Hot Shots

Tasty (store).  The playing cards will be good for SHTF.

RAV4 Stuff

覚え書き。全てトヨタ純正品。

Tow Hitch Receiver

Tow Hitch Wiring Harness

Rubber Floor Mats

Rubber Cargo Mat Tray

Cargo Tote

Machining AR-15 Lowers

Found an interesting forum post describing the advantages of machining from a forging as opposed to a billet.  45 min to machine a forging vs. over 2 hrs for a billet?

 Also, I found another place (Stillers Precision Firearms) that sells funky billet lowers for nearly $400.  If they have any in stock, that's about what regular lowers are going for these days....

DEW (ETF) Components

Someone told me that I should look into an ETF called DEW, as I have an interest in securities that pay a high dividend.  This is WisdomTree's global equity income fund.  The annualized yield is only 3.7%, with an expense ratio of 0.58%.  They list all the components of the fund, so theoretically one could pick out a few promising ones and mimic the fund with lower overhead.  It's good for mining a few ideas, anyway.

Barrel Lust

In this political environment, parts for "black rifles" are in short supply.  I've had a barrel backordered for a couple months; it was on order prior to Sandy Hook.

So AIM Surplus posted on Facebook that they have a Spike's Tactical Lothar-Walther barrel in stock.  Stainless steel, polygonal-rifled, 1 in 8" twist.  They only have the 16" model, but Spike's website has the 18" model in stock.  The price is the sticking point: $340 (16") or $355 (18") plus S&H.  Ouch!

I haven't seen any other AR-15 barrels with polygonal rifling, so this is way cool.  In stainless, you could probably shoot 100k rounds through the thing!

Bitcoin

Of course I'd heard of Bitcoin, but Joe B. at work pointed out that there were ASICs coming out that are supposed to crank the mining hash rate.  Butterfly Labs is one of the companies producing specialized machines.  (The FPGAs are more interesting since you could repurpose them later, but they have higher power consumption and lower hash rate.)

Seems pretty risky, though, since a bunch of ASICs will probably be coming online at the same time.  BFL's FAQ has an entry on this that seems to imply that one could break even in about 6 mo, but that calculation may lowball the impact of the additional computational power; then again, the exchange rate has also risen about 60% since that calculation.  In other words, it's a total crapshoot.  Another site has a profitability calculator.

There's also a mining hardware chart on the bitcoin wiki.  Some people build custom mining rigs using multiple graphics cards, but the hash rate doesn't even come close to the theoretical rate of the ASICs.  In that regard, investing in one of those might be more sound.  Or it could be better to have the lower rate now before the ASICs come online....

Power Switches

Sparkfun, an online hobby electronics store, is selling an AC power switch that can be controlled with TTL logic, as well as the Sharp optoisolated solid-state relay itself.

I kind of wanted to run a low-power server to make available lots of storage which I could switch off to save energy when not being used.  It could also be useful for security for preventing sensitive data from being accessed, should the server be exposed to the Internet.

Raspberry Pi seems like an ideal candidate for such a system.

Ice Fishing Safety

WMH at work sent me some YouTube links [1 2 3] on how to survive after falling through ice.

So Much Ignorance in One Article

One of my unfortunately liberal friends posted a link to an article making stupid anti-gun suggestions.  A retort:

It's hard to fit so much ignorance into one article! From the top:

- While I haven't fact-checked the statistic on deaths, these numbers typically include self-defense shootings and cops shooting bad guys, which I'd argue are good things. It'd also include suicides, which isn't good, but someone who really wants to kill himself will use the most efficient and available tool for the job.

- No license is needed for driving a motor vehicle on private property. (Permits are currently required to carry weapons in public.)

- My Minnesota license is good for concealed (and open) carry of pistols. It also allows for open carry of long guns. I'd get a license to carry a sawed-off shotgun if they made one (although it'd have to be an AOW since SBSes are illegal in MN).

- No title is needed for a transaction between private parties for use on private property. States use titling as a chance to rape the seller for sales tax on used property, which is unethical.

- Most states don't have smog testing. Besides, a malfunctioning pistol is primarily dangerous to the shooter (it could blow up in his face).

- The author confuses a magazine with ammunition to put in the magazine--7.62x39mm ammunition used to be found for under $0.20/rd (before the gun ban insanity), so a full 40-rd magazine would be $8. And taxing ammo is a stupid idea. Well, gas taxes go to roads, so ammo taxes could go to building more shooting ranges, right?

- Flammable materials most definitely can be shipped. Gasoline isn't economical relative to pumping stations due to the weight and hazmat charge, but you can order propane online and have the truck come to your house.

- All handguns are required by law to be shipped with a lock. Some newer models have integral locks. However, there's no law that says you have to lock a car door.

- A gun that shoots is functioning properly. A car that kills people in an accident is not functioning properly. The negligent discharges last Saturday were at gun shows, not at the rallies, where tens of thousands of people across the country carried loaded firearms without incident, me being one of them.

Wow, the author of that article is dumb. How about requiring licenses for publishing stuff, because otherwise you could spread ignorance too easily, which is damaging to readers' minds. Oh wait, that'd be prohibited by the 1st Amendment. Oh wait, all of the author's idiotic suggestions are prohibited by the 2nd Amendment.

It's exasperating having to deal with this crap. Why can't more people be logical?

Anti-Gun Madness

A WSJ article on the President's gun control remarks, a transcript of the speech, and the White House's press release via WaPo.

Reagan was for the AWB.  A deceptive poll claiming that most NRA members are for universal background checks (who was polled? how many were polled? what's the margin of error?).  Salon published a shitty article, as expected, last year on "gun owners vs. the NRA".

Medications have been linked to these crazy shootings.

Link Dump, 2013.01.09

These have been sitting in my reader for a bit....

Roberts's Real Long Game?
The Permanent Militarization of America
The Power of Negative Thinking

And more recently:
Ten gun bills on Congress's first day

Society of the Cincinnati

Apparently Cincinnati has roots leading back to the Revolutionary War via the Society of the Cincinnati.  How come all the neat parts of history are kept hidden from general public knowledge?  (I suppose it's because the general public doesn't care about history.)

Aeon Fawkes

Someone posted a link to this store on a PTR-91 forum.  They have some interesting stuff, like NBC gear.  The name sounds like a cross between Aeon Flux and Guy Fawkes....

Secession

For historical study.

Online Tools

GinzaMetrics' "lessons learned" for 2012 has a list of online tools that they use that's quite intriguing.  To wit:

• git / Github (repository & wikis, nothing else)
• WordPress (migrated from Jekyll in order to allow guest blogging / contributors)
• Dropbox
• Skype
• Google Apps
• DynDNS
• Stripe (payments)
• Tumblr (system status)
• HelloBar (system status)
• Wufoo (landing page management system)
• Trello (issue management)
• Google Doc
• Intercom (analytics)
• Mixpanel and KISSmetrics (analytics)
• Exceptional (bug reporting)

It's hard to keep up with all the stuff that's out there.

Paul Revere's Legacy

Via someone on the Appleseed forums (Transform), I learned of an interview of the author of Paul Revere's Ride, David Hackett Fischer, where he voices something that occurred to me when I read the book:

I think he had a message for us as well. To me, the interest of the story is partly that. I think we can see a kind of message, first of all, in what he was doing. For me it was mainly the kind of collective effort in that cause of freedom, and we forgot about that. We forgot about both sides of it, sometimes. I think people on the left today, some of my colleagues at academe, tend to forget about American ideas of freedom. People on the right tend to forget about collective action. Paul Revere and his friends brought those two things together, and I think that's a message for us.

Yeah.

Proposed AWB Renewal

Several days ago, a shooting buddy forwarded a link to the latest toilet-paper bill from psychotic bitch Dianne Feinstein coming down the (shit) pipe when Congress convenes in January.  Basically, it bans the sale, importation, manufacturing, and transfer of most semi-automatic rifles and handguns, and requires grandfathered firearms to be registered under NFA.  (I'm assuming there's an exemption for production of such items for LEO/MIL, otherwise where would they get their gear.)  However, it would appear from the summary that since the transfer is prohibited, unlike current Title II firearms, once the registered owner passes, the registered Title I firearm would then be surrendered to the government.

I don't seriously think that this atrocity will pass—if it does, we're talking civil war.  What I think it's set up to do is attempt to distract the public from the watered-down version that will eventually pass.  It's twisted that something like this would even be proposed, though.

Libertarian with a Small 'L'

"I am a libertarian with a small 'l' and a Republican with a capital 'R.'  And I am a Republican with a capital 'R' on grounds of expediency, not on principle." (Milton Friedman)

It's amazing to find that an opinion one has arrived at after considerable deliberation not only is shared by others, but was thought of before one was even aware of the existence of such things.

U.S. Political History Chart

Apparently the xkcd guy put together a chart showing political leanings of Congress and the President along with world events.

It's interesting; in particular this statement:

Farmers and poor people who owed money favored a dual gold-silver standard, because it would lead to inflation, which would make debts easier to pay off. Wealthy bankers—who owned that debt—wanted the opposite.

While the point of using a precious metal standard is that it prevents inflation, which is caused by the growth of the money supply outstripping the growth of the economy, in this case, inflation due to bimetallism was from the exchange rate between gold and silver being tweaked.

Ironically, while silverites wanted inflation because they thought it would lead to economic prosperity, and thus supported bimetallism, later economist Milton Friedman, an anti-Keynesian, supposedly regarded bimetallism as more stable.

Primer Cup Measurements

A page I came across has a table with various manufacturers' primers and their measurements.  In particular, the thickness of the cup is interesting.  Federal small rifle primers have the thinnest cup in the lineup, which goes with the empirical observation from a local authority that Federal has softer primers.

NIJ Firearm Examiner Training

The National Institute of Justice has on their website training modules for "firearm examiners".  The information on small arms ammunition is quite interesting, as it was written by a former CCI/Speer employee.

Post Sandy Hook

Some comments regarding the aftermath of Sandy Hook made on FB:

Now that more details are out.... Unlike the Aurora shooting, this wasn't a case of a looney being able to buy firearms legally--he killed his mother and stole her guns. As such, there's no way additional purchase checks would've helped, because his mother was a legal owner. The shooter was not of legal age to purchase any of those weapons. (One post I saw claimed that the shooter broke 40-some laws in the commission of the massacre. What he did was already illegal.) Well, in my case, if someone were to break into my home and kill me, all my guns are locked up--except for the one I carry. I'm curious as to whether the shooter's mother had her stuff locked, but after her son shot her, he could get access via key (or perhaps he knew the combination if that sort of lock).

I wasn't talking about suppressing discourse. I was talking about 1) not using the terrible incident to push a political agenda before the victims were buried, and 2) we didn't know all the details. What's up with all the inaccuracies in the media? The shooter was the younger brother, not the older one; the mother was killed at home, not at the school; and reports said the kid used handguns as the primary weapon, when it was really an AR-15. How the hell are people supposed to have meaningful discussion if they don't even have the facts right?

Note also that hating on "military-grade assault weapons" is pure spin. First of all, Mexico has a ban on civilian ownership of "military" calibers, and how's that working out for them so far? (Hint: It's not. It doesn't help when they've got so many crooked cops and soldiers, though.) Almost all of my guns are of military calibers: 9mm, .45ACP, 12ga, 5.56 NATO, 7.62 NATO, .30-06, etc. How about the "police caliber", .40S&W? Several non-semi-automatic ("assault weapon" is a bullshit term made up by hoplophobes) firearms I have are of former Eastern bloc military calibers: 7.62x38R, 7.62x54R, etc. The only non-military cartridges I use are .22LR and 20ga. So that's what you'd be comfortable leaving gun owners with?

Note also that .223 (5.56 NATO) is a fairly weak cartridge, despite its use by our military. Most hunting calibers have more power than this: .243, .22-250, etc. Many hunting calibers can pierce soft body armor (up to Level IIIA). So the end game of the hoplophobes is that all guns have to go, no exceptions. And the Second Amendment has nothing to do with hunting or sporting uses: it's about giving the government pause when thinking about subjugating the governed, and in order to do that, citizens must be able to own "military-grade" weapons. Some scoff at that, but consider that the hoplophobes are still reluctant to push through the kind of anti-gun legislation that you're suggesting--they know that it would result in a lot of bloodshed (the CCRKBA popularized the slogan that Charlton Heston later repeated, ending in "from my cold, dead hands"). And even if they do wipe us all out, we'll make them feel it, and the poor sons of bitches who didn't stand up for themselves will finally get the government that they deserve.

That's not to say that I don't think anything should be done in light of the shooting, or that the discussions regarding gun ownership shouldn't be had. I think it's just too easy for some people to take the easy way out intellectually and go for tried and failed policies.

There were two responses, one linking to an article pointing out that the NRA always says in response to a shooting that now is not the time for discussions of gun legislation, and another linking to a comment on an article that makes a proposal regarding dealing with gun ownership. But holy crap, all the AR-15 lower receivers online are sold out, everywhere....

Revolutionary War Books

A list from a thread on the Appleseed forum:

Robert Gross "The Minutemen and their World."
David MccCllough "1776"
David Hackett Fischer "Albion's Seed" and "Liberty and Freedom" and "Washington's Crossing"
Stephen Halbrook "The Founder's Second Amendment"
Peter Oliver "Origin and Progress of the American Rebellion, a Tory View"
Richard Lacrosse "The Frontier Rifleman"
Lyman Draper "King's Mountain and it's Heroes"

Edit [2013.01.03]:
An Appleseed Radio email also noted:
Thomas B. Allen "Tories"
Esther Forbes "Johnny Tremain" (fiction)

Random Comment

GCA68 was partly racially motivated: the Black Panthers were unabashedly armed. The cover for passing that law was the assassinations of JFK and MLK, and people supported it based on emotion alone.

Never mind that anyone with basic handyman skills could build a black-powder zip gun and knock off any politician he can get within 10 yds of. Knocking off one person with a homemade gun is easy; resisting Brownshirts is another matter. And like most laws, the GCA only applies to people who follow the law, unless you enforce it with the threat of deadly force.

Suppressors in Minnesota, Part 2

Previously I noted that suppressors are now legal for firearm dealers, importers, and manufacturers in Minnesota to possess.  The text of the law, from §609.66:

(c) Notwithstanding subdivision 1a, paragraph (a), clause (1), a person who is licensed by the United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives under United States Code, title 18, section 923, as a firearms importer, manufacturer, or dealer, who is acting in full compliance with all federal requirements under that license, may possess devices designed to silence or muffle the discharge of a firearm for the purpose of selling or otherwise transferring in any lawful manner the devices or firearms tested with the devices, to:

(1) the chief administrator of any federal, state, or local governmental agency;

(2) the commander or commander's designee of any unit of the United States Armed Forces; or

(3) a person who is licensed by the United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under United States Code, title 18, section 923, as a firearms importer, manufacturer, or dealer, who is acting in full compliance with all federal requirements under that license.

The revision is documented as H.F. No. 1816, signed into law on April 18, 2012, and taking effect on August 1, 2012.

The Bootstrap Gentlemen

I came across this site on the Interwebz.  At a quick glance, I was unable to discern whether it's tongue-in-cheek or serious, but one of the tips seemed legit.  The "bootstrap" refers to someone who wasn't born a gentleman, though is striving to be one.  I suppose that would be all gentlemen, as tradition "can be obtained only by great labor".

Case Cleaning

Found on the Appleseed forum:

I just received a new case cleaning machine from Thumlers. I got the Model B High Speed and use Stainless pin media with Lemi shine and Dawn dish soap. I had been using a Thumler vibratory tumbler with corn cob media & case polish for years and yes, it gets the cases clean on the outside, but the inside and the primer pocket never got the crud out. (even after 8 hours of tumbling!) This new “wet” tumbler is simply the best thing I have ever used for cleaning the brass cases before reloading. It cleans the outside (even the really cruddy range brass), the primer pockets and the inside of the case to spotless squeaky clean.

Before I was using a brass brush to remove the carbon from the necks so it wouldn’t damage the expander in the die, and using a primer pocket cleaner to remove most of the heavy primer residue from the primer pocket. Now its just clean directly after tumbling. No additional steps needed. Here is what I do and if anybody else has any experience or suggestions with this type of tumbling I’d love to hear it.

1. Fill the tumbler with 5 lbs. of Stainless Media
2. Fill the tumbler with just under 1 gallon of the hottest water I can get from the faucet
3. Put in 2 tbs. of Dawn dish soap
4. Put in 1 tsp. of Lemi shine
5. Put in about 50 or so cases depending on the size (I use 8mm Mauser, 7.62x54R, 8x56RS)
6. Assemble the gasket, cover panel, and thumb screws
7. Run it on the machine for 4 hrs.
8. Remove the brass from the drum and dump the media out of the case as I remove it (make sure the media comes out, it’s a B*&ch to pick up out of the sink)
9. Rinse the brass with clear water
10. Towel dry and then let air dry to make sure the water is out of the inside of the case

Then I lube the cases, size them, and trim them & run them through again using the same process above for about 2 hrs. to remove any case lube or brass shavings. Then they dry again and its prime, powder, bullet, bang! Then do it all over again.

Honestly the brass looks new when its done in the tumbler and it is well worth the investment. I got mine for about $220 delivered with the media and the machine. Lemi-shine is $3.50 a container and the Dawn I stole from the Wife.. (sorry honey…)

Anyway, I just started with this new thingy and would welcome any advice. I'll try and post some Pic.'s of the cases when i can.

Cheers,
Mauser

Might have to give it a try.

Walter Williams

I recently saw an image on Facebook by the Bastiat Institute with a purported quote by Walter Williams.  I wanted to post it here but couldn't find a source for that specific quote.  The text of the image:

How does something immoral, when done privately, become moral when it is done collectively? Furthermore, does legality establish morality? Slavery was legal; Apartheid is legal; Stalinist, Nazi, and Maoist purges were legal. Clearly, the fact of legality does not justify these crimes. Legality, alone, cannot be the talisman of moral people.

The closest I could find is an article on creators.com from June 6 of this year.

In other words, does an act that's clearly immoral and illegal when done privately become moral when it is done legally and collectively? Put another way, does legality establish morality? Before you answer, keep in mind that slavery was legal; apartheid was legal; the Nazi's Nuremberg Laws were legal; and the Stalinist and Maoist purges were legal. Legality alone cannot be the guide for moral people.

Even better, a search turned up a piece called "When and Under What Circumstances Should Violent Force Be Used?" Williams makes many of the same points as in the prior article, but he also makes the same argument that I've been making against the ultimate threat of force from the government enforcing the law. I feel somewhat vindicated.

On Morons

Perusing the Interwebz, I came across a bit of wit from H.L. Mencken:

"As democracy is perfected, the office of President represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be occupied by a downright moron."

-- H.L. Mencken, The Baltimore Evening Sun, July 26, 1920

This reminds me of a line from the movie Blazing Saddles:

People of the land. The common clay. You know: morons.

Decrimping Military Primers

I was looking for opinions on primer decrimpers, in particular, to see if the Dillon Super Swage 600 was really the one to get.  One site had an interesting review of several products.  He covers both reaming and swaging tools.

There was another article about bullet pullers, too.  He claims that Lee has a bullet puller in development.  He didn't like the RCBS tool.  Other reviews I read on the Hornady tool said the cam system has problems, but he didn't have anything bad to say about it.