Armalite AR-10B Elevation Scale Window

Arrow indicates the location of the Elevation Scale Window

I had a good question yesterday from one of my readers:

"What in the world is an 'elevation scale window'?"

Elevation Control Wheel

The term is out of the standard marketing materials for the Armalite AR-10B.

"Built as a tribute to early ArmaLite configurations, the ArmaLite AR10B rifle is truly a classic. With the unique charging handle in the carry handle and brown Sudanese-style furniture, the ArmaLite AR10B rifle has all the classic features of original ArmaLite AR10s with modern upgrades and feel. Sporting an elevation scale window, the ArmaLite AR10B rifle also features..."

I took some photos because in this case they are, in fact, worth a thousand words. The "elevation scale window" is located as indicated by the arrow in the first photo. A control wheel with numbers is located where you can easily reset your iron peep sights for elevation as seen in this pic on the right. UP and DN are clearly marked in the second photo.

The Actual Elevation Scale Window

You can see the actual "elevation scale window" in this picture. The current setting is on "2" but to be honest, I have never adjusted it because with the small aperture peep sight, with these settings, I can hit a 10 inch target at 100 yards every time from the bench. It has two peep sights that can easily flip back and forth. This one and a larger one. The side dial can be used for windage.

In general I love the well thought out and durable features of the AR-10B.

The charging "trigger" and the fact that everything to totally proprietary and cost double still bugs me.

--I'm not bitching! I picked up this beauty for only $500!

Speaking of Camping

Some of the best times of my life have happened around a campfire,

Speaking of camping, yesterdays post made me remember a gun/camping related story.

Back when I was single I would go camping often when the weather was good. Well, when the weather was bad too, actually.

I had a deal with a friends parents who had a cabin in the mountains. They would let me camp there when ever I wanted if I would do maintenance and mow the grass when I went. They had a cinder block cabin that was never really finished. It didn't have electricity but it had a fireplace and a flush toilet. I never slept in the cabin unless the weather was really bad because there were sooo many mice in residence I could not sleep because of their all night parties.

It also had a 24x24 foot deck. I loved it. I put my 10x10 dome tent up on it. High, dry, no mice and as long as it wasn't torrential rain it was great. It was in the middle of 60 acres, next to the National forest. The nearest neighbor was about a mile away. Great hunting and shooting spots everywhere.

Anyway, I was camping there one weekend with some buddies. Some of the maintenance we were doing involved spray paint. We always did the work first thing on Friday right after arriving and then relaxed. Usually only an hour or two of work. Then it was time for the steaks, Spam, beers, camp fires, cigars, lies and relaxation.

Saturday was usually an all day shoot. Pistols, rifles, and shotguns. Thousands of rounds. Mostly .22LR were sent down range. We used paper targets, cans, jugs of water, pumpkins, cinder blocks, clay pidgins and even spent shotgun shells and 9mm brass as targets.

Sundays were big bacon and eggs breakfasts followed by packing up. On this specific "pack up" my brother was policing up trash and he picked up a spent spray paint can we had used for the Fridays maintenance that had, to our amazement, escaped destruction.

With barely a thought, he looked at me, raised an eyebrow, and said, "bet you can't hit this in one shot with the Mossberg from the hip." I was ready to try in 5 seconds. Little did I know at the time, that a spay can that was out of propellant didn't mean all the paint was gone...

He tossed the can, my aim was true.

The can turned into a cloud of silver paint that slowly drifted back toward us as we ran. My truck, however, was unable to flee...

--My Mossberg 500 still has a little silver paint on the pistol grip. Makes me smile every time I see it.

Camping, Guns and Chasing Cans

I love camping.

Squirrels Bane Loves Camping

For me, guns and camping have always gone together. Even if I don't go shooting while I am camping, I usually take some firearms. When I was a kid we camped a lot with the family. My dad always carried. It was very formative for me.

For simple personal security I usually have my Glock 21. I also have a 16 inch Mossberg 500 that fits neatly in my backpack as well as an Armalite AR-7.

Other than that I have found that suppressed guns are great for camping trips. Especially my .22LR handgun and rifle. This pic is my Ruger 10/22 with integral suppressor. I just got a new scope for it. It's a 3x to 9x zoom. Perfect for this rifle.

It's fun to chase cans. You can carry a huge pile of ammo easily and you don't have to even schlep hearing protection!

--And don't forget a good sling!

Quotes of the Week

"The amount the U.S. military spends annually on air conditioning in Iraq and Afghanistan: $20.2 billion. That's more than NASA's budget. It's more than BP has paid so far for damage during the Gulf oil spill. It's what the G-8 has pledged to help foster new democracies in Egypt and Tunisia." 

--Slashdot, Posted by CmdrTaco

WANT: Cabin in the Woods

I have been talking to the wife about getting weekend place in the mountains. It would be great for hunting and shooting.

Here is the most recent contender:

$60,000 with 18.75 acres.

--I have to start playing the lotto.

"Our Son"? WTF?

I saw this today here and provide it without comment...

Gaddafi's letter to Obama in full

Here is the complete text of Gaddafi's letter to Barack Obama. His spelling and grammatical errors have been reproduced as originally written.

Our son, Excellency,
President Obama
U.S.A

We have been hurt more morally that physically because of what had happened against us in both deeds and words by you. Despite all this you will always remain our son whatever happened. We still pray that you continue to be president of the U.S.A. We Endeavour and hope that you will gain victory in the new election campaigne. You are a man who has enough courage to annul a wrong and mistaken action. I am sure that you are able to shoulder the responsibility for that.

Enough evidence is available, Bearing in mind that you are the president of the strongest power in the world nowadays, and since Nato is waging an unjust war against a small people of a developing country. This country had already been subjected to embargo and sanctions, furthermore it also suffered a direct military armed aggression during Reagan's time. This country is Libya.

Hence, to serving world peace ... Friendship between our peoples ... and for the sake of economic, and security cooperation against terror, you are in a position to keep Nato off the Libyan affair for good. As you know too well democracy and building of civil society cannot be achieved by means of missiles and aircraft, or by backing armed member of AlQuaeda in Benghazi.

You, yourself, said on many occasions, one of them in the UN General Assembly, I was witness to that personally, that America is not responsible for the security of other peoples. That America helps only. This is the right logic.

Our dear son, Excellency, Baraka Hussein Abu oumama, your intervention is the name of the U.S.A. is a must, so that Nato would withdraw finally from the Libyan affair. Libya should be left to Libyans within the African union frame.

The problem now stands as follows:-

1. There is Nato intervention politically as well as military.

2. Terror conducted by AlQaueda gangs that have been armed in some cities, and by force refused to allow people to go back to their normal life, and carry on with exercising their social people's power as usual.

Mu'aumer Qaddaffi
Leader of the Revolution
Tripoli 5.4.2011

--I believe if radical Islam is not brought into the light of the 21st centuary, piss ant wars like this will never end.

The Magazine

The Magazine

The wife and I are planning a romantic weekend in colonial Williamsburg sometime this spring.

The place really drips in history and is one of the few tourist attractions that have not gone all the way to plastic, made in China, cheesy tourism.

They have a ton of gun history there. Huge collections of firearms on display. They have a real working gunsmith shop that makes revolutionary war era guns from scratch with classic methods.

The picture on the right is of The Magazine. This very historic building is where weapons and ammo were stored. It became of critical importance in the revolution. Go visit and/or Google up the story.

• Built in 1715 by Governor Spotswood
• Stored equipment necessary for protection against Indians, slave revolts, riots, and pirate raids
• Dunmore ordered emptying of arsenal and disabling of the muskets
• Spark of revolution ignited here
• Events at Magazine in 1775 mirrored events of revolution in Massachusetts
• Magazine used for multiple purposes after government moved to Richmond
• Association for Preservation of Virginia Antiquities formed as a result of effort to restore Magazine

It's interesting to imagine the factors that led up to the writing of the second amendment. This building helped shape the rights we enjoy.

--It's a must stop for and gunny that enjoys history. (or romantic weekends with beautiful wives...)

Safes

I have been very pleased in recent years that the selection and availability of gun safe options. Large vault doors and safes to small safes that can easily hidden between the studs of your walls. Hidden safes under your bed or in furniture.

I saw a nice bedside table option:



This one is from StealthVault.com. With biometric technology getting better and better it makes it easier for you and tougher on burglars to find and open them. I understand that no solution is perfect. But they can keep your kids safe.

--Creative, secure but bring your wallet!!

2011 NRA Annual Meeting Preps

Exhibit Hall

I am heading to the NRA Annual meeting for the first time this year. I'm trying to figure out what I should and shouldn't bring, scheduling my time, finding out who else is going! Tell me damn you!

I am bringing a Wingman. The Mighty New Jovian Thunderbolt. Or is he bringing me? Riding shotgun, perhaps literally. I had to promise that there would be many steaks there, beautiful women displaying guns, and good beer and much bacon. I hope Pittsburgh is a civilized city. Silent "h"s makes me worry.

In addition to simply attending, thanks to the Most Dangerous Librarian in the World, I will be part of the screaming, rabid hoard of media!!

I will have my digital camera and a notebook that should be able to collect months worth of Blog Fodder! I hope to meet a pile of fellow Bloggers and future friends! I expect to be using lots of exclamation points in the weeks that follow!!

--I believe I may even take a jacket and tie in addition to my favorite tactical pants and IWB holsters!

Everyone needs one of these

Mossberg 500

This Mossberg 500 was one of the first firearms I purchased back before the Internet.

I have two barrels and three stocks for it because way back then I used the same shotgun for everything. I used it for hunting, for skeet shooting, for home defense, and for backpack camping. I even have a backpack sheath for it that uses standard molly straps.

The original stock, the pistol grip seen in the photo and a folding stock make combined with two different length barrels give me tons of options.

The flashlight makes it a great home defense tool. I can simply squeeze the grip and the light comes on. Buckshot lands nicely in the center of the flashlight beam. Everyone should have one of these close at hand.

--The funny thing is I paid more for the Surefire Tactical Flashlight than I originally paid for the shotgun.

Books: Boneshaker

I just finished reading the Steampunk novel: Boneshaker

It was a fun quick read. It was the first modern Steampunk novel that I have ever read. I actually stole it from my son before he could read it.

It has powerful woman, zombies, blimps, goggles, guns and gadgets. It was written like it was intended to be made into a movie. I would actually go see it!

This book targets the young adult market that has been a huge demographic lately. I believe it could have been better if it had addressed some more adult themes that it flirts with. Things like drug addiction, sex, drinking, vengeance and adrenalin junkies. The main character being a hot chick in leather with guns and goggles has such potential. Especially because she isn't afraid to get dirty...

--Thumbs up. It was fun.

Scientists on the Killer Robot Uprising

"A ROBOT that makes a morning cuppa, a fridge that orders the weekly shop, a car that parks itself.  Advances in artificial intelligence promise many benefits, but scientists are privately so worried they may be creating machines which end up outsmarting — and perhaps even endangering — humans that they held a secret meeting to discuss limiting their research.

At the conference, held behind closed doors in Monterey Bay, California, leading researchers warned that mankind might lose control over computer-based systems that carry out a growing share of society’s workload, from waging war to chatting on the phone, and have already reached a level of indestructibility comparable with a cockroach.

“These are powerful technologies that could be used in good ways or scary ways,” warned Eric Horvitz, principal researcher at Microsoft who organised the conference on behalf of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence."

Click Here to read the whole article.

I also recently was sent a link to the video below: 



--I am starting to think I will need a big .50cal soon...

Revisiting the Ruger LC9

As I was getting dressed this morning and putting on my compact XD-9 I started thinking about all the 9mm's I have, their features and when and why I carry them.

I like them for concealed carry. Pure and simple.

The round is big enough if the frame is small enough for the combo of small size, big enough kick.

The Ruger LC9 is an example of the new batch of concealed carry firearms hitting the market. The LC9 is a thin, single stack 9mm pistol.  The LC9 is a double-action only, hammer-fired pistol that is slightly larger than its very popular .380 ACP cousin, the LCP or the Kel-Tec P3-AT.

I like the sights on the LC9 better than most pistols of this size, using a three-dot system.  It's really small and designed for CC with a barrel length is a touch over 3”, width of less than one inch and the unloaded weight is about 17 ounces. It also includes a manual safety, magazine safety and loaded chamber indicator which provides visual and feel check that chamber is loaded without slide racking.

The initial problem issues it had seem to have been resolved.

--I have seen it at the Nations Gun Show for less than $400!

Lancelot Link

Lincoln to TBolt...

--Let it Ride.

Guns and Bacon

I don't know why Bacon goes so well with shooting. It's probably because Bacon goes well with everything.

If you like your Bug Out Bag to be properly provisioned, you need to get some Tactical Bacon!

Make some room next to your extra ammo, in that backpack, for a can of smokey goodness.

It even has a shelf life of 10 years!!

--It's worth $15 a can!