While I am curious as to everything about this discovery, I am intrigued by and anxious to find out what small arms are found aboard and the condition of them.
...what the mud slinging media or anyone else like One America News Network (slowly but surely becoming my favorite media outlet) has to say about world events lately. That is mostly because I am sick of all the psycho shot that is going on - not only on the whackadoo left but also by those who claim to be on the right but are little more than RINOs (if they even qualify for that). The world has become a sick, sick place and I am beginning to think that if it's not going to be a true zombie apocalypse that befalls us then it is going to be the rapture in the form of idiots rising up and trying to destroy the world. Wait a moment, what am I saying, it is not like they are going to try to do it - the fact is they are already doing it. It truly is time to prepare for the end because even if it is not on September 23rd as some religious nincompoops are claiming, it is sure to hit us and hit us hard sooner than later.
...to go hunting during the early bear season has been impossible so far and there are only six days left in the season after today. I was all set to go tomorrow but now it seems the electrician wants to come by to undo a screw-up on some prior work they did for us. They left me a message and I tried getting back to them but it seems they close early since I called them at 345 and they were gone for the day. Hopefully they will call me very early tomorrow and tell me they will be there by 9 or so. Otherwise it will be next week for them. I am leaving to go hunting tomorrow by hook, by crook or by way of a later appointment for the electrician. If they do not call me by about 830 in the morn, I will be gone and worry about it after the coming weekend.
This early season bear trip is more of a deer scouting trip than a bear hunt but since I will be exploring new woods in the area open for the early season bear hunt, I figured why not bring a bear gun or two. So, along comes the Ruger Redhawk in 44 magnum and probably my Remington 870. The 870 being quite the versatile gun, I can bear with one barrel and slugs or hunt squirrels with it too but only of course if I change barrels and ammo.
A day or two of that, Wednesday and Thursday (I hope), while camping out if the weather is good, and then off to Geneva, NY on Friday for the preview of the Hessney Auction. If the weather is not agreeable, I will hunt one day and then probably head to up to my brothers-in-law if they are home and amenable to be stopping over. I have a bottle of Redbreast Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey somewhere and it is for just such a trip to see them. Regardless, I need to be in Geneva by Friday at 3PM.
This time around, the Hessney Auction Co. is not their typical rod gun auction but an Early Gun & Military Auction. While they have some new stuff up for sale there is going to be a good amount of military hardware & memorabilia, military weapons, older non-military firearms, collectible ammo and so forth. I cannot recall the last time, if ever there was a time, when I saw as many M1 Carbines for sale at one time in one place. They have 13 of them listed and also have about 5 Garands as well. I have always fancied picking up an M1 Carbine and a Garand but now they are pretty much out of the question since the prices have soared on them over the years. Who knows though - it is an auction and I might get lucky. The thing is, I would have to get very lucky to have the high bid on any of them. I probably would not bid more than $500 on each because I know very little about them or their values. As I said, I fancied doing it but I never really studied up on them. I will do as much as I can this evening into to late tonight in between packing my gear and guns & ammo for the trip.
I don't know how consecutive is the numbering of the auction items for this particular auction, sometimes this miss some numbers or have gaps in the numbering and at other times they add something between numbers such as adding Lot 141A between 141 and 142. Right now though, they start at number 1, skip # 2 and go through to 1,187. If they truly have that many lots up for sale, this will be one heck of an auction.
I really am not going with the goal of buying any guns. I have my sights set on some ammo they have for sale and if I can get it for a good price, it will be mine. Of course, if it just so happens I see a gun that really catches my eye, I will bid on it and may come home with yet another one. They do have one Remington Model 81, in 35 Remington, and I would love to bid on it when the time comes except for the fact that some arsehat someone did this to it:
Sometimes I cannot believe what people do to firearms that were destined to, or already had, become classics.
I may bid on it and if I can get it at a low enough price, something where the cost of a replacement stock would not make the overall cost prohibitive, I may bring it home with me.
Anyway, those are the plans for the rest of the week. Now, I need to get cracking if I ever expect to get out of here by sometime later tomorrow morning.
There I was, a couple of days back or so ago, browsing blogs on my blogroll, when I came across this linked post over at The Miller that showed this photo:
I have seen better looking ammo shelves with ammo cans that were labelled in a similar fashion but this one was, for whatever reason, the one that got me to pull the trigger - or at least to press the keys of my label maker. It did not happen right away but today, a few days after seeing that pic, I was rummaging through some crap in my basement and moved the bag I use to carry stuff to my local herp society meetings. As I was doing so, I suddenly remembered that I had a label maker somewhere inside of it.
Almost as soon as I had though of it, I had the label maker in hand and the next thing I knew I was pulling out all of my ammo cans and labelling them. I labelled them to the calibers within, keeping it pretty to just basic info on the label like 45ACP JHP. I placed one label on the top front leading edge of the can and one at the top of the can latch on the front side of the can. After about an hour and a half or a bit more, I had all of my thirty eight 50 caliber cans labelled plus two spam cans of 7.62x39 and two spam cans of 7.62x54R. Of course, that does not include any of the ammo inside my ammo trunk.
What that is going to accomplish is to make it a lot easier for me to find an ammo can for which I am looking. If I get really ambitious, II can make it even easier by building a dedicated shelving unit for the cans. So, I may head to Home Depot later this evening and pick up some concrete block and boards to build a shelving unit on which to stack the ammo cans. Then, if I do buy some blocks and boards, I will probably also buy some paint to make it look half arsed acceptable to she who must be adored if not obeyed. I know from experience way back in my single life, when I had cinder block and board shelves as my living room furniture, that unpainted cinder blocks and unpainted wood are pain in the arse to keep clean and I am guessing painted ones would be much easier to maintain. Damn, where to put a shelving unit though is the big question so what I need to do first is to find a frigging place to plop it down.
One last thing: When labelling the cans, I decided to leave the two spam cans of TULA 7.62x39 ammo in the outer shipping / packaging boxes. When I picked up the first one, I heard a telltale rattle inside of it and knew that it was not the ammo. I sliced the tape on the box, peeled back the lid, and smiled when I saw the span can opener that was what had been doing the rattling. I opened the second box and found another one in there. Then it was decision time, leave them in the boxes or take them out and stash them where I am sure to find them when I open the cans. I took them out. before putting them in a secure location, I chose to label them too.
Damned things are almost as valuable as their weight in silver.
Yeah, I know, I've posted this before and now I am posting it again. I think that the best album I have ever heard is Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath. To me, a guy who loves things like the music of The Talking Heads, Jefferson Airplane, Traffic, Hot Tuna, Simon & Garfunkel, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Ten Years After, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead and Vivaldi's The Four Seasons (probably the second best musical work I have ever had the pleasure to have had pass through my ears) - there is nothing better than the premiere album of Black Sabbath!
It was my great honor to be able to see Black Sabbath in their final tour last year at Jones Beach, NY. It was an honor because I saw them accompanied by my son Brendan. The honor was that he loved music that I had turned him onto when he was in high school and that at 26 1/2 years old he would still hang out with his old man at a concert! A good son is he.
Anyway, here is that album, for your listening pleasure:
26:36 is where the best part begins and it ends at 37:41 - my favorite part anyway. Then again, you need to listen to the whole album to truly appreciate it.
Just to be nice to those of my readers who do not want to see something explicitly funny like this x-rated cartoon, I warned you in the title and am putting it behind this page, so to speak. You have to click on read more to see it:
North Korea is supposedly on the faster track than had been expected to a build-up of its nuclear arsenal and thus probably well on its way to a nuclear war. There are only two possible reasons that North Korea's nuclear weapons / missile program is on fast-track and both are interrelated.
1) First of all, it means they are getting a lot of help from another pre-existing nuclear power, a power that does not give a shit about the United Nations and its mandates nor about other nuclear powers. My guess is that would be China. It could be Russia but I tend to doubt it. (Yes, I know they got a lot of help from us via Bill Clinton but at least that has stopped.)
2) China is ready and probably willing to go to war if North Korea starts it. If they do, let's face it, it will not be as our ally. Fact is, they have been getting ready for war while the rest of the world has watched and done less about it than we have done to North Korea. The truth is that we have done virtually nothing to stop China from preparing for WWIII from their helping North Korea. It goes from the buildup of their own navy, to using their navy to harass vessels legally on the high seas, to claiming the open seas as Chinese territory, to the building of islands in the middle of those waters and then turning them into military bases. It all reeks of very similar moves made by Nazi Germany prior to WWII. Think of it, Germany did not attack the U.S., Japan did so once they were aligned with Germany as an Axis Power but Germany was more than happy to then join in against us.
World War III may not be imminent but the Chinese are very patient antagonists and when the time is ready, there is no doubt in my mind, they will start WWIII by way of some piss ant country like North Korea staring it for them. A counterattack on the north will come to close to China or be seen as a threat by China and that will be al the excuse they need to join in against us - that is if they even wait for an excuse which I tend to doubt they would do. If the North Koreans are successful in striking a couple of major U.S. targets, it would bring us to our knees and give the Chinese all the incentive they needed to join in and finish us off.
I hope you are well prepared for it in your lifetime. I believe with all my being that it will take place within my lifetime, that is if I live at most another decade. I also think it probably will take place sooner than that. That is unless we find a way to avoid it and with the current crop of leftists, RINOs and other arsehats in DC, I see little hope we can prevent it.
By that title, I don't mean a zombie apocalypse in which the zombies skin appears greener or that the zombies will be spewing forth green gobs of gooey guts but one in the near future wherein we have become more politically correct regarding the environment. A near future by which time we have had an environmental revolution of sorts and all the screwball leftists who were dead set against fossil fuels (you know them - the global warming crowd, the manmade climate change crew, the freaks who want everything that works destroyed - those guys) have gotten all of the politicians to bow down and kiss their arses by outlawing the internal combustion engine and replacing any vehicle or machine that used them with ones that run on electrical battery power.
Now that I have gotten that out of the way, let me take you back to the title of this piece and insist that you do just what it says. Not a sci-fi fan, find the zombie apocalypse a completely silly premise - okay then - you can imagine a greener hurricane evacuation and rescue response, a volcanic eruption evacuation, a tsunami evacuation, a nuclear power plant explosion evacuation, or even the outbreak of world war III with an invasion on U.S. soil and the resultant evacuation of the southern and or northern border areas. Pick one - heck pick Hurricane Irma. Just imagine it with electric cars and not one vehicle with an internal combustion engine. What do you see in your mind's eye, is it paradise or a nightmare?
The European Institute for Climate and Energy (EIKE) apparently thinks it would be the latter - a nightmare. Read about it here.
...because I have worked the last few weeks and been able to save some cash, I get hit with a couple of medical bills that took the wind out of my sails. Went in for a PET CT Scan on the advice of my ENT back in June or so. He seemed convinced I had cancer again or at least that is what he convinced me that he was thinking. He urged me to get the test done and said 'it is the best way to determine if the cancer has returned'. So what would yo do! Hell, I had the test done pronto. In July, I received an outpatient hospital bill for the test in the amount of about $250; I also received a explanation of benefits from my insurer showing the same amount owed. In late August, or maybe it was earlier this month, I received another explanation of benefits from my insurer saying I owed $1,038.95 for the same thing. I called them and they confirmed they had recalculated, apparently because they had fucked up the first time around, and that was the number. On top of that, I also received another bill, this one for a doctor, in the amount of $71.34 for the same test. I now owe $1110.29 and that has caused me to dismay the dwindling bank account balance that I thought would be used for something nice like helping pay my property taxes! I guess that ain't happening and I will see the balance depleted by even more for that next month.
I suppose should not complain about it. After all, I could be a welfare slug/drug dealer who would have the bill paid for in full by Obummer care and thus be putting the burden on taxpayers. I just couldn't see myself doing that no matter how much I profited by being a blood suck dirtbag.
Next time though that the doc recommends such n expensive test, I am telling him to opt for a regular CT scan or an MRI first and then only go with the more expensive test if either of those come out positive. Friggin doctors are getting as bad as lawyers when it comes to sucking you dry. I should go by some Powerball tickets.
...I get reminded that after this week, I am also working on Monday of next week. Damn, that is just over 5 weeks of work - what is a retired guy to do! I am not complaining, really I am not because I certainly can use the cash; it's just I've had to keep changing my plans to go scouting for spots to hunt deer & bear this year. As it stands now, if I go during New York's early bear season up in the Catskill Mountains (open from September 9 - 24th) I will be going blind so to speak; I meant to get in quite a bit of scouting last month and this one too but was too tied up with work and could not get away.
Oh well, hopefully I can get some hunting in next week. I would go on opening day this weekend but figure a longer trip than a day or to is in order so will wait until free from work. So, it sound likes Tuesday or Wednesday of next week may be my bear blast-off day. Not complaining just anxious to go!
What I will complain bout though is that the rifle I bought to use for hunting this year is damaged and in need of warranty repair. I am currently waiting for Marlin to give me an answer about what they will do to fix my Marlin 1895GBL.
...might not be legal but in my opinion it most certainly would be fitting punishment, along with life in prison - no chance of parole, for this guy if he is convicted of the crime he is alleged to have committed. That crime was reportedly the rape of a brain injured woman in a Bronx, NY hospital. More here at the source.
I recently purchased a Marlin 1895GBL in 45/70 Government. I was excited to make the purchase and ordered it online. I ordered it from an evidently reputable dealer who gave me excellent customer service and shipped it promptly in a factory sealed box. The rifle arrived at my FFL holder on a Monday, much sooner than expected because I had ordered it on Saturday just two days before. It had to sit at my FFL for a few days because I was tied up working each day and had no chance to pick it up until that Friday. When I went to pick it up at the dealer, I took it out of the box and gave it as good a going over as I could do. I said it that way because while I had my glasses with me, I had the wrong ones. I use a pair of glasses for distance and another pair for close up stuff like reading and there is quite the difference between how I see things depending on which pair is sitting on the bridge of my nose at the time. I had forgotten the strong reading glasses but figured the others were good enough - they were not.
Well, everything looked good except for the front sight cover which was not set right. All that required though was being snapped into place. Everything else looked okay and I accepted it and took it home where it sat in the box for about another 2 weeks or so. Just over two weeks later I got a chance to go to the range with it so I took it out of the box for the first time since getting home. I then proceeded to strip it for cleaning as per the manual. As I was handling it, my fingers wrapped around the forearm tip and I felt that the left side forearm tip tenon screw was protruding at an odd angle. I took a closer look, this time with my reading glasses in place. I saw the screw was askew and not fully seated.
I thought it was nothing but was I wrong. I tried screwing it in and it would not budge. I took it out and even that was not easy. I tried screwing it in several times and it would not go in right. I examined the forearm tip tenon more closely and the screw hole in it had a an uneven ring of metal around it and looked oblong as opposed to perfectly round and correctly drilled. My guess was that both the threads in the forearm tip tenon and on the forearm tip tenon screw were damaged when the rifle was assembled. I even tried the screw from the other side but neither would it screw into the left or damaged side.
Only have a photo of the right side but the screw in question is
on the opposite side of the one I circled, there is one per side.
The carrier assembly is inside the receiver above the lever.
I proceeded with the field strip to clean the rifle anyway but stopped shortly after when I noticed another problem. What appears to the carrier assembly is rusty. Yep, a part in a brand new gun evidently has rust on it. Marlin quite possibly does not make 'em the way they used to or should I blame Remington since I believe they took over Marlin.
I reported the problems and requested a warranty repair. So what did Marlin do? They sent me a "rear band screw" - or in other words a screw for another model rifle. I received that earlier this weekend. Last night, I shot of an email to their customer service with a detailed description of the problems and asked them to notify me without delay as to how they plan to resolve the issues.
I hope they realize and admit this is indeed a warranty issue. I got this rifle at a great price and on top of that should be getting back a $100 rebate but I sure do not want to have to spend even a penny of that repairing a gun that was faulty from the factory. That would truly dishearten me about buying another Marlin. Let's face it, I have not had the best of luck with new guns lately; I sent a Savage Model 93 in for warranty repair - the mags would not fit securely. That gun was a pristine new gun and they returned it with muzzle gouges, scratches, dings and a cracked stock (thank goodness I have before and after pictures). I do not need any more headaches.
So, what is the moral to this story. Don't be an asshole like I was that day and inspect a rifle without exercising the utmost scrutiny. I should have gone home to get my correct eyeglasses or at least checked in my car for a spare pair (which I did have in the glove box but I was in sort of a hurry). Still though, it is not my fault it was damaged. That was a manufacturing glitch on the part of Marlin. Next time though, you can bet that the correct pair of anteojos will be sitting on the bridge of my nose where they belong, or I will drive home to get them, before I examine and accept any firearm from a dealer or anyone else.
...and refusing to use videos from YouTube (run by Google). I have been working virtually full time for the past 5 weeks and not keeping up on reading other folks' blogs as much as I had been doing but saw tonight at least two bloggers in my blog rolls who are even talking about or have already gotten out of Blogger (also run by Google).
What's up with all this fallout over Google? Have they done something more leftist than usual? Have they stopped allowing gun videos at YouTube, have they been censoring gun blogs, have they banned the NRA from their sites, have they called for the assassination of our president - what gives?
This is a serious inquiry, someone please clue me in.
Nope, it does not but maybe it should translate to just that. Hevelius Kaper is the Polish beer I bought tonight on my way home from work (have been working 19 out of last 20 business days but that is another story). She who must be obeyed and o adored (the wife) asked me to get red cabbage when I inquired as to what we eed from supermarket. When I asked if she wanted fresh or jars of prepared red cabbage she said fresh, then moments later changed to the stuff in a jar if I could get a German brand. Being I was in Port Chester, NY - a city more known for a large population of Hispanics, I could not even find sauerkraut on the shelves let alone prepared red cabbage. So I bought a fresh one. Then headed home and on the way I decided to stop at a Polish Deli close to home. They had jars of prepared red cabbage including apples, just like the German style. I bought a couple of jars. I also picked up a quarter loaf or so of light (not low calorie but lighter in color) Lithuanian Bread, two smoked Hunter's Sausages and one beer. That beer was Hevelius Kaper.
It is named after Johannes Hevelius who was born on January 28, 1611, or as he was named in Poland: Jan Heweliusz. Amazingly enough his parents were brewers and he chose to get as high as he could - not with beer but by becoming an astronomer (although beer may have helped). You can read that Wikipedia article about him now here, I will read it sometime in the future when I am not drinking the beer named after him. The beer is heavenly and will definitely help one reach the stars. It is 8.2% ABV and is more malty by far that it tastes of hopps; although, I msut say it is not overpowered by malt flavor either. In fact, it is a very mild but good tasting beer for one that has that high an alcohol content. Not bad at all (or in other words to you non-New Yorkers - it is excellent). I like it and have to ay it goes great with Jagermeister! All the best, Glenn B
...for the special agents of Homeland Security Investigations, ICE, DHS who have volunteered to go on temporary assignments in Houston for disaster relief. All the best, Glenn B
...and that is just what I did this month at the Hessney auction on August 12th. I bought two firearms that day, both were shotguns. One was a Remington Model 31 pump gun in 16 gauge that I blogged about shortly after the auction in this post.
That one is an oldie, manufactured in December 1947 as far as I can tell, and a goodie. It is also a keeper, I think at least for awhile of shooty goodness. Then, who knows, maybe I will give it to my son or maybe not - time will tell.
Back then, I was not as revealing about the other shotgun I had picked up that day. I mentioned that I had gotten another gun in the post about the Remington 31 but that was pretty much all I said about it except that more would be revealed I the future. The reason for that was that I had been thinking of giving it to Brendan as a birthday present later this year and wanted to keep it under my hat until I decided for sure what to do with it. That one was an as new in the box, unfired, Mossberg 9200 National Wild Turkey Federation Banquet edition 12 gauge semi-auto shotgun, manufactured in 1994 as far as I could tell. After doing some research on it though, I figured I would sell it. Anyway, it was just too damned pretty for me.
I wound up posting it on GunBroker.com just over a week ago but had no bites or bids and relisted it yesterday. I was in no hurry to sell it and was fairly confident it would sell there within the next month with hunting seasons upcoming in short order. Regardless, in order to increase my chances, I also listed for sale yesterday on a local gun forum. Here is how I described it in both ads when I put it up for sale:
"Mossberg 9200, National Wild Turkey Federation,
Banquet (as per box label), 12 gauge, semi-automatic, shotgun as new in box.
Has 24" barrel, vent-rib, gold colored (plated?) trigger, and engraved
receiver. Box label says synthetic stock but it looks like wood to me. It
accepts 2 3/4" and 3" shells. Includes four (4) Accu-choke II (?)
choke tubes. Note, it says Accu-Choke on barrel but Accu-Choke II on box label.
Tubes are: XTRA FULL, FULL, MOD & IMP CYL. Also includes choke wrench,
manual and original box (with bar code label that has matching serial number to
gun). This gun has never been fired. It is in excellent condition with the
following minor cosmetic issues: Small scuffs on right (shiny) side of bolt
above handle. Extremely small ding on top front of stock. Very small ding to
spacer between recoil pad and stock."
Within just a few hours, of listing it on the local gun forum, I had an offer on it. The deal went through today. The offer came unexpectedly quick and that was good. The buyer maintained good communication, was amenable to working with me essentially around my schedule to meet me to do the sale; that was great since I am working all week. The buyer showed up on time, had cash in hand and loved the gun - that was the best - well almost the best. It could not get much better than that or so one might think. It does get better though. I spent x amount of dollars, in total, on both the Mossberg and the Remington back on August 12th at the auction. The price I got for the Mossberg today paid for both of them with about $4.00 left over to put in my pocket. So, I basically picked up the Remington Model 31 for free and have almost enough left over for a box of shells for it. That my friends has made me quite the happy shootist and a very happy auction bidder too.
