2011 NRA Annual Meeting

The Show Floor.
I'm currently at the 2011 NRA Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, PA.

This trip has been really great so far. The convention floor is huge. People are really nice. I have seen a ton of new things, got to handle things I have been interested in in a long while and met a lot of new friends (and old).

This trip have me posting for weeks!

Best part was I got to hug Breda's MOM!

--More later!

Irony

Friends that know me are constantly sending me pics of things I love.

This pic involves several of my favorite things: Zombies, Guns, Beautiful Woman, Music, Lingerie, Horror Movies, Sexy Shoes, UPC Lables and Irony.

The ironic part is that there are no "Revolvers".


--Remember: Don't be a chauvinist, chicks hate that...

Spring Break

It was Spring Break and time for my annual tourist wander around DC.

Today we went to the Iwo Jima memorial. I love this monument and surrounding park. In all the pictures you see of this monument you really don't get the scale of this thing. It's huge!

I love the detail in this sculpture. Even the firearms depicted are to scale and have excellent detail.


The M1 Carbines are beautifully rendered and are even part of the reason the action and movement is so well captured. Slung perfectly on the soldiers backs as they raise the flag.

 
The other side has a beautifully done M1 Garand. Even the K-Bar is perfect. If you are visiting DC make sure you get across the river to see the Iwo Jima Memorial. You'll be glad.


--And make sure, the next time you see a soldier in uniform, thank them for their service.

Rugers SR1911

Finally a 1911 that is configured exactly the way I want it, right out of the box, without any need for upgrades or mods after the fact:


--$799 retail and street price will be even lower! Can't wait to handle one.

Saiga Update

Tom was a natural at skeet shooting
You may remember that I was having some trouble with my new Saiga 12 gauge shotgun. It was a total Jam-Fest the last time. I figured I would do a full disassemble, clean and run a couple hundred more rounds through it before I took it to a gunsmith.

I took her out again this week. Tom is one of my oldest friends. We met in college back in the late 70's. He was visiting over spring break this year and one day I took him to the range for a couple hours of recoil and fun.

We took the Saiga and did some skeet shooting!

It performed way better this trip. I only jammed four times and always on the last shell from the magazine. Way better operation. We were hammering clay pidgins with that bad boy.

Tom was loving the attention that gun gets on the range. Manly attention!

He lives in MA. This gun is not allowed there.


--I will make a Republican out of him yet!


Just noticed this today

I got the most recent edition of American Rifleman today.

I love the mag. The print edition specifically. I read it cover to cover. I have read the digital edition on my iPad but I gotta say I still prefer the print edition. Excellent bathroom reading!

I plowed through it as usual in short order. I am always looking for good blog inspiration. As I laid it down I realized that it had several things in there that I had already blogged about:

--Maybe they are reading us to get their ideas!

Quotes of the Day

Steve McQueen in LIFE Magazine
"The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me."

--Ayn Rand

 "Laws that forbid the carrying of arms... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."

--Thomas Jefferson 


"Armed people are free. No state can control those who have the machinery and the will to resist, no mob can take their liberty and property. And no 220-pound thug can threaten the well-being or dignity of a 110-pound woman who has two pounds of iron to even things out … People who object to weapons aren't abolishing violence, they're begging for rule by brute force, when the biggest, strongest animals among men were always automatically right. Guns ended that, and a social democracy is a hollow farce without an armed populace to make it work."

-– L. Neil Smith 


"For an angry man can later become happy, a resentful man become pleased, but a kingdom once destroyed can never be restored nor the dead be brought back to life."

--Sun Tzu

DC Blog Meet or is it Meat?

As previously mentioned we had a Gun Blogger get together last night!

JayG, T-Bolt, Newbius and wife, Nancy R and her shorter half (plus the knife makin guy), Bus Err, CRJRhines, Turk Turon, Alan Gura, Chris, Stretch, The Axe, and more who names are evading me at the moment. Some days there is not enough coffee...

We had great fun. Lots of laughs, conversation, meat, beers, bacon and excellent coffee. Most of the people there will be at the NRA Annual meeting next weekend!

--Mostly we just talked about Breda...

I met Alan Gura!

Last night I attended a Blogger get together in Bethesda MD. JayG from MArooned was in DC from the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts and he just turned 40. What more excuse do we need to get together for beers! More on the Blog Meet later.

Anyway, I was surprised to meet Alan Gura.

From Wikipedia:

"Alan Gura is an American litigator practicing in the areas of civil litigation, intellectual property, and civil rights law at Gura & Possessky, P.L.L.C. 
Alan Gura

On March 18, 2008, he represented Dick Heller in the United States Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller. 

Mr. Gura successfully argued that portions of D.C.'s Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 violate the individual right to keep and bear arms protected by the Second Amendment. Gura was lead counsel in McDonald v. Chicago, an United States Supreme Court decision released June 28, 2010 that incorporated the Second Amendment against state and local governments."

I really enjoyed talking to Alan. I have a lot of respect for this guy. Defending our Constitutional Rights isn't easy and is not the best way to make cash as a lawyer these days, and yet he steps up. Freedom isn't Free. Take some time and join The Second Amendment Foundation.

--Kind of ironic to have a Gun Blogger meet, with Alan Gura, in a place where we were not allowed to carry...

I forgot to

Lock my box.

--Guest blogger TBold, while I was taking a leak...

Remington Vantage 1200

My brother has squirrels in his attic. He's not nuts, but will be soon if he doesn't get them out soon.That or his wife will murder him in his sleep because they have driven her crazy.

Ever since their dog has gotten too old to chase the deer and squirrels away the damn things have taken over. Then one day he heard the words all husbands long to hear, "Don't you dare come home without a gun."


His plan started with a gallon of ammonia and a piece of one inch cotton rope to use as a wick. He put it in the attic to drive the squirrels out with the vapors. The he got a gun...

Here is what he got:

 Remington Vantage 1200 in .177  
I have not tried it yet, but I already want one. I have a target pellet pistol. Fun stuff.  You can buy 1000 rounds of .177 for $12!

Buy Vantage 1200 on Amazon even!!

--Funny thing is he says it has more recoil than my silenced .22LR.

LASER Cannon!

Navy tests laser gun by blasting empty boat

Navy LASER Cannon
LOS ANGELES-The U.S. Navy has fired a laser ray gun mounted on a warship, zapping - and setting fire to - an empty motorboat as it bobbed in the Pacific Ocean.

The test demonstration, off Southern California near San Nicolas Island, could be the beginning of a new era in Navy weaponry, officials said.

"This is very important to the Navy's future weapon systems," said Rear Adm. Nevin Carr, chief of the Office of Naval Research. "By turning energy into a weapon, we become more efficient."

The laser system, built by Northrop Grumman Corp., could someday be used against cruise missiles, enemy drones or even ballistic missiles, Carr said.

"In the distant future, I can envision a day when this technology is outfitted on cruisers and destroyers," he said.

Click here for the whole story.

--They neglected to mention Pirates. Toasty, toasty, Pirates...

Manassas Battlefield Park

It was beautiful last weekend and the wife and I took a walk in Manassas Battlefield park. It is a great park for fitness hiking so we set out, got our annual passes and took about a five mile hike.

Cannon were everywhere.

Lots of good gun content just sitting around the park. I wonder what it would take to restore these cannon to full working order after the Pending Zombie Apocalypse starts?

Millions visit the Manassas Battlefield every year. All the people traffic have turned the deer fearless. If only they knew... Who I really was... or where those, hundred or so of their, friends and family have really gone...



As we wandered around the park we came upon three deer who looked at us like they had never seen anything less interesting. Little did they know I had my Beretta Px4 Storm .40cal on me. Good thing for them I was not hungry.

Below is one of the many trail signs.


Notice the everso slight modification:


Earlier this year the ban on carrying firearms in the park was lifted. Some poor Ranger was dispatched with a pocket full of Sharpies to modify hundreds of signs. Nice job.

--I love taking America back one dumbass law at a time...

Gun Fight - An HBO "Documentary"?

I watched the "Documentary" Gun Fight on HBO last night.

I am putting the word documentary in quotes it was very imbalanced on the side of gun control.

I see this as a perfect example in the tactical shift of gun control advocates. They realize that they can no longer rely on the facts of crime stats because they prove that more guns in the hands of law abiding citizens lowers crime. They even use the 2nd Amendment victories in the courts as a cause for fear. The unstated "blood in the streets" boogieman.

They are now trying to simply associate negative emotions with guns. Fear, physical pain, and non specific dread.

--I recommend that all gunnies see this. Know the tactics of your adversary.

Better Late Than Never

2011 Tactical Girls & Guns
2011 Tactical Girls and Guns Calendar

I was amazed that in this day and age that anyone would have the balls to bring this calendar to work.  Women can get away with anything though. Yes. That's right. A woman brought it in. She is now way higher on my list.

Oh and not displayed, but to show the co-workers. That would have been awesome. I wish!

I had never seen this series of calendars. They have been published for years evidently. The great part is not only do they have hot fantasy babes they have the full specs of the weapons they carry. You can even get it here on Amazon!

There are two topics that are constantly discussed by the team of nerds I work with. No, not sports and food. Girls and Guns. That is why she brought it in.

--I may need one for my shop!

"good and sufficient reason."

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has issued a legal opinion that it is lawful in Virginia to carry a weapon into a worship service for personal protection.

The statute in question says that "if any person carry any gun, pistol, bowie knife, dagger or other dangerous weapon, without good and sufficient reason, to a place of worship while a meeting for religious purposes is being held at such place he shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor."

According to the attorney general's office, the statute generally prohibits carrying a firearm into "a place of worship while a meeting for religious purposes is being held at such place."

But the statute provided an exception to the prohibition when an individual has a "good and sufficient reason" for carrying the firearm.

Cuccinelli's opinion essentially says that legally carrying a firearm into such a place for self-defense constitutes a "good and sufficient reason."

--Just remember, the law hasn't changed. The courts will decide the first time it comes up.

Sweeping Changes

TUCSON, AZ (KOLD) - Legislation that could force costly changes on public places that want to ban guns is ready for the governor's signature.

The Arizona Senate has approved a sweeping overhaul of Arizona's gun laws, covering everything from allowing loaded guns in cars on school grounds, to requiring metal detectors and armed guards if you want to keep guns out of public events.

Senate Bill 1201 would make it more difficult and expensive to ban guns from public buildings.

And what else you think this bill does, depends on your point of view. 

Either way, from Tucson City Hall to the Pima County Administration Building, it's going to change things if it becomes law.

While there is no state law that bans weapons from many public buildings, the state allows its political subdivisions...from cities and counties, to boards and districts...to ban weapons.

But under SB1201, having gun lockers and signs banning weapons in a government building or facility would no longer be enough.

Under the bill, if a government, such as the City of Tucson would want to ban guns, it would have to post a sign, and have a metal detector and an armed guard and a place to lock up the gun.


--Taking back our rights one inch at a time...

Accidental Discharges via a Worn Leather Holster

Everyone has posted links to this story but I believer it's import enough to repeat.

I love Glocks but only if they have the right holsters. In fact, I have several firearms that do not have a manual safety.

It's Tactical has a great case study regarding an accidental discharge. This story is a non-lethal accident but illustrates a lesson we can all learn.

"Editor-in-chief’s note: We’d like to thank the anonymous individual who came forward with this important information and allowed us to get it out to everyone here at ITS Tactical." 

--Go over and read it. It's worth it.

Blogmeet!

JayG
One week from today Bloggers will be gathering ironically in the peoples republic of Maryland! Probably 20 gunners and not a single gun.

JayG is heading to Washington DC for a family vacation and we are getting together for dinner one night!

If you are interested in attending let JayG or Newbius know.

--See you there!

Guns and Geeks are an Excellent Combo

500x magnification on a microchip
I read an article in WIRED about microchip art and I never thought there would be gun content!!

Considering the expense, precision and difficulty of manufacturing computer chips, you would think the engineers designing them are pretty serious people.

But it’s not all business inside a chip fab, as these microscope photos reveal. In fact, the designers of microchips frequently hide tiny cartoons, drawings and even messages alongside the super-tiny circuits and semiconductors they create.

Chipworks, a company that analyzes microchips by peeling them apart and looking at them under microscopes, has discovered many examples of silicon art. We’ve selected a few highlights here from the firm’s extensive galleries of silicon art, but check the Chipworks website for more.

The images in this gallery are magnified 200 to 500 times.

--Guns! They are everywhere! Even in your microchips...

2011 NRA Annual Meeting Preps

I am planning on going to the NRA Annual meeting this year and plan on doing a lot of networking. To save time and effort of constantly scrambling for a pen and something to right on I decided to get some business cards.

A friend at work told me I could make my own fast and easy using Avery Business Card stock paper and my color printer at home. Turns out the software is free if you buy a box of the cards from Avery. They come out beautiful and are way cheaper than using a professional printer. 250 cards for $12.

I am trying to decide on which one to use. These are a small sample of what I have made so far. The leading contenders anyway. I can't decide if I should keep them simple, integrate the website theme or just be creative.

--What do you think? Which one do you like?
By the way, if you are a blogger or contribruter that will be attending the NRA annual meeting, I will make you a business card and send it to you as a print ready MS Word doc for the small price of one decent beer at the convention!

--Seriously. Email me! I'm thirsty...

Quotes of the Day

Not a Slave
”No kingdom can be secured otherwise than by arming the people. The possession of arms is the distinction between a freeman and a slave. He, who has nothing, and who himself belongs to another, must be defended by him, whose property he is, and needs no arms. But he, who thinks he is his own master, and has what he can call his own, ought to have arms to defend himself, and what he possesses; else he lives precariously, and at discretion.”

~James Burgh

”To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.”

~George Mason


”Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! - I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

~Patrick Henry


”An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it.”

~Col. Jeff Cooper

--Slave or Citizen. What will it be?

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.