This says it all!

Latest Link - Manowar's Hungarian Weapons

See the Firearms Interests links list at right for this latest addition:

http://www.hungariae.com/

If you ever needed information regarding a firearms made in or for Hungary this could well be the site for you to visit.

I'll have to do a bit more checking but it seem my Mosin Nagant, the one I called a M44 because it was sold to me as such, may indeed be the Model 48 also known as the 48 Minta or 48M in Hungary. The Hungarian 48M is a well made copy of the Soviet M44 and was made under license purchased from the Soviet Union by Hungary after pressure from the Warsau Pact for Hungary to do so. See: http://www.hungariae.com/Mosi44.htm. It simply amazes me that all this stuff can be found at my finger tips within seconds or minutes at most in the virtual library known as the Internet. It will never compare to a real library what with a real masonry building, wood chairs and desks (yes I like old fashioned libraries), bound paper pages (books and periodicals) and demure (yes that is a bit of a joke) yet hot (no that is not a joke at all - she has a lucky husband) librarians (see: http://thebredafallacy.blogspot.com/) but at least I can enjoy a wee bit of Irish Whiskey while browsing sites on the Internet at home (and no I am not enjoying any spirits right now - way too early even for me).

All the best,
Glenn B

Ballseye's Gun Shots 22 - Steyr Hahn Model 1911

If you ever wanted to see an ugly pistol this could be the one. Of course, me saying this could be the one as in ugly depends on my outlook at the moment. I certainly know beauty is in the eye of the beholder and oft times in the eye of the holder - as in the guy holding the gun when one is needed. If I had it in hand when needed, it would sure look beautiful to me! It is the Steyr-Hahn Model 1911. There is at least one up for sale at GunBroker.com at this link. From what I can tell, if the info about that particular one is stated correctly, it being offered at a starting bid of $599 with no reserve means it has a darned good price. I have seen others offered at quite a bit more such as the one here or the one here (actually this one did not have a bad price either but more than the first).

One look at this pistol and you realize immediately, that is if you know anything about pistols, that it looks unusual - to say the least. (To take more than one look visit the links above, some have several photos.) You may be wondering about some features of this pistols such as why is there a lanyard loop on the bottom of the magazine. Well, if you go to the above link, or to this one: http://www.sunblest.net/gun/Stey12.htm, or even to this one: http://randyrick.us/AustrianFirearms/pm1912.htm you will learn something about this pistol and will realize that is not the magazine to which the lanyard loop is attached. The loop is actually attached to the bottom outside area of the magazine well, the magazine being internal. In fact the pistol is loaded using something that amounts to a stripper clip. While I suppose that saved lots of money because stripper clips are much less expensive than magazines to produce or purchase, I imagine that it could make this pistol a nightmare to clear in the case of a jam due to the internal magazine malfunctioning.

This pistol was reportedly chambered in 9x23mm Steyr with some chambered in 9x19mm. It was a recoil operated semi-automatic pistol, 8 1/2 inches long, with about a 5 inch barrel, had an external hammer, was fed from internal 8 round magazine (though some had an extended magazine), and it was produced from around 1912 through 1920.

I knew nothing about this pistol until this morning when I searched the net for a pistol to write up on my blog. When I saw it I immediately thought (as mentioned above) that it was pretty ugly looking, that it was pretty large looking, that it was blued steel and wood (I was starting to like it regardless of its ugly appearance) and that it must have been a strong pistol. According to this site: http://www.sunblest.net/gun/Stey12.htm, it was indeed a strong pistol. In fact the author of that site says this about it: "The Steyr pistol was extremely reliable and robust, deserving greater recognition than it received. As a pistol design, it must have been one of the strongest ever made. " One of the reasons it was built to be strong was because of the ammunition it was designed to fire. Even though it was only a 9MM round it was a hot one for the day. The round it shot, the 9x23 Steyr developed 1,115 fps at the muzzle. Yeah I know not earth shattering by today's standards but right up there with today's 9mm Luger ammo velocities and using steel made back then as opposed to more modern steel.

These pistols saw action during the big one - the war to end all wars - WWI. In all about 300,000 of them were produced. I would love to have one of them that was manufactured in 9mm Luger. That way I could easily find ammo for it. It seems there is 9x23 Steyr available for it, but my bet is that ammo would be cost prohibitive. A quick check of the net proves me correct, that is if I actually found the right ammo. I see that Midway USA offers Fiocchi brand 9mm Steyr ammunition. There are 50 rounds per box and a box retails for $40.99 (probably plus shipping). That is expensive 9mm ammo compared to 9mm Parabellum (9mm Luger). Reloading data is available but I will not go into that nor give links. You can find them yourselves and thus be solely responsible for blowing yourself up should you screw up handloading for this pistol. Of course if I found one in 9mm Parabellum I would have to make certain it was original manufacture and not one later refitted to that caliber for use by the Germans during the other big one - WWII.

There seem to be many variants of this pistol based upon for whom they were manufactured. First of all this was essentially manufactured for military use but there were some made for commercial distribution though not many. Secondly they were manufactured for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but many were also manufactured under contract for places like Romania, Bavaria, and Chile and of course there were those few also manufactured with the extended magazine (16 rounds). There were a number of accessories manufactured for this pistol to include its stripper clips (unknown if they are require din order to load the pistol or if they simply facilitate loading), the leather gear, and a wooden rifle type stock.

Perhaps you will someday find yourself in possession of one of these - if so, do yourself a favor and have it checked out by a competent gunsmith who is at least familiar with older military pistols - safety comes first at all times when shooting. It may not look all that pretty but it surely is a fascinating pistol with an interesting history, and it can be had at what seems a fairly reasonable price at that.

All the best,
Glenn B

Photo credit: http://www.sunblest.net/gun/Stey12.htm (no copyright apparent)

Glorious Range Day Today

It truly was a glorious day so far today here on Long island - at least for me. The weather was great, in the low 60s when I left the house this morning around 0900 (actually left by my planned time for a change) to head to the range for some shooting. Brendan was at my side as we drove the 48 miles or so to the range. (I had thought it was 60 miles but stand corrected since I checked the odometer today.) The drive was nice, almost no traffic once we were about 1/2 way there. No idiots encountered on the road was also a plus (and let me tell you I seem to have a penchant for attracting them if they are around). The guys who checked us in at the range shop were nice. I was a bit dismayed to see that the $18 bucks we pay is only for 3 hours of shooting (longer if they are not busy and don't need the bench for someone else). It used to be that much for 4 hours. (I stand corrected again I had been certain it used to be for the whole day of shooting but the guy at the counter set me right on that.)

After we shot for about an hour or so, we met up with a friend of mine, Dennis M, who retied from my job a year or two back and that made things even better. He was the guy who asked me about the Kel-Tec SU16 that I recently wrote up on the blog. He bought a used Mini 14 (stainless) with a telescopic sight and was breaking it in for his first shoot with it. We did not get much time to talk since he probably stayed only about an hour or so, but we will meet again for another shoot in the not too distant future if all goes as planned.

There were no Range Nazis yelling at us today. In fact, the guys who were firearms officers at the range were really very nice as they usually are with one guy who is an exception and can be an ass. Yet, as I said he was not there today, or at least not bothering me if he was there. Most of the shooters today were also on the ball when it came to range safety. That included a couple of guys who came with a Boy Scout Troop and their troop leader for some shooting. They were shooting for the 1st time from what I could tell - the scouts that is and were doing okay even if they could only shoot at 50 yards. (By my estimation that is a horrendous distance at which to teach a newbie to shoot, but it is all that was available.) Surprisingly they were doing okay. I suppose the glass optics they were using helped there.

As far as shooting went Brendan and I did okay and we had a blast shooting away with 6 rifles and a shotgun that we brought along. Brendan had nothing to brag about but at 50 yards he was sighted in well enough with the scoped Marlin 336 (in .35 Remington) to hit a deer in the kill zone easily at that distance. I wanted to try the 100 yard line this time round but the range was so crowded we decided not to move from the 50 to the 100. Maybe next time. With the Remington 870, he seemed to be off his best a bit. He was hitting the target at that distance but was high and so was I. A bit of tinkering with the 870's stock open rifle sights got me zeroed in right on the money but he was still shooting a bit high. Oh well, when we hunt, if it is rifle country, I will probably use the slug gun myself and let him use the Marlin. As for me and the Marlin, we were a good combination. I was off at first and the fault was all mine. When I concentrated a bit I got 5 shots too look like a compacted clover leaf. In fact three shots basically made one hole. I was loading with three at a time, then loaded two remaining shells I had left over. I impressed myself good enough for me to have patted myself on the back.

We also had fun shooting the Russian Mosin Nagant 91/30 and the Hungarian Mosin Nagant M44. Neither is a tack driver, especially not the M44 but we would have hit a deer at that distance. Some shots would have been backbone breakers and others belly busters but all were pretty much centered. We both also shot Brendan's AK. That is a spray and pray type of gun if ever there was one. It does not seem any too accurate but we did hit paper at 50 yards and would have put one heck of a hurting on people sized targets had we been defending ourselves.

Finally there was the Ruger 10/22 All-Weather that I bought Brendan a few years back. It has a red dot sight on it and I shot okay with it using fairly crappy ammo at 50 yards. Brendan shot okay with it too. I shot maybe a large orange sized group for 20 rounds the first time around. It was shooting low so I adjusted the sight to get the right elevation but it still needed some windage work. We left that for next time. I have to point out, it was a relief for both of us to shoot something with almost no recoil at all but after about 3 1/2 hours Brendan had had enough; in fact so had I. My back, right shoulder and neck are all telling me now that maybe I should not have shot the 870 to day or stayed as long at the range with those larger caliber rifles; maybe a lot more of the 10/22 was in order for me. Oh well. Funny though, the tingling I had in my left arm up through my shoulder has gone away. That has been bothering me each time I have used the PC lately and when driving, but is gone now! At least one part of my middle aged anatomy must have gotten jarred back into place.

The ride home was uneventful - which translates to great. We made a stop at a live fowl seller and I picked up a couple of Guinea Hens for tomorrow's dinner. I am cooking - that should be an adventure of its own. We made a couple more stops so Brendan could pick up some stuff for a birthday party he was to attend and then we headed home. I suppose that tonight I'll have to start cleaning the guns all over again. Seems like I just cleaned about 4 of them as recently as this morning! Shoot em, clean em right after you shoot em, then make sure test fire em as soon as you can, and then you have to clean em all over again and test fire em again and on and on and on. It is a vicious cycle I can attest to that, but I love it.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Question of Faith

IN THE BEGINNING

...God created heaven and earth.

-or-

...there was a compact ball of energy and matter that

exploded then expanded and it formed the universe.

*******

Is there a real bare bones difference between the big bang theorist and they of faith in God when you get right down to it - right down to how the universe began and what brought it all about? (Please no comments on whether I got either one exactly right - you get the idea from what I wrote above.)

I ask because I have always wondered about that - it seems both have faith in something they truly do not understand though both believe they understand. What I mean is this - if you go back to the very beginning of the big bang theory there was something - it went bang - and everything else is made up of that. The whole universe resulted. In Christianity and some other religions if you go back to the beginning there was god and God created the rest of the universe. Both believe the universe, at least as we know it will come to a cataclysmic end but that the essence of the universe - what created it - will remain.

So, to me, it stands to reason that - in one the universe is made by something that always was and always will be - in the other it is essentially the exact same situation - the universe was made by a being that always was and always will be.

Another thing that I find curious is that in each belief - religious or scientific - it is said that there is a universal or overall connectedness. In other words in religion it is believed (at least in Christianity, Judaism and probably Islam) that one single God is all knowing. In science it is believed that everything is universal or all encompassing - all part of one thing and therefore if a being would be all knowing as it in itself is everything even though there are separate entities within it.

It absolutely amazes me that others do not or simply refuse to allow themselves to see these similarities - especially the one about the beginning - whichever belief is right - that of course is if either one is right.

So dear readers, what do you think?

Of course, you need not answer this or post it - but it is a question that I am always interested in and I would love to read what you have to say about it. You will get no argument from me on it, I am just looking for your view of it.

Now mind you - I am not asking about the followers of either belief system and how they are different in living their lives, nor am I asking about all the particulars of each belief system and how they are alike or differ, I am asking about the basic tenet of each - the bedrock so to speak - the beginning. Are they the same thing? I think they just might be the same - each created the universe (which one depends on your view), each always was, is and always will be, each is all encompassing, each will remain once the universe ends as we know it, each is totally incomprehensible unless you take either one on faith.

So tell me, and be nice about it, what do you think when you get down to the bare essence of each belief - is there a difference in between them or just a difference in how we mere mortals view it all?

All the best,
Glenn B

Note: The above picture was found at this website: http://www.geocities.com/gccia02/faith.html. Despite there being no copyright for this pic on the page where I found it, I attempted to contact the owner of the site through the email link for permission to use the pic but the email was undeliverable to the address supplied. I then used the pic here as there was no copyright shown.

The Coffee Is Brewing...

...its aroma fills the air of the chilly kitchen while the English muffins turn a golden brown in the toaster. I can already taste them covered in melted butter and washed down with a good swig of OJ or coffee. A petite breakfast to be sure, but breakfast nonetheless. It is something of which I do not normally partake but I should because the pounds have started to work there way back under my belt. I lost about 18 pounds (had it up to 20 off but oh well) while in Tucson and I mean to make sure I do not gain em all back.

So, I had better start eating like I was when I was in Tucson. That means a fair to large breakfast usually with lots of bacon and eggs (and my lipid profile was excellent when doing it), some fruit, OJ and coffee and one piece of bread. Even if I go overboard and have two pieces of bread it will be okay so long as I make sure to eat breakfast. Then a snack at about 11 - consisting of an apple or two - Granny Smith please or a pear or orange or banana. Then a light lunch for me - maybe a McDonald's hamburger and fries with a diet soda (don't laugh - this is really how I lost 18 pounds and kept about 15 of it off over 6 months). Then maybe a snack of some Macadamia nuts in the afternoon. This will all be followed by a dinner fairly low in, but not lacking a decent amount of, carbs. Dinner might be a can of ravioli (yechhh) or a nice steak, or a hamburger (homemade this time) or meatloaf, or 1/2 a broiled chicken, or a Tuna Fish sandwich or some pizza. Any of them (except maybe the pizza) go okay with a salad and a potato (baked and plain or with butter), or a nice German potato salad (homemade of course) and some veggies. Maybe some more Macadamia nuts for desert. I do go lightly on the amount I am eating.

So how do I lose pounds on a diet like that? Well I simply, for the most part, cut out the junk food I eat. By junk food, mind you, I do not mean things like McDonald's' or pizza. I do mean pretzels, potato chips, corn chips, chocolate cake, Klondike Bars, chocolate chip cookies, any other cookies and cakes, a midnight bagel slathered with butter, candy of all sorts and so on. You will see one similarity among them all - very high carbs. Mine is not the Atkins diet but I suppose I take some hints from him in lowering carbs. The toughest thing is getting started for the first week. After that I am used to it and it will be easy to stick to; that first week though is a diet killer. So starting my actual diet may take several weeks until I get the true first week of my diet complete. As I said though, once I go a week without junk, I should be good to go for at least several months. Once I get it going again, I'll also cut out virtually all milk products. Me and milk don't get along even though I love dairy.

Maybe I'll lose some more than what I gained back, that would be great. Whatever I lose though it will a benefit to me though. I also plan to start hiking again if even only on the pavement or treadmill. I have not been working out at all since I came home. While in Tucson I was hiking from 6 to 10 miles per week or more. That translates into two trips per week up into the mountains. It is a lot more of a drive here on Long Island to get to some nice hiking spots in the mountains so I'll just have to find some nice urban places for walks while wearing a 25 pound pack on my back and my shooting iron on my hip.

All the best,
Glenn B

Do Bedbugs (or a bedbug infestation) Affect The Cognitive Thought Process?

"Dr. Xxxxxx,

If there were bedbugs in your home and it was necessary to call in an exterminator, do you think it would be advisable, while awaiting the exterminator, to allow your children back into the house to get some of their things they felt it necessary to have for whatever reason? What I am getting at is - wouldn't there be a fairly good chance that if you allowed your children to do so they would wind up bringing out something that was harboring some of the bedbugs and therefore wind up spreading the bedbugs outside of your home.

I ask this because of this sentence found in the email below:

"Until North Hall is re-opened, faculty and staff can certainly go to their offices if they need to access materials."

Unless I am very mistaken, and the information I have been given about them is also mistaken, bedbugs are spread either while on humans or in possessions. Having someone go into an infested area would seem an excellent way of spreading this tiny scourge further. At least one study found linked to the CDC website suggest such method of transmission:

"Our data suggest that bed bugs can spread from shelter to shelter, presumably transported in the personal belongings of residents. " (see: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol11no04/04-1126.htm).

With good intentions only,
Glenn Bartley

When I look in the mirror, I am happy to see, some of that nine year old boy, who used to be me. ©"

***********************************************************************

I sent the above email to a college (as in institute of higher learning and intelligence and professors and smart people) in reply to the email I received from them on the subject of a bedbug infestation at my alma mater (see below - it appears there in its entirety except for some minor redactions to protect the ignorant - who, by the way, are supposed to be highly educated men). I read the whole letter with some interest; I mean it is not every day that you read about bedbugs closing down a college. I almost fell out of my chair laughing in amazement when I got to the part about professors being allowed back into the building to retrieve things seemingly while the infestation was still not under control. The use of the words "...can CERTAINLY go to their offices..." (I added the emphasis on the word certainly) shows, at least to me, an almost certain, if not very high, amount of arrogance and blunder prone thought patterns on the part of the school administration. The bedbugs, in my understanding, can certainly be spread in that way.

Having somewhat of an affection for my alma mater, after having spent as many as 10 years studying therein, I decided to write an email in reply to that sent to me by the school. I hope they take it with the best of intentions as I meant it. I also sincerely hope they eradicate the little buggers not only in the school but in the homes and automobiles of the teaching staff, the students, the maintenance staff and so on. It is, in all probability, a very safe bet indeed to imagine that these little blood sucking pests are not restricted to the school alone; unless wiped out in other locations frequented by people who also frequent the school the infestation may just pop up again in the not too distant future. That would be a shame just the same as is the shame of the resurgence of bedbugs here in the United States of America - a place where they had been virtually unheard of for decades. Yes folks, just open up those borders, just allow anyone into this country of ours without regard for our own health and safety. How does it go, those noble words that only a Frenchman could have written and then sent to the good old US of A so that someone, anyone, other than a Frenchman would have to live by them:

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

Along with them came their bedbugs, their other vermin, diseases and all other such calamities. It seems they just keep coming too. If you look at that inscription closely - nowhere does it say we cannot make sure they are healthy before we let them step foot on our mainland's shores. Thus the reason for places like Ellis Island. Maybe it was run poorly when it was the entry point for millions of legal immigrants but we could use a place like it today and yes we could run it better. It would go a long way to assure that while we allow the tired and poor huddled masses to come to America we could avoid also allowing in their own personal wretched refuse like bedbugs, tuberculosis and H1n1.

The original email to me from the school appears below although the names of those involved have been redacted as have certain email addresses.

I would be at fault if I did not also show the reply I received from a professor of high ranking among the school's administrative officers. I will give it in its entirety as to its text, and I am quoting the complete text of the reply I received (my emphasis added):

"Good point!"

So while I suppose the original email on the topic had great intentions albeit combined with what maybe a poor plan for eradicating the vermin at least one person at the school now sees the potential folly of allowing professors into their offices to retrieve items they need. Hopefully he will pass on my email to those above him for their consideration. I am confident such will be done because the professor in question is a really intelligent man (one of the better profs I had while in attendance there). So, in answer to my own question, 'Do Bedbugs (or a bedbug infestation) Affect The Cognitive Thought Process?" I have to say - nope not really - logic seems to be prevailing.

All the best,

Glenn B

*************************************************************

----- Original Message -----

From: Dr. Xxxxxx
To: XXXXXXXXXXXX-L@JJ.XXXXXXXX.CUNY.EDU
Sent: Thursday, September 24, 2009 7:43 AM

Subject: North Hall Closed Until Tuesday: Bed Bugs

THIS IS AN ACTUAL EVENT

Issued By: CUNY - John Jay College

Affected Jurisdictions:

Headline: JJC/North Hall closed today, September 24, 2009 for classes & administrative services due to evidence of bed bugs. See email/website for details

To: The John Jay College Community

From: President Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx

Re: North Hall Closure and Bed Bug Update

Date: September 24, 2009

We have decided to close North Hall today because of the confirmed presence of bedbugs on at least the first, second and third floors of the building. I am writing to explain this decision and the factors leading up to the decision.

Yesterday, we sent a memo to the College Community reporting that a professional inspection by our pest control contractor of certain offices on the first floor of North Hall had confirmed the presence of bedbugs. We undertook this inspection because a number of staff had reported skin rashes and ultimately bedbugs were suspected as the cause of those rashes. Based on the initial results of the inspection of the first floor where those employees worked, we decided to close North Hall over the weekend so that the building could be treated to eliminate these insects. Throughout the day yesterday, the inspection of North Hall continued. At midnight last night, we were informed that the presence of bedbugs had been confirmed in a number of offices on the second and third floors of North Hall. Based on this information, I have decided, after consultation with the University, to close North Hall effective immediately. Classes and other activities will go on as scheduled in all other campus locations. We will move up the treatment schedule from Saturday as a result of these new findings. We will make every effort to reopen North Hall on Tuesday, September 29, when classes would normally resume following the Yom Kippur observances.

While this decision will result in significant disruption of the activities of the College, I believe this action is necessary to protect the health of our students, faculty and professional staff. We will make every effort to maintain critical College services over the next few days while access to North Hall is restricted. Until North Hall is re-opened, faculty and staff can certainly go to their offices if they need to access materials. We will reconstitute critical services at other locations throughout the College, as best we can and will announce those locations as soon as decisions have been made. Classes that were scheduled will be rescheduled for later in the semester, in accordance with College policy. In short, we will make every effort to provide the critical services and academic programs of the College, but will place the health concerns of our community first.

I thank everyone for their understanding during this difficult time.

Xxxxxx Xxxxxx

Please watch out for updates and additional information-- on the website, your email, or through CUNY Alert. We have scheduled an information session for today, Thursday, at 2:00 in the College Theater. If you have questions, I encourage you to come to this information session.

Audio Recording URL: http://www.nyalert.gov/Public/DownloadAudio.aspx?parentid=1445374&type=3

THIS IS AN ACTUAL EVENT

----------

For a permanent link to this Notification (may contain addtional formatting and / or content which could not be sent), follow this link: http://www.nyalert.gov/Public/News/AlertView.aspx?messageID=2000000127641&notID=1445374&refer=HOME&

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Biweekly Gun Shots 21 - Kel-Tec SU16

A friend recently contacted me to ask what I knew about a Kel-Tec rifle he was thinking of purchasing. Well, the first thought that went through my head was something like: Danger - Danger Will Robinson - Danger. I mean most of what I had heard about Kel-Tec, up until that point, was that their guns were to be avoided at all costs because they were out and out junk. I decided though to look up the Kel-Tec SU16 (the rifle in which my friend had an interest) and I was, at least, impressed if not so much with the look of this rifle as with its features. I also decided to do some additional checking - after all - it had been awhile since I had heard or read anything about them. What I discovered, is that apparently an awful lot of people think their products are great while many seemingly still think they offer low quality - it is sort of a toss up in that regard but that was what I saw on gun forums. I did see some pretty satisfied customers, who own SU16s of one variation or another, at one gun forum. What I also saw on the sites of those who have tested this gun was a different story. They all seemed impressed in a good way - no dissention there. So, while I can not relate to you any personal experience with this rifle, I can tell you something about it based on what I have gleaned by way of the Internet at the Kel-Tec site and from the online test results.

A trip to the Kel-Tec site showed that the SU16 is offered in a variety of models. There are five of them in all by my count. The lineup starts off with the SU16A, and is followed up by the: SU16B, SU16C, SU16CA and SU16D. The main differences between these models seems to be barrel length, type and location of front sight, and type of stock.

The SU16A rifle is a gas operated, semi-automatic, chambered for .223 caliber (5.56 mm NATO) . Some of the features of this rifle are: Black Polymer stock, integrated Picatinny rail, chrome lined bore and chamber, the fore-stock can fold down to form a bipod, the buttstock can hold two spare magazines, and the butt stock/trigger group can be folded forward to make the gun more compact for carry (non-firing in this mode), it is compatible with Ar15/M16 magazines. The barrel length is 18.5 inches. There is no mention made, on the Kel-Tec website that I saw, about the sights being adjustable but my guess would be they are. Unloaded weight is 5.01 pounds. It comes with 10 round mags. More info here.

If you want something with a shorter barrel they offer the SU16B with a 16 inch barrel. The website specifically states that this one has adjustable front and rear sights. The front sight adjustable for elevation and the rear for windage. Unloaded weight is 4.51 pounds. More info here.

The we move onto the SU16C. Here we move away from the folding buttstock/trigger group as this one has a conventional folding stock. When the stock is folded under, the weapon is still capable of firing. It too has a 16 inch barrel and most of the features of the above two rifles with the added features of a dust cover and case deflecting operating handle. This one also moves the front sight back from just behind the muzzle to near the front of the fore-grip (integrated with the gas block). It weighs in at 4.71 pounds unloaded. More info here.

The SU16CA goes back to the folding buttstock/trigger group. It has all of the operating features of the C model but uses the stocks of the A model. More Info here.

Finally they offer the SU16D. This one is quite a it different if only because of the 9.2 inch barrel length and the 3.71 pound weight. It utilizes a conventional folding stock (fold under) allowing the gun to fire with the stock folded. This one looks like a real Zombie Killer to me but alas I will never be able to buy one with a 9.2 inch barrel here in NY. More info here.

If I was going to get myself one of these rifles I think for practicality's sake it would either be the SU16B (pictured up at the top) or the SU16CA (pictured to the left). I am not too sure I like the shorter sight radius of the SU16CA as compared to the SU16B but I could probably live with them and I like some other features of this model over the SU16B. I like certain features of these rifles such as the fore-stock being able to fold down to form a bipod and the buttstock holding two extra magazines. If the rifles are made to a standard of high quality I imagine these features would be great; however, if quality control is lacking I could imagine magazines falling out of the stock and the bipod shaking like Jello. As I said, I have not tested these rifles but I should also point out that others have done so. Here are links to three such tests: http://www.equipped.org/Kel-Tec_SU-16_Review.htm, and: http://www.ktog.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?board=105%3Baction=display%3Bnum=1107839748, and: http://www.ammoland.com/2009/03/26/kel-tec-su-16-223-remington-ar-rifle/ . The guys who tested them seemed pretty impressed in a good way but you can read the articles and see that for yourselves. Here is a link to an online gun forum wherein the users have rated their own SU16s.

Gun Tests Magazine also rated this gun in a comparison with a Springfield Armory SOCOM. Their results can be seen here but only if you are a subscriber. I will only say they gave it a Buy It rating and that the ammonland link above will pretty much show you their report on the SU16. (Shame on me for allowing my subscription to this magazine lag a few years back. Good for me, I just subscribed to it again. A great deal for $20 per year with paper magazine subscription and online availability of their articles for current and past gun tests.)

I would think that if I was in the market for a semi-auto in .223 I would consider the Kel-Tec. Of course, if I wanted something in .223 I would also consider a Ruger Mini-14 which in my estimation is probably a somewhat better made rifle especially now that Ruger has refined it in the past few years; my friend seemingly thought so too - he bought a Mini-14. Still though the SU16 is an appealing rifle to me, and it would make a great packable rifle for a grab and go kit or for a backpack. It would likely be a good survival gun, certainly in a caliber that could handle anything from varmints up to deer and then also be used in combat.

All the best,

Glenn B

PS: They apparently have pretty good customer service at Kel-Tec, see this.

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kipur

One has just passed and the other is almost upon us. In that light, for my Jewish friends, I hope that God has written your name in the book of life and that he hears and accepts your prayers of atonment in the days to come and that you are a better person for your beliefs.

All the best,
Glenn B

Fishing On The Captain Al - Report

I went fishing out of Point Lookout, NY on the Captain Al this morning. Yes that meant I had to get up at about 0500 hours and that was - shall I say - difficult for m,e. But I managed to drag my butt out of bed and out to the car and remembered to grab almost all my gear before getting in the car and taking off. I did forget a thing or two but did not realize until I was on the boat and we were underway. I got the the dock at about 0625 and was on the boat pronto to get a spot. The boat already had about 15 to 20 people aboard and I was not able to get a coveted spot in the stern but was close by on the rail on the starboard side. After claiming a spot, I was off to the deli across the way to pick up lunch. That was the first thing I had forgotten at home but that was okay. Then back to the boat and we were soon shoving off.

We spent the say fishing the ocean, probably about 3 to 4 miles offshore. We were fishing for Sea Bass, Porgies (aka: Scup) and whatever else would bite. The Captain Al is a slow boat, but it stays out for a full day and charges a competitive fare. The other boats at the same dock charge about the same as the Captain Al but only go out for a half day's fishing. The Captain Al also has a reputation for good mates and for moving around to find fish. Today was no exception. The mates were excellent, and Captain Al himself piloted the boat. He moved around to several different rocks and bottom structures to look for fish. We hit on them too, lots of them. In all I caught either 22 or 23 fish. Most of them were shorts and had to go back into the drink. Well they were required by law to go back into the water, but I suppose they did not absolutely have to go back. I threw all of my shorties back though I must point out that a lot of other folks were not as ready as me to follow the rules. I saw an awful lot of shorts get filleted before the boat was back at the dock. That is too bad since throwing them back probably assures more for future catches.

As for my fish, I had three nice keeper Sea Bass all at least 2 or 3 pounds, one probably about 4 pounds. I also had a keeper Porgy, and two cocktail bluefish (maybe 3 pounds each for the blues). So I had 6 keepers and someone else gave me a Sea Robin. The Sea Robin is a curious and ugly looking fish that most people either think you cannot eat or just would never consider eating. They are delicious and I wish others had caught more to give me. I threw at least 16, maybe 17 fish back into the ocean. Maybe I'll catch them next time. Waiting a couple weeks to a month some of them will probably have grown to keeper size - all some needed was about an inch or less.

While I was fishing and the sun was beating down on my face and the outside webbing of my thumbs, I realized something else I had forgotten at home. In fact I though of two things - a baseball style cap and my sunscreen. The sunscreen was supposed to ALWAYS be in my tackle box - and I have no clue what happened to it but it was just not there. I can tell you now that I regret not having any. As my daughter said when I got home, after 9 hours out on the Captain Al, "Somebody got some color today". That somebody was me and my face is already starting to hurt despite copious amounts of moisturizer having been applied since I got home. That's okay, I can live with it this once. Next time I'll remember the cap and the sunscreen for sure.

Tomorrow we will have some good eats in the form of pretty fresh fish for dinner. Linda was planning on making Eggplant Parmigiana. She still will make that but now will also bake or broil the today's catch too. It was a good day fishing for them today, and it will be as good a day eating them tomorrow.

All the best,
Glenn B

My Community Service Letter To President Obama

Yes I really sent a letter to President Obama today. I sent it via an email to the White House this morning. I have to agree with him, I think volunteering for community service is a good thing. That's why I used to be a soccer coach, an assistant coach at little league, and both an assistant coach and coach for a roller hockey league for quite a few years. I have also done a few other things to help out - mostly through my local herpetological society. I have been doing community service or years now with no prompting from the president. Truth be told though, I have not done all that much of it lately and his incessant talking about it has reminded me to offer to lend a hand once again to my community. The letter I sent to the president follows:

Dear President Obama,

I am a registered Republican but I can see merit to some things across political lines. I see merit in your call for community service. Of course, I see community service as good only if voluntary. So, I plan to do my part through an educational program for the youth of my community. In that regard, I was wondering, how does a person obtain federal stimulus monetary assistance?

I would like to start a program to teach youngsters about an American tradition. This program will include teaching local youths about our Constitution and about our rights. It will be open to children from the ages of 12 up through 17 (with their parents’ permission). It will be offered at no charge to the participants. It will teach about our freedoms, rights, liberties and our responsibilities as Americans. It will include participation in a sport that is hundreds of years old and that has been enjoyed by American Citizens of both genders and by those of all racial, ethnic, religious and secular backgrounds.

The cost for this would be more than I could afford on my own. I am willing to donate several hundred dollars a year and my time toward this program but the price to use a proper facility with a classroom and practical training area will likely prove more than I could afford. There would be the costs of teaching and insurance. I imagine this could run into several thousands of dollars if I had even as few as 25 students per year.

I believe that teaching our youth the proper way to enjoy their right to keep and bear arms is an important but often forgotten national responsibility. Not only would such a program teach our youth about the RKBA, and about shooting sports, it would also prepare them in the event they are ever called upon to take up arms to defend our great nation in military or law enforcement service. I sir, with your financial help, am willing to serve my community in this manner. Are you ready to help me do so?

Best regards,
Glenn Bartley

I am quite serious about my offer. After I receive my positive reply from Washington, I plan to contact the National Rifle Association and the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association to see if they have any pointers on how to put this together. I almost cannot wait for the positive reply and all the money that the government is sure to put into this program to help the youths of my community learn about their heritage to keep and bear arms.

All the best,
Glenn B

Community Service Hair Cuts

Here is a joke someone emailed to me yesterday, I have also received it in the past, it has been going around for awhile but maybe you have not seen it yet.

The Hair Cut:

One day a florist went to a barber for a haircut. After the cut, he
asked about his bill, and the barber replied, 'I cannot accept money from
you , I'm doing community service this week.' The florist was pleased
and left the shop. When the barber went to open his shop the next morning,
there was a 'thank you' card and a dozen roses waiting for him at
his door.

Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his
bill, the barber again replied, 'I cannot accept money from you , I'm
doing community service this week.' The cop was happy and left the shop.
The next morning when the barber went to open up, there was a 'thank you'
card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door.

Then a Congressman came in for a haircut, and when he went to pay his
bill, the barber again replied, 'I can not accept money from you. I'm doing
community service this week.' The Congressman was very happy and left the
shop. The next morning, when the barber went to open up, there were a dozen
Congressmen lined up waiting for a free haircut.

And that illustrates the fundamental difference between the citizens
of our country and the politicians who run it.

How true - sad but true - and not really a joke is it except maybe when told by a politicain to another politician.

All the best,
GB

Biweekly Gun Shots 20 - I'd Rather Be In Philadelphia...

...well maybe not if I had this little pistol pointed at me. This is a replica (firing replica or so I would think) of the infamous Philadelphia Derringer. It is a neat little gun, and I speak from experience. Back in the early 80's (the 1980's not the 1880's) I bought a CVA Philadelphia Derringer kit (I am pretty sure the one pictured is the CVA brand since it looks exactly as I remember mine except for the bluing). Basically what you got were all the parts in a box and you had to put them together and finish them in order to get something that remotely looked like the one in the picture. I say remotely if only because I was unable to do a hot bluing job on the barrel of mine and had to settle for cold bluing which did not leave anywhere as nice a finish as has the one in the picture. In addition I think the wood finish on mine was a bit nicer, but not by much. By the way, I found that pic at: http://thehighroad.us/showthread.php?t=321129&highlight=Philadelphia+Derringer.

When I opened the box for mine - which was a CVA brand - I read the directions before doing anything else. That was a good idea otherwise I may have been very frustrated very quickly. You see the inletting of the wood was only partially completed, probably 90% or so and I had to cut it, gouge it, and sand it to make sure all the metal parts would fit. I suppose that made it a bit more fun than just snapping it together like a plastic model. By the time I was done mine looked a lot like the one in the photograph accompanying this blog except as I said for the barrel which was blued but much lighter despite numerous attempts to darken it.

If I recall correctly mine was in .45 caliber. It was a blast to shoot. I used something called Pyrodex, if I remember right, for gunpowder. Technically it was not an explosive as is black powder but was instead a propellant. You have to be very careful with this stuff and with black powder - any spark can set it off. The fact that it was not listed as an explosive made it easier to buy. It also was supposedly not as corrosive as black powder, but I always cleaned out the barrel well after shooting mine and I changed the nipples frequently. The nipple to which I refer are that part of the gun under the hammer over which you fit a percussion cap as an ignition source. It basically funnels the spark from the cap to the powder charge.

This derringer was my first experience with black powder shooting (and it has been very limited since then). Shooting it opened up my eyes to a few things. First of all - when you pull the trigger you hear a little pop when the primer ignites. Then after a lag of a second or split second the gun fires with a bang. It takes the powder a bit of time to ignite as compared to brass cased ammo. When the pistol does fire there is a huge gray cloud of smoke that exits the muzzle as the bullet goes down range. In essence when guys in the old days shot at someone, not only did their target have time to get out of the way, but they lost sight of their target due to the smoke. Then they had to reload. Reloading included pouring a measured charge of powder down the barrel, then placing a wad (cloth patch) and the lead ball down the barrel and ramming them home with the ramrod. Then you cocked the pistol, placed a cap on the nipple, took aim if you could still find your target, and you fired again. Wow, what a way to shoot it out but that is pretty much the way it was done.

Of course, I never depended on my Philadelphia Derringer for anything except fun shooting. I used to blast gallon water jugs with it and that would burst into a spray that you could actually see as it spread out further than the cloud of smoke from the barrel. If you did it right and took the wind into consideration you could avoid a face full of smoke and even have the smoke blow to the right or left to give you a clearer filed of view sooner. I wonder if position on battlefields were ever chosen with that in mind. The little was not all that accurate at any good distance but i could hit that at which I took aim out to at least 10 yards. Not bad in my opinion, and lots of fun at that.

I don't know if CVA is still in business. I googled "CVA Philadelphia Derringer" kit but only found old info on them. There are other companies offering such pistol kits today though, so if you are interested in getting one they are available. Where I live, here on Long Island in NY state - they do not require a pistol permit unless you have the components with which to shoot them such as powder and percussion caps. Dixie Gun Works offers a decent variety of black powder gun kits including a Philadelphia Derringer - see: http://www.dixiegunworks.com/default.php?cPath=22_162_194.

I had that gun for years and am pretty sure I brought it back east from California where I purchased it when I was in the Border Patrol. I probably sold it, I seem to think it was at a garage sale or gun show, or something like that, so I may have still owned it when we bought our house. I do sort of miss it. It was not very high quality, the trigger was horrendous, but it was a fun gun for sure. I may have to pick one up for myself some time down the road, probably a higher quality brand this time. That will be some time in the future though because for now, I still have my sights set on something a little larger like a bolt action hunting rifle in .308. Enough on this stuff for now, I have got to go get ready for work - working a late shift tonight.

All the best,
Glenn B.

Biweekly Gun Shots 19 - Use Only The Proper Ammunition In Your Firearms

No, not any talk about a favorite gun tonight, nothing about a gun I want to buy, or one I'd love to shoot or one that looks pretty fancy. Tonight I thought I would give you something else, some information and my opinion about ammunition and how to avoid getting hurt or even killed because of simple mistakes you can make with it. Before you read on I insist you read my disclaimer on the right side of my blog and read the disclaimer that follows this sentence: What I am about to say is my opinion - it is not advice. If you follow what I am about to say you do so at your own risk and hold me harmless. If you tell anyone else this information you also hold me harmless and you indemnify me if they use it or they pass it on and someone else uses it and so on ad infinitum. It is not that I think the info I am about to give is bad or weak, it is that I don't trust your lawyer, or another guy's lawyer, to leave me alone should you ever hurt yourself or someone else hurt himself, then you or he mention to a lawyer you or he did just what I said I would do.

The first bit of advice I can give you about ammunition is to always use the correct ammunition for any firearm you intend to shoot. This may seem like advice for the simple minded or for the bran dead but in truth it is one of the cardinal rules of firearms safety and has been at least since shortly after the cartridge was developed for firearms. Now you may think that it would take idiots to try to use the wrong sized ammunition in any particular firearm they were shooting but it is actually a common mistake - an all too common mistake. So how does it happen? Well let's use an example. John Q. Gun-enthusiast goes to the range to shoot some trap. He brings along his fancy 12 gauge O/U with engraved silver receiver and his equally elegant and engraved 12 gauge semi-auto bird gun. He also brings along junior and his brand new 20 gauge semi-auto shotgun.

They get to shooting. Dad shoots away and shows junior how it is done. Junior watches intently as his dad grabs round after round from his ammo pouch and feeds them into the O/U, then fires away as each clay bird is shot arching fluidly through the air. Then it is junior's turn. He goes to the line and follows suit. Much like his dad, whom he has paid attention to during his lessons, he shoots down disc after disc. Those clay birds just did not stand a chance with an eye like his. He is eager to shoot more and during a break between rounds he asks his dad if he can shoot the 12 gauge for one set. Dad says sure and gives him 25 rounds of 12 gauge shells for his ammo pouch.

When the time comes, junior steps to the line and loads the O/U. He shoots at the first target. Then at the second. There is no bang, no recoil, no anything. Apparently the round misfires on the second shot. He unloads and then feels ashamed, only one round is ejected and there is not another round in the other chamber. he must have only loaded one. He loads again in anticipation of the next round. A double is released. He fire and boom the first clay disc is shattered. He fires again but this time the gun goes KABOOM, junior drops the shotgun and falls to the ground clasping his face. Dad and the range officer run to him - they see his face is bleeding badly but his safety glasses have saved his eyes. His left hand and arm are also bloodied. The shotgun barrel has burst. What happened?

What happened is that John Q. Gun-enthusiast failed to remind junior to take all the 20 gauge rounds out of his ammo pouch. All he needed in there was one 20 gauge round to get mixed in with the 12 gauge rounds. He loaded the last time that he loaded, then as they do on some ranges he stood at his point with muzzle down awaiting his turn. When the muzzle pointed down, the 20 gauge round slid passed the chamber into the barrel where it wedged. When he later loaded the same chamber with a 12 gauge round and fired it, that load hit the 20 gauge round and the gasses in the barrel had nowhere to go except to burst the barrel. It happens folks - really it does.

Another example of the wrong ammo put into a shotgun actually involves the correct gauge shell being used for the gun you are firing but yet it is the wrong ammunition. I am not talking about trying to fit a 3" shell into a 2 3/4" chamber either. I am talking about use everything of the correct size, for instance a 2 3/4" 12 gauge round in a shotgun that takes that size shell. I am also talking about trying to fire a shell using modern propellant (gunpowder) through a barrel that was made for black powder or for shells that had less of a charge than does modern ammunition. That to which I am specifically addressing myself is a situation whereby someone obtains a Damascus steel barrel shotgun. They are things of beauty folks and the temptation to fire them is great but truth be told if you fire modern ammunition through one of them you are risking loss of limb or maybe even life. Damascus steel was never meant to withstand the pressures given off by modern shotgun ammunition. DO NOT FIRE MODERN AMMUNITION THROUGH A DAMASCUS STEEL BARRELED SHOTGUN. Heck do not fire any ammunition through one unless you first have a shotgun with any parts made from Damascus steel certified as safe by a qualified gun smith. Those Damascus steel barrels have a way of corroding between the layers of metal (which is basically how they are constructed) so that the barrels become unsafe over time and a danger to not only the shooter but to others nearby.

Moving on: Another example of using the wrong ammo in a gun would be such as when a pistol shooter at the range is shooting a 40 caliber and another shooter is shooting a 9mm. If they reload their magazines at the same table there is a chance that the 40 cal shooter may inadvertently pick up and load a 9mm round into his magazine. He then steps to the line and loads the chamber, then fires. Yes the weapon can fire. Will it hurt the gun - not likely. How could it hurt the shooter? Well you see the thing is that the 9MM round will likely not extract properly because the shell casing has expanded further than it should have and becomes wedged in the chamber or because the extractor claw slips off of the smaller round. This is a silly mistake to make at the range and is one best kept at the range where it causes not much more than embarrassment when a range officer has to help the shooter dislodge the spent casing from the pistol. It can be a much more serious problem on the street or in the home in a defensive shooting situation. A jam like that in the heat of the action, so to speak, can be all it takes to get you killed as you are trying to defend yourself against an armed bad guy who now has an advantage that you will most likely not overcome too easily.

Use the right ammo folks - make sure of it. Never mix different calibers of ammunition - it could get you badly injured or maybe even killed. Shoot one caliber at a time, put that ammo away before you shoot another. Look at the ammunition you are loading into your magazines. Make sure it is the right stuff. A few extra seconds while you are loading in the safety of your home, or while at the range, can save you a lot of grief later. This applies to pistols, revolvers, rifles and shotguns and any other firearms of which you can think. If using black powder firearms make sure to use not only the correct projectile but the proper propellant and the correct amount of it. If reloading ammunition be careful to follow all of the correct specifications.

Of course there is yet another reason to pay attention to the ammunition you are loading. Each time I open a box of ammo, or am about to use any ammo in a firearm, I give it a visual inspection. Sometimes this means I turn the round, each round, in my hands to examine it - this especially before 'loading for the street'. Why do I do that? Not just to make sure the ammo is the correct caliber, heck all I need to do for that is look at the stamp on the casing. So why take the extra effort to turn it around and look at it from all angles? I am looking for malformed casings, split casings, bullets not seated properly, for high or low primers, or even for bullets with no primers. This is a frequent occurrence among ammunition, even ammo from reputable manufacturers. Ammo can be damaged during manufacture, during boxing, or during shipment. It can also be manufactured with defects. if you are going to put your life on the line by defending yourself with a firearm - you may as well make reasonably certain that not only your firearm will work but that your ammo will feed, go bang, extract and eject - then do it all again. There can be some manufacturing effects that are hard to see, you might miss them, but rest assured that you will be doing yourself a favor by looking for the defects that you will see.

You also want to listen to your shots when you are firing. What you are listening for are squibs. This is something you have to learn at the range from experience because if you do it while in a shootout - well let me just say your ears can fool you when under stress and you may misinterpret not hearing your shots come out loud as a squib while in a stressful situation. A squib occurs when the ammunition is loaded with only a primer and no gunpowder (that is technically but I would think it could also happen with too little gunpowder). What happens is you fire the gun, it goes bang instead of BANG and the recoil is virtually nonexistent for that shot. Then what do you do? Do not fire again. Examine your firearm. make sure there is not a bullet stuck in the barrel, it does not always get stuck but sometimes the squib round will not clear the muzzle. This can happen because the primer did not give off enough force to push the bullet all the way the length of the barrel. The thing is that most people do not know what is a squib let alone realize when one has happened. So what they do is they keep on firing. In most instances, as I understand it (based upon word of mouth from other shooters) the squibbed bullet that remained in the barrel is simply pushed out by the next one that you fire. That is if you are lucky. If not, the gun's barrel could potentially explode as with the shotgun above; this is reportedly less likely though because both of the bullets are the correct diameter for the gun. What sometimes does happen though, probably more often as I have been told by others, is that the barrel is ringed. In other words the is now a ring shaped bump around the perimeter of the barrel due to momentary excessive pressure cause by one round blocking the path of the other. If you ever are buying a used gun and see that it has a ringed barrel my advice is to walk away from the sale. If you ever fire a gun, and see the barrel has become ringed, stop firing it and have the barrel replaced or just stop using that gun.

Now when shooting under stress, such as in a home defense situation where your life depends on it, you may not notice a squib round has been fired. Then again, on the other hand, you may think you have had one when in fact you have not. Sometimes when shooting under stress loud noises are seemingly reduced in volume to the person who is stressed. You have to determine what to do if you think you fired a squib, and there is not much I can really do to guide you as to whether or not you have had one under such circumstances. If you find yourself thinking that you actually have fired a squib in a combat situation there are a couple of things you can do. Before I mention them, allow me to remind you that what I am about to say is my opinion - it is not advice. If you follow what I am about to say you do so at your own risk and hold me harmless, if you tell anyone else this information you hold me harmless and you indemnify me if they use it or they pass it on and someone else uses it ad infinitum.

One thing you can do if you think you have a squib round during such an encounter is to continue firing if the situation calls for continued firing. In other words if the bad guy is still posing a threat of death or serious bodily harm to you or to another innocent whom you are protecting you can keep shooting if the law where you are allows for such, hoping that the squib round will be expelled from the barrel by the next one and that neither will be an obstruction for yet another shot if needed. If you are too afraid of the consequences of firing a round with a possible squib round stuck in the barrel what can you do? You can examine your firearm. This is up to you but remember a bad guy is still posing a threat of death or serious bodily harm to you so you have to judge if you have the time to check your weapon for a squib round and to determine if is your body's reaction to a stressful situation playing a trick on you or not. Note I am not talking about the wrong sized ammo being used as in the example of a 20 gauge round going down the barrel of a 12 gauge. In such a case, if I reasonably believed such had happened, I might use the gun as a club or a spear or just run away - and about that I am dead serious.

I can tell you this: I have shot one person in my lifetime so far. It was during a holdup attempt - yes he was trying to rob me. When I fired, I immediately thought my gun must have jammed because I felt almost no recoil and the shot's bang seemed awfully low in volume. I glanced at the pistol saw it was in battery (I may have even tapped and racked but it was long ago and I don't recall for sure) and fired a second shot at a second bad guy. The first guy had been hit already and was not a threat at that moment; the second guy was getting out of a car with a revolver in hand. That shot was deflected by the windshield but was enough to send them both out of there at high speed. If I am ever in such a situation again I will keep trying to fire so long as the threat presents itself and so long as my gun keeps shooting no matter how light the recoil feels to me. If the gun stops firing I will reload or clear the jam. Again that is my opinion on what I will do - it is not advice. The only advice I will give you here is that you have to be able to decide what to do in any such situation - there likely will not be a range officer or tactical instructor looking over your shoulder screaming "gun" or "shoot" or "clear the jam" or "seek cover" or "run away" or whatever. So get your training now from a qualified instructor before you find yourself in a situation for which you are ill prepared.

Of course there are other things you can do if your gun jams and you cannot clear it but that is for another discussion - back to the possible problems with ammo and how to avoid them.

There is another way to mix up ammo that I did not mention above when talking about loading 9mm ammo into a 40 cal pistol, the following is a fictional example but has happened to people whom I know:

Shooter-X was at qualification recently where he fired with two different caliber pistols. One was a .40 caliber pistol, the other a 9mm pistol. Shooter-X used different holsters for each pistol, but used the same magazine pouch for the magazines of both, this despite the fact that one pistol was a full sized H&K and the other a Glock 26. Shooter-X used the H&K and Glock mags in the pouch at the range because each fit well enough for the range where they do not need to be as secure as they would on the street. Well, when shooting was done, Shooter-X loaded all his mags for the street. He got the right ammo into the right magazines. He loaded the H&K up on the line, then he loaded the Glock. No problems at all - each gun was loaded correctly in the chamber as was each mag in each gun – as was each spare magazine. So where was the problem? Shooter-X did not notice it until a day or two later so maybe you don’t see it either.

For some reason - just habit maybe – Shooter-X reached over and felt his magazine pouch wondering if the snaps were secure. Yes they were closed but something felt wrong when he did that. Shooter-X took another feel and knew what it was, then he looked to confirm what was wrong. Have you guessed it? He was carrying his primary sidearm for work - the H&K - but he had Glock 15 round magazines in his magazine pouch. Luckily for him he had his spare H&K magazines in his tricky bag (if you do not know what is a tricky bag find and politely ask a Border Patrol Agent). Also luckily for him he had not been involved in a shooting incident during which he had to depend on magazines to reload his H&K. Get the picture? He sure did. Had someone asked him - he would have sworn he put the right magazines into the pouch - that is right up to the moment those magazines either did not fit or function properly into the gun at hand. For Shooter-X, it would have been ugly! For the bad guy – it would have been an opportunity not to miss (no pun intended – this is serious business folks)!

That is enough for you to take aim at now. Safe shooting my friends.

All the best,
Glenn B

Today In History - WW I German Soldiers Attacked By Monsters

It may sound incredible and the Germans who saw them advancing probably did not believe their own eyes but indeed monsters - of a sort - were advancing on their positions in Battle of Flers-Courcelette an offensive in the Battle of the Somme. The Germans had been expecting a British infantry advance but indeed had never imagined what was coming at them. As a German war correspondent reported it:

"Two mysterious monsters slowly approached us, over the cratered landscape. The monsters approached slowly limping, swaying, swinging but they kept moving towards us. No obstacles could stop them, a supernatural force seemed to drive them forwards. Our machine gun fire and our head weapons ricocheted off them. So they had no trouble wiping out the crews of the advanced shell
holes." 1

What the Germans were seeing, on that Sept. 15, 1915, were not monsters out of a science fiction novel. Yet, for all practical purposes, they could have been because the Germans though valiant were as helpless against them as they would have been against an invasion of alien spaceships. You see the things that they saw advancing on them, the things that wiped them out, were a new type of war machine the likes of which the world had not seen before and that thing came in good numbers. It was a division of troops supported by tanks, about 21 of them that actually made it into warfare that day. What they saw was probably a lot like the one pictured, a British Mark 1 male tank (they also had a female model with less firepower). Even though faced with monsters the Germans showed great bravery in the face of such beasts. As reported by a British war correspondent:

“They were very courageous. Despite the tank’s machine gun fires, they attempted in desperate rage to assault the wandering tank fort and to kill its crew, They hauled each other up in the air, climbed on the roof, searched for hatches and openings and fired into the slits with pistols." 2

Despite the valiant attempts of the Germans the tanks helped achieve a feat that had been virtually unheard of during the trench warfare of the War To End All Wars. The British forces advanced about 3,500 yards in one day - this during a war where victory was claimed after advances of a mere few feet.

There were drawbacks to the tank. For one thing they were notoriously unreliable. many broke down, others got mired in mud and so on. Yet the British and french believed in them and hurried to improve and develop more efficient models. The Germans believed that artillery would master tanks - a mistake they paid for with defeat. How things changed by WWII when the German Army through use of air forces, artillery and tanks followed by huge infantry advances heralded a new form of warfare known as the Blitzkrieg.

Today we have the M1 Abrams Tank here in the USA. Just compare the specs for it to those of the British Mark 1 and you will realize that we have come a long way since the first use of tanks in warfare on this day in history in 1915. I imagine though if I was in an infantry unit and was armed with only a rifle, even in today's world of warfare, and saw an antiquated Mark 1 advancing on me all guns firing away, I probably would not be as valiant as were those German soldiers way back then.

All the best,
Glenn B

footnotes:
1. & 2. http://www.todayinhistory.de/index.php?what=thmanu&lang=en&manu_id=1580&tag=15&monat=9&weekd=&year=2009&weekdnum=&dayisset=1&lang=en