Write, Call, Pester.

From Facebook to Blogger...again.

So, I've spent the last couple hours composing a letter to my US Senators and Rep calling attention to this bit of fluff from Dianne Feinstein and urging them to vote NO on any such bill that comes before them. Not like McCaskill will listen since she's buddy buddy with Feinstein. But, I urge each of you out there to compose letters of your own so that we may keep the pressure on our supposed leaders so that garbage like this never sees the light of day. The last time this crap happened it did nothing, it will do nothing this time since it specifically targets law-abiding citizens and does nothing to stop criminals. Just like every other gun control law that has ever been written. Their rational being - "When you can't disarm them legally, make them felons and disarm them by "due process".

Like I stated in my letter, any bill such as this isn't intended to stop criminals, only remove rights from law-abiding citizens.

Supreme Court Precedent and how we can apply it.

Posted this at my FB, thought I'd share it here too. Edited for emphasis and errors, and to clean up the text to make it easier to read.

 

So, I've been hearing more and more from people that know nothing of the law saying that we need to ban high capacity magazines, semi-auto rifles and anything else they think is scary looking. Typically saying that neither DC v Heller or McDonald v Chicago enumerated the right for semi-auto rifles in self-defense. Well if you truly wish to apply the law and precedent from SCOTUS rulings, lets look at that shall we. One case cited in DC v Heller was:

US v Miller.
Supreme Court ruled that the 1934 NFA did not violate Miller's 2nd Amendment rights as a short barreled shotgun (a shotgun with a barrel length less than 18 inches) was not a weapon in common usage by the milita, ie: The standing army at the time. Lets dig a little deeper into this precedent. If we apply the ruling today a ban on a semi-auto rifle and the magazines to feed ammo to it, would be a violation of the Second Amendment.

... Standard issue arms for an individual soldier now would include among the following: M-16/M4 SELECT FIRE battle rifle with multiple 30rd magazines, M249SAW or M240B belt fed light-machine gun - fed from a 200rd belt, 40mm grenade launcher - commonly using a high explosive fragmentation round, AT4 anti-tank rocket - uses a high explosive shaped charge warhead in the rocket, M67 fragmentation grenades - nuff said.

So yes please, lets apply Supreme Court precedent in this case, please please please, can we apply the Supreme Court precedent?

Handy little bit of information.

  Thought this might help put a few things into perspective for the gun ban crowd if any of them actually wanted to learn something rather than keep spouting off nonsense about "high-powered assault weapons". Keep in mind this is not a comprehensive list, just the rounds I currently have a use for in the single projectile department. I didn't want to include shotguns cause that is a whole different area of lethality when you start delving into multiple projectiles.

   Scale runs left to right from least powerful to most powerful. Included notes are for each individual round and the particular round pictured. I divided the rounds pictured into groups from Plated Lead hollow point to Jacketed Soft Point. Also, summary of typical use and/or lineage for common rounds of that caliber, though not necessarily the specific one pictured. All this is simply to show what some people think is so, really isn't. Anyone that has spent as much time around firearms as I have will know most of this on an almost instinctual level. This is more for debunking the ones that keep crying for regulations on that which they have absolutely no clue about beyond what CNN told them to believe. Once again, from left to right, are least to most powerful, and this is just a few of the rounds used by my collection.

Click to view full size.

  Data below here will reflect the max effective range of different rounds. All this is from my own knowledge and having been around and using firearms nearly my entire life. If you want exacting data you can look it up. This is to show the maximum range that a typical shooter could hit before round becomes unpredictable due to external influences. And, aiming for "center of mass" meaning high probability of hit in vital area (upper torso/vital organs) rather than a certain Minute Of Angle point of aim to point of impact measurement. Using common weapon types in common usage by civilians not military. Using that particular type of firearm under ideal circumstances, (under no stress and bench rest firing rather than prone/standing). None of this is to show what truly exceptional marksmen are capable of (unless noted), so I don't want to hear about how your Uncle once killed a 20 point buck with a .22 short at ZOMG!!! yds. Hopefully we can do away with the common myth that so called "high-powered assault weapons" are neither particularly high powered nor particularly more lethal by comparison to other common rounds. These should be fairly accurate as most are commonly used and known in the firearms community (if any actual experts wish to comment on inaccuracies then please by all means do so because I love learning). The majority of the rounds are used heavily across a broad range of instances. With the probable exception of the 7.65mm ARG. That data is based off what I've learned over the last 15 odd years studying the history of, and using that particular rifle with modern ammunition. (Rifle noted in picture above). Either way max range is still a good indicator of exactly how much power is behind a given projectile without getting into the archaic formula of bullet weights/shapes/tissue reaction to projectiles at different speeds/whether or not your personal goblin is hopped up on PCP, so on and so forth. This is just a rough guideline for showing the base power of one typical cartridge to another. I may expand on this later when I have more time though.

Maximum ranges: estimates for simplicity's sake.

.22LR 

      Handgun: 35-50yds (depends on barrel length)

      Rifle: 150yds (the .22 LR looses power dramatically after this point unless using high end high-velocity rounds which can extend the range to 200 or even 250 yds on a good day.)

9mm/.45ACP

      Handgun: 45-50yds (depends on barrel length)

.223 Remington/5.56mm NATO

      Semi-Auto rifle: 500yds

      Bolt-Action rifle: 700yds

.30-30 Winchester/7.62x51mm Rimmed

      Lever action rifle: 500yds

7.65mm Argentine

      Bolt-Action rifle: 1000yds

.30-06 Springfield

      Semi-Auto rifle: 800yds (M1 Garand, with a well trained rifleman can be up to 1000yds.)

      Bolt-Action rifle: 1000yds (Remington 700 and other common hunting rifles. With a typical hunting load, 1000yds is stretching the ability of the rifle itself without getting into exotic and truly varied specialty loads. However, the younger brother of this cartridge and rifle platform, the .308WIN/7.62x51mm NATO and a well practiced shooter, range can go as high as 1500yds.)

  That covers about all that I can at this point without delving truly deep into the internet in search of the finer parts. Just trying to get a small point across, not give a lecture of why, when, where, and/or how long a certain bullet will do what. The internet is your friend if you want to know the particulars of: wound ballistics, the effects of different bullet shapes on aerodynamics, bullet types, powders, primers, case wall thickness, the ream that sized the chamber of the rifle...yada, yada, yada. There are thousands of different variables to this stuff. I've spent years accumulating what I've spread before you over the four or so hours it's taken me to write this and I'm a rank amateur compared to many others. Like I said, if you want to learn the internet is your friend, spend enough time doing research and bouncing back and forth from one data set to another and you'll learn it just takes time. Refusal to do anything and just spouting off the latest talking points because it is so much easier, well, that just makes you an asshat. But, then again, if everyone bothered to get educated on the matter we'd all be gunnies and I wouldn't have needed to spend my time writing this, when I should have been sleeping so I can get up and go do my job tonight.

All I have to say on the matter.

Well that was simple.

   Took another go with the two Tapco mags I bought awhile back. Given my penchant for tinkering with things it was really only a matter of time till I found the problem and the solution. I started sanding the outer surface of the mag thinking that it was just too tight in the mag-well of the rifle. After a few cycles in and out with the mag body and not being able to get it to lock just right even with the bolt open. I started looking real close for where it was binding and noticed that the hole in the front of the mag wasn't lining up with the pin, except just enough to lock the mag in place. Thus causing the body at the point above the pin to bow inward. It is also the exact point, where with such close tolerances, the tip of the ammo was contacting the mag body and causing it to wedge itself in. Keeping said ammo from feeding upward enough to get picked up by the bolt. Five minutes with a drill and a file and I now have two flawlessly functioning mags. The crappy part is that now that I know what I need to do I can't get more without doing the backorder thing. Everyone I've checked is SOLD OUT. Guess I'll have to keep looking.

   However, after watching events unfold this weekend I kinda expected that. Buying frenzy anyone? Of course. Given that freedom hating, anti-American, douchenozzles from left field indoctrinated in "never let a tragedy go to waste" spouting off with "more 'gun control' we must punish innocent people for something they had no part of as it is the only proper path to salvation." And, they are being listened to... again.  All to be expected, I've seen this movie before. But. I guess we'll always have the moronic masses of asses that keep spouting about more "gun control" like it was such a success the last hundred thousand times it was tried. (Germany circa 1930's anyone?) These people wouldn't garner a second thought if it weren't for their ability to get mindless morons with delusions of adequacy to jump into jack-booted lockstep with them using tried (and found stupid) and tested rhetoric that the dumbasses that can't think for themselves keep believing. It keeps coming around, when it has been tried and failed, "try again only harder we might get a different result." We have a term for this, it's called insanity.

   You mono-synaptic wastes of flesh and oxygen. Ya'll couldn't get a damn clue if it danced up and smacked you between the eyes with a clue-hammer, forged in the fires of Mount Clue, from ore mined in the bottomless Pit of Clues that was hauled by a donkey called Clue and enchanted with +5 Clue-ing by the Dread Wizard of Clue. Worthless f*in' morons.

Well, here it is.

I think I said I'd post some pix of the Franken1911, anyway here ya go.

Click to embiggenate.

Well like I said it won't win any beauty contests but it runs like a top. Not to mention being as simple as a '42 Jeep to repair. (Pretty sure a few of the parts are interchangeable too.) 


EDIT : 9:33 PM

Thought I'd list parts and tools to show estimated cost for the build.

RIA 1911A1 (bare bones GI) new - $512.00
Checkered Walnut grips - $20.00
Wilson Combat Competition Match Trigger - $17.00 (on sale)
LED Flashlight - $20.00
Dustcover mounted rail - $15.00
Wilson Combat Semi-drop in beaver-tail grip safety - $20.00
Novak GI cut rear combat sight - $22.00
Swenson Commander style hammer - $22.00
Colt Ambi safety - $20.00
Various tools - (honestly who doesn't have a few files and stuff)
Welding rod - $0.45 (front sight firmly attached as the low profile served as the starting point, hence the files mentioned above)

Total cost: about $647.00. At the time I started with the basic GI pistol a well set up 1911 was running about $800.00.
  
 

Christmas time 'n all...

Just sayin:

Incase anyone was wondering, I'm an XL.

Catching up on a few things.

1) The previous post I mentioned getting a couple of the Tapco 30rd mags for my Mini-14, well quick and dirty review is that they suck rocks with the cheap Russian FMJ's. Closest reason I can find for this is Tapco looked at the OAL of an FMJ cartridge and decided to go a couple microns shorter on the inside of the mags. Haven't checked em out with SP's yet to see if that solves the feed issues since they tend to be somewhat shorter in OAL.

2) The Zombinator aka Franken1911 project is pretty much a done deal. I got the sights done like I wanted, albeit it left the finish on the slide pretty rough. Solved that with a bit of sandpaper a can of adhesion promoter and some khaki flavored krylon. Got the aftermarket rail added and screwed to the dust cover and jerry-rigged a flashlight that will light up a hillside 100yds away enough you could make out the horses walking around. So it'll work quite well at 40ft which is the full length of the house. Something to be said for a cheap 120 lumen flashlight. Its still a rough looking pistol but then again it'll function which is what its supposed to do. I'll take mildly pretty and hard-use over beautiful and fragile any day. It isn't being submitted to compete in any beauty contests.

And last but not least 3) The elections, never ever underestimate the stupidity of your fellow man. It has been said before but bears repeating now more than ever: "Be kind, Be courteous, and have a plan to kill everyone you meet." Screw it. Especially when you hear some moron pontificate on how wonderful it is living in this; perfect socialist utopia, hellhole, pit, giant, gaping, smoking, death crater of oblivion we used to call America. Fuck you worthless hippie, socialist, parasites and your chief murdering, treasonous, venom-spitting ophilian and all his subordinates too. I'm done being nice. I'm tired of being polite to people whose only goal is to destroy MY country, MY freedom and MY way of life. Well no more Mr. Nice Guy my little bitches. Its well past time to play nice.

Guaranteed to generate some level of hate.

Both from Anti-freedom groups and a couple bloggers I know of in Massachusetts. Why? Because FREE state.

My two NEW 30rd Tapco mags for my Mini-14.

  Been debating with myself for awhile on whether or not to try a couple of these out since they are about 1/3 the price of 30rd Ruger mags. You can see I decided to go for it. Although just like every other 30rd mag I have tried you can only get them to feed the first round properly with 29 rds or less, I usually go with 28 rds. These (thankfully) are the Gen 2 mags with the steel support in the front of the mag where the retaining pin inserts into the hole and is the most likely spot to wear out on this rifle's mags. I'd also like to mention the no-tilt follower is a nice feature (and a change from the usual with the factory mags as well as the steel Promags). Seriously, you can push down either on the front or back of the follower and the whole thing goes into the body of the mag, so far the no-tilt part is as advertised. The rest, however, will have to wait and see once I get my swinging steel target put up on the Rebel Range. If I can get the cheap russian ammo to ring it consistently at 100yds that'll be well within Minute-Of-Badguy, if I can get the scope to cooperate.

Just like a lefty to not know the law.

Posted this to facebook and thought I'd add it here too. I didn't really want to offer anything up at this time but the usual suspects just kind of forced my hand. From my FB post:

Wanted to interject something into the current debates that are swirling after the theatre shooting in CO. With the usual suspects dancing in the blood of the victims and deciding that they want to revive the debate over so called "assault weapons". Jason Alexander, former idiot from the show Seinfeld, shows how dumb he really is by saying that "assault weapons" are only for use by the militia and military. Well fatso I have some really bad news for you, the US Supreme Court ruled on this part during their review of "Heller v DC" and concluded the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms existed outside any connection to the militia ie: it is an individual right. Further more the militia is defined in 10 USC Section 311 as:

(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied
males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section
313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States
and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are -
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard
and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of
the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the
Naval Militia.

In summary for illiterates like Mr Alexander. The Militia is: every male ages 17 - 45 and females of that group that are members of the National Guard. So to sum up my thoughts to Mr. Alexander's drooling stupidity as well as the rest of the douche-bags, EAT ME.

New Project. Part...ehh yeah.

Decided to start another project this morning and so far it's coming along nicely. This time it isn't a gun but rather for one. I got the urge to build, what I guess you could call, a presentation or display box for a Govt. model 1911 and 3 mags. So far I've done the cutout for the pistol and made my starter holes for the mag slots. Now all I need is to stop by one of the hardware stores and pick up a 1"x10" and a 1"x2" sometime so I can make the stuff that goes around that inner portion. Might have to see if I can get some new router bits too since the 1/2" grove bit seemed to not like cutting treated pine for some reason, what should have been shavings was coming off as wood powder. Bad thing is that's the radius that I wanted at the corners so I had to settle for the band saw with a narrow scroll work band. Pics to follow when I get around to it.

Happy Independence Day.

Sitting here at work, watching some fireworks a bit off to the east of me. Added effect of them going off next to a spectacularly large appearing Luna that just cleared the trees. Double special bonus of The Star Spangled Banner playing somewhere inside my head. Enjoy.

Summer Camp...

Awesomeness redefined.

6-6-44

I'll always remember, even when the Europeans forget.

Memorial Day 2012

Hope everyone enjoys their day off work and spending time with family and friends around some good food and good fun. But. Never forget what it has cost us to obtain this freedom we enjoy.

Hippo Birdie Two Me.

Yay! I had a birthday yesterday... I think. Couldn't tell you for sure since I slept thru most of it and had to be at work for the rest of it. Further study of this phenomenon maybe required.

My 2 cents.

For what its worth.

   Doing my rounds of the blogosphere and noticed several posts about your first gun purchase. Every one of them I read were full of useful information that shouldn't be discounted. But. I noticed, in particular, that nearly all of them steer you away from the lightweight snubbie revolvers with the usual; poor sights, recoil, etc. All valid reasons. However I noticed there wasn't much in the department as to the fleshing out of those details. I will attempt to do this. Probably poorly.

   For starters, snubbies do recoil, a lot, I own exactly 1 for a reason, it isn't fun to shoot unless you are a recoil junkie and this is for a 5-shot .38 spl. Even with the porting the muzzle flip and palm bruising is more violent than anything else I've shot and that includes my Dad's .44 magnum. To put it simply, it hurts to shoot. I know I'll hear it (if anyone outside the usual suspects chooses to respond, if at all). "Aww does the itty-bitty gun hurt your wittle hands?" Short answer, yes. Beyond that, well, my "wittle" hands could be described as hams in some parts of this country and I'm not little unless you are around guys that make André the Giant look like common folk. At any rate I keep my snubbie for one reason, it's a spurless hammer, stainless steel and it fits in a pocket, no muss no fuss. Also being a revolver there is little to no chance of a jam, and no chance of a FTF or FTE (failure to feed and failure to eject respectively).

   Second to the recoil is the sight radius, or lack there-of, if you prefer. Mine has a total of 3 and 5/8ths inches of it, vs my next smallest pistol which is 5 inches, in this case, size matters. The longer the sight radius the more accurate you can be. Because at longer distances any variation in the sight alignment is more noticeable and easier to correct. The reason I'm comfortable carrying a firearm that is lacking in comfort and accuracy is that I know its abilities and limitations. It is designed as a close range piece, not much over speaking distance. (Find out your abilities and know your limits). The snub is the next logical step in the evolution of the belly gun so to speak. (Formerly 2-shot pistols lumped under the common "Derringer" class). Which were designed to be hidden by a belt buckle and employed at card table distance (about 4.5 - 5 ft) or less, usually less. Hence the term "belly gun", its not only where you carried it, its also where you stuck the muzzle on your target. It serves that purpose well. Having 5 shots vs 2 also gives you extra firepower and more firepower never hurt unless you are the one facing it. Another reason I'm comfortable with carrying it is that I know what I can do with it under stress. I practice. Your mileage will vary. However, the key with any firearm is P-R-A-C-T-I-C-E. I don't as much as I should, but enough to remain confident in knowing what my skills are and more importantly, are not.

   In closing, a snubbie in my opinion is the wrong platform to learn on. It doesn't let you figure out your abilities and limits for yourself, it tells you, painfully. It is a purchase best left til you have garnered some skill and knowledge with various other firearms so you know what it is and is not capable of. Forget what you have seen on TV too, most of it isn't real. What parts are real, are performed by people that don't do much else beyond send lead down range for a living. As an aside, I know people both personally and on the internet that are superb shots with small revolvers and sub compact semi-autos. This is because they shoot them, a lot, and already know what they are doing as well as what to expect.

Food for thought. High blood pressure edition.

Just finished listening to The Squirrel Report from Friday. I had a thought after listening to everyone describe the cars now vs the cars we had.

   My first car was a 1987 Mercury Lynx with an A/T and a 1.9L, 4-cyl engine. Now granted the 4-banger is a pretty economic engine in itself but the fact they are touting newer cars as some of the most fuel efficient ever is utter crap, the only way most of the ones that still burn gas get that way is by using plastic and carbon fiber as the primary structural components. However...This, on the other hand:

Pic found HERE.*

   This pile of rolling scrap metal got ~30 MPG highway and no less than 25 MPG city, with over 200,000 miles on it. With a drive train that wasn't designed to last past 100k. I know you're gonna say, "Well duh." Simple description on how I drove that car: I drove it like I stole it. At the time what I spent on it was less than a week's pay. If I tore it up, no big loss, I buy another one with the next check. I drove that car hard for almost 3 years before it finally started having more mechanical issues than it was worth to get fixed. Beyond that it had a metal body, not something you're gonna find on pretty much anything that claims to be uber efficient these days, not in this class anyway.

   I coulda crashed that little 80's econobox into a newer econobox, other than the smart car, and still been able to drive it to the mechanic afterward. Provided of course ala smart cars, (that over-weight, plastic, waste of a shoebox) didn't have the 9-ton unobtainium roll cage it wouldn't even rate as a hood ornament. Which in turn might be good for the illusion of safety but makes the car weigh 3 times as much as that itty-bitty thing should. Which screws the fuel economy. Unlike my Lynx which was a uni-body with internal steel supports and weighed exactly 2,100lbs without the wheels and tires. Although it could hold 5 people rather than 2. Now... you little tofu-eating,  Gaia-fellating, PETA-petting, pinko-commie pricks, tell us again how the new cars are soooooooooo much better than the old ones? F**ktards.





*While not my car exactly, it is similar. Mine was the 2-door hatchback, with 14" steel rims rather than the standard 13" rims like this one. Mine also looked a lot rougher, same color though.

Past due for expression.

Wanted to say something I've felt for awhile. Pretty much since I started getting active with RKBA. After reading Robb's post I felt it was the right time to express it.

To all whom it may concern:

   I'm willing to fight and die to protect my rights, are you willing to die to try and take them? Or will you just send someone else to die in your place? Because I won't go silently into that good night!


Sincerely, 
JRebel

Quick Question.

Why would my 1911 be dinging the case mouth on every stinking cartridge?

I apologize for the picture quality, my phone only zooms at 1.2 mp or less not at 2.0 mp.

Anyway I highlighted the ding in the center case and you can see the ding in the case to the right. Any ideas and fixes would be welcome.

UPDATE: The port for this pistol is lowered and flared. The dinged brass is a new occurrence as I haven't seen brass from it like this before and the only recent mods have been external since I last fired it.

B.A.G.D.

Actually bought it a bit over a week ago but...

Remington 597 .22 LR. Nice little rifle and I have been wanting a semi-auto .22 for shits 'n' giggles. So, what did you buy with your tax refund?



So, they went ahead and did it.

  The "Prosecutor" (and I'm being generous by using that term for someone who follows public pressure rather than the law,) has charged George Zimmerman with 2nd degree murder. Lets take a look at that shall we? 2nd degree murder in FL requires there to be willful action, which is not present in this case from what I can tell. You can hear all that on the 911 call, Zimmerman neither ran after Martin or sought to lay in wait for him after he ran away. Martin however did come back and decided to commit assault by attacking Zimmerman and then got what he asked for, case closed. However when you are just charging someone to placate the bloodthirsty masses the reason doesn't matter as long as you look good doing it. Zimmerman goes and places his trust in the "Justice" system by turning himself in, that trust is misplaced. The so called justice system has already caved to the racist masses and charged him. What the media won't show is that he's already been convicted thanks to them and they can just sit back and report on the show trial they helped create. Which unfortunately means Mr. Zimmerman is screwed six ways from Sunday.

   Make no mistake this is the first shot in a war they wanted, whether anyone realizes it or not. I personally hope all the violent, racist pricks in the country are happy now. Mr. Zimmerman's future is destroyed simply because some little thug acted like a thug and got treated like a thug. But. Since his family couldn't be bothered to accept the FACT that Trayvon was a worthless thug we now have this convoluted mess and travesty of justice. They won't dare anger the masses now that they are placated by finding Mr. Zimmerman innocent of the charges. Using the simple expedient of not allowing anyone on the jury that thinks he's innocent. Think it can't happen? They just proved that it can. This trial was rigged as soon as the media started crying and wetting themselves about it. As well as when the racist pricks Jesse Jackson and all the rest started pontificating about it. You worthless weasels called this dance now you get to pay the band. This farce will not be forgotten.

   P.S. If everyone thinks you pricks are violent and bloodthirsty they haven't seen anything yet. Difference between us is; I can control myself until it's time to unleash the beast within, your horns were always showing. Marching and protesting won't stop what's coming. Sic, semper mortem malefactores.

Boredom is time consuming.

As the title states I got bored. When I get bored I have to do...something. This is the result.

I have talent, everyone's told me that. It's just finding a way to put it to use that I always seem to lack.

Why not?

Reading thru Weerd's writing about the police report from the Martin-Zimmerman case, I thought I'd help by trying to paint a picture without getting into a guilty/not guilty area. I'm doing this merely to try and give an overall picture of things that can help get you into the situation as we know it. EDIT: Proceed through page break to read. The post got a little longer than I intended.

Side Project.

Worked on a little side project the last few days.

Anyone interested in doing the same, here is the supplies list:

1: 1-Pair of smooth wood grips.
2: Some thin flexible leather. (I used buckskin).
3: Wood glue. (I used Elmer's Carpenters Wood Glue MAX, because it dries fairly quickly and is tacky enough to hold the leather.)
4: Sandpaper. (I used 250 grit).
5: Box cutter or X-acto knife.
6: Good quality leather dye.
7: 2 expendable horsehair brushes. Smallish, I used a couple half-inch brushes. (They will likely be ruined during the process).

(Click all pictures to make bigger.)

   You start with your grips and leather:

First you'll need to cut your leather into two rectangles about 1 inch oversize of the grip. (Always better to have too much than not enough.)
You want the grips undersized slightly on the outer dimensions (remember we're adding material). One at a time, sand off any finish from the wood, (this area should be rough to promote better adhesion with the two surfaces, 250 grit sandpaper works well for this,) and then paint on your wood glue...Yes, PAINT ON, you want a thin to medium coat that is even. Then you want to smooth out the leather over the outer most surface and any major contours such as a recessed thumb notch.

   Done? Good, let them dry. Go have a beer or three.

       Now you will need to start cutting to shape. Best to work the tougher areas first. Start stretching the leather around the contours and any areas that cause wrinkles you need to cut small angles (start small and work your way up till you get the leather to fit tightly). Using your knife cut the leather even with the flat of the grip so that the edges point toward the frame of the gun. Once you are done getting it cut to shape and glued down let it dry and check that all edges are secure. You can also go ahead and cut out the holes for the grip screws. I also painted on some glue around the edges to seal them and reduce fraying. Should end up looking like this:

 Now once that part is complete, go have a beer.



Back? Good, now that the hard part is over. It's time for:

(WARNING: High quality leather dye will dye any porous surface known to mankind, PERMANENTLY, so be careful.)

 Using your other brush...No you can't use the one covered in glue unless you managed to clean it completely. Glue and dye don't like each other very well. Moving on... We will now paint the dye onto the leather being sure to cover it completely and letting it soak in. You will probably have to go over it a few times. Once you reach your desired shade, set aside and let dry. You should now have something like this:
 

Congratulations, you're done. Unless you happen to have a clear coat for leather then you can paint that on to seal and shine them, (I don't).

I chose black because its what I had at hand and lets face it, you can't go wrong with black leather. Besides anything to piss off the PETA petters. Side note: I have still yet to see a single drop of red paint directed at me or any of my friends for wearing leather, dunno why not though.... Zinc and/or nickel plated steel studs are optional. Enjoy.


(FTC Complainer: No one paid me or gave me anything for this post so go take a long walk off a short pier into shark infested water.)


UPDATE: Here's them mounted.

Random thought on religion.

I'm not religious, I'm spiritual. I don't see where anyone has the answers all pegged down yet. Don't care about yours enough to join. Mine is simple. Screw with me or anyone I care about and I'm going to look forward to dragging your tattered carcass to ValhallaHeavenGreatBeyondEternalGlory with me. Then settle up with any Supreme Being or Beings using your aforementioned carcass as the currency to pay my way in. Any questions? Go stick your ear to a landmine and it will whisper the answers.

Reloading for Dummies.

If anyone has a spare copy I'll prolly need it.

   I went ahead and ordered myself a handloading set up for .45 yesterday. Have some experience with the process as my brother-in-law has his dad's old gear and we've been recycling our .30-06 brass. I have now loaded almost 40 rounds for that, which puts me about 25 rounds ahead of my BIL for experience. Pretty simple once you do it a few times, just a bit of a time sink.

   Anyway despite having ordered some of the basics; Lee Classic reloading kit, case prep tools. I still need to get some case lube and the components before I start actual loading. Although I will be buying my powder and primers at one of the local gunshops rather than order them. There's no way I'm paying 27.50 in hazmat fees on top of shipping for a $20ish jar of powder, or a $25 pack of L.P.P.'s. The point is to make it cheaper so I can shoot more, not make a money sink out of it. Still need to do some wood carving to make myself a good hammer for the process though. Guess that old lathe is gonna get some use after all. If I blow off any bits and/or pieces of myself I'll make sure someone takes pictures for ya'll to laugh at.

Well yeah.

Just found out that the douchebag that my ex-gf left me to go back to, is back in jail....again.

This is my shocked face:

My friend told me earlier tonight like it was gonna be a surprise...all I could do was laugh. We both called that one awhile back, and that's her brother we're laughing at. Karma is a real bitch sometimes.

Ok, I'm in.

Doing blog rounds, read this.

There are a few things wrong with this case. Namely Holder and Obama remain unpunished for THEIR crimes. This family should never have been charged with any crime, especially when the only crime they seem to have committed, was trusting that bureaucratic tangle of BS known as BATFE. Which coincidentally has the power to strip them of their livelihood for forgetting to dot an i on a piece of paper let alone failing to cooperate in their ILLEGAL investigation. So as long as Obama, Holder and the rest of the justice department along with the entire BATFE and anyone else that supported them remains unpunished then they cannot seek to prosecute this family for crimes committed by this corrupt regime. Obama's justice..."Nothing to see here, but look over there, someone we can bully." F***ing commie bastards.

Black Magic Trio.

Since I seem to have not posted any gun pr0n in awhile. Here you go.

For those that don't know...

Top: Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle-Tactical, 5.56mm NATO. W/ 4x Bushnell duplex scope and stud mounted bipod (and just to piss off the antis, a nearly new 30rd mag). AKA, a poodle shooter that isn't picky about what ammo it eats.

Middle: Mossberg Maverick 88, 12 gauge. 6 rds of 00 buck, 'nuff said.

Bottom: Taurus PT1911, .45 ACP. It isn't a Colt but it still puts 45 caliber holes in things that I want to go away. Just for shits-n-giggles the grips I bought a couple months ago featuring a semi-topless female with an eyepatch and an attitude. Tough chicks...my favorite.

Dude, WTF?

   So I've been reading about the shit-storm that the purveyor of "smoke and thunder" is causing in the gunnie blogiverse. I only have one thing to say to them...DUDE!!! Really? You've made it your mission in life to insult and berate a group of people. (Using myself as the lowest common denominator.) That has an average IQ that falls squarely in "Above Average" territory, with what I am absolutely certain has a few people that qualify for Mensa memberships among us. You've gotta be crazy to pick a fight with people that are not only armed in the literal sense but also armed and dangerous in the mental sense. Supremely capable of doing a Vulcan mindf**k on you and making you like it. Not to mention the lambasting you get everytime you open your virtual piehole. (As Lawdog would prolly say.) "You daft git." My advise for "smoke and thunder" is simply this, take it or leave it, cut your losses before you do something even more stupid. Seriously, we hate getting into battles of wit with the unarmed.

Oh Really?

Well I for one welcome our new robot overlords.

 

Also: Since I have noticed others talking about the word verification system blogger is using and the related difficulty in getting readable images. I have changed to the no verification needed option as well and moderation on posts 14 days old and older. Hope that helps everyone out, not that I really get any interesting conversations going on here anyway.

Found one for Weerd Beard.

Good thing they have so much gun control south of the border or someone could have gotten hurt.

As Weerd Beard says. "This is why 'Gun Death' is a stupid metric."

Doing a bit of thinking.

   So I figured I would share some random thoughts and rants that have been rattling around my head. Since they finally coalesced into something that from which, some form of reason can be distinguished.


   I was thinking about how we as a nation have slipped so far from our founding principles. Then I realized that the problem lies deeper than that, in that we as humans have come so far as to take natural selection out of the equation. To elaborate, we no longer need fear the night because we have developed tools to push back the darkness, from fire to torches to flashlights to night vision. We don't have to fear hunger because we have developed ways to take small amounts of resources and turn them into vast quantities of the same resources provided and spread them around. Now some will say that people still go hungry and to a certain extent that is true. This brings me to my next point.

   Skills and will: I never have to fear hunger because I have the skills needed to not only feed myself but several others as well but in certain conditions you must also have the will to put those skills to a use they were not designed for. Many nowadays not only lack the skills they lack the will or more importantly the need to use them beyond moving fork to mouth. These people we refer to as dependents of the system, as I can think of no group softer yet more determined to make everyone else just like them. They not only lack the skills needed to better themselves, they lack the will to do anything for themselves. Not even them having to raise a finger and do even the modest amount of work needed to put food on the table. Beyond telling others what to do, even that's too much like work to these people. This makes them weak and we all know they hate thinking of themselves as weak. Which brings me back around to the start.

   The lack of natural selection in humans. Since we no longer need to fight and claw for every mouthful of food, we now have people solely dependant on what is provided by others. For this advancement of our abilities to shape the world around us we are now shackled by the sad state of affairs that allow these people not only to live but thrive, not only thrive but breed. Creating another generation of people that the rest of us have to support because in most cases the parents feed their children a steady diet of, "You don't have to, someone else will do it for you." You don't see this in groups some consider to be lower lifeforms. Because those lower lifeforms know by instinct that if they don't get up off their asses they will either starve or be a meal for something else that doesn't look down on giving natural selection a helping hand like we humans do. The only difference between us and them is many of us went soft a millennium or more ago and they just kept working at it. Only our tools let us survive the nights as it is. Contrary to belief we humans still have natural predators. Ourselves. Which any cop worth their salt can tell you, they have to see the results on a daily basis. And no, they are still not required to protect you personally, only clean up the mess afterward.

   As for a point to all this, it's pretty simple. Quit trying to make me work my ass off for you and I both. Then turn around and tell me that I'm not allowed to protect myself from the predators among us, as well as you too. You worthless bastards, get your own life and stay out of mine, that means all of it.

< /rant> 

It's gonna kick so much ass it should have feet.

Two words: Chuck Norris. Your arguement has been rendered invalid.

It puts a smile on your face.

Logging into facebook and seeing among the top stories on the news feed is this story.

Just reading about SHOT Show is more fun than any anti-gun show. Then again it isn't hard to be more fun than an empty void of an idea. As it is only a poorly thought out and badly flawed theory the best its supporters can hope for is that we only point at them and laugh. As my fellow bloggers are fond of saying, "This is why we win."

Strange Sitemeter.

Was wandering thru sitemeter this morning trying to kill time until I get off work. I notice I've been getting some hits from all over the world, and strangely placed at that, to this post in particular. Many are due to the fact they are all searching some variation of .30-30, or Winchester 30-30. Either way none of them stay long once they arrive but at least they clicked the link. So thanks for the hits to those people in San Fran, LA, France, Italy and Mexico as well as any others I might have overlooked.

If you would stick around and leave a comment or two asking questions I might be able to answer them. I've spent the last 30 years around one or another form of the "Bambi Zapper" (as Tam would say). If I cannot answer it I can point you in the direction of another one of my fellow gun-bloggers that probably could.

1911 Mk1 v1.02 proceeds.

Well the project I started awhile back proceeds apace, a slow pace but...

Sorry for the crappy quality, but its not that great a phone either.

So far upgrades from last time include new Novak carry rear sight. Front sight is my metal working skill and the finish is still ugly for now but the slide is getting Duracoat to finish things out anyway. Wilson checkered front strap. Last but not least a 3-slot steel compensator. More to follow.

I know some of you eschew giving firearms a name but I feel this one is deserving of one. I'm leaning toward The Zombinator any other thoughts are welcome in the comments.