Range Report - The Stevens 66-B

Wow, what a good rifle the Stevens 66-B has turned out to be, I hope I don't wind up losing it (see previous post if you are wondering what I mean by that). I took it to an indoor range this afternoon and shot about 30 rounds at 25 yards, 2 sets of 15 rounds apiece since that is what the tubular magazine holds. The first target was nothing to write home about but then I was shooting about 4 or 5 different brands of ammo that were mixed in the tube and I was firing with the rear sight step installed backwards. When I got the gun at an auction recently, that part was missing, so I ordered one from Numrich Gun Parts Corp. and put it in yesterday. I was a little uncertain if I had it in correctly but figured I would find out at the range. When I fired another couple of rounds, this time on a target at 50', I saw that the step was canted and had obviously not been installed properly by yours truly. So I flipped it around and then shot these groups at 50' (about 16 2/3 yards): 1 1/8" with Remington Golden Bullets (two way out fliers but that was caused by the rear sight step being in wrong because once I corrected it the group was in there), 1" with CCI Standard Velocity 40 gr. round nose solids (would have been a 3/4" one hole group except for last shot), 1 1/4" with CCI Blazer and 1 1/8" with American Eagle High Velocity round nose solids. I had also shot the NEF Pardner shotgun before the Stevens, and by the time I shot those groups at 50', I was out of time so I did not try again at 25 yards. No failures to feed, to fire, to extract or to eject.

I was pretty happy with those groups. I look at it this way: I shot them with a gun that is probably older than me, with my old eyes, with varying ammo, seated at the bench in a chair that was way too low for the height of the bench, with foregrip resting on my fist for support and my fist resting on the bench. I think I did pretty good and any squirrel at that distance would have been meat for the pot. I certainly got a pretty decent rifle for $90 plus about $8 or $9 (including shipping) that I spent on the rear sight step. Probably more accurate than any new rifle you could get today at $150. Made in the USA too, what more could I ask.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Mystery of the Stevens 66-B

I went to a gun auction up in Geneva, NY recently and picked up a few guns there. one of them is a Stevens Model 66-B. it is a bolt action repeater, tubular magazine, all in pretty good condition. Only one screw hole without a screw and that was apparently the screw that would hold on a peep sight. No serial number, made before they were required. Bore is in excellent condition. There is some surface rust but not too much. It should clean up nicely.

I took it down today to do two things. Clean it up a bit and to check for a serial number under the wood. Well that is when the mystery began. There was no serial number to be found and I got interrupted by my dogs going berserk over something and went upstairs. Once upstairs I remembered I had something else to do, thanks to the dogs getting me upstairs, I saw a package on the DR table that I needed to get to the post office. When I went back down to the basement, I grabbed the 66-B and just put it back together thinking I would clean it later. As I was about to sit down to do that though, I saw a small brownish piece of folded up paper laying on the floor. I thought oh great, this must have been between the metal and stock as a wedge, something must be loose. I was wrong, it was not a wedge.

It was a piece of paper, I was right about that. I unfolded it and took a look and found a name Art F----, in R---, NY with an address and phone number. The phone number was illegible but maybe not a current one since there were not enough numbers in it. It could also have been that the number just had the last 4 digits because maybe, at one time R---, NY only had a single prefix for all the phones there and the person who wrote it out could have figured that would be a given. Whatever, the paper is old, it was put in the gun a long time ago. It has browned over the years and hints of a bygone era. Old as it is, it has created the current mystery of who is the legal owner of this rifle!

I know that I used to do just what someone else had apparently done - written his name, the owners name, and address and phone numbers on a slip of paper and placed it between the stock and barrel. That way, in case it was ever recovered after being lost or stolen, the police might be able to figure out to whom it belonged. What to do? I knew what to do. I went online and I tried looking for Arthur F---- in R---, NY. What I found was a guy shown to be 77 years old on one site and 65+ years old on another in R---, NY. I went to the free white pages and plugged in his name and city and state and up popped an address and phone number for him. I gave him a call. I don't know if it is him or not, the answering machine message was a generic one. I left my callback info and the reason I had called - to see if the rifle I had purchased was stolen or not.

Now I am waiting for a return call. I would hate to lose the rifle and the money I paid for it but if it was stolen from him, well - he should get it back. If not, then he just seemingly forgot to take out the slip of paper with his info on it before disposing of the rifle. The waiting is going to suck, I hope he calls me soon. I did not want to call the auction house first if an illegal sale, they might try to cover it up. I kind of doubt it was an illegal sale but who knows. If Mr. F---- does not return my call, I suppose I will then try the auction house. If they can not convince me that it was legal, as by maybe showing a receipt from Mr. F or from his estate, I will have to contact the police to see if they have any record of a firearm ever being stolen from Mr. Art F---- of R---, NY. In that case I can only hope they don't have such a record.

I really do not think that it was stolen because I do not think that a reputable auction house would have had it up for sale but there is that remote possibility. My checking is more due to what I think is my moral obligation as opposed to me having any strong suspicion that it was stolen, in fact I have no such suspicion just a question that I want answered to make sure all is right with my purchase. Hopefully, Mr. F---- is alive and well and will return my call today to tell me all is well with my purchase and that he simply forgot to remove the slip of paper from the rifle when he sold it. I know I did that more than once when I sold a firearm so I guess anyone could do the same.

All the best,
Glenn B

Pretty Lady With AR

This gal, holding the AR, has gotten it right from what I can tell. Her hold is pretty good, her finger maybe is on the trigger but she appears ready to shoot, she has the gun stock up to her cheek and has not hyper-extended her cheek down to the gun stock, she is using her strong side eye to sight in the rifle, she is apparently using the sling to steady her hold. If one could fault anything it might be that her stance is off in that her legs may be right up against one another but you cannot tell for sure from the photo - so, why fault her for anything! Besides all that, she is pretty darned good looking.

This one was found at eBaum's world, here, where her pic was number 4 of 27 pics of gals with guns.

All the best,
Glenn B

Fishing Trip, Reptile, Dog and Gun All In One Story...

...I love it except for the fact that the only reason a gun was mentioned was because the guy had not been carrying one. I do like the fact that the reporter asked about whether or not he would now carry a gun. Go here for the story and video or watch the below video too (the version embeded here has had music added, the one at Fox does not). Better to read the story first so you know what is going on in the video because it is hard to figure without first knowing what happened.

I'll say briefly here, it was a gator attack that knocked a dog out of a kayak into the water. I am guessing the thing in the water, off to the left, was the pooch that was knocked out of the boat after the gator attacked. Thankfully the guy had the pooch on a leash. It seems that the fisherman does indeed pull the thing to the left back into the boat but it all happens really quickly.

Would have been interesting to have seen his reaction if he had had a firearm with him. Something tells me, if so, he and the pooch might have been eating gator fritters that night.



All the best,
Glenn B

Korean War Vet Shoots Alleged Home Invader

 An 84 year old Korean war vet shot and wounded an alleged home invader; the vet reportedly using a war time memento to defend his wife and himself. The headline here says that the gun, with which the veteran shot the bad guy, was one he had carried during the Korean war. Good for the veteran that he decided to bring back a gun instead of a helmet!

Police later arrested the subspect whom they reportedly found to be in possession of a screwdriver and a stun gun. Makes one wonder what he had planned for the elderly couple whose home he had invaded. The suspect was also reportedly the victims across the street neighbor!

Great shooting from what I can tell so far, the old vet even gave warning before firing!

All the best,
Glenn B

Is DHS Preparing For Civil War?

With candidate Obama (in his first presidential campaign) saying we need to develop a civilian security force as strong as our military, with the signing of a recent executive order giving the government the power to confiscate anything, from personally owned arms and ammo to agricultural products, without due process and to force citizens to laboring for the government without recompense, with the government now by law allowed to jail anyone - even U.S. citizens - without probable cause if merely suspected of terrorism and then them being allowed to hold .S. citizens on foreign soil indefinitely without trial,  with development of a program to have hundreds of drones spying on us right here at home in the USA, with DHS purchasing bullet resistant armored guard booths for apparent use within our borders, with DHS signing a contract for up to 450 million rounds of ammunition one may start to wonder - what is the government doing all of this for within our own borders!

Well, if (and I agree it is a big if that needs verification) what an alleged informant who supposedly worked or works for DHS says is true, we are in for a big and terrible surprise later this year - a devaluation of our currency. Allegedly the Obama administration believes such will lead to civil war and has been preparing to for just that eventuality. In other words,the informant has in essence stated the Obama administration is planning to go to war against, and mow down, a large number of United States citizens who oppose both President Obama and his policies of ineptitude.

Read about what the alleged informant says here: http://www.infowars.com/we-are-preparing-for-massive-civil-war-says-dhs-informant/. I am truly beginning to worry. I have seen what I thought were some far fetched conspiracy theories recently and I let the people who posted them know I thought they were far fetched but I will admit now that maybe I was wrong to have doubted them so strongly now that this new information, combined with all the other facts about what our so called illustrious leader has done to take away our liberties and or control our liberties in the future, truly scares the shit out of me.

Wircecutter - your buddy may have been right after all but I do not think it is the bankers (or banksters as he called them) but the politicians who would be tyrants and who would bring us down into bankruptcy, who are preparing to mow down American citizens on American soil.

Stand resolute and strong for The United States of America and her Constitution. Be ever vigilant so as to recognize tyranny when it rears its ugly head. Oppose the tyrant and tyranny at every step, lest through his wiles he befriends you and beguiles you into espousing his tyrannical ways!

All the best,
Glenn B

ATT Wireless Service

Not all that long ago, I was quite ready to give up on wireless phone service through ATT. Not only, in my opinion, had there customer service hit rock bottom but their actual wireless phone service sucked. I would be in different areas of New York City or in my home village east of the and get the message that there was no service available. That was pretty piss poor performance and it happened not only to me but several other people whom I know, who also had ATT.

Several months ago I learned about the problems with their customer service first hand. I had found it hard to believe that they had been rated, if I remember right, as the worst big wireless company for customer service. I had them for years but did not believe it, I guess because I had not had any reason to call customer service for fair while before and up until around that time. That changed. I got a new line for myself, in or around the beginning of this year, and then had lots of problems too. I had to replace my new phone at least twice, might have been three times, because it was not working right. I finally switched to another model. Thing was, it took several calls to technical and customer services to accomplish even getting the ATT reps to understand the problem, let alone get a replacement phone each time it was replaced. A couple of ATT folks to whom I spoke seemed to go out of their way to be rude, one to the point of being obnoxious. Well, they had me since I had contracted with them.

Thing seem to have changed again recently. This time for the better. I had to deal with ATT over a billing issue recently over data usage on the Internet. I called and spoke to a very professional and courteous representative. She suggested I take a monthly plan for unlimited Internet use at $10 per month for my phone. Okay, not bad, less than it had been when I first got the phone. I agreed to the offer. The next thing I knew was she told me she was taking so much of of my current bill for Internet data usage and was also going to refund the amount I had already paid on the previous month. This was about $40 in all, or 4 months worth of the new fee to which I had agreed. That was pretty decent of her and of ATT. I had not suggested or even hinted in any way that I wanted a refund, I was only trying to find out why they were charging me so much with very limited Internet use on my part. Seems they charge each type/brand of phone differently for using the web, my wife was getting charged $1 per MB and I was getting charged by KB and it equalled about $10 per MB all because the types of phones we have are different. Screwy - yes it is but that is how she explained it. without me even suggesting it, was that she was refunding me the charges I had called to inquire about. You would think that data use would be charged at a set rate but apparently not.

Anyhow, she handled the matter more than satisfactorily for me. In the long run, her suggestion will have saved me a good deal of money even though I accepted a monthly charge instead of a charge per KB. I would have been using the Internet regardless, so much the better it will cost me nowhere nearly as much now.

Then yesterday, I had to call ATT's insurance program to replace my phone. I did some wash two nights ago and the phone was my pants pocket, the pants in the washing machine. I was none too happy when I found it. I remember admonishing my son for doing the same a couple years back, so I had to bang my head against the wall for this one (not too hard though). Well,  only called the insurance company after somehow getting it wrong via their website. I thought I had checked off the water damage selection, then typed in it got water damage in the wash for the explanation. I went to the next screen and saw that it kept saying I had "lost" the phone. I could not go back to change it so I gave them a call.

Yesterday, I spoke to a lady who told me her name was Amy. Amy was professional, courteous, and just over all pleasant in what seemed a truly since way. She took care of my claim quickly. I received the new phone today. Now I realize that the insurance company is not ATT but they do this for ATT. I have replaced phones before and they were not as nice or efficient as was Amy in getting the job done. In fact, the people at the insurance company seemed to worse than those at ATT to me whenever i dealt with them in the past.

It seems that ATT has changed its act for the better (much better) or that I somehow, by chance, had some excellent dealings with people who represent them on these two recent occasions. Hopefully they have straightened out how they do things. I have to say that it seems their wireless service has gotten better. I hardly ever have a dropped call lately nor do I get any messages saying there is no service available when it clearly should be available. I only hope it stays this way.

All the best,
Glenn B

Dinner In The Bucket...

...and I don't mean fried chicken from the Colonel. Right now, at least part of tomorrows supper is sitting, in a few gallons of water, inside a 5 gallon Home Depot bucket in the back of my basement. I hear the hum of the portable aerator that I have attached to it to make sure that this particular part of tomorrow's evening meal stays alive until just before I cook it.

Nope, I did not go fishing today. As a matter of fact, I headed out to get the oil in my Corolla changed and drove to an oil change chain-store where they change your car's oil in a jiffy! When I saw they wanted just under $90 for a signature oil and lube, well I figured I would go somewhere else where it was less expensive and use the money I did not spend there on something good to eat. After that, figuring I would not make it to both my local auto repair shop and Costco on time to get everything done that I wanted to do, I headed to Costco to return a 36 pound bucket of flour that had leaked. Supposed to be long term storage stuff for emergency stock so it should have been sealed tight. Costco made quick with a refund and then I did a little shopping there. Got some needed AA batteries and some honey and real maple syrup and some bottled water but that was a bout it. Oh yeah, I got a loaf of bread too.

Then I made a couple of other stops after which I realized it was earlier than I had thought and I headed to my local shop to see if they could do the oil change. They said they could do it pronto, a nice surprise, and that I could wait. I told them I'd come back in an hour or so and they said fine. I headed out to do a bit of shopping since I would now have the difference between about $90 and $30 with which to shop.

So, I went to the pharmacy picked up a few items and then next store to a Korean market. I had some seafood in mind. I picked up 2 pounds of wild caught (w/c) shrimp (on sale), a pound or so of fresh w/c squid, a pound of w/c scallops, a few pounds of pork neck meat (bones in) and a dozen top-neck clams, some shitake mushrooms, some other mushrooms and three bunches of green onions (scallions). The clams are in the bucket. I put them in there with about 3 gallons of cold water, and about 5-6 tablespoons of salt. I throw in an aerator stone, hooked up to a battery operated air pump, and the clams stay fresh while at the same time cleaning themselves of any sand or other grit they may have inside their shells. That way, when the pot is ready for them tomorrow, they will be ready for the pot - maybe not willingly but you get the idea.

The clams will go into the pot with the squid and the scallops and shrimp, not long for the shrimp to be in there, and all the other ingredients I mentioned. I will brown the pork first, before adding it to the pot but only after I take the meat from the bone. I usually use pork bellies but was not about to pay almost $5 a pound for them tonight. The pork I got looks pretty fatty and should brown nicely and taste almost, if not, as good as the pork bellies. I brown them and sauté the scallions, mushrooms too before they go into the pot. Hopefully, I was right to think we have small finger sized potatoes in the larder. All those ingredients, a bottle of Spaten bier (and fairly strong to strong and very tasty beer will do, a good number of spices (hot stuff but not too hot this time since it still burns the heck out of my mouth and throat because of my past radiation treatments) and some other spices (a good amount of garlic but not enough to kill the flavor of the seafood and black and white pepper) will go into it. Maybe some tomatoes, plum or cherry too, and some tomato paste, but I think not this time.

After it all cooks up together well, it tastes like heaven and burns like hell. Of course, as I said above, it is not going to be quite that hot this time around. My wife should like that, she always says I make it way too hot (but she gobbles it up anyway). I do not have a set recipe though I had a recipe for it a few years ago. I just go with what seems like it would taste good and it always does. I don't want it to sound as if I have made this a hundred times before, maybe 4 or 5 at most but it is good each time or has been so far. This time I passed on baby octopus, I usually go for them too but they did not look good this time around. I have also used cuttlefish too, very small ones, before and they are great in the mix.

Oh yeah, after doing my shopping, I walked back to the garage and picked up my car all ready to go. It was exactly $30 for the oil change and a few cents more than $38 for the food. Man, I would have sure wasted a good meal had I gone to the place that charged $90 for changing oil in a jiffy! Now, the Corolla's oil is good to go for another 3K miles and me and my family will enjoy a very tasty seafood dinner and have change left over too.

All the best,
Glenn B

S&W .38 Airweight & Pretty Lady Having Some Fund With It

Somehow, I get the idea that whoever it was that edited this video was much more interested in her cleavage than in the handgun. Could have been her boyfriend or could have been herself just wanting to show off.

Me, as usual, will point out a mistake she made, this time because she was shooting a revolver. Hint - NEVER, not ever, wrap your finger(s) around in front of the cylinder on the crane, that is unless you are willing to have it toasted or maybe even to lose part of one. If something went wrong with one of the rounds when she was firing like that, all I can think is oh the agony! You see, I really do watch these videos because of the guns and shooting although, I must admit, the pretty ladies are easy on my eyes!

All the best,
Glenn B

Whatever Happened To Working Neighborhood Kids

Today I was out working on my front lawn. I decided to pull up the whole lawn and reseed it. I did it once before, ear ago, and knew before i started it today that it would be somewhat of a task for me. That was not only because the is lawn loaded with grass roots but it also seems to have roots from every tree and bush in our neighborhood running through it.  It was a bit more manual labor than I have done in a long time and even though truly only a bit of work for an average guy since my lawn is 20x20 at best it was too much for me to finish in one day. Man I feel old, I guess the cancer and its treatments do that to a person. Now mind you, I was never a Charles Atlas, Steve Reeves or Arnold Schwarzenegger type but I could work at something like this job for hours if need be. Today, I was lucky go get in 15 to 20 minutes before I had to stop, do something else for an hour or so, then go back out and get at it again. I got about half of the lawn done and stopped because my back is aching under my left shoulder blade. I guess I'll get the rest tomorrow if it does not rain too hard and they are promising rain through and including Thursday. 

All the while, as I was out there on and off, I was wondering when a neighborhood kid would ride up on his bike and say: "Hey mister, need some help? I'll give you a hand for $10" or maybe it would be $20 nowadays. It probably would have taken a 14 or 15 year old boy, in halfway fair shape, less than an hour to do the rest of tearing out the old grass. The thing is, you don't see neighborhood kids offering to help their neighbors with chores anymore. It used to be commonplace. Kids back in my day, myself included, would look for opportunities to make a few bucks. Winter was a great time for it. First it was me and my brother, going house to house, store to store, building to building to see who needed help snow shoveling. Then I did the same with friends. As I got a bit older, I found I could make a buck helping people with other projects, garage clean-outs, painting, or bigger stuff like one guy who was building a laundromat around the corner from my apartment building. He was happy to have neighborhood kids helping because the labor was cheap and he figured he would get a good name with all the moms who would be bringing laundry to his place.

So what happened to that practice? Is it that kids today are just too darned lazy? Are they just mommified way too much and worried about the big bad boogy man neighbor who will eat them all up? I they all high on drugs? Are they too busy playing computer games and going onto social media sites like Facebook? Or is it something else? I have half a notion, maybe even a bigger one than just half sized, that the problem goes deeper than that. When I was a kid there were no wet backs on just about every corner in certain areas just waiting for someone to drive buy to pick them up as cheap laborers. In recent years you can see them, up this way, in way too many places on way too many days (like every day). Before that though, they seeped into society and started to replace kids on news paper routes, then doing snow shoveling jobs, cutting grass, or helping do cleans out in the spring or after some one's grand dad had passed away. Nowadays, every lawn service I have ever seen is loaded with them. I fired two lawn service companies years ago because none of their guys spoke English, were admittedly illegal aliens (I speak more than enough Spanish to have asked) and because they did shitty work. Now, just try to find a neighborhood kid to shovel your driveway and sidewalk or to do some lawn work, it isn't happening because the wetbacks have moved in, taken away their jobs, and no one seems willing to round them up and send them back to from whence they came.

If I was Supreme Ruler, things would be different! Before I blow a gasket, I had best just sign off using the wise post closing words of Jay from MArooned:

"That is all."

All the best,
Glenn B

                           

Pretty Lady Explains Basic Firearms Safety

So, there I was wondering what to do to get my stats up for this blog and I figured: 'What the heck, I'll show some gun related posts with pretty ladies in them'. Now, I really don't expect that to boost my page visits or views. All I really was thinking of doing was trying to find something appealing to myself and maybe to others without being offensive to anyone so don't look for naked babes with guns (well not too many anyhow). 

Yep, I was thinking in a sexist sort of a way.  That said, I will point out I am not about to show naked babes with guns although there surely might wind up being some videos or pics of babes in bikinis who are enjoying the shooting sports. Then again, I don't yet see the need to debase anyone or upset anyone, so I'll keep it to pretty women. If that offends you, if you don't like it, you don't have to look. Me, I am a guy, I am straight. I like women and looking at them and the prettier the better to look at thus, I will show them instead of hairy ugly (or handsome)muscular men. You want ugly (or handsome) hairy muscular men in videos about guns, put them in your own blog. In addition, I do what I can to encourage women to enjoy the world of guns and shooting, adding video like this is sure to help.

So, for you viewing pleasure, allow me to share this nice YouTube video with you and if you don't like the whole idea of me posting it here, well you can leave now if you want, but maybe you ought to watch anyway and then make up your mind:



Now that you have had the chance to have seen the video, I'll ask one question about it. Did you notice the two things that were very wrong in a firearms safety sort of way? As for one of them, we can't tell if she really did it or not because of how the video was edited. Yet certainly, the video shows us her potential target - a piece of cardboard taped onto a tree. Good target or bad target - what do you think?

Way back, and I mean waaaaaay back, when I was just learning to shoot, I was taught one of the first basics of shooting was never to shoot at two things that I (and many pothers) might have otherwise thought would have been fun to shoot at as targets - live trees and the flat surfaces of bodies of water like ponds or lakes. The reason for that being that both created an excellent potential for ricochets especially with lead bullets. Her having that target on a live tree invites ricochets with certain ammo. Anyway, it possibly could kill the tree. While I am not a tree hugger, I do like getting out into nature and having a nice tree or two for shade and don't need sap oozing out it, the one I picked to sit under, all because some peckerwood decided it would make a good target.

The other violation of firearms safety rules in that video was that she did not wear eye protection. She had on a nice set of protective ear muffs but no shooting glasses. That is a mistake that could lead to losing an eye. I know of one person, within the last few years, to whom that happened and she had on eye protection but not properly rated eye protection. A ricocheted piece of copper jacket caused her to lose an eye.

Other than that, I have to hand it to them for going beyond the so called 4 cardinal rules of firearms safety. Adding the one about not shooting while intoxicated was a nice touch and something important to remember whenever handling firearms. Besides being fairly good about firearms safety, she was rather pretty too, wasn't she (and she was a blond so I can forgive one or two mistakes)!

If you don't like pretty ladies in pics or vodeos about guns,  which wille something more regularly shown here from now on, you can always go elsewhere to watch ugly hairy, muscular men doing it. For example, try this link: http://youtu.be/eKjYlpex4OM. Me, I prefer pretty women. Maybe I can get my wife into shooting and have her do some video. Now there is a pretty lady, too bad she does not shoot (then again - maybe lucky for me that she does not)!

All the best,
Glenn B.

LIHS Bio-Blitz

The Long Island Herpetological Society (LIHS) held its first annual bio-blitz today at SUNY Farmingdale. I guess that we had about 25 members show up and that at least 8 in the group were children. It was pretty cloudy out and somewhat cooler than I would have hoped for when looking for snakes but that did not deter the youngsters from turning logs and boards (previously laid out by society members) while looking for salamanders, snakes, toads and whatever.

Red Backed Salamander

In all, there were about 21 salamanders found - all Red backed Salamanders. These neat little salamanders were quite common at one time on Long Island and it seems that if the habitat is available to them (wooded areas supplying enough moisture under rotting logs and such) then it seems they are fairly tenacious as far as survival goes. To find them in as isolated a pocket as a wooded area on the campus at SUNY Farmingdale was pretty wonderful.

Another denizen of the woods was also captured. This time an American or Fowler's toad. I am not certain which species. In fact two of them were caught. The toads came as somewhat of a surprise because there does not appear to be any breeding pools on the campus for the toads. Toads can be fairly wide ranging though, and the golf course on the adjoining property has a pond or two.

In addition to the amphibians, a couple of reptiles were also found. Both of them from the same species, the Eastern Garter Snake. One was found in the woods, it was apparently on the prowl looking for its next meal. I am not certain where the other was caught but think it may have been found under one of the boards we laid out over the past 2 months. Snakes love to crawl under flat objects that absorb heat so they can warm themselves up.

Look Closely To See Mon Just Taking Off

That was it for reptiles and amphibians but there were other critters to be found. Many of the boards we put out had ants' nests under them. Another one also had a nest under it but very different than an ants' nest. This one hid what I am pretty sure was a white footed field mouse and a liter of babies. There were 4 or 5 babies suckling the mother. We all got a good look and the mother mouse took us in as well but after a couple of minutes she had enough and she scampered away with two babies still attached to her teats. No doubt, once we put the plywood back down as it had been, she returned to her babies that were still in the nest. A short tailed vole was also found under one of the pieces of plywood that we had put out. There were also butterflies galore along the path out in the sunny areas (not in the woods) where we had laid out the plywood. Finally, we also got to see a good number of barn swallows and a couple of their nests under an overhang of one of the buildings.

As for the catching, it was 'catch and release' only. The herps were caught, bagged or put into other appropriate containers, brought to the meeting room and measured and photographed, then released back where they had been caught. By bringing them into the meeting room, everyone got a good opportunity to take a look at them close up. By releasing them, we all, especially the kids, got a good lesson in wildlife conservation.

Personally, I had been hoping to stumble across an Eastern Box turtle. That would have been a find nowadays although 30 or 40 years ago they were still fairly abundant in the area. No luck finding any of them but I think we did pretty good for our first LIHS Bio-Blitz and both old and young alike had a lot of fun.

All the best,
Glenn B

Holsters Again

I have been looking around for a new holster for my new Remington 1911-R1 and also for my Beretta 92FS pistols. I've taken a good long look at the suggestions others have made in the comments section of my previous post on this. I was not all that interested in what Dragon Leatherworks had to offer mostly because they apparently do not offer that for which I am looking. I noticed that Bell Charter Oak (odd name for a company that makes gun leather) had one that might fit the bill, their: Federal Auto Scabbard (you have to scroll down once at the linked site) might be a contender depending on the belt slots. Then there was Andrew's Leather who offers their Saddle Style holsters which look nice but lack some features I would like. As for I've also looked to the selections offered by DeSantis Gunhide, Bianchi, Don Hume to name a few others.

I have not decided on anything yet but so far out of all of the ones that I have seen, the one I like best is the three slot Thumb Break Scabbard by DeSantis Gunhide. I have to qualify that statement, I like that at least for my Beretta 92FS pistols but it also lacks some features I would want like a lining and the extra reinforcing leather at the holster mouth. I'm pretty sure I would want that particular model for the Remington 1911-R1. The reason is that it does not look as if you would be able to carry cocked and locked with it as you could with a similar holster, also offered by DeSantis, the Cocked and Locked Thumb Break Scabbard.

When I looked to Bianchi, I was not impressed by almost anything. Judging from their prices, I would guess that they no longer line their leather holsters with suede. Bianchi used to be an independent company but has since been taken over by Safariland. The only holster that comes close to what I want is Bianchi's Venom but I am not looking for a holster in which the barrel and front site are not covered. This seems to have the same belt connection method as does an apparently defunct model of Bianchi holster, the Askin's Avenger. It also has the thumb break but judging by price it is unlined.

The type of holster I have in mind would be extremely similar to Bianchi's Askin's Avenger except, I would change it from an open top to one with a thumb snap. The thing is the last time I saw an Askin's Avenger for sale was not too long after 9/11 at N.Y. Ironworks in downtown Manhattan.. I bought it to replace one that I had lost when mine was lost in the rubble of 6 WTC. I only started using it recently, several months after my retirement and more than 10 years after I purchased it. Bianchi now being part of Safariland seemingly no longer makes the Askin's Avenger and never offered it with a thumb break as far as I am aware. I also checked Safariland to see what they offered and all of their offering in a concealable holster for a 1911 were Bianchi holsters.

A very similar holster, to what I am describing and looking for is not an impossibility to manufacture. I know because I own one already but it is for a Glock 19. It was made, once upon a time, by Don Hume Leathergoods. It essentially had the same belt connection method as the Askin's Avenger. It was tooled to fit the pistol on the outer side. That combined with the belt connection style made for a holster that would pull into the hip and be comfortable to wear. It was also fairly high ride. It had a thumb snap. It was reinforced around the front of the holster mouth to assure that you could always easily reholster with one hand. It was lined with suede. The model was the H724-TB; I cannot remember the model name and it is not stamped on the back of the holster as is the model number. I just shot off an inquiry to Don Hume Leathergoods to see if they still produce, if not if they plan to manufacture it again and if neither then if they could do it as a custom order for my Remington 1911-R1 and my Beretta 92FS pistols.

As I said, I am willing to have my holster custom made. If Don Hume cannot make me the model I want, then I probably will look locally if I decide on a couple of custom made holsters. If I do that, chances are I would go with DeSantis since they are fairly local and I could drive there and discuss what I want with the owner. I am pretty sure he would be willing to meet with me but if not him then anyone there would be fine. The reason I think he might be willing to meet with me is because I did  business directly with him in the past. That was in my official capacity, probably just before or just after 9/11, when my agency sent me out to holster shop back when I had collateral duties as a firearms instructor. I ordered somewhere in between 250 to 300 holsters maybe more, as best I recall. Visiting his facility (that used to be much closer to my home) and his personal touch and assurances about the quality of the holsters we wanted to order had some small measure to do with ordering DeSantis holsters instead of ordering some from his competitors. Of course, price had a good deal to do with it too as did time frame to get the order done. The holsters we got were good for the money, although I must admit I personally would never again go for an unlined holster but that is for what my agency was willing to pay. They wanted a reasonable holster for cheap but that is the government. The holsters held up pretty good but I learned a lot about holster design while and after making that order and now would shy away from pancake style holsters unless: the opening is reinforced with extra leather to assure the opening will remain open for one handed holstering. A leather reinforcement strip around the outside of the holster mouth would help there, as would a suede lining. Oh well, live and learn and you can bet I learned what I want in a holster in my 32 years as an LEO and 14 years as a firearms instructor.

 I am still looking, I'm in no particular or great hurry especially once I found out how comfortable and well concealed is the Remington 1911-R1 when in the pocket of a couple of different pairs of pants I own. Have to carry it hammer down in that case but cocking it is almost as fast as taking off he safety when carrying cocked and locked. Well, anyway, if Don Hume cannot produce the holster I want, I almost definitely would go with DeSantis for my personal holster if custom made and even some of their stock offerings are tempting.

All the best,
Glenn B

FPS Russia Outdoes Himself With This Video

Now that is one scary means of death and destruction and when you think that it could fall into the hands of terrorists, psychos or law enforcement it should be much scarier.

All the best,
Glenn B

1911 Holsters?

Anyone have a suggestion for a good, high quality, holster for my Remington 1911-R1?

I am looking for one that will be worn on the belt, on the strong side hip, in plain leather, that is suede lined, with at least a thumb snap for retention purposes. I also much prefer an open bottom. I will be looking to see what DeSantis and Don Hume have to offer. I have not had to buy a leather holster in quite awhile and I am pretty sure there must be other good holster makers out there so, any other suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks.

All the best,
GB

Happy May Day

Screw Communism and Socialism and groups like Acorn and Occupy!

Now, have a nice May Day.

All the best,
Glenn B

I've Have Not Had A Thing...

...that I have felt like blogging about for the past few days .Perhaps that is not just right, maybe I should rephrase it to say I just have not felt like blogging because I surely could have written about my trip to the gun auction in Geneva, NY this past weekend. I also could post some photos or a  video of some things I acquired and I suppose I could tell you how not to screw up at an auction as I did on at least two, maybe even three, of five items on which I had the high bids. I could also brag about how well I did on the other two. A blog post about all that is likely in the near future but for right now, I seem to have lost my blogger mojo. There is a fair chance I'll post more later tonight but I think a better chance that I'll start posting more in a day or two. I'm just in a rut right now due to some non-blog related things on the home front and in the job search and so on.

All the best,
Glenn B

Patriotism - It Dies Hard

My friend, who sent this video to me, said in his email:

"You have to see this. This is one of the best videos I have seen in a long time and not a word is spoken."

I guess I have to agree with him. While it's kind of long for an Internet video at over 11 minutes, I must say it is well worth the time you take to watch it.




A hat tip to Richie M.

All the best,
Glenn B

Good Sized Gun Auction - This Saturday In Geneva, NY

There will be a good sized firearms auction up in Geneva, NY this weekend. The auction includes numerous shotguns, rifles and handguns. They will also be auctioning off hunting and fishing gear. I think I will be there. If I buy anything, I'll have to reach into the retirement savings so, I would have to be a very prudent bidder and only buy if it is something that would be an excellent investment for my family's future.


All the best,
Glenn B

Test Your Political Knowledge

I found the below link to a political knowledge test over at Wirecutter's site. The test is about your knowledge of U.S. politics. There are only 13 questions and it is an easy test. I scored 100% correct but as I said it is an easy one. Then again, you may be surprised at how many got absolutely none correct, when the test was given by way of a national telephone survey. I was certainly shocked. It is also amazing at how many scored less than 5 correct, approximately 25% of the test takers who took the phone survey. Yet, I kid you not, it is a very easy test or at least it should be easy.

Go to this link to take it and then to see the stats for it:

http://pewresearch.org/politicalquiz/

Once you have taken it, come back and leave a comment telling how good you did on it. My bet would be that the great majority of my readers, who are here in the USA, will do well on it.

I also have a question of my own, not one from the test: Can you guess a possible reason that there were only 13 questions asked bearing in mind that this is a test about U.S. politics?

All the best,
Glenn B

Tyranny - Nothing More and Nothing Less

Where does it come from? From the Obama administration and from one of the most useless agencies of all time, the EPA.

See: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/04/26/epa-official-apologizes-for-call-to-crucify-oil-companies-senator-investigating/

Why this has only been reported on now in 2012 when it happened in 2010, maybe because of the upcoming election and maybe because the video was just made public. Whatever, the reason for the timing, it does not lessen the fact that what was described, in essence as being the policy that the EPA should follow as to enforcement of EPA regulations, is nothing less than Tyranny! No mention of due process, no mention of having a  mere suspicion that a regulation has been violated,  no mention or indication that the Constitution will followed, only the threat that the EPA enforcement division will "crucify", at random, companies or individuals as alleged violators all to set an example to others! The man who said this, in my opinion, needs to be investigated, brought up on charges, jailed and fired.

I have never heard a more nefarious violation of government ethics, proclaiming the use of tyranny, by a self righteous and obviously pompous U.S. arsehat bureaucrat in my lifetime.

All the best,
Glenn B

The 1911 I Gotta Shoot It Now Bug Bit Me Tonight & I Didn't Wait...

...for my order of .45 ammo to arrive before heading out to shoot the Remington 1911-R1. I hit the range tonight with 150 rounds of .45 JHP ammo from the little I had in stock. I shot 50 rounds of that, through the Remington 1911-R1, without a glitch. Not the best shooting I have ever done, certainly not the worst either. It was the first time in many years that I have fired anything in .45 caliber. I shot at 7, 15 and 25 yards. Everything seemed okay but I will say that the trigger had some creep to it and is certainly set at a higher weight of pull than 3-5 pounds as Remington claims it is set. Nonetheless, all my shots hit the paper which is about chest sized. The 7 yard target is shown, that was the first 28 shots. I did somewhat better at 15 yards. Not so great at 25 but as I said all shots hit the paper even though the group size at 25 yards was about 11.5 inches.

Then, I put the 1911 away and shot my Beretta 92FS. I put about 100 rounds through that. I just wanted to make sure that the slide stop spring, that had popped out when I was cleaning the gun last week, was back in there properly and that I had not twisted it out of shape or any thing like that when I put it back in place. It stayed put and functioned properly.

I put the Beretta away and took the Remington 1911-R1 out again. I fired only another 14 rounds. I shot slow fire at 10 yards and got a group much better than even the one I had shot at 7 yards earlier. I am pretty sure I was anticipating recoil somewhat for that first box of 50 rounds but it seems I got better when I shot these last two magazine loads of ammo. I think I could come to like this pistol very much.

I had one jam with the Remington, a failure to eject and the shell casing prevented the last bullet from the mag from chambering as it rode back forward with the slide - it looked sort of like a double feed but a contorted one at that. I am not too concerned. That might have been caused by me, maybe by the gun, maybe by the mag, if it starts to happen regularly I will check into the reason.

After that, it was time to leave, my hour was up. I had taken my time between sets of two mags worth of shots, I saw no need to hurry with a new pistol. I only used the two Remington mags that came with the pistol, and that had me taking more time to reload between sets. I'll check out my supposed mil-surp mags another day, I have 9 of them. As it turned out tonight, I had a bunch of ammo left over but that's okay, I can shoot that next time.

All the best,
Glenn B

Cleaning My 1911 - Now That Was Different

I just got finished cleaning my new Remington 1911 R1 pistol. It was pretty fouled for a brand new pistol meaning either that Remington test fired it and did not clean (or did not clean it very well) it or that the dealer from whom I bought it shot it some and did not clean it (or did not clean it well).

Now that I got my 1911 apart and back together again, I can understand why many people think the 1911 an archaic pistol and why many others think it a pain in the arse. There are an awful lot of parts to disassemble just to field strip it for cleaning and there are also an awful lot of steps involved in disassembly and reassembly. You also need a special tool to field strip it (although maybe in the future, after shooting it some, the parts will have loosened up a tiny bit allowing me to do it without the tool). 

I did not mind any of that though, I thought taking it down and getting it back together - so it seemingly will actually function again - was interesting and fairly easy. I will say that the Remington manual was lacking just a bit as for the instructions on the reassembly side. Not lacking much mind you but there were one or two small tidbits of info that they not only could have included but probably should have included. Nonetheless, I got it back together pretty quickly, no problems, and am sure it will get easier and easier each time I do it.

Now all I have to do is wait for the ammo to arrive before heading out to the range. If I become inpatient I could always use up some of the JHP ammo I have had in my ammo locker for the past few years. I could also go to Dick's Sporting Goods to see if they have any .45 Auto at a decent price. I am pretty sure that I still have $70 to $75 on a gift card there. That gift card may be better if saved to buy something else if only because their ammo prices are sure to be way too high compared to online dealers. I think I'll just wait for my ammo order to arrive; hopefully I can make it that long without the 'I gotta shoot it now bug' biting me. I much rather break in the gun, and break in me as a new 1911 shooter, with FMJ rounds and save my JHP rounds for more serious shooting. Once I have familiarized myself with the new pistol and how it shoots, with the less expensive FMJ rounds, I'll shoot the JHP rounds through it. I almost cannot wait but my order has already shipped so it should be here in a few days.

All the best,
Glenn B

Get A Load Of These Pants - Woolrich Elite Concealed Carry Chinos

I was visiting MArooned and saw that Jay posted about the NY Times doing an article on Woolrich's new chinos. That article gave a description of them as having, among other things, a pocket specifically designed to conceal a handgun! That intrigued me but who wants to read about it in the NY Slimes Times  - not me. So, I went right to the source at Woolrich.com and searched for chinos. There they were, listed as Men's 44919 Elite Concealed Carry Chinos! They seem like a good deal too, at $65 a pair; not that I usually buy pants at that high a price but hey even Levi's dungarees (for you youngsters, you call them jeans today) go for at least 2/3 that price lately and they don't have a concealed carry pocket built in.

If you don't want to bother visiting the Woolrich site, here is the info they supply on the Woolrich Elite Concealed Carry Chinos:

"These pants are ideal for situations where discretion is important. The Elite Concealed Carry Chinos have the clean profile of a standard pair of pants with no external cargo or utility pocketing, but offers the added advantage of of a hidden chamber pocket strategically constructed to reduce printing. It is made of 7.8-ounce 98% cotton/2% stretch twill fabric. It has a comfort waist with elastic side panels with three-ply, dual-chamber pocket bags. An inner chamber is accessible through an invisible zipper and allows for discreet carry option. Outer chamber provides provides conventional pocket function and additional benefit of reduced printing. Two knife openings. Reinforced crotch. Imported. Machine wash."

Now, mind you, this is not a fluke on the part of Woolrich. They also manufacture and sell:

Men's Elite CCW Shirt

Men's 44950 Elite Short Sleeve CCW Shirt

Men's 44923 Elite Short Sleeve CCW Shirt

Men's 44428 Elite Discreet Carry Twill Jacket

and others geared toward concealed carry. They all seemingly fall under the line called Woolrich Elite. Sorry ladies, so far it seems they only offer them for men. I imagine if they sell for men, ladies Woolrich elite garments will not be far behind but too bad they do not offer them now.

What a company. I may just have to buy my next set of hunting pants/jacket from them, something in wool (I sure could use some warm winter clothing and not just for hunting) and I may have to pick up one of those Elite Discreet Carry Twill Jackets this coming fall. (Hint: it would make a great birthday present, buy it for me now before they run out. That was just in case anyone in my family ever reads my blog. Oh well, one can dream.)

Now that you have been informed of this shooter geared apparel, why not consider Woolrich Elite next time you want to buy a piece of clothing geared toward concealed carry. (Nope, I don't get a penny or any other type of consideration from them for giving them a free plug.) We shooters need to support companies that support us or at least I think we should when we can.

All the best,
Glenn B

Man Shoots Self And Wife At Firearms Safety Course

Sometimes it seems people are just destined to become Darwin Award winners sooner or later. Hopefully not this guy or his wife but he sure came close this past weekend. Go to the below link, then click on the play icon to hear it from a Fox News Radio announcer, it is better than just reading it:

http://radio.foxnews.com/2012/04/24/va-man-shoots-self-and-wife-at-gun-safety-class/

Imagine that, him not only shooting himself but also his wife, with the same bullet while taking a firearms SAFETY course. Where was the firearms instructor at the time of the shot? In another room, where else. Life sure does have its little ironies - doesn't it!

We all need to be careful out there when doing things like handling guns. If you need a refresher in firearms safety, look to the right side of my blog, about 4 sections down in the Blue Zone, where there are links for several sets of firearms safety rules (not just the simple minded 4 rules either).

All the best,
Glenn B