Archive for July, 2009

Idiot quote of the day

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

from Marc Rubin, the NY Obama Administration Examiner (and first class moron)

Of course the problem with that line of thinking is that there is no  2nd amendment right to own a gun, and that is not in dispute among anyone who knows the constitution which admittedly leaves out at least 3/4 of the members of Congress and probably half the states attorneys general in the country .

The fact that there are so many people ignorant of what the 2nd amendment means and who insist on repeating the myth  that the 2nd amendment has anything to do with an individual right to own a gun doesn’t make it so.

What is so interesting about those who are so ignorant of the 2nd amendment is that it spans the entire political spectrum from ultra liberal Jerry Brown to conservatives like Bob Barr, from President Obama and Jimmy Carter to Newt Gingrich and Lou Dobbs.

Marc,  you forgot to mention all nine justices of the Supreme Court of the United States in your list of people “so ignorant of the 2nd amendment”.   

-Thomas

Cowboy action shooting with a twist

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

I’ve been working on getting back into competitive shooting again, (it’s been about 16 years).  I’m slowly putting together my gear for 3-gun, IDPA, and maybe even some SASS events.  All of them have allot of appeal to me.

But there is one that I had forgotten about until recently.  I’m seriously considering getting me a pair of Ruger Vaquero’s in .45 Colt for Cowboy Mounted Shooting.  I’ve been wanting to give it a go since I saw it on a show on TV about 14 years ago.

I already have a quarter horse with about two years of reining training under it’s belt, and a place with plenty of room to practice.   Other than the holster rig, the equipment I’ll need to get is pretty minimal. 

Here’s one of the many CMSA clips I’ve found on YouTube

Now I just have to convince the wife that I need two more guns.  Hell, she’s been looking for an excuse to buy a new horse trailer.  Maybe we can “work something out”.

I WANT!

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

New Ti-RANT suppressor from AAC

As if I didn’t spend enough time on my iPhone

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

My wife already complains that I spend to much time on my iPhone and gunbroker.com is not helping things.  They have just released the mobile version of their website m.gunbroker.com which makes it much easier to navigate on a mobile device. 

IMG_0783 

Speaking of mobile websites, I just installed a new wordpress plugin to make thisismygun.com iPhone friendly.  Let me know what you think.

-Thomas

Spokane Gun Show, I left emptyhanded…

Monday, July 20th, 2009

I spent a couple of hours sunday at the Spokane gun show in hopes of finding a good deal. Honestly, I do not know why I bother. What few good deals that may be there are usually gone in the first few hours of the first day of the show. This show was no exception.

Once you get past the beef jerky, beanie baby, and knock off optics booths, you’d only find deals like $32.99 for a 550 rnd brick of .22lr that I could buy for $14.99 just a couple of miles down the road at wally-world. Or $22.95 for 9mm Blazer Brass (which I can still buy elsewhere for 8.95) range ammo. Or a plain-jane DPMS M4′gery “marked down to $1799″.

There were a few dealers there who were selling handguns at competitive prices. But most of the private sellers were bound and determined to get their price even if it meant no sale. Despite the fact someone at the table next to them would have the exact same item for 20%-30% less.

But none of that really matters since I was only looking for one thing. A dedicated .22lr upper for my AR. None were to be found. But I did find a dealer that had the new colt .22lr AR’s. The prices for the complete rifle started at about $560 for a standard M4 configuration, $580 for standard M16 configuration and about $620 for the M4 with quad rail foregrip.

The rifles seemed solid but very lightweight. They looked like they would accept standard at grips and stocks. But it uses a proprietary magazine (no black dog mags), a proprietary fire control group, a cast lower and upper, and it did not appear that the upper could be mounted to a standard AR lower.

The safety selector switch was also non-standard. To switch from safe to fire, you had to rotate the selector switch a full 180 degrees, where a standard AR (non-military semi-auto only) only requires a 90 degree turn.

So in the end, I decided to pass up on the colt .22lr AR’s. I’ll be holding out for a dedicated .22lr upper that will drop right on to my lower. The whole point of me getting a new upper in .22lr is so that I can train using the exact same configuration as my standard AR. The colt just wasn’t what I was looking for. But I was tempted to get one for my kids.

There is no such thing as reverse racism!

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

With the recent press coverage of the New Haven firefighter case I’ve heard just about every legacy and new media outlet use the term “reverse racism”.

Who ever came up with that term is a complete moron.

Racism is racism. It’s ugly and should not be tolerated. It does not matter what color the person is on the receiving end, it’s racism. In fact, the term “reverse racism” is a racist statement in and of itself. It implies that only one race is normally capable of being racist, and that somehow reverse racism is a lesser offense.

Here’s a little reality check for you. Until you are willing recognize something for what it is, you will NEVER be able to be rid of it.

-Thomas

Damn near had a heart attack!

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

Driving down highway 95 south of Coeur d’Alene I came upon the largest herd of elk I’ve ever seen in my life. There was easily 60 bulls just hanging out just off the side of the highway in a green pasture. Then I noticed another group of cows, 50 or so, another 50 yards down the road. I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing. And something just didn’t seem right.

Then I noticed the 8ft wire fences between the groups, and I remembered a friend telling me about a wild game ranch. Finally I put two and two together. Talk about a buzz kill.

Of course, the only camera I had was my iPhone, and it doesn’t work so well at 65mph.

-Thomas

Gura’s response to Judge Wilkinson

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

 

Alan Gura (the lead attorney for Dick Heller in the District of Columbia v. Heller case) wrote a response to Judge Wilkinson’s anti-Heller article.

Go here to find the response.  And while your there, make sure you check out Dave Hardy’s blog.  It’s a great resource on 2nd Amendment cases across the country.

H/T to David Hardy at Of Arms & the Law

Stop the ammo hording!

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

So I can do some more hording myself.

You’ve probably been wondering what’s going on with ammo and reloading components availability.  There are a few factors that are having a impact on ammo and reloading components availability.

The first and most obvious one is the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The wars have put a pretty good dent in the military’s stockpile of ammunition, and they are working hard to keep it replenished.

Next, and the most important factor is you and me.  Back in the good old days, (like this time last year), the average shooter usually stopped on the way to the range and purchased the ammo that he/she was planning on shooting that day.  This usually amounted to a couple of boxes of ammo per month.  When it became apparent that the Dems were going to take the White House, that all changed.  Instead of buying what ammo we needed when we needed it, we all (well, most of us) started buying it by the case.  Because of this sudden shift in the balance of supply and demand,just about all calibers have become extremely scarce, and when you do find it, very expensive (with a few exceptions).  Right now, I have a buy on sight policy where if the price is below a certain threshold, I buy it, even if I don’t need it.  My wife has 9mm as a permanent item on her grocery list.  In fact (and I know I’m not alone here), I’ve been buying ammo in calibers that I don’t even have a gun for.

My local indoor range went from offering cases of range ammo (blazer brass) to members at a discount price, to only selling boxes of ammo for range use.  All for the fear that the distributor would not be able to fulfill their next ammo order.

Most of the ammo manufacturers are running 24 hour shifts, and are producing more ammo than ever, but the demand is still outstripping supply.  Lead times on manufacturer orders are running anywhere from 3 months to 1.5 years depending on the caliber.

.380 ACP is especially hard to find right now.  In this case it’s because the manufacturers only do a short run of .380 each year to meet the projected demands of the following year.  With the sudden renewal of interest in .380, caused primarily by the Ruger LCP and KelTec P3AT, .380 simply cannot be found.  It’s doesn’t matter if your looking for range or carry ammo, it’s just not available.  It’s so bad, that I have yet to be able to find a box of carry ammo for my LCP that I bought back in March.  I hate to say it, but I’ve been carrying ball ammo in my LCP (it’s my backup anyway), I figure it’s better than leaving it in the safe at home.  So why doesn’t the ammo manufacturers just make more?  They can’t.  They use the same machines to reload .380 as they do 9mm.  The 9mm machines are already running 24hrs a day, and cannot keep up with demand.  It would be foolish of them to take one off line just to produce .380 cartridges.

As far as reloading components go, especially primers, most of the manufacturers are using them all to load new cartridges.  Then what’s left is being bought up before the distributor can blink.

Some people are upset with the ammo manufacturers that they have not expanded production to meet demands.  But you can hardly blame them.  The current ammo buying trend is simply not sustainable by consumers in the long run.  At some point everyone will say, ok, I’ve got enough now, or I can’t afford any more, and ammo sales will hit rock bottom.  Then the manufacturers will be stuck with the extra equipment that they have no need for.   They are playing it safe, which is smart in the current political climate.

Basically, the only way this will end is if you all stop buying all the damn ammo.  I say “you” because I’ve learned my lesson.  When ammo prices drop back down, I’m going to keep on buying by the case.  Yeah I know I’m not helping…

-Thomas