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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Gun Pr0n.

The one handgun that I have put several thousand rounds thru over the years starting when I was about 16.

Mom's revolver.

Harrington & Richardson Arms Co. .22 Special. 9-shot, double-action / single-action revolver.

Best I've been able to come up with is that this model was last produced in 1943, and this one was from around 1941-42. Shoots well but has a strong yet smooth double action, the single action is crisp and clean with no movement that I can feel. And lets face it, 9-shots of .22 LR, HV hollow point is more than most people want to buck, especially considering that Mom is a crack-shot.

Gear review 1.0

If any of you use optics on your firearms or even iron sights that aren't quite tuned at the factory then you already know the problems associated with getting them zeroed. The main problem isn't so much getting the sights lined up as it is getting them close enough to get the shots on paper where you can start adjusting. Well I always had this problem too, that's why about 6 or 7 years ago I bought the Laserlyte laser boresight and having just replaced the batteries for the first time, I thought I'd offer this review. IT F*&^#@G ROCKS, HARD!!! Using this on the .30-06 you see in the header above at 100yds I just put the crosshairs on the dot and went from there, that is exactly where the bullets went when I shot my group.



So if you are having difficulty getting your shots on paper to get your sighting system of choice lined up, get one. It's the best 40 bucks you'll spend. Not to mention the savings in ammo for more fun things, like putting holes in paper or fur-bearing critters, whichever floats your boat.  Much love Laserlyte, thanks for making such great products.


*FTC disclaimer - Go piss up a rope. I bought it, it wasn't given to me.

Quick Thought.

Don't screw with my Mom if she's holding a 1911. The woman is deadly accurate.

Lost in Time. 1911 to be exact.

Well I know I haven't posted in awhile and that's due to me picking up Red Dead Redemption for PS3. If you have a 360 or PS3, I recommend it, it's Grand Theft Auto on horseback. But. There are a lot more things to do on the side than the regular GTA games I think. For instance: hunting, gathering herbs, breaking wild horses, bounty hunting, treasure hunting or just plain ol' heading into a nest of enemies and cleaning house. Red Dead Redemption gets the JRebel seal of approval.

My Field, AKA, My Target Range.

I've often bragged on GBC about being able to step outside anytime I want and pop off a few rounds. Here's why:





From where I was standing with the camera, (if you click to bigify the pic,) you can see the khaki colored target stand, that's 25 yds +/- a yard. Way in the background you can see a small pair of ceders, from the wood frame attached to the oak to them is 100 yds. If I shoot through the area I'm standing from the corner of my driveway all the way to the back fence, (behind the ceders,) is 200 yds. Impossible to do in the spring and summer until the grass is cut.

They just don't make em like they used to.

Well I just finished cleaning my late Grandpa's old .22. It still functioned flawlessly but here's the kicker, it had 40+ years worth of residue built up in the action. I was sweeping chunks of that stuff out of the action and off the working bits (was waiting for Jimmy Hoffa to come rolling out,) yet the dang thing still shot better than a lot of newer .22 LR's I've seen and I'd like to see a lot of newer rifles function at all with that much crud in them.

It's not special in any way other than it was Grandpa's rifle. Other than that it's just an old Western Auto Supply Revelation 120 made by Marlin, more or less the same in action to the model 60 but externally it looks a lot like the old model 99's.

But...time for a memory.

I do have a bit of a statement to make though to start. Any person who thinks you can't kill a turkey with a .22LR from over 200 yds away with iron sights, all I have to say is "you're a liar" and you can quote me on that. I know cause I was standing next to Grandpa when he shot it and I'm the one that walked across the field to retrieve it, 2 shots 2 lethal hits, one through the neck and one through the head, with this very rifle. Granted he had a lot of practice hitting what he was aiming at, that's the way he grew up. You went out with so many rounds of ammo and you either came back with that much game or the difference in game and ammo, you didn't waste bullets plain and simple and if you missed, well, the extra chores would teach ya not to.



UPDATE: After talking with my dad I found out exactly how old this rifle is. Grandpa bought it new from Western Auto when dad was about 5 so it's about 50 years old now and Grandpa paid the sum total of about $30 for it, that's gonna be another family heirloom just like the old single-shot 12ga.

UPDATE 2: A link for some history on the models.

Target Down.

Well since nearly every blog I read has posted pictures of their targets, I thought I'd get into the game too. These are the targets from my CCW class, at least the ones I qualified on. The practice target had more holes than could be easily counted.


This is from my Ruger 9mm. I kinda pushed that first shot a bit, hence the hole in the 8 ring. The key is SIGHT ALIGNMENT and TRIGGER CONTROL folks, don't rush your shots.



This is from the .38 Special borrowed from one of the deputies I know who was functioning as one of the RSO's (the Sheriff's Office firearms instructor was giving the class so I knew at least 2 people in there). Since state law says we must qualify with both semi-auto and revolver with at least 20 shots each. I think only one person failed to qualify out of all.



Not bad considering that's the first 20 shots I've ever fired from a S&W .38 DA revolver.