Mr. Islamist Never Hangs Around - When He Hears This Mighty Sound

'Oink, oink, "Here I come to save the day" means that mighty pig is on his way, oink, oink, oink...'

For those of you too young to get the mighty pig thing, click here. If you don't get the point of the image, go vote for Bernie or Hillary.

All the best,
Glenn B

Everyman's Evening Eyeful

All the best,
GB

I Took The Plunge And Ordered A 44 Magnum

I'd procrastinated long enough and if I would have put it off much longer there was a good chance we would be going to Alaska next month without a backup revolver for bear defense. So it was time and today was that time and I went to my dealer and I placed an order and he said it should be at the store by the end of the week. That means I should have it on my license by early or mid next week. Now to think about getting some ammo for it. I intend to get at least a couple hundred rounds to a case of 44 magnum and one or two boxes (at most) of solid core ammo for actual use in the field. That way we can get used to firing this beast with the less expensive ammo and also fire just enough rounds of the more expensive solid ore ammo to make sure it is sighted in for it before we leave for the north country. Of course, I'll also need a decent holster for it - nothing fancy - just something good enough to be comfortable and to assure the revolver is there by my side when needed.

With all that, I am certain that pretty soon my bank account be hurting from lack of anything to keep it filled up. Hopefully my boss will be calling me in for a decent amount of work before Brendan and I leave on our trip. That way, I can heal the cash gushing gash that this purchase is about to make in my savings account. Knowing a bit about shooting and breaking in a new handgun, I am figuring my bank account is not the only thing that will soon be in pain - so to will my arms and shoulders. As for them, I guess I'll not only have to shoot it frequently but will have to do some weight training toward strengthening the muscles used to hold a revolver. It won't require much weight but will require lots of repetitions and a good amount of time holding the weight out while in a pistol grip stance. I want to do that because the revolver will weigh in at about 3/4 of a pound more than the heaviest handgun that I already own (unloaded weights). A mere 3/4 of a pound may not seem like much, at least until you are at the range, taking time to slow fire, and have your arms out in front of you as you would when shooting and then get thumped by the recoil again and again and again. Then, I am guessing it may seem like 10 pounds were added to the equation. So a little bit of strengthening up my arms is in order. As far as Brendan goes, he works hard all day making deliveries by truck. His arms are probably fine but I'll try to get in some shooting with him in a freer state, like PA, where he can legally shoot a handgun at a range.

Shit, I forgot to say what it is that I ordered! It's a Ruger Redhawk Model 5029 (strange they do not show that model on their website) 44 Rem Mag revolver with 5.5" barrel and high visibility front sight. I put the cart before the horse and ordered it before conforming with Ruger that the front sight on this one is readily interchangeable with the ramp front sight they have on other Redhawk revolvers. If they get back to me and tell me no, then I am going to change the order to the regular model with 5.5" barrel topped by the ramp front sight. My dealer told me they are interchangeable but I want to make darned sure that they are before paying for it. I also want to find out why the other 5.5" barrel Redhawk models are shown as 11" total length and this one as 10.8" while the weight and all other specs, except front sights, are the same for each model. By the way, the unloaded weight of this monster is 49 ounces - that's 3.6 pounds. I ordered one other thing for it too, three (3) HKS Speedloaders.

Now to start looking for ammo and a holster.

All the best,
Glenn B

Everyman's Evening Eyeful

All the best,
Glenn B

Light Blogging Expected This Week

I am scheduled to work a few days this week and will probably spend the other(s) one(s) trying to arrange for an estimate for a new garage door. One of the springs on our old door snapped in two. I figure we're lucky no one was in the garage at the time. Had anyone been in the path of the spring part, attached to a pulley and cable, that went flying toward the door it most assuredly would have resulted in a serious injury.

Since I will be tied up with that other stuff, I expect light blogging; however, gentlemen, Everyman's Evening Eyeful posts have been prescheduled for the whole week already.

All the best,
Glenn B

UC Berkley Reportedly Cutting 500 Jobs - Who Would Have Thunk It

Apparently, the leftists and liberal whiners at that school, who called for an increase in the minimum wage for school employees, did not think of it nor did their compatriots in the unions that called for the same wage increases. More here.

The conditions at UC Berkley should be taken as a warning of what is to come if the everything for free socialist Bernie Sanders or the redistribution of your money diva Hillary Clinton are elected to the presidency. If either one wins we will in all likelihood be brought to our fiscal knees.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Western World Is Commiting Suicide By Islamist

A man, who as a child was a so called "poster boy" for integrating Muslin refugees into Sweden and who starred in a 2005 Swedish documentary called  ‘Without Borders — A Film About Sport And Integration’ has reportedly been arrested as a suspect in a bombing, a terrorist act, that killed at least 32 in Brussels. He is reportedly seen on video carrying the explosives (source). 

By way of my rights under the first amendment, I must point out that I am of the personal opinion that: When any country in the west invites refugees from any Muslim nation to within its borders, it is in effect potentially inviting its own killers and conquerors onto its soil. That politicians, bureaucrats, leftists and other
whining arsehats have not realized this and taken appropriate steps to insure the safety and lives of their citizens truly is mind boggling. Political correctness be damned, let's start living with a survival mindset instead of a suicidal one.

All the best,
Glenn B

You Have Got To Select Your Robbery Victims Better...

...than did the alleged robber wearing the white hat. When you walk into a place to rob it, pull a handgun and then announce you are committing a robbery, you had best hope that the guy to whom you are closest is not an off duty police officer with a survivor's mindset. Witnesses inside the store stated that the suspect had announced a robbery (source).

In this instance, the officer did everything right from what I could tell (with that big whited out circle obscuring the view). The greater part of the video shows the suspect walking around outside the business, then finally entering a about 2 minutes and 13 seconds of the video. It takes a little while after that to get to the action because they then cut to what is going on inside before he enters the store.



There was no hesitation on the officer's part to defend himself and everyone else in the store; he had the right mindset. Trying to draw on the guy and say "Police don't move, drop your gun" would only give the bad guy the time to point his weapon and fire. For all I know though, the officer may have even said something as he drew and brought his own weapon to bear on the suspect but as I said - he did not hesitate and fired. The alleged bad guy was still holding his gun, his hands were not raised in surrender or anything like that - shooting him was the right thing to do as far as I can tell. Why detectives supposedly said they are trying to determine if the guy pointed his gun at the officer is confusing - the threat was there and imminent regardless.

A follow-up article on the shooting says the suspect not only drew a pistol (which has reportedly been confirmed as a replica) but also drew a knife and opened it. That only made the threat even worse and considering the fighting stance that the guy took, the officer made the only decision he should have and could have made to assure every potential victim in the store survived unharmed.

You can bet though, that Black Lives Matter, the ACLU or some other group of anti-cop and bigoted arsehats is going to whine and moan that the alleged robber did not have his pistol pointed at anyone and thus he did not pose a threat. Let's get real here for a moment - when a guy walks in, draws a pistol, pulls out and opens a knife, and announces he is robbing the place that makes the threat to life or of serious bodily harm both real and imminent. The fact that he is holding the gun and knife at the moment he announced the robbery would or should give any REASONABLE person probable cause to believe that they imminently are about to be either killed or suffer serious bodily harm. In my opinion, if the facts are as reported in the article, that was a good shoot - plain sand simple.

All the best,
Glenn B

Everyman's Evening Eyeful

All the best,
Glenn B

What Weapon???????????

Has it come to cops thinking a holster is a weapon? It seems so because not only did someone call in a bogus call to campus police that a man had an "unconcealed weapon" but the officers were responded and acted as if a holster, an empty on at that, amounted to a weapon (source).



As for the attitude of the 'suspect' versus that of the officers, I think the student was much more respectful than the officers (mind you the kind of wise arse student was apparently someone off camera). I think the white haired cop should be retrained on how to deal effectively and respectfully with the public and possibly disciplined because of his piss poor attitude and his seeming total disrespect for a citizen. His stepping back later did nothing to alleviate what had already passed, in my opinion.

The other officer was more respectful but I had to wonder, how many times did the guy have to tell him he did not have a weapon? That officer's insistence that the student needed permission from the school to wear an empty holster was foolish at best and apparently a total misinterpretation of the rules as is evidenced by the fact that the citation he issued to the student was later rescinded by the school. Writing him a citation was not only ridiculous but evidently without legal merit at all. The officers may have also failed understand who was, and deal with, the real troublemaker in this incident, the person who called in a student with an "unconcealed weapon". I have to wonder again - what weapon!

I understand them checking out the call but the way they did was all wrong. Once they confirmed the student was unarmed they should have bid him good day and been on their way to educate the caller who initiated the whole mess in the first place. No matter how you look at it, a man wearing an empty holster is not a man carrying an "unconcealed weapon"!

All the best,
Glenn B

The Rationale As To Why She Opted To Defend Herself

The below video was posted on YouTube back in 2012. So, the incident depicted happened that year or before. Too bad the word of why the pharmacist had decided to acquire pepper spray, and not just any pepper spray, has not been spread to more people. It is the same exact argument that can and should be used to arm yourself with a firearm for self-defense purposes.



Luckily all that was needed in this situation was pepper spray but had it been me, in a first encounter with the guy, then as soon as I had read the note I likely would have opted to have taken cover and then drawn my sidearm and depending on what happened may well have shot him. I would have had all the evidence, in that note, that I would have needed to have shown I had probable cause to believe that he posed an imminent threat of serious bodily harm or death to me.

As for the pharmacist, her rationale was flawless - she knew how long it would take for law enforcement to answer a 911 call and by that she obviously meant it was too long.

All the best,
Glenn B

I Think A Hammer Is The Solution...

..the head not the claw.


It's Not About the Nail from Jason Headley on Vimeo.

A hat tip and my thanks to Mike McC for this one.

All the best,
Glenn B

On The Fence About A Bear Gun

I have been considering a 357 Magnum revolver instead of a 44 Magnum as a bear defense gun for our upcoming Alaska trip. That would be as backup to bear spray and to a Remington 870 shotgun.

The reasoning behind me even considering a 357 is that while the 357 not as powerful as a 44 Magnum, it is probably easier to control and thus much quicker with which to get off an aimed 
second shot or possibly third - which in all likelihood would be the outside highest number of rounds you could get off at a charging Brown Bear (1). Note that I put the word reasoning in italics because the reference article containing that opinion seemed based upon little more than an opinion with little to back it up. Then again, I suppose each of the three articles I present as references in this blog post are opinions although the other two seem somewhat more substantial in the amount of thought put into them.

Getting back to the caliber choices, the 357 is also considered by some, to be suitable for defense in Brown Bear country (2). Adding that consideration t the premise of the first article I indexed, I started to lean to the 357. While you might be able to get off two or even three shots with a 44 Magnum, reacquiring the target, and then reengaging with a second well aimed shot, after the recoil of the initial shot, will take a bit longer with the 44 than with a 357. A good aim, at the central nervous system is an absolute must to stop one of those steam rollers with huge teeth and bigger claws. If you can get that on the first shot all might be well and fine and result in a one shot kill. I tend to doubt that - when my or Brendan's knees are giving out, or when our bladders have let go a warm stream down our legs and the pucker factor has just let loose behind us - either one of us might get off a perfectly aimed first shot as we are being charged by one of the great bears. It may be that well aimed but who can tell until it happens and you actually shoot that well under such fearfully intense pressure. Even if we were able to stand our ground with steely and icy cold reserve and a belly full of the grittiest true grit, while facing one of those monsters eye to eye, I would hope for at least two shots and better yet three. Thus, lately, I have been leaning toward a 357 from my precarious perch on the fence.

I suppose it was inevitable that the next article I would find on the subject did not completely discount the use of a 357 but blatantly said that at best it is marginal for large bears. The writer of that opinion openly admitted to not being an expert (maybe his advice is best) and also admitted to never having hunted bears. Yet he rather eloquently said one of the most thought provoking things out of all the authors whose works I have read on the subject of whether or not a 357 is suitable for great bears:

"A note on grizzly bears: they are smart, strong, mean, bulky, motivated and fast. The grizzly bear is the one predator in North America that truly inspires terror in my heart. No matter what you can do, he can do it better. He or she can be merciless in defending turf or litter, and may just kill you for kicks." (3)

After reading that I have to admit the 357 may not be enough. That is true especially if one shot is all we could take. In that scenario, it seems logical we would rather have all the power we could get out of 44 Magnum. Some of the gun gurus consider the 44 magnum to be the low end of a bear defense caliber (4). The fourth referenced article completely rules out 357 Magnum and 41 Magnum rounds. Now that I reminded myself of these last two references, here I am again not leaning either way - sitting straight up on the center of the fence - and my arse is starting to hurt because I have been sitting here so long trying to make up my mind about which to get. I definitely am not going to go for a larger caliber revolver than a 44 Magnum, no matter that some believe it the low end for great bear, if only because I truly believe the revolver would be both too heavy and have too much recoil. It is not easy making up your mind with all these experts out there with differing advice. What makes it more difficult is living in an area where there are no guns shops/ranges at which I can rent a 44 to test fire it and see how well I do. There is one in PA, at least a couple of hours away but I have not had the chance to visits it and time is running short to order a revolver. I may not order one today as I had hoped but I hope to order it at least by the middle of the week and am determined to do so by the end of the week at the latest! Decisions, decisions...

One of the things, other than the actual guns and caliber of the ammo, that is talked about in some of the reference materials I have looked over, is the bullet type in any given bear defense caliber ammunition. From what I can gather, hollow points (in handgun rounds) should be avoided as bear defense rounds and solid points of one type or another should be chosen. If I go with the smaller caliber 357, I think I would opt for a round with a solid lead core bullet. Corbon offers this one, their 357, 200 grain, Hunter HC. HSM offers this one, a 180 grain, hard cast, RNFP-GC Bear Load. The Chuck Hawks article also made mention of a similar round by Federal but I searched for it and it does not seem to be available in the current market. I would also go for a similar round in 44 Magnum if available, but right now they do not seem available from any manufacturer.I n lieu of that, I would go with something like this, the Prvi Partizan 44 Remington Magnum, 300 grain semi jacketed soft point. Decisions, decisions...

So, I am still on the fence. I don't have to make up my mind by the time I get to my dealer today but I would like to select one before then or at least have a much better idea of which I want. Either way - decision made or not - I am going to talk this over with Bruce, from Hunter's Essentials. Bruce is the owner and is also a very experienced hunter from what I can tell. His experience may be able to convince me one way or the other and I don't think the price difference (as in profit difference) will sway his judgment to steer me toward the one that would make him a few more bucks.

All the best,
Glenn B

Footnotes:
1. http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/game-changers/how-pick-right-sidearm-backup-bear-protection
2. http://www.chuckhawks.com/protection_field.htm
3. http://www.snubnose.info/docs/grizzly_357.htm
4. http://www.americanhunter.org/articles/2014/8/13/packing-pistols-in-bear-country/

Did You Make A Firearms Purchase On BAG Day?

Yesterday, was tax day, for all of us here in the USA who are required to pay personal income taxes, or for at least those of us who follow the law. It was also BAG day; otherwise known as Buy A Gun day. I have not seen anything on it as of late but I figured why let what should become a good, all American, tradition fall by the wayside.

While I did not buy a gun, and that only because I had difficulty with the website from which I was trying to order a revolver, I did order some ammunition. Yeah, I know, it's not the same as getting a gun but I hope to complete the gun order today; I did not want to let the actual day of BAG Day go by without at least celebrating it in spirit by ordering something at least related to guns thus an ammo order.

After ordering that ammo, a case (200 rounds) of Remington's 35 Remington, 200 grain, Core-Lokt soft points, there is little if anything left with which to buy a gun in my checking account. In fact, there is zilch that I can put toward a gun. The solution to that is to buy it with my American Distress Express card and then take the money out of my suPer sekRit saving account meant for our upcoming Alaska trip. I had thought that the 35 REM ammo would be the last I was going to buy online (or anywhere for that matter) but if I buy a revolver today, I am going to need to buy ammo for it. Had I been thinking, I would have ordered ammo for the revolver but something told me to wait until I actually have it in hand before buying ammo for it. 

I'm certain though, it will be the last batch of 35REM ammo I buy in a long, long, long, long time. That is not only because I probably will have enough to last me about 5 or maybe even 10 years but because it is so darned expensive. Right now, the elusive 200 grain Remington Core-Lokt is going for $1.50 per round and that was the best price I could find because it comes with free shipping. Free shipping or not, just thinking I paid that much for it makes my wallet say ouch. I had not seen that particular ammo for sale, from a dealer that would ship it to NY, for over 6 months - maybe closer to a year.

So there it is - my BAG day purchase and as I said, before this day is over I hope to purchase a revolver too. I had been thinking of getting a Ruger Redhawk stainless steel revolver, with either 4.2" or 5.5" barrel, in 44 magnum; however, I am on the fence and leaning over toward buying a stainless steel Ruger GP100, with a 4.2" or 6" barrel, in .357 Magnum. Decisions, decisions...

All the best,
Glenn B

Everyman's Evening Eyeful

All the best,
Glenn B

Had Anyone Understood The Seriouness...

...of these so called simulated attacks, then the jet that came in wing below the bridge would have been blown out of the sky long before it got in that close. We are ruled by folks who would rather have put the whole crew of a U.S. Navy ship (and the ship itself) at risk rather than shoot down a Russian plane probably manned by one or two. Yes, I understand ,it could  have led to war and many more would be at risk of losing their lives; however, our failing to act is such a sign of weakness that it may soon lead to war itself. Shooting down that plane would have been a sign of strength, and may indeed have prevented an imminent war, had the arsehats in Washington had the backbone to back it up!

You can bet that the Chinese, the Iranians, North Koreans and every other country with which we are at odds are watching intently with their fingers next to, if not already on, the triggers. I just hope we don't get caught with Obama's golf pants down and Kerry with his head buried firmly into Obama's ass.

All the best,
Glenn B

Gun Buyer Beware

I was looking through ads on GunBroker.com, just minutes ago, trying to get an idea of what High Standard Dura-Matic M-101s are selling for in the land of reality. I came across an ad for one that was just a tad self contradictory. It was for a "Mint In Box High Standard M-100 Dura-Matic With Extra Barrel And Magazine". I read on a little further and saw that the condition of the pistol was shown as: "Tip of the barrel has a bit of pitting Overall Condition of the is good". Go figure but the last time I heard something called "mint" it meant that it was in perfect condition not overall good condition with pitting.

Read everything and then ask questions, check the seller's feedback too is what I do. Out of over 7,000 feedback ratings for this particular seller, he had a 99% positive rating. However great that sounds, I always check further. When I looked at the actual ratings he had, 10 were neutral and 43 were negative. That is more than enough in the minus column to make me avoid a seller. The most recent negative rating I could find stated that the seller had said the gun was NIB (new in box) but then admitted there was actually damage to it when the potential buyer made inquiries. That could be true or not but it was not refuted by the dealer.

Besides not ever buying from said dealer, at a good price or not, I certainly would never consider offering his asking price on this particular pistol. He was asking $879.99 as a starting bid and $899.99 as a buy it now price. The Blue Book of Gun Values has it listed at $325 in 100% condition, with an additional $150 for it when it has the second barrel. I figure an extra magazine, if there is an extra one (that's not clear to me from the ad) is worth another $50 or a bit more. If the pistol was 100%, had the extra barrel that was also 100% and had an extra magazine that was also 100%, I might go as high as $550, if I wanted it badly enough and I would only offer that much if the box they say comes with it was actually serialized for that particular pistol.

Buyer beware.

All the best,
Glenn B

Everyman's Evening Eyeful

All the best,
Glenn

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

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 hiking and 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

Everyman's Evening Eyeful

All the best,
Glenn B

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

Everyman's Evening Eyeful



Oh my goodness, look at them.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

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

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 corroded ammo as it appeared in October 2009.

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.

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, 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