Ingenuity Will Get You There

All the best,
GB

I Am An Addict - A Regular Gun Auction Junkie

Really, I am an addict. I am completely addicted to firearms auctions or at least to the auctions run by the Hessney Auction Company LTD. in Geneva, New York. Mind you, I do not necessarily think that is a bad thing, in fact I kind of think it a good one - that is as long as my wife never finds out how many guns and how much ammo and other things I have bought from them nor how much I have spent there. Truth be told, I am carful to stay within certain spending limits and because of that I am kicking myself in the back o my pants' seat today.

Yesterday, I attended yet another Hessney Rod & Gun Auction. I drove about 310 miles to get there on Friday for the auction preview. I got there at about 430 and while I didn't quite get there when I would have liked to, at 3PM, when the doors open for the preview I still had enough time to look at just about everything. If you are wondering why I got there so late, it was not because I woke up late or anything like that. Yes, I am The Great procrastinator but try not to be when it comes to getting to the auction; so, I was up at 0530 hours and started getting ready. Besides packing for the trip, getting ready meant that I also had to appease she who must be obeyed adored before leaving home. That meant I had to take care of my critters, mow the lawn, sweep the sidewalk and driveway, rake the leaves, bag the leaves and whatever else it took to remain on her good side.

After all that was finally done, I was off telling her I was going upstate. She assumed I was going to her brother's house for the weekend, maybe thinking I was going hunting. I considered keeping her in the dark but I figured I had better tell the truth just in case she would see me walking back into our house with a new gun or three when I returned. So, I told her and she was just as disinterested as she is normally whenever I tell her something. That is a good thing if only because it is in line with the saying on one of my favorite t-shirts, so much a favorite I am wearing it as I key in this post - let me show you.

If that saying does not hit the mark then I'm a blind shooter.

Now you may think I am smiling because of the sentiment on that shirt and  guess, in a manner of speaking you would be right. In other words, yeah I bought a couple of new guns yesterday. I also bought a rifle scope, a pistol case, some ammo and some art work (outdoorsy stuff). I guess that since my wife was awake and watching television when I slinked in through the side entrance to our house last night, you might think she got up to greet me and saw my newly acquired firearms. If that is what you think, it means you have not been paying attention to this post (or previous ones) when it  comes to the interest my wife has in me! That too is a good thing in some regards, like being able to get those new guns down to the basement undetected. While she pays so little attention to me and the guns,  I still wonder if he ever checks in the checkbook to see how much I have spent at the auctions. Who knows and who cares since she has not killed yet killed me over it.

So what did I get:

Mossberg MVP Long Range Tactical in 5.566x45mm

 



KDF Voere in 22LR. According to this link, BATFE found this to be unsuitable
for further importation into the US of A. My guess is that this fires from an open
bolt and that could be the reason for the importation bn. Inquiries sent to KDF.



Wish it came out better in the photo, nature scene with Whitetail Deer on wood.

I think the critter facing off with the porcupine
is a Wolverine, fearsome beasts they are indeed.

Mountain Men, reminiscent of Charlton Heston and
Brian Keith in the movie The Mountain Men. If you
are into the days of the fur trapper - watch that movie.



A really nice oil painting depicting ducks about to come down on a pond (is it
landing when not on land). It's big - 24"x48" and almost did not fit into my
Toyota Corolla, I had to lower the back seats to get it in the car. It's going to be
 a house warming present for my daughter and son-in-law's new house.

As you can see in the caption of the last one, I am planning on making good use of that one. As for the other artwork, I guess my basement can use the two prints. Where I could hang that wooden plaque, and it is fairly good sized and heavy, is beyond me. Maybe it will become a gift for my brother-in-law for his house!

Then there was the ammo:

 

 

 

 

Lest you think that I am spending beyond my means, try to remember I said I stay within certain limits and thus my addiction does not get too badly out of hand. I may have to skip lunch for the next year to recoup the cash I spent but won't it be good if I loose 50 pounds of more! Actually (and yes dear, just in case you ever read it, this is the truth) I got almost everything at exceptionally good prices. The only thing on which I maaybe overbid (as far as the guns and ammo go - who can tell with the art) was the 308 WIN ammo. I got that for not quite but just about what I would have to pay in a store nowadays. Everything else was a steal - well I paid for it but you know what I mean. As for he art, the big oil painting was considerably less than a half a c-note and the prints were less than the oil painting and that was for both of the prints combined. The deer on wood - that was $10.00.  Besides getting good prices on it all, some of it is already for sale so that I can recoup some of what I spent. No guns for sale, at least not yet, but I am selling some of the ammo and the scope.

The two things with the best bids, relative to retail prices, were the Mossberg MVP Long Range Tactical rifle and the Hornady Match 338 Lapua Ammo. Then again, the KDF Voere was less than a hundred as well. I think I did okay. Of course, now that I bought all this new stuff, I have to sell some of my older guns; that is just how it works out now ever since I have been married;. Well anyhow, my wife thinks I sell them and yes, I really do sell some now and again so I can buy others but somehow it never seems to balance out.

 

There is an upcoming Hessney Rod & Gun auction scheduled in December but chances are I will not be going to that one if only because I will need money to buy some Christmas presents for the family. Besides that, I really am trying to shed my gun auction junkie status by fighting off those seemingly unavoidable impulses that I get to travel northward each time I read an email about an upcoming auction. Time will tell though. I may be there in December no matter what I think now about me being strong enough of will to sail on past that one while tied to the mast as was Odysseus when the Sirens sang their alluringly irresistible song to him and his men. By the way, did I happen to mention, 'Hi my name is Glenn and I am an addict...'

 

All the best,

Glenn B

More Of My Kind of Luck - Guns This Time

What was it - maybe two years ago or a little more than that back when my fairly new (I bought it new and had only lightly used it) Taurus PT145 Millennium Pro had to be replaced due to a recall. Instead of them sending me another model of semi-auto pistol in 45 ACP, Taurus sent me a  piece of shit (my opinion) PT140 G2 Millennium in .40S&W! Apparently others think it a piece of shit too since I have been unable to sell it for less than the lowest retail price that I have seen on. It is still new in the box. and probably will remain in that condition until I can sell it. Taurus outright refused to send me a 45 to replace my 45! I will never, and I do mean never, buy a new Taurus product in the commercial retail market.

 

Then about a year ago, I bought a Rock Island Armory M1911-A1 Full Size pistol. I had to send it in because of a problem with the slide stop not snapping into place without the slide stop plunger needing to be manually depressed before doing so. My local dealer told me he did not think of it as much of a problem, if any, but I sent it in anyway on the recommendation of Armscor. Lucky for me I did so because Armscor  (parent company of RIA) found a major flaw in how the frame had been milled and told me it could have led to catastrophic failure down the road. They sent me a new gun - same model and thus I think they did much better than Taurus in that regard.

 

Then it was Savage Arm's turn. I had sent a Savage Model 93 BVXP to them due to a problem with its magazines not seating or feeding properly. They supposedly repaired it. Then they returned it to me. When I received it, the shipping boxes were virtually undamaged but when I examined the gun it was obviously and badly damaged. Seems it had to have happened at Savage Arms. I contacted Savage Arms and they had me ship it back to them; more on this in a bit so it stays in chronological order but first to Marlin.

Back in July, I ordered a brand new Marlin 1895GBL. Got it in record time through a dealer on GunBroker.com. Was in a factory sealed box. Looked at it quickly, at my FFL when it came in; it was too quickly. It looked okay but I was not wearing my reading glasses. I set it aside for about a week or two and then finally took it out to clean it prior to an anticipated range trip. When I was handling it, I felt a screw that was not seated properly. I think the tenon into which it was screwed was stripped. I also found an internally rusted part that could be seen when the lever was pulled out. I sent it to Marlin/Remington for repair. They called me and left me a message, not too long ago, saying it needs to be replaced. Waiting to receive a new one.

Back to Savage. Today, Savage Arms called and left me a voice mail. The rep said that they are going to replace the Savage Model 93 BVXP but they no longer produce the same model and want to offer me some alternatives. Not bad, they offered me two similar models that probably retail for more than did the one I had. The one the offered at first was the 93 BTVSS. Here is it:



Savage Model 93 BTVSS in 22 WMR

The second one they offered, after I asked if they had it available, was the 93 BRJ. Here is it:



Savage Model 93 BRJ in 22WMR

Okay, I like that, that is a class act. I am going to call them tomorrow, after I think over tonight, to tell them which one I want. One is similar  to my original but in stainless and with a thumbhole stock. The other is similar but with a blued steel fluted barrel. I had been leaning toward the one in stainless but am back at I have no clue right now.

Was hoping my son will chime in on this before I have to make the call but he texted me earlier saying he has been working 16-17 hour days because his job just lost 7 people thus I guess he is pooped. Let me take a moment to check the text messages again.... Ah, there was one from him saying the stainless one looks nice. Yes, I must agree but then again so to does the other one look nice. I don't think I have any guns in stainless right now though, so maybe I'll have to go for that one. Decisions - decisions but Brendan's input has me again leaning toward the 93 BTVSS!

I do not know what it is with me and my new guns having to be replaced and had been thinking that was bad luck . Maybe though, like Brendan told me a few days ago, it is all a good thing. After all, the manufacturers found whatever problems were the reasons they decided to replace these guns for me and thus maybe prevented one from blowing up in my face. That is true at least with the Taurus, RIA and Marlin. As for the Savage, the problem was they evidently ruined my original model 93 but they certainly seem willing to make up for that in an excellent fashion. Maybe my luck is actually improving.

Damn, it's Friday the 13th tomorrow!

All the best,
Glenn B

I've Got That Kind Luck

Got taken out this past Saturday night for dinner by my wife with our daughter, son-in-law and grandson (was missing my son bigtime since he now is living in AR). It was a birthday celebration for yours truly. We had a really nice meal in a Portuguese restaurant. I had some things I like a lot like braised goat (yummy), octopus, mussels, scallops, shrimp, and lamb. The seafood was in a couple of hot appetizers. The goat was my main course and the lamb was a chop my daughter let me have from her plate. Also had a couple and a half of beers.

I took only one bite of the lamb. Just as I passed my tonsils and was on its way down the tube and overwhelming aftertaste of rotten meat hit my taste buds. Shame on me for either not going right to the head to force myself to upchuck or for not having a double shot of vodka or other strong spirits. Everyone at the table excluding the rugrat, told me I was out of my mind and that it was just the sauce! The rest is pretty gross and pretty detailed - thus below the cover:

I Guess I Need To Hit The Range

I just received my latest shipment of am today consisting of 300 rounds of 44 Rem. Mag. and 500 rounds of 38 Special. That could keep me busy for about three or four range trips.

All the best,
GB

Bump Fire Stocks Are On Sale...

...but not for sale prices! While perusing the news on the Fox News and One America News Network websites yesterday, I saw a bunch of headlines referencing what the media calls "bump stocks" which are better known (at least to me) as 'bump fire stocks'. I guess that the numerous media references to these stocks is to be expected considering that the evil dirtbag in Las Vegas had several rifles outfitted with them. There has been an awful amount of balderdash about how they convert a semi-automatic into a fully automatic weapon. In fact that is not what a bump fire stock accomplishes as you still need to activate the trigger one trigger squeeze for one shot which a bump fire stock allows the shooter to do at a very high rate as opposed to a full auto weapon with which you pull the trigger once and it keeps firing long as the trigger is held back. With that and with all the bad press and with the bad mouthing they have been receiving from politicians who usually want to blame the object and not the person misusing it, I took a look online to see how much their prices had jumped because - I was sure they had indeed gone up in price quite a lot.

Two websites of manufacturers of them apparently had none available for whatever reason. I suspect the reason is that they have discontinued selling them because of all the bad press and because they are afraid someone may purchase one or more and commit a copycat act of heinous violence. Of course, they really may be out of stock too as I am guessing they are selling like crazy. One of those company's sites simply said: "We have decided to temporarily suspend taking new orders in order to provide the best service with those already placed." That was SlideFire.com. When I tried to access the other site, BumpFireSystems.com, I received this error message: "HTTP Error 503. The service is unavailable". I tried them several times yesterday and today with the same result. AtlanticFirearms.com, a retailer of SlideFire.com products, had bump fire stocks advertised but stated they were out of stock and expected more to come into stock. Their advertised price was $149.95. Before the Vegas shooting, that had been the going price as far as I am aware. I guess being out of stock, or claiming to be out of stock, or not having the website available was to be expected.

After trying those three websites, I also ran a search for 'bump fire stock' on GunBroker.com. What I found there, I suppose, was also to be expected and that was in the form of the price increases I had imagined would come due to the late notoriety of these devices. There were several for sale on GunBroker, both new and used. Some of them had reasonable minimum opening bids such as $99.00. There is no reserve on that one. Others though had required opening bids of as high as $699.00 and maybe some were higher. Now, if you doubt that these will sell at such inflated prices like that, I also took a look at some auctions that already had bids and found one that had had a minimum starting bid of $300.00. That one also already had a bid of $1,025.00 placed on it for a single bump fire stock! See it here before the listing closes in about 44 minutes from me writing this. It's selling for about 6.8 X it's original retail price and that folks is crazy. I guess it is like Ralph Kramden once said though, it's: "a mere bag of shells" (at least to some folks). The free market is a good thing, especially when you have what others want badly enough and they are willing to spend, spend, spend!

And yes, of course, I bid on one but just for shits & giggles as we used to say. My starting bid was .01 cent and my maximum bid was $50.00.

All the best,
Glenn B

I Anticipate A Lot Of Anti-Gun Fallout...

...over what happened in Las Vegas. Let's face it, the politicians taking political advantage of this tragedy is already taking place. That is evident by way of the remarks reportedly made by Hillary Clinton (source) and Fauxahontas Warren (more here). It seems that leftists in general are already going apeshit, many saying something to the effect that they feel no sadness over this since mostly conservatives go to country music concerts. CBS reportedly already has fired an attorney they had employed because of a statement or tweets (or whatever) she made saying something similar to that I just mentioned; more at the source.

Living in NY, I am quite familiar with the knee jerk reactions that leftist politicians will make in response to this tragedy. My guess would be that the NY S.A.F.E. Act will somehow be strengthened and it will happen quickly and without any review (a review is required by law) just as how the S.A.F.E. Act was passed in the wee hours of the morning and then pushed upon an unsuspecting public. FUAC.

On the other hand, many people are reacting in a much better way and are sending in donations to help the victims, praying for them and their families, volunteering to help and so on. According to a new conference on Fox News this evening, the Clark County Commissioner said that over 15,000 contributions amounting to over 1.5 million dollars had already been made. I am not one much for prayer but figure it cannot hurt and have said quite the few already, especially for that those who were severely wounded will fully recover.

Getting back to my anticipation of a lot of anti-gun fallout, I also did something I consider very practical, especially in an anti-gun hysteria state like NY and ordered some ammo on which I was short. It really would not surprise me if the immoral and unethical anti-gun goons in the NY legislature, along with Petty Tyrant Cuomo, try to ban all guns and ammo within NY in the very near future by using this terrible incident as political ammunition to accomplish such.

A donation by me is coming next once I find out an official site through which to donate relative to this incident alone.

All the best,
Glenn B

Las Vegas...

...what a depraved tragedy, more at the source. Pray for them. What more could I say right now.

All the best,
Glenn B

Truth or...

 

All the best,

Glenn B

If They Sold Them...

...some fan-boy type would buy them and tell you how they were the greatest things since pumpkin pie!

 

 

Happy October,

Glenn B

Real Estate

It would be tough but I could live there!

All the best,
Glenn B

Monty Hall Chooses The Prize Behind The Exit Curtain...

...and I can only hope for him that he has stepped through the threshold to Paradise. Monty Hall, co-creator and long time host of Let's Make A Deal, has made his last deal and has passed away from suspected heart failure at age 96. The man gave me a lot of laughs back when I was kid watching him and all the whackos on his show. I remember that the first show I saw on our very first color TV, back in the mid-sixties, was Let's Make A Deal. As we watched, I turned to my older brother and said in amazement - 'look at all the colors' (meaning of the audience's wild costumes) and my brother turned to me in in as sarcastic a voice as he could muster said something like 'what did you expect, it's color TV'! I just shut up and watched.

More on Monty Hall here.

All the best,
Glenn B

Offensive What?

 

All the best,

GB

Paladin Press Closing Shop

After 47 years in business - Paladin Press is closing shop. I think maybe I have ordered one or two books from them ever. Then again, I am guessing others may find them their go to book seller when it comes to firearms and training related books among others like those on knives, prepping, improvised weapons, fighting styles and so on. They are closing down at the end of the year, last sales on November 29th. They say to stay tuned for drastic price reductions. More info here: http://paladin-pressblog.com/2017/09/28/paladin-press-is-closing/

All the best,
Glenn B

First Armscor & Savage - Now Marlin

As I posted previously, I bought a Savage Model 93 about a year ago. There was a problem with the mags not seating properly. So, I sent it to Savage for warranty repair. It took some time but they supposedly repaired it and sent it back to me. When I received it, it was badly damaged. The shipping boxes were not damaged so it apparently was damaged at the Savage facility by them when they had it in for repair. I sent them a complaint, via their website. Along with the complaint I also sent before (on day I first shipped it to them for repair) and after (day I received it from them) pictures. They never responded to my complaint so I called them. The representative to whom I spoke had me send it in again, I am still awaiting a reply from them although their site says the issue has been resolved. If it has been resolved it would be nice of them to tell me about it.

As if that was not bad enough, I recently purchased a Marlin 1895GBL in 45-70 Government. The online sale went smoothly. I made the purchase in time to apply for a $100 rebate. The idiot that I was, when I picked up the rifle at my FFL, I did not have my reading glasses. So, I just gave it a quick once over and accepted it. Got it home where it sat for a week or three, finally took it out of box to give it a cleaning before an anticipated trip to the range (that never came about). While disassembling it for cleaning, I noted a screw was not seated properly. Apparently, the tenon it was screwed into did not have holes drilled properly and it looked as a simple replacement would fix it. I also noted that an internal part was rusted - it could be seen without disassembly when the lever was pulled away from receiver. I contacted Marlin and was told ship it to them. I sent it in. They received it.

They have had it about three weeks or a few days more. On Thursday, I sent Marlin an email requesting an update on Thursday. On the same day, Marlin left me a voicemail (did not realize it was there and only listened to it today) telling me that after their repairman had inspected my rifle, he determined it needs to be replaced. The representative was inquiring as to info for my local FFL so they can send me a replacement!

The same thing happened to me not all that long ago with an Armscor Rock Island Armory 1911. Sent the pistol in for repair and they replaced it it with a new one because something on the frame had not been machined properly!

I must be cursed. Then again, maybe I am blessed in as much as both the Armscor pistol and the Marlin will not catastrophically fail when I need them due to whatever were their defects. As for the Savage, I can only hope they send me a band new rifle of the same model and variation they damaged. At least I already received the $100 rebate check from Marlin!

All the best,
Glenn B

 

Detective Kristen Hearne - Taken Too Soon

Polk County, GA Detective Kristen Hearne was gunned down today after responding to a fellow officer's call for back-up when he was investigating a suspicious vehicle that turned out as having been reported stolen in TN. The suspects, a man and a woman, reportedly came out of the woods near the vehicle. At least one (reportedly the male) opened fire on both officers as the officers engaged them in conversation, mortally wounding Det. Hearne and injuring Officer David Goodrich who was shot in his body armor.

Det. Hearne is survived by her husband, her 3 year old son and her parents. She was only 29 years old with a mere 5 years on the job.

The suspected shooter reportedly had a previous arrest for methamphetamine and weapons charges in 2015 but was released last year! He has been arrested and was reportedly naked at the time of arrest. A female suspect was also arrested. More at the source.

My condolences to the family and loved ones of Det. Hearne. My wish for a speedy recovery for Officer Goodrich, both physically and spiritually.

All the best,
Glenn B

It's Friday Night...

...and my wife and daughter just went out to eat and have a few drinks. My son-in-law just took his son to the mall, my mother-in-law went to bed (go figure - before 6PM - but thank God for that), my son is living in Arkansas. What is a fella to do?

I may just have to go for a walk for health reasons. Along the way, I may wander into a bar; that is if I just so happen to come across one in my travels. When I leave it (if I just happen to find one along my way), I will continue my walk and who knows - I may find and walk into another bar. If I find enough of them and walk into them, I may have to crawl out of, and to home, from the last one.

Is that what they call a Pub Crawl?

Later for U,
Glenn B

Not Bad Shooting...

...considering I have not fired a .38 revolver more than twice in over 10 years. Yes, I do shoot my S&W Model 17-8 now and then but that is in 22LR but it has probably been close to a year since I last shot it. I also have shot my Ruger Redhawk 44 Magnum a few to several times in the last year and a half but certainly never will shoot it like this:

Five out of six shots through one tight hole. Not bad shooting for an old geezer I suppose. I admit it was only at 7 yards but I am happy with it.

I thought I  could not come close to that again in my remaining lifetime but then two attempts later I did this and while not quite as good, it came close:

The funny thing is that the flyer on each was my last shot at each target. Practice may make it better and maybe in the not too distant future I will put all 6 through one hole; although, I have to say, I doubt it.

All the best,
Glenn B

Hef Off To The Playboy Mansion in The Sky

A fairly young Hefner with his Bunnies.

Hugh Hefner, indubitably a man responsible for fanning the flames of preteen, teenage and adult males around the world with his publication Playboy Magazine has passed at the age of 91, more at the source. If I could imagine anyone meeting death with a smile on his face, Hef (as was his nickname) always - and I do mean always - seemed to be a happy man. If you know anything about him and his lifestyle then there should be little reason to doubt that and no question about why he was happy. To be able to surround yourself in a lavish mansion by a bevy of nonstop and beautiful Playboy Bunnies would be sure to keep many a real man happy.



An older Hef, still smiling, can you guess why!

His magazine, Playboy, at first showed partial nude female models in seductive poses but also included serious articles about current events and societal concerns. I remember sneaking peaks of my Godfather's Playboy mags and calendars many a time (and he and my godmother knew I was doing it) when I was in my late preteen and young teenaged years. Oddly enough, while I liked the photos of semi-naked women and later fully nude models, sometimes even at an early age I read the articles. My favorite features though were the Varga Girls. The Varga Girls was a collection of absolutely stunning pinup paintings or drawings by Antonio Vargas (and yes they were called the Varga Girls not the Vargas Girls). He came to fame in Esquire magazine and was later hired on by Hefner to work for Playboy in 1959. He produced over 150 pinup prints for Playboy from 1959 through sometime in the 80s. There was at least one such print in each edition of Playboy, usually with a catchy and funny but seductive caption accompanying it. I have to admit, I was sometimes more enamored by those pinups than by the photos of the semi-nude or nude models. 
 
The other regular feature of Playboy that I always enjoyed was the jokes which contained several jokes as well as, often if not always, containing a limerick too as best I can recall. It is funny how something from so long ago was able to make a lasting impression on me as did one of the so called limericks. As best I remember it went something like this:
 
There once was a woman who begat,
she had three children Nat, Pat and Tat.
The fun was in breeding,
but not with the feeding,
when she found she had no tit for Tat.

Of course, besides the magazine (and because of its success), he built and based his empire at the Playboy Mansion. I can say, I would not mind having a place like that and being able to fill it with Bunnies and to also afford it for most of my life. I believe he sold it in 2016 with the condition that he be allowed to remain living there.

The Playboy Mansion.

He also opened the Playboy Club, a posh and expensive gentleman's club (not a strip joint) in Midtown Manhattan, as I recall on 57th street just west of 5th Avenue (I used to pass it frequently and wish I could get inside). More followed around the world. That lasted for quite a time but nowhere nearly as long as did the magazine and the rest of his empire.
 
I read Playboy fairly regularly up through my mid to late twenties. It got to the point somewhere in there where it just no longer seemed the same and lost some of its appeal. I guess I still read it now and then but by the time I reached my mid-thirties, I got married and that was the end of it for me. I have to hand it to Hugh Hefner though - it was a masterpiece and his lifestyle was one that teenaged boys and grown men around the world coveted.

An air of utter contentment.

I have to say, I do not think I ever saw a man smiling as much or as contentedly as did he. Nor did I ever see a man with as many reasons to smile as he. He knew what he had and he enjoyed it as long as possible; he allegedly was a big fan of Viagra up through his mid eighties. He was 91 when he passed but something tells me his mind's eye still held onto an image of himself as being a happy go lucky young lad in his twenties.

Rest in peace Hef.

All the best,
Glenn B

It's Time To Cull...

...blogs from my blogroll. As you know, if you have ever looked at my blogrolls, I in essence have three of them. There is one with links to the blogs of bloggers I have met, one with links to the blogs of bloggers who have had the courtesy to link to my page once I linked to theirs (or vice versa) and yet another one with links to the blogs of bloggers I find worthy even though they have not given me a reciprocal link. Well, after having some of the later links in my blogroll for years, I have decided that it is time to remove the links to the blogs of freeloaders who have not given me a reciprocal courtesy link in their blogs.

Now, while I am going to remove some of the links, it will not be all of them who do not link reciprocally. If another blogger, for some reason, does not have a blogroll at all, it is likely I will not remove that blog from my link list. On the other hand if a blogger, to whose blog I have supplied a link, has a blogroll on his or her blog to the blogs of other bloggers but has decided for whatever reason to leave mine off of the list I look at it as - why should link to them!

This is absolutely nothing personal and was not instigated by anyone from any of these blogs doing anything in particular. Instead what got me to even consider this, let alone do it, was other bloggers seemingly not doing something by lacking common courtesy. I, for one, am absolutely sick of folks who claim to be conservatives or libertarians or good guys/gals but yet who lack what was once known as common courtesy. Today, the whole ideal of common courtesy is quite uncommon and I truly believe there is no reason for me to support anyone who exercises the lack of it. So when they have other bloggers of their choosing on a blogroll but not a reciprocal link to mine, I have come to the conclusion why bother with them.

Yes, they can pick and choose whomever they desire to place onto their blogroll. The again, that is no excuse for not exercising reciprocal and or common courtesy. In other words, no respect deserves likewise and thus there is no reason for me to show them any measure of respect by keeping their blogs on my blog roll. Not that they give a rat's arse about me doing so but it gives me some measure of satisfaction to drain the swamp my link lists of those who lack what should be a common trait among us all.

If you are thinking it possible that any of he folks I am removing from my blogroll are unaware that I link to them, I made several, if not the great majority, of them aware of it over the years. If someone whose blog is being removed would like to see a link to their blog continue in my blogroll, please let me know and if you offer to do a reciprocal link I will relink to your blog. Along these same lines, if there is anyone out there who has my blog on their blogroll and I have not reciprocated, it is likely that is because I am unaware of such so please let me know and if there is not a gross idealistic conflict of interest that may preclude such, I will gladly give you a link.

So, at least for now, out are:

Irons In The Fire

Lurking Rhythmically

The Bearded Backyarder

Peace or Freedom

Sharp As A Marble

The Smallest Minority

hellinahandbasket

dad's deadpool blog

Doubletroubletwo

In Jennifer's Head

The Gundoc's Doctrine (Blog deleted by the authors)

Tales From The Clothesline and the blog it merged or morphed into Haze Gray and Red Clay

A Man, A Dog And A Gun

Random Nuclear Strikes

Gun Pundit

Home On The Range

That is all,
Glenn B



 

Leftists Were One Of The Reasons I Moved Out Of NYC...

...and as you can see from this linked article about NYC Council scum sitting for the national anthem (eve to lazy to kneel) - nothing there has changed since I moved away about 23 years ago. Well, that is nothing has changed except that it has gotten much worse as in more akin to an anti-American communist Utopia. Fuck them! Now if only my wife would agree to leave NYS altogether, we could be living in, and enjoying, Paradise in a freer state!

All the best,
Glenn B

Get A Job





 

A job will put money in your pocket and the longer your tenure and harder you work, while playing by the rules of your employer, you should see rewards in the form of raises, promotions and possibly bonuses come your way.

 

All the best,

GB

Calibers - How Many

On a gun forum of which I am a member, someone requested feedback on the following:

"A question came to me regarding how many different calibers is practical for one to own and I'd like to get some feedback here as to how you approach it."

The thread starter was concerned with whether or not people limit their gun purchases to only a select few calibers for whatever reasons and mentioned a few.

My reply consisted of the following seven sentences:

"I have pistols and rifles in 18 different calibers and also have shotguns guns in two gauges. I have ammo for all of them. I have shot all but one caliber because a brand new gun, in a new caliber for me, is in for warranty work. When it comes back to me, it will go to the range pronto. I foresee getting other firearms in other various calibers. I have also had weapons in at least three other calibers than the ones I have now but sold them. There are never enough so long as you believe that variety is the spice of life."

I don't know whether or not I have ever said it better, than I did in that last sentence, as to why I own so many different caliber firearms. And note, I was only writing about those firearms I own or have owned that accept cartridges as opposed to any muzzle loaders I have or have had in the past. I must say, variety really does spice it up a bit when it comes to shooting and my guess would be that many of you agree with me on that. I mean, I just mean - who in hell gives a rat's arse whether or not it is practical to own firearms in many different calibers so long as it's fun!
 
All the best,
Glenn B

 

Clinton's New Book...

...but to see it you have to look behind the cover (pun intended). Nothing obscene, no nudity, nothing from which you need to shield your eyes, just Clinton's new book plain and simple.

Yugo SKS Range Report

I took my new Yugoslavian SKS, the one I picked up at auction on Saturday, to the local indoor range last night. Yeah, I know, I must be slipping out of my role as The Great Procrastinator. Shooting it that soon after buying it must be a new speed record for me, at least in recent years.

Last night, I put 100 rounds through it. Most of the first 20 rounds, all Wolf Military Classic 124 grain HP ammo, did not go where I thought I was aiming. I fired 10 rounds using my weak reading glasses, the ones I wear for distance vision. Then switched, for the next 10 rounds, to the glasses I use for reading - 3.00 magnifiers. What a difference in vision but it did at all change the point of impact for my shots.

As most shooters do, I also did - I refused to think it was me causing the errant shots. So, I tried some Brown Bear 124 grain FMJ ammo on a new target. I fired 10 rounds, checked the target and saw everything was going just about where I was aiming but a little too spread out. I was convinced it had been the Wolf ammo that caused the other shots to be so far off their mark or maybe me getting my eyes used to focusing on the front sight with the right pair of glasses.

As I was shooting the Brown Bear ammo though, I noticed something I had not seen before - what looked like a burr on the front sight that I had not noticed before then. Before firing another 10 rounds of it, I stuck my booger picker under the sight hood to see if it was indeed a burr and wound up with a small blob of dirty gunk on my finger tip. Ah- ha! I fired the next ten shots with much improvement and they were all pretty much going where I was aiming. All I can think as that the blob of gunk had been causing me to shift my sight alignment a bit and was throwing off my aim. My guess is it may have been bigger when I started shooting and can only think it may also have been larger and more formed to the front sight and some had come off, due to recoil, allowing me to see it was there. I am 99% certain that was most of the problem because I then went back to the Wolf ammo and they too were now hitting the mark. Of course the glasses may have had something to do with it but I changed back and forth between them on that second target. I shot another 50 rounds for a total of 60 rounds into that second target. This was the result:

It can shoot!

After that, I fired another 20 rounds out of it, this time Wolf Performance 154 grain SP on a third target. They went down range well too and wound up where I was aiming.

The only issues I had, other than for the first 20 shots being off seemingly due to that blob of gunk, was that there were three or four instances of the last round failing to feed properly. That could be a magazine spring issue. It happened when I shifted my hold with my left hand that had been under the mag and thus pushing up on it. I had it centered on the bottom of the mag for most of my shots but changed it a few times and while my left hand still supported the rifle it was not on the center of the magazine and that is when it failed to feed the last round. When I moved it back to the center of the mag, the problem stopped. 

It is possible the magazine or its spring could use some tweaking. Since it was always on the last round and since my supporting the gun with my left hand centered on the mag pushed the magazine up a bit when all rounds fed, and then when my left hand was not centered on the mag the last rounds did not feed, I think the likely culprit is the magazine follower spring not having enough oomph. I may have to research this a bit and buy a new spring to see if there is any improvement. If not, then back to square one. Now to find one.

Anyway, I like it, it is a shooter.

All the best,
Glenn B