All the best,
Glenn
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Dog Allegedly Kills Pet Iguana - Iguana Owner Then...
...reportedly raped (is it rape when you sexually abuse dog) and then killed the dog by hanging it. The dog was reportedly an emotional support dog for a child, and was in the suspected dog killer's care until its owner could find housing that allowed dogs. I will not say more about it, except to say folks, you just cannot make this stuff up; there are just way too many sickos out there! You can read more here.
All the best,
GB
All the best,
GB
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
I Don't Think I've Lost An Ounce...
...but I have pretty much stuck to my diet for the past two weeks, with only a few very small deviations from it. In essence what I have been doing is eating somewhat healthier. I have cut out almost all junk food (and I do mean sugary, high carbohydrate, kinds of junk). That means I have not eaten any: cakes or pastries, no candy, no potato or corn chips, very few pretzels. I think I have had about 10 small pretzels rings in lieu of some bread on the two days I had them.
I have also cut back on non-sugary carbs as well. Yes, that means no beer either. Damn, two weeks of not even one beer although I must admit I cheated once and had a cider but other than that nothing like it. I have been able to survive that drought by drinking whisky, vodka and by having some moonshine cherries. Yes, the moonshine cherries do contain sugar but only 1.9 grams apiece based on what I could find about them. It is so little sugar compared to what I used to eat every day it is probably negligible overall but I hope to cut out even the urge for them and my sugar urges have been fading. Anyway, I've only had about a dozen and a half of the cherries in that two weeks. I also had two protein bars, and am thinking of not having any more of them because they have 17 grams of carbs, 3 of which are sugars; still though - much better than candy, cakes, or chips and I again did with less bread those two days. I have eaten some fruit but not much. I will have more of it once I lose some weight and get my blood sugar down.
As for what I have been eating, it is not your typical low-fat diet stuff. I have a couple to three eggs with one piece of dry toast or bread in the morning, with black coffee and a bottle of water.
I have been exercising too. Been doing that longer than the diet. Then I usually don't eat until late afternoon when I have whatever meal my wife cooked or if she didn't then I make for myself. I also buy pre-cooked stuff from Costco. Costco has some huge roasted chickens at only $4.99 each, an has some decent mesquite flavored ribs and seasoned wings. I usually have those things with a salad with some veggies thrown into the mix. Had a salad yesterday into which I threw half of a very thick NY strip steak.
I did this same kind of diet while working out in Arizona back in 2009 for 4 1/2 months and lost about 30-35 pounds in less than 4 months of watching what I ate and drank. I even wound up eating a McDonalds, or other fast food, burger and fries most weekdays, with water and an apple and kept shedding pounds because even while eating them, my carb intake had been reduced greatly.
I am hoping it works again. The big difference from then to now is that back then I exercised religiously - ONE TIME PER WEEK (yes sometimes I did it twice but that was rare). I went hiking in the mountains around Tucson, I started walking anywhere from about 3 to 3.5 miles per hike and increased to a minimum of about 5 miles up to 10 miles each hike. I even hit 12 miles a couple or few times. I have been working out recently, actually for a month and a half or two before I started the diet; before that I had been gaining weight and it got up quite a few pounds. As for the walking I am doing now, walking in the street and on a treadmill are not the same as hiking in the Arizona mountains. It will have to do though, cause to get to a decent mountain to hike in NY, where there will not be a lot of assholes hiking all around me, I'd have to drive at least 2 to 3 hours from home.
While it would be nice to actually start losing some weight, I was recently weighed in at my second highest weight ever, I am doing this mostly for two other reasons. I want to lower my blood sugar which has been at borderline pre-diabetic levels and by borderline I mean at the top end not at the bottom. Only a point or two more and I'd be in diabetic territory. I don't need diabetes fucking me over so am trying to avoid it. I am also doing it for another reason, to be ready to do some casual hikingand running from Brown Bears in Alaska. At the end of May is when Brendan and I will go on what will likely be my once in a lifetime dream vacation. He is young and I imagine he may yet have many more dream vacations to come but I don't foresee many more like this one for me.
With that said, I am off to the gym to hit the treadmill set on a decent incline.
All the best,
Glenn B
I have also cut back on non-sugary carbs as well. Yes, that means no beer either. Damn, two weeks of not even one beer although I must admit I cheated once and had a cider but other than that nothing like it. I have been able to survive that drought by drinking whisky, vodka and by having some moonshine cherries. Yes, the moonshine cherries do contain sugar but only 1.9 grams apiece based on what I could find about them. It is so little sugar compared to what I used to eat every day it is probably negligible overall but I hope to cut out even the urge for them and my sugar urges have been fading. Anyway, I've only had about a dozen and a half of the cherries in that two weeks. I also had two protein bars, and am thinking of not having any more of them because they have 17 grams of carbs, 3 of which are sugars; still though - much better than candy, cakes, or chips and I again did with less bread those two days. I have eaten some fruit but not much. I will have more of it once I lose some weight and get my blood sugar down.
As for what I have been eating, it is not your typical low-fat diet stuff. I have a couple to three eggs with one piece of dry toast or bread in the morning, with black coffee and a bottle of water.
I have been exercising too. Been doing that longer than the diet. Then I usually don't eat until late afternoon when I have whatever meal my wife cooked or if she didn't then I make for myself. I also buy pre-cooked stuff from Costco. Costco has some huge roasted chickens at only $4.99 each, an has some decent mesquite flavored ribs and seasoned wings. I usually have those things with a salad with some veggies thrown into the mix. Had a salad yesterday into which I threw half of a very thick NY strip steak.
I did this same kind of diet while working out in Arizona back in 2009 for 4 1/2 months and lost about 30-35 pounds in less than 4 months of watching what I ate and drank. I even wound up eating a McDonalds, or other fast food, burger and fries most weekdays, with water and an apple and kept shedding pounds because even while eating them, my carb intake had been reduced greatly.
I am hoping it works again. The big difference from then to now is that back then I exercised religiously - ONE TIME PER WEEK (yes sometimes I did it twice but that was rare). I went hiking in the mountains around Tucson, I started walking anywhere from about 3 to 3.5 miles per hike and increased to a minimum of about 5 miles up to 10 miles each hike. I even hit 12 miles a couple or few times. I have been working out recently, actually for a month and a half or two before I started the diet; before that I had been gaining weight and it got up quite a few pounds. As for the walking I am doing now, walking in the street and on a treadmill are not the same as hiking in the Arizona mountains. It will have to do though, cause to get to a decent mountain to hike in NY, where there will not be a lot of assholes hiking all around me, I'd have to drive at least 2 to 3 hours from home.
While it would be nice to actually start losing some weight, I was recently weighed in at my second highest weight ever, I am doing this mostly for two other reasons. I want to lower my blood sugar which has been at borderline pre-diabetic levels and by borderline I mean at the top end not at the bottom. Only a point or two more and I'd be in diabetic territory. I don't need diabetes fucking me over so am trying to avoid it. I am also doing it for another reason, to be ready to do some casual hiking
With that said, I am off to the gym to hit the treadmill set on a decent incline.
All the best,
Glenn B
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
A Real Zombie Apocalypse...
...at least for this girl, who was recovering from pain killers given to her during oral surgery. Let me just say that her brothers deserve whatever it is she figures out to get back at them. This is truly fucked up but funny as all heck.
All the best,
GB
All the best,
GB
Spent Some Time Deanalizing Today And It Feels Good
Yes, I spelled deanalizing (de-anal-izing) correctly since I just made up the word. I've been a records keeper for a long time, at least since my college days when it was important to keep copies of things like my transcripts. The need to kept records also was necessary for my tax returns, not so much before and during college but afterward when I got into my federal LE career as a Border Patrol Agent many frigging moons ago. Of course, being a federal agent required a lot of record keeping for the job too, both official records and personal personnel records relative to it and health insurance records and tax records and personal records for renter's insurance and auto insurance and yada yada yada. That all expanded even more after my transfer into the U.S. Customs Service, especially after I became a criminal investigator and Special Agent; there were lots more official records relative to my work. Then I got married and bought a house and got several more credit cards than the one I had up until then, added family health insurance, medical bills, mortgage payments, life insurance records, auto and homeowner's insurance records, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on...ad infinitum it seems. Then there were also the firearms records for guns I bought and sold over the years.
In general, my record keeping was less than perfect. It's not like I neglected to keep records but that my filing system absolutely sucked - at least for personal records related to any of the above. At work, I was required to maintain a certain level of proficiency in keeping records and while I maintained my files within regulations (for the great part) that is not to say that the files kept were as good as they could have been. The required stuff was virtually in my files but sadly sometimes in a bit of a shambles. Well, when it came to me keeping personal records, it was worse, those files were often a mess. Yeah, I was pretty friggin anal in that I kept things for many years that others may have destroyed after a year or two at most and my records were probably not anywhere as neatly pigeon holed away as they should have been. Thus I often kept records, in my files, that just were not needed within them, just thrown into them in any random manner and as I said to excess. Every now and then I would go through what I had and deanalzie my files, or in other words, I'd try to remove the shit that I did not need in them and organize what I did need to keep for awhile longer.
I did that today for most of my archived records. It took me most of four hours of my otherwise not so precious time. I enjoyed a cocktail or thee after finishing up with it. What it amounted to was me throwing away, things mostly like bill payment records, that I have had since as far back as 2009. I guess that must have been the year I last did so. There were a few records dating even further back, such as an electricians bill/receipt from September 1995. I will likely never throw that one out, it was from the first or second year (I think the first year) that we have owned our current house and the work was performed by an electrician I had known for at least 25 years before that who had dome work for my mom and before her for my great-grandfather. Some things, even records hold a place in the nostalgia of my life. Anyway, I narrowed down most of my records to those from the last year or two depending on what type of record. I will keep some records that are much older, such as tax records (probably for 5 to 7 years) and firearms records (probably for my forever relative to those records I have archived). So, as it wound up, I probably threw away 10-15 pounds or so of what amounted to useless paperwork. That was a lot of deanalizing! I feel better now, a bit like someone gave me an enema (which is uncomfortable at best when being undertaken just as was the purging of my records). I just feel a great relief because the after effects of the deanalzing make me feel as if I finally shit out whatever it was that had once constipated my file keeping life.
I am now enjoying a cocktail of success because I am less of a filled up asshole than I was before. Hopefully I will not revert to that state of archived constipation ever again.
All the best,
Glenn B
In general, my record keeping was less than perfect. It's not like I neglected to keep records but that my filing system absolutely sucked - at least for personal records related to any of the above. At work, I was required to maintain a certain level of proficiency in keeping records and while I maintained my files within regulations (for the great part) that is not to say that the files kept were as good as they could have been. The required stuff was virtually in my files but sadly sometimes in a bit of a shambles. Well, when it came to me keeping personal records, it was worse, those files were often a mess. Yeah, I was pretty friggin anal in that I kept things for many years that others may have destroyed after a year or two at most and my records were probably not anywhere as neatly pigeon holed away as they should have been. Thus I often kept records, in my files, that just were not needed within them, just thrown into them in any random manner and as I said to excess. Every now and then I would go through what I had and deanalzie my files, or in other words, I'd try to remove the shit that I did not need in them and organize what I did need to keep for awhile longer.
I did that today for most of my archived records. It took me most of four hours of my otherwise not so precious time. I enjoyed a cocktail or thee after finishing up with it. What it amounted to was me throwing away, things mostly like bill payment records, that I have had since as far back as 2009. I guess that must have been the year I last did so. There were a few records dating even further back, such as an electricians bill/receipt from September 1995. I will likely never throw that one out, it was from the first or second year (I think the first year) that we have owned our current house and the work was performed by an electrician I had known for at least 25 years before that who had dome work for my mom and before her for my great-grandfather. Some things, even records hold a place in the nostalgia of my life. Anyway, I narrowed down most of my records to those from the last year or two depending on what type of record. I will keep some records that are much older, such as tax records (probably for 5 to 7 years) and firearms records (probably for my forever relative to those records I have archived). So, as it wound up, I probably threw away 10-15 pounds or so of what amounted to useless paperwork. That was a lot of deanalizing! I feel better now, a bit like someone gave me an enema (which is uncomfortable at best when being undertaken just as was the purging of my records). I just feel a great relief because the after effects of the deanalzing make me feel as if I finally shit out whatever it was that had once constipated my file keeping life.
I am now enjoying a cocktail of success because I am less of a filled up asshole than I was before. Hopefully I will not revert to that state of archived constipation ever again.
All the best,
Glenn B
Ammo Corrosion
Six years and six months ago, and I mean that most literally minus only a day, because on October 13, 2009, I wrote up a blog post about corroded ammunition that I had laying around in my basement. I showed a photograph of ten rounds consisting of a few different calibers. All of the ammo in the pic was lightly to maybe moderately corroded.
The ammo was in that condition because it had been exposed to slightly to fairly humid air over the course of at least a few to several years in my basement. I took that ammo, and placed it into a tin ammo box, the type they give you with a few hundred rounds of cheap 22LR, with a deck of playing cards or an even cheaper small knife, and that they call a collectors tin. After putting the pictured rounds and many other corroded ones in that box, I put the lid on the box. There was no desiccant inside the box and no special seal. It sat in my basement these last six and a half years. I had planned that at some time or another I would dispose of all the rounds in the box properly. As I think you may have read here before, I am The Great Procrastinator. Since then, I have opened an closed the box a few times a year to add more ammo to it and most of those pictured rounds have remained in there.
Yes, that means I still have the ones in the picture; well, I have 8 rounds of the 10 anyway. When I went through that box recently, I could not find the pictured 7.62x54R round nor the blank 22 rimfire round. I have no clue what happened to the 7.62x54R round. As to the blank, I am almost certain I fired that one, it was only slightly tarnished.
I decided to take another photo of those rounds, from the 2009 image, to show you how much, if any, they changed in the last 6 1/2 years during which time they remained in the mostly closed tin. The only round, in the current photo, that I am not fairly certain is the same as the one in the original is the 22LR round, there were several of them in the box all with about the same amount of corrosion, so I grabbed one of them. As to the seven other rounds in today's pic, I am pretty certain they are the same exact rounds as shown in the 2009 photo because of the corrosion patterns on them. I was pretty surprised when I took a look at them and compared them to the ones in the picture that I took of them back in October 13, 2009 - they were almost identical! Despite being in that box, down in my basement with no desiccant of any type and no special seal for the lid, it is amazing how little they have changed. Why is that? I am guessing because they were in a box with a fairly tight fitting lid that did not admit almost any moisture or air into the box; the box remained closed for the most part - maybe being opened and closed a few times a year at most but was kept relatively dry. Take a look yourself at what they look like today.
So, what is the point of all this? Well the number one point is that you should store your ammo in a dry and relatively cool condition, air free if possible, to avoid corrosion in the first place. The second point, the one more relative to this particular blog post is that just because ammunition is corroded, it does not mean it needs to be destroyed because you think it can only get much worse in a short time. Yes, if you keep your ammo under less than desirable conditions and it becomes slightly corroded and then continue to keep it under those same conditions it will likely continue to corrode at a fairly rapid pace. However, if you take that lightly corroded ammunition and store it properly, chances are the corrosion will cease to worsen. The ammo in question, those rounds in the photos, were never kept under ideal conditions but even once slightly corroded and then placed in improved storage conditions, the corrosion worsened only minimally.
So why keep corroded ammo in the first place if not merely because you are a procrastinator like me? I think all of the pictured ammo could possibly be cleaned up and fired; although, I would not attempt to use any of it in a self-defense situation. There is just too much chance of some sort of a failure with it. It might be okay for plinking or hunting in a survival scenario but still why take the risk unless it is the only ammo you have on hand!
So what risk is there, what could go wrong? Chances are some of it may not fire if the corrosion allowed moisture to get inside the casing and corrupt the powder or primer. Firing badly enough corroded rounds could also lead to a catastrophic failure of the shell casing. While this is just my opinion, I do not think any of these particular pictured rounds are corroded so badly to cause a catastrophic failure of the casing when fired. Yet, there is always that potential risk with corroded ammo, that the shell casing fails and either cracks or has the head separation and things like that can cause an excess buildup of pressure that could destroy your gun and injure you. There is also a chance that if the bullet is too corroded it may not pass through the bore and may cause a blockage. If you did not realize the bullet was lodged in the barrel and tried to fire another round, it could result in the barrel blowing up and could cause injury to you or others nearby. Cleaning corroded casings and bullets may or may not help along those lines but you certainly don't need to risk any of these things happening so maybe it is best not to use ammo that is in any state of corrosion beyond being more than just somewhat tarnished. Yet, if you absolutely need it to survive, it may be worth cleaning and storing but remain aware of the potential dangers if doing so.
All the best,
Glenn B
 |
| The corroded ammo as it appeared in October 2009. |
Yes, that means I still have the ones in the picture; well, I have 8 rounds of the 10 anyway. When I went through that box recently, I could not find the pictured 7.62x54R round nor the blank 22 rimfire round. I have no clue what happened to the 7.62x54R round. As to the blank, I am almost certain I fired that one, it was only slightly tarnished.
I decided to take another photo of those rounds, from the 2009 image, to show you how much, if any, they changed in the last 6 1/2 years during which time they remained in the mostly closed tin. The only round, in the current photo, that I am not fairly certain is the same as the one in the original is the 22LR round, there were several of them in the box all with about the same amount of corrosion, so I grabbed one of them. As to the seven other rounds in today's pic, I am pretty certain they are the same exact rounds as shown in the 2009 photo because of the corrosion patterns on them. I was pretty surprised when I took a look at them and compared them to the ones in the picture that I took of them back in October 13, 2009 - they were almost identical! Despite being in that box, down in my basement with no desiccant of any type and no special seal for the lid, it is amazing how little they have changed. Why is that? I am guessing because they were in a box with a fairly tight fitting lid that did not admit almost any moisture or air into the box; the box remained closed for the most part - maybe being opened and closed a few times a year at most but was kept relatively dry. Take a look yourself at what they look like today.
 |
| This is the 2016 photo of at least 7 of the same rounds from the 2009 photo. (the 22LR is questionable as being the same round). It amazes me how little the corrosion advanced over the course of six and a half years. |
So why keep corroded ammo in the first place if not merely because you are a procrastinator like me? I think all of the pictured ammo could possibly be cleaned up and fired; although, I would not attempt to use any of it in a self-defense situation. There is just too much chance of some sort of a failure with it. It might be okay for plinking or hunting in a survival scenario but still why take the risk unless it is the only ammo you have on hand!
So what risk is there, what could go wrong? Chances are some of it may not fire if the corrosion allowed moisture to get inside the casing and corrupt the powder or primer. Firing badly enough corroded rounds could also lead to a catastrophic failure of the shell casing. While this is just my opinion, I do not think any of these particular pictured rounds are corroded so badly to cause a catastrophic failure of the casing when fired. Yet, there is always that potential risk with corroded ammo, that the shell casing fails and either cracks or has the head separation and things like that can cause an excess buildup of pressure that could destroy your gun and injure you. There is also a chance that if the bullet is too corroded it may not pass through the bore and may cause a blockage. If you did not realize the bullet was lodged in the barrel and tried to fire another round, it could result in the barrel blowing up and could cause injury to you or others nearby. Cleaning corroded casings and bullets may or may not help along those lines but you certainly don't need to risk any of these things happening so maybe it is best not to use ammo that is in any state of corrosion beyond being more than just somewhat tarnished. Yet, if you absolutely need it to survive, it may be worth cleaning and storing but remain aware of the potential dangers if doing so.
All the best,
Glenn B
Monday, April 11, 2016
Shit Happens - Especially When An Idiot Is Factored In
A Pakistani judge asked a police officer (he is the idiot in this case), in a court proceeding, if the officer knew how grenades worked. So what does the idiot do but pull the pin from a live grenade that was in evidence. More here.
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
Move To Cover
The officer in the video did a lot right and the shoot was fully justified but he did not do everything right. Don't be blinded because it was a justified shooting.
So what did he do that was not the best thing to have done? He totally disregarded cover and instead of keeping it between him and his assailant he moved away from it. Thus, he did what too many do - used the weapon as a shield by holding it out in front of him and giving his attacker verbal commands. Could have done both of those while also using what would have amounted to a real shield - he could have used his cruiser as cover.
Many people somehow believe that the weapon out accompanied by commands is all it will take to deter an attack. As can be seen here that was not the case. It did not work and he had to shoot her. I repeat the shoot was good, totally justified. Yet, look at his failure to use cover, look at how he moves away from cover by moving backwards instead of moving around his vehicle to maintain cover.
Therein is a lesson anyone can learn by watching the video. That does not mean that even if behind cover he should not have shot, in that close of a proximity, cover offered some but still minimal protection as she kept advancing. It was indeed a good shoot but it would have been just as good from behind cover and there would have been less of a potential for the officer to be wounded. Yes, as it was, there was a greater chance he could have been wounded because he moved away from cover. Imagine something went badly wrong for the officer. Imagine he had tripped while moving backwards and dropped his firearms or it jammed when it hit the ground. Imagine he fired and she took 1, 2, 3, 4, shots and kept coming in a rage or drug induced frenzy. What if he had a misfire or catastrophic failure of his pistol.
In any of those scenarios, she may have gotten to him and whacked him a few times with the axe because he would not have had time to recover from whatever just went wrong. If he had been behind cover, he may have had a second or even split second more to recover. In an encounter with an assailant holding a bladed weapon, cover provides not only what will stop the weapon but can also, in effect, provide distance and time to the person being attacked.
Making the assailant have to move around something to be able to reach you could be a lifesaver. Move to cover is a mantra not to be forgotten when one is faced by an assailant and one to be practiced often. Practicing it a lot helps to rid your mind of that crap you see in the movies where almost all the heroes shoot from out in the open; so, practicing moving to cover may save your life, then you can watch more of those movies.
Please bear in mind, I am not saying, or even hinting, that had the officer been behind cover he could have avoided shooting his attacker to assure she did not harm or kill him. In a case like this, shooting her would have been just as necessary from behind cover had she kept advancing like that. What I am saying is that cover potentially provides more protection than no cover and that you should use it whenever available and to your advantage.
Hat tip to Murphy on whose blog I first saw the video.
All the best,
Glenn B
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Fear The Walking Dead - Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...
...it can sometimes really suck to have to make decisions. Like tonight for instance - should I watch the season opener of Fear The Walking Dead or should I play it safe and protect my TV by watching something else instead? If I watch it, and it's not any better (and by that I really mean a hell of a whole frigging lot better) than the any and all of the episodes in the first season, I may take out the TV with the 870 before the show is over tonight. This show was has been one of the most hyped zombie shows ever and it sucks more than Zombie Honeymoon and believe me that sucked really bad. I tried to watch it few times but could never make it through it all the way, not even once when nothing else but crap was on the screen that night. Even drunk, I could not watch it.
Even with all its inconsistencies, I still watch The Walking Dead. That one is entertaining, it has good actors, good scripts and directors and excellent special effects. On the other chewed off hand, Fear The Walking Dead has been a like what I imagine a documentary about Millard Fillmore would be like - BORING AS ALL HELL! Damn, I'd rather watch reruns of Romper Room than season one of Fear The Walking Dead again. Yet, as with most zombie flick fans I know, I probably am going to watch it because its a zombie show after all! Still though, I have not completely made up my mind.
Any which way, it starts in less than an hour. Just in case I do decide to watch it, I guess I had best start putting away all of my guns and any ammo. The machete ought to be locked away too. It would not be good if I destroyed the television, it was my Father's Day gift just last year, it's not even a year old yet!
All the best,
Glenn B
Even with all its inconsistencies, I still watch The Walking Dead. That one is entertaining, it has good actors, good scripts and directors and excellent special effects. On the other chewed off hand, Fear The Walking Dead has been a like what I imagine a documentary about Millard Fillmore would be like - BORING AS ALL HELL! Damn, I'd rather watch reruns of Romper Room than season one of Fear The Walking Dead again. Yet, as with most zombie flick fans I know, I probably am going to watch it because its a zombie show after all! Still though, I have not completely made up my mind.
Any which way, it starts in less than an hour. Just in case I do decide to watch it, I guess I had best start putting away all of my guns and any ammo. The machete ought to be locked away too. It would not be good if I destroyed the television, it was my Father's Day gift just last year, it's not even a year old yet!
All the best,
Glenn B
Everyman's Evening Eyeful
In case you had not noticed, I went for a white theme yesterday, figured I go for red today.
All the best,
GB
22LR Ammo Report
Alright, I was up and at em at 0700 this past Friday. That's fairly early for a retired lazy man like me. Even better than that was that I decided to forego my morning laptop session, of two ours or so, and get my arse out of the house. I was in the parking lot of my local range by 0845. I soon met someone there to whom I handed off 2K of 22LR ammo. All legal, all okay, it was a face to face private transfer of ammo here in the Socialist Rebooblik of New Yorkistan and it went smoothly as expected. That being done, it was time to shoot.
Before leaving home, figuring I'd be in the range parking lot, I had decided why not get in some shooting too. So, I took along something to shoot. Besides what I had strapped on my hip, which I would not be shooting, I decided on my S&W Model 17-8 revolver in 22LR. I also had a decent assortment of 22LR ammo from various manufacturers. That ammo included:
CCI Blazer - 50 rounds
CCI Mini Mags - 100 rounds
Federal Value Pack (from December 1993) - 250 rounds
PMC Score Master - 50 rounds
Remington 22 Target - 250 rounds
Remington Golden Bullets - 50 rounds
I set the my target at 50 feet (just over 16.5 yards). It was an NRA B3, official rapid and timed fire pistol target, meant for that distance. I used about 5 with the blank side facing me and the other 5 with the bullseye winking my way. I always figure that if I am plinking at cans, shooting a rabbit or defending myself against an armed intruder - none of them is going to be wearing a bullseye (unless the intruder is very stupid). So, I like to shoot the blank side a lot.
A few times past, when I have shot the Model 17, using various different ammo on each of several range trips, it liked two of the cheapest brands/makes of ammo imaginable. One of those was CCI Blazer ammo and the other was Remington Golden Bullets. I don't know what happened yesterday, it all but told me it detested the Golden Bullets. Accuracy sucked with them, I had a hand sized group or larger at 50 feet. It certainly was nothing to brag about. The Remington 22 Target Ammo was fairly accurate, at least for the ones that actually fired (more on this below). The CCI Blazer was okay in the accuracy department,for plinking or hunting. I did not shoot as good with it on Friday as I have in the past through the Model 17. The Federal Value Pack was also acceptable for plinking and probably hunting. The CCI Mini Mags were an improvement over everything else so far.
The hands down best of the bunch yesterday was the PMC Score Master ammo. This stuff was old but not as old as the Federal. I figure the PMC ammo had to have been at least 12-15 years old and it was my last box of it (too bad since it is impossible to find now). I had three groups the about the size of a silver dollar, or a tad larger, each with a flyer or two, while shooting it at 50 feet. At 7 yards, I shot a slowfire grouping of about the size of a quqrter, that group consisted of 20 shots with a few flyers. The three other groups at 50 feet consisted of 10 rounds each, the Model 17-8 holds that many in the cylinder.
This ammo report though is not as much about the inherent accuracy of any of the brands or types of 22LR ammo I had with me as it is about quality control and the reliability of the ammo. While shooting, I had several no go bang moments that just should not have happened and that's what I am targeting right now. Except for the PMC and Federal ammo, all of the 22LR ammunition I fired yesterday was purchased within the last 1 to 6 years, all stored dry and relatively cool.
Federal Value Pack: The Federal had zero, I repeat ZERO, failures to fire. This ammo is from December 1993, over 22 years old. Despite it being that old and a relatively inexpensive ammo, every round fired; some of the recently manufactured stuff did not even come close to that. There was one failure to feed, the round would not go into the chamber. That was due to the shell casing being bent. One round that I found in the box had turned blacked and had crusty oxidation on it, I disposed of that one. Strange since none of the others resembled that one.
PMC Score Master: The PMC (a brand made in S. Korea) had no, I repeat NO, failures to fire. This particular PMC ammo had the oddest smelling gunpowder, its aroma is unlike anything I have ever shot before. It was fairly clean shooting too. Again, this ammo had to be at least 12 to maybe 15 years old.
CCI Blazer: Every round went bang. The Blazer ammo is dirty as all heck, a lot of unspent gunpowder came out of the cases when ejected. The Mini Mags fired much cleaner. The Blazer ammo was purchased in 2014.
CCI Mini Mags: The CCI Mini Mags did not have even a single failure to fire. It was much cleaner than the Blazer. This was probably the oldest of the more recently manufactured ammo, I figure I got this 5 to 6 years ago when CCI still had it in the amber plastic boxes.
Remington Golden Bullets: There were four misfires, with the Remington Golden Bullets. They failed to fire on the first hit of the firing pin but I kept pulling the trigger until their chambers came round again and on the second hit each one of them fired. That is a failure rate of 8% and is totally unacceptable even for plinking, let alone hunting or self-defense. These were purchased new in 2013 and that does not say anything good for Remington's quality control nowadays. I have another batch from 2015 that I hope is better in that department.
Remington 22 Target Ammunition: - This stuff was surprisingly horrendous. I had at least 10 failures to fire and the second strike on each of those cartridges also failed to fire them. I even tried a third hammer fall on a few of them but to no avail. Out of 40 rounds that I tried to fire, about 1/4 of them were duds; that is terrible. Oddly enough, I have used this type of ammo in the past with zero problems.
Since there were no major problems with any of the other ammo, except another type from Remington, and since even that Remington ammo went off on the second try, I seriously doubt this problem with the Remington 22 Target ammo was in any way due to a malfunction of the Model 17. I think it had to have been the ammo, either hard brass (although the rims looked dented enough to have fired) or the primer. My bet is on the primer being the likely thing to have failed. This ammo was bought new four years ago. It had been stored with all the other 22LR ammo fired during this range trip, so method of storage likely has nothing to do with the failures to fire.
I already was aware that Remington Golden Bullets and Remington Thunderbolt have only fair reputations at best, mostly because of misfires and failures to fire, but I never before had a problem with the Remington 22 Target ammo and have never heard of there being such problems with it. I have about 200 rounds of it left over. I plan to try to shoot some of it out of other 22 pistols and some of my rifles to see if the problem replicates in them. If so, I will rest assured it was the ammo and not the Model 17 that caused the issue. If it is the ammo, in the bad ammo bin at the range it will go.
All the best,
Glenn B
Before leaving home, figuring I'd be in the range parking lot, I had decided why not get in some shooting too. So, I took along something to shoot. Besides what I had strapped on my hip, which I would not be shooting, I decided on my S&W Model 17-8 revolver in 22LR. I also had a decent assortment of 22LR ammo from various manufacturers. That ammo included:
CCI Blazer - 50 rounds
CCI Mini Mags - 100 rounds
Federal Value Pack (from December 1993) - 250 rounds
PMC Score Master - 50 rounds
Remington 22 Target - 250 rounds
Remington Golden Bullets - 50 rounds
I set the my target at 50 feet (just over 16.5 yards). It was an NRA B3, official rapid and timed fire pistol target, meant for that distance. I used about 5 with the blank side facing me and the other 5 with the bullseye winking my way. I always figure that if I am plinking at cans, shooting a rabbit or defending myself against an armed intruder - none of them is going to be wearing a bullseye (unless the intruder is very stupid). So, I like to shoot the blank side a lot.
A few times past, when I have shot the Model 17, using various different ammo on each of several range trips, it liked two of the cheapest brands/makes of ammo imaginable. One of those was CCI Blazer ammo and the other was Remington Golden Bullets. I don't know what happened yesterday, it all but told me it detested the Golden Bullets. Accuracy sucked with them, I had a hand sized group or larger at 50 feet. It certainly was nothing to brag about. The Remington 22 Target Ammo was fairly accurate, at least for the ones that actually fired (more on this below). The CCI Blazer was okay in the accuracy department,for plinking or hunting. I did not shoot as good with it on Friday as I have in the past through the Model 17. The Federal Value Pack was also acceptable for plinking and probably hunting. The CCI Mini Mags were an improvement over everything else so far.
The hands down best of the bunch yesterday was the PMC Score Master ammo. This stuff was old but not as old as the Federal. I figure the PMC ammo had to have been at least 12-15 years old and it was my last box of it (too bad since it is impossible to find now). I had three groups the about the size of a silver dollar, or a tad larger, each with a flyer or two, while shooting it at 50 feet. At 7 yards, I shot a slowfire grouping of about the size of a quqrter, that group consisted of 20 shots with a few flyers. The three other groups at 50 feet consisted of 10 rounds each, the Model 17-8 holds that many in the cylinder.
This ammo report though is not as much about the inherent accuracy of any of the brands or types of 22LR ammo I had with me as it is about quality control and the reliability of the ammo. While shooting, I had several no go bang moments that just should not have happened and that's what I am targeting right now. Except for the PMC and Federal ammo, all of the 22LR ammunition I fired yesterday was purchased within the last 1 to 6 years, all stored dry and relatively cool.
Federal Value Pack: The Federal had zero, I repeat ZERO, failures to fire. This ammo is from December 1993, over 22 years old. Despite it being that old and a relatively inexpensive ammo, every round fired; some of the recently manufactured stuff did not even come close to that. There was one failure to feed, the round would not go into the chamber. That was due to the shell casing being bent. One round that I found in the box had turned blacked and had crusty oxidation on it, I disposed of that one. Strange since none of the others resembled that one.
PMC Score Master: The PMC (a brand made in S. Korea) had no, I repeat NO, failures to fire. This particular PMC ammo had the oddest smelling gunpowder, its aroma is unlike anything I have ever shot before. It was fairly clean shooting too. Again, this ammo had to be at least 12 to maybe 15 years old.
CCI Blazer: Every round went bang. The Blazer ammo is dirty as all heck, a lot of unspent gunpowder came out of the cases when ejected. The Mini Mags fired much cleaner. The Blazer ammo was purchased in 2014.
CCI Mini Mags: The CCI Mini Mags did not have even a single failure to fire. It was much cleaner than the Blazer. This was probably the oldest of the more recently manufactured ammo, I figure I got this 5 to 6 years ago when CCI still had it in the amber plastic boxes.
Remington Golden Bullets: There were four misfires, with the Remington Golden Bullets. They failed to fire on the first hit of the firing pin but I kept pulling the trigger until their chambers came round again and on the second hit each one of them fired. That is a failure rate of 8% and is totally unacceptable even for plinking, let alone hunting or self-defense. These were purchased new in 2013 and that does not say anything good for Remington's quality control nowadays. I have another batch from 2015 that I hope is better in that department.
Remington 22 Target Ammunition: - This stuff was surprisingly horrendous. I had at least 10 failures to fire and the second strike on each of those cartridges also failed to fire them. I even tried a third hammer fall on a few of them but to no avail. Out of 40 rounds that I tried to fire, about 1/4 of them were duds; that is terrible. Oddly enough, I have used this type of ammo in the past with zero problems.
Since there were no major problems with any of the other ammo, except another type from Remington, and since even that Remington ammo went off on the second try, I seriously doubt this problem with the Remington 22 Target ammo was in any way due to a malfunction of the Model 17. I think it had to have been the ammo, either hard brass (although the rims looked dented enough to have fired) or the primer. My bet is on the primer being the likely thing to have failed. This ammo was bought new four years ago. It had been stored with all the other 22LR ammo fired during this range trip, so method of storage likely has nothing to do with the failures to fire.
I already was aware that Remington Golden Bullets and Remington Thunderbolt have only fair reputations at best, mostly because of misfires and failures to fire, but I never before had a problem with the Remington 22 Target ammo and have never heard of there being such problems with it. I have about 200 rounds of it left over. I plan to try to shoot some of it out of other 22 pistols and some of my rifles to see if the problem replicates in them. If so, I will rest assured it was the ammo and not the Model 17 that caused the issue. If it is the ammo, in the bad ammo bin at the range it will go.
All the best,
Glenn B
Saturday, April 9, 2016
Justifiabe Firearms Arrest Or Not?
I think not but I will leave it to my readers (and if it comes to it to a judge and or jury). I encourage you to chime in with your comments to what your think happened. I, for one, would love to see the reactions of both LEOs (current and retired) and non-LEOs to this arrest but please if you do reply do it respectfully.
An off duty Houston PD officer claims a man pointed a gun at him twice while in a gas station and arrested the guy at gunpoint. The guy claimed his gun fell out of the side panel of his vehicle as he rushed out of the vehicle to go to the rest room. Sounds like a pretty lame story, on the guy's part, doesn't it!
It seems that there may be evidence that the officer was the only one violating rules or regulations. What it says near the end of the article makes me wonder if anything else, other than the guys gun, influenced the officer to make that arrest. Well, watch the video at the below link. THEN and ONLY THEN, read the accompanying article.
http://www.khou.com/news/local/man-claims-he-was-wrongfully-arrested-for-pointing-gun-at-off-duty-officer/126858009
I watched the video about 20 times, and froze it almost as often at the point where the guy's right hand moves over the steering wheel as he exits he vehicle. I did that mostly to look at the 'suspect's" right hand to see if it was holding a gun. I cannot see a gun in that hand. The door latch was evidently in his other hand. Thus I did not see any chance for the 'suspect' to have pointed his gun at the officer once as he exited his vehicle, let alone that he got out of the car holding it and pointing it at the officer, then dropped it, then picked it and again pointed it at the officer (as the article says is claimed in court documents). To me, it sure looks like what the 'suspect' said happened is what really happened. What do you think?
On the other side, maybe the cop actually saw it or maybe he truly believes he saw it that way after the fact of it really having been otherwise. What I mean is that maybe he did not see the gun pointing at him but as the guy picked it up the officer's mind played a trick on him. It happens, and in the current state of affairs with all the anti-cop sentiment in this country (real or imagined), maybe he saw it that way. Of course, it could be he is just rabidly anti-gun for non-law enforcement and lying his arse off - who can tell. A video from another angle might show that when the guy picked it up, it was pointed at the officer but the video we can watch, at the provided link, sure does not seem to support the claim. The claim reportedly was that the guy pointed a gun at the officer as the guy got out of his vehicle, then dropped it, then picked it up, then pointed it at the officer again. Once more, I just don't see that in the video. So, is there anything else, even something possibly just hinted at in the report, something that possibly could have influenced what the officer saw?
I have to wonder about the actions of the officer right before the incident since he reportedly was shown, in the store video, buying beer just before it happened. I don't think they meant root beer. If buying beer is it also it possible he had also drinking before the incident? It certainly would be something for the PD, if truly being objective, to look into. Had he been drinking before the incident it could put this in a whole new light.
Regardless of whether he was drinking or not, what goes against the officer, besides the video and the statement of the guy who was arrested, is the reported violation of departmental policy/regulation for buying beer while in uniform. If he can violate one regulation, as was reported, then why not another. This possibly will all be brought to the jury's attention, if it goes to trial, in the form of a rebuttal to any testimony by the officer or as a way to discredit the officer's integrity. I will guess that, in the absence of any other video evidence or witnesses, if this goes to trial by jury, the 'suspect' will be exonerated of an assault charge or any lessor charge related to pointing a gun at the officer.
Of course, if the 'suspect' has prior conviction and lied on his permit application that will go against him and his integrity; however, that already seems to have been addressed in as much as it was reported that those charges had been dismissed. Then again, that is giving a lot of credit both to the media and to the defense attorney. I mean, when have attorney's or the media ever gotten it wrong, right!
However it winds up, it goes to show you need to really give some thought to where your gun is located, why it is there and if it could be better positioned. It may also well go to show that if you are a LEO, you really need to be sure of your probable cause before making an arrest and before swearing to it in court or on an affidavit and you had best follow departmental policy instead of being seen violating it immediately prior to an arrest.
All the best,
Glenn B
An off duty Houston PD officer claims a man pointed a gun at him twice while in a gas station and arrested the guy at gunpoint. The guy claimed his gun fell out of the side panel of his vehicle as he rushed out of the vehicle to go to the rest room. Sounds like a pretty lame story, on the guy's part, doesn't it!
It seems that there may be evidence that the officer was the only one violating rules or regulations. What it says near the end of the article makes me wonder if anything else, other than the guys gun, influenced the officer to make that arrest. Well, watch the video at the below link. THEN and ONLY THEN, read the accompanying article.
http://www.khou.com/news/local/man-claims-he-was-wrongfully-arrested-for-pointing-gun-at-off-duty-officer/126858009
I watched the video about 20 times, and froze it almost as often at the point where the guy's right hand moves over the steering wheel as he exits he vehicle. I did that mostly to look at the 'suspect's" right hand to see if it was holding a gun. I cannot see a gun in that hand. The door latch was evidently in his other hand. Thus I did not see any chance for the 'suspect' to have pointed his gun at the officer once as he exited his vehicle, let alone that he got out of the car holding it and pointing it at the officer, then dropped it, then picked it and again pointed it at the officer (as the article says is claimed in court documents). To me, it sure looks like what the 'suspect' said happened is what really happened. What do you think?
On the other side, maybe the cop actually saw it or maybe he truly believes he saw it that way after the fact of it really having been otherwise. What I mean is that maybe he did not see the gun pointing at him but as the guy picked it up the officer's mind played a trick on him. It happens, and in the current state of affairs with all the anti-cop sentiment in this country (real or imagined), maybe he saw it that way. Of course, it could be he is just rabidly anti-gun for non-law enforcement and lying his arse off - who can tell. A video from another angle might show that when the guy picked it up, it was pointed at the officer but the video we can watch, at the provided link, sure does not seem to support the claim. The claim reportedly was that the guy pointed a gun at the officer as the guy got out of his vehicle, then dropped it, then picked it up, then pointed it at the officer again. Once more, I just don't see that in the video. So, is there anything else, even something possibly just hinted at in the report, something that possibly could have influenced what the officer saw?
I have to wonder about the actions of the officer right before the incident since he reportedly was shown, in the store video, buying beer just before it happened. I don't think they meant root beer. If buying beer is it also it possible he had also drinking before the incident? It certainly would be something for the PD, if truly being objective, to look into. Had he been drinking before the incident it could put this in a whole new light.
Regardless of whether he was drinking or not, what goes against the officer, besides the video and the statement of the guy who was arrested, is the reported violation of departmental policy/regulation for buying beer while in uniform. If he can violate one regulation, as was reported, then why not another. This possibly will all be brought to the jury's attention, if it goes to trial, in the form of a rebuttal to any testimony by the officer or as a way to discredit the officer's integrity. I will guess that, in the absence of any other video evidence or witnesses, if this goes to trial by jury, the 'suspect' will be exonerated of an assault charge or any lessor charge related to pointing a gun at the officer.
Of course, if the 'suspect' has prior conviction and lied on his permit application that will go against him and his integrity; however, that already seems to have been addressed in as much as it was reported that those charges had been dismissed. Then again, that is giving a lot of credit both to the media and to the defense attorney. I mean, when have attorney's or the media ever gotten it wrong, right!
However it winds up, it goes to show you need to really give some thought to where your gun is located, why it is there and if it could be better positioned. It may also well go to show that if you are a LEO, you really need to be sure of your probable cause before making an arrest and before swearing to it in court or on an affidavit and you had best follow departmental policy instead of being seen violating it immediately prior to an arrest.
All the best,
Glenn B
Friday, April 8, 2016
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Everyman's Evening Eyeful
Yeah, I am late with this, hell it's already morning kind of late. So here are a few extras.
All the best,
GB
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
I've Heard it Said - Guns Are A Poor Investment
I was reading a post in a gun forum today wherein the poster stated that guns are not a good investment. I agree whole heartedly that
guns are poor investments but only with it being contingent that you plan to sell
them to someone like an FFL dealer and the poster in that forum used an attempted sale of guns to an FFL dealer as an example to back his claim.
You rarely make even a decent profit when selling to a dealer of any sort (unless maybe the dealer is buying for his personal collection), let alone a gun dealer. Dealers are dealers, after all, and are in business for the purpose of making money, not giving it to you or at least giving as little as they can to you so they can profit off of the deal. If they can low ball you, they make more money. It is like that show Pawn Stars, they often offer what seem to me to be lowball prices. Then the arsehats selling the item accept those offers
(many probably just to get on TV). To tempt the seller to take a low offer, the pawn shop dealer gives every reason as to why he cannot pay more, such as: there will be too much work and expense to restore it, he will hold onto it for a long time before it sells because it is not in high demand right now or there are limited buyers for that type of item, it is only worth precious metal content instead of appreciated value (for things like jewelry or decorative items made from gold or silver), my price is better than an auction house because if you try to sell it at auction they take a 25% seller premium (no auction house or online auction I have ever been or used have seller fees that high, in fact the online gun auction site - GunBroker.com - takes much less, only about a 3% final value fee plus any listing extras, a basic listing is free). You get the picture, a dealer is a person who wants to get an item for the lowest price possible and then sell it for the highest price he can get. Well, firearms dealers are much the same - maybe worse - friggin tightwads at best. That is, I suppose, how some stay in business or at least how they wind up laughing all the way to the bank.
You rarely make even a decent profit when selling to a dealer of any sort (unless maybe the dealer is buying for his personal collection), let alone a gun dealer. Dealers are dealers, after all, and are in business for the purpose of making money, not giving it to you or at least giving as little as they can to you so they can profit off of the deal. If they can low ball you, they make more money. It is like that show Pawn Stars, they often offer what seem to me to be lowball prices. Then the arsehats selling the item accept those offers
(many probably just to get on TV). To tempt the seller to take a low offer, the pawn shop dealer gives every reason as to why he cannot pay more, such as: there will be too much work and expense to restore it, he will hold onto it for a long time before it sells because it is not in high demand right now or there are limited buyers for that type of item, it is only worth precious metal content instead of appreciated value (for things like jewelry or decorative items made from gold or silver), my price is better than an auction house because if you try to sell it at auction they take a 25% seller premium (no auction house or online auction I have ever been or used have seller fees that high, in fact the online gun auction site - GunBroker.com - takes much less, only about a 3% final value fee plus any listing extras, a basic listing is free). You get the picture, a dealer is a person who wants to get an item for the lowest price possible and then sell it for the highest price he can get. Well, firearms dealers are much the same - maybe worse - friggin tightwads at best. That is, I suppose, how some stay in business or at least how they wind up laughing all the way to the bank.
I have bought several guns
that I have later sold. I will estimate that at least 90% of the ones I have
sold, sold for a tidy profit and that means a net profit. That has been after
me using them for some time; I have only sold a few guns without either firing
them first or only firing them a time or three. Some have sold for almost
double what I paid for them. Someone, quick, please tell me again how guns are good investments - and figure out a way to make me believe it. There is no way that me putting my money into an interest bearing account is that good of an investment nor as safe of an investment.
If you want to invest in
guns, with the idea of maybe selling some of them at a future date for a decent
net profit (such as a collector might do to augment his collection), as opposed
to selling them at a loss, then you need to follow pretty much common sense
rules. Now, mind you, I don't buy guns with the intention of dealing in them. My purchases are more in line with a hobby, or hunting and for self defense. Every now and again, I will sell one or more with the intent of at least breaking even so I can put the money I get into buying more guns. The thing is, I usually net some cash when I do that because I bought smart (although I must admit some stupid impulse purchase son my part) and followed some rules.
So yes, most times I have sold a gun, I have netted a profit and it is better that many other investments would have been, especially short term investments. Sure, you can always damn the rules and then get lucky and buy something you later sell for a profit but to sell for a net profit consistently is another
thing. Note here, I am talking about any kind of gun too – not just ones that
may be in vogue when you buy them and that you hope will be in vogue later. So
what are those rules?
First – make sure everything you are doing is legal. Then buy quality firearms.
I am not talking about expensive firearms, just ones that are made well and the
makers of which have a good reputation. Make sure they are in very good or
better condition. Know how to determine condition. Buy at the best price you
can get them at and don’t impulse buy merely because you want a certain firearm
and then maybe wind up paying way too much for it. Know when to buy. There are
times of the year when guns, at least certain guns do not seem to sell as well.
Late spring into summer come to mind for hunting rifles. Look for them then at
a better price. This does not hold as true as it once did because of the
current/recent politically fired gun buying frenzies but it still holds true
sometimes. On the other side of that same coin, know when to sell. Sell a
hunting rifle the month or two before hunting season opens. Sell any type of gun right
after another anti-gun law or action has been proposed, or an anti-gun politico type has been newly elected, but this especially works for guns that politicians want to ban.
Not only do you want to know
when to buy and or sell a quality firearm from your collection, but you need to
know the costs and other conditions that go with selling it. Learn how you can legally
buy or sell firearms, there are varying laws in all 50 states plus federal laws
and regulations you must follow (remember that was the first rule above). Once you get the legality figured out for your
personal situation - and note I am only talking about personal sales of firearms
not commercial sales because I only make personal sales and am not a dealer - you need to know how much it will cost to buy and or sell
a gun. Here in NY, if I buy a pistol I have to pay $10 to have it added to my
license. If I sell it, it cost an additional $10 to take it off of my license.
If I buy it from a dealer in upstate NY, and this is only for handguns, I have
to pay to get there, pay for the handgun, pay to et home, bring the receipt to my county PD, have them give me a purchase
document, pay to return to the dealer, give the dealer the paperwork and take the gun, pay to get home, then go back to
the PD to have it put on my license. That could cost me well over a $100 in
addition to what I paid for the pistol and the $10 fee to add it to my permit. The only legal way around that is to
have the dealer ship it to me at a local FFL but that will cost at least $40
just for the FFL transfer. Rifles and shotguns have no such expense – for me here in
NY. As for handguns, it used to be my county PD gave you a purchase doc beforehand and you filled it out wherever
you bought the handgun, gave a copy to the dealer and took possession of your
gun then and there, it was a lot less expensive that way. Now the expense of going a distance to buy a handgun can be super expensive and thus I anticipate
buying very few handguns outside of my local area; unless, of course, I buy several at one time at an upstate
auction or want to use the excuse of going back and forth as a chance to get away from home.
The word "auction" as reminded me there
are the other fees to sell or buy a firearms, if you do so at auction. For
instance GunBroker.com does not charge a fee to register. Nor do they charge to
list an item with a basic listing but they do charge for extras relative to
your listing. So, for example, if you want you item subject line to appear in
boldface or color, there are fees for each. After your gun gets sold, GunBroker
charges about 3% as a final value fee. That is how they make there money. It is
nowhere nearly as much as the bald headed dude from the pawn shop show would
have you believe it costs to auction off an item, at least when he is the one trying
to lowball you for whatever you are selling. By the way, GunBroker has a pretty decent amount of reference guide material on how to do buy and sell guns online.
Some other things that will
assure you continue to be able to sell for a decent profit, or to even continue
to sell at all, are that you need to be honest in how you describe what you are
selling. Likewise, only buy from dealers or individuals with an honest
reputation. Sites like GunBroker have a feedback capability whereby you can
rate a buyer or seller and they can rate you too. Works great for the most part
but depends on people actually doing it and being honest.
You can also browse a site
like GunBroker to see at what price what guns have been selling and if they have been
selling at all at the time you are considering selling them. If not selling, or
selling way below what you thought they are worth, hold off and wait for better
times. If you must sell something, say you are short of cash (which is the worst reason to sell a gun)then sell a different gun that is in higher demand. Same thing with buying, I look to various
references to determine what a good buying price would be and then buy only if a good price is offered (took me a long time to learn that). Some of
those reference materials are: 'The Standard Catalog of Firearms – The Collectors
Price and Reference Guide' and 'The Blue Book of Gun Values' (I signed up for that
one online).
Be extremely careful about
stating the condition when selling. Try not to let it be subjective but
determine it through your use of a grading standard. Ask which standard was used
to grade it when purchasing and state the standard used by you when listing
the item. The NRA has one standard and some firearms reference books use their
own. Remember – be honest regardless of which grading standard you use. I go as
far as trying to offer only a very conservative estimate of a gun’s grade when
I sell it. The result has been that many of the feedback comments reference my
sales state the items was better than described. A happy buyer means future buyers. One buyer did not leave feedback for me because I used what amounted to a subjective description of pitting on a gun (he felt it was more pitted than I had stated despite me stating, in my item description that it had extensive surface pitting). We finally agreed to disagree and he kept the gun and did not accept my offer of sending him his money back and him keeping the gun. That will not happen again because of any misunderstanding based on my idea of surface pitting and its extent as opposed to what a buyer's idea of the same would be. Next time I will not "over" describe an item; I would just say it is pitted I there is pitting. Sometimes, when you try to be blatantly honest and give what you think is a very conservative description, it winds up your buyer disagrees and says it was worse than you said. You just cannot please everyone and a buyer may think your description was deceitful even though you were being honest. In such cases, offer the money back for a return - even if you have a no returns policy, that is what I did. It just pays to eat the sale so as not to have someone screw with your reputation. Then just offer it for sale again.
Just one last thing, this
about the prices I sell at. When I sell via an online auction, I do not set a
reserve bid price. Reserve bid price means that you can start bidding at any
price but the item will not sell unless you meet or exceed the reserve (which
is usually kept secret). However, I do sell at a minimum acceptable bid. So, I
set a minimum bid that I will accept for the item and in order to bid on it at
all, you have to bid at least that much. I almost always set it at less than I want for the
gun but still at the bare minimum I am willing to accept – which by the way is virtually never at a loss.
Sure, there are others things
I do, when buying and selling guns, that I could have included here and
probably yet other things you could think of in addition to them that would help assure a purchase
at a good price or a profitable sale. What is here though should be more than
enough to get you pointed in the right direction and help assure you do not get
screwed when buying a gun and that your investment is a profitable one should you ever decide to sell it.
All the best,
Glenn B
We Brew Excellent Tasting Coffee At Our House Too
It's not that we have a lot of guns, we have one or two around here someplace, but that we profess our God and or Natural given rights, our liberties to enjoy them and thus freedom itself.
A hat tip to The Miller, from whence Istole borrowed this comic.
All the best,
Glenn B
A hat tip to The Miller, from whence I
All the best,
Glenn B
Willkommen, Welkommen, Velkomst, Välkomna, Bienvenue, Bienvenido...
...Benvenuto, Dobrodošli, I mirëpritur, Vítejte, Tervetuloa, Tere tulemast, Üdvözöljük, Laukiamas and Come For Tea, among many others.
The whole world needs to wake up before the wake up call is the blade cutting into your neck or the bomb blast filling your legs and guts with shrapnel.
A hat tip to John B for having this on his FB page.
All the best,
Glenn B (anti-jihadist)
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