on blogger, you are not alone. When I tried a few times today, the browse option, for selecting files on my laptop, did not show up. If this is happening to you (apparently happening mostly to IE users but also to some FireFox users), switch to HTML when you want to add the photo. There is also an add photo icon there. Click on it, the browse option should show up, select the photo from your PC's files, do what you pretty much normally do and it should then show up as HTML code. When you switch back to the 'compose' mode, the pic should be there and they say you can edit it as usual. I am about to try to post my ugly mug in this post to see if it works.

If we can see my pic, then it worked. Ah, yes it worked - sorry for the mug shot.

By the way, I am amazed to have found out the fix so quickly once I looked. It was on the Blogger Buzz forums (or something like that). You can use this link to get there (probably a good link to bookmark):

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!forum/blogger

Then, scroll down to the list in the center of the page, I selected "Something Is Broken" and scrolled through it until I found someone reporting the problem and whose posted question had a few replies.

All the best,
Glenn B

CheaperThanDirt.com Email Subsription Cancelled

I have made up my mind not to shop at CheaperThanDirt any longer due to what I think is their abhorent price gouging policy. Tonight, I received an mail from them letting me know they are selling firearms once again. I guess I had forgotten to unsubscribe from their email list but I did it tonight.

 

"gb-------------@msn.com has been removed.

To update your subscription preferences or remove from ALL future mailings, click here

Your email address has been removed. You will no longer recieve any messages from Cheaper Than Dirt."

 

All the best,

GB

 

 

 

 

The Count...

...produced a good number:

 21,765

That number could have been the number of: the hairs on my head and body, or a count of the scales on all of my tropical fish, or the seconds counted in just over a quarter of a day, or the dollars in my savings account, or the pennies in my penny jar, or my pulse beats in about 4.5 hours, or a count of something else. I am not saying exactly what was counted. Let me just say it again, it was a good number so you can rest assured it was not the number of crab lice in my navel.

All the best,
Glenn B

What The F--- Is Up With Blogger And Adding Pictures Now?

I have tried to add photos to a blog post and am no longer offered the option of browsing my files to select one to upload. Now, when I try to put in a pic, I am offered specific choices of uploading from my own blog, from Picasa web albums, from my phone, from my webcam or from a URL. What is up with that crap?

All the best,
GB

The Electoral Cliff

I saw this cartoon over at The Wandering Minstrel where Bob noted that the cartoonist had indicted the Republicans as having been complicit in the fiscal mess. I could not agree more, in fact I believe the Republicans to have been complicit, with the Democrats, in almost everything that has degraded our country during the terms of the past three presidents (Note, I said the terms of the past three presidents not the past three presidential terms).
 

You really do have to hand it to the artist because he hit it on the head as both Demoncrats and Repooblicans are responsible for the fiscal tar pit in which we find ourselves. Thus, I am pretty much convinced that come the next presidential election I will be voting for whomever is the libertarian candidate without even considering my vote going to a Republican even though I have voted Republican since my first vote many years ago. I have come to the point that they have pushed me, and the rest of America, off of the electoral cliff in their absolute disregard for their voting base. When we all hit bottom, if I can still stand - I will stand for a third party.

 

I have watched my rights and liberties dwindle under the past three administrations as so called Republicans, in Congress, repeatedly have bent over backwards to appease liberal presidents, the likes of Clinton, Bush and Obama, in almost total disregard of our Constitution, of the will of the majority of the people, and of any common sense at all. In Congress, it seems they vote on their self-interests alone. It is not limited to Congress alone. I have seen it on the local level too such as when the Republicans allowed an extremely liberal, Bloomberg, to be their candidate for the mayoral race in NYC. The Republicans have become Democrats and vice versa to the point they have melded together as an ineffectual blob.

 

The so called two party system means nothing today because they are merely a mirror image of one another - both full of money grubbing bloodsuckers who get fat off of the rest of us while they foolishly have ceded our economic strength to China and our military strength to China and to third world countries such as Iran while we ignore our once stalwart allies. Members of both parties have joined together and have diluted our rights and liberties by continuously bowing to the desires of special interest groups and kooks instead of uniting for the good of the United States of America. They have allowed our greatest strength - unity - to disappear and to be replaced by diversity. 'A house divided against itself cannot stand..' was never more true than it is now. While the members of Congress, Republican and Democrat, appear to continuously bicker, in the end they have repeatedly come together to effectively weaken our once great strengths. Their type of unity is totally undesirable for the nation. They have come together only in their effort to destroy the United States of America and to strengthen government power over the people instead of assuring their service to the people. They do so by way of their avarice, their special concerns, their push for diversity instead of unity, their desire to appease fringe groups, their desire to look good in the eyes of a mudslinging media, their absolute lack of morality, their refusal to stand on principle, their ineptness to govern effectively, their lack of support for the Constitution, and their sheer arrogance by way of belief that they are above those they govern. They have expertly divided the people of our once great nation so much so that at this point we are pushed well past the edge of the cliff and are flapping our arms ineffectively as we hope beyond hope to suddenly sprout wings and once again soar like an eagle.

 

It is never going to happen under the two party system. They are so much alike as to have become one. So, as I said above, I will not vote for a Republican come the next presidential election. Since there was never any hope of me voting for a Democrat, I find myself then looking to a third choice. I truly consider the libertarian outlook as closer to that which will help reunify us and make us strong again in that unity but  have been reticent to vote for a libertarian candidate because the likes of Ron Paul, who appears to be a kooky as they come, has scared me off. Kook or not, he is not like most Republicans and Democrats and that difference alone will be enough to make me vote for him should he run again. I would rather see someone else take the reins of the Libertarian party but it matters not whom they choose to run - the Democrats and Republicans, as they now stand, do not deserve a single vote from anyone who considers himself or herself a true American patriot. Should I be able to vote in 2016, I will more than likely vote Libertarian. Should there be a Libertarian candidate for Congress, on the ballot in 2014, I likely will vote Libertarian then too. About the only way I will continue to vote Republican, as I have in the past, would be only if an awful lot of folks in the Republican party put on some brass balls and swing them mightily and effectively. Chances are though, we will not be able to sprout those wings and we are going to crash land first. We probably will not hold those elections as scheduled because, I fear, either the government will have attained complete tyrannical power by then or we will be involved in the midst of a violent revolution before either election takes place. I pray I am wrong.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

Journal News Pistol Permit Holders Map Called Assinine, Insanity and Like Gold For Criminals

You remember the Journal News don't you. How could you forget them since it was just a couple of weeks or so ago that they published an interactive map on the Internet - "The gun owner next door: What you don't know about the weapons in your neighborhood." It is a map that gives the names and home addresses of pistol license holders in both Westchester and Rockland Counties in New york State (source). Negative criticism of that act, as being one, in essence, of absolute irresponsibility, senselessness, stupidity that would quite possibly cause gun crimes to spiral out of control were pooh-poohed by the media - at least at first. After all, this apparently was a direct shot at those who LEGALLY own firearms in the far left's assault on the right to keep and bear arms. However there were hundreds, if not thousands, of online comments that gave negative feedback about the map and in which the commenters realized that publication of that map held great potential to see a rise in thefts of legally owned guns, from the homes of the gun owners listed on the map, guns that would wind up in the wrong hands and be used in crimes, even possible killings. In addition, many people leaving feedback realized immediately that there was a flip side to that coin because while only legal gun owners homes were listed a criminal now could also figure out which homes did not have legally owned handgun sand thus were likely easier targets to burgle or invade with less chance of the criminal being stopped by the homeowner. Yes, that meant even ultra gun hating liberals' homes were at risk of criminal invasion - maybe even more so than the homes of pistol license holders.

Now ex-criminals are coming out of the woodwork and saying the move to publish that map was really an unintelligent and i essence potentially even a very dangerous thing to do. Fox  News reports the thoughts of a former burglar on this issue like this:

“Having a list of who has a gun is like gold - why rob that house when you can hit the one next door, where there are no guns? (source)

“That was the most asinine article I’ve ever seen,” said Walter T. Shaw, 65, a former burglar and jewel thief who the FBI blames for more than 3,000 break-ins that netted some $70 million in the 1960s and 1970s. “Having a list of who has a gun is like gold - why rob that house when you can hit the one next door, where there are no guns? (source)

"What they did was insanity," added Shaw, author of "License to Steal," a book about his criminal career. (source)

A second ex-burglar and ex-armed robber,  Bob Portenier, was reported as having said it this way:

“They just created an opportunity for some crimes to be committed and I think it’s exceptionally stupid,” (source)
He was also quoted as saying: “That’s one of the first things we’d check out—guns are on the top of the list of what you want to steal,” he said. “They can walk out with a shotgun and a couple of handguns and sell them on the street for $300 or $400 a pop. They can sell them to a gangbanger who ends up killing someone."

In addition Fox credited him with his sentiment: "While some burglars may use the newspaper’s information to avoid guns, Portenier said others will target homes with guns. The newspaper’s decision could even lead to legally-owned guns proliferating on the street, he said." (source)
Fox quoted yet a third ex-criminal, Frank Abagnale:

“It is unbelievable that a newspaper or so called journalist would publish the names and addresses of legal gun owners, including federal agents, law enforcement officers and the like,”

And as saying this:

“This would be equivalent to publishing the names of individuals who keep substantial sums of money, jewelry and valuables in their home.” (source)

To say that they screwed up, at the Journal News is an understatement in my opinion. That they are hypocrites beyond compare mostly is what think of them, in civil tongued terms anyway. Why hypocrites? As I noted in previous blog post, the Journal News, feeling threatened because of negative feedback they had received, hired Armed Security personnel to protect their offices and personnel from perceived threats. Note I said perceived threats because an editor of the Journal News reportedly turned a  couple of so called threatening emails over to the police. The police investigated and determined the emails did not contain anything threatening at all. In other words, the wussies at the Journal News like to stir the pot but once they get their targets riled up they apparently piss their own pants when people call them on it by way negative feedback (also known as a form of legal exercise of free speech)!

And to think, those ever so intelligent intellectuals, at the Journal News, were saying they were going to continue publishing even more information on additional legal pistol permit holders in yet another county. Truth really is stranger than fiction, more idiotic too. However, there is hope that the names of pistol license holder in Putnam County, NY will not be published on that or another Interactive map or elsewhere. Law makers in Putnam County are refusing, at least for now, to release the information citing public safety concerns. Watch the video for some info on that here (sorry I could not get it to embed).

All the best,
Glenn B

Want To Be A Sniper But Not Attend Sniper Training?

Well, here is the TrackingPoint shooting system. It may do the trick for you and turn you into an expert marksman, or at least an expert systems user, within minutes. I would like to have seen further demonstrations such as it locking in on a moving target (if that is possible) or a shot at 1,000 yards, but I guess I will have to wait for the product to be released and have others make videos of it performing like that.




Once this becomes commercially available, I would recommend getting one ASAP if you want one. My guess would be that it will either be outlawed in almost no time or quickly will be taken over under some sort of military contract with no further commercial sales available.

Hat tip to Pat S for this one.

All the best,
Glenn B

Unfair And Unbalanced?

Fox News likes to repeatedly tell the world their brand of news reporting is fair and balanced. Yet, today, they have an online poll asking what you think will be the next political crisis. The choices they allow are anything but fair and balanced, as far as I can see, as all of the choices in the poll have to deal with the budget. Bear in mind, the poll question did not ask about the next budgetary crisis but the next crisis in Washington (as in DC). They totally neglect such other issues as: the Right To Keep and Bear Arms, which certainly seems to me to be the brewing crisis of the moment. They also forgot the continuing saga of the Benghazi mess, the ongoing war against terrorism, the war in Afghanistan, additional and ongoing Constitutional concerns over Obama-care, the lack of Congress acting to provide for post storm care for the northeast, unemployment and so on. Is it that they have very little insight into what is going on that may erupt into a fabricated crisis, just as did the so called fiscal cliff or is it that they want to steer Americans away from even thinking about such things as firearms rights?

All the best,
Glenn B

Dan's Sporting Goods - New Addition To My Link List

I am adding a firearms and ammo dealer to my link list under the header: BUY FIREARMS, AMMO, ACCESSORIES & PARTS on the right side of my blog. This may be a bit premature as I usually wait to put up new links for dealers until I have completed at least one transaction with the company, and by completed I mean that I have received the goods, but since I ordered yesterday and they have already shipped my order today, I am doing this post haste.

I ordered a 440 round tin of 7.62x54R ammo from Dan's Sporting Goods (aka: www.dansammo.com), on the first day of the new year. I was somewhat amazed to find anyone with it still in stock but they had it. Surprisingly, I was notified earlier today that the order had already shipped. I put my order in, with Dan's Sporting Goods yesterday at about 1:48 PM. At 1:49 PM, I received an auto-responder email from them confirming the order. Today at 1:06 PM, I received notification from UPS that the package had been shipped and is in transit with an expected delivery date of January 4th.

Wow, that was fast - less than 24 hours from ordering to shipping. Add to that the total price for this ammo was only $94.00 - including shipping - and if you know anything about ammo prices, even those prior to the current ammo buying frenzy with all of its price gouging, you know that this was a very good deal! The last time I ordered this ammo, in the Spring of 2011, I paid $92.14 for 440 rounds and that price was the best around back then. It only has gone up in price since that order. Lately, this stuff (or other very similar milsurp 7.62x54R ammo) has been selling for as high as $179.79 plus shipping. To have it shipped to me would cost an additional $26.69, for a total of $206.48. That for essentially the same thing that only cost me $94.00 at Dan's Sporting Goods. There is a very $112.48 difference in price between the two dealers! The higher price, valid as I wrote this post, was from CheaperThanDirt.com - a business which I no longer patronize due to what I believe is outrageous price gouging on their part; the above price quote is but one example.

With the current firearms and ammunition buying rush and the resultant shortage of many calibers of ammunition, including the one I just mentioned, it flabbergasts me that Dan's Sporting Goods had 440 round tins of this caliber in stock at an excellent price, let alone that they have already processed my order and shipped it. Many, if not most, ammo dealers have been putting up notices on their websites that there will be at least a 5 to 7 day wait (some saying it will be longer) before they can process orders received because they have been swamped with them. Many also have suspended further business by not accepting new orders until further notice; some have gone as far as closing their websites temporarily.

Dan's Sporting Goods, on the other hand, seems to be doing business as it should be getting done and at prices that go a long way toward indicating that whoever runs the business is truly a person or are persons of integrity. Thank you Dan' Sporting Goods.

Then again, maybe it is all a clever government plot to seize firearms. That would be far fetched wouldn't it, the government posing as an ammo dealer - or would it? Yet, while I find this ammo order almost too good to be true, I am keeping my fingers crossed that, on January 4th, it will be the anticipated ammo shipment that shows up at my door and not a team of ultra-ninja ATF, FBI and DHS types looking to seize my guns and ammo.

All the best,
Glenn B

PS: By the way, Dan's Sporting Goods website can be a tad confusing or at least it was for me for a few moments. As I scrolled down the page for ammo, I mistakenly thought that the only items in stock were those that had a highlighted link in the left column which was the ammo descriptiion column. A highlighted link is there only for items that have an accompanying photograph. The trick to knowing what is in stock is to look to the right of the PRICE column (second column) to see if there is a shopping cart in the ADD (or third) column. If so - it is in stock if I understand correctly. That is how it worked for me anyway.

Have The Map Making Wonders At The Journal News Really Hired...

...armed security guards to protect them and the Journal News business' property? That is what has been reported by Politico here:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/01/journal-news-hires-armed-security-guards-153103.html

The Poloitco piece is based upon this other one in the Rockland Times:

http://www.rocklandtimes.com/2013/01/01/the-journal-news-is-armed-and-dangerous/

I almost peed my pants, I was laughing that hard at what I could only see as being the inevitable hypocrisy of media leftists. Pay attention when you read the Rockland Times piece, especially about the so called threat that Journal News Rockland Editor Caryn A. McBride reportedly thought the Journal News had received.

So, while they are against the regular citizen owning firearms for protection, or so it would seem to me, they are apparently all in favor of their own private security force being armed for their own protection. But you must ask, protection from what! There are no reports of threats made against them that I have seen. The only threats it seems, were two emails that McBride reportedly perceived as threats enough to alarm her to the point that she wasted the time of the police by reporting both. The police looked at them and determined they were not threats at all. "However, the police did not find the communications in question actually threatening." (source)

As of yet, all they actually have received is merely a lot of negative feedback about the interactive map they produced, the one that gives out the names and residence locations of pistol license holders in Westchester and Rockland counties in NY. Now they are seemingly trembling in fear because of people, other than the media, who have taken the liberty to exercise their right of free speech. In response to that exercise of free speech, and the fear apparently invoked by that exercise of free speech, the Journal News evidently has hired gun toting security personnel to protect themselves. I ask again, protect them from what? Is it from words or from people who exercise free speech or just from their, so far, unfounded fears over nonexistent email threats?

If all of this is true as reported, then I think that once again, those in the media, who are on the far left, show their absolute hypocrisy when it comes to gun rights and their absolute lack of true grit.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Sh--head In Our Government Who Would Leave Us Defenseless...

...and thus leave us at the mercy of the likes of herself and others in government of her political ilk? Imagine what else they would come after if they were ever able to take away ALL of our firearms or even just the ones they think are evil assault rifles. It is obvious though, if they get the assault rifles, sooner or later they will go for all of our guns.

Did you know that Diane Feinstein, yes the same one in the video above, had obtained a carry permit for a handgun from California because she felt her life was threatened. Imagine this piece of, in my opinion, hypocritcal trash thinks it okay for her to get a gun for for her own protection but that you and I cannot have one for our own protection.

Read what she said about acquiring a pistol carry permit:

"Less than 20 years ago, I was the target of a terrorist group. It was the New World Liberation Front. They blew up power stations and put a bomb at my home when my husband was dying of cancer and the bomb was set to detonate around 2 ‘o clock in the morning, but it was a construction explosive that doesn’t detonate when it drops below freezing. It doesn’t usually freeze in San Francisco, but on this night it dropped below freezing and the bomb didn’t detonate.
"I was very lucky, but I thought of what might have happened. Later the same group shot out all the windows of my home and I know the sense of helplessness that people feel. I know the urge to arm yourself, because that’s what I did. I was trained in firearms. When I walked to the hospital when my husband was sick, I carried a concealed weapon. I made the determination that if somebody was going to try to take me out I was going to take them with me. Now having said all of that, that was period of time ago and I’ve watched through these 20 years as terrorism has increased both on the far extremist left and the far extremist right in this country." (source)

What she seemingly was saying is that things have gotten worse, as far as terrorism goes, since she had her permit issued. So why would she want us to give up our guns and probably all of them at that although, I doubt she will admit that currently.

Politicians like her, especially the hypocrites like her, have got to be stopped. They need to be reminded, they serve us and not we them. They need also to be reminded it is the Constitution that gives them their authority and not they who authorized the Constitution, nor they who granted us our rights or insure our liberties. By remaining armed, with arms with which we might stand a chance to overthrow tyranny, we insure our liberties for ourselves.

All the best,
Glenn B

I've Joined The Ammo Buying Frenzy...

...but only because I had a mere two or thee boxes of .308 Winchester for my Marlin XS-7 rifle and only a single tin of ammo for my 3 or 4 Mosin Nagants. (Yes, I lost track of how many Nagants I own.)

I found a tin of 440 rounds of 7.62x54R, Russian manufacture, 168 grain, light ball ammo for $94.00 shipped to my location from Dan's Sporting Goods. 

I also ordered 100 rounds of Remington, Premier Ammunition, 308 Winchester, 180 Grain, Core-Lokt, Ultra Bonded Pointed Soft Point, for $118.95 plus shipping from MidwayUSA. (I do not know the exact shipping price for the ammo because there was something else on the order and I cannot check now because, while listed as in stock when I ordered, it is now shown as out of stock.)

That is it for me unless by some miracle a stash of cases or half cases of 62 grain NATO spec 5.56x45mm ammo and/or a stash of cases or half cases of 7.62x39mm ammo go on sale at uninflated prices.

I have to admit, ammo is getting very difficult to come by; heck even .22LR ammo is becoming scarce. Luckily, for me and my son, we built up a small surplus of ammunition for times like this. I am hoping the ammunition shortage and super high ammo prices will soon be a thing of the past and that prices will return to closer to normal levels of at least a year or two ago.

 Speaking of high ammo prices: I have removed CheaperThanDirt.com from my link list. As far as I am concerned, when they offer a box of ammo, Federal American Eagle .308 Winchester, 150 grain, FMJBT ammo for $34.59 and that usually and very recently sold elsewhere for about $18 to $19 per box (and it may also recently have been offered close to that same lower price at CTD), I find myself unwilling to continue to do business with them. That one is not the only example of what I believe is outrageous price gouging at CheaperThanDirt; they recently (as recent as a couple of days or so ago) offered Lake City, 62 grain, 5.56x45mm, penetrator rounds for $999.00 per case (1,000 rounds). I had thought that said ammo was already ridiculously and extremely overpriced ,by some other dealers, at around $400 to $500 per case, over the past couple of weeks. This newer and higher price seems insanely greed driven to me. Anyone who paid $999.00 for that ammo is, in my opinion, probably out of his mind. Yet, there must have been some like that because CTD now shows that ammo as out of stock! I know 'supply and demand' and 'what the market will bear' but when things get back to a bit or normalcy, does anyone at CheaperThanDirt expect to retain even half of their former customer base? (I said former because I have heard that many others will not shop at CTD again because of their current prices.) I think their current price policy is going to drive away many of their customers and maybe drive them out of business to. I would be quite surprised if CheaperThanDirt is not out of business within 6 months to a year but that is just my guess.

All the best,
Glenn B

"There's a saying: ..."

"...Every man is put on Earth condemned to die, time and method of execution unknown." (Source: The Twilight Zone, Episode - Escape Clause, by Rod Serling)

One of the greatest and truest one liners ever. It does not matter if you look at it as being condemned, fated, inevitable, the natural course and outcome of life, the path God has ordained or whatever. Tthe point made is absolute. It thus is a good thing to think about and then to shape the rest of your life around.

All the best,
Glenn B

Happy New Year

I hope that the new year brings you health, happiness and only truly good things. I know that is never going to happen for everyone but my wish is for everyone.

Now, that I got that out of the way, perhaps it is time to start enjoying the last few hours of 2012 and getting ready for the first few of 2013. I am thinking of a Zombie or two or maybe something much different like some straight Irish. Oh the decisions one has to make; I may even just pop the cork on a bottle of red. As a matter of fact, I am going to do something very unusual to end this year right. I am going to go upstairs, as soon as I post this, to ask the wife if she would like to share a bottle of wine. Then I am going to ask her if she wants to watch 'After The Thin Man' with me, on AMC. It starts right about now.

Happy New Year,
Glenn B

All the best,
Glenn  B

Glock Customer Service and Repair Service

Sometime earlier this year, I sent my Glock 26 into Glock for a reapir. I had Trijicon night sights on it and the front sight had dimmed thus making it almost impossible to effectively aim in low light. Never having realized that the night sights could break or just dim like that was a real eye opener for me. I decided to use the KISS principle when getting replacement sights for it and requested that Glock install their standard Glock 26 sights on it instead of new Trijicon night sights. I mean, what could go wrong with a nice sturdy set of steel sights right.

When I go my slide back, that is all I had needed to send them for the sight replacement, I noted that the replacement sights were made of polymer. I was pretty disappointed because as far as I had known standard Glock sights for the Glock 26 had always been made from steel. When I bought the gun, directly from Glock a few years ago, the only sights I remember them offering were their standard steel sights, Glock Night Sights and Trijicon Night sights – at least for law enforcement sales. I opted for the Trijicon night sights back then at considerable cost over both the standard steel sights and Glock night sights When I took the Glock Armorers course about 2 years ago, no one instructing us ever even hinted that Glock used polymer sights as their standard sights; so I am guessing their standard sights changed from steel to polymer sometime with the last two years.

With about 3 weeks of wearing the Glock, with those new fangled polymer sights, I had dinged them when I walked to close to a steel door jam and the rear sight slammed against it. Yes, I can be a klutz. No, these sights were not for me. So, after a few to several months of having the Glock with those plastic like sights on it, I finally got around to returning it to Glock to have them replaced with sights to these specs: standard sized Glock 26 sights, manufactured by Glock, made from steel. I also asked for the sights to be without a white dot/outline system if they met the other criteria I just mentioned but if they only had the ones hilighted by white that would be okay.

It only took Glock a few weeks to turnaround and get the slide back to me with the new sights on it. When I opened the box, I took a look at the invoice. It said that “GNS” had been installed. Maybe that is secret code for standard sights but I had always thought it meant Glock Night Sights, so I was a little anxious when taking the slide out of the box to look at the sights. The sights were a white dot/outline sighting system, front sight with white dot the rear sight with white outline. Oh well, at least they appear to be steel. I have no clue if they are of actual Glock manufacture because it does not say on the invoice. I am pretty happy with the new sights, so far. I say so far because I have to see if I can hit the target with them at 25 yards; that was something I could not accomplish with the polymer sights on the size target at which I was shooting. I was about 8 inches off to the left shooting at a 12”x12” target; that was absolutely unacceptable. Since I shot well within that same target with my Beretta 92FS, I figure it was the sights on the Glock that had me off like that. I will get to the range with the new steel ones as soon as I can, maybe this coming Saturday.

I am kind of on the fence about the quality of the service performed by Glock. While I was pretty happy with the communication that Glock employees gave me and for the short turnaround and that the sights seem to be steel and appear to have been installed properly (they took out the pin system and converted to a screw in sight I think) there are some disappointments. The first time the sight change was free but not this time. While the charge was only $20.00, I felt it should have been done for free. Those night sights that needed to be replaced and were still under warranty; that according to Glock when I sent them in to be replaced the first time around. Back then, I asked for replacement with standard sights and had their standard sights been changed, I think they should have advised me of it. When I bought the pistol it came with steel or night sights – nothing else as far as I can remember. They never told me their standard had changed and thus I had no way of knowing they would install polymer sights as standard. Yes, the steel ones I just got replaced the polymer ones but all due to them not letting me know the standard had changed otherwise I would have specified steel the first time round to replace the failed Trijicon night sights. Those Trijicon night sights cost me a whole lot more than $20.00. I could have just as easily asked for them, the first time around and they would have had to put them on for free at a much higher expense to them than for the both sets of the other sets of sights combined. I would have thought they would have understood the confusion over my asking for standard sights and not wanting standard polymer sights and thus would have replaced them with steel for free to keep me a happy customer. I guess I was wrong on that one.

 

I am also not too happy about them sending me an invoice that seems to me to incorrectly states the service that was performed on my slide. It would be nice to have the proper replacement product listed on the invoice for my records, then again maybe "GNS” is code for Glock Steel Sights but I doubt it. Whatever it stands for, it would also have been nice had they written it out instead of giving an abbreviation so as to leave no confusion. As for my getting the white outline/dot sights, maybe that is all they offer that is made by Glock as to steel sights (and hopefully the new steel sights are actually of Glock manufacture).

Maybe those are small gripes but it is getting the small details done right that I think is indicative of excellent work and outstanding service. Glock's customer and repair service averaged out to being fair to good, somewhere around a B- to a B, overall by my own personal estimation.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

One Of The Best Videos Ever To Address Gun Violence???

Watch it if you can bear it.



Scroll over the below white area, all the way to my closing, while holding down the left mouse button to highlight it to see the words.

Okay, if you tuned it off midway through, or there about, I do not blame you. It looked pretty disgustingly ultra left to me, that was even after I realized that I kept seeing the people whom I know to be against gun rights in clips of themselves shooting guns in both movies and real life. I just did not get it and I almost could not stand watching it. I wanted to either punch or shoot my laptop's monitor or just throw the laptop at the wall. Then I saw the end and my blood pressure dropped so fast, from the 200 over 120 that it must have been, down to normal, that I almost fainted. I was so upset watching it that I really cannot explain why I watched it all the way through except maybe because I found it over at Kenny's site: Knuckledraggin My Life Away. I guess, in the back of my mind, I must have figured if he had posted it, it was worth the watch. It was indeed worth the watch, so if you turned it off in disgust, watch it now all the way to the end.
 
Tell me, what do you think about that video now that you have seen it all!

All the best,
Glenn B