I'll wait until 27 Nisan for Yom HaShoah, thanks. People like the UN and EU are why it happened in the first place so I'll be damned if I will commemorate the event on the day they've selected.
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Seventy
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Pay It Forward
One of the local pawn shops Willard and I frequent has a 91/30 with a trigger flopping in the wind. With the trigger like that, you couldn't get the bolt out. With the bolt in, you can't really get at the rear trigger assembly screw.
Had, I should say.
I managed to get the rear screw out with a too small screwdriver and some patience, luckily it was not very tight.
Once that was out it was obvious the trigger pin was absent.
We just won't contemplate the effort it took to bull the bolt into the gun without being able to pull the trigger.
It turns out that one of the places that has lots of Mosin parts on the interwebs is local to us here, so a quick road trip down to Clearwater and Mark Kubes yielded the part and another quick trip got us back to the pawn shop where reassembly was simple and easy.
Now to resist the temptation of an M91/30 with a 1922 barrel and a hex receiver. Not how it left the factory, but it's an interesting example.
Had, I should say.
I managed to get the rear screw out with a too small screwdriver and some patience, luckily it was not very tight.
Once that was out it was obvious the trigger pin was absent.
We just won't contemplate the effort it took to bull the bolt into the gun without being able to pull the trigger.
It turns out that one of the places that has lots of Mosin parts on the interwebs is local to us here, so a quick road trip down to Clearwater and Mark Kubes yielded the part and another quick trip got us back to the pawn shop where reassembly was simple and easy.
Now to resist the temptation of an M91/30 with a 1922 barrel and a hex receiver. Not how it left the factory, but it's an interesting example.
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Woah!
Did you know that you can use cable ties to tie cables?
Zip ties are so useful for so many things that for some reason I've never used one to actually contain a cable. Until today.
Mind.
Blown.
Zip ties are so useful for so many things that for some reason I've never used one to actually contain a cable. Until today.
Mind.
Blown.
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Right Thing
Something just clicked with me about the anti-gun side.
Thanks to Weer'd's post of one of their ads.
They don't care about what means leads to their end and that end justifies any means they can manage to bring to bear.
If they were opposed to racially motivated violence they'd be OK with genocide because if there was only one race, there'd be no racially motivated violence anymore.
Thanks to Weer'd's post of one of their ads.
They don't care about what means leads to their end and that end justifies any means they can manage to bring to bear.
If they were opposed to racially motivated violence they'd be OK with genocide because if there was only one race, there'd be no racially motivated violence anymore.
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By The Way
Happy Black History Month!
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Willards Bearing Gifts
Hex receiver Mosin-Nagant M-1891/30.
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The stock is missing some laquer, the bore is counterbored, but it's not bad overall. No rust under the stock from when I had it apart to fix the trigger pin.
How can it be a 1922 gun when the 91/30 didn't happen until 1930 you might ask? Well, the Soviet Union reworked lots and lots of longer M-1891's to the new standard.
The barrel is a 1922 Izhevsk. The receiver is Chatellerault, which means it was made between 1892 and 1896. Technically, this is not a firearm! This is also my oldest Mosin part, the 1899 receiver on the Finn M39 being next oldest.
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Edit to add: numbers matching bayonet!
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The stock is missing some laquer, the bore is counterbored, but it's not bad overall. No rust under the stock from when I had it apart to fix the trigger pin.
How can it be a 1922 gun when the 91/30 didn't happen until 1930 you might ask? Well, the Soviet Union reworked lots and lots of longer M-1891's to the new standard.
The barrel is a 1922 Izhevsk. The receiver is Chatellerault, which means it was made between 1892 and 1896. Technically, this is not a firearm! This is also my oldest Mosin part, the 1899 receiver on the Finn M39 being next oldest.
Edit to add: numbers matching bayonet!
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Low Bar
Dear smart gun manufacturers.
You have to at least be as accurate...
and as reliable as...
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... a Jennings J-22. A pistol famed for being unreliable, and this example fired fifty rounds without a single failure today and gave honest, reliable groupings.
You have to at least be as accurate...
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| Six shots, five yards. |
and as reliable as...
... a Jennings J-22. A pistol famed for being unreliable, and this example fired fifty rounds without a single failure today and gave honest, reliable groupings.
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BTR-152 Drill
Take three head sized targets.
Place them about 4 yards away and about two feet apart.
With one hand holding the table or lane divider, fire at each target in turn (order doesn't matter, but L to R is traditional).
Hits are hits, misses are misses, keep trying until you get three.
Combat tested, Willard approved practical skills test.
When you say, "damn, that's not very hard," well... Sometimes it isn't very hard in the real world.
Place them about 4 yards away and about two feet apart.
With one hand holding the table or lane divider, fire at each target in turn (order doesn't matter, but L to R is traditional).
Hits are hits, misses are misses, keep trying until you get three.
Combat tested, Willard approved practical skills test.
When you say, "damn, that's not very hard," well... Sometimes it isn't very hard in the real world.
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Module Swap Timeline
Say you wanna swap one module for another in one of your cutters in your Broadsword Mercenary Cruiser.
If the module and cutter are on the same side...
Exit the well. Five minutes.
Drop the module on the cutter. Two minutes.
Enter the well. Five minutes.
Grab the module from its bay. Two minutes.
Exit the well, again. Five minutes.
Drop the module you just pulled from storage. Two minutes.
Recover the first module. Five minutes.
Enter the well, again. Five minutes.
Transfer the module to storage. Two minutes.
Exit the well, last time I promise. Five minutes.
Recover the second module. Five minutes.
Put the cutter away. Five minutes.
48 minutes total.
Grabbing the module from opposite side storage means you have to get the other cutter out of the way, but that can happen at the same time as undocking the first cutter and will be done before you get the first module dropped.
It's a chore.
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Troubled Service Rifle
Much has been recently written about the M14 and it's troubles.
The timing of the trouble and the availability of the, recently adopted by the USAF, M16 caused Robert SPIT MacNamara to put his shoulder to replacing the problematic M14 rather than putting the effort into fixing it.
Congress was agitating at the same time and wanted heads to roll over the fiasco.
Heads did indeed roll and when the dust had settled, the M14 was replaced with the M16A1 and The Springfield National Armory was shuttered.
Without that congressional agitation, it's likely we would have seen an M14A2 or some such with some further rationalization towards making it easier to manufacture and/or the problems with QC effectively addressed along with changes made to fix deficiencies discovered in the field.
If Armalite had not successfully courted General LeMay, the gun that replaced the M14 could very likely have been an inch pattern FAL. H&R and High Standard had already shown they could make them (which is funny since H&R had a lot of trouble making M14s), and FN was very effective about getting licensed manufacturers past the initial start-up.
Woulda coulda shoulda...
But Springfield dug its heels in on the M14 and fought every attempt to find the cause of the quality problems, let alone get to fixing them; besides it doesn't matter because SPIW is going to be replacing everything Real-Soon-Now®.
Honestly, nobody should have been surprised that the M14 had some failings. I am not sure we've ever had a service rifle introduction that went smoothly. The vaunted M1 Garand did not enter WW2 as originally type classified. The changes made during the war are nearly legion, to the point that they marked the revision number on the parts.
The M14 was a fairly young weapon when things started going all wrong, it's not certain that all of its problems are inherent in the design. The M16 was barely out of prototype when it started full rate production as the XM16E1 and received wide issue to troops in the field.
It should be noted that the M16A1 known to the retro heads as a "late R603" had been truly sorted out; just in time for the end of our involvement in Vietnam.
Why was the effort expended to fix the M16 where it wasn't with the M14? Because Colt and Armalite were responsive to fixing the problems and in several cases proactive about suggesting fixes. A couple of those fixes were resisted strongly by the Army because of logistics issues, by the way, like the extractor spring.
Had Colt decided to stonewall, we'd likely have Rifle .30 Caliber M17 aka FAL and H&R would probably be a bloated defense contractor...
The timing of the trouble and the availability of the, recently adopted by the USAF, M16 caused Robert SPIT MacNamara to put his shoulder to replacing the problematic M14 rather than putting the effort into fixing it.
Congress was agitating at the same time and wanted heads to roll over the fiasco.
Heads did indeed roll and when the dust had settled, the M14 was replaced with the M16A1 and The Springfield National Armory was shuttered.
Without that congressional agitation, it's likely we would have seen an M14A2 or some such with some further rationalization towards making it easier to manufacture and/or the problems with QC effectively addressed along with changes made to fix deficiencies discovered in the field.
If Armalite had not successfully courted General LeMay, the gun that replaced the M14 could very likely have been an inch pattern FAL. H&R and High Standard had already shown they could make them (which is funny since H&R had a lot of trouble making M14s), and FN was very effective about getting licensed manufacturers past the initial start-up.
Woulda coulda shoulda...
But Springfield dug its heels in on the M14 and fought every attempt to find the cause of the quality problems, let alone get to fixing them; besides it doesn't matter because SPIW is going to be replacing everything Real-Soon-Now®.
Honestly, nobody should have been surprised that the M14 had some failings. I am not sure we've ever had a service rifle introduction that went smoothly. The vaunted M1 Garand did not enter WW2 as originally type classified. The changes made during the war are nearly legion, to the point that they marked the revision number on the parts.
The M14 was a fairly young weapon when things started going all wrong, it's not certain that all of its problems are inherent in the design. The M16 was barely out of prototype when it started full rate production as the XM16E1 and received wide issue to troops in the field.
It should be noted that the M16A1 known to the retro heads as a "late R603" had been truly sorted out; just in time for the end of our involvement in Vietnam.
Why was the effort expended to fix the M16 where it wasn't with the M14? Because Colt and Armalite were responsive to fixing the problems and in several cases proactive about suggesting fixes. A couple of those fixes were resisted strongly by the Army because of logistics issues, by the way, like the extractor spring.
Had Colt decided to stonewall, we'd likely have Rifle .30 Caliber M17 aka FAL and H&R would probably be a bloated defense contractor...
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Old Movie And Its Remake
Sabrina.
Do I go with the original Bogart or the remake's Ford?
Both versions have their charms, I can't really say which is actually better.
I like Bogart's Linus Larrabee better than Ford's; but I like Kinnear's David better than Holden's.
The leading lady in the remake is weaker, but only just, and she's presented in a more plausible arc than Hepburn's.
Prolly end up with them both eventually.
Do I go with the original Bogart or the remake's Ford?
Both versions have their charms, I can't really say which is actually better.
I like Bogart's Linus Larrabee better than Ford's; but I like Kinnear's David better than Holden's.
The leading lady in the remake is weaker, but only just, and she's presented in a more plausible arc than Hepburn's.
Prolly end up with them both eventually.
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I Need To Rethink My Day
It turns out that killing everyone in an ever expanding spiral of destruction is not only immoral, but illegal.
Glad I checked.
Before someone thinks that raping and pillaging are OK... I checked those too. Immoral and illegal.
It does explain the scarcity of Vikings hereabouts.
Glad I checked.
Before someone thinks that raping and pillaging are OK... I checked those too. Immoral and illegal.
It does explain the scarcity of Vikings hereabouts.
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But I Don't Think That's What You Meant
Found a little gun shop near another I go to about twice a year.
The woman working the counter is, um, healthy.
And dressed for warmer weather.
Such a sales person should not greet customers with, "Can I show you anything?"
The woman working the counter is, um, healthy.
And dressed for warmer weather.
Such a sales person should not greet customers with, "Can I show you anything?"
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Why?
Why are so many things the way they are?
My mother in law has a bit of a gimpy foot from polio.
We seem to have forgotten, or have never learned, how many diseases there were (are) that can kill you dead in a very short span, and really don't have a cure once you've caught it.
Immunization through vaccination keeps you from catching it in the first place because you're given an antibody transplant from one of the rare survivors. That's not the precise methodology, of course, anymore.
The people opposed to immunizations are pining for the days where diptheria killed 14,000 people a year. Where smallpox killed 400,000 people every fucking year in Europe.
Before immunization, measles infected three to four million people a year in the US. The death rate of about 0.2% translates to 7,000 people a year dead. Since immunization the infection rate is down 75%.
The anti-immunization people are actually being protected by a shield provided by those who did get their artificial immunity. If patient zero only encounters people who've been vaccinated, they never infect anyone and the disease dies when the patient either dies or recovers (and stops being a carrier).
But if they encounter people who aren't immune, they become infected and pass it on.
Right now, there're enough people who are immunized that the likelihood of one of these diseases spreading is low. Decreasing the number of immunized people increases the chance of the disease gaining critical community size.
Why do the anti-immunization people get even a moment of consideration?
Because they grew up and have lived their whole lives living where those diseases, which killed more people annually than pretty much anything we deliberately do to each other now, no longer killed anyone thanks to immunization.
My mother in law has a bit of a gimpy foot from polio.
We seem to have forgotten, or have never learned, how many diseases there were (are) that can kill you dead in a very short span, and really don't have a cure once you've caught it.
Immunization through vaccination keeps you from catching it in the first place because you're given an antibody transplant from one of the rare survivors. That's not the precise methodology, of course, anymore.
The people opposed to immunizations are pining for the days where diptheria killed 14,000 people a year. Where smallpox killed 400,000 people every fucking year in Europe.
Before immunization, measles infected three to four million people a year in the US. The death rate of about 0.2% translates to 7,000 people a year dead. Since immunization the infection rate is down 75%.
The anti-immunization people are actually being protected by a shield provided by those who did get their artificial immunity. If patient zero only encounters people who've been vaccinated, they never infect anyone and the disease dies when the patient either dies or recovers (and stops being a carrier).
But if they encounter people who aren't immune, they become infected and pass it on.
Right now, there're enough people who are immunized that the likelihood of one of these diseases spreading is low. Decreasing the number of immunized people increases the chance of the disease gaining critical community size.
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Star Bonifacio Echeverria SA Pistola Modelo B
1945 Made Star Model B in 9x19mm P.08.
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Clearly inspired by the M1911A1, but very different in many ways under the surface. The lockwork is entirely dissimilar and the mainspring housing is fixed to the frame. The changes are not necessarily bad, but their main purpose was to make it easier and cheaper to manufacture.
Plus the warm-fuzzy of having a handgun delivered straight to my door without so much as a by-your-leave from the government aside from a very inexpensive slip of paper with some numbers and my name on it. Yes, Senator Gungrabstein, I ordered this gun from the internet; but thanks to the miracle of a C&R FFL it's perfectly legal.
The stocks shown above are not what it came with, the diamond and checker styles were beat hard and compressed so much under the screws that the tips of them kept the magazine from dropping free.
Parts are kind of thin on the ground, so once something breaks, it's likely to stay broken.
None of the aforementioned departures from John Moses Browning's (PBUH) design seem to have affected how it works. About the only negative is the hammer bites me. Par for the course.
UPDATE:
Star is a little inconsistent with the number of points to their logo, I've seen six, seven and eight points.
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Star supplied a lot of Model B's to NSDAP Germany from '42 to '44. The Star logo most often has an eight point star. Most Model B's I've seen have a six pointed star... Oh, Irony, we meet again. I wonder if this was a Dig on the National Socialists or coincidence.
Clearly inspired by the M1911A1, but very different in many ways under the surface. The lockwork is entirely dissimilar and the mainspring housing is fixed to the frame. The changes are not necessarily bad, but their main purpose was to make it easier and cheaper to manufacture.
Plus the warm-fuzzy of having a handgun delivered straight to my door without so much as a by-your-leave from the government aside from a very inexpensive slip of paper with some numbers and my name on it. Yes, Senator Gungrabstein, I ordered this gun from the internet; but thanks to the miracle of a C&R FFL it's perfectly legal.
The stocks shown above are not what it came with, the diamond and checker styles were beat hard and compressed so much under the screws that the tips of them kept the magazine from dropping free.
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| Note the crack! |
Parts are kind of thin on the ground, so once something breaks, it's likely to stay broken.
None of the aforementioned departures from John Moses Browning's (PBUH) design seem to have affected how it works. About the only negative is the hammer bites me. Par for the course.
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| 24 rounds, 7 yards. |
UPDATE:
Star is a little inconsistent with the number of points to their logo, I've seen six, seven and eight points.
Star supplied a lot of Model B's to NSDAP Germany from '42 to '44. The Star logo most often has an eight point star. Most Model B's I've seen have a six pointed star... Oh, Irony, we meet again. I wonder if this was a Dig on the National Socialists or coincidence.
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Found It
My 1957 vintage Ruger Standard had an oddity when I got it.
The magazine would forcefully eject when you rotated the heel-catch.
It's not supposed to.
I found the reason for this to be the sear spring being backwards and intruding into the magazine well.
So I turned the spring around and put the long leg under the pin it's supposed to bear against behind the wall of the magazine well.
That created a braaaaaap noise next time I went to the range.
Uh oh.
Took it apart and put the spring's long leg back inside the magazine well, but with the spring oriented correctly so it was out of the path of the magazine (which put enough force on the sear to actually stop the hammer); and made note that I needed a new spring.
Numrich has listed them as out of stock for a long time and Ruger denied they still have or make parts for it, while also offering to let me send it in for repair at some unspecified and unguaranteed price.
Well, just the other day, Numrich got the springs back in.
Can you see the difference? The old spring would put enough pressure on the sear, when installed correctly, to appear to function while hand cycling and dry firing. The more dynamic environment of live firing though, it didn't have enough to keep the sear from bouncing from under the hammer and letting the pistol run away.
What a bother!
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The magazine would forcefully eject when you rotated the heel-catch.
It's not supposed to.
I found the reason for this to be the sear spring being backwards and intruding into the magazine well.
So I turned the spring around and put the long leg under the pin it's supposed to bear against behind the wall of the magazine well.
That created a braaaaaap noise next time I went to the range.
Uh oh.
Took it apart and put the spring's long leg back inside the magazine well, but with the spring oriented correctly so it was out of the path of the magazine (which put enough force on the sear to actually stop the hammer); and made note that I needed a new spring.
Numrich has listed them as out of stock for a long time and Ruger denied they still have or make parts for it, while also offering to let me send it in for repair at some unspecified and unguaranteed price.
Well, just the other day, Numrich got the springs back in.
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| New spring on top. The short leg pushes against the sear counter-clockwise, which pushes the long leg clockwise against a pin set in the grip behind the magazine well. |
What a bother!
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Least Evil
But still evil...
I think the best (attainable) composition for our triumvirate gubmint is for there to be a strong Republican majority in both houses of Congress and a Democrat president.
A Dem Prez will veto the shit out of things and very little will get done.
Reversing the parties is essentially the same as giving both branches to the Democrats.
Giving both branches to the Republicans is as bad in a different way.
I'd much rather there be a non-evil choice, but I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for it to appear.
I think the best (attainable) composition for our triumvirate gubmint is for there to be a strong Republican majority in both houses of Congress and a Democrat president.
A Dem Prez will veto the shit out of things and very little will get done.
Reversing the parties is essentially the same as giving both branches to the Democrats.
Giving both branches to the Republicans is as bad in a different way.
I'd much rather there be a non-evil choice, but I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for it to appear.
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Not Near So Bad As Feared
The dead Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) sensor on The Precious is a mere $20 for a local speed shop to do an RnR with my $40 part.
Considering the local non-specialty shops want at least $60 for the RnR plus force me to spend $60+ on the same sensor. Many are much more too.
Still, this is a gewgaw I'd rather not be so intertwined with the operation of the car. Required by law because some idiots couldn't handle a blow-out in their SUV.
Considering the local non-specialty shops want at least $60 for the RnR plus force me to spend $60+ on the same sensor. Many are much more too.
Still, this is a gewgaw I'd rather not be so intertwined with the operation of the car. Required by law because some idiots couldn't handle a blow-out in their SUV.
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Adventure!
The replacement stocks for the Star B are, as I mentioned, dry as a bone.
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I went to Home Depot and bought a quart of boiled linseed oil.
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| Before applying any oil. |
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| A light base coat applied and doing the ten minute soak. |
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| Excess wiped off and sitting for the overnight dry. |
Linseed oil smells familiar. I can't remember where I've smelled it before, but the memories are saying I have without telling me where. I don't do woodworking, and nobody in my family really does either. Strange.
Linseed oil is something of a mythical substance to me because we had many manuals about the care of the pioneer tools for the tank that specified using linseed oil to protect the wood, but I never once saw a can while I was in the Army.
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Time To Write To ATF Again
Three methods of contact are listed here.
I used email.
Put a hurry on it since they've only given until the 15th of March for comments. Remember when they had to give 90 days?
State your opposition to them changing the classification of 5.56x45mm M855 to "armor piercing handgun ammunition," and that you feel that not only does the target shooting you do recreationally with your rifle constitute legitimate sporting purpose and that you would be unduly burdened by the reclassification of this presently cheap and readily available ammunition.
Be polite, don't cuss.
It's irksome that we have to keep reminding our government that sporting is not a synonym of hunting.
It's especially irksome that 18 U.S.C. §§ 921(a)(17) defines armor piercing ammo...
M855 has lead in it, so it's not AP under 18 U.S.C. §§ 921(a)(17) (B) (i). It's got a steel core, so it's AP, dammit. Its jacket is not more than 25% of the weight of projectile so it's not AP under 18 U.S.C. §§ 921(a)(17) (B) (ii). It is also EXACTLY .22 caliber so, again, not AP under 18 U.S.C. §§ 921(a)(17) (B) (ii).
I used email.
Put a hurry on it since they've only given until the 15th of March for comments. Remember when they had to give 90 days?
State your opposition to them changing the classification of 5.56x45mm M855 to "armor piercing handgun ammunition," and that you feel that not only does the target shooting you do recreationally with your rifle constitute legitimate sporting purpose and that you would be unduly burdened by the reclassification of this presently cheap and readily available ammunition.
Be polite, don't cuss.
It's irksome that we have to keep reminding our government that sporting is not a synonym of hunting.
It's especially irksome that 18 U.S.C. §§ 921(a)(17) defines armor piercing ammo...
(A) The term “ammunition” means ammunition or cartridge cases, primers, bullets, or propellent powder designed for use in any firearm.
(B) The term “armor piercing ammunition” means—
(i) a projectile or projectile core which may be used in a handgun and which is constructed entirely (excluding the presence of traces of other substances) from one or a combination of tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium; or
(ii) a full jacketed projectile larger than .22 caliber designed and intended for use in a handgun and whose jacket has a weight of more than 25 percent of the total weight of the projectile.
(C) The term “armor piercing ammunition” does not include shotgun shot required by Federal or State environmental or game regulations for hunting purposes, a frangible projectile designed for target shooting, a projectile which the Attorney General finds is primarily intended to be used for sporting purposes, or any other projectile or projectile core which the Attorney General finds is intended to be used for industrial purposes, including a charge used in an oil and gas well perforating device.
You may notice not a mention of rimfire or total projectile weights in the laws about AP, which means that ATF is really going out on their own for pure political purposes.
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