Merry Christmas to all…

And to all some good whiskey

Perspectives

Elf on a reloader

Elf on an SAA

Santa has the flu- not much creativity today

Elf with an LPK

Elf on a LULA

Elf on the moon

Komrade Elf

Elf on a Mil-Surp

What the Effity Eff?

For a company that has had a LOT of epic fails, this... this takes the cake:

The New Taurus Curve:

It's like a Kimber pepper Blaster, a Diamondback .380 and a Nebo Flashlight/laser pointer had a 3-way

Reminds me of Shrinky-Dinks

No sights.  Light and laser only.  Curved for right side carry only.

It does not even have any sharp edges to hurt the bad guy when you have to throw it at him after it jams.

First deer with a suppressor

Finally connected with one

Go Vote! Do your duty!

Vote for freedom.

Scenes from Opening Weekend

It was a gorgeous weekend in the Texas Hill Country, observing the 3rd most sacred holiday- Opening Weekend Of Whitetail Season.  

Rule 2: Never point a firearm at something you are unwilling to eat, lightly grilled.

Achievement Unlocked: Massive Redneckery

Had a major milestone- took my first deer with a handgun.  I lugged the Ruger Super Redhawk .454 out to the blind AGAIN, and finally had a deer present itself in range.  Actually, maybe a little too close.  No pics, because a .454 Casull hollow point to the head is not very 'photogenic'

I also took another cull buck.  Small, unbalanced rack, but a big body.  He was a 4 point with a spike on one side, and 3 points on the other.  He was probably 3.5 years old, 120-130 lbs on the hoof, and really difficult to get on the roof of that Explorer.

Everyone had a good time.  My brother culled another buck, 45er took an axis and a whitetail, and the other guys all took a couple as well.  It was good to get out in the woods, get back to simple things, and enjoy this part of being in Central Texas

Oh, damnit.

I don't need this.

But I REALLY, REALLY want it.

In .44Mag.  Or .300BLK.

It ALWAYS happens to someone else- until it doesn't.

My neighborhood has been the target of a string of auto and home burglaries of late.  Here is a basic timeline-

-Couple of auto burglaries happen, a couple of open garages have things stolen.
-One night, one resident leaves his car unlocked with a garage door opener inside.  The burglar opens the garage and finds the connecting door into the house unlocked.  Burglar ups his game and becomes a home invader.  Resident sees his car open outside, and when he goes out is confronted by the burglar in the driveway, running from the open garage.
-Now things get serious.  Our neglected Neighborhood Watch is reformed.  Neighbors start communicating via a social media website, sharing suspicious activities, and watching out for each other.  Concerned neighbors start target hardening their houses.
-A couple more auto burglaries happen.
-A couple more open garages have bikes/ tools stolen.
-Video is captured of TWO subjects walking down the street checking for unlocked cars.  A couple more cars are broken into.
-Finally, another home invasion.  Open car, Garage door opener, unlocked connecting door.  Suspect(s) enter the master bedroom while the homeowners are asleep, and steal a handgun.

This is where we are now.  The criminals have been escalating, and are now armed.  I still have the theory that this is local kids looking for drug/ booze money.  But it could easily get real nasty, real quick.  Best case, they just quit it.  Worse case someone ends up dead.

What just astounds me is that people who were aware of our recent mini-crime wave were still leaving cars and garages open.  It always happens to someone else... until someone comes into your bedroom while you are asleep and steals your gun.

You need layered security.

Basic rules:
Be aware
Have exterior lights, motion sensor preferred
Don't have hiding places outside your home
Lock your doors
Have an alarm, and USE it.
Have a plan if someone is inside your house.

Cameras are nice, but they only help AFTER the fact.  Target-harden your home, and it will greatly lessen your chances of something bad happening.

Old, Rugged Glock (Gun Porn!)

What's this?  Content?  After almost 2 months of radio silence?

I abuse this gun.  A lot.
But if you believe the internet, sooner or later it should blow up on me.

Yeah, I have ignored this blog.  I have excuses.  Life getting in the way, changing jobs, traveling all over the place, etc.. but they are just excuses.

I hope to be posting more regularly.  If nothing else, I'll try to put up some link bait like gun porn.

A Very Gunny Yesterday

It was a pretty cool yesterday.  Got out to the range with MI2Tall, got to shoot the Mossberg MVP Patrol, finished sighing in the ARP. 

Yes, I have an optic on order. No, I'm not telling you what.  It's a surprise.

 Then, I got to shoot a gun I have zero experience with and in an absolutely awesome configuration:

I have always been a fan of cheap single shot rifles.  I have a bunch of NEF and H&R singles, and my main hunting rifle for years has been a .308 NEF.  But MI2Tall recently bought a CVA Scout in .300 Blackout, and mounted up his .30 caliber suppressor.

After a few weeks of trying to find ammo and time, this was the first time to try out Supersonic, and Subsonic (both 220 and 187grain) loads

I was absolutely stunned with the performance of this low budget silent hunter.  The trigger was outstanding, the Burris optic was clear and precise, and the silent operation of the subsonic rounds was outstanding.  Here is a vid of the setup running the Remington Supersonic ammo:

Now, that was indoors.  But it was still pretty impressive.  But you REALLY need to hear it running the subsonics.  And for that, you should go to MI2Tall's Page.  Here is the link:
LINK
Listen closely.  You will hear the shot, the bullet punching through the paper, then the bullet smacking into the backstop.  It was amazingly quiet.  What was really cool was that the scope was sighted in for the Remington ammo to be dead on at 75 yards.  It was pure freaking luck that the 3rd hash down on the Burris Predator Quest 2-7x35 scope reticle was exactly where the Gemtech ammo hit (with a tight group)... and the 4th one down is where the 220Grain patterned- and yes, it was a LARGE group.  like 3" at 75 yards  

Pure luck for that to work out so well.

One thing about the CVA rifle.  The way the extractor works makes it a bit tough to get the extracted case from the chamber.  The extractor puts constant pressure up against the case, and kind of traps the case there.  Not as easy as the HEF/H&R system, but it works... just slow.  But I am really thinking that a CVA Scout might have to make a home in my safe... Especially since they are making a pistol version


And I finished up the day at the Oasis for an Austin Area Blogmeet, got to meet fellow bloggers, and they were ones with regular posts and actual followers! 

All in all, a great day.  Shot some great equipment, met new friends, and had great food and drink.  What more could you want?

Austin Blog Meet

Fun time at The Oasis with Borepatch and the gang

Robot Gardeners

A buddy sent me this news story of some hipster built a robot to tend his garden:
An Open Source Robot Could Be Tending Your Backyard Garden Very Soon

So, being a smartass, I replied back with this very quick and dirty photojob done with a substandard editor:

Lucky Gunner finds some old crap ammo and tests it.

I laugh at this, because I bought a brick (500 rounds) back in 1990 or 1991.  My results were WORSE than what Lucky Gunner got.  I had about a 50% failure rate in a rifle. 

But I had a great training in clearing jams on a Marlin Model 60!  Even to this day when I go shooting with 45er, I'll mention "Remember that old russian 'Junior' .22 ammo..."

Link!


H/T to Say Uncle

Weekend geeking

OMG!! Alton brown has a Youtube channel!

Linkity!

H/T to Weerd Beard

Alton Brown is a hero to me.  Good Eats is what awakened my inner science geek and got me into cooking BIG time.  My lovely bride introduced me to gourmet home cooking, and the Food Network- Alton made it cool.

In celebration of this, I promise to get up reviews of my home Sous Vide setup and Infrared grill in the next few days.

Promise.

Pinkie Swear.

With that said.... I need a saber:

Watch this. Now.

Then go to youtube and watch all his vids. 

But really... a SIG?

Drawing a Pistol in a Car

Good video.  I need to practice this more.

H/T to Say Uncle

PMAG 10 and the MVP Patrol

Looks much better, and works great with steel and brass case ammo

Gun Pr0n- Primary Arms red dot and Mossberg MVP

I hinted* that I had something new a few days ago.  I finally had some time to get the camera out when there was still good light and get a few shots.  But before I get to the new one, I wanted to show a new config on one of my Truck Guns.

Back at Christmas, a family member gave me a Primary Arms Micro Dot.  I did not have a host for it, so I started hunting for a mount for my AK Pistol "Trainwreck".  I took a leap of faith and bought the Strike Industries Rear AK Sight Rail 2.  I finally got it all mounted up, sighted in, and ready to roll.  Here she is:

The sight mount gives a "Lower 1/3 Cowitness"

There were a few reports online about the mount being less than solid.  I've only run about 60 rounds through it so far, but it is holding.  The red dot is just what I have come to expect from Primary Arms.   Solid, clear, bright, and user friendly.  I look forward to getting this out to the range and do some real work with it and test it out.  I have high hopes for this combo.

Now, on to the new gun.

I have come to the realization over the last few months that I am a 'gun hipster'.  I like the oddball guns.  Pump action deer rifles?  Yes, please!  Single shots?  The more the merrier! Pistol caliber carbines, and rifle caliber pistols?  Heck, yeah!

So, when Mossberg came out with the MVP- I had to have one.  In case you have not seen this gun before, this is a bolt action rifle that fires 5.56/.223, and feeds from standard AR-15 magazines.  Why, that's just goofy enough to be right in my wheelhouse!

So I bought one a few weeks back.

This is a really cool design.  Light, handy, fast... and hopefully accurate.  I took it to the range and ran a few mags through it, but mostly it was a function test.  I don't have an optic for it- yet.  I have something special on backorder for it, but for now it's just running the excellent Williams foresight front and adjustable rear

No photo adjustments on this one.  The front sight is really that bright

The magazine release is oddly placed, yet very usable

It wears a birdcage flash hider, which will be unscrewed when I get my next suppressor

The rifle fed well from PMAGS, GI Aluminum, and pretty much everything... except the factory 10 round mag.  That one worked great with brass, but hung up on steel case.  

Oh, it also has one of the trigger-dingies that seem to be all the rage.  It's an adjustable "LBA" trigger.  It came out of the box pretty good, so I did not mess with it... yet

Factory 10 round magazine

What makes the MVP work is a bolt with a special little drop down jaw at the bottom that will reach into the mag, scoop up a round, and fold back into the bolt as it chambers the round.  Pretty slick, and works pretty well.  The bolt requires a little slop into it to be able to feed from a wide range of mags.  That makes it a little slow and 'bindy' when running it hard.  I'm hoping that gets smoother as it slicks up with wear.  Here is the jaw 'thingie' on the bolt face:

After taking a look at that, I could not resist the following:

Expect a full range report once the optic comes in!

Getting Ready for ST. Patrick's

NOOOOOO!!!  What did that Bushmills ever do to you?!?!

H/T to ENDO

Shopping list

That Kid (5 years old) made me a shopping list. First thing- bacon

Raising that boy right!

Uh oh... Something New

More info coming...

Suppressed Hunter (and Primary Arms scope)

Seems like I am only apologizing for the neglect of this blog these days.

But no more!  I finally had a few minutes to whip out the camera and take some pics of my suppressed hunting rig.  This started out life as a used NEF Buffalo Classic in the discontinued .45Colt chambering that That Wife  bought me for my birthday about 5 years ago.  The previous owner had goofed up the sights (cut the front dovetail crooked),  and had scratched and dinged it a little.   I was never really happy with it, since the sight height would not work with the peep sight I wanted to put on there, then when I installed a fiber-optic front sight or the right height, I was looking at it crooked.

I got frustrated, and put an old scope I had laying around.  I never shot it much after that.

Then… Texas changed it's hunting laws and allowed suppressors for white-tail deer.  I thought about buying a new can, but the 9 month to a YEAR waiting period that is the new normal put a kibosh on that.  So I started thinking of ways to use my existing .45ACP can to hunt.  I thought about buying a .44Mag lever action, threading it, and using .44Specials… then I thought of threading my .357 Marlin or Rossi Ranch Hand… YHM said the suppressor would work with .357, but would not be really quiet.   Then I thought of a .45Colt lever gun, and it struck me- use the NEF!

I had my new 'smith thread it, mounted up the can, and sighted it in.  I had all sorts of fun shooting it till the first day of hunting season, and the ancient Wetherby scope took a dump.  Just up and died on me- started hitting a foot low, and would not adjust.

So, for Christmas, I got a new Primary Arms 1-4x24 illuminated dot rifle scope that immediately went on top.  It works real well on this rig and matches up well for being an anachronism.

I have not been able to take a deer or hog with it yet, just because by the time I got the rig ready to go, hunting season was pretty much over.  But I am ready for next year!

If you can find the non-sequitor in the photos, leave a comment!

No, it's not the two types of ammo

You can see the suppressor when the scope is at 1x power

The Primary Arms scope exceeded all of my expectations for a $120 scope.  Bright, crisp, clear, and sighted it very quick and easy.  The illuminated dot is perfect for close range hunting.  I am actually happier with this scope than I am the Burris Timberline on my CZ-527 Carbine.  It loses in a low-light comparison with my Leupolds, but that is the only ding I have against the scope.