Tuesday, 27 August 2013
shortage of reloading componetz, updated
My sticker shock on primers kicks in right around 4 cents each, like a bout of GERD during a hangover.
No sticker shock here. Five thousand Large Rifle arrived in one box.
Sunday, 16 June 2013
Proof, if you needed it, that guns make one stupid
I literally slapped the table with my hand upon reading it: "Few students ask to have guns on Wyoming campuses, and when they do, the answer is likely to be 'no.'"
I'm not surprised. Only one or two students, staff, or faculty need be told 'no' at local Community Cawlidge before the word gets out to likeminded others, not to bother asking. Cause and effect are likely reversed.
This is unfortunate, considering that not all that long ago, a concealed weapon would have been rather handy against a kid planning to kill his father with a compound bow and a knife. Whether bringing the edged weapons on campus violated campus policy or Wyoming law is no consolation, because the father is dead and the kid didn't ask in advance.
This pearl though: “The presence of too many firearms can inhibit the educational process.” We can see that the absence of a firearm (where and when needed) surely as hell Inhibited the Educational Process. Jim Krumm, RIP, did not finish teaching that day, let alone the semester. "[S]tudents watched horrified as Chris Krumm stepped into the classroom and unleashed an arrow at his father" sounds rather, er, educationally inhibiting, doesn't it? "Casper College, where some 5,000 students are enrolled, canceled classes for the rest of Friday;" well, there you have positive sighting of Educational Process Inhibition.
I'm willing to cut UW's Chief Samp a little slack. What cop would use such stilted and pretentious terminology? I suspect he's parroting a talking point given him by his superiors in UW administration, and woe be unto him if he were to deviate from it. That line goes something like, "guns make people stupid, if we have more guns on campus we'll have more stupid people, stupidity inhibits the educational process. Universities are supposed to have no inhibitions on the educational process, we need no stupid people in them. So no guns. The law of this unenlightened land at least requires the unwashed to ask permission, so we simply deny it." This from folks who claim to be teaching Critical Thinking to the generation who will be creating wealth to fund my Social Security benefits.
The likely result is, as suggested above, that the truly intelligent people who want to protect themselves on a college campus will simply pack heat carefully, without asking, or telling, anybody.
Which is how Wyoming law on the limits of the CCW permit ought to read in the first place.
I'm not surprised. Only one or two students, staff, or faculty need be told 'no' at local Community Cawlidge before the word gets out to likeminded others, not to bother asking. Cause and effect are likely reversed.
This is unfortunate, considering that not all that long ago, a concealed weapon would have been rather handy against a kid planning to kill his father with a compound bow and a knife. Whether bringing the edged weapons on campus violated campus policy or Wyoming law is no consolation, because the father is dead and the kid didn't ask in advance.
This pearl though: “The presence of too many firearms can inhibit the educational process.” We can see that the absence of a firearm (where and when needed) surely as hell Inhibited the Educational Process. Jim Krumm, RIP, did not finish teaching that day, let alone the semester. "[S]tudents watched horrified as Chris Krumm stepped into the classroom and unleashed an arrow at his father" sounds rather, er, educationally inhibiting, doesn't it? "Casper College, where some 5,000 students are enrolled, canceled classes for the rest of Friday;" well, there you have positive sighting of Educational Process Inhibition.
I'm willing to cut UW's Chief Samp a little slack. What cop would use such stilted and pretentious terminology? I suspect he's parroting a talking point given him by his superiors in UW administration, and woe be unto him if he were to deviate from it. That line goes something like, "guns make people stupid, if we have more guns on campus we'll have more stupid people, stupidity inhibits the educational process. Universities are supposed to have no inhibitions on the educational process, we need no stupid people in them. So no guns. The law of this unenlightened land at least requires the unwashed to ask permission, so we simply deny it." This from folks who claim to be teaching Critical Thinking to the generation who will be creating wealth to fund my Social Security benefits.
The likely result is, as suggested above, that the truly intelligent people who want to protect themselves on a college campus will simply pack heat carefully, without asking, or telling, anybody.
Which is how Wyoming law on the limits of the CCW permit ought to read in the first place.
Wednesday, 17 April 2013
Panic! panic! shortage of reloading componetz!
I'm down to just 3 8-lb jugs of WC846.
And an 8-pounder of W231. And 6 lbs of Unique-ski.
And an 8-pounder of W231. And 6 lbs of Unique-ski.
Monday, 11 March 2013
12V rechargeable flashlight
Blegging for recommendations for a metal bodied flashlight:
- impressive, maybe even intimidating, light output
- replaceable bulb or LED assembly
- rechargeable
- . . . by 12V via a cradle
- available replacement battery pack
- suitable for mounting in an automobile, constantly on charge by permanent wiring into the vehicle's electrical system
- body stout enough to use as a bludgeon, at least twice
- low enough price to put on an Amazon wish list without sheepish grin
- lanyard, or place to attach one
Sunday, 10 March 2013
if I had an Oscar Meyer weiner . . .
if I got my hands on a 3-D printer, the first thing I'd like to try is a replacement barrel bushing for a Star PD. The 3-D printer would make a plastic version of it, but then I'd try using the plastic version as a mould for an investment casting. Somebody around here can investment cast carbon steel, no?
But the real cool thing I'd like to try is a stretched double-stack 1911 frame. Imagine slicing down through the frame along the magazine well, and making that magazine well about 2mm longer, front to rear. That ought to be just enough so a double-stack magazine of 7.62x25mm Tokarev would fit. That cartridge is too long for a standard or doublewide 1911.
3-D print that frame, with gaps for hardened steel slide rails to be pressed into the plastic. Finish with standard or double-wide 1911 parts as needed, and a .38 Super slide. 3-D print a barrel for the Tokarev, and have that buddy investment cast that for you too (update: or use J&G Sales's Tok barrel). A 3-D printed magazine will be needed too. It would probably have capacity for 15 or 16 rounds.
Update: is there any way to mix graphite fiber flakes into the plastic line that feeds into the 3-D printer?
But the real cool thing I'd like to try is a stretched double-stack 1911 frame. Imagine slicing down through the frame along the magazine well, and making that magazine well about 2mm longer, front to rear. That ought to be just enough so a double-stack magazine of 7.62x25mm Tokarev would fit. That cartridge is too long for a standard or doublewide 1911.
3-D print that frame, with gaps for hardened steel slide rails to be pressed into the plastic. Finish with standard or double-wide 1911 parts as needed, and a .38 Super slide. 3-D print a barrel for the Tokarev, and have that buddy investment cast that for you too (update: or use J&G Sales's Tok barrel). A 3-D printed magazine will be needed too. It would probably have capacity for 15 or 16 rounds.
Update: is there any way to mix graphite fiber flakes into the plastic line that feeds into the 3-D printer?
Friday, 8 February 2013
what to do until ammunition returns to your dealer's shelves
. . . well, since it may be 6 to 18 months for case lots of ammunition to come available again, what is a fellow to do with his dollar-cost-averaging in the meantime?
Let us suggest that you identify those parts that wear out the soonest on the blasters you own. Anything semiauto can be rough on extractors and ejectors, and the springs that push them, if any. If you don't know how to pull the ejector out of the bolt face of your AR, now is the time to figure that out. MBRs with fixed ejectors (FAL) and pistols (1911) can still break theirs, replacing them might be a bit tougher. Have a set of all the springs on your platform, many parts houses will sell you every part in one bag.
Unfortunately, I'm not the first to have this idea, and this is why even replacement parts for ARs are getting scarce. And 1911s too.
Don't neglect your non-patrol rifles either. The Remington bolt rifle extractors are said to be weak and will leave you heartbroken when they break. Brownell's will sell you a replacement, and the replacement includes instructions. Broken cartridge case extractors for the rifle calibers would keep your MBR out of the junk pile.
As you try these, or have a brother show you how to do them, you'll learn what tools you need. So we next suggest the books and tools that make you self-sufficient in keeping your beloved blasters a-blasting. Pin punches, including the roll-pin punches that you'll need to assemble an AR, and hollow-ground screwdriver bit sets. FAL owners would do well to get gunplumbr's guide and skim it through. Some blasters have parts that are meant to wear out, like the buffer on the Star PD.
If you are willing to go hardcore, get a spare hammer, trigger, and sear for your platform. Learn how to take them out and put them back without trashing the gun's finish, breaking tools, or seeing spring-loaded parts fly out a window.
Next, if money is still burning a hole in the ammo bag and ammo is still not available, talk to your gunsmith about some improvements to be made to your existing blasters. If you scored a spare HTS set and its connected springs, have the smith stone them together for a good trigger pull, then take them back out, mark them as a set, and wrap them for storage. A muzzle brake on a rifle would enhance its position on Diane's List. Remember, in the current unpleasantness, your gunsmiths might be worried about their livelihoods too, so support them now. Give them work.
Okay, last and most unpleasant: if this can happen to ammunition, it can happen to expendables like food too. You didn't prepare when ammunition prices were slowly rising. Will you be caught again, but worse this time?
Let us suggest that you identify those parts that wear out the soonest on the blasters you own. Anything semiauto can be rough on extractors and ejectors, and the springs that push them, if any. If you don't know how to pull the ejector out of the bolt face of your AR, now is the time to figure that out. MBRs with fixed ejectors (FAL) and pistols (1911) can still break theirs, replacing them might be a bit tougher. Have a set of all the springs on your platform, many parts houses will sell you every part in one bag.
Unfortunately, I'm not the first to have this idea, and this is why even replacement parts for ARs are getting scarce. And 1911s too.
Don't neglect your non-patrol rifles either. The Remington bolt rifle extractors are said to be weak and will leave you heartbroken when they break. Brownell's will sell you a replacement, and the replacement includes instructions. Broken cartridge case extractors for the rifle calibers would keep your MBR out of the junk pile.
As you try these, or have a brother show you how to do them, you'll learn what tools you need. So we next suggest the books and tools that make you self-sufficient in keeping your beloved blasters a-blasting. Pin punches, including the roll-pin punches that you'll need to assemble an AR, and hollow-ground screwdriver bit sets. FAL owners would do well to get gunplumbr's guide and skim it through. Some blasters have parts that are meant to wear out, like the buffer on the Star PD.
If you are willing to go hardcore, get a spare hammer, trigger, and sear for your platform. Learn how to take them out and put them back without trashing the gun's finish, breaking tools, or seeing spring-loaded parts fly out a window.
Next, if money is still burning a hole in the ammo bag and ammo is still not available, talk to your gunsmith about some improvements to be made to your existing blasters. If you scored a spare HTS set and its connected springs, have the smith stone them together for a good trigger pull, then take them back out, mark them as a set, and wrap them for storage. A muzzle brake on a rifle would enhance its position on Diane's List. Remember, in the current unpleasantness, your gunsmiths might be worried about their livelihoods too, so support them now. Give them work.
Okay, last and most unpleasant: if this can happen to ammunition, it can happen to expendables like food too. You didn't prepare when ammunition prices were slowly rising. Will you be caught again, but worse this time?
Thursday, 17 January 2013
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