If They Don't Already Outnumber Us...

...and if the rate at which they are getting driver's licenses in CA is any indication, they soon will. More than half, get that, read it again, more than half of all driver's licenses issued in the state of California are issued to wetbacks illegal aliens (source). We are no longer a nation, there is no longer a United States of America - we have lost our country to interlopers through lack of interest in protecting it from this invasion. It boggles the mind that we not only allow this to happen but many encourage it.

It's no wonder the amount of terrorist attacks are and will continue increasing on our soil; our borders are open to all comers and once they are here our president encourages making it easy for them to remain. What a disgrace. As far as illegal entry into the USA goes, Donald Trump has hit the target dead center.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Gun Guru Handgun Video That's More Amusing Than Informative...

... because of the mistakes he makes about these pistols such as calling a magazine a cartridge, what he says about firing one handed and how he tells/shows you to unload a revolver. His comment about why women should like the Ruger LCP is destined to become a classic.



By the way, my calling this a gun guru video has nothing to do with his accent. Gun guru is long used term to denote a master firearms know it all instructor (at least he thinks he knows it all) who in essence has virtually no to only little real clue as to the subject matter. Folks, make sure if you seek firearms training, you are getting it from someone who really has the knowledge and experience to train you. That term, in my opinion, fits this guy perfectly. I prefer someone who has been certified as an instructor by a major firearms organization like the NRA but sometimes even that is no guarantee. Do yourselves a favor, read a good book or two - an actual published work on the subject of shooting before you even think of picking up a gun. Then, check with a group like the NRA, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, National 4-H Shooting Sports; they can all point you in the right direction to find an instructor who is right on target.

All the best,
GB

A Good Example Of Why I Try To Discourage Bag Carry

I don't think firearms are secure when carried in a handbag, purse, attaché case, brief case or any type of bag you usually carry in your hand or hand over one shoulder. First of all, you almost always wind up putting the bag down somewhere during the course of your activities and the pistol inside of it is then in essence not secured. Then there is always a chance of something like this happening. It is just too darned hard to retain a pistol that's inside a bag in such a situation let alone trying to draw it to use it against your assailant.

Let's hope no innocents are wounded or killed by this one that's now in the hands of a thug.

All the best,
Glenn B

It's A Longer Wait Than Waiting For Godot

 

 

Godot probably arrived about the time the skin started to slough off.

 

Hat tip to Ed S on whose FB page I first saw this.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

Crusader Fashion

If my wife would wear it, I'd by her one but I think the days of her wearing something like that are gone. Although, I must say, she definitely still has the shape for it.

All the best,
GB

Four Dead Marines - Can I Just Say I Am Disgusted...

...over today's terrorist attack on our military and LE here at home (source). No I cannot limit myself to saying only that.

Not only four dead marines but a critically wounded (shot) member of the Navy and a police officer also shot (heard that about the wounded on Fox News on the television). It was allegedly committed by a U.S. citizen who was shot down like the dirty dog he was by police. The alleged terrorist dog (yes I added the dog part) reportedly naturalized after immigrating here from a Kuwait (and for the ignorant that is a Muslim nation). So it has been reported thus far. And yet they, as in some government officials, are calling it domestic terrorism! They have got to be kidding. It is the next to last day of Ramadan - so you can bet this was inspired by Islam and especially by the Islamic pigs of ISIS.

How the politicians and military brass have disarmed our military is unfathomable. We are at war people - with a group that wants to annihilate us - whether or not we all want to believe it. They sure believe it and they have been waging war against us at every opportunity. If today does not wake people up to the fact that we are at war with Islam or at least with a huge portion of it, then so be it. When the next jihadi coward commits yet another surprise attack, let they who insist on sleeping die in their sleep. As for me, I am on alert and prepared to defend me and my loved ones and to help defend America in the event that an act of terrorism takes place in my presence and I am able to do anything to help stop it.

If you are not arming yourselves and preparing likewise, I believe you to be fools. I think though that most of the folks who read this blog are already at least somewhat prepared. I hope so.

All the best,
Glenn B

It's Arrived

Today's mail held something for which I have been patiently waiting - my nonresident Pennsylvania License To Carry Firearms. I applied for mine at the Lackawanna County Sheriff's Office on June 24th. They normally issue them on the day you apply, if you pass the checks they run (and I did pass) but their printer was down. They told me that when they got a new printer, they would print it up and mail it to me. So, it took a little bit - but not all that long considering how long it would take to get a pistol license in NY. Three weeks and a day is nothing compared to the the six months within which it is supposed to be in NYistan; and believe me it usually takes much longer than that unless you are a retired LEO.

One thing I have to point out about the Lackawanna County Sherriff's Office - they all were very nice folks, especially the lady officer who ran the checks and issued the license. In addition, the application process was brief and uncomplicated and the cost was very reasonable at only $20. Of course, I don't think we should be required to have a license to carry anywhere within this country but as it stands now we are so required. Whatever, I am compelled to say that doing business with the Lackawanna County SO's office was an absolute pleasure.

This is my first out of state non-resident pistol license. I anticipate getting at least a couple to a few more. Ones from other states that come to mind possibly would be from AZ, FL, NH, UT and VA.

All the best,
Glenn B

Police Execution Or Justified Shooting - You Decide

Watch The video at this link - before it disappears (as the courts may decide it has to be removed).

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-federal-judge-orders-release-of-videos-20150714-story.html#page=1

Now think about what just happened in the video (even though it was about 2 years ago). Watch it again if you want and really think about what happened. Then answer this - were the police justified in using deadly force in that situation. I am not going to answer it for you, you need to answer that for yourselves; just as the cops had to make their own decisions, you get to make your decisions. There is a difference though, the cops had to do it in a split second while in a real life situation and not while watching a video. I am not justifying there actions, just stating a fact about why it is different than us watching a video.

Now, many people will condemn tem for using deadly force. Many say it was not justified. Others, while not praising the officers (since they shot an unarmed suspect who was not the guy for whom they were searching) certainly are not condemning them but are supportive of them. I will do neither
but I will say this, I may well have shot the guy too but then again maybe not. It depends.

Let me give you a scenario that might be closer to home for you and then think about and answer whether or not you would shoot in the situation I am about to give (one that will be very similar in nature to the one in the video just one that would be more likely for the average guy or gal to encounter since we usually do not go out hunting down suspected violent criminals).

You are home at 1AM, up late and watching a good Bogart movie. You here some noises on the outside of your dwelling, sounds like someone was screwing around with your door. You grab a hand gun and go to investigate. You find a guy trespassing on your property. You tell him not to move, he stops. You tell him hands up - he puts his hands up. You take out your cell one handed, gun in other, and start to call 911. The guy move, you tell him top. He puts his hands down near his waist. You order him to put his hands up and he does. Then he drops his hands and starts moving them erratically. You tell him to put up his hands and not to move; he does it but then drops them to his head and then slightly lifts his hat at the back of his head as maybe he is going for something under it. His hands go back up after another command from you. Then he suddenly takes off his hat. He then drops his hands, with his hat in his left hand (the side to which the cops who shot him were reportedly standing so we will say you are also to your suspect's left), to his waist level. Watch though what he does with his right hand - he moves it momentarily to his right hip and then out from the hip like drawing a gun. Or maybe he was moving his hand toward the hat, and remember that just a moment before it looks as if he was about to reach under his hat. it depends on how you think about it during a stressful few moments. If you do not see it in the first view shown on the video, wait for the view from an additional angle shows. How he moves his right hand can be seen plainly. Granted, it can also be seen to contain nothing but we cannot see inside the hat and by te time the hand is coming up empty - it was too late - the first shots were fired.

Those are the facts of our scenario - pretty much just how they appear in the video with the part about the guy fiddling with and removing his hat and moving his right hand. Now think about it relative to our closer to home scenario. What would you have done in that scenario when the guy removed his hat and he moved his other hand toward his hip with that all being at least partially obscured from your view (because you are to his left)? Would you have just stood there while allowing him to have done all that and thus maybe have allowed him to do what may or may not have come next like draw a weapon and shoot you. Would you have yelled at him some more not to move. Would you have thought - holy shit, he's going for gun and if so would you have shot him. Would you have run away to cover. Do not change the scenario - do not tell me you would have stayed inside. This is being asked to see what you would have done had you confronted the suspect while you were armed with a gun. Then think about the actual shooting and answer whether or not the cops were justified to have shot the guy - regardless of how you think you would have reacted.

I will make only one critical assessment of how the officers handled this situation and it is one of something which I have seen all to often in such videos. I also saw it repeatedly throughout my 32 year career in law enforcement even though, for the several that I had collateral duties as a firearms instructor, I taught my students to do otherwise. I immediately saw that those officers used their guns as their magic shields; in other words - the only thing they stood behind was their guns - THEY DID NOT TAKE COVER, not even did they get behind concealment. That was a glaring error on their part and it, in my opinion, was one of the deciding factors that added up to why they shot this guy. Maybe that was because it seemed as if there was no cover or concealment but there were the police cars and they would have been much better than nothing. Maybe they have been trained to point the nose of their cruisers at suspects so they get it all on the police video cameras but I was never taught that and never taught it to anyone. I was taught that you could angle your car, during a stop, to offer protection to you and your partner. Apparently these officers did not do that and I think, if they had done so, they may have spared a moment or two longer and seen that the suspect was unarmed. I am not saying it would have happened for sure, simply that it may have, but we will never know now because it is too late. I do know though, that taking cover should be one of your primary considerations in any such encounter if for nothing else - for your own safety.

Now that you have watched the video, and probably read the article and hopefully answered my questions about our closer to home scenario or otherwise just figured what you would have done in that real life scenario, answer one more question and please be very honest about it. How many times did you watch that video before making up your mind whether or not you would have shot the guy or as to whether or not the cops were justified to soot him. Remember, they did not have a video to watch; it was happening in real time and thus as fast as watching that video once but with the potential of them being injured. They were there in the heat of the moment facing potential danger and did not have the convenience of being able to watch it unfold in the safety of their living room while sipping a cocktail on a hot summer's night. Again, I am not making excuses for them, I am telling you factual information on which they, at least in part, probably based their decision to shoot and that is information you should consider too in judging them or in deciding whether or not you would use deadly force in a similar situation.

This was a case of an innocent man being gunned down by police because they mistakenly believed he was drawing a weapon. Or, if you prefer, it happened, as some critics say, because it was an execution of an innocent man carried out by trigger happy police who shot the guy because he would not obey their commands. 

Regardless of what anyone thinks on what were the motivations - it was a sad situation with an even sadder result because an innocent man lost his life.

A hat tip to Kenny over at Knuckledraggin My Life Away for having the link posted here.

All the best,
Glenn B

 

It Would Be An Interesting Hike...

...up and around the mountains of Pluto, that is if you could survive there long enough to take a breath or three. Since you can't, I imagine that this photograph may be the next best thing:

 

More, but alas shamefully scant, information about this photo of Pluto can be found here. You would think that the eggheads who are responsible for all this could have told us a good deal more since we paid for it all with our tax money. Or is it they don't have much more of a clue! Anyway, I like the pic, it's now my wallpaper at least for a bit.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

So The Judge Cannot Understand Why Someone Did Something...

...and his solution to that is not to try harder to do so but to sentence the defendant to four more years of community service and to additional psychological counseling. That, regardless of the fact, that two psychologists appointed by the government, found the defendant to be completely normal and well balanced! So, in essence, it seems to me what has happened here is one of three things because right now I cannot think of another possible one. The first possibility is that the judge has violated the ethics of his office and has sentenced someone based upon his personal feelings and lack of ability to understand why someone did something with total disregard for government appointed experts in the relative field and disregard for rule of law. The second possibility is that he has railroaded a political opponent or at least someone who does not support the same politics as those endorsed by the judge. The third is the judge is too egotistical to realize that the experts in the field of psychology are more knowledgeable than himself and that the motive for the crime is totally independent of the defendant's current mental health status. There may be other possibilities but they elude me right now. You might be surprised to see to whom this just happened but under the political and tyrannical climate in which we live, I am not surprised at all. More here.

Hat tip to PQ for sending me the link to the article.

All the best,
Glenn B

That Winchester Model 37 12 Gauge Shotgun - The One I Almost Sold Last Week...

...one week ago to the day - it just sold a mere 24 hours, 23 minutes and 24 seconds after I put it up for auction on GunBroker.com. That as opposed to having it listed in a local gun site's for sale forum and all that followed. It even wound up fetching the 'Buy It Now' price which was $50 more than the starting bid price and more than I had asked on the gun forum. Evidently, the person who bid, must have known a decent deal when he saw it, and he hit the buy it now icon. Sure, now I have to fork out some cash to pay GunBroker their fees but that will wind up being less than $10.00 total for the listing fees (basic listings are free but I added some extras) and the final value fee (which is based on a percentage of the selling price). GunBroker's fees are very reasonable.

I will wind up with more than I had been asking on the forum and quite a bit more than I paid for it a few years ago. I probably could have gotten even $50 to $100 more even though it is in fairly rough condition cosmetically (although it operates excellently). Regardless, I decided to try for a quick sale and not be greedy. I gave an honest and thorough description of the shotgun and posted several pictures and it sold quicker than anything I have put up on GunBroker before. Of course, now I have to wait for payment, a copy of the appropriate FFL and ID and such from the buyer and then will have to pack and ship it but that is all right on target when selling through an online auction house. The deal should be completed to delivery within about 10 business days or so if all goes well.

I have sold several items via GunBroker and as far as I recall, I have only had one deal go bad when one person bid on it, another sent his FFL and payment saying it was for him and when I questioned that he said something like it had been his daughter who had been bid on it but he was buying it. I had to say sorry Charlie and leave it at that. I notified GunBroker that there had been a discrepancy, that I was not paid nor would I accept payment from anyone but the actual bidder, and they refunded whatever was the final value fee they charged and relisted it for free. It sold shortly after that. I expect this transaction will go smoothly though as have all the others, except that one, that I have done through GunBroker.com.

So, I anticipate but am not yet counting some of that cash going toward the credit card bill for two other guns I bought recently. I'll even have almost half of it leftover because I already put almost everything I owe for the other two guns into my savings account already!. Hmm, I guess that means I can use the other hald to pay for the Sight Mark Ultra Shot QD Digital Switch reflex sight I ordered yesterday! I am a happy camper shooter. 

All the best,
Glenn B

Stevens M320 12 Gauge Shotgun - First Impressions

There I was yesterday afternoon, all eager and ready to pick up a Sight Mark Ultra Shot QD Digital Switch reflex scope for Hunter's Essentials and then slap it on the Stevens M320 12 gauge shotgun and head to the range for a blast. The gun store's website said they were in stock but when I got there - no such luck. So, I ordered one and will probably pick it up next week. Not to be deterred, I decided to head to the range regardless of not having the sight figuring I could do a test fire using the guns bead front sight well enough. I also brought along one of my Beretta 92FS pistols that I had done a minor repair on since I wanted to make sure it was functioning properly after the repair. In truth, I already knew the repair had taken properly, it was just the replacement of a grip screw washer but any excuse to do some shooting is a good thing so I brought along the Beretta too. (Note to self: Be more careful when disassembling guns for cleaning, losing that washer meant when the screw was put back in and tightened it interfered with insertion and removal of the magazines. Luckily, I found that out at the range instead of during shootout.)

Once at the range, I set up and decided to shoot the Beretta first. I did not want an aching right shoulder to hamper me in any way and I was certain that once I had fired several rounds though the shotgun, my shoulder would be aching pretty badly, especially since I had not fired a shotgun in probably at least a few months prior to yesterday. I shot the Beretta at close in ranges from 3 to 15 yards. I only fired about 150 rounds total but I was pretty happy with my shooting. Of course , I was at the range and I was only shooting at paper that was not shooting back at me and that makes it a lot easier but I was happy with it nonetheless. Here are some of my targets:

My 3 yard 'group' has the widest spread on all my targets
even though at the shortest range. That's because I did
not use the sights or top of the gun, I simply point shot
over the top and as fast as I could squeeze the trigger.

 

At 5 yards, I used the sights for slow fire but aimed
down the top of the gun for rapid fire without lining
 up the sights.

 

At 7 yards, using sights. It seems there always
has to be at least one party pooper in he group.

 

Rapid fire using sights.

 

Not quite as good as at 7 yards but none too shabby.

 

Almost as good as my slow fire at 7 yards.

 

10 shots rapid fire and 10 slow fire. I did better
at 15 yards than I would have thought possible but
my rapid fire was nowhere nearly as rapid and
 my slow fire was slower than at shorter ranges.

Once I fired up all the 9mm ammo I had along, it was time to break out the 12 gauge. I had 40 rounds with me but as I said above, I was not looking forward to an aching shoulder so whether or not I shot that much depended on how much my right shoulder could take. The Stevens model M320 that I have is the version with pistol grip, rail and heat shield. For some reason, it is the most expensive version offered of this model but I would have thought the one with ghost ring sights would cost more. Wrong again. Anyway, I removed the rail so that I could sight down the groove atop the receiver using the bead front sight. I was going to put the screws, that hold the rail in place, back into the holes in the receiver but realized if I did that they would protrude above the receiver and interfere with sighting. Oh well, I left the screws out.

 

The model M320 has a 3" chamber but I did not have any 3" shells and went with 2 3/4" shells holding 1 ounce slugs. I set the target at 15 yards, loaded up five rounds for the test fire and started to blast away. While the loading mechanism on the M320 is similar to a Remington 870, I noticed right away that the lifter has much less resistance than those on 870s. As soon as I fired the first shot, I also discovered that the slide also has a lot less resistance on the Stevens than on the Remingtons, a few times it flew back almost from the recoil alone. The operation of the shotgun was pretty straight forward and everything functioned as it should have done. As far as accuracy goes though, I was not all that impressed but I am not sure if I can blame it on the gun or if  should blame it on myself. I shot the first 5 rounds about 3 inches to the left of center and somewhat high. I tried again with the same exact result. Then I moved the target out from 15 to 25 yards and shot another 5 rounds. While the shots were a bit lower they will still a tad high. They also were to the left the same distance from center as when I shot at 15 yards. The group was a little smaller than my open hand size lengthwise or in other words about 7 inches high but only about 2.5 inches across.

 

I could live with shooting a shotgun like that but sure would like to improve on it; I don't mind it shooting a bit high but the l So, it would be good to know if it was me or the gun causing the shots to go high to the left. I'll have to bring my Remington 870 and my son's Mossberg (?500 or 550?) along with the M320 next time to do a comparison. If I shoot all three like that, then it's me - if I only shoot the Stevens like that, then it's the gun. The way I usually shoot slug guns, I tend to think it's the gun. If that's the case, then the addition of the Sight Mark Ultra Shot QD Digital Switch reflex sight would help correct for that. If it doesn't help, I'll find another use for the sight and sell the gun. Hopefully, it won't come to that and this will be a fun gun for the range and a decent one for home defense if ever needed.

 

Did you notice, I wimped out after only 15 rounds. The snap crackle and pop sound that came from my right shoulder blade was more than enough of a hinted warning to cease fire. Today, my shoulder feels pretty good so I guess I did right by calling it quits.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

More Proof Showing Idiots Are In Charge

 

 

All the best,

GB

High Standard Information Site

There I was browsing through GunBroker.com, for a magazine for my High Standard Duramatic M-101, when I came across the web address for serial number information for said pistol. I visited the linked page and found out that my Duramatic was most likely manufactured in 1961; I also discovered that the first year of production was 1955 or the same year that I plopped out into the world on a Wednesday afternoon in the fall. I chopped off the last couple of parts of the web address to see if I could find the home page for the site because there was no link back to it from the serial number page. it worked and I arrived at the site at this link:

http://www.histandard.info/

A look through the site scored me a copy of the Duramatic M-101 parts price list that was updated in march 1962. I looked it over and doubt any of the parts are different than those for my pistol which was a 1961 production gun. I am happy I now have it because the earlier version I had was from August 1954 and was for the Duramatic Model M (lacking any numeric indicator after the M). It was obviously different than mine in at least one regard because there was no Barrel Nut Lockwasher in the earlier model but there sure is in mine. It's good to have info available like that for out of production guns one may own but sometimes it is next to impossible to find. Finding this made me a happy camper. To show my gratitude I fired off an email to the person who compiled all that info and created that site, it was the least I could do to show my appreciation for what I was able to find thank to him.

If you own a High Standard pistol, revolver, derringer, rifle or shotgun and need information, I recommend this site as a place to check but mind you, I am not vouching for the info contained therein.

All the best,
Glenn B
 

Which Guns To Bring To The Blogershoot - Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...

I have been going to the annual NE Bloggershoot for a few years now, I guess the fifth annual one was my first if I remember right. Brendan came to the fifth and the seventh with me (he missed the sixth in 2013) and we also attended a different one together down in West By God Virginia last fall. Before each Bloggershoot, it's been a chore deciding on which guns to bring. We don't have a pickup truck nor an SUV not even big cars. I drive  Toyota Corolla and him a Hyundai Elantra Touring Wagon; there is not much room in either for guns but we fit a fair number in whichever car we decide to drive. I prefer the Toyota because it has a closed off trunk, something the Elantra Touring does not have but this year the CD player in the Toyota is dead leaving us with yet another decision on which car to take. If all other things were to be considered equal, it will probably be the Hyundai for the CD player.

Anyway, we have yet to choose which guns and calibers of ammo to lug along. We almost certainly will bring along my Remington R1 1911, the Taurus PT-145 Millennium Pro (both 45s) and my Glock 26 (my primary carry on most days). I am also fairly sure that we'll bring the Savage Axis in 308 and the Stevens 320 12 gauge especially since Brendan has not yet shot either. After that - who knows but that does leave room for at least a couple to few more pistols and maybe another long gun or two. As to pistols, maybe we can bring one of the Beretta 92 series pistols of the three I own, or the Ortgies 32, or one of my pistols in 22LR (I most definitely have enough ammo for them). Thinking about rifles, the Marlin 336 comes to mind as does the Marlin 25MN and the Yugo SKS but space is tight for additional long arms beyond one more than the two already mentioned. Decisions, decisions, decisions...

All the best,
Glenn B

Eighth Annual Northeast Bloggershoot Alert

It's less than a month away from the date, August 8th, of the 8th Annual Northeast Bloggershoot and so far there are only about 15 confirmed attendees and 4 maybes, plus our two hosts. I am hopeful that some of you who have attended past Bloggershoots, and those of you who may be new to it, will see this post and contact us to let us know whether or not you can attend.

Here is some additional information:

Who? Any and all bloggers, commenters, readers, lurkers, etc. in the Northeast area, or those passing through, or anyone crazy enough to show up.

When? Saturday, August 8nd, from 10am until ????

Where? Why, Doubletrouble's sooper seekrit range, of course!

Why? Shootin' stuff is fun? Trying out new hardware is fun? Getting together with a couple dozen of your tribe, combined with guns and reactive targets, is a recipe for a good time!

And, the standard caveat:

As with every year, this is a "pack-in, pack-out" shoot - if you want to bring a 1:1 scale papier mache model of the Lunar Rover to shoot the hell out of, go right ahead. Just be prepared to drag the bullet-riddled carcass out with you. We can call the sub shop for lunch, but someone should step up to take care of the lunch order so Mrs. Doubletrouble doesn't have to deal with that again...


You can visit the Facebook page to express your interest in attending: https://www.facebook.com/groups/blogshoot/ or if that does not work, send me an email or leave a comment to this post.

Anyone else notice the coincidence of this being the 8th Annual Northeast Bloggershot and that it is being held in the eighth month on the eighth day of a year the numbers of which add up to eight? Maybe I'll have to bring 8 guns and 888 rounds of ammo!

All the best,
Glenn B

Someone Let Me Know If You Can Read My Previous Post...

...the one about Huck's Defeat. When I tried to publish it, I received a notice saying something like:  'this blog has been trashed and will not be visible until made public'. I can see it but am wondering if others can view it.

Thanks,
GB

Today In History - The Battle of Huck's Defeat

In the sixth year of the revolt against England (numerically not actually time wise), the war was not going as well for the American Colonists as one among them might have hoped. The American Army in South Carolina had been defeated and captured by the British. The Americans needed something to boost morale, something to show that they had in them what was needed to kick the Brits arses and on July 12, 1860, in York County SC, they got it. 

On July 11th, a detachment of British Legion, NY Loyalist Volunteers and SC Loyalist militia forces, under the command of Captain Christian Huck, raided the farm of Patriot commander Captain John McClure. McClure's brother and brother-in-law were arrested for having freshly made bullets and were sentenced to hang at sunrise the next day. Huck, was a German who had lost property when the Brits fled Philadelphia; he then joined the English army in New York. He was assigned a command in SC. Once so assigned, his hatred of the Whigs (Patriots) was apparent. He commenced a ruthless vendetta against them during which his forces killed at least one child as he read a bible, manhandled women, and stole or destroyed what they could including carrying out the destruction of the home of a minister and an ironworks. Huck had so enraged the colonists that one was quoted as having said: "I have come home determined to take my gun and when I lay it down, I lay down my life with it" (source).   

After raiding McClure's farm, the Brits then moved on to the farm of William Bratton, another Patriot leader. Bratton was then out on raids against Tories. Once at Bratton's home, Huck's men terrorized Bratton's wife in a failed attempt to get her to divulge the whereabouts of Patriot forces. She did not give any information to them. The Loyalists then moved to neighboring farms and arrested three more patriots, including Bratton's elderly brother. They too were to be executed the morning of July 12th at sunrise. Sometime while all this was happening, a man named Watt notified Bratton of the events taking place. It is notable that Watt was one of Bratton's slaves.

Units of militiamen rushed to engage Huck's forces. During the night and dark early hours of July 11th and 12th, about 150 South Carolina Militiamen under the command of William Bratton, surrounded the British / Loyalist force of about 130 under Huck's command, at Williamson's Plantation near Bratton's own land. At dawn, on the morning of July 12th, they launched a surprise attack. They soundly defeated Huck's forces with only one rebel life lost and only a handful of the English who were not either dead or wounded. The five Whig prisoners were all rescued. The tyrannical Huck was delivered a fatal shot to his head, by John Carroll, as Huck attempted to rally his troops from horseback. 

The victory of these Patriot militiamen was but a small one in  numbers but was huge in that it had a resounding effect. Patriots enthusiastically joined the militia once they had seen that the militia could defeat British forces even where the American army had failed. It was the first such victory in SC in 1780 with many Patriot militia victories to follow that year and the next. America finally had a victory it sorely needed in the south. More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huck%27s_Defeat.

All the best,
Glenn B

Spanky Got It Right

All the best,
GB

My Day Started Out Better Than Most Today...

...but still maybe not quite this good.

All the best,
Glenn B

If Not Run Over By A Train...

...they are almost sure to be eaten alive by rats.

All the best,
GB

I Heard There Is A Gal In Camo In This Picture...

...but I'll be darned, all I can see is the gun. She must be wearing some heavy duty camo!

All the best,
Glenn B

Sweet Innocence...

...that I would not mess with, not one little bit; although, I might offer to teach her how to shoot.

All he best,
GB

Sometimes You Really Can Blame The Gun...

...for how well or not you shot with it. A perfect example was given during my armed guard qualification today. I shot with two semi-automatic pistols. For the first qual, I shot my Glock 26. While I scored a perfect score my shooting with the Glock was far from perfect. My shots were either centered or just left of center and the group was not very tight at all in my opinion. I'd estimate that, after firing 50 rounds through paper, the group was about 8 inches across. I had thought that maybe I had too much finger on the trigger and that was causing me to shoot to the left some, so I adjusted and indeed did shoot a bit more toward the center but my group's center was at least 2-3" to the left of center - even close in.

For my second qaul, I shot one of my Beretta 92FS pistols. This one probably has less than 750 rounds through it, certainly less than a thousand. I own two and shoot the other much more often. Anyway, I could see a vast difference as soon as I started shooting with the Beretta. My shots were dead center of the targets inner and only ring which was about 4x4". I only have NY SAFE Act legal 10 rounds magazines for my Beretta here in NY. That meant that I would be reloading at times other than those if using 15 round magazines that the instructor handed out for folks with Glocks; he di not have any Beretta mags. (I used my own 15 round mags for the Glock and they are legal as opposed to 15 round mags for the Beretta but that is a long convoluted story based on me being a retired LEO and the SAFE Act.)

I just operated on the hot line principle and reloaded as needed; sadly some of the other guys qualifying with me would not have a clue if it came to not being told exactly when to reload but what can I say. Without further straying from the subject, as I was saying, I saw a big difference once I started shooting the Beretta. The shots were right on center. After firing all 50 rounds for the qualification course, I noted that there were 4 fliers that were not part of the group formed by the other 46 rounds. That one hole group was at most 2.5" across and the fliers spread the group to widest point at about 4.5-5 inches, they were just outside the inner ring.

I did not do anything differently in how I held or fired each pistol. It was all the same as usual, except for the fact I changed my trigger finger placement a bit on the Glock early on. While that minor change helped some little bit, I still was firing to the left with the Glock. So, without a doubt, I can blame my shooting to the left on the Glock. All to often, being off like that is due to shooter error but yes, you can sometimes blame the gun and this was one of them. A little sight adjustment might be in order although it is nothing I really need be concerned about for close in pistol shooting out to 25 yards.

Shooting two different guns, or even two of the same model can sometimes tell you if the sights are off for you. Shooting a single gun, like my Glock, and adjusting the sights because you were shooting to the left or the right might not be actually addressing what is causing your shots to be off. Before adjusting the sights, I try to assure that I am doing the basics just right. I did that with the Glock and still fired to the left. Then, I saw that I had been doing it right, at least after my adjustment, because of how well I shot with the Beretta. So I am confident that it is the sights on the Glock that could use a bit of tweaking and not my shooting style.

It always is well worth considering whether or not it is you or your gun that needs correction when your shots are off like that. Another way of doing so would be to ask (where legal and its not in NY) someone else to try a few to several shots with the pistol in question. If they were shooting dead center with their gun, then shoot off center with yours, chances are the sights on your pistol need adjusting. If however, they shoot dead center with your gun - chances are you need the adjusting. As I said sometimes you really can blame the gun; yet, in truth, most times you have to blame the shooter.

Added As An Afterthought: It sure feels good to see that, now and then, I still can shoot as good as I did today. That is all.

All the best,
Glenn  B

Pat Condell Gets It Right Again - How To Insult A Progressive

Once again he gets it right as rain!

All the best,
Glenn B