Remington has cancelled production on dang near everything with a Marlin name tag. Specifically the lever action rifles. The Savage knock-off X7 rifles, I believe are still rolling out the door. We’ve had no problem getting those. Just Lever Actions, and the Rep told us that most of the orders we had were cancelled because they not in production. This doesn’t make me very happy. The problem Remington is having is that all the guys that used to know how to build a Marlin Lever Action are all now retired or laid off or working someplace else. This is just the tip of the iceberg that I’m seeing here. They buy Marlin pretty much to get into the lever action business… and then ruin it. Yet Remington is still cranking out the Savage Clones. To me, that makes no sense. If I was Remington, I’d kill the X7 line completely and concentrate on moving Remington’s own Bolt Action rifles. But Remington can do what it wants… that’s fine. But I also don’t get why Remington has moved the Sendero rifle to the Custom Shop, which has a completely different Dealer Program. What was one of the best production guns they made, and one of the most popular out here in my area of operation… they go and hamstring it.
I can’t get the Marlin Lever Actions to sell and now the Senderos are going to be difficult… Great. No, really… You guys concentrate on getting that ACR Contract and ignore the Hunters that have made Remington what it is. That’s a good plan. Worked great for Colt.
Here’s the deal… if you guys can’t sort out production of a gun made since the 1800’s… sell Marlin to someone who can actually build the things. Springfield would be great. Lifetime warranty, aggressive marketing, customer service like Marlin has never had before, and custom shop work that’s top notch. That would give Springfield some serious Hunting chops in the industry. I’d love to see Springfield own Marlin.
I can get worked up about Lever Actions… I love them. I have always loved them. And Marlin has always been a favorite brand. Most of the deer I’ve taken was with a .44 Mag Marlin 336… So it has a solid place in my heart. And we can’t even get any of the Marlin pistol calibers. I could have sold a hundred this summer… instead, I sold none. Can’t sell it if I can’t get it. Come on Remington!
Don’t worry.
With Qaddafi killed, Chavez with some nasty cancer… We still have North Korea and the Democrats to look to for crazy dictators.
Chromed out
Since the early days of Mozilla, I had always been a supporter. To the point of donating over 200 dollars to the foundation for further development. I used to use the Mozzila suite, and finally converted to Firefox after that became the big thing…. And I faithfully used it… Until recently.
I found myself growing tired of Firefoxes bloat and memory issues and sudden tantrums and crashes. So I once again looked at Chrome, and I looked at it hard. No bloat. No memory leaks. No crashing. It just worked.
I found myself using Chrome more and more, and Firefox less and less… Then I realized that I don’t use Firefox anymore.
Looking foreward to Chrome for the Android.
The Gun Dudes and Goatees
I think the Gun Dudes are just awesome… But they don’t have Goatees. It’s a well known fact that Goatees make a man shoot better. At the MAG-40 Class, Carl was trying to grow one out. But he started too late so he only had a Proto-Goatee. Which wasn’t enough to help him. We hope he continues to grow it out. He’d had out-shot Gail if he had a full power Goat going on.
Check out the latest Gun Dudes Podcast here:
http://www.gundudes.com/Home_Page_ETY8.html
What’s awesome about this one, is that they have a great interview with Joe Chetwood, aka “Gundoc”, and the head honcho of CRUSADER WEAPONRY. These guys are having too much fun, you can hear it. Listen to this show, you wont be disappointed!
The GOP Front Runners
I have been asked which of the top three GOP frontrunners I favor. Hmmm… This is kinda like asking “Which gun would you rather shoot yourself in the leg with?”
Herman Cain: Looks pretty good, sounds pretty good, and I was even fond of his Pizza chain. I like a good deal of what he’s talking about and agree with a lot. However, his 999 Tax Plan leaves me feeling rather uneasy. The more I learn about Cain, the more I like him. He is not the slick, seasoned politician like the others… and to me, that’s a plus. He says what he thinks, not what he thinks you want to hear. He is the most genuine of the bunch and he is freaking out the Leftistas. Janeane Garofalo says that if you support Cain, then you are a Racist. Unlike supporting Obama, which isn’t, but opposing Obama is. Thank heavens Madama Garafalo keeps this straight for us… Sheesh. I get the feeling that the Liberal Democrats are the only ones who are actually Racist. They are the ones that keep bringing it up. Race has nothing to do for it. I vote for ideas, for vision, for leadership. Color has nothing to do with it.
Rick Perry: At first, I really liked Rick. Pro Gun… packed a gun and killed a Coyote with it while he was jogging. Nicely done! But then like that hot girl with the long black hair you dated in College, the more you learned about her, the less you liked her. It got to the point with Rick that I flat out don’t like him anymore at all and I don’t trust him. If Rick gets the Nomination… it would be a very sad day. The more he talks, the more he turns me and others off. I don’t think he’s electable. His statements come off as being ill-suited for a President. He has a lot of bad history behind him and I think a Rick Perry nomination will mean a second term for Obama. Perry is at best a “Blue Dog Democrat” with an “R” by his name.
Mitt Romney: Talk about a guy with Baggage. His Romney Care is one. Being Mormon is another. Both are huge issues. One is justified. Romney Care is going to continue to be a problem for him no matter what happens. But “The Black Spot” for Mitt is his membership in the LDS Church… He’s offended many Mormons by trying to distance himself from the faith. Then there are those that simply hate Mormons out of sheer bigotry – which shouldn’t be given any airtime, but the media loves it because it prevents the GOP from solidifying Romney as a Candidate. Then Rick Perry’s man goes and bashes Mormons and Rick supports him? Far from Presidential stuff, Rick. Freedom of Religion? His faith shouldn’t be anyone’s business. Rick Perry, Mike Huckabee, The Maverick McCain’s Mom… all Rabid Anti-Mormons… and never mind all the minions of hate that will do nothing but continue to attack Mitt and the Mormons from all sides. It would be great if Mitt wasn’t Mormon! I’d rather not have to talk about it! I don’t need the negative attention on my Faith. Because, yes, it is Negative. Maybe I’m a little sensitive, but Mine is the only Religion in the USA that was under a Death Order from a State’s Governor. Id rather us keep a lower profile. Then there is the fact that Mitt is just a straight up Dillweed. I don’t like him. Not as a person, not as a candidate. But there is a good point. The upshot to Mitt is that his Financial Experiences is there and it would be truly helpful to the nation at this time. Romney’s skills in debate have become very sharp and he’s doing very well… he looks, sounds, and acts like Presidential Material.
When it comes to picking the Right Man for the Job – and not just a Candidate – it is down to Cain or Romney now. Other possibles have backed out and losing steam. Cain or Romney would be a good choice. It’s a coin toss at this time, but if I had to pick one right now, at this very moment… I’m going to have to hold my nose and give the nod to Romney. Haters are going to hate and it’s about hiring the man that can do the job, not picking someone that the Wacko Liberal Left is going to hate the least.
Another War?
It is being reported that the President is now sending “About a Hundred” US troops to Uganda. This is great. Because I was thinking we were running out of pointless wars… Iraq and Libya coming to ends, that would leave us with only one! Afghanistan. Now we don’t have to fret at all. Military Advisers never gets us drawn in an escalation into a shooting war…
*looks at the history books and turns pages to Vietnam*
Never mind.
Uganda. That’s great. At least its not another shithole place like…
*looks at a Google Earth*
Never mind.
The Best SciFi Flicks
Sunshine.
Alien/Aliens.
Event Horizon.
Pitch Black.
The Matrix.
Dune.
Blade Runner.
Serenity.
Cowboy Bebop.
These are my favorite SciFi flix, all for the same reasons. They all have something in common. They each create a new universe… Some, like Sunshine, do it in a very subtle manner… Others like Dune, do it overtly and hit you over the head with it. I think if I was going to teach a class on Science Fiction, these movies would be foundational on “World Building”.
Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t the end all of a movie list… These are just my favorites… And in my opinion, must see movies. If you haven’t seen one of these movies, you are indeed wrong. Clarification on Dune… It needs to be the Alan Smithee version. The original director cut too much out. Aliens, has to be the extended version. And with Blade Runner, don’t get the Director’s Cut, get the Original, with Harrison Ford’s voiceovers.
I like the darker stories… That’s just me. Bright shiney ones, like the new Star Trek film… Just fine. But I prefer darker stuff.
I also like the SciFi to leave some things unexplained. Like future technologies… Show them, but don’t try to explain it to the audience. Characters wouldn’t explain things to each other… Unless the tech was brand new to that universe and it being paramount to the telling of the story.
Give the technology some limitation. See, SciFi has technology like Fantasy has magic. I don’t want to see tech or magic being the answer for everything. The future tech and universe is just the setting and framework a good story is written upon.
Less than ideal
.300 RUM, Elk, 225 yards, perfect side shot, well placed hit, Hornady GMX. Complete pass through with evidently no expansion.
I would say this is a perfect example of too much gun for the game/range. Well, specifically too much bullet. Animal was tracked over a mile before it was located laying down… still breathing, still bleeding. The bullet had torn through both lungs and a ventricle of the heart, but not much actual damage. Without expansion, there was very little shock effect… almost no blood-shot tissues internally, and the exit wound looked like maybe a .40 caliber hole. The hit was observed, clean, and animal was able to run away without so much as a limp.
Take the same situation, same animal, same range, same gun… and load the SST bullet instead of the solid, or a classic Sierra Game King, and I bet that beast would have been dead right there… because that’s what I’ve witnessed before. Bullets that open up faster will deliver more shock, and that is what’s going to put the animal on the ground. Roy Weatherby discovered this many decades ago, and evidently this is a lesson we are still learning.
Retextured Glock: Done
Sanding, grinding, filing, and then stippling… I reshaped and retextured the gripframe of my Glock. Let me explain this from square one. I wanted to make my Glock 23 fit my hand better, and I wanted a new texture that would be grippy, yet not snag on my clothes like the RTF2 finish can sometimes do.
The first of the process was to identify just what I wanted to change to make it fit better. These areas got attention with some very careful application of a rotory hand tool that is normally the bane of all would be weaponsmiths. Then I used a hand file and some sandpaper to make it feel better in my hand. This is where I have to warn those that would follow my example – I’m a Professional Ogre, so don’t try this at home unless you are prepared to deal with the consequences. “Hello, Glock? Yeah, I pooched my pistol.”
After the prep work, it was time to do the stippling. I used a sharp pointed soldering iron that I used to use for repairing laptops back when I could tolerate doing such work. I don’t do that anymore so don’t ask. This soldering iron gets pretty damn hot, and probably a lot hotter than is necessary or a good idea for this purpose, because it could easily go straight through the frame. “Hello, Glock?” So I had to be extremely careful and use a light touch. The resulting grip shape and texture accomplished my goal perfectly. It might not be pretty, but it feels a lot better in my hand than the original.
If you want this work done to your Glock, but you don’t want to do it yourself… This can be arranged through Crusader Weaponry. Send your gun to Joe, so he can do his magic to it… slick it up, trigger work, maybe even refinish into a new color… and if you want the grip frame retexured by the Ogre, I would be happy to do it at a very reasonable price.
A new paradigm of pistols
The Shooting Wire posts a bold announcement. “A new paradigm of pistols“. Oh? Really? A new paradigm, eh?
Well, I gotta see this then. What could it be? Could it be a Glock Killer? A Striker 1911? Something in 10mm that will make the 10 popular again? What could it be?
Oh, it’s a Derringer. Made out of Titanium. Really?