Must-Have Gun Tools?

While looking through some gun forums in the wee hours of the day on which I write this, I came across a thread that detailed what the opening poster believed were 'must-have' gun tools. I was truly surprised, to say the least, at what he thought were the must-have  essentials for what he called "your 'smithing bench". After reading about what he thought were the ten necessary tools for working on firearms, I decided to give an in depth reply.

 

Before I continue allow me to list his ten must-have tools:

 

1. Gun Vise

2. Screwdriver Set

3. Torque Wrench

4. Boresighter

5. Scope-Leveling Device

6. Hook & Pick Set

7. Cleaning Rod(s)

8. Jags And Bore Brushes

9. Ultrasonic Cleaner

10. Gun/Brand specific tools

 

 

Here is what I wrote regarding my thoughts about his choices of his choices for ten must-have tools for working on firearms and my thoughts on the tools I consider pretty much as essentials (or as unnecessary luxuries) or as simply nice to have for working on the guns that I own or on guns I may acquire at a future date. Mind you, I make no claim to be a gunsmith or that my work area is a 'smithing bench. So here is the reply that I wrote:

 

"With all due respect to your expertise on this subject, I see my essential firearms tools differently than do you yours.

I think a sonic cleaner is a luxury and completely unneeded in a kit of gun tools. I have never, I repeat never, used a sonic cleaner in my shooting lifetime and that has been over 60 years long so far. I own a gun or two or three that is/are over 100 years old and I am certain their parts have never been in a sonic cleaner and never will be as long as I own them. So please, explain to me why it was a must-have for me in all those years; yet, I never have used one and my firearms work just fine.

It also seems to me a boresight is a luxury. I sight in my rifles the old fashioned way, bang-bang-bang adjust as necessary - then bang-bang-bang until I get it right. I start close in and work out to further distances. I like some good old shooting to get it done, it's fun. Of course I could always boresight a rifle by aiming down the bore then adjusting the reticle of a mounted scope to be on target all without a laser boresight. I guess a boresight is nice to own and convenient to use maybe even much more efficient but it most certainly is not a must-have necessity.

Of course other scope mounting/adjusting devices are also not necessities. They are certainly nice to have but truth be told, I did just fine mounting scopes for many a year after my 50s once my vision became less than optimal. I purchased a torque wrench only within the last two years, same for a scope mounting kit with the level and other tools. Nice to have and makes the job of mounting a scope easier and more precise but not must-have tools. Th same goes for a gun vise. I got my first one two or three years ago. Wow does it make a very nice difference but for many years I used my knees or someone else to hold the gun while I worked on it. I did with what I had.

Placing jags & bore brushes separate from cleaning rods almost makes it seem as if you could not find another appropriate item to take a number in your pick of ten 'must-have' tools. Let's face it - brushes & jags are part of a must-have firearms cleaning kit, as is a cleaning rod and as are cleaning brushes (brass & steel - not bore brushes but hand held brushes that resemble toothbrushes). You purposefully excluded patches and swabs - go figure they are tools like any others that fit into a cleaning kit and add pipe cleaners to that list (if you have ever cleaned a Yugoslavian SKS you may understand why I include them but they also come in quite handy on many other types of firearms). A complete cleaning kit is thus considered by me to be all one tool with accessories or a tool group as far as I am concerned but if you want to make them separate then why not have jags as one item and bore brushes as another and cleaning patches as another and add swabs & pipe cleaners to the list and solvent and had held cleaning brushes as another and you could just keep going.

Somethings you seem to have excluded or maybe have forgotten are: pin punches (these are gun tools of relative necessity in my mind), a hammer with combination brass head and nylon head, a pair of needle nose pliers is another, a hemostat is another, a bore light is another, a telescoping rod with a magnetic end is another excellent tool to have around but maybe not an essential one until that tiny screw or spring falls under something to heavy to move but yet can be reached under by the magnetic tipped rod to retrieve the lost item. I'd also say a Glock tool but any correctly sized pin punch will do. I'd likely add a 1911 wrench (not necessary maybe but sure makes disassembly and assembly easier). I also find a small multi-function knife to be a very useful and a must have item in my firearms tool kit. Depending on what type of firearms you have sight tools (both rear and front) could be must have items. For instance, it is pretty much a necessity for the rear sights on Glocks and a Glock front sight tool is also a good choice for a Glock owner. Of course there are also sight tools for rifles like AR-15s and AK-47s.

Lest I forget and while these are probably not considered tools, I think some of the most essential things to have when it comes to working on guns are manuals, exploded parts diagrams annotated to describe each part, and firearms books detailing assembly and disassembly of guns. The books can be expensive but you can often find greatly discounted used editions on sites like eBay. Manuals can also be expensive but if you have a currently manufactured firearms, many manufacturers offer manuals you can download from their websites. Even if you do not have a computer or smart phone, you can go to almost any public library and download them or print them there for a nominal fee at most. I currently have well over fifty such books and manuals. Some of my manuals are from the original manufacturer as those that came with the gun, others are after market so to speak such as those salmon colored ones for which I cannot recall the publisher. I have many for guns I do not even own, they may come in handy some day when I buy my next gun or the the next one after that or if I am looking for a particular manual I do not have, I may be able to trade one I already own for the one I need.

As for not using the kitchen table - well pardon me if I did not make a lot of money in my early career and lived in tiny studio apartments for a few years and the only work area that I had available was my kitchen table or the floor. Believe me it was better using the kitchen table while sitting in a chair than trying to sit on the floor and work on a gun. It always amazes me how well meaning gun folks offering advice often seem to expect everyone is as well off as are they and that they assume every gun owner has or must have things like a separate work area with a work bench. Many folks do not have those luxuries, heck they may not even have the basic tools both you and I mentioned. Thus they do with what they have but I'd at least hope they acquire the basic tools for any gun they own. When I used my kitchen table, I made sure to cover my table with a plastic/vinyl tarp when cleaning guns on it and I still cleaned the table very well once I was finished. There are several brands of supposedly nontoxic gun cleaning solvents available making use of the kitchen table less of a hazard nowadays. You do the best you can with the best you have, that is what makes the world go round."

 

I may have left something out as to my essentials but please note that if I did not mention something like a screwdriver set that the original poster of the thread did mention, it was simply because I agree that is an essential so don't assume that if I did not mention something it means I do not think it essential. For instance, I did not mention Allen wrenches, which I think are a must have but did not bother to mention them only because a good size variety of Allen heads come in many gun screwdriver sets. Yet, I suppose a set or two (the first in imperial sizes, the second in metric sizes) are pretty much a thing to own. I did make sure to add things the other guy did not list, like pin punches and needle nosed pliers, that I think are mandatory. I covered most of the necessary tools in that manner, or so I think, without having looked through my tools as or before I wrote the above. If you think I missed something, please let me know. It is always nice to learn more about maintaining my firearms.

 

All the best,

Glenn B 

 

 

Ballsy But Really Stupid

A guy allegedly used a company issued credit card, from the company for which he worked, to make unauthorized purchases of over 31K worth of scratch off lottery tickets. He admited to his boss he had done so according to this source report.

 

As the post title says, ballsy but stupid.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

FedEX Does It Again

 The does it again thing was this:

I had a package containing 1,000 rounds of ammunition delivered to my apartment by FedEx today, it was marked with the required marking used for ammo. I was waiting at home for it and preparing something in my kitchen when it was delivered. If not for my WADAS (Woofing Alert Delivery Alarm System - my dog) suddenly barking loudly, I would not have known the package had been delivered unless I opened my door to go outside and then possibly would have tripped over it as it was on my doorstep. Well, when I opened the door, I caught the FedEx driver getting into his truck and asked why he had not rung my doorbell or at least knocked on my door among other things like getting my signature which I had wrongly thought was required on this package (I confused it with another one). He apparently got angry and replied that if I want a delivery wherein someone knocks on my door, I should use UPS. I got pissed off and cursed him out and regret I did so but that does not make his failure to alert me to the delivery any less serious, especially with the current amount of package thefts that is ongoing in the USA. So, I am going to take his advice. In the future, unless there is an urgent need for me to get something and FedEx is the only available shipper, any purchases I make online will be restricted to companies who do not use FedEx for shipping but who instead use UPS or the USPS as appropriate for whatever I am buying. Today, I made an official complaint against the driver.

That is my first official complaint with FedEx as best I can remember but it is not the first time a FedEx driver has failed to ring my bell or knock on my door. On the other hand, UPS and USPS drivers almost always knock or ring, it is rare that they do not, to let me know my package has arrived and to place it in my hand. They also do it with a smile on their faces. I do not often get packages delivered by FedEx but this is about the fifth or sixth time they have not even used the minimal amount of energy nor had enough respect for a me, the package recipient, to ring my bell. Five or six times of this, as best I can recall, amounts to the great majority of FedEx deliveries to me over the past year and few months at my current address, so it seems to me they have failed the majority of times. As I said it is not the first time they have done this but it is the first time one has told me to have my packages shipped via UPS and thus the first time I made an official complaint.

In fact, I wrote a post about delivery companies last year when it seemed UPS employees were going to strike. I mentioned in that post my dissatisfaction with FedEx for much the same reasons. This is what I wrote about Fed Ex deliveries back then (source):

"I shudder to think though that if they do strike and I need to order something that usually is shipped via UPS - it may wind up being shipped by FedEx. At least in my personal experience, FedEx damages packages more often than UPS. Luckily the damage usually only has been to the shipping box. My local FedEx delivery folks also rarely ring my bell or knock on my door when delivering to me but instead just leave the item on my doorstep; luckily I don't recall anything going missing (as in being stolen) when they've done that. On the other hand, UPS delivery personnel almost always knock on my door and or ring the bell, it is a rare delivery when they do not. 

The UPS lady who normally delivers my parcels has even called me on my cell phone on at least one or maybe two occasions when I have not been home. She did that to see if I can get home quick enough to have her wait or otherwise to check if she should just leave it or drop it off at the UPS Customer Center for me to pick up later (she is one heck of an excellent & different delivery person for any shipping company). 

 

With FedEx, I often either unexpectedly stumble across a package left on my doorstep by FedEx when I am going out or I am often alerted to the fact that they just made a delivery by my super sophisticated high tech & almost failure proof WADAS (woofing alert delivery alarm system). She alerts me not only to FedEx package deliveries but also to those made by the USPS and UPS:

 

 "

Yes the photo is part of the quote. 

 As I said, it is FedEx drivers who usually do not knock or ring my doorbell and just stealthily leave packages on my doorstep; the UPS and USPS folks have a lot better delivery etiquette and good manners and are usually very polite as well. In my opinion, FedEx is the worst possible choice anyone could make to ship a package. I wholeheartedly believe UPS and the USPS put them to shame.

All the best,

Glenn B

Happy Grounhog Day

 I have it on good authority that the little flea-bag Punxsutawny Phil did not see his shadow today thus predicting an early Spring. Happy Groundhog Day, the best holiday ever. No shopping and spending on presents, no gift wrapping,no holiday cards to send, no always hungry mooching relatives coming over expecting to stuff their maws with my vittles, no big meal planning, no cooking & no thus no complaints something was not just right, no lots of dirty dishes to wash, and folks Cancel Culture has not gone after this one, at least not yet. All I plan on doing for the day is watching its eponymous movie, one of the best ever. This is my favorite holiday and most folks do not even think of it as a holiday. I love it, how could I not!

All the best,

Glenn B

Laptop Problems

 My laptop's fan has been rattling intermittently. This has been going on a week or two at most and it has  rattled only a few to maybe several times. I had thought that my 3 year next business day onsite warranty expired tomorrow but when I checked on HP's site tonight, they said it expired yesterday. Then I looked at my warranty again and on another warranty page of HP's. As it turned out, thank goodness I contacted them today because yesterday nor tomorrow was the expiration date - today is/was the last day of the warranty! 

 

After 2 hours and 50 minutes, of questions and useless downloads (at least useless as to fixing  the problem) the HP rep told me an onsite service tech will be calling me soon, I am guessing tomorrow. That was only after the HP rep first asked me to send it in to HP and I had to remind her I had an onsite next day business service warranty. It was also after she had asked me to record the rattling sound. When she asked me to record the sound, it was not rattling. Luckily though, a few moments later, out of the blue, it went into the black and it started rattling again. I grabbed my phone, hit voice recorder and I recorded it.

 

This was the first hardware problem in three years of owning this laptop, a far cry from my previous HP laptop which had a few hardware issues. Remarkably this was a refurbished business machine; I guess they did a good job at refurbishing it. I should note, this laptop is speed rated at being a Battleship and an Aircraft Carrier when I run the User Benchmark app, it is still considered as very powerful and fast today even though I purchased it three years ago today. I paid a lot for it but my figuring was I wanted one that would remain top notch for a few to several years to come and after that still be at least a pretty fast computer. It has made it in that regard for three years so far and I am guessing will give me good to very good performance for a few years more..

 

I would probably have called this problem in a bit sooner, as in earlier this week, despite me being THE Great Procrastinator but I was at my son's house from last Friday until yesterday and had left the laptop at home and just forgot all about it. In fact, it was probably the last thing on my mind today, that is until it started rattling again. I am happy it did so because if it and I had waited until tomorrow, I would have been a day late & a dollar short so to speak! Usually I am that guy, the one who gets royally screwed but today there must have been Divine Intervention and or maybe that rare thing known as good luck for me and believe me sometimes I think if not for an abundance of bad luck I'd have almost no luck at all.

You can bet, I am hoping it, that is my good fortune, will continue through tomorrow when I buy some lottery tickets for Mega Millions, Power ball, the AR lottery/lotto and AR Natural State drawings. If I win a big prize on tickets I buy tomorrow I may well start going back to church because it will be evident that someone up there likes me.

All the best,

Glenn B

Visited My Son For Several Days & Went To A Gun Show

Skye, my mongrel, and I drove to Sherwood, AR last Friday to visit my son, his girlfriend and their three pooches. Had a nice weekend visiting, got a bit looped with Brendan & Nikki on Friday night. Messed around a lot with their two new puppies and Skye did the same or should I say they messed around with her. Watched too much TV, mostly MI5 on Britbox in Amazon Prime. Ate some good eats including an out of this world roast chicken with mashed taters & broiled Brussels sprouts. Drank some good bier & booze too. I did not do much more for most of the days we were there, we just got back to my apartment today.

The only thing I did of merit other than visiting them was to attend the G&S gun show in Conway, AR this past Sunday. I have been there several times as a vendor but while looking to sell something, I was not a vendor this time. With some willpower dredged up from I know not where, I successfully compelled my psyche to demand of myself that I not buy any guns, ammo or accessories. However, I did make two purchases of small metal novelty signs at $4.00 each. With some entrepreneurship & luck, I sold a Rock Island Armory 51431 Rock Standard FS 1911 in 45ACP. I got 100% of my money back, which was my hoped for result. 

 

I also tried to sell a Savage 111 Long Range Hunter in .300 WIN MAG but had no luck with offloading it onto some other gun nut enthusiast than myself. That one was truly like new, it had only ten shots fired out of it to date. Bought it in 2018 at a Hessney auction in Geneva, NY. It is in pristine condition except for a tiny almost unnoticeable scuff on the synthetic stock. It turned out that my bursitis/arthritis in the strong side shoulder made its recoils a bit much for me. While I offered it to my son as a gift, he shot 5 of those 10 rounds through it and said that as enough for him, he did not like the recoil and did not want the Savage. It's funny that this past weekend, he told me how nice of a rifle was it and that he thought it was cool. Now that he has a Remington 700 BDL in .30-06, I guess he thinks the recoil is not as bad as he at first had thought.

As for the pistol that I sold: I had three of the same exact model of those pistols and figured it would be a quick seller that I did not need since I'd be left with to others if it sold. I purchased one on Halloween in 2016, then I bought two more in July 2023. My reason for selling was that I recently wound up needing to replenish some cash that I had spent, but that I should not have spent, on stuff for my firearms hobby/collection (or should I say my firearms addiction😂). So, to recoup some of the cash, I decided to sell one of the the newer ones (unfired in the box with everything that was in the box from the factory). I was not looking to make a profit but am guessing I easily could have gotten $25 to $50 more for it since I originally bought it at a great sale price. Regardless, I was quite satisfied to get my money back on it to replenish at least some of the moolah that I am hoping to get back into my pocket and then put back into the bank.

I may go to another gun show, this one in Mena, AR this weekend; I am none too sure I can get away though but it indubitably would be nice if I could go there on Friday & Saturday. Gun show or not though, I very much would like to visit the village of Mena and the area around it. The village putatively is quaint and the surrounding area is said to be very nice countryside. Then again, a gun show there at the same time I'd be visiting would be a big plus, especially if I can sell another one or something else gun related like a collectable bayonet or two. Of course, that would only be nice if I maintain my composure and once again find the willpower that is hidden within me to avoid buying something that I see that make me thin think: such a deal, don't be a schmuck buy two!

All the best,

Glenn B

What Victim Is This DA Talking About Supporting?

 A 14 year old girl accused a doctor of masturbating while he was seated next to her on a plane back in 2022. She accused him of having his fly open and that he beat it until completion. Apparently shoe told no one on the aircraft, like the flight attendants but told her grandparents (whom she was traveling with) only after they got to the destination airport. He was arrested, charged criminally, indicted and subsequently was found not guilty during a bench trial. It has been reported that the flight attendants and other passengers near him did not notice him doing anything like what the girl had accused him of and one of the passengers included his fiancé who was seated next to him! The girl reportedly said something along the lines of: he had a blanket covering him and was bouncing his leg under it, the blanket slipped down and she saw his open fly and him allegedly doing the inappropriate deed.

 

This is among things the district attorney (possibly the knucklehead of the year) reportedly said after the trial: 

 

"Our office will remain steadfast in supporting victims, particularly minor children. It is critical that victims know they can come forward, and they will be heard and be fully supported by our office,” US Attorney Joshua Levy said."

 

For more info go to the source.

 

The problem with that statement is the defendant was found NOT GUILTY - so who was/is the victim!!! If he actually did not masturbate or expose himself or anything illegal amounting to a sexual crime, then it appears to me that she was either sadly and badly mistaken or that maybe for some unknown reason she knowingly filed a false report of a crime. If that was the case, she most definitely was not a victim. Additionally it seems that in fact, merely based upon the not guilty verdict, she was not a victim - at least not of a crime perpetrated by the defendant. The only victim I see here seems to me to be the guy who was accused. So, I must ask what the hell is the DA talking about when saying he "...will remain steadfast in supporting victims, particularly minor children". Where is his support of the man who, as I see it, evidently was wrongly accused but later found NOT GUILTY!!!

 

This man's life, relationships, career may possibly have been ruined irreparably because of something of which he was accused and for which he was prosecuted, I am guessing possibly by an overzealous prosecutor, but of which he was found not guilty. There can be a lot of long lasting poison in the pen, his whole life may be in shambles because of those unfounded allegations.

Of course, if the guy actually did it well my guess is he will get caught doing it again sooner or later but until that time such happens and he is actually convicted - he did no wrong under the law at least this time around. In my opinion, He needs to file a lawsuit seeking mega bucks but in my opinion mostly as a warning to prevent others from possibly making false allegations and to prevent DA's from filing charges when there seems to be zero reported physical evidence of said sex crime and only what appears to be a she said - he said type of a case.

All the best,

Glenn B

Happy 91st Anniversary To, Well To - Who Was That Masked Man

Yes that was the question many asked: "Who was that masked man"! If you are as old as me or older, you know he was the Lone Ranger. As the legend goes, he was one of six Texas Rangers gunned down by outlaws but he survived. While he lay wounded, he was found by an Indian whom he had nursed to health years before. The Indian, named Tonto (first heard in episode 11 of the radio show - to give the ranger someone to talk to, to add dialogue), took the ranger to a cave and nursed him to health. When the ranger was well enough to ask what happened to his ranger commrades, Tonto showed him their graves and replied: "You only ranger left. You Lone Ranger". With that a legend was born.

From January 30, 1933 onward for about 20 years or so, starting long before television, there were over 3,000 radio shows featuring that masked man and his faithful companion Tonto. The Lone Ranger on his lightning fast steed Silver, firing silver bullets from his revolver and shouting out Hi-Yo Silver became an image branded into the minds of American youth beginning in September 1949 with the opening of the Lone Ranger television series. The Lone Ranger and Tonto were the original all American inter-racial crime fighting team.The series, starring Clayton Moore (for the great majority of TV episodes, he missed only one year when seeking better pay) and Jay Silverheels ran through 1957. (More at the source.)

It probably was my favorite television show when I was a youngster. My pre-teen young self never knew I was watching reruns (I may have watched before reruns but was too young to remember that) but it did  not matter. I was enchanted and enthralled, reruns or not. The Lone Ranger and Tonto likely had strong enough influence on me that decades later, I became a lawman, loved the West (where I worked during several months long details) and thus was lucky enough to live what I had dreamed of being when I was a child, just without a horse.

One of the most special things about the Lone Ranger was his partnership with Tonto, a native American. Most fiction and historical depictions of Indians at the time showed them as the bad guys or as hopeless wild and ruthless savages. Another thing that was very special was what the shows planted in the minds of children, a code of morality and ethics that is hard to beat. That was the Lone Ranger Creed. It would be a good thing to teach your children today in words and by living it yourselves no matter your race, creed or culture:

"I believe...

That to have a friend, a man must be one.

That all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world.

That God put the firewood there but that every man must gather and light it himself.

In being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right.

That a man should make the most of what equipment he has.

That 'This government, of the people, by the people and for the people' shall live always.

That men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number.

That sooner or later ... somewhere ... somehow ... we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken.

That all things change but truth, and that truth alone, lives on forever.

In my Creator, my country, my fellow man." 

There was more to the Lone Ranger than his creed. The creators of the character set guidelines for his actions, these may not be as well known as his creed but I assure you that they put how Hollywood heroes are portrayed today to shame. These guidelines as to how he was to be portrayed would be an amazing find in a current fictional or even in a real hero today, they were:

The Lone Ranger is never shown without his mask or some sort of disguise.

With emphasis on logic, The Lone Ranger is never captured or held for any length of time by lawmen, avoiding his being unmasked.

At all times, The Lone Ranger uses perfect grammar and precise speech completely devoid of slang and colloquial phrases.

Whenever he has to use guns, The Lone Ranger never shoots to kill, but rather only to disarm his opponent as painlessly as possible.

Logically, too, The Lone Ranger never wins against hopeless odds; i.e., he is never seen escaping from a barrage of bullets merely by riding into the horizon.

Even though The Lone Ranger offers his aid to individuals or small groups, the ultimate objective of his story is to imply that their benefit is only a by-product of a greater achievement -- the development of the West or our Country. His adversaries are usually groups whose power is such that large areas are at stake.

All adversaries are American to avoid criticism from minority groups.

Names of unsympathetic characters are carefully chosen, avoiding the use of two names as much as possible to avoid even further vicarious association. More often than not, a single nickname is selected.

Criminals are never shown in unenviable positions of wealth or power, and they never appear as either successful or glamourous.

The Lone Ranger does not drink or smoke, and saloon scenes are usually interpreted as cafes with waiters and food instead of bartenders and liquor.(Source.)

That creed & those guidelines seem an impossibilty in a Hollywood, literary or even a real life idol or hero today and seem at best, difficult for any parent to attain. Yet, striving to fullfill at least most, if not all of them, would make for better parents, better kids and a better America.

To me, when I was a child, Clayton Moore was 'The Lone Ranger', in other words not an actor but a true hero. That has not changed much today because while I aam old enough now to understand the diffetence, it was Clayton Moore who brought the Lone Ranger to life and who instilled in me his creed and the desire to be like the Lone Ranger when I grew up. I had many other fictional and real life heros but none quite like him. There is nothing like living out your dreams and Clayton Moore, whose dream was to be portrayed as a hero in western films, knew it well, as can been when you read what he said: "Nothing is as thrilling as having a dream come true — and I enjoyed every minute of it.” (Source of the quote and more about Moore.) He wore the trademark white hat and black mask years after the series ended until a lawsuit by Hollywood scum made him cease doing it but in the mid 1980's he won an appeal and wore them again in many appearances. 

 

I wound up living out my dream too. I thank him for giving me a dream that eventually came true for me if only because of him actually being my childhood hero - The Lone Ranger. RIP sir!

All the best,

Glenn B

Biden Well On His Way To Causing A Civil War

 So, right now, as far as I am aware, there are two states out of the 50 that are prepared to protect our southern border and Biden is talking tough guy balderdash and doing nothing to protect our country from the invasion of millions of illegal aliens consisting of a slew of criminals like drug smugglers, rapists, child molesters and terrorists. Sure most of them may be nice guys (and yes the great majority are men) but then again they may not be nice at all but for sure there have been at least thousands of not so nice criminals who have entered across our southern border illegally and no one knows what has come across the northern one.

 

 As per the Constitution of the United States of America, the president is responsible for protecting the borders but when he fails at that Constitutional Duty - the states may take over that duty to protect our borders. The to states doing something worthy of merit are Texas and now South Dakota by way of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem saying she will supply barbed wire to Texas should the border patrol keep cutting it on the order of Biden(more at the source). That man is destroying everything about our once great nation by: opening up the borders, totally screwing up the economy, causing our national debt to soar to inexcusable heights, making us energy dependent for oil, weakening our military by all the munitions he has doled out to Ukraine & probably now to Israel as well), disregarding the sovereignty of our country by allowing criminals to cross our borders unimpeded (and when I say criminals in the context of this sentence I mean each and every alien who has crossed the border illegally because doing so is a crime regardless if Biden ignores the law),  his disregard for the Bill of Rights - especially the 2nd Amendment, and on and on. Damn he is even trying to be the king of kitchen appliances. Of course he and his lackeys are doing everything they can think of, (short of an assassination attempt - so far) to prevent Donal Trump from winning the 2024 election by attempting to get him off the ballot completely so he cannot run.Yes I think Biden thinks he is king.

The thing is kings are not allowed to rule in this country and I think if he keeps pushing executive orders that restrict our rights & liberties and if he continues to disregard the Constitution then many of the states will defy him and sooner or later he may decide to go to war against those states. It would not surprise me. I hope it does not come to what it seems Biden is hoping for, Americans killing brother & sister Americans but only time will tell.

All the best,

Glenn B

This Song Is About What Will HAppen Sooner Or Later - I've Been Expecting It Since The Late 1950s Or Early 60s!

Le's face it: government officials  - well - bureaucrats. their bosses and military leaders - in general for the most part - can be true huge or even total arsehats. They are virtually  always & primarily thinking only of the next election result or the next appointment, with the results coming at any cost - a cost like our lives about which they could not care less.

 

The end may well come just like it almost does in this song:

I do not know if the song translates exactly from German to English,  in fact I know it does not but the German version sounds better to me (then again the English version is not bad at all, just sounds better in deutsche):

 

 

 

Of course, in that song we wind up lucky in the end because it was all a dream of hers (I hope) but what about if it happens in real life? Sadly, while one song sounds better than the other due to language - the outcome would be terribly the same no matter how it is sung if it really happens and someone of high authority, in any nuclear country, thinks it is a real threat.

 

By the way, Nena was one hot babe! I'd gladly spend the post-apocalypse with the likes of her.

All the best,

Glenn B

Trump Won New Hampshire According to OANN

 So OANN says Trump has won in NH (more at the source). I hope they got it right because I could not imagine having that RINO Haley as president should she somehow win the Rebooblican nomination. . She has lied about not running against President Trump, about not raising taxes yet now wants at least an additional ten percent tax on gasoline, called Red China an enemy then changed it to an ally, said that all users of social media must by fully identified I (where are your papers comes to mind) before using the same,  and there are other inconsistencies. She is nothing more than a liberal/leftist as I see her. I will only give her this, she came closer to Trump in NH than I expected but then the state of NH is full of leftists, socialists, hippies and other liberals despite having decent gun laws for a state in the northeast USA.

 

Congratulations Mr. President.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

Open Carry Or Concealed

 

The below was was my reply to a thread in a gun forum about open carry in Texas. Some folks believe there is no risk involved with open carry, I disagree strongly:

 

'I have rarely seen people open carry. While I live in AR now, I am in Texas every day as I live in a border city. The first guy I saw open carrying in TX as best I can recall, literally swaggered into whatever store I was in with his strong hand and arm so far out from his body it could only have been because he was showing off. I guarantee he would have made an easy target for a gun takeaway. Other than him, I have seen very few folks open carry other than uniformed law enforcement. There is one local guy here that I see often at the dog park. He wears a total piece of crap nylon holster that hangs at an odd angle, my guess is that if someone grabbed the holster and tugged hard the whole thing would rip off of his belt. I can only imagine he wears it like that to show it off trying to be tacticool.

As for me I rarely open carry; about the only time I do so is when going out to my car fast to grab something and I don't put on a shirt or jacket to cover it and when I go hunting (which has not been for a while). You can, of course, do as you please but I believe open carry is asking for trouble. While you may think there may have been zero problems to date, that is not factual, takeaways happen from open carriers. In addition, sooner or later there will be someone else who has his or her gun grabbed by a bad guy or a group of bad guys or a guy who gets shot during a crime merely because the bad guy saw the handgun. I see no reason to tempt fate.

Of course, some folks have to open carry. They are mostly police officers or others in law enforcement who are in uniform. They probably amount, by far, to the greatest number of people who open carry. They have their guns taken away and are shot by their own guns all too often. That is why LE concealable body armor is usually required to be at least able to stop the handgun rounds that the officers in any given department are carrying.

While some walk around with their heads in a cloud thinking no one will ever take my gun away from me, stuff like that happens to those carrying openly. Mostly it seems to LE officers but then again that is likely because they are the ones who make up most of the folks who open carry. Here are a few links to and a video of some examples of gun takeaways from people open carrying:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/two-nypd-cops-shot-after-suspect-grabs-officer-s-gun-in-nyc/ar-AA1n5gFC

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/indiana/articles/2023-10-26/an-indianapolis-police-officer-and-a-suspect-shoot-each-other

https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/man-open-carrying-in-alabama-walmart-has-gun-snatched-and-a-shot-fired-at-him/

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/dekalb-county/17-year-old-steals-gun-man-dunkin-shoots-him-death-parking-lot-police-say/AXKCAIEEWNHJJHMMDL7NCWJSDA/[/URL]

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2021/02/18/video-man-snatches-gun-from-man-at-detroit-gas-station-counter/[/URL]

 

[MEDIA=youtube]bUgx90ewbhw[/MEDIA]

 

I have had to fight for my life in two instances of bad guys (all illegal aliens) trying to take away my handgun. Luckily I survived both but during one where multiple assailants were trying to get my gun my sternum and my zyphoid process were fractured; in the other the bad guy bit my left bicep and I still bear the scar about 40 years later. In that second one I mentioned, the bad guy had my gun half way out of my holster but due to good training in retention I was able to retain and keep control of it. Thank goodness an Immigration Inspector in the port of entry and a Sheriff's officer came to my assistance while several Customs & Immigration Inspectors just watched me battling the guy and trying to hang onto my revolver. The illegal alien was built like Charles Bronson in his prime and I was a skinny 155 lbs when soaking wet. I also had a homeless bum approach me in a parking lot in AZ after the wind blew my jacket up and he saw my pistol. He approached me saying something like so you have a pistol. He started to come at me, put his arms out in front of him, then started moving faster toward me as if he was going to grab for it. He was probably 20 or 25 years younger than me. I took a defensive posture getting my car in between him and me and placed my hand on the grips. When I told him if he took one more step I'd open fire, he stopped; it took a moment more to convince him that I was dead serious.  He ran away. I reported it to the police who as far as I am aware did nothing. My pistol was probably in open view during that encounter for less than 2 seconds but criminals are opportunists and he started to act on what he thought was an opportunity. I was in my mid fifties at that time, I guess he was in his young to mid twenties; he must have thought me an easy mark but soon realized he had guessed wrong. While no one may ever try to take your gun away from you, the truth is you raise the risk of a takeaway or of you being shot during the commission of a crime by displaying it openly. You can choose for yourself, I choose to carry concealed and believe me I try to be more aware of the wind ever since the incident in AZ.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

Beaten To Death As Bystanders Merely Watched Him Be Killed

 A man, who as delivering firewood to a house, was beaten to death by a naked man who had grabbed a piece of the firewood to use as a weapon and then attacked the victim. Another man, apparently the resident of the home, reportedly ran away and into his house after also being attacked but did little more, if anything, to help, than remain inside the house and call 911 (more at the source). 

 

So, I am left wondering: 

What in hell happened to all the Texans with firearms? Then again, what happened to the balls of any of the witnesses. The guy who was getting the delivery, if I understand correctly, ran away and hid in his house. What do you think he reportedly said was he all he could do: "...could only watch as Omondi continued beating Jackson with firewood repeatedly" . NO that was NOT the only thing he could have done, even had he been injured by the attacker. As I see it, unless he had been severely injured and close to completely incapacitated (for his conscience's sake, I hope that was why he remained inside), what he did was the only thing that in my opinion a coward would have done. So what else could he have done if not badly incapacitated: he could have stayed outside and grabbed a piece of firewood to arm himself and at least try to save the victim. Okay, he was under attack, so he ran into his house and called 911. Then what could he have done once inside? If he had had one: he could have grabbed his gun or a knife or a baseball bat, or a hammer, or a pry bar or any weapon in the house or outside the house - damn even the garden hose on full blast; then go to confront the killer to try to stop the assault. Instead he  apparently chose to stay inside and a man died a senseless death. Other so called witnesses watched but apparently did nothing physical to actually end the assault. I believe, he died because of the killer who attacked him but I also believe his life was not saved because of the inaction of those who did nothing to help the him. I firmly believe they could quite possibly have prevented his death and saved his life. Yet they all seemingly chose only to watch as he was beaten to death or maybe some called 911. Folks, the police are not likely going to get there in time to save the day unless by some miracle a police car was down the block right when the call came in; sometimes it is up to you to do more than watch and be a witness.

 

I could see myself maybe not stepping into it, meaning not getting into a hand to hand fight as I am kind of old and fairly infirm due to severe arthritis but I doubt that. I certainly could not see myself standing by doing nothing. Shooting the bad guy, if there was a clear shot immediately comes to mind. If the bad guy was too close to the victim to get a clear shot at the bad guy, then heck even a warning shot into the ground to get his attention would probably have been better than nothing, then shoot him if he threatens or engages with you. No gun or other weapon - then there also was the option of grabbing the weapons at hand - a piece of the firewood and bashing the bad guys brains out from behind with it. At the very least I think I'd urge other onlookers to join me in trying to save the victim, there is strength in numbers & unity. Then again, because of years of training and getting into violent altercations when I was a LEO, I may have just dived right into the fray despite my arthritis. I cannot say with absolute certainty what it would have been that I would have done but I'll be damned if I am not sure it would have been more than anyone else seems to have done. 

Why do people essentially do nothing??? I detest the fact that way too many people do nothing in such an instance and pray I never turn into one of them. I think I'd blame and hate myself for that man's demise had I been there and done virtually nothing to try to help him. RIP.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

Something Of Interest For The Beretta 92FS Owner

 

That is quite the informative chart regarding the Beretta 92 series of pistols. Credit for that evidently goes to Lucky Gunner. As for copyright, if there is one, and being I am a certified firearms instructor, this is being freely used solely for educational purposes to educate my readers, some of who are interested in learning about firearms in general and others who specifically may desire to learn about the Beretta 92 series pistols.

 All the best,

 Glenn

Something Of Interest For The Colt Detective Special Owner

 If you have been reading my blog for a good amount of time, you probably noticed a post or two about my two Colt Detective Special revolvers - one current and one that I sold. I love the one I have now; I kind of sort of, definitely liked them a lot during my time in the Border Patrol. Wanted one badly but never got around to buying one until I bid on one at a live in person auction at the Hessney Auction Co.'s auction-house in Geneva, NY back in February 2018. That one burned just a couple of dollars less than $385.00 out of my pocket. It happened to be the first issue (version) as later authenticated by the Colt Archives and I think from the very first year of production as I recall. Great price you'd think. The thing is it was nice in every regard excepting one. Someone had ground down the front sight thus making it nearly useless for aimed shots at much passed 10 yards or 15 yards. Well, there was one other thing about it that was no so grand, actually something that was more about me than it. I had been the boob to buy it at an auction after examining it but never noticing the front sight issue! So, once I realized my blunder, I sold it and luckily it sold for only a fairly minor loss; well I lost out totally when getting that archive letter from Colt - that added $75.00 or so to the cost of it on the whole. Anyway I informed the buyer about the front sight and she did not give a hoot because it was still a great price for her and was supposedly going to be a gift for her son. She by the way was a dealer at a gun show wherein I sold it. Sadly, later that night, it turned out that - Once upon a midnight dreary, as I pondered weak and weary over many quaint and curious sale of guns of lore (my apologies to one of the greatest writers of all time Edgar Allan Poe) - I suffered seller's remorse. That was regardless of me doing okay by getting rid of it at only a small loss. Things wound up, as they often do, resulting in me  not seeing another nice one at a decent price for quite a while after selling that one.Thus the seller's remorse got worse as time went on but the fire was still burning in my psyche and I knew I'd someday have another. Let me add, with more apologies to Edgar Allan Poe, I had no fear that: On the morrow my desire will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before; and lucky for me there was no Raven to quoth who told me Nevermore. Believe me, I am at the age now at which I have missed lots of things in life wherein the Raven has or would have spoken the word Nevermore - opportunities lost mostly and dear friends gone to whatever comes, if anything, after life.

Then, in September 2023, I picked up another Detective Special from the same auction house, that time via an online auction. The second one looked really fine in the auction photos but they are sometimes not that clear. So, as I usually do, I also inquired of Joe Hessney, the auctioneer, as to the condition. He told me it looked like new and maybe was unfired. (At Hessney they only list a gun as unfired when they know it is new, as I understand; so, even though not listed as unfired, Joe told me it looked to be possible.) When I ran the serial number through the Colt serial number lookup, I was delighted to find out it was the 2nd issue and was manufactured in 1955. 

So, it coincidentally was a second issue of the original one I had had (which was a first issue & first year gun) and it had been manufactured in 1955. Therein those numbers though,  "2nd" issue and "1955" was/is a greater coincidence than my 2nd one being a 2nd version. You see, I am the 2nd son/child in my family and I was born in 1955. You could have safely bet, back when I first saw it up for auction, that I'd bid more than it was worth to get it if necessary. I wanted to kill that seller's remorse over the first one and snuff out the desire to get another. That was especially true after hat Joe had told me about its condition. So I bid on it and when bidding was over I paid for it. 

It cost me a $650 bid, a 13% buyer's premium on top of the bid and about $60.00 to have it shipped and get an FFL holder to transfer it my hands as mine. It felt like this, and again my apologies again to Poe who is one of my favorite authors and the creator of the modern detective story. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories came about 4.5 decades later and I think definitely were spawned & strongly influenced by Poe's detective C. Auguste Dupin who first appeared in The Murders in theMorgue, The Mystery of Marie Roget and The Purloined Letter. If you like mysteries, detective stories and especially Shelock Holmes stories but have never read any of these by EAP - all I can say is read them. There are many works of Edgar Allan Poe that are great works of literature but I consider his detective stories among his very best works of prose if not his very best among all of his literary works.

I have digressed so, allow me to continue with the Colt Detective Special.The total was just under $800.00 - quite a lot more than the first one I had bought. Still it was not a bad price and I'd bet C. Auguste Dupin would have carried one at any price. Out of a total of five 2nd issue Detective Specials, that have sold on GunBroker over the past year (I checked as writing this), the low price was $545.00 for a nickel model that looked really nice and the high price was $1,425.00 for a blued version, one that probably had been fired judging by a slight cylinder ring evident in its photos and I do mean slight but it definitely was present. The average sales price of all five was $812.80 - very close to the total I paid at just under $800 shipped and including FFL transfer. Those sold on GunBroker would also add shipping and an FFL fee unless the buyer as an FFL holder and did not have to pay the transfer fee. Either way the average price probably went up around $40 when you add shipping. While my deal was not great, it was very close to average sales price or so it seems.

With it and me both being 2nd sons & having been born in the same year (so to speak), can you fault me for paying as much as I did! I certainly cannot fault myself. I have zero buyer's remorse, in fact, I am quite happy with it. I have taken it to the range and it shoots liked it is enchanted - it could be a real zombie, orangutan (read those Poe detective mysteries to see why I included an ape) or  criminal dirtbag  (of course only in legal self-defense or legal defense of another situations). It's a blast at the range to say the least.  

Liking it as I do, I still will readily admit, I only know a little about Colt Detective Specials but I do know they were the spawn of the Police Positive Special and with their barrel cut down to 2" from the 4" barrel, the shortest of the Police Positive models,  Colt decided to give them the new & innovative name of Detective Special. They were a huge hit immediately once they became available and were referred to as "the cop gun" because so many officers & detectives had them. They have gone through several changes over the years; mostly all I know about the changes is that decades ago there were some major changes with a larger grip longer and ramped front sight, shrouded ejector and so on and there were also earlier changes to it when evolving from the 1st issue to the 2nd issue. I kind of like those older ones better than the latest issue, maybe because I am old and nostalgic about them but also because there is an aura, a mystique, about them after seeing them used in films noir and in TV detective series of my childhood like Mannix. Damn, just seeing them for sale and wanting one but never at a price I was willing or able to pay drove me crazy. Well except for the great deal like I'd gotten on my first one but then again, now we all know why that one was such a deal. 

Speaking of what we now know, do you know a lot about the Colt Detective Special? That is if you already own one or more or otherwise have an interest in them even if you don't own one. If you do own one or are possibly interested in finding one to purchase or barter with for yourself, or are simply interested in the history of revolvers - you may want to read the article that can be found via this link. The article quite aptly is simply named Detective Special and the site on which it appears is Colt Fever. com. I'd never heard of the article or the site until this evening when reading a post in Texas Gun Talk (an online firearms forum). I am happy that I read the relative post because now I know about the article. I read a bit of the article so far and must say it looked interesting & informative enough to make me realize I should pass on information about it so others could gain from the knowledge it seemingly has to share. Just in case the above link does not work for you, here is the web address in case you need to copy & paste it: https://coltfever.com/detective-special/. 

Enjoy the article: Detective Special and enjoy the works of Edgar Allan Poe, especially those three detective stories. Sadly he wrote no more of them before he was Nevermore.

All the best,

Glenn B