Monthly Archives: February 2013

Automotive

What the hell is wrong with Jeep?

23 Comments

Due to a couple comments by my Father, and seeing a few running around town, I’ve been thinking about Jeeps a lot lately.  So I wandered over to Jeep’s official brochureware site to take a look at the line up.

Jeep doesn’t have one.

Jeep makes the WRANGLER, which is a stand alone icon of the brand.  And then they make two others with two other slightly smaller versions.  This isn’t a Line Up of Vehicles, this is a dramatic lack of imagination and vision for the Jeep brand.

You have the Jeep Liberty, and it’s slightly smaller twin the Patriot.  Then you have the Grand Cherokee and the little brother “Compass”.  None of these vehicles are explained.  It’s up to you to figure out what they are for.  I’ve owned a couple Jeeps.  A regular Cherokee (Jeep XJ) and a full sized old Wagoneer with an Earth Gobbling V-8 engine that loved to overheat and explode.  Very different vehicles that needed no explanation.  With these new Jeeps, at best I can come up with is that these are for His and Hers kits.
I enjoyed our old Cherokee XJ.  We drove that rig to hell and back and most everything under the hood was worked on by Yours Truly until my mechanical prowess no longer was enough.
“Huh, hitting it with this rock didn’t fix it this time.”
I miss that old Cherokee.  It had Character.  It was unique.  It started out as a 4X4, then I put in a 4 inch lift and then broke the transfer case so it was only a 4X2… but that didn’t stop it.  It was still a mountain goat.  What a great little truck.  You never questioned what it was… it was a Jeep.
Since that time, Jeep has come out with some odd ones… the original Jeep Liberty from 10 years or so ago, looked like a Wrangler and a Grand Cherokee did the Naughty and this little Baby thing crawled out… Like a hard top Wrangler, squished and rounded.  I test drove one, with a Diesel Engine.  I hated it.  Not because it’s engine was truly guttless and just felt tired… but because the rig felt like it wanted to fall over.  On it’s face.  Especially under braking.  I was grabbing on to things because I thought the Liberty was going to do a forward somersault.
Evidently the Liberty is the Spiritual Successor to the Cherokee XJ.  It’s grown up from the little baby Jeep it was, into a more well rounded, and by that I mean Squared off and Squared Away Jeep.    But then you have the Patriot, the smaller version of the Liberty that looks exactly the same, but you just parked it a little further away.  The Patriot must also be a step child, being build on the same factory line that builds the Dodge Caliber, but it doesn’t get any of the Dodge Caliber’s Machoness.  (Not that there was enough to share)
Okay, the Grand Cherokee… I like them well enough.  There is the base version, the more comfortable version, and the “I don’t want it to get dirty” version.  For Grins, there is the Evil Twin version that they call the SRT8.  I have no problem with that, but where is the serious Off Road Oriented version?  Where is the Grand Cherokee with the Lift and the bigger knobbier tires and the Lockers?  A Grand Cherokee Rubicon if you will.  Where is that version?   Don’t talk to me about the TRAIL RATED sticker when the damn thing has 20 inch polished wheels and Street Tires.
Then there is the Compass.  WTF?  “I wanted the Grand Cherokee, but not so Grand.  How about a Trial Size?”  This is a Patriot with a different face on it.   It might look like a little Grand Cherokee, but it even has the same engine options as the Patriot.  I don’t care if you have one and like it… it’s useless.  You could have had the Patriot and at least got a little more room inside.  This isn’t a Ute of any sort… Not a Sport Utility, not a Cross over, it’s just a Car.  (spit after reading the word “Car”)  Jeep branding on a Car.  That’s just freaking sad.  Do you know what they made on the line before the Compass?  The Dodge Neon.

Jeep needs to bring back the Gladiator and the Scrambler.  Actual Jeeps crossed with Trucks.  Don’t think that would sell?   AEV builds the Brute for 100 thousand dollars, and they sell every one they build.  Why the hell can’t Jeep build this?

 

 

Even though the Jeep company has lost its vision and purpose almost entirely, I’d still love one. A Rubicon Unlimited… a real Jeep. And if I was going to get one, I’d have to get one before they are built in China. Jeep was once a proud American icon. And it could be again, if the Brand was to stay in the US and pull it’s head out.

Government

Magpul Leaving Colorado?

23 Comments

Colorado passed a very strict Anti-Gun measure today.  It bans ammunition magazines above 15 rounds capacity.   It also bans the manufacturing of higher capacity magazines.

Because 15 rounds is a reasonable number.

This is where MagPul comes in, as everyone knows, MagPul makes one of the very best magazines for AR-15 rifles.  Some say the best.  I have several and yes, they are indeed very good magazines.  But now Colorado has basically said they can’t make them anymore.  MagPul’s only options are to either A, comply with the law, or B, leave the state.

MagPul has said that if this law passes, they would be forced to leave Colorado.   And since it did pass, I think it’s time get to moving.  I think as Industry Leaders, MagPul has to.   A solid message has to be sent to these Anti-Gun states.  You can not be Anti-Gun, and yet enjoy the wealth that resident Gun Companies provide.  MagPul gives a huge amount of money to the State of Colorado.  Through Taxes directly, and through the Taxes paid by MagPul’s Employees via State Income or Sales Taxes.  These Employees also cycle the businesses of others… because they need food, drink, shelter, entertainment, and everything else that people spend their money on.    And Colorado as basically said “We don’t want you, but we don’t want to lose your Money.”  That’s nice.

I’d like to see MagPul pull up their stakes and head out.  Utah would be a great place to go, but I believe Texas has been mentioned.  Doesn’t matter.  Just go.  Show Colorado that their stupid legislation as cost them and the MagPul’s community a great loss.  I’d like to see all of MagPul’s employees move too.  I know this is hard, but it would show the rest of the country what happens when they legislate a company out of business.  This would send a message to the other Anti-Gun States, and Companies effected, such as Remington and Kimber behind enemy lines in New York.

Don’t reward Anti-Gun States with your Money.

This is Voting with your Feet.  Rewards States that value your Rights, and Punish those that want to infringe on your rights.  We need all of our brothers across the industry to look at a Relocation if they are in a State that wants to crush our Liberty.  The Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade industry is almost a 5 Billion Dollar Industry.  That’s a pretty big pull if it could be used wisely and all together.  Thousands of small companies and employees.  Some pretty big companies as well.  Anti-Gun States should not get any slices of this pie.

And what is this 15 round limit supposed to accomplish?  I can reload a Magazine in my AR in about a Second Flat.  Same with any number of my handguns.    Is this limit supposed to slow me down?  Slow down a Crazed Psycho?  How is this supposed to be of any benefit for the people of Colorado?

You know what happens when people are limited on the number of rounds they can have?  They opt for bigger rounds.  If I can’t have 30 rounds of .226, I might as well have 15 rounds of .458 or such.  This is what we saw during the utterly pointless Clintonian AWB… High Capacity 9mm’s were limited to 10 so what did people do?  They went to .45’s and we saw a huge resurgence of popularity for the 1911 pistol. Generally they only hold 8 rounds, but they are 8 rounds of a potent and military proven ordinance.   So instead of limitations the American Gun Owner ramped it up and went with as much power as they could handle.  This is going to happen again.  Trust me.  Go ahead and do an outright ban on AR-15 type rifles.   A rifle that uses ammunition with pictures of Rodents on the box.  And people will opt for rifles such as the Marlin Guide Gun that is fast handling and easy to use… and fires a round that damn near causes the Genocide of America’s Buffalo and can Curb-Stomp damn near everything that lives and breathes, walks and crawls, on this planet.  From Prairie Dogs to African Elephants.  .45-70 is a Monster of a Cartridge.  But that’s okay, because it’s not fed through the rifle by a Box with a Spring in it… Whatever, you Liberal Idiots, you do what you feel you must.  As will we.
Limit me to even one shot.  And I’ll use a rifle that fires projectiles the size of Coke Bottles that could punch through Armor Plate like it was tissue paper.
Here’s the other thing about the AWB.  Their are millions of these high capacity magazines out there.  All a Ban does is make them a little more expensive and you change where I get them from.  Because during the AWB, I still bought, sold, and traded many a High Capacity Gun.  It really didn’t effect me.  And I’m nothing special.
Prohibition didn’t effect people from getting a Drink either.  For all it’s Liberty Crushing Efforts, what turned out from Prohibition was that it became more popular than ever to Drink and it ushered in a new form of Organized Crime into the USA to supply the demand of Booze.  I remember staying at a big house in Northern Illinois some time ago.  Big nice house.  Had a huge – HUGE – ballroom and Bar.  This house was a “Speak Easy” during the Prohibition Era.  So you couldn’t go to the local bar that had to close down, that was almost closing anyways… you came to this house… which was bustling with people enjoying what they were not supposed to be enjoying.  The owners of this house did quite well for themselves.
Much like the Drug Trade is doing now.  Prohibition hasn’t stopped illegal drugs.  In fact, you can now have former illegal Drugs in Colorado, Weed, and you can smoke it all you want.  But you can have a Magazine that holds 16 rounds or more.  How is that working out?  Considering that we now have Drug Cartels warring for control of Mexico and Central America, openly, taking on the Mexican Government head to head.
This is all especially stupid considering that with a cheap 3D printer you can PRINT your own 30 round Magazines.  You can make one as easy as clicking “PRINT”.  Come on.  Use some Common Sense, People.  Gun Laws put people in Danger.  If Gun Laws worked, Chicago would be one of the Safest Places in the World.  Chicago would be a Utopia of Peace.
It isn’t.
Because Gun Laws don’t work.

Uncategorized

Shooter 2.0 Females

24 Comments

On Facebook yesterday, a lovely young girl posted a picture of herself shooting an AR-15 .22.  She was proud of herself for getting out there and shooting.  I think her name was Kelly.  Pretty girl.  Cool rifle. (An M&P15-22)
And being a Novice Shooter, she held the rifle in the classic New Gun Girl Stance.  Meaning her cheek weld was directly above the rifle butt.  I’d post the picture but she pulled it down.

Why did she pull it down?

Was it her Liberal Friends who were giving her hell because she was shooting a gun?

Nope.  It was from Shooters who Dog Piled on her for her posture.  And it was a dog pile… Every experienced shooter felt the need to point out how wrong she was.   This was patently unnecessary.   This is not how we encourage new shooters to come back and pick the rifle back up and try again.  Why would she?  Why would she chose to associate with “Real Shooters” who acted like a bunch of Pricks?   This is now how we Recruit for our Team.

Some of these same Guys commented on another photo that hit Facebook.  A Woman with very large breasts, shirtless and rubbed down with oil, covering her nipples with a pair of handguns, fingers on triggers, pointing the guns into her breasts with an expression that she’s Mid-Climax.   All the guys comments were about how hot she was and not about the blatant Violations of Safety, which were pretty much 3 out of the 4.

Yet Kelly was piled on for just Bad Form?   What the hell is this?  It’s all okay if you show us your Tits?  Come on Guys!   I’ve no problem with a little Cheese Cake myself, but when you mix in Firearms we have to Throttle Back on the Inner Pig and take things just a little more seriously.  I’ve been known to post some Girl with Gun pictures myself.  But none Vulgar and none showing Firearms Safety Negligence.

What Message is this sending to new female shooters?  Daughters of my Friends?   We can’t let there be any double standards on this.   We need to treat all new shooters… Especially the Girls… with the utmost respect.  We want to grow and fill our ranks of proud Second Amendment Supporters, not chase them away.   I know this was happening on Facebook, but Facebook is freaking huge.  More people use it than Google.  So we can either make FB our Tool, or it can be used against us.  We gotta watch what we say.  People are watching.

Weapons

Glock 36

18 Comments

Monday I picked up a Glock 36.  And after spending some time with it, I have some mixed feelings.

The gun it’s self is great.  A tight little compact .45 that is both accurate and reliable, with several spare mags and a Galco holster.  A good package.  It has tritium night sights too, which to me is a requirement for a defensive pistol.  There is nothing wrong with the gun.

I dig the fact that I’ve got a .45 I can trust to carry again.  And I do.  It actually shoots very well.  And it’s light weight.  I don’t even know it’s there, if you know what I mean.  It just disappears.  In all seriousness, it packs all day long as well as a S&W Bodyguard .380.

But I’m just not sure if I like it.

The grip is very narrow and un-glock-like.  Yet the finger grooves are very Glockish in that they line up in exactly the wrong places for me and I can’t really get a good comfortable grip on it… because it feels like I’m grabbing those peaks and nothing else.   This is an easy remedy with a few minutes of Grinder Time.  And I’ve illustrated clearly in my Glock History that I am not afraid to do that.  And perhaps I will.  But for the sake of Review, I’m keeping it stock.  Perhaps that’s not fare to me or the Glock.  Maybe I should put in some effort and make it as good as it can be and then review that.   I’m considering it.  The grip is almost too narrow for me.  It feels as if I can’t get a good grasp on it, but that could go back to those finger grooves.  I’m not sure.

Here’s the thing though, I like this Glock 36 more than I like the XDS.  The S is a fine pistol.  Springfield really did hit a home run in it.  They shoot very well, and while snappy, they are controllable and not unpleasant to shoot.  We had a range day with an S and no one had a single malfunction with the little guy all day long.  That’s quite an achievement for a little .45.  But the Glock 36 had unlocked that achievement years and years ago.  It’s the S before the S was cool.  And I like the fact that it has a real front sight post on it and not a Fiber Optic sliver.   I really hate those things.  They just don’t hold up over time.  I have people coming in weekly asking about how to fix the fiber tube in their front sight post.   This is something we should never ever have to even think about.  It’s not an item of maintenance   It’s not something that we should be worried about.  I find a Fiber Optic front sight on a Defensive Handgun to be completely unacceptable.  Target pistols, fine.  But on a Defensive gun?  That’s a No-Go right there.  And in ARMY terms, that’s a FAIL.  Don’t pass go, you get to start over.  But that’s another topic.  I like the fact that Glock has the most solid reputation for reliability.  You don’t have to question it.  It’s there.  It says so right on the slide.  “Glock”.  There are only a few other gun makers that I trust based on that name.  SIG, HK, and Beretta.  That’s pretty much it for me.  Other guns I have to spend time with to get to know.  Then once reliability is proven, I can trust them.

In a recent article I wrote, I said that I was done packing mouse guns.  No more tiny guns for me.  Tiny guns in tiny calibers do not fulfill the mission for which we are bothering to carry for in the first place.  This Glock 36, while not tiny, is certainly small.  The smallest gun I have in my carry rotation now.  I find I am very comfortable with a .45 Auto back in the line up.  My Springfield GI really isn’t in the rotation anymore, and more of a special occasion gun for me.  Or when I am feeling overly nostalgic or historical.   But being a full 5 inch Government Model, it makes OWB all day carry just a little less “easy”.  A smaller .45 is a good thing, if done right.  And the 36 is indeed done right.  In a discussion with a Gun Counter Co-Worker, we were talking about calibers and how law enforcement had evolved their carry rounds and has found a sweet spot in the .40 caliber.  He says, and really, this is brilliant, that the .45 Auto never had to evolve.  Much like the Great White, it was perfect for it’s function as it was created so it didn’t need to evolve.   That was good – deserved a fist bump for that.  But we can talk about the 10mm another time.

Velocity is a good thing.  And a big fat heavy .45 slug out of a short tube is even slower than normal.  So I elected to forgo my normal PDX1 / SXT load options and try something new.   Hornady’s new Critical Defense in the 185 grain load.  I used to be a big fan of 200 grain loads, and still am, but you can just never find them anymore.  All the new stuff in .45 Auto is 230’s.  So I was pleased to see a 185 grain option in a modern load.   I’ll report more on these rounds in the future.  But they are going where I want them to go and feed and cycle perfectly, which is the main requirement.  See, I like the lighter bullets in the shorter guns because they give as much speed as you can get.  Reliable expansion of any hollow point is a function of fluid dynamics thanks to velocity.  You don’t have the velocity, you don’t have the fluid pressure that expands the cavity to allow for the bullet to mushroom.  I don’t think this is going to be a problem with the 185 Critical Defense loads.

Weapons

SIG’s new 224, and something else.

18 Comments

At SHOT Show, I took a look at the new SIG 224.  And I’ll be honest.  I didn’t like it.

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It’s standard SIG, the way we prefer our SIG’s.  Alloy frame, DA/SA with a Rebounding Hammer.  Add some night sights, and controls that were tweaked to still be used when made tiny… and you have a real SIG and not… well… not a P250.

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After playing around with it… it’s grown on me.  A lot.  The gun is a serious Pinky Dangler, but thanks to the shape, texture, you can still get a solid hold on the pistol.

Which is good, because it’s a .40 cal.  I like that.  And I like the P224.

But it’s not the gun that I want.   I want something different.

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This is my Holy SIG Grail.  A P220 Compact SAS.  If you guys want to chip in and by me a birthday present… this is it.  I’ve wanted one of these for 20 years, when I first read of guys spending big bucks chopping down standard P220’s.    And we have one now at the Gun Store I work at.  999.99.  Oh man… And there is nothing I can do about it thanks to the Bride’s new Expedition.

Weapons

“Silencers, The NRA’s latest big lie”

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I hate to ask you to do this… but read this.

Okay, before I go any further… Try to remember off the top of your head, the last time the NRA has ever talked about Suppressors.  Also, when was the last time – Outside of a Hollywood Movie – that a guy as used a legally obtained Suppressor in the commission of a crime?

In other countries, putting a muffler on your gun is considered polite. And encouraged. Even in the Enlightened country of England. But here in the US, a Gun Muffler is considered Sinister.
Suppressors do help save your hearing. I sell suppressors such as the SWC WARLOCK which reduces the shot over 40 Decibels. My best hearing protection that I sell, is only 33 decibels. It does not make the shot SILENT like you see in the movies. That is hollywood fabrication.
Also, Gun Mufflers are HEAVILY regulated. You can’t just “Go Buy One”. You can pay for the muffler, sure. But I can’t transfer it to you because it’s regulated just like a Machine Gun. You have to fill out an ATF Form 4, have 2 finger print cards done, your Sheriff or Police Chief has to sign off on it, an then you get to drop an additional 200 bucks on a tax stamp. Then you get to wait 6 Months for the ATF to process a detailed background check.
It’s faster and easier to buy a new house or start a new company than it is to get one of these sinister and obviously evil mufflers for your gun.
I call it a Muffler, because that’s exactly what it is. Just like on your Car or Truck or Scooter. We don’t Regulate mufflers on your vehicle, but as soon as you slip one over your gun’s barrel – Oh boy – you just committed a Felony unless you jumped through all the hoops.
Every shooter I know has hearing damage to some extent. Because guns are loud. Forgetting to wear muffs or plugs, just once, can cause permanent hearing damage.
You used to be able to buy a gun muffler at the hardware store for 5 bucks.
Saved your hearing. Didn’t disturb wildlife when hunting. Aids in recoil reduction and accuracy as well.
But after the end of Prohibition the ATF had to have something to do so the NFA 1935 was passed, which included mufflers… because of emotionally fragile people like this author who watched too many movies.