I'm the Only One Professional Enough

Apparently the origin for the "Only Ones" referred to in David Codrea's War on Guns blog is a video of Lee Paige, a DEA agent who shoots himself during a safety demonstration at a school, right after he says he's "the only one professional enough" in the room to carry a Glock .40.  Brilliant.

Property Concerns

FEMA has a map service that lists areas at-risk for flooding, which should be checked prior to acquiring property.

Subdivision of property seems to entail: verifying the abstract to verify the absence of encumbrances (judgments, liens, back taxes, etc.), researching subdivision requirements and zoning, having the property surveyed, and filing the plats at the county records office.  Depending on the area, utilities to each lot may need to be provided.  One would need to involve a title abstract service, surveyor, the county records office, and potentially a civil engineer.  Then there's reading up on local laws and news, attending county meetings, and talking to people in the area.

Fillmore County has some property records online, as well as zoning ordinances.

Winona County also has property records online.  Apparently they're called "GIS".

Funky Eyeglasses

WSJ ran an article on some funky glasses that the wearer can change the focus on.  The company's now called Super Focus.  It'll be interesting to see how the market accepts their product.  If the glasses could correct for slight changes in vision, they'd make a good item to tuck away for emergency use....

Tab Dump

I have way too many windows open in Firefox, some of which have been open for multiple months.  Hence this "tab dump".

• Obama gives Interpol free hand in U.S. [Washington Examiner], which I probably found on the War on Guns blog
• Signing sub-key cross-certification [GPG]: a sub-key needs to sign the primary key
• Berdan primers - large rifle [Sniper's Hide]: a forum thread on reloading Berdan-primed cases
• Griffon Industries produces a girls-with-guns calendar (er, it was linked off of Sniper's Hide) 
• Berdan primer suppliers and dimensions [Dave Cushman's] has a ton of useful info Berdan primers, especially the types and dimensions
• Reloading Berdan-primed brass [Surplus Rifle]
• Southern Minnesota Sportsman's Club Civilian Marksmanship Program (SMS CMP) group
• Neal Knox - The Gun Rights War: often referred to in Shotgun News
• Mad Ogre, a gun-blogger who seems to be pretty cool

M10

In looking for information regarding head-separation in pistol rounds, one forum's discussion contained a reference to "Lage uppers", apparently an upper for M10 (aka MAC-10) and M11 machine pistols.  Those guns are some of the cheapest MGs one can get, probably because of the cheap sheetmetal construction and the high rate-of-fire that makes them difficult to control.  The strength of the Lage uppers, then, is that they reduce the ROF from over 1000 RPM to 600 RPM.

I hadn't realized that the M10s had "upper" and "lower" halves, like an AR-15—that has me wondering if the registered part is the lower.  If so, that would make the gun more attractive, since the non-firing part is unlikely to wear out (except for the mount points of the upper).  Very interesting, except that those aren't C&R yet, and thus aren't legal in MN.  The only cheap C&R MG that I've found is the H&R Reising.

Modern Valiance

An ATF agent off-duty caps a guy armed with a flashlight for having an intoxicated argument with his girlfriend.  Brilliant use of force, Agent Clark.  I hope they burn you.

Crucify this "agent". Shooting a guy armed with a flashlight 5 times is justifiable force? What a tough guy. Why not just drive away, since he was in his car? Why didn't he have a non-lethal weapon like OC/CS to use instead? A regular citizen with a permit to carry would be in deep guano if he were in this situation. Why should Clark receive special treatment? Because he's a "federal" agent? Of the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms), not the FBI! A thug with a badge is still a thug.

Shove It

Apparently a Rhode Island Democratic candidate who failed to receive Obama's endorsement has said that Obama can "shove it".  Nice.

My comment:

Mr. Jones: Since WSJ was acquired, I've noticed that a number of more liberal viewpoints have been added. I don't particularly favor this change, but that's the way it goes. And I can't help wishing that WSJ would ditch their pervasive hoplophobic biases.

The comment under discussion was crass and definitely is a case of sour grapes. Funny? Yes. Newsworthy? Marginal.

 Is this the fable behind the expression "sour grapes"?  That's good to know....

Driven by hunger, a fox tried to reach some grapes hanging high on the vine but was unable to, although he leaped with all his strength. As he went away, the fox remarked, ‘Oh, you aren’t even ripe yet! I don’t need any sour grapes.’

The Original Instructor Belt

At the Front Sight Pro Shop they were selling instructor belts, which unfortunately were made in China.  While flipping through a recent Blue Press catalog (the cover model, Mallory, was pretty hot!), they listed a belt from The Wilderness.  I looked it up to see where it was made and indeed it's made in the USA!  Hallelujah!  It's actually cheaper to order it from Dillon than from the manufacturer's site, at least for the black 1.75" 5-stitch belt.  Plus, that way I'll receive 6 months of girls with guns on the cover of the Blue Press, which is definitely a factor!

The Sonoran shirts by The Wilderness are also made in the USA.  They're a bit spendy, though.  The Ching Sling looks interesting.

Ruslana Korshunova

I happened to see a page with pictures of model Ruslana Korshunova, who had some amazing hair.  I'd seen some of her ads before, but never knew who it was.  Too bad she was killed.  (Suicide my ass!  Sounds like she was thrown out of the building.)

Ring on the Sun

A guy at work mentioned something he'd seen in the news—a ring developing on the sun.  Dunno what it is, and to someone who generally ignores sunspots and flares, I have no comment.  Weird, though.

Pistol Training

On Tamara K.'s blog (in my Google Reader) she mentions taking a pistol training class by Todd Green.  Looks interesting, and there's one class in Ohio in the middle of next year.  Hmm.  It'd be good to train with various instructors and pick out what works for me, like mixed martial arts only with handguns, haha!

Bi-Metal Jackets

So I have some Brown Bear .223 that have steel lacquered cases.  I fired nearly 500 through my M4gery with no cleaning and it kept running.  The only downside was a bit of carbon buildup on the tang of the bolt.

Well, I found out that BB also has bi-metal jackets.  That is, a thin steel jacket plated with copper (to about 0.005", or so it says on the interwebz).  This was something a concern for me, although with the AR-15 platform, changing the barrel is relatively easy, so it's better than hosing the barrel on my .308, which requires a hydraulic press.  A post on XDTalk has a couple links to Arfcom: a ComBloc ammo FAQ and people's experience with Wolf black box.

In general, it sounds like the steel used in the jacket is extremely mild, so the additional barrel wear would be negligible relative to the wear from firing.  For expensive rifles, then, it'd be best to not use el cheapo bi-metal jacketed ammo, but for typical plinking purposes it's fine.  Kind of what you'd expect.

Nagant Revolver

Turns out that my first C&R gun will be a novel revolver, the Nagant M1895.  I had been kicking myself for not getting one when they were available a year or two ago, and then several shops, such as AIM Surplus and J&G Sales, got shipments in again.  Sweet!  One of the tricky things is the ammo, 7.62 Nagant, aka 7.62x38R.  The bullet is completely seated in the brass, since the mouth of the cartridge forms a gas seal with the chamber, eliminating loss of gas in the cylinder gap.  Since ammo is in relatively low supply, and is thus expensive (200 rds of ammo costs as much as the gun), reloading is a must.  One site has a few loads for the 7.62 Nagant reformed from .32-20 brass using Lee dies, and .32 ACP for use with the replacement cylinder that Century sells.

Of course Surplus Rifle has some useful pictures on how to remove the cylinder.  Yet another site remarks that .32 S&W Long and .32 H&R Magnums can be fed through the revolver.  That'd be interesting to try out—if I can find those cartridges (and have faith enough to hazard it)!  The site also presents this bit of poetry:

I know, with certainty
that in that lacquered purse of yours
nestled against powder case and mirror
sleeps a black stone; seven deaths

Vladimir Nabokov,
in a poem to his fiancee, Vera Slonim

Brings a tear to the eye.

And THR has a forum post detailing quite a handloading ritual for brass made out of .32-20:

I have joined the ranks of those who use the re-sized .32-20 brass homebrews in my Nagants, albeit after a bit of a ritual. I obtained 200 new Starline .32-20 cases and first sanded ~ 10 thousandths off the headstamp with 320-600 grit Si/C paper on a flat. This permits the thicker rims to work well with a stock breech block in all Nagants. I then turn ~ 24 thousandths off the rim diameter, using a Taig micro-lathe, to permit self-centering of the rounds in the chamber bores when loading. I size the brass through a Lee carbide M1 Carbine size, then bell and drop powder with an M1 Carbine powder funnel, and seat and crimp with a .32-20 Lee die from the special 'Nagant' set made by Lee for Midway & Graf's (It uses .32-20 brass...). I hold the cases with a .32-20 shellplate in my Dillon 550B. With Meister 100gr DEWC .312" lead over 2.3gr TiteGroup, I get better results than with either the yellow boxed Russian target or the $50/box Fiocchi ammo. I have just started experimenting with the Berry's clad 85gr .311" DEWC's.

Well, one would really have to like handloading to go through all that!

Update [2010.12.14]: Since the Lee/Midway dies are for re-forming .32-20 brass, an RCBS shell holder is necessary for using the dies with original 7.62 Nagant brass.

Delta Fare Classes

Looking up the meaning of "Y-fare" on Delta, I found a chart showing a complete list of fare classes.

LDS Preparedness Manual

I found a link to the manual while searching to see if Front Sight has a public key (predictably, no).

Turns out author James Wesley, Rawles has attended Front Sight and has some interesting things to say about their future viability.  Just the same, I came to the same conclusion he did—get the training while it's good.  Plus, even though I'd like to train at Thunder Ranch and Gunsite, I'd hate to go as a newbie.  Some basic prep ought to go a long way.

Anyway, I'm always looking for preparedness guides, since preparedness seems to be something I perpetually lack.  Those LDS folks seem to have it together.

CTK Precision

I turned up CTK Precision while looking for alternate monopods for the Magpul PRS.  (The primary one being the Accu-Shot PRM.)  They make an AR-50 carrying handle / pintle mount as well as a steel gun vise and a QD sling replacement for the rear sling loop on an AR-15.

The gun vise looks interesting, since the adjustable plastic Tipton gun vise costs about as much.  Wonder if the QD thing would work on an M4 collapsible stock.

Minnesota Salary Data

Awhile back I found a site that shows some employment / salary data for regions across Minnesota.  However, I have to doubt the veracity of the information, since the claim is that there're only 30 electrical engineers in Rochester.  The preceding excludes computer hardware engineers, but that number too seems abysmally low.  As with all the surveys of this sort, I have to doubt whether the classification for job and industry are always correctly made.

Best Choices for Self Defense Ammo

Another informative article on Arfcom, this one pertaining to wound profiles of various pistol and rifle cartridges.

Japanese Gardens in Minnesota

A few 日本庭園 located in MN:

• Normandale College's Japanese Garden
• Carlton College's Japanese Garden, 静聆園
• Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, 清水庭 (not sure if I guessed at the kanji for "seisuitei" correctly...)
• Como Park Zoo & Conservatory's Japanese Garden

Apparently there's also a landscaping company, Niwa Design Studio, that specializes in Japanese-style design.

Chinese Multiplication

Joel sent me a link to a YT video, which demonstrates a visual method of multiplication that is purportedly used by the Chinese.  Pretty funky.  I need an explanation of why it works....

Zilok

Wired may've been where I saw this, but apparently there's a site that looks to hook up people who are in need of equipment to rent with local people who have such equipment.  Zilok is the site—there must be a dearth of good domain names these days....  Unfortunately I don't see much in my area, but I like the idea.

SGN Classifieds

Yesterday I checked out a couple sites advertised in the back of Shotgun News.  One was by Battle Arms Development, featuring their "BAD-ASS" ambidextrous safety selector.  Pretty sweet, there's just the matter of $60.  The other ad was by Kitanica, the copy of which advertised tactical clothing made in the USA.  Of course I had to look.  They have the most bad-ass cargo pants I've ever seen, the PNT X.A.  $160 is pretty spendy for a pair, but high-end brand-name jeans can go for close to that, and they're certainly less functional.  (The downside is that they only come in inseam 34, but at least the pant cuffs have drawstrings.)  I'm contemplating trying out a set for potential use in my upcoming training.  In searching for reviews of Kitanica gear, I found the Tactical Pants Blog, which does reviews of this sort of thing.  Perhaps I'll try out a couple less expensive pairs of pants as well.

AR-15 Lower Manufacturers

You know, I could've sworn that I saved the link, I think it was on Arfcom, showing the various lower brands with their actual manufacturers.  For some reason, I can't find it in my links.  So here's another list I found:

Lewis Machine & Tool

• LMT
• Lauer
• DS Arms
• PWA
• Eagle
• Armalite
• Knights Armament
• Barrett

Continental Machine Tool

• Stag
• Rock River Arms
• High Standard
• Noveske
• Century (New)
• Global Tactical
• CLE
• S&W
• MGI
• Wilson Tactical
• Grenadier Precision
• Colt

LAR Manufacturing

• LAR
• Bushmaster
• Ameetec
• DPMS
• CMMG
• Double Star
• Fulton Armory
• Spike's Tactical

JVP

• Double Star
• LRB
• Charles Daly

Mega Machine Shop

• Mega
• GSE
• Dalphon
• POF
• Alexander Arms

Olympic

• Olympic
• SGW
• Tromix
• Palmetto
• Dalphon
• Frankford
• Century (Old)

Sun Devil

• Sun Devil forged billet receivers

Superior

• Superior Arms
• Lauer (New)

Aero Precision

• Aero Precision

Ruger 22/45 Mark III Field & Detail Strip

Ruger .22s are a bit of a pain to disassemble.  I found a site that not only details the field strip procedure better than the factory manual, but also has detail strip information.

HK Builds

Since I'm getting more interested in gunsmithing and was in a superfluous meeting, I went on HKPro looking for interesting stuff and, in particular, build info.

G3 DMR kit from Bravo 5
Sexy jig for bending receiver flats
...a few more build links on Calguns
HKParts' contract barrels are POF, huh?  Shit...

FH Workbench Designs

• Folding workbench
• Modular workbench
• 4 knockdown designs

OS X Burning Software

Alternatives to Roxio Toast 10, which has horrid reviews on Amazon, include Burn and LiquidCD.  I downloaded the latter two, but haven't tried burning anything with them yet.  I discovered I hadn't upgraded to the last version of Toast 7 (7.1.3) yet.

Kye Kye Kule

最近ジアダがアンパンマンのDVDを毎日見て俺は頻繁に「チェッチェッコリ」の歌を聞いてしまって頭の中で回る。歌詞の意味を調べたところ、別に意味がないと分かった。「ぴっとんへべへべ」みたいなもんだな。

Arfcom's Guide to Assembling an AR-15 Lower

AR-15.com has a detailed guide on how to assemble an AR-15 lower.  I guess I didn't have to buy a book and two videos on AR-15 builds, but it sure helps a rank novice to the art of gunsmithing.  Seems simple, but hey, most gun owners can't even detail strip their guns, so....

George Bernard Shaw

Found an old (2009.01.22) note to myself regarding some excellent sayings by George Bernard Shaw:

Hatred is the coward's revenge for being intimidated.

The more things a man is ashamed of, the more respectable he is.

The English have no respect for their language, and will not teach their children to speak it.

Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.

Brilliant!