House Keeping

This morning I cleaned up the blog page and I was struck by how many blogs I had to delete from my blog list on the right.

More than half of the gun bloggers have quit. Facebook killed most blogs I think. Some of the die hards are still on my daily coffee schedule. Other people take different roads.

Even I don't post as much as I used to. It's not that I don't spend time at the keyboard. I am writing Scifi now in addition to blogging.

I might retire this blog one day, but as long as I still enjoy doing it I will keep it up.

--I may blog even more after I retire. Happy Friday!

Monday Dry Well

The only gun related content I have today is that I was visited this weekend by cool gun blogger, New Jovian Thunderbolt.

The odd thing is we did not talk about guns at all.

--Off to work.

Bloggers: New Jovian Thunderbolt

One of the gun blogs I read every day is is from my friend TBolt. He is funny, self deprecating, insightful and interesting. He covers everything from politics to Zombies. And manages to remain sane even though he lives in the Peoples Republic of Maryland.

--Check it out. Unless it's Monday. He is not awake on Monday...

Blogshoot Saturday

I attended a Blogshoot this weekend that was hosted by the Blogger over at Lagniappe's Lair!

I will be talking about the various kinds of fun I had at this shoot all week long.

The first bit of Big Fun was that I had the privilege to shoot Larry's awesome Barrett .50cal.

Those bullets are BIG.

I was surprised that the recoil was not as bad as I thought it would be. It was more like a shove than a hit.

It was excellent.  If you ever get a chance to shoot one of these beauties, do it.

--It's now on my "If I win the Lotto List"!!

Suppressor Race is ON!!

My friend Murphy over at Lagniappe's Lair and I are having a friendly race.

We are both rushing as fast as we can to slog through the molasses of ATF Form 4 paperwork.

I bought mine at a local gun shop, he got his in a private sale for a much better price. I will need to start looking at the private market a little closer.

This actually makes two cans I am waiting for. One that is 9mm and one that if .308.

--I should start a set of paperwork to begin to register another SBR AR15 lower.

Blogging

I am drinking my morning coffee, watching the news, and sitting down to do my daily blog post, when I hear a story on the TV about a Blogger.

The Redskins hired a Blogger to do outreach for the Team name issue.

He resigned today because of death threats.

Nice.

I have had a few subtle threats buts I think they are trolls that understand that I am a GUN blogger.

For what it's worth I am fine with the Redskins name. When will the PC Police come after the Bullets!?

--Not my circus. Not my monkeys.

Gun Show!

I am off to the Manassas Gun Show today! Bulk .223 is all I have on my list!

After that it's the First Annual Nova Blogger Dinner with JayG!

Be at The Cajun Experience at 6:30 PM (or drop in after). Ask for the party for "Jay."

--See you there!

Schools are closed again

Less than an inch of snow this morning and all the schools are closed in the city and county.

I wish I could stay home and clean guns.

I really need to drag te guns out of the safe that I never shoot and give them a good clean and lube. There are some in there that I have actually never shot. Or shot maybe once.

The First Annual NoVA Winter Blogdinner is this coming Saturday. JayG is organizing this year.

What: First Annual NoVA Winter Blogdinner
When: Saturday, February 1st. Start time: 6:30
Where: The Cajun Experience. I've reserved a room for ~ 30, ask for "Jay"

--Let's hope it stops snowing, dammit!!

Blunderbuss

MikeW and the Blunderbuss

I unfortunately had to miss the the Flintlock 3-Gun Blogshoot this weekend.

It's really too bad because I have always wanted a Flintlock Blunderbuss.

I have the perfect mantle for a Blunderbuss.

Here is a pic of my friend MikeW about to fire the Blunderbuss.

--I hope this becomes a regular event!

Northeast Blogshoot

Here is a great video recap of the Northeast Blogshoot.



--I really need to attend this one year! Big fun!

Blogmeet tonight

697 Spring Street, Herndon, VA.

Tonight Borepatch will be in town and wanted to go out to dinner.

Where: Jimmy's Old Town Tavern  
             697 Spring Street, Herndon, VA.
When:  April 15, 2013 - 6:30pm
Why: Because we can
Who: You and people like you

Just a quick reminder about Concealed Carry in VA. You can carry in bars in VA but only if you are not drinking. Unless you are a cop, then you are allowed to carry and drink all you like!

Here is the text of the law: 

• §18.2-308 (J.3.): No person who carries a concealed handgun onto the premises of any restaurant or club as defined in § 4.1-100 for which a license to sell and serve alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption has been granted by the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board under Title 4.1 of the Code of Virginia; may consume an alcoholic beverage while on the premises. A person who carries a concealed handgun onto the premises of such a restaurant or club and consumes alcoholic beverages is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. However, nothing in this subsection shall apply to a federal, state, or local law-enforcement officer.

--See you there!

Blogmeet!

Who wants to meet for dinner Monday, 15 April near Herndon Virginia?

Borepatch has a trip to Herndon, and flies in Monday afternoon.  Anyone else in the area up to meet us for dinner?

Head of Steam

Standard Cool Gun Pic
THOR TR-15 Talon PDW AR-15

Sean over at An NC Gun Blog has been maintaining a list that is growing daily.

I'll let him tell you about it in his own words:

"I’ll be using this page to keep track of the companies that join the boycott of anti-gun states such as New York, along with links to the press releases. Remember, it’s called the New York Boycott, but it applies to all states that have anti-gun laws. The minimum standard to be included is a pledge not to sell anything to a State or local government agency that can’t be sold to a resident of that state or locality."

"Don’t see your favorite company here? Email them, call them, hit their Facebook pages. Don’t let up. I could call each one personally, but it wouldn’t have the impact of your thousands of calls. Take ownership of this. The Second Amendment belongs to all of us. One rock falling down a hill is unpleasant if it hits you. Ten thousand rocks falling downhill will wipe out anything they hit."

Last time I looked there was ten or eleven on the list. Now there is over a hundred!

I have been sending polite, professional notes and even though in many cases I do not hear back directly, they soon magically appear on the list.

I also make sure when I make purchases I thank them for their support.

--Enough rain drops and you have an ocean.

Ammo Review

Anthony over at LuckyGunner.com sent over a couple boxes of ammo for me to test and review.

The first box is PMC Bronze .357 Magnum, 158 grain JSP.

The second box is PMC Gold Starfire .357 Magnum, 150 grain SFHP.

I used my Ruger SP101.

Both boxes shot flawlessly.

The photo of the target below was taken after the first 12 shots at 20 yards. All 70 shots ended up inside the 8 ring.

I was pleased with the results at 20 yards!

My friend NancyR gave it a try and found the recoil very manageable. If she had been shooting Zombies every shot would have been right in the sinuses.

I really like the PMC Ammo. The price is modest (when you can find it!) It has good quality and reliability. The Hollow Points make good defensive rounds.

--I recommend the PMC Ammo. Good stuff.

NancyR and the .357

Gunshow Blogmeet Recap!

The Nations Gunshow was fun as always. Prices were not that great but the selection and diversity of the firearms in one room was great. My major purchases were a new upper for an SBR I have planned and another EOTech 512. I love the other one I have.

This one takes standard AA batteries and only weighs a few ounces more than the next model.

I also got a few small items like a cleaning kit and taste meat products.

We went out to dinner after the show shut down at 5pm. Bob O's was forgettable but the conversation was great. TBolt, Broken Andy, MikeW, Laura and Chris, Stretch and Mrs. Stretch kept the stories coming!

After dinner we rolled back to my house and drank a bit of Bourbon, beer, wine and water! No one went thirsty. Lots of good laughs with good people.

Suddenly it was 1am.

Coffee drinking commenced at 7am. Eggs and BACON soon followed. Thanks for a great time guys!

--Then Winston, the cable guy, came early! Go figure...

Wounded Warrior Blogshoot

Glock 21 .45ACP with Gemtech Suppressor

It was a beautiful day for the range, made better by supporting a good cause.

Murphy over at Lagniappes Lair (the organizer) should be proud of another excellent event!, Tempestuous Sea, THOTPolice (and Missus), Another Day Another, Old NFO, Proud Hillbilly, Shekel, MSgtB (and Missus), and a many commentators, like Bubblehead Les, and Stretch, and The Axe, and Morlock, and AZMrMacs. And many more.

I stole the list from TBolt who was also there!

The 340 Defense Range where it was held was really nice and shady  It was just the right size and configuration for the event. It had lanes from 7 yards to 400 yards. Love it.

Lots of great guns there including a couple Uzi's in full auto!

--Fun was had by all!

Larry Correia

Stretch and Larry

On Sunday morning I went to NOVA Armaments to see Larry Correia who was stopping in there for a bit.

It was nice. There was a small very happy crowd. Larry was having a good day. I introduced myself and mentioned that I knew JayG and NancyR. He went on and on about how cute Susan was. He continues to monitor the increasing imbalance of like counts on Facebook.

I met some other bloggers and commenters there too.

Stretch, who I met at the Wounded Warrior Blogshoot last year was there and he had his custom-engraved Smith & Wesson model 625 with the MHI logo and the custom Dragonworks holster that Dennis made with the MHI logo.

Stretch wanted a photo of Larry holding it.

When Larry was handed the firearm, without missing a beat in his conversation, maintaining excellent muzzle and trigger discipline, he opened and checked to see if it was loaded. No big deal. I totally respect that.

I even got a good picture of Larry, Stretch and the gun. I could not find Stretchs email address to get permission to post it. (Update: Stretch emailed me!)

--If you get a chance to see Larry on his book tour, do it. Great books. Great guy.

Reminder: Wounded Warrior Blogshoot

Saturday, Sept. 22nd.

Charles Town, WV area (Rippon, WV). Lots of good people coming out to have fun and donate to a great cause.

For more info and the NEW range location,  e-mail: martinihenrywv@gmail.com

--Had a great time last year. Good Shooting. Great people.

Larry Correia Is on a Book Tour!

Larry Correia is on the book tour and will be sweeping into the MD/DC area this week. His new book Monster Hunter Legion is out!

Check out Monster Hunter Nation for full details.

Here is a quick schedule!

• September 13, stock signings at B&N in Towson, B&N in Baltimore, B&N in Pikesville. Signing at the B&N in Ellicott City MD, 7pm
• September 14, signing at B&N in Bethesda, MD 7pm
• September 15, Signing at Ft. Belvoir. 12-2pm.
• September 16, Fort Meade exchange 1-3pm.

-- His books are great. Damn nice guy too!

Bloggers not Blogging but Socializing

There is some blogger get togethers coming up fast!

September 22nd:

From Lagniappe's Lair: Following on last year's shoot and all-around fun day, there will be another blogshoot here in the VA/WV/MD area to raise money for Wounded Warriors.

For more info and range location, or contact info, e-mail  martinihenrywv@gmail.com.

I'll be there!

September 29th:

On Saturday September 29th there will be another edition of the Nations Gun Show.

Dulles Expo Center
4320 Chantilly Shopping Center
Chantilly, VA 20153

It's 22 Miles from Washington, DC - Directions:  I-66, Exit 53B, go 3 miles Rt. 28 N, turn right onto Willard Rd., take 2nd left into the Chantilly Shopping Center,  Follow signs to Expo Center.

I love this Gun Show. It is huge. I have purchased several firearms there at good prices. They usually have everything. New items, Class III, optics, old and new firearms, gadgets, gear, knives, books, accessories, ammo (esoteric and bulk), pretty much everything.

Anyway, I go to this gun show often. I have gone with TBolt several times. I have heard that many other bloggers attended the same show at the same time as me.

So the idea behind this Blogmeet is go to the gun show on the same day and the all get together for dinner and drinks and hanging out for a bit. Maybe a restaurant, maybe my house to grill burgers with bacon and pepper jack cheese, hanging at my bar or at the fire pit, having a cold beer or two.

--We're doin it! Mark you calendars now. Guest rooms filling up fast!