A Horse - A Horse - My Kingdom For A...

...Chunky Bar. I am in Texas and have a car, I don't need no stinkun' horses. What I needed this evening, what I craved this evening, what I wanted more than anything was a Chunky Bar. They seem none to popular here in Texas and all I can say is these Texans have no clue as to what they are missing. Even in NY - where they were created in the 1930s - by a NY Jew name of Silverstein - who named them after his chunky (as in flabby) granddaughter - they seemed scarce for the last couple or few years. Damn, if there ever is a Zombie Apocalypse they may become akin to Twinkies in the movie Zmbieland - they seem that ahrd to find.

While not the original recipe, they are delicious nonetheless being made of milk chocolate, peanuts and rasins. I am no big fan of milk chocolate either - the darker and stronger the chocolate, the better for me. Yet, when it comes to my favorites made of milk chocolate, Chunkies rate right up there with Mallow Cups. Mallow Cups are my favorite by far unless I am craving a Chunky Bar - then they equal one another.

No real dark chocolate to be found near my apartment even if I had craved it this evening, but as I said - tonight I craved a Chunky Bar. Well, I had to settle for a Milky Way bar. Not bad but no comparison to the other two.  Funny I should be suffering from such urges considering that this morning my doctor told me I lost 8 pounds since my last visit a couple or few weeks ago (due no doubt to a lower carb diet and dog walking from 4 to 6 miles daily for the past two weeks). I mean imagine craving a Chunky Bar, named after a chunky sized kid, and I am on a diet actually getting less chunky! Oh well, it's the weekend and I allow myself to indulge for one or two days, then back on the diet. Those two bottles of Spaten lager I had just before the Milky Way were pretty good too.

All the best,
Glenn B

Miss-understood

All the best,
Glenn B

It's A War Zone Out There

All the best,
Glenn B

Representing The Long Island Gun Club...

...west of the Mississippi.

All the best,
Glenn B

Never Got Any Shooting Done...

...over this past weekend as I had hoped to do with Brendan but we had a good time anyway. Finally got around to dropping ATT as my cell phone service provider and we switched to T-Mobil. They mahy not have as much coverage as ATT but my ATT service sucked, their customer service was worse edging on the down side of abhorrent and they were expensive, very expensive. For what will be a better plan as far as I can see, we will now be paying about $72.00 less per month between the both of us. 

A guy at the ATT store helping me to get my ATT phone pin code reinstated told me we'd be back to ATT soon. I think not mostly because of their price and what I think was their abhorrent customer service.  I had to get a new pin because another ATT rep whom I had spoken to on the phone locked my account when I said I wanted to unlock my phone because he said it appeared my phone had been stolen - chalk up another  failure by ATT customer service. After two days of trying, I finally was able to unlock it so I could switch it to T-Mobil. If T-Mobil is as bad as the ATT store guy implied, then we may switch to Verizon but I am not going back to ATT unless they make drastic changes.  Right now, ATT can go belly up for all I care - as far as I am concerned they suck.

Other than getting our phones changed and it taking longer than expected we had a great time. We went to Fassler Hall in Little Rock on Saturday; a dog friendly German style bar/restaurant and too the pooch with us. We enjoyed ourselves and had a nice lunch and some biers (only two for me as I was driving). All in all we had a pretty uneventful but nice weekend spent together.

All the best,
GB

Waiting On Some New Boomers

I don't know, I thought I wasn't an addict but maybe I am one - I mean some people think I'm a gun junky. Here I am living in the freer state of TX after relocating from that liberal scum-bucket of NY, and trying to do it on half of my pension - and I still keep buying more guns! Of course, it's not that being buying guns and being involved in shooting and collecting as a hobby is a bad thing - it is that I need to balance my finances by maybe selling off some other ones to assure I don't go broke.

I had the high bids on three guns at last week's Hessney Rod & Gun Auction. Not sure if I got any good deals yet and won't be until I see the actual guns in my hands and get a chance to give them a good inspection. I am hopeful though that I did well.

They are:

Ruger Old Model Single Six, as new in the original box.

Marlin 55G 12 gauge.

Romanian M69 22 Training Rifle

An Argentine Sistema Colt 1911A1, aka: Model 1927, from a private sale.

I am an addict, I am hooked. 

The force runs deep within me.

I like guns. Yeah, that's the ticket!

All the best,
Glenn B

So When The Wicked Witch of Little Rock Accused...

...President Donald Trump of having colluded with the Russians - in order to defeat her in the last presidential election - it seemed every libturd on the planet evidently believed it or at least went along with the program.They cried foul and called for Trump's head on a platter. That persisted even after the findings of the Mueller witch-hunt. Well at least for a while - now they have new bizarre claims against our president.

It appeared to me thought as if just about every time someone came up with more evidence pointing to Hillary Clinton as being a criminal - either in Uranium-1, or for trying to oust Sanders from the primaries, or for her email scandal, or for helping to conspire against President Trump relative to fake claims of Russian collusion (the term should actually have been called conspiracy but the dems don't care to ever get anything right) or for whatever else - Hillary Clinton, and the rest of the Dems, came up with more excuses as to why she lost the election and as to how President Trump was in cahoots with the Russians.

The thing is, she reportedly just in essence called one of the current democrats running for that party's nomination - presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard - a traitor who is in bed with the Russians! More at the source. Who in Hades is Hillary kidding! Even others in her own party are calling her out on this latest Russian conspiracy claim. Is she out of her mind? (That's a totally rhetorical question because in my mind I believe she most definitely is mentally ill.)

What amazes me though, is some if not most of the libturds who thought that President Trump colluded with the Russians probably still would believe Hillary if and when she was to make further claims against President Trump in that regard. Worse than that, some few actually may believe her preposterous claims about Gabbard. Worst of all - if Clinton were to run for the presidency she somehow might yet win her party's nomination although I find it almost impossible (note I said almost).

Now mind you, I am a very cynical type. I have to wonder if the dems have decided that Gabbard might be their candidate and that - by having Hillary slam her - she will get not only what votes she could garner on her own but a good amount of sympathy votes from dems, independents, RINOs and Never-Trumpers to push her over the top. Think that is far fetched - well then you have not been paying attention to how things in the world of politics have been going with the demoncrats for the last several years.

We truly lice in a bizarre country politically.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Pooch Has Been Keeping Me Busy

 Welcome Skye to the blog. We adopted one another last Friday. They told me she is a Dachshund, Basset Hound, Beagle cross; her paperwork says Dachshund X Hound X; and another of her papers says Dachshund X but I do not see it. While I suppose she could be all those, she looks much more like a pointer than anything else. At our first vet visit today, that is how our new vet described her on the paperwork he did - as a pointer. 

Since I've gotten her, she's peed on my carpet four times, that I am aware of, and crapped on it twice. Not bad for a new mutt in the house and she has been very good at going outside since then. Being that they took her out of her crate, at the rescue, every morning at about 1:30am to let her answer the call of nature and then fed her breakfast that early and dinner well before 3PM, I think she has adapted to my schedule, if you can call my day scheduled, pretty well.

In the morning, we have gone out for a walk of about 2 to 2.5 miles every day so far (but next time it pours here in the morning, like it did two nights ago, I may just let her pee on the carpet again). Anyway, so far, in the mornings she has just wet the grass. Later in the day I take her for a shorter afternoon walk just to see if she needs to go. I have also taken her to local dog parks at least three days this week. We take other short walks in the afternoons and evenings as they seem needed and a late night walk of at least 1.5 miles each night - usually right before I feel I have to pass out (I was staying up as late as I could t get her out late enough to make it to the next morning without an accident - now she has adapted and we go out at 10 - 11 or so at the latest and she is keeping my carpet dry. I am getting some much needed exercise and since I have been dieting by eating a lower carb diet, this fat man may just lose some weight over the next few to several months with all these walks helping nicely in that regard. That would be nice.

Skye, does not go to the door (yet) or whine (yet) when she needs to go out but has come over to me a few times acting all antsy and starts licking my hands like crazy. Seems to be my cue to get the leash and get my arse out of the chair I am sitting in and go for a walk. We went out tonight last at about 845 when she started in like that and the mission was a success. I am training her to "make" on that command. Worked with our dogs in NY so I see no reason it will not work with her. I also leave the patio door open for much of the day when we are home, that way she can go out to use the facilities so to speak and she has done so twice avoiding a stinky mess inside!

Speaking of commands, she is not the greatest at responding to them nor to her name. I wonder if they called her by her name often or hardly ever at the rescue. She does come when called or when I make kissing noises - most of the time. She sits on command sometimes. She has not been taught to heel but I will start on that and on the stay command in earnest within a week or three; I want her more accustomed to me before I really start in with training her like that and as we all know - I am The great procrastinator - so it may take years! All kidding aside, I really am holding off until she is more settled in and she is good enough on the leash for me not to feel the need to start sooner. 

She understands go downstairs, go upstairs, go inside and go outside, get in the car (more or less - where by the way she is cool as a cucumber). Another thing, on the few occasions she has barked, she quiets down after one or two commands of "quiet". She was chewing on some things in the house she should not have chewed and still does a bit now and again, but I have given her Nylabones, balls, rope, rawhide, beef rib bones and Dentstix and she seems to have almost stopped mouthing things she should not. She is learning more each day and as far as I am concerned learning that she is not supposed to pee or crap in the house was the most important.

I'll get around to posting some better pics of her and also to posting some about gun stuff sooner or later, probably on Sunday. Have a few new acquisitions (well they should be in transit directly to me soon because I have a new C&R). Tomorrow I am going to get together with Brendan and maybe we can get in some shooting.

Living the dream.

All the best,
Glenn B

When It Comes To Fake News - ABC May have Just Won 1st Place

An ABC news report on the fighting in Syria between the Turkish military and Kurdish forces reportedly featured a spectacular video of the fighting. It also evidently depicted scores if not hundreds of spectators making videos of the shooting and explosions with their cell phones. Really? Just watch the video. The thing was though, according to published reports, the video actually showed a full auto shoot at the Knob Creek Gun Range in Kentucky and had nothing to do with the fighting in Syria. More at the source.


Folks, the news does not get much more fake than that! Anyway ABC supposedly has apologized for it. My guess is had they not been caught with their pants on fire, they never would have mentioned it. I have no doubt someone on the left will now use it, in their continued anti-gun crusade, to show just how terrible are gun owners in the US of A that their shooting at a range could be confused for warfare. Really though, I think all it shows is how low they can go to make fake news.

All the best,
Glenn B

This One Always Makes Me Feel Better - It's Just So Upbeat...

...on one of my favorite interests.


 
All the best,
Glenn B

Flash - Who Cares If It's Not Official - It Is A Stunning Achievement

Not being much of a sports fan doesn't mean I can't or don't appreciate milestones in athletic achievement. For an almost 35 year old man to run a marathon in less than two hours not only is impressive it is stunning. 

"Superstar runner Eliud Kipchoge broke the elusive 2-hour marathon barrier Saturday—an achievement once considered beyond a human’s reach.

The Olympic champion and world record holder from Kenya clocked 1 hour, 59 minutes and 40.2 seconds at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna." More at the source.

Damn, my legs and lower back sometimes hurt after after walking a mile, I cannot imagine what this ma's body feels like after running 26.22 miles and doing it in that record shattering time (although not an official record, he also holds the official marathon record at 2 hours 31 minutes and 39 seconds). Whatever his body may have felt like after that feat of stamina/endurance and speed, I am sure his head was in the clouds. As he said: 

"That was the best moment of my life..."

I am figuring there is going to be another best moment in his athletic life, the moment he breaks the two hour barrier in an unaided marathon. My guess is he will be the one to do it, the Flash had nothing on this man.

All the best,
Glenn B

A New C&R FFL In Exactly 3 Weeks!

There I was, sitting in front of my laptop with a wide grin on my face. I'd just checked my email and got one from the post office notifying me what mail I could expect today; they even include photos of it (not too happy they do that though - that is make a photo record of all the mail I receive - hope they do not suspect me of being in collusion with Russia).

Went out to my mailbox awhile later to retrieve it and there it was in the nice official FFL envelope with the little glassine window through which I could read my name and address printed on the face of the license and... Hey, wait a minute - they spelled my name wrong! That smile which had been on my face since I read the email now turned upside-down. They left one of the Ns off of my first name.

I called their customer service and someone picked up with about a minute. I was again happy figuring this would be a quick fix. Wrong again - that rep put me through to someone she said handles my state. Of course, the second rep never picked up and I had to leave her a voicemail. Still waiting on a callback.

Normally this would not be a problem,how long could a correction take (hope I do not regret asking). The thing is though, I was so happy to receive it because I am negotiating on an Argentine Colt 1911 and also because there is a Hessney gun auction coming up this weekend and I intend to bid remotely on some C&R guns. It would save me a good amount of money for FFL fees if I could have any of those potential purchases sent directly to me but my guess is that ATF will tell me I cannot use it until my name is corrected but am keeping my fingers crossed hoping they say it is okay to use.

By the way, I checked my application copies - I spelled my name correctly everywhere that I wrote it on the form. I hate it if I am the one who screwed up on something like that, after all - it is my name and I should at least spell it right and I did so.

Damn, when it comes to being that guy with regard to having little to no luck except bad luck - it is , all too often, me!

All the best,
Glenn B

Is It Really Paranoia To Arm Yourself For Self-Defense

Recently, someone I know, said something to the effect that people who carry guns are afraid of their world in as much as they evidently need to be armed to do ordinary things; this, in the context it was stated, hinted that folks who arm themselves for protection are paranoid. 

For a liquor store owner in Port Jefferson, NY - his normal thing was working at the store and probably having some pleasant chats with his customers. He was also one of those folks who was armed - thus I guess some would think him paranoid. Me, I think he was merely prepared for what might come and come it reportedly did. A man armed with a sword or machete entered his store, drew the weapon and started to swing it in close proximity to the store owner. What's a paranoid schizoid an armed store owner to do - he pulled out a gun and shot the guy. Guy with the sword is dead. Plus one for the good guys. More at the source.

All the best,
Glenn B

Hillary, When Did You Beat Him The First Time???

Hillary Clinton and her minion have reportedly hinted that she may throw her hat into the 2020 presidential race. How she can even think of doing so when a reported 71% of Americans think she should keep out of it is beyond me. When talking about it she said that President Trump "...is either lying or delusional or both..." (source).



As she seemingly continued babbling on she clued the listener into something that evidently tells a lot about her capacity to tell the truth and whether or not she is the one living in a world of delusion. She said she "...so, maybe there does need to be a rematch, I mean obviously I can beat him again..." referring to President Trump! 

I have no clue as to what she was talking about because last I heard she lost the presidential election in 2016 to now President Donald Trump. I am left flabbergasted trying to figure out when it was she beat him the first time to be able to do it again. Funny, I just heard someone say, in essence, that any time the left accuses the right of wrongdoing - you can safely bet that they are accusing the right of exactly what it is those on the left are actually doing. That my friends, fits here like a glove.

All the best,
Glenn B

President Trump May Have Just Lost My 2020 Vote

Turkey has begun attacking Kurdish forces in northern Syria - much as was expected once president Trump agreed to remove U.S. military units from the area and to drop support of the Kurds. They also allegedly have begun bombing civilian targets. More at the source.

While I agree with President Trump that our forces should not have been in Syria in the first place, we did ally ourselves with the Kurds and they have done a lot toward ending ISIS domination in the region. So, I think President Trump has been extremely ill advised and will suffer greatly in 2020 because of his withdrawal of any military support for our, up until the past couple or few days, allies - the Kurdish forces in Northern Syria. Then again, the only advice I have read about is that he was advised not to abandon them. So, if not bad advice what else? 

He may just have made a huge blunder on his own by withdrawing support of the Kurds. Of course - looking at it from a different perspective - he actually could be trying to throw the 2020 election to one of his rivals. That is the only other explanation I can think of for leaving our allies flat and allowing Turkey (an ally one day and an enemy the next over the years) to essentially attack them unimpeded. Now, it is possible that our Commander In Chief has a surprise ace in his hand; he actually may have just cause for dropping the military support of the Kurds when an attack by Turkey was imminent but if he does he should let it be known ASAP.

I hope so because I  find it hard to believe he wold simply abandon our allies like that when he knew they were faced with an imminent invasion. If it is that he has no logical reason for having abandoned them, I will lament having voted for him regardless of what good he has done while in office. I am not a war monger but I do believe if we ally ourselves with forces who are the enemy of our enemies, we should stand by them as long as they carry out the mission against our enemies. In this case the enemy was ISIS and there are thousands of ISIS forces being held prisoner by the Kurds. 

If president Trump does not hold that ace in his hand - if this is just him deciding this is what he is going to do with no strategic and logical reason to it - then he maybe will have lost my vote come 2020. That does not mean I'll vote for any of the demoncrats (not on my life) but I certainly will look to another candidate worthy of my vote on the right.

All the best,
Glenn B

Texas LTC

I applied for my Texas License To Carry a handgun on September 19. Twenty one days later, I am in possession of it. In NY it took me about 2 or 3 months as I recall to get a pistol license as a retired LEO.  Getting a pistol license in NY, without having been a LE officer or without needing one for employment (such as for an armed security guard), is almost impossible except for a target/hunting pistol license - that is unless of course you are rich and famous. 

It is nice to be living in a freer state. Of course, I still think the Constitution of The United States of America, and specifically the 2nd Amendment, should be and are more than enough for all of us to be armed. As for NY and its horrendous petty tyrant of a governor, all I can say is FUAC.

All the best,
Glenn B

Remington Model 29 12 Gauge Shotgun Test Fire

I picked up this Remington Model 29, 12 gauge, slide action shotgun at a Hessney auction in September 2018. Until this test fire, in October 2019, I had not fired it. Yes, as I have said before - I am The Great Procrastinator.




It shot like a charm, has a smooth action and one heck of a kick. I was shooting Remington Express XLR (Extra long Range) 2 3/4" high brass shells and it hold 5 rounds in the magazine. As you can see in the video it is a bottom feeding and bottom ejecting model. The slide release is on the right side of the receiver, I forgot to mention that in the video and you probably cannot see me operate it with my thumb. I shot up one box of 25 rounds without a problem. I have to say, it definitely has one heck of a kick but that may have been in part due to my choice of ammo. 



I am thinking its performance was not too shabby for a 90 year old shotgun; this one was manufactured in October 1929. I meant to shoot it on my birthday to celebrate both of our October beginnings but wound up spending that day with my son - which was the more important thing to do and which did not bruise my right shoulder. Anyway, I finally got around to it today and it was a fine way to dispel the Monday afternoon blues regardless of it kicking like a mule at least on the first 5 rounds.

All the best,
Glenn  B

Birthday Bier

I was officially a year older yesterday. Brendan took me out for lunch, at the Bavarian Grill in Plano, TX, after we left the Premiere Gun Show at the Big Town Events Center over near Dallas yesterday. 

Look at these photos and all I can say is what a difference a bier makes. I only had one (seriously because I was driving - I waited until I got home later to do more imbibing). I was happy regardless; heck I was getting free bier and eats and had excellent company.

For some reason or another though, someone did not seem all that ready to smile for the camera. Maybe that was because he was paying or because his company was not as good as mine!

About 1/2 hour later, on the second bier, it seems it was much easier to smile. Maybe because I asked him to smile for his mom.

Deutche bier does it every time, brings out a smile that is!

We had some gutt bier und essen. Then a quick stop back at the show and then we headed to my place near Texarkana. Spent a couple of hours talking and drinking and watching TV before he was snoring on his airbed in my living room. I watched the rest of a movie and then headed up to my bed to catch some Zs. Not a bad way at all to have spent my birthday, in  fact it was excellent. Brendan headed home to Benton, AR today. Cannot wait to see him again soon.

In the mean time, I have my tortoises for company and hopefully soon will have a dog.

All the best,
Glenn B

My Kind Of Business - T & G Sales

Let me tell you a bit about T&G Sales. I bought a magazine from them, for my Beretta 950BS Minx, at the Mesquite Rodeo gun show a couple or few weeks back. Wound up the magazine was defective and I had no receipt and figured it was a lost cause. It was a Triple-K mag but I thought it was doubtful they'd replace something for which I had already tossed the package into the trash and for which there was no receipt. Then, I found a business card in the bag the mag had been in from the show. It was for T & G Sales. I sent an email to the proprietor Rich Scott, told him what was the issue with the magazine and asked if he could do anything about it. He said to send it to him because he would replace it. I sent the mag to him, he received it, he also said he'd send me a new one, likely next week.

Brendan (my son) and I went to the gun show at the Big Town Events center on October 5. I saw that T & G Sales had a table at the Big Town show and went over an introduced myself to Rich but only right after taking another Triple-K mag off of his display. I told him who I was and asked if I could just take that mag as a replacement. He most cordially agreed and asked if I had taken it out of the package to examine it which I had not done. So, he took it out, looked it over and asked his associate to find him a box of 22 short. In just a little bit, he loaded the mag full of 22 short rounds to see if this one worked then pushed each out with his thumb and one after another they were pushed to the top by the follower. The first one I got would have failed this test miserably, heck I could not load more than one round into it and then it would not feed.

So, I was happy to take this replacement. I told him I was glad he checked it because it meant I would not have to return this one and joked that it could wind up getting expensive for both of us due to postage to ship the mags. We talked a bit more and I was saying thanks again and goodbye when he pushed a ten spot toward me and insisted I take it for the postage. I tried to say no but he insisted. I took it then told him we could split the difference and a 5 would be more than enough but he again insisted. That certainly was not my intent when I had mentioned the postage and I am sure he knew that; he just said he stands behind what he sells. I have not met many small business men as good as Rich  Scott of T & G Sales! He was a truly professional, courteous and nice dealer who actually did stand by what he sold and who went the extra mile to make sure his customer was happy. So, I told him next time I am there to buy mags, he could be assured it will be from him.

I told Brendan about that maybe an hour or so later when we ran into one another in our ramblings around the hall. I told him if he was going to buy any mags to go to T & G Sales. That's what he did and he bought an AK mag there. I am pretty sure he only did that because Rich had done such a nice thing for me; Brendan certainly did not need anymore AK mags and was short on cash so it seem he went out of his way to payback Rich's great service to me. Anyway, I went back over to the T & G Sales table later on, Rich was not there right then but his associate helped me, and I bought a two-pack of Ruger BX-25 10/22 mags. When I need mags when at future shows where T & G Sales is present, I'll be buying from them if they have what I need. Great guys, large selection, very good to excellent prices, excellent customer service - it does not get better than them.

Believe me, if they had a web address on their business card, I would have posted it but they do not. I guess they only do local or regional guns shows in Texas.

All the best,
Glenn B

Facebook Fundraiser For The NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund

I started a Fundraiser on Facebook yesterday for the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund. You can see it at the following link and donate if you so choose: https://www.facebook.com/donate/761370430966887/10216620496078951/. The goal is one million dollars and there is a long way to go. While the goal is exceptionally lofty, if this gets passed around enough and each gun owner who sees it donates a buck or three, the goal may be surpassed. It's going to be open for donations through December 31, 2019. So, please feel pass along that link to other gun owners you know. 

As for those of you who are thinking that Facebook will take that down in a heartbeat, think again. Facebook notified me about the possibility of doing a fundraiser because my birthday is right around now. As a goof, I decided to check it out. It let me type in my own choice of a charity and I input just three letters - NRA. Surprisingly, a list of NRA charities showed up and the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund was one of them. I used to donate, through the Combined Federal Campaign, to a group called The Civil Rights Defense Fund (and I confirmed back then they were part of the NRA). I figured why not set up a fundraiser for them and there it is all thanks to Facebook.

I should add, I have no clue if they pass along 100% of the funds raised or if they keep a portion to run the thing. Shame on me for not checking. 

Edited To Add: 

Okay - someone on a gun forum where I started a thread about this wanted to know what was my compensation for this. As far as I knew it would be zero and I have since confirmed that I am not getting a penny, not even as much as diddly squat for starting this fundraiser. Here is the info I found out and how I posted in on that forum:

*******************

This is a link that was on the post about my fundraiser, it tells how the payments are made to the charity although I did not see any breakdown as to whether or not funds are given 100% or some are retained. I did see one thing that said Facebook pays the processing fees but don't know if that is for every fundraiser:
https://www.facebook.com/help/1872359709660621#nfg

Here is a link from that same page to more info about the charity:
https://www.guidestar.org/profile/52-1136665
 
Here is a link to the charity's site:
http://nradefensefund.org/

*******************

I looked some more and found this which shows my belief was correct - I ain't getting diddly squat:
"Facebook covers payment processing fees so that 100% of donations made on Facebook are distributed to the organization." 

The source for that can be found at this link:
https://www.facebook.com/help/189443...elpref=related

********************    

So, if you were wondering if I get compensated - I do not. If you were wondering is this some sort of a scam, it does not appear to be one to me. Had it even hinted of such, I would never have posted about it here. Is it some kind of a miracle that Facebook would allow for donations to any organization having anything to do with the NRA and standing up for gun rights - maybe but if is a miracle then thank the heavens.

All the best,
Glenn B

Find It

And no, your WTF moment should not be the blurred out face of the person in the photo, that was done to make it impossible to ID the person in the photo.

All the best,
Glenn B

POLICE TO CHECK PARTY AFFILIATION BEFORE AIDING CITIZENRY

 While the above title is meant to be a satirical one liner, I have to wonder is it as far fetched as it sounds. The police chief in Thousand Oaks, CA reportedly effectively closed down a charity event for a fallen police officer's family, by withdrawing his department from the event. Why did he do that? He did it, the report says, because he did not like the fact that Republicans or other Trump supporters had been invited to it. What next Chief Hagel - will it be that if you hear of a crime in progress, in which the victim is a known conservative, you will tell your officers not to respond! My little bit of satire is not so far fetched after all if the source article got it right. More at the source.

It's really getting crazy in that it seems everything that some folks do is based on politics and if one of those folks is either an elected or appointed official - and is basing how they carry out their official duties on party affiliation - well then, that person needs to be removed from office without delay, in my opinion.

All the best,
Glenn B

I Am Going To Miss The Fall In NY

It's 0100 hours here in Texas where I am now. It's also 77 degrees outside and here that feels cool. I will certainly miss those cool to chilly and crisp fall mornings in NY, especially those when I got the chance to go upstate for a pre-hunt scouting hike or a small game hunt. Oh well, life goes on and I am pretty sure I will not miss winter in NY very much.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ghost of a Gun Show Past

Here  I sat, on my big rump, while clearing out the documents folder on my thumb drive, trying to get rid of junk I no longer needed and freeing up some space since the drive has only about 13% free space remaining. While I was looking through which folders and or files to delete or save, I came across one titled: Syracuse Gun Show Report.

I was about to delete the file and then the thought struck me like a thunderbolt - how could it have slipped my mind that I just had searched for that report maybe two weeks ago just before attending the Mesquite Rodeo Gun Show in Mesquite, TX! Back then, I searched y blog, my hard drive and my thumb drive but I could not find it anywhere. The reason I had been looking for it right before the Mesquite Rodeo Gun Show was because I had wanted to see what I had paid for a Century Arms WASR 10 at that Syracuse show in 2011. I was going to offer it for sale at that TX show (in fact I did sell it) and at least wanted my money back. Since, I could not find it I figured I never wrote it and that I was lucky to find a receipt for the WASR 10 to find out how much I had shelled out on it. 

If you read my blog, you know I usually do at least a brief and oft times a detailed report of each gun show I attend but somehow, it seemed , I never did it with this one. Truth is I did do one, the proof was staring me in the face. It made me think that somehow I had in effect killed it and dumped its body down the family well. Finding it now had an eerily ethereal feeling about it. I wondered where did that come from - I looked there for it before and never saw it how could it be there now! Was it there all the time and I just had missed it or had it materialized like a spirit from the ether of hereafter! It certainly still seems to me that it appeared where it had not been, much like an ancient ghost that had been banished to spend eternity down the well had finally decided to make an appearance in an attempt to vindicate itself (yes, I am an Abbott & Costello fan). Whatever - there it was and I decided to keep it and read it and thus the ghost of a gun show past was vindicated and freed and allowed to take its proper place here on my blog where it appears below.

So, without further ado, I present that article below:

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Syracuse Gun Show Report & 

Our 'Buy A Gun Day' Purchases 

04/17/11

My son and I attended the gun show in Syracuse, NY yesterday. Allow me to start off by saying it was great. I did not even realize it while at the show, my son pointed it out to me later, there were no tables selling beef jerky (at least none we saw). There was a lady at one table selling lousy jewelry and the regular collection of t-shirt sellers, book sellers, knife sellers, and military memorabilia sellers but the great majority of the 1,000 tables seemed dedicated to firearms, ammunition, firearms accessories like parts and holsters and mags, targets and other firearms related doo-dads of one sort or another. This was about the best gun show I have attended since going to a big show, I think 1,500 tables, out in Arizona and I could buy guns at this one so it was the best.

The variety of guns was great, there were a good assortment of [I]black[/I] rifles, AKs, bolt action hunting rifle, target rifles, semi-autos for all shooting applications, black powder antiques, new black powder firearms, old classic firearms, newly manufactured firearms. Lots of rifles, lots of shotguns lots of pistols. The prices ranged from way too high to truly excellent deals, For example, I saw run of the mill Russian Mosin Nagant 91/30s going for $135.00 and another dealer had the same rifles going for $89.00 (remember - no shipping or FFL as would have been the case if bought from an online dealer - so this was a great price).

My son and I had a few different things on our shopping lists. He was looking for a Stag Arms AR, a shotgun and whatever else caught his eye. I was hankering for a Remington Model 8 in .35 Remington, a Remington 700 VTR in .308, an AK-47 and whatever else caught my eye and was within reason price wise.

Somewhere, about an hour and a half into the show, I saw my son at a table looking at AR’s. He called me over and I could see he was hooked. He told me he was eying two different Stag Arms AR-15s. They were either Model 1 or 2, those he was eying were the non-piston versions since he already has a piston model. He was debating between one listed at $975 or so with few if any add-ons and another with added on quad fore rail, pistol fore-grip, red dot sight and some other things for $1250. He took the one with the add-ons for $1,200.

As the dealer was casing it all up, Brendan asked me if I had seen anything good and I said not yet. Whereas he had been round the whole show already, I had progressed only about 3 aisles with many more before me. I was taking my time actually looking hard not merely scanning. He asked “what are you looking for” and I mentioned the Rem. Model 8 at which the dealer perked up and said “I have one on the opposite of side of my display”. I took a look; he was asking about $500 but it was chambered for 32 Remington. I decided to wait to see if ammo dealers had any 32 Remington and found out it is basically a defunct cartridge, so I am quite happy I waited. Excellent Model, original finish probably over 95 percent, excellent wood, all parts attached decent price too but not for me without ready ammo availability. Back to the search for a model 8 in 35 Rem or one of the other rifles I wanted. 

Later on, when I was in the next to last row of tables in the big room, I again met Brendan and asked him if he had been in the back room of the show. He said yeah but that there was nothing worth it back there. We split up again and I went to take a look in the backroom regardless of him telling me there was nothing worth it there; I wound up happy I did so (or at least out some cash because I did so). At the last table I visited back there, there was a Romanian WASR AK-47 going for $450 and I went to again find Brendan. Once found, I brought him back to check it out for me; he was much more familiar with AK type weapons than was I in that he already has a Bulgarian AK. He took it down part way, checked it out, and said it looked like a good deal. I haggled a little, and got another $25 off the price. With tax it was $459 out the door. It came with 2 pre-ban 30 round mags (NY still has a ban on hi-cap mags).

Not a bad deal considering that at this show it was the lowest priced WASR. Others were going from $470.00 up to $509.00. Now $459 (out the door) is not as good as online prices but a typical online price is $410, plus shipping of about $25, plus FFL fee of $25 up my way, and guess what, that $459 equals the price I would have paid online at a place like Classic Arms, for a NY legal AK, and I did not have to wait for the gun.

The gas money we spent and the admission fee to the show of only $6.00 each (that is a great gun show admission price, I paid at least $9.00 in AZ for the big show out there) and what I spent on food was a weekend trip  expense that I chalk up to family fun and do not include in the price of the gun because I would have spent it anyway. So it was a good deal at least in NY. As for the other guns I was looking for, I only saw one Remington 700 VTR but it was in the wrong caliber and I did not see another Rem. Model 8 than that one in the wrong caliber (the search continues and I hope I find one as nice as the one I saw at this show).

By the way, when I went to look for Brendan, to help me look over the AK, I found him carrying yet another gun. He bought a Mossberg pump gun with pistol grip. I don’t know where he expects to shoot it as almost every range near our home will not allow them but there may be one range where he can try it out, so maybe there. He plans to get a regular stock for it sooner or later and I advised him to do so because as I see it, a shotgun with only a pistol grip at the butt end is just about useless unless you are shooting zombies (and then only in the movies) or in very close quarters in a self-defense situation.Even then, I prefer the shoulder stock to that pistol grip. He also had two bags of accessories and had purchased snap on covers for the quad rail on his new AR.

It was about 1215 when I had finished up with my AK purchase. The only other things we got after that were two mortar cans that Brendan wanted at $20.00 apiece. He was antsy and we certainly could not carry much more and we got to talking about leaving. We had gotten to the show at about 9, give or take a few minutes, and probably got inside by somewhere between 9:15 and 9:30, after standing on a long line in the damp and chilled upstate NY April air. There had been hundreds of people on line ahead of us and hundreds more behind us and the place had a steady flow of folks coming and going in the time we were there. There were 2 lines and luckily we got dropped off, by the parking lot tram, on the shorter line. 

While waiting on line, I saw two other guys I know from Long Island. I saw them a few times inside too. They had each picked up one gun apiece before Brendan and I took off and I am sure they will have bought more before leaving; they were staying for day 2 on Sunday. As for us, Brendan was antsy, and wanted to take off at 1230. I reminded him that we would not be welcome at home too early since my wife was going to be having some of the girls over for a wine party. Yet, I was sort of ready to go but only because my memory is not as good as it once was. I did not remember to go back to at least a couple of tables to buy raffle tickets, one from Friends of the NRA and another from a gun club that was giving away a rifle a day for the month of May. At $25 a ticket that was a good raffle on which to take a chance but I forgot to get back to them. I also had been wanting to pick up a Marlin Papoose, being sold as new in red soft case, wood stock, blued steel, for $150. I forgot that too. In addition I wanted to pick up some zombie targets, a case for my AK, and some other stuff. Then there was the used but looking like new Browning BLR Model 81 in .308. It was pretty but I thought the price was high at $625.00 (no optics and missing the screws that fill the scope rail mounting holes, otherwise except for a tiny scratch at the muzzle end of the barrel it looked perfect). I confirmed that when I saw another, in a different caliber, at about $550 in as good a condition. Well, I forgot about that too. Shame on me but being older than half a century, having a muddled middle aged memory, having trudged around through that show with all those other gun nuts and having a son who was eager to go and who kept telling me so, was a combination that led to our premature departure.

Yes, we left right at 1230. Luckily there were trams to take us back to the car which was a ways off in the compound. We loaded up our newly acquired gear into the car and headed out. On the way home we made 3 stops, one a McDonald's (lousy but acceptable food and it was fast), one for gas, and one at Gander Mountain in Middletown, NY so I could buy night crawlers and trout worms for my aquarium critters (fish, turtle,  and newts) and for my land critters (salamanders and tortoises). We got home right after my wife’s party started and I was relegated to the basement where I happily accepted my banishment.

All in all, we had a great trip. Good company, fun time, great purchases, fulfilling my self-imposed obligation to buy a gun for BAG day (which technically is tomorrow but the BAG day thing usually runs at least a few days either side of tax day). Don’t know about BAG day - go here: http://www.buyagunday.net/about/.

Remember, BAG Day is usually April 15th the traditional tax day but this year tax day is tomorrow, April18th, so you still have time to Buy A Gun and send the government a message while stimulating the U.S. economy!

All the best,
Glenn B

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Well, that was what should have been published on April 17, 2011, the day after that show in Syracuse. Some things in it struck my eye that convinced me I should publish it today - those things being some of the gun prices being offered back then as compared to now for essentially the same or very similar guns. I think you might find it interesting, amusing or saddening to see how those prices have changed in just 8 years.

Mosin Nagant 91/30 then lowest priced @ $89.99, highest priced at that show $139.99. Recently, at that Mesquite Rodeo gun show I attended, up to $399 but most going for around $300! Wow and they were in better condition back in 2011.I wish I had bought all I could find at the lower price then.

Remington Model 8 (similar in price to Model 81's): Then around $500 for the Model 8; now, now for the Model 81's one was about $800 the other $900 at the same dealer, both were 32 REM caliber; the only guy who had them had two of them. Remarkably a Remington Model 8 in 30 REM went for $575, an excellent price, at the most recent Hessney Gun Auction earlier this month but I must admit the way it was described to me it was not nearly as nice condition-wise as the ones at the Mesquite show. Even though in 30 REM (avalble cartridge today but pretty limited and expensive) I bid on it. I missed the high bid on that one by $25! Oh well...

WASR 10: Then $459 out the door (NY modified version, probably less expensive in freer states then), now up to $800 for used ones and as low as $625 for brand new ones (go figure but maybe different makers or versions). I sold mine for more than I had paid for it back in 2011 and with only one ten round magazine at that.

Stag Arms AR15 Model 2: The lowest I saw now was just under $800 plus shipping and FFL fee. Even with the add-ons that Brendan got with his, I think he got hosed but then again, it was in NY and had to comply with whatever ridiculous gun control was in effect then, such as the - still in effect (in NY) at the time - assault weapons ban. Today, my guess is he'd pay maybe a bit more than he pad then but that is just my guess.

Marlin Papoose used model sold as new in soft red case, wood stock and blued metal: $150 then; saw one that recently sold on GunBroker.com at $279.00 in excellent condition, wood stock, blued metal and soft red case.

Remington 700 VTR in 308: No comparison, I don't recall the price in 2011 but now they are going for just under $700 online plus shipping and FFL fee on the buyer's end.

Let's face it folks most prices are not going down.

All the best,

Glenn B

Soon To Be 90 Years Old

Old age set in decades ago. Even though I feel it in my hips and knees right now, I don't mean for me. I am writing about my Remington Model 29 12 gauge slide action shotgun. They were made by Remington from 1929 through the end of 1933. That's not a long range of production for any firearm and Remington only put out, at most, 39,331 of them judging by their own serial number records (source) ; although, another source  says they only produced 24,000 of them. You would think a gun with that few having been made might be worth a bit more than the high estimated value of $375.00 (you need a subscription to view  the values) as per my pricing guide but that's it with a plain barrel; one with a solid rib barrel is worth about 15% more. I find that odd but who knows, in another couple of years or so that value could skyrocket as the tastes of collectors seems to change with the wind.

A pretty good looker for a 90 year old.

I never thought much about the one I have, at least until today. As a matter of fact, I don't think I have taken it to the range for a test fire yet and I bought mine just over one year ago, in September 2018. As I have said before, I am The Great Procrastinator. I am thinking though, that next month when I celebrate my birthday, I will take it to the range to celebrate its birthday. My Remington Model 29 was produced in October 1929 as per page 75 of Remington serial number records (source). The last made in September of that year was made on September 28th - a Friday (isn't the Internet wonderful, I could easily bring up the calendar for that year) - and had a serial number about 100 or so below that on mine. So, I am guessing probably early October and while there is no way to tell with certainty it is a good guess it was early that month. About 3,327 of them were manufactured during October 1929 up until the 26th of that month when the record was annotated. If you go by an average of 166 (rounded down to nearest whole number) made per day, for that 20 day period (work days including any holidays since I am not sure if Columbus day was a day off for them), then it was likely made on October 1, 1929. Of course maybe not, they may have not made many any for a while in that month. Who knows, maybe we have the same birthday, albeit decades apart, making the shotgun 90 this October and thus decades older than me. How old am I - well, that is my business not yours.

It is not the oldest gun I have, I have a couple of Mauser Chilenos from the 1890s and an Ortgies pistol probably from the mid to late 1920s but it is my oldest Remington as far as I am aware. I have two other Remingtons, both 141 Gamemaster rifles, that while old probably are at least a decade younger that my Model 29. I found out that this Model 29 is a first year production gun when scanning the Remington factory serial number records, for information on my two Remington 141 Gamemaster rifles, at the Remington Society of America's web page. They have a lot of useful information there about Remington firearms, the link to Remington factory records of serial numbers being just one of them. I wish I could afford the cash for a membership but am tight on funds and will be for at least a couple or few months to come.

Not to worry though, I have plenty of 12 gauge shells on hand, it's not like my finances will stymie a range trip with this beauty. While it really does not look very beautiful -with a piece of the stock evidently missing, my guess is it was probably chipped off when dropped and then sanded down and the butt plate ground off a bit at the bottom end to even it out with the stock and it shows its age a bit - it is in otherwise very good to excellent shape and none the worse for the wear as far as I can tell since most importantly, it appears to function properly. Of course, only a trip to the range will assure me of that. 

While I am The Great Procrastinator, and not shooting it in over the year I have owned it was procrastination, waiting until next month to shoot it for my first time is not. Since I've already waited just over a year without shooting it, what's another month! It amounts to nothing and now that I've found out its birthday is next month waiting until then will have made it well worth the wait to shoot it in our shared birth month for its 90th year on the planet. 

All the best,
Glenn B