I’ve been reading George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones series. As far as High Fantasy goes… I have to tell you, it is the best I’ve ever read.
The characters are well developed, believeable, and will do unexpected things. Trying to predict what will happen next is an unsuccessful effort. What happens to the characters will have you shocked, cheering, or saying “you can’t do that!”
I understand its. TV series on HBO. I look forward to getting it on DVD dome day.
The Declaration of Independence is illegal?
The Brits are saying once again that the Declaration of Independence is illegal. They said this once before and ended up surrendering to us. If they want to press the issue again…
It’s silly to press the argument, England. Since you guys did surrender to us you recognized and legitimized us. In fact, I’d say you guys should be paying taxes to us.
Crusader Weaponry at the Gun Show
Crusader Weaponry will be at the Crossroads of the West Gun Show November 19th and 20th. We will be doing some on the spot Glock tweaking, selling some Slipstream, and some training vouchers for the 2012 Training year. We’ll also record some Pod Casts, some Video, and I’ll have a few copies of Uprising USA.
So come swing by and visit with us. Saturday night, after the show, we’ll have to make some plans!
That Cold Steel Guy needs to Retire
Lynn Thompson needs to be stopped. I don’t know if there is a Board of Directors there that can force Lynn out – but that’s just what needs to happen. He’s wrecking Cold Steel. When he does stuff like this, it just makes you want to kinda not ever get or carry anything else from Cold Steel.
http://blog.lynncthompson.com/2011/08/glock.html
That’s some amazingly bad stuff. Multiple cameras and a lot of production money went into making that. Wow. Walking fire… Searching fire… yeah that stuff is for fighting in the jungles of Vietnam. Not self defense in a western country. This is just so bad that I have no words.
Kahr vs Solo
Kimber’s new little Solo sub-compact is developing into quite the nice little carry package. While the main competitor, the Kahr sub-compacts are just not measuring up anymore.
The best selling Kahrs are the CW series guns. These have a cast slide, polymer frame, and come with just one magazine… but they are only 400 bucks. The nicer forged steel P series guns are right up there in Kimber Solo price territory, but they do come with an extra mag. They are good little guns and I am quite fond of them… but the ones people buy are the CW series and we’ve had some issues with them lately. The new ones from the factory are real notchy, sticky, and sharp. Very unpleasant guns to hold and operate. They are hard to pull the slide back and even more difficult to drop the slide again… the fit an finish look fine on the outside, but the way they work… just very poorly. These CW guns are actually hurting the Kahr brand. Had to take a return on one this week on one I sold, and that’s just not cool. A CW45. Those folks are never going to look at buying another Kahr for the rest of their lives. And I can’t blame them. At that point you can’t try to talk them into the upper end Kahr pistol – because they look damn near the same. They just got turned off one to spend more on another that looks the same? Doesn’t work.
Then you pick up that Kimber solo. Whole other world. It’s like going from a Flinstones Kahr Car, sorry… to a Mercedes Benz. Smooth action like melted chocolate. None of the Kahrs can come close to that feeling. They could – but they don’t. Kahr persists in their sharp edged slide lock levers and sharp frames textures. It’s like you reward yourself with buying a Solo, and punish yourself with a Kahr… and I have to say that I hate saying that. Because I really do like Kahr! They are accurate, reliable, with great triggers… but they feel sharp and rough and are a hard sell.
Kahr needs to revamp their lines. New cosmetic lines, a more agreeable texture on the grips. The actions need to feel smooth and when someone – specifically women – try to press the slide release lever, that slide needs to drop with little effort instead of making their thumbs bleed. Round off the sharp corners on everything. Make it something you want to hold on to. You do that… simple reworking of existing stuff without any reengineering… then Kahr would dominate the CCW market and we could price those at 499 instead of 399. The upper end P-series… would be redundant. Kahr could dominate… they seriously could.
Remington: Pulling a Boner.
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.