Remington Model 31 - Test Fire

At long last, Brendan and I test fired the Remington Model 31, 16 gauge, pump action shotgun that I bought back in August 2017 (anyway I am 99.9% certain this was the first time I fired it). Yes, as I have said time & time again - I am The Great Procrastinator. The nice things about test firing it today were that both Brendan and I got to fire it together, it fired flawlessly and the shots were all right on target at 25 yards thanks to its full choke barrel. In all we put about 35 rounds of Federal Game Load 16 gauge, 2 3/4", high brass shells through her.



The only area of concern to me, and that was and remains a slight concern, is that we could only get two shells to fit into the mag tube. My guess is that is not an indication of a problem but rather that this particular gun was used for waterfowl hunting and someone placed a plug into the mag tube to comply with hunting regulations. I'll check that once I get around to a complete disassembly after I get home from visiting Brendan here in Arkansas.

I must say, it was a pleasure to shoot. I currently own three Remington pump action shotguns (I also own a Remington Model 14 pump action rifle). The other two pump shotguns are an 870 and a model 29 - both of which are in 12 gauge. While I have not yet fired the model 29, I have shot the 870 thousands & thousands of times. What a difference in the recoil between the 16 gauge model 31 and the 12 gauge 870; all I can say about it is that it is nice for my aging shoulders.

We also had fun shooting my Henry Lever in 22 MAG, my Ruger Redhawk in 44 MAG, my Ruger New Single Six Convertible (we used the 22 MAG cylinder today), my Glock 26,  Brendan's Beretta 93A1, Brendan's Glock 43 and Brendan's Bulgarian AK-47. As far as I am concerned there is no better time to be had than a father & son (or daughter) enjoying each others' company and shooting is a fine way to do that!

By the way, I suppose I should mention, my Remington 31 was manufactured in December 1947 thus making it 71 years old this month. Who knows, maybe today - December 15th - was the day it came off of the assembly line back in 47!

All the best,
Glenn B

My Son Is Enjoying My Company...

..here in Arkansas - isn't it obvious!

Of course, he was just goofing around - I think.

As for me, except for enjoying his company when he gets home from work, I have been doing very little. I've hit a few antique / second-hand stores but that's been about it. The weather has not been very cooperative for outdoor activities like outdoor ranges - it's been wet and cold mostly so far. I must say though, I've been to only four such stores and have picked up some things at three of them. One place was just way too classy and expensive for me. The others more my style - high end white trash.

A couple of days ago I picked up some grips for old round butt, Colt revolvers (in the box) and my Star Trek Tracer gun at one place; and a Christmas stocking & an ornament at another. I think that the total I spent between both places was just under $15.00. Today, I stopped at two more places further away from his apartment and while I got nothing t one store, I think I got two excellent bargains at the other. One is a duck knick-knack, nothing great but a nice deal at $5.00.

The other is a leather bomber style jacket. It is in almost new excellent condition. They were asking $40. I got it fort $27.50.
I guess that makes me a well dressed happy duck hunter.

 All the best,
Glenn B

Has Anyone Within The Justice Department Been Late...

...in answering subpoenas or other requests asking for damning evidence on President Donald Trump or on any of his current or former associates? I think not but am not sure and thus I ask the question.

Well, there is another reason I ask - because it seems that time after time the FBI and Justice Department are almost always late or simply do not supply requested or subpoenaed information when it is relative to investigations of Hillary Clinton, missing emails, election tampering by the dems, Uranium One and so on. It makes me wonder just how much influence the Russians have within our federal government agencies and how deeply are Clinton and her Democrat allies under the covers snuggling with the Ruskies! 
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fbi-misses-deadline-to-provide-docs-to-judiciary-committee-probing-whistleblower-raid
 
All the best,

Glenn B

Bought A Piece In AR

I picked up a gun today that I have admired since childhood. I have not seen one of them since the late sixties or early seventies when I owned my first one. The gun I am talking about is a Rayline Star Trek Rapid Fire Tracer Gun. I got a used one in VG to FINE condition that seems to work; although, I do not have any of the discs it uses for ammo to test it. Those discs are available but man are they ever expensive.

I'll settle for having the gun without the discs if only because the guns alone are being offered on eBay for $40 or more in used condition! Not a bad deal at all considering I paid all of $2.00 plus tax for it today. This is what they looked like new, that is if this is not a pic of a counterfeit, and I must say it looks like the real McCoy:

Another nice thing about the one I picked up is that it was made in the USA. Yep, I am that old that many things were still made in this country.

All the best,
Glenn B



 

The Inevitable Thing About Civilaztion...

...is that there will be war - at least as long as civilization exists. In fact, I often wonder which came first the chicken or the egg civilization or war. It may have been war that forced mankind to become civilized but even if that is wrong, the fact is that civilization and war go hand in hand and it seems as if one cannot exist without the other.

My guess is that sooner or later it will be war that ends, or comes close to ending, civilization and not civilization that puts a peaceable end to war. I believe WWIII is closing in on us and that may be the one to do it. If you doubt any of that, all you need to do is look back through history - there has been one war after another, often one going on at the same time as many others and with each era that comes and goes war becomes more destructive than ever before. We are not only on the verge of being able to destroy civilization but have far surpassed that ability and now may be able to take out most life on the planet as well.

While warfare may be a necessary part of civilization, we really need to find some way to reprioritize how we look at war & warfare and other ways to resolve conflicts in an effort to assure such widespread destruction will never take place. We need to do that quickly because the clock is ticking toward the commencement of the next world war and that one could be the last one, the one that ends civilization at least as we know it. If you think that implausible, then I presume you have not kept up on world news over the past several years. I keep up with the news only on what I suppose one would call an intermediate level; yet, even I have seen the signs - unless we do something drastic - another world war is inevitable. Just in case you have missed the signs that I have been seeing, here is some light reading for you, albeit a bunch of it:


https://www.foxnews.com/world/china-building-on-new-reef-in-south-china-sea-satellite-photos-show

https://www.foxnews.com/world/china-eyes-antarctica-access-with-first-permanent-airfield

https://www.oann.com/nato-orders-russia-to-comply-with-nuclear-treaty-over-fear-u-s-will-withdraw/

https://www.oann.com/putin-says-russia-will-be-forced-to-respond-if-u-s-exits-arms-treaty/

https://www.foxnews.com/world/ukraine-bars-entry-of-russian-males-16-to-60-amid-naval-conflict

https://www.foxnews.com/world/ukraine-president-asks-nato-to-deploy-ships-amid-sea-clash-with-russia

https://www.foxnews.com/world/russia-sends-troops-and-missiles-into-libya-in-bid-to-enforce-stranglehold-on-the-west

https://video.foxnews.com/v/5969017986001/?#sp=show-clips

https://video.foxnews.com/v/5970438673001/#sp=show-clips

https://video.foxnews.com/v/5972693695001/

https://video.foxnews.com/v/5968407569001/?#sp=show-clips

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/north-korean-mystery-weapons-test-creates-possibility-of-military-confrontation-with-us

https://www.foxnews.com/world/north-korea-boasts-new-ultramodern-tactical-weapon-as-kim-supervises-test

https://www.foxnews.com/world/north-korean-defector-on-kim-jong-uns-lies-surviving-torture-and-double-amputation-without-anesthesia-and-how-president-trump-changed-his-life

https://video.foxnews.com/v/5940981375001/?#sp=show-clips

https://www.oann.com/pm-suggests-serbia-could-intervene-if-kosovo-sets-up-full-army/

https://www.foxnews.com/world/hamas-hits-building-in-israel-threatens-rocket-attacks

https://www.foxnews.com/world/isis-claims-responsibility-for-bomb-attack-in-afghanistan

https://www.foxnews.com/world/foiled-iranian-bomb-plots-in-europe-raises-intelligence-concerns-in-us-spotlights-israel-intelligence-sharing

https://video.foxnews.com/v/5851075537001/

https://www.foxnews.com/world/iran-threatens-us-with-warning-that-its-ballistic-missiles-can-now-hit-any-ship-from-400-miles

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pompeo-says-iran-tested-ballistic-missile-in-violation-of-un-resolution
 
https://www.foxnews.com/world/iranian-leader-calls-on-muslim-to-unite-against-the-u-s

All the best,
Glenn B
 

Never Having Owned A Firearm Made By FN...

...I have had almost zero interest in them. I suppose maybe for that reason alone I never before today heard much about them as to how well or badly they are manufactured. Today I was watching a video on YouTube that was totally unrelated to FN pistols and after watching it clicked on a video about some guy shooting through trees. In that video, the guy who made it showed an FNX Tactical
pistol with pretty squishy grips and said to make sure to watch his initial video about that; so I did just that.

In fact, I watched his initial video about a problem he had discovered with his FNX Tactical pistol's grips and then watched a follow-up video as well. 

I have to mention, these videos are just over three years old and I suppose FN had a lot of time to address the problem of the squishy grips. Yet, the videos almost assure that I'd never buy be extremely hesitant before buying one of their pistols because I think it was piss poor quality control for the factory to have allowed a pistol, like the one he showed in the first video, out into the market. Then again, I find it amazing that the second FNX tactical pistol he showed in the second video allegedly was FN's solution to the problem.





Just in case you are more interested in watching him shooting a tree, you can watch this one:
 

All the best,
Glenn B

Good Doggy

 

I'd like to do it at a dog park.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

Another Good Reason To Ignore The Pleas Of Beggars...

...is that no good deed goes unpunished. That axiom was all too true in the case of a woman, a passenger in a car in Baltimore, who decided to give some money to another woman who apparently was begging. She rolled down her window to give the other woman some money and a man approached the car and tried to steal her purse. In he altercation, the man reportedly stabbed her in the chest killing her. More at the source.

Predators are opportunistic folks and if you give them the opportunity, they will strike. My advice, when you find yourself in a similar situation, ignore the beggars pleas for cash and get away from them as quickly as possible while remaining aware of them and others around you. Of course, another thing comes to mind - be prepared to defend yourselves too.

All the best,
Glenn B

Maybe I Should Buy Things On Layaway At Walmart!

Someone paid off the amounts due on all of the items being held on layaway at the Walmart located in Uniondale, NY! He or she spent nearly $50,000.00 to do so. More at the source. Maybe Santa Claus does exist.

Yep, I have shopped there before but never bought anything there on layaway. It's not my go to Walmart and I do not go to Walmart all that often. I also don't shop using layaway plans. In fact, about the only things I have ever bought on something even remotely similar to layaway were my house when I got a mortgage on it and my kids' college educations. Too bad, all that was paid off years ago - that is too bad if any of you were thinking of taking care of them for me.

All the best,
Glenn B

Tax More & Spend More & Tax More...

...to spend even more, it seemingly never ends and is the mantra of just about every government in the world. Well, that is it never ends until there is a revolution - like this one maybe. Seems the people of France have apparently decided they have had enough. Now if only they have the balls to stick with their convictions for say a few months or more, they may actually get something accomplished along the lines of reigning in their government's taxing and spending.

All the best,
Glenn  B

George H. W. Bush - In-Memoriam

I just checked the news a few minutes ago; it was the first time I did so today. I must say that the headline bummed me out substantially.

President George H.W. Bush passed last night at the age of 94. More at the source.

I thought him a decent president, better than most within my lifetime and liked him quite a bit in that role. He seemed to be a compassionate man of faith and integrity who truly loved the United States of America. My condolences to his family, loved ones, associates and all Americans who mourn his passing.
Next Wednesday has been designated as a national day of mourning. More here.


All the best,
Glenn B

A Duffle Bag Full Of Cash...

...was not found outside of a bank in Westchester County, NY. Instead, a suspicious duffle bag found outside of a Wells Fargo bank reportedly was found to contain the remains one Deshawn Cortez-Seaborne who allegedly had been stabbed.

Someone's dreams of being the next found a bag of cash millionaire came crashing down with that find! More at the source.

All the best,
Glenn B

Sending Off A Handgun Is Getting Expensive

It used to be, even in this semi-communista type of a tyrannical armpit called NY, that I could sell a handgun to someone out of state and it was not all that much of an expense to ship it and to do it legally. All that has changed over the years. Now to sell any of my handguns, to an out of state entity, I have to ship it not only to an FFL on their end but have to go through one on my end who is also a registered NY State Dealer in Firearms (or whatever NY calls it). Right there that is about a minimum charge of $30 on my end to go through a dealer, then $10 to get it off of my pistol license at the county PD, then UPS overnight air to wherever it is going (and that can be cost prohibitive for either the seller or the buyer depending on who pays for shipping) and then there is the fee at the buyer's and for his FFL (usually paid by the buyer).

Of course, that all also applies to sending someone a handgun as a gift. I was thinking of sending my son a pistol but I figure to send him  $400 pistol, as a gift and thus have me taking care of the FFL fees, the licensing fee on my end, the shipping and all, it would cost me an additional $125 plus and that, of course, is over and above the cost of the handgun. That is crazy but so to is the rabid manner in which the minds of anti-RKBA politicians work.

NY has made it more and more difficult to not only to purchase a handgun but to sell one as well. You would think that they almost want to keep them here and that would make you wonder why since NY is, overall, such a gun-unfriendly state. My guess would be that once they legislate a law calling for seizure of all handguns, and believe me that day is coming sooner or later in this leftist haven of a state, they figure they will be able to scoop them all up and thus remove them from the hands of the people.

When it comes to gun rights and liberties - NY SUCKS.

All the best,
Glenn B

An Aching Wrist Waiting to Happen

All the best,
Glenn B

A Good Read On The Right to Keep and Bear Arms

More here at the source of the quote.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ah The Christmas Wish List

 

 

 

 

 

All the best,

GB

Happy Thanksgiving

A very Happy Thanksgiving to all decent folks (and my definition of decent is pretty broad but definitely excludes scum like terrorists).

My daughter is cooking today and we are going to her and her hubby's house
for dinner. My wife made fresh cranberry sauce and also made a butternut
squash casserole, I baked an apple pie and the brothers-in-law will bring
some scrumptious delights as usual. I am thankful for all that and more.

A special Happy Thanksgiving wish especially to our troops who are on foreign soil, on the high seas or up in the air protecting us on this day. I wish you all a swift and safe return to American soil.

As a friendly reminder, don't forget what today is all about - make sure to be thankful for the things you have - family - friends - health - wealth - food - a roof over your head - there is almost always something for which you can and should give thanks.
 
All the best,
Glenn B

If You Ever Shoot A Deer...

...and it is considered illegal, say because it's antlers are too small to be a legal buck but you never saw them and honestly had thought it was a doe - at least until after you shot it and only then realized it was a spike buck - what would you do once you discovered your mistake? Would you just leave it in the woods to rot and walk away or would you gut it, tag it and call whatever agency in your state handles hunting regulations?

A coworker once told me, should I ever be aiming at a buck and my shot is off and it hits a doe, and I do not have a doe permit, I should just walk away. He spoke from experience based on his own case of self reporting and getting himself into bureaucratic hot water over a similar incident many years ago. He said it was a nightmare. Maybe his advice were words of wisdom! 

I wonder, how many people would do what he said to do or instead would do what they thought was ethically & legally the right thing to do like self reporting.

All the best,
Glenn B

Me - I Enjoyed A Root Beer Tonight...

...but maybe you decided to enjoy some Flavor Aid or Kool-Aid in some weird type of memorial remembrance of November 18, 1978. It was on this date, 40 years ago today, that the Jonestown Massacre took place (more at the source). The Jonestown Massacre reportedly was the highest single day's loss of the lives of U.S. civilians due to a single act of violence prior to 9/11/2001 (more at this other source).

As I have often said, it's the weird holy-men (like cult leaders) and politicians (mostly lawyers) who will be the death of us all. Sadly, that was all too true at Jonestown.

Just thinking about it was more than enough to turn me onto a Root Beer.

All the best,
Glenn B

This Is A Cropped Area Of A Photo I Took In The Woods

The picture's main subject was something else entirely in the upper third of the original photo, that part has been cropped out of the shots I am showing here. As I looked over the original, I saw something that intrigued me so I zoomed in some to take a closer look.

In this first shot, only the upper third of the original photo is missing, it is unimportant except to give some idea of scale; the part in the cropped phot that is of interest to me was about 20" or so across. The area in question is the oval shape about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom in this cropped version. Do you see anything in that area? Click on the pic to enlarge it, look again.

A deer I was watching was heading right for that

spot as if curious about something in that area.

 

Here is a closer view, pretty much just the oval area. Do you see something of interest now. maybe it is just my imagination but I see something I never expected to see. Maybe just the shadows and light playing tricks or maybe there are a few surprises there. Again, click to enlarge.

 

I know, the picture quality is terrible, there was not enough light for
a good quality shot; but if you click it to big it you may see whatever
it is that I certainly think I see. Do you see them?

Here is the same shot, with the contrast adjusted a bit, maybe it will help.

 

A bit of contrast was added. See them now?

What I see, or at least what my imagination makes me think I see, are at least five dogs, four of them puppies and maybe one older although it too could be a puppy. The heads are the most visible thing on four of them but I will be damned if each I am seeing does not have the proper anatomical proportions and seem to have eyes, muzzle, snout and ears and on one it seems I can make out the forelegs, on another the whole body and its head & right legs. Now the imagination is a wonderful and wild thing but damn I'd swear I see them.

 

Nope, I have not been smoking any whacky weed nor taking any mind bending meds nor drinking. Use your imaginations a bit and you may see them too.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

It's A Little Difficult Believing An American Said This...

...but of course now that he has said it, and now that he has received thousands of comments criticizing what he said, he is claiming (in the typical manner of a politician) it was mere sarcasm. Somehow though, it makes one seriously wonder just exactly what has our government become with people like him in it.

The he in question is U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and what he in essence said was that firearms owners could never win in a war against the government because the government has nuclear weapons. He allegedly made that remark after a gun rights advocate said this about him on social media:

“So basically @RepSwalwell wants a war. Because that's what you would get. You're outta your f------ mind if you think I'll give up my rights and give the [government] all the power," Joe Biggs tweeted at Swalwell.

This prompted Swalwell to defend himself, saying it would be a “short war” because “the government has nukes,” implying the government would use its nuclear arsenal against its own citizens."

 

More at the source.

 

Guys like him, in government, are exactly the reason that they who wrote and signed the bill of rights included the 2nd Amendment.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

 

U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell Source: https://pressfrom.info/us/news/offbeat/-211909-california-dem-says-us-would-win-short-war-against-gun-rights-advocates-the-government-has-nukes.html

U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell Source: https://pressfrom.info/us/news/offbeat/-211909-california-dem-says-us-would-win-short-war-against-gun-rights-advocates-the-government-has-nukes.html

U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell Source: https://pressfrom.info/us/news/offbeat/-211909-california-dem-says-us-would-win-short-war-against-gun-rights-advocates-the-government-has-nukes.html

Going Hunting...

...which translates to a good belly laugh for the deer around my hunting grounds. Yet, it will be nice to be out in the woods even if I will be freezing my tuches (Either of the two rounded prominences on the human torso that are posterior to the hips and formed by the gluteal muscles and underlying structures {source}) off. Wish me luck, the deer have been winning for years now and my butt has been getting cold for nothing. 

All the best,
Glenn B

Speaking Of Jam-O-Matics

I have owned a few (or maybe a couple more than a few) guns, other than the RG 26 I own now and the one I owned previously, that I considered true pieces of dung. I thought so if only because of how frequently they jammed. One of them may have been the gun for which the name Jam-O-Matic was first thought up; then again - that name may be a lot older than I suspect but it certainly fit one of them.

The second truly clunker of a handgun that I ever owned, after the first RG 26, was a Charter Arms Undercover 38 SPL. I bought one in the early 1980s. While I am not certain, I am fairly sure it was the second handgun I ever purchased. Live and learn and better to learn early on when it comes to gun buying I suppose. I learned from the Charter Arms Undercover 38 SPL and I sold it pretty fast. The reason I offloaded it was that when combat unloading/loading the cylinder would ride up over the small half circle of a protrusion on the side of the frame that was meant to prevent it from doing just that. I am not sure what you call that little nub so little nub will have to do! It's on the left side of frame near bottom just behind the cylinder. Damned steel of the frame and that nub were so soft for it to have worn away as the cylinder would ride up over it and get stuck there whenever unloading with any force as in a combat reload. I told the guy who bought it about that - he did not care - he wanted it to practice his engraving. He was an excellent engraver of firearms and I guess needed crap guns on which to practice his trade. All in all though, if not for that, the Charter Arms Undercover 38 would have been an okay gun as far as I was concerned. If you look closely at the nub in this video, you can see where the metal of that nub is worn to the white because it has probably failed in the same way.



Yet another Charter Arms that I owned was a dismal failure - in fact so much so that I think the name Jam-O-Matic was coined because of the piss poor performance of it. That gun was the Charter Arms Explorer II. That gun was a must have for me when I was a young agent in the Border Patrol. Not only did it look retro & cool in a sort of Art Deco way, it also looked like a throwback to the early industrial period (what did they call that not all that long ago - I think Steampunk). It was just the pistol to have at least for me and some of my buddies. I have a vague recollection that mine came with two barrels - one about 6" the other 10". Regardless of how cool it looked or how many barrels it came with, it was a piece of junk and Jam-O-Matic was the right name to wrap around it. I must have tried ten or 15 brands and various types of ammo in it, it operated dismally at best with any of them. Failures to feed and failures to eject were common. I got rid of that one pretty fast too. That's a good thing too because here, in NYistan under the Tyrant-King Cuomo, it is considered an assault weapon and lord knows how many mass shootings I might have decided to perpetrate if I still owned it.

Seems that its reputation, as a Jam-O-Matic, still stands too:



Don't get me wrong, I have no bones to pick with Charter Arms; just telling it like it was with those two particular guns. For all I know they made some great guns too. In fact, I bought a gun that used to be made by them but was made by henry repeating Arms when I got mine - The Henry Survival Rifle (used to be the Charter Arms AR7 or something like that). Nice little gun, lots off fun, does not jam a lot and is accurate enough for its purpose. Heard they were also good when made by Charter Arms.

All the best,
Glenn B

 

Every Firearms Owner Should Have At Least One...

...and this one is mine. I mean how can you justify being called a: firearms enthusiast, gun collector, firearms aficionado, right wing RKBA whacko, pistol packing mama, crazed gunman or an NRA evildoer if you do not own at least one Jam-O-Matic aka a Saturday Night Special. Mine, at the current moment is the RG 26 tat is pictured here but there have been others over the years I have been into guns (which seems like forever):
 

 
All the best,
Glenn B

80 Years Ago - Something Else To Never Forget

Today is the 100th anniversary of the end of WWII but 80 years ago this past Friday & Saturday - November 9 & 10, 1938 - something else that should not go forgotten also took place. It was not an end but a commencement - that of the Holocaust or at least the beginning of it in full view of the world. The night of November 9th & 10 marked the anniversary of Kristallnacht when large scale physical attacks on the Jews of Germany, Austria & the Sudetenland, their houses of worship, their businesses and their homes began at the hands of the Nazis. More at the source. 

All the best,
Glenn B