Gear: Monocular

The best gear is the gear you have with you when you need it.

I can't always take my binocs with me, even though i would love to have some. At the Northcoast Blogshoot, fellow blogger TBolt brought out a handy-dandy Monocular. When he told me how modest the price was ($18) I could see no reason not to have one.

I might buy several. No reason every glove compartment should not have one. My range bag needs one. My fanny pack, my bug out bag, even my tactical pants!

The Barska Atlantic Monocular can even be had at Amazon.

--Another excellent public service announcement from your friends at New Jovian Productions.

The Want List

I got up early last Sunday.

I stacked up and scheduled a pile of posts and in the process was thinking about the Want List.

I am very much an opportunist buyer. I usually don't shop for something specific, I just wait for something to fall withing my field of view that I have wanted. Most recent example was the Saiga 12 gauge. I happened to see it, new, when I made my weekly visit to a local store to check out the consignment cases.

If I see it and have the cash. It comes home with me. Problem is that some items on my want list I never see in person. I have still never seen a PMR-30 in person and I'd buy that if I did. I saw a KRISS .45acp carbine at the Nations Gun Show but it was over priced.

One of the guns I see all the time that I have almost bought on many occasions is the Ruger 10/22 Charger. One of those will find it's way into my safe some day soon. Mostly because it's great cheap fun to shoot!

--Come on PMR-30. Cross my path!!

For the Record

I believe gun ownership will not make you a killer any more than having a vagina will make a woman a prostitute...

--I need to document a list of my beliefs!

Still Funny

I remember buying this issue when it came out. I had to hide National Lampoon from my parents with the Playboys and Penthouse magazines. Two decades later I have a stainless .357 but no dog to hold hostage.

Do you think the dog lived?

--Years later my parents confessed they knew all about my stash of mags and would borrow them...

How to Survive a School or Workplace Shooting

One of my RSS feed I read every day at work over coffee is the How-To Wiki.

A few days ago I saw an interesting article:

How to Survive a School or Workplace Shooting

"What would you do if a shooting happened in your own school or workplace? It is a scary thought, but it is something that could happen to anybody. Having some ideas about how to respond beforehand could save your life."

--Be careful out there. The Postman always rings twice.

How To Survive a School or Office Shooting on Howcast

Mini-Remote Killer Robot

Yet another tool in the chest of our future Killer Robot Overlords.

Available already to SWAT teams this little remote control can of quiet whoop-ass is ready to open.

Say hello to my little friend. 

I want one.

--Hunting options alone amaze me! More than just paintball!

Why do they need robots that look like us?

--We spotted the 600 series easy...

State Guns

Soon to join the sego lily, Rocky Mountain elk and sugar beet as official symbols of the state of Utah, they have moved to name the Classic Colt M1911 as its state firearm. Not far behind them and Arizona proposes the historic Colt revolver the official state firearm.

I have been trying to think what Virginia should propose. What should all the rest of the states should pick?

I think Illinois should have the Thompson sub-machine gun. Alabama should have a double barrel shotgun. Florida should have a stainless S&W 9mm (from Miami Vice)...

--It all has the added benefit of pissing off anti-gunnies.

Quote of the Day

"The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. 'Make it evil,' he'd been told. 'Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with."

-- Douglas Adams (courtesy of Mad Saint Jack)

News Stands

This week I actually went to an honest to God News Stand.

You remember those places that have lots of magazines, the paper kind, not the bullet holding kind.

I was actually amazed in the variety and quantity of big glossy magazines about guns. More now than I had ever seen in the past.

Mags about hunting, new guns, specific guns, dedicated 1911, AR-!5 and AK-47 magazines.

Classic titles and new.

Take some time soon and find a really good magazine stand and check out the Guns section.

--And then check out the female body builder section!! WooHoo!

Docs and Guns

Totally Unrelated Pic

I was at my dermatologist office filling out forms. I had a rash! Sheesh, let me finish my story!

Anyway, I was filling out forms. There were lots of questions like; what meds are you taking, past medical history, do you smoke, do you drink, etc. The questions started to get much more personal. Do you have AIDS, Herpes, and a list of other things I had never heard of. And then it was, do you wear seat belts? and finally:

Do you have guns in your home?

WTF? I asked for another form and did not fill in anything. Let them ask. I would tell them it was none of their damn business to their face.

--Good thing he didn't ask if I had a gun on me. He may not have like the answer.

No hope for gun grabbers

State legislatures push forward on right to keep and bear arms

By THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The Washington Times - 6:50 p.m., Tuesday, March 1, 2011

 "The left has permanently lost the argument on gun control. Despite their best efforts to take advantage of the tragic shooting in Arizona to promote pointless restrictions on things like the size of handgun magazines, the propaganda campaign is unlikely to go anywhere. Instead, the right to keep and bear arms continues to gain steam as state lawmakers around the country are enacting measures that would have been unthinkable not so long ago."

"On Monday, Wyoming lawmakers sent Gov. Matt Mead a “castle doctrine” bill that recognizes the right of residents to use a gun to protect themselves from home invasion or carjacking without fear of civil or criminal prosecution. A spokesman for Mr. Mead said the governor would review the proposal today, along with a second bill granting residents the ability to carry concealed weapons without a permit. The lawmakers also proposed a constitutional amendment recognizing the perpetual right to hunt, fish and trap."

--Click Here to read the whole thing.

Cars MUST be Banned!!

Click the photo below. WARNING: Kinda disturbing.

"On Friday night an angry motorist mowed down a group of about 150 people on bicycles riding for Critical Mass in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The motorist accelerated his vehicle directly through the group of riders"

--Did anyone blame the car?

Lights Out

I just finished reading the book Lights Out by David Crawford.

"Downloaded from the internet over three million times, this exciting, action-packed, survival story is finally available in book form. Lights Out chronicles the challenges of Mark “Karate Man” Turner when the lights go out over most of the free world. He must find in himself the ability to unite his family, friends, and neighbors if any of them are to survive the harsh reality that everyday life becomes when the veneer of civilization is stripped away."

The story is about everyday survival after a major EMP attack that sends the country into the dark. I mention it here because it is chock full of detailed gun content. In fact it has characters discussing the relative utility and practical use of all kind of firearms from small .22 revolvers, to 1911's, Glocks, AK47s, ARs, BMG .50's and a lot more. 

It's a good story as well. I read the first 10 chapters online. I was hooked and had to buy one!

--Buy a copy. Good stuff!

Ammo Storage Idea Update

5000 rounds of fun in handy bottles

A while back I had this idea to store some of my ammo in plastic bottles to keep it dry and handy and convenient to store in quantity. It also makes it VERY easy to inventory.

I started out using Diet Coke bottles. I have since moved to Diet Snapple.

Why? I'll tell you, sheesh... so impatient.

The wide mouth is the key. Snapple 20oz bottles hold 550 rounds of .22lr each. The plastic is sturdier too. I also tried them with other ammo types I buy in bulk.  Loose bullets in a box style. First I tried .223 in hopes I could create a medium capacity grab and go size. It' works pretty good with wide mouth bottles but not good at all with regular mouth bottles. They jam up to easily when being poured out. Even .22lr does it to some extent.

All hand gun calibers work well too. I buy 9mm, .40, and .45 by the ammo can size. These bottles give you a good option between a full ammo can and a single box no matter what cal you are shooting. I also have some Alice-Pack pouches that two of these bottles fit in perfectly and it will stay dry in the rain or if you take it swimming!!

--Gotta go buy more Snapple!!